Content Creators: 3 Recommendations for Better Promotion through Social Media

As social media continues to develop and grow, new businesses and influencers are taking to social media every day to promote their brand and their ideas in order influence others to follow and support them. As an Radio Television Film major at Northwestern University, with an interest in the world of social media and what can be done to stay relevant and on top in an ever-changing landscape, I have found two articles that delve into the best practices to improve on one's social media presence.

Digital marketer and social media influencer Kim Garst addresses on her website's article, Facebook Live vs. Instagram Live: Differences & Best Practices, the pros and cons of each site's features and the best time to use those features. She reminds us that while both can increase followers and their online engagement, they must be used uniquely and properly to render success. Both sites share many of the same basic features for when a user goes live that help drive organic traffic and engagement. However, Facebook has much more permanence, allowing the user to keep their live video up to be watched later and continuously engaged with and repurposed. Instagram does not allow the video to be kept up, so it promotes a sense of urgency that will drive followers to engage with the user then and there in order to interact with them in real time.  By understanding these differences and utilizing them properly, brands can best promote themselves to their audiences in real time.

Image source linked here 

On Lilach Bullock's content marketing website, she has an article titled, Are Your Competitors Better Than You At Social Media? in which she addresses the tough competition that social media brings and the importance of analytics and competitive research in order to stay ahead of the game. Performing research by using the tools this article provides allows for better understanding of and engagement with your target audience in terms of types of content, timing of posts, and best hashtags for exposure. Bullock provides tools to compare different social media sites, different accounts within those sites, and monitoring and analyzing hashtags. By conducting this research and staying on top of it, one can better understand and identify future opportunities for growth and user engagement.

After reading these articles and utilizing the knowledge I have gained from my marketing education at Northwestern University, I recommend three courses of action for better utilization and promotion of a brand or content on social media:

•     Choose The Best – Pick the proper social media outlet(s) that will best reach your audience and promote your content.
•       Better Understand Your Competition – See where your competition is thriving/failing on social media and learn from it. 
•       Generate More Engagement – Don’t just post and leave it, engage with the audience and make the site personable. 

 
Remember these three action items to better engage with your followers and build an even better and more rewarding online presence. 

My name is Jennifer Spottz, and I am a senior at Northwestern University studying Radio/Television/Film with a minor in Japanese and an Integrated Marketing Communications certificate. Upon graduation this June, I will be moving to LA where I will be working for a production company and focused on best utilizing their media to promote both current and future content. 
You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Female Influencers: 3 Tips on How to Cultivate your Social Media Presence while Remaining Authentic

Though many women have cultivated their Instagrams as business platforms, representing both their personal brands as well as influencing others with company products, negative feedback and the constant struggle between remaining true to one's self and selling out are just a few of the difficulties faced by people who put so much of themselves online. As a Northwestern student with interests in marketing and social media, I have found two great articles about how female influencers harness the power of their reach while remaining authentic to their individual values.

Fast Company's Carrie Battan, in her article "The Instagram Trap: Social Influence Is Helping Women Build Brands—as Long as They Follow the Rules," writes about female entrepreneurs who have become influencers themselves by simply sharing live updates of their days on Instagram stories and promoting their companies on various platforms. Battan cites Emily Weiss, founder of the cosmetics and skincare company Glossier, as an epitome of this movement: she is an entrepreneur, active on social media, and has amassed almost 500k followers on her personal Instagram account. However, other female CEOs, like vitamin company Ritual's Katerina Schneider, stay away from all social media platforms. Battan presents this spectrum of online engagement throughout her piece, using quotes from recognizable brand name leaders to explain the positives and negatives of social media consumption. 

Eva Chen at an Instagram event
Image Credit: Women with Drive

Eva Chen is a superwoman. From raising two children, to working at Instagram, to traveling around the world for Fashion Week events, she does all of this and more while brilliantly capturing everything on social media! Claudia Torres Rondon's Hola! interview "Eva Chen Reveals her Instagram Dos and Don'ts" provides an intimate look at Chen's daily life and how she balances her career and social media, with her Instagram account boasting over 1.1 million followers. Rondon provides Chen's top five "expert" Instagram tips that range from authenticity to constant content curation, reinforcing the idea that the most successful type of online presence is one that is honest and dynamic.

After reading these articles and comparing what I have learned with what I study at Northwestern as a media marketing student, I recommend the following tips for developing and maintaining a thriving social media presence on Instagram and other platforms:

• Actively Build Community: Interact and build relationships with engaged members on your social media platform.

• Be the Best You: Do not be afraid to express success or failure online if you feel comfortable, as long as your feelings are authentic.

• Voice Your Thoughts: Social media was designed so everyone can express their thoughts; do this respectfully and thoughtfully.

As both a female Northwestern marketing student and an avid social media user, I urge you to think about these three action items the next time you decide to grow your social media presence and online professional persona.

My name is Laurel Wholihan, and I am a third year student at Northwestern University studying Radio/Television/Film, Spanish, Art History, and Integrated Media Marketing and Communications. I am the current co-editor of my school's chapter of Her Campus, an online news and culture resource for college women. I aim to pursue a career in social media marketing and brand partnerships next spring. Find me on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Restaurateurs: 3 Ways to Make Social Media Work for You

As a restaurateur, understanding how to use social media and appeal to influencers can greatly increase your restaurant’s success and prominence in the over-saturated food market. As a food Instagram influencer with more than 25,000 followers, I found two articles on the foodie influencer scene that can help you navigate the digital space. 

The first piece, “Instagram has completely changed the way we eat and that's not a good thing” comes from INSIDER’s Food vertical. In it, Joanna Fantozzi details the ways in which Instagram has changed what, and where, we eat. Fantozzi cites recent trends like rainbow bagels, over-the-top milkshakes, unicorn themed food and excessively cheesy burgers. In the Instagram age, aesthetically-pleasing food has become somewhat of a status symbol (waiting in a two-hour line for a bagel), as well as a huge factor consumers consider when deciding where to get their next meal. Though these “Instagram dishes” often don’t taste as good as they look, the aesthetic of food is now a serious consideration for many chefs who hope to go viral and drive foot traffic. 

Source: Hinterhaus Productions / Getty Images

In the second article, “Restaurants rise to fame over Instagramable food,” Kaya Yurieff of CNN Business expands on the importance of Instagram in restaurants’ success. Yurieff writes, “The restaurant business isn't just about how good the food tastes – atmosphere and service are important, too. But increasingly, social media is taking on a bigger role and influencing food options offered, restaurant design and marketing.” The best way to stand out, according to this piece, is to serve outrageous, out of the ordinary dishes that actually taste good. To continually stay relevant, restaurants must keep innovating and creating new stand-out, trendy foods – as well as have strong branding and design. If done right, “a strong social media presence can help restaurants and other businesses engage with a much wider audience and attract new customers they may not have had access to before.” 

Based on these articles and my experience as a food influencer, I’ve developed three action items you should consider when trying to optimize your restaurant for social media. 

Be Original – By now, foodies have seen a million crazy milkshakes on their feed; instead of following in the footsteps of past trends, create an innovative dish that hasn’t been done before.

Make It Tasty –  Obviously, the food has to look good, but that doesn’t mean taste doesn’t matter; beautiful food will bring customers in, but delicious food will keep them coming back.

Don’t Skimp Elsewhere – Just as important as the pretty food is the décor and ambiance of your restaurant; add a cool mural, make the bathroom eye-catching or use unique table clothes for even more social coverage.

The next time you’re thinking about leveraging Instagram for your restaurant, remember the above tips to creating a lasting social impact.   

Lucy Dwyer is a senior at Northwestern University studying Journalism, Integrated Marketing Communications and Sociology. You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn, or follow her food adventures on Instagram as @thefoodiefriend.  

Videogame Marketers: 3 Tips on How to Choose the Right Influencer

Videogame marketers are always searching for the best way to promote their games and influencers can be very effective at reaching their target audience. As a Northwestern student specializing in Communication Studies and Integrated Marketing Communications, I have found two articles on influencers that will interest you.

Why non-gaming influencers may be the best fit for your game by James Batchelor from gamesindustry.biz gives advice on choosing the right influencer based off your target demographic. It is a challenge to get the popular game influencers who may or may not want to try your game. Rather than fighting for their favor, Batchelor suggests being open to other influencers who can just as effectively appeal to your target market. Allowing influencers to be more deeply involved in the marketing process can help produce more creative and unique ideas. Furthermore, start looking to different platforms, not just YouTube. Depending on your type of game and marketing strategy, working with different types of influencers on different channels may be a better fit.

(Image:Source)

Do not underestimate the power of active communities as micro influencers. Daniel Rosales article on LinkedIn, Guilds as Video Games Micro-Influencers talks about using guilds as a different way to reach your target market. Rosales mentions that while guilds are relatively small, there are also a few multi-game guilds with active communities. Reaching out to a professional guild, Dragons: Guild Master of The Syndicate, Rosales talks more in-depth about this possibility. Overall, Rosales stresses that guilds are an engaged, passionate community that should be further investigated as an effective micro influencer opportunity.

After reviewing these articles and from my studies from Northwestern University, I have developed with a few key tips to improve your focus on influencers:

• Be More Open- Start focusing on the demographics of your viewers. Trying using specialized channels and other influencers related to your target market's interests

• Use Other Platforms- Don't just use YouTube, take advantage of different social media platforms based on the type of game you have and the audience you want to reach.
• Think About Micro- Give guilds a chance as a micro influencer, they have potential to make a significant impact.

As marketers, it is important to look for new ways to connect with audiences. Be sure to take these tips into consideration the next time you are in search of influencers for your next game!

                                                                                                                           Oceana Hamilton is a senior undergraduate student-athlete majoring in Communication Studies and pursing an Integrated Marketing Communications certificate at Northwestern University. Graduating June 2018, she aspires to work in marketing after pursing her professional basketball career.

A passionate gamer, you can reach her on LinkedIn or Twitter

Brand Managers: 3 Ways To Deliver Content In The Digital World

Brand Manager are facing enormous challenges to differentiate, engage and meet the constantly changing purchase behaviors of their digitally empowered customers. As a brand passionate and graduate student within the Integrated Marketing Communications program at Medill, Northwestern University, I have found two interesting articles. What do brands need to focus on, in order to deliver the right content & engage with their customers in today’s interconnected world? Two articles that I am convinced, you will find interesting.


The article Trends Showing B2B Content Marketing Won’t Be Boring in 2017, published on business2community.com and written by Aashish Sharma underlines the importance of content marketing and describes trends brands have to focus on to engage with their customers. Due to the high content exposure,  Marketers need to use the right strategy to be recognized by their customers. According to Sharma, video content is going to be increasingly important as a form of marketing and 85% of content marketers already report a positive ROI when using videos. Influencer marketing is mentioned as a second big trend for 2017. Engaging influencers is becoming essential to be successful. They have the possibility to help brands gain trust and credibility. Furthermore they can build meaningful relationships. Therefore, it is important to identify the right influencer and understand how to use this opportunity most effectively. 

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240099

Similar to Sharma, Lilach Bullock reports in her article 6 Predictions for Content Marketing in 2017, published on socialmediatoday.com, what content marketing is going to be like in the upcoming year. According to her content is a “great promotional tool for businesses” and video is driving more engagement then any other content. Whether it is on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or other social media platforms - video is king. Customers watching videos are 1.81x more likely to purchase that those who don’t. Bullock therefore advises to use video to deliver content in the digital world in order to make more conversions and sales. The second trend she is pointing out is that you should put emphasis on your mobile device optimization. We live in a world where consumers have their phones and tablets with them 24/7. Most content consumption is therefore on there mobile devices. Brands need to adjust and optimize all the information for mobile devices. If they do not, they run the risk that people will simply not engage with their content. Have a look at the two article to explorer additional trends that could be of interest for your brand!

After reading these two powerful articles and from my studies as a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC program, I have identified three recommendations for you. Here is what you should do in order to deliver meaningful content to your most valuable audience:

• Engage through Video - Be ready to create video content, video content drives more engagement than any other content.

• Identify relevant Influencer - Through influencers, your brand will have the possibility to reach a much larger audience, because they can add to the importance of your messages.

• Think Mobile - Your Brand should create and optimize its social media content for mobile devices.

Anke von Hanstein

Creative Thinker. Brand Passionate. Insight-Driven.

Anke is a graduate student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications (class of’17). She is currently pursuing her degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. Her strong interests in brand & content marketing within todays digital world motivates to become a marketing professional. Connect with her on Twitter or LinkedIn.