Social Solutions

What do you do when a tool or a platform you have been using for your marketing disappears? Well, hopefully you didn’t put all your eggs in the Vine basket, because that is exactly what is happening. Twitter announced the demise of this popular 6-second video feature. We can speculate why, but the real issue is what do you do when you lost a valuable resource? Are you prepared to shift gears or do you already have a comprehensive social media plan in place that it would only represent a speed bump on the road to success?

For a long time, users and viewers have questioned the validity of endorsements on LinkedIn. Who are these people? Why are they endorsing me? Is this feature helping or hurting my reputation. Well the answer lies in the middle. Chances are you will be pleased with the new ‘endorsements that matter’ enhancement that LinkedIn just rolled out. Want to know more? Have a listen.

We will also cover the exciting news about Pinterest topping 150 million users and the growing shift in demographics both in and outside the United States. Did you know that when a customer tweets at a business and receives a timely response they are more likely to spend money with you? And we know video is important but increasingly the value of content marketing through the use of video is taking center stage.

If your business is struggling, maybe it’s time to jump start your social media. We will share some simple tips to get you reengaged so your Likes will reengage. And to help you along, we plan to share some great tips on writing – even if you don’t consider yourself a writer.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. What on earth are we talking about? Well mixing politics with social media, of course. Facebook announced a new feature this week allowing you to publicly endorse your Presidential candidate on your profile and page. But before you hit the button, tune in to Social Solutions for some sobering things to consider.

Today, Carol McManus and Ken Herron (without political bias) will move on to topics that include live-stream on Periscope without using your smartphone using Periscope Producer. If you are (or want to be) recognized as an authority in your field, then this is a feature worth investigating.

Maybe you will qualify for Pin Collective so you can tap into the resources of Pinterest so your Pins delight customers and drive performance for your business. Still looking for the magic solution for making an image go viral on social media? Well we have some tips to share. And if you are still not using Snapchat you are probably losing out. Let us share some information to get you over your resistance.

Join Carol McManus and Ken Herron for a rollicking time as we discuss how Presidential tweeting has impacted brands and how they are managing damage control – it happened to Skittles, TicTac, Oreo, and Ford, and yes, it could happen to you!

Have you heard about Workplace by Facebook. Truth to tell, it’s Facebook at Work with a new shade of lipstick, but something to consider because your employees are already using social media at work and this may be a solution or a curse to this potential time waster. And if you think Virtual Reality (VR) isn’t here to stay, then you haven’t heard about Oculus Touch (ships Dec 6 just in time for Christmas).

Maybe you’re looking for some LinkedIn best practices and another solid reason for using LinkedIn on a regular basis. Let’s see – we haven’t mentioned video is the last few minutes so let’s talk about Prisma and what it can do to take okay pictures to sunning and even epic levels making you and your company look like pros!

We’ve talked a lot about marketing to Millennials, but let’s not forget about Gen Z. They are the next generation to hit stride when it comes to buying power and marketing influence, but it’s all about video.

What do we love about Craigslist? It’s free! What do we love about eBay? It’s the world’s largest garage sale! And what do we love about Facebook Marketplace? The over a billion users and a new way to spike engagement along with sales! That’s just the tip of today’s Social Solutions iceberg.

When Ken Herron and Carol McManus kick off the show, we’ll bring you up to date on Twitter Moments and why this will be a genuinely useful marketing tool. While we were off air last week, Spectacles introduced their new video-recording eyewear – will it success where Google Glass failed? Maybe! But Google hasn’t been asleep either. They have introduced Google WiFi, Chromecast Ultra and Google Home.

Did you know full disclosure is mandatory if you are receiving compensation for promoting other people’s products or services. YouTube has now added text disclaimers that appear in the first few seconds of the video to help you comply.

And we’ll round out the program with some compelling video marketing statistics taking away any excuse for not using video.

Just when you thought you had it figured out, Twitter yet again changed the rules! But the good news is they keep stretching 140 characters without really changing the maximum. How? Tune in to Social Solutions with Ken Herron and Carol McManus and we’ll explain.

Other hot topics on deck for today include the uproar over iOS 10 and making sense out of why there are now TWO Apple App Stores instead of one. Unnecessary or a bonanza for marketers? Have you checked out the facelift on LinkedIn Publisher? It is getting better all the time and now a must use tool in your social media arsenal – professionals, you no longer have to take a back seat to Facebook addicts!

Rounding out the show we’ll share Pinsights including what pinners are eating this year and how you can take advantage of trends. Curious about narrative content versus ephemeral content? Chances are this was not keeping you up last night or the topic you focused on this morning with your Cheerios, but there is a reason to care.

And finally, who other than Edward Snowden could torpedo #Allo with the stroke of a tweet. Huge lesson on why AI (Artificial Intelligence) is not always the best thing.

Carol is off today, and before you start worrying about what trouble I’ll get myself into on today’s show without adult supervision, joining me today is my very special guest, author Karen Dimmick.

 

Karen is the author of the upcoming book 47 Mind Hacks for Writers and is the co-founder of Bookthority.com, where she helps authors to make their businesses more profitable. Helping authors for more than eight years, Karen works with everyone from first-time writers to an established, five-times New York Times-bestselling author. Her mission is to break down what works for authors and put it into practical steps to help them to build profitable, engaging businesses they and their fans love.

 

In 2017, Karen will be hosting The Book Marketing Summit to help authors learn everything they need to know to successfully market their books. Full-disclosure — I will be one of her speakers!

 

On today’s show, Karen and I will actually be flipping roles. She will be interviewing me about the best practices in 2016 for authors to market their books — and themselves! — on social media, asking me questions received from her audience of global authors over the past week. 

 

Are you a new author? A veteran author? Do you have a question about using social media to market your book? Tweet it to me now on @KenHerron, and we’ll answer it on today’s show.

Today was another big announcement from Apple with the anticipation an insider leaks about the new Apple Watch and the iPhone 7 but did the hype live up to expectations? And what do these introductions mean to your business?

That’s how we start today’s Social Solutions Show. But get ready to learn about Peek-a-moo. Instagram has introduced zoom for photos and videos and this is already a game changer for smart marketers. Are you up to date on what your Likes are expecting from your Facebook posts? Then you already know it’s R.I.P. time for text and images – it truly IS all about video.

If you are not taking advantage of influencer marketing and sponsored content, you are not going to be effective at engaging followers. And we have a few more tips specifically about Facebook. Your privacy settings are move important than ever and we’ll tell you why. Plus it IS possible to increase your organic reach, but there are a few tricks!

What super-premium French luxury retailer missed the marketing opportunity of a lifetime recently? Answer: Goyard. What did they do? Well, tune in to Social Solutions to hear this incredibly stupid, shortsighted, and probably costly example. (Do you think we have a strong opinion on this one?)

Tons to talk about today including the return of Ben Forta, our returning guest from Adobe to bring us up to date on all the latest news and innovation to make you more productive. In addition to Ben, we’ll tell you about the Amplify Publisher Program on Twitter and share some new research on what things brands do that social media users find most annoying.

LinkedIn seems to be moving in a new direction by offering better search for content. Is this a good thing or a bad thing and do you search for content or people on LinkedIn? If that’s not enough, we’ll give you a great checklist on how to be a better communicator.

No, we haven’t lost our marbles and you are listening to The Social Solutions Show! But we are betting you haven’t considered the possibilities for marketing your business and yes, using Twitter stickers to take part in this special day of honor on August 26th.