Tag Archives: social media

2018 A Stormy Year for Social

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2018 was somewhat of a stormy year for social media in general.

In January Facebook users complained that posts from businesses, brands and media were crowding out personal moments on their Newsfeed. Adam Mosseri, Head of News Feed, reported that FB would change their algorithm and would prioritize posts from friends and family over paid advertisers.

Then, the Cambridge Analytics (CA) Scandal came to light in March. CA was a British political consulting firm that combined data mining, data brokerage, and data analysis with strategic
communications during the US Presidential elections.

CA used information from Facebook and others to build psychological profiles of American voters by using an app that appeared to be a personality test. The app collected data on tens of millions of people and their FB friends, even those who didn’t download the app themselves.

Facebook share prices dropped more than $100 billion in days and politicians from the US & the UK demanded answers. The scandal eventually led FB President Mark Zuckerberg to testify in front of Congress.

The scandal incited public discussion on ethical standards for social media companies, political consulting organizations, and the war on false news heated to new levels.

May of 2018 brought the launch of the GDPR- General Data Protection Regulation. This
European Union law gives individuals more control over how and what data is collected by third parties and forces companies that collect data to be more transparent. That includes expedited notification of breaches. Though not in effect state-side (yet), the law and penalties apply to companies that collect data from EU residents, even if the company collecting isn’t part of the EU. Many expect similar legislation to follow here in the US.

Lastly, FB removed their Partner Categories in August. Partner categories were demographics available when creating audiences for paid FB & Instagram ads. These demographics derived from third party giants such as Axciom, Epsilon, Experian, Oracle Data Cloud, and Quantium. They provided game-changing personal information such as household income, parents with children (you pick the age), or what kind of car an audience drives.

Removal of these demographics left many marketers wondering what kind of returns to
expect in the future.

All was not blustery for digital platforms in 2018. Communicating through video apps and stories became front runners and are defining new ways marketers need to spend their advertising dollars.

In June, Instagram launched IGTV. Unlike Instagram, it allows users to upload vertical videos up to 10 minutes in length. Up to 60 minutes if you are verified or “popular”.

China based TikTok became the most downloaded app in the US. This app is for creating and sharing 15 second videos. (See our blog, ‘Six Wildly Popular Social Sites That You (probably) Never Hear Of“).

One thing is for certain. Social Media marketing landscapes will continue to change at lightning speed and we’ll do our best to keep you abreast of the latest trends.

 

PIGC Women in Print

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We had a fantastic time today at the PIGC – Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast #WomenInPrint luncheon at Harold’s in the Heights. Our very own Joy Zehrbach was the feature speaker!  The topic? Social Media Blitz.

Women representing the printing and graphics arts community of Houston gathered today for networking, education, and comradery.  Our Angel Vierna & Veronica Comisso were there too.  Participating in industry education and networking events is a priority to for us.  Our Joy Z also serves on the Board of the PIGC, and Angel & Veronica serve on the Graphic Excellence Awards planning committees.

December 2017 QR Code

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It’s the last QR Code of 2017!  But no fear, our 2018 calendars are in the works.  In the meantime, scan our last 2017 QR Code for a fun 1-minute video!
You can also check it out here.

BEB WINS dotCOMM GOLD

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dotCOMM Awards announced winners for the 2017 international awards competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication.  BEB was awarded a GOLD dotCOMM for our Holiday Social Media Video!  Check out this multi-award winning video here.

dotCOMM Awards’ categories are the elements of the web’s evolving tools. Interactivity, content, design, social media, video, apps, blogs and influencers are all important components of digital public relations, marketing and advertising campaigns.

There were over 2,200 entries from throughout the United States, Canada and 13 other countries in the 2017 competition. Entries came from corporate marketing and communication departments, digital shops, advertising agencies, PR firms, production companies and freelancers. Entrants included designers, developers, content producers, digital artists, video professionals, account supervisors, creative directors and corporate executives.

dotCOMM Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (www.amcpros.com). The international organization consists of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and freelance professionals. AMCP oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges and rewards outstanding achievement and service to the profession.

AMCP judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.

We are thrilled to have been given such a prestigious honor!

June 2017 QR Code

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Have you scanned your June QR code from the 2017 BEB-Business Extension Bureau calendar?
We have a special message for you!

You can also click here to see it!

Which Social Media Platform is Best for Your Business

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which-platform-is-the-bestWhich platform is best for your business?  The best way to determine that is to find out who is on those platforms.

Referencing data from the Pew Research Center’s Annual Internet Project Survey, 72% of adults online are on Facebook.  28% are on Instagram, 25% on LinkedIN, and 23% are on Twitter.

gender-demographicsThere are more women than men on Facebook and Instagram.  Though almost even, LinkedIN older-couple-african-american-computer-smilingand Twitter have more men users than women.

Young adults are still the most likely to use social media.  90% of online adults ages 18-29 are active while 77% aged 30-49 are also active on social media.  However, the fastest growing segment are adults aged 50-64.  51% are engaged on a social platform (up 5% from 2005), and  35% of adults aged 65+ partake in the medium.  That’s up from 2% in 2005.

income-and-education-demographicsThe study reviews income and education demographics of multiple social platforms as well.  By reviewing each of the demographics, you will see a general profile of the people using specific social sites.  Here’s a couple of quick reviews:

Facebook

Founded in 2004, this 12-year old platform is the most used social site.  It’s been around the longest too.  An entire generation has “grown up” on it.

facebook-profile70% of Facebook users check their account daily.  On average, users check their account 14 times a day.

TWITTER

This 10-year old platform touts 313 million active monthly users.  Over 50 million tweets are posted daily.  Who is posting all of that information?

twitter-profile36% of Twitter’s users check their account daily.

Adding an interesting mix to the fold are the statistics showing people on multiple platforms.  Over 25% of online adults are engaged in more than one social network while 17% are on three.  This is growing trend worth watching.

You can learn more about “who” is on “which” platform by attending our Marketing for Small Business Social Media Classes.

Your business should be active on at least one social platform.  Advertising is inexpensive, it helps your search engine optimization (at no cost), and enables your clients (both existing and potential) to interact with you.  If you know who your clients are, choose the platform that has your audience/client base engaged and get started today!

TWITTER 101

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young-man-african-american-red-shirt-curly-hair-puzzled-question-unsureWhy should your business be on Twitter?   It’s a great way to stay connected to your customers, it’s an excellent lead generation platform, you can share information quickly and gather feedback in real time.

Twitter is a recipient driven platform.  People choose to follow  your account.  Messaging is quick to read and write, exchangeable anywhere and is easy to integrate into multiple networks such as Twitter, Instagram, and your website.

There are a few cautions to note.  caution-sign-exclamation-point  Be sure to check out the profile before you follow someone.  Pornography sites are prevalent, hackers are present, and stay away from people selling “followers”.  Lastly, be careful about aggressive tweeting – hounding people to follow you, pushing people to interact, you could get your account shut down.  Respect the platform and see who starts to follow you and be sure to follow those whose tweets you want to see more of.

Messaging is limited to 140 characters per tweet (for now).  This includes website links and pictures.  Be sure that you write well though.  Don’t start using short hand unless it’s necessary.  You’ll find the more you’re on Twitter, the more concise your writing will become!

Best Practices

2016-02-11-ron-and-the-dancing-reindeerSHARE! Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!

Listen.  Regularly monitor the comments about you, your co-workers and your company, brand, and products.

Ask – Respond – Engage

Ask questions of your followers to gain valuable insights and show you are listening.

Respond to compliments and  feedback as soon as you can.

Engage existing &   prospective clients; it may not seem so, it adds a personal touch.

Demonstrate Wider Leadership.  Reference articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates opera-singer-with-notes-horns-shield-blondto your business.

Champion Your Stakeholders.  Retweet and reply publicly to great tweets posted by your followers and customers.

Establish the right voice.

Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine, and of course, a likable tone from you, think about your voice as you Tweet. How do you want your business to appear to the Twitter community?

The very best way to become comfortable within Twitter, is to start using it.  Search for people and businesses to follow.  Start with following your current clients.  Then start Tweeting.

You can also attend one of our many Marketing for Small Business classes.  We offer training on how to choose the right social platform for your business as well as how to use those platforms.  Our next HOW TO: Twitter class is on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 from 11:30 – 1:00pm.  Register here today!