Using the new "Snapchat Memories" feature

Using the new "Snapchat Memories" feature

So first of all a quick rundown on what Snapchat is.

Snapchat is a mobile messaging application used to share photos, videos, text, and drawings.  Its free to download the app and free to send messages using it.  The one feature that makes Snapchat different from other forms of texting and photo sharing is that the messages disappear from the recipients phone after a few seconds - this message will "self-destruct" in 10 seconds!  

Snapchat's logo, named Ghostface Chilla (based on Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan), is a ghost to represent the "there, then, gone" nature of their photo sending service. 

How do you use Snapchat?  Well its simple, you take a picture using your camera phone, select who you want to send it to from your contacts, decide how long you want your picture to be visible for (up to 10 seconds), and click send.  If you are the one receiving the picture, well its just like receiving a text message, simply tap to view the pic.  Remember though that the message disappears from their phone once the time limit has expired.

Last month, Snapchat launched "Memories", a major change to the social app known for its quickly disappearing images and videos.  Snapchat now lets you save old photos, videos and snap stories within the app.  In other words you can now save a funny snap or if you had a bunch of photos on your phone that you want to share, you can now publish from your camera roll in a single-story like memory. 

So how do you use Snapchat Memories to publish more content on Snapchat?

Navigate the Memories Feature

On your Snapchat screen, tap or swipe the small circular button below the main caption button to enter Memories.  I'm going to take it that this is your first time using Memories, so you'll find two tabs along the top, i.e. Snaps and Camera Roll.  If you tap Snaps, you'll see any snaps or videos you've saved since you received the Memories update.  Tap Camera Roll to access your phones saved images and videos.  You can now use these to create and share Memories. 

To enter selection mode in Memories, tap on the check mark icon at the top right of your screen.  Navigate to any tab to select specific snaps or camera roll items.  You can select a single item to edit and share as a memory or multiple items to make a longer memory.  You can use the section mode to delete, share, and send items to your story.  You can also set an item to "My Eyes Only", which hides that item (using a password) in Memories.  (Once you begin using Memories, the All, Stories, and My Eyes Only tabs become available).

Create and Share your Memories

To get started, take a photo or video.  Tap the in-tray icon to save it to your Memories, then go into Memories and find it.  Tap on the item to enlarge it and then press hold on the screen to enter edit mode.  In Edit mode, you can change the duration of a photo, add stickers, text, and doodles.  You can also share the memory to your story or Snapchat friends.  Your other options are to Export Snap, Save to Camera Roll, Move to My Eyes Only, or Create Story from this Snap.  

Remember though to capture your items in the order you want them to appear in the Memories story as it doesn't currently allow you to manually rearrange the items you select.  Then tap on the Create Story icon at the bottom of the screen.

With regard to your Business, Snapchat Memories will now allow you to use and re-use any photo or video, and content from other networks can also be re-published on the platform.  In other words, you can now create your own designs and videos using your own programs and market them on your Snapchat account without them looking so Snapchatty (that probably isn't a word!!).  Then keep running it, repetition, repetition, repetition.

Its also important to remember that the number of users over the age of 35 has steadily been increasing.  The addition of Memories will likely multiply these numbers as Snapchat begins to appeal to older audiences.  This will give brands that have an older target audience more opportunity to market effectively on the platform.

All good me thinks!

ARE YOU STUCK ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

Hi my name is Siun Morrissey,I am 19 years old and I am currently a student in Cork Institute of Technology and I am studying Marketing.

Your customers are on social media so you need to be too! Many of us don't know where to start with social media, but this is where Devin Joubert a blogger comes in she has written a very interesting blog  which helps businesses gain more traffic(followers) on there Social Media platforms. It is titled "50 Social Media Marketing Tips That Will Help You Build Traffic." I have read this Blog and made my own interpretation on it. I am going to write about the tips which I believe will be the most useful for businesses on social media.

FACEBOOK

 Facebook is one of the worlds biggest communication websites, but even if you have a Facebook profile for your business it can still be quiet difficult to get people to notice your company. These are the tips which I believe will make people notice your brand.

Groups:

Groups are a great way to get the consumer interested and involved in your business. The reason that a business would set up a group on Facebook is for their repeat and loyal customers, to get their input on the business such as what they would like to see in the business and also what they would like to change in the business..

Creating a group is a very easy thing to do once you know how.

1. Go onto your Facebook page and click on the top right hand corner.
2. Click on the arrow down, scroll down and click on Groups
3. Add whoever you want to your group.
4. Then add the group to your favourites as it will be easy yo access.

Its that simple and will make a lot of difference in the amount of followers and customers that you will receive.

Carousel and Canvas:

This is a way of presenting your images and videos that will draw the public in, it increase the views on your page and to get more people interested in your business and what you have to offer. It is like a slide show for Facebook a way of telling a story and like the Facebook Groups it is also quite simple to do if you know how of course!

1. Go onto your Facebook profile and click on Photo/Video.
2. A list should appear and you should then click either Carousel or Canvas they are both similar.
3. Then add in your desired photos, videos and descriptions.
4. Once you have finished editing your content you are done.

This is an excellent form of communication as you could show your followers how you set up your business, what type of products you have and what new products or ideas that you might have in the future.

Link Messages:

Many companies post photos  along with a link to get people to click on this link and to get them to read what they have written, however it has been proven that the majority of people don't even bother clicking the link but instead look at the photo and continue to scroll down the page. Instead what business should be doing is posting a link without an image. it has been proven that it sends more people to your website.

Although these three are very different they all work the same. They all manage to boost the amount of consumers looking at your Facebook Page which is a success for business.

Twitter.

Along with Facebook, Twitter is an excellent platform for communication with the public. These are the tips which I believe will get you the most "traffic" on your twitter page.

Retweets:

Retweets are extremely important as it shows the public what you are interested in which could lead you to connect with your customers. Retweeting is also very important when a customer has chosen to write about an experience with your products, by retweeting their post it shows that you care about their opinion and what they have to say regarding your product.

Polls:

Polls are a brilliant way to communicate with the public, by using polls you get to ask your followers what they would like to see from you in the future, have they tried your new product and what they thought of it. This is a great way to know what your customers want and what their interests are.they are also a good way with keeping up with new trends and asking people for their opinion on them, such as sports, fashion, new technology etc .Polling is very simple you just need to use these steps and you should be okay.

1. Log into your twitter account.
2. Compose a tweet.
3. Before you click Tweet click on the "Add a Poll" icon on the bottom left.
4. Then ask your questions and you are ready to go

Hashtags:

Hashtags are so important when it comes to Twitter they show the public what you like and what you are interested in. Hashtags also make it easier for your followers to find your content. However it is important not to use too many hashtags as this could mean that your content ends up being hard to find. Stick to using between 1-2 hashtags between each tweet, this will just make it easier for your followers and the public to find and reply to your tweets much easier.

Social Media is a big platform in today's society which means that we have to embrace it and understand it to be able to compete with the much larger companies. I believe that Twitter and Facebook are a great place to start.

Hi my name is Siun Morrissey,I am 19 years old and I am currently a student in Cork Institute of Technology and I am studying Marketing.

http://coschedule.com/blog/social-media-marketing-tips/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=50%20Social%20Media%20Marketing%20Tips%20That%20Will%20Help%20You%20Build%20Traffic&utm_content=50%20Social%20Media%20Marketing%20Tips%20That%20Will%20Help%20You%20Build%20Traffic+Version+A+CID_9ecaacdc69c886a6640348480a0a3844&utm_source=todaymail&utm_term=READ%2050%20Social%20Media%20Marketing%20Tips%20That%20Will%20Help%20You%20Build%20Traffic

How to make the most of your Instagram

How to make the most of your Instagram

So lets start at the beginning.

Instagram for those of us who know little if not anything about it was launched in 2010.  It is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service that enables you to take pictures and videos, and share them either publicly or privately on the app, as well as through other social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.  (Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for a whopping $1 billion!).

So what is an Algorithm?  For a computer to do anything you have to write a computer program.  To write a program, you have to tell the computer exactly what you want it to do, step by step.  The computer then "executes" the  program, following each step mechanically.  When you tell the computer what to do, you also get to choose how its going to do it.  Hence, Algorithm.  The algorithm is the basic technique used to get the job done.  (Hope you are still with me!).

So why use Instagram?  Used correctly, Instagram can be a highly-targeted, visual advertising channel for your business.  Like any social network, there are right ways to use it, wrong ways to use it, and clever ways to use it.  The most successful strategy overall is to be authentic and social.  Businesses can use this platform as away to showcase their product and services in a rich, visual context.

On March 16, Instagram posted plans that they would be moving away from showing posts in strict reverse chronological order, and instead boost those based on the "likelihood you'll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting, and the timeliness of the post".  So all posts are still there, just in a different order!

If this new set up has your worried or concerned, here a a few helpful tips (I hope!).

How to increase your visibility:

Become ACTIVE - engage with your social media followers more.  If they like your photos, you like their photos.  If they comment on your photos, you need to reply to them and thank them.  Build a relationship with them so that they continue to like you and continue to follow you.  The more likes you get the more likely they will see your photos in their news feed.  

REVIEW your most successful posts and then replicate them!  Be strategic about what you post, look at your most popular posts, review the similarities between them and then create a similar content. This will help you to create a strategy that will enable you to withstand this change in algorithm and keep the followers engaged.  YES.

Take advantage of your CAPTION - Say something like "I love this book / product", what do you think"?   This gives them an opportunity to comment on your photo.  The more comments, likes, the more activity on your photos will translate to their feed.  Instagram will then see that hey this person likes your photos and they will then see your posts in their feed more often.  Or should you have a website:- "I love this book / product", what do you think"? click the link in our profile to see full details.  This gets people off the platform and on to your website.

#HASHTAGS - You can have up to 30 #hashtags.  My suggestion to you is to add 1 to 2 #hashtags in your caption, add them into your sentence for example "Out driving in my new #audiA3convertable, enjoying #splendidsun" (I wish).  This gets your message across to followers, but its not going to be lost in a whole bunch of #hashtags.  Make sure the #hashtags you use relate to your business. your location and industry. 

Incorporate TRENDING topics in your posts, i.e. Waterford Hurlers!! 

Use short VIDEOS, record a company promotional day, a behind the scenes video, a summer barbecue, the Christmas party (maybe not!).  Keep them short and remember when you post them to add as many relevant hashtags as you can to spread the reach of your video.

Introducing Video on Instagram from Instagram on Vimeo.

Make sure your Instagram page is PUBLIC.  If its not Public, no ones is going to see it.

My message to you is - your creativity and knowledge can drive success no matter.