10 Creative Ways to Use Instagram for Business. Are you thinking about putting your business on Instagram? Are you looking for content ideas for this increasingly popular mobile social platform? Read further to discover how you can use Instagram to give your business extra visibility and better engage with the Instagram community. What Is Instagram? Instagram is a free mobile photo-sharing app with 80 million users and counting. It has seen many changes lately. Instagram was acquired by Facebook in April 2012, launched a redesign on iOS that includes a new “Explore” tab and is rumored to be developing a web presence (so that users can see photos online, not just on the mobile app).
A view of Instagram's interface in iOS. Social media management platform HootSuite also recently announced the addition of Instagram to its app directory. Clearly, Instagram is an up-and-coming photo-focused social platform not to be ignored. Here are 10 creative ways your business can use Instagram. #1: Show Your Products Got a service-oriented business? If you don't know EdgeRank, you're not invited to the Facebook party | Opinion. It still baffles me how many people masquerading as social media executives, consultants and - worse - experts still don’t know what Facebook’s EdgeRank is and how they can use it to their advantage.
For those still in the dark, EdgeRank is Facebook’s secret formula that determines how many people see a brand’s or personal user’s posts in the news feed and how high that particular content is positioned. It has been well publicised that on average, Facebook page posts only reach about 16% of that page’s fans. Even brands that have amassed tens of millions of fans often only reach a couple of thousand of that base via the news feed with their posts. But other pages have seen some considerable results without having to fork out tens of thousands of pounds for a reach block, just by understanding the science behind social. EdgeRank is invaluable to marketers, not least because 98% of people who like a brand page only visit that page once, according to industry sources. EdgeRank lesson over.
5 Time-Saving Tools for Twitter. It's safe to assume that anyone who has a substantial number of Twitter followers (say, tens or hundreds of thousands) is not only interesting and entertaining... but is also really good at managing the process. If you want to be good at managing your own Twitter process the problem is there are hundreds of Twitter tools and apps, including some really good tools you probably aren't using. So I conducted a totally unscientific survey: I asked some of my Twitter followers who have at least 5-digit followings which tool they use the most for managing Twitter.
The clear winner was Buffer, a tool that lets you schedule tweets so you can avoid joining the tweet-a-minute club and so you connect with followers when they're most likely to be available and active. If Buffer works for the big boys and girls, it can work for me and you, so I asked Leo Widrich, Buffer co-founder, for ways to streamline your Twitter efforts by leveraging Buffer: Turn Twitter and Facebook into a social media dashboard. Beware Social Media Snake Oil. For business, the rising popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media Web sites presents a tantalizing opportunity.
As millions of people flock to these online services to chat, flirt, swap photos, and network, companies have the chance to tune in to billions of digital conversations. They can pitch a product, listen to customer feedback, or ask for ideas. If they work it right, customers might even produce companies' advertising for them and trade the ads with friends for free. Starbucks (SBUX), Dell (DELL), and Ford Motor (F) have all testified to the magic social media can create. But the same tools carry risks. Employees encouraged to tap social networking sites can fritter away hours, or worse. Over the past five years, an entire industry of consultants has arisen to help companies navigate the world of social networks, blogs, and wikis.
The problem, according to a growing chorus of critics, is that many would-be guides are leading clients astray. FURY VS. The 10 Most Misleading Social Media Metrics in the World. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! Numbers. You want them. I want them. But there is a big problem with all these social media numbers that are soooo important to the success of your business—many don’t mean squat.
In other words, a number, no matter how high it is, is worthless to a business unless it leads to more sales and customers, period. So that’s what this article is about. The 10 Most Misleading Social Media Metrics in the World 1. Ahh yes, Alexa, our favorite traffic indicator and a metric that finds itself on almost every social media geek’s toolbar in the world. As of today, 5/30/2012, the Alexa Ranking for The Sales Lion is 46,500 and averages 900-1200 visitors a day on the site. Moral of the story? 2. Maybe I should just bring in Danny Brown to discuss Klout for a minute but let me just say this—I still, to this day, do not know my Klout Score. 3. Yes, Twitter followers do indicate, in some ways, one’s influence.
Sad...but true. How to Produce Better (More Viral) Videos in 48 Hours. EmailShare 13EmailShare So about 8 months ago before heading out to Bali for two months, I decided that I was going to do things a little bit differently here. I decided I was going to get really serious about the next big wave in online content distribution: video.
I got setup with all sorts of cameras and tools to be able to produce high quality video that was going to blow the world away. I had visions of thousands of people following along on my world adventures, taking in beautiful vistas, all the while learning how to build a business that would allow them to do the same. Great idea in concept right? So then what’s the the problem? I’ve produced over 35 videos in the last 8 months from places like Hong Kong, Bali, Vail etc. So why should you listen to me when I obviously haven’t had a lot of success with my videos? Video is a whole different beast than blogging. In this day and age when we think of viral content, we think of viral videos.
Step #1 to Better Videos: Commitment Setting. A New Category Defined: Social Performance Software.