What The Trend?! What Is Popcorn? (Episode 2)

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Our workplace is where we spend most of our day writing emails and working on projects with our colleagues. Emails flood our inbox, and it feels like we are interacting with faceless bots instead of people in the cubicle next to us. This impersonal work environment sparked an idea for Cloud-9 developers who wanted to add a “POP” to their day. Popcorn is the new social media app that will change how we interact in our work environments. 

Here are the top three (3) things you need to know about Popcorn!

1. Work-Place Based App 

Popcorn is a smartphone app that focuses on making the workplace a fun and safe environment. This app differs from any other platform on the market because it is strictly for professional use. 

2. How It Works

Popcorn allows users to send short videos or “Pop” to coworkers and clients.

It can be used in several ways, including sending a quick checkup with a colleague, sharing progress reports for a group project, or even sending a cold outreach message to a potential client. “POPs” can be no more than 60 seconds to limit users from rambling. While it might seem like the social media market is oversaturated with new platforms, no other apps focus on short video messaging for the professional environment.  

3. Pandemic Inspired

Popcorn experienced a “Pop” themselves during the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic. While the world was moving towards a virtual platform, Popcorn was able to bring a personal touch to at-home work environments. CEO Justin Spraggins and Lead Engineer, Ben Hochberg, started Popcorn at the beginning of the pandemic and gained traction due to the new in-person restrictions. They want to create a platform that allowed for at-home communication but is different from long Zoom meetings. 

Popcorn has the right idea, but they are still in the testing phase like any promising start-up.The platform has been experiencing problems with security, spam, and reporting inappropriate conduct. Once it  can get itself past these barriers, Popcorn is soon to be making a POP on your smartphone soon!

What The Trend?! What Is ClubHouse? (Episode 1)

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Clubhouse is an exclusive app meant for using your voice to instead of your face. The user is able to create sound bites to post into chat rooms. These soundbites could be informative, inspirational, or humorous; the main point is to chat with others. Users can enter different chat rooms (think back to the AOL days) and can discuss different topics by posting them to said rooms. This new style of social media has grabbed the attention of some very big names like Elon Musk, Drake, and even Rhianna. As of now, the app has over 8 million downloads and is valued at over 1 Billion dollars. While the number of downloads is impressive, not all of those people have access to the app. Clubhouse is invite-only at the moment, which builds the hype of this app.

Born in the chaos of the pandemic, the Clubhouse founders Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth developed a platform that allowed a closer peri-social connection than its predecessors. The founder’s main goal was to have a better way to network in a time were social connection was strained. This productivity mindset that started this app can be seen in most of the topics talked about, such as Bitcoin and investment pitching. Considering they started in Silicon Valley, it is no surprise that their number one feature has to do with productivity.

Like any new empire, it has its blind spots. One feature that has not been set up yet is User Safety.  As of now, they do not have any protocols in place to handle misconduct, harassment, or hate-speech. Since the app is founded on the idea of speaking and sharing information, the lack of regulation regarding what is said in these chat rooms can be concerning. While these regulations have not arrived with the initial launch, it can be assumed that this will come later when the platform is open to the public.

While it might be fun, this app is meant for networking at its core. This can be very useful for adverting and business. Clubhouse’s being audio-based interface will allow for a resurgence of radio-espue advertising, similarly to a podcast ad. This will give business and ad-agencys another outlet to promote on. Clubhouse is on its way to becoming one of the most successful apps on the market and will give not only business, but the “average joe” another way to become closer to people via the internet.

 

4 Tips On Mastering Instagram Algorithm

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Let’s dive deep into the Instagram algorithm.

Since the 2016 change of the chronological Instagram feed, many might have noticed a decrease in post engagement. Every year it seemed as fewer people were reaching posts, leaving businesses and brands frustrated and confused. For years, rumors had gone around that only 7% of users followers were able to view posts promptly. Leading Instagram to finally break their silence via Twitter on January 22, 2019, stating

“We’ve noticed an uptick in posts about Instagram limiting the reach of your photos to  7% of your followers, and would love to clear this up. What shows up first in your feed is

determined by what posts and accounts you engage with the most, as well as other contributing factors such as the timeliness of posts, how often you use Instagram, how

many people you follow…”

So how can YOUR brand step up to the top and master the algorithm? It’s pretty simple. Let us break down some tips your business can implement immediately.

Tip 1. High-Quality Content

 

High-quality content is probably one of the most important factors in beating the algorithm. You should want your followers to enjoy what you’re producing. If you haven’t noticed, the explore page is filled with the highest quality of photos. You can improve your content by doing the following:

  • Think outside the box. Make your content different.
  • Shoot with a high-quality camera
  • Enhance your photos with easy editing software or apps. For example, Lightroom CC, VSCO, or Photoshop.

Tip 2. Be Consistent

Consistency is key! Post often, but don’t overdo it. Aim to post about 4-5 times a week on your main feed and about 2-3 times daily on your story. Instagram favors users who are on the app more often. Additionally, creating video content for your channels, be consistent with your props and outfits.

Tip 3. Captions – Keep it Simple!

 

Make your captions short, sweet, and to the point! No one is going to want to read 3 large paragraphs. Ask questions! That allows more engagement with your followers.

Tip 4. Respond to Comments in the first hour of posting

The first hour following an Instagram post is crucial when beating the algorithm. It shows Instagram a higher engagement, which means your picture will get ranked higher and displayed at the top of the feed to more of your followers. Also, Keen recommends making sure your replies are at least 4-5 words long or else Instagram won’t count it as engagement.

Top 3 Benefits of “Instadvertising”

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Instagram has ousted its parent company as the second most teen-used social media platform (behind YouTube). Instagram is becoming Facebook’s best growth opportunity. Its rise in popularity has lured tons of advertisers which prompted 25 million small-to-medium businesses into creating an account. However, only 2 million of those businesses take advantage of the benefits of “Instadvertising.” Every company should be advertising through Instagram, here are three reasons why.

Customer Interaction

Businesses advertising through their Instagram accounts will often receive comments/feedback from customers or potential customers. Addressing their issues will show you run a company that cares about customer satisfaction.

Reach Your Target Audience

Advertising through this platform allows businesses to focus exposure on specific demographics, this allows the ad to reach its target audience.

Regional Advertising

Television advertising will usually air, and that’s it. Businesses have no clue who it reached or how many impressions it made. Instagram offers data detailing how many people viewed it and how many people scrolled through it on their feed. It will also allow you to emphasize a region that will frequently post your ad.

Facebook Announces Removal Of Redundant Ad Metrics

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Facebook has announced that it is removing redundant and outdated ad metrics. Certain features will be gone by June 2018. So, for businesses and marketers, here’s the rundown of what’s changed.

Actions, People Taking Action, Cost Per Any Action. ‘Actions’ is a Facebook metric that includes link clicks, outbound clicks, post engagement, and video views. However, it is a very general way to measure interaction, and Facebook recommends that marketers find more narrow and precise methods.

Amount Spent Today. ‘Amount Spent Today’ measures how much money was spent on an ad since 12 AM on that day. Facebook advises advertisers to use the dynamic date selector by putting in the date and using the ‘Amount Spent’ metric. The dynamic date selector can also be used to compare with other dates.

Button Clicks. Facebook is discarding the redundant ‘Button Clicks’ metric, which shows how many times users clicked the call to action button. Marketers can access the ‘Link Clicks,’ ‘Event Responses,’ or ‘Offers Saved’ metrics instead.

Canvas Component Time Percentage. This measures the average percentage of time users spent viewing each component of a Facebook Canvas. Canvas is a mobile screen that pops up after a user clicks an ad’s Canvas link, looking at content like video or images. However, this metric isn’t widely used, so Facebook encourages marketers to use ‘Canvas View Time’ and the ‘Canvas View Percentage’ instead.

Carousel Card. This is another unpopular metric that Facebook has chosen to get rid of. This feature has to do with a breakdown of conversion and calculated metrics by carousel card. Users can still see the data by going to the ‘Link Clicks’ metric broken down by carousel card.

Link Click Destination. This Facebook metric is used to track redirects to an app’s deep link to an app store for ads set up with backup link destinations. However, recent mobile OS updates have prevented this from being accurately tracked. Therefore, advertisers should use ‘Outbound Clicks’ and ‘Landing Page Views’ at the moment, although Facebook is looking to fix this problem.

Mobile App Conversion Value. This measures the total value returned from mobile app purchases, based on the value marketers assigned when they set up an app event. Facebook recommends using specific app event conversion values like ‘Mobile App Purchases Conversion Value.’

Page Mentions, Cost Per Mention. Facebook’s ‘Page Mentions’ metric measures the number of @ mentions of a Page that are attributed to ads. However, it’s an outdated metric, since it doesn’t indicate whether users feel positively or negatively about the page in question. Facebook wants marketers to use ‘Page Likes’ or ‘Page Engagement’ metrics instead.

Page Tab Views, Cost Per Tab View. These metrics measure the number of views of tabs on a marketer’s Facebook page due to ads. But, again, Facebook feels like this doesn’t indicate sentiment accurately, and it recommends to use ‘Page Likes’ or ‘Page Engagement’ metrics.

Positive Feedback, Negative Feedback. ‘Positive Feedback’ is an estimated score that’s based on the number of times users are expected to interact with an ad. ‘Negative Feedback’ is an estimated score based on the number of times users hide an ad or choose not to see ads from a brand. Facebook feels like these metrics create confusion, and marketers should view the ‘Relevance Score’ instead, which takes in account the same calculations as Positive/Negative Feedback.

Social Reach, Social Impressions, Social Clicks (All), Unique Social Clicks (All). ‘Social Reach’ measures the number of users who saw an ad with social information like other Facebook friends who engaged with the Page/ad. ‘Social Impressions’ measures the number of times the ad was viewed with social information. ‘Social Clicks’ measures the number of clicks on an ad with social information; ‘Unique Social Clicks (All)’ is the number of users who clicked on the ad with social information. Facebook says these metrics are outdated and aren’t actionable, so Reach and Impressions metrics should be used in their place.

And that’s all! Fellow marketers, keep your eye out for the Facebook metric changes and good luck with your brands and clients.

Facebook Terminating Partner Categories

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In wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has decided to terminate its “Partner Categories” program, which allows social media marketers to access data from third-party companies like Oracle and Acxiom. These third-party companies provide information about specific demographic and behavioral data, which many marketers use to target Facebook users.

This move is also in reaction to the General Data Protection Regulation law (GDPR). GDPR is a new European Union law that affords more digital privacy protections to EU citizens, whether they live in the EU or not. Facebook has promised to comply with the regulation.

The elimination of the “Partner Categories” program seems like a huge setback for marketers.

Many industries have relied on third-party data to find potential customers. Now, marketers will have to target their audiences a little more broadly, instead of as specific.

But, nevertheless, that doesn’t spell the end of the world for marketers. Facebook itself has access to users’ data, which social media marketers, brands, and businesses can still utilize to laser-target potential audiences. Additionally, Facebook owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, which are other avenues for data gathering. In comparison to print, radio, and television, Facebook has the ability to target more specifically.

Marketers might even consider moving parts of their budget to Google, which is currently still open to third-party data.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal raised privacy concerns for the average user, and Facebook is addressing the problems in various ways. It’s understandable that Facebook wants its users to trust its service and feel safe.

Marketers will need to come up with their own solutions to adapt with the changing times, continuing to find and engage the right audiences.

What does the Cambridge Analytica Scandal Mean for You and Your Business?

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Today, Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Understandably, this has raised concerns with businesses and brands about Facebook users’ privacy.

Cambridge Analytica collected data from a third party app that accessed Facebook data. The data analytics firm reportedly used the information during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

So, how should individuals and brands respond? Should they follow the #DeleteFacebook movement and nuke their social media presence?

Short answer: No! Panicking and immediately deleting isn’t the best option; keep calm.

Facebook remains a pivotal social network for both individuals and companies.

FOR USERS

Don’t be scared to use Facebook. There are several steps you can take to protect yourself.

One. Be cautious about third-party apps that have access to your Facebook account details like your friends’ list and profile information. You can remove unwanted apps by following the steps illustrated here.

When you’re installing an app, pay attention if it is requesting Facebook permissions. Read the app’s privacy policies and determine whether you’re willing to use it or not.

Two. Figure out what kind of information you’re comfortable sharing on Facebook and who you want to share it with. You can turn on privacy settings that allow only your friends to see your posts.  You can edit your profile to include or not to include information about your employment history or your email address.

Three. Take advantage of Facebook’s other privacy and ad settings. You can turn off location services so that Facebook and third-party apps can’t access your location. You can also go to the Ad Preferences Page and limit how advertisers target you based on the certain personal information. You can scrub your activity log.

FOR BUSINESSES AND BRANDS

For companies and entrepreneurs, Facebook remains an important cornerstone in your work.

One. Facebook is the most widely used social network. There are 2.13 billion monthly active users worldwide. American adults spend an average of 30 minutes on Facebook every day.

Countless businesses rely on Facebook to reach their customers – in fact, 93 percent of marketers use Facebook for advertising. It’s proved to be an effective way to communicate to a large audience so that businesses can thrive.

Two. Facebook is an effective tool that helps businesses find and laser target customers. Marketers have always relied on research and statistics to produce advertising content for their advertising strategies; Facebook is no different. Facebook allows marketers to define their audiences and craft messages using detailed settings.

Using Facebook’s data to target your customers with Ads is not the same thing as the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The difference? The Cambridge Analytica situation has allegedly violated election laws and made numerous privacy violations without user’s consent.

Three. When it comes to the battle between traditional media and social media, the latter has advantages. Social media advertising is cheaper, interactive, and easy to measure.

CONCLUSION

Right now, as individual users, marketers, or business owners, Facebook one of the best communication channels that we have. Facebook is a major part of our lives, and it isn’t going away – at least not yet!

The New Facebook Algorithm 2018: What Does This Mean For My Business?

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Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it would be making changes to their algorithm. Facebook’s algorithm is always evolving and business owners and marketers need to understand how to evolve with these changes.

The algorithm is intended to prioritize posts from friends, family and groups, as opposed to businesses, media, and brands. The algorithm prioritizes “meaningful interaction” – if certain posts receive reactions or comments, they’re more likely to show up in your news feed.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

First of all, don’t panic! Here are some steps your brand can take to continue reaching your audiences.

One. Your business should keep on creating content that your audience cares about, whether it’s a link to a useful resource, a new product promotion, or a funny photo. Try to kick start conversations and get users interested enough to comment or react.

However, don’t fall into the trap of posting “engagement bait.” If you’re trying to get users to comment or like your post for a mundane reason – ‘Like this post if your favorite color is blue!’ – don’t! Facebook demotes “engagement bait,” since it knows that users are annoyed by those type of posts.

The lesson here is to (tastefully) encourage “meaningful interaction” from users, so your brand will have a presence on their news feeds.

Two. Your brand should use Facebook Groups to promote its business.

A Facebook group can attract the loyal fans of a brand and generate genuine discussion and content. A Facebook group can be dedicated to a topic relevant to brand, and the brand can serve as an expert.

We hope this quick article makes it a little easier to digest Facebook’s recent change. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to #KeenSocial!

5 NEW Social Media Features that Brands and Marketers Should Know

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SNAPCHAT ANALYTICS

With its base of 173 million daily users, Snapchat has become an effective tool for businesses. Brands can promote themselves through ads, Snapchat Stories, geofilters and sponsored lenses. 

Recently, Snapchat has implemented analytics tools for verified accounts and influencers.

Influencers can access detailed stats that break down audience demographics and engagement.

The new “Insights” page provides information about:

  • Total story views
  • Time spent viewing stories
  • Daily reach and engagement metrics
  • Audience demographics
  • Audience interests

This is a handy tool that allows brands to understand their audiences. Brands can tailor their content more effectively, seeing precisely what works and what doesn’t.

SNAP MAPS

Snapchat’s Snap Maps feature isn’t entirely brand new – it debuted on the app last year – but it’s finally available on the web as of February 2018.

Snap Maps allows users to broadcast their locations on an interactive map, accompanied with photos and videos.

Snap Maps has been utilized during Hurricane Harvey, the Pyeongchang Olympics, and even high school gun control protests.

Brands can take advantage of Snap Maps’ real time, visual appeal by posting during concentrated events like conventions, marathons and festivals. Brands can encourage audiences to participate and share their own content.

SNAP STORE

On February 1, Snapchat set up an in-app merchandise store named Snap Store. Users can buy products through the Snap Store.

The initial launch solely featured Snapchat merch, like a Dancing Hot Dog Plushie or a Dog Lens t-shirt.

However, Snapchat recently partnered with Nike during NBA All-Star Weekend. Nike released its new Air Jordan “Tinker” shoe on the Snap Store.

Users who attended the All-Star after party scanned a Snapcode, which linked them to the Snap Store. The sneakers sold out after 23 minutes.

The Snap Store represents a large amount of potential.

Snapchat can access billing/shipping information to gather more data on its users, and use that to improve targeted advertising. Snapchat has taken a step forward in the e-commerce industry, allowing them to tap into its young, active user base.

The Nike promotion was a clear success, and in the future, other brands may have opportunities to promote products on the Snap Store. This is definitely a feature to keep an eye on.

FACEBOOK LISTS

Facebook is still the king of social media sites. Facebook serves as a hub for news, content and ads. 95.8 percent of social media marketers state that Facebook produces the best return on investment than any other platform.

Facebook’s new features is called Lists. Users can create and share lists – Top 10 lists, to-do lists, and so on.

Users can decorate Lists with color backgrounds and add emojis.

Facebook’s Lists is another tool that brands can use to spice up their content. What are some lists that you think would appeal to your followers?

INSTAGRAM RESHARING

Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr all have options to retweet, reshare or reblog other users’ posts.

Instagram lacks that option. Users instead go through the awkward process of screenshotting other posts or using third-party apps.

To rectify this issue, Instagram has been testing a reshare feature.

This feature allows Instagram users to share public posts to their Stories, with the original poster’s username credited. The original poster is notified about the resharing.

Users can turn off this feature if they want to prevent their posts from being reshared.

While this has yet to fully debut, Instagram resharing is definitely a useful one. Instagram users will be able to do something they never were able to do before.

Instagram resharing would allow brands and influencers to expand the reach of their posts and ads. Hopefully, it’ll be roll out soon.

What is Social Advertising?

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What Is Paid Social Advertising?

Paid Social Advertising is the process of creating advertisements that are embedded within the social space. Whether that’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat or YouTube, paid social advertising helps you achieve your business goals and objectives.

Why Do I have to Pay?

A few years ago, you could leverage social media to collect our fans on brand pages and continue to engage with them with your posts. However, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter decided to minimize the reach of organic posts (posts without advertising dollars). This is how they make money.

Prior to 2012, businesses were able to reach so many fans with organic posts on Facebook. Research from Social@Ogilvy has suggested that some brand pages reach as low as 2% of a brand’s fans.

What Type of Ads Can You Create?

Each social platform has a unique set of ad products. Here’s a list of some of the many ad types offered on each platform.

How Much Do They Cost?

The beautiful thing about paid social advertising is that it is an affordable advertising option when compared to other forms of advertising. Signs, posters, billboards, radio are all traditional ways of advertising, however, they can be expensive and you may never be able to fully measure your return on investment without conducting a marketing survey.

With paid social advertising, you can monitor your spending and analytics in real-time. You also have the ability to adjust your spending during your campaign.

Instead of asking yourself, how much does it cost, the better question is how much is in your budget? Once you have an allocated a budget each month, you will have a better idea on how much you will need to pay to achieve specific goals.

Paid Social Advertising is a bidding system. You are bidding against other businesses who are also bidding on similar targets, so you the amount of spend will always from one campaign to the next.

Here are a couple of ways in which your business can be charged across different platforms:

  • Link Clicks – Cost Per Click (CPC)
  • Impressions – Cost per 1 Million Impressions (CPM)
  • Engagements – Cost per Engagement (CPE)
  • Video Views – Cost Per View (CPV)

To give an example of how this may work, if you buy your ad on a cost-per-click, you can pay as low as $0.30 for a click or it can be as expensive as $5.00 per click depending on how many other advertisers are buying your specific target. There are multiple ways to bid on each social platform and multiple variables that effect cost.

How Can You Target?

Each social platform has unique capabilities when it comes to targeting your customers. However, as competition increases, their targeting options begin to look similar and similar. The wonderful thing about paid social advertising is the ability to laser target. After, paid social advertising has better targeting capabilities than a TV spot!

Here are a list of ways you can target on each social platform:

Let’s make this simple, shall we? You’re a local Mexican restaurant. With Facebook, you can laser target your customer with the following parameters:

  • Males
  • Bilingual Hispanics
  • 25-45 years of age
  • 10 Mile Radius of your city
  • Interested In: Food & Beverage, Mexican Cuisine
  • With the behavior of eating out often

You can even create separate campaigns that can re-target people who visited your website!

Learn more about paid social advertising here: https://www.keensocial.com/social-advertising-paid-social/