Social Media Hot Sheet – Week of 4/11

Facebook posting best practices

The short: Buddy Media recently released a study outlining best practices for increasing engagement on Facebook. Some of the highlights include keeping your posts to 80 characters or less, posting outside of business hours and using action keywords.

Why it matters: For brands just getting started on Facebook these can be good initial guidelines to follow. However blindly following “best practices” can be dangerous as what works for a fashion brand may be very different than what works for a media property. Make sure you are capturing data on your Facebook posts, such as time of day and length of post, as well as categorizing your posts based on the content. Then use that data to create insights specific to your brand and you may find that your fans engage more on Fridays and prefer longer posts.

What’s next for check-ins

The short: A sensational blog post was shared around the internet this week claiming that 2011 will be the year the “check-in” dies. At the same time the TV check-in service Get Glue reached 1 million users and the mayor of New York declared April 16th to be Foursquare Day.

Why it matters: An argument can be made that check-ins aren’t dying but it’s true that we need to start thinking beyond the check-in. It’s what happens after or even before someone checks in that’s really interesting for both consumers and brands. Local Response is a company that understands where things are headed, delivering advertising in real-time to consumers based on where they have checked-in.

What can you do with the Instagram API?

The short: In early February Instagram opened up its API to developers and within weeks online and mobile applications leveraging the data began to launch. In recent weeks, a handful of applications have launched that use the API to create real life items. Instagoodies turns Instagram photos into a sticker book and Postagram creates and sends postcards. Awesome stuff!

Why it matters: Brands like Kate Spade and CBS are doing a great job using Instagram for its intended purpose – to share photos. But there’s an opportunity for the right brand to take the API a step further and bridge the gap between the online and real world, creating something tangible for their fans.

Is your brand cuddly?

The short: This week NY Times Business Columnist David Carr spoke about how brands need to become, “cuddlier, friendlier and more willing to make mistakes”. The social web is forcing brands to take on the personal and emotional attributes of humans, with Carr adding, “It’s a rolling conversation that’s not going to always go perfectly”.

Why it matters: Our CEO Benjamin Palmer shared Carr’s sentiment at this year’s Social Media Week. Companies must learn how to behave in a space where their every move is observed, broadcasted, accepted or rejected. Social media has brought a psychological turning point for brands and transformed the web in to an interactive, two-way dialogue. Be smart, socially responsible and friendly, and remember that it’s OK to be human.

 

Credit to Lexi Peters for “Is your brand cuddly?”

Originally posted at http://shelbymacleod.com/2011/04/social-media-hot-sheet-week-of-411/

I am learning very quickly that smart people are saying smart things all the time. They are available and there to be followed. Like I said in one of my older posts, there is no excuse for not knowing. The information is out there. The smartest brand managers are telling your what they know, the greatest and most creative agencies are spilling their guts, FOLLOW THEM! They know stuff. Your own great art will flow easily from your mind when the time comes because you have the knowledge in your brain. The creative hard work comes before we sit down to create. The hard work is the research and reading. Its not easy for a creative because of magic. They are creative because they work hard at their creativeness.