• Repurposed content – more, but shorter – is the rationale behind TikTok mrketing.
• TikTok marketing has proven to be successful, and so is rewriting the rules for all marketing.
• Attention spans are going – wait, what were we saying?

In an era increasingly defined by how we interact with emerging social media trends, most prominently TikTok, marketing has had to adapt to fit our short-form attention spans.

Wendy’s combines memes with an oh so relatable voice.

Be it company Tweets that take on a startlingly relatable voice or your local pub promoting drinks deals via Instagram Reels, brand marketing has shifted out of print. That’s all well and good for companies with huge departments dedicated to TikTok marketing clips and keeping up with viral hashtags, but for small business owners, keeping up can be tough.

Adobe Express surveyed 517 small business owners to see how they’re engaging with an emerging technique for content production: repurposing content. That just means taking already published content and re-jigging it for reuse.

The results show how small businesses repurpose content to boost brand visibility, engagement, and sales.

Repurposed content is increasingly prolific, with 70% of small business owners using the technique in their marketing. On average, content is repurposed seven and a half months after the original post.

Gone are the days of running a magazine ad for months at a time; the trendcycle spins almost too fast to keep up with, and we’ve become conditioned to expect New Stuff almost daily.

“Wait, I think I’ve seen the long version of this…”

The root of the issue but also, apparently, the answer to it, is TikTok, which 83% of small business owners found most effective for engaging target audiences with repurposed content. Instagram followed with 78% and websites or blogs close behind at 75%.

Small business owners reported that the biggest challenges they face are not enough time (46%), lack of technical skills (27%), strategic direction (26%) and resources (21%).

“We got it rehashed, We got it half-assed, We’re digging up all the graves and we’re spitting on the past…” Credit: Ani DiFranco.

One way to level the playing field is by using AI to help: one in six small business owners reported that they use AI to repurpose content. Nearly two-thirds of those who use AI report increased marketing effectiveness and productivity, while 56% of small business owners who use AI to repurpose content save 1-5 hours/week.

Over half of those using AI say it increases sales and that it also funnels buyers into the sales route more quickly.

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Success was measured by small business owners through increased website traffic (62%) and engagement metrics (50%) – one-third also looked at conversion rates and revenue increase.

All of this shines a light on the fact that TikTok marketing has become the style guide for all advertising. In and of itself, that isn’t necessarily damning – but the effect it has on all media forms is.

TikTok marketing strategy – more, shorter, next!

The top strategy for repurposing content was taking existing videos and making shorter clips. Taking content and repurposing video content for Instagram Reels was also popular.

Indicative of the way we all engage with content online was the success small business owners had in creating video from written content, transforming blog posts into infographics, and making increasingly short clips for TikTok.

Apparently, we are all averse to reading, waiting for any kind of story arc to develop, stopping scrolling for more than thirty seconds.

For small business owners, this is a trend that has to be bought into for survival. Creative tools like Adobe Express can help turn old videos and images into fresh and engaging content.

Still, at some point we’ll need to examine why such a fast turnaround is necessary – is it possible to get back to a place where content lasts long enough that small business owners and content creators have time to create something new every time they post?

Welcome to the age of “TikTok Brain.”

The post Small business owners regenerate old content to keep up appeared first on TechHQ.

• Lawsuit sees Meta sued across the US, potentially costing millions of dollars in penalties. 
• Instagram and Facebook trialling paid subscriptions in Europe.
• The new Meta lawsuit could see the company paying out millions of dollars.

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Dozens of US states are bringing a new Meta lawsuit, accusing Meta platforms and its Instagram unit of fuelling a youth mental health crisis by making their platforms addictive.

In a complaint filed Tuesday last week, the attorneys general of 33 states including California and New York said Meta repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use.

“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens,” according to the complaint filed in the Oakland, California federal court. “Its motive is profit.”

Children and young people are an appealing demographic to businesses: attracting them as consumers while they’re more impressionable to solidify brand loyalty. It’s a strategy as old as cigarettes and as pernicious as fizzy soft drinks.

Much of the focus on Meta stemmed from a whistleblower’s release of documents in 2021 that showed the company knew Instagram, which began as a photo-sharing app, was addictive and worsened body image issues for some teen girls. | REUTERS

For Meta, young consumers might secure more advertizers, who hope children will keep buying their products as they grow up.

Unfortunately for profit margins, research has associated children’s use of Meta’s social media platforms with “depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes.”

Meta said it was “disappointed” in the lawsuit – a paternalistic response that paints the attorneys general themselves as spoilt children.

“Instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,” the company said.

Similar lawsuits are being filed against Meta by eight other US states and Washington DC.  The total number of authorities taking action against the company is 42. Meta’s shared fell 0.6% on the Nasdaq.

There have been a string of legal actions against social media companies on behalf of children and teens recently. ByteDance’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube already face hundreds of lawsuits pertaining to the addictiveness of social media.

It may not be your fault if your child can’t stop scrolling. They may be on eyeball-crack – or Instagram, as it’s also known.

In the past, Mark Zuckerberg has defended his company’s handling of content that some critics find harmful, saying, “At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. That’s just not true.”

This case could see Meta facing civil penalties of $1,000 to $50,000 for each violation of various state laws – an amount that could add up quickly.

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The Meta lawsuit came after focus was put on the company due to a whistleblower’s release of documents in 2021 that showed the company knew Instagram was addictive and worsened body image for some teen girls.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta has worked to ensure young people spend as much time as possible on social media, despite knowing they’re susceptible to the need for approval that is satisfied by “likes” from other users.

“Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state includes Meta’s headquarters.

Rob Bonta has spoken out against Meta’s practices. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

Meta is also accused of violating a law banning the collection of data on children under 13, as well as deceptively denying the harms of its social media.

“Meta did not disclose that its algorithms were designed to capitalize on young users’ dopamine responses and create an addictive cycle of engagement,” the complaint said.

The complaint asserts that Meta’s refusal to accept any responsibility for the young people using the app extended as far as distancing itself from a 14-year-old girl’s suicide in the UK after she was exposed to content about suicide and self-injury on Instagram.

A coroner rejected a Meta executive’s claim that such content was “safe” for children, finding that the girl likely binged on harmful content that normalized the depression she had felt before killing herself.

By suing, authorities are aiming to patch holes left by the US Congress’ inability to pass new online protections for children despite years of discussions.

Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser said the whistleblower’s revelations showed Meta knew how Facebook and Instagram were harming children.

“It is very clear that decisions made by social media platforms, like Meta, are part of what is driving mental health harms, physical health harms, and threats that we can’t ignore,” he said.

Meta lawsuit: making back the money?

Not a direct response, but Facebook and Instagram seem to be mitigating money lost in lawsuits and from ad revenue. Both platforms are launching subscriptions across Europe that will remove adverts from the platforms.

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People using Meta’s platforms will be able to pay €9.99 ($10.64) monthly for an ad-free experience. It won’t be available in the UK.

In January this year, Meta was fined €390m (around $41m) for breaking EU data rules around ads. The regulator said at the time that the firm could not “force consent” by saying consumers must accept how their data is used or leave the platforms.

Access to the subscription tier will only be available in the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland, and only to over 18-year-olds. The firm will look into how it can serve ads to children without breaking the rules.

Meta says its new subscription is about addressing EU concerns, not making money.

“We believe in an ad-supported internet, which gives people access to personalized products and services regardless of their economic status,” the firm wrote in a blog.

“The option for people to purchase a subscription for no ads balances the requirements of European regulators while giving users choice and allowing Meta to continue serving all people in the EU, EEA and Switzerland.

“We respect the spirit and purpose of these evolving European regulations and are committed to complying with them.”

Users can choose between continuing to use the platforms for free – and having their data collected – or to pay and completely opt out of targeted ads. They could end up paying more than their initial monthly fee, though: the service will cost an additional €3 per month if paid for on iOS or Android, to account for the additional fees taken by these platforms.

To avoid the charge, subscriptions can be paid for directly on the Facebook and Instagram websites, rather than on mobile apps.

Further, from March 2024, users will have to pay more for each additional account they have on the platform – like having a business and personal account.

All of this comes after Elon Musk announced paid subscriptions for X would be trialled. There’s a cheaper subscription tier on X, which will still feature ads but allow users to edit their posts, and a standard premium tier that grants a blue checkmark among other things.

The backlash to all that ought to have shown that charging for social media use might push many offline, but instead it seems the idea will become a new norm. TikTok has also tested a monthly subscription service to remove ads, but as yet there’s no indication it will be rolled out globally.

“Deceptive and unfair trade practices…”

The post Meta in the hotseat… again appeared first on TechHQ.

• Facebook is under massive pressure as global brands are halting on advertising spend
• The social media giant shares dropped more than 8% on Friday
• Large companies are boycotting social media platforms in a bid to protest against hate speech in the online community

Facebook has seen its stock price dip as a growing list of companies have pulled advertising from its platform. The social media is facing massive pressure from advertisers to weed out hate speech spreading on its platform.

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Global brands such as Starbucks, Levi, Pepsi, and Diageo were among the most recent companies to pull the plug on Facebook ads spending and other social media platforms, joining more than 160 companies, including Verizon and Unilever. The global movement aims to protest against the spreading of posts that promotes violence, misinformation, racism, and discrimination. 

Coca-Cola announced it would stop all paid social media advertising worldwide for at least 30 days.

“There is no place for racism in the world, and there is no place for racism on social media,” said Coca-Cola CEO and Chairman, James Quincey, in a statement.

Meanwhile, Unilever, is pausing advertising on Facebook and Twitter for the rest of the year. Unilever was one of the highest spenders on Facebook advertising last year, injecting more than US$42 million into the platform, as estimated by Pathmatics, an advertising intelligence company.

Following the latest exit of Unilever from Facebook’s advertising, the social media giant announced new content policies for the platform to curb the spread of unfettered content. 

CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared in a post, “Many of the changes we’re announcing today come directly from feedback from the civil rights community and reflect months of work with our civil rights auditors.”

The new content policies include tighter restrictions and regulations, such as “creating a higher standard for hateful content in ads” and “labeling newsworthy content.”

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Even though Facebook shares dropped more than 8% on Friday as an impact of major brands such as Coca-Cola and Unilever pulling out, a majority of Facebook’s 8 million advertisers are small businesses that depend heavily on the social media advertising for sales. Insiders believe that these small businesses are unlikely to follow a similar path.

The omnipresence of social media has been an effective tool for marketing and advertising, with even more platforms such as TikTok and the likes mushrooming in the e-commerce landscape, pulling ads off social media completely can be a difficult proposition.

Essentially, for many companies, the appealing aspect of social media platforms is the vast amount of data on consumers that help target ads. For instance, the strategic placement of ads on Instagram feeds that subtly targets consumers.  

Unilever shared that the halt in Facebook and Twitter ads is not applied to non-US markets since the harmful content is currently more prevalent in the US. 

The post Facebook under massive pressure to crack down hate speech appeared first on TechHQ.

Notifications of events postponed and canceled have been commonplace in recent months – social distancing measures and lockdowns has made them simply unviable, and when we will be able to meet in crowds again is up for question.

To provide some weight to just how much the annual event circuit has been shaken, one of the UK’s biggest venues for industry trade shows ExCeL London has been temporarily turned into a 4,000 bed field hospital for COVID-19 patients.

But many organizers have been undeterred, steadfast that bringing people together doesn’t mean you have to be physically rubbing shoulders. 

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In enterprise technology, events serve as crucial meetings points for acquiring new business, discovering new products and services, striking up lucrative relationships and gaining insight into the goings-on of the wider industry.

Things are a long way from normal, and event organizers and goers must embrace new methods.

In the tech scene, Microsoft has confirmed that events scheduled through the end of the calendar year 2020 will all be held virtually, with plans for 2021 events to be held online as well.

Other tech giants, including Alphabet, Adobe, and Nvidia, joining the growing list of repositioned events, conferences to the cybersphere, while on TechHQ‘s sister site Tech Wire Asia, software giant Cisco held its first virtual conference for the APJC region. 

There is a real opportunity for companies to dive into hosting virtual events and engage with audience in a different dimension, and while event firms and large globe-straddlers might be best poised to take things further with new technologies like AR, almost any enterprise can explore this new channel. 

“Don’t just transfer activity to the digital realm, think what the digital can do for you,” is one of the golden rules pedalled by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) in its guide to Online Engagement. 

Putting this into context, an engaging virtual event starts with embracing a digital mindset during the planning stage, by visualizing the execution in a digital setting, and building the content and activity around that format. 

Content fit for digital 

First, determine the format and content of the life event above all else. Virtual events come in many formats such as webinars, live streams, workshops, or even full-scale conferences and networking events. 

Each kind of virtual event is suited for specific communications, functions, and goals that companies would like to achieve.

Selecting the ‘right’ tools to help bring content to life on a digital platform is imperative for the success of virtual events. By understanding each tool’s pros and cons, event teams are spared of plenty of hours and headaches in the long run.

For small scale and budget-friendly events, video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Hangouts, and ezTalks are ideal.

Meanwhile, there are a variety of tools with features to host an amazing digital event. For instance, Hopin lets hosts run webinars, live-streams, and a live chat for attendees to listen, interact and ask questions in real-time.

Besides that, Whova provides an extra dimension for attendees to engage and communicate through one-on-one or in virtual groups. 

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Keeping the human connection 

A stark difference between live events and digital events are the missing crowd of attendees at the registration booth and networking groups close to the trays of sandwiches and coffee. 

For virtual events, the opportunity and ‘room’ for engagement as well as networking are essential, especially at a time where social distancing is at its full force. 

Adding some activities can make the virtual event more memorable and overall, meaningful for both hosts and participants. For example, setting up polls and quizzes can ignite conversations and engagements. Meanwhile, there’s no reason that the event networking apps we’re so accustomed to can’t be repurposed as desktop versions ahead of virtual events. 

In addition, making full use of social media platforms is a bonus point for marketing and fuels the buzz of virtual events. Live-tweeting and updates on social media can boost brand presence and, more importantly, replicate the excitement of live events. 

The post You don’t need to shake hands to network – virtual events are now ‘in’ appeared first on TechHQ.

Instagram is now the preferred social media platform for many people around the world. As part of Facebook, it shares the same extensive user base, giving it an equally wide reach across the internet. It’s a visually-rich and tastefully-simple social media platform and appears to be much more appealing to millennials and young adults (with the elderly now slowly joining the fun).

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However, Instagram’s declining engagement rate has been a hot topic on the digital marketing scene since the beginning of the year. A study by Trust Insights showed a gradual decline in Instagram’s brand engagement rate over the past six months. This decline did not just affect businesses, but influencers as well whom these companies rely on to boost their online presence.

What does this mean for businesses that advertise on Instagram? Being the most engaging platform to reach out to people, an Instagram engagement drop calls for a revamp in our current social media marketing strategy if we wish to see better results in the coming months.

Has Instagram changed anything?

Some users attribute the dip to an alleged algorithm change that now hides likes, followers and cracks down unsuitable content. The allegations also claim that Instagram is culling organic reach altogether to prioritize on monetization.

However, a spokesperson of Instagram debunked that allegation and claimed that the company never messed with the algorithm. The spokesperson explained that while Instagram uses “likes” to rank a post, other factors such as timeliness, interest and the bond with the person posting also play a crucial role in determining the post’s engagement. Quick glances and scroll-throughs do not count as “engagement” in Instagram’s metrics, and Instagram won’t rank it as a post that the target user would spend time on.

The comment by the spokesperson basically notes that it’s entirely on the users if the organic reach of their posts decline. But the spokesperson does acknowledge that they’ve put in place a new monetization feature that now allows brands to boost posts by their influencers. A great feature to be added, given that influencers are the driving force behind a brand’s social media presence.

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What’s the workaround?

For companies that heavily market on Instagram, a drop in engagement means reduced presence in the news feed, which puts them on users’ blindspots. Rest assured, there are ways to work around this.

Some marketers are now opting to promote certain feed posts on Instagram stories as a way to give these posts prominence. The simple logic is this: if it’s upfront, you can’t miss it. Apart from that, some are actively sharing their posts on other platforms such as Blogger and Facebook to drive more web traffic into their Instagram page, while others opt to remove their paid ads on Instagram to boost the performance of their feed posts instead. These strategies have varied results as they strongly depend on the company’s target audience.

Improving the quality of the posts is also another way to go about it. If the target market rarely spends time reading lengthy captions, keep the captions short and straight. Visually, the best content on Instagram always shows amazing pictures with bold colors, breathtaking landscapes, and minimal designs. Consistently creating posts like these is also another way to a company can boost its engagement.

Another option is to utilize the new function that allows brands to boost posts by influencers. All the brand needs is permission by the influencer for the brand to boost their posts and this can be done in a flash by the influencers, as they only need to enable the option in the “settings” menu. Given that influencers have the power to convince and convert users to paying customers, this is certainly going to be a celebrated feature on Instagram.

The verdict

In digital and social advertising, the best way to improve posts’ engagement is to find creative ways to give it a presence boost. Social media users, no matter which platform they are on, are known to have a limited attention span. Capture their interest regularly in rich, engaging and creative ways to see the numbers increasing once again.

The post What to do if your Instagram engagement drops appeared first on TechHQ.

Business to business (B2B) sales isn’t very easy, especially online. Sure, tools and platforms like LinkedIn can help you target your content to the “right people” but they’re getting targeted and sold to, all day long.

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The truth is, business buyers aren’t looking for more content to add to their repertoire, they’re looking for meaningful content that tells them what their options are, helps evaluate several possible solutions, and advises them on the best one for their company or brand.

Put yourself in their shoes — you don’t want a 100 different white papers from 20 different manufacturers telling you why their 3D printer is good for your business. You want advice about which 3D printer to pick and why one kind of printer is better than another kind — for your particular use case.

That’s exactly the advice that Gartner has for content marketing teams.

B2B marketers must move away from a model built on “more” (more content = more engagement = more progress). In a world where customers are struggling with too much information rather than not enough, the most successful marketers are focused on providing less information, specifically designed to make buying easier — say the team of global analysts.

“B2B buyers today will reward suppliers who make the purchase process easier. Our research shows that customers who receive helpful information that eases the purchase process are three times as likely to buy the bigger, more expensive option, with less regret,” said Gartner Distinguished VP Brent Adamson.

In order to help make the purchase decision easier, marketers must offer prescriptive advice and practical support through their B2B marketing strategy.

Prescriptive advice basically is clear, credible, and concise information about what steps a company must take in order to solve a problem or achieve a desired outcome. It maps out the buying journey, identifies possible challenges at each step, and provides recommendations to overcome them effectively.

Practical support, on the other hand, simply provides tools to help customers follow through on the prescriptive advice.

Shifting the commercial strategy to buyer enablement requires reallocating resources to producing a different kind of content altogether.

There is an urgent need for marketers to move their content marketing portfolio away from thought leadership, industry trends and infotainment, which comprise the bulk of today’s content marketing fare, and toward buyer enablement — advised Gartner.

Here are some tips to help marketers determine what exactly customers need when it comes to good, useful B2B content:

# 1 | Focus on buying jobs

Ease the buyer purchase process by building buyer enablement content aligned with critical buying jobs and providing either prescriptive advice or practical support.

In the case of our customer looking for a suitable 3D printer for his business, make sure you’re helping them understand what the market has to offer, what you’re offering, and how they need to evaluate their needs and requirements before making an investment.

# 2 | Enable self-service

Repurpose successful content by identifying pre-existing sources of buyer enablement from functions such as sales or customer service and modifying them for customer self-service.

If you’re working with the manufacturer of the 3D printer, it would be a good idea to ask your sales team which of your manuals, white papers, and other resources and liked by customers and repurpose them to solve challenges and overcome hurdles in the purchase cycle.

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# 3 | Constantly update

Build and deepen ongoing understanding of buying needs as they arise by implementing a buyer enablement system and strategy.

Since you’re going to invest resources into creating and upgrading your content for B2B buyers, it could be a good idea to ask them what they struggle with and create content that helps them — because ultimately, in helping them on their journey to understand their needs and the market, you should be able to find the right customers for your business.

# 4 | Ensure cross-channel consistency

Allow customers to self-serve by providing a consistent set of enablement resources across in-person and digital information channels.

Finally, it’s a good idea to make your content available on-demand. If those who want to buy commercial grade 3D printers need advice, they shouldn’t have to contact a local representative first before getting some information.

The post How businesses can create better marketing content appeared first on TechHQ.