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Posts Tagged ‘Instagram’

5 Visual Content Ideas for Instagram

November 1st, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

If you’re not used to snapping photos while at work, try it. In this final post of this 3-part series on sharing visual content on social media, we’ll look at some fun ideas that are easy to implement on Instagram. The inspiration for this series came from a Hubspot ebook, but most of the actual ideas are my own.

1. Share your logo

Snap photos of your logo used in unusual ways while at work or when out and about – someone using your branded notepad during a meeting, wearing your baseball cap running errands, carrying your tote at a farmer’s market.

2. Employees are part of your brand…

Sharing photos of your employees doing what they do – whether it’s installing landscaping, meeting to discuss specials before dinner restaurant service begins, or hand-stitching a wedding dress – is not only interesting, but also humanizes your company and makes you seem more accessible.

3. …and so are events

Any event that you host or sponsor is fair game – especially if you can get behind-the-scenes, pre- or post-event photos, or photos of you or an employee with a celebrity.

4. Don’t forget your products

If you create or sell a product, go crazy with photos, but get creative. Don’t just plop it on a white table and snap a photo. Let’s say you make pillow covers. Hang them up in a row by color and snap a photo. Take one with you when you travel and snap a photo of it at the airport, on a plane, in your hotel room, in the back of the rental car, etc.

5. Take photos when you travel

Even if you don’t travel far for work, take photos of the places you go. By doing so, you are letting people get a sneak peek at your life, and that creates a level of intimacy and trust you don’t get with an automated email marketing message. I took the above photo a few days ago while out on my daily walk. Simple, easy, beautiful!

What other ideas do you have?

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Tags: Instagram, Marketing, photos, social media, visual content
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

5 Common Misconceptions About Social Media – and Why They Are Not True

September 6th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Because using social media for marketing is still a relatively young practice, many misconceptions about it continue to float around out there. Here are 5 that I hear all the time, followed by the truth:

1. Social media cannot be used in my industry

Uh, really? Why not? Your customers are people, and chances are they are already using Facebook and LinkedIn – and maybe Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest too. Instead of making broad assumptions, get online and spend 30 minutes searching topics and keywords that are industry-specific. You might be surprised about who is talking about what.

2. My business is too boring to be good at using social media

Yes, it is much easier to come up with fun status updates, contest ideas, photos and videos if you are a salon and spa rather than an industrial metals manufacturer. So get creative! Ask, “What does my target audience care about? How can I engage them with photos, videos, contests and games?” For example: your employees could do a spoof on a song, changing the words so they are related to your company or industry.

3. Success is measured by quantity (of blog comments, Twitter followers – you name it)

Measuring the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts by tallying up the number of comments your blog gets, the number of Twitter followers you have, or the number of times a photo is shared is wrong in so many ways. What you need to be measuring is the number of leads you are generating, the quality of the leads, and how many are converting into customers. Customers, not popularity, are what pay the bills.

4. I must have a presence on every single social media network

This is only true if your target market is active – in large numbers – on every single social media network. They probably are not. Find the 2 or 3 networks with the most activity, and focus on those.

5. I don’t have time for social media

You probably do, actually, and that is because being active is not that time-consuming. Just as you devote time to checking email, answering customer queries and keeping up with industry news, you can carve out some time for social media. Set aside 30 minutes to plan out an editorial schedule and decide what you will post when. Once you do that, you will probably only spend 15 or 20 minutes total on your social media accounts every day.

What other misconceptions do you hear about social media? Share them below!

Image courtesy of brainwormproductions.com

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Tags: engagement, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, social media, social media analytics, social media misconceptions, target market, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 9 Comments »

How to Use Instagram for Marketing

September 4th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

I had never thought to integrate Instagram into a marketing strategy – until I read this great article published by Marketo on their blog that beautifully illustrates the possibilities in an infographic. With 50 million Instagram users and counting, it is time to start paying attention to the photo-sharing platform. Here’s what I learned:

Photos rule when it comes to marketing because:

Photos make an emotional connection in a way that text cannot.
Photos make your company and brand more relatable.
Photos are fun and engaging.
Photos shared via Instagram are reaching a huge audience, thanks to steady user adoption.

Like any other marketing tool, it’s best to use Instagram systematically:

Curate

Determine what will engage your target market by asking: What do they want to see? How can I get them to engage with my photos? What will get them talking about my company? Develop a photo curation plan around the answers.

Snap

Consider only sharing some photos on Instagram, where you can even leak company secrets for added exclusivity. Be sure your photos are gorgeous – anything subpar will dilute your brand – and be sure they include shots of your employees and office. By letting people into your work life, you will create strong connections.

Hashtag

Consider using unique hashtags as keywords in order to make your company and brand easily findable. Be sure to add them to all your posts.

Engage

Increase engagement levels by posting photos of your – and customer – events, using geolocation, and adding a gamification element, like asking users to submit photos, come up with a creative captions for a photo, or solving a mystery about your photo.

Repeat

Once you start using Instagram, keep it up!

Whether or not you already use photos as part of your marketing strategy, would you consider using Instagram? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Image courtesy of play.google.com.

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Tags: engagement, hashtags, Instagram, Marketing, photo sharing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

Automate Online Marketing and Stay Organized With IFTTT

June 6th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

In order to manager social media, small business owners do a lot of things, from downloading various apps to using social media dashboards. I just read about another tool that you might want to consider using called Ifttt.

Funny name, cool service: Ifttt is short for “If this, then that” – basically, it’s a very easy way to automate your social media accounts. Think of it like a game of dominos: You simply set a trigger for one service, and when that occurs, another action is immediately carried out.

Here are 3 ways Ifttt can work for you:

Link accounts so specific actions are automatic.

For example, post news and updates on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ at once and link your RSS feed so new blog posts are automatically shared.

Administrative grunt work will be easier.

Instead of changing account profile pictures one by one, all of your profile pictures will update across accounts – or on only two accounts.

You can keep track of your social media updates and shared links by sending them to Evernote and posting them on your Google Calendar.

If you use Google Reader, send blog post ideas to Evernote before you forget about them.

Organize yourself once and for all.

Keeping up with email is a never-ending task, but Ifttt makes it a lot easier. Emails can be cleared out of your inbox by adding labels to Gmail messages and sending them to Evernote or your calendar.

Backing up documents, pictures, and email attachments can be done by sending them to Dropbox, and you can cross-post images on Instagram and Flickr, thus creating two archives.

Instead of juggling calendars and communication channels, notifications can be set up to keep you up-to-date. For example, you can be informed of changes to your flight’s departure time and reminded about regular events, like your weekly staff meeting.

***

If you use Ifttt, what other ways has it made your life easier? Share your ideas in the comments section below!

Image courtesy of socialmediarology.com

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Tags: email, Evernote, Facebook, Flicr, Google, Ifttt, Instagram, Marketing, marketing automation, social media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

10 Super Useful iPhone Apps You Need, Part 1

October 3rd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series 10 Super Useful iPhone Apps

Social Media Examiner published a great blog post recently on social media marketing apps that I tucked away for future use. While I don’t really think they are social media marketing apps, they are definitely good ones to know about. So, since there are some super useful apps on the list, here are the first 10 I liked the best. Look out for Part 2 soon.

Analytics App: This is a Google Analytics app that lets you view 55 reports via your iPhone. Caveat: There have not been enough reviews to rate the app; however, it’s only $6.99, so it’s worth a try.

Chomp helps you finds apps you want, so you can search based on what apps actually do. Super useful, as an app’s name usually tells you very little about it. Just search by keywords to start finding apps by category.

DocsToGo: Want to work on the go? DocsToGo lets you view, edit and create Word and Excel files and view PowerPoints and PDFs.

Dragon Dictation: This is a really, REALLY useful app, as it lets you speak your text, email messages, and Facebook and Twitter updates right into your phone.

Dropbox: If you don’t know about them yet, time to check them out. This free service lets you bring all your photos, docs and videos anywhere.

Flipboard: This app is basically a magazine for the stuff you care about. It lets you flip through the news, photos, videos and updates your friends are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Flickr and Instagram.

Homebase: If you are time-crunched, you can blast your announcements to all the social media platforms you use, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare.

Instapaper: If you travel a lot by plane and don’t want to pony up for an Internet connection, use Instapaper to save Web pages for later offline reading.

LastPass Tab Browser: How many passwords do you have? A zillion, right? Store your passwords here and access them on any device anywhere.

LiveProfile: This is another really cool app that will make your life a lot easier. It is a free, cross-platform messenger for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android smartphones that lets you send messages, photos, videos, post status updates and customize your profile.

Image by Flickr user Yutaka Tsutano (Creative Commons)

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Tags: analytics, apps, blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Google Readers, Instagram, iOS, ipad, iPhone, LinkedIn, Marketing, smartphones, social media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »