Although Vine is still a relatively new app, it has shown that it has clout with brands and advertisers in a short period of time. Vine is a mobile app that lets you shoot six-second videos, or Vines, to share on social networking sites. With brands continuing to utilise the app, take a look at Annie’s five tips for making an amazing Vine:

1) Have a clear message

The unique aspect of Vine is the fact that you only have six seconds to make your point. Having a clear message and structure to your video is essential to making a good recording. For example Nintendo uses Vine as a teaser to preview future products to fans.

2) Tell a story

Even though you only have a short amount of time, it is possible to tell a story over Vine. For their Valentine’s day campaign Tropicana cleverly utilised Vine by showing a brief love story between oranges, finishing with a Happy Valentine’s Day message.

3) Be creative and entertaining

The whole point of Vine is to be as visual and creative as you possibly can within six seconds. Brands need to remember that if you want your Vine to have viral potential then it has to be unique and entertaining!

Look at these winning Vines from the #6SecFilms competition earlier this year for inspiration!

4) Engage Your Followers in Conversation

At its core Vine is a social media platform; this means brands should take the opportunity to get engagement from their audience. A great way to integrate Vine with social is to ask your audience a question via Twitter and then show them the answer through Vine.  For example, book retailer Simon & Schuster used Vine to engage with their fans by asking them what they were reading over the weekend.

5) Utilise the loop feature

Although this may not be a popular aspect of Vine the fact is that all videos automatically loop. The infinite loop forces you to be more creative with your video’s ending as you have to try to find a way of smoothly transitioning the ending and beginning of your video. Brands can utilise the loop feature if their brand name is mentioned in the video, garnering continued exposure.

Images courtesy of Vine

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Already we’ve explored the recent research on Live Brand Social to look at how people’s behaviours can inform your planning. You’ve seen the best ways you can use a combination of live events and social media; how you can target your audience and interact with them on social networks before, during and after an experience to add value to your brand.

In this fourth post we’ll find out how consumers are sharing live brand social content with each other. While 49% feel more positive about a brand as a result of live brand social, 37% will join the brand’s social networking page or profile after a live experience. This now gives you a chance to further engage with your customers.

With an increase in fans, followers and wider conversations about your company, how are audiences communicating in social? And how can you engage with them? 

Over two thirds (69%) of survey participants use mobile devices to share content from live experiences. Smartphones and tablets make it very easy for users to share content on social platforms.

Brands can of course be more active on social by suggesting ready-made tweets or hashtags for participants to share, while any photo opportunities are very effective. But smart companies will go one step further and consider how experiential events can be designed for mobile and social sharing:

• Resize your content: create hassle free content with eye-catching features that encourage consumers to take and share photos at your live experiences

• Invite friends: 61% like to post or share on social media if it includes friends. Make sure that there are opportunities or attractions worth sharing at your event

• Short and sweet: by writing brand messages and calls to action that are to the point consumers can share your words easily. Aim to be within Twitter’s 140 characters

Inspiring and motivating social sharing is not just about the device used to connect. Nor is it just about the format, be it photo, video or plain copy. It is much more about the behaviours of your audience. The research shows that only 23% of consumers claimed they wanted to be the first to tell friends. So bragging rights really don’t seem to matter that much. What matters is that the experience and social content around it is unusual (71%), entertaining (69%) and relevant (65%).

Download the full report and share your thoughts on live brand social with us bit.ly/LiveBrandSocial #LiveBrandSocial 

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Google has developed yet another mind-blowing research tool. Despite the rather unimaginative name, “The Customer Journey to Online Purchase”, it nevertheless provides extremely valuable data to boost the imagination of online marketers, providing even further evidence to treat social media as an integral part of any serious marketing strategy.

So what does it show? In Google’s own words:

Before making an online purchase decision, a customer may engage with your brand through many different media channels over several days. This tool helps you explore and understand the customer journey to improve your marketing programs.

The tool distinguishes between assisted and last interactions, showing which channels contributed towards the sale at the beginning of the customer journey, and which concluded the sale. Its impressive sample size (358.9m conversions across 35.9k profiles) ensures that the findings are highly reliable. The data is sorted by location and industry, highlighting the importance of local context in which the marketing activity takes place, as well as the peculiarities of various industries.

To see the significance of the tool, let’s compare the customer journey in the health sector in two different countries – Brazil and the US respectively:

The difference is considerable. In Brazil, healthcare customers tend to start their journey to purchase via display advertisements, they continue their journey via e-mail and only then are they exposed to social channels. In contrast, the customer journey in the US starts with social media.

Implications of attribution modelling on marketing strategy

The significance of Google’s research should not be underestimated. In particular, it greatly helps the following aspects of the marketing strategy:

1. Expectation management. Any online marketing attempts should be governed by realistic expectations. So far, however, it has been challenging to set the highly accurate KPIs in advance because there has been no clear data on the exact customer path to purchase. Backed by rigid sampling, attribution modelling revolutionises expectation management and thus enables more accurate planning.

2. Bespoke approach. Online marketing for a B2B financial services firm in Brazil will be radically different from the approach taken by a B2C retail company in France. Case studies of success may not necessarily be transferable across industries and countries. Each online marketing strategy should involve bespoke reasoning, based on the requirements and audience of the organisation in question.

3. The need to integrate. E-mail, PPC, social media and SEO efforts can no longer be treated as separate, independent entities. What matters most, is not the channel but the efficiency of integrating and optimising all these channels into one, overall customer path to purchase.  

Further steps

Despite the significance of this tool, there is still some room for improvement:

• Industry-specificity. It would be great to drill down the industry list even further. Would the Edu/Gov sector include the charitable organisations? Is it entirely accurate to generalise Finance as one industry?
• Platform-specificity. Social media is more than just one channel. It comprises a highly diverse selection of individual platforms that differ significantly in terms of audience demographics and significance in the customer journey. It would be great to see how Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other social channels differ amongst themselves.

You can find the tool here. Let us know how valuable you find the data?

Images courtesy of Google

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It is one of the big players in the world of social media, with over 300 million active users and a place at the social media top table. Not content with being the world’s second largest social network and being used by 25 per cent of the global Internet population, Google+ is aiming for the next level.

This week at the I/O conference in San Francisco, Google announced that they are adding 41 new features to Google+; including a new look to the stream and profile pages, hashtags, trending topics, photo enhancement and greater integration with Hangouts.

Taking full advantage of the fact that visual content is key for brands on social media, Google has redesigned the news feed, giving it a bit of a spruce up in a style reminiscent of Pinterest and Facebook’s new design. When it comes to photos, the new features include Auto Enhance, which will improve your photo by tweaking the brightness, contrast and colour for maximum effect. Combine this with the new Auto Awesome feature, which allows users to merge photos together to create the perfect image.

This integration of editing features on Google+ could lead to an increase in the number of brands embracing the platform. Instead of just focusing on the search benefits of the platform, these new changes and a more user-friendly feel could work wonders.

Other new arrivals include the “What’s Hot” section, covering the trending hashtags to get involved with and supplying you with relevant communities to join. Hangouts also get an upgrade, as they will now be integrated with Google Chat to allow users to IM and video chat with their connections from the newsfeed.

This fresh redesign and the range of new features bodes well for Google+, as they borrow the best parts from other networks and bring it to their platform. So what do you think of the new Google+?

Image courtesy of Flickr

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In the last Live Brand Social post we touched on how, together, live experiences and social create a 48% more successful event. Being active on social before, during and after a live event gives you the greatest opportunity to extend the relationship: 

In our report, 61% of participants find out about a live experience from a friend but over half (56%) find out through social media. In fact, 43% find out through Facebook, 22% see a tweet and 19% see it in their Newsfeed. It is clear that Facebook is the most influential in motivating attendance at live experiences. Even more significant is that live experiences give you the chance to meet your fans face to face. 1 in 5 still find out about an event before it takes place, through the brand’s own social media pages. A fantastic opportunity to build stronger relationships with fans and turn enthusiasts into advocates.

Social media extends opportunities to develop a lasting relationship with customers after the event too. 49% of all respondents said they felt more positive about brands when they took part in live experiences with social. And 37% follow or like a brand profile on social media.

And your audiences are not just interested in joining you or feeling good about your brand: one in six will tell more than fifteen people on social media about their live experience. That is a lot of conversation about your experiential marketing!

By understanding how experiential marketing fits in with the ongoing social relationships between brands and customers, companies can capitalise on mixing the two activities. And, dare we say it, ensure that the investment is greater than the sum of its parts!

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When it comes to social media, one key to success is to focus on the activities that give you the widest reach, as efficiently as possible. You need to know that your message is being heard and more importantly that it is being heard by the right people. It is about targeting your efforts in the real world to give you the best advantage in social media.

Our recent research looked specifically at where best to look in the real world to drive social conversations. 56% of consumers will share content from live experiences on social media compared to print (49%) and TV (44%). When it comes to social media, it might be time to look a bit closer at the wider impact of experiential marketing.

Also notable from our research is the extent by which news and content about ‘live experiences’ travels across the social spaces. In fact it will often reach the people not actively participating in the event. Survey data shows that just seeing content from an experience online spreads your brand message even further; 45% have seen a live experience (but not participated) and 29% have seen live experience content on social networks without attending. But what content are they seeing? It could be footage uploaded by the brand or it could be user-generated content like photos, videos and blog posts. 

Most user-generated content is being shared through mobile. Coupled with the immediacy that smartphones and tablets bring, social media is a great way to find out what motivates your audience into not only sharing, but generating rich, original content around your brand. Breaking your content down into smaller, more manageable messages also means that information is easier for consumers to share. Give your live brand social marketing efforts proper direction and enjoy a 48% more successful event.

Download the full report and share your thoughts on live brand social with us bit.ly/LiveBrandSocial #LiveBrandSocial 

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There is strength in numbers, and integrating live brand experiences with your social media activities is a prime example of this. Together they become Live Brand Social, and together they generate amazing figures. 53% of consumers said they will purchase a branded product as a result of this combination! And 45% will go on to make a purchase at a later date. Moreover, of a survey of 1,000 UK residents, 38% will become regular customers as a result of social with live experiences, therefore prolonging the value of merging these activities. 

Why should you care? Because cultivating relationships through unique experiences and pursuing the relationship through social media means delivering better value to your customers while enhancing your ROI. It’s a win-win situation, and when 56% of consumers will share content from live experiences on social media compared to print (49%) and TV (44%) it’s one that you cannot afford to miss out on.

Download the full report and share your thoughts on live brand social with us bit.ly/LiveBrandSocial #LiveBrandSocial

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Did you skim stones at the beach when you were younger? It’s a favourite summer pastime for plenty of kids but it isn’t so far from the marketing mix that many adults find themselves swimming through these days. How so?

Skimming stones has a short lifespan when it comes to entertainment value. The same can apply to different marketing activities. Brands must make sure that the way they choose to engage with consumers is targeting the right audience, driving sales and creating conversations amongst their customers.

Live brand social experiences can do all of these things. We conducted a UK-wide survey with brand experience agency Electrify to find out whether live brand experiences and social media can work together to deliver better value to brands. And, yes, they can. By developing live events that combine seamlessly with social media efforts, brands can extend reach, trigger sharing and ultimately increase purchase. As well as that they can develop the brand relationship and improve customer loyalty through one-on-one interaction and prolonged engagement on social channels.

Check back tomorrow and you will be able to download the full report. It will provide a much more in-depth exploration of live brand social events, as well as details on how best to plan your live events and how to manage them on social media before, during and after.

By using this research you can tailor your marketing strategy to your brand goals and the needs of your key demographic. After all, one carefully planned drop in the ocean can create many more and longer lasting ripples, widening opportunities of engagement and conversations, than skimming stones in a straight line.

Image courtesy of Foter

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There’s a reason that people like chilli and chocolate and it’s really simple: opposites attract. Alone, these ingredients are delicious but in very different ways. Combined (despite the initial reaction that you’re preparing a culinary disaster) the result is surprisingly satisfying.

It’s not so different in brand marketing. You can take two seemingly standalone activities and combine them to create a new, more interesting approach to engage with your customers. Social media and live brand experiences, for instance. We asked ourselves, what if you could engage with your audience in real life and then influence them to share content on their social media profiles?

It could be a one-off PR stunt or it could be a pop-up shop touring different cities. No matter what, the truth is that live brand social experiences can encourage conversations surrounding your brand. It might be in the form of user-generated content like photos and videos, or it might be something that the brand controls, like an interview with participants. Either way, you can extend the reach of your brand by encouraging and promoting live content, particularly as so many UK residents use smartphones every day to share content on social media channels.

Others have noted the impact that can be had from “increasing collaboration and convergence between industries” that might otherwise seem worlds apart, but immediate future and brand experience agency Electrify, conducted a UK-wide survey. Our report into the use of social media in real life can offer original insights and independent research to support your brand’s marketing strategy as it evolves. Keep an eye out for the full report findings because, like the first time that you try chilli and chocolate, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Our full report is available to download on Tuesday 14^th May with more facts and great tips to help you tailor your own live brand social experiences to your target audience. We’d love your feedback, or you could share your thoughts on live brand social with us by leaving a comment.

Image courtesy of © Renaters

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Let’s face it, there is a little piece of us that lights up inside when we get a comment, like or retweet on our latest post. The knowledge that what we have to say is being heard, or read, is satisfying and it encourages us to share more. But is this the only way to be popular nowadays?

One in four said that they measure the success of their day by the number of Facebook Likes they receive, and the popularity challenge is never more nerve-wracking than on your birthday. Nowadays you are more likely to receive a Facebook comment than an actual card; a survey of 1,000 individuals by One4All proves that people prefer to post birthday greetings to friends online.

Never one to miss an opportunity, as last year’s purchase of Instagram and the recent rumour of buying Waze for $1 billion suggest, Facebook already launched a ‘real’ gift service which lets users buy and send physical gifts to their friends. This is linked to birthday reminders on your profile. So, is it a worthwhile service? Will it relieve the pressure of remembering to buy birthday presents? Or will it just be a new way of measuring how popular you are by the number of gifts you receive?

Would you like to use Facebook to send or receive gifts? Let us know what you think!

Images courtesy of Flickr

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