Wednesday, 30 April 2014

How to Succeed on Twitter by Really Trying

I’m not going to explain the usual Twitter advice about needing to engage people in an open, honest, transparent, and timely manner to succeed. Blah blah blah. Duh duh duh. You know this already. I’m going to tell you about what you need, down and dirty style, to master Twitter.
How to Succeed on Twitter by Really Trying

1 Imperviousness

You will make enemies and piss people off on Twitter. If you don’t, then you’re not using Twitter’s full potential. Some people are looking for fights. Many people will tweet things to you on Twitter that they would never say to you in person. You should develop imperviousness, ignore these attacks, and keep on tweeting. You cannot make everyone happy on Twitter, so don’t even try.
How to Succeed on Twitter by Really Trying

2 Curiosity

The way Twitter works changes all the time. Sometimes Twitter explains the changes. Sometimes the changes just happen. If you want to stay on top of Twitter, you need to frequently run experiments and to see if you can improve your results. For example, post at different times, repeat your posts, include bigger pictures.  Pictures preview at 2:1 ratio or they don’t show the whole image. You can’t stop experimenting.
How to Succeed on Twitter by Really Trying

3 Skepticism

Many “social-media experts” will tell you how to use Twitter. They phrase their recommendations as if they “know” what’s happening. Truly, at best, they are guessing—often they are repeating what another “expert” said. (And before you even ask, this includes advice from me.) There is no right and wrong on Twitter; there is only what works for you at a moment in time. {click to tweet}
Power tip: Be especially skeptical of advice from anyone who has fewer followers or tweets than you.
How to Succeed on Twitter by Really Trying

4 Humility

Finding great content is difficult and time-consuming.  Eventually, you will realize that other people can find great content too—perhaps even better than you.  At that point, you should re-tweet other people’s tweets in order to provide content to your followers and to acknowledge the originators of the tweets. Focus on great content—don’t be proud about how you found it. Other people may point out your mistakes and better ways to do things, graciously accept this help too.
How to Succeed on Twitter by Really Trying

5 Diligence

Succeeding on Twitter is hard work, and the payoff is often ill-defined. If you want to use Twitter as a way to build your personal or corporate band and to use it as a marketing platform, it will take at least one year of working two to three hours per day. This is less than the 10,000-hour theory of Malcolm Gladwell, but the process requires great diligence.
To succeed on Twitter, you need to pay the price—like any other skill worth acquiring.{click to tweet} Don’t let anyone tell you that this is easy but don’t let anyone tell you that it can’t be done either. Now you know what no one else will tell you, and with eyes wide open, you can begin the process.
How to Succeed on Twitter by Really Trying

YouTube Now Auto-Generates Music Playlists on Android

Google's latest play in music streaming takes aim at Android users with the addition of "YouTube Mix," a feature familiar to desktop users that automatically generates playlists of your favorite artist's most popular videos.
It's pretty easy to access YouTube Mix. Just type in the name of the artist you want to listen to, and YouTube will automatically generate a playlist.
Will this new feature stop Spotify from dominating the music streaming business? Probably not, but it's a step closer to what a true YouTube music service might look like.

Using Hashtags in Social Media Marketing

Hashtags are increasingly important in social media marketing campaigns.


How to use hashtagsThey enable content marketers get in front of their target audience and identify social media conversations that are relevant to their business. Only 24% of tweets include hashtags, but those that do receive twice the engagement of those without them. When used well, hashtags can be powerful tools that drive brand recognition, increase reach, build community, create buzz, and positively impact customer loyalty.

What are hashtags?

Hashtags are labels for content. They are a way to track topics on Twitter and other social media platforms. Anyone sharing content can add one to their messages and posts, and they help people quickly find information on that same topic. The syntax is a word or phrase preceded by the hash sign (#), such as #contest and #sweepstakes. Each hashtag is clickable and redirects users to a page that displays all messages and images that use the same hashtag. The use of hashtags enables people to wade through the fire hose of social media posts and interact only with the content they find relevant.

Platforms that support hashtags


Twitter

If you use Twitter, you know that the use of hashtags there is prevalent. They can help you organize your tweets and use your voice to deliver targeted brand messages. You can view trending hashtags on the sidebar of your Twitter page and at Hashtags.org. It’s easy to join in a hashtag conversation by clicking on one in your own tweets or those of others. You can track hashtags to see which ones resonate most with your audience.

Using hashtagsFacebook

Facebook added hashtag support in June 2013, and their use hasn’t really caught on. Every hashtag on Facebook has a unique URL, and clicking on one will redirect you to its feed. You can also click on hashtags that originate on other services. You can search for hashtags from your search bar using the syntax #Yourhashtag or by typing facebook.com/hashtag/Yourhashtag into your browser. In each case, replace Yourhashtag with the tag you’re trying to find. You can also create posts directly from the hashtag feed or search results.

Pinterest

Pinterest uses the same hashtag approach as other platforms. You apply a tag that represents the topic of the post so that people can find your content in related searches. The hashtag is bolded slightly in your post, and it becomes a search link that forwards users to pinterest.com/search/?q=Yourhashtag. When people now run that same search by clicking the hashtag on someone else’s profile, they’ll discover your content in the mix.

Instagram

Using hashtags on Instagram can help maximize your reach and create a network of influential brand followers. If you don’t employ hashtags on Instagram, your photos effectively remain private, making it difficult for your target audience to discover you. Instagram photo challenges contain a unique set of hashtags. For example, #ThrowbackThursday encourages users to post retro photos. Try to use at least one hashtag per photo to maximize shares.

Google+

Using hashtags is a good way to get your Google+ posts noticed in search engine results. When users click on a hashtag in Google+, the search results page (SERP) includes the original hashtag as well as posts with similar tags and keywords. Users can choose to arrange hashtagged posts chronologically or see the “Best of” posts at the top of their streams. Google+ will also intuitively add hashtags to posts if it thinks that they are relevant.

Don’t overuse hashtags

Make sure to use a maximum of two hashtags per post. Including too many will leave the impression that you are spamming your followers. This video with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake does a hilarious job of illustrating the pitfalls of overdoing it. :)




Read more: http://www.pamorama.net/2014/04/26/hashtags-social-media-marketing/#ixzz30MRMBi00