by Keith Keller | Jul 5, 2019 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
SOCIAL VIDEO IS HERE TO STAY A Guest Blog Post By Brooklin Nash Social media marketing has shifted again and again over the past few years. It’s important to stay on top of the trends!! One trend that has developed over the past few years is the importance of video content. This is particularly important for brands looking to engage with their audience. Social video has become a great way for companies to expand both their reach and their engagement. Short videos are easily shared and quickly consumed. This means that brands no longer have to ask for a big chunk of time to get their message across. The trend itself has shifted several times in as many years. To help you stay on top of the latest changes, here are three social video trends for 2018 to watch out for. Trend #1: Live Video Content Will Drive More Engagement Live video will only continue to grow in popularity. In fact, one poll found that 82% of consumers prefered live video over any other kind of content. This is beneficial to both customers and companies for one important reason: engagement. Live video offers customers the ability to interact more directly with brands and companies in real time. They can also engage with other customers. At the same time, brands have a unique opportunity. Facebook Live Video and Instagram stories have a smaller reach, but they also have a sense of urgency. It’s the urgency that makes viewers 12 times more likely to share video than any other kind of content. Trend #2: Separating Brand Media from Social Friends &...
by Keith Keller | Jul 2, 2019 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
7 VIDEO MARKETING IDEAS TO TRY YOURSELF A guest blog post by Kas Szatylowicz Video marketing has been hot for a few years now, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, it’s speeding up. By 2020, it’s forecast that video will make up a whopping 80% of all internet traffic. Not just that, but video keeps your customers’ attention better than any other type of content. However, video marketing is also changing. To stay ahead of the curve, you need to identify the trends and take action on them before your rivals. In this article, we take a look at 7 brilliant video marketing techniques you should try out in 2019. A GOOD BEGINNING!! (1) Live Streaming If you want to level up in 2019, you’ll have to broadcast live on social media. In 2018, 80% of consumers said that they want to see live video more than pre-recorded video, with the amount of people watching live videos on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter (via Periscope) rising all the time. More than that, 13% of web traffic derived from video now comes from live videos. Live videos make you and your brand look more authentic. When done right, they can be super compelling. Consider holding on-the-fly Q&A sessions between yourself and your audience, or consider giving your customers a “behind the scenes” glimpse into your business. You could also use live video to deliver advice on a particular topic, or you could host an interview with an expert in your niche. Make sure to promote your video video beforehand. For example, you...
by Keith Keller | Jun 28, 2019 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
5G IS HERE!! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR MUSICIANS? Guest blogger Ralf Llanasas talks about the exciting new possibilities for musicians with access to the 5G network. A series of technological innovations have built the world we know today. 5G, a mobile network technology many years in the making, is the latest and most anticipated of these innovations. Today, streaming apps mostly dominate the mobile technology world. With speeds of up to 100 times faster than current 4G networks, 5G is sure to make music streamers a lot happier. The fifth generation wireless network technology is already here but only available in select locations. Despite the buzz of its availability, the technology, may not actually be fully available to the general public for a while yet. That’s because tech companies, as well as the countries themselves, have to adapt to the new 5G capabilities. This means building the necessary infrastructure for such an advanced network. Some of those countries in the forefront so far are: China South Korea The United States Japan The United Kingdom Source: https://whatphone.com.au/guide/australia-lags-behind-in-global-5G-race-after-south-korea-and-united-states So How Can Music Streamers Capitalise On 5G? The introduction of 5G wireless technology is a boon for both music streamers and listeners alike. 5G technology means access to faster network speeds as well as tapping into previously unused radio wavelengths. Music lovers and streaming sites could capitalise on these new features in few new ways: Faster Network Services Ultimately, the biggest advantage 5G networks will have over their predecessors is faster connection speeds. Theoretically, 5G is expected to hold an upper limit speed of...
by Keith Keller | Jun 20, 2019 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
WHY TWITTER IS FANTASTIC FOR MUSICIANS Angela Sargeant explains Twitter can be an amazing tool to promote your music & build your fan base globally. If you’ve been on Twitter for any length of time, you might think it’s a platform more suited to businesses, while musicians just post their daily musings and links to other social platforms. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. If you’re a musician, Twitter isn’t just a place to announce you’ve dropped a new single. …. and it’s so much more than a place to simply push your Instagram posts to. Whether you’re a solo artist or part of a band, Twitter is actually an extremely powerful social platform for you to build your fan base, create new opportunities for more work, and gain extra exposure. Sound good? Then read on, because here’s everything musicians need to know about Twitter, to help support a music career. Twitter is unique in that everyone is welcome to join in the conversation, and everyone has the opportunity to grow their community. Twitter, in my opinion, is the most genuinely social of all platforms. It’s an amazing place to make connections that you wouldn’t be able to make anywhere else online. Of course there’s no use in posting on Twitter every day unless it’s going to help your music career right? Otherwise you’re better off spending that time writing new music and/or performing. You’ve put all that blood, sweat and tears into creating your music, now you need to get it out to the people. … and we all know getting...
by Keith Keller | Feb 1, 2019 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
HOW DO YOU CUT THROUGH THE NOISE? A Guest Blog Post By Megha Hamal It’s a great time for marketers to get their brand message out because they have more tools and channels than ever to work with. However, the digital media revolution also poses some challenges. For example, one could argue that there are too many channels – all providing a ceaseless flood of information – making digital media management confusing, if not overwhelming. With so much information, it can be difficult to capture someone’s attention. According to AD Week, “Facebook users spend an average of 1.7 seconds with any piece of mobile content on the platform, compared to 2.5 seconds on desktop. Those interactions become even briefer with younger audiences, and they are growing shorter all the time.” With so many channels to choose from, how can one manage his or her brand so the message is sent via channels that are most effective for the businesses? How do we cut through the noise? Strategy Strategy is the underlying foundation for any brand. It is difficult for brands to thrive without a brand strategy in place. In a world of too many options and distracted engagement, brands must determine strategies that put their audience in mind. Always ask: Who is the target audience? Where is the audience spending time? What is the end goal? Content Content is key. Brands can no longer send mass messages and use traditional marketing methods to reach their audience. Today, the content must embrace personalization, not mass marketing. The variety of social media channels to choose from provides...
by Keith Keller | Jan 2, 2019 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
PERSONAL BRANDING & ONLINE SUCCESS 10 Time Tested Tips To Try From Megha Hamal Gone are the days when the only important brands were Coca Cola, Nike, and McDonalds. Now we live in the time of Google, Yelp, and Instagram, where we have access to brands instantaneously and can research them thoroughly before trying them out. While these tools have made access to brands easier, they have also led to a constant reviewing, if not monitoring, of them. According to a 2017 consumer survey conducted by Bright Local, an agency providing search services to a range of local businesses in and around London, 97% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. Today we live in an era where brands can no longer exist in a vacuum, unaware of their online footprint. Therefore, building an influential brand that raises equity requires effective planning and innovative strategies. Without these two things, brands become paralyzed and do not sustain. This is where branding comes into play. Branding is the foundation of your brand. Whether a personal or company brand, an effective brand strategy gives you a competitive edge while reaching your target consumers. Does that mean your brand can be more than one thing? The answer is no!! Your brand is your exclusive promise to your customers, so ask yourself: what is my unique value proposition? What is my brand’s niche? Defining your brand can be a complex process. Doing your research and understanding your market is key, but research is only effective if you have strategies that are innovative and consistent with your brand image and message. Everything needs to...
by Keith Keller | Jan 1, 2019 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
Guest Blog Post By Christina Garnett 2019 is right around the corner and you are no doubt working on next year’s strategy. So… where should you put your energy? What trends should you focus on to effectively reach your goals? Here are my top 5!! (1) Digital Ad Overload As more people spend time on social media and online, they are leaving data breadcrumbs for advertisers. You can target demographics, buying preferences, interests, etc. You can highly target the audience you want to hit, but so is everyone else. Just like the decline in organic, there is a lot of noise out there so the quality of content/ads is priceless now. It isn’t enough to just create a target audience, add an image, and press submit. Your audience is being inundated with static ads, search ads, videos ads, banner ads, Gmail ads, etc. Real question: where is the TIVO for social media ads? Eyeballs aren’t enough and it’s easy to have your ad grouped into the overall disdain of an audience who sees an ad after each scroll. Fight through the noise by being attuned to your audience and their needs. What do they want to see? What are their pain points? What kind of ad and message would make them want to respond? (2) Focus On ROI From the small business owner down the street to Fortune 500 companies, seeing ROI for your marketing and advertising efforts is wanted and valued. Digital advertising isn’t seen as a new medium anymore so it longer gets the “let’s just...
by Keith Keller | Dec 27, 2018 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC ON TWITTER Angela Sargeant gives some great advice about why Twitter is such a great place to promote your music. Amazing suggestions here about what to post & when, including using hashtags & short videos. For many musicians, Twitter is one of those social platforms that can be a bit confusing. It seems easy enough to use, but how the heck do you use it effectively to promote your music, and further your career? How do you get people to click on your link to watch your videos on YouTube? How do you get your Twitter followers to also follow you on Spotify or Soundcloud? And how do you get them to keep coming back for more? The answer always starts with having a strategy. Because random posts gives random results. There are so many highly effective ways to promote your music on Twitter, there’s no way all that information can go into a blog post. But there’s some essentials you want to know, to get you started on promoting your music on Twitter. How Do You Promote Your Music Using Twitter? Let’s start with the basics and look at your actual Twitter feed, because you want your foundations right first, for maximum impact. Twitter is like real life socializing and networking. You share something that interests your audience, and you join in conversations with others. And just like in real life, if all we do is talk about ourselves, people are going to eventually tune out. If someone looks at your Twitter profile and all they...
by Keith Keller | Nov 7, 2018 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
A Guest Blog Post By Shruti Deshpande Today we live in a world where we are constantly over communicated to. This tunes our minds to block out the noise. This is indeed bad news for brand marketers. The more we contribute towards this, the more we are tuning out our own customers. What Is User Generated Content? User generated content is content created by users shared across multiple social media and marketing channels. This is content created in various formats like images, text, audio, and video. It is one of the best ways to push customer advocacy. User generated content requires marketers to not only know where their customers are but also which channels they have the most influence on. According to Sprout Social, customers are 75% more likely to share a good experience with a brand. Also, more than 70% are likely to buy from a brand that they have had good interaction with. As a result user generated content is refreshingly different and cuts through the marketing noise adding significant value to both brands and customers. Why Does It Work? We are in the times of ‘social advocates’ and tend to trust them more. Why? Because they are genuine. We as humans tend to trust the close circle of other humans in our lives. It matters what they have to stay about the products and services we use. Consumers have an innate ability to spot the fake, over-priced, over-endorsed products and rather prefer a true depiction of the value of the product in a real human environment. The...
by Keith Keller | Oct 8, 2018 | GUEST BLOG POSTS: Social Media & SEO
ENCOURAGING USER GENERATED CONTENT FOR YOUR eCOMMERCE BRAND A Guest Blog Post By Patrick Foster “User Generated Content” (UGC) is becoming increasingly important for many types of businesses, but it is especially useful for eCommerce brands. In fact, some are even predicting that it is the future of eCommerce. Why is this? It’s because UGC helps your brand to form a more personal connection with your customers. It adds a creative edge, improves your SEO, functions as social proof, and can boost your conversion rate optimization. Knowing all this, how can you make the most of UGC for your brand? Here are some hacks that you can use to start taking advantage of the benefits today. Get More Product Reviews Shoppers enjoy reading product reviews before they buy anything online. In fact, many people have come to expect to find reviews on eCommerce websites. If you don’t have reviews on your product pages, new visitors may be less sure about parting with their cash. People are far more likely to trust their fellow shoppers than they are your marketing department. If another customer says the product is fantastic, they are more likely to believe them. The simple fact that they have been written by an independent customer based on their own experiences makes product reviews compelling and persuasive. On top of that, the language they use is persuasive. Product reviews are written in plain English using a more genuine tone of voice. They highlight some of the negatives as well as the positives, which your own product descriptions are unlikely to do. This all increases trust...
