November 2014 archive

by

IS it time to break up with Facebook-

Last week Facebook announced that it was making changes to brands promotional posts  and how often these will be viewed in a fans newsfeed. What’s deemed a promotional post? Well for Facebook these are determined as posts that do these 3 things:

  1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
  2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
  3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads

So why should I as a brand marketer care about this? Well Facebook is basically forcing brands to engage in PAID placements to maintain social presence rather than relying on their existing organic reach.  The reality is that currently your Facebook posts are only being seen by 1-2% of your total follower base and according to an Ogilvy study this organic reach number has been falling by 0.5% EVERY MONTH and could even hit zero.

So given the above stats why bother with Facebook at all? Whilst its true there are other social platforms out there that will continue to allow you to promote your products (like Pinterest) and grow your following through image curation and ambassador relationships (Instagram) and yes of course you should be investing your social energy into these – Facebook will still be relevant to your marketing strategy and you can still make it work.

How? Your content output will certainly have to change. Questions, competitions & flat images will be out, focusing on creating less but better quality content will be in – generating engaging stories around your brand AND involving your fans in this storytelling. Investing in a video marketing strategy to drive reach and engagement  –  Video is an incredibly powerful mechanism to communicate a brands values and its currently underused by a large portion of brands. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has even stated that he expects most Facebook content will be video based in 5 years time.

Facebook has also proved itself to be an incredibly useful customer service tool and consumers will continue to seek out brands that can give them support or help socially. Investing your time on Facebook in improving customer service responses and being proactive to comments & posts will reap rewards.

Adapting your social marketing strategy to the times and trends will allow you to continue to reach and even grow your hard earned followers, otherwise expect to see a steep decline in your organic reach very soon.

How a 4 yr old won the Instagram game.

by

2e5506f

In the frenetic and short attention span of the social media world its almost impossible to stand out and make an impression but its not unheard of. I read this amazing article yesterday from the Huffington Post about a 4 yr old photographer, Hawkeye Huey, who through his natural ability and interest in analog photography has taken the Instagram platform by storm. Its a fascinating and beautiful story of a talent being nurtured and shared online by a father who also happens to be a National Geographic photographer.

So how exactly did a 4 yr old gain a follower base of over 38k in a matter of weeks? And what can a brand learn from this little artist? The key elements here to the success of Huey’s Instagram account are two fold 1) Authenticity and 2) Story.

Lets Start With 1) Authenticity.

In the social media game authenticity is EVERYTHING. All the images on Huey’s account are taken by Huey or are of Huey in action. There’s no manipulation or even digital trickery here – these are analog images, simply shared on a digital platform. In the photography world image manipulation is at an all time high and so for the viewer its refreshing for them to see authentic art created by someone who is doing it simply for the LOVE of the act. Huey is 4 – he isn’t creating these images because he will win some internet popularity contest or it will secure him his next big contract – he’s doing simply because he wants to and because he enjoys it. He’s sharing his point of view and his followers resonate with this completely authentic message. If your message is NOT true to your brand then it will not resonate and people will not engage with it.

Which Brings Me Onto Point 2) His Story.

Huey is 4 (only 4! Just let that sink in for a minute!) and he is already creating images that MANY of us wish we were capable of making. How many of us are lucky enough to find something we are so passionate about at such a young age? Its a very powerful story and as a follower knowing it makes his art that much more enjoyable.

Now you can argue that there are those who are only following due to the “cute celeb” factor – because Huey was featured in a news article or because he’s 4 and pretty darn cute and you might be right initially but I believe that people will continue to follow and engage with the images because they are good. Huey is not a flash in the pan – this is not a marketing stunt – he will continue to create beautiful images and so there is longevity in his story.

The Bottom Line

If your story is what drew people to you in the first place then your follow up work also better be good enough to keep them engaged because in this digital age retaining someone’s attention for longer than 5 mins is a challenge. Its not enough to just have a great story – its how you share it and embody it in EVERYTHING that you create moving forward.

To follow Huey on his photographic journey click here. For more  Social Media tips & tricks and interesting brand stories follow us on twitter @Howesocial or join us on Facebook here.