Vidicom CEO Recommends Brands to Mix and Match Different Social Media Platforms to Interact More with Consumers

Here at Vidicom, Christy Ferer think the various social media platforms are great tools for brands to utilize to connect with consumers. Brands can grow their audiences and discover new content on social media by mixing and matching the different platforms. Here is a list of the platforms that mix well together:

1.     Instagram + Pinterest: A good way to interact with consumers and generate conversations is by pinning your Instagram pictures.

2.     Twitter + Pinterest: You can share your pins with a new audience by pulling content from your pin boards to Twitter.  Photos also help increase engagement with your followers.
      Facebook + Twitter: A good way to find content to post on Facebook is by using Twitter’s search engine.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/23/social-media-mixology/

Vidicom Helps Small Businesses with Social Media Marketing

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer thinks that utilizing social media is a great marketing strategy for brands. Since it can be a challenge for small businesses to engage an audience via social media, we have provided some tips for building and retaining an audience on social media:

1.     “Pay-to-Play”: Although most of the social media platforms are free, businesses should still allocate a marketing budget for social media.

2.     Pick your platforms wisely: Certain businesses will flourish on visually rich sites such as Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube, while others may have more success with Twitter’s 140 character format

3.     Create a community of insiders: Many people “like” a brand on Facebook so that they can be “in-the-know” about events, promotions, and special offers or discounts

4.     Social is 24/7: Since people are on social media at all hours of the day, including off-hours, the ideal social strategy does not shut off completely for hours or days on end.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/24/grow-social-audience/

Businesses Should Consider Social Media Lessons of 2013 Says Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer and the Vidicom team read that this was a big year for social media from Twitter making its successful debut on the stock market to China’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba, spending $586 million for a stake in Weibo. Vidicom thinks there are many social media lessons of 2013 that businesses can take away. These lessons include:

Social media can move markets: This was shown when the Dow dropped 150 points seconds after The Associated Press’ Twitter account was hacked and broadcasted a fake tweet saying that there were explosions in the White House and Barack Obama was injured.

Social media is increasingly visual: It is clear with Twitter-owned Vine being launched and Facebook responding by enabling video on Instagram that social media is becoming more and more visual.

Social media is for everyone: Global leaders such as Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon even use social media platforms.

Social media advertising is on the rise: Facebook reported in the third quarter of 2013 that revenue grew 60% compared to the previous year, with mobile advertising being a large part of that.

Social media could be TVs biggest ally: In October, Nielsen Ratings displayed a correlation between live-tweeting during TV and having a larger, more engaged audience.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/18/social-media-lessons/

Instagram Direct, Christy Ferer Believes, Can Strengthen Customer Relationships

New features are constantly introduced in the social media world. Here at Vidicom, Christy Ferer loves finding ways brands can benefit from the new products that are released. A new set of private and group messaging features was rolled out for Instagram on Thursday morning. Brands will be thrilled to learn ways they can benefit from Instagram Direct. Cofounder and CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, announced that marketers can use the messaging feature to college images for contests. This can help brands deepen relationships with customers as well as increase consumer engagement. Brands can also advance by using direct messaging to handle customer service issues on a one-to-one basis. Brands should try out this new feature to strengthen customer relationships! 

http://mashable.com/2013/12/12/instagram-direct-brands/

The New Addition to Instagram will be Beneficial for Brands, Recommended by Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer and the Vidicom team love discovering what’s new in the social media world. It was recently reported by GigaOm that Instagram will be adding private messaging before 2014. What the messaging function will look like is unclear, but it is likely that a user might be able directly share photos with particular friends or groups instead of posting to the public newsfeed. Private messaging is a efficient tool for brands to use to reach out to consumers as well as potential consumers more directly. Brands should get excited for the new addition as it can enhance consumer relationships!

http://mashable.com/2013/11/22/report-instagram-messaging/

Content Marketing, says Christy Ferer, is an Effective Strategy for Brands

Traditional, static forms of advertising are no longer effective in today’s social media-driven societies. Businesses now need to adapt by using responsive websites to build their brand. Vidicom and Christy Ferer strongly promotes brands to utilize this content marketing strategy. Brands should take a look at the following companies that have mastered content marketing:

1.     Zady: The ecommerce venture whose product is ethically made goods with transparent supply chains, connects with customers by providing a backstory of the maker of each product. This strategy increases sales because the target audience is shoppers who care about where their goods come from.

2.     Sweetgreen: Via social media platforms, (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Youtube) having a mobile app, and a whole section of its website dedicated to community, the restaurant chain actively engages with consumers. While maintaining consistent brand identity, Sweetgreen also connects with customers by taping into their core beliefs and healthy lifestyle values.

  

Vidicom Shows How Instagram Ads Will Benefit Brands

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer, always knows the scoop about what's happening in social media. As many already know, Instagram will soon be rolling out ads to users. However, it was revealed on Thursday that Instagram will release a sample ad "in the coming week". Brands already on Instagram will be the first to have ads. The company said, "We want ads to be creative and engaging, so were starting with just a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community." Vidicom thinks this is a great opportunity for brands to take as it will increase exposure as well as get consumers more engaged! 

Is your brand on Instagram? If yes, has Instagram increased consumer engagement?

http://mashable.com/2013/10/24/instagram-ads-glimpse/

Brands Should Create Videos via Instagram

As an expert at linking brand embedded content to consumers, CEO of Vidicom, Christy Ferer thinks Instagram is an efficient tool for brands. Branded videos are proving to be very popular on the social network. Unruly, a firm that tracks viral videos, found that 40% of the 1,000 most shared Instagram videos were made by brands. Exposure for brands is enormous since Instagram has over 150 million users. Also, the social media platform doesn't require brands to set up an account from scratch and ties in with Facebook. It is apparent that Instagram is an easy and productive tool for brands.  

http://mashable.com/2013/10/23/instagram-brand-videos/

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, Talks About Instagram's New Feature

Keeping up with social media news is something Christy Ferer likes to do. The buzz right now is that Instagram will start displaying ads in the "next couple months". As part of the company's effort in making itself into a "sustainable business", Instagram will begin by showing photos and videos from brands that are already members of the social media platform. Users will have control over what ads they see. The company explains, “If you see an ad you don’t like, you’ll be able to hide it and provide feedback about what didn’t feel right.” 

http://mashable.com/2013/10/03/instagram-ads/

Many Companies Join Fortune 500 Companies in Using Instagram

Many Fortune 500 companies, such as Nike, Starbucks, and Apple, have started using Instagram to build their brands. Christy Ferer recommends other companies to join them in Instagram marketing. Sabel Harris, the lead marketing maven at TrackMaven, an analysis firm that shows how the Fortune 500 companies are using Instagram, suggests three tips for brands that want to use Instagram:

1.     Post Videos. A video on Instagram can get up to 24 interactions on average.

2.     Several hashtags are effective. According to data, for bigger brands,  4-11 hashtags can increase up to on average 77 interactions per Instagram post.

3.     Posting schedule should be 24/7. Users are on instagram all hours of the day. Ferer thinks that brands should use this to their advantage to decide when they post, based on who their audience is.  

Do you follow brands on Instagram? If so, do you engage in their posts? Let Vidicom know. 

http://mashable.com/2013/09/30/fortune-500-instagram/