Top Three Thursday: Social Media News You Can Use

Top Three Thursday Zebras

Welcome to my Thursday feature. Here’s where I link three useful and interesting articles from excellent information sources all about social media and marketing subjects.

As you know, changes are always happening in the world of social media. We have a lot to keep up with!

Facebook Live has really exploded in use and popularity. However, many users still say that it doesn’t have the quality or features of other live broadcasting tools. Mashable is reporting that the platform has made some new updates for improvement purposes. Check out Facebook’s live video can now be twice as long to read up on the changes.

Have you been itching to jump onto the Snapchat bandwagon but just can’t seem to generate a following? Hootsuite has put together No Snapchat Friends? This Feature Can Help that should work wonders for you! This new feature could be the gem that has followers scrambling to view your snaps.

There are tons of tools out there to help business owners curate, create and schedule their social media content. One of the most popular ones for creating quick and simple graphics is Canva. Social #PR Chat is excited to report on the tool’s new iPhone feature in their post: My @Canva Addiction: Now on iPhone. Now users can put together amazing visuals while on the go and post them to their social channels.

See you next week with another edition of Top Three Thursday: Social News You Can Use.

Melody Jones is your social media aspirin. She helps take the pain out of social media for you! Check out her services and see which one can reduce your social media pain the most.

Top Three Thursday: Social Media News You Can Use

Top Three Thursday Zebras

Welcome to my Thursday feature. Here’s where I link three useful and interesting articles from excellent information sources all about social media and marketing subjects.

As you know, changes are always happening in the world of social media. We have a lot to keep up with!

Snapchat is changing the way they do business. Christopher Heine from Adweek.com tells us that “Snapchat Just Revealed a New Feature Called ‘Memories’ That Saves Snaps.” It’s a collage-like function that allows users to save posts—still photos or videos—and edit them for use in a story collage. They’ll be rolling it out selectively over the next month or so. With over 150 million daily users, a staggered release makes sense.

Are you having trouble with engagement and positive responses to your LinkedIn profile? There may be a reason. Melonie Dodaro from Top Dog Social Media fills us in on the “5 Things You Should Avoid Posting on LinkedIn.” She goes on to list four types of posts that can help you stand out and improve engagement.

Have you noticed a change to your Facebook page layout? Facebook is now Testing a New, Ad-Free Desktop Page Layout to align with their mobile page re-design they released last September. Social Media Today showcases the new format which separates the profile picture from the cover photo, and makes the call to action button clearer. Two new formats are being tested. Which variation do you prefer?

See you next week with another edition of Top Three Thursday: Social News You Can Use.

Melody Jones is your social media aspirin. She helps take the pain out of social media for you! Check out her services and see which one can reduce your social media pain the most.

How to Use Simple Psychology in Social Media to Reach More People

gloomy tree

In the marketing world, human behavior has been studied relentlessly in the name of using psychology to motivate people. What is social media? It’s another tool for marketing, yes, and it has the unique capability of creating conversations in a way never before available. In fact, the conversation, it turns out, is the most important thing.

Make the most of your social media efforts by applying a few basic psychological principles.

Emotions are contagious

By using software, Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, analyzed one billion Facebook posts over two years and noticed an interesting trend.

gloomy tree
Gloominess on social media is contagious.

Users dealing with gloomy weather tended to post more negative thoughts, adversely affecting those who were experiencing nice weather. Gloominess was contagious.

In turn, it was discovered that positive posts were actually more contagious than negative posts, which I think is good news. Facebook status posts using positive words prompted those who saw them to post almost two times more positive posts themselves.

For more research on “emotional contagion” in social media, visit PLOS.org.

People love exclusivity

You know the rush you feel when you just beat a deadline? Everyone who missed it, even by a minute, did not get to be part of the exclusive group, but you are.

Use this to your advantage in social media. By creating a way for your fans to be part of an exclusive group, you’ve helped them feel valuable, like they’re part of the club.exclusive

A few ideas:

  • Make offers time-limited thereby creating a sense of urgency and a feeling of exclusivity;
  • Establish an invitation-only closed or secret group on Facebook or your website that only includes fans who have worked for it in some way (signed up for a course, participated in an event, etc.);
  • Do the time-honored “The first ten people to (insert action here) get (an exclusive thing)” and then keep a public running count of how many are left.

People like to be seen

You’ve no doubt noticed the high number of selfies on social networks. (Hey, don’t kill yourself getting a selfie!).

Big brands have experienced great success in creating fan ambassadors by appealing to being seen.

armandphoneFor example, if fans post a photo of themselves enjoying a product or visiting a site that relates to the brand, they “win” something.

It can be as simple as their photo being posted in a prominent place for a week, or they may win an actual product. Fans then post themselves winning that product, and the brand has created an ambassador.

Think about how this can work for your business or author platform. Perhaps all fans who submit a book or product review get promoted on your social media or maybe they win something bigger such as coffee with the author, or a substantial coupon for the next new product. Don’t be afraid to think big!

Be creative in applying these basic psychology concepts to your social media marketing strategy. With a little extra effort, you can continue building a strong online presence.

 

Melody Jones | Social Media Management Services
Melody Jones

 

Melody Barnes Jones is Founder and CEO of Social Media Management Services. Melody is your Social Media Aspirin, here to take the pain away so you can go about your business. Visit her website to learn about her programs, upcoming workshops, and coaching services.