Tag: social media

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#MDMC19: Instagram Expert Jenn Herman Shares How to Grow Your Instagram and Make More Sales

By Sarah Thomas

Here’s the undeniable truth about Instagram at the moment – it is POWERFUL. The engagement rates on Instagram are higher than all social media platforms making it is the best platform to build a community for your brand.

Instagram expert Jenn Herman, who you may know by her Instagram handle, Jenn’s Trends, shared everything you need to know to strengthen your game on Instagram at MDMC this year. Jenn is a social media marketing consultant, author, and speaker with a huge community of followers on Instagram. One thing is for sure, Jenn packed the room during her presentation and captured the attention of the audience with her vivacious personality and humor! Continue reading for a recap of the valuable steps Jenn provided to grow your Instagram and make more sales.

Clearly, you should not want to miss this, I mean look at how packed her session was!

Create a Profile That Attracts Followers

Jenn shared that the most important factors in your profile are as follow:

  • Name & username
  • Profile Photo
  • Bio Description
  • URL
  • Contact Info

These are the first impression of your audience so use them wisely! One thing Jenn stressed is the use of hashtags in your bio – do not overdo this. The only hashtags you should be using in your bio are hashtags that are specific to your brand, otherwise, you are sending viewers to a hashtag that has nothing thousands of photos with no relation to you.

Better Attention with Better Content

Jenn explained that less is more when it comes to content. The quality of your content is much more important than the quantity of content. A couple of posts a week that get engagement are much more effective than posting every day with little to no engagement. To get more engagement with your content, find ways to connect to your audience through emotion, this can be done using humor or relatable stories.

Get More Reach and Followers

Strategies you should be using to get a larger reach include:

  • “Tag” friends – have your audience tag friends in the comments, this gives more exposure to your posts
  • Hashtags – use hashtags that are specific to your brand or industry
  • Resharing to Stories – make sure your audience is able to share your stories to theirs, you can find this option in your settings.

With all of this in mind, you are officially ready to go step up your Instagram game and build your brand’s community! If you aren’t familiar with Jenn be sure to follow her on Instagram @jennstrends, there is no doubt you will benefit from all of the tips and tricks she is constantly sharing with her followers.

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Why Did Hashtags Disappear from 2019 Super Bowl Ads?

By: Dr. Perry D. Drake 

Every year for the past 6 years, I have had my digital marketing students at the University of Missouri – St. Louis do an assessment of the Super Bowl ads regarding their use of hashtags, social media icons and URL’s to help drive a conversation. This year, my students and I were shocked to see virtually no advertiser using hashtags.

Peak usage of hashtags in Super Bowl ads was 57% in 2014 according to Marketingland. Since that year, it has been in decline every year. In 2015, 2016, 2017 usage of hashtags in Super Bowl ads were 50%, 45%, and 30% respectively based on another report by Marketingland.

So why has hashtag usage in Super Bowl ads slipped to virtually none in 2019? Are they just not effective any longer? To prove or disprove this point I decided to examine brand mentions for the top five brands from 2018 and compare that to the top five brands from 2019.

For 2018, we can see in the graphic below, Avocados from Mexico had the most mentions during the Superbowl at 137,000, followed by Pepsi at 38,000 according to Salesforce. And, all five of the top brands used hashtags within their ads. In addition, we should keep in mind this is not really reflective of the true reach which could easily be in the millions for some brands depending on the influence and reach of those that used the hashtags within their posts.

 

2018 Social Media Mentions, Top 5 Brands (Salesforce.com)

For 2019, virtually no brands used hashtags within their ads. They all had campaign hashtags in play but were only using them in their social media posts. The top five most mentioned brands on social media during the Super Bowl according to Salesforce are shown below. None of the top five used hashtags upon my examination of their ads. And, as a result, we can definitely see much fewer mentions than the prior year.

2019 Social Media Mentions, Top 5 Brands (Salesforce.com)

This year the most mentioned brand was Bud Light at only 31,500 in comparison to the top brand in 2018 (Avocados from Mexico) at 137,000 mentions. A significant difference to say the least.

My students this semester thought that the Pepsi “More than OK” campaign was one of the best executed across the digital channels but felt they missed out on additional reach and exposure by not having the “morethanok” hashtag appear on the TV ad. They also felt that Pepsi missed out by not driving those not familiar with their abundance of fun social media content to their social media channels.

They also felt the Doritos “NowItsHot” campaign was a hit given how they ensured a large audience by mashing up Chance the Rapper with the Backstreet Boys. This is a great way to grab the attention of the broadest audience possible across generations. But they thought the hashtag strategy was a bit weak. Engagement could have been centered around how we eat the Flamin’ Hot Nacho flavor or asking us if we prefer hot or regular.

So why did almost every advertiser not use a hashtag in 2019? Why would you not toss your campaign hashtag (or a new one) at the end of your ad? Why would you not want to drive significant conversation around your brand at a time when it will be seen by 103 million viewers? The benefit of a hashtag is to help evoke conversation and extend your voice around an event, cause, emotion and in that moment. Why would you not want to do extend your reach? It seems crazy to me!

So what happened? Given recent marketing missteps by various brands like Dove and H&M and others were advertisers afraid this year of making a misstep themselves in front of such a big audience. Were they all just playing it safe? Did they lack the resources to monitor the conversation? Not even Anheuser Busch, which had the ever popular #DillyDilly last year, used any this year. I am anxious to see what 2020 brings us, or should I say doesn’t bring us.

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How Crowdfunding Changed The World: Interview W/ Ryan Brennell

UMSL Marketing recently talked to Ryan Brennell, founder of Gladitood, and how the era of social interaction has re-shaped the way we give! Ryan will also be teaching an exclusive ‘Crowdfunding 101 ‘ class as part of the revamped UMSL Digital curriculum!

We live in the era of social organizing. How has Crowdfunding been a part of this trend over the last five years?

I think crowdfunding is a natural progression of social organizing. We’ve been using Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family, or Reddit to talk with like-minded individuals about shared interests, and I know it’s easy to connect the dots looking back, but it just seems like Crowdfunding was inevitable. We’re making it so easy for people to connect from all over the world, it was only a matter of time before we started using this medium to raise money. Now we’re seeing it on a scale that is changing our culture. Bernie Sanders just ran the most successful political crowdfunding campaign in history during the last election. Startup founders aren’t at the whim of venture capitalists who held all the power. Now they can find their audience and let the market decide if they should be funded. Thanks to social organizing, we have crowdfunding. And thanks to crowdfunding, new opportunities exist for us all.

Crowdfunding services such as GoFundMe are everywhere. From school supplies, family tragedy’s, to lifelong dreams. How has this changed fundraising culture?

I think that the many crowdfunding platforms that have popped up, especially those like GoFundMe where anyone can raise money for nearly anything, has increased competition for fundraisers and also increased an individual’s awareness of fraud. Crowdfunding has completely democratized access to funding. If you can tell a compelling story and execute a clever promotional plan, access to a wealthy network isn’t necessary anymore. It has also made fundraising a very real piece of pop-culture. The subjects of viral campaigns become overnight celebrities, and this perpetuates the biggest myth in crowdfunding – “If you build it, they will come.”

Despite the abundance of crowdfunding campaigns, many generate zero dollars. Why is this?

The failures almost always come down to that crowdfunding myth. The idea that crowdfunding is internet magic is the reason why the vast majority of crowdfunding campaigns fail right out of the gate. You have to put in the work.

Crowdfunding campaigns can be very difficult to dissect. We see the success, but we can’t get a good look under the hood to see what’s driving those results. This makes it very difficult for those new to crowdfunding to figure out where to begin. After years of helping hundreds of campaigns succeed, and seeing plenty fail, we’ve recognized the patterns and formulas that lead to both results. Frankly, 90% of the work for a successful campaign happens before it even launches.  Realistically, there were several weeks – sometimes months – of planning ahead of a successful 30-day campaign.

Basically, crowdfunding is not a magic ‘Easy’ button. It takes work. How can someone approach this?

I like to approach it by creating a two-part plan. Part one consists of everything you need to get in place in order to put the campaign together and set yourself up to execute successfully. Part two is the actual execution.

Part one is about crafting your story, strategically planning your reward levels, identifying and building relationships with your audience, and lining up distribution channels for your campaign. This means making a video and creative graphics, coming up with creative and unique “up-sells” that don’t dip into your profits, figuring out which social channels and forums to engage, and creating a PR plan. It sounds like a lot, but if you tackle these, you are in the top 10% of your competition. If you take part one seriously, part two is a breeze. If you half-ass part one, those 30-60 days might be the most stressful of your life.

What will your new Crowdfunding course be touching on? Who is this course for?

The course is for anyone who wants to learn how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign from day 1 of planning through day X of follow up after the campaign has ended. Nonprofit organizations, startup founders, marketers, and inventors, I’m talking to you. My goal is that my students leave with not only an understanding of how to run a successful campaign but with their own concrete plan of action.  We’ll cover how to craft your story to include the four key ingredients for virality, how to identify and engage your target audience, how to utilize distribution channels to increase your reach. We’ll go over creating a great video – even without access to a professional production team, building an email and social campaign to accompany your fundraiser, and how to capitalize on the momentum of success after your campaign to keep backers engaged for your next fundraiser. The course will include a number of case studies that break down some of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in history, including successful campaigns from right here in St. Louis!

 

 

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Join the Social Media for Non-Profits Panel with Brandi Bothe at #MDMC18


Brandi Bothe is Digital Marketing Specialist at Midland University in Fremont, NE. At her job she plans and executes digital marketing strategies and campaigns across web, SEO/SEM, email, paid search, social, and display. She also oversees social media across all channels, manages web presence and targeted landing pages, and assists in content strategy creation, and development.
Brandi is a member of the Barrientos Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors, and a volunteer Marketing Manager for Love Pack. She also teaches social media and email marketing for small businesses and beginners via the Interface called “The Web School”. In these workshops, she speaks about the strategy, shares free online resources for scheduling posts, stock photography, email platforms and more.
Brandi is going to be a panelist at the MDMC18 panel called “Social Media for Non-Profits”, together with Aleshia Patterson, Katie Stuckenschneider, Shuntae Shields Ryan, Mich Hancock, Stephen Schenkenberg, and Chris Strub.
 

In the pre-conference Q&A session Brandi shared some of her thoughts about digital marketing:
Q1. What are some big mistakes a business could make when it comes to digital marketing?
B.B.: The biggest mistake a business can make when it comes to digital marketing is not keeping up with current trends and standards. This is the biggest mistake because this one inaction can create a variety of challenges stemming from outdated sales tactics, subpar visuals, low performing content, and missed storytelling opportunities.
Q2. What do you think is the next game changer in digital marketing, such as a new, modern tactic, tool, or aspect of marketing? How will it evolve in the coming years?
B.B.: In addition to the game changers technology will continue to offer, brand responsibility will continue being a game changer in the digital marketing landscape. In recent years, the focus has been on authentic storytelling with a de-emphasis on hard selling. This has already begun evolving to include a focus on socially responsible marketing, which is essentially practicing business sustainably and ethically.
Q3. What is your favorite marketing book you have read lately? Or, what are a few of your favorite marketing blogs?
B.B.:
Book
Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson
Blogs
https://searchengineland.com/
https://neilpatel.com/blog/
https://trackmaven.com/blog
Q4. What are some social media time management tips that help you stick to your campaign goals without losing a lot of time?
B.B.: Plan! Plan! Plan! Planning ahead and scheduling regular content gives you more time to create, curate, and improve future content. If you don’t have a content calendar, that’s the #1 thing you can do to improve your social media time management.
Q5. If you were looking to hire a digital marketer, what are the top 3-5 skills you would be looking for in a candidate?
B.B.: The top three skills I’d look for if hiring a digital marketer would be 1) willingness to learn: the desire and eagerness to stay current, 2) strategy and analytics: the ability to see the big picture while making results-driven decisions, and 3) copywriting: the ability to tell compelling stories.
Q6. What’s the industry buzzword that annoys you the most these days and why?
B.B.: Innovation. Businesses that are truly innovative don’t have to announce it on their packaging or say it in their ads.

Learn more about the 2018 Midwest Digital Marketing Conference! 
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3 Ways to Boost Your Snapchat Efforts

By: Chase Kohler
Snapchat is the emerging network the industry cannot get enough of. While traditional social media has been focused on preserving memories for generations, Snapchat delivers on their promise that twenty-four hours later the moment never happened. With live filters, download capability and geo-targeting options added over the last eighteen months, the former ‘teenage wasteland’ has become one of the fastest growing marketing platforms. While major brands and events across the gloImage_Abe have made their way onto this platform, surprisingly, marketers as a whole have been slow to embrace the latest social trend, with only an estimated 70% active on the platform on a consistent basis.
Image_ASo what’s alluring about vanishing photos, videos and filters? Unlike the ever-lasting portal of Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat holds content that cannot be scanned by Googlet least not yet, we’re watching you Google +). To follow a brand that is not paying to play on the main page, one has to manually enter the exact name or scan a barcode. Snapchat takes more effort than traditional social media networks to engage with, meaning those who do engage feel a much stronger connection than just scrolling through a curated feed. Since a user can switch from plastic surgery cuts to CNN breaking news through a simple swipe, the options become limitless for what brands can offer.
Here are a few easy ways to jumpstart your Snapchat presence now:
1. Create a Geofilter
Genius or simplistic, one cannot deny the stronghold geofilters have provided to Snapchat’s growth. Whether on a street, at a national monument, or attending your cousin’s wedding, geofilters provide a custom filter that anyone can use to personalize a photo. Priced based on the amount of space and volume of users, geofilters range from $15-20,000 for a twenty-four hour period. With photos from Snapchat appearing more frequently across other platforms such as Instagram, this tool provides promotional potential beyond your simple sugar rush.
Image_B
2. Ask for a ‘Snap Back’
While many brands utilize Snapchat for bursts of behind the scenes magic, not every brand has an exciting celebrity ready in the makeup chair.  According to Adweek, nearly a fourth of all content created on the platform is product focused, yet only a meager 11% of all brands request a further call to action! While content strategies will vary depending on business model, those ten seconds you have with consumers is your time for pure engagement. Keep the campaign going with a URL name or ask them to ‘Snap Back’ ideas! Side Note: Live links are not a feature in Snapchat for brands yet, but it’s most likely only a matter of time.
3. Give a Personal Lens
As mentioned above, the introduction of interactive filters last year helped Snapchat’s content move from native to national, with added capabilities like image downloading and re-purposing on users’ Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. Interactive filters use facial detection technology to create a custom environment over someone’s silhouette. Beyond the millions of puppy dog images created lies a key potential for marketers-sponsored lenses. This recent example from Wendy’s showed the ‘Hot’ lens to promote their new Jalapeno Fresco melt. No longer are messages only being pushed to users, but they are personally choosing to utilize them. That’s brand power like never before!
So if you’re not on Snapchat yet, either for personal or brand reasons, there’s no time like the present. With the network still considered ‘emerging’, we have yet to see the full potential this platform has to offer marketers. Only recently have they introduced their new paid advertising platform, complete with a toolbox of analytics to make our senses tingle.  Creating content on the platform is perhaps the cheapest of all social media networks because you don’t need high quality designs or surveys – just day to day activity. If all else fails, you came up with some cute new photos to share.
Image Credits
Image 1 VIA MarketingLand
Image 2 VIA SearchMarketingExpo

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Tips for Students with a Passion for Social Media

By: Amy Cabanas, Matteo Fialdini, Kathrin Hanke, Andrew McClure and Jacqueline Williams
1Sarah Dalton works as both a Marketing professor at UMSL, where she graduated with her MBA in digital marketing, as well as in the marketing field. She describes herself as organized and creative, and is an active user across social media platforms, as well as, a blogger on her personal blog www.socialseconds.com.
When Sarah found out about the opening for a social media professor, she took the opportunity to spread her passion about social media to UMSL students. Sarah is excited to be contributing to the UMSL Digital Marketing Conference which will be held on April 21, 2016. We caught up with Sarah to ask her about her career, her love for social media, and her thoughts on St. Louis’ growing digital marketing scene.
Check out the interview below!
1. Do you feel UMSL’s digital marketing MBA program helped in preparation for your current job and teaching?
I don’t think I would be anywhere without my Digital Marketing Certificate. Those classes really took me to another level. When I went to school we didn’t have those classes in undergrad. So, they really rounded out my marketing education and taught me things like blogging, digital marketing, digital strategies, measurement of digital media and of course more social media. Without those subjects I don’t think I would be where I am today.
2. Where do you see St. Louis going in the digital marketing scene, and how does UMSL fit into that?
We are in the Midwest so we might not always be in all the trends like they are on the east and west coast, but I think we are definitely getting much closer. With all the great people around, it’s so easy to collaborate on ideas and with local agencies. I see the digital scene getting stronger and stronger in St. Louis, and UMSL could not be doing any better. You don’t see these kinds of classes at other schools. As UMSL continues to grow these programs and add classes, the UMSL digital marketing students will continue to be a step ahead!
3. You have your own blog, www.socialseconds.com. Do you think having a personal blog is essential for social and digital marketers?
Yes, I think a blog is a great way to spread the word about what you think about social. Even if you don’t necessarily know what to say, you could talk about things you see other people do, provide recaps, or blog about guest speakers. It’s a great place to showcase your writing style and what you care about in social media. If you are too afraid to start a blog or don’t think you have the time to maintain it, you can always publish on LinkedIn Pulse.
Sarah also shared some other interesting thoughts and advice with us marketing students. “Having your own blog really shows companies that you know how to build a WordPress site, that you understand content, and that you have written a few blogs. It’s just a really easy way to showcase yourself,” Sarah said.
Sarah also often references her own marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – “Gary started from the bottom and built up his social media enterprise into what it is today,” said Sarah.
Lastly, Sarah highly recommends marketing students get involved with the AMA St. Louis-The American Marketing Association, and attend the UMSL Digital Marketing conference on April 21, 2016. “MDMC16 will be a full day event of all things digital marketing. People come in from all over the country to speak to us. It’s a better value than any other conference I can think of,” she said. “And it is FREE for UMSL students (but unfortunately now sold out)!”
Follow Sarah on Twitter: Sdaltonstl

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#STL Thought Leader Brianna Smith Talks All Things Digital Media

By: Nicole Atencio, Minji Choi, Je Ewing, Chase Kohler, & Tiara Wilkerson
2On April 21st, the Midwest’s largest digital marketing conference will be held at Union Station in St. Louis. On our journey to discover how marketing has shaped this community we were introduced to Brianna Smith, a thought leader in the digital marketing industry and a local supporter of UMSL. She is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the 2016 Midwest Digital Marketing Conference. Continue reading “#STL Thought Leader Brianna Smith Talks All Things Digital Media”

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Tips From Your Future Social Community Managers

By: Nicole Atencio, Amy Cabanas, Minji Choi, Matteo Fialdini, Kathrin Hanke, Tira Wilkerson, Jacqueline Williams
We are halfway through our immersion into Social Media Marketing For Business this semester. So far, we have covered content marketing, the impact of blogging on social, Hootsuite as a social manager’s tool, and in-depth discussions of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the Emerging Networks (Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Google+) for business use.
Here are our top takeaways from our social studies thus far:
There is a huge difference between “curating” and” creating” content. Curated content is information generated from other sources (like sharing Forbes or Mashable articles), whereas created content is derived from the creators own resources (like infographics, whitepapers, blog posts, shareable art).
Understand Jabs vs. Right Hooks by Gary V. Is a company trying to sell their product, or just making you aware of information you might be interested in? A “Jab” is content that makes customers laugh, think or play a game, but does not give a strong selling impression. “Right hooks” are content pieces that typically include call-to-actions (CTAs) that lead to actual purchasing.
Use the 4-1-1 Content Rule. This rule states that for every 4 informative content pieces you have, you should have 1 hard and 1 soft sell. The hard-sell provides a strong call-to- action (CTA), and the soft-sell subtly incorporates the brand in the message.
Be attentive. Look for events, causes and shows coming up in order to create content about something other than your business. Be mindful of your account, and make sure you are posting and commenting on a regular schedule. Not having any current activity will lead your followers/customers to believe you are not serious about your business.
Organic reach is estimated to be 2.6% for Facebook pages. With organic reach declining, it is important for businesses to use paid reach. Paid ads are not free, but allow the content to be targeted to non-followers.
Hootsuite is the best social tool you may have never heard of. Hootsuite is a great creation that can assist you in planning and scheduling the posting of your future posts for all your social media channels. Another great free tool is www.canva.com for creating beautiful social media images and graphics.
Align your brand’s social channels. Across the board, you want all your social media channels to incorporate the same logo, descriptions, and messaging, but with the flavor of the channel. The same goes for your personal pages – use the same headshot and handles whenever possible.
All businesses should be on LinkedIn. This social network provides you with credibility, a large network of professionals, sales opportunities, and a marketing platform for your business. There are a multitude of options for ads as well. Sponsored Updates will go to a wider audience than page followers, Dark Posts are ads seen on non-follower newsfeeds (but not in the company timeline) and Sponsored InMails allow you to send a targeted message that appears in a LinkedIn user’s inbox.
Everyone can be a publisher on LinkedIn Pulse. Pulse is a great opportunity to publish relevant articles or blog-like posts without necessarily having to own a separate blog. Pulse can be helpful in increasing LinkedIn followers and inbound site links.
Instagram is key in today’s market. It’s important to remember a few things before posting for your company. Don’t use stock photos – photos should be taken as native because you are going to reach the younger generations who are expecting that. Moreover, use descriptive hashtags in excess as the method to reach the most people looking to discover your brand or business category.
Understand the proper use of pictures. It’s important to make sure that you don’t use pictures from someone else without their permission. It’s best to take or create your own pictures to post on social media than using Google or other search engines.
Use Twitter hashtags. Hashtags tag tweets by topic and make it easier for others with similar interest to find your tweets. Also, hashtags help social media marketers promote and track social campaigns.
What else should we know? What do you wish your entry-level social and content employees were stronger at?
Up next: we’re putting this all together in a social strategy and analyzing for social ROI!

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#MDMC16 Speaker Feature: Travis Estes

By: Kathrin Hanke
travis-estes-250x270Let me introduce you to MDMC16 speaker Travis Estes, the Web and Social Media Manager of the GRAMMY Award winning St. Louis Symphony– the nation’s second-oldest orchestra. Travis Estes has more than 16 years experience as a marketing professional, working in the digital realm. He has developed digital presence for Black Cat/Phantom Fireworks, HFC, Strong Funds, and the museum tours of King Tut, Princess Diana and America I Am, as well as strategic planning for the Chicago Botanical Gardens, Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio and the American Marketing Association. Continue reading “#MDMC16 Speaker Feature: Travis Estes”