Monthly Archives: July 2013

Video Content – Is it part of your content strategy?

Posted on by

Note: this post was originally written in June for SMC so some items may have changed since then in regards to Vine and Instagram Video. 

The best video camera – the one you have with you. Whether it’s the video function on your phone, Vine, or the latest, Instagram video – video is a form of content that both consumers and brands alike are having not just fun with, but utilizing to express themselves.  Is video right for your brand, and if so – which one?

Once your brand has decided to add visual content to its toolbox, specifically video content, it’s time to figure out how it will amplify the content you already have and fit into your overall content strategy. First step is to determine if it will involve short form video content or long form?  Once you have that figured out, you can delve deeper into the benefits of the popular choices to choose from.

Short Form Video Content

The 6 second Vine

Benefits:

  • Shoot and Share in minutes
  • Embed capability for your website
  • New ability to have drafts rather than publish automatically
  • Save to camera roll to publish later (or store)
  • A for effort when it comes to telling a story in such bite size form

Disadvantages:

  • Need to be quick with the functionality and patient when shooting
  • Shaky hands make the video lesser quality

The 15 second Instagram Video

Benefits:

  • Filters for making the videos have that “instagram” feel
  • Ability to decrease the shake of the camera
  • Can do 15 seconds or less (more time to tell your story)
  • Easily integrates with multiple social networks including tumblr

Disadvantages:

Longer Form Video Content

YouTube

Benefits:

  • The length of content can be longer than 15 seconds
  • You can annotate the content to have CTAs
  • You can create SEO opportunities to lead to the content
  • You can create playlists for series of content
  • Largest location to search for video content

Disadvantages:

  • Not as simple as shoot and share

Questions on how to start your first video account for your brand? Reach out below and well do our best to answer.

Additional Reading:

 

 

3 Small Businesses who Kick a Little Butt in Mobile

Posted on by

Most businesses understand the importance of having marketing goals, a content strategy, and even a social media strategy. Unfortunately some forget that mobile needs to be considered along with each of these, whether it’s to amplify marketing goals, extend content legs onto mobile, and/or leverage social where people are (everywhere they are). Small businesses are not at a disadvantage; they have the same tools in their toolbox. Let’s take a look at a few examples of how small businesses are utilizing mobile to their retail and sales advantage.

Mobile Payment: Rebecca’s Cafe: Rebecca’s Cafe, a small little cafe at the bottom of my office building (with other locations too) has made it simpler for me to get my morning coffee, especially when I’m in a rush. Why scrounge to the bottom of my bag for my wallet, when I can whip out my Level Up app, since my cell is always in hand, and just click to pay within seconds. Rebecca’s Cafe has made it convenient for their customers to keep track of their payments, earn points for that free coffee, and spend less time hassling with their wallets.

Mobile Payment: Lori Magno: Lori Magno, a friend and jewelry artist, was quick to hop on the mobile payment wagon. She realized it was simpler to use Square on her iPad to make quick and easy credit card transactions when selling her amazing jewelry. It not only avoids the pesky “oh I don’t have any cash on me, ” or “I only have a credit” to “no problem, just swipe here,” to ensure she achieves her sales and doesn’t lose customers.

Responsive Design and Click to Call: Goldberg Law: Lane Goldberg of Goldberg Lawsaw the need of a mobile friendly website since most individuals are on the go and doing their research from their phones or tablets. It makes it easier for people to quickly look into what his law practice offers, hours of service, how to reach him easily and even dig deeper into his blog content. In addition, Lane made it even easier for people to contact him, by adding a “click to call” action button. Such a simple thing, but so many people forget that not allowing your phone number to clickable can be a hinderance to a phone call…and even more so, a potential customer.

These three businesses are three of many who are doing a great job at adapting to the mobile landscape.

A pro tip I advise when considering to enter mobile is that your business doesn’t need to do everything, but should prioritize what is most important to reach your audience, and for your audience to reach you.

 

Note this post was originally written for Socialnomics and my original post can be found here. 

Further Reading:

http://www.experiencedmg.com/4-examples-stellar-small-business-mobile-websites/

http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/06/savvy-businesses-say-yes-to-mobile.html

http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/06/20/5-ways-small-businesses-can-succeed-in-the-mobile-era/

Facebook Part III: Facebook Graph Search

Posted on by

 

facebook graph search

So, some of us were “cool” enough to be selected into Facebook’s Beta of their Graph Search a few months back. Lucky us. We played around with the options of searching broader topics, friends of friends, images, and other such info. Now the Facebook Graph Search is opening to all users and has even more search options. What does this mean for your fashion business? Let’s break it down…

Consumers Can Now

  • Be connected to a larger network of people for business and pleasure
  • Find more of what friends like and recommend in the categories of music, brands, products, restaurants, places to visit, etc.
  • Find visual content that friends share specific to what users want to see (ex. Photos from a specific event or place)

Brands Care Because

  • Users can find your business on Facebook through their searches
  • Users can find when friends talk about your business
  • Users can find your services or products when searching for a specific want or need

What To Do

  • Ensure your Facebook page is kept up to date including your about section (location, contact info, etc)
  • Ensure your page is fresh with new and consistent content
  • Be visual with your content
  • Keep your images tagged appropriately
  • Ensure your content has search friendly keywords
  • Make it shareable and easy to find

Read more on what your brand should be doing and our prediction for how this affects you in the future on my full post at Startup Fashion. 

Facebook Part II: Best Practices for Posting on Facebook

Posted on by

posting on facebook

Last week we discussed “What your brand should keep in mind about Facebook Updates“.  In continuing with our series on how to use use Facebook for your fashion brand, we’re going to cover best practices for posting.

While there are some standards, best practices for posting on Facebook vary.  I will caveat the below by stating  two things:

  • It is imperative for each brand to test and learn to see what works best for your brand’s audience  - each brand is different and timing and posting days will vary.
  • Consider is the habits of your audience and the demographics. Are they mostly college students or working adults? Take note as this will impact not just your posting format but also your time and frequency.

Here are some best practices to start with as you begin to test and learn and determine what works best for your brand:

Posting Times:

  • Early Morning
  • After Work
  • Late Night

Posting Days:

  • Monday through Thursday
  • Friday tends to produce the least engagement and reach
  • Weekends work for some; while others have a harder time with it. This in one of those instances when you really need to test. Try   both Saturday and Sunday, morning, afternoon, and evening.

Note: We find Sunday evening to be a great time to post on Facebook.  Maybe that’s because you all are getting your selves geared up for the week ahead!

Post Frequency:

  • Not more than twice a day
  • Not more than 10 times a week

Because of the Facebook algorithm, posting more than twice a day tends to be a waste of time for smaller brands. The reach just isn’t there.

To read more tips on Posting Format and Style, check out my full post on Startup Fashion! 

Want more tips? Ask below in Comments!