Hashtags tend to be all over the place on Instagram. It’s hashtag city over there. Twitter, on the other hand, seems to be a little bit more reserved. A bit more chill.
But does that mean that hashtags don’t matter on Twitter?
Facebook announced 7 days ago what we’ve all been expecting for a long time: that Pages will be shown less to their users in the News Feed and instead their friends and family will be prioritized.
Adam Mosseri, who is Head of News Feed at Facebook, said:
With this update, we will prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people.
We will also prioritize posts from friends and family over public content, consistent with our News Feed values.
If you’re one of the many Freelancers or independent businesses that benefit from referral traffic or even sales through your Facebook Page, then you need to pay attention.
The answer to this is: probably.
Facebook has claimed it’ll only negatively effect pages that don’t consistently post content that their followers want to engage with. They’ve said:
Pages making posts that people generally don’t react to or comment on could see the biggest decreases in distribution. Pages whose posts prompt conversations between friends will see less of an effect.
If you’re one of the pages that consistently drives good reach – which means getting lots of tags or comments from your users, then the update won’t cause you so much of a problem.
If however you are like most independent business and your engagement is hit and miss, you may want to start working on your content to get the best engagement out of it. Check back soon for a post on this.
Pages will be prioritised based on how many posts ‘generate a conversation’.
This could be anything from friends debating in your comments to people tagging each other in them.
Facebook wants to be seen as a place that “brings people closer together and build relationships” and they’ve put that at the heart of their News Feed update.
The algorithm will change to prioritise the types of posts people typically interact with. So if you have a core set of die-hard, loyal fans who comment on everything you do, chances are high they’ll continue to do so.
Also, people who’ve selected ‘See First’ for your page will continue to see your Page’s posts at the top of their News Feed.
If you don’t know what this is, it’s a handy feature Facebook added so people can keep track of their favourite Pages by having their posts always stuck to the top of their News Feed.
Facebook has categorically said it will demote any content that’s deemed as:
“engagement-bait” to goad people into commenting on posts
This is because Facebook doesn’t think these types of posts constitute a “meaningful interaction.”
The best way, it seems, to make sure your Page stats don’t suffer too badly is by making sure your Page is ticking those crucial Facebook boxes.
These are:
Facebook has a good tip in their press release as well: Live videos often get six times as many interactions as regular videos.
Facebook suggests that Pages that post more Live videos will tend to be the Pages getting more engagement, and therefore the Pages more likely to keep their spots in their customer’s News Feeds.
Check back for our next post on how to give your Facebook Page an engagement check-up and stop the negative effects of the update.
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Social media is a black hole for time.
You can spend hours pouring over the same 10 videos and you barely even notice the clock ticking.
When it comes to running your own social media, however, time is a huge factor. Because the more time you spend on social media, the less time you’re spending actually doing what you do (unless you’re a social media maven. You do you.)
Given that most creatives are time poor, so we’ve pulled together a list of 10 social media tools that will save you time and effort. Meaning you don’t have to spend your life flicking between apps. Yippee!
The best bit is… they’re all free!
Buffer is an awesome scheduling tool that allows you to post Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts at a later date.
With the free version you can link up to 3 accounts and schedule up to 10 pieces of content.
There’s also a handy content inbox where you can follow your favourite blogs (*cough*) and schedule to share their content online with a simple click. You can also link your own blog and re-share old content as well as broadcasting new content.
Audiense figures out when the best time for you to Tweet is. What’s even cooler is that it then links up to Buffer, and gives you a handy schedule.
This means you know all of your planned tweets are getting sent at exactly the best time for people to like, comments and share them.
Not only this, but it lets you search for people to follow (to grow your community) and also tells you who isn’t following you back (meanies.)
Hootsuite is great if you’ve got loads of different accounts and you want to keep them all in one handy place.
It offers the same service as Buffer but also includes a handy reply function – meaning you can keep track of all your conversations, all in one place!
Hootsuite also allows you to target subsets for channels like your Facebook page.
Ever wondered what people say about you online? Googling is so 2014 – you need Social Mention. It’s a eal-time platform that searches across the whole of the social interweb and organising it into a handy list for you. Influence is measured by Strength, Sentiment, Passion and Reach.
Not only this, it gives you a score for positive vs negative sentiment and your overall influence.
Pretty great if you’re trying to manage your brand or someone else’s.
You know that 31 people liked the picture of your breakfast. But do you know how many more likes you when you use Mayfair, instead of Nashville?
Iconosquare delves deeper than your ex into your instagram and analyses your posts, measuring the type of post vs the level of engagement.
If you’re monetising Instagram or even just using it to help build brand/personal awareness, this is one for you.
Now you’re fully armed – fly, my social media mavens, fly! (And let us know if you think we’ve missed anything.)
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Social media. We know the deal here, right? Some tweets. Some likes. A few dozen comments and a gif for good measure.
It’s not a top secret recipe.
And yet – nearly everyone is guilty of the following social media fails. How many do you clock up?
We all have something we want to sell. Whether it’s tickets to our next show or even just that jumper you bought off Ebay months ago and have never worn, we’re used to seeing sales messages on social media.
If you’re using social to build awareness of yourself and your brand however, you need to try and avoid the hard sell.
Why?
Because people don’t like following accounts where they think they will get sold to all the time. It’s not fun for them (I mean, how passionate can someone be about a 20% discount on lawnmowers? Hmm?
So here’s the secret. You sell. But you do it in a more roundabout way with some personality, fun and intrigue thrown in for good measure. Have a look at these two tweets:
Guys! Please buy tickets and come and support me on stage, www.ticketlink.com, it would be great to see you all.
Vs.
First dress rehearsal today! How’s my makeup looking for [insert production name]? http://www.ticketlink.com *With relevant image attached*
Which of those two tweets would you be more likely to click on?
The second one, right?!
Show us why we should come and see your show rather than ordering us to buy tickets!
This is a fancy way of saying ‘talking at people all the time on social media and never actually having a conversation with them.’
This happens when you view social media as a checkbox exercise. You log on, post your tweet, log back off and continue with your day/week/year. Wrong! You’ve just put something out into the world. If Sally from Rochester has decided to reply to you with a salsa dance emoji, then you need to engage with Sally (not salsa-ing, well maybe if that’s what you enjoy) and at least say thanks for the interaction.
Remember, you’re here to be social with people, not just yell at them from the safe confines of your laptop.
So back to Sally from Rochester, you need to engage in other conversations as well, not just the ones about you.
Get involved in topics you’re interested in (and that are on brand), but also show interest in other people and events in your industry. Being an active member of the wider social community will mean you get exposed (not like that) to new people, who in turn will get to find out about you. Win!
This is a mistake people make especially with Twitter.
‘Posting natively’ means logging onto twitter, clicking ‘write tweet’ and then typing it out there and then and clicking ‘tweet’.
“But how else would I post?” I hear you ask! There are a bunch of social media schedulers (watch out for the post on this) and tools that make it a lot faster for you to post online with the added bonus of being able to track all the good clicks and comments you get. Plus you can post on more than one site at the same time and view it all in the same window.
Magical huh?
So those are our top 5 social fails. How many did you get?
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Image: “Screaming Guns” feature film. Find Screaming Guns on twitter: @screaming_guns and Facebook. Screening at the BFI 30th Nov 2012.
The best way to promote your film via social media is to start before you have the finished product! A teaser campaign which spans across writing, filming, editing and screening will create a journey for your product and engage fans along the way so that when you have your dazzling finished film your fan-base will be jumping at the bit to see it!
Which Social media channels?
It’s a good idea to spread your effort between a few channels this will ensure more outreach but don’t make it difficult for yourself… go ahead and use links between your channels! Eg. Uploading a YouTube video gives you content for twitter and Facebook posts.
Top tip for each social media channel
Twitter – create a hashtag for your film (read more about hashtags here)
Facebook – post images! They can be of actors, filming, editing etc.
YouTube – create dedicated channel.
LinkedIn – create company page for film/production company.
Pinterest – create board for each stage eg. Inspiration, casting, filming.
Most important final tip is: don’t forget to invite me to the screening!
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com
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