Instagram Heats Up The Social Video Scene

Roughly two seconds after we posted our blog about Twitter’s social video app Vine, Facebook’s Instagram—the app well-known for glorifying pictures with various filters—announced their new video feature. While the move cemented the importance of social video, it set social media analysts abuzz regarding the two services.

Out of the gate, Instagram has set itself apart by providing effects that Vine has not brought to the table just yet, including:

•         Up to 15 second video clips
•         Thirteen customized filters to edit the look of your video
•         The ability to choose a cover frame instead of it being the first frame of the video
•         The ability to delete certain sections without deleting the entire video
•         A feature called “cinema” to stabilize the video and remove jumpy cuts
•         Unlike Vine, there is no looping feature

So which app is going to win this seeming battle of social video? So far there have been mixed predictions. While Mashable believes Instagram’s existing strength will “take the wind out of Vine’s sails”, TechCrunch.com opines that Vine’s growing community of creatives and designers, will continue to blossom. Here at Miamore, we (at least in the immediate future) believe the two will co-exist with different usages—much like Facebook and Twitter. Given how difficult it is for most small businesses to create a compelling (and quality) 15-second video; along with the challenge of seamlessly mixing video and photography on Instagram, we still favor Vine and its quick videos and looping feature.

Do you agree?

Social Media: Breaking the Barriers of Traditional PR

It is undeniable that social media has revolutionized the way society communicates and shares information. Americans spend an average of 6.9 hours each month on social networks—more than double the time they spent social networking in 2006. It is even more remarkable how social media has become a habitual part of everyday life; 22% of Facebook users log in severaltimes a day, making social media one of the most influential platforms for reaching the public.

Thus, not surprisingly, social media—by providing a brand with the opportunity to make a direct connection with its audience without the filter of the media—plays an integral role in public relations strategies. According to thedrum.com, “Social media cuts across channels and is all about engaging with individuals, holding conversations not relying on press releases and launches.”  Social media provides a greater control over the messages directed at a brand’s audience.

Traditionally, marketing has been a monologue. As a result of mass social media usage, it is now a two-way conversation between brands and consumers. Thus, to survive, brands must be interactive and authentic; not only via their Facebook page, but also in all their communication with both consumers and the press. Recognizing this revolution in the way we communicate, companies must transform their PR strategies in order to reach their target audience.

As PR professionals, we facilitate a 24/7 conversation in order to get the desired message across and to engage the public. In return, we are able to receive continuous feedback, explore what truly engages our audience, and quickly respond to any criticism. However, along with these great opportunities that social media provides comes the responsibility of constant managing and monitoring to ensure the safety of a brands reputation.

When examining how social media has altered public relations, it is important to acknowledge how social media has changed journalism and the way consumers look for information. (Lets face it, in the new digital age, you are more likely to hear of breaking news via your Twitter feed than by turning on your television or by flipping through a hard copy of a newspaper). More than half of Americans receive some form of local news through their mobile device. Journalists are now turning to social media to capture the attention of their readers and strive to do so in 140 characters or less.

Social media has contributed to the changing dynamic of the Publicist/Journalist relationship. No matter how eye-catching, creative, and well timed a pitch may be, there is always a chance it will go overlooked in a horde of emails. A more operative way for an up and coming brand to reach an editor, reporter, or blogger is to connect with them through various social media channels. At miamore communications, we recently pitched to an editor who had blogged about potential article topics. This resulted in the placement of two of our clients. While an editor may be overwhelmed with the traffic in his/her inbox, they may be more likely to respond to a tweet. In fact, many journalists actively use social media to post queries and gather information.

So, what does the future hold? We feel that blogger outreach will become just as important as traditional journalist outreach, especially for specific industries. While mass social platforms will continue to be relevant, niche, industry specific networks will prove to be a more effective arena for brands to connect with consumers. Just as email transformed modern communication just a couple of decades ago, we predict that social media will become a principal form of interaction over the next few years.

The Business of Blogging

While I’m not big on traditional New Year's Resolutions, like many business owners, the start of a new year is a time for planning and, well, resolving to make my business more efficient and prosperous during the 366 days ahead. At Miamore Communications, we often get so focused on our clients’ marketing plans that we let our own flounder. One way I intend to maintain our own marketing is with a 2012 Miamore formal blogging calendar. I encourage you to do the same with your business blog—whether you operate B2B or B2C.

B2C companies that blog get 88% more leads/month than those that don't.
 

B2B companies that blog get 76% more leads/month than those that don't.*

Not surprisingly, from 2009 - 2011, the percentage rate of businesses that have a blog increased from 48% to 65%. A total of 85% of businesses consider their company blogs as useful and important to their business, and 27% of those who blog rated their blogs as critical to their business, according to WebSwagger.

Why are blogs so critical? For starters, they drive sales:

57% of companies using blogs reported that they acquired leads directly from their blogs.

72% of companies that blogged on a weekly basis found that they had received new business directly from their blog.*

Potential leads that convert into sales are the key incentive to blog, which leads us to our next point: An up-to-date blog also plays a key role in boosting that ever-elusive yet much sought SEO for companies.

Companies that blog have 55% more website visitors.*

This is because websites with blogs:

• Show up in more search results for a wider range of queries/keyword searches
• Attract more links: Inbound links raise the "SEO value" of your website
• Attract social signals: "Share signals," such as Facebook Likes, Tweets, and Google pluses, indicate the popularity of a document to search engines, and they can boost rankings. 

Keeping all this in mind, now is the time to not just make a vague resolution to keep your blog fresh throughout 2012, but to create concrete plan to ensure its success, (even if your other resolutions fall into the 88% failure rate for New Years Resolutions!). That plan should include:

• A proper place and format for your blog
• Build your blog into your website to maximize SEO.
• Incorporate your social media profiles into the blog
• Provide readers tools to follow your blog, and to share your posts via email and social media
• Create a format that illustrates your business: for example, if you are a designer, your blog should be highly visual
• A schedule of blog days
• Make blogging part of your weekly calendar to ensure that posts aren’t missed and content remains fresh
• A calendar of blog post themes to include a variety of content that:
• explains what you do
• humanizes your work
• avoids repetition
• incorporates everything within your 2012 marketing plan
• includes photos, graphs, or other visuals
• The allocation of resources
• Do you (or a key person on your staff) write well, understand how to write effective posts and—most importantly—have the time every week to write posts, maintain the blog, and respond in a timely way to comments?
• Do you need a consultant/ghostwriter to create, execute and promote effective posts regularly, and to monitor the blog for comments and feedback?
• A strategy to market your blog
• Every blog post should be promoted via your other social media profiles (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Incorporate your blog into your email marketing
• Include your blog url in your email signature

Have your own experiences with business blogging? Please share them here. If you need more help with your 2012 blogging plan, contact me directly.


*research by Hubspot

Jewerly Spakles this Holiday Season

The economic recession devastated the American luxury market, that’s no surprise. What is a surprise is the increased demand this season for perhaps the most quintessential luxury item: jewelry.

Some encouraging stats:

-The percentage of people who bought jewelry during “Black Friday Weekend”, Nov. 26-28, increased from 11.7 percent to 14.3 percent. That is close to a three percent increase.

-In a recent study from the National Retail Federation, the percentage of people saying they will be giving jewelry as gifts has increased from 18.4 percent to 20.3 percent.

-According to “Cotton Lifestyle Monitor” jewelry is ranked at number five as planned holiday gifts in 2010. Jewelry didn’t rank at all in 2009.

The jewelry industry may not draw out the 2 a.m. crowd on Black Friday, but the increase in jewelry sales this past weekend was felt immediately by both retailers and designers. It also helped spark optimism for the economy and retail sales in general.

“While Black Friday weekend is not always an indicator of holiday season performance, retailers should be encouraged that a focus on value and discretionary gifts has shoppers in the spirit to spend,” said Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation, president and CEO.

Looking at the bigger picture, the fact that people are looking at jewelry a lot more this holiday season could mean that American’s are ready to start spending on luxury items in general again. It might be possible that this is the first sign of the recession being a part of the past.

The Fundamental Rule of Social Media Networking for Business

I'm reflecting on several amusing conversations I had this week with clients and friends regarding social media usage and users. The topics have included:

• The user whose photos are shockingly personal
• Another who uses "send an update to fans" to announce every sneeze
• One whose Facebook and Twitter posts are, well, without TMI, mind-numbingly impersonal

And, finally:

• The charming one who "friends" people on Facebook, only to hijack their contact list to send promotional announcements.

It may not be pretty, but this chatter simply echoes human nature (and what goes on in every school cafeteria, trade show cocktail party, and family get-together): gossiping.

While this topic is seemingly anything but business-related on the surface, the general subject is actually very relevant to anyone using social media tools for marketing... because, in each of these cases, the user utilizes social media to promote their business. And, as I say (apparently ad nauseam, as seen here, here and here!): networking via social media should be thought of in the same terms as networking the real world. The same rules and etiquette apply:

• Would you show up to a networking event in a negligee?
• Would you call everyone in your address book 3 times a day (to say the same thing again and again)?
• Would you walk up to prospects at a cocktail party rattling off random information from an encyclopedia?
• Would you lift an associate's address book from their office during a business dinner so you could later cold-call people they know?

Clearly (or I hope): No. Yet so many of us sit in front of a computer and don't realize that our actions on these social media tools are just as much a reflection of ourselves and our businesses as our actions in "real" life.

This is a whole new and evolving way of communicating and everyone is very much learning as they go. But a rule that isn't evolving, and that I constantly remind myself (and clients) when using social media tools for marketing: if you wouldn't do it in a real life business setting, please, don't do it on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, or anywhere else.