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Monday, April 13, 2015

Which Brands Are Taking Advantage of Instagram? Restaurants, hotels lead in Instagram usage

April 6, 2015 | Advertising & Marketing | Social Media

Instagram will boast more than 100 million US users by 2018, eMarketer estimates, and this year, the social network’s audience will rise by nearly 21% to 77.6 million users. Data released by Yesmail in March 2015 suggests there’s plenty of room for adoption among brands looking to reach this appealing audience.

The source monitored client activity on its platform and found that just 23% of US brands had an account on Instagram—lower than every other social network studied including Twitter (82%), Facebook (80%), YouTube (60%) and Google+ (37%).

Restaurants were the most likely to be camera-happy, with 31.1% of Yesmail clients in that brand category saying they had an Instagram account. Besides appetizing pictures of food, Instagrammers should also expect to see plenty of photos of dream destinations, as hotels landed in a close second. Retailers and consumer packaged goods brands trailed behind.

Instagram also presents brands with an audience that’s enthusiastic about engagement. According to Yesmail, brands on the social network saw their number of followers grow 278% on average last year—more than any of the other platforms studied.

However, brands taking advantage of Instagram’s eager audience shouldn’t overwhelm followers with too many posts, as data released in March 2015 by L2 Think Tank suggests quality matters more than quantity. Brands tracked by the source worldwide shared an average of 121 posts during Q4 2014 and saw an engagement rate of 1.03%—the lowest last year. Meanwhile, Q1 2014 had the lowest average number of posts, at 110, but boasted the highest engagement rate, at 1.15%.

- See more at: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Which-Brands-Taking-Advantage-of-Instagram/1012311/3#sthash.BbjONSlk.dpuf

This Ad Campaign Starts With Cool Cinemagraphs on Instagram, Then Follows Up on Facebook

Stuart Weitzman puts the latest marketing tools to the test By Garett Sloane

April 10, 2015, 2:19 PM EDT
Technology

Instagram and Facebook are more entwined than ever, especially for advertisers, who now have a potentially powerful new marketing strategy—using video ads on one to drive sales on the other. Stuart Weitzman, the fashion brand, is one of the first marketers to buy video ads on Instagram, and then send product posts on Facebook to a custom audience of people who viewed the ad.

It's an aggressive tactic that incorporates some of the most advanced new ad products from the two social media platforms. Stuart Weitzman also is using cinemagraphs—a mix of still imagery and video that Facebook is encouraging marketers to embrace—for the creative.

"The campaign is about how to find that perfect mix of brand and direct response marketing," said Susan Duffy, CMO of Stuart Weitzman. "One of the exciting things we're doing is using the full marketing funnel."

Stuart Weitzman is going after 22- to 40-year-old women, and it's using sequential messaging to influence their buying decisions. One week, the women see the cinemagraphs on Instagram, and the next, they get a product ad on Facebook, thanks to custom targeting tools integrating the two platforms.

Facebook has no official stats on how many of its users also are on Instagram, but with more than 1.3 billion people on Facebook and more than 300 million Instagram users, there is plenty of room for overlap.

Last year, Mercedes was one of the first brands to run a campaign combining Instagram and Facebook. The Stuart Weitzman marketing is using similar targeting but with video, which can be very effective on any platform, according to industry experts.

Consumers are more likely to show interest in a product after seeing a video ad and then receiving a follow-up message, according to Justin Kistner, vp of marketing at social media ad firm Mixpo.

"What Stuart Weitzman is doing is a smart extension of the remarketing capability into Instagram," Kistner said. "It drives better results, because they are targeting an audience warmed from seeing the video ads."

Mixpo helps brands plan marketing campaigns and encourages the use of video to drive awareness and build audience for retargeting with more actionable ads, similar to Stuart Weitzman's approach. Brands have employed this tactic on Facebook since it developed more video and targeting tools.

Stuart Weitzman will specifically target Facebook users, as well, but with more refined, interest-based targeting than Instagram currently offers.

"In conjunction with the Instagram ads, we're running a reach and frequency campaign on Facebook to share the cinemagraphs with people who demonstrated brand affinity," Duffy said. The brand also will target a custom audience based on consumers who have visited its website.

Ann Street Studio's Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg, who pioneered the technique, created the cinemagraphs for Stuart Weitzman.

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New Technologies Can Help Brands Bring Storymaking to Life

Four Technologies That Are Powering Storymaking

By David Berkowitz. Published on April 09, 2015. 0 Reprints Reprints

The shift from storytelling to storymaking is well under way.
I first wrote about storymaking in a DigitalNext column last year, describing how marketers can tap into stories people are sharing with each other, as opposed to the broadcast approach of storytelling.
Storymaking isn't a tactic in its own right, but various technologies can bring it to life. Here are four technologies that are powering storymaking and how brands can use them:
1. Video streaming: Mobile video streaming has been around for years, which is why the keen interest in Meerkat and then Periscope took many by surprise (myself included). The magic of both of these apps is the social integration. While streaming technologies can be used for broadcast purposes (it's common enough to see people using them to stream TV shows), it's a far more interesting experience when the person or brand doing the streaming starts responding to the audience, and even changing the flow of the footage.
That's when a Periscope stream, for example, shifts from being yet another video to a personalized and memorable experience. It can even add a modicum of suspense, where no one can predict exactly what will happen -- even the video producer. The audience then becomes part of the story, and viewers can make it their own.
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2. Wearables: Wearable devices are ripe for storymaking. After all, data is generated from people's bodies -- their heartbeat, their gait, their circadian rhythms, their brainwaves. Take two people running the same lap at the same pace -- their physical activity data will show subtle differences. Even when biological data isn't involved, these devices are personal, as they're practically extensions of one's body.
As more brands partner with, incubate, or acquire wearable technologies, those marketers will want to avoid storytelling as much as possible. It's not how the brand's technology makes someone live better; it's about all the specific ways each individual's life has improved. My Pebble smartwatch made sure I never missed my wife's messages and calls in the weeks before our first child was born. Compare my story to any story the brand could tell you, and you decide which is more powerful.

3. Virtual reality: Immersive creative experiences such as those possible through Oculus Rift, Magic Leap and other technologies could be very controlled and rigid, or they could be totally different for each person every time. Even more straightforward approaches like touring a distant hotel property or getting backstage access at a concert could turn into stories that are co-created with participants.
The best way to think about the potential of virtual reality is to consider the difference between watching a video and playing a video game. Each time you play a game, you're actively creating a new story. With virtual reality, the only way for the novelty not to wear off will be to incorporate elements of game play each time.
4. Messaging apps: Messaging apps typically deliver generic branded experiences that are the same for all users. On ESPN's channel in Snapchat, the content is the same for everyone. But that's rapidly changing. Several messaging apps allow marketers to offer branded stickers and other content that can lead to more customized experiences. For example, NBC News created a chat bot within the messaging app Kik so people can request stories on topics such as politics and technology.
These technologies alone don't shift the focus to storymaking, but such apps and platforms are evolving quickly. The biggest opportunity for storymaking today is by appreciating how these apps are all about two-way communication. Let followers' responses drive a lot of your marketing there and adapt to what they're talking about.
The most successful uses of technology will make the technology itself invisible, and the storymaking itself may go unnoticed. Your audience will just appreciate that your messaging speaks to them in such a relevant way that it's a springboard for creating their stories.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Woolworths' Apple Watch app brings shopping lists to your wrist

When the Apple Watch arrives in Australia, Woolworths customers will be able to use the wearable to organise their shopping without having to fumble for their phone.

by Claire Reilly

@reillystyley
2 April 2015, 11:57 am AEDT

Woolworths' new app brings grocery lists to the Apple Watch.Woolworths

After a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of the Woolworths logo appeared at Apple's most recent product event, the grocery chain has revealed the details of its new Apple Watch app -- set to be one of the first local apps available on the device after its April 24 launch.

Woolworths has long been a player in the app game, with an app for iOS and Android devicesthat allows shoppers to set up shopping lists by adding or scanning items in the pantry, sort lists by aisle number for a particular store, find opening hours and track specials in-store.

Now, with its Apple Watch app, the retailer is being smart about form factor and letting shoppers fill their trolley without fumbling for their phone.

According to Katrina Colpo, digital marketing manager at Woolworths, the watch brings a level of "personalisation and intimacy" not found on other devices.

"If you've created shopping lists within the iPhone app, you can access those through the watch," she said. "From your wrist, you can see all the lists that you've created for the different items that you need, and as you tap into the shopping list, you can see all of the items that you want to purchase. They're ordered in aisle order for that particular store that you want to shop in."

The Apple Watch app sorts shopping lists by aisle.Woolworths

The Watch is ultimately "mirroring what's available in the iPhone app" and providing a "view port" for lists and information, meaning the iPhone itself is still needed to organise lists before your at the supermarket. But Colpo said having that information on your wrist could prove invaluable for shoppers who are juggling groceries, kids, a bag and a trolley.

"If you can have the phone in your handbag and you can literally be looking at your shopping list from your wrist, that means your hands are free to be dealing with your trolley and getting the groceries off the shelf," she said.

The Watch also brings new functionality in terms of what Apple calls "glances" -- short, read-only information to give quick details on an app. In Woolworths' case, these glances provide information on the user's nearest store as well as contact details, opening hours and the time it would take to walk or drive there.

While the Apple Watch app is joined by a new iteration of the supermarket's iPhone app, Woolworths doesn't plan to stop there. The company has already conducted trials of iBeacon technology to improve location services in its stores, including offering customers information on click-and-collect orders once they arrive, and the team continues to tweak and refine its digital offering.

And while Apple Pay has no timeline for Australia, we wouldn't be surprised to see the service integrated into future versions of the app, though there's no official word from the retailer on this just yet.

For now, the Woolies Shop App is available for download on the iPhone and will work in tandem with the Apple Watch when it arrives in Australia on April 24.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Curating Content: A Few Principles and Tools to Guide Your Efforts

by Greg Shuey |

April 1, 2015

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The concept of content marketing is not new, but it has certainly been spreading like wildfire. While the awareness and implementation of content marketing continue to rise, the need for curating content becomes even more apparent.

When you begin any content marketing initiative, you'll quickly realize how difficult it is to churn out incredible content regularly.

How do you solve that conundrum?

The solution is content curation.

What Is Content Curation?

A Day at the Museum 1 by Robert Couse-Baker (Creative Commons)

"Curation" is derived from "curate," or the person in charge of a collection at a museum (among other, earlier meanings). A museum curator's responsibilities include gathering pieces of art that are high quality and relevant to the museum's collection.

That's what thought leaders do with content curation: They gather and organize high-quality content that relates to their target audience, add their unique insights, and put it on display for their audience.

How does content curation fit into a content marketing strategy?

Curating content helps fill the gaps that form when you produce and promote your own high-quality content.

Curata finds that "enlightened" marketers use a content marketing mix that consists of 25% curated content in addition to content they themselves create (65%) and content they syndicate (10%).

Content Curation Principles

Content curation requires a keen eye, thoughtful additions (and subtractions), and time. Sifting through hundreds of content pieces from dozens of content sources is almost certainly not a quick task. And you must do that nearly every day.

To do content curation right, you need to keep a few best-practice principles top of mind, including...

Balance: Is the content you curate in balance with the content you create yourself?
Emphasis: Is the content you curate reinforcing your created content?
Variety: Is your curated content coming from a variety of trusted sources?

By keeping balance, emphasis, and variety in mind when curating content, you'll be on track to providing your customers with the content they desire.

Content Curation Tools

You need help to ensure that you're give each piece of curated content the attention that it deserves while keeping balance, emphasis, and variety in mind. The help comes in the form of the tools for discovering and curating content.

Trapit

Trapit is a content-discovery tool. You set up "traps" based on what content you're in search of. Trapit learns your content preferences when you give a thumbs up to content you like, or a thumbs down to content you don't like. You may add commentary to the content it finds for you, and share it to an online channel of your choosing.

Klout

You've probably seen Klout scores, but Klout also offers a curation feature. The algorithm recommends content for you based on those you're connected with. As with Trapit, you can give your feedback on the relevance of the article with a thumbs up or a thumbs down, and the algorithm learns what content you like to share most. The major benefit of using Klout's curation feature is that it gives you insight into what content positively impacts your Klout score.

Right Intel

Right Intel facilitates the identification of content that's valuable to you and your audience. You then add your own opinions to that content with the Intel It! function. You publish content and your added insights internally for your team members, but you also have the ability to publish it externally through stories, emails, social media, etc., which helps you establish credibility and thought leadership with your audience. Right Intel also keeps all your curated information in your very own organized knowledge dashboard.

Promotion

Now that you understand what curated content is, how it fits into the content marketing mix, some best-practices, and various curation tools, it's time to understand how curated content reaches your audience.

Your blog and your social channels are the two primary dissemination methods.

Promoting via Your Blog

You may not think of promoting curated content through your own blog, but it's a great way to incorporate the viewpoints of others. The most common form is a "round-up" post, which can be a collection of your favorite articles of the week, for example, or your favorite articles about a particular topic.

Promoting via Your Social Channels

Social channels are the most common method of distributing curated content. You simply share the link via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the multitude of social platforms you have at your disposal. The key is to add your own insight to each piece of content shared. This is what truly sets curation apart from simply sending out other people's post title with a link. When you add your thoughts, allude to why the content matters to your audience.

Whether you choose to promote via your blog, social channels, or both, contribute your insight to the curated content you send to your audience.