Showing posts with label Social Media Algorithms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media Algorithms. Show all posts

Monday, July 16, 2018

Long Lasting Social Media Success?


Six lasting principles that drive social media success..

Whether you’re building your personal brand or business, social media is pivotal for success. But as platforms rapidly evolve, many struggle to build and maintain a loyal following. Social media mavens and members of The Oracles share the tactics they use to grab attention, nurture engagement and attract conversions.




1. Give, Give, Give

The No. 1 social media principle applicable to everyone is this: You have to give to get. That means producing content for your audience, not yourself.

Social media is not about blasting out marketing messages. You may have a million followers, but if you don’t benefit or connect with them, they won’t care about you — which means they’re useless. And with today’s social media algorithms, they probably won’t see your messages either.

Social media is powerful because it’s personal. Like with any relationship, it’s about connections, trust and respect. You have to know who you are and who your audience is. What do they care about? Where do they spend their time? Create quality content and conversations based on that. Be willing to interact and respond to every individual. Then, and only then, do you earn the right to ask for their business. -Gary Vaynerchuk, founder and CEO of VaynerMedia (700+ employees with over $100 million in annual revenue), Four-Time best selling author of Crushing It!



2. Ensure Your Audience Has A Good ROI

When you invest your time, energy and money in social media, remember that your audience is investing theirs too. They want to know that you’re worth all three.

To deliver on their investment, create engaging, informative video content; it relates to people at a personal level because it gives your business a human face.

Keep your message short and sweet. Show your viewers that you know their time is precious and that they matter. -Jason Hall, Founder and CEO of FiveChannels; generated $17m+ in sales revenue for his clients in 2017



3. Go Where Your Audience Is

Social media is a double-edged sword. Used correctly, it can provide priceless feedback as you scale and quickly reach your critical mass of customers. Misused, and it’s a brand-damaging nightmare fraught with zero-ROI activities.

When I launched Kajabi, social media gave us immediate and inexpensive access to our core audience of online marketers. It helped us find beta testers who became our early success stories and provided an excellent resource for our initial launch.

As we scaled, we learned a foundational principle — be where your market is; don’t worry about where they aren’t. If your audience is younger, you’ll go live on Instagram and Snapchat; if they’re over 30, they’re more likely on Facebook. Primarily moms? Pinterest is your jam. Trying to be everywhere all the time is when social media becomes a waste of time, energy and attention. -Kenny Rueter, CEO and co-founder of Kajabi



4. Give Your Presence A Purpose

Many people use social media to build a community without having a conversion strategy in place. I fell prey to this trap while building my personal brand. I rebuilt my entire website to reach an audience that didn’t serve my brand or business. I was providing too much value without asking my fans to take any action.

To monetize your audience, ask them to participate. It could be as simple as asking them to sign up for emails or getting their feedback on a new product. Posting for the sake of posting is a waste of time. It’s good to have a presence, but your presence should be purposeful. -Sweta Patel, founder of Silicon Valley Startup Marketing who has advised over 200 early-stage startups and high-growth companies; connect with Sweta on Facebook and Instagram



5. Do These 5 Simple Things

I’ve found that this five-step plan builds loyal followers over time. First, create a posting schedule and stick to it! Life gets busy and social media is work. Schedule your posts ahead of time with pre-determined content. Second, write something interesting. Users like to read catchy captions.

Third, post six or seven times a week. Once daily is just enough to be manageable. Don’t “bleed the feed” and overdo it. Fourth, engage with your followers and comment back. Try to avoid using one-word comments like “amazing.” This comes off as phony.

Finally, be patient. Growing an authentic following doesn’t happen overnight. Yes, you can buy followers — but what does engagement from fake followers do for you? Nothing. Real followers mean real engagement and a lasting impact on your business. -Peter Hernandez, President of The Western Region at Douglas Elliman; founder and President of Teles Properties



6. Apply The Pareto Principle

If you apply the famous Pareto Principle to social media, 20% of your output will yield 80% of your results. That means media platforms should be up to 20 percent promotional; the remaining 80 percent should be related to your customers.

Create an “audience profile” for your ideal customer. Measure demographics like age, gender, income, employment, location and education, which are provided on all social media platforms. Then, leverage that data to identify audience trends. Determine what motivates your customers and what they strive for in life. This will help you learn how your product or service helps them achieve their goals. -Vladimir Ninov, co-founder and marketing director of Webcoin, a peer-to-peer social media exchange platform which pioneers the technological dawn of global marketing digitalization

Guest Authored By The Oracles. The Oracles is an invite-only brain trust of the worlds leading entrepreneurs sharing the tactics they use to grab attention, nurture engagement and attract conversions. Follow The Oracles on Twitter.





"Social media is powerful because it’s personal. Like with any relationship, it’s about connections, trust and respect. You have to know who you are and who your audience is. What do they care about?

Where do they spend their time?

Create quality content and conversations based on that.." -GaryVaynerchuk


    • Post Crafted By:
      Fred Hansen Br@nd Alchemist  & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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    Location: Loveland, CO 80538, USA

    Thursday, May 3, 2018

    How YOUR Social Media Platform Algorithms Work?


    This is exactly how social media algorithms work today..



    Each social media network has a unique set of technical elements, intricate logic, and usage analytics that make up the algorithm that delivers content to its users.

    Seen in the fluctuation of social media algorithms in the past, the biggest consideration -- or debate -- is balancing personal relevance with post timeliness.

    These algorithms are managed by dedicated teams of software engineers, data scientists, content strategists, and more, so nothing you see is an accident. Here's a look inside the criteria and priorities that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn use to surface content and updates in users' personal feeds and search results -- and what it all means for your social media strategy.



    Facebook Prioritizes Meaningful Interactions

    Facebook's latest algorithm update, which they announced in January 2018, now puts posts -- that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people -- at the top of your News Feed.

    This means the content that receives the most engagement -- reactions, comments, and shares -- will be the highest.

    Facebook keeps a historical account of your personal engagement with posts by friends and brand pages, and the Facebook News Feed algorithm also predicts what you want to see based on those past interactions with friends or brands.

    Then, it aims to put similar posts upfront in your News Feed from the same people and pages and from those with relevant posts or profiles.



    According to Facebook, it defines engaging content and "meaningful interactions" based on:

    --Comment Activity: Back-and-forth comments on posts or a news article or video prompting lots of discussion
    --Interactive Posts: Posts that you might want to share and react to, such as:
    --A post from a friend looking for advice
    --A friend asking for trip recommendations

    As a marketer on Facebook, you should focus on engagement as the pathway to reach. Let Facebook's engagement metrics lead your measurement strategy: reactions, comments, and shares.

    Although Facebook explicitly states that they will "show less public content, including videos and other posts from publishers or businesses," all hope is not lost for appearing in the Facebook News Feed. The more your page followers engage with your content, the more you will continue to appear in their feeds and the feeds of their friends.



    Following the criteria above, create content and copy that triggers conversation—or even a healthy amount of controversy.

    Facebook also calls out live video as a high-engagement format, getting six times as many interactions as normal videos.

    Facebook admitted that with these changes, pages will likely start to see their overall reach, video viewing time, and referral traffic dip. However, pages that keep conversation going among friends will see less of a negative effect. Followers can also proactively choose to see page content first through the "See First" option instead of "Default" in your page's "Following" drop-down menu.

    In its latest public announcement about Facebook Search in October 2015, Facebook explained its approach to search results. As you type in the search bar, Facebook predicts your complete search query in real-time, then includes posts and conversations shared publicly and from your friends' accounts.



    Instagram Features Newest Posts First

    After updating its feed algorithm in March 2016 to have "posts you care about most" appear first, Instagram reverted to a time-based feed in March 2018.

    Why backtrack? Instagram states the change was the result of user feedback to make its feed "feel more fresh" through timely content. So it seems that while Instagram felt users would appreciate a more personalized feed based on interaction history, users actually care more about the most recent content.

    To summarize the differences between the two updates:

    --Relevancy Algorithm: Launched in March 2016, it reordered content in feeds based on the user's relationship (a.k.a. interaction history) with the person posting and the post's timeliness
    --Recency Algorithm: Launched in March 2018, it places content in feeds based on each post's timeliness



    Instagram's current time-based feed doesn't mean that post engagement isn't as important as before.

    But it does mean that post times are more important to ensure your content appears in your followers' feeds at the ideal time.

    While there might not be a silver bullet solution for the perfect distribution time, do pay attention to the peak engagement times (or time frames) of your followers—specifically to make the most of any action-oriented content.

    Unlike its feed algorithm, Instagram's Search algorithm operates based on personal activity. The mix of photo, video, and story results depend on the people you follow and the posts you like. As your activity changes, so will your search results.



    Twitter Puts Personal Relevance Before Timeliness

    The current Twitter timeline algorithm, released in February 2016, places relevant tweets first based on your interaction history with the accounts you follow, presented in a section titled "In case you missed it."

    These recommended tweets show up in reverse chronological order, meaning the most recent tweets appear first. The rest of the tweets that appear beneath them are also in reverse chronological order.

    Twitter made this change so that you can "catch up on the best tweets from people you follow." Also, Twitter found that featured tweets get more live interaction to stimulate commentary and conversations.

    Not a fan of Twitter's recommended tweets? You can also choose "See less often" right in your timeline or turn it off completely in your Settings by deselecting "Show me the best tweets first." So while your timeline defaults to personalization, you can have control over which you want to see first:



    --Recommended Tweets: Tweets surfaced based on your personal interaction history
    --Timely Tweets: Tweets surfaced based on post time in reverse chronological order, with the most recent posts appearing first

    Of course, marketers aren't able to know the split of their own followers who do and don't use the recommended tweet timeline.

    So when in doubt, optimize for engagement and time. It can only help to create interactive content and distribute it at the optimal times for engagement.

    It's important to note that although Twitter's timeline is presented in reverse chronological order, the results of Twitter search are ordered according to relevance -- not time.



    Twitter rolled out this search algorithm in December 2016 after much experimentation with balancing tweet and account results, managing the density of video and image results, and optimizing Twitter's machine learning model.

    All testing had the goal of giving searchers diverse yet hyper-relevant results, using logic to tweak the relevance scoring and tweet positioning.

    Twitter landed on the current search algorithm since the engineering team found that it yielded higher engagement, with people spending more time on Twitter and becoming more active.



    LinkedIn Presents Updates by Individual Relevance

    As of March 2018, LinkedIn's Feed algorithm focuses on understanding your individual preferences to give you relevant updates per visit. Upon every visitor session, the algorithm scans and ranks tens of thousands of posts in less than a second.

    The thousands of signals used to present this content are grouped into three main categories:

    --Personal Identity: Your individual LinkedIn profile, including your workplace, skills, and connections
    --Content Engagement: The total views, total likes, update topic, post recency, language, and mentioned people or companies
    --Personal Behavior: Your past likes and shares, interaction frequency, and time spent in your Feed



    The overall mission of LinkedIn's Feed team is to help users be as productive and successful as possible.

    Instead of evaluating relevance based on click-through rates, LinkedIn analyzes a variety of signals to measure your interest. These signals include time spent reading, insights from your LinkedIn social graph, and user experience research. Therefore, brand success on LinkedIn is largely determined by time spent with shared content, likes, and comments. Again, it seems that engagement is core to pleasing the algorithm.

    Much like Facebook, LinkedIn's Search bar suggests search results as you type, whether for people, companies, or groups. For People searches specifically, LinkedIn's proprietary algorithm returns results through analysis of the searcher's activity and search history, resulting profiles, and other LinkedIn users who have performed similar searches.



    What's It All Mean for Marketers?

    With all the technical details considered, here's each social media network's default feed algorithm primary criterion (excluding custom user settings):

    --Facebook: Relevance
    --Instagram: Timeliness
    --Twitter: Relevance
    --LinkedIn: Relevance

    Since relevance is the most common factor, let engagement metrics lead your social media strategy. Even though Instagram is all about post timing, you're more likely to appear in Instagram Search if your posts get a lot of likes and comments.

    Guest Authored By Christine Warner. Christine is is a freelance writer and digital marketer with agency, brand, and non-profit experience developing integrated campaigns and content platforms for diverse brands such as Uber, Samsung, Walgreens, Victoria’s Secret, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Dignity Health. Her digital marketing specialties include content marketing strategy, customer relationship management, brand product marketing, digital media planning, social media marketing, and search engine optimization. Currently, she is the Senior Manager of Digital for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where she oversees the digital marketing efforts for the various non-profit communities and ministries throughout Southern California. As a freelance writer, she contributes regularly to various lifestyle and marketing publications. Follow Christine on Twitter.





    "This is the current state of social media algorithms, but you never know when the next optimization might come and change it all.

    So follow each network's news and engineering blogs, and stay alert! -ChristineWarner


      • Post Crafted By:
        Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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      Location: Loveland, CO 80538, USA

      Monday, October 23, 2017

      Getting Your Social Media Content Shared?


      Your branded social media presences have a lot of potential to drive engagement with relevant audience members, but that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the potential for engagement impact via peer-to-peer social shares..



      There are a few key reasons why making sure people share your content is to your advantage as a marketer.

      Prospective customers trust peer shares more than brand shares, with research showing that 92% of consumers trust influencers more than advertisements or celebrity endorsements. What’s more, social media newsfeed algorithms favor posts from people over posts from brands, and fast-rising share counts have been known to trigger Google bots to index items more rapidly.

      The reach implications are also huge. The more diverse your sharers are, the more diverse and wider your audience potential is. When you consider that 69% of the American population uses at least some type of social media, there are plenty of people out there to reach.

      The more your message is shared, the more opportunities there will be for interested people to see it. Let’s take a look at six of the most powerful tools that can help maximize the peer-to-peer social share rates for your content.



      1. Smarp

      Your employees are often your most valuable secret weapon when it comes to building traction with social media. People trust employees twice as much as they do your CEO, a senior executive, or an activist consumer. And, on average, brand messages are shared 24 times more frequently when they're distributed by employees.

      An app designed for employee communication and advocacy, Smarp presents users with a familiar-looking social feed interface of branded and otherwise relevant content items that they can easily schedule for posting across their networks.

      You can use the app to keep your team up to date with everything that's going on within your company, and make it easier for them share their knowledge, to help build their personal brands and assist with your company’s social selling efforts. Modules for gamified rewards and tracking ROI help marketers to double down on what’s working.



      2. Social Locker

      What’s more valuable to your nurture funnel, access to a few people’s inboxes or an army of social media advocates? It might be worth finding out. Social Locker is a WordPress plugin that provides a bit of a spin on the “gated content” concept.

      Most website visitors aren't going to be motivated on their own to share your content, so they’ll often ignore social share buttons. Even when people like your content, they may forget to share it, or may not do so simply because they don't know how important it is to you.

      Here, instead of asking people to consent to email follow up messages in exchange for accessing a premium resource, you’re asking them to share it. Essentially, this tool makes it easy for you to hide your most valuable content behind a set of social media buttons. Audience members won't see the content until they tweet, share, like or +1 the landing page.



      3. Quuu Promote

      People who want to position themselves as niche experts can automate the sharing of topic-specific content items with their social circles. Posting curated, relevant, third-party articles are a key activity for aspiring influencers, and Quuu makes it easy for free. But where does all that great content come from?

      Here’s the true brilliance of their model. Its sister platform, Quuu Promote, is where anyone can open an account and submit a URL for paid promotion. Once human quality control moderators approve your item, it’ll be added to the pool of suggested topic-specific posts for other users to approve and dispatch over the course of two months.

      Items on rotation in this tool generally see several hundred shares and clickthroughs (CTR), and the platform’s new monthly subscription plans make it easy to justify posting regularly.



      4. Blog Pros

      Another paid content amplification platform, Blog Pros connects your posts to real people across social media to increase the number of shares your content receives. This system checks your blog RSS feed for new content, and when it finds the new content, your post is assigned to people for promotion. No submission necessary – just new people sharing your latest items with their interested followers, within 12 hours of it going live.

      When people share your content with their audience, you're not only getting more traffic to your website, but you're also getting a chance to earn new fans and followers. Let's say Jane finds your content, and she loves it so much she decides to look at some of your other pieces. She decides she wants to be kept updated when you have new posts, so she subscribes to your email alerts and likes your Facebook Page. She shares your content, and some of her friends find the same value.

      Moving forward, these engaged advocates may interact with you and share content for you, without needing to be connected through Blog Pros.



      5. Triberr

      Content shares can be a type of currency in the social media influence game, which is what makes Triberr such an effective content discovery and amplification platform. Here is where people can connect with one another based on their levels of influence in specific niches, building out “tribes” of like-minded peers who share each other’s published assets.

      When you join for free, this tool gives you the option of auto-importing your blog posts, to make it easier for you to share the content with people in your tribes.

      You can search for existing tribes, or build your own, based on your interests – so you can find people who are interested in the content you're sharing. Share content from tribe members, and they'll do the same for you. Actively participating in tribes can help you build relationships and connections, which can help you with far more than building your social shares.



      6. Flipboard

      Flipboard is best known as a mobile news reader app that offers a beautiful content consumption experience. But it’s also a great social media content distribution channel, especially since the company started aggressively rolling out new features about two years ago. It now gives you a better way to organize your content, and allows you to highlight content you've already shared on social to keep it fresh for people who may have missed the original posting.

      It’s also easier than ever to build out and automate the refreshment of themed “magazines,” any publisher can join as a content source for readers and magazine curators to subscribe to, and the relatively recently re-launched web app is now a full-featured platform. You can connect any RSS feed and a variety of social networks – including Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SoundCloud, Flickr and Tumblr – to aggregate content from there into your brand’s Flipboard magazine.

      Whereas most social platforms are all about peer network-based content discovery, on Flipboard, it’s all about the topics, which means that as long as your content is relevant and engaging, it’ll be easily found. Follow and share buttons are all over the place in the super clean interface, and content providers are feeling the impact, with some seeing more mobile traffic referred from Flipboard than even LinkedIn and Pinterest.



      Real People for Real Results

      Using any combination of these platforms will help you promote your content across social media.

      Sure, you can always ask your friends and family to share your content, but when you have the same people sharing it all the time, it doesn't necessarily yield the diverse, growing reach you need.

      The more your content gets shared, the greater the chance for increased engagement. And increased engagement tells the social media newsfeed algorithms more of your fans and followers need to see your content in their feeds – which helps build more organic reach.

      Guest Authored By Hurera Sheikh. Hurera is a Copywriter and Sales Strategist at Webee Inc, and Contributor at Huffington Post. Follow Hurera on Twitter.





      “The more your content gets shared, the greater the chance for increased engagement.

      And increased engagement tells the social media newsfeed algorithms more of your fans and followers need to see your content in their feeds – which helps build more organic reach.."

        • Authored by:
          Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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        Location: Loveland, CO 80538, USA
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