Recently Instagram announced some changes publicly to their logo and app layout, and it appears that there have been some bigger changes behind the scenes as well.
Recent changes on Instagram
Before we jump into some basic tips on how to get maximum exposure and engagement, we wanted to point you in the right direction with updates on recent Instagram changes. Below are some links to articles outlining those changes.
Now that we have brought you up to date on the recent changes with Instagram it’s time to get back to basics. Here are three pointers to enable you to increase your reach:
1. Geo-tagging – Make sure you geo-tag every image that you post. Images on Instagram can be searched with this function and will give your image another avenue through which it can be found.
3. Tagging Others – Instagram gives you the option to “tag” other accounts in a similar way to Twitter. Simply click the “Tag People” option when uploading your image to Instagram and start tagging other accounts – you can tag up to 20 accounts this way. The managers of those accounts will get a notification on their main account page. That will make them aware of your image and potentially increasing interaction and engagement of your post.
Many of you are posting Twitter images. Whether the images are yours or were created by a third party, you can get more bang for your buck by utilizing a rarely used Twitter function on both your computer and phone.
Below is a step-by-step guide to show you how you can get more reach out of your current photo posts.
How to tag images on Twitter – Please note that this currently only works on native Twitter – computer or phone – and not on third party platforms such as Hootsuite, or in the Twitter Ad Platform.
1. Click the Quill / Tweet Icon in the upper right corner of your Twitter account.
2. Click the Camera icon and add your image(s) – up to 4 images can be added per tweet.
3. Type in your tweet content in the “Compose new Tweet” box (computer) or the “What’s happening?“ space (phone).
4. When you have the option to add “Who’s in this photo?” (you’ll find this option below the image(s) on your phone) you can add up to 10 accounts, the maximum number that Twitter currently allows. These images need to be added one-by-one by typing the relevant Twitter account names in and clicking on them as it auto-populates below.
5. Once you have all the accounts that you want tagged in the photo(s) inputted hit the Tweet button.
1. Add Text Then Click Add Photo
2. With Photo Added Click Who’s in this photo
3. Tag Relevant Twitter Account
4. Tags show and others account get notification of tag
Some pointers for you:
– The maximum image size that twitter will accept for upload is 5MB and up to 3MB for animated GIF’s
– Twitter prefers images in Landscape format with the aspect ratio 2:1. Images in Portrait format need to be clicked by the user to be fully seen
– Where possible add a geo-location to your image so that in the future it can be geo-searched at that specific location
– Find more info on posting photos to Twitter here
For a deeper article on Twitter photos you can read this piece on Twitter
A 2013 piece from the Buffer Blog gives some good tips on how to maximize the impact of photo use in your Twitter account. You can find the post here
The 11th Cricket World Cup is well and truly underway in Australia and New Zealand with two groups of 7 vying for quarter-final places, the top four from each group going through. While the ICC has compiled “scientific” rankings for ODI here we decided that we needed to create a Social Media (CWCSM) ranking system for the 14 teams at the World Cup.
There are many variable factors that we have been unable to take it account as follows;
Connectivity – how “digitally” connected a particular country is
Popularity – whether cricket is the most popular sport in a particularly country
Economic status
We’ll present a number of different rankings below and you can make your mind up on who you think is the number 1 ranked team at the World Cup on Social Media based on our numbers
How did we work it all out?
Facebook – divided the teams Facebook page fans by the countries population and assigned ranking points the same as the percentage of fans to population.
Twitter – divided the teams Twitter accounts followers by the countries population and assigned ranking points the same as the percentage of fans to population.
Instagram – divided the teams Instagram accounts followers by the countries population and assigned ranking points the same as the percentage of fans to population. An additional 1 (one) point was added to all teams with an Instagram account as percentages were low.
Klout – We averaged out all of the teams Klout Scores (71.5 is the average). Those in excess of this average were given the difference is ranking points. Those lower than the average were given 1 (one) ranking point if their Klout score was within 10 points of the average.
Kred – We averaged out all of the teams Klout Scores (890 is the average). Those in excess of this average were given the difference is ranking points. Those lower than the average were given 5 (five) rankings point if their Kred score was within 100 points of the average.
It’s not the most scientific analysis of the teams Social Media presences but gives a fair idea of where they stand relative to each other on a pretty even playing field.
Some highlights and interesting bits and pieces;
Australia – Number 1 in both CWCSM and ODI Rankings
India – Number 2 in both CWCSM and ODI Rankings. Their 21 million plus Facebook fans not enough to take them to number 1 as that makes up only 1.81% of their population
Ireland – punching above their ODI ranking of 12 with a CWCSM ranking of number 8
U.A.E. – barely registering with a CWCSM ranking of 14 and 0.04 ranking points
New Zealand – one of the host countries, has over 600,00 Facebook fans, an impressive 13.4% of their total population in a country where cricket plays second fiddle to rugby
England – scored impressively on Instagram with 50,800 followers but this is still only 0.10% of their total population
Scotland – ranked above a test playing nation in Zimbabwe and and are just behind another in Pakistan.
Want to follow the teams on Facebook? Here’s the list of pages that we used for our figures –
Facebook Numbers – taken between 9.45am – 9.49am (California Time) on Sunday 15th February 2015
Twitter Numbers – taken between 9.52am – 10.01am (California Time) on Sunday 15th February 2015
Instagram Numbers – taken between 10.59am – 11.14am (California Time) on Monday 16th February 2015
Klout Numbers – taken between 9.52am – 10.01am (California Time) on Sunday 15th February 2015
Kred Numbers – taken between 9.52am – 10.01am (California Time) on Sunday 15th February 215
Population Numbers – the most recent population number for each team / country was taken from Wikipedia.org
Missing Numbers – not every team is on every Social Media outlet. We have tried our best to find every account but it appears, particularly on Instagram, that not all teams have a presence.
Outlets chosen – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We had to draw the line somewhere and while many teams have additional Social Media presences on Google +, Tumblr, YouTube, Flickr and others these 3 are the most used by both competing teams and Social Media users.
Ranking Sites Chosen – Klout and Kred. We wanted to try and get a balance of ranking across platforms. We don’t have a big budget for this so we used Klout and Kred that use differing ranking criteria.
This was written by 3 rock marketing’s Chief Social Officer, Andrew Healy, a keen fan of Cricket Ireland and Vice President of the Napa Valley Cricket Club.
Did we miss anything? Make a mistake? Let us know at – andrewjhealy@gmail.com –
Twitter is here to stay. While Facebook lends itself to long explanations, pictures and every discernible fact you could ever want to know about someone, Twitter is its more succinct alternative. You’ve got 140 characters to figure out what you want to say. These days of instant gratification and with letter writing dead and gone, Twitter is where it’s at!
That being said here are some helpful Do’s and Don’ts to help you tackle this brave new world.
Do RT (re-tweet) followers
Twitter is a mutual experience. You RT followers and they will RT you, if you have something to say! A good rule of thumb is 1/3 Native tweets (your own) 1/3 RT’s and 1/3 direct responses to followers. It keeps your account active and dynamic. Who wants to read the same stuff over and over again? By mixing it up with RT’s from like-minded followers you can help spread YOUR voice as well.
Do Be Consistent
Followers will forget about you unless you keep yourself in their feed. Let them know they can expect you to tweet something. When a twitter account has super low activity, they are the first to go when people are cleaning who they are following. If you are a business you should have things to say and be engaging on a pretty consistent basis. With larger accounts tweeting hourly throughout the day makes sense, as there is a lot of information to share and conversation to be part of. Small accounts two to three times a day is sufficient. Assess what works for you, but be consistent!
Do have a clear voice
It is hugely important that your followers know who they are following. What is it you want to say? Are you a business? Keep personal stuff out of it, but still keep your personality! What do you want your followers to know? What can they expect when they read your tweets? Think about how you want to enhance your image and be consistent in your tone.
Don’t tweet from Facebook
It just looks lazy. “Check out this great article from Charles so and so as he expl…fb.me/vt51Z”. Your followers are looking for you to tell them something. A half formed thought or phrase is hard (and annoying) to read when going through your feed. Then consider how hard that is to RT. If you are going to have a Twitter account, especially as a business, it is important to utilize all avenues of social media appropriately and in ways they were intended. Have your voice heard (in 140 characters or less) in an original way and respect your followers.
Don’t Over Hash-Tag
Two or three is sufficient to get your idea across and pick up on searches. #Over #hashtagging #is #distracting and it’s also hard to read and unnecessary. Making up hashtags that mean nothing to people just takes up space. See what topics are trending and join the conversation! Have fun with your hash-tagging but don’t ruin it for the rest of us.
Don’t try to use up all 140 characters
So you’re thinking ‘hey! 140 characters isn’t that much! I’ve got stuff to say!’ Well yeah. But don’t you want others to help you say it too? When they re-tweet (RT) and you’re at your limit already then they have to do some crafting. You always want to try to avoid having someone edit what you’ve written. You know what you wanted to say! So help them spread your word but keeping it as clear and short as possible. Add a bitly to link them to more information!
With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the Eastern Seaboard of the US it’s no surprise that folks have taken to various Social Media outlets to highlight the impending natural disaster. There were a number of “photoshopped” images doing the rounds this morning that, while not real, did provide an outpouring of support online for people who were in its path, or close to it.
Later in the day we started to see a number of wine themed images appearing on our screens which seemed to us like “bandwagoning” at best and deeply insensitive at worst. Bordeaux Wines were the first to appear on our screens with the image below on their Facebook page and also on Twitter and Instagram (although these look like the original image shot with a phone!) too, and Andrew let them know his thoughts on their image. At time of writing there has been no response from the folks running the page as we assume they are all wrapped up nice and safe in their beds, in Bordeaux!!
The other image that we saw today is from Adams County Winery located in Orrtanna and Gettysburg, PA. They’re close to where Sandy will come ashore so their image can probably be deemed to be more tongue in cheek but we still think that in the face of mass mandatory evacuations more sensitivity should be deployed.
It’s highly likely that people will lose their lives over the next 24-48 hours along with their properties, and many will probably be left homeless for the foreseeable future as we head into the winter in a part of the world where winters can be harsh. So at 3 rock marketing we’re asking that wineries consider the human element of what they’re engaging in before they jump on the bandwagon and our thoughts are with all of the people who are affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Update – Monday 22.30hrs PST
Just when you thought the images above were bad, American Apparel goes and sends and email to thousands of folks that lit up Twitter right as the storm is coming through, offering 20% Off Everything in a Hurricane Sandy Sale. As nurses take patients down 9 flights of stairs as NYU hospital is evacuated because of back up power failure American Apparel has brought shame on the marketing community.
