Legacy Brands On Instagram
While some brands get it when it comes to utilizing Instagram, some still struggle. What’s even more interesting is watching what established, “old school” legacy brands are doing to utilize the new world of sharable social media content. Instagram provides a means for organic, authentic consumer engagement through captivating imagery. Outdoor brand L.L. Bean is one legacy brand that is absolutely killing it with Instagram engagement rates. Their 1.5 year-old account boasts more than 17k followers and an engagement rate of 437.1% between January 1 and May 31, 2014. User-generated photo sharing, teaming up with online influencers and posting strategic, relevant images is key to boosting Instagram engagement. Military heritage brand, Alpha Industries has also seen an impressive amount of fan and engagement growth since launching its Instagram account in February.
Summer Travel Update
With vacation spending expected to increase 20% this summer, travel brands would be wise to capitalize on the shrinking vacation deficit and emerging experiential and wellness travel trends that continue to make waves in the tourism industry. Affluent travelers lead the way in travel spending, especially during peak season, and projections indicate the 2014 summer travel season will be a banner year for revenue and volume.
Google’s I/O Keynote: Key Takeaways
Earlier this week at the Google I/O Keynote, presentations by Google and Android made it clear that they want to be everywhere you are: in your car, in your pocket, on your television, on your laptop, even in your workplace. Google’s new IOS has the ability to move across multiple devices, making it even more important for brands to adopt mobile-friendly sites or specialized mobile apps in order to stay connected with consumers. As PCs and online usage habits continue to change, mobile technology and wearables are expected to provide a whole new universe of connectivity that’s always on. This shift presents companies with the opportunity to build brand awareness, drive purchases, and add to the overall service offering.
Quality Over Quantity
Whether you’re measuring engagement rates, community growth or content reach, it’s all about emotionally connecting with the people who actually care about your brand. Racking up likes and followers does not always translate into dollar signs, especially if those “fans” have little to no association with the brand itself. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. knows a thing or two about altering a social media strategy to effectively connect with its community. After buying ads to promote its brand page on Facebook, company executives halted the campaign because the overall engagement with the community was dropping even though the fan base was growing. In order to boost brand awareness among target demographics, brands must monitor the quality of online conversations and actively engage with those fans by producing quality digital content. A successful social media strategy requires planning and publishing quality content, writing for the audience, monitoring analytics and adapting to the changing digital sharing landscape.
Twitter Adds New Visual Features
Twitter recently announced that the social network now supports animated GIFs, or tiny MP4s on loop with no sound. This change aligns with Twitter’s goal to become a more rich-media-focused and visually appealing platform both online and mobile devices. Another new feature Twitter is testing this week allows more space to comment when retweeting another user. The “Retweet with Comment” option populates the retweeted message as an image, leaving users with the standard 140-characters to add their own commentary.
Tyler Wilcox : October 22, 2021
