DIGITAL - Not Sure What to Post on Social Media?

It’s like writer’s block, but with social media.

Sometimes interesting content is hard to come by and it is challenging not to become repetitive.

To help social media marketers out, Hootsuite has come up with ten content suggestions to get those ideas flowing.

Ask Relevant Questions

Express genuine interest in your audience by asking for their opinion or thoughts on a topic relevant to your industry.

Take Your Audience Behind the Scenes

Is there anything happening that could be of interest to your audience? Even something as simple as a coworker’s birthday celebration can offer an opportunity to showcase your workplace culture, and create a deeper human connection to your brand.

Shine a Spotlight on Your Customers

A good way to show appreciation to your customers, and have unique content on hand, is by promoting customer profiles or sharing case studies.

Share a Reading List

Think about books you’re actually reading or have read recently, or crowdsource ideas from your colleagues - just make sure it’s relevant to your business.

Look to Popular Daily Hashtags

What is trending that day can give you ideas about what to add to your page that is current.

Compile a Weekly Roundup

This can be top news stories of the week that relate to your industry, corporate accomplishments or statistics for the week, or best photos by your customers.

For all the content ideas, including links to more detailed information, read the entire article.

DIGITAL - Twitterfeed Shutting Down Oct. 31

The popular content distribution tool, Twitterfeed, is closing its digital doors on October 31, 2016.

Content distribution platforms are useful for anyone who uses social media, but they are invaluable for marketers.

Because today’s consumers demand fresh, accessible, relevant content within a digital marketplace that is often saturated with similar content, the effective use of content distribution platforms can allow brands to access large, targeted markets more effectively.

Getting your content to your best audience is the only way to ensure a solid return on investment for your content creation and curation efforts. 

Twitterfeed shutting down may be frustrating for its many users – in 2011, when bit.ly purchased the company, it was topping many lists of most-functional Twitter automation tools – but it is far from the only option.

Twitterfeed itself suggests Buffer or dlvr.it, and Social Media Today agrees. Both services are prepared for an influx of Twitterfeed users looking for social media automation support.

It’s hard to find data on why Twitterfeed is closing down, and it’s not at all unusual to see the quick disappearance of tools and platforms that just a year earlier seemed solid.

There are many reasons digital platforms fail, and Twitterfeed itself had some drawbacks for marketers, such as an inability to give credit to authors or to curate the tweets to make sure only optimum content is shared.

It’s possible that Twitterfeed is shutting down because of platform failure or because of user dissatisfaction, but there wasn’t any buzz to that effect leading up to the announcement.

A recent post by Mark Josephson, the CEO of Twitterfeed’s parent company bit.ly, may provide some clues for curious marketers wondering about the platform.

Josephson wrote on Medium that 2011 was a pivotal year for bit.ly, during which they refined their focus and changed direction to allow their business to become truly sustainable.

Bit.ly finally reached profitability in 2015 and now they are positioning themselves to announce new directions and a tightened focus on, as Josephson writes, “becoming the enterprise Link Management Platform that marketers are telling us they need.”

They’re revamping both their free and paid products, introducing a new user interface, pushing further into their existing deep linking tools.

Does Twitterfeed shutting down hint at new developments from bit.ly?

Josephson didn’t mention Twitterfeed directly, but the timing is interesting and bit.ly’s new interface and tool suite certainly hints at new directions in link management and customer experience.

They’re certainly focused on bringing value to marketers, and that’s something to keep an eye on as they move forward this year.

By Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a writer, editor, academic, and animal lover who came late to her appreciation of pets. At 18, a rescue pup named Tasha saved her from a depression and she hasn't looked back. She has worked as the canine behaviour program coordinator for the Calgary Humane Society, and was a dog trainer specializing in working with fearful and reactive dogs for many years. She doesn't have any pets right now, but makes up for it by giving her petsitting clients (and any dogs she comes across on her frequent coffee shop adventures) extra snuggles.

DIGITAL - Video Tools to Ignite Your Social Marketing

Video is fast becoming one of the more important marketing tools in social media.

Cisco predicts that by 2017 video will make up 69% of consumer internet traffic.

In 2015, users spent an average of 5.5 hours per day watching video content according to eMarketer reports - 39 of these minutes were on mobile devices which is up significantly from the 3 minutes per day of 2011.

It’s time to take steps to create video as part of your digital marketing strategy. But how do you do it well without breaking the budget?

There are a number of tools available to make your video sing, and Social Media Examiner compiled a list of six.

Animoto to Create Video Compilations

Available in both free and paid versions, Animoto allows you to create professional-quality videos with pictures and video clips.

It accepts photo and video uploads from your computer, smartphone, or other sources including Facebook, Dropbox, and Photobucket.

Legend to Build Custom GIFs

Legend is a smartphone app that allows you to create branded, customized GIFs by combining text, flash, and images.

You can share your animated GIF on Instagram, WhatsApp, or in a text message from the Legend app, or share it directly from the app to other social networks if you’ve already downloaded the apps to your smartphone.

It is available from Google Play or the App Store.

Relay for Snapchat Video Geofilters

Relay is a graphic design and publishing tool for people who aren’t graphic designers that can be used to design your own customized Snapchat geofilters, which you overlay on your videos.

Geofilters act as a personal branding tactic for your Snapchat stories, which leads to greater engagement.

Overvideo to add a Soundtrack

Overvideo is a free iOS smartphone app that lets you add text and music to your videos.

It can be used to elevate the engagement potential of your video with music and quirky captions.

Cinemagraph Pro for Facebook Profile GIFs

Cinemagraph Pro by Flixel (iOS or Mac only) is an easy-to-use tool to get movement in your Facebook profile photo.

You can replace static profile photos with a 7-second looping video called a cinemagraph.

GoAnimate for Video Presentations

Available in free or paid versions, with the GoAnimate animation tool, you can create videos that are made up of template scenes, customizable characters, backgrounds, music, and props from their library.

You can also upload your logo and change the colors to match your brand.

Read the full story to learn more about these tools - including step-by-step instructions on how to use them.

RESEARCH - Most People get Their News From Social Media

In case you were wondering how important social media is as a news source, a new study by Pew Research Centre shows more people are using social media platforms as their go-to source for news than ever before.

This comes as no surprise to those observing traditional media where there has been a pattern of amalgamations and layoffs over the past five to ten years.

The study shows that a majority of U.S. adults, 62%, get news on social media, and 18% do so often.

It also takes a look at which social media sites have the largest portion of users getting their news there. Two-thirds of Facebook users (66%) get news on the site, nearly six-in-ten Twitter users (59%) get news on Twitter, and seven-in-ten Reddit users get news on that platform. 

All is not lost for traditional news media, however. Social media news consumers still get news from a variety of other sources such as television and news websites.

The survey and its results are an excellent resource for marketers as they formulate social media strategy into the future.

As the survey shows, the growth over the past three years is significant and shows no sign of slowing down.

Find the full study here.

Rogers Communications, NHL reach $5.2 Billion broadcast agreement

Marshal McLuhan

Bet you didn’t see that coming!!

Marshall McLuhan, the great Canadian philosopher of communication said, ‘The medium is the message’. He envisioned a day when a ‘global village’ would exist, not because of connectivity (wire, fiber or radio waves) but because we all have an innate desire to communicate with those around us. He imagined this desire would drive an unparalleled shift in the communication paradigm.

Earlier today, Rogers Communications announced its $5.2 billion bid had won the exclusive rights to broadcast NHL content. It should be a wake up call for everyone. Storytelling has moved across an imaginary line that once separated media from the message. Just as McLuhan foresaw, the NHL agreement with Rogers and the subsidiary partnership with CBC is poised to bring about a huge change for Canada’s largest audience. It is the kind of change that has not been experienced since Canadians gathered round the radio to hear that first Saturday evening broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) with Foster Hewitt in 1923.

Why is today's announcement important to those of us in the Urban Animal Industry? Because it is a bellwether. This announcement clearly shows the paradigm shift toward central, contiguous portals for specific storytelling is already here. It isn't a big leap to see the importance of a utility like PetLynx that can facilitate storytelling across a specific industry or audience.

McLuhan died in 1980 before seeing the emergence of the Internet but he saw the future with uncanny accuracy. Perhaps some of our friends at Bell may be wishing today they had paid more attention. Owning the HNIC Theme Song does not the leader make. #RogersNHL

- InfoStream Editorial by Larry R. Evans