5 Ways to Improve Social Sharing on Your Blog

By Melissa Culbertson
Published May 14, 2014

Is your blog content easy to share?

Is your audience interacting with you or just moving along to the next thing?

Making social sharing easy is an important part of creating a successful blog.

In this article you’ll discover five tips to make it dead simple for your readers to interact with your blog content.

If you have a business blog, you may not think pinnable images are important to your audience, but they are.

People use Pinterest not only for inspiration on what to buy, but as a way to keep track of articles they want to reference again. So definitely start adding pinnable images to your posts, like this one from My Kids’ Adventures!

The My Kids’ Adventures website uses visuals like this to make it easy for readers to pin their articles on Pinterest.

It’s not hard for your readers to pin an image from your blog, so how can you make a simple process even simpler? Do the work for them.

When someone pins a post, they usually have to choose the image they want to pin, and then type in a comment about the pin. Help them along. Set a featured image for the post and add titles to any other images as well.

When you include a title with your image, that title populates the comment field on the pin. Without an image title, Pinterest fills in the pin description with your image name, which may very well be something generic like product-shot-3. That’s not useful to you, your readers or their Pinterest followers.

Boogie Wipes gives all their images titles to increase pinnability.

No matter which image a pinner chooses, a relevant description is included.

It’s a good idea to use image titles for every image on your site too—headers, sidebars, everything—because while you hope a reader pins a particular image, you can’t guarantee it.

Boogie Wipes uses many images in their blog posts and ensures each image has a title to make pinning easier.

I’ll bet you already have social sharing buttons installed so people can pass along your great content to their followers or friends. Sharing buttons are probably the most obvious way to get more shares of your blog content, especially when they’re set up with your audience in mind.

Visibility, size and choice all play a role in whether people click the button.

Floating sidebars with social buttons, like this one on the Infusionsoft blog, are easy for your visitors to see because they move down the page as the reader scrolls. It’s a constant reminder to pass the content on to friends. Just make sure the scroll is smooth, not jumpy (and distracting).

Infusionsoft uses a floating share bar on their blog to make sharing easy.

Size definitely matters when it comes to sharing buttons. It’s important to make sure they’re big enough to be easily found. If they’re too small, they’re harder to spot. If people can’t see them immediately, they’ll probably just move on.

As you’re choosing which social sharing buttons to put on your site, limit your readers’ choices. You don’t want them paralyzed with too many choices, so stick to the social media channels they use most often.

When you have your buttons in place, follow my previous Pinterest advice and create a customized sharing message wherever you can. Twitter is the easiest button to customize (though you can customize other sharing buttons as well).

With Twitter you only have 140 characters, right? Your readers aren’t going to spend too much time trying to fit everything in. If it doesn’t fit, they’ll probably just stop and click to the next site.

Infusionsoft ensures that their blog post title and Twitter name are included when someone shares a post.

Fix that by auto-populating tweets with your blog post title, link and your Twitter name. Now readers just have to click the Twitter share button and they’re done.

It’s these little things that really make a difference in whether people interact with and share your blog content.

While you want readers to interact on your blog, wouldn’t it be great if they could interact with one of your social media platforms at the same time? Embedding social media content into a blog post can do just that.

Embedding your social media content into a blog post is easier than you think. In fact, you’ve probably already done it. Have you ever embedded one of your YouTube videos into a post? Then yep, you’ve already done it.

Integrating your social channels with your blog really simplifies the social experience by letting your readers start the interaction with a particular social media platform right from your blog.

For example, when you embed a Facebook update in a blog post, your readers can like the update right on your blog without leaving or you can direct them to the post on Facebook if they want to comment or share.

It’s easier than you might think to embed a social post in your blog.

Google+ embedded posts let your audience +1 and comment on the update without ever leaving your blog.

People love visual content and video often adds value to blog posts. Go ahead and embed a YouTube video into your next blog post. Every time your audience watches it from your blog, it still counts as a view on your YouTube stats.

Continuing with the importance of visual content, try embedding an Instagram picture or video or a Pinterest board, pin or profile. When someone clicks like or comments on your Instagram content, they’re directed to the post on Instagram’s website.

When someone tries to pin an image, they get a pop-up to complete the task. For profiles and boards, a user can click an individual image to display the pin pop-up or click the See on Pinterest button to see your entire profile or board on Pinterest.

If you or someone else has a tweet that’s relevant to your blog article, embed it. When someone clicks the Reply, Retweet or Favorite button, a pop-up window appears so a user can easily interact, and then close the window and keep reading.

4 Ways to Maximize Your Network With Social Media http://t.co/Lnz0E0XaSJ by @eventualmillion

— SocialMediaExaminer (@smexaminer) April 17, 2014

An added bonus of this trick is that the reader can also follow you from an embedded tweet.

People do business with people, so your blog shouldn’t be a regurgitation of corporate press releases. No one wants to comment on a blog post full of corporate blah-speak, so feel free to get a little (or a lot) more casual on your company blog.

Your audience is more likely to comment on and share content that sounds like a real person wrote it, so it’s okay if your blog’s overall tone is slightly different than your product pages or your annual report. MailChimp‘s cheeky voice lends itself well to this type of content.

MailChimp keeps things witty by using relatable tidbits that their audience likely remembers about that year.

Give your content a double-whammy by making sure your images reflect your tone. For example, if your product descriptions are funny and vibrant, make your images colorful and use an interesting font. An added bonus is your images will be more pinnable too.

Let’s be honest: most company blogs are not abuzz with comments from readers. Don’t take it personally. People are busy and aren’t likely to take more than one action on your blog. Maybe they shared your post on Facebook instead of leaving a comment.

Even so, a blog with comments provides a sense of community. When one person comments, others are more likely to follow suit. And when you respond to comments, it shows you’re listening and encourages the commenter (and others) to return.

If you feel like you’ve hit a roadblock with comments, there a few things you can consider. The more hoops your audience has to jump through to comment, the less likely they are to do it.

One hoop people really dislike is hard-to-read word verification. Turn word verification off. Few things are more frustrating than not being able to read a word verification in order to leave a comment. West Elm’s blog lets readers comment easily.

Make your comment box obvious and easy to use.

If you’re using word verification because you have trouble with spam, consider moderating comments instead (or just moderating the comments of first-time users). Just be timely in publishing actual comments so the moderation process doesn’t slow down the discussion.

The commenting system you use has a big impact on interaction too. The simpler the process, the more likely you are to get comments.

A lot of blogs use a service like Disqus that requires readers to create an account and log in before they can comment. If your audience is fairly tech-savvy they may not mind, but if they aren’t this could be the thing that deters them.

To cut down on spam and make it easy for readers to comment, consider using a system like the Facebook comments box.

The Takeaway

With a smooth social user experience, you give readers clear paths to interact with your content and increase the chances that they’ll develop an affinity for your brand (or “heart you,” if that’s more your tone).

What do you think? Have you used any of these tricks to make it easy for your audience to share your content? Which ones have been the most successful for you? Share your thoughts, successes or questions below.

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,'script','twitter-wjs'); About the Author, Melissa Culbertson

Melissa Culbertson is the author Blog Design for Dummies and runs Blog Clarity. With 14 years in marketing communications, she currently works as Community Manager for a natural beauty brand. Other posts by Melissa Culbertson »

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Social Photos Generate More Engagement: New Research

By Patricia Redsicker
Published May 13, 2014

Do you want more engagement from your social media fans and followers?

Wondering what kind of content will help you achieve that goal?

New research confirms that photos could be the “holy grail” of social media engagement.

In this article I’ll share what you need to know about maximizing engagement on Facebook and Twitter.

Photos are the primary type of content posted and shared on Facebook. According to March 2014 research published on eMarketer, photos accounted for 75% of content posted by Facebook pages worldwide.

Photos are the main type of content posted by Facebook pages.

From a user’s perspective, photos are also the most engaging type of content on Facebook, with a whopping 87% interaction rate from fans! No other post type received more than a 4% interaction rate.

Photos receive the highest interaction from Facebook users.

Key Takeaway

Posting photos on Facebook is the best way to get more attention from your fans because images are easier to consume than text. However, be aware that not all photos are created equal. Not only must you share high-quality photos, you must also share photos that interest your target audience.

If you haven’t done so already, start to increase the number of high-quality images that you post on your Facebook page. And of course, don’t forget to include relevant links with your images, to ensure that you’re sending all that traffic back to your website. Take note of the following:

Only post images that you have created or that you have a right to publish.Mix up different types of images (e.g., banners, infographics, photos, memes, etc.).Take impromptu photos on your smartphone and post them in real time.Post “Caption This” photos – post a funny picture on your page and ask fans to offer their best caption for the photo.Avoid “selfies” unless you’re posing with a celebrity.

One last thing, it may be worth your while to hire a designer or a visual content creator as part of your social media team.

People don’t engage equally with every tweet. Research by Media Blog, which analyzed the content of over 2 million tweets sent by thousands of users over the course of a month, shows that adding a photo URL to your tweet can boost retweets by an impressive 35%.

Photos can boost retweets by 35%!

Key Takeaway

Just like Facebook, Twitter engagement can be boosted with photos. Only this time, you’re posting the image URL. If you’ve never posted photos on Twitter before, read this. Otherwise, here are some new tips to get more engagement from your Twitter photos:

Tag people in a photo – Tagging other users makes conversation easy and sharing more likely. You can tag up to 10 people (tagging doesn’t affect the 140-character count on a tweet).Share up to four photos in a single tweet – This is a relatively new feature on Twitter, which allows you to upload multiple photos and automatically create a collage using your iPhone, Android device or straight from Twitter.com. For this to work, you need to download the latest Twitter app.

Comments and shares are beginning to overtake likes on Facebook, showing that brands are getting better at engaging with fans.

According to the Social Intelligence Report Q1 2014 by Adobe Digital Index, Facebook comments are up 16% compared to the same time last year, and up 40% compared to the same time last quarter. The report also shows that likes have actually gone down from 82% (Q1, 2013) to 78% (Q1, 2014).

Fans are commenting more on Facebook pages.

Key Takeaway

Since comments from fans require more time and effort than simply clicking Like, this trend shows that marketers are becoming rather savvy about fan engagement. Fans must be finding content posted by pages interesting enough to invest time and thought into their interactions.

If you’re seeing more comments on your page, keep up the good work! But don’t stop adapting. Find different ways for fans to see your content, even via paid posts if necessary.

Since Facebook introduced its new comments feature in March 2013, you and your fans are able to reply directly to specific comments on your page. This creates a conversation thread, which ties relevant conversations together.

Be sure to reply to ALL comments from your fans, and to like every comment from every user in two ways – as yourself, and as the page. Not only will the user get a notification about the like, which may spur more comments, but it’ll also create a “Ticker” story about your Facebook page.

More research published in the Social Intelligence Report indicates that brands are targeting Facebook users on Fridays because that’s the day with the highest engagement rates. For example:

17% of all comments occur on Fridays.16% of likes occur on Fridays.16% of shares occur on Fridays.Sunday is the least likely day to receive a comment on a post. “TGIF” seems to be the theme among Facebook users.

Key Takeaway

If you’ve become skeptical about all of the studies and statistics that claim to have found the best day or time to post on Facebook, take heart. It really depends on your target audience and your type of business.

However, the Friday phenomenon is real. Even you know that “the less you want to be at work, the more you’re on Facebook.” These findings are consistent with Facebook data published several years ago, showing that the Happiness Index on Facebook spikes on Friday.

So no matter what your business is, consider scheduling Facebook posts to publish throughout Friday and Saturday. Again, this is not the “ultimate guide” for all brands, but it certainly reflects the reality of how users interact on Facebook on a day-to-day basis. By the way, the same research shows that videos receive the highest engagement rates on Fridays, too.

What do you think? Which of these results did you find most interesting? How will you adapt your social media strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,'script','twitter-wjs'); About the Author, Patricia Redsicker

Patricia Redsicker writes research reviews for Social Media Examiner. She helps business owners craft content that sells. Her blog provides healthcare industry content marketing advice. Other posts by Patricia Redsicker »

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2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

By Michael Stelzner
Published May 19, 2014

Do you wonder how your peers are using social media?

Wondering if you should focus on Instagram or podcasting, or put more effort into blogging?

In our sixth annual social media study, more than 2800 marketers reveal where they focus their social media activities, which social tactics are most effective and how content plays a role into their social media marketing.

Watch this video overview:

To understand how marketers are using social media, Social Media Examiner commissioned its sixth annual 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

We set out to uncover the “who, what, where, when and why” of social media marketing with this report.

A significant 2800+ marketers provided valuable insight you won’t find elsewhere.

In this free report, you’ll discover:

What social platforms marketers will focus on in the futureThe top social media questions marketers want answeredHow much time marketers invest with social media activitiesThe top benefits of social media marketing and how time invested affects resultsThe most common forms of content for social media marketingAnd much more!

We examine how B2B social media marketing varies from B2C businesses, how larger businesses vary from smaller businesses and much more.

If you’re responsible for marketing your business, you’ll want to closely analyze the pages of this free 50-page report and use it to persuade others.

LIMITED TIME: UNTIL May 30th, you can freely access this report.

>> Download the report here (see instructions below). Alternatively, read report online below…

NOTE: Having trouble downloading? The file is large and may not display properly in some browsers. Try following the directions below (note that the words in the menus may vary by browser):

What do you think about these findings? Please share your comments in the box below.

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,'script','twitter-wjs'); About the Author, Michael Stelzner

Michael Stelzner is the founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner, founder of My Kids' Adventures and author of the books Launch and Writing White Papers. He's also the host of the Social Media Marketing podcast. Other posts by Michael Stelzner »

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How to Use Photos to Boost Social Chatter

By Jonathan Barouch
Published May 22, 2014

Are people sharing photos and talking about your business?

Do you need to breathe new life into your word-of-mouth tactics?

You don’t have to create elaborate campaigns to drive visibility for your business.

In this article you’ll discover four ways to make customers want to take and share pictures related to your brand.

No one leaves the house without their smartphone. Documenting our every action is woven into our daily routines and photos are the easiest way to do that.

And yet I’m constantly surprised that most businesses don’t take advantage of this marketing opportunity.

It only takes a simple request and most people are happy to take and share pictures while in your store or at your event—especially if you give them a fun way to do it.

You can increase your return on these social shares by highlighting your social profile URLs, handle and hashtag in high-traffic areas and asking people to tag you in their updates.

Below are four ways to make it irresistible to share photos of your brand.

I love the way Art Series Hotels have infused fun into their guests’ stay–and increased social shares about their brand to boot.

The hotels leave postcards in guests’ rooms asking them to jump on the bed and share the fun photos with their friends (tagging the hotel of course).

Come up with a fun way for customers to share your company with their friends.

This tactic has seen quite a bit of success because the kidults love to share pictures of themselves being silly in unexpected ways. When’s the last time you jumped on a bed?

To further encourage photo sharing, offer immediate special discounts for photo shares. To keep submissions flowing, you can even offer a separate weekly prize for the best photo shared.

Qantas Airways knows people love to be a little silly. Fun backdrops and props are a great way to make yourself stand out when people visit or walk by.

If you have space at your business or are exhibiting at a conference, use art installations, themed cardboard cutouts or decorated spaces with props (e.g., hats, mustaches, capes and other accessories) and encourage people to take pictures.

Depending on your product, it may be a fit to include it in your photo ops as well. However, be aware of over-branding the experience. Too much obvious selling turns people off and ruins the fun vibe.

It’s OK to subtly include your brand name, hashtag and handle in your backdrops (and remind customers to use them in their updates).

Qantas Airways scatters cardboard cutouts of Modern Family in their airports, encouraging passengers to take photos with the stars.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on photo props (maybe none at all)—simple ideas often work best. The main thing is to focus on making the space fun so people want to take photos and share them.

If you’re hosting a live event, give attendees the chance to come and take photos with the stars of the show. These meet-and-greets sometimes create more social chatter than the event itself!

Photo fads (and memes) come and go. We’ve seen planking, owling, photobombing, and of course, selfies.

Why not take advantage of the latest hot meme for your business? With a little creativity, just about anything can be incorporated into your brand’s next campaign.

For example, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary asked customers to take selfies with some of the sanctuary animals. The results were pretty amazing. One visitor took a photo with a resident kangaroo that was liked over 41,000 times!

South American surfer Gabriel Medina’s kangaroo image was liked over 41,000 times.

Or if you have a mascot, invite people to take a picture of themselves in front of your backdrop then secretly have your mascot photobomb the picture.

Take advantage of funny photo memes to get more shares.

Taking advantage of the latest trends is sure to bring a smile and people will want to share the fun moment with their friends.

Customer-generated content makes a big difference in your social presence. When others share your business with their friends and followers, your reach can expand exponentially.

To be sure you don’t miss the buzz, set up alerts for your company name, product or hashtag so you know who’s mentioning you and where.

Acknowledge people who share great content about you by resharing their content on your own social channels, thanking them and tagging them (and use your hashtag).

I’ve seen clients get 10 times more engagement by sharing a customer’s Instagram photo on the company Facebook page than they do with some of their own photographers’ best shots.

Walt Disney World Resort asks a guest for permission to republish his Epcot photo.

In many cases, you may even want to cross-post user-generated content to your own blog or website. Before you do, ask for permission and include a link to the fan’s handle or account where they originally shared the photo. That kind of respect and acknowledgement is an important way of creating a stronger connection with fans.

I have just one word of caution: Be sure to check the user’s prior posts and the comments on the photo. You don’t want to drive traffic to a post with derogatory or unsavory comments.

Wrapping Up

People love to take pictures, especially of themselves doing unexpected activities. And since images are the best way to catch people’s attention, it makes sense to incorporate them into your marketing tactics, both online and in-store.

When you ask people to share pictures, give them a fun way to do it and encourage them to tag you, and they’re very likely to do it. It’s amazing how simple ideas can have a big impact on the social reach of your brand or brand experience.

What do you think? How have you encouraged people to talk about your business online? Which social channels have had the most chatter? Share some of your ideas or the best campaigns you’ve seen in the comments.

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,'script','twitter-wjs'); About the Author, Jonathan Barouch

Jonathan Barouch is the CEO and Founder of location-based social analytics company Local Measure, which provides businesses and marketers with real-time insight, social alerts and analytics about their customers on a local level. Other posts by Jonathan Barouch »

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How to Use Behavioral Triggers to Spur Social Media Actions

By Luke Summerfield
Published May 22, 2014

Did you know using facts and figures instead of images can lower interaction?

Do you appeal to your audience’s emotions to drive sales?

Our brains are hardwired to base decisions on emotion and familiarity.

In this article I’ll show you four ways you can use behavorial triggers to get more out of your social media marketing.

As a marketer, your job is to drive behavior in others–whether it be a click, like or purchase.

It can be a challenge to know how to inspire those actions, but a little background on how people process and react to their surroundings can help you do just that.

I’m going to tell you about the basics of our “brain biology,” and then give you examples of how you can use it to your advantage.

Hubspot appeals to our attraction to ‘new’ things.

Don’t worry! This isn’t going to be an in-depth, long, boring study of the brain. I’m going to give you a few points that I hope will give you that “Ah-ha!” moment and boost your ability to reach your audience and guide them through engagement that leads to sales.

In order to understand why any of this matters, it’s important to first understand (at least at a very high level) a bit more about the brain. So let’s get to it.

Your brain is split into two main sections: new and old.

Knowing how each section functions helps you tailor your marketing tactics to engage the part of the brain that drives behavior and influences our decisions.

Your new brain controls all of your conscious, rational and analytical thought. It’s responsible for your language and long-term thinking. When you talk about facts, figures, features and statistics, you’re speaking to the new brain. Decision-making doesn’t happen here.

Your old brain controls behavior, decision-making and emotions, but it can’t process words, numbers or language—it’s the opposite of the new brain.

Think of brains in terms of old and new versus left and right. Image: iStockPhoto

What all that boils down to is that when you use facts and figures or list features and benefits, it has little impact on someone’s behavior or buying decisions.

When you use visual content and appeal to emotion, you get results because the old brain makes a connection with that emotional content and prompts action—clicking, liking, sharing and buying.

Below are four ways you can use the brain’s natural responses to create more effective marketing campaigns.

Our brains evolved many thousands of years ago and we’re hardwired to be attracted to other people’s faces. We subconsciously look for non-verbal facial cues to build context around a situation so we can behave accordingly.

In short, people look at faces to set the tone (gauge the emotion) of an interaction.

The fashion industry takes advantage of this instinct. In the example below, Gucci included their product, but your eye is likely drawn to the model’s face first.

We instinctively look for faces before products.

Although highlighting a model’s face instead of their product sounds counterintuitive, it’s actually a powerful tool. The face catches your attention then pulls your attention to the clothing or accessory.

Marketing takeaway: When possible, focus on the face and use facial expressions in your images to help grab the viewer’s attention and set the tone for your post. Because people react to non-verbal cues from the face, you want the face to match the emotion you’re trying to inspire in the viewer.

Have you ever wondered why you cringe when you see someone fall off a skateboard? You’re not the one falling off the skateboard, so why do you flinch from the “pain”?

This reaction is caused by what’s called mirror neurons in the brain. When you see pictures or video of an action, your mirror neurons make you feel like you’re actually performing the actions you’re watching.

This has huge implications for marketers who want to inspire specific emotions and experiences in their audience.

Have you ever looked at Red Bull’s Facebook or Instagram feeds? They do a phenomenal job of showcasing high-adrenaline experiences like the Strato Jump and windsurfing.

Millions watched and held their breath as Felix Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere.

When their fans see these incredible pictures and videos, their mirror neurons start firing on all cylinders, which causes them to feel the same emotions, even if only subconsciously, as the people in the picture.

Did you watch Felix Baumgartner break the sound barrier? How did you feel while watching? I’m betting you were just as tense as the rest of us.

Many of Red Bull’s posts don’t even show their product (though they do include their logo). The brand’s intent is to evoke an emotion when fans see their posts. Over time that kind of marketing conditions those fans and followers to feel those same exhilarating emotions simply by seeing the Red Bull logo.

Even still pictures convey intense activity.

Marketing takeaway: Introduce photos and videos that show others having a powerful experience. It doesn’t matter whether the experience shows your product or an unrelated experience. The important thing is to reinforce the emotions you want associated with your brand.

I’m sure you’ve seen (or maybe even created) a commercial, marketing video or picture that really struck an emotional chord—probably because it reminded you of something you experienced in your own life.

Speaking directly to your audience’s previously stored memories is a powerful marketing tool because it immediately evokes emotion. You can then use that emotion to drive behavior or associate that emotion with your brand (similar to triggering mirror neurons as explained above).

P&G produced one of the best online and TV ads I’ve ever seen for the 2014 Olympics. The advertisement played heavily on viewers’ childhood memories and their relationships with their mothers.

Because many of the scenes in the advertisement are probably familiar memories from most viewers’ childhoods, it packed a powerful punch. It left many with goosebumps (or tears) every time they saw it. The ad ended up going viral with over 20 million views on YouTube!

Marketing takeaway: Find a common experience most people have had—memories from childhood or a strong relationship from the past are ideal—then tailor your social media marketing to trigger those memories.

With repetition and consistency, your audience begins to tie those emotions to your brand, product or service. The result is an influence on behavior.

Since our early days, our brains have been attracted to things we’re familiar with because they give us a sense of security and safety from predators so we could go about our daily lives.

However, as much as we’re drawn to the familiar, we’re equally intrigued with new things. It’s human nature to innovate and improve ourselves. Anything “new” promises that opportunity.

People have an underlying urge to share knowledge in order to look good or in-the-know (you want to be an influencer, right?). So when we see something new, we’re attracted to that information in the hopes that later we can tell others about it and build our own social currency.

For example, HubSpot is constantly releasing new tools, content and features. They capture their audience’s attention by offering new products or services to help them learn.

HubSpot consistently offers new ways to improve.

Marketing takeaway: Use the word New to wake up the brain and draw attention to your products and services.

Make a point to showcase all of the new things going on with your company, products or services, especially if they’re different than your competitor’s related products.

Depending on how frequently new items emerge at your company, you may want to consider creating a dedicated Twitter account used only to announce new items.

If you focus on facts, figures and features, you’re talking to the wrong side of the brain. It doesn’t care a bit about buying your product. If you want to inspire action, you have to appeal to the emotional side of the brain.

Create common ground so your audience feels comfortable—provide familiarity. Highlight faces along with products, appeal to empathy and shared memories and provide something new.

The recommendations in this article are just a few of many marketing concepts based on the brain’s instinctive reactions. Use these ideas and read up on others to influence the behavior of your audience.

What do you think? Have you used any of these behavioral triggers? How did your audience respond? Please comment below—I’d love to chat!

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,'script','twitter-wjs'); About the Author, Luke Summerfield

Luke wakes up inspired each day to spark inspiration with knowledge. He currently does this at Savvy Panda, leading their Inbound Marketing strategy consulting team. Meet Luke at LukeSummerfield.com. Other posts by Luke Summerfield »

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Google+ Stories: This Week in Social Media

By Cindy King
Published May 24, 2014

Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up to date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

Google+ Introduces Google+ Stories: You can “automatically weave your photos, videos and the places you visited into a beautiful travelogue.”

“Stories will be available this week on Android and the web, with iOS coming soon.”

The 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report Is Out: Check out Social Media Examiner’s sixth annual social media study, where “more than 2800 marketers reveal where they focus their social media activities, which social tactics are most effective and how content plays a role into their social media marketing.”

Be sure to download a copy of the 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report before May 30th.

Google+ Announces Google+ Movies: You “can produce a highlight reel of your photos and videos automatically—including effects, transitions and a soundtrack.”

LinkedIn Introduces How You Rank Feature: “You can now see where you stack up to others in your network with profile views (this feature is coming to mobile).”

“Take a look at the top profiles in your network to gain inspiration for changes you can make to your own profile, or content you can share to increase views to your profile and drive opportunities for advancement.”

Facebook Introduces New Way to Share and Discover Music, TV and Movies: “When writing a status update—if you choose to turn the feature on—you’ll have the option to use your phone’s microphone to identify what song is playing or what show or movie is on TV.”

“That means if you want to share that you’re listening to your favorite Beyoncé track or watching the season premiere of Game of Thrones, you can do it quickly and easily, without typing.”

Facebook Rolls Out Privacy Checkup: “A new and expanded privacy checkup tool, which will take people through a few steps to review things like who they’re posting to, which apps they use and the privacy of key pieces of information on their profile.”

The Privacy Checkup will be available for existing users.

Facebook Sets Default to Friends for New Users: “When new people join Facebook, the default audience of their first post will be set to Friends.”

“First-time posters will also see a reminder to choose an audience for their first post, and if they don’t make a choice, it will be set to Friends.”

Facebook Goes International With Premium Video Ads: These ads will now be introduced to “a limited group of advertisers in select international markets including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.”

“Premium video ads are designed for advertisers who want to reach a large audience with high-quality sight, sound and motion.”

Shutterstock Introduces Shutterstock Music: “A new product from Shutterstock that expands [its] content offerings for customers and generates earnings for musicians looking for new ways to monetize their craft.”

“When searching the site, you’ll find awesome, high-quality music to add to your project, be it something serene to represent nature, something bluesy to signal playfulness or maybe a classical track by Vivaldi that will flow perfectly in your story.”

New updates to follow:

Twitter Rolls Out New Profile by May 28: “Beginning May 28, all Twitter users will have the new profile, which has already been rolled out to new users and some existing users in the past month.”

New http://t.co/JbzACuw5a2 profiles will be turned on for everyone May 28. Get ahead of the curve & update yours: http://t.co/GpCan7yXGw

— Twitter (@twitter) May 6, 2014

Facebook Rolls Out Video Metrics: As a page owner, you’ll start to “see information like video views, unique video views, the average duration of the video view and audience retention.”

“Video metrics will be available for all paid and organic videos uploaded directly to Facebook pages, including premium video ads.”

Here are a few cool social media tools worth checking out:

Epoxy: “Custom-tailored for Facebook and Twitter, and fine-tuned for every screen and device, Epoxy video apps are designed to keep your audience’s attention and keep them watching.”

“Your videos the way they should be viewed.”

Tunepics: “For the first time, share the true emotion of your moments by adding tunes to your pictures.”

Screenshooter: “The simplest way to organize and manage mobile screenshots.”

You can “automatically separate your photos from your screenshots.”

What do you think? Please share your comments below.

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,'script','twitter-wjs'); About the Author, Cindy King

Cindy King is the director of editorial for Social Media Examiner. She spent 25 years abroad in international business development and then built her own international business from scratch by using social business networking. Other posts by Cindy King »

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