Posts

vine

Vine: Will Instagram Kill the Video Star?

/4 Comments/in , /by

By Meredith Lorch

vine

Photo Credit: Gizmodo

All the foodie photos and selfie snapshots on your Instagram feed are about to be brought to life. Vine has largely dominated the video-sharing world in recent months, but Instagram has just added video features to its iPhone and Android apps, creating quite the buzz. The question is clear: does Video on Instagram mean the downfall of Vine?

Only time will tell whether Video on Instagram will outcompete its rival. Some continue to see real potential in Vine. Gary Vaynerchuk, a brand consultant and industry thought leader, is even creating a talent agency for Vine stars, called “Grape Story.” Despite this, it’s hard to believe that Vine will amount to anything more than a fad. While its novel six-second looping video format is initially charming, Vine’s brief, repetitive nature quickly becomes overwhelming. Add in the effect of camera shake and erratic Vines can be dizzying.

instagram-vs-vine5

Photo Credit: Tech Crunch

Both Vine and Video on Instagram employ a simple tap-and-hold-to-record feature, but Vine fails to capitalize on post-production features. The beauty of Instagram lies in the 13 brand new filters created exclusively for video—not to mention an image-stabilization tool called Cinema for capturing crisp, shake-free video. Users can also browse Instagram videos on a website—unlike Vine, which solely allows for video exploration within the app. Overall, Instagram’s new 15-second video capability allows users to share the adventure and splendor of their worlds unlike ever before, posing a serious threat to competitors.

instagram

Photo Credit: ABC News

So what’s on the horizon? Rumor has it Instagram has potential for Google Glass integration. The possibilities are seemingly endless. With its latest update, Instagram has solidified its place as a classic sharing tool that is here to stay—and not just for the foodies.

Everywhere has a robust internship program and we invite our interns to participate by writing on our blog. Meredith Lorch is an intern from Emory University. She authored this blog post.

WednesdaySocialWisdom

Wednesday Social Wisdom From Everywhere

/0 Comments/in , /by

Radian6: Using B2B Social Media to Create a Nation of Brand Advocates [CASE STUDY] - “Wanting to interact with brand advocates on social media, Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), the global aerospace leader, and digital marketing leader, w.ill.am/, came together to create an online community of PT6 engine enthusiasts.”

inBlurbs: How B2B Marketers can do Social Media Lead Generation the Smart Way - “Any B2B business can use social media as a source of unfiltered information and as powerful business intelligence tool to predict trends, for support and product development. Social media has proved in the past years that it can bring positive ROI when done right.”

Business 2 Community: 4 B2B Social Media Networks You Should Know About - “This week, we’re sharing 4 B2B networks you may not know about…but could potentially benefit from.”

Search Engine Land: 4 Examples of B2B Content Marketing Executed with SEO Best Practices in Mind - “According to the 2012 MarketingSherpa Search Engine Marketing Report, of all SEO tactics available, “content creation works the best, but takes the most work,” says Kaci Bower, Research Analyst, MECLABS. B2B Internet marketers need new content to enforce and build upon keyword strategies, acquire links, and attract attention in social media.”

The B2B Guide to Social Media: 22 Google Plus Statistics - A look at Google Plus by the numbers.

HubSpot Blog: 63% of B2B Companies Don’t Generate Leads from Social Media [New Data] - This means that, while these companies were generating traffic from social media channels, they were not converting that traffic into leads for their businesses. “So why might this be? The biggest disconnect is between content and social media. It’s important to routinely publish content in your social channels to send qualified traffic to your website — but how does that turn into lead generation? How B2B marketers can generate more social media leads…”

 

brochure-everywhere-blog

RIP Brochure. Long live the blog

/2 Comments/in /by

It doesn’t seem that long ago when people were still talking about brochures. Remember those tri-fold pamphlets created by expensive copywriters and graphic designers? Before we went to press, we inspected the copy and images as if it were a newborn baby. They were like oversized business cards we all handed out, as if to say, “Look at us! We’re official! Here’s our brochure.” Now the very word, “brochure” seems dated.

I’d like to hazard a guess that in today’s digital age, brochures have finally been put to rest. I’ve had my hand in far too many brochures to count and I say, “Good riddance.” The energy we once put in brochures now deserves to go whole-heartedly towards a blog. No longer does a business need to rely on dry corporate sounding information and bullet points. A blog speaks in a human voice and has the potential to showcase the people, passion and knowledge base of your business.

That said, It’s hard for businesses to abandon the corporate speak of a brochure and embrace “blogginess.” Here are a few tips to get you started:

  1. Develop a voice for your blog. What do you want it to say about you or your company? What’s the tone?
  2. Think of yourself as a thought leader. Nobody knows your business better than you. So share your expertise, show you know your stuff.
  3. Develop a blog editorial calendar. Plan out blog posts and have a plan to actually populate your blog. Don’t abandon it. Think of your blog as you would any communications channel. You wouldn’t leave your phone unattended, would you? Same with your blog. Nurture it and populate it regularly.
  4. Your blog is not a magnus opus. Think of it as a platform to share simple good thinking. A columnist for The New York Times once gave me some great writing advice. He said of his column, “You really only need one good idea.” Same is true for a blog. Take one good idea and expand on that.
  5. We live in a google-able world and there’s no better way to increase your SEO than to have a blog. A static website gets buried in the deep abyss of Google search. Take a mini cram course on SEO and blog tagging. This will convince you to take to your keyboard and pound out a blog on a regular basis.

Last but not least, take that budget you had for brochure printing and production and put it into your blog.