Author: Phoebe Moore

With Summer now in full force, you will likely be seeing a lot of changes or updates to your favourite social media platforms, as a way to enhance the user experience and ensure users are being drawn to apps during the hotter season, due to the statistically significant drop in screen-time over the warmer months – Check out our latest blog for 5 Tips on a Successful Summer Campaign. 

We’ve compiled a list of the latest news & updates to look out for this month! 

 

Instagram – Reels in-feed

Following on from Instagram’s infamous ‘TikTok-ified’ update of May 2022, whereby all imagery and videos went full screen with the intention of “bring(ing) video more front & centre”; despite the controversy, this has not prevented Instagram from mirroring TikTok’s platform once again with their latest update. 

Now all video content (both new & old) will be presented as a ‘Reel’ and is being pushed separately to how you see ‘Posts’ on your feed. Reels rely on a user’s algorithm, therefore can appear on your feed at any time (whether you follow the account or not), sounding familiar?

Facebook – Groups Revamp 

With Meta’s common theme of mirroring features, Facebook is updating its ‘Groups’ feature which if you’re an avid member of the gaming community, you may see a striking resemblance to the popular messaging platform Discord. 

In these changes, you will see a new left-aligned bar channel for groups, with Facebook going as far as moving away from its iconic blue & white branding for the revamp, in favour of purple, much like Discords Purple & Black.

 

Twitter – Notes feature 

Twitter is testing a new feature called ‘Notes’, which allows users to go over the 280 characters limit, in favour of writing longer pieces with a whopping 2,500-character limit. Alongside the increased characters, you will be able to insert pictures & tweets just like a blog post. 

Notes can be edited, even once published which is a feature Twitter does not currently have available with normal tweets. 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1539640956915290112

 

Tiktok – Attribution Tool 

For the Digital Marketer lovers of Tiktok, the app has officially released its new ‘Attribution Manager Tool’ which enables advertisers to set custom attribution windows within TikTok campaigns.

“TikTok Attribution Manager enables marketers to select a specific time period to measure success: the click-through attribution (CTA) window can range from one day to 28 days, while view-through attribution (VTA) window options range from off to up to seven days.” – socialmediatoday.com

This feature offers more flexibility in measuring the results of your TikTok promotions, ultimately allowing you to be more strategic in which content to push. 

 

Snapchat – Launch of Snapchat+

Snapchat has officially launched a subscription service, costing users a total of £3.99 per month. A few benefits of the service include: Having a designated #1 BFF, exclusive access to ‘pre-released features’ & access to who has ‘re-watched’ your stories. 

However, unlike other social media subscriptions which commonly remove ads as part of the service, Snapchat has announced that advertisements will remain on Snapchat+ with Snapchat’s SVP of Product Jacob Andreou stating, “Ads are going to be at the core of our business model for the long term.”. 

 

And that’s a wrap! What are your thoughts on these latest features & updates? 

Here at Social Nucleus, we have an expert team of dedicated Account Managers & Creative executives who thrive in making your business’s Social Media presence as successful as possible, no matter the platform. Book a call with us today 🚀

Summer is finally here! It’s everyone’s favourite time of year…except for conversions. 

Unfortunately, Summer is statistically the least profitable season for online businesses which can really put a damper on your sunny days. 

Due to the hot weather and increase in holidays, it’s the most significant time of year when customers aren’t glued to their screens which inevitably leads to a drop in conversions, open rates, leads etc. 

However, you don’t need to wait for leaves to change colour to start seeing your sales rise again; there are ways to tackle the summer heat, and we’ve compiled our top 5 tips on running a successful summer campaign. 

Summer Sale 

Firstly, probably the easiest way to encourage sales is to simply embrace that summer feeling with themed sales surrounding the season. This could be as simple as using summer-related discount codes or spicing up your CTAs i.e. from ‘Get this deal ✨’ to ‘Get this summer deal ☀️’. 

This would also be the ideal time to launch a themed sale that your audience would not typically expect from your brand. For example, executing a flash sale has been proven to boost transaction rates by 67%.

 

 

Take advantage of key events 

Despite summer not being the busiest time of year, that does not mean you should stray away from capitalising on key events & holidays. 

For example here in the UK, we have a number of events and occasions that are essential to implement in any summer-related campaign 

For example: 

-August Summer Bank Holiday 

-Festival season (Leeds & Reading, Creme Fields, Boomtown)

-Back-to-school season 

Applying any of the above to your marketing campaigns is a fun and experimental way to generate sales. 

 

Marketing dates 

Following on from capitalising on key dates, if you ever find yourself short for ideas it’s always ideal to look into Marketing Dates – these are dates that are hugely influenced by social media and naturally generate brand awareness. 

Fortunately, no matter the niche of your brand there is no shortage of ‘National Days’, therefore you will be able to implement at least one into an upcoming Summer Campaign:

– 4th July America’s Independence Day

-7th July World Chocolate day

-17th July World Emoji Day

– 1st August National Girlfriend Day

 

 Update your look 

Summer is the ideal time to give your brand a quick ‘Glow-Up’ to fit around the seasonal themes, which ultimately will give your campaigns an original fresh look for re-targeted audiences to look forward to. 

Tweaking your look to reflect a ‘summer vibe’ will really help encourage customers to shop further as you’re naturally resonating with how they’re feeling and overall keeping a relevant style to your brand. 

This is the perfect time to experiment with new colours and themes you would previously shy away from- this can simply be a change of background, logo colour or imagery in general. 

 

 

Emojis 

Sunshine, ice cream, palm trees…when it comes to summer the emoji library has it all. Although we understand emojis aren’t for everyone and don’t fit every brand, it’s recommended to implement a pinch of summer into your campaigns to make them even more eye-catching than usual. This would work particularly well with your email marketing as a study has shown that an emoji in the subject line of an email increases the open rate by 29% and the click-through rate by 28% (Medium.com). 

 

Here at Social Nucleus, we appreciate that summer campaigns can be challenging and a particularly stressful time of year for a business owner. If you need assistance with excelling your business over Q3, get in touch today and our team of marketing specialists will be happy to assist you 🚀

TikTok: a powerhouse of content, trends, challenges – and a place to discover new music. This week, we’re looking into the way TikTok has massively affected the way we experience the music industry.

 

Music and audio is central to TikTok – the platform is made up of millions of short videos using songs as a background for constantly changing trends, most often involving dancing or lipsyncing. Choosing the right audio for a TikTok is an important part of the process – neglect this and it could impact the impression rate of the video. 

The listening power of TikTok is incredible – just think of Kate Bush’s resurgence in the charts- with a song from 1985. Thousands upon thousands of the platform’s users heard the song Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) in Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things and reused the song in their videos – and the charts took note. Kate Bush topped the charts 37 years after the song was originally released – beating the likes of Harry Styles and Lizzo (whose songs have a TikTok dominance of their own).

 

^ An example of the thousands of TikTok videos created recently that use Kate Bush’s 1985 track.

 

TikTok has become a place to discover new music, whether it’s from 2022 or the mid-80s. According to an MRC Data study, 67% of TikTok users are likely to search for songs on music-streaming apps after hearing them on TikTok. And radio stations take note of this, playing the songs that people are hyped up about.

We may only recognise some songs from a few bars – as TikTok videos use the catchiest sections of songs, propelling them to a globally recognisable, trending status (think Gayle’s ABCDEFU or Bo Burnham’s Bezos I). Radio plays give us access to the full song, whether it be from global stars or smaller artists getting their big break. The sheer power of the app for music discovery has never been seen before.

 

^ Spotify created a playlist specifically for the TikTok user wanting to find the songs they keep seeing on the platform.

 

Artists and record labels are becoming accustomed to TikTok as a golden opportunity to achieve global success. Songs that ’make it’ on the platform are lip-synced, remixed, combined, accompanied by a popular dances created and shared on TikTok – and when trends fade, many songs live on with new adoring audiences. 

Some may argue that mass TikTok popularity causes songs to lose a little of their sparkle, as they’re overplayed and overshared as a way to get views on the platform. Music has been turned into a tool on TikTok, some may say- a resource to achieve short-lived fame, rather than something to be enjoyed for its own sake. 

Or is music simply being enjoyed in a different way? TikTok has revolutionised how we experience good music – by watching and participating in dance trends, music challenges, creatively using tracks to make entertaining videos that get people talking. Authenticity hasn’t been lost – just transformed, and we should move with the times and enjoy the ride. Passive listening has made way for creative expression.

 

 

Some artists don’t wish to participate- rather understandably in a rapidly changing world. They must deal with record companies wanting to tug at TikTok’s potential to turn a song into a viral hit. It’s certainly advisable to have a marketing strategy that pays attention to the power of TikTok, such as creating music challenges to promote the sharing of catchy new singles. Yet it’s important to preserve artists’ authenticity – by not producing songs solely for the purpose of good performance on the platform. 

Songs don’t need to be ‘TikTokified’ to reach the screens of millions- the algorithm is on your side if your song has good quality production and a memorable hook. Achieving TikTok stardom cannot be made – we have to leave it to the viewers to decide a song’s fate- but more often than not, it’s time will come around, even if not straightaway. Songs like Britney Spears’s Toxic (2004), Time Moves Slow by BADBADNOTGOOD (2016) and Love Shack by The B-52’s (1989) made the rounds on TikTok many years after their original release dates. 

With the new listening power of TikTok, songs will never die – they’ll be re-discovered and loved all over again. Just look at Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill – without TikTok, the momentum would never have begun.

 

Need help navigating the realm of TikTok? That’s where we come in. Our team of digital marketing specialists are on hand to help your brand reach new heights – and TikTok has become an important platform to pay attention to here. Book a call with us today to discover how we can create a bespoke TikTok campaign for your brand, utilising trending songs and sounds to get your ads in front of new audiences 🚀

We’re taking a break from sharing marketing insights with you this week – we thought it would be good to re-introduce ourselves to you all. Read on to get to know everyone in our UK offices.

 

Will

Job role : CEO

Hobbies outside work : Golf

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Lots of dog videos

Alexa, play… Liam Gallagher

Your go-to meal : Chicken Milanese

Dream holiday destination : Bahamas

What’s important to you : Family, friends, business

 

Jamie

Job role : Director

Hobbies outside work : Golf, Walking the dog, watching football & drinking beer

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Pictures & videos of beagles

Alexa, play…HARRY STYLES 24/7

Your go-to meal : Lasagne with garlic bread

Dream holiday destination : Bolton aquarium

What’s important to you : Transparency, kindness and integrity

 

Katie

Job role : Head Of Client services

Hobbies outside work : Shopping, dining out, nice bars & holidays

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Home interiors, outfit reels, Love Island memes, cute cat pics.

Alexa, play… The Saturdays Mix (Always!)

Your go-to meal : Some kind of pasta with loads of Parmesan or asian food – noodles, dim sum, crispy duck yes please!

Dream holiday destination : I want to do a tour of the Amalfi Coast

What’s important to you : Loyalty, transparency, accountability

 

Matt

Job role : Account Manager

Hobbies outside work : Football, Golf, Walks On The Beach With My Dog (Mowgli)

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Football content

Alexa, play… The Greatest Showman Songs

Your go-to meal : Meat Feast Pizza

Dream holiday destination : Maldives

What’s important to you :  Family, Friends, My Dog (Mowgli) & Ads

 

Anthony 

Job role : Account Manager

Hobbies outside work : Football

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : The fellas podcast

Alexa, play… High School Musical (1 & 2…3 was a bit poor)

Your go-to meal : Beans on toast

Dream holiday destination : Mykonos

What’s important to you : Loyalty

 

Abi 

Job role : Business Development Manager

Hobbies outside work : Dining out, walks with my dog Poppy, going to the gym

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Harry Styles, dogs, and outfit inspo 

Alexa, play… HARRY STYLES

Your go-to meal : falafel, pitta and hummus

Dream holiday destination : Hawaii

What’s important to you : Family, friends and Poppy

 

Sarah 

Job role : People Team (HR)

Hobbies outside work : The gym & taking my dog around England for scenic walks

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page :

Unfortunately, nothing, I’m more of a viewer than a poster/influencer!

Alexa, play… Spotify!

Your go-to meal : Nando’s

Dream holiday destination : Maldives or Caribbean

What’s important to you : Family, friends, working hard & enjoying life

 

Phoebe 

Job role : Social Media Executive

Hobbies outside work : Photography, video-editing and going on coffee crawls around Manchester

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Aesthetic travel content, skincare hacks, fashion content- and cat videos!

Alexa, play… 80s/90s bops, chilled soul, or feel-good pop (it’s a bit of a mix)

Your go-to meal : Pasta al pesto

Dream holiday destination : Southern Italy, Mexico and Argentina.

What’s important to you : Spending quality time with my family and friends, and seeing the world! 

 

Tom

Job role : Social Media Executive

Hobbies outside work : Football, Fashion, Gym

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Football, Fashion, gym

Alexa, play… Can’t knock the Hustle, Jay Z or Kanye/Drake essentials

Your go-to meal : Chicken & rice

Dream holiday destination : Maldives, Bali

What’s important to you : Family, Friends & Health

 

Chanel

Job role : Graphic Designer

Hobbies outside work : Jiujitsu and Photography

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Baked Oats, Jujitsu reels, memes and pups

Alexa, play… Fugees’

Your go-to meal : Porridge

Dream holiday destination : Iceland

What’s important to you : The people I care about are happy

 

Zoe

Job role : Social Media Executive

Hobbies outside work : Makeup & binge watching a good Netflix series

What you’ll find on my Insta Explore/TikTok For You page : Dogs & Outfit inspo

Alexa, play… 7 Rings by Ariana Grande or Good Ones by Charli XCX

Your go-to meal : American Hot Pizza   

Dream holiday destination : New Zealand or LA

What’s important to you : Doing things that make you happy

 

Chico 

 Job role : Office security

Hobbies outside work : Sleeping, eating, going on walks

Alexa, play… Beverly Hills Chihuahua soundtrack (sung by Abi)

Your go-to meal : Anything Ant has brought back from Tesco’s

Dream holiday destination: My bed, Katie’s Desk

What’s important to you : My owner Sarah!

 

And that’s a wrap! We hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about our amazing team. We look forward to working with you – book a call with us today 🚀 

Love it or hate it (we most definitely love it) TikTok has taken over the world in recent years and has become a digital marketing must-have for both established and small businesses. 

With over 1 billion active users as of 2022, no matter the niche of your business – there is a TikTok audience waiting for you. 

It can be intimidating approaching the platform for the first time professionally, so read on to learn our top tips for a successful presence.

 

Be Consistent 

Consistency is key when it comes to TikTok – if you’re looking for significant traffic to your page it’s ideal to be posting as often as possible.

You might be thinking, “there’s just no way I can do that!” however, when it comes to business-related TikToks, we recommend setting up a content strategy to make daily posting more achievable in line with your business priorities (product drops etc).

 

Jump On the Trends 

When it comes to TikTok, trends are the way forward if you’re looking to reach your target audience via the ‘For You Page’. This can include using popular sounds, hashtags, filters, dance trends….the list goes on! 

The algorithm is more likely to promote a video with trending sounds – ultimately leading you one step closer to reaching your audience.

 

Competitor Research 

As discussed in our previous blog post, keeping an eye on what your competitors are producing is key to a successful TikTok presence. Make note of what sounds, trends & hashtags they are using that have already been received well by your shared audience and attempt to replicate the content in some form. 

Check out our previous blog post for further tips on how Competitor research can benefit your business

 

Be Authentic 

Last but not least, be yourself! It’s proven with TikTok, that more often than not ‘less is more – so don’t spend too much time on expensive equipment or extensive production; simply, have a laugh and enjoy what you’re producing as that will reflect in your videos.

Brands that aren’t afraid to make fun of themselves bring a real sense of authenticity to the business. An example of this would be SkinnyDip London, known for their phone cases & accessories, often post BTS content featuring videos of their staff in funny/ relatable situations i.e being late for work, making fun of old products etc.

 

TikTok is undoubtedly a digital marketing marvel, with its almost perfect algorithm bringing thousands of communities together & growing even the smallest of creator platforms. 

Still needing assistance with your brand’s TikTok presence? Our specialist creative team here at Social Nucleus are here to help – Book a call with us today and get your business growing today. 

No matter the size, age or niche of your business, there will be a competitor. And as a business owner, it is important to identify your competitors and keep a close eye on what they are producing so you can ensure your own business is going above and beyond – and ultimately stands out in the market. 

To put it simply, “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer”. In today’s article, we will discuss the importance of competitor research and the benefits it can bring to your business. 

 

Keep up with the trends

Through conducting your research, you will easily be able to identify trends that are working successfully with your shared audiences, which can ultimately be embedded into your own content and strategies.

As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery!

For example, when Snapchat first launched the ‘Stories’ feature in October 2013, it was a social media marvel and has set a new industry standard for the majority of platforms. 

After seeing the success of Snapchat’s feature, Instagram replicated its own version in August 2016 – and in doing so, it has become the preferred platform to use the stories feature due to Instagram making it a staple to their platform, as well as becoming a digital marketing phenomenon. 

 

Stand out from the crowd 

When it comes to competitor research, it can be easy to become overwhelmed – and can leave you kicking yourself with the “Why didn’t I think of that?”. 

However, it’s also a way to visualise what you’re doing well in comparison to other businesses and helps you identify your USPs, which you can ultimately push in future marketing strategies. 

 

Set a standard  

Keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing successfully allows you to set realistic benchmarks – in other words, setting a standard for your business to live up to and achieve. 

For example, watch closely to whoever you define as your main competitor(s) and form a benchmark; i.e metrics of how well their Instagram posts do on average (likes, engagement, reach etc) and set that as a goal for your own content to surpass. 

 

Here at Social Nucleus, competitor research is a key part of the client onboarding process. Our Creative Team conduct competitor research on a monthly basis to ensure our clients are always performing to the highest standards – as the industry is constantly evolving and it is vital to keep up! 

If you feel that your business would benefit from fully comprehensive competitor research, book a call with us today to find out how our creative team can help you achieve your fullest marketing potential.

When you’re building a business, it’s also important to build a brand : a company identity that separates you from the competition, conveys your message and personality, and makes you recognisable in your market sector.

 

In today’s market, competition is high- more and more brands are coming into existence, and we have so much choice with our interests and needs. So it’s more important than ever to present your business’s originality and stand out with clear, cohesive and professional branding. This will present you as a strong market contender, and make your target audience remember you.

 

Read on to find out what to consider when upping your branding game, and why branding is more important than ever.

 

First of all, what do you need for effective branding? 

 

How your brand makes your customers feel depends on your market, target audience, product line and brand identity – but there’s always an opportunity to stand out amongst your competitors. 

 

It’s important to keep things consistent, sticking to your brand guidelines across all your business’s creative output, website, social media and internal/external communication.

 

Visually speaking, here are the factors to pay attention to:

 

1. Distinct logo : create a symbol or graphic that is visually appealing, simple and original, and effectively represents your brand identity/the products you offer.
2. Brand colours: establish an attractive colour palette – this may be one dominant colour, or many colours used equally across all media.
3. Brand fonts : decide your typeface (eg serif, sans serif) and whether you will use the same or different fonts for headlines and body text.

 

Considering your business’s brand voice, it’s important to establish a clear, consistent TOV (tone of voice) across all written copy. Ask yourself : how do you want to make your audience feel? 

 

Your TOV could be:

1. informal or formal (ie chatty/familiar/exclamatory vs serious/informative/distant)
2. punchy/to-the-point or more descriptive/flowing in style.

 

Either style can engage your audience, depending on your product line – but it’s important to set your TOV and stick with it, to create a consistent brand voice.

 

Next, why is branding important?

1. It increases brand recognition : with a fully coordinated brand design and colour palette across all creatives, including your logo, your brand can be recognised in seconds.
2. It strongly establishes your brand in the market : memorable, original branding will stick in people’s minds, allowing your brand to increase in mind share amongst your competitors. Most of the time, when people first come into contact with your brand, they’re not looking to buy straightaway – but eye-catching, professional branding will greatly assist in making them remember your brand at the point they wish to purchase products/services you offer.
3. It increases brand loyalty : strong recognition and memorability builds loyalty. Utilise great branding to impress potential customers and build trust in a clearly established brand. 

 

Branding is a continuous process – it requires routine evaluation to ensure branding is fresh, relevant and original in ever-changing markets. By paying attention to the factors above, you’ll be well on your way to presenting yourself as a market leader.

 

Need assistance with your brand development? Our specialist team here at Social Nucleus can help with that – book a call with us today to find out how we can help take your business to new heights.