What’s new in social media.

What’s new in social media.

by | Oct 27, 2021

social media news

    Social media tools and tricks change weekly, so it can be a real pain keeping up with what’s hot and what’s been dropped. (We’re looking at you LinkedIn stories 😉) Here are some of our top social media updates from October.

    Pinterest Announces a story like ‘watch tab’ at its creators festival.

    Instagram launched co-authored posts called ‘Collabs’ Collaborating is a huge part of how people connect on Instagram. To make that easier, we’re testing a new way for people to co-author Feed Posts and Reels, called Collabs.

    Instagram announcement: social media managers can now post content from their desktop. Finally!  

    Is Facebook really changing its name? Here’s what you need to know. 

    If you would like any social media or marketing support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly team who are here to translate all this ‘social media stuff’ into real marketing strategies for you and your business.

    Contact Designated’s Marketing Director Michelle. michelle.wheeler@designatedgroup.com

    The ultimate business hashtag list 2021

    The ultimate business hashtag list 2021

    by | Oct 11, 2021

    Ultimate business hashtag listv designated

      What are hashtags and why should you consider using them for your social media marketing? What is the best business hashtag list to use for your business?

      A hashtag (#) is a label (or labels) attached to a social media post. It’s a simple way for people to search for common topics across social media platforms.

      You might be familiar with hashtags on Twitter, but they are used widely across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can follow hashtags you might be interested in on LinkedIn and Instagram, plus you can add them to Instagram and Facebook Stories.

      The key with hashtags is to fully understand your audience and ensure you use the most relevant hashtags for your content. We talk more about this in our recent blog post Why use hashtags in your social media posts

      So where can you start? We’ve done some initial research for you on the most popular business hashtags list, which can be used for many types of businesses. Don’t try to use them all at once! Experiment with these broad hashtags and see which ones work for you.

      Does this all seem like too much effort? Do you not have the time to do all the research needed to get the most effective list of hashtags for your business?  Why don’t you let our team at Designated look into a social media strategy for you and take care of all your hashtags at the same time!

       

      The Best Business Hashtag List for Instagram

      #businesscoach

      #digitalmarketing

      #digitalbusiness

      #business

      #investing

      #wealth

      #money

      #businesstips

      #startup

      #entrepreneur

       

      The Best Hashtags For Marketing for Instagram

      #adwords

      #mktdigital

      #inboundmarketing

      #googleadwords

      #marketingconsultant

      #facebookads

      #digitalagency

      #socialmedia

       

      The best hashtags for Medical for Instagram

      #heathcare

      #medstudent

      #nurses

      #healthcare

      #pharmacy

      #medicalstudents

      #clinical

      #nurse

      #medicallife

      #medicalcare

       

      The Best Hashtags For Restaurants for Instagram

      #chef

      #foodtruck

      #dinner

      #restaurant

      #familyrestaurant

      #finedine

      #instarestaurant

      #restaurantstyle

      #bestrestaurants

      #restaurantlife

       

      The Best Hashtags For Fitness for Instagram

      #fitsporation

      #fitnessmodel

      #fit

      #workout

      #instafitness

      #gymlife

      #getfit

      #fitnessaddict

      #gym

      #fitnessmotivation

       

      The Best Hashtags For Events for Instagram

      #specialevents

      #partyplanning

      #event

      #eventservices

      #corporateevent

      #eventpros

      #eventsplanning

      #venues

      #eventsplanner

      #eventmanager

       

      The Best Hashtags For Recruitment for Instagram

      #interviewtips

      #applynow

      #careergoals

      #employers

      #employer

      #careerdevelopment

      #jobinterview

      #recruitmentagency

      #jobsearching

      #recruiterlife

       

      Want to find out more about using social media to raise your brand awareness and drive sales, contact designated’s marketing director Michelle who would be happy to tell you all about our fab team: michelle.wheeler@designated.com

      What’s new in social media?

      What’s new in social media?

      by | Aug 31, 2021

      Social Media

      With social media constantly evolving we look at some of the latest updates to some of the most commonly used social media platforms.

      Facebook introduces the rollout of Facebook Reels

      Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it will begin the rollout of Facebook Reels in the U.S. Select Facebook users are now able to create Reels within the Facebook app (on both iOS and Android), and share them to Facebook Groups and their News Feeds.  Facebook Reels, which will give Facebook users the ability to create and share short-form video content directly within the News Feed or within Facebook Groups.

      Find out more: https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/19/in-growing-battle-with-tiktok-facebook-to-test-facebook-reels-in-the-u-s/?utm_content=bufferdbe92&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer

       

      Facebook and Instagram face criticism for Covid misinformation

      Social media companies came under fire after a report by the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) revealed that a group dubbed the “disinformation dozen” are responsible for 65% of online anti-vaccine content.

      https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-updates/facebook/instagram-facebook-criticized-for-covid-misinformation/

       

      Instagram Reels can now be 60 seconds long! (hurrah)

      In response to community feedback, Instagram will now allow Reels to be up to one minute in length. Reels first launched with a 15-second time limit in August 2020, and was doubled to 30 seconds a month later. https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-updates/instagram/reels-up-to-60-seconds-long/

       

      TikTok has announced new partnerships with both Vimeo and Canva to provide more ways for marketers to build better campaign creative in each respective app.

      The new integrations will facilitate direct connection between TikTok Ad Manager and each platform, making it easy to build TikTok creative, and upload it straight into your campaign. The creative options also align with key TikTok dimensions and creative flows, ensuring that your clips feel natural and in line with the rest of the platform – and not too polished and ad-like, which is a key consideration in your TikTok marketing approach.

      https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-announces-new-partnerships-with-vimeo-and-canva-to-streamline-conten/605080/

       

      We also thought you may find interesting, recent marketing statistics from the social media examiner industry report

      • Instagram is hot: Seventy-eight percent of marketers are using Instagram. It’s the second most important social platform for marketing (behind Facebook). A significant 64% of marketers plan on increasing their Instagram organic activities over the next 12 months. Instagram is the number-one platform marketers want to learn more about.
      • Stories video use is on the rise: Short-form video is growing. More than half of all marketers regularly use Instagram and Facebook for video-based stories.
      • YouTube interest is high: A significant 71% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube video and 72% want to learn more about organic video marketing on the platform.
      • TikTok is ignored by most marketers: Only 9% of marketers are using TikTok. A significant 68% do not plan on using the platform in the next year; however, 32% are interested in learning more about TikTok.
      • Facebook dominance still strong: A very significant 93% of marketers use Facebook (followed by Instagram at 78%). Fifty-four percent of marketers claim Facebook is their most important social platform. Facebook Live is the leading live video platform used by 30% of marketers. Facebook ads are used by 75% of marketers and 61% find the Facebook ads platform the most important for ads.

       

      Their research also shows a significant 64% of marketers plan on increasing their Instagram organic activities over the next 12 months, making it the top platform where marketers plan on doing more.

      You can download the full report here:

      https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/report/

      If you want to find out more about using social media to raise your brand awareness and drive sales, contact designated’s marketing director Michelle who would be happy to tell you all about our fab team: michelle.wheeler@designated.com

      Build your brand using Content Marketing

      Build your brand using Content Marketing

      by | Jul 26, 2021

      Content Marketing

      Content marketing is a word banded around a lot in business but do you know what it means and how it can be important for your business?  

      Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach that focuses on creating and distributing valuable and relevant content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. This content will drive profitable customer action, whether it be booking an appointment or making a sale.  

      Content marketing is at, it’s core, educational and not promotional. It is designed to be valuable, to start or build upon a relationship, increasing trust and visibility of the brand.  

      But why is content marketing important for your business? There are a number of different reasons, but a solid content marketing strategy helps many aspects of your digital marketing.  

      Content marketing strategy comes before your social media strategy, you’ll need to understand what is valuable to your target market and create posts which can be shared and saved by your followers.  

      Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), search engines like Google reward businesses that publish good quality, consistent and valuable content.  

      Are you interested in generating PR content for your business or brand? Successful PR strategies address issues your audience cares about, not the business themselves.  

      Pay per click (PPC) is when you pay for ads and for each click on them but relies on good quality content to hook the user into your website.   

      Are you planning on increasing your email subscriber list? Content is key to creating these emails and driving traffic and leads for your inbound marketing.  

      Content marketing requires work, persistence from all parties involved and patience for the results to come in but it can have many benefits to your business.  

      1. Your content marketing strategy can make sure you’re found by the right people and potential customers. Answering people’s key questions by creating blog posts, ebooks or videos for example can be a good place to start.  
      1. Your content is only as valuable as its ability to attract new people to your business, and compel them to engage going forward.  
      1. Content marketing can help acquire new customers. You’ll be able to be a trusted source for them and they’ll want to hear from you and purchase your products and services.  
      1. You’ll be able to create more loyal customers, which potentially increase sales through cross-selling or upselling.  

      So if you’re looking for someone to start to help you on your content marketing journey, we’d love to work with you. 

      For more information about working with a virtual marketing team on michelle@designatedgroup.com

       

      Virtual business support and what it means for sustainability

      Virtual business support and what it means for sustainability

      by | Jul 26, 2021

      Virtual Business Support Sustainability

      Virtual Business Support and What it Means for Sustainability. 

      The term work-life balance took a complete turn during the height of the pandemic. While many missed the mid-morning coffee machine banter, others thrived by spending more time with their families, had time to focus on their mental and physical well-being and some even uprooted their lives completely, re-locating to areas they would actually like to live with no lengthy commutes to consider. Saving a small fortune in the process.

      For the employee, remote working or even a hybrid model is an easy sell. Fortunately, most employers have been willing to look at the future of work for their business.

      The benefits of remote working for employers include:

      • On-premise cost savings
      • Productivity of workers
      • Mental health and wellness of employees
      • Expansion of talent pools
      • Communication improvement

      But that’s not all. One of the most beneficial and impactful arguments for remote or hybrid working models, sits with sustainability.

      The UN believes 14 of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals can be solved or advanced through virtual work. Living and working sustainably is more than just good business.

      In the world today we are facing several threatening global issues, a health pandemic, economic crisis, climate change, mental health emergency and not to mention the entanglement of race and inequality. Though remote working won’t eradicate these issues entirely, virtual jobs have the power to change the lives of employees, businesses, and communities across the globe by impacting:

      • The Economy: When employees are spread across countries rather than packed into cities and hotspots, wealth can spread and help to uplift poorer communities.
      • The Environment: Working remotely means shorter commutes, lighter carbon footprints, reduced air pollution, carbon emissions but it also has a knock-on effect on things like food production, energy usage, elimination of physical office waste like stationary with cloud technology. Fast fashion which is a topic currently discussed a lot will be impacted, employees won’t have the need to purchase as many clothes.
      • Diversity: Equal remote work earns equal opportunity.  It turns out that when managers are focused on the what of results, suddenly the who, when, and where doesn’t matter as much. Consequently, traditional discriminatory factors like race, age, gender, and family status are reduced or eliminated in virtual workplaces.

      Here at Designated, we saw the benefits of remote working long before COVID-19 made it almost mandatory for businesses to adapt to using virtual and cloud technologies.

      Managing Director Jane Braithwaite has been able to build Designated with an unlimited pool of talent, sourcing industry experts across PA, Accountancy, Marketing, HR & Recruitment both locally and globally to the benefit of all Designated’s clients. There is no traditional 9-5, no distractions, lengthy meetings and no burnout or stress from commuting. The work is done quickly and efficiently using the best virtual business support teams available.

      Remote business support allows business leaders to focus their time on what matters. With flexible support options available you can choose to hire a virtual PA, virtual marketing team or a virtual accountant when, and how you need it.

      For more information about virtual business support contact Michelle Elliot on michelle.elliott@designatedgroup.com