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YouTube to include ‘Don’t recommend’ feature for specific channels https://ift.tt/2ZYwrlX The feature is a part of several changes designed to make YouTube recommendations more accurate. Users will be able to utilize the feature when removing unwanted channels from their "Next Up" column. Social Media via Mashable https://ift.tt/2DCFv97 June 27, 2019 at 02:32PM
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Trump’s tweets likely to be impacted by Twitter’s new ‘abusive behavior’ notice https://ift.tt/2NhP6aE Twitter didn’t name any names with today’s new feature news, but one extremely online user loomed large over the announcement. The company took to its Safety blog to announce the addition of a new “abusive behavior” label that users will have to click through to access content. This isn’t just any content warning, though. It applies to a pretty exclusive club of users whose writing breaks the company’s anti-abuse rules, but whose comments are still deemed part of “the public conversation.” In order to apply, they must,
Granted, the state of public discourse in 2019 and in the lead up to next year’s election will almost certainly ensure that a number of people fall squarely in the center of that Venn diagram, but Twitter probably could have saved a few paragraphs by just calling this one “Trump’s Law.” Jack Dorsey and other execs have clearly been extremely uncomfortable with the position the President has placed them in by regularly saber rattling and name calling on the site. The new feature will look like other sensitive material notices on the platform, with the option to click through to read the content. It will show up in safe search, Top Tweets, push notifications and a few other places. Tweets sent before today will not be subject to the new feature. The move is sure to stir up feelings amongst politicians already crying foul against perceived social media bias, and Twitter says it will “continue to evaluate how our rules and enforcement actions can be clearer and keep working to make our decision-making easier to understand.” Republican politicians have regularly called out Twitter, Facebook and other sites for “shadow banning” and other instances and what they believe to be a liberal Silicon Valley bias. Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com June 27, 2019 at 11:42AM Vaping Culture is Contextualized on Social Media https://ift.tt/2XazC8o Social media was once the purview of quick updates for friends and family. Now, it’s used for many other purposes, including giving businesses a presence in a larger arena, which gives them access to their clients and prospective clients. It can be used to create context around vape use and to build a local community. This relatively new phenomenon has taken off in the last several years. If you want to establish a social media presence for vaping in your area, here’s some information that can help you get started. How it WorksLog into Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms. It should be relatively easy to conduct research in your area. No doubt you’ll find negative and positive reviews of e-cigs and vape flavors, and tips on cloud chasing locally. Three types of people post this type of content:
These influencers all impact buying choices. Celebrity EndorsementsInfluential people who vape draw the attention of those who already partake or who are curious to try it. For example, Austin Lawrence is known for his tricks with neon vape. His videos show him manipulating vape through his nose and seem to defy physics. He gets thousands of views. When perusing social media for vape stories and clicks, keep an open but skeptical mind. Consider whether you can trust the source — there are many opponents who would like to see the industry fail. For those who are curious, the best thing to do is try it for themselves and add their experiences to inform the narrative. It’s easy enough to order from a reliable online vape vendor. Why Do People Like Vaping?People take up vaping for many reasons. Many vapers feel they are less harmful than cigarettes. Although they can only be sold to adults age 18 years old or older, liquids with nicotine come with warning labels. You can certainly find a lot more photos of vaping teens than those with cigarettes in their hands. Vape liquid is also cheaper than cigarettes. Although it’s gone mainstream, there’s still a certain stigma attached to using vaping liquids. Perhaps that’s why so many tweets and posts reference intriguing names, such as “Stoned Smurf” and “Mother’s Milk.” New users may be surprised at the odd but familiar combination of flavors that involve beer, Red Bull, butter, bacon, espresso, and other flavor options. Coming up with new flavors is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry. What’s Driving Vape Usage and Social Media Coverage?A study credits the constant variety of e-juices to the continued publicity that feeds the industry. Also, vape-centered social media and the associated videos, blogs, and pictures portray the practice as fashionable. Thus, vaping is now a cool thing to do. You may be able to find a local lounge with vape lovers who gather to watch video tricks, share tips and tricks on new brands and socialize. Chances are you’ll be able to track them down on social media. The post Vaping Culture is Contextualized on Social Media appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 27, 2019 at 08:39AM
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4 Social Media Mistakes Your Business is (Probably) Making https://ift.tt/2KFDHzg Although most businesses have been engaging with their audience on social media platforms for over a decade, the introduction of new sites, trends, and functions mean that this sphere is constantly changing. Some businesses spend so long trying to remain digitally relevant that they forget the core principles that make social media so popular – social interaction with people from all over the world. This article looks at the most common mistakes that businesses make in the social media realm – whether they’re totally digitally savvy, or a little bit ignorant of what makes the current social media climate tick. Neglecting to Engage Social media management websites are extremely useful as they allow you to queue all your content from a desktop so that your content will reach users at the optimum time every day. This is the point at which many businesses feel that their job is “done” and neglect to reply to comments, interact with their connections, and miss the opportunity to stay relevant. Make sure you enable interaction by monitoring for comments constantly. Inexperience Your presence on any social media platform is the public face of your business and therefore running an engaging, exciting, and professional social media channel is very important. There have been hundreds of court cases involving social media, so it is vital that your staff are trained about libel, abuse, and copyright laws. Of course, whether you run a photography studio with two members of staff or a sizeable corporation, you should have general liability business insurance to protect yourself and your business from damaging costs related to social media use. Obvious Marketing The primary reason that users engage with social media is to stay in touch with what their friends are doing. As such, the existence of advertising is accepted by users as the price for a free, good quality service. However, your business will not attract many likes or followers if you are constantly shouting about how excellent your business is all the time – that is where traditional marketing is still your strongest option. Allow social media to be fun, relevant, and a secret insight for your users to engage with your business on a more personable and characterful level. In general, users can see through inauthenticity and will simply disengage if all you’re sharing is advertising material – they see enough of that on their home screen and internet browsers as it is, and they’re learning to tune it out well. Lack of Variation Your business may have been utilizing the digital benefits of social media for many years, and you may have amassed an extremely high number of followers. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to rely on previous success by churning out the same old content; it’s crucially important to stay relevant with the latest social media trends so that your accounts don’t get ‘unfollowed’ because you are out of touch with users. There are lots of ways that you can add variation to your business’s social channels:
All of these methods will help you engage a more diverse viewership, which will undoubtedly bring in more cash for your company in the long-run. Lack of Collaboration As mentioned above, the goal of social media is to engage and interact with others. Just because you run a business or promotional page, there is no excuse to be businesslike with those people who’ve taken the time to follow you. For that, you need to find similar businesses to yours from all over the world who you can share business tips and content with. So, while social media should be predominantly social, there is a business interaction side that you can work on behind the scenes. There are hundreds of ways to collaborate with people on social media, whether you are launching a video in partnership with another company, showcasing customer stories or offering your services for free to individuals in a cross-promotional initiative to get more business while gifting a partner more business too. Giving your products or services for free is a very popular option – this involves hiring influencers and micro-influencers on social media platforms, though it is important to choose the right people to promote your brand. With these tips in mind, you’ll be ready to modernize your social media output, bringing all the benefits of user engagement back to your company and your bottom line. The post 4 Social Media Mistakes Your Business is (Probably) Making appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 27, 2019 at 08:23AM
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NTWRK moves into live IRL events https://ift.tt/2YjGYYo NTWRK, is a fascinating experiment in live video shopping for the iPhone set. It’s been described as a blend of QVC and Twitter and Twitch and they just got a new slice of money from investors like Drake and Live Nation to expand into physical events. There’s been a bunch of attempts at this kind of hybrid event shopping experience, but none of them have quite hit a home run yet. NTWRK was a pretty compelling experience even at launch last year. The core experience is a live show presented only in NTWRK’s app, where guests can talk about products which become available in the app as the show airs. There was a built in opportunity to offer limited availability streetwear and sneakers, and an audience that founder Aaron Levant knew very well from his time running ComplexCon and Agenda, two big streetwear and marketing shows. One of the first shows starred Ben Baller and Jeff Staple, and featured a drop of a new colorway of Staple’s iconic Pigeon Dunk from Nike. I tuned in and found the experience to be compelling in its own way. The live show provided context for the product and the interface let you purchase in a couple taps of a button (the shoes sold out immediately and the app inevitably crashed from the rush of hype beasts). The stream and app have gotten more stable since then. Since the launch, NTWRK has experimented with various product areas and promotions. The latest funding is enabling expansion back into physical events and some new angles on the NTWRK model. After getting kicked out of high school in 10th grade, Levant went on to work in graphic design, sales and marketing for an LA streetwear brand. That led to trade show attending and eventually to Levant founding his own show, Agenda in 2003. Agenda got bigger over the next 10 years, becoming one of the biggest action sports, streetwear and lifestyle tradeshows in the world. He sold a majority of Agenda to ReeedPOP, which owns Comic Con and stayed on in a development role. Eventually, he developed other shows including ComplexCon, a smash hit culture and sneaker show in partnership with Complex. Last year, Levant left to found NTWRK. “That transition really happened through a conversation that I had with Jimmy Iovine in September of 2017,” Levant told me in an interview last year. “I got introduced to him by a friend. He expressed his interest in a new company for him and his son, and we had similar interests and ideas around that. That night that I met him, I went home, stayed up all night to 4:00 in the morning and wrote the entire business plan for NTWRK.” Iovine ended up as an investor via the MSA Enterprises vehicle, along with Warner Bros. Digital Networks, LeBron James, Maverick Carter and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jimmy’s son Jamie is a co-founder and Head of Fandom at NTWRK. One of Levant’s big takeaways from his time with ComplexCon and Agenda was that the physical audiences were valuable but a digital audience is built to foster through earned media and user-generated content around these lifestyle events. “There’s 50,000 people in the room but I think there’s probably a million people online who want to engage with those products and that content,” said Levant. “Maybe I felt a little bit like I was using my skill set and I wasn’t extracting the full value out of it because I wasn’t in the e-com or digital media business in the past. I think that was a key unlock for me, how do I do that better with a phase two of my career?” The past few months have seen a series of high profile launches and collaborations with sneaker and streetwear people. And now, the Live Nation and Drake tie up will lead to artist-driven collections sold on NTWRK’s app, unique ticket access, promo bundles developed by NTWKR and, yes, a new live event called NTWRK Presents that will launch in Q4. In recent months, Drake sold some of his tour merch exclusively on NTWRK. They’ve also been running auctions for rare resell market items like Supreme guitars and sneakers. The concept of shopping as entertainment is far from new. There’s a reason that the easy buzzphrase people attach to NTWRK is ‘QVC for millennials’. But there has yet to be a platform that has managed to pin together the right culture with the right delivery mechanism at the right time. NTWRK has a chance to do this I believe because Levant has the taste for it, but also because he’s backing into this from a place of understanding when it comes to culture. Too many times we see the technology of the platform take center stage — a clever delivery mechanism or good design. But, fundamentally, most tech companies are absolutely crap at culture. They’re too homogenic — they do not allow for and encourage the influence of the spaces that they’re catering to. Black Twitter made Twitter. Creators of color made Vine. Asian and Indian users dominate Whatsapp. But when there is an attempt to engage even niche cultures in commerce or monetization the lack of inclusivity and understanding causes them to just screw up over and over. Having started with live events that existed primarily as a framework for culture to create its own moments, Levant and NTWRK are in a better position to figure this out. If you’ve ever been to an Agenda or ComplexCon you know what I mean. There’s this pungent melange of culture, music, money, rare goods and ephemeral moment creation happening. The challenge is to make that work in a digital context, of course, and then to sort of ‘re-export’ that back into event formats. “I think that, as I’ve said countless times, physical events have a huge organic digital ripple, but we needed the digital platform to already be established and scalable before we implemented the physical events, to have an effect on the larger digital platform,” Levant says about moving NTWRK into an IRL context. “In my previous roles, I spent 15 years really focusing on the physical experiential events and towards the end of my career doing that I came to the realization I was doing it backwards.” I don’t necessarily think that this model’s going to work for everybody. I think Levant and co have a unique skill of bringing people together and I think the celebrity thing is a strong overall angle – right down to the investors. “Obviously Drake is an icon that has massive influence over all of pop culture and I think there are few people in that category of him that can capture consumer’s imagination,” says Levant. “I couldn’t think of someone better than him to be involved with our company.” There are other angles too, though, that still have the same thing at the core. NTWRK is creating this engaged audience and they’re giving them value and then offering them a very on-the-face, honest transaction: “Look, here’s this thing. If you buy it, we benefit. Thanks, peace.” That kind of interaction model is foreign to media because of this idea that advertising is the only gain and the only way to build that monetary relationship. I think people are going to start to get wise to that but they still are very resistant. “We were out there, talking to every brand and every agency in the world and it’s really interesting to watch who gets it and who’s totally confused,” said Levant when we spoke about the launch. “It’s really fun to have these conversations because people are just like, ‘Wait, what are you doing?’ They have a really hard time grasping it and they don’t know who we should talk to. Should we be talking to the media buying team? Should we be talking to the wholesale team? Should we talk to the PR team? I’m like, ‘No, we’re talking to everybody.”” “Companies tend to divide their business up into these silos, these business units and these internal categories and they usually don’t collaborate and play well together and when you get these big, global organizations, their head’s spinning because they don’t know who we should talk to because no one’s done this one-to-one yet.” Right now as I write this I’m watching Bobby Hundreds talk live about his memoir This is Not A T-Shirt — while selling a bundle that includes the book and, yes, a t-shirt. Hundreds (Bobby Kim), built a streetwear brand when it was definitely not a thing to build a streetwear brand. The bundle runs $50. I’m thinking about buying it. Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com June 26, 2019 at 07:42PM 4 Ways Marketers Can Use Technology to Increase Their Productivity https://ift.tt/31ZJTYH Good marketing means delivering the right content to the right audience at the right time. Crafting high-quality content doesn’t mean anything if that content doesn’t make it in front of the right eyes on social media or other distribution platforms. As important as it is to have good productivity habits, keeping your productivity up over the long term means finding a way to stay on top of as much as possible. Thankfully, there are plenty of platforms today that make keeping everything in order easier than ever. Whether it’s collaboration software or calendar apps, getting the right technology can be the key to maximizing your team’s productivity. Use Tech to Your Advantage If you’re looking to get through more work more quickly, here are four things to do first: 1. Keep your schedule in check. Seventy-four percent of marketers say that technology’s greatest benefit to them is its ability to save time, and one of the best ways to free up your time is by organizing your schedule. Calendar management applications can analyze your schedule to find ways to make your day more productive. Modern calendar apps use analytics to show you exactly how you spend your time during the day. Tracking the daily activities that take up your time is key to finding ways to increase your output during the day. Tracking can pinpoint areas where you’re spending too much time — such as picking out fonts for Instagram posts — and help you determine ways to repurpose or maximize the work you’ve already done. 2. Focus on collaboration. Collaboration means more than just emails and Slack. Modern software allows you to stay up-to-the-minute on where your team members are at in what they’re working on. As helpful as it is to know who’s doing what, these tools can do more than just keep you updated. Marketing collaboration platforms are everywhere, but it’s important to choose the one that works for you. If content is your focus, find one with a built-in creation studio. If KPIs are most important, locate a platform that tracks your progress toward your goals. If you want to be keyed in to your revenue, find a platform that offers financial analytics. Maximizing your productivity through collaboration is only possible if you’re collaborating the right way. 3. Track your content. To produce better content in the future, you need to know how your content is being received now. Without knowing what your audience responds to, developing new content is ultimately a shot in the dark. Apps like Hotjar or Megalytic can give you detailed reports of how users interact with your content and what that means for your business. You can use these reports to refine your content strategy and gain a better understanding of what your marketing should look like going forward. Creating content with your audience’s wants and needs in mind prevents you from wasting time on ineffective messaging. 4. Automate, Automate, Automate Small, mundane tasks like entering data can bog down your daily grind. As a marketer, you should be spending as much time as possible on the high-level work you’re best at. Plenty of platforms, like Zapier and IFTTT, allow you to automate simple activities that would otherwise chip away at your schedule. Anything from sending data to a spreadsheet to simultaneously posting on all of your social media platforms can be done automatically with an easy-to-make program, and doing so helps eliminate time-wasting tasks from your hectic schedule. A marketer’s work is never finished. Completely clearing your plate may be impossible, but technology makes managing what’s on it easier than ever. By identifying your needs and finding the software to help fill them, you can increase not only your output, but also the quality of your work. Your calendar — and your social media feeds — will thank you. The post 4 Ways Marketers Can Use Technology to Increase Their Productivity appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 26, 2019 at 05:34PM Twitter tests out another desktop redesign with trends on the right navigation on the left6/26/2019
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Twitter tests out another desktop redesign with trends on the right, navigation on the left https://ift.tt/2Ncmujd It was in January that Twitter announced that it would be rolling out a new, simplified desktop redesign to its users. Hopefully, no one was holding their breath for the big official reveal. Six months later, we can confirm that Twitter is… still rolling out tests as it tinkers with a new look for its Twitter.com desktop interface. In the latest version — which appeared to get teased earlier in the year but now appears to be getting rolled out to a wider number of people (see here, here, here, a tipster who sent us screenshots from Canada, and many others) — Twitter’s desktop appears as three columns, with trends shifted to the right column, and all of the menu and navigation items (plus a link to your profile) that had been at the top now listed on the left. The timeline stays front and center. (An earlier version rolled out in January shifted the layout to two columns, although that was a limited rollout and not everyone saw it.) A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to us that it is currently testing new experiences in the open that it is thinking of bringing to Twitter.com, for feedback with a small set of people. He didn’t provide a date for when it will roll out more broadly, “but stay tuned.” As you can see in the screenshots, the new look it’s testing out right now has three columns. As with other redesigns, the center continues to house the main timeline, with all the chops and changes affecting everything else around it. In this case, all of the trending items have moved over to the right side, from their old place in the left column. The Home, Explore, Notifications, Messages, Bookmarks, Lists and Profile are in a column, with “More” taking you to another set of options. Note that Mentions, which had already had a downgrade on iOS some months ago when a Moments creation option was removed from the iOS app due to lack of use, is relegated to this second menu. But for those of you who might wonder what the point is of Mentions, the spokesperson confirmed that it is not going away altogether. Underneath that, you get direct links to promoting and advertising, analytics, Twitter’s Media Studio, Settings and privacy, the option to switch to “legacy Twitter” and Dark mode. So far, the responses we’ve seen to the design have been on the less enthusiastic side. ‘”What’s happening?” is the question I want answered about this “Twitter, I do not like the new new new new new new new new new new new new UI you have on web. Please change back,” said Ken Yeung, an editor at Flipboard. Twitter’s ongoing test mode — which has also been carried out on mobile, by way of its twttr prototyping app — is part of the company’s bigger effort to build a version of Twitter that works for everyone, or at least more people, more of the time. One point of Twitter’s various experiments with its user interface is to try to address some of the issues the company has had with making the site easier to use for new users, and to also make it more user-friendly for those who are already there, whether it’s to make it easier to follow conversations (see Twitter’s experiments around threads), easier on the eye (dark mode introduced). easier to shut down trolls, and so on. The reason for that is not just to be a good housekeeper: it’s to help Twitter grow. Twitter has lately been on a bit of a high when it comes to its financials, last quarter flying past its estimates on both revenue and earnings per share. But monthly active users — a perennial issue for the company — continued to slide. (It’s a metric that Twitter will magic away by focusing instead on another one: monetizable daily active users, which were up.) We’ll be on the lookout for more updates, but in the mean time, let us know what you think. Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com June 26, 2019 at 01:14PM
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The Beginner’s Guide to HTML https://ift.tt/2RAAmCf There are nearly 1.7 billion websites worldwide. This number continues to grow each day. What do all of these sites have in common? In one way or another, they all use some form of HTML. That’s why learning basic HTML is such a useful skill. Here’s the thing. You can definitely build a website without having to write a line of code. But with that said, once your site is live you should still know how to read and some HTML on your own. So whether you’re creating a new website, have an existing website, or you just want to learn more about coding, this is guide will serve as the perfect introduction to HTML for you. Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is HTML? This acronym stands for Hypertext Markup Language. Basically, it’s the standard format used to create web pages, web applications, and documents. This computer language is a series of code that is typically written in a text file and then saved as HTML. When viewed on a web browser, this code translates to a properly formatted blend of text and other media. HTML is behind every web page you see online, including this page that you’re reading right now. Understanding hypertext and markup languageAs I’ve already mentioned, HTML stands for hypertext markup language. But those words don’t mean much to most people, so I want to break them down even further so you can fully understand the definition. The word hypertext dates back more than 50 years. It was invented to describe links in a document that make it possible for a viewer to jump to another place in the document or to a completely new document. This is something that we see and use every day in the modern Internet. Here’s a visual representation of what hypertext looks like. I’m sure you’re familiar with hyperlinks, which is a form of hypertext. As you browse online, you’ll see either http:// or https:// before every web page in your web browser. This stands for hypertext transfer protocol. Markup language refers to how documents and web pages are displayed. You see words that are bold, italic, or larger on a page. But behind the scenes, the markup language is the reason why certain components appear differently on a page. Markups are characterized by tags and attributes. Most of the time these tags come in pairs. There are start tags and end tags, which are also known as opening tags and closing tags. When to use HTMLHTML is the default language for all websites on the Internet. But it’s also used for various types of documents, such as ebooks. When an HTML document gets rendered by a web browser, all of the markup language and tags are hidden. The display automatically gets changed to display a reader-friendly version of the document (what you’re seeing right now). Do you need to learn HTML to create a website? The short answer is no. Unless you’re planning to build pages from scratch and pursue web development, you won’t necessarily need to know every single component of HTML. You can probably get away without knowing HTML if you’re using a CMS, website builder, or blogging platform. For example, if you’re using WordPress as your blogging CMS, the visual editor automatically translates your text to HTML. Working in the visual editor will display content similar to a standard email message or Microsoft Word document. With that said, there are times when visual editors don’t always work the way you want to. You might find yourself in a situation where you want to format something a certain way and it’s not getting displayed properly. Furthermore, your HTML also needs to be optimized for non-human readers. Search engine bots are crawling your website for indexing purposes. The way that your HTML gets read will have an impact on your SEO. Website accessibility also needs to be taken into consideration. Computers can translate web pages into sound for people with disabilities. They rely on the structure and quality of HTML for this. While the platforms on the market today make it possible to operate a website without knowing HTML, it’s still in your best interest to learn the basics. Choosing your HTML editorFor those of you who are planning to create web pages using HTML, you’ll need to use an HTML editor. These editors are the best way to organize your code and keep everything clean. Editors are great because they recognize whenever a new tag is opened. These tags are automatically closed by the software, ensuring that your code doesn’t have bugs. This also limits the number of typing and keystrokes you have to make. The best HTML editors let you preview your HTML to see how the content will look from a web browser. There are tons of options online. But I’ve narrowed down a handful of the top HTML editors for you to consider. You can also practice HTML with this free tool from W3Schools. That’s what I’m going to use to show you examples of HTML as we continue. HTML basicsBefore you start writing HTML, you need to understand the three main components.
These can be described as the building blocks or foundation of HTML. Once you learn what these are and how they work, it will be easier for you to move forward. I’ll go into greater detail on each of these below. TagsIn short, tags are used to distinguish HTML code from normal text. The way your document gets displayed will be based on the tag instructions. Here’s an example. Let’s say you want to make something bold. The tag for bold is <b>, which is pictured above. This compares to the text above it, which is <p>, or a standard paragraph text. Once the code is rendered, it’s displayed how we would normally see it on a web page, as you can see from the right side of the screenshot above. Now let’s say you wanted to make something italicized. The HTML tag would look like this: Pretty straightforward, right? All I’m doing is using the tags to change the way the text appears when it’s on a web page. Take a look at those tags closely. Do you notice a difference between the opening tag and closing tag? The closing tags have a slash, indicating that the italics, bold, or whatever other tag you’re using stops here. If that example above didn’t have a slash in the closing tag, anything written after it would continue to be italicized. Hyperlinks are also created with tags. Here’s what the HTML tag would look like if I wanted to hyperlink to the Quick Sprout homepage. This tag is a little bit more in-depth than the bold and italics examples. But the same concept still applies. There is an opening tag and closing tag with text in between. The way these tags are written determines what the result will look like on the web page. Every web page starts with a <!DOCTYPE html>. Then the first line of the file says <html> as well. You can see this on the three examples that I showed you above. This tells browsers how to read the code. ElementsAn HTML element consists of the opening tag, closing tag, and the content in between the two. So when we were going through different examples of tags, each example was a new element. For example, let’s take a look at some potential lines of HTML. When you look on the right side of the screen at the page version of this code, you see four total sentences and two paragraphs. Now, look at the HTML code on the left side of this split screen. You can see how the three different elements are identified. Elements can be simple, such as the bold example above, or they can be a bit more complex. The document above starts with an open <body> tag, and also ends with a closed </body> tag. So everything within those two tags can also be considered one element. But within that entire body, there could be dozens, hundreds, or thousands of additional elements, depending on how long and complex your content is. AttributesFor the most part, tags are used to define how content is displayed in HTML. But with that said, there are times when additional information within an element needs to be added. In these instances, you would use an attribute to define a specific characteristic of the element in question. Attributes consist of two things:
They are placed inside the start tag of an element. Here’s an example to show you what I mean. The attribute used here is align=”center” and it falls within the <p> opening tag. It means that whatever text comes before the closing </p> tag will have a specific characteristic defined by the attribution. In this case, the attribute said to center the text. We saw another example of this earlier when I created a hyperlink for the Quick Sprout home page. Beginner HTML cheat sheetThere are thousands of different ways you can write content in HTML. But if you’re just starting out with, there’s no reason for you to learn all of them right away. Instead, I’ll show you some basic HTML tags and explain what they’re used for. Then you can practice applying them in an HTML editor. Heading tags<head> … </head> These tags are used to showcase specific information on pages such as title tags and meta tags. Proper use of heading tags can increase your search engine traffic. Title tags<title> … </title> Your title will appear within the header of the page. It will give search engine crawlers more information about the primary content of a particular page. Paragraph tags<p> … </p> You’ve seen these throughout the examples that I showed you above. They denote a new paragraph of text. Hyperlinks<a href=”link”> … </a> This tag and attribute is used to display the anchor text for hyperlinks. The full link would be written in between the quotation marks. Images<img /> Image tags are used to present image files on the page. Tables<table> … </table> This tag contains all of the information related to content in a table. It also identifies content as a table. Footers<footer> … </footer> Anything in between these tags would be in the footer block of a page. ConclusionEvery website uses HTML. So if you’re building a website or currently manage a website, it’s in your best interest to know what’s going on behind the scenes of your web pages. I’m not suggesting that you should go out and start building pages from scratch without any experience as a developer. There’s really no reason for that. But you should have a basic understanding of what HTML is, how it works, and where to edit it on your website. Here’s what I suggest. Use one of the HTML editors that I showed you earlier to practice your basic coding skills. Then just go through and try to replicate some of the examples that I covered in this beginner guide. That’s the best way to get your feet wet with HTML if you don’t have any experience with it. Social Media via Quick Sprout https://ift.tt/UU7LJr June 26, 2019 at 09:08AM
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14 Social Media Best Practices You Should Follow in 2019 https://ift.tt/2Yd2MVu So much to do on social media, so little time. And so many ways to do it, too. Some right, some not-so-right. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with the following must-follow social media best practices. Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence. 14 social media best practices for 20191. Learn everything you can about your audienceThe first social media best practice? If you don’t know who your audience is, you can’t give them what they want. And then they won’t give you what you want (their business). Who are you trying to connect with? Millennials, single moms, kids with kanines? That’s a start, but get as specific as you can to best engage them. Do the research and rely more on data, less on your gut. Get clear about your current customers, too. So you can go find and make new ones with the same traits. Such as:
Other tactics to consider for learning about your audience include:
Want to dive deeper into this topic? We have a guide to conducting audience research that includes a template to help you build customer/audience personas. 2. Choose which networks to use (and which to ignore)Because too many marketers spread themselves too thin across too many networks. How do you determine which networks to show up and share on? Research the demographics. This will help you determine which networks to use—and which to lose. These are the kinds of insights you should be looking for: Instagram demographics
Facebook Demographics
Twitter demographics
I think you get the idea. Know more about your audience and who uses what social network and combine those two data points to better sell your brand. 3. Have a planHave you created a social media strategy, summarizing what you want to do and achieve on social media? Yes? Good job. No? You should. Why? To know whether you’re succeeding or failing for every post, share, like and comment. This guide will walk you through each step of crafting a winning plan. But here are the highlights: Set goalsOtherwise, how do you know what’s working, what’s not, and what to change as you create and share content? And, track useful metrics. Here’s a few. Social media KPIs are also worth tracking. Conduct an auditGather and examine what’s working and what’s not on social media in one place. This will help you plan what to do more of, what to improve, and what to stop. Easily see:
And… ask yourself a few (honest) questions about your social accounts:
Use your answers to decide which accounts are worth keeping, or ditching. Need help setting up your audit? We’ve got a template for you. 4. Keep an eye on the competitionBecause if you don’t, they’ll get the upper hand. Also, to learn from what they’re doing, to help you decide what you should (and shouldn’t) be doing. Why reinvent when you can circumvent? For your social media competitors you want to know…
Do some intel to ask and answer…
There are tools and techniques to help with this (and a template to organize your findings). Competitors can give great inspiration for your social media activities. Heck, I’ve contacted and befriended many copywriters. We share war stories about losses and victories, along with tools, approaches, and ideas for doing and being better. You could (should), too. 5. Listen for mentions of your brandKnow what people are saying on your social media channels. If you do—you can track, analyze, and respond to those conversations. If you don’t—you’re missing out on valuable insights for your business. Social listening is a two-step process. 1. Monitor channels to capture mentions of your brand, competitors, product, and relevant keywords. Like… Respond to a happy customer (or to a troll). Test one campaign against another. Or significantly shift your brand voice and tone. Learn how people think about you, compared to the competition. Is a competitor taking a beating in the press? Could that be a golden moment to share, show, or say? Beat the competition to discover and resolve pain points. Is someone talking about their feature that sucks? Can you quickly add a new feature that doesn’t? Identify influencers and advocates. Is someone out there saying something superb about you all? Maybe it’s time to collaborate with them. Listen, learn, and earn. Here are some tools to help you listen on social. 6. Monitor conversations that are relevant to your industryLike social listening, social monitoring is about knowing what people think of your brand. There are tools to help you know: who’s mentioneding your brand, using which hashtags, and other trends in your industry. Think of social monitoring as the foundation for social listening. Monitor to learn from the past. Listen to create your future. Does this picture help? About those tools? Here are some of the best social monitoring tools we found or used. 7. Establish your social media voice and toneI’m going to blatantly plagiarize the start of this piece—word for word. It’s okay, I wrote it. Every time you talk, write, design, post, respond, launch, thank, and connect with others… you’re exercising your brand voice. Every. Time. Whether you think about it or not. People are building up an impression in their mind for all the ways you appear—online, on stage, on the phone, or in person. Don’t you think it’s best to be deliberate about all that? To convey the voice and vibe for your ongoing message? So that your fans, followers, readers, listeners, leads, prospects, and customers ‘get it’? Here are some ways. Find your adjectives to develop the voice and vibe for your brand’s personality. I supplied a list for you to start (and end) with. Write like you talk by avoiding jargon. Jargon requires brain calories for readers to translate. But they won’t, they’ll just click elsewhere. Write from the reader’s perspective, to make them, not you, the hero in the story. Be clear so readers will know what they will get from what you do. Drop the drama. Avoid sensational headlines. Always be clear over clever. This forces you to understand the reader and write more to them. There are more tips and examples in the full post. 8. Follow the social media ‘Rule of Thirds’Why? First, let’s talk about what to share.
Now, back to the why (for the ⅔ sharing). Sharing out content shows your followers…
Simple, right? 9. Respond to all comments and @mentions—promptlyBecause when you don’t, it makes you look lazy, unwilling, and all about you. So get off your podium and into the dinner party—by welcoming, listening, and encouraging conversation. Like a good host. When you’re on a podium, you orate—one-way communication. Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence. Get the free guide right now!But at a dinner party, you converse—two-way communication. Social media + comments + mentions + respond now (not later) = a relationship. Here’s an entire guide to social media engagement to form healthier relationships for your social media accounts. 10. Don’t repost the same message across networksI get it, posting the same (exact) message across your social channels seems efficient. Why reinvent (or rewrite) a piece multiple times versus one time? But, like tip number nine above, reposting is another way to look lazy and sloppy. Instead, craft a new message for every network and post. Yes, it takes more time and work. But maybe not as much as you think. No need to start from scratch—but do make some tweaks. It will pay off because people will see you as a brand that cares what it shares. And it shows that you’re paying attention. Optimize content for each network. Tailor some things for your channel. Use the right vocabulary for your captions. It’s easy to imagine words that work on Snapchat may not have a chance on LinkedIn. And use the right (vs same) hashtags for each platform. If not, you’ll look spammy. Don’t over post. Post regularly? Absolutely. Overposting may be hard to do on Twitter, but easy to do for Facebook and LinkedIn. Different audiences have different tastes. Know them all to appeal to them all. Ignore some channels. Just do. Because sharing a cool new product might rock on Pinterest, but flop on LinkedIn. 11. Use data to determine when and how often to postWhen is the right time to post? It depends on the social network. People might be on LinkedIn during regular workday hours, but Instagram is more of a leisure time platform. We have an entire article dedicated to finding the best times to post on social media. It’s back by data from the best brands on social. Now, how often should you post? That’s hard to say, in general. But, create social media reports to track results for who’s engaging with your brand and posts. So you can make your choices based on data, not hunches. 12. A/B test your messagingA/B testing (a.k.a. split testing) allows you to test small variations of your messaging to learn what works best for your audience. How?
They key—change one thing at a time. Otherwise, you’re back to guessing if you change multiple aspects of the message. What to test, you might be thinking? Post text. Consider some of these for your A/B testing:
Here’s how Ikea did it.
Call-to-action. CTAs are critical, you’re asking readers to take an action. Change it up to see what works best. For example, ‘Use App’ versus ‘Install Now’. Easy to do, easy to see results. Use of image or video. Research shows images and videos perform best. Fine, but which of those work best? Try it and see, to go from theory to proof for your posts. For instance, test:
There’s more to A/B test. Much more. See our complete guide. 13. Use the right toolsThere’s loads of tools and apps to do social media right. Of course, there’s the major networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. You need to start there—at least with the ones that are right for your brand and target audience.. Then you can look to apps to take your posts and content to the next level. Here’s a few:
Check out the rest of the tools to create, share, track and adjust your social media campaigns. 14. Measure results and adjust your strategy as neededFor your social media… Have you identified your goals? Then defined the right metrics? Same for your KPIs? Yes? Nice one. Then your next step is to determine if you’re earning more than you’re spending on social media. By gathering data from your accounts and campaigns to track and improve performance—analytics. We wrote the complete guide to using social media analytics tools. I’ll give you the highlights below. Facebook has an analytics dashboard. Use it to view likes, followers, reach and engagement for your pages and posts. Notice the changes before and after a campaign. Want to boost some ads, but not sure which ones? Use the Promotions section to figure that out. There’s more, but you get the idea. Twitter also has a dashboard to look at information, month-to-month. Like, top tweets, followers, and mentions. See too, engagements, impressions and promotions for your tweets for a given time period. Twitter also shows demographics for your audience. Use this to compare your audience and how they differ. Instagram offers analytics for business profiles. More than just content, gain insights about who your followers are, when they’re online, and more. For your account understand:
You’ll find similar dashboards for LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Use these tools to see what’s working and what’s not, so you can see and adjust to get more of the former. There you go. Some tools, rules, and clues for making your best practices common practices. Do social media better, faster, and smarter with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule and publish posts, monitor relevant conversations, engage the audience, run ads, measure results, and much more. Try it free today. The post 14 Social Media Best Practices You Should Follow in 2019 appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management. Social Media via Hootsuite Social Media Management http://bit.ly/1LdunxE June 26, 2019 at 08:10AM
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5 Ways to Increase Sales With Instagram https://ift.tt/2xdGszp Want to sell more of your products or services on Instagram? Looking for ideas to help increase your sales? In this article, you’ll find out how to foster a shopper-friendly Instagram presence. #1: Turn Your Instagram Profile Into a StorefrontThe first step to turning your Instagram followers into customers is to build a creative profile that’s geared toward capturing a shopper’s attention. In your bio, welcome customers to your store and include a clear call to action. Adding a phone number is helpful, too, so shoppers can connect with you if they need something. You may also want to share an incentive such as free shipping. If you post regularly to Instagram Stories, create highlight albums to feature your offers, new products, and more. Keep your highlight albums simple with engaging covers. Clothing brand Liv3 showcases new arrivals in an Instagram highlight album on their profile. It’s strategically placed so Instagrammers can see what’s new when they land on the profile. Followers who like the brand have an incentive to return to the profile so they can check for new items. The Stories lookbook shown below is a full fashion catalog and all users have to do is tap one of the three images. It’s a quick and easy way to entice consumers to explore the item and brand. Use your Stories posts in the same way that a brick-and-mortar store uses its shop windows. Show off your products, share special offers, and so on. Pro Tip: For inspiration, take a trip to your local department store and look at the window displays from the street. What catches your eye? How do the displays drive foot traffic into the store? Make note of any visual tricks the store is using, special offers in the window, and “This just arrived!” signage. Think about how these tactics can transfer to your Instagram business profile. #2: Brand Your Instagram Profile and Posts for Easy RecognitionTo stand out from the crowd, you should have a consistent brand message. Branding your profile is an essential part of your Instagram presence. Shake Shack’s Instagram account is well-branded. Note the color patterns for each highlight album and the unique style of the product photos. Here are some ways to brand your profile and content for easy recognition. Develop a Signature Style With Your PhotosOne way you can build brand recognition is to post consistently recognizable images. Because Instagram is a visual platform, it’s worth taking the time to learn how to photograph your products or budget for a photographer to capture images of your products or services. (Some photographers run between $500 and $1,000 per day.) If you plan carefully, you can generate enough content to last several months. Use a Branded Color SchemeTo develop a visual style for Instagram, pick standout colors to represent your profile. You might emulate your logo colors and use combination shades for your posts. Or perhaps opt for a checkerboard of color combinations to add visual interest. Blue tones work well for B2B pages and greens for eco-friendly profiles. Experiment with different color combinations to find what works for you. Incorporate Brand Elements in Your Instagram ContentPut your followers in the scene by creating a branded company culture. I recommend building a storyboard with a lifestyle scenario. Add special branded elements that represent your company. To illustrate, Shake Shack’s imagery tells a story. The inspiring photography makes you want to bite into a burger! Choose Hashtags That Represent Your BrandHashtags are crowd-unifiers and help amplify your message to a larger audience. Put together a list of hashtags that represent your brand and then research them to gauge their popularity on Instagram. You want to pick long-tail or combined hashtags that aren’t as saturated (such as #ShakeShackBurger rather than #Burger). These appeal to a smaller, more targeted audience. In addition to finding the right hashtags, also select branded hashtags. Branded hashtags will drive your posts and build company awareness and recognition, so use them throughout your profile. As users start recognizing your products, the hashtags should gain momentum. If you’re not sure what branded hashtags to use, use your product’s name and add a relevant term, such as #EcoFriendlyYourName or #YourCompanyShoes. Also use hashtags that will help you to be discovered when people search Instagram for your product or service, like #HairGroomingService or #BambooBrush. #3: Engage Shoppers With Personable Instagram ContentAn Instagram content strategy and branded profile make it easier to build relationships with future customers. Because shoppers are bombarded with so many different messages, you don’t have much time to grab their attention, much less to make them comfortable. Why should they choose your business over others? The relationship between your business and shoppers is essential to making a sale. To establish rapport, you want to make them feel at home. Your Instagram content and reputation are your best sales tools. Develop a Unique Brand VoiceDevelop a personal voice for your brand to connect with your followers on a human level. Using emojis in your captions helps make your brand more personable and approachable, like a sales professional in a store. Also share videos of people using your products. If consumers can visualize themselves using your products, you’ll have motivated buyers and a better chance of making a sale. GIFs and videos work on any social media platform. And Instagram stories add personality to your content. Share Your Company Philosophy and PassionWhat does your company stand for? Find a meaning for your business and a reason for being. Think about what inspires you to sell your products. If you run a family business, for instance, promote continuity or family tradition. Doing good and giving back are effective ways to connect with customers. But rather than commercialize a cause, go with something you’re passionate about. Do you love animals? Craft Instagram posts around your love for them. Showcase your products with pets and pledge a percentage of your sales to a local animal shelter. If sustainable living is your thing, go for eco-friendly posts. How to Use Video Marketing to Increase Your Influence, Visibility, and sales—Online Training! In other words, match your content to your favorite cause. You’ll find followers based on shared interests. They’ll connect with you because of what you stand for. When you have a clear mission, it’s easier to connect on a human level with your Instagram followers, thereby building a relationship. Use your Instagram account to be that friendly salesperson. One last note: Shy away from strong political statements and topics that can be polarizing. Keep things simple and friendly. Support and Reward Influential Brand AdvocatesFlattery will get you everywhere! Your brand advocates play a vital role in social selling; they’re the ones telling your story as they see and experience it. Reposting their content is a powerful selling tool. Not only are you sharing customer endorsements for your products but you’re also showing your appreciation by recognizing those customers on social media. It’s like a thank-you note for purchasing. Create real-life scenarios that will encourage advocates to represent your brand and share their love for your products. You can do this by supporting them, celebrating them, and offering them perks and benefits. Giving them gratitude and consideration for who they are will get you everywhere. It encourages them not only to embrace your brand but also to amplify it to their own networks of followers. #4: Manage the Shopping Experience on InstagramHere are some ways you can manage the shopping experience on Instagram to turn interest into a sale. Tag Products in Your Instagram PostsWith an Instagram business account, you can tag your products in your posts. Take full advantage of this feature by adding all of your products to Instagram via Shopify or a shopping cart of your choice. This makes it easy for your followers to see pricing and product details. Note that to enable Instagram shopping, you must set up and be approved for shopping on Instagram. In this Simple Kneads post, clicking the shopping bag icon reveals a mini-catalog of products. Shoppers instantly have the product information at their fingertips; they don’t have to go searching for it. Close the SaleHow do you make consumers absolutely want the item you’re selling on Instagram? Well, the tactics above will help you put yourself in the best possible position for a sale. Now you have to close that sale. The sweet spot is offering a product that’s uniquely necessary to shoppers. What’s happening at this time of the year? Look for seasonal ideas and try to be useful. If they need it, they’ll buy! Here’s an example of a post that engages and also offers a useful item: If you’re selling a fashion item like shoes, suggest a way for users to wear the shoes and combine them with other products you offer. A summer dress can team up with a purse and sandals for a BBQ party or happy hour for the office. Putting your buyer in the scene eases the transaction. If a shopper relates to the scenario and the product is useful, the sale comes a little easier. Provide Contact InfoWhen an Instagram follower makes a purchase, you need to be available to answer questions about the transaction. Give customers a way to contact you so they’ll feel confident you’ll be there for them if they have a problem. In Liv3’s bio below, they’ve included a phone number for orders as well as the Call action button. On your own profile, add an email or phone number to give customers additional ways to contact you. #5: Promote Products With Instagram AdvertisingOnce you’ve developed your Instagram content strategy, you’ll want to market your store with Instagram ads. While you can attract buyers organically, let’s be honest: You need to pay to play! To promote an Instagram post, open your profile and tap Promotions. On the next screen, tap Create Promotion and pick the post you want to promote. You’re then prompted to choose your destination. If your store is on your website, choose the Your Website option. On the next screen, select your target audience. You can have Instagram select your targeting automatically, but I prefer to set my targeting manually. Finally, set your ad budget and duration. If you’re a small store, start with a campaign budget of $500–$1,000 to test what merchandise your followers react to. I usually pick six posts, run the campaign for a full month, and spread the budget evenly across all posts. Instagram gives you the option to run ads for a week as well. ConclusionInstagram’s visual appeal makes it a go-to channel for sellers to reach potential customers. And it’s an ideal platform to tell your brand’s story in a compelling way. To turn an Instagram follower into a loyal customer, it’s important to create content that speaks to potential customers in your own unique brand voice. And your products will better appeal to consumers if they can visualize using those products in their own lives. Here’s a quick formula to remember when building your Instagram store: Good Content + Trust + Ease of Purchase = Sale If you know your audience, you can cater to their wants and needs and make an emotional connection that’s critical to making the sale. What do you think? Which of these tactics will you try out to make your Instagram presence more shopper-friendly? What techniques have worked for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below. More articles on Instagram marketing:How to Use Video Marketing to Increase Your Influence, Visibility, and sales—Online Training! Social Media via Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner https://ift.tt/1LtH18p June 26, 2019 at 05:07AM |
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