‘One size’ doesn’t always fit when it comes to social media

Chelsey Ross

At some point or another, almost every company wonders whether they should jump on the social media bandwagon. The answer is that you absolutely need to, but in our current digital age, the many forms of social media can be overwhelming. If you don’t have a strategy, social media efforts can be a waste of time, effort and sometimes money. There are many different social media platforms that all serve different functions and will show off your brand image differently. You don’t need to have every platform to have social media success, so choose which one best suits your company needs. 

1. Facebook: Facebook has 1 billion users and gives your company the ability to connect with customers through posting about your product or service; answering consumer questions; giving customers the ability to like and share your posts; and tagging you when they buy or use your product or service. You can also use Facebook to advertise. Side ads and sponsored posts can help your company increase sales and recognition of your brand while growing your audience. You can target ads to reach certain demographics, ensuring you reach the right audience for your brand. Facebook also offers businesses analytics to give companies a better understanding of their customers and advertising/marketing choices on the site. Facebook is beneficial for almost any type of business seeing as the demographics of Facebook range from young to older generation. However, organic visibility has greatly diminished for businesses; higher levels of exposure will only come in a paid format through this platform. 

2. Twitter: Twitter has 232 million users and allows your company to communicate with your audience with short messages of 140 characters or less. The more followers you have, the wider audience you will reach. Retweets are a beneficial feature of the site because even if people don’t follow you, they can see your tweets if their followers retweet your posts. Tweet information your audience wants to hear and are interested in, whether that be your website, blog or tips and tricks of your industry. Use relevant hashtags to also attract a bigger audience to your page. Similar to Facebook, you can target a specific audience through advertising using keywords, interests, geographic areas and more. You can also use analytics to measure your Twitter performance. 

3. Instagram: With more than 300 million users, Instagram offers a unique opportunity very different from that of Facebook and Twitter. Images are necessary for Instagram posts and can only be shared from the smart phone app. Tell your company’s story through imagery and connect the image with a post related to the picture. This platform works better for industries that are visual and can tell about their brand through compelling and visually pleasing images. Instagram also uses hashtags and can draw in a larger audience when you use them in your posts. It also gives an option to advertise through the platform. As users are scrolling through their feed, sponsored posts will appear between posts by the people they are following. Advertising through Instagram though is growing, but hasn’t been utilized by as many companies yet when compared to Facebook and Twitter. 

4. Pinterest: With 70 million users, Pinterest is a more unique platform. Pinterest allows you to connect links to images. Users then ‘pin’ the pictures and links that they have interest in, which are then shared with their followers. This is particularly useful for companies that engage their audiences with blog posts, product pages, reviews or specific engaging areas of the website. Pinterest is also visual, requiring images to get users to click on the links. Rather than posts, Pinterest has short sentence blurbs to describe each picture/link combination. When it comes to advertising, your company sponsors a post and Pinterest charges you only when people go to your website through the pin. You can also use analytics to track user engagement. 

5. Snapchat: A newer platform that businesses are starting to use is Snapchat. About 100 million users snap pictures monthly. Snapchat allows you to “snap” a picture or video and share it for three to 10 seconds. Then, it disappears after a user views it. This is a good platform to use if you have a very visual industry that will attract users who want to view your posts. Include the picture or video in your story, which allows all followers to see what is going on. Snapchat is a great way to increase brand recognition, particularly among a younger audience. It offers advertising, which appears as stories in your audiences’ feed. Snapchat is a way to show your brand’s personality, so take advantage of it!  

6. LinkedIn: With 230 million users, LinkedIn in is “Facebook for professionals.” LinkedIn is a way to share your professional development and achievements. Connect with your industry contacts on the site, as well as friends and family that can help you network. The site also offers job opportunities and areas to post things about your brand. There are also groups you can join, which can attract more professionals to link with you company and learn more about your brand. Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn also offers side advertisements and sponsored posts to help get more visibility for your company. 

7. YouTube: Although YouTube doesn’t immediately strike many as a way to promote your brand, videos increase a person’s knowledge of a product by 74 percent. Additionally, YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google! Videos can range from how-to tutorials to staff interviews to informative videos about your product or service. YouTube also offers advertisements as commercials that appear between videos when people are watching. Creating your own YouTube channel allows you to tap into the site’s ever-growing audience while putting your videos to work in other ways (like embedding into e-newsletters and cross-posting on other social media platforms). Analytics are available that can help you track views and demographics, as well. 

Pinterest – a secret shame or helpful promotional tool?

Sarah Lichterman

I am a frequent user of the social media platform Pinterest. If you are not familiar with this platform, Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love. For more information, click here. 

This platform can be utilized in many ways for personal or business use. As a personal user, I pin photos at random, whenever the moment strikes. However, I also use Pinterest in a completely different way for a couple of my clients. As a social media tool, there should always be a strategy behind your usage for a business. 

On my own Pinterest page, you will find that I have 17 boards, 333 pins and 0 likes. Your first thought might be, “No likes? She must not be very good at this.” Due to the social norm for social media, the popularity of people and pages is determined by your following. Nevertheless, this is not the case with Pinterest because I will only receive likes if I upload a photo myself. Some personal users do this, however, I believe that the majority of pins are posted originally by companies. I use Pinterest in three ways:

1. As it was originally intended, a means of entertainment. I enjoy looking at beautiful photos, silly quotes, the latest fashion trends and cute animals. (I mean, who doesn’t?)

2. For ideas for practical uses. This includes recipes, DYI projects, fitness tips and decorations.  

3. To organize my aspirations in life. Whether my goal is to have a closet full of the hottest fashions or to own a vacation home on an exotic beach or tucked away in a mountainside castle, Pinterest has helped discover the “billionaire me” (my secret shame).

Using Pinterest for a business is very different. There are two main things that you need to consider for your company page: a strategy and original content. The main goal behind a Pinterest page is to engage with users to get them to “pin” your photo. This is where it gets a little difficult, trying to make your photo stand out. Below I have summarized a few tips from PR Daily on how to create viral Pinterest posts. 

Write your post as a list. People love lists and see value in them. It is proven that lists are pinned frequently.

Use text on your photos. This can stimulate pins because it helps users understand your photo and makes it stand out among the hundreds of photos they are scanning through. 

Use searchable tags. Similar to other social media platforms, you should try to use common key words and hashtags to show up on as many search requests that relate to your product or service as possible.

Be relevant. Be aware of the timeliness of your post. There is no reason to create post about DYI Halloween decorations in February. Be strategic in the timing of your posts, even if they don’t pertain to a holiday.

Connect to other social media platforms. If you have a Pinterest presence, you most likely have a presence on at least one other social media site, if not more. Intertwine your social pages by sharing links from your Pinterest page on other platforms.

These are just a few of the many simple tricks and tips you can use to help grow your Pinterest presence. From your personal page to a business page, always remember to have fun and be creative! 

We can’t all be little Miss Suzy Homemaker – or little Miss Polly Pinterest

Crissy Lintner

I learned of this new phenomenon the other day: Pinterest Stress. Yes, there is such a thing as Pinterest Stress. Think about your Pinterest feed. What do you like to pin? Birthday party ideas for your 2-year-old? Creative crafts to do with your kids? Family garden ideas? Ah-mazing cupcake towers – and the healthiest dinner ideas for your family to offset the ah-mazing cupcake tower you plan to build? Now, how likely are you – especially if you’re a busy mom – to actually do any of these things and have the same outcome as what you see in the photos?  

If you’re one of the lucky few to have successfully replicated one of the many projects you’ve found on Pinterest, congratulations! But for the rest of us, there’s Pinterest Stress: the state of being in which a mom feels inadequate compared to other moms (or businesses) who post their ideas and projects on Pinterest. By the way, for a good laugh and to feel better about your Pinterest fails, check out PinterestFail.com. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joebehr/5236066097/

In an online survey conducted by TODAY Moms, 42 percent of 7,000 moms said they sometimes suffer from Pinterest Stress – worrying they’re not crafty or creative enough. Some women even stayed up until 3 a.m. searching for the perfect party favors for their child’s birthday party – only to end up buying them from the dollar store or spending way too much only to have a Pinterest Fail of their own. One of the women cited in the article even talks about how she had to eventually “break up” with Pinterest. 

I don’t use Pinterest in my personal life because I simply don’t have time to spend on one more social site. Obsidian’s clients, on the other hand, do. And many of my friends do. I see more recipes on my Facebook newsfeed these days than real posts! 

And, what this survey tells me is that despite the so-called stress caused by Pinterest, moms are seeking ideas, whether that’s a great DIY-project or gift ideas that perhaps only require the debit card rather than creative know-how. The key, as my colleague Lauren Hannaford mentioned in a post back in January, is for companies to provide useful information that doesn’t simply scream, “Buy my product.” If you’re providing tips, photos, step-by-step instructions, DIY home improvement ideas and creative boards that complement your company’s offerings (like these great examples), then you are already on your way to contributing to Pinterest Stress! Just beware – your project or idea might end up on the list of fails by some of us less-crafty moms of the world.  

Pinterest: It's about inspiration.

Lauren Hannaford

2012 was the year of Pinterest. Many are wondering if the social media platform will stand the test of time or turn into another Foursquare. One thing is certain. Businesses have already jumped on board. 

I came across some interesting facts from the CEO and founder of PinLeague on this PR Newswire story:

• Less than 1 percent negative sentiment on the platform
• Contributing 20 percent of social commerce
• The half-life of a pin is one week or more, compared to 80 minutes for a Facebook post and five to 25 minutes for a tweet.
• It’s not about conversation. It’s about quality content. The ratio of “repins” to comments is 175 to one.
• The average order value on Twitter is $69, Facebook $80 and Pinterest $179. PinLeague estimates that 90 percent of the top 1,500 brands will have Pinterest accounts within 12 months.
  

Wow! Those are strong figures. With that said, it is important for businesses to be aware of the proper use of Pinterest. I already get ridiculously annoyed when I see pins from companies’ boards that shout, “Buy our awesome product!” No, thanks. I want tips, recipes, health information, photos, ideas, hilarious sayings and products presented to me in a fun, useful manner. Then I will buy your product.

A great example of a Pinterest account that I think is well-managed is Southern Living. One look through their boards, and I was following almost all of them. Then I thought, “Why do I not get this magazine in the mail?” I immediately went to the website to sign up for a subscription. Cha-ching! Southern Living, you just made money from your Pinterest account.

Consumers on Pinterest are doers! Not to copy The University of Memphis’ tagline, but Pinterest is full of dreamers, thinkers and doers! If you can plan and execute your business’s Pinterest account with that in mind, it is sure to be worth the time even if you can’t quantify revenue just yet.