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Facebook isn’t one of the cool kids The reports are coming out that teenagers think Facebook isn’t cool anymore. I think it’s the combination of too many changes with the program, too many companies selling stuff and too many of them seeing their parents (and some are even seeing their grandparents!) using the social networking site. This was not news to me. I heard about this last year when I asked my 13-year-old niece how she likes using Facebook. In her puberty-filled voice she said, “Facebook is weird. We’re not on there anymore. Facebook is for old people like you Aunt Penney.” Gee, thanks kid....
With Instagram's video feature, businesses have a new option for video marketing. But Vine offers a different experience and aesthetic. Which do you prefer?
him andLast week, Instagram launched new video functionality to compete with Twitter’s fast-growing video service Vine. Magnificent 15-second, completely editable and non-looping video has since invaded the stream of filter-loving photographers everywhere. Steven Spielberg wannabes, rejoice!
Making the Decision: Which is right for your company? In an industry where the quick-change is just a way of life, choosing the best marketing outlets can be as complicated as learning another language. With companies recognizing and utilizing social media as a key marketing tool, new companies are popping up every day all over the social media map.
With the latest update in the smartphone industry creating yet another marketing outlet, companies are facing another fork in the road. Take the left turn and use Vine, an app that “wowed” the world in six seconds, or turn right and use Instagram, the already popular photo-editing and -sharing app. If you’re a company, big or small, which do you choose? Before making the choice, you should understand what you’re getting yourself into....
Brands of all sizes are becoming keenly aware of the large marketing opportunity with Instagram’s massive audience.You already know that brands can leverage user-generated photos from Instagram to engage consumers. Today we will measure that engagement and connect it to ecommerce sales....
“Instagram is so immediate and intimate that it creates this close connection with the user,” said Cory Haik, executive producer for digital news at The Washington Post. The Post uses Instagram to share photos, collect photos from users, report stories and have personal interactions with its audience. It’s a strategy aimed not at driving traffic but at building community. The Washington Post solicited Instagram photos of snow from readers. (Courtesy The Washington Post) “What we ask ourselves about Instagram,” Haik said by phone, “is ‘are we having a meaningful conversation with our users?’”...
This is probably the most exciting feet photo you've ever seen on Instagram. It was taken by National Geographic photographer Joe McNally from the top of the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai....
... But what about Instagram? The popular social media platform, acquired by Facebook in April 2012, has continually seen its use by B2B companies increase. It’s hard to imagine a social media marketing tool that has on average 40 million photos being uploaded every day and over 90 million monthly active users, not receiving any consideration as part of more companies’ social media marketing strategies. More B2B companies are making the most out of their company’s Instagram accounts by giving users exactly what they want — fresh, consistent content that visually engages their customers and prospects. They’ve made sure their content, images with short messages, is perfectly aligned with their brand’s attributes and that each new photo uploaded tells a story. As a result, they’ve utilized a new channel to engage with customers and attract new ones. Here’s a look at 3 B2B companies that are effectively utilizing Instagram as a component of their social media marketing efforts...
Earlier this week, we introduced a set of updates to our privacy policy and terms of service to help our users better understand our service. In the days since, it became clear that we failed to fulfill what I consider one of our most important responsibilities – to communicate our intentions clearly. I am sorry for that, and I am focused on making it right. The concerns we heard about from you the most focused on advertising, and what our changes might mean for you and your photos. There was confusion and real concern about what our possible advertising products could look like and how they would work. Because of the feedback we have heard from you, we are reverting this advertising section to the original version that has been in effect since we launched the service in October 2010. You can see the updated terms here....
From Levi’s to the local craft foods shop, businesses of all sizes are flocking to Facebook’s free photo-sharing app Instagram, hoping to get noticed by its 80 million active users and expand their reach. What makes Instagram different from other social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter? It’s almost entirely photo-based and available only on Apple iOS and Android mobile phones and devices. Instagram has emerged as an effective marketing tool because companies can quickly build brand recognition and consumer loyalty through an ongoing stream of photos that help personalize their brand.... [Excellent tips for marketers ~ Jeff]
Hurricane Sandy, and Instagram photos tagged with #sandy, “was probably the single largest event taking place that was captured on Instagram,” said CEO Kevin Systrom. Speaking at the GigaOm Roadmap conference, Systrom also said that this may be “the single largest thing captured through digital images ever. Over 800,000 images were simply tagged with #sandy. Imagine how many total images were taken on the East Coast during this period of time.”
For a comparison, the recent Super Bowl delivered only 85 000 images on Instagram. Then if you consider and include tags such as #hurricanesandy and #frankenstorm, the amount of uploads jumps up to 1.3-million.
It may seem insignificant against the amount of photos that Facebook users upload (around 300-million images a day), yet Facebook images are predominantly “people orientated”. This highlights one key way in which Instagram differs from Facebook....
[Illustrates the growing reach of Instagram and the need to consider its potential use in certain social media strategies ~ Jeff]
Two years ago, photo-sharing application Instagram came onto the scene and quickly took the entire Internet by storm. Within its short existence, the service has made some major updates, been gobbled up by Facebook for $300 million in cash and 23 million shares of stock, and now has over 100 million registered users with over 5 billion photos uploaded. As Instagram celebrates another year, it’s fascinating to look back how this one application survived in its industry while other similar ones vanished — PicPlz shut its doors earlier this year while Hipstamatic found itself laying off practically everyone. Of course there have been some new competitors that have sprouted up and even an ecosystem surrounding what Instagram has been doing has emerged. Just look at Nitrogram, Keepsy, Postagram, Hatchcraft, Instacanvas, and many others.... [Very interesting look at Instagram's success ~ Jeff]
Building a large Instagram following can often be quite challenging for brands. To date, the photo sharing super-network is almost completely a mobile one, and to further the challenge, Twitter recently cut off Instagram users from being able to find out which of their Twitter friends are also on Instagram. Instagram is tough, but it is worth it. Images are such a gigantic part of social content sharing these days and Instagram does a great job at simplifying the process. If you have a visual story to tell, Instagram should be part of your digital marketing playbook. So how the heck do you build a following on a network that is so tough to find people on? Here are some of the basic components of a successful Instagram community building campaign. Master these and you are on your way to Instagram success.... [Three really solid Instagram strategies ~ Jeff]
... as Stanmeyer adds, Instagram, in the end, has allowed him to reach hundreds of thousands of people. "Decades ago, I often thought of how brilliant it would be to publish photographs on roadside billboards to scream what mattered to me – until I discovered how expensive these spaces cost. Instagram and other social media does just that: reaching the potential consciousness of hundreds of thousands, and even more." But, he admits, the implications can be daunting, because "we're still in the infancy of where this road we are paving is taking us. But is it exciting and does it hold limitless potential? Yes." [In-depth look at Instagram and its success with professional photographers and future potential - JD]
Pinterest and Instagram have been two of the hottest social platforms of 2012. Their success has spawned hundreds of imitations, with developers (and investors) trying to get a piece ...
of the increasingly lucrative image sharing pie. We’ve even seen a mash up of the two in the form of the aptly titled Pinstagram (genius, I know).
But now its time to wrap your head the next emerging trend; video sharing apps (or ‘Instagram for video’ apps). The big question is, which one will emerge as the superstar of the pack? Well, let’s meet ‘the pack’ and then you can decide for yourself. Ready? Lights. Camera. Action! [Adam Vincenzini profiles 10 video apps worth exploring - JD]
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...Up to 15 seconds of video, 13 custom filters, and a "cinema mode" for stabilization. Those were some of the features added to Instagram last week, instantly turning the popular photo-sharing app used by 130 million people into a video-sharing service. Within the first 24 hours of the announcement, over 5 million videos had been uploaded.Sure, some were of frothy lattes and the Miami Heat winning the NBA finals, but the new features have wider appeal than to just casual users.
As newsrooms are now relying on social media as a platform to discover and deliver the news, Instagram's new video features will add another piece of content into the mix for organizations: short, solid-looking video clips.Beth Bennett, assistant professor at The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University, believes this will be the next big thing for news organizations....
Industry professional Christopher Penn demonstrates the power of brevity using Instagram’s newest video feature to briefly explain public relations.
Instagram is kind of a big deal. A recent surge in visual content is sweeping across every network from Twitter to Facebook. As the leader in image sharing apps, Instagram has become a household name in recent months with more than 40 million photos being uploaded daily to their platform. Users are racking up a total of 1,000 comments and more than 8,000 likes on Instagram every second. Additionally, 28 percent of U.S. Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 are using Instagram and that number continues to grow. As marketers, these numbers show that while instagram has yet to become a staple in the marketing toolkit, it’s definitely something to analyze and consider. Additional thought should be considered if you’re looking to connect with Generation Y using content marketing as they are using instagram more than ever before.
Do you remember “show and tell” from your elementary school days? This is the exact approach social media business users should be taking. Too often businesses merely tell followers why their product or service is worthy of a purchase.... The second-best thing about Instagram is it makes extremely amateur “photographers” like me feel as though we’re capable of taking professional-quality pictures. The first-best thing: Instagram offers almost everything a business user could want in a social network, so much so, it’s (dare I say) the most effective platform out there. Here are the top four reasons why...
Remember when Instagram announced that it had the right to sell users’ photos or use them in advertisements? ...One app making waves in this space is Tadaa. If you haven’t yet heard of it, but are a photo fanatic, you should definitely try it out. As with the majority of photo apps, you can alter the photos you take or import by applying selective editing features such as filters and adjustments. Tadaa’s Unique Draw… What sets Tadaa apart, however, is that you can manually apply particular effects with the swipe of your finger. The app also touts other sophisticated features, such as a “tilt shift effect,” which lets you customize the orientation, width and degree of blur to your photos. And while you can share your images with other app users and through your social networks, like Instagram, Tadaa offers both HD and real-time photo sharing capabilities....
Does your business use Instagram? Have you checked out Instagram since theyreleased user profiles on the web? Previously, the Instagram website only let users edit their account information (and also hosted the company’s blog). But all that changed with the recent introduction of web profiles. Here’s what marketers need to know.
The mobile photo editing app is fast becoming a major conversation platform among PR pros, and a way to reach journalists. To all of the PR pros that have firmly integrated Pinterest into your PR program: Instagram is now stealing Pinterest’s thunder as a social outreach platform. In ComScore’s Top 50 most visited websites list for September, 2012, Instagram was 44th (26.3 million visitors) while Pinterest just cracked the list for the first time at No. 50 (25.3 million). For those of you not in the know, Instagram is the mobile photo editing and sharing app that was acquired by Facebook in April. “Sharing” is the key word here, because while many people know that you can apply neat filters to photos in Instagram, many do not know that it’s a social sharing platform as well. And that is what makes it enticing to the communications pro. Like Pinterest, Instagram is all about visuals that pop. The app is still in its infancy and very easy to use, without all the bells and whistles of a Facebook or Twitter, which is what makes it so appealing to many....
About 40 percent of top brands use Instagram. But that doesn't mean they use it well. Check out these examples of the best uses (and abuses) of this popular visual platform. With the launch of social networks like Instagram and Pinterest -- and, of course, Facebook's dive into Timeline -- social is transforming into a visual world. It's becoming increasingly important to show instead of tell. Show your audience that cheeseburger that's on special this week. Show your fans that picture of your gorgeous car driving off into the sunset. About 40 percent of top brands use Instagram. But that doesn't mean they use it well. Some brands are using Instagram as a way to reach specific demographics within their audiences, to showcase their creative sides, or to humanize their brands. Others are using it without moderation or maintenance, to cross-promote or advertise their content from platform to platform, or in an entirely unengaging way. Let's take a look at some of the best and the worst brands on Instagram. Consider this your checklist of what to do -- and what not to do -- on the platform.... [Lots of good marketing and social media lessons here ~ Jeff]
Via Thomas Faltin
Use these ideas, examples, and tips to determine if Instagram is a good fit for your content marketing efforts. ...I will assume a visual-based social app like Instagram will mirror the engagement and growth we’ve already seen on Facebook and Twitter. However, it also benefits from the lessons we’ve already learned about engaging audiences on Instagram — most important among them being that users interact with image-based content more than any other form of content on social networks. That may make Instagram the virtual “ringer” on the social media marketing scene. What companies are already seeing the benefits of Instagram? Alongside the evolving vernacular surrounding the app (“regram,” “latergram,” “selfie,” “#flashbackfriday,” to name a few), are emerging marketing tactics from brands, publications, organizations, and more that are really inspiring examples of how to harness the potential this new platform holds for content marketing. Here are just a few ways some brands are already making a marketing impact on Instagram... [5 great case studies for content marketing on Instagram ~ Jeff]
Instagram: Here's everything you need to know about sharing photos on this mobile app to give your business extra visibility and engagement. [Vanessa Au shares 10 practical Instagram tips and business examples of each. Can be a great content marketing strategy if your product or business is visual. Mmmm like the tasty Rogue Ales example! ~ Jeff ]
Companies have started using the handy photo-editing app as yet another means of social media marketing. Today's infographic gives you step by step instructions, allowing you to create a successful marketing campaign using Instagram. [Helpful business guide to Instagram ~ Jeff]
Even though INstagram has only been around for a little under 2 years the site continues to explode in popularity with close to 100 million users and a huge sense of community. It was only a matter of time before the world’s biggest brands started getting in on the action and we wanted to profile 33 of the brands doing it effectively by producing great content and engaging with their followers. Its a very visual platform and here are some of the companies using it best… [4 BILLION images served since launch in Oct 2010! - JD]
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My 17 year old nece is a great indicator of social media trends and she too is abandoning Facebook in favour of Instagram.