Category: Social Media Marketing

Using Instant Experiences Ads on Facebook and Instagram

January 17, 2022 / Esther Day

Facebook and Instagram both house a range of ad and campaign types. One of these is instant experiences ads. A social media agency Hong Kong suggests using such an ad type if your ads are underperforming. This is because using instant experiences ads on Facebook and Instagram is a better way to engage your prospects.

According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, instant experiences ads are an immersive alternative to Facebook and Instagram campaigns. They display on full screen and are mobile-optimized. As such, they make it easier for brands and businesses to engage their target audiences. Even a video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that instant experiences ads can load 10x faster than ordinary ads on Facebook and Instagram.

What is Instant Experience?

Instant Experience (IX) is a type of mobile ad that is available both on Facebook and Instagram. Via IX, people can do the following:

Complete a form
Explore lifestyle images with tagged products
Quickly view product catalogs
Swipe photos through Carousels
Watch engaging videos

They can be used in almost all types of Facebook and Instagram ad formats such as carousel, collection, single image, slideshow, and video.

Most instant experiences ads on Facebook and Instagram are relatively simple. Users can see an image, slogan, or video with a link. Once they click the link, they will be taken to a catalog, newsletter sign-up, or online shop. As it opens a full-screen piece of content, it makes the audience engage better.

Benefits of Instant Experiences Ads

There are lots of benefits that Instant Experiences Ads can offer on Facebook and Instagram. First, they help capture the audience’s attention. This fast-loading mobile-optimized ad allows first-time visitors to avoid the wait of slow-loading images and videos.

Second, they can help highlight your products and services through full-screen visual experiences. Connecting your catalog with elected templates can share more information with viewers who are interested in your brand.

Third, you can tell your brand story using creative elements, descriptive texts, and link buttons. When creating a custom Instant Experience, brands and businesses can choose between multiple templates that guide people with better experiences.

Using Instant Experiences Ads on Facebook and Instagram

To create a custom Instant Experience, go to the Ads Manager. Start with choosing any of the following campaign objectives:

App installs
Brand awareness
Catalog sales
Engagement
Reach
Store traffic
Traffic
Video views

Each campaign objective features an IX template.

Second, you will need to choose from a range of ad placement options.

Single image or video that can be placed on the Explore tab, group feed, main feed, Marketplace, newsfeed, and Stories.
Carousels that can be placed on Marketplace, newsfeed, search results, and Stories.
Collections that can be placed in the Explore tab, main feed, and newsfeed.

The recommended image width for an IX image is 1080 pixels. While the recommended image height is 1920 pixels. They should be in either.png or .jpg format. For videos, the maximum length is 2 minutes. The same goes for a slide of up to 20 images. The runtime for the slide should be at the most, within 2 minutes. The video should be at least 720p and must be in .mp4 or .mov format.

The third step is choosing a list of IX templates.

An AR Experience template offers camera effects and interactive elements from Spark AR. They are currently offered on video ads and not on static images.
Custom IX templates allow brands and businesses to customize their IX ads based on their preferences.
Customer acquisition templates focus on the discovery of new products among old and new customers. They are similar to a classic landing page.
Lookbook shows off products in context instead of displaying them in a grid.
Sell products templates allow brands and businesses to share catalogs on Facebook and Instagram.
Storefront IX templates link directly to your Facebook store catalog.
Storytelling IX templates allow you to create an informational mailer or newsletters.

Now, the rest of using instant experiences ads on Facebook and Instagram is up to you!

Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-instant-experiences-on-facebook-and-instagram/

Google’s Guide to UGCs

December 21, 2021 / Esther Day

Gone are the days of traditional marketing. People no longer enjoy TV ads. They seldom go out for window shopping and impulsive buying during a sale in physical shops. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong highlights that the 2020 pandemic has significantly disrupted consumer behaviors. From brick-and-mortar stores, modern consumers prefer to search and purchase products and services online.

Most brands and businesses now build shops using their social media pages. According to a social media agency Hong Kong, these digital shops are directly connected to their eCommerce websites. Such a system is called social commerce. As they make the buying experience easier and faster, people are getting more interested in such schemes.

Even a video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that online SEO can greatly boost brand discovery and sales. That is why most brands and businesses seek to optimize their SEO ranking on Google. Being the world’s largest search engine, Google also uses user-generated content to promote brands, products, and services. Below is Google’s guide to UGCs.

WHAT ARE UGCs?

UGC stands for user-generated content. They are content uploaded by users on a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. They are not curated because they are not meant as an advertisement. In an organic way, they can promote products and services. This is by boosting the discovery and reach of a brand. They also validate the good reputation of the business.

GOOGLE’S GUIDE TO UGCS

As a Google publisher, there are things that brands and businesses need to consider when running ads on the site.

First and foremost, running Google ads must follow Google’s Publisher Policies. It is to ensure that comments, forums, and social media posts strictly follow the Program Policies of Google. Any content violation is subject to Publisher Restrictions. To comply with the guidelines, brands and businesses should strictly monitor UGC and other content on Google. Alternatively, they can partner with a third-party website to do so.

Second, Google strongly recommends publishing a content policy on every social media page or website for a brand or business. Users should clearly be informed on what is allowed and prohibited. If possible, encourage users to report bad content. They should also set aside time to review their UGC pages consistently. A page moderator can perform such tasks.

Third, Google provided filtering tools to monitor UGC content. It includes a CAPTCHA to eliminate bots posting spam content. With an automated filtering system, you can detect harmful UGCs.

HOW TO IMPROVE SEO VIA UGCs

More than 1/3 of shoppers start with online searches. That is why it is very important for brands and businesses to improve SEO via UGCs.

When posting UGCs on social media pages, brands should see to it that the right caption, meta description, and title should contain relevant keywords. When we mean relevant, it should relate to the brand, product, or niche. It also means that these keywords are commonly what searchers type when looking for your product or service category and line.

Every social network attracts a specific group of audiences. So, brands and businesses should be smart enough to choose which social network they should post their UGCs on:

Facebook members are divided between 777% females and 66% males.
Millennials cover around 60% of Instagram users.
Twitter houses more male users than females.

It is also important to build social proof in Google using UGC. Brands and businesses can do this by activating user ratings and reviews on their Google listing.

Reference: https://blog.google/products/adsense/your-guide-user-generated-content/

YouTube Answers How Its Algorithms Work

November 5, 2021 / Esther Day

To give more insights into how its algorithm works, Rachel Alves, Product Manager of YouTube Discovery, answered some of the most commonly asked questions on YouTube. Here is how YouTube answers how its algorithms work.

Question No. 1 – Is it a good idea to share videos outside of YouTube?

A video marketing agency Hong Kong highlights that brands and businesses should absolutely share videos outside of YouTube. YouTube’s recommendation system focuses on how videos perform as they are offered up to viewers on YouTube and other suggested platforms. Sharing videos on suggested platforms outside of YouTube allows them to learn how videos are doing, do viewers choose to watch them, how much and how long of the video did the viewers watch, and if they are satisfied with it.

If the videos of brands and businesses are getting more traffic from external sources like social media, it is likely to increase the potential of such videos to be discovered by more viewers. Another benefit is that those videos are now in the viewers’ watch history. As such, there is a higher likelihood that the videos may be recommended in the future.

Question No. 2 – What is up with random videos being recommended from 10 to 12 years ago? Will it have a weird audience effect on the algorithm? Or a deliberate algorithm side quirk?

Whenever people are on YouTube, old videos are being recommended. These are videos uploaded weeks, months, or years ago. The reason behind this is that YouTube’s ranking system is designed to match viewers with the videos they are most likely to enjoy. It is regardless of when the videos are published.

If viewers continue to show interest in a given video, it will likely continue to be recommended even if they are uploaded 10 to 12 years ago. YouTube will recommend them until the viewers’ interest started to decline, or viewers started to choose to watch more of other videos being offered to them.

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong states that there is great value in all videos for YouTube creators and channels. They can drive in new viewers who are discovering you for the first time. Viewers can binge through your catalog and other stuff that you have uploaded. They may also start a habit of watching your most recent uploads. YouTube ranking work as expected and intended. If an old video gets recommended, viewers are likely to continue to enjoy it.

Question No. 3 – Does YouTube need a new creator tab highlighting new creators to get more views?

YouTube also hears from viewers that they want to discover new artists, channels, creators, and interests. They want to branch out to what they regularly watch. That is why, recently, YouTube added “New to You.”

“New to You” shows recommendations of videos that the viewers have not yet seen before. The recommendations align with their personal interests and preferences. After a viewer refreshes the homepage feed, the viewer will discover more new content and creators outside of what he or she is currently watching. A social media agency Hong Kong also notes that YouTube is currently working on special projects to help small brands and businesses to find audiences.

Question No. 4 – Does it makes a difference to add separate action and location tags?

Most brands and businesses treat tagging on YouTube as less important. Tags can help influence the viewers’ focus on decisions that they think about. When viewers are choosing what to watch, the title and thumbnail of a video are what rank on SEO. Changing and swapping tags on a YouTube video is unlikely to impact a video performance.

Brands and businesses should instead start searching for relevant successful videos and see what is working on them. As an example, listicle formats on video titles seem to be doing well. YouTube suggests using Google Searches or Google Trends to generate tags that fill in the gaps among popular video content. If your video can fill a niche, that is the time video tags can work.

Question No. 5 – Did YouTube recently change its algorithm?

First off, YouTube changes the recommendation system and makes improvements hundreds of times every year. But what the platform optimizes for does not typically change. Every time YouTube makes an update, the platform usually gets better at predicting what viewers are most likely to watch and enjoy.

Second, viewers’ schedules typically change every September. It is because of the beginning of the school cycle. September is also the month when a lot of creators experience a steady decline with viewership, spiking on the weekends. New uploads also take up a little bit than usual during these periods. But take note that YouTube do no changes in algorithm during those times.

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaYvtl6mZZ0

10 Web Design Predictions and Trends for 2022

September 17, 2021 / Esther Day

Brands and businesses commonly focus on content creation. They see to it that their web pages rank on searches by using backlinks and keywords. They commonly post visuals like photos and videos. Little do they know that web design is also important. It impacts how people see brands and businesses. These impressions can break or make your online presence.

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong highlights that web design is an important factor in SEO. With Google’s updated algorithm, a poor wen design displays a low level of authority. As such, it also lowers the ranking of a web page during searches. Below, let us take a basic look at 10 web design predictions and trends for 2022.

WHAT IS WEB DESIGN?

A social media agency Hong Kong defines web design as the process of arranging, conceptualizing, and presenting online content. It goes beyond the aesthetics of a website. Today’s web design focuses more on functionality and user experience. It includes mobile apps, user interfaces, and web applications. The elements of a web design can be categorized into appearance and function. Integration of these elements should optimize the performance and usability of a website.

When it comes to appearance, color plays the most important role when designing a website. It should match the personality and tone of your brand. The second element is content. Text goes hand-in-hand with the visual elements of a website. The font should complement the graphics and images. To boost engagement, a web design should have quality images and powerful icons. Such visuals and written text should be in harmony with each other. According to a video marketing agency Hong Kong, videos are becoming increasingly popular as website content. They convey a lot of messages through moving images. A web designer only needs to be sure that they don’t compete with important highlights of a web page.

The functional elements of a web design are also vital. Navigation should be the main priority of a web designer. It means making it easier for an online user to jump from one web page to another. The user interface relates to how visitors interact using different devices. With more than half of people in the world using mobile devices, your web design should be mobile-optimized. No one will like a slow website. So, keep it as simple as possible to load fast.

10 WEB DESIGN PREDICTIONS AND TRENDS FOR 2022

Are you looking forward to modernizing your business website? Here are 10 web design predictions and trends for 2022.

Accessibility. Expect to see a trend towards enhancing accessibility. Web designs today allow voice and visual searches. QR codes are also rising as a unique way to find products and services. As predicted, web design in 2022 will continue to incorporate features that don’t rely on keyboard input.
Dark Mode. Most social media pages enabled dark mode on backgrounds to avoid the negative effects of blue light. As such, most web designers become obsessed with dark color schemes on websites. They offer an alternative yet vibrant layout that does not strain the user’s eye.
Design for the Thumb. Today mobile devices cover 53% of the Internet traffic. As such, web design today commonly focuses on thumb-scrolling features that have good views, even on a mobile device. An intuitive and simple layout is most likely a web design for the thumb.
Dynamic Content. The COVID-19 pandemic changes the way people search for products and services. Typically, they will search for businesses nearby or local stores. In 2022, one trend is creating a web design with dynamic content. It means that the website displays different information every time a searcher changes location.
Dynamic Scrolling. Modern consumers wanted to get the accurate and complete information as fast as they can. That is why dynamic scrolling is very important as a web design trend. With dynamic scrolling, brands and businesses can show a message or tell a story on a website pillar page. The pillar page contains a complete list of your website content for users to easily navigate.
Faster Page Load Time. Again, who would want a page that loads slowly? Website visitors will abandon a website that loads for more than 5 seconds. A web design trend calls for 2.4 seconds for a web page to load completely. It is the sweet spot that website visitors love.
Interactive Content. Designers will leverage interactive content as part of the web design when building a site. It is because most online audiences demand a mix of content. They also engage more when their opinions are heard. Polls, quizzes, AR try-ons are just some examples of interactive content.
Local SEO. In 2022, expect local SEO to dominate web searches. It is one of the success factors among brands and businesses today. As people search for products and services nearby, it increases website traffic to a certain website. Thus, a web design needs to include a map and the physical location of brands and businesses.
Voice Search Optimization. Alexa, Cortana, Siri, and other virtual assistants boost the use of voice searches. It is easier to find information by saying it instead of typing. In 2022, most web designs will be optimized for voice search. This means including conversation languages and long-tail keywords as an SEO tactic.
White Space. When it comes to appearance and design, minimalism and simplicity will prevail in 2022. Like blue light, vibrant layouts can strain the user’s eye. So, web designs need to highlight white space. It can lessen the online noise and unique appeal to online audiences.

Reference: https://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2021/09/07/web-design-trends-2022/

The Three Key Types of Content Distribution Channels

September 6, 2021 / Esther Day

Content is king. We’ve heard this quote so many timed. Today, it still holds. Modern consumers need to be educated informed to lead them into the buying process. Yet, there is more to content being the king of digital marketing. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong has noted that the means of content distribution is more important than the content itself.

5 million articles and blogs are written daily. These do not include posts from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media platforms. For brands and businesses, content live or die by their distribution and promotion choices. Thus, it is vital to understand the three key types of content distribution channels. This is to get your content in front of the right audience at the right time and in the right way.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTENT?

There are many different types of content marketing. The long list includes:

Articles
Blogging
Checklists
Courses
Ebooks
Email
Free Apps
How-To
Infographics
Lead Magnets
Physical Leaflets
Podcasting
Product Demos
Quizzes/Tools
Slide Decks
Slide Shares
Social Media Posts
Video
Visual Content
Webinars
Whitepapers

and more. Their key focus is as free entertainment and information among target audiences to support a brand or business goal. They can build communities and relationships. They can drive traffic to landing pages and social media pages. They can spread brand awareness. Just like now, what you are reading is content marketing.

A video marketing agency Hong Kong highlights the importance of short-form video content today. This type of content has convinced 84% of viewers to buy a product or service after watching them. Even 93% of brands have acquired new customers after posting short-form videos on social media pages. With such a type of content dominating the market, brands and businesses should focus more on their creation.

WHAT IS CONTENT DISTRIBUTION?

According to a social media agency Hong Kong, content distribution is the process of promoting content to online audiences in multiple media channels. There are three key types of content distribution channels. These are earned content distribution, owned content distribution, and paid content distribution.

Earned Content Distribution means distributing content among third-party channels like guest articles, press coverages, product reviews, retweets, social media shares, etc.
Owned Content Distribution means distributing content to websites that belong to the brand or business. They can be a blog site, email newsletter, microsite, social media pages, websites, etc.
Paid Content Distribution means explicitly paying for content distribution. Under this key type of content distribution, the payment schemes can be under the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or Cost-Per-Impression (CPM) model.

The Three Key Types of Content Distribution Channels

An effective content marketing strategy is knowing the three key types of content distribution channels by heart. Each channel plays a unique role. How brands and businesses should utilize each channel depends on the type of content marketing. To drive response to your campaign strategies, here is an overview of each distribution channel.

The first key type of content distribution channel is earned content distribution. They are the central content distribution channel among brands and businesses. It is where they have full control of what content to post, remove, or update. It is the best channel to build a community, communicate directly to your audiences, and nurture contacts and leads. Earned content distribution channels include brand mentions, forums, guest posts, industry communities, review websites, testimonials, and user-generated content (UGC). Under earned content distribution, the best KPIs should be brand awareness, conversion, lead generation, and user engagement. Earned content distribution can also be a perfect way to drive traffic to your owned content channels.

The second key type of content distribution channel is owned content distribution. Brands and businesses have a little bit of control over this channel type. It is the best channel to partner with influencers and KOLs. These channels include the blog site, business podcasts, emails and newsletters, social media pages and profiles, and websites of a brand or business. Under owned content distribution, the best KPIs should be brand awareness, conversion, lead generation, and user engagement.

The third key type of content distribution channel is paid content distribution. They may be the most challenging distribution channel. It is because brands and businesses need to carefully forecast their budget planning. But they are the best distribution channel for ads and campaigns. You can use them to kickstart a campaign and get measurable results within a day. These channels include display ads, paid influencer social media profiles and websites, pay-per-click (PPC), pay-per-impression (PPI), social media ads, and sponsored content. Under the paid content distribution, the best KPIs should be brand awareness, conversion, lead generation, and user engagement. To reap success in paid content distribution, the main focus should be its return on investment (ROI).

THE BOTTOM LINE

An effective content marketing strategy is knowing how to promote the right content to the right distribution channel.

Prioritize building and growing your audience group through “owned media channels.” Leverage other channels to drive traffic to your owned content pages.
Use “Paid media channels” to promote your most essential content. These may include landing pages content, lead generation offerings, etc.
Focus on creating mission-driven and shareable content to achieve success with earned media channels.

These tasks may be challenging for a brand or business to do by themselves. You can always consult a digital marketing agency to expand your content reach and lead you to greater marketing success.

Reference: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/key-types-of-content-distribution-channels-infographic/606106/

How to Make the Best Out of Google Trends

August 19, 2021 / Esther Day

Google recently celebrated the 15^th year of Google Trends. It is a list of the latest insights and stories. Google Trends display the volume a search term is entered in Google. Such information can be used to compare keywords and discover events that can trigger search ranking.

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong explains that Google Trends can be very useful in finding relevant keywords to optimize SEO campaigns. By visiting the tool, brands and businesses can explore what the world is searching for. The results will show the volume of searches for a specific term per related topic, region, and time. These data can guide them when and where to ramp up their marketing efforts.

In line with Google Trends’ 15^th anniversary, Google listed 15 key tips on how to make the best out of Google trends. Here’s a summary of these tips.

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Tip No. 1 – Data by Date

Marketers can filter their searches on what people are looking for from any date in 2004 to a few minutes ago. The search results will show two data sets. The first data set covers historic information from 2004 to 3 days ago. The second data set covers real-time information from 7 days ago to the present. A social media agency Hong Kong notes that real-time data sets are more detailed and are updated minute-by-minute. As such, they are a perfect guide to creating the latest creative campaigns.

Tip No. 2 – Top Searches VS. Trending Searches

Top searches or “most-searched” queries are what people look for in a specific time frame. While trending searches are queries that accelerate faster in a given time frame. The latter is useful in knowing how things have changed. To make the best out of Google Trends, markets should focus on real-time trends.

Tip No. 3 – Terms VS. Topics Search

Google Trends allows marketers to look up using terms and topics. Terms are very specific searches yielding limited results. Topics are language-agnostic in Google Trends. They account for spelling mistakes and variations. They also cover all related search terms. So, Google recommends choosing topics over terms when exploring trends.

Tip No. 4 – Big and Small Locations

Google Trends is the perfect tool to compare keyword searches. To make comparison easier, Google recommends comparing search trends from big places to small places. For example, when looking up search trends, start with the metro area or key cities, then proceed to less populous and smaller regions like counties and towns.

Tip No. 5 – Country Filters

Google Trends also allows you to know what is trending in each country in the world. To make the best out of Google Trends, use country filters. They are the best ways to give you a sense of volume based on geographic regions of the world.

Tip No. 6 – Real-Time Search Trends

Real-time search trends are a great guide to see what’s happening right now around the world. From these data, marketers can grab the opportunity of promoting related products and services based on these trends.

Tip No. 7 – Relative Comparison

Google Trends recommends always doing a relative comparison when using the tool. To understand the scale of trends further, comparison can help brands and businesses offer something that their competitors don’t.

Tip No. 8 – Different Places Searches for the Same Thing

This is a hidden feature of Google Trends that can be very useful to marketers. Google Trends allows the comparison of up to five search terms or topics. For each one, you can specify the locations or places over the past 12 months. From these data, marketers can identify the best market location where they can ramp up their ads and campaigns.

Tip No. 9 – Visualize Common Interests

Google Trends is a human-centered dataset. It is a collection of what people are interested in. With the said tool, marketers can visualize common interests. They can then create campaigns relevant to these common interests to make them more effective.

Tip No. 10 – Polls VS. Trends

Polls are very much different from trends. Google Trends should not be confused as a tool to create scientific polls. Rather, marketers should use Google Trends to search for a particular interest during a specified duration of time.

Tip No. 11 – What’s Happening in the World Economy

Do you know that Google Trends is a perfect tool for knowing what is happening in the world’s economy? In fact, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) uses the tool to get a more granular view of its quarterly releases to track GDP.

Tip No. 12 – Autocomplete VS. Trends

Autocomplete is also very much different from Google Trends. Autocomplete is the process of predicting the term or topic based on what you are typing. Google Trends is a tool to look up for anything you want to search. Although it uses the autocomplete feature on the search box, its results are available trends based on what you are searching for and are not predictive.

Tip No. 13 – What’s Trending Near You?

Another interesting feature where you can make the best out of Google Trends is to see what is trending near you. The tool allows you to see what is trending in a certain location without the need for a search term or topic. This can be seen or trending searches based on locations.

Tip No. 14 – Downloading Google Trends Data

To make the best out of Google Trends, the tool allows marketers to download loads of data. These can serve as their guide on their marketing plans. All they need to do is click the download button next to each chart.

Tip No. 15 – Have Fun with Google Trends!

Around 15% of Google Trends queries are very unique. They have never been seen before. Have fun to make the best out of Google Trends. Peek behind the curtains by constantly searching for what things interest the world!

Reference: https://blog.google/products/search/15-tips-getting-most-out-google-trends/

The Three Key Trends in Social Media According to Matt Navarra

August 5, 2021 / Esther Day

Have you ever heard of Matt Navarra? He’s a UK-based social media consultant and geek. Matt founded the Facebook Group, “The Social Media Geekout,” with more than 25,000 members. He is also the Social Media Director of TNW, a digital media agency that connects and inspires people all over the world. Matt became famous for being a social media leaker. Typically, he would tweet the latest features and tools that most social media giants are experimenting with. These include Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Twitter. He also keeps a watch on messaging apps like Messenger and WhatsApp. So, if you want to know the latest trends in social media, Matt is the person you should follow.

Matt works as a freelance social media consultant for BBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Pinterest, Sainsbury’s, the UK government, and the United Nations. These are well-known organizations with large social media followings. He also helps top brands in refining their social media marketing strategies. Recently, Social Media Today, an online community of digital marketers, gets the chance to interview Matt. During the interview, Matt was able to answer questions about the key social media trends today and where things can head now. Below is a transcript of the three key trends in social media according to Matt Navarra.

SOCIAL SHOPPING

Matt Navarra ranks social shopping as the top key trend in social media today. A social media agency Hong Kong agrees with Matt that it is the most important element to grow in digital marketing.

Facebook and Instagram have made a big step to social commerce, through digital Shops. It features branded content, product tags, live shopping, etc. A range of similar developments was also made by Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok. Pinterest introduced product catalogs and pins. Snapchat rolled out branded AR filters and lenses, equipped with an eCommerce link. While TikTok is currently testing TikTok Shops.

Social apps have largely conquered the scene of online shopping. Matt has noted that their new features and tools open up new marketing potentials among brands and businesses. They have also revolutionized the way people shop today. Gone are the days where people had to visit physical stores. A major percentage of consumers today have shifted to online shopping.

Matt noted that the only downside of social shopping is too much reliance on social media networks. Although they give a great return on investment (ROI), brands and businesses still need to explore other marketing channels. It is because social media is constantly changing. Their updated guidelines and policies may eventually affect marketing analytics. If a brand or business depends solely on these pieces of information, they will then get stuck in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

CREATOR ECONOMY

Another key social media trend, according to Matt, is the creator economy. Most people who earned fame in social media are now eyeing to monetize their content on different social media platforms. Facebook has launched the “Stars” feature to help fans support their favorite creators via tipping. Twitter has introduced Twitter Blue, its first-ever paid subscription. YouTube has also rolled up a new addition to its Supes Family – “Super Thanks.” It is also a tipping feature to earn badges and stickers.

To retain the best talent, different social media networks have initiated creator funding. It is a bonus program to entice creators in publishing engaging and unique content. Facebook allotted $1 billion creator funding that expands and evolves per season. Snapchat has also offered $1 million a day for Spotlight creators. YouTube has also dedicated a $1 million fund for Shorts creators. Shorts are 15-second video clips similar to TikTok. It is the latest short clips addition to the video-sharing platform.

The question with the creator economy is how many people are willing to pay just to follow their favorite creators. Plus, how much are they willing to spend to support them? A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong answers the question that the key to success lies in choosing the right social media platform that will offer a sustainable revenue option. Within the next 12 months, it is a matter of race between the social media giants.

AUGMENTED REALITY

Matt included augmented reality (AR) as another key trend in social media today. AR is a precursor of virtual reality (VR). A video marketing agency Hong Kong highlights the main difference between the two as AR using real-world settings while VR uses computer-simulated dimensions.

Matt has noted that we’ve only just started the AR revolution in social media marketing. Facebook is currently developing AR glasses and hats. Pinterest spearheaded AR try-ons on makeups. Snapchat recently applied for the patent of bitmoji fashion. It is an AR try-on for clothes and fashion. Even Google Maps have also integrated advanced AR tools to give a different online shopping experience.

Matt sees more social media platforms focusing on the AR trend. The limitation may be technical expertise and technology. But social media teams will continuously innovate to give a better shopping experience and connect brands and businesses with people all over the world.

Reference: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/smt-expert-series-matt-navarra-discusses-the-latest-trends-and-where-thin/604256/

How to Use Emoji in Social Media Marketing

July 22, 2021 / Esther Day

Every 17th of July, people celebrate “World Emoji Day” globally. It is an unofficial holiday where social media platforms commonly release new updates on their emoji features and tools. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong notes that emojis help us communicate our hard-to-put expressions, feelings, reactions, and words into light graphic representations. Thus, they make it easier for everyone to connect to the world. Today, there are around 3,521 emojis. From a simple email icon, they have exploded as the world’s fastest-growing language. Emojis have also been used in social media marketing. Here’s how!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EMOJIS

The concept of emojis can be traced way back to 1963. Harvey Ball, an American commercial artist, designed a smiley face for the buttons and cards of an insurance company. In 1979, Kevin MacKenzie, an English newspaper editor, used the “tongue in cheek” symbol on the internet message board of MSGGrop. He proposed to use it in e-mails to add some subtle humor. In 1982, Scott Fahlman, a computer scientist, used the first frown and smiley faces on the message board of Carnegie Mellon University. Finally, a Frenchman named Nicholas Loufrany made the first animated emoticons in 1998. He was the first one to apply for its patent and made it downloadable in the year 2000.

On the other side of the globe, Shigetaka Kurita, an interface designer, invented the first emoji in the same year in Japan. During that time, he worked at NTT DoCoMo, the company that made it possible to send emails via phone. Since sending emails via phone is limited to 250 characters, the company commissioned Shigetaka to translate 176 concepts into graphic symbols. Inspired by kanji and manga characters, he created the first emoticon. It was a humble smiley face with a box mouth and inverted “V” eyes. It was very different from today’s smiley faces.

During the 1990s, emojis became popularly used as social media networks began to rise. Around 92% of people used them on chats, emails, SMS, and texting. Top social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In, etc. have integrated different sets of emojis for use in their platforms. A social media agency Hong Kong even attested that they have also greatly helped advertisers and marketers to boost their ads and campaigns on social media.

WHAT ARE EMOJIS AND EMOTICONS?

Emojis are an alternate way to convey body language and verbal tone. They are one of the two categories of hieroglyphics used online. The other one is called emoticons.

Emoticons are a combination of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks forming pictorial icons. They generally convey emotions and sentiments. This is why they are called emoticons. They are pictorial icons showing emotions. Most emoticons need to be read sideways because of the limits of a computer keyboard.

Emojis are a combination of faces, objects, and symbols to form pictographs. They consist of pixels, thus, their characters cannot be found or made using a computer keyboard. A Unicode system houses a variety of emojis for use among computers and mobile devices. The name emoji came from the Japanese words “E” for a picture, “Mo” for writing, and “Ji” for a character.

HOW TO USE EMOJIS IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?

Using images in marketing campaigns can communicate a lot of messages authentically to the audiences. With a single keyboard click, social media marketers can deliver emotions to all types of online users. What we are talking about is “emojis.” Here’s how to use them in every aspect of your marketing campaigns.

Consider your audience demographics and marketing channels first. There are two main factors that you need to consider first before you use emoji in social media marketing. First is your audience demographics. Not all people understand emojis. The older generation tends to disregard them. But among the younger generations, the use of emojis is established in pop culture. So, brands and businesses need to get to know their target personas first. Through analytics and research, they will know whether to use emojis to enhance their ads, campaigns, and messages. The second is the marketing channel. There are a lot of social media platforms that brands and businesses can use to promote their products and services. Among the most popular are Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, and Twitter. Each of these social media networks uses different formatting and mobile optimization tools. A line or space can create a variation in how posts are displayed. It is important to test and preview your messages before publishing to make sure that the emojis are properly displayed.

Encourage your followers to use emojis in social media interactions. A great way to encourage engagement is to encourage your followers to use emojis creatively in their actions and responses. It can be a simple like or dislike sign to show if they agree or disagree with a statement. Or, you can also ask open-ended questions like, “what is your favorite animal?” They can use emojis representing common wild or zoo animals. These work perfectly on social media pages like Facebook and Instagram housing quick access keyboards to different types of emojis.

Use emojis to add extra context to social media messaging. Emojis and social media messaging complement each other perfectly. Brands and businesses can use emojis to spice up their messaging content. With engagement in mind, they can use positive emojis to liven up their chat messages. It can be an authentic way to connect to their followers and target audiences. Emojis can also help to emphasize a point. For example, a “hand point” sign can display an urgency to click a call-to-action (CTA).

Use emojis in your social media posts. Most social media platforms believe in the power of emojis. Facebook, for one, created different types of emojis to enhance ads, campaigns, feed posts, Stories, etc. These include customized reactions, and themed emojis. Recently, the platform is testing a different kind of audio emojis which they call soundmoji. Twitter also has its own version of tweemojis. While Snapchat patented its fashion bitmoji. Using emojis is a fun and engaging way to connect to your followers and target audiences on social media.

Use emojis in paid social media advertising. According to a report, Facebook ads with emojis received a higher click-through rate than those ads without emojis. After a series of A/B experimentations on 2 identical ads, Facebook ads with emojis resulted in a 241% higher click-through rate than those without emojis. On Linked In, a variation of two content – one using emojis and the other without emojis – resulted in 84% more downloads for ads containing emojis. In general, social media ads containing emoji result in a 400% lower cost per lead. Brands and businesses can continuously use emojis to align their messaging and voice.

Reference: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/emoji-marketing/

Tips to Increase Facebook Organic Reach

July 8, 2021 / Esther Day

Facebook engagement rates are rising. But the platform’s organic reach is going down – not just down because it is showing a rapid decline. There are two main reasons why organic reach is declining on Facebook. First, the platform published more content today than ever. Every minute, there are 293,000 statuses and 510,000 comments posted on Facebook. As such, people’s attention is divided into a lot of content decreasing reach among Facebook posts. Second, Facebook has personalized news feeds. Content is tailored based on the user’s interests and preferences for a better experience. Thus, only content that matches them reaches selected users. This decreases the organic reach of irrelevant content. According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, while the obvious answer to boost Facebook reach is paid ads, there are a number of ways you can do to boost organic reach. How? Here are some tips.

WHAT IS FACEBOOK ORGANIC REACH?

A social media agency Hong Kong defines reach as how many people saw an online post. It is also called a “unique impression” because impressions are counted as multiple views per user. Reach only counts the number of users. There are 2 types of reach on Facebook. Organic reach is the number of users who saw content without paid distribution. Your Facebook friends and followers plus their Facebook friends and followers might have seen your posts. Paid reach, on the other hand, are users who saw your content because of paid promotions. Through ad targeting options, it reaches people with the same activities, demographics, interests, and preferences. Facebook organic reach is very important to boost brand awareness and drive traffic to business websites. Without a cost, they can help find leads and direct them into the sales funnel of brands and businesses. This is very important because, without leads, you may not have the chance to convert.

TIPS TO INCREASE FACEBOOK ORGANIC REACH

Here are some helpful tips to increase Facebook’s organic reach.

Be Authentic When Going Live

A video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that Facebook Live is a superior vehicle to reach more customers. What’s better is they also get the best engagements. Live videos allow you to connect to your audiences in real-time. It is your opportunity to answer their questions right then and there. Once you go on a live broadcast, your followers and friends will be able to view it. Their followers and friends can also join as they share your live video on Facebook. Facebook’s algorithm will also suggest live videos to other people with similar interests. That is why it’s getting plenty of engagements and views. Besides, people are more likely to spend a longer time watching Facebook live than recorded videos. Last year, there were 2 billion viewers of Facebook live. Their search popularity increased by 330% and they produce 6x more interactions than traditional videos.

Find the Best Times to Post

Reaching the right audience at the right time also matters to boost Facebook’s organic reach. You may not want to post at 4:00 AM when everybody is sleeping soundly. Sharing an article in the middle of the night may get it lost on Facebook’s news feeds. Studies showed that the best time to post on Facebook is between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM from Tuesday to Sunday. Monday seems to be a busy day for most people as it is the start of the workweek. As such, their attention and time are covered by work and other stuff rather than browsing on social media. Posting the right content at the right time can definitely increase your Facebook organic reach.

Mix Up Your Post Formats

To extend your organic reach, it may work to test out Facebook’s variety of post formats. Your target audiences may no longer find blogs and images interesting. They need to see a new content format that excites them. You can use GIFs, infographics, memes, quotes, and Stories to refresh the content of your Facebook pages. Your audience will also love a link post that highlights something they love. Recently, rolled-out formats like 360 videos and creative AR effects can get you on top of news feeds. By tracking the average reach of each format, you’ll also know which type works best.

Try a User-Generated (UGC) Campaign

Word of mouth is the best form of advertising. At Facebook, it is one best way to increase organic reach. Turn your happy customers’ posts into an invitation for others to see how wonderful your brand is. People are more interested in seeing reviews and testimonials from family, friends, and influencers. To get them more excited, try the following UGC campaigns:

Invite customers to review a product and share the best ones highlighting the product’s values.
Launch UGC contests featuring photos and videos of your brand.
Request customers to participate in a brand hashtag campaign.

Reference: https://www.falcon.io/insights-hub/topics/social-media-strategy/increase-organic-facebook-reach-tips/

When to Use Each Facebook Ad Campaign Objective

June 28, 2021 / Esther Day

Facebook is the number one social media platform when it comes to popularity, size, and usage. With roughly 2.85 billion monthly active users, every marketer includes the king of social media in their strategy. An average Facebook user clicks around 12 ads per month. According to a social media agency Hong Kong, clicks among local businesses have increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 2/3 of Facebook users visit a local business page once a week. For brands and businesses to optimize their Facebook ads, they should know when to use each campaign objective. Here’s a glimpse of how to do it.

WHAT ARE FACEBOOK AD CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES?

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong defines Facebook Ad Campaign Objectives as goals that a business wants to achieve when launching an ad or campaign within the platform. They are divided into three broad categories:

Awareness to generate interest in their products and services
Consideration to get people to seek more information about the brand or business
Conversion to encourage people to buy their products and services

Under these 3 broad categories are specific goals as follows:

Awareness.
Brand awareness aims to boost the number of people who know the brand or service.
Reach aims to show an ad to as many people within the target audience group.
Consideration.
App installs aim to direct people to a store where they can download a business app.
Engagement aims to influence people to comment, like, or share the content.
Lead generation aims to collect information about people which can be used for future ads and campaigns.
Messages aim to connect with your target audience via messaging apps.
Traffic aims to drive people to visit the business blog site or website.
Video views aim to invite people to share the videos of your business.
Conversion.
Catalog sales aim to generate sales by showing product catalogs.
Conversions aim to encourage people to take actions like add items to a cart, call a business, download an app, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.
Store traffic aims to promote a brand’s physical store and drive people nearby.

The Facebook Ad Campaign Objective you select shows what action you want people to do after seeing your ads. Based on these objectives, the Facebook algorithm will show the ads to people who are most likely to take those actions. That is why it is very critical to choose the right campaign objective that aligns with your business goals.

WHEN TO USE EACH FACEBOOK AD CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE?

As mentioned, a Facebook Ad Campaign Objective tells the platform what you want people to do. Based on its algorithm and the chosen objective, Facebook will show your ads and campaign to the people who will most likely do it. If you choose a wrong objective, Facebook may show your ads to the wrong people. This is the reason why you should be very careful in choosing the right goal.

Awareness Objectives

These are optimized for impressions. This is for your ads to be shown to the largest number of people within your target audiences. Clicks, comments, likes, and shares for these ads will be typically low. If your goal is to boost sales or drive traffic, don’t choose this objective. The main goal under this category is to build people’s interest.

Brand awareness is a good option if a business wants to build a memorable brand. Through it, they can measure “ad recall lift.” This goal is commonly used by large brands to measure ad lifts and by smaller brands to increase awareness.
Reach is a good choice if a business is organizing an event or an upcoming product launch. Businesses can get many eyes on the ads without expecting any action. However, if the goal is to influence people in buying advance tickets for the event, this may not be a suitable campaign objective.

Consideration Objectives

These are designed for low-intent actions. Besides conversions and sales, this category helps your business to prompt people in taking actions such as:

App installation
Engagement – Comment, Like, or Share a post. Use this objective if you want to add social proofs, boost sign-ups for Facebook events, or increase your number of followers.
Lead Generation – Fill up an information form, subscribe to an email list, etc.
Messages – Connect to a business via Messenger, IG Direct, or WhatsApp.
Traffic – Drive people to visit your blog site or website.
Video Views – Invite people to watch and share your business videos. For a video marketing agency Hong Kong, Facebook is one of the top three platforms on video marketing. Video views are a perfect campaign objective if to get more views on Facebook Live replays and introductory videos about a brand.

If your goal is to drive conversions and sales, this campaign objective brings the risk of low-quality leads.

Conversion Objectives

Conversion objectives on Facebook lead to higher link clicks and quality leads. They aim to encourage people to buy and use your products and services. It is important to set these ads up properly and take all costs into account.

Catalog Sales is a good choice if you have a large number of products and services that you want to present to your target audiences. They are known as dynamic ads on Facebook. Dynamic ads retarget audiences after they completed a purchase on a specific brand. These ads will show relevant items that the buyer may use to enhance his or her previous purchase.
Conversions are typically the best campaign objective to start with. But to use this goal, you will need to install Facebook Conversions API and Pixel on your website. You will also need to configure your events under the Events Manager. Once these are accomplished, you can optimize both your ads and events conversion using this goal.
Store Traffic is perfect when your business has more than one store branch and you want to drive people nearby to visit these stores. The only thing you need to do is add all your store locations on your Facebook Page together with their hours of operation. Using a specific radius, Facebook will show your ads to local target audiences closest to your stores.

THE BOTTOM LINE

One of the biggest mistakes that a business can make is choosing the wrong Facebook Ad Campaign Objective. By understanding how each campaign objective works, you can choose the right one that aligns with your business goal. To get the best results, experiment on different campaign objectives in your Facebook ads.

Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/11-facebook-ads-campaign-objectives-and-when-to-use-them/