Mediaboss Marketing

Social media is visual. Images (and, increasingly, video) are the most engaging content on all channels.

The 3.2 billion active users across all platforms are eager for relevant content, and images are essential to capturing their attention. When people get information paired with an image, they remember 65% of that information three days later, compared with 10% retention of information heard. Facebook posts with images garner 2.3 times the engagement of posts without images.

With easy access to cell phones, social media managers can create a steady stream of image content. However, we still need forethought, planning and a discerning eye to create high-quality images that are truly memorable and fit a brands tone.

If you work with or know a skilled graphic designer, employing their expertise can ensure that your images are beautiful and aesthetically consistent. Smaller brands and agencies may not have a graphic designer on staff, and minor design needs often fall to social media managers.

Some social media professionals have design knowledge, but even beginners can leverage a few key elements of design and apply them to social media imagery.

The foundation of all images is coloreven those in black-and-white. A basic understanding of color theory is important to staging, editing and posting images that engage your brands followers.

Color theory: The basics

Color theory is a broad term that encompasses decades of scientific study and exploration. The base is the color wheel, which itself has a multitude of iterations. The key parts of any color wheel are:

Any color wheel you choose can guide you in complementary colors, or color harmony. Colors and shades directly across from each other on a color wheel are complementary, meaning that when paired together they provide a contrast that is pleasing to the eye.

Color harmony involves analogous colors (any three colors next to each other on the color wheel). The contrast, or lack thereof, these sets create makes an impact, even if the image is altered to black-and-white.

Certain colors have different meanings in various cultures, and warm and cool shades evoke different emotions. Human emotion and color are strongly tied together.

Planning your images with these considerations in mind helps create the desired atmosphere, tone and action for your brand.

Color theory on social media: Tips for making an impact

We all have at least a vague idea of what images look good, perhaps without understanding why they appear that way. When you apply color theory to the photos you take and graphics you create for social media, youll start to grasp the science and art behind it and then create images that show a consistent brand image and drive your followers to action.

When setting up a photo or beginning to design an image, first consider your brands color scheme. If you have a well-designed logo/branding guide, its likely that the colors are already complementary or analogous. These colors are good choices for your base social media palette. Try to plan images that include these colors in some way.

Complementary colors create contrast, a technique you can use to bring the eye to a focal point. Contrast in images has also been shown to drive conversion rates.

Colors evoke emotion. If youre going for feelings of warmth, power or love, choose colors in the warm-color range, such as reds, pinks, oranges and yellows. If youre aiming for soothing and calming, choose a blue or a green.

Carefully consider the target audience and how their cultural background affects perceptions of color. For example, the color white in Western cultures often represents purity and elegance, but in some Asian cultures, its a marker of death and bad luck.

Remember that hues appear differently on digital screens than on paper. A color you choose from printed brand material may look slightly different onscreen, as will colors in the photos you take. You might need to edit and adjust images to get your desired effect.

Intentional use of color theory in your social media images will help create a cohesive brand presence that engages your followers. Keep in mind complementary and analogous colors, your brands color scheme, contrast, how colors stir emotions, and the differences in printed and digital material, and youll design images that stick with your audience long after theyve logged off.

A version of this post first appeared on the A.wordsmith blog.

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Why and how to apply color theory in social media marketing - PR Daily - PR Daily

With talent in high demand, companies cant recruit the best unless they have a unique and positive offer, and these days its not just about the package. In a candidate-driven market, HR leaders in survey after survey have underlined the challenge of filling senior and executive positions. The top people by definition will have options, so they are often looking for that something extra that makes an opportunity really special and gives them additional motivation to sign on to a new company.

To deal with this challenge, companies usually try to appeal to the tangible advantages. This includes salary and benefits. But it will also invariably focus on the job itself, and how it will be better than their current post: more opportunity, more seniority, more creativity. Sometimes it works. But often it does not. What can companies add to tilt the odds in their favor and bring that new recruit over the line?

Our Better Angels. Having a powerful social mission that speaks to a higher purpose and true motivating values of the company can be a very strong magnet for top talent. It offers the chance to be part of a mission bigger than just profit and sales, and shows that the people in the company are a community joined by a common purpose.

Having a powerful social mission that speaks to a higher purpose and true motivating values of the ... [+] company can be a very strong magnet for top talent.

A standout example is San Francisco-based Fireclay Tile, one of the few design companies to have achieved B Corporation certification as a socially and environmentally responsible business.

Having a framework of social responsibility and being very clear and transparent about it is something that many, many people have been very excited by, explains CEO Eric Edelson. As a result, we are able to hire people away from larger companies. They want to work for a brand that is producing something beautiful and also achieve something special for the world, together, rather than just making and selling tile and focusing on profit.

How to Adopt Cause Marketing. Taking this approach on board can provide real benefits, but it is not a simple fix. Here are some of the key steps:

Words of Caution. In adopting a social mission, bear in mind these two critical points:

For Fireclay, however, the benefits of this effort have been significant. Weve always been looking for missionary over mercenary, says Edelson. But since having the B Corp certification, it has naturally been more consistent we are not only living our values but broadcasting them more. We cant say we are saving the world, but we are committed to making the largest contribution we can, and this is an attractive differentiator, especially for a younger generation looking for a mission-driven organization. They feel theres a higher purpose than just making money, and this definitely helps us attract and retain personnel.

Read more:
The Truth Behind Attracting Top Talent Through Cause Marketing - Forbes

One of the emerging social media trends of significance is the concept of "detox" consumers who are unplugging from their social media accounts either partially or entirely. The numbers are significant: a study from Pew Research Center found that 26% of social media users deleted their Facebook smartphone app last year.

Social media users do this for many reasons but most often do so because they feel overwhelmed by the stresses of constant social media engagement.

Furthermore, a new study by Matthew Lapierre at the University of Arizona finds a link between smartphone usage and depression. Another new study from authors at Stanford University and New York University finds that deactivating social media can impact your well-being and improve your lifestyle in positive ways.

How can you make sure that even those who detox keep up with your products, services and content online? Be their feel-good exception! Here are some strategies you and your team can employ:

Sending a message via social media that commiserates with them, such as, "Hey, we get it, social media can be negative and exhausting sometimes," can be worth its weight in gold. In your message, ask your audience to stick with you and explain that you intend to bring them product and service info that will make their lives better, not stress or annoy them any further.

When planning new ad campaigns, always put a smile into your copy. Use engaging, positive language, and make sure your audience sees what you have to offer as effective, enhancing, helpful, fun to use, and indispensable to their lifestyle.

Stress customer service speed as an asset. Make your audience see that if they continue to engage with your brand on social media, you will make every experience they have with your brand a good one.

Many people dispense with social media when they perceive, either through a negative personal experience or by hearing about experiences from others, that their privacy is at stake for being compromised by a brand or platform. Stress how scrupulously you protect all private identifying info your customers provide to you.

Then, walk the walk: put more-than-sufficient resources into protecting against data breaches and tech glitches. Give your audience every reason to trust you.

Spread your advertising resources around so you're not relying on social media marketing exclusively. Look into other forms of digital advertising and old school techniques like direct mail, which still can work well.

Ask your audience what turns them off in terms of advertising styles, i.e., too-frequent messaging or an inauthentic voice then don't do it. Simple!

Make sure the influencers you use are truthful in relating their own frustrations and, at the same time, honestly stress the benefits of your brand. If your audience's relationship with these influencers is strong, your brand will not fall by the wayside in their minds.

or lack of interest in the products, services and advertising you're putting out there. When you see negative patterns, turn the tide as needed and change what's not working.

It's crucial to take your audience's temperature in a thorough way and let them know you respect their time and opinions. Keeping your message supportive in just the right way will keep you immune from the effects of detox...and increase your bottom line!

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How to beat the trend of social media detox and boost your marketing power - MultiBriefs Exclusive

The Bureau reached out to brands and marketing agencies following a thorough review of influencer marketing practices across various industries, including health and beauty, fashion, technology and travel. Arthur C. Green/Submitted Image

Consumers must be able to easily recognize when social media content is actually an advertisement.

The Competition Bureau sent letters to close to one hundred brands and marketing agencies involved in influencer marketing in Canada, advising that they review their marketing practices to ensure they comply with the law.

When navigating the digital marketplace, consumers often rely on the opinions shared by influencers, Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition said. To make informed purchasing decisions, consumers must know if these opinions are independent or an advertisement. Ensuring the truth in advertising in Canadas digital economy is a priority for the Competition Bureau.

Influencers should clearly disclose the relationships they have with the business, product or service they promote. There is a relationship if the influencer receives money or commissions, free products or services, discounts, free trips or tickets to events, or has a business or family connection with the brand, among other things.

Influencers should also be honest, and base any reviews and testimonials on actual experience. The Competition Act applies to influencer marketing just as it would to traditional forms of advertising.

Businesses share responsibility with influencers when they post advertisements on social media, as they may be liable for false or misleading content. Advertisers may pay or compensate influencers to create and share content that feature their products or brands.

The Bureau reached out to brands and marketing agencies following a thorough review of influencer marketing practices across various industries, including health and beauty, fashion, technology and travel.

The deceptive marketing practices provisions of the Competition Act apply to anyone who is promoting a product, service, or any business interest, and those who do not comply may face significant penalties.

agreen@vistaradio.ca

Twitter.com/artcgreen

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Influencer marketing: businesses and influencers must be transparent when advertising on social media - My Yellowknife Now

As we head into the holiday break, both Twitter and Facebook have announced a raft of new profile and Page removals as part of each platform's ongoing investigations into co-ordinated manipulation of their networks for political influence campaigns.

And the scope of these latest removals is significant - the largest action of its type yet reported by Twitter:

Of specific interest in this case is that, as reported by The New York Times, Facebook found that the latter instance - a network linked to Epoch Media Group - the Pages and profiles utilized "fake profile photos which had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence."

That's a particularly concerning development, which could point to the next phase of digital manipulation campaigns.

Twitter's investigation focused on a Saudi marketing company called Smaat, which runs both political and commercial operations. Twitter says that while Smaat looks like astandard social media management agency on the surface, the company has links to the Saudi royal family, and recruited two Twitter employees "who searched internal databases for information about critics of the Saudi government".

Smaat-operated profiles have sent over 32 million tweets, and gained millions of followers - and while many of the tweets from these profiles appear innocent, there are propaganda messages mixed in.

These profiles also regularly asked users to "retweet"or "follow", which lead to the creation of smaller sub-groups growing within the networks. Twitter also notes that there was "a substantial amount of automated fluff to make it hard to figure out what the accounts were focused on".

The level of detail here is interesting, and provides some insights into the evolving tactics of such operations. Facebook has also provided specific examples of posts shared by the profiles it's removed for coordinated inauthentic behavior.

These new account removals add to the thousands of documented account/profile deletions for coordinated manipulation across the two social platforms this year.

Here's a reminder of the scope of those activities - all from 2019:

With the 2020 US Presidential election looming, you can bet that this will remain a key area of focus for both platforms, while, at some stage, there may also be a push for Facebook, in particular, to take stronger action against Pages which share false and misleading content.

At present, Facebook says that:

"Pages that repeatedly publish or share misinformation will see their distribution reduced and their ability to monetize and advertise removed."

The removal of monetization is significant, but at some stage, Facebook might also need to consider removing these Pages altogether, as a means to further reinforce the need for admins to better vet the content they share and/or create, in order to stop the spread of false reports. If there's a risk of losing your Page entirely - as opposed to facing a temporary sanction - that could put more onus on Page managers to be more diligent, and not simply post whatever comes across their path, and aligns with their cognitive bias.

Of course, any measure of this type is more complex in practice, and Facebook doesn't want to get into overt censorship. But if misinformation is once again a key driver of voter behavior in 2020, you can bet the calls for more action on such will only get louder. And Facebook, in particular, is at the core of such distribution.

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Twitter and Facebook Announce Over 6000 Account Removals Related to Political Manipulation - Social Media Today