Social Media Management

December 30 2019

How to Improve Social Media Engagement

jpearson Blog Social Media Management, Social Media Tips 2020 0

Want your posts to attract more viewers? Wondering how to increase views and shares of your content?

In this article, you’ll discover five simple tactics to improve engagement on your posts – especially as it relates to LinkedIn.

#1: Try Writing a Text-Only Post

Sometimes, this is a great way to go. Think about your own experience with LinkedIn. Every so often, you’ll see a short text-only post in your stream that has a stack of likes and comments. This is not a rarity. Here’s an example:

LinkedIn lets you include up to 1,300 characters in a post, which is roughly 250 words. Although that’s barely the equivalent of a very short blog post, you still have enough space to include some detail. For example, this post about applying for a job is about 240 words. Notice the number of likes and comments!

Why Do Text-Only Posts Work?

It makes sense that LinkedIn doesn’t want to display too many posts containing links to third-party sites. Each time someone clicks one of those links, they leave the LinkedIn platform. That means they spend less time on LinkedIn.

How to Write Effective Text-Only Posts

Here are a few tips for writing text-only posts on LinkedIn:

Keep it short. No one wants to read walls of text. Also, on LinkedIn mobile, a “See More” link appears on text updates longer than five lines. On the desktop version, your post is cut off after only three lines. With these limits in mind, if you use a storytelling approach, put a compelling hook in the first line to encourage people to read the whole post.

Ask a question. Anything that elicits a response will increase engagement. Make your question easy to answer and relevant to your field.

Take a stand. If you have an opinion on a relevant topic, share it and invite comments. If you can back up your stance with solid reasoning and evidence, people may begin to see you as a thought leader in your field.

Include links in the comments. Make your initial post text only, but then post a reply that includes the link that you wanted to share (if there is one). The same goes for images: post them as replies.

#2: Like Your Own Posts

Why does a Like button appear next to your own social media posts? Is it really okay to give yourself a thumbs-up, heart, or whatever is the latest symbol of approval? It almost feels like a trick: “Here’s a button that you really shouldn’t click.” However, ignoring this button is a mistake, because liking your own posts and status updates will increase engagement with the post.

The same goes for liking your own comments. This tactic is especially powerful if others have commented on your post because they’ll continue to see notifications about new likes and comments on the post, and that might encourage them to contribute again in some way.

Liking your own posts helps because people are more likely to interact with content if others have interacted first. Put another way, if the dance floor is empty, it takes guts to be the first person to hop up and start busting a move. But if others are there already, it’s much easier to join the party.

#3: Engage With Comments

Pay attention to anyone who takes time out of their day to leave a comment on one of your posts or status updates. Like user comments and post replies to continue the discussion.

People who have commented will see a notification and that could drive further engagement, ideally leading them to share your post with their network.

#4: Record and Share Native Video

With LinkedIn native video in the mobile app, you can record a video inside the app or upload a pre-made video from your camera roll. To find the video feature in the most current version of the app, look for the video camera icon in the top-right corner.

Just as with Facebook, native video on LinkedIn autoplays on mute. Because the LinkedIn video feature currently doesn’t add captions for you, share videos that have captions “burned in” (that is, the captions are part of the video file) to help catch people’s attention and increase engagement.

#5: Make Your Updates Public

LinkedIn lets you make status updates visible to the public. To do so, you need to check your settings and then you can choose to make any post public.

Check Your Settings

You can’t change the relevant settings via the LinkedIn mobile app, but you can via a desktop browser. To begin, click the Me icon at the top of the LinkedIn homepage, click Settings & Privacy, and then click the Privacy tab at the top of the page.

Under the Blocking and Hiding section is the Followers option. Click Change, and then from the drop-down list, select Everyone on LinkedIn.

Keep your updates short and relevant, invite comments, and make sure you react positively to everyone who takes the time to engage with your content.

If you need guidance, we’re here to help! Visit Apis Productions’ Social Media Packages page and let us know what your needs are.

April 25 2019

Fine-Tuning YouTube Part Three

jpearson Blog Social Media Management, YouTube, YouTube Fine-tuning 0

In Part Three of Apis Productions’ YouTube Series, we’ll cover adding thumbnails to videos (custom or auto-generated), adding watermarks to videos, and we’ll also cover YouTube’s 2019 image guidelines for each of the sections.

Add (or Change) Video Thumbnails

Video thumbnails let viewers see a quick snapshot of your video as they’re browsing YouTube. After your video is finished uploading, you can choose a thumbnail from the three options YouTube automatically generates, or upload your own.

To add or change a video thumbnail:

YouTube Fine-Tuning

From the left menu, select Videos.

YouTube Series Select Videos

Select a video by clicking on its title or thumbnail.

Choose an auto-generated thumbnail (choose from three listed for you) and select Save.

YouTube Thumbnails

From the left menu, select Videos.

Select a video by clicking on its title or thumbnail.

Under “Thumbnail”, select Choose custom thumbnail.

Choose the file you’d like to use as your custom thumbnail. (See the Image Size and Resolution section below for thumbnail size specifications!)

Select Save.

Image Size and Resolution:

Your custom thumbnail image should be as large as possible, as the image will also be used as the preview image in the embedded player. We recommend your custom thumbnails:

Have a resolution of 1280×720 (with a minimum width of 640 pixels).
Be uploaded in image formats such as .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG.
Remain under the 2MB limit.
Try to use a 16:9 aspect ratio as it’s the most used in YouTube video players and previews.

Add a Branding Watermark to Videos

You can encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel by adding a branding watermark to your videos. This is often called a custom subscribe button. When you add a watermark, viewers can directly subscribe to your channel if they hover over the watermark when using YouTube on a computer.

To Add your Branding Watermark:

YouTube Fine-Tuning

From the left menu, select Settings.

Select Channel and then Branding.

YouTube Branding

Select Choose image and choose which image you’d like to use as your branding watermark.

Select the display time for the branding watermark:

End of video: The branding watermark will appear for the last 15 seconds of the video.

Custom start time: The branding watermark will begin showing at a time you choose.

Entire video: The branding watermark will appear throughout the entire video.

Save changes.

Image guidelines for branding:

Images must be square, with a minimum of 150×150 pixels, and less than 1MB in size. We recommend that you use a transparent background rather than a solid one and include just one color in the image. This will help the image be less distracting, especially on small screens.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

LinkedIn Isn't a One-Way Street_Apis Productions

March 5 2019

LinkedIn Is Not a One-Way Street

jpearson Blog LinkedIn Tips, social media, Social Media Management 0

by JP

Social media, in general, is often seen as a tool to reach the masses. You might see a stray engagement that way but how often do we actually “engage” back?

It’s not effective to just post, leave, and expect unlimited traffic.

You’ve got to genuinely ask people (not companies) to give their opinion on subjects that you want to learn more about.

You’ve got to seek other ideas and open the discussion to anyone (publicly).
You’ve got to use hashtags that involve other topics that might not be related to your post but does relate to your field and interest.

When it comes to LinkedIn, there are two points I’d really like to point out when it comes to building your base and maximizing your engagement.

1: Remember you can only “connect” with people first…not companies. Build your base with your personal LinkedIn platform.

Write articles with your personal profile. (There’s a difference between articles and posts)
Be your original self and keep it professional.
Make certain your personal LinkedIn profile is up to date. This includes your current title, links to your company website – even special links you want to include like your company email or phone number.

2: Follow the companies you are interested in. This is where LinkedIn company pages come in. (These are posts.)

Share original content from your blog or website on your company page.
Keep your creatives polished and branded.
Keep the text (or copy) about the post simple and the link to the URL short.
Reply promptly to any comments or likes from your posts on your company page.
Comment on other company pages that are added in your feed when you follow them on your personal platform. This = Engagement!
Share content from other company pages you follow and comment on them.
Be authentic in your comments and don’t link to anything else unless it directly relates to your business page.

If you need guidance, we’re here to help. Visit Apis Productions’ Social Media and let us know what your needs are.

February 27 2019

Hashtags & Instagram

jpearson Blog Hashtags, Hashtags and Instagram, social media, Social Media Management 0

Here a few basic tips about how to use hashtags with Instagram.

You can add hashtags in the caption or comments of your post. If you add hashtags to a post that’s set to public, the post will be visible on the corresponding hashtag page.

To tag a photo or video with a hashtag:

Take or upload a photo or video
Choose to add a filter, then type # followed by text or emoji in the Caption field (Example: #lifeinsurance, #insurancebrokerage)
If you want to add a hashtag to a post you’ve already uploaded, edit the caption or include your hashtag in a comment on your photo

After you tag your post with a hashtag, you’ll be able to tap the hashtag to see a page that shows all photos and videos people have uploaded with that hashtag.

Things to keep in mind:

When people with private profiles tag posts, they won’t appear publicly on hashtag pages.
Numbers are allowed in hashtags, however, spaces and special characters like $ or %, won’t work.
You can only tag your own posts. You can’t tag other people’s photos/videos.
You can use up to 30 tags/hashtags on one post. If you include more than 30 tags on a single photo/video, your comment won’t post.

It’s very common to post as many hashtags and emojis as you can at the bottom of every Instagram post.

We hope you’ve found this information helpful.

We, at Apis Productions, will be putting together a couple more in-depth articles about Instagram “tagging” and “mentioning” in the near future. As always, if you need help with your social-media management and/or graphics creation for your custom-branded posts, give us a shout! #WeAreListening

February 5 2019

How To Use LinkedIn Hashtags

jpearson Blog Hashtags, LinkedIn Hashtags, Social Media Management 0

Hashtags are a relatively new feature on LinkedIn, just added in 2018. LinkedIn is a very different social media platform than more casual social sites like Twitter and Instagram, so the purpose and usage of hashtags is different as well.

How Do Hashtags Work on LinkedIn?

Similar to other social media sites, you can create a hashtag on LinkedIn by using the hashtag symbol followed by your choice word or phrase. Hashtags can be used on LinkedIn updates or on articles published on LinkedIn. You can also follow hashtags on LinkedIn, allowing top content related to that hashtag to show up on your feed.

Follow these rules to ensure that your LinkedIn hashtag works properly:

Do NOT use spaces: Like other social media hashtags, LinkedIn hashtags cannot include spaces or it will break the link and cut the tag short, potentially changing its meaning or creating confusion.
Do NOT use punctuation: Punctuation, just like spaces, breaks the hashtag off at that character, shortening it and changing its meaning.
Make it public: If your profile is public, you’re already set. If your profile is private, however, you’ll need to make your post or article public. Otherwise, your post will only reach your existing network and not the larger online community following the hashtags you include.

To add a hashtag to an update, simply type your update and then type in your chosen tags after the # symbol. LinkedIn will offer suggested hashtags for you to click to add, or you can type in your own.

To add a hashtag to an article, you can type and edit your article on LinkedIn and click the Publish button. A window will pop up before it publishes, and here you can type in your hashtags in the field that says “Tell your network what your article is about.” These hashtags will appear above your article and will share your article with users following the hashtags you included.

You can also weave LinkedIn hashtags into your profile so that someone searching for that hashtag can find you, leading to new connections and opportunities. Include your most relevant hashtags in your headline or summary on your profile.

Hashtags also work in comments on LinkedIn – these can be used to further attach your name to a specific hashtag, branding your profile. This will categorize the original update into that hashtag, so use this feature sparingly and be sure to only comment relevant hashtags.

How To Follow Hashtags on LinkedIn:

You can also follow hashtags on LinkedIn, allowing posts with that hashtag to show up on your feed for you to interact with. Follow hashtags related to your field, industry, or brand. You can also pin your favorite hashtags to your homepage, making it easier to find related content. Your pinned hashtags will appear on the left side of your homepage under “Your Communities.” Click the pencil button to edit your pinned hashtags, or click “Discover More” to find similar hashtags that may be of interest.

Once you follow relevant hashtags, you can engage with the content that appears on your LinkedIn feed. By exploring content related to your interests, you can find new users to connect with or join in the online conversation about your industry.

Why Should I Use LinkedIn Hashtags?

Whether you’re using a personal account or a company LinkedIn page, using hashtags will help your updates and articles reach a larger audience, helping to expand your LinkedIn network! Hashtags can show that you are engaged with the content you’re sharing and connect you to similar content or users in your field.

Use popular hashtags on LinkedIn to reach a larger audience, but you can also target a more specific demographic by using more specific hashtags related to your content. Don’t use too specific a hashtag, however, as the purpose of using hashtags is to reach more users who will like and comment on your post or connect with you or your company. Original hashtags are only useful if you’re creating a brand hashtag for your company.

Hashtags will make your updates and articles more discoverable for other users, increasing visibility on your post or article and profile.

LinkedIn Hashtag Tips:

LinkedIn, unlike other social media, is a professional network. This means that your content and hashtags should be professional. You should also avoid confusing text talk or acronyms – not all users on LinkedIn will understand this shorthand.

If you’re unsure which hashtags you should use, search through similar posts or related hashtags to see what other users have tried. You can also look at a more established LinkedIn profile similar to your own to see what worked for them.

LinkedIn recommends using no more than three to five hashtags per post to avoid looking spammy or getting marked as spam by the website.

If you want your update or article to reach a specific geographic area, use a location hashtag to target your post to that specific area. You can also add a location hashtag if your post is about a certain location.

We, at Apis Productions, will be putting together more in-depth articles about hashtags in the near future. As always, if you need help with your social media management and/or graphic creation for your custom-branded posts, give us a shout! #wearelistening