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Top 3 Best Websites to Create Videos for Social Media https://ift.tt/31iXXhK 73% of marketers created videos for social media at least twice a month in 2018 and there are specific reasons why. Video storytelling is one of the strongest weapons we as marketers have to engage our audience. Not only 93% of the businesses which posted videos online have claimed to win a new customer thanks to video marketing on social media, but also 80% of social media users are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video from brands on social media. Video marketing on social media helps brands retain their audience’s attention, improves audience understanding of their product, which leads to less support calls, increases the amount of converting actions and boosts sales. However, video creating and editing can be a real headache without the right tools to do it! As the need to share online videos increases, hiring a professional to do so every time we want a video post is neither cheaper nor fast. That’s why we have listed our top 3 best websites to create videos for social media in a fast, easy and stylish way!
CreatorKit is the perfect video editor for social media content, since it has a wide variety of video templates with different styles and aesthetics. One of it’s main focuses is providing templates that have been proved to look appealing to viewers. This will definitely help you achieve your video marketing goal and increase sales and engagement rates. CreatorKit has also many text fonts to make titles, subtitles and add any kind of text to your videos to drive the attention to your selling point. One of our favorite CreatorKit features is that it gives you the option to create thumb-stopping motion graphics videos for your intros, outros and transitions. This feature will attract your viewers to stop scrolling and pay attention. While their desktop version is already available, CreatorKit’s team is working to release a mobile app; soon you will be able to work both on your computer and your mobile phone and switch any time to your preferred device! What’s more, CreatorKit is super friendly and intuitive, just drag and drop your elements to make amazing videos for social media.
Canva has three main characteristics that make it a great video editing app. First of all, learning how to use it is very easy! Secondly, it provides a bunch of up-to-date templates, elements and fonts that you can customize for your own branded video for any social media network you want. And last but not least, it has both an app and a desktop version! Even though it has a premium option, you will be happy to know that the free version works just fine and you will probably don’t need to upgrade.
VideoBoost is a video maker app that allows you to create any kind of video content you can dream of! Starting from ads and tutorials to video explainers and everything in between. By creating and editing videos with VideoBoost you will have the perfect marketing video in just a few minutes in a really friendly and simple way. This app focuses on the best known practices for social media and takes them to their templates and features. This means that every tool that VideoBoost provides was specifically designed to make the most out of your video marketing strategy. The post Top 3 Best Websites to Create Videos for Social Media appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 25, 2020 at 06:56PM
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What Can Be the Negative Effects of Social Media on Your Child? https://ift.tt/3fZJcoh The use of social media has risen rapidly in the past few years. People, especially teenagers are spending more and more time on various social media platforms. There are some advantages as well as disadvantages of using these platforms. It depends on your child, in what way they use their social media accounts. To monitor their text messages, you must learn how to spy on someone’s text messages without their phone. There are a number of features provided that will let you monitor several activities on their phone. However, here are the major negative effects of social media on your child: 1. Waste of Time: Most parents are fed up with their teenagers because they are killing their precious time. They stick their eyes on their phone for hours. Due to the same reason, their studies and grades are affected. Social media, when used in access, is a kind of addiction. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the parents to control the usage of social media by their child. You must monitor it before it’s too late. Once if they are addicted to social media, it really becomes difficult to control the usage. 2. Vulgar Content: On different social media platforms, there is useful as well as vulgar content. You as a parent do not want your children to watch that mature content. They may learn to perform such activities and develop negativity in their mind. Hence, to make sure that your child is not learning anything bad from social media, monitor their accounts. You can also encourage them to watch knowledgeable and useful content from that social media platform. They will not land up on the wrong track if the parents are guiding them well. 3. Advertisements: Since there are many people who use social media, it has become a wonderful platform to advertise different products. While using social media, your child may come across such advertisements and may urge you to buy that product. This may develop a bad habit of purchasing unnecessary things they saw on social media. Moreover, the quality of that product may not be up to the mark, hence, your money may get wasted. When your child requests you to buy them different products, do not support this and disagree. 4. Comparison: Friends of your child might have expensive things and boast about them. This could be everything like a luxury house, a sports car or fancy clothes. When children upload luxurious photos on social media, then your child may start comparing. Your children might feel unfortunate that you are not able to purchase them the same things that their friends own. This is not a healthy habit in the long run. Therefore, to avoid this happen, limit the social media usage of your child. The post What Can Be the Negative Effects of Social Media on Your Child? appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 25, 2020 at 05:56PM
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How to Use Social Media to Identify a Sales Development Representative https://ift.tt/2VhVS1Z LinkedIn is the go to place for hiring in today’s business environment. Other companies have been successful in finding candidates for specialized jobs such as Sales Development Representatives on Facebook and other social media platforms. In order to figure out what a Sales Development Representative is tasked with, we must first look into the sales process. It all starts with a lead, that with time becomes a qualified lead. A qualified lead can now become a customer. It is really straightforward. Leads are coming in, but you need to weed them out and figure out which ones have potential. When you identify the ones with potential, you turn them into clients. Super easy and straightforward. The tricky part comes in when you need to be able to distinguish between a “lead” and a “qualified team”. What information and knowledge make them go from unqualified to qualified? And who does that exactly happen? Well, you probably guessed it. This is where the sales development representative will come in and qualify the lead for you. They find contacts, and they interact with valid contacts. What exactly is a Sales Development Representative? An SDR is an inside sales rep that only deals with outreach, they get emails, conduct prospecting, and qualify the leads. They do not close the sale because that is not their expertise. However, if you want to get in contact with as many leads as possible while also being able to figure out their worth, it is exactly what the sales development representative will be key at. SDRs are capable of educating, answering questions, and sending resources to leads they consider to have potential. They get in contact with every available lead, and due to their experience and capability of figuring out if that lead can turn into a client, or they simply need to be discarded. The only key performance indicator that a sales development representative has to tackle is just how many leads he can push through the pipeline. They will receive a commission that will depend on the number of closed deals. Most sales representative jobs also have a target or quota before the commission starts building up. Where Will an SDR Fit Within the Sales Structure? SDRs are mostly entry-level positions. Within a sales department, the SDRs would be placed at the base level. They have to interact with every lead while filtering out the ones that cannot generate revenue for the company. Once the potential client has been in contact with the SDR and has been qualified as having potential, it will be passed on to other departments within the company. Higher ranking sales reps like account representatives (ARs) and account executives (AEs) will start interacting with the lead in order to close the deal and make a sale. SDRs will be closely linked with the business development department and its representatives (BDRs). The difference between SDRs and BDRs is that the latter will be focused on lead generation via outbound, and the others will have to tackle inbound leads. They both have the purpose of maintaining a steady flow of pre-qualified leads that are to be offered to the ARs and the AEs. If the SDRs would not be present to undertake the qualification process, it would make the whole sales cycle much longer. You do not want to send out the people that will only be focused on closing the deal to a lead that is not interested in becoming a client right at this moment. However, the lead we have just mentioned might be willing to become a customer within a month. Aggressively trying to close a customer that is not ready to purchase, will most of the time cause those leads joining the competition when they will indeed be ready to become clients. Interview questions on SignalHire can prove instrumental in figuring out if a lead is willing to become a customer. Interact with as Many Leads as Humanly Possible The first hurdle an SDR needs to overtake is having the lead’s attention. They have quite a diverse portfolio of approaches they can implement in order to make contact: – Setting up a phone call – Sending an email – Leaving a voicemail – Connecting over LinkedIn – Getting in contact via Direct mail – Sending a personalized video – A message over on social media – In-person at various events A good SDR will tackle all the avenues we have listed above to figure out which one converts the best and where they can improve. If they need more help, they can perform one of the above-mentioned ways of contact twice for the same client. What makes an SDR better than other SDRs? Successful SDRs are amazing at establishing first contact. This can be improved by doing their due research on the customer, making their first message as inclusive as possible. Both market search and searching for the individual they are trying to target are vital and need to be improved by an SDR that wants to become better at their job. Market research has the purpose of identifying the target audience that could be a good fit for the product the AEs are going to sell on. It has the ability to figure out who the ideal customer could be and knowing what issues such customers may have. Knowing the issues, they stumble upon will also enable the SDR to offer a solution. This, in turn, will grab the leads’ attention, and if they are actually interested in purchasing a service, they will be more than happy to let it be known. Information like this positions the SDR within both the outreach and the conversation. If they require more information about the particular lead without actually asking them, they can access that link to get some ideas on how they can achieve that. Individual prospect research is the task the SDR has to undergo; that will require them to do research on a single specific lead. This preparation will improve the SDRs’ confidence and will show the lead that they are dealing with a person that will not shy away from taking the time to learn their issues and tribulations. Credibility is grown, and rapport is established. SDRs usually conduct their research over on LinkedIn, because all the information is readily available there. Such sites will offer information regarding the lead’s field of expertise and their specific role within a company. Google search is also a widely spread tool that can be used to get even more information on the business and maybe even the actual lead. They Educate and Qualify All the Leads They Interact with Qualification is composed of two elements: learning and educating. The SDR’s purpose is to gather as much information as possible from the lead prior to sending it further down the sales pipe. An SDR is tasked with learning the business processes within the company they are targeting. They need to figure out if they can address the needs that may arise from each and every lead. They need to figure out if the product they are offering solves pain points that have been shared by the lead. They need to find a way to estimate the budget that the lead has. They also need to figure out if the current service they are offering is required right away, or is it just something the lead would like to have in the future? Once they have answered all these questions, they are capable of turning a lead into a qualified lead. And the AEs are hungry to make a commission sale. The post How to Use Social Media to Identify a Sales Development Representative appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 25, 2020 at 05:04PM
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Best Workflow Management Software https://ift.tt/37XVfzI Workflow management software has been quickly growing in popularity over the last few years. It’s an excellent way for businesses, teams, and individuals to streamline routine business processes. By leveraging a workflow management solution, businesses can benefit from automation and improved efficiency for daily tasks, one-off projects, and ongoing work. Without workflow management software, teams waste time on redundant tasks and inefficient processes. There’s no way to analyze areas that need improvement with real metrics. Maximizing productivity is the ultimate goal of any workflow management tool. This means something different to nearly every type of business, which is why finding a workflow management solution can be tricky. Fortunately, I’ve identified the top eight workflow management solutions on the market today. Use this guide to find the best one for your specific needs. The Top 8 Best Workflow Management SoftwareCheck out our in-depth reviews to learn more about the features, benefits, pricing, use cases, and potential drawbacks of each solution on our list. #1 – Monday.com — Best Overall Workflow Management Software• Starts at $39 Monday.com is one of the most popular workflow management solutions on the market today—and for a good reason. The software is robust, easy to use, and can accommodate the needs of any business size. More than 100,000 businesses across 140+ countries rely on Monday.com. It’s used in over 200 different industries and trusted by big brands like Walmart, Costco, GE, Uber, PayPal, Hulu, and more. Monday.com boards are fully customizable for managing workflows, projects, and day-to-day tasks. It’s also extremely easy to add code-free workflow automation to any boards. This helps minimize human error and makes your entire process more efficient. The software is flexible to work for a wide range of use cases, including project management, remote work, marketing, human resources, sales, media and production, IT, software development, and more. Monday.com seamlessly integrates with 50+ tools to help streamline your workflows in just a couple of clicks. Here’s a quick look at the plans and price points for this workflow management software:
The rates above include five users billed annually. Month-to-month rates are available as well. Benefits increase at each plan level. For example, the Basic plan has a one-week activity log and 5 GB of storage. That jumps to a six-month activity log and 20 GB of storage at the Standard level. Since there aren’t any plans for individual users, I’d only recommend Monday.com to teams of at least five people. But the software is built to scale for organizations with users in the hundreds. Try it free for 14 days. #2 – Hive — Best For Custom Workflow Views• $12 per month Hive is another well-known and reputable solution for workflow management. It’s trusted by companies like Google, Toyota, Starbucks, IBM, and more. The software is versatile and can be used for various business needs. Hive is a popular choice for agencies, marketers, startups, operations managers, project management, and educational organizations. One of my favorite parts of Hive is the ability for each user to customize their own workflow space. Team members can switch between Gantt, kanban, calendar, and table views, based on project or preference. Other top features and benefits of Hive include:
Pricing is simple as well. Hive costs $12 per user per month, billed annually. The month-to-month rate is $16. The plan comes with basic features, but you’ll have to pay extra for premium add-ons. Try Hive free for 14 days. #3 – Integrify — Best Drag-and-Drop Process Builder• Easy-to-use process builder Integrify has been providing workflow management solutions for 15+ years. Over that time, the company has evolved to meet the changing needs in the market. The software can be fully customized based on industry or department for specific use cases. Arguably the top feature of Integrify is its drag-and-drop process builder. You can use it to design custom workflows without any code. Anyone can use this tool to streamline processes and increase productivity, regardless of technical skill level. You can build workflows as simple as or a complex as you need. Integrify has the capability to handle as many steps that are required. Build fast, accurately, and leverage automation. Integrify has a custom form designer, custom self-service portal, process reporting tools, and API process integrations. Core features of the Integrify workflow management software include:
Integrify will also provide you with a dedicated account manager. The software can be deployed in a standard cloud, private cloud, or on-premise, for those of you who want to maintain your own infrastructure. There are also different licensing options depending on your team size and access requirements. For small teams of 15 and large organizations of 1,000+, Integrify has a solution for everyone. Pricing for Integrify is not available online. Contact the sales team to request a free quote. #4 – ProWorkflow — Best For Individuals and Freelancers• Starts at $9 ProWorkflow is a simple and straightforward way to leverage workflow management software. It’s robust, feature-rich, and easy for anyone to use. The software integrates with tools that you’re already using, like Google Drive, Freshbooks, Xero, QuickBooks, Zapier, and more. Since its inception, nearly 2.5 million projects have been managed with ProWorkflow. The software has facilitated 16.8+ million tasks and tracked almost 40 million hours. Here’s a look at the plans and pricing: The solo plan is perfect for individual users and freelancers. It’s cheap and comes loaded with features. With the Solo plan, you’ll be limited to just ten active projects, which might not be enough for some of you. However, you’ll benefit from unlimited client access. Here’s a look at some of the other top features offered by ProWorkflow:
Overall, the software does lack some of the advanced workflow automation that we’ve seen with other tools on the market. But it’s still a great option for solo users. Try ProWorkflow free for 14 days. #5 – Intervals — Best For Small Teams• Starts at $29 Intervals isn’t as well known as some of the other solutions on our list. But the software has an awesome story, which is the foundation for what makes the tool so great. The software was created by Pelago, which started 20 years ago as a web design and development agency. As the small company scaled and began working on hundreds of projects for hundreds of clients, their task management methodology spiraled out of control. After years of searching for the best project management software to accommodate their needs, they decided to build their own software. Enter Intervals—the first workflow management software to accommodate the unique needs of small teams. There’s an Intervals plan for everyone. The pricing is largely based on the number of active projects that your team is managing. With the exception of the Lite plan, every Intervals package supports an unlimited number of users. The software is built to scale as your small team or agency grows. It’s easy to upgrade as you add new clients and take on more projects. Here’s a quick overview of the top features offered with Intervals:
Intervals has a great mobile app for managing your workflow on the go. If you’re looking for advanced automations, this probably isn’t the tool for you. But it’s a great option for smaller teams that are quickly scaling. Try Intervals free for 30 days. #6 – Automate.io — Best For Complex Workflow Automation• Free plan basic use Over 10,000+ businesses across the globe trust Automate.io for workflow management. The software seamlessly integrates with your existing cloud applications and automates processes. You can use Automate.io for simple one-to-one automations or syncing data between two apps. For example, if you get an email to your Gmail account with a certain tag, the software can automatically create a card in Trello. But beyond basic automations, the software is perfect for setting up advanced workflows with multiple apps. Automate.io connects with 100+ leading cloud and SaaS apps on the market. You can also use the Automate.io REST API to connect with virtually any other application. For helpdesk software, CRM, ecommerce tools, collaboration software, web forms, marketing apps, and more, you can use this software to automate workflows for nearly any use case. Here’s a quick look at the Automate.io plans and pricing:
The free plan comes with 250 actions per month and five single-action bots. Paid plans start at 10,000 monthly interactions and 50 multi-action bots. This scales all the way up to 500,000 monthly actions and unlimited bots. All of the prices above are based on an annual contract. Month-to-month pricing is available for a higher rate. Try any paid plan free for seven days. #7 – Workfront — Best For Businesses With Multiple Departments• Enterprise workflow management Workfront is an enterprise workflow management software. It’s designed to help align teams across multiple departments, improve productivity and manage tasks at scale. More than 3,000 brands, including ADP, T-Mobile, and Under Armor, rely on Workfront to manage workflows at scale. Top features of Workfront include:
The software integrates with other software like Jira, Salesforce, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Experience Manager, and more. Workfront has enterprise management features as well, to help you control security, access, and collaboration within each department. Pricing is not available online. But here’s a quick glance at what the plans can accommodate:
Workfront is commonly used by agencies, marketers, IT departments, and professional services. But with that said, it can accommodate any large business. #8 – Backlog — Best For Workflow Management Software For Developers• Free for one project Backlog is a workflow management solution designed for project and code management. It has everything development teams to manage projects in a single platform. More than 10,000+ businesses and 1+ million users across the world use Backlog, including Amazon and Adobe. Backlog has exceptional features and benefits for workflow management, such as:
Here’s a quick look at the plans and pricing for Backlog:
You can save 16% with an annual contract. The Free plan includes up to 10 users for one project. The Starter plan accommodates up to 30 users and five projects. The Standard plan and Premium plan both support unlimited users. The Standard package accommodates up to 100 projects, whereas Premium is unlimited everything. For a private server and unlimited storage, contact the Backlog sales team about a custom enterprise solution. Try Backlog free for 30 days. How to Find the Best Workflow Management Software For YouWhich workflow management software is the best? Generally speaking, there is no “best for everyone” solution. There are certain factors that must be taken into consideration as you’re shopping around and evaluating your options. This is the methodology that we used to narrow down the top software on our list. Coding RequirementsThe first thing you need to figure out is how you’re going to set up and manage your workflows. If you and your team aren’t very tech-savvy, you’ll want to look for a no-code or low-code solution. Some software offers visual workflow builders or drag-and-drop functionality to set everything up. Other solutions are a bit more technical and require basic coding knowledge to set up. Most of the software on our list is very user-friendly and offers workflow management without coding. AutomationThe whole idea behind workflow management software is to improve efficiencies. One of the best ways to do that is by automating certain tasks or processes. Look for software that allows you to leverage automations. Some solutions offer basic automation features, while others offer complex workflow automation with multiple apps and software. Don’t assume that every workflow management solution has automation tools. Some of the software geared for smaller teams and projects lacks in that area. IntegrationsIn order to fully take advantage of your workflow management, the software needs to integrate with other tools and apps that you’re already using. If the software isn’t compatible with your existing tools, then you should probably look elsewhere. Depending on the software, it could integrate with 50+, 100+, or even 1,000+ third-party apps. Some solutions offer REST API access for custom integrations with virtually any tool. Project ManagementWorkflow management and project management are technically two different things. With that said, lots of workflow management software comes with project management tools. I’m referring to things like kanban boards, Gantt charts, team communication tools, and more. So if you’re looking for an all-in-one workflow and project management solution, make sure the software you select does both. ConclusionMonday.com is our top pick for workflow management. It’s the best solution for the vast majority of teams, projects, industries, and use cases. With that said, there are plenty of other great options to consider. For individual users, freelancers, and small teams, try ProWorkflow or Intervals. If you want drag-and-drop process building, check out Integrify. Hive is a great way to give your team members the ability to customize their own workflows. If you want to automate complex workflows, use Automate.io. For businesses with multiple departments, try Workfront. Backlog is our top pick for development teams. Regardless of your workflow management needs, you can use this guide to find the best solution for you. Social Media via Quick Sprout https://ift.tt/UU7LJr June 25, 2020 at 11:36AM
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The Complete Guide to TikTok Analytics: How to Measure Your Success https://ift.tt/2B5YPM4 blockquote.tiktok-embed { all: unset !important; } blockquote.tiktok-embed:before { content: none !important; } blockquote.tiktok-embed:after { content: none !important; } Social media is abuzz with TikTok’s explosive growth. And that’s why understanding TikTok analytics so important. Track the right metrics, and you’ll be able to tell hype from reality. If your brand is new to TikTok, analytics can take some of the guesswork out of content strategy. Insights available to TikTok pro accounts can inform everything from when you post to what you post. Learn which TikTok metrics you should be tracking, where to find them, and how you can use them to your advantage. Bonus: Get a free social media analytics report template that shows you the most important metrics to track for each network. What is a TikTok pro account?The main difference between a TikTok pro account and a regular account boils down to TikTok analytics. Pro accounts offer them, while regular accounts don’t. Much like Instagram Creator profiles, TikTok Pro accounts allow creators to measure audience and performance insights. From the TikTok analytics dashboard, Pro account holders can learn about their followers, monitor views and engagement, and more. How to switch to a TikTok Pro account:
How to check your TikTok analyticsWondering where to find TikTok analytics? From your profile on mobile, click the ellipsis in the top right. Under Account, you should see an Analytics tab. Here’s how to see TikTok analytics on desktop. Login to TikTok, click your profile picture, then select View Analytics. If you plan to download data you can only do this from the desktop dashboard. TikTok followers analyticsYour TikTok followers analytics first appear in a graph format from the Overview tab. Toggle between the 7-day or 28-day view to chart your account’s short and long-term growth patterns. For deeper audience insights, click the Followers tab in the upper right corner. This section includes gender and location demographics as well as follower activity, videos your followers watched, and songs your followers listened to. TikTok profile analyticsGet a snapshot of your TikTok profile analytics from the Overview tab. Scroll past the Followers graph to see your Profile Views. Switch between a longer 28-day view or a 7-day close up to pinpoint spikes in traffic. TikTok video analyticsThe most extensive insights TikTok offers are for videos. From the Overview, you’ll find a bar chart that displays video views over the past week or month. To drill down on specific TikTok video analytics, go to the Content tab. In this tab you’ll be able to see recent and trending posts from the last seven days. You can click on any video to see total likes, comments, shares, play time, traffic source, audience demographics, and more. You can also check out TikTok video analytics from your profile page. Open the video, tap More (…) and then select Analytics. Understanding TikTok metrics“Viral” is a word that comes up often in relation to TikTok. But the buzzword doesn’t mean much unless it’s backed up with the right data. Here’s a rundown of the TikTok analytics you should keep your eye on, and why you should track them. TikTok Analytics OverviewThe Overview tab offers a summary of the following metrics. Video views: The total number of times your account’s videos were viewed over a given period. Followers: The total tally of TikTok users that follow your account Profile views: The number of times your profile was viewed over the selected period. This TikTok metrics is a good indication of brand interest. It measures the number of people who liked your video enough to check out your profile, or people who are curious to see what your brand is up to on the platform. Follower TabVisit the Follower Tab to learn about your audience. In addition to key demographic stats, you can also see what your followers are interested in, making this section a good source for content inspiration. Gender: Here you will find the distribution of your followers by gender. If you’re happy with your niche, keep playing to your crowd. If you’re looking to grow your audience, consider creating content with more universal appeal. Or partner with a relevant influencer to gain exposure with different crowds. For example, a cosmetics brand may wish to team up with a TikTok influencer like Tyler Brown to reach his audience. @tylerbrownThe Grinch ##makeup tutorial!! ##fypage ##tiktok ????✨♬ I’m booked – How the Grinch Stole Christmas Top territories: Where your followers are from, ranked by country. Keep these places in mind incase it makes sense to localize content and promotions. A maximum of five countries are listed here. Follower activity: This shows you the times and days that your followers are most active on TikTok. Look for when activity is consistently high, and post regularly in that time slot. Videos your followers watched: This section allows you to get a sense of the content that is most popular with your followers. Have a look at this section often to see if it sparks any ideas for content. It’s also a good place to scope out potential collaborators. Sounds your followers listened to: TikTok trends are underscored by tracks, so check the top sounds your followers have listened to see what’s popular. Trends move fast on TikTok, so if you use these results for ideas, plan for a quick turnaround. Bonus: Get a free social media analytics report template that shows you the most important metrics to track for each network. Get the free template now!Content TabFrom the Content tab you can measure the performance of your content. Trending videos: Shows you your top nine videos with the fastest growth in viewership over the past seven days. Individual Post StatsTotal like count of post: How many likes a post has received. Total number of comments: How many comments a post has received. Total shares: The number of times the post has been shared. Total play time: A cumulative total of the time people have spent watching your video. This stat does not reveal much on its own, but can be compared with other posts to determine your account’s average total play time. Total video views: The number of times a post has been viewed. Average watch time: The average amount of time people spent watching your video. This will give you a good indication of how successful you were at maintaining attention. Traffic source types: Where traffic for your post comes from. Traffic sources include the For You feed, your profile, Following feed, sounds, searches, and hashtags. If you’re using hashtags or sounds to boost exposure, here’s where you’ll see how well that worked. Audience territories: This section displays your reached audience (total number of users who watched your video) and the top locations of viewers for the post. If you created a post or campaign for a specific location, here’s where you’ll see if it reached them. Other TikTok AnalyticsHashtag views: The number of times posts with a given hashtag have been watched. To see how many views a hashtag has received, search for the hashtag in the Discover tab. An overview of the search results will appear in the Top tab. From there you’ll be able to see the number of views, related hashtags, and some of the top videos that use the tag. Total likes: From your TikTok profile, you can see a grand total of the number of likes you’ve seen on all your content. This TikTok metric could be used for a rough estimate of average engagement. TikTok engagement rates: There are different ways to calculate social media engagement rates, and TikTok is no different. These are the two primary formulas marketers use: ((Number of likes + Number of comments) / Number of Followers) * 100 ((Number of likes + Number of comments + Number of shares) / Number of Followers) * 100 Since like and comment metrics are visible on the platform, you can easily see how your TikTok metrics compare with other accounts. Or scope out the engagement rates of influencers before teaming up with them. Average engagement estimate: For a back-of-the-envelope estimate of an accounts’ average engagement, try the following.
Keep in mind that most engagement rate formulas include comments in addition to likes, so you shouldn’t compare these results with those calculations. But since it’s time consuming to count overall comment totals, this formula can be used as a quick way to compare accounts in-house. Ready to start advertising on TikTok? Learn how here. Bonus: Get a free social media analytics report template that shows you the most important metrics to track for each network.
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6 Benefits of Outsourced IT Support for Managing Your Social Media Strategy https://ift.tt/2YsCQI8 The modern economic environment is evolving at a rapid pace and presents firms with challenges never seen before. Modern organizations have no choice but to develop solutions for these problems or integrate modern requirements to stay competitive. The modern market is evolving. It requires businesses to have high levels of specialization, customer relations and efficiency. The digital space and technological advancements have brought forth products, services and industries which just a few years ago were unheard of. More companies are utilizing social media to reach customers. Even traditional aspects of business such as sales, accounting and HR departments are changing in how they function and are used. Many business experts are of the view that businesses today should focus on delivering specialized services while delegating all other aspects of business operations to third-party specialists. Thankfully, there are numerous outsourcing and freelancing portals available today. These marketplaces for professional services are an example of the ‘gig-economy,’ where business operations can be delegated into micro-tasks. We have previously talked about the benefits of hiring skilled social media professionals through these platforms, but you might also need to hire auxiliary professionals to supplement some aspects of your social media strategy. Hiring IT Specialists to Supplement Your Social Media StrategyThese tasks are outsourced to professionals who can do the task better than an app, and without costing an arm and a leg. Every aspect of a business can be outsourced efficiently if one smartly goes about the process of outsourcing. However, as technology and digital mediums are becoming an ever-increasing part of businesses and organisations, the associated services involved are a necessity for firms in every industry. Whether it’s related to hardware, software or intra-business technology, there’s high demand for an expert IT outsourcing service that can keep digital infrastructure running at peak performance. However, IT support itself is a vast discipline and it can often be costly to maintain an in-house support team to manage IT systems. Rather than managing it themselves, firms can benefit from having a third party take care of this matter. Low Costs A full-time in-house IT support crew will add a few names to the firms’ payroll. Regardless of whether their services are used or not, it will be a fixed expense every month for the organisation. For small businesses and startups, this can prove to create more expense than value, as IT support staff aren’t required every day. A well-installed IT setup only needs technical assistance if something goes wrong or there’s a need for change. At times, there may only be a need for a specific service where one particular job needs to be done, rather than having a full-time crew; in these cases, an IT specialist expert can be hired for that one task. More Options Having a full-time in-house IT crew won’t guarantee all your IT solutions can be taken care of, either. IT experts are proficient in their own fields, and if there’s a job that falls outside of their area of expertise, it’ll require either a new employee or the task will have to be outsourced. Unless the in-house IT team has one expert for every area of the IT infrastructure, the onboard support staff can become a limiting factor for the business. With an outsourced solution, businesses can choose who they want to work with whenever they feel there’s a need for that service. There’s also no restriction in repeatedly employing the same person. If one outsourcing company or freelancer seems like a better option, then they can be hired as many times as you’d like. Timesaving Rather than spending hours trying to manage the task themselves, businesses can receive the help of a freelance expert or find an outsourcing solution who can do the job more effectively and leave staff with more time to work on other vital aspects of the business. As IT support requires significant technical expertise to manage, trying to do so with little experience yields a below-average result and also costs in terms of other work that remains undone. Better Specialisation Even full-time in-house support teams need to outsource their work to a specialist. Through outsourcing, businesses can directly seek expert services and receive even better results. Faster Delivery No business aims to be late in the delivery of products or services to their clients. Outsourcing gets the job done quickly and keeps business on track. Rather than spending time and effort trying to solve an issue using an in-house team or staff who aren’t fully qualified, outsourcing the task takes care of time constraints and the quality of results. Strategic Investment Outsourcing isn’t always about saving money. In many niche service areas, outsourcing can be quite pricey, but if it benefits the organisation and yields profit, it’s a valuable investment, not an expense. IT expertise isn’t the core competency of many firms, which makes it difficult for them to manage very specific IT-related problems. The purposes of the niche expert is to increase value for the firm and help develop the infrastructure to a level that’s more profitable. Outsourcing is the best way to get the right person for specialised tasks and benefits the firm in multiple ways. The post 6 Benefits of Outsourced IT Support for Managing Your Social Media Strategy appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 24, 2020 at 12:39PM Your IT Infrastructure is Crucial for Maximizing Uptime of Your Content https://ift.tt/2Yvc4Pq Downtime is a very expensive problem for social media marketers. Data from HostingFacts shows that the average website is down for at least three hours every month. The loss of accessibility can lead to an immediate reduction in sales. However, the long-term cost can be even worse. The cost of downtime can be worse for small businesses, even if it is lower in absolute terms. The average business loses $10.6 million a year due to website downtime. Of course, this figure is skewed by massive losses from major companies, such as Amazon and Walmart. However, small businesses that experience excessive website downtime can face long-term costs that they will struggle to recover from. Their brand will be more severely hurt and fewer customers will return to their sites, since they are less inclined to give second chances to them than well recognized brands. This is why it is vital to build a strong IT infrastructure to support your web presence. You will be able to manage your content marketing strategies more effectively. Building a Team to Create a Strong IT Presence is Necessary to Maintain a Reliable WebsiteThe recent Covid-19 outbreak has shut down physical markets and turbo-charged the already fast pace that businesses were adopting new technology and spurred them to invest more in content marketing. Business owners are often keenly aware of what their organisations’ requirements are and what they need to achieve in terms of performance and how they can implement technology to improve. However, IT management is generally outside their field of expertise. Furthermore, training their teams to effectively operate these new technologies — and undertake the long-term maintenance involved in each — are other problems entirely. Many companies simply aren’t equipped to handle these responsibilities in-house, so their content marketing strategies may suffer as a result. One of the biggest changes is that more customers are making purchases online. Ecommerce sales increased 40% from pre-pandemic levels. Many companies reported a 50% increase in website traffic. Unfortunately, this website traffic growth comes at a cost. Many companies don’t have the infrastructure to handle it, so they have experienced more website downtime as a result. This problem can be managed by hiring a skilled team of IT professionals. Having up to date knowledge about the developments in IT and available solutions from the digital space that best suit any business is the job of a reliable technology solutions expert, not a business owner. Most small to medium scale businesses (SMBs) don’t have the budget – nor the need – for an in-house IT department when third-party IT support services are available. Modern technology and its associated services are available at more economical prices than ever, but if companies invest in the wrong technology or hire firms that can’t provide appropriate support, this will ultimately cost them in downtime, workflow bottlenecks and profit. Their entire digital marketing strategy can grind to a halt if downtime is excessive. Technology management can be a difficult transition even for very large firms, let alone SMBs. Employing the right IT support can significantly impact the ability of an organisation to make technology an asset rather than a burden and ensure their websites are available to customers. Here’s what you should look for in a firm before choosing the right IT support for your business. Location: Does Proximity Matter? This applies to both your vendor of IT support services and the recipient. Physical locations still matter when it comes to on-site support, hardware-related problems and hands-on training. For instance, if your business needs to relocate, your IT support provider will be needed during the transition. Being in physical proximity to each other means tasks can be done much faster. If there’s any type of technological breakdown and a virtual connection isn’t possible, then on-site assistance will be required. Having a support provider located in a different time zone creates a time gap that can only be overcome if there’s 24-hour support. A local support company will employ local solutions and make use of what’s locally available. This saves your business money in procurement and keeps solutions local, which are more cost-effective and convenient to maintain. Price: Discuss Your Potential Needs Everyone wants to get the best service at the lowest price, though IT support charges don’t come with a fixed price tag. This is a service that can be highly customized and pricing changes with the nature of the work. Generally, IT support services can have a monthly subscription, per hour charges, ad-hoc charges or can be a completely managed support service solution. All these pricing methods will largely depend on your business requirements and the nature of the IT system in place. It’s important to discuss what the support service includes and what’s charged separately. Pricing should be discussed with a focus on what your business could potentially need. Still, not all potential problems can be identified in one meeting, and new requirements will surface over time. Businesses should keep some extra headroom when budgeting for IT support services. Nature of Support: Determine Proactivity and Communication Channels Most IT support services will intervene when problems arise. Many service providers continuously monitor their clients’ IT setup and are proactive in their approach. Addressing system problems before they develop into a breakdown can save your business from interruptions; while these services can be more expensive, the benefits are significant. Similarly, it’s important to discuss what kind of support will be offered, such as what kind of communication channels are available and how available their support staff is. Industry Experience: Specialisation and Consultancy Some IT support service providers specialise in particular services, while others are specialists for particular industries. By having a specialist service provider, businesses can not only receive tailored service, but they can also get good advice in streamlining their system to provide higher utility and efficiency. A specialist service provider with industry experience will know what works and what doesn’t, as well as how common problems can be overcome quickly. Such a service provider also acts as a great consultant. Brand Partnerships and Successful Trouble Shooting Some IT support companies have partnerships with well-known brand names and are specialised solution providers for those companies. If a business is using technology made by a particular brand, it can be a great asset to work with a service provider who’s associated with that brand and has certifications for managing their products. In contrast, these specialist service providers may not be a good choice for firms running custom-made software. For this reason, it’s good to have a support company that can deal with a variety of systems and has a proven track record of managing similar platforms. Looking at the kind of clients the IT support company serves provides insight into the size of organisations they can handle and the kind of work they can do. Consider Past and Current Client Reviews This is often a good way to get a holistic view of an IT firm’s abilities. While the technical aspects of support can be difficult to understand, finding out what their clients think of the services they’ve received is relatively simple. It also adds to an IT support providers’ credibility, includes information related to what they’ve done in the past for clients, and what can be expected from their services overall. Build a Strong IT Team to Maximize Website UptimeYou need to maximize website uptime to get the most of your digital marketing strategy. Fortunately, hiring the right IT team can help you reach this goal. Follow the guidelines listed above and you can avoid costly downtime from damaging your brand. The post Your IT Infrastructure is Crucial for Maximizing Uptime of Your Content appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 24, 2020 at 12:39PM
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Best Collaboration Software https://ift.tt/2VgY6ym Collaboration tools have changed the way people work—and for the better. The days of knocking on office doors, leaving voicemails, or sending lengthy email chains with updates and attachments are long behind us. Modern technology makes it much easier for teams of all sizes to work together more efficiently. With collaboration software, users can access a shared space with individual login information. The right team members will be notified with relevant updates, and everyone will have access to the information they need to get the job done. Collaboration software is great for managing ongoing tasks and communication, as well as team projects at scale. By using collaboration tools, you’ll also improve workflow efficiency with people working from multiple locations, which is crucial for today’s business environment. With remote workers, teams in different buildings, freelancers, contractors, and clients always in different locations, collaboration software acts as a centralized digital hub for everyone. The Top 7 Best Collaboration SoftwareAfter researching and demoing the best collaboration tools on the market today, I narrowed down my list of recommendations to seven. I’ll cover the features, benefits, pricing, use cases, and potential drawbacks in an in-depth review for each one below. #1 – Ryver — Best Overall Collaboration Software• Starts at $49 Ryver is an all-in-one team collaboration app. Instead of using multiple tools and resources to communicate with your team, Ryver provides everything you need to collaborate at scale. The software was initially created back in 2014 to solve the business “email problem.” which is the outdated way that most teams were collaborating. But since then, the software has quickly evolved to meet the growing demands of the modern workforce. Ryver contains features for group messaging, task management, as well as voice and video calling. Some of the top benefits of using Ryver’s collaboration software include:
Ryver integrates with other tools that your team is already using, like Gmail, Salesforce, Zendesk, Trello, Dropbox, MailChimp, and more. Here’s a quick glance at the plans and price pricing for Ryver:
The Starter plan comes with up to 12 users and all of the basic collaboration features you need. As the name implies, the Unlimited plan is for an unlimited number of users. Advanced features like SSO and Premium support are only available at the Enterprise plan level. It’s also worth noting that the voice and video calling is still in the beta stages. The software can support up to five users per call. You can try Ryver free for 14 days; no credit card required. #2 – Slack — Best For Real-Time Team Communication• Starts at $6.67 Slack has quickly become an industry leader in team collaboration. From startups to enterprises and everything in between, this software is used by thousands of teams across the world. It’s trusted by Airbnb, Ticketmaster, Target, Oracle, Time Magazine, Samsung, and more. We even use Slack to collaborate here at Quick Sprout. Compared to email, Slack is just a better way to manage team communication in real-time. The software integrates with 2,000+ third-party apps like Google Drive, Asana, GitHub, Salesforce, Trello, and more. Set up Slack channels to collaborate by project, team, client, or any other way that your organization sees fit. The software supports group messaging and updates, as well as one-on-one conversations for individual members. Slack supports voice and video calling as well as integrated file sharing. Pricing for Slack Standard starts at $6.67 per user per month with an annual contract. Slack Plus starts at $12.50 and comes with advanced features like user provisioning, SSO, and corporate exports for all messages. For those of you who have advanced security needs, such as HIPAA-compliant messaging and file collaboration, contact the Slack sales team for a custom enterprise quote. It’s worth noting that Slack is more of a communication tool than an all-in-one solution for project management—at least out of the box. You can always customize your Slack solution with apps and integrations. #3 – Basecamp — Best For Remote Workers• Free for basic use Basecamp is branded as an all-in-one project management and team communication tool for working remotely. Whether your organization has always had a remote workforce or was recently forced to go remote due to current events, Basecamp should be a top consideration for your needs. The software makes it easy to organize all remote collaboration in a single location. It’s easy to get started and works well at scale. The dashboard is clean, organized, and has everything your remote team needs to work collaboratively. Basecamp has tools for messaging, task lists, group chat, schedules, document sharing, and project management features, as well. You can use Basecamp to split up virtual areas based on projects, departments, or teams. Add whoever needs to be involved in each area so they can work together. Basecamp allows users to customize how they are notified about updates. So you can easily pause notifications to avoid distractions after hours or when you’re working on crucial tasks. The software has advanced tools for owners, executives, managers, and individual users as well. Employees can track assignments, schedules, and everything else on their plates. Managers can see a total overview of the entire team’s productivity. Basecamp’s pricing is straightforward. The $99 per month flat rate includes:
There’s also a free plan for basic use, but it’s limited. The free plan supports up to three projects, 20 users, and 1 GB of storage. This is a fine option for freelancers, small teams, or individual users. #4 – Asana — Best For Workflow Management• Free for basic use Asana is one of the world’s most popular project management tools. Teams of all sizes trust this software to manage both simple and complex projects at scale. More than 70,000 organizations worldwide use Asana, including GE, NASA, The New York Times, Red Bull, and Deloitte. It’s a popular tool for marketers, sales teams, operations, product development, and more. Asana uses Kanban boards for project management. But it also has various workflows like calendar tools, timelines, forms, productivity tools, and supports agile & scrum teams. Asana has tools for automation to help you streamline and simplify tedious workflows. The software is exceptional out of the box but has 100+ third-party integrations so your team can access everything they need in a single place. Create templates for common processes, use custom fields to track important information, control data, set privacy permissions, and do more with Asana for team collaboration. Here’s a look at the plans and price points of Asana:
Unfortunately, Asana does not have a live chat or instant messaging feature. Communication would have to take place on individual boards, projects, and tasks. Try Asana free for 30 days. #5 – Zoho Projects — Best Collaboration Software For Project Management• Starts at $3 Zoho Projects is another all-in-one collaboration solution for project management. It’s an affordable and user-friendly option for businesses of all shapes and sizes. You can use Zoho Projects to fully customize your experience. The software makes it easy to create personalized layouts, fields, workflows, and statuses. Top features and benefits of Zoho Projects include:
The software also supports real-time collaboration with chat rooms and boards. Whether you want to initiate a discussion with one person or your entire group, Zoho Projects makes this possible. Pricing for Zoho Projects starts at $3 per user per month, with a six-user minimum. The price per user increases based on team size and features. But even the most expensive plan is just $6 per month. Unlimited projects start at $4 per user. That plan has a 12-user minimum and 50-user maximum. Try Zoho Projects free for ten days. Save 17% when you sign up for annual billing. #6 – Flowdock — Best Cheap Collaboration Software• Free for up to 5 users Flowdock isn’t quite as popular or well-known as some of the other solutions on our list. But it’s still an excellent choice for collaboration software, especially for those of you on a tight budget. The software starts at $3 per user per month, with no user minimums. So it’s a great choice for smaller teams as well. In fact, Flowdock is free for teams of five or less. Flowdock is designed to help teams working in multiple locations and time zones stay organized. Some of the top features and benefits include:
For advanced features like data encryption, SSO, and more administrative-level customization, Flowdock has an enterprise plan for $9 per user per month. Overall, Flowdock isn’t as flashy or feature-rich as some of the other solutions on our list. But it’s cheap and gets the job done. I’d definitely recommend it to smaller teams as a more cost-effective alternative to other options on the market. #7 – Podio — Best Custom Collaboration Software• Starts at $9 Podio is another all-in-one solution for collaboration and project management. It’s trusted by organizations like Volvo, the National Football League, and 500,000+ teams worldwide. The best part about Podio is its flexibility. Rather than having to change your current workflows and environment to match the capabilities of your collaboration software, Podio makes it easy to choose the features you need to suit your existing structure. Podio allows you to set up individual employee profiles with information like their contact details, location, skills, and a short bio. This makes it much easier for team members to find basic info for collaborating with the right person. Create custom templates to store vital information. Make documents accessible for everyone on your team. Use Podio to create tasks, automate workflows, and add notes to projects. You can set up an activity feed so everyone within a certain team or department can see what’s going on. View team bulletins, comments, and discuss news or updates on the status of assignments. These are just a handful of the potential use cases for Podio. Pricing for the software is surprisingly affordable for how powerful it is:
If you’re managing clients or freelancers, you can add those external users to your Podio plan for free. For those of you with complex needs that want complete customization over your collaboration software, Podio will be your best option. It’s arguably the most versatile and robust solution on the market today. How to Find the Best Collaboration Software For YouThere are certain factors that must be taken into consideration when you’re shopping around for collaboration software. Generally speaking, there is no “best for everyone” tool. This is the methodology that I used to narrow down the winners in this guide. I’ll explain these elements in greater detail below, which will make it easier to for you to determine the best software for your needs. Type of SoftwareNot all collaboration software is the same. Some tools are all-in-one software for collaboration and project management. In addition to file sharing and messaging, you’ll benefit from features like Kanban boards, Gantt charts, workflow management, automations, and more. Other solutions just focus on communication, with features like live chat, voice calls, video calls, and screen sharing. Not every project management solution has tools for real-time messaging or calling. So just figure out which feature matters most to you while you’re evaluating options. Team SizeGenerally speaking, teams of five and teams of 50 will have different needs. Larger teams need features to segment users by department, project, or another category. Otherwise, things will get too messy if every single person in your organization sees status updates, files, and messages that are irrelevant to their job or project. You might also want to consider software with management or admin features for adding team members and keeping an eye on everyone’s progress. This is more common in a project management solution. It’s also worth noting that smaller teams might be eligible for free collaboration software from certain providers. Integrations and CustomizationIt’s important for collaboration software to integrate with tools that you’re already using. Some of the software on our list integrates with hundreds or even up to 2,000+ third-party apps. Ideally, you’ll want your tool to have as much functionality out of the box, but having the ability to customize your solution is nice to have. Just make sure everything integrates seamlessly. I’d recommend testing out the software with a free trial just to be certain that the features you want are working properly. Ease of UseAt the end of the day, collaboration software is designed to make things more efficient. If your team is spending extra time trying to navigate and figure out how to use different tools, it defeats the purpose. Some software has a sharper learning curve than others. But with that said, most of the solutions in this guide are fairly easy to use. Larger teams may want to consider using software with priority support, in case your staff needs help along the way. ConclusionWhat’s the best collaboration software on the market today? Ryver is our top overall recommendation. However, there are plenty of other viable alternatives, depending on your specific needs. Slack is the best choice for real-time communication. Try Basecamp for remote teams and Asana to manage workflows. Flowdock is perfect for businesses on a tight budget. For those of you seeking an all-in-one solution for team collaboration and project management, we recommend Zoho Projects. If you need advanced customization, try Podio. Regardless of your team size, industry, or collaboration needs, you can use this guide to find the perfect solution for your business. Social Media via Quick Sprout https://ift.tt/UU7LJr June 24, 2020 at 11:37AM SEO for YouTube – Simple Strategies for Ranking Videos https://ift.tt/3fQY7Ry With over one billion users, YouTube manages to reach almost a third of all people with internet access. The only site currently more popular than YouTube is Google, with over 3.5 billion searches occurring each day. Such a large user base means every business will clearly benefit from a number of videos ranking on both platforms. Popularity also means competition, though, so you will inevitably be faced with competing videos for any significant keyword. Thankfully, using a number of simple strategies can give your videos the best chance of success, potentially leading to a long-term stream of targeted traffic. Keyword Research Keyword research ensures you don’t waste time trying to rank for terms that get minimal searches. You will be searching for keywords that receive at least a few hundred searches per month, but does not have a large number of authority sites in place. The Google Keyword Planner is a good place to start, compiling a list of related terms and their monthly search volume. Tools like SEMrush, Moz, and Ahrefs can be used for additional research and competitive analysis. Keywordtool.io also has an element that focuses specifically on YouTube. You can use many of the tools to analyze the competition, but be sure to also manually look at the top few search results to ensure you feel comfortable competing with them. Create Your Video While it may sound obvious, you must ensure your video is of a high standard. If limited numbers of viewers watch a substantial part of the content, you will struggle to rank for anything significant. YouTube will provide you with audience retention stats, so you can get an idea of what is working across all your videos. Try to make your video at least five minutes long, avoiding too many short snippets unless absolutely necessary. Add annotations and a segment at the end requesting viewers like and subscribe to your channel. Likes and comments will play an important factor in convincing more people to watch. Optimize the Video The next stage is to upload the video to your account. Start by using your main keyword as the file name. Next, create a title that includes your keyword, but still manages to be eye-catching, intriguing, funny, or controversial. “Studying the YouTube algorithm regarding which keywords get the most traffic is crucial in maximizing views,” says long-time Los Angeles SEO veteran, Isaac Rau, of Proactive SEO Solutions. “Take Carter Sharer, who has nearly 7 million followers, he has harnessed his strong technical background to master Youtube’s algorithm and harnesses that knowledge to dictate which type of episodes to shoot.” While you want to optimize for the search engines, you must ensure everything you create is tailored for real viewers. Write a detailed description, including your main keyword and associated ones. The description will help the viewers who check it out first, while also assisting the search engines who won’t understand your video content without it. Finally, add appropriate tags that use your keyword and variations of it. Promote To effectively promote your video for YouTube and the Google search engine, you need to gain embeds and backlinks. Initially, you should promote the video on your blog and social media accounts. If you already have some popularity, you should see the video shared by other viewers. You may find your video gradually starts to rank, but you might still require further promotion. Facebook Ads will expose your video to many people for a reasonable price, while reaching out to other niche bloggers can lead to reciprocal promotion opportunities. If your video is of a high quality, though, you should see many embeds and backlinks occurring naturally after an initial burst of promotion. Many of the videos uploaded to YouTube are not created with optimization in mind. The quality of the content might be exceptional, but lack of time spent on a title and description might lessen the impact. If you follow best practices,though, you can easily find your videos appearing prominently in the YouTube search results and the main Google search engine. Of course, certain niche keywords will be highly competitive and require far more promotion, but you can usually find a number of quality terms that will provide a consistent level of traffic. For a number of years, online businesses have been built on video marketing, so a handful of popular keywords could be transformative for your own endeavors. The post SEO for YouTube – Simple Strategies for Ranking Videos appeared first on Social Media Explorer. Social Media via Social Media Explorer https://ift.tt/2onGYog June 24, 2020 at 11:07AM
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How to Design an Efficient Social Media Approval Workflow https://ift.tt/2BzOHv2 Social media mistakes happen — but they don’t have to. Setting up an efficient social media approval workflow decreases the risk of publishing errors. And the risk of sending out content that is off-brand or low-quality also decreases. Maybe it’s happened to you. You notice a spelling mistake after you’ve sent a Tweet. Or you’re called out for an embarrassing grammar typo in the Facebook comments. Oops. With a social media content approval process in place, all content is vetted, edited and approved by select team members ahead of publication. This article outlines:
Bonus: Get a free, customizable social media style guide template to easily ensure a consistent look, feel, voice, and tone across all your social channels. 4 benefits of creating a social media approval processYou spend a lot of time crafting a social media marketing strategy that works for your brand. And when created efficiently, a social media approval workflow will help maintain the quality of the content your brand publishes on its social channels. With a social media approval process in place, you can: Ensure social media content is polished and consistentA social media approval process assigns specific team members to specific tasks. One of those tasks in the workflow process involves editing content before publication. The employee responsible for editing and approving content ensures everything is correct, on-brand and consistent with the brand’s social media guidelines before it goes live. Basically, there are extra sets of eyes reviewing content, making sure errors or off-brand posts don’t slip through the cracks. Supervise the work of new hiresIt takes time for new employees to become familiar with your brand’s social media policy. As new employees learn, a social media approval workflow can limit who publishes content to go live. For example, using a social media approval software can limit an intern or new hire’s access to social media platforms and limit accidental posting or scheduling. New hires can still work on social media content, but this process reduces the risk that something will get published that breaches company policy, is incorrect, or simply isn’t in keeping with the brand’s style. Limit password sharingWith large teams, password sharing can become a security issue. Or for third party companies working on social media, client approval is needed before publishing. With an approval workflow set up, you can limit password sharing to team members who approve content at the final stage of the process. Encourage collaboration in an efficient wayConstantly looping in your whole team — plus multiple stakeholders — interferes with efficiency, slows down workflow and can affect your social media content calendar. An approval workflow streamlines the process and increases productivity. That’s because a social media content approval process clearly outlines employees’ roles. When specific requests arise, employees know who is responsible for each step of the process. This means employees can collaborate directly and efficiently. Not everyone needs to see everything every step of the way. Plus, an approval workflow helps employees stay on schedule. It prevents content building up, being forgotten about, or not getting published. That is, it’s harder to forget to publish something if a person other than yourself is also expecting to see it. Hurray deadline accountability! How to create a social media approval processBy taking these steps, you can create an approval process that works for your entire social media team. Step 1: Know how an approval process ties into your social media strategyWhile your social media strategy is likely to evolve as your brand grows, make sure you know your short-term social media goals and how you’re going to meet them.
Step 2: Clarify who’s involved and what everyone’s role isFor the social media content workflow to be as efficient as possible, only involve the core team actively working on your brand’s social media presence. Then, trust those team members to do what they do best! Which employees are involved — and how many employees are involved — will differ depending on the size of your company. To start, know how you’ll organize your teams and the social networks your brand uses. For example, you should know:
In a mid-sized company, the approval process might include the following employees: Content creatorsThe work that these employees do comes first in a social media approval process. Social media content creator These are the employees researching ideas for new content, writing content, filling the content calendar and identifying gaps. They might also be responsible for scheduling content for ideal days and times based on social media analytics. Social media designers The social media designers will collaborate with the writers on accompanying imagery or graphics. Social media video editors If video is needed on social media, these employees will be brought in to collaborate with content creators and designers. Content editorsAfter the content is drafted, the process moves up the company’s hierarchy for approval. These employees are responsible for ensuring content goes out on time, for preventing the backlog of content, and for editing content for quality. Social media editor This employee’s role might be to edit posts and make sure all content is error-free and on-brand. They might also communicate requests for changes with the creators. Social media manager manager This employee might approve content and make sure everything is scheduled to go live at the right time. The social media editor and social media manager might also have greater access across the social media approval tool or social media approval app you’re using. For example, in Hootsuite, permission settings can be controlled and restricted. You can limit content creators’ access so only editors and managers can publish content. This eliminates content accidentally going live before it’s been approved. It also streamlines the workflow process. Hootsuite lets users edit an approval workflow, making it easy for employees to track when their input is needed and when their task is completed. Bonus: Get a free, customizable social media style guide template to easily ensure a consistent look, feel, voice, and tone across all your social channels. Get the template now!Step 3: Outline your brand’s content expectationsWhat kind of content does your brand post? What language does your brand use? Is your brand’s tone playful and fun? Or informative and serious? What’s your stance on hashtags and emojis? These are all things to consider to ensure your brand’s social media content is consistent, high quality and always on-brand. Make sure your company has created a style guide for its employees to refer to. This is a detailed document outlining how your social media is portrayed. It could include everything from tone and writing style to branding colors, photo usage and font. Step 4: Set a timeline from creation to publicationGive yourself enough time to get that quality content written, edited and scheduled! Determine how long it takes the creators to write a bulk of content. Next, determine how long it takes to edit that content, schedule it and have it approved. Then, set up a workflow timeline that seems fair based on that knowledge. The timeline you set will depend on the volume of social media content your brand creates, the size of your team, and each employee’s workload. Step 5: Set deadlines for everyone involved in the workflowSetting deadlines for each employee involved in the social media approval process will help avoid last-minute posting and editing. It will help avoid content trickling in for approval. And it will help prevent content bottlenecking. Pick regular deadlines for everyone in the approval process to meet and a schedule where everyone is held accountable for delivering on time. For example, a social media approval process template might involve:
Step 6: Outline a notification process for feedbackHow does the approver receive notification of when content is completed? How do the creators know if edits are needed? Maybe you use email, Slack notifications or a different social media approval app. But we should probably mention that using Hootsuite as your social media approval tool lets you set up alerts so you’ll never miss a message or assigned task. See below: Hootsuite also lets approvers provide feedback in the same platform: Step 7: Incorporate tools that identify problemsBy incorporating digital tools into your approval workflow, you’re further eliminating the chance that human error lets mistakes sneak through the approval process. Encourage your team to make use of tools and apps like:
Step 8: Keep track of how it all goesFinally, take the time to reflect on how the process went for everyone involved in the process. Discuss where there might be room for improvements. Maybe you start by using a social media approval process template, and then adapt that to meet the unique needs and goals of your brand and team. 3 social media approval tools your team can useJust as there’s no one social media approval process template that works better than another, there is not one approval tool or app to choose from. Depending on the size of your team and your social media strategy, different tools might better fit your needs. Here are just four options to consider. 1. HootsuiteAs well as allowing teams to schedule social media posts for numerous social platforms, Hootsuite Enterprise allows users to invite employees onto teams, group employees by task and assign tasks to specific team members. Also, users can set permission and access settings. Plus, Hootsuite allows users to bulk schedule up to 350 social media posts. This is ideal for brands creating lots of content across multiple social channels. Using Hootsuite means every part of the workflow process can happen in the same platform. Content can be drafted, edited and approved all in the Hootsuite dashboard. Here’s how your team’s senior employees can use Hootsuite to approve posts composed by its social media creators: 2. Google SheetsFor teams already comfortable on Microsoft platforms, Google Sheets can be effective for drafting, editing and collaborating on content. Because it doesn’t directly connect to your brand’s social platforms, this tool can be ideal for teams that want to limit password sharing and restrict access to social channels. 3. TrelloThis tool helps keep teams organized when it comes to collaboration. Organize tasks and colour-code them into Trello’s cards and boards. Allocate tasks to a team member and mark your task as complete when your task is through. And with the “mention” feature, you’ll know your team member is alerted as the process moves along. This tool elevates communication. The drag-and-drop feature makes it user-friendly, it visualizes the workflow process, and the whole team can be in-the-know as the approval process unfolds. Use Hootsuite’s social media approval features to make sure none of your posts fall through the cracks again. Assign work to your teammates, get notifications when content needs to be edited, and provide feedback to each other — all from the same dashboard. Try it free today. The post How to Design an Efficient Social Media Approval Workflow appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management. Social Media via Hootsuite Social Media Management https://ift.tt/1LdunxE June 24, 2020 at 08:18AM |
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