All Categories - Social Mingler

Facebook is changing the way you can advertise, what do you think of it?

21/1/2014

A recent announcement by facebook http://ow.ly/sNJOb has shown that they are to ‘sunset sponsored stories adverts’. To make up for the social element of this advert, Facebook note that it has now fully added social elements to the other advert options such as comments like etc. Also the ‘opting in and out’ of social context will help to dictate to whom the advert gets shown to; So if user Pam hasn’t opted out, when she likes the brand the advert will be shown to user Abby. With these looming changes, all advertisers will be automatically opted into social context if users’ friends have already engaged with the brands Page.

Sponsored stories will no longer be delivered after April 9th. This means any brands that use this as a key tool to their social advertising will have to rethink their strategy. However, as we all know it unlikely anyone will leave all their marketing eggs in one facebook media so making up for the lack of facebook advertising with blogs or vines would boost SEO as well as help engage users further.

The Mingler team are interested in your thoughts on the matter. Do you think sponsored stories will be missed? Or are you grateful to see the back of them?

Let us know!

The Mingler Team Have Been Up to Mischief at Mingler HQ!

1/1/2014

Merry Christmas From the Mingler Team!

Merry Marketing Tips for the Festive Season

25/11/2013

1.       Create a festive atmosphere by updating your profile pictures to something more Merry and Christmassy. Make sure you keep your logo in the picture though as this is how people recognise you and your profile picture is the first thing customers will see and this helps to build brand recognition.

2.       Action words “Post, Comment, Take, Submit, Like and Tell Us” increase Facebook status engagement, so combine one of these popular words with a relevant festive topic, and you’ve got yourself an awesome seasonal status!

3.       Employee engagement is always a good way to get more views and followers on social networks. Are you having a sponsored ‘wear a Christmas jumper’ day? Post pictures and show your customers what’s going on. Not only are you sharing what is happening behind the scenes at HQ, but you will also increase engagement as no one can resist a picture of the CEO in a Rudolph Jumper!

4.       The festive season gives way to great promotional ideas where customers have to either send in festive pics or come up with captions for cheesy Christmas pics and many more ideas. If the prize is a discount or money off, you will not only get tonnes of engagement but will also get lots of entries. It will also mean your SEO increases so therefore more consumer interest.

5.       That’s all folks, follow these tips and you’re sure to have a fully engaged festive season!

Confused about #hashtags? You won't be for long!

2/11/2013

Getting off to a flying start!

20/10/2013

This summer was one of the best the Mingler team has had. Some of the team decided to launch the summer by taking flying lessons at the London Flight Centre in Elstree. They had a fantastic time and what a great way to kick off this summer's antics!? The next big thing to happen was we got invited to be on the Committee for Watford's Dragon's Apprentice, which sees school teams learn the nuances of the business world and set up their own, with all proceeds going to charity. The summer months were also packed with dancing to a new beat, as we organised Watford's Biggest Charity Zumbathon, which we're pleased to confirm was a big hit!

As you can see, we have had an amazing summer and have a ton of other exciting things lined up...!

The Importance of Pictures

12/9/2013

The way we take pictures and who we share them with is changing.

Instead of taking photographs of important life events and sharing them with a few people we are now sharing them with everyone on our friends list. All social sites are being engaged with from Tumblr and Instagram to those old faithfuls, Facebook and Twitter. We now share photos with the companies we are with and the places we go.

'If its not on Facebook then it didn't happen' has become our chosen mantra.
And these days, images aren’t just something you look at — they’re the centre of most of our online engagements, as people share, comment and engage with image creators.

On Facebook, up to 250 million pictures are uploaded every day.
A post that includes an album or picture receives 120 - 180% more engagement from fans and friends than a text based post.

The key to business marketing with images is to keep it in the moment. The other thing is to post graphical quirky things alongside the more serious stuff. Ones that are funny always catch the eye of consumers, they are visual stimuli and so, will increase engagement.

Remember too, the public are interested in the 'behind the scenes' parts of the business. They want to get snippets of what they wouldn't normally see. Pictures which depict a process are always high on the engagement scale as well.

Our 5 Top Tips to Image Success

People love to have their thoughts and ideas recognised. One great way to do this is by posting a picture and asking people to caption it.
When you leverage a themed hashtag that appeals to a wider demographic, you align your Google+ activity with the broader community. There are lots of themed conversations that people regularly participate with on Google+. One examples is #motivationmonday,
Ask questions. People tend to need encouragement to engage so this should top of your list when you go to write any post.
Think about your customers. What would they want to see? What would they find inpiring and interesting?
Images don’t have to be professionally shot, but use images that are colorful, well-balanced and interesting.

Be a Tortoise, Not a Hare.

3/8/2013

Social media is the easiest thing to do but it is also the easiest thing to do wrong. If you aim to be the hare, you'll soon find yourself at a halt - you're better off being a tortoise.

When you start off using social media, it is understandable that the huge peak in your audience makes you rejoice. Perhaps you had some great publicity at the start; contacted the right group, or invested in some page advertisement. Grabbing an initial audience is great.

However, you don't want to live between peaks and troughs. You may feel like you're ahead but actually, your overall audience won't be as great as if you aimed for a steady incline. It is far better to have a strategy to pursue, which will engage an active audience, who check in regularly.

Seeing spikes is something that should only occur when something very important has occurred, like a product launch or an event announcement. There will always be something going on - but be ruthless when deciding whether it is worth highlighting. Sometimes, standard promotion will do. As JD Rucker says - ' it must also be social gold'.

Social media strategies are very important and it's all about time and consistency - slow and steady wins the race.

Optimal Posting Time - Will You Bow Down To It?

24/7/2013

Social media can be such a mind blowing task as it is, without being restricted by timing. Well, research has been done and it can be seen, from the picture, that these are the best times to maximise impact and reach the most amount of customers. These times have been based on the research of when consumers are most likely to log on.

The question is, will you bow down and follow the lead?

(thanks to: www.placester.com)

Good Media Use by the Monarchy

23/7/2013

Congratulations to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge - #Royal Baby has been born!

There was no time wasted in proving that the Royal Family are up-to-date. Announcements of the birth were posted on Facebook and the news was tweeted. Even an instagram pic of the proud new parents was uploaded.

Tweaking Twitter

14/7/2013

Twitter is the perfect solution for our time-poor lifestyles; tweets cut out the waffle and stick to the main message. Clearly, an effective twitter account is important - which means, many followers and lots of retweets. The following diagram provides some great steps towards achieving more retweets, which in turn means more followers.

(Thanks to Jeff Bullas.)