Created with agency Agent A, the latest evolution of the “Water Down Nothing” campaign helped the challenger brand bring the buzzy tech to a growing category.
Originally posted on June 9, 2023 @ 8:41 am
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Created with agency Agent A, the latest evolution of the “Water Down Nothing” campaign helped the challenger brand bring the buzzy tech to a growing category.
Originally posted on June 9, 2023 @ 8:41 am
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Most people know that Facebook cover photos are the large image at the top of a business page. What you may not know is that this image can have a big impact on a business’s bottom line.
Your cover photo is one of the first things potential customers will see, so it’s an important piece of your Facebook marketing strategy. You’ve got to call on your inner designer to make sure it’s poppin’.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Facebook cover photos, including the perfect Facebook cover photo size. By the end, you’ll be able to use our free templates to create a stunning Facebook cover photo that will help your business grow.
The ideal Facebook banner size is 820 pixels wide by 462 pixels tall.
On desktop, your cover photo is displayed at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall. On most smartphones, it comes up at 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall.
Since you can’t control how people will view your page, it’s best to use Facebook cover photo dimensions that can work for desktop and mobile. The size that seems to work best is 820 pixels wide by 462 pixels tall.
To make sure any important information in your cover image doesn’t get cut off on desktop or mobile, keep text and graphics within a center “safe” zone — don’t push anything too far into the margins.
For this article, we’re going to go over the basics of Facebook cover photos, but if you’re feeling pro, you can use a video instead of a photo for your Facebook banner. Facebook cover videos should be at least 820 px by 312 pixels and 20 to 90 seconds long.
Do you find yourself with a photo or video you really want to use, but the dimensions don’t quite work? Don’t worry. You can still upload your photo and then adjust it. Facebook has a repositioning feature you can use to resize your photos and videos.
If you’re wondering how to make a Facebook cover photo without any design experience or know-how, don’t worry. We got you.
Canva is a Facebook cover photo maker that requires no design or artistic experience. Here’s the step-by-step on how to do it.
Head to Canva and create an account if you don’t already have one. Canva is free to use, but it will ask if you want to try out a Pro account for a 30-day trial.
Navigate to the search bar at the top of the page that says, “What will you design today?” and type in “Facebook Cover Photo.”
Just a note: You can experiment here with different keywords for more results. “Facebook cover photo business” has +82,000 templates, for example.
Choose a template that looks good to you. If you’re unsure what will work for your business, scroll down to take a look at our list of Facebook best practices below for some guidance.
You can now share this template with any groups or teams you have set up or keep it all to yourself. This is helpful if you need approval or feedback on your cover photo.
Now, you can edit your template as you see fit! Simply click on the text to write over it.
You can change your typeface, font size, or color using the tool at the top of the screen.
Change your background image by clicking on the image and navigating to the top right corner to click Change image.
You can choose an image from Canva’s library of free images or upload your own imagery. If you have great Instagram pictures, you can link your social media accounts on the left-hand toolbar to pull assets from there.
You can also use free elements, like filters, to edit your image.
Once you’re happy with your banner, hit the Share button in the top right corner. Click Download and choose your file type (we recommend .png). Then, your download will automatically start!
Don’t want to sort through Canva templates? Our professionally designed templates make it easier to create your own Facebook cover photo. Here’s how to customize our templates for your brand. You will need Adobe Photoshop to get started.
Bonus: Download your free pack of 5 customizable Facebook cover photo templates now. Save time and easily promote your brand with a professional design.
1. After you’ve downloaded the templates, you’ll notice that the fonts and image files are separate. Double-click on the font file of your selected theme to upload the font to your computer. Click Install font.
2. Double-click the image file to open it in Photoshop.
3. Select the Facebook cover photo template that you’d like to work with first.
4. To edit text: Double-click the text you would like to edit. You can change fonts and colors in the menu on the left-hand side.
5. To edit a color block or background: Double-click the color block you would like to edit. Change the size or use the menu on the left-hand side to change the color.
6. To edit a photo or image: Double-click the photo you would like to edit and click insert new image. Resize image as necessary.
7. To save the template: Select the template you would like to use and go to Save>Export As>Artboard to Files. Make sure to save as a .jpg or .png.
8. Upload your Facebook cover photo following the steps below.
Once you’re finished making your Facebook cover photo, uploading it is easy.
Navigate to your Facebook business page and mouse over the cover photo space at the top.
Click Add a Cover in the top left corner.
Click Upload Photo/Video and select the photo you’d like to upload.
A preview of your photo will appear in the cover space. Click the photo and drag it up or down to the vertical orientation of your liking.
Click Publish.
If you don’t like how your Facebook cover photo is positioned after you’ve published it, you can click Update Cover and then Reposition, which will return you to step 4.
As you upload more cover photos, you’ll build up a library. If you ever want to replace your current cover photo with an older one, click Select Photo instead of Upload Cover Photo in step 3, and you’ll be able to choose from previously uploaded images.
There is a right way and a wrong way to create your Facebook cover photo. Here are some best practices you can follow to ensure you’re setting yourself up for success.
Your cover photo shouldn’t be too busy or confusing. You don’t want it to detract from your page, so choose a simple image without a lot of noise.
A clear focal point just means a natural spot for the eye to draw to. In the example below, the focal point is the woman with the cucumber.
Source: Canva
Following Facebook’s cover photo guidelines is always a good idea. Check their list periodically, as Facebook can change its guidelines occasionally.
Be sure to align your cover photo with Facebook’s business guidelines, too. You can’t infringe on copyright, for example.
Right-aligning the elements or objects of your cover photo draws the viewer’s eye across your screen in a left-to-right direction. This directs your viewer towards your page’s call-to-action (CTA).
Source: Vimeo on Facebook
People typically read from left to right. If you have any text on your Facebook cover photo, we recommend keeping it to the top left or center. Much like right-aligning your photo’s object, this draws the eye from left to right, ending on your CTA.
Bonus: Download your free pack of 5 customizable Facebook cover photo templates now. Save time and easily promote your brand with a professional design.
In the adidas example below, the text is center-aligned with a right-aligned focus of bright green. This naturally leads your eye down to the Shop on Website CTA.
Source: adidas on Facebook
Hootsuite, on the other hand, has left-aligned text that draws your eye to the focal point of the woman using binoculars. Then, you’re naturally inclined to look below at the Sign Up CTA.
Source: Hootsuite on Facebook
A Facebook cover photo that matches your profile picture always looks professional and put-together. Use this as an opportunity to get creative with your brand!
Source: Target on Facebook
When you’re choosing an image for your Facebook cover photo, think about how it’s going to look on the screens of smartphone users. Mobile users account for approximately half of web traffic worldwide. You’ll want to think about how your image translates between devices.
Ask yourself:
Is the text readable?
How will the finer details look on a smaller screen?
What’s being cut off when your cover photo is resized to mobile format?
Including a link within the cover photo’s caption is a great way to drive traffic. If you’re feeling clever, you could give your more curious viewers an easter egg here. Use your link to send them to a page with an exclusive product or a prize. As always for social links, use a link shortener to make your URL more manageable.
Source: Target on Facebook
Since it sits above the fold, your cover photo allows you to tell your audience what you want them to know right off the bat.
Are you hosting a giveaway? Or perhaps you have a fire sale coming up soon? Maybe you want to tell them about a new product line that’s about to launch. Whatever it may be, you can upload a piece of promotional material to your cover photo to get the word out.
Facebook has roughly 2.91 billion monthly active users, after all. That’s a lot of potential eyes on your promo materials.
If you upload a massive file to your cover photo, Facebook will try to reduce your file size. This can cause your cover photo to become pixelated and look low-quality.
To avoid this, make sure you upload as small of a file size as possible. Facebook recommends 100kb or less.
Try testing your Facebook cover photos to see what resonates with your audience. Testing is one of the best ways to truly understand what visuals work best on social media.
A/B testing your cover photos helps you figure out which photo catches your viewer’s eye and gets them to follow you. Pay attention to any increase in followers or engagement with the photo. And then put resources into making more content like that. It’s a cycle of success.
Perhaps your audience will respond to a bright, minimalistic design like the one below:
Source: Canva
Or maybe they appreciate a geometric collage with neutral color tones:
Source: Canva
Experimenting with your cover photo could be one way to get more likes on Facebook. Or it could even help increase your Facebook engagement. You never know until you try.
If you’re just starting out with your Facebook marketing journey, uncover how to create a successful Facebook business page here.
Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage the audience, measure results, and more. Try it free today.
With files from Fergus Baird
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
The post How to Create Great Facebook Cover Photos [Free Templates] appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
Originally posted on December 15, 2022 @ 4:41 pm
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Can you schedule posts on LinkedIn? Yes! It’s actually pretty simple to do — and there’s a couple of ways to go about it.
Keep reading to find out how to schedule LinkedIn posts so that you can plan your LinkedIn marketing strategy in advance, create your LinkedIn posts and company page updates when it suits you, and schedule them to post at the time when your audience is most likely to engage.
Bonus: Download a free guide that shows the 11 tactics Hootsuite’s social media team used to grow their LinkedIn audience from 0 to 278,000 followers.
In November 2022, LinkedIn started rolling out a simple native scheduling tool.
To schedule a post on LinkedIn, follow these steps:
Type out your broem, add hashtags, include a photo or link… you know the drill. Create a post the same way you normally would.
The scheduling icon is right next to the Post button.
Then, click Next.
You will have a chance to review your post before you do.
That’s it!
This part is a bit tricky. To view your scheduled posts, you have to go to the post creator and hit that clock icon. There, below the dropdown menus where you would select the time and day for your post to go live, click View all scheduled posts.
You can delete scheduled posts or change the publication time using the clock and garbage can icons in the top right corner.
Note that you currently can’t edit scheduled posts on LinkedIn (but you can in Hootsuite — more on that below).
If you’re looking for a more robust tool to handle your LinkedIn marketing, Hootsuite is the way to go. With Hootsuite, you can schedule all your social posts in one place — that includes LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube. Plus, you get personalized recommendations for the best times to post to maximize reach and engagement, and you can easily track your performance.
Here’s how to schedule LinkedIn posts in Hootsuite:
First up, you need to connect Hootsuite and LinkedIn. Note that you can add both LinkedIn profiles and LinkedIn pages to your Hootsuite account.
You only need to do this once. Next time you want to schedule Linked in posts, you can skip ahead to step 2.
Open a new browser window and log out of your LinkedIn account.
In the Hootsuite dashboard, click your profile photo (My profile), then click Manage accounts and teams.
Click + Private account. If you have a Team, Business, or Enterprise account, click Manage, then Add a social network. Then, select LinkedIn.
In the pop-up window, sign in to your LinkedIn account and click Allow to connect the account to Hootsuite. Choose the pages and/or profile you want to add to Hootsuite and click Done.
Your LinkedIn account is now connected to Hootsuite, and you’re ready to start scheduling.
From the Hootsuite dashboard, click Create, then select Post.
Under Publish to, choose your LinkedIn page or profile. Then enter the content of your post: text, links, images, and so on.
When you’re happy with the preview, click Schedule for later, then enter the date and time at which you want your post to publish. Click Done and then Schedule to queue up the post.
Tip: This is what the LinkedIn scheduling tool looks like in a free Hootsuite account. With a Professional, Team, Business, or Enterprise account, this stage will be a little different. You’ll see recommended times to post in the scheduling box, rather than having to choose your time manually. Of course, you can always choose your time manually if that’s what you prefer.
That’s it! Your LinkedIn post is now scheduled and will go live at the time you selected.
Once you’ve scheduled your LinkedIn content, you have a couple of options if you want to view them or make changes.
When you added your LinkedIn account to Hootsuite, it automatically created a new LinkedIn Board. By default, this board contains two streams:
My Updates, which shows content you have already posted
Scheduled, which shows a list of all the content you have scheduled to post to LinkedIn, along with the upcoming posting time for each
To edit any of your scheduled posts, including the scheduled posting time, just click the pencil icon at the bottom of the post. If you want to delete the post altogether, click the three dots at the bottom right, then click Delete.
For a more comprehensive view of your scheduled LinkedIn posts, including how they fit into your overall social media posting schedule, use the Hootsuite Planner.
From the Hootsuite dashboard, click the Publisher icon and select the Planner tab at the top.
Select the Week or Month view and use the arrows or the date selection box to move through your content calendar.
You will see all of your scheduled content for all of your social media accounts. If you want to see only your LinkedIn posts, click Social Accounts at the top left of the screen and select the LinkedIn pages(s) and/or profile you want to view, then click Apply.
Click on any post to edit it, including changing the scheduled time or deleting the post entirely. You can also choose to move the post to drafts if you decide you’re not ready to commit to it yet but you want to save it for later.
Bonus: Download a free guide that shows the 11 tactics Hootsuite’s social media team used to grow their LinkedIn audience from 0 to 278,000 followers.
Here’s a quick video with more information about how to use Hootsuite Publisher:
With the Hootsuite Bulk Composer (available in paid plans), you can schedule up to 350 posts at the same time. These posts can be split between your LinkedIn profile and LinkedIn pages (and your other social accounts).
From the Hootsuite dashboard, go to Publisher and then click the Content tab in the top menu. Click Bulk Composer under Content Sources.
Click Download example. This will provide a basic CSV template you can use to input the content of your bulk posts.
Open the file in a spreadsheet program, ideally Google Sheets.
Enter the scheduled date and time of your post in Column A, the text of your post in Column B, and an optional link in Column C.
From the Hootsuite dashboard, go to Publisher and then click the Content tab in the top menu. Click Bulk Composer under Content Sources.
Click Select file to upload, choose your file, and click Open. Choose the LinkedIn profile or page you want to post to and click Review posts.
Correct any flagged errors and click Schedule all posts.
For more details, check out our full blog post on using the Hootsuite bulk composer.
Hootsuite’s research shows the best time to post on LinkedIn is 9:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But just that’s an average. The exact right time to post for your audience will vary based on location, demographics, and other factors.
As we mentioned above, Hootsuite’s Best Time to Post feature can show you the best time to schedule posts on LinkedIn for your specific audience. You’ll see recommendations right in the scheduling box, but you can also dive into Hootsuite Analytics for more specific scheduling data.
From the Hootsuite dashboard, click Analytics, then Best time to publish.
Choose the LinkedIn page or profile you want to analyze. You can see recommendations for the best time to schedule your posts based on various goals:
Increase engagement: Pages and profiles
Drive traffic: Pages and profiles
Build awareness: Pages only
You’ll see a heat map showing when your LinkedIn posts have performed best for the selected goal. You can point to any square to see the average response to your posts for that given day and time.
You can also use LinkedIn Analytics to find out more about your LinkedIn followers, which can give you some insight into when they are most likely to be online.
Scheduling LinkedIn posts ahead of time is a great way to save time while maintaining a consistent LinkedIn presence. However, this is not a situation where you can just set it and forget it.
We live and work in a fast-moving world, and it’s important to be aware of major news events, trends, and potential crises that could impact your scheduled posts or make pre-created content inappropriate. (Tip: Social listening is a good way to stay on top of the zeitgeist.)
We’ve already talked about how you can edit, reschedule, or delete individual scheduled LinkedIn posts, but in some situations, it might be best to pause all scheduled content.
From the Hootsuite dashboard, click your profile picture to go to My profile, then click Manage accounts and teams.
Choose the organization for which you want to pause content. Enter a reason that will make sense to the relevant teams, then click Suspend.
In Publisher, all posts will be marked with a Suspended yellow alert and will not publish at their scheduled time.
Everything we’ve talked about so far focuses on scheduling organic LinkedIn posts. But you can use the same steps to create scheduled LinkedIn sponsored posts for your business page. You’ll still get the recommended times to post, so you can make the most of your LinkedIn ad budget.
Set up your post following the steps in the first section of this blog post. In Composer, check the box next to Promote this post.
Select the LinkedIn Page ad account to promote your post. If you don’t see the ad account,make sure you have advertiser permissions for that account in LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
When you’re happy with your post preview, click Schedule for later and choose one of the recommended times or enter a time manually.
For more details on all the targeting and budget options when scheduling a sponsored LinkedIn post, check out our complete tutorial.
Use Hootsuite to schedule LinkedIn posts at the best time, respond to comments, track competitors, and measure performance—all from the same dashboard you use to manage your presence on other social media platforms. Start your free trial today.
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
The post How to Schedule LinkedIn Posts: A Quick and Simple Guide appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
Originally posted on December 15, 2022 @ 6:40 pm
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You’ve seen the name pop up again and again on Twitter: Mastodon. Usually, it’s from people making grand claims about Twitter’s future and declaring that they’re leaving the app.
Next to the name is a URL, a slightly different profile picture, and maybe a screenshot of a platform you’ve never seen before. You’ve been racking your brain trying to figure out what Mastodon is, how it works, and whether you should be on it, too.
If you’re a marketer, maybe you’ve been wondering if there’s a way you can monetize this trend. It’s okay, we know you thought it. We won’t tell anyone.
Let’s dive into Mastodon. We’ll explore why everyone’s interested in it, and whether it can actually replace Twitter. We’ll also help you figure out whether there’s any marketing potential on this newly trending alternative social media platform.
Download our Social Trends report to get all the data you need to plan a relevant social strategy and set yourself up for success on social in 2023.
Mastodon is a decentralized social network made up of independent servers organized around specific themes, topics, or interests.
People can join servers, follow each other, engage in conversations, and otherwise do all sorts of things they’d expect to do on a social network like Twitter.
Mastodon has been around since March 2016 but it only really blew up in late 2022, when a certain someone bought a certain social media platform.
I made an offer https://t.co/VvreuPMeLu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Why? Mostly because a ton of people on Twitter have said they’re leaving the platform for Mastodon.
While the posts you’ve seen about Mastodon on Twitter recently might make it seem like it’s just a copycat alternative, Mastodon is actually completely different from the blue bird app. Let’s see just how different.
The biggest difference between Mastodon and Twitter can be summed up in a single word: decentralization.
Social media platforms like Twitter are centralized, meaning they’re owned and operated by a single company. That company builds features, moderates content, tweaks algorithms, and handles all other tasks that come with running a social network.
Comparatively, while there are people at a non-profit company called Mastodon gGmbH that work on the social platform known as Mastodon — stick with us here — the platform itself isn’t centralized within that company. That’s because it’s made up of thousands of independent servers.
Think of a Mastodon server as a mini social network or a forum. Usually, a server is organized around a specific interest, topic, or industry. Once you’ve joined a server, you can follow, reply to, and engage with anyone on Mastodon, no matter what server they’re on.
But what can you do on Mastodon exactly? The short answer: a lot of the same things you can do on Twitter. You can talk about what’s on your mind, contribute to conversations that pop up in your feed, post pictures of your cats, and so on. You get your feed, where you’ll see posts from the people you follow, and an explore tab that lets you find new interesting folks.
You’ll see some differences, of course. For example, you can’t start a thread the way you do on Twitter, but you can reply to yourself and essentially replicate a Twitter thread. You’ll also need to pick a server to host your account.
The biggest servers are general, meaning they have no specific topic — these will feel more similar to Twitter. But you’ll also find that tech topics, like Bitcoin and software development, have some of the most popular servers. You can use a platform like mastodonservers.net to find the server you want to join.
And if you’re looking to find the Mastodon equivalent of the Twitter accounts you follow, you can use Debirdify to find them automatically.
If you’re looking to Mastodon as the social network of choice for the initiatives you’ve been running on Twitter until now, you might be disappointed.
Because it’s a network of servers, rather than a single social platform, businesses can’t go through a single person or platform to “do marketing” on Mastodon. Additionally, Mastodon’s homepage states that the service will never serve ads or push some profiles above others. Since Mastodon is run by a non-profit, there’s no profit incentive and no desire to work with advertisers.
That said, there are still ways for businesses to take advantage of this surge of interest in Mastodon.
In this facet of advertising, Mastodon might be a great alternative to Twitter. That’s because while Twitter lets you search hashtags and topics, you’re still served an uncategorized mess of Tweets in an order that’s not particularly useful to you — thanks to the algorithm.
But with Mastodon, each server is essentially a self-contained community gathered around a single topic, whether that’s locality, a shared interest, or even a specific career.
Find the right server, and you can get unfiltered access to what really matters for your target demographic or a new market segment.
You could absolutely run affiliate marketing, sponsorship, and UGC campaigns through Mastodon. You could try reaching out to individual accounts with a certain number of followers the same way you would on another platform; you might just have to do a bit more digging before you find the right accounts.
Keep in mind that follower counts are generally much lower on Mastodon than on Twitter, meaning your efforts might not be as effective. For example, George Takei has 3.4 million followers on Twitter and only 235,000 on Mastodon. You might struggle to find influencers of the same size you’re used to working with.
This one will be a bit harder to pull off. The people behind Mastodon are staunchly anti-advertisement, meaning that there’s no infrastructure for pushing ads broadly on multiple servers.
That said, each server operates completely independently, so there’s nothing stopping a server owner from putting in their own infrastructure to accept payments, meaning technically servers can sell ad space.
But if you try advertising on Mastodon, you might run into some resistance. Mastodon users expect to see fewer ads — if any at all.
You might not be able to run ads, and you might not find the next big influencer, but you know what you can do on Mastodon? Run your own server.
Sure, it’s a bit more technically involved than starting a YouTube channel or running a Twitter account, but having your own Mastodon server comes with one big advantage. You have complete control over it. That means you can choose to approve every new account, you can handle content moderation, and you can steer the conversation. That can make it a powerful marketing tool.
Because Mastodon doesn’t have an algorithm pushing certain posts over others, you can’t just post and hope for the best. You have to go out of your way to engage with the community if you want to get any traction.
But because Mastodon is organized in servers, you don’t have to go searching through the void to find your customers — both current and potential.
Running a SaaS business? Find servers where people talk about SaaS to answer questions, offer your knowledge, and become a trusted expert. Work in art supplies? Go to servers where artists hang out and join the conversation.
Currently, Mastodon has over 8,000 servers, but does it have one for your niche? Searching up “SaaS” on mastodonservers.net returns a single server with just over 20 users. A search for “marketing” only finds one server, too.
You see the opportunity, right?
Download our Social Trends report to get all the data you need to plan a relevant social strategy and set yourself up for success on social in 2023.
Create your own server, pick a topic that fits your niche, and start creating content. You can even repurpose content from your blog, your YouTube channel, or your website to get started.
Click Create an account.
Then, scroll down until you see a list of servers.
Then, hit Create account (again).
On the server page, click Create account in the panel on the right side of the screen.
Then, Review the rules of the server and hit Accept.
Once that’s done, fill out the signup form, check the privacy policy box, and click the Sign Up button.
You will receive a confirmation email. Follow the link in the email to activate your account.
Congratulations! You’ve just signed up for Mastodon. You’ll be taken to your home screen, within the server you chose to join. From here, you can start following people — no matter which server they’re on — to get posts in your feed, explore popular content from other servers, and more.
Note that you’re not stuck in that server just because that’s where you created your account. If you want to choose a different server to serve as your account’s home base, you can migrate your account between servers.
That depends.
While Mastodon has seen a huge surge of popularity recently — going from 1 million monthly active users to 2.5 million in about a month — that doesn’t even put it in the same ballpark as Twitter.
Twitter has just crossed 250 million monthly active users for the first time, according to this Tweet from CEO Elon Musk:
Slides from my Twitter company talk pic.twitter.com/8LLXrwylta
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2022
So despite the concerns that havebeen surrounding Elon Musk’s takeover, Twitter doesn’t seem to be in any true danger. At least not yet.
For Mastodon to have a chance to replace Twitter, it needs to either provide a similar enough experience to Twitter or something that’s significantly better.
So the true question is can Mastodon do that?
Well first, the people behind the platform would need to want to do that, and that doesn’t seem to be the case. They’re not trying to build a better Twitter, they’re building something that’s almost a sort of anti-Twitter:
“Mastodon is free and open-source. It has no ads, respects your privacy, and allows people/communities to self-govern. This is because at Mastodon, we present a vision of social media that cannot be bought and owned by any billionaire, and strive to create a more resilient global platform without profit incentives.”
The key differences between Mastodon and Twitter — profit vs. non-profit, centralized vs. federated — make it difficult to say whether Twitter can get replaced. Many Twitter users seem to think that’s the case right now, but the platforms are so different that it’s doubtful Mastodon will be a lasting replacement.
Especially since most people who said they were leaving Twitter for Mastodon haven’t really left.
That said, it’s likely that several ex-Twitter users will find Mastodon’s decentralized network model preferable to Twitter, and the change will stick. But the average user will probably stick with the the platform they know — unless a more direct challenger emerges.
Still have burning questions? We have the answers.
Mastodon is a social platform that’s exploded in popularity following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, with many Twitter users jumping to the platform. While it’s been around for six years, its monthly active users more than doubled at the end of 2022.
Mastodon was developed by Mastodon gGmbH, a non-profit company from Germany. But since the social media platform is both open-source and decentralized, there’s no single “owner.” Instead, individual Mastodon servers — essentially self-contained communities — each have their own owners.
Instead of being a single, centralized place where everyone Tweets, replies, and throws shade, Mastodon is a decentralized network of individual servers. Each server is organized around a specific topic, company, or interest, and a server’s members can interact with members of other servers.
Additionally, because Mastodon is run by a non-profit, is has no advertising infrastructure, no built-in monetization, and no algorithms.
If you’re looking for a specific person, you can type in their name or URL (their account’s unique identifier) in a search bar right above your profile picture. Just looking for new accounts to follow? Then you’ll want to hit the #Explore tab to the right of your home screen.
The post What Is Mastodon and Why Is Everyone Going There? appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
Originally posted on December 15, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
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Twitter can be unpredictable, but one thing remains certain — you gotta respect the algorithm if you want to make big moves. That means if you want to boost engagement, drive traffic to your website and generally build awareness for your brand, you’ll need to understand how to work with the Twitter algorithm.
Unlike other apps, Twitter allows its users to decide what they see. Users can choose between the algorithmically driven default timeline (Top Tweets) or viewing Tweets in reverse chronological order (Latest Tweets).
But even if some users aren’t opting for Top Tweets, the algorithm still determines virality on the site. After all, content still spreads further when actual users are spreading it. Even if the algorithm only serves a select group of people, posts will spread as people start retweeting, replying or liking them.
Leveraging the Twitter algorithm is crucial to any brand presence. So let’s dig in and figure it out together.
The Twitter algorithm is a set of rules that rank content on the platform, determining each post’s value based on a set of rules.
In essence, the algorithm is a central brain that powers what we see on Twitter and how we see it. These decisions are based on many factors, including location, virality, personal interests, recency and whether or not the post contains media. Don’t worry, we’ll break it all down shortly.
c’mon twitter algorithm! daddy needs a new pair of shoes! pic.twitter.com/xrfHFJ3aHz
— Cameron Bradford (@camerobradford) September 22, 2020
Like most social media sites, the Twitter algorithm changes all the time — and is actually a combination of several algorithms. Regardless of the updates, however, there are some evergreen truths that will help you use the algorithm to reach its maximum potential.
If you learn what drives trending topics, timeline Tweets and everything in between, you can use Twitter’s algorithms to their full potential.
One of the most fascinating things about Twitter’s algorithms is also one of the scariest — they really do have a mind of their own.
That’s because Twitter, like most other social media companies, uses “black box” algorithms. That means the inner workings of the algorithms are kept secret from users, though we do know they use machine learning to sort content based on different ranking signals.
As CNN explains, “Even those who can understand the code that goes into an algorithm don’t necessarily understand how it works…. The people who build these systems don’t always know why they reach their conclusions, which is why they’re commonly referred to as ‘black boxes.’”
That might be changing. Before purchasing Twitter, Elon Musk asked his followers to vote on whether Twitter’s algorithm should be open source. 1.1 million people voted, and the result was an overwhelming “yes.”
Twitter algorithm should be open source
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2022
As CNN reported, Musk repeated his goal to open up Twitter’s source code at a TED conference in Vancouver. His reason? He wants to “unlock” Twitter’s “extraordinary potential” by making it easier for users to know why their Tweets are being promoted.
This transparency might also help fend off repeated reports that the Twitter algorithm is biased, which the company has worked hard to refute.
Twitter users can toggle between two different timelines: Home or Latest Tweets.
To follow what’s happening in real time, tap the located at the top right of your Home timeline to change from seeing top Tweets to latest Tweets first.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) May 31, 2020
Latest Tweets shows you a real-time, reverse chronological timeline of Tweets from people you follow. If you don’t follow a lot of people (or you follow a ton of people and are hopelessly addicted to Twitter), this is the best view because it will show your friends’ Tweets even if they don’t get a lot of traction.
Home uses Twitter’s ranking algorithm to display posts based on what the algorithm perceives as more important to you. Multiple factors play into what makes a Tweet appear on the Home timeline.
As Twitter explains, “Home, or top Tweets, are ones you are likely to care about most, and we choose them based on accounts you interact with frequently, Tweets you engage with, and much more.”
“This means you will sometimes see Tweets from accounts you don’t follow,” they continue. “We recommend Tweets to you based on who you already follow and Topics you follow, and don’t recommend content that might be abusive or spammy. We share recommendations via push notifications, your Notifications tab, and by adding them to your Home timeline.”
To switch between the Home timeline and Latest Tweets, click the star symbol at the top of your Twitter timeline. The star symbol can be found on both desktop and mobile.
If you’re reading Twitter for your own enjoyment, you might prefer one timeline over the other. But if you’re attempting to market a brand, you’ll want to learn how to get your content into the Home timeline.
Since 2019, Twitter has allowed users to follow Topics in addition to individual Twitter accounts. That means users can opt-in to receive Tweets about their favorite celebrities, musicians, sports teams or general conversation topics without having to find specific accounts or manually search for hashtags.
To see what Topics you currently follow or explore those you might be interested in, you can click the three dots at the side of your Twitter home page, then click through to the Topics page.
On mobile, the Topics button will already appear on your navigation menu.
“We want Topics on Twitter to reflect the broader, lasting conversations people have about the events, people, and things they discuss,” Twitter explains.
“So we use machine learning to find related Tweets from these conversations. This could mean they Tweet a lot about the Topic or interact a lot with Tweets about the Topic. From there, we find the Tweets that are most interesting to those people, using algorithms, keywords, and additional signals.”
From the suggested topics above, you can see that Twitter’s algorithm has determined that I like cats (true!), funny tweets (definitely true!) and Jin (I’m much more of a Jungkook fan…).
The Topics you subscribe to will become another factor in how Twitter’s algorithm shapes your experience.
Twitter used to organize all of its content based on hashtags, but the site has become more complex the more it’s grown. Now, a curated selection of recommended content appears under the Explore tab.
To get to Explore, click the hashtag on Twitter desktop or the search icon on Twitter mobile.
The Explore page’s content caters to your location, but you can make it global instead. Tap the settings icon on the Explore page and turn off Show content in this location. You can also click around to see what’s trending in other locations.
The Explore tab itself actually has several tabs within it, including For you, Trending, News, Sports, Fun and Entertainment.
Much like TikTok before them, Twitter has a For you tab too. It contains suggested Tweets, accounts, topics and other content that the Twitter algorithm has determined you might be interested in.
It’s not entirely tied to your chosen Topics, but the For you page will make selections and recommendations based on your Twitter history. The more you use Twitter, the more accurate it will be.
The Trending tab is where, well, all of the beauty and chaos of Twitter occurs.
It contains a list of the top 30 trending topics in your country — you can tap through to each one for more information.
Twitter’s trending algorithm ranks topics by volume of Tweets, replies and retweets, but that’s not the only factor. As Twitter explains, “This algorithm identifies topics that are popular now, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis.”
In other words, the Trending tab is for emerging conversations.
That explains why you might see a celebrity’s name trending and not know whether they’ve passed away, gotten a messy divorce or just got photographed with their fly down on a red carpet.
The Explore section is rounded out by tabs dedicated to News, Sports, Fun and Entertainment. Each of these tabs will display trending topics and top Tweets in their respective fields.
If you’re curious about what’s happening in the world of sportsball or feel like keeping up with the Kardashians, you can click the Sports or Entertainment tabs. And if you’d rather avoid those things like the plague, you can try to focus on the News or see what kinds of ridiculous things are popping off in the Fun tab.
We’ve learned that Twitter loves to recommend content, but then the question remains — how do you get Twitter to recommend your content?
According to Twitter, top Tweets are chosen “based on accounts you interact with most, Tweets you engage with, and much more.”
That’s a little vague, but here’s what Twitter has shared about its Home timeline, Trends, and Topics ranking signals:
Twitter prioritizes Trends based on “topics that are popular now, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis.”
Current events and topics may appear in a section at the top of the Home timeline called What’s Happening.
Twitter will build a profile for you based on previous actions like your own Tweets and Tweets you’ve engaged with.
The app will also prioritize accounts you often engage with and topics you follow and engage with most.
Your location is also a key element in what content will be pushed toward you.
Twitter also keeps track of the number of Tweets you’ve made that are related to a topic.
Twitter will prioritize a Tweet based on how popular it is and how people in your network are interacting with it.
If you follow a certain Topic, Twitter will look at how many people are Tweeting, retweeting, replying, and liking Tweets about that Topic.
In the Trending tab, Twitter will keep count of the number of Tweets related to the Trend.
Twitter will organize tweets based on what kind of media it includes, like images, videos, GIFs or polls.
In all of their press materials, Twitter specifically says they will not recommend “content that might be abusive or spammy.” So, y’know… don’t do that.
Twitter is a lot of things, but one thing it isn’t is precious. You should obviously think before you tweet, but don’t overthink it. If you’ve got an idea for a post, just do it. Either it’ll work, or it will flop, and the timeline will keep moving.
Hootsuite generally recommends posting at least 1-2 times per day and a maximum of 3-5 times per day (with multiple Tweets in a thread counting as one post). That’s the best way to keep your followers engaged.
It’s also important to stay in the algorithm’s good graces. If you only tweet once a week, it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to be pushed to the Home Tweets page.
In theory, it’s never been easier to get verified. That’s because the service now allows anyone that pays for a Twitter Blue subscription service to get all the benefits of a blue check.
we’re relaunching @TwitterBlue on Monday – subscribe on web for $8/month or on iOS for $11/month to get access to subscriber-only features, including the blue checkmark pic.twitter.com/DvvsLoSO50
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 10, 2022
Yes, you read that right — anyone who signs up for Twitter’s new program will now be eligible for verification.
According to the new rules for Twitter Blue, all you need to do is pay $8 a month on your web browser or $11 a month to have the service on iOS. Then, you’ll get features like the ability to edit tweets and post longer videos than everyone else — in addition to the other perks of verification.
This means, of course, that you’ll do better with the algorithm. As Twitter puts it, verification will allow you to “rocket to the top of replies, mentions and search,” adding that “Tweets from verified users will be prioritized.”
In the past, users were verified because they were notable in their field (such as celebrities or journalists), but Twitter now says it will only verify users when they subscribe for Twitter Blue.
There are a few new checkmarks on Twitter now, too. Business accounts will receive an official gold checkmark, while government accounts will receive a gray one.
we’ll begin replacing that “official” label with a gold checkmark for businesses, and later in the week a grey checkmark for government and multilateral accounts
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 10, 2022
Sure, the Home Tweets algorithm will push out relevant content long after it was first posted, but it’s still best to post strategically so you have a better chance of snowballing into virality.
Hootsuite research shows that, in general, the best time to post on Twitter is 8 a.m. Pacific on Mondays and Thursdays, so you could save your best content for then. But keep in mind that Twitter is a global platform, meaning every timezone is relevant.
If you want to discover your best time to post, try retweeting your best content at different times throughout the day to see when you gain the most traction.
They might seem quaint or even cringe (especially if you’re still using #YOLO or #Winning), but hashtags are still an excellent way to gain traction on Twitter.
Twitter data shows that a Twitter ad gets almost 10% more attention when it includes branded hashtags.
Are you a #SmallBusiness? Here are some tips & tricks from your friends at Twitter:
Share updates early and often
Showcase the people behind your business
Start and join conversations, like #TweetASmallBiz
Lean into your differentiators pic.twitter.com/Qq440IzajF
— Twitter Business (@TwitterBusiness) October 11, 2021
Keep an eye on trending hashtags and use them organically with your posts. But don’t overdo them — the algorithm hates spam.
You can also tag other users, which will naturally encourage them to retweet or engage. Mentioning someone in a tweet is a great way to spread your reach and appease the algorithm. But again — spamming is a no-no.
A boost in engagement can help your Tweet’s ranking with the Twitter algorithm. And it’s well known that Tweets with photos, videos, and GIFs tend to get more attention.
And while you used to be limited to one video or GIF per Tweet, Twitter recently made it possible to add up to four pieces of media per Tweet. You can mix and match videos, GIFs and photos. It’s a great way to get creative with your posts.
You should also add captions to any videos, as they result in a 28% longer view time. And while you’re at it, make sure you include alt text so that your media posts are accessible for everyone.
— Sopranos World (@SopranosWorld) October 6, 2022
When it comes to soliciting engagement on Twitter, it’s simple. Ask, and you shall receive.
Ask an open-ended question or invite your followers to share photos or videos with you. Start a light-hearted debate. Maybe try engaging in a risky reply or two.
Steak-umm says send the risky tweet https://t.co/JccPoZrj0V
— Hootsuite (@hootsuite) September 23, 2022
An open-ended question that encourages quote-tweets is one of the best, easiest ways to get people to engage. Music publicist Eric Alper is the master of this art form:
What’s the greatest opening lyrics to a song that you’ve ever heard?
— Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper) November 19, 2022
Another thing you can ask for? Votes. Polls are a quick and easy way to ask for input on something. It could be anything from an on-brand survey to a request for concrete feedback.
Quiz Time!
According to an Accenture survey of over 10,000 consumers, what is the top concern for people buying products directly through social media?
— Hootsuite (@hootsuite) November 17, 2022
Or, you could use polls to really have some fun with it.
Ask a controversial question, and people will feel personally responsible for making their side win. Better than that, they’ll come back to make sure their side won. And if it’s losing, they may even share the poll with their followers to demand more votes.
Like most social networks, Twitter loves to promote its own features, so polls do well in the Twitter feed algorithm. And doubly so if people are up in arms about them.
Sooooo we should probably figure this out now with #Thanksgiving tomorrow… is #turkey delicious or overrated?
— STRAWBERRY (@STRAWBERRYradio) November 23, 2022
Look for trends and topics that your brand can contribute to — or lead. You could plan ahead with Twitter’s regularly updated marketing calendar or, better yet, bookmark Hootsuite’s complete list of social media holidays.
Keep an eye on the Trending tab on the Explore page for the latest trends in real-time. But don’t trend-jack or news-jack your way into every conversation on Twitter. Find the topics and themes that make sense for your brand.
Even if you tweet at peak times, chances are many followers may have missed your Tweet. And if it performed well the first time, it likely will again.
There are plenty of ways you could keep the ball rolling for the algorithm. Over the years, self-retweets have grown more common — you could do this if your initial tweet gained some traction and you want to keep the ball rolling.
You can also re-share the same content but word it differently or approach it from a totally different angle. Find creative ways to repackage and re-share what works.
For example, if you’re sharing a blog post, you could highlight different elements of the same content at different times. You can consider it another way to A/B test and discover which approach your audience finds most compelling.
Below you’ll see two different ways Vulture promoted their 2021 Jennifer Coolidge profile, including a viral quote from the piece and another more recent share of the piece to coincide with The White Lotus season 2.
“What would I want? I don’t know. More tequila.” —@JENCOOLIDGE (: Irina Rozovsky) https://t.co/nNvwpuTKJR pic.twitter.com/Jgk3HgbG6j
— Vulture (@vulture) July 6, 2021
The joke was never on Jennifer Coolidge. Revisit @e_alexjung‘s profile https://t.co/h2mnvtkVJW
— Vulture (@vulture) October 14, 2022
When it comes to algorithms, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Use Twitter Analytics to track what works and what doesn’t for your specific account, and keep testing.
And for a bird’s eye view of how your content is performing across different social media platforms, choose a social media management tool like Hootsuite.
Hootsuite allows you to pretty much do it all:
Build and schedule custom analytics reports so you’re always on top of your performance
Track and benchmark your posts against your competitors and industry averages
Keep an eye on trending topics and hashtags so you can plan your next campaign
…oh, and you can also compose, schedule, and publish posts for every social platform, including Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube
Manage your Twitter presence alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, engage your audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
The post How the Twitter Algorithm Works [2023 GUIDE] appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
Originally posted on December 14, 2022 @ 4:41 pm