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How Authentic Content Creators Build Social Media Trust

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By Eugene Varricchio

We hear a lot about influencers in marketing circles today. It’s a relatively new term, but the concept is not a new one. When mass media advertising was king, brands used the term “endorsement.” The trend skyrocketed in the 1980s, leading to sports celebrities like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams and Cristiano Ronaldo, who reportedly earned more money from endorsements than from athletics.

The word “influencer” arose in the early 2000s along with the rise of reality shows like The Bachelor, Big Brother and especially Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Then came the great leveller, social media, where user-generated content transformed some everyday content creators into influencers in their own right.

Distinguishing Between Content Creators And Influencers

It’s become important to distinguish between content creators and influencers in our current social media landscape. Today, influencers typically focus on compensation from the brands they promote, whereas content creators engage in labors of love. Content creators produce their work because they’re passionate about self-expression. Brands may approach them with unsolicited sponsorship offers, but compensation isn’t their top priority.

I believe this distinction explains the backlash arising toward influencer marketing. Increasingly, social media users are demanding authenticity in content marketing while denouncing sponsored content.

From a hard-nosed business perspective, social media platforms produce audiences to sell to advertisers. They view content as the raw material that drives their audience-manufacturing processes. Media outlets have always chosen content that appeals to their sponsors’ targeted demographic. However, there’s a fine line between content that attracts an audience and content created to exploit it.

The difference has to do with intent. Social media audiences trust passionate content creators who have a sincere desire to share experiences. They also tend to shun those influencers they deem to be in it for the money.

Authenticity Outweighs Production Values On Social Media

Content that is raw, unfiltered and even amateurish can easily go viral if it has something genuine and heartfelt to say. That’s why industry watchers see video as the future of content marketing. It’s harder to be insincere on video, and video imagery is more difficult (although not impossible) to fake.

Raw footage uploaded straight from a smartphone has a distinctive authenticity. For example, heavily doctored videos depicting pristine tourist destinations lower trust, while unadulterated footage of locations in their natural state can inspire confidence. Recruiting paid influencers may work for massive, multinational brands, but I would argue that neighborhood businesses should focus their social media marketing on attracting authentic content creators.

For example, local restaurants tend to benefit far more from sincere online reviews from paying customers than from “internet-famous” influencers. Customer-generated videos capturing a restaurant’s ambiance may be the most trustworthy marketing content available today.

Case Study: Frankensons

Recently, Joseph Labour of the Today Show reported on an encounter between a local Las Vegas pizzeria, Frankensons, and an up-and-coming TikToker named Keith Lee. Without informing Frank Steele, Frankensons’ owner, an employee of the struggling restaurant emailed Lee, inviting him to sample the fare.

Lee received no compensation for his onsite video review, and paid for all the food he sampled, leaving him out of pocket by $86.73. He gave the venue a sincere, positive review, specifically recommending the lemon pepper wings and the garlic knots.

Only hours after Lee’s video review went live, Frankensons had a new lease on life. The TikToker’s review drew over 31 million views in its first week.

“Our phone never stopped ringing,” Steele told the Today Show. “I’ve sold more lemon pepper wings in the last two days than I have in the past four months. I made more garlic knots yesterday and the day before than I’ve ever made.”

This is just one example of the impact sincere video reviews from objective content creators can deliver to local restaurateurs. Lee’s unpaid recommendation did more for Frankensons’ traffic than any paid advertising could ever have achieved.

I believe content creators are the future for business promotion. Online customer videos can lift establishments above the deluge of questionable and ineffective reviews swamping the internet. To succeed, businesses should focus on finding ways to attract authentic content creators to their locations. It costs nothing, and the results can be priceless.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Eugene Varricchio

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

CEO, Franki Global Inc.   Read Eugene Varricchio’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Social Media Shake-up? Instagram Planning To Challenge Twitter’s Dominance With New App?

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By Ajay Sharma

According to recent reports, a leaked marketing clip has provided a sneak peek into Instagram’s rumoured text-based app that could compete with Twitter.

According to recent reports, a leaked marketing clip has provided a sneak peek into Instagram’s rumoured text-based app that could potentially compete with Twitter. The app, which has been codenamed P92 or Barcelona, is referred to as “Instagram’s new text-based app for conversations” in the slide, according to The Verge report.

Users will have the convenience of signing in to the app with their existing Instagram username and password. Furthermore, their followers, handle, bio, and verification will seamlessly transfer over from the main Instagram app, the report said. The leaked marketing slides reveal that the new app resembles a combination of Instagram and Twitter, featuring a feed where users can make text posts up to 500 characters long, complete with attached links, photos, and videos.

Is Instagram planning to enter the Twitter arena?

According to the reports, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, seems to prioritise moderation controls from the outset. The leaked marketing slide mentions that users will have settings to manage who can reply to their posts and mention their accounts. It also suggests that any accounts blocked on Instagram will carry over to this new text-based app.

In an intriguing move, the app will also introduce an element of decentralisation. The slide indicates that compatibility with certain other apps like Mastodon is in the works, allowing users from these apps to search for, follow, and interact with profiles and content on the Instagram text app. This compatibility is likely to be achieved through ActivityPub, a protocol explored by Meta and other technology companies.

Should the app be widely released, it could further solidify Instagram’s popularity as a social media platform. As Twitter faces ongoing challenges, many users are actively seeking alternative platforms to share tweet-like updates. Instagram’s potential entry into this space could present a compelling option for those seeking a new online destination.

While the leaked marketing clip has generated excitement, official confirmation and further details from Instagram or Meta are still awaited, leaving users and industry observers eager for official announcements.

Feature Image Credit: Unsplash/Representative

By Ajay Sharma

Sourced from REPUBLICWORLD.COM

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Are we finally seeing the end of the noughties internet? Ad execs on web futures

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By Sam Anderson 

Era-defining publishers (first Buzzfeed, then Vice) on the rocks; social giants sweating over TikTok; rapid cultural changes. The 00s version of the internet finally feels like it’s slipping away. But is it – and what comes next? We asked leaders from The Drum Network.

Alistair Robertson, creative partner, Nucco: “Search will change more in the next 18 months than it has since the noughties began. That will affect the broader digital ecosystem.

“AI-delivered information will soon take centre-stage on search pages, meaning far less real estate for anything other than a very small (and valuable) brand and product set. For consumers, this could be positive, for smaller brands, probably less so.

“These search changes will materially affect the amount of marketing content created. Branded content will no longer be needed at such high volume to channel consumers through a sales journey. Those changes will affect digital advertising’s opportunity to do a job. AI could yet be the killer of the humble banner.

“There’s much changing, and consumers will be the big winners. For brands, perhaps the latter 2020s will be about sponsorships and, dare I say it, quality creative ideas that people want to watch and share!”

Charlie Wade, global executive director of growth and innovation, VMLY&R Commerce: “The internet is constantly evolving. It started as a broadcast ‘message board’, before moving to content sharing, from music to photos. Now, web3 and AI have ushered in an age of decentralization, giving people the power to reimagine worlds, songs, and even the Pope.

“The internet is lauded for the disruption it has fostered: critics have receded in the face of consumer reviews; mass media usurped by social. While this initially brought immediacy and a widening aperture of information, the downside has been an erosion of authenticity, which the decline of legitimate publishers could compound. From fake sneakers to fake news, the ubiquity and the relative ease with which nefarious actors can spread misinformation is real. Those who control platforms (Musk or the masses) must imbue protocols around what is being positioned as authentic.

“Reader habits have morphed, placing stress on revenue models: sponsored editorials and mass advertising wilted, so companies needed new income sources, such as e-commerce integration. Marketers should think about the internet as episodic, with each stage impacted by user needs and technological developments. The 00s era is over. Its replacement offers both opportunities and challenges for brands.”

Matt Belanger, vice-president, director, digital communications strategy, Momentum Worldwide: “The (current) digital revolution comes amid a heightened desire for authenticity and realness. With technological advancement comes knowledge and experience as more people become seasoned social media users. The skill of spotting clickbait, ads, and content that doesn’t add value to our lives has sharpened to the point of skipping right past without a thought.

“As we see media companies who focused traditionally on selling advertising as their source of revenue start to fall, it signifies an opportunity for marketers to guide these shifts. Content creators stand out because they are the voice of authentic human beings, gaining trust (and sometimes financial support) from their communities. Providing authentic value is key to standing out, whether that’s an opinion, education, or just entertainment.

“We’re hopeful for the future. If we take great care to create quality, relevant content, consumers will flock to it.”

Nina Goli, digital strategy director, Radley Yeldar: “The internet of the 00s is not dead. It defined the era of the profile and laid the foundation for future developments. Societal dependence on the internet became more evident in the 2010s, bringing forth toxic aspects of web addiction.

“As we progress further into the 2020s, we’re witnessing a resurgence of omni-web experiences with a nostalgic twist. Challenges arising from regulators and a ‘big brother’ mentality present organic opportunities for marketers and publishers to redefine authenticity and credibility in online relationships with audiences.

“In addition to emerging technologies like influencer marketing, user-generated content, AR, and AI, publishers should tap into the gap that exists: a need to reintroduce the human aspect of digital communication. This human touch was instrumental in forging strong bonds with millennials during the early 00s and is now being reclaimed by Gen Z. While challenges persist, there is hope that innovation and adaptation will lead to an improved digital landscape, but we should prepare for further disruptions and adjust our strategies accordingly.”

Danielle Dullaghan, social strategist, Social Chain: “We have to learn from the mistakes of social publishers. Relying on platform functionality for your business model is not possible in an ever-changing landscape. Today, there’s power in TikTok; tomorrow it could be something completely different. Social publishers built their business off Facebook link clicks and video formats, and when Meta pivoted their algorithm, publishers were left in the dust.

“00s internet is not dead, but used in different ways. Facebook favors meaningful engagement; groups and marketplace are absolutely thriving. But social publishers are struggling to organically monetize on a platform that has changed their business model so drastically.”

Dan Bermingham-Shaw, senior digital PR consultant, BuiltVisible: “The new internet age requires fluid, transformative change. Big institutions like the NYT and BBC have kept up by adapting and creating diversified digital businesses, while smaller, punchier companies have done important, valuable work but failed to retain momentum and adjust to new demands.

“Those lessons in failure help push others to improve and create platforms suited to our needs; the successful publishers of tomorrow will be able to incorporate audience convenience in as flexible a way as possible, making use of tools like AI to capture audience minds and interests. The internet is always moving and there will be many more crumbling publishers in the future, but they will fall in order to build something better and more suited to what audiences demand. We loved Vine, but TikTok took the concept and doubled it with huge success. It’s a pattern we’ll continue to see.”

James Crooke, chief technology officer, Rawnet: “Web 2.0 (The 00s version) is far from dead. It remains highly relevant for brands in today’s digital landscape. It has revolutionized brand engagement through interactive and collaborative user experiences, along with social networking and user-generated content.

“Despite challenges faced by publishers such as cookie consent, ad-blocking, and the shift towards closed ecosystems (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Netflix, Twitch, YouTube, etc.), web 2.0 technologies continue to evolve, offering new opportunities for personalized experiences and improved customer interactions. To thrive in the uncertain future of the internet, brands must remain agile and adaptable, aligning themselves with evolving audience needs and expectations, allowing them to connect with customers and build strong relationships.”

Feature Image Credit: Alexander Andrews via Unsplash

By Sam Anderson 

Sourced from The Drum

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7 Ways to Use Inbound Marketing to Grow Your Small Business

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By Thaddeus Collins

Are you a small business owner looking for ways to use inbound marketing to stand out from the competition and grow your small business? Inbound marketing or organic marketing is a great way to build brand recognition and grow your small business. It is also a more cost-effective and time-efficient approach than traditional marketing methods.

In this blog post, we will discuss 7 ways to use inbound marketing to grow your small business.

Inbound marketing is all about creating content that draws people in. It involves creating content that is relevant to your target audience and providing them with valuable information. It is also important to be creative and think outside the box.

You need to create content that will grab people’s attention and make them want to learn more about your business. With the right strategy, you can use inbound marketing to reach more people and grow your small business.

What is inbound marketing?

As a small business owner, you may be wondering what inbound or organic marketing is and how it can help your business. Inbound marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on attracting customers organically through digital channels such as search engines, social media, and blogs.

What Is Inbound MarketingUnlike outbound marketing, which involves interrupting potential customers with ads, inbound marketing uses content to draw customers in and build trust.

Once you have a customer’s attention, you can then slowly nurture them through the sales funnel until they become a paying customer.

Inbound marketing is an extremely effective way to market your small business, and it’s a great way to build long-term relationships with your customers. Keep reading to learn more about inbound marketing and how you can use it to grow your small business!

Are you a small business owner who wants to learn more about inbound marketing? If so, you’re in the right place! In this blog post, we’ll share seven ways you can use inbound marketing to grow your small business.

1. Create SEO-Friendly Content
2. Create Targeted Landing Pages
3. Use Email Marketing
4. Use Social Media
5. Use Lead Magnets
6. Use Retargeting
7. Use Analytical Tools

Create SEO-Friendly Content

SEO-friendly content is content that is optimized to reach and rank high in search engine results. In order to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results, you need to create SEO-friendly content. This means creating content that is optimized for search engine algorithms and contains relevant keywords.

This type of content can help you improve your website’s ranking and drive more organic traffic to your website. When you create content, you should always aim to use keywords strategically and create content that is easy to read and understand.

Try to create content that answers questions potential customers may be searching for and focus on providing useful information. On top of optimizing content for search engines, you should also focus on creating content that resonates with your target audience.

Don’t just focus on the technical aspects of SEO; focus on creating content that your customers will actually want to read and engage with. This type of content will not only help you reach customers, but it will also help you build trust with them.

Bonus Tip 1:

When you create a valuable piece of content, it’s always possible to reuse that information for additional purposes. You can turn a white paper into a series of articles and then turn those articles into short videos.

The possibilities for what you can do with your content are limited only by your own creativity and imagination.

Create Targeted Landing Pages

A landing page is a page on your website created specifically for a marketing campaign or offer. Landing pages should be used strategically to capture customer information and to convert visitors into leads.

When creating a landing page, you should be sure to include a form where customers can provide their contact information. You should also consider personalizing the page with the customer’s name or other relevant information.

Doing this can help increase conversions by making the customer feel like they’re receiving a personalized experience. You should also focus on ensuring your landing page is well designed and easy to navigate.

Make sure your form is prominently displayed and your call-to-action (CTA) is clear and concise. With a good landing page, you can effectively capture leads and convert them into paying customers.

Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to communicate with potential customers and keep them informed about your products and services. You can send out regular emails to your subscribers to keep them up-to-date on your latest offers and promotions.

This type of marketing can help you build relationships with your customers and generate leads for your business. By building an email list, you can send targeted emails to customers and provide them with useful information.

When it comes to email marketing, you should always make sure to provide value. Don’t just send out emails for the sake of sending them; focus on creating content that your customers will actually find useful and engaging.

You should also focus on segmenting your list and creating content that caters to the specific needs and interests of each segment. This will help you create emails that customers actually want to read.

Use Social Media

Social media is an extremely effective way to reach potential customers and build relationships with them and is a powerful tool for inbound marketing. With social media you can share content, engage with your customers, and build relationships with them.

You can also use social media to promote your products and services and increase your brand awareness. You should create profiles on all the major social media platforms and post content regularly.

When creating content for social media, you should focus on providing a mix of entertaining and informative content. Creating entertaining content can help you engage with customers, while creating informative content can help you educate them about your brand and build trust.

You should also consider using advertising to reach potential customers on social media. Utilizing the targeting features of social media ads can help you reach the right people and garner more engagement.

Use Lead Magnets

Lead magnets are pieces of content that you use to attract potential customers and convert them into leads. These pieces of content could be ebooks, whitepapers, checklists, or webinars.

Lead magnets should be used strategically to target potential customers who are at different stages of the sales funnel. For example, you could use an ebook to target potential customers who are still in the awareness stage, and a webinar to target potential customers who are already in the consideration stage.

Providing potential customers with useful content that they can use will not only help you capture their information, but it will also help you build trust with them.

Use Retargeting

Retargeting is an effective way to re-engage with potential customers who haven’t yet converted into leads. When a potential customer visits your website, a retargeting pixel is placed on their browser so you can serve them with targeted ads.

Retargeting ads can help you stay top of mind with potential customers and encourage them to convert. When creating retargeting ads, you should consider the particular actions the customer has taken on your website and then create ads that are tailored to their interests.

Doing this will help you personalize the customer’s experience and increase the chances of conversion.

Use Analytical Tools

Analytics is an important part of inbound marketing. You can use analytics to track your website’s performance and see which content is performing well and which content needs improvement.

This type of data can help you make more informed decisions about your inbound marketing strategy. Analytical tools such as Google Analytics and HubSpot can help you measure the effectiveness of your inbound marketing campaigns.

These tools can track how many visitors are coming to your website, where they’re coming from, what pages they’re visiting, and more. Having access to these analytical tools can help you identify which campaigns are working and which aren’t so you can make adjustments accordingly.

On top of this, these tools can also provide insight into how customers are interacting with your website and where they’re dropping off in the sales funnel. This can help you figure out where adjustments need to be made in order to improve conversion rates.

A Few Ideas to Get Started

The Results of Organic MarketingSocial media has in the recent past become one of the most significant platforms for promoting businesses. This is because of the high traffic on social media sites at a given time. You should never run out of ideas to use on social media that can take your business to the next level.

1. Use humorous, famous and inspirational quotes while posting on social media platforms.

Social media users are highly attracted to quotes by famous personalities. Users are highly likely to be attracted to social media posts that contain famous or hilarious quotes.

Therefore, in the process of reading such quotes, social media users get to read the promotional information attached to the quotes and hence goods or services are promoted in the process.

2. Use creative fill-in-the-blanks posts for promotional purposes.

Naturally, people like to have their anxiety provoked and social media users are not left out. fill-in-the-blanks posts are posts that leave readers wondering what would happen if they got involved with whatever promotional idea is passed across in a social media post.

If I had one million dollars I would……… This is a good example of fill-in-the-blanks.

3. Offer your friends and followers bonus rewards for sharing your content.

On a number of cases, marketers and promoters on social media have devised incredible measures of encouraging users to share their content on their own timelines and pages.

This includes offering rewards for every share. Rewards act like incentives and motivational tools for social media users to share your content on their social media pages and timelines.

Bonus Tip 2

Share useful resources generated by others on your social networks.

In order to show your passion for sharing useful information with your audience, do not hesitate to share other people’s information that you might find useful.

Such information is useful at all times despite its origin. This is an implication that social media users will not mind the origin of a given post so long as they find it useful in one way or another.

Inbound marketing strategies offers us numerous tools to ease our approach to marketing

From the simple approach of creating low-cost polls to the engaging videos for potential customers or even in-depth interviews with industry leaders., the social media has been a buzz of activity when it comes to methods of marketing through the platform(s).

Suffice it to say, social media has provided limitless avenues that can be effectively used by small businesses to market themselves and their services.

Conclusion

Inbound marketing is a powerful tool for small business owners. By following these seven steps, you can build brand awareness, generate leads, and grow your business.

Inbound marketing is a great way for small business owners to reach their target audience and generate leads. By using organic marketing, building brand awareness, creating content, posting SEO-friendly content, using email marketing, and using social media and analytics, you can increase your visibility and generate more leads for your business.

Today, social media sites are no longer just an ingenious way for people to meet, connect and share. It is now also one of the most powerful advertising tools which businesses can use to connect to their targeted market niche.

However, it is noteworthy that social media marketing is like a double-edged sword it is something that needs to be wielded correctly. In the hands of a skilled marketer like Inker Street Digital Marketing, it is an effective sales tool. But in the hands of an amateur, it can turn success into demise.

If you’re looking to grow your business, let us get your organic inbound marketing started to reach more customers and increase your sales. We will start implementing the strategies above today to increase brand awareness and generate more leads for your business.

Inbound marketing is an incredibly effective way to reach potential customers and convert them into leads and paying customers. By following the tips outlined in this blog post, you can begin utilizing inbound marketing to grow your small business. Good luck!

Here are some Questions to gauge your Inbound Marketing readiness.

  • What are the most effective inbound marketing strategies that you have used in your business?
  • What challenges have you faced when it comes to leveraging organic marketing?
  • Do you think this type of marketing is a more cost-effective way of engaging with customers than traditional marketing methods?
  • How have you seen inbound or organic marketing change the way customers interact with your business?
  • What tips or advice would you give to other small business owners looking to leverage inbound marketing?
  • If you had to choose one inbound or organic marketing strategy to focus on, what would it be?
  • In what ways do you think inbound marketing could be improved?
  • What do you think is the biggest benefit to using inbound or organic marketing?
  • What do you think is the biggest challenge to using inbound or organic marketing?
  • What advice would you give to companies that are just starting out with this type of marketing?

By Thaddeus Collins

Sourced from Inker Street

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Confessions of a social media entrepreneur on the pressure to constantly create content

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By Kimeko McCoy

Social media fragmentation, the rise of TikTok and social media’s expedited pivot to video has upped the ante for client expectations. Agency partners in public relations and social media say they’re feeling the impact as clients are increasingly asking for more content, feeding platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels in hopes for a viral moment.

The surge in workload has pushed one social media marketing entrepreneur to remove social media management service offerings to focus on content creation. In this latest edition of our Confessions series, in which we exchange anonymity for candour, we hear from that social media entrepreneur about client expectations in the fast-paced, ever-changing social media landscape.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

As a content creator and social media strategist, what’s your experience in today’s current digital landscape? 

One thing I’ve noticed, for a change, [is] clients don’t necessarily understand what it takes to get the results that we do. They’ll drop a lot of ideas on you at once, or they have a lot of different ideas that they want to do at once, but not necessarily know that it takes a lot to execute it. Then they want you to get it out very timely. This is a process. Sometimes, the process seems a little rushed now because of how fast paced everything is happening — new features and everyone wants to keep up with everybody else. It just seems like people don’t necessarily appreciate the process anymore when it comes to social media experts.

So there’s pressure on you to put out good content fast? How does that impact the way you work? 

It definitely does. My agency recently had 12 clients at once. That was a hard thing to manoeuvre, even now, because of how burnt out I felt in dealing with that. I literally started changing my business activity. I used to say that we specialized in social media management and content creation. Now, I’m saying that we specialize in just content creation.

Why did you do that?

I was making 30 posts a month for my clients. When I got a little bit more experience, I changed my lowest [service] package to 15 posts a month and a few Reels a week. Now, you have to create Reels. It’s just videos. Now, we have to force the clients to get that content. Before, it was just me making the content. I didn’t necessarily need them. But now, I need those Day in the Life videos. I need you to show your expertise, go live and collaborate with others. You have to do these different things now to thrive on these different platforms. [But] they’re busy too. That’s why they hired me. So that has definitely become a struggle within itself too — just being able to connect with my clients for them to get me the content that I need.

What social media platforms are taking up the most of your time and energy? 

Instagram, definitely. TikTok, I see as the least amount of effort. With all of my clients, we’re able to have fun on TikTok. But with Instagram, everything has to be so technical because some of my clients have different [product] features that some of my other clients don’t. If a client sees something, they’re like, “I want that. Can I do something like that?” And it’s like, “You don’t even have that feature [available on your account].” Then they feel upset and we have to manage expectations. [Clients asked for more] when Reels came out. When video content literally took over, because everybody wanted to be seen. When Reels dropped, that’s the only way people saw people’s content. [It] was through video content.

You said Instagram Reels is a heavier lift for you, in terms of content production than TikTok. Why? 

Everybody wants to be perfect on Instagram. TikTok thrives off of authenticity. You can literally do a video of you in bed, talking about whatever and it will blow up because people love you, relate to you… As far as Instagram, you may not see a post for three days that somebody posted. Or you may not see somebody’s story because Instagram is only showing 10% of their followers’ posts. There’s so many technical things with Instagram now that’s just drawing people away.

By Kimeko McCoy

Sourced from DIGIDAY

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Artificial Intelligence Is Going To Destroy Social Media

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By John Brandon

Remember the date of March 3, 2023.

It might be just another Friday on the calendar, but it’s actually the day a well-known social media company announced their own demise. It’s also the beginning of the end for all social media.

That’s right, March 3 is when LinkedIn announced a new “collaborative article” concept, which (if you follow AI trends and know how these things usually pan out) seems harmless enough at first. Prior to this, it was — a voicebot will always be available in your home or a robotic car will drive you to work. In the announcement, LinkedIn mentioned this innocuous phrase: “These articles begin as AI-powered conversation starters, developed with our editorial team.”

What’s really happening here? My guess is that LinkedIn is using AI to scan their own platform (what they claim is “10 billion years of professional experience”) to generate AI-created content. As humans, we’ll respond to these posts because they will be tailor-made to encourage a response and debate. How these posts will be labelled is still unknown. What’s clear is that there will be a plethora of AI-enabled content meant to encourage more engagement.

One report called this semi-automated social media. I tend to take a darker view. I recently wrote about how an AI chatbot is posting on Twitter, and that the commenters are often a bit confused about whether the account is powered by a real human or not. It’s a curious development. I’m in favour of AI helping us do our work. I’m not in favour of people thinking content created by a human is actually something cooked up by an AI, mostly because it means the entire experience will degrade, one post at a time. I’ve already experienced way more LinkedIn spam messaging of late, to the point where I now barely read any direct messages at all. The last thing I need is AI spam.

The question is where this all will lead. Once AI starts controlling the algorithm and posting content to lure us into more discussions, it’s just a matter of time before more and more accounts that appear to be human (with an AI-generated face and a fake location) start invading these networks, ruining the experience for all of us.

Imagine how this might work.

On a typical day, you might login to LinkedIn or Facebook, scrolling through your feed. You see plenty of comments and lively discussion. But it’s all a ruse. The social media platform has allowed and even enabled the AI accounts to create the discussions (and the comments), and they are geared for you — your interests and proclivities. The chats will always look appealing because the social media networks know what you like and what you usually follow.

On Instagram and TikTok, bots will know which photos and videos you like the best, but without the human element, it will all become nothing more than a way to grab your attention even more and keep you hooked longer on the apps, showing you ads that are also fine-tuned to your interest. Not to make it all sound too dire, but think of The Matrix and the moment Neo realized he was (spoiler alert for the five people who don’t know this) nothing more than a battery in a tube.

When we are all surrounded by AI bots acting like humans, looking at content that was not generated by humans and looking at ads powered by algorithms, it will feel about the same as The Matrix. None of it will seem real. And then one of it will have value.

With apologies to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, this might be when we reach behind our neck and pull the cord out. It might be when social media finally loses its grip on us and we realize it was all designed to keep us hooked to their advertising formulas after all. I hope we do wake up before that nightmare occurs.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By John Brandon

John Brandon is a well-known journalist who has published over 15,000 articles on social media, technology, leadership, mentoring, and many other topics. Before starting his writing career in 2001, he worked as an Information Design Director at Best Buy Corporation. Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnbrandonmn. @johnbrandonmn

Sourced from Forbes

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How to target ultra-high net worth individuals on social media

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By Lily Power 

Ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) use social media differently compared with the rest of us. Here, Relevance’s Lily Power reveals how to entice the 1%.

Social media is a powerful marketing tool for reaching ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), but it requires a tailored approach and a thorough understanding of this exclusive audience.

This group represents less than 1% of the world’s population and has specific expectations regarding digital marketing.

UHNW consumers frequently use social media platforms, with 99% using social media and spending close to 90 minutes per day browsing them. Brands can use these platforms to engage and build meaningful relationships with this audience.

What social media platforms do UHNWIs use?

Each social platform serves a unique purpose and typically attracts different users – including several social platforms used exclusively by the world’s wealthiest.

For example, Best of All Worlds is an invite-only app designed to ensure that members don’t find themselves ‘overwhelmed with irrelevant connections’. Rich Kids is a quasi-Instagram, with membership costing US$1,000 per month.

Yacht broker Northrop & Johnson’s UHNW clients are highly active on LinkedIn, Instagram, and niche investment communities such as Wealthfront and AngelList. Nearly seven in 10 of them use social media regularly, with LinkedIn (36%), YouTube (35%), and Facebook (34%) each cited by about one-third of respondents.

Here are five tips for reaching this powerful audience on social.

1. Create a targeted strategy

It takes more than just creating a social media profile and posting content; you must understand the individual and their goals to target UHNWIs effectively.

UHNWIs are often highly sceptical of marketing messages and will not respond to traditional marketing tactics. When targeting them through social media, focus your efforts on the correct channels. It’s imperative to understand their lifestyle, interests, and values to develop content and messaging that resonates with them.

Once you have identified the right platforms, create a targeted strategy focused on UHNWIs’ unique needs and interests. They are accustomed to being presented with tailored offers, so your message must stand out.

2. Find out what content resonates with your target audience

UHNWIs are seeking content that fulfils their needs beyond purchasing a product or service. For the world’s wealthiest, luxury is a baseline, and nothing is a ‘dream purchase’. Brands can engage them with crafted, strikingly beautiful content and by creating events or experiences tailored to their interests.

This higher-quality and bespoke content develops trust and helps build ongoing relationships while increasing loyalty and adding value to engagement. Create a sense of exclusivity through your brand messaging and content to ensure success.

This group is protective, valuing privacy and security. Instead of being sales-led, you should focus on sharing aspirational content. UHNWIs are a common target for various online crimes and intrusions due to their lifestyle. Privacy and security should be at the forefront of your strategy.

3. ‘Genuinfluencer’ marketing

There is a fine line between promotion and saturation, especially for ultra-luxury brands. Many luxury brands are using ‘genuinfluencers’ due to their high-quality and authentic content, engaged communities of followers, and actionable insights. This makes genuinfluencers valuable partners for luxury brands seeking to reach and engage with UHNWIs.

Genuinfluencers work on establishing trustworthy relationships, making them a highly effective brand partnership. UHNWIs relate to people who are similar to them, so they will be influenced by genuinfluencers only if they are carefully selected. Self-made UHNWIs might relate to self-made genuinfluencers, whereas heirs and heiresses might be influenced by people of similar background.

Executing campaigns over a social platform where your target audience is most active is essential. The right geninfluencer can help you reach UHNWIs and drive engagement, if they’re similar to your target demographic.

4. Targeted ads on social media

Luxury brands can use social media ads to target UHNWIs based on their interests, demographics, and other factors, as well as targeting custom audiences and lookalike audiences.

Paid ads on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have layered and targeted options, which brands can use to target UHNWIs based on their demographic information like industry sector, interests, high-powered job roles or even income level. There is ample opportunity to connect and build relationships with this exclusive audience by sharing content on existing social media groups and pages.

Start by researching UHNW profiles and identifying their interests, hobbies, and lifestyle. This will help you create ads that are tailored specifically to them. Use language that resonates with their demographic and include a strong call to action.

Leverage retargeting; it allows you to advertise to users who have already interacted or had some level of engagement with your brand, ensuring higher conversion rates.

These highly educated individuals embrace emotional intelligence principles such as trustworthiness and empathy, which is why some platforms may perform better than others. For example, LinkedIn is an excellent platform to share thought leadership and research pieces.

5. Track campaign success

Keeping track of your efforts will enable you to understand what is and isn’t working and adjust your strategy accordingly. The best way to know if you are reaching and resonating with your audience is to track business metrics such as leads generated, quality of leads, cost per lead, conversion to sale and overall revenue.

Feature Image Credit: Laila Gebhard

By Lily Power 

Sourced from The Drum

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Facebook Is Building a Twitter Rival. Here’s What Marketers Need to Know

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By Dom Nicastro

Facebook’s mulling a decentralized platform that rivals Twitter and Mastodon, but can it be a marketing goldmine?

The Gist

  • Step aside, Twitter and Mastodon? Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is planning to build a standalone text-based app that integrates with ActivityPub, an open, decentralized social networking protocol that controls notifications and content. This could potentially rival Twitter and Mastodon.
  • Marketing goldmine, or landmine? Smaller social media apps like Mastodon and Post.news, which foster a decentralized, ad-free platform, could pose challenges for marketers since they don’t allow personalized content or ads.
  • Meet P92, eventually. Meta’s new social media app is still in the development stage and has been codenamed P92.

Remember that whole social media thing? You know, before generative artificial intelligence took over our brains last fall?

Well, the big social media platforms are still out there. Really out there, in some cases. Smaller ones have emerged, and emerged again. And the bigger ones are contemplating creating smaller spinoffs.

The latest: Meta, owners of Facebook and Instagram, wants to build a standalone, text-based app that integrates with ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social networking protocol that delivers APIs for content management and federated server-to-server content management that controls notifications and content. Moneycontrol first reported this news March 10.

Twitter rival? Mastodon rival? Maybe so.

This development means more questions for marketers and customer experience professionals. Particularly, this: will we be able to build true marketing content real estate and valuable customer experiences on these new rising social media apps?

The news comes as Facebook March 14 announced another round of layoffs — 10,000 employees.

Marketer- and Customer Experience-Friendly Social Media Apps?

Here’s the biggest problem with some of these new apps. They’re not exactly marketer-friendly. The point of Mastodon, for instance, is to foster a decentralized, open-source social media platform that has no ads and presents posts in chronological order rather than using an algorithm to predict best-matched content. The site describes itself as a federated network.

Wait, no ads? No personalized content? What is a marketer — and a brand — to do?

Meanwhile, the vision for another new social media app, Post.news, is to be a “virtual watercooler for journalists.” The model: access premium news content without subscriptions or ads where writers share their articles on the site under a paywall. Marketers, advertisers and brands will be limited to posting relevant, informative or entertaining content, rather than running advertisements or posting promotional material.

So that’s good, but not quite marketing nirvana, right?

What We Know About Meta’s Potential Social Media App

Will marketers and customer experience professionals be able to get more pieces of the Meta social media innovation pie? Outside of, of course, the tried and true Facebook and Instagram?

It’s early to tell. News of the possible new social media app from Meta — said to be a Twitter rival — came out just over the past few days. Here’s what we do know so far:

  • Meta’s confirmed the development. “We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
  • It has a name. The project for this new social media app is codenamed P92, though sources told Moneycontrol it’s still in the idea stage and a work in progress. So it’s entirely unclear how far along it is on the development trail.
  • It may give users ability to share across servers. A source told Moneycontrol the Meta new social app would give users the ability to post to other servers. With Mastodon, you have to pick a server. What are servers related to decentralized social platforms? Mastodon servers, also called “instances,” are individual communities, each with its own rules and culture. A server can be owned by a person, a group or a professional organization, and the server owner is the one who dictates the community’s guidelines. (Imagine trying to crack some marketing eggs over that).
  • Preview, followers and likes. Sound familiar? This new app would have features like tappable links in posts with previews, user bio, username and verification badges, according to Moneycontrol. Comments and messages? Not clear yet. A source did tell Moneycontrol, “The team is also discussing whether to have the ability to reshare content like Twitter apart from business and creator accounts. A rights manager will be integrated from the beginning for first party content, but probably not for third party content from other apps and servers,” said another source.

With No Hard Plans for Meta, Focus on Content

The ultimate message with this latest social media development out of Meta for marketers and customer experience professionals? It’s hard to take any action on Meta’s plans since, for now, they are just that: plans. Nothing concrete.

Social media marketing will always be about what your customers and prospects think it is, and where they are, not you or your brand.

“Plan for more exploration of how to repurpose content, as no single format or platform will serve every moment or need,” CMSWire author Pierre DeBois wrote in an article on his social media vision for 2023: “Marketers should also plan campaign labels to compare channel lift and ROI. Doing so will deepen understanding what intent data streams are created from the video campaigns and events.”

By Dom Nicastro

Dom Nicastro is managing editor of CMSWire and an award-winning journalist with a passion for technology, customer experience and marketing. With more than 20 years of experience, he has written for various publications, like the Gloucester Daily Times and Boston Magazine. He has a proven track record of delivering high-quality, informative, and engaging content to his readers. Dom works tirelessly to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in the industry to provide readers with accurate, trustworthy information to help them make informed decisions.

Sourced from CMSWIRE

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How to Make the Most of Your Public Relations

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By Jessica Wong

By combining PR with branding, content creation, advertising campaigns and social media outreach, companies can generate marketing results and boost their business growth.

Public relations (PR) is essential to any successful strategic marketing plan, but is your business making the most of its PR efforts? An effective PR campaign not only delivers media coverage in your target publications. In addition, optimized PR feeds into all other analog and digital marketing efforts to help your business connect with its audiences, wherever they are.

Why PR is so powerful

Even in the age of digital marketing, public relations campaigns are based on pitching to the media. When just a few years ago, PR professionals focused on print and broadcast media only; they are now extending their efforts to include online-only publications and leading bloggers.

The goal is simple: PR professionals are working with journalists and other content creators to add credibility to the brand they are representing. Media coverage not only creates exposure for the brand. It also adds a layer of credibility and trust that exceeds what other elements of a brand’s marketing strategy can provide.

According to the Institute for PR, audiences consider so-called earned media to be more credible than other sources of information. This credibility is critical to brand development, whether you want to build brand awareness or establish thought leadership in your field. Earned media is the result of effective PR.

The importance of PR is reflected in the industry’s continued growth. PR revenue is expected to grow worldwide from $88 billion in 2020 to $129 billion in 2025. PR agencies in the United States generated $14.5 billion in revenue in 2020. PR grew during the pandemic when advertising and the marketing industry as a whole contracted.

How to optimize the outcome of PR campaigns

To optimize the results of PR campaigns and maximize the benefits of public relations for a brand, marketing and PR professionals need to recognize the strengths of PR. Although online and offline news coverage can support a brand in the short and the long term, PR thrives over time. In addition, PR campaigns have more impact when connected to other elements of a company’s marketing strategy.

Focusing on the long term

Establishing successful media relationships takes time. PR experts understand which publications are interested in covering which brands and consistently pitch relevant stories to their media contacts. They understand that not every journalist will pick up every press release or feature suggestion. Rather than blanket-emailing press releases, PR pros get to know the interests of the most relevant journalist and pitch stories that are likely to make the cut.

The effort of relationship-building and consistency pays off when a brand receives attention in local and regional media outlets, eventually even getting the attention of national media. Industry-specific publications can also offer a great starting point for PR campaigns.

PR is best used as a mid to long term component of a brand’s marketing strategy. Allowing time to establish and nurture media relationships plays to the strengths of PR. Of course, there may be situations when immediate crisis communications are critical to protecting a brand’s reputation. But in most cases, PR excels as part of a long-term strategy.

Combining the strengths of PR with other marketing activities

Despite its undoubted strengths, PR alone is not enough to achieve all of a company’s business goals. Expecting a single PR campaign to increase credibility, drive web traffic, establish thought leadership within an industry and drive foot traffic to local branches is unrealistic.

Saying that, once marketing teams combine PR efforts with other strategic marketing activities, they will soon see the desired results. Combined with consistent brand messaging, for example, PR can improve brand perception among audiences.

While public relations does not necessarily result in immediate sales, stories pitched to the media can effectively educate the public about specific products and services. Many online publications are happy to link to a company’s website, thus helping search engine optimization (SEO) and local search rankings.

How PR, paid advertising and social media work together

Where PR is ideal for improving a brand’s image in the long term and connecting with audiences through a third party, paid advertising offers short-term, data-driven opportunities.

A strategically planned program of paid adverts can immediately increase brand or product exposure. Since the advent of digital marketing channels, it has become easier to reach highly targeted audiences, increasing the effectiveness of campaigns. Real-time campaign performance data allows marketers to iterate messaging and campaign design on the spot, further improving the effectiveness of their approach.

High-quality visual content, including images and videos, can be compelling in local newspapers, broadcast outlets and online channels. By streamlining advertising and PR messages, paid and earned media start working hand in hand to reach users of publications they already enjoy and, more importantly, trust.

Social media has been another fairly recent addition to a marketing team’s choice of channels where they connect with their audiences. Like traditional media, social media offers a range of opportunities, including paid, earned and owned coverage.

While earned coverage continues to come with the highest level of credibility even on social media, a company’s owned media channels offer another opportunity to share the results of PR efforts. By sharing stories that have been published about the brand, marketers are allowing the third-party credibility of those stories to reflect on the brand.

Existing followers will feel reassured in their choice of brand followership, and sharing stories from credible sources may catch the interest of new potential audiences.

Bringing it all together

Successful marketing relies on a solid strategy that joins the strengths of PR and other marketing activities. Combining PR with the power of branding, content creation, advertising campaigns, and social media outreach allows companies to generate the marketing results and overall business growth they are looking for. On its own, PR is powerful, but in combination with other marketing activities, public relations become unbeatable.

By Jessica Wong

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor

Founder & CEO of both Valux Digital and uPro Digital. Jessica Wong is the Founder and CEO of both Valux Digital and uPro Digital. She is a digital marketing and PR expert with more than 20 years of success driving bottom-line results for clients through innovative marketing programs aligned with emerging strategies.

Sourced from Entrepreneur 

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Five Tips To Make Your Business Stand Out

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By Brittany Bettini

Building a successful business requires a lot of hard work, dedication and strategic planning. One of the most important aspects to focus on is marketing and branding your business so it stands out in the marketplace. Creating an effective brand strategy is essential for building long-term relationships with customers, increasing customer loyalty and ensuring your business’ longevity.

1. Create an effective branding strategy.

The first step to creating a successful brand strategy is to develop a unique and recognizable brand identity. Make sure your brand identity conveys the values and mission of your company in a memorable way. This will help to differentiate you from competitors and create a lasting impression on potential customers.

The more memorable and identifiable your brand identity is, the more likely customers will be able to recall it easily when they need a product or service. You can achieve this by creating a logo, color scheme and slogan that are unique to your business and will help you stand out from the crowd.

2. Develop relationships with reporters.

The second step is to build relationships with reporters so that you have more of an opportunity for them to cover your business in the media. Reach out to local reporters, editors and media outlets to establish these relationships.

This step could also be done through networking, attending press events and conferences, or even offering interviews to reporters. When you have established relationships with media outlets, you may have a better chance to generate more attention for your brand.

3. Utilize social media platforms.

Social media can be used as a powerful tool when it comes to promoting your business. Use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to make announcements about your new products or services, provide updates on special offers, discuss customer feedback and more. This can help you to reach a larger audience quickly and engage with potential customers in a meaningful way.

4. Leverage influencers.

Leveraging influencers is another great way to spread the word about your brand and help you reach new audiences. This can be done through collaborations, content sharing or sponsored posts that feature your products and services. When working with influencers, keep these tips in mind.

• Research: It’s important to research the influencers you are thinking of working with in order to determine if they would be a good fit for your brand. Look at their followers, content and engagement rate to make sure that their audience is relevant to your target market.

• Establish a relationship: Don’t just jump into a working relationship with an influencer without establishing a good rapport. Connect with them on social media and build relationships so that you can get to know each other before deciding to partner up.

• Set clear expectations: Make sure that both parties are on the same page regarding expectations and rules. This includes payment terms, deadlines, content requirements, etc.

• Offer incentives: Influencers want to work with brands that value their time and offer proper compensation for their services. Consider offering incentives such as discounts or exclusive offers to entice influencers to collaborate with you.

5. Participate in local events.

Finally, participating in local events is another great way to market and promote your business. You can also attend events such as trade shows and conferences to showcase your brand and services. Additionally, hosting your own events in your local area can also help to build relationships with customers and give them a chance to interact with your brand in a positive way.

In conclusion, creating an effective brand strategy is crucial for the success of any business. By developing a unique and recognizable brand identity, building relationships with reporters, using social media to promote your business, leveraging influencers and participating in local events, you can ensure that your brand stands out from the competition and is remembered by customers. With a comprehensive strategy in place, you will be well on your way to growing a successful business and long-term customer loyalty.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Brittany Bettini

Brittany Bettini is the Founder of Bettini Enterprises Inc. Read Brittany Bettini’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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