Feb
22

Tenthwave’s Take on Instagram

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Jaime Hoerbelt

Instagram, the photo-sharing app, has been around for almost two years and has a user base of 14 million people. That’s an extremely impressive number for an application that is currently only available for iOS users. (An Android version is rumored to be launching in the coming months.) What makes Instagram the picture-taking powerhouse that it has become? Here’s our take—and how we think it can enhance your social media strategy.

4 reasons why Instagram is so popular

1. Filters

The software itself makes creating beautiful photos easy by masking a lot of common photography faux pas with creative filters. Turning the average Joe into an artistic funky photographer is what Instagram does best.

2. Friends

It’s much easier for users to get an audience for their photos: Instagram makes it simple to share with friends by connecting to Facebook. And, at long last, the app makes sure photos are displayed on Facebook in all their full-sized glory. More than just your Facebook friends, Instagram lets you easily make new friends. More often than not, users will discover photographer favorites to follow and find strangers hearting their photos.

3. Hashtags

Like Twitter, Instagram uses hashtags to help organize content into searchable themes. The Instagram community team creates weekly themes like “#somethingoldsomethingnew” and features some of this user-generated content on their blog.

4. Mobile

A large part of Instagram’s success is due to the device it’s on. If you haven’t heard it enough already, mobile is BIG. The portability, accessibility and feasibility of the iPhone (since Instagram is currently an Apple-only application) have propelled Instagram and many other applications to become everyday tools.

How you can integrate Instagram into your social media strategy

1. Leverage hashtags and friends for promotions

User-generated-content contests or sweepstakes can take on a new life if you use Instagram to spread the word about the promotion. Posting selected photo submissions on Instagram with a unique hashtag, while linking the brand’s Instagram account to Twitter, will effectively raise awareness about a Facebook or microsite promotion. It will also help build an Instagram following if you don’t already have one.

2. Take advantage of the photography community

While lots of shutterbug wannabes are using Instagram, serious photographers are flocking to Instagram as well. There are a number of notable photographers who are using the application to create interesting art, build their own followings and interact with the photographer community. It’s a community that you can engage to help your own profile and enhance a marketing message.

Case in point: Neutrogena did a photo-mob campaign last summer to generate buzz around the dangers of skin cancer. The campaign featured the popular iPhone photographer Chia Aik Beng who uploaded 32 pictures to Instagram over a three-day period, creating a collage. Neutrogena then added the hashtag #NeutrogenaUltraSheer to the photos, and posted the brand message to the final photo: ‘Let your skin have a little more fun in the sun. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer with 3x longer UVA protection.’ In traditional flash-mob style, the collage was taken down shortly after it appeared…but not before it received a total of 6,792 likes and over 500 comments. Outside of Instagram, the campaign reached approximately 40,000 people on Twitter.

3. Take advantage of other niche communities
Your brand may have another community to tap—your own fans. Do a search for any brand name or product and you will find pictures from people who love it. Interact with that community of highly engaged, loyal users by posting exclusive photos, rewarding users who add photos related to your brand with a hashtag-based sweepstakes, or featuring Instagram photos on your blog or website.

One brand that’s already taking action: Starbucks, which has over 244,000 followers on Instagram. Starbucks posts behind-the-scenes photos from the Corporate Headquarters, like the one below, to interact with fans of the coffee and provide exclusive content that is not seen on Facebook.

We think Instagram has enormous potential as a marketing tool. It’s easy to use for both consumers and brands, and can effortlessly enhance the marketing programs you already have in your plan. How do you think you’ll use it?

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Feb
21

Tenthwave’s Take on Social Media Week

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Abid Anwar

Click to see the realtime infographic

In the battle of themed weeks here in NYC, Tenthwave (naturally) chose Social Media Week over Fashion Week. Members of our social media team attended several of the panels, taking time to jot down some commentary on the ideas that were being kicked around. It wasn’t all serious—we had a blast at the networking events, for instance (what other professional week has a beer pong kick-off party?). But now it’s time to talk business. Here’s a collection of our learnings so far:

  • Entertainment brands: If you aren’t exploring social television, what are you waiting for?
    • We learned at The Mobile-Social Living Room: How Emerging Media is Reviving the Live Television Experience that 86% of mobile users, use their phones while watching television.
    • We also learned, that up to 30% of tweets about television shows are from GetGlue check-ins.
      • GetGlue has two million fans and 150 million+ check-ins—a very active crowd.
  • Content, content, and content.
    • If you haven’t heard it enough times this week, we’re here to reiterate the point: content is key. Many panelists have made the point this week that conversation only goes so far without creative and relevant content.
  • Follow trends, but don’t necessarily jump on them.
    • Your brand doesn’t need to be on every social network. Pinterest, for example, has a very specific audience and is not a good fit for every brand despite the buzz and high level of engagement.
  • Brands, don’t expect your audience to do something for you if you won’t return the favor.
    • Even comedians follow this strategy. At @HAHAHAHA: How to be funny in 140 characters or less, panelists Lizz Winstead, Julieanne Smolinski and Jon Friedman agreed that their approach to self-promotion was about 90% jokes and less than 10% shameless plugs.
  • Your college audience thinks you’re doing it wrong.
    • Current college students had a lot to say about what works for them in social media at Meet Your Influencers: They May Be College Students. A handful of Boston-area students gave their take on what it means to be ‘social,’ who’s doing it right, and what makes things go south. Among the many areas where they think brands go wrong is using Facebook ads, pushing frictionless sharing and not valuing smaller communities like Tumblr and Pinterest as much as Facebook.

 

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Feb
3

Tenthwave Top 5 in Digital/Social Media News – January 2012

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Jaime Hoerbelt

Here’s the latest edition of our monthly roundup of the most important and compelling industry developments. We scan the blogs, online news sources and digital magazines (so you don’t have to) and gather our five must-read picks. We hope you enjoy these digital and social media updates and find them valuable in navigating this exciting and constantly evolving marketing landscape.

1. Stat of the Day: Mobile Phones Overtake PCs

More consumers in key global markets have Internet-capable mobile devices than computers

Read the full article >>

2. The Social Bowl

When the Patriots of New England take on the Giants of New York…the vast majority of attendees are sure to use mobile devices to disclose various details of their fun during a full week of events. An unprepared city could experience a social media logjam, but the city of Indianapolis has taken all of this into consideration.

Read the full article >>

3. 30 Social Media Predictions for 2012 From the Pros

How will social media impact businesses in 2012? We sought expert opinions from a wide range of pros you’re likely familiar with.

Read the full article >>

 

 

4. Beyond Facebook: 3 Innovative Promotions Using Other Platforms

When people talk about social media promotions and highlight best practices from case studies, they are almost always focused on Facebook. And while it makes sense for marketers to turn to the behemoth for their promotions, there are a lot of specialized, smaller networks that are equally effective in achieving results.

Read the full article >>

5. Social Campaigns Give Long-Term Boost to Brand Metrics

As social media marketers become more and more accountable for the return on investment of their programs, some are also starting to see the long-term results of campaigns that work.

Read the full article >>

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Jan
30

Two of Tenthwave’s Campaigns are Up for Facebook Studio Awards

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Jaime Hoerbelt

The Facebook Studio Awards is Facebook’s tribute to the best campaigns that take advantage of the Facebook platform. This year, two campaigns from Tenthwave have been accepted into the Facebook Studio Gallery and are being considered for one of four awards: Facebook/Time Warner/Cartoon Network’s the Stop Bullying: Speak Up campaign; and eBay’s the More the Merrier campaign. A panel that includes the Chief Creative Officers from Leo Burnett North America, CP&B and RG/A North America as well as the Director of Global Creative Solutions of Facebook and others will judge both campaigns. Show your support for these exciting campaigns and “like” the submissions.

More about Stop Bullying: Speak Up:

Facebook and Time Warner teamed up to address the nationwide bullying problem by inspiring bystanders to take action. Using the Facebook platform, Time Warner, Facebook and Tenthwave created an app that makes the antidote more viral than the problem. The Social Pledge Facebook app combines the best of Facebook’s sharing functions to help students and adults sign and share the Pledge to speak up against bullying; recruit others to join the movement; and start their own school-based bullying prevention groups on Facebook.

The Social Pledge Facebook App remains live today, and people continue to share the message with their friends, via video, on their Walls, and through widgets.

“Like” Stop Bullying: Speak Up:
http://facebook-studio.com/gallery/submission/stop-bullying-speak-up

More about the More the Merrier:

‘The More the Merrier’ sweepstakes let players send virtual gifts to friends via Facebook, with a chance to win the real thing. Sifting through millions of digital clues in friends’ Facebook profiles, eBay pinpointed what your best friends want most. eBay’s custom Facebook app identified your top 10 Facebook friends and matched them with gifts based on their Facebook profiles. Friends who opened the virtual gift were entered to win the real thing. Friends were also invited to send gifts to their own 10 Top Friends—organically widening the reach of eBay’s Buy It New, Buy It Now message.

“Like” the More the Merrier submission:
http://facebook-studio.com/gallery/submission/ebay-the-more-the-merrier

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Jan
20

From Fiction to Reality: Hollywood Technology That Came to Life

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Matthew Moroni

Are the brightest technology ideas coming out of Hollywood? We’ve all seen them: fictitious—but really cool—gadgets depicted in movies and on TV. Men In Black had the “neutralizer,” a pen-shaped device that wiped the memory of whoever came into contact with its light. And who didn’t want a real hover board like the one in Back to the Future Part 2? If only.

Sometimes, these far-fetched concepts miraculously find their way to reality, developing into a real tool that’s functional and, ultimately, routine. Here’s a quick look at a few devices from the original Star Trek TV series that came to life years later. It got us thinking: What gadgets in today’s sci-fi films will we be using every day in the near future?

Mobile communication devices
The crew of the Enterprise used “universal communicators” to connect with each other and other starships. It took a while for our cellular phones to match the sleekness of Captain Kirk’s device (gone, thank goodness, are the days of the Nokia 6110, an electric brick with a candy bar-sized battery), but today’s smart phones are even more sophisticated than their Star Trek inspiration. Ours come complete with high-quality cameras, GPS tracking, and music libraries. We use them to call, text, video chat, pay for purchases, order food, and surf the net.

Translation devices
Intergalactic language barriers were shattered with Star Trek’s universal translator, a small device that allowed different groups to communicate. In the real world, we’ve moved beyond the dusty bilingual dictionary. Today’s downloadable apps translate words and phrases in seconds, and some even let you speak a phrase into a microphone for an immediate oral translation. It’s almost become too easy.

So if you’re jazzed about something you saw in a film, is it just a matter of patience for the real thing to emerge? We’re hopeful that time machines, teleportation platforms, flying cars and light sabers are just around the corner. Let’s just hope Hollywood doesn’t run out of ideas.

What’s a fictional technology you’d like to see come true?

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Jan
18

Internet Blackout – Popular Websites Participate in Protest Against SOPA & PIPA

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Matthew Moroni

Today, some leading websites are participating in an “Internet blackout” in protest of the controversial SOPA bill as well as it’s companion, the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

The bills are intended to strengthen protection against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft.

If passed, the bills would do the following:

  • Authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.
  • Establish a two-step process for intellectual property rights holders to seek relief if they have been harmed by a site dedicated to infringement.
  • Provide immunity from liability to the advertising and payment networks that comply with this act. Any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement would be liable for damages.

Take a look at the myriad websites that are protesting SOPA by going dark:

Google

Google

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Reddit

Reddit

WordPress

Wordpress

Craigslist

Craigslist

Good

Good

The Oatmeal

The Oatmeal

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Jan
16

Tenthwave’s Top 10 Social Media Moments of 2011

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Matthew Moroni

2011 took its place in social media history with news of protest, scandal, and zoo escapes. We all heard about the ‘Weinergate’ scandal that sparked controversy throughout politics as well as consistent redesigns from Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. After looking through a pile of ‘Tweetworthy’ events, Tenthwave took an internal vote and have chosen our top ten! Here’s who made the cut:

1. Social Media Reactions to Steve Jobs’ Death

On October 5th 2011, visionary and Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, passed away. In less than 20 hours after news of his passing, “Steve Jobs” peaked at 15.6% of all traffic on Twitter, meaning that nearly 16% of all tweets included the Apple-visionary’s name.

2. Bronx Zoo Cobra Escapes and Tweets About It

When a Bronx Zoo Cobra went missing, fans and followers were sssurprised to see him appear on American Idol host Ryan Seacrest’s Twitter account. The ‘cobra’ went even further and offered dating advice for snakes on Seacrest’s website.

3. Social Media’s Role in the Uprisings in Egypt and Other Parts of the Middle East

Through the use of Facebook, activists were better able to organize uprisings and protests, grouping together as one voice, while Twitter functioned as a ‘messenger’ to the broader world.

4. Facebook’s Launch of Frictionless Sharing and Timeline

Yes, Facebook changed, again. The new ‘Timeline’ changes the default profile from a list of recent updates to a summary of your entire life since birth, including status updates, photos, videos, and locations visited. Frictionless sharing will share user activity across various apps after opting in.

5. Weinergate

Anthony Weiner found himself at the center of a Twitter scandal last May after sending pictures of his ‘southern-half’ to women via the micro-blogging platform, later resulting in his resignation from the House of Representatives.

6. #Winning Charlie Sheen Creates a Twitter Account

Minutes after creating a Twitter account, Charlie Sheen managed to acquire more than 60,000 followers, all without posting a single Tweet. Now that’s #winning.

7. Google+ Launches and Sets a New Record of First Platform to Reach 10 Million Users (in 16 Days!)

Google’s social network might be one of the fastest-growing networks ever, having already reached 10 million users and supposedly doubling it’s numbers just one week later!

8. Netflix Changes Prices and Launches Qwikster

Last fall, Netflix announced that it would be splitting its services into streaming (Netflix) and DVD/video game by mail (Qwikster). Despite an apology, cost reversal, and explanation from CEO Reed Hastings, Netflix dropped the Qwikster service as well as losing 800,000 of its subscribers.

9. Aflac Fires Gilbert Gottfreid and Launches a Contest to Find the Voice of the New Aflac Duck

After Tweeting some less-than-tasteful jokes on Twitter surrounding last spring’s devastation in Japan, Gilbert Gottfreid lost his role as the ‘duck quack’ for Aflac Insurance, springing a contest to find the new voice of the company.

10. Social Media’s Role in Occupy Wall Street (OWS)

Last fall’s Occupy protests turned each person involved into a micro-blogger and amateur journalist, in their own regard. Through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms, there were posts about location updates, links to forums, and supply needs of protestors. The perspectives and updates of others allowed for a larger and more effective outreach.

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Jan
13

What Brands and Marketers Need to Know About Pinterest

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Jaime Hoerbelt

Pinterest is quite the social media darling, with articles about the platform turning up everywhere you look—from Mashable to Adage. Here at Tenthwave, what intrigues us the most about Pinterest is the high engagement potential from a niche, targeted community such as this. There is a tremendous opportunity for brands whose demographic aligns with the early demographic of enthusiastic Pinterest users. As with every thing new in digital, there are naysayers who don’t see what is so great and social media experts who overhype it as the “next big thing,” We’d like to separate speculation from fact and tell you what WE think Pinterest has to offer.

What is Pinterest?

According to Pinterest…

“Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.”

“Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.”

Consumers use Pinterest to discover and collect new recipes, crafts, decorating ideas, trends in interior design and style, plan dream weddings and more.

A six-month U.S. audience trend by Quantcast shows that Pinterest is quickly gaining traction. According to Mashable, the site now has four million users even though it is still invite-only.

How can marketers use Pinterest?

Some brands already are using Pinterest as a distribution channel. Like Twitter and Facebook, Pinterest helps you gain followers and create an audience to share content with. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, the audience using Pinterest is very distinct: primarily female and drawn to aesthetics. Anything girly, handmade, delicious, well-designed or stylish will be found here.

Quantcast confirms that Pinterest users have an affinity for the following, mostly female-oriented, categories:

 

If you’re looking for a unique, highly targeted, influential audience, you should dive head first into Pinterest while it is relatively devoid of commercial profiles. Pinterest’s users are innovators and early adopters who are likely influencers in social media, art, design, and a whole host of other categories.

Who are the early birds?

Real Simple, a magazine owned by Time Inc., and Nordstrom, a national department store, are two brands using Pinterest as a content distribution platform. The customer bases of these two brands probably have a lot in common with Pinterest users.

The early results look good for Pinterest. In an AdAge article, Shannon King, GM of digital for Real Simple magazine, said, “Pinterest is a huge source from a referral standpoint, even beating out referrals from Facebook in the month of October.” She also noted, “It speaks to the power of engaged audience members. We view it as an important part of our social media strategy.”

As of today’s writing, Real Simple has 19,993 Pinterest followers and Nordstrom has 5,932 followers. While followers are important, there’s a viral element of Pinterest in “repinning” content. A repin is similar to a share on Facebook or retweet on Twitter. It’s important for a brand not just to collect followers but to regularly pin content that gets repinned. 

What is likely to work well.

If you keep the audience in mind, it is clear what kinds of content will work well on Pinterest. Photos and videos reign over links, status updates, blog posts and other text-based content. Anything related to the predefined categories on the site is bound to fit in: art, design, crafts, wedding, geek, and more.

Are you using Pinterest personally or professionally? Share why you like it in the comments.

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Dec
16

5 Things You Need to Know About the New Twitter Changes

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Jaime Hoerbelt

And What You Can Do Right Now to Take Advantage of Them

As many of you have heard, Twitter announced some major changes to its platform last week. Whether you’re a brand or an agency here are the things you need to know about how these changes will affect your business.

1. Brand Pages

Like Facebook, Foursquare and Google+, Twitter now gives brands the option to customize their own pages. Brands can add a header image and a featured tweet. Currently the feature is only available to a handful of brands and Twitter plans to make it more widely available in the coming weeks and months.

Considering the information on brand pages is housed in the Promoted Products section of the Twitter for Business website, it doesn’t look like brand pages will be a free feature.

How are they different from Facebook pages?

-They probably won’t be free.

-They have limited capabilities (i.e. no applications can be housed here).

-You don’t have to have an account, be logged-in on Twitter, or following the brand to see any of the content.

What you need to do right now: The appearance of general profiles also changed. Most notably, the profile picture is now 160 x 160 pixels instead of 48 x 48. Quick tip: make sure your profile picture is big enough to accommodate the larger size or it will be pixelated and blurry.

2. Greater Emphasis on Twitter Search

In both the mobile and web version of Twitter, the Discover section has prominent placement. Now, Discover has been optimized to show content each user is interested in. (Think of Facebook’s EdgeRank – the formula Facebook uses to prioritize content in the News Feed.) Twitter says it best, “When you use Discover, you’ll see results reflecting your interests—based on your current location, what you follow and what’s happening in the world. As you use Twitter more, Discover gets even better at serving up more content just for you.” Twitter also suggests users to follow and allows users to browse interest categories in this section.

What you need to do right now: Make sure you’re using relevant hashtags for your content. Linking your tweets to conversations is increasingly important as more and more users are using the Discover tab to connect with others. And don’t forget to use Twitter’s search functionality to listen and observe the conversations in your industry, surrounding your competitors, and about your brand, product or service.

3. Greater Emphasis on Photos and Video

Interactive content such as photos and videos can now be viewed without leaving Twitter. Users still have to click “View photo” to see the photo in the stream.

What you need to do right now:

Use photos and videos to engage with followers the same way you do on Facebook, Google+ and other social networks.

4. Easier-to-Track Conversations


Twitter has made it easier to follow conversations by displaying replies and retweets in-line—no more head scratching!  It’s always been difficult to track which tweet someone was commenting on, and twitter chats—even with solutions like tweetchat.com—have been hard to follow as well. Hopefully, this change will make it easier and encourage more conversation.

What you need to do right now:

Observe conversations that are taking place among the people you follow. See if you can learn more about what people are saying about you, your company, your product or service, your competitors or your industry.

5. Embed Tweets


Instead of screenshots, you can now embed tweets on your website. Why is this important? It gives tweets a longer life. Typically, tweets stop being interacted with (retweeted, favorited, replied to, and clicked on) after a few hours of being posted. If you’re referencing a tweet in a blog post, for example, users can interact with the tweet again without leaving the page.

What you need to do right now:

Start embedding significant tweets! This can be useful in several ways:

1.     If you’re running a promotion, embed a quintessential tweet on your website, Facebook tab or blog to advertise the promotion in other places.

2.     When you’re blogging about a celebrity tweet, a controversial tweet, or just a tweet you think relevant to the topic of the blog post, use the tweet as an example, provide engagement to your readers and lead the discussion surrounding that tweet.

3.     Start a tweet-roll.  Embed several tweets around a topic, from a certain point of view or just your favorites. Use your tweet-roll to illustrate partnerships, give something back to key partners or just to provide value to your users in the form of engaging content.

What about you? How is your brand planning on leveraging the new Twitter changes? How is your company already using Twitter that might be enhanced by these changes? Tell us in the comments!

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