Tag: Social Media

How TikTok took over: using short-form video for business

Olivia NolesBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

For the past few years, short-form video has been taking over social media. The algorithms built around these videos give creators the opportunity to go viral overnight. Read how TikTok took over and our tips for using short-form video for business.

How TikTok took over:

TikTok, a short-form video platform that currently has 1 billion active users worldwide, is at the head of the short-form video.

TikTok’s short-form video platform combines the successful features from other apps, such as the music library and lip-synching feature of Musically and the inside-joke culture around Vine, a short-form video app that thrived in the beginning but ultimately failed.

TikTok combined these loved features of previous apps with an algorithm that made creators and businesses blow up overnight. Unlike any other before, the TikTok algorithm rewards content above all else. It no longer matters how many subscribers or followers you have. Any valuable, quality content has a chance of going viral.

Other reasons TikTok has become so successful is because it is easy to use, the library of sounds creates a community, the short-form video caters to humans’ short attention spans and the custom “For You Page” shows users content they enjoy.

using short-form video for business

Since TikTok’s success, short-form videos and similar formatting and algorithms can now be found across nearly all social media sites. Instagram has Reels, Reels can be seen on Facebook and YouTube has launched YouTube Shorts.

You may be uncertain about the longevity of short-form videos because of Vine. Today’s platforms are different than Vine and more likely to succeed because the apps offer monetization options for creators and are pro-business. With how easy it is to reach new audiences, you should be using short-form video for your business.

How should I use short-form video for my business?

TikTok:

TikTok may be right for your business if your target audience is younger (16-30). It’s a great platform to invest time in because the algorithm shows users content they are likely to enjoy, making your viewers more likely to be interested in your product or service.

To increase the chances of having a video go viral, use trending songs, content styles or jokes, and hook the viewer at the beginning of the video.

While consistent, organic content is a strategy we recommend for any social media platform, TikTok also offers many beneficial advertising opportunities through its TikTok for Business platform.

TikTok for Business serves as a marketing hub for businesses’ accounts and gives businesses the ability to create five different types of ads:

  • TopView: ads that users see when they first open the app
  • Infeed Videos: ads that pop up in between user content
  • Brand Takeovers: allow brands to create images, GIFs and videos that link to webpages or promote hashtag challenges
  • Hashtag Challenges: allow brands to promote a branded hashtag that you can craft to increase engagement and awareness
  • Branded Effects: branded lenses that businesses can put in the foreground or background of videos

Instagram and Facebook:

Instagram has announced that it is no longer just a photo-sharing app and introduced its own version of short-form content called Reels. With a similar algorithm to TikTok, Reels is one of the fastest ways to grow on Instagram.

using short-form video for business

Tips for successful, organic Reels:

  • Share your Reel only to the Reels tab to reach new audiences  
  • Share the Reel in your feed to reach your followers
  • Enable the “recommend on Facebook” setting when posting the Reel to make it viewable on Facebook
  • Use trending sounds, or sounds with a small arrow next to them, to increase your chance of going viral

Ad content can also be created for Reels and will help businesses reach greater audiences. Instagram Reel ads are a feed style, meaning they show up in between organic reels on the reels tab, explore and traditional feed.  

YouTube:

If your business is active on YouTube, you may want to implement YouTube Shorts in your strategy. Shorts is a relatively new feature on YouTube, and there are currently some pros and cons with utilizing the feature:

  • Pro: Can reach new audiences through suggested content
  • Pro: Can increase channel views
  • Con: On the desktop, Shorts are shown with your typical videos, which can clog your page and distract from your long-form content
  • Con: can decrease watch time analytics
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Instagram: No longer just for photos

Clairemont InternBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, Trends, , ,

When Instagram launched in 2010, it was a single feed stream of singular square photos. Over the years, Instagram added options for video, stories, IGTV, Guides, Reels and even shopping within the app. In the most recent update, Adam Mosseri, company head of Instagram, states that Instagram is “no longer a photo-sharing app.” 

Instagram’s goal has always been to keep users in the app for as much time as possible. The networking service’s research findings have shown entertainment as the number one reason people use the app by a long shot. To captivate users against the millennial audience on TikTok, shopping websites and other competitors, Instagram has evolved. Moving forward, they plan to focus on more video content, creators, shopping and direct messaging. 

To make the app more enjoyable for users, Instagram will also experiment with recommendations, or showing users content in their feeds that they are not already following. To make these recommendations more personalized, it is launching a version that includes personalized topics so users can hand select which topics they want to see more or less of. 

What do these changes mean for creators and businesses?

The Instagram algorithm favors content that contains the newest features and keeps users on the app. Instagram has seen the growth video is driving across all platforms and wants to lean into it more. Therefore, creators and businesses should shift content creation to video formatting when possible, preferably to reels and IGTV videos. 

If you are a business with the ability to tag shoppable products through Instagram, you should be jumping at the opportunity to provide your customers an easier way to shop while gaining an advantage in the app. Anytime Instagram launches a new feature, you should be implementing it to your social media strategy as soon as possible. 

Need help launching your own Instagram account for your business or organization? Reach out to us; we’d love to help!

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Life Styled By Social Media

Clairemont InternBlog, PR People, The Clairemont Team, , ,

The best career advice I received was from my favorite high school English teacher who told us that no matter the career we chose, we should find something we were passionate about. After all, we would only spend the rest of our lives doing it. This advice rang true when I made the decision to follow my passions and pursue my love of fashion at NC State University. 

I have always loved fashion. As a little girl, I would spend hours dressing up my dolls just to instantly undress and style them in another fabulous look. As a teenager, I spent Saturdays selling my wardrobe to replenish it with the newest styles at Valley Hills Mall. Clothing is more than a basic need to me; it’s a form of self-expression. 

I never knew fashion marketing was something I could study until I stumbled upon NC State’s Summer Textile Exploration Program for high school students interested in pursuing fashion at the Wilson College of Textiles. STEP taught me that there are endless career opportunities in the fashion industry and that a degree in fashion textile management would provide me with a well-rounded education and marketing skills that are valuable in any industry.

In fall 2017, I came to NC State as a fashion textile management major with a concentration in brand management and marketing at the Wilson College of Textiles. 

Around that time, I started my blog, The Brightest of the Bunch, and began creating fashion content on social media. My love for blogging inspired me to add an extra dimension to my degree and minor in journalism. Content creation led me to realize that fashion wasn’t my only passion and I wanted to focus on blogging and social media.

I planned to continue blogging and shift my content to focus on travel in spring 2020 while I was studying abroad in Florence, Italy in a fashion marketing program. When the pandemic hit, all of my creative plans went out the window. Instead, in February 2020 I was sent home from Italy, stuck in my tiny hometown, Morganton, NC, and had lost all inspiration and motivation to create content. It was like everything was on pause. 

As the summer progressed, I began to panic about my future. I had always dreamed that my social media platforms would take off before I started to apply for jobs. Now my senior year was creeping up, and I rarely felt like I had the energy to be on camera or take photos of myself, let alone start my career. 

I decided to apply for social media internships where I would be able to tap back into my passions without having to be the face of the content. I started doing social media work with start-ups and small businesses, and I loved that with each of these organizations there was a purpose behind the content I was creating. I thrived on being able to create for multiple industries and helping entrepreneurs reach their goals. 

Throughout my senior year, I continued to manage social media for different clients. I realized that working at an agency was the next step for me when Maia Guterbock, a former Clairemont intern, spoke in my Editorial and Opinion Writing class. She talked about her own blog and creative work at Clairemont including a post on “How brands get the ha-ha’s” and a review of the Best 2021 Superbowl commercials. I was inspired by all of it! 

After interviewing at Clairemont, I knew this was the internship for me. Working with clients to help refine their brand, and create and execute social media campaigns is right up my alley. I’m excited to grow in my creativity and experience and expand my PR knowledge this summer.

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Marketing: Why Work with a PR Firm

Clairemont InternBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, Marketing, , , , , ,

Marketing your business can be a daunting task, but it’s a crucial element to success in today’s world. Working with an agency is an efficient way to bring more to the table than just brand awareness. Businesses large and small can benefit in many ways by hiring an agency including:

1. Introducing Investors

Having a steady source of income is, obviously, the linchpin for a successful business, especially at its early stages. PR agencies can help to attract investors by demonstrating your credibility and producing strategies to target investors at the right time.

2. Creating a Rockstar Reputation

Reputation is a part of attracting new clients, investors and great employees. PR professionals help you refine your brand messaging and increase industry awareness, which ultimately generates new clients, coverage and talent. 

3. Maximizing Media 

PR agencies are masters at forging new connections, reigniting old ones and integrating digital media tactics, thanks to their built-in knowledge and strong relationships with media outlets. 

4. Increasing Productivity

Marketing, especially good marketing, is a lot of work. Hiring a PR agency can free up valuable time, energy and resources for you and your employees. Experienced PR pros can take the work off your plate so you can focus on growing your team and business. 

However, we understand that sometimes it’s not possible to immediately collaborate with an agency. We’ve put together a list of low-maintenance and cost-friendly marketing strategies that can jumpstart your business and brand, and make agency collaboration seamless down the line. 

  • Create a Google My Business account. This (free!) listing allows your business to show up on Google Maps, the local section of a Google Search and the right-side Knowledge Panel for branded searches. 
  • Post and engage regularly on social media. Increasing social media presence and engagement (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok) can build a community online and allows you to express your brand’s personality as well as build trust with your audience.
  • Start a blog. Blogging is still a great tool to make content a regular part of your marketing efforts. You can share your posts on social media and it’s an easy way to direct potential clients to your company site, increase user engagement, improve visibility and strengthen your overall SEO. 
  • Apply for awards. Applying for awards can generate buzz for your business and, if you win, boost credibility. 
  • Collaborate with others. Double your exposure and reach a new audience by collaborating with another business in-person (post-pandemic) or virtually. Teaming up can also mean placing business cards, flyers or brochures at your partner’s physical location or taking over/guest-starring on its social media account — get creative!

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of hiring a PR agency and what Clairemont Communications can do for you, drop us a line. We’d love to work with you!

Curious about more marketing resources? Check out our blog for some stellar social media tools.

By Clairemont intern Maia Guterbock, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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The Best Super Bowl Marketing and Why

Clairemont InternBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

Photo credit: Pexels

While the Super Bowl looked different in many ways this year, the tradition of brands shelling out millions to vie for our attention with 30-second ads remained the same. 

From big-name celebrities to catchy jingles, there were lots of great marketing campaigns this year. Below we outline some of our favorites and share why they were effective from a marketing perspective. 

  1. “No Way, Norway!”
    This General Motors ad starred comedian Will Ferrell as a passionate electric vehicle driver. When Ferrell finds out that Norway greatly outproduces the United States in electric vehicle production, he is outraged. Ferrell plans to assemble a team to make a stand in Norway, except they all accidentally travel to the wrong Scandanavian countries. We liked this ad because it was lighthearted and comedic, but still clearly got the point across that GM is committing itself to produce more electric vehicles. Because electric cars are better for the environment, GM is showing that the brand cares about the future and is helping to invent a better tomorrow. 
  2. “Swimming Upstream”
    After a year full of trials and tribulations, Toyota’s ad addressed the hardships of life head-on. The ad told the life story of Jessica Long, a U.S. Paralympian and double leg amputee who was adopted from Russia as a child. The ad showed that while Jessica faced many struggles, she persisted and found success and happiness in life. We loved this ad because of its phenomenal storytelling. Storytelling is one of the best ways for marketers to connect with their audiences and leave a lasting impression. While you might not directly think of Toyota when you think of a brave Paralympian, this story of persistence perfectly ties into its tagline: “Let’s Go Places.” 
  3. “Alexa’s Body”
    This hilarious Amazon commercial followed along with an Amazon employee who came up with the idea to put Alexa technology into a humanlike body. The commercial takes a turn when she puts Alexa technology into actor Michael B. Jordan and can’t stop drooling over him in front of her husband. According to post-Super Bowl social media analysis, this commercial made the biggest splash. Amazon saw a 110 percent growth in social media activity and growth within 24 hours of the Super Bowl. The second-ranked company on the list, Paramount, only saw a 54 percent boost. This ad is a great example of how powerful humor can be in marketing if it is executed tastefully and strategically. 
  4. Budweiser’s CSR
    Instead of spending $5.5 million on a 30-second Super Bowl ad, Budweiser donated a commercial slot for coronavirus vaccine awareness efforts. While it was the first time in more than 30 years that fans didn’t get to see the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales on the big screen, the brand still gave viewers a glimpse of their adored horses via Twitter. On each commercial break, Budweiser tweeted out a video of the horses carrying a mystery item across rugged terrain and asked followers what they thought the item was. At the end of the game, Budweiser revealed that the Clydesdales were carrying a cooler full of beer (shocker!). We loved Budweiser’s marketing strategy for several reasons. First, by choosing to donate their Super Bowl advertising budget to coronavirus vaccination efforts, it shows its audience that corporate social responsibility is important to the brand. The campaign also harnessed the power of video by using stunning visuals to draw viewers in. If you’re interested in integrating video content into your marketing campaigns, check out our blog on strengthening video strategy. 

If you want to develop a marketing campaign but aren’t sure where to start, contact us! From planning to execution, we can help you along every step of the way. 

By Clairemont intern Anne Claire Foreman, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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