Is Instagram becoming the chosen social platform for brands? According to Branding Magazine yes, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Instagram has surpassed Facebook as the social media platform of choice for brands.

Allow me to explain further. A recent study has found that Instagram has become more than just a popular photo-sharing app used for recreational purposes. With over 300 million active users, Instagram has continued to experience exponential growth in both individual users and business users since its launch in 2010 while interest in Facebook declines. The study also found that brands pay much more attention to Instagram because they post to this platform an average of 9.3 times a week which is already a large increase from last years average of 8.8 times. This recent phenomenon has a number of contributing factors. When using Facebook, brands need to spend dollars for increased exposure while everything on Instagram is free; brands are more cognizant of the organic nature of Instagram. Unlike with Facebook, Instagram fans are generated through visually stimulating content and organic networking.

Over the years Facebook has become increasingly saturated with self-serving advertisements, not to mention that they seem to regularly change their algorithm and interface. This has resulted in many users growing tired of the constant and sporadic alterations (as you probably know people like consistency). Since its launch in 2010, the basic interface of Instagram has remained fairly constant and simple (people also like simplicity). Instagram allows brands to tell the stories of their products and allows fans to share their own perspective with the rest of the community. It provides users the unique opportunity to solicit user-generated content through an activity they already perform everyday: taking and sharing photos!

Lifestyle publications, beverage makers, newspapers, fashion labels, celebrities and television networks are using Instagram to convey their personalities and values through the use of visual content. Because it’s such a simple, intuitive platform, there are not a lot of rules and regulations on how brands should be using it, which gives them a great deal of creative freedom.

Instagram has proven and continues to prove that it can be a well-working instrument for personal communication as well as generating brand awareness. It has managed to integrate various potential use cases in one app without causing the confusion about the app’s actual purpose that other platforms have been suffering from since they came into existence.

Every year Super Bowl commercials create a lot of buzz, and this year is no different. With one 30 second spot costing $4.5 million, one would hope they generate a lot of buzz. It was a big year for Super Bowl advertisers, especially first timers, as there were 15 newcomers to the Super Bowl advertising world, the most since 2000.

But what do all the successful ads have in common? What is the recipe for a well-received Super Bowl ad?

They all contain at least one of three important elements that make them a success: sentimentality, nostalgia and humor. People want to feel good. Sarcasm and negatively toned ads don’t play well on the Super Bowl stage. Nationwide for example, was the most mentioned Super Bowl advertiser on social media, but not for the right reasons. The insurer’s campaign featuring the ghost of a dead boy has been slammed on social media with viewers calling it “depressing.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Budweiser reprised the adorable puppy for the second year in a row to kill the audience with cuteness. It must have worked because this ad was the most shared on social media. (Sentimentality, check!)

Snickers scored big by featuring Marcia Brady of the Brady Bunch transformed into Danny Trejo, an angry action movie star, keeping with the company’s “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign. (Humor, check!)

Unilever’s Dove Men+Care was one of at least three companies to celebrate the joys of fatherhood. The company showed loving dads rushing to help an upset child or dancing at a daughter’s wedding (Nostalgia, check!)

Some ads aimed to reach viewers on an emotional level, others used humor to convey their message and some missed the boat altogether and were “sacked” by poor reception. Nevertheless several new players took a massive risk by spending that $4.5 million with hopes that they would be on the nation’s radar after being on such a large stage.

What was your favorite Super Bowl ad campaign?

Building a brand that resonates with consumers on a high level is no small task and is only becoming increasingly difficult. Despite having the benefit of learning from past successes and failures, the world we live in now has never been more fast paced, connected and over-saturated with companies claiming to be the next Apple, Nike or Google.

Many of these brands, however, fail to create value and establish the necessary presence they need to attract and retain loyal customers.  So how do you navigate this ever -volving landscape? Branding Magazine claims there are three essential P’s you must focus on to create and maintain a successful brand.

People 

In order to understand what exactly will resonate with your consumers, you not only need to have a fundamental understanding of people as a whole, but you need to understand your target audience on a comprehensive level. What drives them? What makes them tick? Conducting research and gathering data is quintessential to the branding process as this data will allow you to not only better reach your target audience, but also allows you to personalize consumer experiences. Take Facebook, Amazon, Netflix or Google, for example; these leading brands have taken personalization to a whole new level using people’s personal preferences to make the consumer experience much more intimate.

Purpose

Returning to the question of what drives people, we know many are looking for a sense of purpose in life, something that gives their lives meaning and direction. Consumers look for the same thing in a brand. They want a brand with a clear purpose and one that is invested in an important cause. Your brand needs to go beyond the simple purpose of making a profit and creating wealth. In order to retain consumers, your brand should be socially, environmentally, and economically conscious. It needs to clearly define the higher social purpose it serves and make sure it’s an authentic, credible and proven part of its brand story. It is the emotional tie people can identify with.

Participation

Once you understand your consumers and define a clear purpose, you must get people to experience and participate with your brand. People are no longer satisfied with only being on the receiving end of a brand’s cause — they want to influence it, be influenced BY it and make it their own. Participation is ultimate and most effective way to interact with people. The relationship a brand builds with people needs to be less transaction-focused and more interaction-based.

And there you have it, the three P’s of branding. Brands must focus on these concepts in order to stay relevant in this crazy world we live in.

Here a Next-Mark we believe a brand is everything, and know having a clear defined brand message is vital for your organization’s survival. If you we can assist you in any way please feel free to give us a call at 941.893.3140.

Where is your brand in today’s highly digital-driven world? It is becoming increasingly difficult to find new and creative ways to keep your social audience engaged while simultaneously attracting new followers. So how do you consistently move the needle on social media in both engagement and following? Here are a few learnings on “moving the social needle” based on our experiences here at Next-Mark.

1. If possible, take a localized approach.

This is especially important with large brands that serve a local audience. When a business caters to a specific community, it’s imperative to share content that is relevant to that location. This targeted approach will both increase followers and grow engagement.

2. Visuals are key.

In managing and developing social media campaigns for clients, we strive to be consistent with content and include visuals with every post. Let’s be honest, the average person has a relatively short attention span so it’s important to hook them with something visually stimulating. Custom graphics, for example, are a great way to grab your reader’s attention.

3. Enhance the customer service experience.

It’s no surprise that people are turning to social channels with customer service questions. There is no reason your brand should not be addressing customer service concerns on your social networks. Not only does it drive to purchase, it also increases loyalty: 70% of those helped through social customer service return as future customers.

4. Find, follow and build relationships with colleagues in your industry.

It’s important to create and maintain a presence within your industry. You can do this by following related pages, participating in online discussions, engaging in social conversation, and sharing and re-tweeting relevant content.

5. Give your followers a reason to come back.

Consider offering promotions and offers available only to your social media followers. Offer fun and interactive contests and require users to “like” your page in order to be eligible. If you consistently give them fresh, new content to view, your readers will keep coming back for more!

Need help building your social media presence? Maybe we can help! Feel free to contact us directly with any questions or inquiries.

As you are probably well aware, the importance and impact of blogging has become, and continues to play, a major role in the marketing world and beyond.

In today’s highly competitive internet-based world, it can be difficult for companies to stay relevant and stand out amongst competitors, especially in those industries that have become increasingly saturated. Blogging not only adds fresh relevant content to your business website, it gives users a voice, an opportunity to share something with your social communities. It gives businesses a chance to go beyond the status quo sales pitch to give the brand a degree of personality.

So what makes an effective blog? We have come up with five tips to keep in mind when creating blog content.

1. Let your passion shine through your words

Like anything in life, in order to be a successful you need to have passion. Focus on a topic you really enjoy, something you feel zealous about and put a little of yourself into it. If readers can feel your passion, that passion will translate into a devoted readership.

2. Speak to a target audience

Who is your audience? That question in itself begs careful attention. Good blogs know their audience, listen to what they have to say and consistently speak to that audience the whole time. Make sure your blog is current, and relevant to the audience you are seeking to address.

3. Keep it simple

Don’t get caught up in the length of your posts. As long as your content is interesting and engaging, your readers will come back for more. However, blog posts should be easily digestible, as readers lose interest if they have to scroll down endlessly. Your writing will be more powerful without superfluous words and phrases.

4. Start a conversation, include a call to action

Write content that will encourage your audience to respond, allow them to leave comments and comment back thanking them for their feedback. Not all comments will be positive but all allow you to learn from them. Blog posts should finish with something that moves readers to some sort of next step. Do not ask them to buy something, as that will turn them off. Instead, perhaps tell them to do more research, leave a comment follow you on twitter, etc.

5.  Show your readers, don’t tell them

Stray away from telling your audience that your organization is awesome; show them by writing good content. Readers are easily turned off by haughty language, so use distinct unambiguous language and examples to build trust with your readers.

Those are our top five tips for creating a successful blog. Now get out there and put it to good use – and let us know how it worked!

As the social media world continues to grow and evolve, organizations are beginning to look at social media as more than just an inexpensive outlet for getting their marketing messages heard. As we move into the latter half of 2014, there are 7 trends beginning to take shape according to PR Daily and Media Mosaic. As you read through the trends, take note of the ones your organization does or does not participate in.

1. Social Listening Taking a Prominent Role
Polls show that more brands are beginning to listen more actively to their consumers. 24% of marketers said they plan on using more effective listening techniques, a 2% increase from 2013. This offers brands an opportunity to interact on a more personal level with their consumers.

2. Social Advertising
The lure of social advertising is becoming increasingly enticing to social media marketers. 57% of marketers used social ads in 2013, and this is expected to increase by 23% in 2014. Social Ads give you the opportunity to reach the audience in which you’ve invested a lot of money and time into nurturing, which is why social media ad revenues are expected to grow by $11 billion by 2017.

3. Images as Marketing Tools
The use of images in social media marketing has grown exponentially over the years and is continuing to grow in 2014. Images allow marketers to share a lot of information in a short amount of time in space. Infographics are becoming an increasingly popular promotion tool for brands.

4. Data-based Marketing
Prior to the rise of social media, database marketing has been the conventional go-to solution to increase sales. With the seemingly boundless rise of social media however, companies are presented with an opportunity to reach customers immediately and efficiently. It gives marketers great insight into consumer culture through customer activity such as comments and likes on company products.

5. Social Media Integration with Business
2014 will see the further integration of social media with the rest of the business. Polls found that 57% respondents have a dedicated social media team to strategize, and implement planned social media initiatives. However, most only have the budget to have a team of 3 or fewer.

6. Social Data Guiding the Future of Relationship Intelligence
Information from social sites is being used more and more to effectively gage and monitor audiences. This will push brands to place much more emphasis on formulating increasingly creative campaigns.

7. Online Meets Offline for Customer Engagement
Despite the ongoing momentum for everything digital, organizations still have to find the best recipe for effective marketing tactics. This means finding ways to bring online content into the real world in order to engage consumers. Thus, in 2014 we are seeing companies take a much more hands on approach to finding that their consumers care about in order to find those winning practices.

At Next-Mark we work with major brands in managing their social media content and strategy. Let us know if we can help.

Apple’s new operating system iOS7 comes out in Fall 2013. The redesigned operating system will be attractive to new users; however, it maybe unsettling for those familiar with Macs.

The “flat” design is based on simplicity, pushing aside heavy textures. “Flatness” also means a more streamlined interface that will, potentially, better stand the test of time. For instance, the yellow notepad found in the current iOS Notes app may not resonate well with younger users.

The interface changes include an all-new icon set for the Apple’s native apps, and

newly designed tool bars, tab bars, and other fundamental interface features across the system. Mac devices using the next-generation software reportedly have polarizing filters to decrease viewing angles of on-lookers.

Some say the new interface loses all signs of gloss, shine, and flashy design seen across the current and past versions of iOS. Others say the new iOS is very similar to Microsoft’s Windows Phone “Metro” UI.

http://9to5mac.com/2013/04/29/jony-ive-paints-a-fresh-yet-familiar-look-for-ios-7/

According to Apple.com as they were reconsidering iOS, their purpose was to create an experience that was simpler, more useful, and more enjoyable-while building on the things people love about iOS. Ultimately, redesigning the way it works led them to redesigning the way it looks.

The unnecessary bars and buttons have been removed. When taking away design elements that don’t add value, suddenly there’s greater focus on what matters most: your content. Apple adds features only when they’re truly useful, and they add them in a way that makes sense.

With iOS 7, Apple took something millions of people already love and refined the ,experience to make it even more effortless and useful.

Mark your calendars for Fall 2013 for the release of iOS7!

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/design/

For more information about the flat design trend, see:

http://www.awwwards.com/flat-design-an-in-depth-look.html

http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/what-flat-design-3132112