the current state of social media channels by dda pr
TRANSCRIPT
THE CURRENT STATE OF FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this presentation is to give a brief outline of the current state of Facebook,Twitter and Instagram and touch upon the big trend in social media right now… real-time marketing. In doing so we hope to provide a few tips to help those within thefilm, television, entertainment and brands PR industry.
The reason we’re starting with these three platforms, and not others, is because theytend to be the main channels that our clients are looking to engage their customerson. That is not to say that other sites aren’t just as beneficial, if not more so, and restassured that over the coming weeks we will be producing similar presentations onplatforms such as Tumblr and Pinterest.
We hope you find this SlideShare of use and if you have any thoughts or commentsthen please do get in touch!
Facebook Pages are increasingly becoming a company’s second website and in manyinstances replacing a website altogether, particularly within the film industry. As aresult people need to be made fully aware of a product’s Facebook presence insimple, yet creative ways. The below from San Pellegrino – who have neatly added aFacebook logo to the caps of their drinks – is a great example of this.
One of the most concerning trends at the moment is that the organic reach of aFacebook Page’s content is continually decreasing. Just because a Facebook Page has20,000 fans that doesn’t mean 20,000 people see a piece of content. In reality thefigure is more likely to be under 2,000. 1,500 pieces of content could enter a user’snewsfeed in a given day, and so Facebook needs a way to decide what content a usershould and shouldn’t see. That means Facebook will punish content if it doesn’treceive any engagement (likes, comments and shares).
Besides aiming to create content that receives more engagement (and thereforeboosting the likelihood that it will be seen), Facebook advertising is one way ofreaching more of your fans. If you decide to invest though you must be careful. Therehave been reported instances of brands paying for adverts that are being seen byspam accounts, not real people. Be sure to check the users who have ‘liked’ your Pageand make sure they are genuine.
FACEBOOK TIPS
TIP 1: To combat the decrease in organicreach post images in your Page updates,share articles, keep the text length of yourposts to around 90 characters, and useemoticons. Believe it or not all techniqueshave been found to increase the reach ofcontent. (N.B. Innocent Drinks are a greatexample of a brand that understands content– well worth a look at for inspiration.)
TIP 2: If you really want to know howsuccessful your Page is then judgeperformance by your People Talking AboutThis (PTAT) score. This is the number ofpeople who are actually engaging in yourcontent, whether that be by liking a post orcommenting on your Page.
Twitter is an information network, not a social network. It is a great place for users tofind material relevant to their interests and with so many niche communities on theplatform you can begin to target conversations in a very detailed manner.
There are many features to Twitterthat are often picked up by users andyet overlooked by companies. Thisincludes aspects such as one’s profiledesigns, Twitter bio description or thetone of voice used in content.Mother’s Milk – a small coffee shop inLondon – is a great example of anaccount that understands its audienceand how Twitter works.
While Twitter is a good channel forcustomer service – both positive andnegative – it is important to be aspersonal as possible. Users don’t wantbland faceless responses to their tweets,they want further conversations. Addingcharacter to tweets, rather than sendinga generic template response, can setaccounts apart. If O2 can do it thenanyone can.
80% of all users are active on mobile devices and as a result it is important to thinkabout how your content will appear in someone’s mobile newsfeed. Twitter is alsobecoming more and more about images and videos so avoid sharing photos acrossfrom Instagram or a link-based service as this will mean users have to go to a differentwebsite to view an image. Instead images should be directly uploaded to Twitter orthrough a management tool such as Buffer or Sprout Social.
TWITTER TIPS
TIP 1: People don’t always @mention yourbrand when talking about you so makesure you use software just as TweetDeck orHootsuite to search for key terms in orderto be part of relevant conversations
TIP 2: Take advantage of Twitter’s newfunctionality that allows you to add fourimages to one tweet, whilst being able totag in those featured in the photos.
INSTAGRAMInstagram is all about user experiences. As aresult people are not used to seeing Instagramcontent that is heavily branded with there alsobeing very little paid media on the platform.Currently advertising is being rolled out withselect partners in the US, such as with MichaelKors, but this has been a very slow process withusers commenting that it is intrusive andirrelevant.
Content that a user can relate to will always bethe most successful on Instagram, particularly ifit taps into their experience of that givenproduct. If content can produce this then itshows the customer that they are understoodand creates an emotional attachmentimmediately. This is exactly what HerschelSupply Co (the bag maker) have done.
INSTAGRAMInstagram has added two new features in the pastyear. Firstly the ability to create videos on theplatform, and secondly the ability to share imagesto a select group of people you follow rather thaneveryone (Instagram Direct).
Instagram is known for sharing images to yourfollowers, with video an added feature to theplatform in response to the rise of Vine – Twitter’svideo app. Therefore, in general, creating videos onInstagram will never be more popular than postingimages. That said, video content can be used veryeffectively to promote film or television content(for example the Steve Jobs movie).
Similarly Instagram Direct, partly created as aresponse to Snapchat, is not a feature that usersare familiar with and so hasn’t taken off.
INSTAGRAM TIPS
TIP 1: While general users have not really taken to it, Instagram Direct is a good tool ifyou want to reach out to influencers on the platform as you can send privatemessages to people who may not follow you. This feature can also be used to rewardfans and garner further engagement through competitions and challenges.
TIP 2: Like Twitter, users may notdirectly tag you into their content,however they may use hashtags toreference your film or product. Makesure you search these hashtags so youdon’t miss out on importantconversations that you could be havingwith customers. Commenting andliking these images is also a great wayto build a strong following.
Having looked at some of the channels available it is clear that the content beingposted is the most important part of any social media activity. Content marketing isone of the key ways to combat Facebook’s decreasing organic reach and the hugeamount of noise that exists online. After Oreo’s infamous ‘Dunk in the dark’ tweetduring the Super Bowl in 2013 (see right) real-time social media content has becomethe holy grail of social media marketing. When timed right content such as this canhelp cut through all the conversations that are taking place and elevate your brandabove all others. If content is King, then context is Queen.
THE BIG TREND
NOTE: It is important that you don’t just jump on aconversation for the sake of it. Make sure yourcontent won’t be viewed as out of place by othersocial users by adding value to their onlineexperience, whether through humour, emotion orinformation.
TIP 1: You can’t plan for a blackout during one of the largest shows on earth, but youcan identify popular events that will generate conversations and prepare content thatsubtly involves your brand. Mother’s Day, Easter, the Football World Cup… all thesewill be spoken about in great depth across social media so be prepared.
THE BIG TREND
TIP 2: It may sound obvious but…listen to what people are sayingabout a topic. This tweet fromArby’s was sent in response to theUS musician Pharrell Williamswearing a hat similar to the one intheir logo. It cut through all thenoise that other brands were
creating as it shows personality and creativity. Interestingly it was actually the fans of Arby’s who were the first ones tweeting about Pharell’s hat. It meant that all Arby’s needed to do was listen to what was being said and post it from their own account, rather than having to have a whole team of creatives on stand-by!
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