Author Archive

Magnify Digital Featured in Forbes – Social TV is Not the New Nielsen

Forbes recently published an article, Social TV Data Is Not The New Nielsen: How It Might Be Better, about whether the average viewer would engage and “lean forward” with television shows in a more active way. The article notes, with the current state of this evolving industry, there are few straight forward conclusions to drawn upon just yet. However, Michael Humphrey, Forbes Contributor, highlights several companies who are working towards game changing answers.

On one side of the argument experts argue no, viewers will not engage with social tv tools, and the metrics do not offer official tracking results, only guesstimates. Experts beg to differ, stating whether the results are 100% accurate or not does not matter. What counts is that there is a huge opportunity out there to engage with the audience in ways that broadcasters and producers have never been able to before, that goes beyond just metrics.

Moyra Rodger, CEO Magnify Digital, weighed in on this topic by stating that producers and broadcasters are not monitoring social data early enough in the process in order to make strategic decisions.

While the entire industry is maneuvering their way through new tools, metrics, statistics, and reports, only one thing can be said for certain of the future of social tv: it is not going away anytime soon.

Read the full article here.

Tweet us @magnifydigital or comment below to let us know your thoughts about the future of Social TV.

Maryam Mehrtash
@socialmaryam

Tags: digital strategy, facebook, forbes, Social TV, Twitter

Why Your Business Needs ALERT®

Magnify Digital was created in 2007 as a digital strategy agency. The team here soon realized that they were creating much more than just an agency.  They pioneered a process for aggregating, simplifying and leveraging the non-stop avalanche of  digital platforms, tools, and tactics. That’s when ALERT® was born.

ALERT® is an automated web based system that enables marketers and small businesses to take control of their digital presence and devise effective strategies that actually work for them and their clients. ALERT® stands for ASSESS, LOCATE, ENGAGE, RESPOND & TRACK – the five key steps to the system and we’d argue, the five essential components of every successful digital strategy.

Assess & Locate make up the first stage – a rigorous Assessment of a company’s digital presence, and that of its competitors. A scan of the industry reveals what your target audience is saying and where they are hanging out. The second stage is Engage, which consists of devising and implementing a manageable and measurable Strategy. Once the strategy is in place, it’s time to Respond & Track, which essentially is monitoring your online presence.

The benefits of using ALERT® are endless! Marketers often complain they don’t have enough time to keep up with the seemingly endless changes in social media features, emerging tools, guidelines, policies, and thought leaders. ALERT® does the heavy lifting for you.  Think of it as a digital whisperer! ALERT® makes licensees look like digital strategy rock stars without the expense and hassle.

Here are some key features. The ALERT® system is:

• Updated daily. The tools are updated whenever a new feature, viable platform, or tactic comes to market.
• Resourceful. Includes a resource area full of aggregated information, such as social media statistics, news updates, and case studies.
• Easy to use. You don’t have to be a digital expert, the system takes you through a step-by-step approach on how to use each tool and feature.
• Time saving. We’ve already done the work for you. You don’t need to keep on top of trends and new tools. ALERT®  aggregates this information into one place and best of all makes the digital jargon make sense.
• Web based. You can use it anywhere.
• Professional in design. The system is designed to make you and your company look great. It automatically creates polished documents based on the data you input.

ALERT® is the perfect system to help get you and your business get on its way with an effective digital strategy!

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this system.

Maryam
@socialmaryam

Tags: digital, small business, Social Media, strategy

You Can’t Do That On Facebook

Did you know that Facebook reserves the right to “reject or remove (Facebook) Pages for any reason” at any time? Of course you did, right? It’s stated in those terms and conditions you read and agreed to. Except, even if you were one of the few that really did read through every word of the legalese, rules can change. And they do. Especially on Facebook.

Recently, I’ve stumbled across various articles that have laid out what you can’t do on Facebook, which inspired me to write this post. Consider it a Coles Notes version of the current status of Facebook “law”. Because the last thing you want is to have your Facebook Page, including that carefully cultivated community you’ve been building, torn out of the almighty book.

So listen up. Here are just some of the things you cannot do on Facebook Pages:

1. Be Real. You can’t use a fake name or pseudonym for your Facebook username, and you need a legit username before you can launch a Page. Oh – and while we’re talking about name restrictions, don’t use ALLCAPS, or any $ymbol$ in your Page name.
2. Keep Your Contests (Mostly) Off Facebook. You are not allowed to base a contest solely on Facebook. You also can’t make Facebook functionality, as in “liking”, sharing or commenting, the core action of your contest.
3. Take Responsibility. You cannot hold Facebook accountable for any data collected on Facebook via promotions, surveys, or polls you run. You must include a disclaimer not only stating that you are collecting the information (not Facebook) but also disclose who the entrant is giving their information to and what it’s being used for.
4. Find Another Voting System. You cannot use the ‘like’ button as a voting function. For example, stating that an entrant can win a contest if his/her photo receives the most ‘likes.’
5. Reach Out To Contest Entrants Outside of Facebook. You cannot use Facebook messaging features, including inbox messages, wall posts, chat, or a business Page to notify contest winners (or losers) of their status in the contest.
6. Keep Advertising Tactics Off the Cover Photo. The cover photo cannot be used as an advertising billboard. That’s right folks. That means no contact details, no pricing information, no discounts, no promotions, and no calls to action. You can’t even have any graphical elements in the cover photo that would entice users to select a Facebook feature, such as pointing to the Like or Share icons. As if that wasn’t enough “don’ts” for one photo space, there is one more, don’t upload any photos you don’t own the rights to.
7. Use a Third Party Application. Since you cannot use Facebook features to run a promotion or contest, instead use a third party application to make sure you are in the safe zone. You can ask an entrant to like your Facebook Page, check in, or connect to your app as a step in the process of entering, but this action alone cannot automatically result in the entrant registering for the contest or promotion.

As you read through these rules, you’re probably thinking how can any of these actually be true since you see people break them all the time. Well, you are right. People do break them all the time, likely because they have no idea what the rules were or are now. Facebook has been known to shut down or remove Pages it feels violates its rules, but how does it monitor and keep track of every Page? Especially considering the rules, functionality, and features change all the time. It’s really tough to say, but best to stay on the good side of the world’s largest, arguably most powerful, social network.

Maryam Mehrtash
@socialmaryam

Tags: contests, cover photo, facebook, pages, promotions, rules, Social Media

5 Tips to Building an Audience on YouTube

Building an audience online is no easy task. It can become frustrating and tedious, especially when you’re first getting started. Whether you are building an audience for a personal YouTube channel, a brand or organization, or a web series, the basic rules will always be the same. The first rule of thumb for a successful YouTube following is to ensure your content is bringing value to your audience. Content is still king! Unless you are a celebrity or a famous expert in a certain field, users will only follow or subscribe if they love your content and want to see more of it. Once you have a good handle on your content and know who your target audience is, you are well on your way, but don’t get too excited, you still have a lot of work ahead of you! Here are 5 tips to help you with your workload:

1. Brand Your Channel. When creating your channel, make sure your brand stands out and speaks to what your content is all about. Write a well thought out channel description, make it funny, make it personal. If you have a tagline or quote from your videos that stands out, insert it into your description.
2. Engage. This does not mean writing a comment on a video, but rather actively having conversations, and asking questions. Participate on channels where your target audience is similar. By taking part in conversations this helps builds links back to your channel too. Every time you comment on a video or channel your username is hyperlinked, taking those who click directly to your channel.
3. Optimize. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. Taking the time to fill out your metadata will be well worth it. Don’t just tag a few words. Think about which words will be the most effective and create a whole list. Fill out title tags, and descriptions tags properly. This will be key to how your audience will find your content.
4. Share. The only way your content will be seen is if it’s shared. To help promote the sharing of your content create call to actions in your video, or have social media icons embedded at the end of each of your videos. The other option is to use YouTube Annotations, which is an interactive way to add commentary to your videos.
5. Be Consistent. Have a consistent schedule and stick to it. When your audience is anticipating a new video or webisode they will know when to come back for the next video upload. As a rule of thumb for YouTube, webisodes should always be stand alone. Meaning the audience shouldn’t have to watch other videos prior to know what’s happening in the current one.

If you think this sounds like a lot of work… it is! Hey, no one said it was easy. To build an audience, you must put in the work. Create great content and a strong brand, engage with your audience, optimize your videos, share it across all social media channels, and upload consistently… then do it all over again!

Maryam Mehrtash
@socialmaryam

Facebook Ads Vs. Sponsored Stories – What’s the deal?

If you are on Facebook chances are you’ve seen Facebook Ads pop up on the right side column of your News Feed. The ads are impossible to miss. Facebook advertising has become a prominent piece of many social media strategies. Facebook has generated $872 million in total advertising revenue in 2012 thus far, an increase of 37% from 2011. Until recently most of the advertising revenue came in the form of Facebook Ads. Now Facebook is driving revenue from Sponsored Stories, too. So what’s the difference?

With Facebook Ads, the marketer has control over every aspect of the advertising content, from creating the title, design, and content (135 characters of text). Sponsored Stories, on the other hand, piggyback on actions Facebook users take; highlighting them and making them more visible to others. To put another way, if a restaurant wants to gain visibility on Facebook and it sees a guest named John Doe has just checked-in on Facebook, the restaurant can choose to “sponsor” John’s check-in. When John’s check-in becomes a Sponsored Story, there’s an increased likelihood of John’s Facebook friends seeing his check-in and it now serves as John’s endorsement of the restaurant to his personal network.

Seeing that a friend has Liked a Page or checked-in to an establishment gives the brand a personal connection, and people are more likely to take similar action. Once the marketer has chosen which “story” to advertise, the demographic options and pricing structure are the same as with Facebook Ads. Similar to other Internet advertising options, marketers pay-per-click on Facebook. When selecting your pricing options, you must indicate the maximum price you are willing to pay for each click, and Facebook will distribute your advertising according to your set demographic target, and bidding budget.

Marketers are also using Facebook’s Mobile platform to promote Sponsored Stories. Because Sponsored Stories slip into News Feeds more seamlessly than other Mobile Ads, users have been more receptive to Sponsored Stories. Mobile Sponsored Stories are getting over 13 times the click through rate (CTR) and earn 11.2 times the money per impression (eCPM) on mobile over Facebook desktop ads. Facebook is projecting $300 million in mobile ad revenue alone each quarter in 2013.

Here are some ways to Sponsor a Story:

• Promote when someone likes a link posted on the Business Page, linking back to your website.
• Promote when someone likes your Business Page.
• Promote when someone “checks-in” to  your establishment.

Good luck marketers!

Maryam Mehrtash
@socialmaryam

Tags: ads, facebook, marketing, sponsored, stories, strategy