Social Media Archives - Leads Online Marketing

Fleets: Twitter’s New Feature Creating a Storm in the Social Media World

Among the many changes that characterize 2020, one of the biggest is the ones in social media features. With social media usage having skyrocketed, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, platforms are scrambling to get to the #1 position. Think Facebook’s redesign, TikTok taking the world by storm (even as lawsuits pile up), Instagram introducing ‘reels’ for short-form video, and LinkedIn introducing widespread live feature and stories. The latest wave is being created by Twitter with its ‘fleets’ rollout. Having rolled out in Japan in mid-November, the feature is now available all over the world on desktop, Android and iOS.

Much in line with the ‘stories’ feature available on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, fleets allow Twitter users to create “temporary” posts in the form of images, videos, and/or text. Fleets can be of 3 types. The first is text fleets, which is basically text on a plain or colored background. The second is photo/video fleets, where users can post both recorded and third-party media. The third type is share tweets. As the name suggests, this allows users to share their own tweets or those of others that catch their eye.

In a way, it is much like stories. Fleets appear on the top of the Twitter news feed (in both the app and desktop versions). Additionally, fleets can be live for only as long as 24-hours, after which they will automatically be deleted. Last but not the least, those with open messaging that have their story viewers send their reactions, and then continue the conversation in the private messaging area. What is not the same, however, is the purpose for which these fleets are designed. According to Joshua Harris and Sam Haveson, Twitter’s Design Director and Product Manager respectively, unlike stories, the point of fleets is to take the steam off of general news feeds.

The inspiration for the feature itself comes from the mounting Twitter post drafts, which they believe are due to the pressure of making statements that will stick, and having to deal with public replies. With features, these Tweet drafts, which have been “left in the dark” will get exposure through fleets, where the amount of self-consciousness will be significantly lower.

Another important element that is wildly different from stories is that Twitter allows users to work on collaborative fleets, which allow two posters to have a single tweet. These appear in the form on twin bubbles, instead of the standard single-bubble display. This particular element, however, is only available in specific regions thus far.

So far, Fleets have appeared to serve their purpose. The feature has been especially popular among general users, with many having increased activity on the social media platform. Many “lurkers” and passive users are also being seen posting their own fleets, or at least sharing others’ tweets through them. Yet others have been seen reducing their regular posting and focusing on Fleets. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. New features often end up attracting a lot of attention at the cost of regular ones, especially in the beginning of the rollout phase.

As a feature, Fleets do seem to have a very promising future. While the number of functionalities are low at the moment, that is soon to change. Many new features, such as AR integration, stickers, colors and customization, will soon be available for users to unleash their creativity through.

Your Guide to Maintaining Good Internet Etiquette

Internet Etiquette, netiquette, professional, online behavior, social media, online marketing

Gone are the days when “internet” simply meant talking on chat rooms and typing-in old documents. So many different things are done via the internet these days – from talking with friends and family in real time (even when they’re on the other side of the globe), to talking on forums and seminars, and even maintaining entire offices. With so much being done online today, it is all the more important for people to put their best foot forward online in every way they can. From talking on social media to answering emails and online advertising to website content, it is always good to think before you share while also following some basic rules.

Here are some ways in which you can keep your internet etiquette (or should we say, “netiquette”) in check:

Mind Your Manners

Just because you’re not actually talking face-to-face with the other person, doesn’t mean that you are free to say or do anything you like and not bear the consequences. Remember, any professional relationships you build online are just like the ones you make in real life – they are based on mutual respect and politeness.

Here’s a small tip to help you get started: If you would not normally say or do something in a face-to-face conversation, make sure that you don’t post it online either.

Avoid Strong Language

While strong language does include rude and foul words, those are only a part of the concept. Strong language can mean a lot of things. For instance, refrain from writing overtly verbose language – you are communicating to another person, not showing-off your superior vocabulary skills. Avoid words and expressions that qualify as rude and foul in any way.

Another thing to take notice of is not using all caps while writing. While many consider this a way of making their posts and messages more easily readable, it is often interpreted as a shouting expression, which is considered rude in most instances.

simulated text chat conversation demonstrating the misuse of CAPS

Proofread Your Work

As in real life, there are different ways of communicating with friends and co-workers or colleagues. For instance, a ‘Gr8’ can work with your sister, but won’t fly with your boss. Sticking to formality, writing in proper writing style and keeping up all the grammar rules is always the best practice.

Be Extra-Careful With Sarcasm and Humor

When it comes to sarcasm and humor, interpretations vary from one culture, and even from one person to another. While it is understandable for you to express sarcasm and/or humor every once in a while, you must make sure that the message you convey expresses the intended message clearly. More often than not, a well-meant joke can be interpreted as an offensive statement.

Don’t Forget to Cite Your Sources

One simply cannot be expected to come up with a fabulous original thought all the time. If you do borrow a thought or an idea that in fact belongs to someone else, make sure to credit them even if your expression of the idea isn’t a word-by-word copy. Not only does that keep you out of possible copyright-related trouble, it also creates a good impression on others by showing them that you are humble enough to mention when a great idea isn’t yours. Copyright infringement in the form of duplicated website content is also greatly frowned upon by Google and, if abused, is a penalizable offense.

With the internet expanding into virtually all facets of our lives, there are now countless things that are done online; from texting your best friend, to booking an appointment, and even working in offices. While it may be tempting to forget the rules and “hide” behind your computer, it is certainly not a good thing to do and can do irreparable damage to your reputation. Before you click that ‘send’ button, make sure that you have followed all there is to proper internet etiquette.

For more business, internet and marketing articles, visit our blog at LeadsOnlineMarketing.blogspot.com

Market Your Business Online For Free

mobile online searches used to find products and services

Advertising is not what it used to be in the world of business. The computer age has taken marketing online. However, marketing your business in this new way does not have to cost a fortune. Here are some free ways to market your business online.

Claim Directory Listings

There are a vast amount of directories that will list your business without a fee. Yahoo! Local and Google Places are just two of those many directories. Additionally, there are an abundance of business associations that allow you to list your business on their respective websites. The benefit of this tactic is that many of these free directories show up in search engine results.

Blogs

The charge for putting up a blog post and then promoting it via social media is zero. It is highly recommended that any kind of business engaged in online marketing should feature a blog with consistent posts. Blogging has evolved into somewhat of a staple when it comes to Internet marketing. Keep content consistent, relevant and engaging.

Put Out a Newsletter

It is meant to include helpful information about your business and its respective industry. Current events are also a good inclusion. Furthermore, there are many e-zine directories, such as The E-Zine Directory, which permit business to advertise their newsletters for free.

E-mail signature example

Use E-mail Signatures

This is a recommended standard. Include a footer in every e-mail which contains links to your website, social media, blog, etc. The process of setting this up is a rather easy one. Anyone who takes the time to read your e-mails will have links at their disposal and can easily learn more about your business.

Use Free Forms of Diversified Content

Try doing a podcast providing helpful hints and expert tips in your specific industry area. Podcasts can be listened to anytime and many people even subscribe to their favorite podcasts. When aiming to go the visual route, video marketing and YouTube are excellent tools! Keeping in mind a similar school of thought with podcasts, videos can boost your website ranking and expand your web presence. Try making a video that appeals to your product or customer base.

Leads Online Marketing uses a variety of content and strategies to bring your message to the masses. Internet Marketing can pave the way to new business with the help of extensive experience, proven results and industry expertise. Contact Leads Online Marketing today and help your business see a better tomorrow.

Resources:
http://www.ezine-dir.com/

The Fool’s Gold of Online Marketing

When presented with an online marketing product or service, it may seem attractive on the outside but, is it really worth it or are you being fooled? In this article, we detail the distasteful tactics used by many other online marketing companies to take advantage of unsuspecting businesses.

This is America and as an American business we believe success is not just our own but that of our nation. Success is not measured by the wealth of few but instead by the well-being of each employee, our customers, and community. We cannot forget our fellow Americans. That is why we are committed to the true American way of doing business with fair and honest practices.

Misinformation: Falsehoods, inaccuracies, deceptions, myths, or lies… False information by any name is still false and, unfortunately, it has become copious in today’s digital world. Businesses should keep in mind that pretty presentations and featured reports are not always evidence of a company’s abilities or success. Before hearing a pitch, its best to know a little about what the numbers mean and what realistic results are.

One term that is sure to come up when discussing SEO services and website rankings is “keywords” or “keyphrases”. These are words or phrases that a business wants to rank for. For example, a keyword for a plumbing company could be “plumber” or “toilet repair” and the goal is to have the business website display within localized Google results when these terms are searched for by a consumer in their target areas. All of this is related to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which can take up to 6 months to begin producing results.

Some organizations will attempt to deceive consumers with misleading ranking reports. They may say something like a business has 1,000 keywords ranking on the top two pages of Google, which can sound great. But, what are the keywords and are they worth paying for? Many times unrelated, uncompetitive, and/or outrageously long keywords are used to inflate positive figures on a dishonest report. Back to our plumber as an example, the phrase “best plumber in the Southside of Charlotte at 1111 SE 1st AVE” should not be included in a ranking report nor should a business be paying to rank for it. Think, what are the chances of someone typing and search for that exact phrase in Google or any search engine? Also, be wary if the company is unwilling to share a list of the keywords correlating to their report numbers.

Like with many industries – banking, insurance, manufacturing, and others – there is only so much you can know before buying into a product or service. Sometimes that means putting a little faith in a company. At Leads Online Marketing, we know in our hearts that every day we do what is best for our clients because their success is our success and that type of relationship cannot be based of falsehoods.

Quantity over Quality: Quality keywords are not the only things to look into when choosing an online marketing service provider. Internet marketing can incorporate a wide variety of services including but not limited to website design and management, email and pay-per-click advertising, and social media. However, as with keywords, there can be a quantity over quality issue.

Google has always said that websites should have “relevant, quality content” to rank in its search. This rhetoric is supported by Google’s endless efforts to update its search algorithm in order to improve results (and profit). This is why it is so important, now more than ever, for a business to produce quality content across the web starting with the main website and blog. If your web pages and blog article consist of a few hundred words or less, chances are it won’t rank well. The same goes for websites with repeating and low-quality written content.

Business owner should also avoid buying into social media scams such as “instant 5,000 followers” commonly seen on platforms like Instagram and Twitter. These offers will seems enticing but there is no quality to the follows you will receive. This is because the accounts are often fake and equate to no real gain for the business; they won’t engage the business or its posts, they aren’t real people so they cannot suggest friends to the business or call for services themselves. The same concept applies when paying for website traffic. Yes, you may get the amount of traffic you paid for but are those visitors staying on the site, are they buying anything, will they come back or call?

Promoting Like its 1997: If someone’s sales pitch includes website Alexa Rankings or Google Page Rank (PR) Scores, then their marketing strategy may be stuck somewhere between Steve Jobs return to Apple Computers and the publication of the first Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. Yes. It has been that long!

Plenty of fun and great memories were made in the 90’s. However, the fact is innovations have made many products and services from that time obsolete and very much ineffective. Only companies that continue to train, research and innovate, like Leads Online Marketing, will have the ability to produce real results.

Guaranteed & Immediate Results: When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), results take time. It can take up to a month for a single effort to be seen by analytical tracking systems. This waiting period can be nerve racking for some anxious business owners who are paying a monthly bill for marketing, and it’s understandably so. This makes the alternative seem all the more appealing but do be warned, ‘fast results’ fade even faster.

Companies guaranteeing fast results are likely using ‘black hat’ or ‘grey hat’ tactics that can easily cause your business to be penalized by Google and other online authorities. This is not something to be taken lightly since those authority are the key to your business’ online success.

Competency: Can they do it? Will they do it? When? Of course the company you hire for your business online marketing needs has to be able to do the job they promise to do. They also have to be able to communicate effectively with you, your staff, and any other companies working on your behalf. In some cases for example, a website manager or managing service provider needs to collaborate with the SEO specialist in order to achieve the best results for their mutual client. If one is not responsive or refuses to collaborate, it will be your business that suffers the most.

We hope this article can help businesses big and small to avoid wasting their valuable time and money on products and services that “look” promising at first but, end up being worthless after all. If you would like us to take a look at your current marketing programs and website give us a call at (704) 612-2442 or, fill out the contact form here to send us a message. We would also appreciate your feedback about our blog and website.

Social Media Saw Some Big Changes in 2016

Many of us would say 2016 was, well, quite the year to say the least. In many ways it was a tremendous year for change. With so many new things having been introduced, it should be no surprise that innovations were also made in social media. This is an industry that must keep up with the fast growing demands of online users and online marketing companies in order to survive.

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Research has proven social media to be a major source of news and entertainment for many Americans as well as users across the globe. As the number of users continues to increase, social media platforms seem to constantly be planning, developing, and implementing new website designs and features. Some, of course, are better than other. In this blog, we will explore some of the changes made in 2016 to the most popular social media sites.

Just as it has been in prior years, Facebook continues to be one of the most popular social media networks in the world. In fact, it boast nearly 1.9 billion unique users each month. That is almost a billion more than YouTube. As they sometimes say, “the bigger you are the harder you fall” and even though Facebook has not fallen they have certainly hit their fair share of bumps in the road to site redevelopment. However, the typical personal user was likely unaffected by those hiccups and only took notice of the site’s improvements. Advertisers may not have been so lucky.

For Facebook page admins, the glorious day finally arrived in 2016 when the profile picture was moved aside the cover photo. In the past, page cover photos had to compensate for the overlapping profile picture and overlapping tabs but, no more! Other changes on Facebook pages include the location of the tabs, introduction of a username, additional post styles and post call-to-action buttons. Overall, the appearance of both pages and profiles has changed for the better in 2016.

Another major social network worth mentioning is Google. Yes, Google is a social media network too and more specifically Google Plus (Google+). Google accounts tie together many different Google products including but not limited to Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Hangout, YouTube and Google+. Most of these products had an update in the past year.

Google+ is where the biggest change occurred with a complete overhaul of the site. For most of 2016, as changes were still being made, user had the option to Switch back to Classic but, no more. One thing Google+ Profiles and Pages both lost in the update was the ability to display multiple tabs. The main tabs that used to be available were “Post”, “Reviews” and “Videos”. Now user only have a main page that displays posts and an about section.

Other social media networks that implemented some big changes last year include Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. As the world continues to develop and technology becomes more a part of our everyday lives, social media networks are sure to be working hard to keep up, especially with each other. Not only are they trying to keep the regular user satisfied, social media networking companies must also appease those marketing on their sites. In the meantime, we will be here to observe, share and utilize the innovations to come.

If you are a small business owner, it is important that your business be seen online. As we mentioned before, consumers now more than ever rely on the internet for information. That includes information about your business.

Not sure where or how to get started? Simple visit our website and request a meeting to learn how Leads Online Marketing can help your business stand out across the website. We can even help you setup and maintain social media for your business.

Category: Social Media

Fleets: Twitter’s New Feature Creating a Storm in the Social Media World