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Social Media Updates – August 2022

July was quite an eventful month in the world of Social Media. With viral petitions and the influx of video-based content becoming the new normal on most platforms… on some more than others 👀 

But if you somehow missed out on everything that’s been happening on your favourite apps, get the latest rundown from July, and what to expect in the month of August in this month’s instalment of Social Media Updates. 

Instagram 

To begin, let’s discuss the elephant in the room…Instagram. After receiving a very public backlash over its ‘Tiktok-inspired’ update – Check out our latest blog “Make Instagram Instagram again”: The New Tiktok Style Instagram Update Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri finally addressed the controversial update stating ​​“I’m glad we took a risk — if we’re not failing every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough” – Mosseri went on to confirm that Instagram would be pausing the ‘Full-Screen testing’ and reverting back to the original layout for the select users who received the update. 

Instagram Head Doubles Down on Video Amid Growing Backlash | PetaPixel

But before you jump for joy, it does not seem like this will be the final attempt for the company to replicate Tiktok’s undeniable success; Mosseri continued in his statement about the failure of the testing and stated that Instagram will still continue to prioritise video-based content due to its evident popularity in recent years. 

Like it or not, reels are here to stay.

Facebook 

Following on with the theme of video-based content, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that Facebook will lean heavily towards being ‘Reel’ focused, with this style of content being the fastest growing element based on user engagement. 

This is in response to Meta receiving lower than expected results in both app usage and revenue. Despite the intense backlash Instagram received for pushing a similar style of interface and content overall, Zuckerberg has stated that Facebook will be taking the same approach to Tiktok’s algorithm – whereby content by users you do not follow will be suggested on your timeline. 

“Social content from people you know is going to remain an important part of the experience and some of our most differentiated content, but increasingly we’ll also be able to supplement that with other interesting content from across our networks.”

Launching Reels on Facebook in the US | Meta

Zuckerberg goes on to confirm that Meta hopes to have doubled the amount of AI-generated content, from accounts that users do not follow, by the end of the year.

Tiktok

Ironically, the app everyone else is trying to be…seems to be somewhat trying to replicate the success of a completely different genre itself. 

It’s undeniable how influential Tiktok has become when it comes to music in the charts, with thousands of sounds trending every day – and it looks like Tiktok is looking to capitalise on this.  – Check out our blog post – Trends, Challenges And Charts: Tiktoks impact on The Music Industry 

TikTok’s parent company, ‘Bytedance’ have officially filed a trademark for ‘Tiktok Music’ with the service allowing users to “purchase, play, share, and download music. It would also allow users to create, share, and recommend playlists, comment on music, as well as Livestream audio and video” (TheVerge.com). 

A TikTok Music App May Be Coming To Challenge Big Players Like Spotify,  Apple Music

This platform would be set to rival the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, creating a more ‘interactive & social’ aspect to the platform compared to their competitors. 

It’s unclear how far in development TikTok Music currently is or if the service will even see the light of day, but with Tiktok setting the unofficial blueprint for so many established social media platforms to follow – it’s entirely possible that Tiktok could dominate the music streaming industry to the same level.

Twitter 

In some non-video-related news, Twitter has launched live tests for users to ‘Set a Status’ – so you can show/ tell your followers what you’re doing or how you’re feeling whilst you tweet!

From what has been tested of the new feature, it has been revealed that you have access to 17 activity options such as: ‘Hot Take’, ‘A Serious Case of the Mondays’, and ‘Need Advice’. 

Twitter Status

These statuses will be added to your tweets and displayed in your and your followers’ feeds; with no personalisation option available during this testing stage. 

The Status Markers have received mixed reviews with many stating that they do not add much value to the general Twitter experience – or that the statutes themselves have a very ‘gimmicky’ or ‘cheesy’ feel to them. 

But in the world of social media controversies, many are enjoying the seemingly light-hearted update and looking forward to sharing their #ShowerThoughts🚿 with the world!

Snapchat

And finally, Snapchat has officially launched the ‘Sounds Creator Fund’ to support and encourage unsigned artists to gain distribution and reach via audio uploads. Snapchat audio launched in 2020 which allows users to add a specific track to their Snapchat, similar to the likes of Tiktok. 

As explained by Snap’s Head of Music Partnerships Ted Suh:

“We want to support the independent and emerging artists that are driving creation on Snapchat. By providing meaningful funding and creative support, our goal is for artists to feel empowered to continue creating and pursue a career in music.”

The Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund will pay out $100,000 to artists who are  "driving creation" - Tubefilter

This opens opportunities for small artists to have their music featured in Snapchat Lenses or in ‘Spotlight’, leading to a higher reach and new potential audiences. 

 

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 and 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 🚀

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“Make Instagram Instagram again” : the new TikTok-style Instagram update

Is Instagram turning into TikTok? Here’s what’s changed on the platform – with a Kardashian-approved petition attempting to stop the transformation.

 

Instagram has been the subject of multiple changes over the past few months – but the latest overhaul has some calling the platform a ‘TikTok wannabe’. Some Instagram users have witnessed a significant change on their feed design, as the platform tests a more ‘immersive’ experience in which videos (Reels) are given more space on the feed. 

For these users, posts take up a larger space on the screen and the background has changed to black. In other words, it’s seemed to turn into a TikTok-esque, ‘For You Page’ format.

 

How the Instagram feed appears to those with the new update – looking increasingly similar to the TikTok ‘For You Page’.

 

Even if you haven’t received the full update, you’ll notice that short-form videos are given significant priority over photo-based posts, and posts from ‘suggested accounts’ continually appear on your feed. The algorithm now seems to be finding creators and accounts that match users’ interests and viewing history, and placing them higher on the feed than users’ own friends’ posts.

 

 

How the feed appears before the newest update – with accounts being ‘suggested’ to you according to your topics of interest.

 

It means that the Instagram experience is changing into a place of discovery rather than connection with friends and family- just like TikTok. This video-sharing app was primarily made for entertainment purposes and sharing dynamic content – and Instagram quickly caught on with the highly-shared video content, creating Reels in August 2020. 

Yet it seems that now, the video/image scales have been tipped slightly too far than Instagram users are comfortable with. While it’s true that short-form video content is highly shareable and engaging, and it’s understandable that Instagram has capitalised on this to optimise the user experience – it’s important that the platform keeps its original essence. 

Instagram was created in 2010 as a photo-sharing app, inspired by founder Kevin Systrom’s passion for photography. And its users’ love of creating and sharing a personal photo album with their nearest and dearest has never wavered, even in the face of change.

 

A step back in time: how Instagram used to look in 2014 – with a complete focus on users’ photos.

 

This is the sentiment behind the now-viral petition sweeping across the internet, calling to “Make Instagram Instagram again” and for the platform to “stop trying to be TikTok”. Created by Tati Bruening, the petition suggests bringing focus back to photos (not solely on video content) and re-introducing the chronological timeline that showed us our friends and family’s posts in real time.

 

Tati Bruening’s now-viral petition calling for the revival of the old Instagram platform.

 

Created only 3 days ago, this Change.org petition has now, rather incredibly, received over 134K signatures (at the time of publication) – if it reaches 150K it will be one of the top-signed petitions on the site. Notable signees include the influential queens of Instagram themselves, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, who have added their voices to the ring and shared the petition on their Instagram Stories.

With high-flying influencers and creators also speaking up on the changes, it’s hoped that those behind the platform will listen to what the people seem to want. Which is: retain the original purpose of the app, alongside its move to include video-based content. 

This wave of mutual dissent over Instagram’s update isn’t about rejecting change. It’s about supporting the platform’s originality and preserving the reason it was created. Updates like Instagram Stories and the ‘Favourites’ filtered feed have been warmly received by users – but this feed overhaul seems to many like a step too far.

 

A recent addition to the platform is the ‘Favourites’ feed, which allows users to create a feed full of their favourite accounts and creators.

 

 

While we wait and see what becomes of this collective call for change (or rather, the retracing of steps), it’s important to stay on top of these fast-changing platforms and use popular features to your advantage. 

If video-based content is pushed more than photo-based posts by the Instagram algorithm, it’s vital to reflect this in your social media strategy, or you risk a low reach and an even lower engagement. It’s important to be flexible and responsive to change in this landscape – despite your personal preference – so you get the recognition and reach you’re looking for.

If you need help with keeping up with social media updates and staying ahead of the curve, get in touch with us today. We’re a team of digital marketing experts ready to help you take your brand to the next level – book a call with us now to discuss your strategy and goals 🚀

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Emoji 101: A Guide to Using Emojis in your Brands Marketing

Since the dawn of social media, emojis have been a fun prevalent way of ‘showing emotion’ through any digital communication platform. 

From their start as the simple ‘:)’ emoticons to the development of the ‘emoji’ that we know today –  they have become an essential part of not just social media, but a key element of a business’s branding & advertising. 

In today’s blog post, we will be breaking down the importance of emojis in your brand’s marketing and how to start implementing them into your advertising campaigns.

But first, a bit of history on the emoji. 

 

 

History 

Emojis are small visual icons, created using Unicode Standard; the first emoji was created in 1999 by a coder employed by NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile service provider. 

However, it wasn’t until the 2010’s that we began seeing emojis popularised outside of Japan, whereby Apple made the emoji a permanent part of its keyboard for IOS 5. 

As of July 2022, there are currently 3633 emojis available via Apple’s IOS Keyboard with over 100 more to become available by the end of 2022.

 

 

The Stats 

So why should your business be using emojis? 

Using emojis in your brand’s ad copy, Social Media & Email Marketing has been proven to boost engagement, CTR & open rates significantly. 

Just take a look at the statistics: 

-Facebook posts experience an impressive 57% lift when an emoji is featured

-Instagram content with emojis sees an engagement increase of 48%

-An emoji in the subject line of an email increases the open rate by 29% and the click-through rate by 28% 

But take note: Keep your emoji usage in touch with either your personal branding or the context of your post/ad, overusing irrelevant emojis to appear ‘trendy’ will not work in your favour, as they say, “No one likes a try-hard”…

 

 

Show Your Personality

Other than just being more naturally eye-catching for the audience, emojis can actually hold a vital part in how your audience sees your brand. Although the key component to any digital advertising is strong copywriting which conveys a brand’s TOV clearly, adding an emoji is simply the icing on the cake. 

Including emojis in your marketing adds more trust and a humanising factor to your brand’s image, ultimately allowing customers to stay loyal, as well as naturally boosting brand awareness. 

 

 

Emoji or not to Emoji…that is the real question

Finally, the standard for most brands is less is more when it comes to using emojis in your marketing – with 59% of consumers aged 18-34 believing companies are overdoing it. 

However, there are no rules to follow when it comes to emojis and truthfully it will depend on what you know will work well for your brand individually! 

For example…

Unicorn Cosmetics 

Although it is common for cosmetic brands to use emojis more frequently, due to typically appealing to a young female demographic, Unicorn Cosmetics takes that one step further, by ‘breaking’ the unsaid “less is more” rule and making it work in their favour. 

You will often see their ads covered with bright colourful emojis, which reflect the ‘magical’, ‘fun’ & ‘girly’ aesthetic that connects with their branding and makes them stand out from competitors. 

TUI

The ‘bog-standard’ use of emojis for marketing can be seen using Travelling Agency TUI. They use a selective & minimal use of the icons which relate to the topic of vacations/ travelling, which simply adds a more welcoming tone to their copy and is overall visually eye-catching for their audience. 

Balenciaga

Doing a complete 180, high-end fashion retailer Balenciaga refrain from using a single emoji (or much copy for that matter) in their campaigns, to keep a completely professional and exclusive aesthetic to their brand; with many higher-end brands feeling that emojis would ‘cheapen’ their overall tone of voice. 

 

And there you have it! 

If you feel that your business could do with an emoji upgrade or further guidance with your Ad Copy in general, our specialist creative team are here to help! Book a call with us and get your business growing today 🚀

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Creating TikTok Ads that Convert

Once your business has joined TikTok, the next step is creating content that converts. To be successful on this platform, there’s a formula to follow to appeal to the TikTok viewer. TikTok is a niche platform on which dynamic content keeps viewers engaged and performs incredibly well.

Read on to discover how to produce high-performing TikTok campaigns that lead to website conversions.

 

TikTok : the newest way to take your marketing to the next level

 

Engage from the start

Firstly, let’s take a moment to consider the TikTok viewer-persona. Their constant scrolling has given them an incredibly short attention span and they’re looking for instant engagement and interesting content – otherwise, they’ll scroll right past your ad.

The very first few seconds are crucial in setting the tone for a dynamic ad. Ensure you add a short caption at the start that effectively sums up what the following video is about (eg “3 ways to ____”, “How to ____” ) or entices the viewer to keep watching ( eg “Meet my new favourite ____”, “Wish I knew about this sooner”, ““Why you need this in your life”). You can be creative with this or stick to phrases like these that tend to work on the platform.

The viewer typically won’t carry on watching if it isn’t immediately clear what the rest of the TikTok is about – satisfying their short attention span is necessary in setting the right tone with your TikToks.

 

Essential elements

What do you need to create an engaging TikTok ad that shows off your product line and entices viewers to visit your site? Whether you’re creating an unboxing product focus or using UGC (User Generated Content), we’ll break it down for you:

 

1 – Always use dynamic transitions

Only use exactly what you need in each clip – if one clip is one second too long to stay 100% engaging, TikTok viewers are tempted to scroll onto the next video.

It’s brutal – that’s why it’s worth being a little ruthless with your content – what would be engaging to younger viewers? Does it keep up with the instant-gratification method that succeeds on Tiktok?

 

2 – Include a ‘human presence’

Whether it’s a hand or a face in the frame, TikToks including someone using or handling the featured product naturally engage viewers more than videos without any human presence.

 

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3 – Include captions

Depending on your clip lengths and whether or not your visual content speaks for itself, add captions to keep viewers engaged.

If your video doesn’t include a talk-through or voiceover, you can add text-to-voice on each caption, automatically converting them to spoken captions. This feature is often used on product-focussed content, so TikToks making use of this will fit right in with the viewership.

Keep your captions short and easy-to-read alongside the visual content – watching your TikTok should feel natural, and not strained or stressful to gain all the information it shows.

  .

 

4 – Add music or audio

TikTok offers a rich library of sounds you can add to clips, which can also be background music for voiceovers or talk-throughs.

 

5 – Include your brand name clearly at the start or the end

If viewers are interested in your products, they want to be quickly told where to find them. Make it easy for viewers by prompting the next step – conversion on your site.

 

6 – Finally, add a CTA

This can be a clear “Shop at ____” at the end of the ad, or something slightly less obvious but still powerful (eg “Get yours at ____”).

 

Align with the algorithm

Now you’ve got the basics for creating engaging TikTok content, what more can you do to succeed on this platform and be rewarded by the algorithm? The more people that view, like, comment and share your video, the more views you’ll get, as TikTok’s algorithm rewards seemingly engaging and popular content.

Let’s find out how you can increase your chances of higher views:

1 – Use hashtags in the video caption – before you post a TikTok ad, ensure the caption contains a few hashtags. These can be relevant to your product, market and video content (eg #grwm for ‘Get ready with me’-style content, or #howto #howtoguide), or you can find trending hashtags that could increase views.

2 – Use trending songs/audio – on TikTok, trends rule supreme and get you noticed, and this includes the audio you choose. If you identify tracks and audio clips that many users are adding to videos, see if you could incorporate these in an engaging way in your own videos.

3 – Create videos that loop – TikTok videos play on loop, and the more times you watch the same TikTok, the more the algorithm thinks it’s worth showing to others. If videos don’t have the clearest beginning and end, users might rewatch it before they even realise- if the first clip naturally continues from the last, you can trick viewers into watching your ad multiple times.

 

 

So, that’s how you can up your TikTok game and align with the algorithm. By spending some time on this platform and paying attention to high-performing content and other well-made TikTok ads, you’ll get the hang of how it’s done.

Creating and scaling high-performing TikTok content could be just what your business needs to reach new heights and attract new audiences.  If you’d like further guidance with creating successful TikTok content, or you’re interested in finding out more about our in-house TikTok services, get in touch with us today. Our Marketing Specialists are here to help your social media marketing get to the next level 🚀

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Social Media Updates – July 2022

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?

How Long Can Instagram Reels Be? From 15 to 60 Seconds

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. 

TikTok Launches New Attribution Manager to Provide More Ad Performance Tracking Capacity

 

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 🚀

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5 Tips for Successful Summer Campaigns

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 🚀

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Trends, challenges and charts: TikTok’s impact on the music industry

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 🚀

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Meet the Social Nucleus team!

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

Will Tickle Social Nucleus

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

Jamie Crichton Social Nucleus

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

Katie Milne Social Nucleus

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

Matt Sheedy Social Nucelus

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 

Anthony Hoodless Social Nucleus

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 

Sarah Benson Social Nucleus

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 

Phoebe Moore Social Nucleus

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

Tom Watson Social Nucleus

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

Chanel O'Brien Social Nucelus

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

Zoe Williams Social Nucleus

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 

Chico Social Nucleus

 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 🚀 

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7 ways to optimise your website conversion rate

No matter the efficacy of your paid social ads or email marketing campaigns, your website is where the most important step occurs for your business: conversion. That’s why it’s incredibly important to ensure that your website’s conversion rate is fully optimised.

Whether your customer knows your brand from your organic social media presence, or has come across your website and brand for the first time, your website needs to provide a smooth and simple process from your customer visiting the landing page to completing their purchase.

Here’s 7 ways you can boost your website conversions – all proven to optimise conversion rate.

 

1. Add a pop-up to your landing page(s).

A pop-up is a great way to entice customers to make a purchase, advertising a first-order offer or product/bundle discount, for example. You can test different incentives until you reach the highest conversion rate.

Ensure your pop-up appears with a 30 second delay and is easy to close, so that it doesn’t annoy site visitors. You can also set a cookie to make your pop-up message only appear once per user.

The top website pop-ups can reach a conversion rate of nearly 10% (for every 100 website visitors, 10 make a purchase via the pop-up message). Give it a try to boost your conversions.

 

 

pop up on wesb

 

2. Include social proof.

Your customer wants to make sure their purchase will be worth their investment – and customer testimonials and reviews can help build their trust. According to Trustpilot, 89% of consumers check online reviews before making a purchase – and you can make this investigative process easier by including social proof on your site.

By quoting happy customers on your landing page, as well as a dedicated review page and a link to third-party review sites like Trustpilot, you’ll be able to build potential customers’ certainty that your product/service is worth investing in, leading to increased conversions.

 

3. Keep pages simple and easily navigable.

From the first glance, customers shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by a busy and cluttered landing page. It’s crucial to keep your website’s design simple, clear and easily navigable – so that visitors focus on your offering and make a seamless journey towards a purchase.

Don’t include something if it isn’t essential or valuable to the customer journey. Every page and section needs to clearly lead to conversion. Include a headline/subheadings, your product’s benefits/features/USPs, testimonials/reviews and visual creatives/animated content.

The more content your visitors have to scroll through to find out about your products and make a purchase, the less likely they are to convert. Make sure the experience of visiting your website is smooth and straightforward- with minimal distractions.

 

4. Simplify your sign-up form.

When customers begin to fill out a sign-up form to receive your newsletter and create an account on your site, they wish to complete the process quickly. It’s your job to make sure this is smooth- by only requesting essential information. This might just be their email address – leave the ‘how did you hear about us?’ to the post-purchase survey.

You can even add a 3rd-party sign-up service to eliminate any form-filling, such as allowing the customer to use their Google or Facebook account. Ensure you give your customers a seamless experience from start to finish.

 

 

5. Strengthen CTA copy.

Rather than constantly sticking to CTA copy like ‘shop now’ or ‘sign up’, more creative copy can generate greater conversions as it subtly, yet powerfully, entices the customer to progress to the next stage of their journey on your website.

Adding the word ‘yes’ before a CTA psychologically paints it in a positive light, increasing the likelihood that a customer acts on the command;

 

 

Ensure your CTAs are clear and placed throughout your website and landing pages – so that there is always an opportunity to move closer to purchase, no matter how much a customer scrolls through a page. This may be the same CTA incorporated at several points throughout a page.

The sooner a CTA appears when the customer visits a page (ideally without scrolling first), the better.

 

6. Add a countdown timer.

Including a countdown timer on your landing page, added to a sale or offer advertisement for example, is an effective way to encourage quicker conversions. If customers see a timer, they’ll know something is exclusive and only available for a limited time (and therefore more desirable), and their sense of urgency to purchase will increase.

 

7. Offer a money-back guarantee.

Another great way to remove customers’ objections to risk and increase security in purchasing from you is to offer a money-back guarantee. By promising high quality and strong return on investment, a clear money-back guarantee on your website is an effective incentive for customers to move towards conversion.

Whether you boldly display this guarantee in your site’s visual creatives or you add it to product descriptions, make sure it’s clearly visible on the page so you can capitalise from its message.

 

The final thing to do is make sure your website is optimised for mobile– to increase conversions from this platform and improve your Google rankings. On mobile, the experience of viewing your website is different. Less is more on mobile- your mobile site should have further simplified navigation (making use of the hamburger menu). Utilise Google’s mobile testing tool to check whether your site is mobile-friendly and discover ways you can improve mobile performance.

It is advisable to take a look through your website through your customers’ eyes, and see what the experience might be like when you visit for the first time. Ask yourself questions like; is it easy to navigate? Does it make use of clear and well-populated CTAs? What could be added/changed to optimise conversion rate?

Keep in mind websites you’ve visited and purchased from in the past – these can act as strong models to follow to ensure your site effectively generates conversions.

 

So, there you have it. A comprehensive guide of ways to optimise your website’s conversion rate.

Need further help to create an effective, sleek website for your business and boost your online conversions? Get in touch with us today- we’re a team of marketing specialists offering brand development support and creative management, including paid social media ads and email marketing.

We’re experts in all things SEO and site performance- book a call in with us today and find out how we can help scale your business 🚀

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How to level up your marketing game with key marketing dates

Find out how to utilise upcoming marketing dates to your advantage with this handy checklist.

Got a few key marketing dates coming up that you want to use? Here’s a checklist for you to make sure you take full advantage of these in your marketing output.

We’ll be covering the following in this article :

1.Create an exciting promotion
2.Theme up on socials
3.Engage on email
4.Grab attention on ads

 

First of all, here’s a few dates you need to be paying attention to this month:

1st-30th June : Pride Month

3rd June : Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday

5th June : World Environment Day

19th June : Father’s Day

 

Getting involved with dates like these is a great way to put your brand out there, stay relevant and engage with your target audience. It makes a creative way to reach your ultimate goal: driving website traffic and conversions.

To fully capitalise on upcoming marketing dates, it’s essential to prepare your content in advance, across your socials, website and ads. Then when the date rolls around, your campaign is strong and fully tailored to engage with your audiences.

Let’s go ahead and break down your campaign strategy, so you know exactly what you need to do to prepare for your next marketing date.

 

1. Create an exciting promotion

Setting up a special discount or product offer to celebrate a themed date is a great strategy to boost conversions from new and loyal customers alike. 

This could be exclusive to newsletter subscribers, with a themed code to use at checkout, or for all site visitors. To create a sense of urgency and exclusivity, consider adding a timer to your landing page or newsletter email, counting down to the end of the offer.

Here’s a few examples of landing pages for the Platinum Jubilee this weekend:

 

2. Theme up on socials

Make sure to commemorate the event on your socials, whether that’s Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or LinkedIn. 

Use relevant hashtags to increase your reach, and consider creating an eye-catching graphic that pulls attention on the quickest of scrolls. Add creative captions that are on theme and contain an engaging CTA to drive site traffic, perhaps even promising an offer when you visit the website.

Here’s an example from Paperchase’s Instagram :

If you’re extra keen to capitalise on a themed date, consider a themed hashtag challenge on TikTok. Create a custom hashtag for customers to use on their own videos featuring your products – this will engage your audiences and build brand awareness.

 

3. Engage on email

Your email marketing gives you a stellar opportunity to let your creativity take the stage with themed dates. Create a themed template with creative copy, engaging CTAs and promote any themed offers you’re running. These could be VIP sales on certain products, or code-unlocking bundle deals.

Remember – your subject line is incredibly important if you want to boost your open (and click) rates. Write an attention-grabbing subject line that would stand out in your inbox, making use of on-theme emojis where appropriate.


4. Grab attention on ads

The final part to consider devoting attention to is your paid Facebook and Google ads. Target and attract new audiences with themed graphics, and retarget existing audiences with any on-theme promotions you’re running. It’s a sure-fire way to drive traffic with clear relevancy and exciting exclusivity.

 

All in all – let your creativity run wild, and invest time in upcoming marketing dates to take your brand to the next level. Note down the upcoming themed dates you could use to your advantage and plan ahead – so you’re ready to drive that traffic and sales when the day rolls around.

 

In need of a bespoke marketing strategy to take your business to new heights? Get in touch with our team today – we’re very happy to help your eCommerce brand with social media strategy, paid advertising and email marketing.

Our results-driven method keeps us ahead of the game – perfect for creating high quality, ultra-relevant content for your products/services. Book a call with us today – we can’t wait to find out more about your business.