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'Dear Evan Hansen' shines Broadway's lights on mental health awareness

5/31/2018

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'Dear Evan Hansen' shines Broadway's lights on mental health awareness

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Tony award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen tackles mental health issues, anxiety, suicide, and grief in a very thought-provoking way.

Cast members Taylor Trensch and Alex Boniello sit down to discuss the show's hopeful message, overwhelmingly positive fan response, and partnerships with various mental health charities.

Disclosure: Mashable's Chief Operating Officer, Mike Kriak, is a producer for Dear Evan Hansen. Read more...

More about Celebrities, Mashable Video, Interview, Social Good, and Mental Health




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May 31, 2018 at 03:51PM
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What You Can Learn from Hootsuites Top 5 Social Videos in 2018

5/31/2018

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What You Can Learn from Hootsuite’s Top 5 Social Videos in 2018

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By 2019, it’s estimated that 80 percent of all internet traffic will be video.

Video isn’t slowing down, so it’s important that you know how to make your content stand out and get the results you want.

In this blog post, we’ll share lessons from our top-performing social videos. Use these insights to create your best video content in 2018.

Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence with Hootsuite.

Hootsuite’s top-performing videos in 2018—and what you can learn from them

1. 5 Free Sites for Awesome Social Media Images

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://ift.tt/2JGRBww'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

5 Free Sites for Awesome Social Media Images

How much time do you spend searching for images? ???? Bookmark this: https://ift.tt/2kBmNTz

Posted by Hootsuite on Thursday, February 15, 2018

Facebook recently introduced a reshare feature that allows you to re-engage your audience with old video content. We tested this feature with one of our top-performing videos from last year: 5 Free Sites for Awesome Social Media Images. The strategy proved to be very successful—the video earned over 250,000 views and 2,000 reactions during its second run.

You can use the reshare feature for any previously published video content, but that doesn’t mean you should. It’s important to be mindful of how and when you reshare to get the best results. Here are some reasons you should give it a try:

  • The video was a top-performer the first time
  • The content is still relevant (i.e. no outdated information)
  • You want to try targeting a new audience
  • You’re doing a throwback post

We republished our stock photos video because it was a top-performer and we knew that it was relevant to our audience. Social media marketers still spend hours searching for free stock photos—and this video makes their lives easier by recommending a list of high-quality photo sites.

Since we didn’t put any resources into creating this video in 2018, we had an excellent return on investment. It was a low risk with a high reward.

Lesson: Recycle your top-performing content with Facebook’s reshare feature.

2. The State Of Digital in 2018

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Digital in 2018

Read the Digital in 2018 report from Hootsuite and Simon Kemp of We Are Social!In this report, you'll find data about the changing landscape in social, mobile, and e-commerce from every country in the world ???? https://ift.tt/2su1XZJ

Posted by Hootsuite on Monday, February 26, 2018

Our Digital in 2018 video had the highest number of conversions this year. It not only led people to download our Digital in 2018 global report, but it also prompted them to sign up for free trials, check out Hootsuite Academy, and register for upcoming webinars.

We treated this video like a sneak preview of the report’s findings to entice people to download the report. The report is long and in-depth, so we were careful not to overwhelm our audience. We included very little text on each video frame and used bright colours to make the stats stand out.

By focusing on global stats, the video had a broader appeal across our target audience. Our goal was that any marketer—regardless of geographic region—would find our video useful.

Lesson: Use social videos to give a preview or snapshot of long-form content to encourage conversions.

3. 4 Things Marketers Need to Know About Gen Z

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4 Things Marketers Need to Know About Generation Z

This tech-savvy group has an attention span of 8 seconds, but here are some other Gen Z statistics that might inform how you market to this group on social media. ⏳ https://ift.tt/2IZtVb0

Posted by Hootsuite on Wednesday, January 10, 2018

While jumping on a trending topic can come off as forced or gimmicky in the wrong context, it’s absolutely worth doing if it’s relevant to your brand. The momentum acts like a springboard for your content, increasing your visibility and expanding your audience reach.

Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence with Hootsuite.

Get the free guide right now!

A big part of why our Generation Z video was so successful was because we quickly jumped on the hot conversation about this new demographic. Timeliness is key.

By sharing interesting statistics and facts, our video also showcased the power and influence of Gen Zers as consumers. We showed how their buying habits are different from Millennials, and gave quick tips for how to create content that would resonate with them.

In this video, we used a narrative style approach—with slightly longer copy per frame—to effectively illustrate the rise of the Gen Z buyer.

Lesson: Follow industry news and updates so you can share valuable insights with your audience when it matters.

4. Social Media News You Need to Know: January 2018

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://ift.tt/2JGRBww'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

Social Media News: January 2018 Roundup

Facebook announces a major News Feed update, Snapchat will now let you share Stories outside the app, and WhatsApp officially launches its business app—January was a busy month for updates on social media. ????

Posted by Hootsuite on Thursday, February 1, 2018

Our social media roundup videos are a recurring monthly series that we started in 2018. In each video, we share the latest social media updates for marketers or anyone interested in learning about the industry.

We don’t include a call to action or try to send people to other content. Instead, we want to educate our audience and offer something that’s valuable—without asking for anything in return. It’s why these videos often top the charts for us in terms of views and shares.

Interestingly, we still get a lot of conversions from people who enjoy the content and want to learn more about what our company does. (We track this data using the Facebook Pixel.) Conversion is not the primary goal for this series, but it’s a nice added benefit of creating educational, high-quality content.

Lesson: Provide value for your audience before you sell to them.

5. 3 Ted Talks Every Social Media Marketer Should Watch

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3 More TED Talks Every Social Media Marketer Should Watch

Our team put together a list of the best TED Talks for social media marketers. Did your favorite make the cut? ????Check out the full list here: https://ift.tt/2H986zL

Posted by Hootsuite on Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Our Ted Talks social videos are based off one of our top-performing blog posts, 7 Ted Talks to Make You a Better Social Media Marketer.

To make the most of this post we created two videos, sharing three recommendations in each. We posted part one in 2017, and it was our top-performing video of the year. Our second video (part two) proved to be equally successful.

By creating another video on the same topic, we were able to retarget people who viewed the first Ted Talk video for 10 seconds or more. This allowed us to re-engage an audience that had already shown interest in our content.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan like me, it might make sense to think of this strategy the same way that Hollywood filmmakers did for J.K. Rowling’s series finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you’ve got a bestselling book, turn it into two movies. And sell them both to the same audience.

Lesson: Split up your top-performing content and package it as a series.

By using proven strategies to create and share your social videos, you’ll save time and money, and get better results. If you follow these tips, you’re on your way to creating your own top-performing video.

Once you’ve created your winning social video you can use Hootsuite to easily upload, schedule, and promote it across multiple social networks.

Get Started

The post What You Can Learn from Hootsuite’s Top 5 Social Videos in 2018 appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.





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May 31, 2018 at 08:26AM
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4 Tools to Find and Manage Influencers

5/31/2018

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4 Tools to Find and Manage Influencers

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social media toolsAre you working with social media influencers?

Wondering how to vet and recruit influencers?

In this article, you’ll discover four tools to manage your influencer relationships.

4 Tools to Find and Manage Influencers by Bill Widmer on Social Media Examiner.

4 Tools to Find and Manage Influencers by Bill Widmer on Social Media Examiner.

#1: Identify and Vet Influencers With Influence.co and Social Blade

Influence.co is a tool that helps you easily find and connect with influencers who want to work with brands. It’s like a big influencer database for almost any niche imaginable. Plus, it’s free to use until you get to the point you’re contacting more than 30 influencers per month.

It’s super-easy to use. Just type your category/industry in the search bar and click the Search button.

Influenceco search

You then see a list of influencers (who’ve joined the platform) in your niche.

Influenceco search results

If you click the Advanced Search tab, you can sort these influencers by their Instagram follower count, location, age, engagement rate, Google Analytics traffic, and more.

If you’re not keen on Instagram, you can search based on YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat, or the influencer’s own hosted blog. Simply check the appropriate boxes on the Advanced Search tab.

Influenceco Advanced Search options

I almost always search for influencers who have a strong blog. This is powerful for link-building and SEO, as well as great engagement on your social media channels and a strong network to share with.

As for the other metrics, try using a minimum of 4% engagement rate and a minimum 10,000 Google Analytics traffic per month. This helps weed out the people with loads of followers but no real engagement.

After you identify some potential partners, you can vet them using the free influencer data reporting tool Social Blade. You want to see if they have a natural follower growth curve.

To illustrate, here’s the profile for one of the influencers who turned up in the earlier “fitness” search on Influence.co. At the top of this report, you see the user’s stats followed by a rank, which is a grade for the account based on the engagement and following.

Social Blade influencer engagement stats

Below that, you can view a chart of their Instagram stats, showing their follower increase (or decrease) week over week, as well as how many people they’re following and their media mentions.

Social Blade influencer engagement stats

Finally, at the very bottom, you’ll see a chart of the user’s follower growth over the last 4+ years. Look for a natural growth curve, with no sudden spikes in follower count. If you see a sudden spike in a user’s curve, there’s a good chance they bought followers. Of course, they can still buy followers slowly to look more natural, but this is rare.

This user only got a B+, but we can assume her followers are authentic and she didn’t buy them because of the natural growth curve in the chart at the bottom of her profile.

Social Blade influencer engagement stats

Keep in mind that not all influencers will have enough data to show up on Social Blade, and that’s okay. It’s just an extra security measure if you’re going to pay people to help promote you. If you’re not, and you’re just building a relationship, their engagement score doesn’t matter quite as much.

#2: Engage With Influencers Using Zoho Social

Zoho has a massive number of tools to automate your business, but one standout is the social media management platform Zoho Social. This tool makes it easy to tag and interact with influencers on social media. The standard account is $8.33 per month billed annually (or $10 month to month).

Setting up your account is simple. When you first sign up, you’ll be prompted to sync your social media profiles. Just click Connect and log into your accounts.

Zoho Social add social profile

From the home screen, you can see an overview of your social stats, recent posts, and a live stream of any mentions or comments you get.

Zoho Social main dashboard

When you click on a mention, for instance, you can reply to it directly from Zoho. You can also see some useful information about the user, such as how many followers that person has and the history of your engagement with them. These insights allow you to reference past conversations and build a relationship.

Zoho Social Twitter mention info

From here, you can click on the person who engaged with you to add notes such as a description and contact info (especially if you have a long engagement history).

Zoho Social add notes

Once you click their name, you can see your engagement history with that person. To add notes, just click the pencil icon next to Personal Info. You can also @mention them directly from this page.

Zoho Social add notes

Beyond direct interaction with your followers, you can also schedule posts to be shared at a specific time. Just click the New Post button in the upper-right corner of your home screen.

Zoho Social new post

What’s really cool about Zoho is that it uses an AI tool called SmartQ to tell you the best times to post based on your specific following. To use the feature, click the SmartQ tab in the new post window and select the time you want to publish.

You’ll see the projected engagement percentage based on which time you choose. For example, the image below shows that 10% of the audience should engage with the post if it’s published at 4:00 AM on Tuesday, April 10.

Zoho Social SmartQ post scheduling

For posts that do well, you can schedule them to be reshared again at certain intervals.

Tip: Keeping your feed full of your highest-engaging posts helps you stay active without having to always be on your social media accounts. My highest-engaging posts almost always involve influencers. Tagging and interacting with influencers (especially targeted influencers) can help boost your post engagement.

#3: Manage Influencer Networking With Asana

Asana is like Trello on steroids. You can use it for everything from a daily task list to long-term project management or a training resource for your employees. It’s also a great tool for managing influencer networking.

The free version of Asana is great for simple task lists. But the premium plan (which runs $9.99 per month per user) gives you access to private teams and projects, has no team limit, offers admin features, and more.

Asana dashboard

To set up your account, first create a workspace, which is a set of projects. Each workspace can have its own unique members. You might have one workspace for your entire business or multiple workspaces based on teams within your business such as a marketing team workspace, an HR workspace, and so on.

Asana create workspace

Once you’ve set up a workspace, you’re ready to set up individual projects. Projects can be assigned to your whole team or private to certain members. To set one up, click the + sign next to Projects in the left-hand menu.

Asana create new project

You can set up each project as a to-do list or a Trello-style board. For instance, you might use lists for tasks and boards for permanent links (like training documents or videos) that need to stay around for training and referencing.

Asana create new project

To set up a resource board, simply select Board instead of List when you create a new project. To add a column to your board, click +Add Column and type in a name. Click the + sign under the name to add a card. From there, each card acts as a task item in a list.

Here’s an example of a resource board:

Asana task board

To add a task to a list, click inside the list box and type in a name. You can assign it to specific team members, set a due date, write a description, and create sub-tasks. Click the three dots button to add tags.

Asana add new task

To add a description, click inside the Description field. Team members can comment on tasks, and the @mention functionality works just like a social media platform to notify people about a comment on a task.

If you want to set sub-tasks, click the button with the lines connecting two circles next to the thumbs up (users can “like” certain tasks, because why not?). To illustrate, you could set up sub-tasks for connecting with certain influencers and updating their description in Zoho after you interact with them.

For social media management, I use Asana as a sort of CRM to keep in the loop with influencers I’m contacting and potential clients who’ve reached out through social media.

You can use Asana with Zoho Social to track your goals with influencers and assign employees (or yourself) to keep in touch with them. I do this through a project called Social Media Relationship Building.

Asana social media relationship building

This board has three columns:

  • Want to Connect With – people you haven’t connected with yet, but want to.
  • Made Connection – people with whom you’ve made some kind of connection, like a comment or emails back and forth, but haven’t worked with on anything.
  • Worked With – people you’ve worked with to some extent. They contributed to an article or helped you promote something, or they’ve become a client.

You can use a board like this to track progress with the influencers you want to build relationships with. On each person’s card, list your goal for that person and any connections you’ve made with them such as sharing their content or commenting on their blog.

Asana influencer tracking

From here, you can create tasks for yourself or someone on your social team to frequently connect with these people. This contact could be sharing their content and tagging them, commenting on their posts, or sending an email.

As the relationship grows, move the person along the three boards and add any relevant notes. As an example, you could track when they share or link to an article you wrote. If they share/link once, chances are they’ll do it again!

Conclusion

And that’s all there is to it! These four tools — Influence.co, Social Blade, Zoho Social, and Asana — will help you manage and succeed with your social media influencer campaigns.

What do you think? How do you manage your social media influencer campaigns? Are there any other tools you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!

Discover four tools to help you vet and recruit influencers and manage your influencer relationships.




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May 31, 2018 at 05:08AM
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Take a look at your Twitter timeline 10 years ago

5/30/2018

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Take a look at your Twitter timeline 10 years ago

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Here’s a fun thing for a Friday: go back and see what your Twitter timeline looked like 10 years ago.

Twitter has pretty powerful search settings, but Andy Baio — of Kickstarter fame and more — did the heavy-lifting for us all by sharing a link that let’s you look at your timeline exactly a decade ago, assuming you followed the same people.

Try it here. (The search will work even if you didn’t have an account 10 years ago.)

Want to see what your Twitter timeline would've looked like 10 years ago today, if you followed all the same people you do now? https://t.co/41a6iQcYhc

— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) May 24, 2018

The mix is eerily quiet, with far fewer retweets and likes than the current time — Twitter hadn’t yet introduced the ‘automatic’ retweet, people were still doing it manually — and no nested replies or link previews, while there are ghosts of once-major social media services, such as TwitPic, TinyURL.

Certainly, it’s a fun way to see how Twitter has morphed, both in terms of features and the actual dialogue of users. The latter, in my experience at least, seems more driven by status update-style tweets than discussions or dialogue and there’s precious little content from media at that time, too. Given how things are today, with polarized opinions and armies of trolls, perhaps the old days of Twitter did have their benefits.

You can, of course, tweak the settings to change the date, language and more to explore past Twitter.

Enjoy — and maybe retweet a decade-old tweet or two while you’re there.

Twitter of 10 years ago is so bizarre. No one had figured out how to use the platform yet, and it feels super rigid and awkward. Also the absence of media is felt.

— Chris Franklin (@Campster) May 25, 2018

❤ How innocent we were.

⏳ Twitter advanced search lets you go back in time! Here's your current feed, but 10 years ago (works even if you weren't on Twitter 10 years ago!): https://t.co/4Y63uPyqWo pic.twitter.com/f0xA7Vb6um

— Jonathan Howard (@staringispolite) May 24, 2018

10 years ago twitter ruled. https://t.co/OeY1CkMapG pic.twitter.com/jK24h28SV8

— drew olanoff (@yoda) May 24, 2018





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May 30, 2018 at 06:34PM
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How to Edit Your Images for Social Media

5/30/2018

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How to Edit Your Images for Social Media

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Images and social media go together like—well, we don’t even have to finish that thought, because if you’ve been on any social platform in the last few years, you already know that photos (and, increasingly, videos) are the name of the game. Pinning down exactly how many photos are shared on social daily is nearly impossible, but one of the most commonly held figures is 3.2 billion. Instagram has also reportedly claimed to see more than 95 million photos and videos shared daily.

Whatever the numbers, social platforms are full of visual stimulation, and standing out requires editing your content in a compelling way, and putting thought into what you post. Here, we’ll explore some tips that will help you create better images and build a more enticing social presence.

Before You Edit: What’s Your Social Style?

 Before you start picking out filters, adding text, and cropping away, take a minute to think about your brand. Your brand should be considered the public-facing personality of your product/service, or in the case of a personal brand (and yes, if you have a social media profile, you have a personal brand), yourself.

You don’t want your brand to look like it has several different personalities, so think about the colors, photography style, and overall vibe you want. This will lead to a more cohesive social media presence, which is the key to everything from creating an attractive Instagram profile to increasing brand recognition to making more money—according to Lucidpress, presenting a brand consistently leads to a 23 percent revenue increase on average.

If you have a well-developed brand with defined colors, fonts, a logo, etc., use that to inform your image editing for social. If not, take a minute to think about how you want to portray your brand to the billions of people on social media who don’t know you, and let that guide your social posts. Once you have an idea of what you want your social presence to say, use these editing tips to create attention-getting photos and videos.

Size it Right for Every Platform

Nothing ruins otherwise gorgeous photos and videos quite like improper sizing. Maybe in some magical future world, all of the social platforms will get together and decide to use the same dimensions, and the headache of sizing for each one will finally go away. Until then, editing apps that are made for social and offer a variety of preset cropping sizes (like Instasize) are the easiest way to make sure your posts display correctly.

Master the Basics 

Authenticity isn’t a new trend on social, but it also doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. But “authentic” and “amateur” are two different things, and nailing the behind-the-scenes look involves more than pulling out your phone, taking a photo, and posting. A few simple edits will up the wow factor of your images, while keeping the effortless vibe. Try the following subtle edits:

  • Whiten teeth, brighten eyes, and remove blemishes.
  • Use whitening tools to brighten white backgrounds in your photos.
  • Master go-to edits like saturation, sharpness, and contrast.
  • Crop for composition. That means minimizing distracting elements and making your subject the star.
  • Subtly blur the background of your photos or add a vignette in order to direct eyes right where you want them.

It’s important not to overdo it with these small, basic edits—remember, you’re going for naturally flawless, not an overly airbrushed or processed look. Opt for apps that offer customization options, so that you have more control over your edits.

Consider Your Colors

According to research from the University of Loyola, Maryland, color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. You’ve probably seen this idea applied on Instagram. Some social media stars opt for pops of pastels, others go for a minimalist vibe with lots of white backgrounds—that’s because using the same color says “these images go together.” For a crash course in how color can make your profiles look more cohesive, try featuring the same one or two colors in your next six or nine Instagram posts.

Filters are Your Friends

One of the quickest ways to achieve a cohesive look is to apply the same filter (or filter combinations) to multiple images. Filters can completely change the mood of a photo or video, and using the same filter helps give that same mood to multiple images. Hate the idea of committing to a one filter for every piece of content? Look for filters with a similar feel, like vintage, bright, or dark and moody.

Make Trends Work for You

It’s important to note that “cohesive” doesn’t mean posting the same type of content all the time. New editing trends pop up on social platforms all the time, and participating in them is a great way to explore your creativity, try something new, and keep your followers engaged with fresh content. The trick is to make them work with the rest of your branding. Here are a few trends to try now:

  • Typography. Quote images have been around for awhile, but the latest take on text involves pairing fonts, varying weights, and sometimes ditching the “image” part altogether by opting for a gradient or patterned background instead. To participate in this trend without having to learn the rules of typography, try Instagram’s Type mode or apps offering preset text styles.
  • Borders. From plain white to graphic patterns, borders are having a moment on social media platforms (especially Instagram). Try adding a patterned border that complements the colors in your photos, get the letterboxing look by adding a simple black background to your videos, or experiment with adding a photo as a border.
  • Grids. Few things grab attention like splitting one photo into a grid, or “tiling photos.” Try selecting one photo that really speaks to your brand, and breaking it into multiple square images. For even more of an artistic take, experiment with editing a few squares differently—like turning a couple black and white.

With these guidelines in mind, your social media presence will be more cohesive and you’ll start building up a following in no time at all!

The post How to Edit Your Images for Social Media appeared first on Social Media Explorer.





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May 30, 2018 at 10:55AM
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How to Increase Clicks by Mastering Your Headlines

5/30/2018

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How to Increase Clicks by Mastering Your Headlines

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What draws people to your content?

In the past, I’ve explained how to write introductions that make the rest of your post irresistible. But before readers can even have a chance to read your intros, they’ll need to click on your headline.

Headlines go way beyond just blog posts. This is something you need to focus on for every piece of content you produce.

Whether it’s a new video on your website or a breaking news story you’re sharing via social media, it all starts with a captivating headline.

Obviously, you want people to consume the content you’re producing. But the reality is they probably won’t. According to research from HubSpot, 43% of readers just skim through posts.

But if your goal is to get clicks and drive traffic to a landing page, all you need to do is focus on the title.

That’s because 80% of people will read a headline. So there’s a good chance your headlines will be seen by most of your audience. Now, it’s just up to you to make sure it’s appealing enough to get clicks.

Include a number

Numbers are a great way to draw attention to your post and increase clicks. That’s because readers know what to expect when they see a number in the title.

I use them when I’m writing my blog posts all the time. Here’s a recent headline I used for an article about how to monitor your competition.

image4 5

When someone stumbles upon this headline, they know exactly what the post will entail. Basically, it’s going to be a list of 10 different tools.

As I mentioned, readers like to skim through content. Lists are appealing because they make it easy to bounce from one point to another.

The reader doesn’t have to read every single word to scan through this list. As a result, they are more likely to click on it.

But what numbers should you use? According to research-based 2017 Facebook engagement data, these are the top ten performing numbers:

  • 10
  • 5
  • 15
  • 7
  • 20
  • 6
  • 8
  • 12
  • 9
  • 3

Numbers that are increments of five make up four of the top five results on this list.

But that doesn’t mean you should include numbers like 50 or 100. As you can see, none of the top ten results include numbers higher than 20.

That’s because people don’t want to spend all day reading your content. They know it will take only a few minutes or so to skim through a list of 10. But anything upward of 20 is much less appealing and won’t produce as many clicks.

Don’t overlook the length

Don’t ramble. Your headline shouldn’t be as long as an introduction. But it shouldn’t be only a few words either.

One sentence or fragment of a sentence should put you in a good spot to get clicks. That’s because it provides your audience with enough information to grab their attention.

Research shows that headlines between 16 and 18 words produce the most engagement:

image1 5

Analyze your current headlines.

If they are fewer than ten words, it could be the main reason why you’re getting an unsatisfactory number of clicks. On the flip side, if your headlines have a word count that’s pushing 30, it’s still not optimized for the highest engagement.

Don’t get carried away here. Your headline needs to make sense and read well.

Adding or removing a couple of words just to fit within the 16 to 18 range isn’t going to help you if the title doesn’t make any sense.

In addition to your word count, you should also consider the number of characters in your headline.

Take a look at the data analysis in this article from Contently:

image2 5

As you can see from the graph, headlines with the highest click-through rates have between 90 and 99 characters.

Interestingly enough, the title of this post is,

According to a study, There’s a Good Chance You’ll Click This Headline Because It’s 97 Characters.

The character count falls within the recommendations of the research.

Have you noticed anything else about this title? I’m sure you’re not in the habit of counting words. Truthfully, I’m not either. But for the sake of this post, I’ve been paying more attention to this.

The article from Contently has 16 words in the title. This aligns with the research on word count and its relationship to engagement I talked about earlier.

It hits the mark for both categories.

Basically, if you can write headlines that are between 16 to 18 words and have 90 to 99 characters, you’ll be putting yourself in the best position to get the most possible clicks.

Shock your audience

Come up with a headline that is too intriguing for readers to pass up on.

Make your audience ask themselves “huh?” or “is this even possible?”

Shocking headlines are sometimes referred to as click-bait. It’s okay to do it as long as you are not letting your readers down with your content.

Here’s what I mean by this. If you are going to use a shocking headline, the content had better deliver as promised.

Take a look at this old blog post I wrote about how I made $1 million with a Ferrari:

image3 5

What a throwback picture! I almost don’t recognize myself with all that hair.

But this is the type of article that generates clicks because the headline is so shocking. It draws the attention of readers for several reasons.

First of all, a Ferrari is a well-known sports car recognized internationally. They are expensive and turn heads whenever they are seen on the road.

Second, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be interested in how to make a million bucks. And there’s a way to make money with a sports car? The title is too intriguing to ignore.

It makes the user question if that’s actually possible.

You can come up with headlines like this as well. Think of something exciting you’ve accomplished. Put it into your headline.

Set a benchmark

Another way to get people to click on your headlines is to use a benchmark.

Show them how they can achieve something by clicking on your post and reading more information. For example, let’s say your company sells dietary supplements.

A benchmark headline could say,

How you can lose 30 pounds in the next 30 days.

This strategy combines the benchmark method with the previous tactic of using a shock factor. Losing 30 pounds is extreme on its own. But doing it in 30 days? That’s something that even people who aren’t trying to lose weight would be interested in reading.

Just make sure your headlines are realistic. You want to set a benchmark that’s attainable.

Check out this example from my blog where I discuss how to get more Twitter followers:

image7 5

The benchmark here is 10,000.

It’s a high number, but it’s still realistic. If the title said, “How to get 10 million Twitter followers,” it would be much less believable.

For most people, reaching 10 million followers on social media is unrealistic. I know my blog audience. I’m speaking to entrepreneurs and business owners, not celebrities.

I set this benchmark at a number I think they can reach.

Discuss relevant topics

Your headlines need to be relevant to a few different things.

First of all, they need to be appropriate for your brand and voice. If your business is in the music industry, you shouldn’t be writing headlines about how to survive an earthquake.

Yes, that example may be a bit drastic, but I’m sure you understand what I’m talking about.

Second, your headlines must be relevant in terms of their timing. If you’re reporting a news story that happened two weeks ago, you’re too late. That headline is meaningless now.

Here’s a great example of a relevant headline from Harper’s BAZAAR:

image5 5

As a magazine that specializes in fashion trends, pop culture, and beauty advice, it uses a headline on topic for the brand. It hits the mark for our first component of relevance.

This article discusses fashion trends for the spring and summer of 2018.

But notice when it was published. The article was released on February 22, 2018. So the timing is perfect as well.

If it came out in the spring or summer, it would be too late. Readers aren’t going to click on something that’s old news. The time to buy their spring and summer clothing is before the season starts.

Teach your readers “how to” do something

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I’m a big fan of creating informative guides teaching you how to do certain things.

If you are an expert in a particular field or industry, use your extensive knowledge to your advantage. Create step-by-step guides for your readers.

In addition to being informative, such posts are also a great way to get lots of clicks.

Here’s something else you need to take into consideration. Sure, you’ll be sharing your content on all your distribution channels. But that’s not the only way your content will be seen.

You’ll also need to write headlines based on organic traffic. Your organic traffic comes from unpaid search engine results.

If someone needs help accomplishing something, what do you think they’ll type into Google? There’s a good chance they’ll type the words “how to,” so it’s in your best interest to include these words in your headlines for SEO purposes.

Take a look at this article from BuildFire:

image6 5

First of all, the content of this article is relevant to the brand—a topic I discussed above.

But based on this headline, it’s clear the post will show people how to do something.

BuildFire specializes in everything related to mobile applications. More specifically, they handle custom app development.

So they recognized the search terms someone would put into Google. Here’s a look at what I’m referring to:

image8 4

Aside from a paid advertisement, this post from BuildFire is the top search result based on its headline.

If you can master your SEO skills, you’ll get plenty of clicks just by occupying the top position on Google. In fact, in 2017 the top position received 20.5% of all Google clicks.

Those click-through rates drop down to 13% for the second and third positions, which is still good but a significant drop from the top spot’s rate.

As you’ve seen from a few of my examples in this guide, I practice what I preach. Look again at the title of the post you’re reading right now. I’m teaching you “how to” do something, and my headline reflects that.

Conclusion

If you want people to read your content, you need to entice them to click on your headline before you can do anything else.

If you are just trying to drive more traffic to specific pages, writing an engaging headline is the best way to do this.

Writing a headline shouldn’t be taken lightly. There is science behind it.

Add a number. Readers love to scan content, so a numbered list with fewer than 20 topics is one of my favorite ways to generate clicks.

As you can see from the research I discussed, the length of your headlines is important as well. You need to consider both the word and character count to make your title as efficient as possible.

Use a shocking headline to wow your audience and generate clicks. Set an attainable benchmark. Just make sure all your content is relevant and released at appropriate times based on titles.

“How to” articles also produce lots of clicks. Your SEO skills should be applied to every headline you write to increase your organic traffic.

If you follow this guide, you’ll see a significant surge in your click-through rates based on your new and improved headlines.

What types of headlines do you write that encourage readers to click on your content?





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May 30, 2018 at 10:11AM
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5 Keys to Social Marketing Success From a Facebook Exec

5/30/2018

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5 Keys to Social Marketing Success From a Facebook Exec

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The prevalence of mobile devices has “made traditional desktop marketing playbooks obsolete,” according to Facebook’s head of global travel strategy. Speaking at the Phocuswright Europe conference in Amsterdam, Nikhilesh Ponde outlined five key strategies marketers need to implement now to keep up with the move to mobile.

Bonus: Download a free guide that teaches you how to turn Facebook traffic into sales in four simple steps using Hootsuite.

1. Focus on “people-based marketing”

It’s important to understand where your audience is already spending time online.

“There’s a disparity between where customers are and where and how we are choosing to reach them,” Ponde said, noting that while people in Europe spend 25 percent on their time on mobile, advertisers spend only 14 percent of their budgets on mobile ads.

Ponde advised brands to implement a mobile-first social strategy that puts customers first. This allows marketers to:

  1. Drive growth
  2. Go direct to the customer on the platforms where they already spend time
  3. Differentiate your brand in a relevant and personal way

“We need to rethink how we speak to people in personal and meaningful ways,” he said.

2. Messaging is big business

“People prefer to shop with businesses that are available on messaging platforms,” Ponde said. “People want businesses to be available on demand through the platforms and apps they already use.”

Consumers and businesses exchange more than two billion messages per month on Facebook Messenger alone. And there’s no need to limit your messaging strategy to customer service.

In the travel field, for example, Ponde noted that brands can use Messenger to stay in touch throughout a client’s trip, creating seamless opportunities to upsell and cross-promote, while offering a valuable level of care that clients appreciate.

3. Use the available data

“People signal intent through the actions they take,” Ponde said. That means you don’t need to wait for people to seek out your products. Instead, using targeting and remarketing data available through social networks, and tools like the Facebook Pixel, “your products search for the right people.”

The available data and targeting options also allow you to offer highly personalized offers, even in larger campaigns.

4. Video is the next big thing

Marketers need to reach out in the formats people prefer, and that format is increasingly video.

“Video is quickly becoming the most important form of merchandising” Ponde said, noting that 79 percent of people would rather watch a video than read text on-screen.

As social video evolves, marketers should expect to see more immersive experiences, Ponde said.

Bonus: Download a free guide that teaches you how to turn Facebook traffic into sales in four simple steps using Hootsuite.

Get the free guide right now!

5. Be ready for change

Above all, businesses need to recognize that constant change is the new normal. “People’s behavior changes every day as mobile becomes more embedded in our lives,” Ponde said.

Businesses need to pay attention to trends, monitor customer behavior, and be ready to pivot quickly. A constant testing and tweaking strategy will help you spot changes in marketing strategy effectiveness and gauge the value of new tools in real time.

Manage your Facebook presence alongside your other social media channels using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule posts, share video, engage your audience, and measure the impact of your efforts. Try it free today.

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May 30, 2018 at 09:59AM
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The 'Where are you from?' meme reminds us to look at a map every once in a while

5/30/2018

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The 'Where are you from?' meme reminds us to look at a map every once in a while

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Growing up in a small town, leaving said small town, and then having to explain where you're from to curious people you encounter for the rest of your life is exhausting.

Sure, people are mostly familiar with the 50 states, but when someone asks "Where are you from?" they usually want specifics like towns, noteworthy landmarks nearby, etc.

Trying to explain geography to someone completely unfamiliar with an area is tough, and finally, Twitter users have found a way to accurately illustrate the frustration associated with describing your place of origin.

Behold: The hometown meme.

The meme is simple. First, you pose the dreaded question: "Where are you from?" Then, answer with the appropriate state, and watch as you fall into the inevitable hometown trap.

After unsuccessfully explaining where you grew up, you give into the pressure. In a desperate attempt to end the conversation, you wind up saying you live near the most well known town/landmark in your state and are related to a famous resident.

Take Connecticut, for example. Not everyone knows where Wallingford is, so sometimes you just have to lie and say you grew up a hop, skip, and jump away from good old Yale University.

“Where are you from?”

“Connecticut”

“Where in Connecticut”

“Wallingford”

“Oh okay where’s that by?”

“Meriden, Cheshire, Durham,etc.”

“Umm where?”

“New Haven. I live in New Haven. Right next to Yale.” https://t.co/LPNTOHTDel

— lola julia (@lolajulia5) May 29, 2018

Did you grow up in a rarely discussed town in Chicago? No, you did not. You grew up in Millennium Park. Actually, you ARE The Bean.

“Where you from?”

“Illinois”

“Where in Illinois?”

“Crystal Lake”

“Ohh ok what’s that by?”

“Huntley, Algonquin, McHenry, etc”

“Um where?”

“Chicago.... I’m from Chicago. I live in Millennium Park. I am the bean.” https://t.co/C3vz8mbSy8

— rain (@ryan_sinacore) May 26, 2018

Oh you're from Texas? Definitely Dallas, though I'm sure Austin might work, too. Or Houston. Where? Where Beyoncé's from. Oh! Yes!

“Where you from?”

“TX”

“Where in TX?”

“Frisco”

“Ohh, what it near?”

“McKinney, Plano, etc.”

“Huh?”

“Dallas... I’m from Dallas,TX”

— jaylin?™️ (@JayyWavve) October 11, 2017

“Where you from?”

“TX”

“Where in TX?”

“Denton”

“Ohh, what it near?”

“UNT, Lewisville, McKinney, etc”

“Huh?”

“Dallas... I’m from Dallas. I live at Fair Park on the fair grounds. I am Big Tex.” https://t.co/K0a7ml48Jf

— NICK (@nickhines12) May 23, 2018

In New York there is obviously only one place to live and that's Manhattan.

“Where are you from?”

“New York”

“Where in New York”

“Copiague”

“Where is it by”

“Massapequa, Lindenhurst , farmingdale ?”

“Huh??”

“Manhattan I live in manhattan, I preform on broadway every night have martinis with Barbara streidsand and live in The Statue of Liberty https://t.co/Hd1IGDZGRl

— cass? (@boricuanegritaa) May 27, 2018

“Where are you from?”

“NY”

“Where in NY?”

“Massapequa, Long Island”

“What’s it near???”

“Jones Beach....Fire Island”

“Huhh?”

“Manhattan, I’m from NYC baby. My father is Billy Joel, we live under the red steps in Time Square and I have a subway rat as a pet.” https://t.co/mczT3oshKd

— Alanna Levine (@24Levine) May 27, 2018

Ohio? Must be Cleveland.

"Where you from"

"Ohio"

"What part?"

"Willoughby"

"What's it by?"

"Eastlake, Mentor, Willoughby Hills"

"Huh?"

"Cleveland. I literally live inside the Cavs Stadium and I exclusively drink from Lake Erie. My piss is flammable" https://t.co/sCZTshqPBJ

— ?Madeline Franz? (@MadelineEFranz) March 1, 2018

Virginia? Oh sure, you live by the White House.

“where you from”

“northern virginia”

“what part?”

“gainesville”

“what’s it by?”

“manassas, bristow, haymarket”

“huh?”

“DC, i’m from DC. i live right by the white house” https://t.co/YhvfdbJsNl

— kayla gabrielle (@kaylacoleman16) February 28, 2018

How fun it must have been to grow up in Florida in the parking lot of Disney World.

“Where you from?”

“Florida.”

“What part of Florida?”

“Merritt Island.”

“What’s it by?”

“Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, NASA?”

“Huh?”

“Orlando, I’m from Disney.” https://t.co/6bro7B7R8Y

— JΛKE (@JacobJenkins116) February 24, 2018

Though the meme is taking over Twitter timelines at the moment, it's not new. In fact, it surged in popularity several other times, including earlier this year in February.

“Where you from?”

“California”

“What part of California?”

“The East Bay”

“What’s it by?”

“Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Berkeley, Oakland”

“Huh?”

“San Francisco. I live on the Golden Gate Bridge.” https://t.co/LuBgz0TC60

— emma. ♐️ (@emmagiomi) March 1, 2018

If Twitter has taught us anything it's that state-related memes are very relatable, and we all need to start looking at maps.

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May 30, 2018 at 09:56AM
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17 Social Media Design Templates For Every Network

5/30/2018

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17 Social Media Design Templates For Every Network

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Looking to take your social media game to the next level with fresh, creative visuals? You’ve come to the right place. This collection of free social media design templates, created with design tool Adobe Spark, makes it easy to add custom branded visuals to posts on any of the major social networks.

You don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to run visually exciting social media accounts.

In this post, we’ll show you how to:

  • use the templates provided below
  • customize them to your own channels
  • use Adobe Spark to create your own social media templates

Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence with Hootsuite.

How to use the social media design templates

  1. Click on any of the templates below.
  2. The link will take you to Adobe Spark to edit the template.
  3. Create a free Adobe Spark account.
  4. Once logged in you can customize the template. Change the background image, fonts and colors, etc. To remove the Adobe Spark logo, simply click it and select remove.
  5. Download your new image and upload it to the appropriate network.

17 free customizable social media design templates

YouTube channel art templates

Make sure the cover of your video or channel is enticing and engaging—otherwise users may not click on it:

1. Making Boutonnieres for Prom

Use this template

2. How to Press Flowers

Use this template

3. Tornado in a Jar

Use this template

Facebook event templates

When you create an event on Facebook, advertise the most important info in your header—and get people excited to attend:

1. Family Fun

Use this template

2. Terrarium Day

Use this template

Twitter header templates

Use these templates to create an engaging header for your Twitter profile and let people know what your brand is all about:

1. The Night Sky

Use this template

2. Victorious

Use this template

LinkedIn banner templates

LinkedIn banners are an important part of optimizing your LinkedIn profile:

1. Epic Event Production

Use this template

2. Morrison & Co

Use this template

Pinterest design templates

These days, any Pin worth its salt has to be more than just a nice photo. Use text and collage to create a more enticing image that will drive people to your site:

1. Fiesta Bowl

Use this template

2. Top 10 Budget Friendly Destinations

Use this template

3. Meatless Monday

Use this template 

Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence with Hootsuite.

Get the free guide right now!

Instagram Story templates

Instagram Stories is a powerful tool for connecting with your customers, driving traffic to your website, advertising sales and special events, and more:

1. Send Flowers

Use this template

2. Pizza Rolls

Use this template

Infographic templates

Help your audience visualize and understand dense topics, or simply use fun graphics to make a point:

1. 1984

Use this template

2. 3 Dates

Use this template

3. 6 hours 

Use this template

How to create your own social media design templates

If you’re inspired by designs above but want to start from scratch, follow these 10 simple steps to create your own.

  1. Get your free Adobe Spark account and login.
  2. From the main page, click the blue + icon at the top of your screen.
  3. Then click the green + icon to create a new post.
  4. Click Start from scratch.
  5. Under “Select a size” click SOCIAL POST.
  6. Select the type of social post you want to create and then click Next.
  7. Choose from one of the stock photo options to the right or upload your own image on the left. Then click Next.
  8. Now you can customize the design. Add your brand logo, edit the image, change or add text, fonts, colors, and the layout.
  9. You can even resize the design for other social profiles.
  10. Once you’re happy with your creation click Download.
  11. Upload the file to the appropriate social network!

I used the Pinterest template above with Adobe Spark to create the Pin below (I’ve got vacation on my mind). It only took a few minutes!

I also used Adobe Spark to create this YouTube channel template. It also only took minutes!

When you’re updating multiple social channels daily, templates are a quick and easy solution to ensuring your feed is full of fresh visual content. But if you’re into creating quick and beautiful images for social, you’ll probably enjoy these other resources as well.

The post 17 Social Media Design Templates For Every Network appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.





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May 30, 2018 at 09:02AM
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6 Tools for Social Media Content Inspiration

5/30/2018

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6 Tools for Social Media Content Inspiration

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social media toolsNeed more ideas to fill the gaps in your social media posting calendar?

Looking for tools to help?

In this article, you’ll discover six tools and websites that will help keep your social media content interesting, timely, and relevant.

6 Tools for Social Media Content Inspiration by Justin Kerby on Social Media Examiner.

6 Tools for Social Media Content Inspiration by Justin Kerby on Social Media Examiner.

#1: Discover Unofficial Holidays and Popular Events With Forekast

Forekast is one of the best places to discover what’s happening and which popular events are coming up. Events are added to the website and then upvoted by the community, allowing the hottest events to rise to the top of the page.

Forekast trending events

As you scroll through Forekast, you get an overview of the major happenings and trending events coming up in the days, weeks, and months ahead. It can provide tons of inspiration and keep you up to date on trending conferences in your industry, holidays like National Pet Day, sporting events, product releases, and just about everything in between.

You can even add events to your calendar so you don’t forget important upcoming dates for interacting with your audience in real time.

Forekast add event to calendar

Make it a practice to check in once a week and take a look at the newly added and trending events. Your social media creation efforts will thank you for it and you’ll keep your content as relevant as possible.

Tip: For the “do it for me” types, you might want to sign up for the newsletter The Weekly Forekast. Every Monday morning, you’ll receive a roundup of the most popular events for the coming week.

#2: Find Trending and Interesting GIFs With Today on the Internet

Long gone are the days of text posts on social media. Photos, GIFs, and videos likely make up a large part of your social media marketing efforts. This is where Today on the Internet can help inspire your creativity.

The site ranks the top trending GIFs, photos, and videos on the web, and the best part is that it updates every 24 hours with fresh content so you can always be on top of your game.

Today on the Internet GIF example

The Photos section is a great place to inspire your own social media marketing efforts as well. While the GIF section only highlights the top 10 trending GIFs, the Photos section lets you scroll endlessly. If there’s an event trending on any particular day, you’re all but guaranteed to find some interesting photos of the event on Today on the Internet.

Some of the photos you’ll find on the website can make great additions to your swipe file, which we’ll talk about a little later.

#3: Identify New Content Sources With Almighty Press

While many social media marketers rely on services like Feedly to bring them news from selected sources, sometimes going out in search of content can provide better results. Scouring the Internet for social media inspiration can prove challenging, which is why a tool like Almighty Press is so valuable.

This tool works wonders for your content discovery efforts. After you sign up for the free 14-day trial, click Content at the top of the page and perform a search for any relevant keywords. You can also focus your search by adding specific websites or phrases you’d like to see displayed in your results.

For this example, we’ve searched for the keyword “startup” on any article from Forbes. Adjust the time filter to see results from any time from the last hour to any specific date range.

Almighty Press search example

You can also adjust the engagements filter. This will alter your results to only show content with the corresponding social shares you set within the filter.

For our illustration, we’ve left the engagement filter open ended, and set the time filter to the last 24 hours. Here are some example results:

Almighty Press search results

From here, you can head to Forbes to read the articles, curate your own post that syncs with your WordPress or Medium blog (including a featured image and personalized writeup), or share the article directly to Buffer or your social media channels.

Even if you’re not using Almighty Press as a scheduler or for publishing articles directly to your blog, it offers a deep set of search features that make it worth the price tag. Almighty Press offers a 14-day free trial, before charging $27/month for use of the service.

#4: Stay Current With Events via Twitter’s Business Blog

You won’t want to miss out on any trending events on Twitter because those events will likely be trending all around the web. Thankfully, Twitter’s Business Blog publishes a calendar roughly 1 week before the end of every month to keep you ahead of the game.

Twitter monthly lineup calendar

With the calendar, you get a great overview of trending events coming up and expected tweet impressions for each event. This can provide inspiration when setting up your monthly social media schedule, allowing you to capitalize on the biggest expected events of the month on Twitter.

You can download the full Twitter Marketing Calendar for the year directly from the blog. However, they typically add new events every month, so it’s best to check back every month for any new additions.

#5: Capture Inspiration in a Swipe File With Evernote and Marker.io

One of the best places for social media marketers to draw inspiration is from their peers. The problem is when you see something you love on another business’s page, you might not be in need of any social content at that time so you just keep on scrolling.

That’s why creating a “swipe file” is so important. It’s a place where you can store all of your favorite social media content that others have created. Then when you’re in need of some inspiration, you can review the great things others have done to get your own creative juices flowing.

Of course, stealing from others isn’t the objective here. The idea is to borrow parts of great social posts from others and create something that’s unique to your brand.

Evernote swipe file

There are a variety of tools you can use to clip and store social media ideas you like into a swipe file. A great free combination is Marker.io and Evernote. Marker.io is a screenshot tool that allows you to clip images and mark them up. Add text, arrows, and even emojis to your images so you remember what caught your eye about the piece in the first place. Then save the images to Evernote.

swipe file social media campaigns

While the combination of Marker.io and Evernote is great (and free with their basic plans), you can use any combination of screenshot tools and cloud storage applications to create your own personal swipe file. You can store files locally or in the cloud using a number of services including Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud.

Use the combination of tools you’re most comfortable with and commit to creating your own swipe file for inspiration.

Conclusion

When you create social media content daily for your brand or your clients, it makes sense to gather as much creative inspiration as possible. Use these six tools to further stimulate your social media creation efforts and stay on top of any trending events coming up.

What do you think? Do you use some of these tools to help fill your social media content calendar? What tools would you add to this list? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Discover six tools and websites that will help keep your social media content interesting, timely, and relevant.




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May 30, 2018 at 05:01AM
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