Vine is taking over

Some of you may have heard about the new social media application (app) available on the web called Vine. Here is some clarification about that you can do with the app and if it is needed for your businesses social media.

Vine is originally owned by Twitter and is a app that allows you to upload 7 minute videos to the web and share it via Twitter. The app opened in October 2012 and is starting to get more popular; so much so that it can be seen as a marketing tool.

Vine has 15 channels or categories in which you can submit or explore new videos.Vine is currently being used by big companies like Nissan and Honda and is on the forefront of viral marketing. Because so many consumers use their phones instead of  computers to access social media, this makes the mobile app a great marketing tool seeing that in South-Africa there are more people that have a cell phone than people what have a home. 

Organisations that visualize their marketing like to show what they are doing how something works or what a certain product can offer. In this case a video can be a very interactive way of advertising the company’s assets. If this company happens to have a Twitter account, it makes it easier to spread the video on social media to allow it to flourish.

Examples of companies that can use this as a marketing tool is: Extreme/outdoors businesses, inventions companies, Arts and entertainment companies, a theme parks or a lodge.

To learn more about this app or download it, go to https://blog.twitter.com/2013/vine-new-way-share-video and upload your videos. In the past week more than 20 Vine videos have gone viral, imagine what it could do for your business.

How to deal with Internet problems when running a social media page:

Good reception in this tree!

Living in Africa sometimes has challenges for a social media manager or blogger. The past mouth I found myself in a rural district, doing my internship at a tourism company, and found myself on a daily basis struggling with internet problems. Here is some of the ways I overcome those problems:

1.    Smartphones:

Lucky for you we live in a 21^st centaury, which allows you to make updates from your phone. When running a page always remember that a smart phone can help you to make updates on your social media, as well as post photos when at an event. Make sure that your page is set up while you’re in good reception to make the process easier when you don’t have perception.

2.    Work on your laptop by tethering on your phone

When you plug your phone into your computer, you can use your smart phone as a modem to go on to the internet. The tethering function allows you to do that. When plugged into your laptop your phone will give you the option or you can turn it on at your internet settings.

3.    Data bundles instead of minutes

Make sure that your airtime or minutes, is switched to data. This will help you save money with all the reconnecting due to bad perception. It will also allow you to estimate how many megabytes you have left on your airtime and how many you’re using uploading or downloading from the internet.

4.    Schedule your posts

Some social media allows you to schedule posts, which can help you ahead of time when you know you’ll be going somewhere that might not have internet. The only problem with this is that you have no control over the future and what may happen or change in it. This also means that you won’t be able to give feedback on the posts if you don’t have internet access.

Fighting bad reception, or isn’t that bad if you prepare for it, even if you have to climb into a tree to get reception. Good luck and may the reception be on your side. 

Ten mistakes made on Social media:

1)    The look and feel of the social media does not portray the corporate identity.

Brian Solis, @briansolisInconsistent branding on different social media sites. So many businesses have a corporate identity on their web site, but seem to forget about their Social media’s corporate visual message.  By customizing the page of all your social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn a professional profile can be obtained for your business. Some of the elements used in the website can also be reused on the social media pages but must be adapted according to the nature of the media.

2)    Assuming the audience knows what you are talking about

Often we find that posts are made from an internal point of view from the organisations side. As many organisations assume that the reader knows exactly what the post is about. Examples of this is:  “The winner is: Bob Stern!” Making posts without creating context lowers the professionalism and connectedness of the online community.

3)    Giving a humanly touch to your social media

The word social means interaction. Some organisations like to keep their social media formal in such a way that the business can be seen as serious. However this doesn’t always reach people on social media the way that it should. People like to talk to people, not machines, but there is a fine line between adding a human touch and being too informal. The trick is to maintain that balance throughout your social media. Replying on some non business related questions and statements is a good way of adding a humanly touch.

4)    Making small-talk.

Small talk is a good way to add a humanly touch to a page but is sometimes used too much on pages. Making a post about the weather is a way of associating with users but also a way of irritating them. Use small talk post to create a community but don’t combine it with a marketing post, or your community will lose interest and see you as a spammer.

5)    Spamming

A lot of companies often spam their users by posting the same or various messages on their social media at once. If building up a loyal audience is what you aim to do, this is not the best way to keep them coming back for more if you keep pushing it down their thoughts. Plan a posting schedule that will give your audience optimal reach. Rather try to change wording or send different messages derived from a main message, than to continuously send the same message.

6)    Trying to ride on free marketing.

According to Jayson @JaysonDeMers, most companies think that they won’t have to pay for marketing. To be effective, social media requires strategic planning and dedicated resources which means that you might have to consider boosting posts on your page or making use of the advertising available on social media.

7)    Having a page without using it.

Some businesses think that they should jump on the social media train just because most businesses are on social media. If the organisation doesn’t keep the social media updated by making frequent posts, they are wasting their time. It is better to not be on social media and focus more on other mediums like your website, than for the social media to be neglected.

8)    Not being interactive

The whole point of social media is to be interactive. Responses on questions, taking opinions of users in to account and giving users what they want is important. If you are not using social media for connections with users or other companies and just posting information like a bulletin board, you might as well send all your posts out in envelopes with a no return stamp.

9)    Thinking that all your users has seen a post

Most social media works on a basis that orders newsfeed so that the user’s friends or followers with whom they had the most interaction will appear more in their newsfeed. So your page’s post is not that likely to reach all your users according to Courtney Seiter, @marketingland. This is why the right timing can play an important role in making posts on your social media.

10) Long posts

Users have lazy scanning eyes and like to read short sentences that get right to the point. This is applicable in different ways depending on the social media. On Facebook for instance, some organisations think that if they post all the relevant information about a certain event that they will communicate effectively, where people will easily scroll down and read shorter posts. It is important to only tease the user to read more on your page or other form of communication. If they want to read more they can do so by choice, put a link in your post to get them to your to your website or blog.