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3 Cracking Easter Marketing Campaigns We LOVE

With Easter just around the corner, it presents the perfect opportunity for marketers to get creative with seasonal content. Having spent just under £1 billion on the holiday last year alone, it’s clear how important the event can be for marketing brands when reaching their audience, and finding a way to tap into it can provide valuable results. If you’re a brand seeking some marketing inspo, we’ve rounded up 3 of our favourite Easter-themed campaigns to shine some light on how to crack your strategy this year. So sit back, relax and maybe even enjoy an Easter egg…🐰✨

Cadbury’s Worldwide Hunt

Easter egg hunts organised by businesses can sometimes feel repetitive or dull (unless you work at Gather, duh) 💁‍♀️. Fortunately, Cadbury, the UK's biggest chocolate brand, offers an exciting solution. 

This came after they introduced their "Worldwide Hide," a global virtual Easter egg hunt where players can hide digital chocolate eggs on Google Earth and share clues for others to find. They advertised this concept via a YouTube video to their 578K subscribers, sparking curiosity with the question, "What if you could hide an Easter egg anywhere in the world?"

To sustain interest over two years, they collaborated with influencers on TikTok and Instagram, to promote the hunt's unique experience and sentimental value. 

This idea emerged during pandemic lockdowns when Easter gatherings were missed, thriving due to its interactive nature. With interactive content like online Easter egg hunts gaining double the engagement of static content, Cadbury's approach was strategic. Authentic social media promotion, influencer partnerships, and user-generated content amplified brand awareness, supported by videos highlighting the appeal of virtual gifts. So, would you take part? 🤔

Morrisons launch their own Chee-ster Egg

While chocolate typically dominates Easter baskets, it's crucial to remember the savoury enthusiasts too. Walkers Sensations once dared to think beyond chocolate, offering a limited edition "savoury" Easter egg with Thai Sweet Chilli crisps, a bamboo bowl, wine, glasses, and an Amazon Prime movie voucher. This unconventional product garnered significant attention, prompting other brands to follow suit, like Deliveroo's fried chicken Easter egg.

This year, Morrisons has introduced "Cheese Easter Eggs," targeting savoury food lovers and sparking excitement, especially on TikTok through user-generated content. 

This highlights the importance of innovation and thinking beyond traditional Easter themes. Whether it's exploring unconventional food items or non-edible experiences, tapping into diverse interests can create social media conversations and establish leadership in diverse areas of Easter marketing which haven’t been explored. 

With the choice between Lancashire & Cheddar or Stratford Blue Soft Cheese, it’s a cheese lover’s dream come true! 🧀🫶

Cadbury’s Winning Egg

Cadbury's Easter Creme Egg campaigns are renowned for their innovation. In 2022, their advert sparked controversy, with 25,000 complaints. However, Cadbury stood firm, aiming to promote diversity and fun in their ads. Their Golden Goobilee promotion celebrated 50 years of the Creme Egg, featuring diverse portrayals, including a same-sex couple sharing one. Despite complaints, many praised the ad's inclusivity.

In 2023, Cadbury launched a competition offering a £10,000 prize for finding a unique half-white, half-milk chocolate Creme Egg. Participants couldn't eat the egg, adding to the challenge.

The campaign's success was fueled by social media sharing of unwrapping experiences, generating high engagement and brand visibility. Competitions like these foster organic reach through user-generated content, sparking lively conversations. Engaging with winners on social media enhances the campaign's impact, driving further interaction and follower growth. Successful campaigns require carefully thought-out social engagement strategies to maximise their potential.

That’s all for today, but don’t hesitate to check out ourblog page for upcoming social media updates orcontact us today to see how we can level up your social strategy.🚀

4 Facebook Case Studies to Inspire You

Although Facebook is one of the older but original social media platforms, it’s the thriving platform for advertising and businesses to boost brand awareness. With over 2.3 billion active users monthly, the platform can be used in many ways from static or video content to paid advertisements. 

There are so many marketing opportunities on Facebook that it can be hard to tell which strategy is best for your brand. If you’re not sure where to start, then reading these case studies in this blog will help you learn about marketing strategies that similar businesses have tried before. These case studies will go through each brand’s challenge, goals, the campaign’s details, and its results, and give you a glimpse at how they reached success on Facebook. 

Even if your business has a lower budget or sells a different service or product, these case studies should inspire you and give you creative ideas for your own Facebook Strategy.

Brand Awareness Case Study: Pandora

During the 2017 Christmas period, the jewellery company Pandora wanted to boost brand awareness in Germany, and wanted to see if video ads could have the same success as other Facebook ads formats they’d tried. They began by working with Facebook to adapt an existing successful TV commercial (view here) for the platform. 

Source: Globalblue.com

The ad was cut down to 15 seconds and shows a woman receiving a Pandora necklace from her partner. The video was also cropped into a square size for mobile devices. Pandora then ran the ad targeting German demographics between the ages of 18-50, appearing in newsfeeds and as an in-stream ad.

The video campaign resulted in a 10 point lift in favourability, and while Pandora hasn’t disclosed how they’ve measured their favourability, they note that it meant more consumers favoured Pandora over competitors. Financially, the campaign also gave a 61% lift for ROI in purchases and a 42% growth in new buyers.

When using video footage for your campaign, it’s valuable to be able to create a story and be emotive while being persuasive. Pandora used an existing TV ad, and adapted it to a different platform and therefore different audiences; their way of adapting is something to take away from this case study.

Brand Reach Case Study: Buffer

In 2016, Buffer started to see a fall in its brand reach and engagement on Facebook due to changes to the algorithm that favoured individuals over brands. To try to prevent their engagement and reach dropping further, Buffer decided to cut their posting frequency by 50%. With less time focused on a lot of posts, they could focus more time on creating fewer but higher quality content that was purely designed for gaining engagement. Instead of posting links and quick captions, they began to trial different formats like posts with videos and paragraph captions. 

Source: Getapp.com

They started the strategy in 2016 and continued it to 2018. By 2018, Buffer claimed the average weekly reach nearly tripled from 44,000 to 120,000, and the page’s daily average engagements doubled from 500 daily to 1,000. Although Buffer began this experiment before Facebook’s algorithm changes, they updated the case study in 2018, stating that the strategy has tolerated platform shifts and still is providing high reach and engagement.

Buffer found out that it is very easy to over-post on social media, and less is more; focus on the quality of your content over the quantity. You should take time to plan, brainstorm and schedule your content, and ensure they speak directly to your consumer.

Engagement Case Study: Hawkers

Hawkers is a Spanish eyewear brand, who’s marketing team wanted to see which Facebook ad format would produce the most engagement. Between March 2017 and April 2017, they launched a mix of standard and collection ads on Facebook. While their standard ads had a photo and call-to-action caption, their collection ads had a header image or video, followed by a range of images from their sunglass line underneath.

Source: Moneyinc.com

To test ad effectiveness, Hawkers showed half its audience the photo ads, and the other half the collection ads. They also used Facebook’s Audience Lookalike feature to target the ads to their audiences in Spain.

The experiment results showed that the collection ads boosted engagement by 86%, and they also saw a 51% higher rate of return than the standard ads. This study shows how different types of ads can show off elements of your service or product, and could also be more engaging to your target audience. 

Video Views Case Study: HubSpot

In 2017, HubSpot started an experiment where they changed their video goals from lead generation to audience engagement. Prior to this, HubSpot had regularly posted Facebook videos that were produced with the intent to generate leads, but as part of a new strategy, the social media team brainstormed a list of topics and headlines that they thought their social media audience would actually like. Along with this, they trialed different video elements, including size, formatting, and design.

Source: Blog.hubspot.com

The results of these changes saw monthly video views increase from 50,000 to 1 million by mid-2017. If there’s anything to take away from this case study, it’s that creating content that caters specifically to your audience’s interests can be much more effective than content that seeks out leads. 

If you need any help or advice with your Facebook marketing and ads, contact us today to find out how we can help. If you would like to read more blogs, click here.

 

5 Changes Made to Twitter in 2021

Have you noticed any changes to Twitter recently? Over the past decade, very little has actually changed. We can now use twice as many characters to tweet and also change the app into dark mode, but the core use of Twitter hasn’t changed at all, and where’s the Edit Tweet button we’ve all been waiting for?

Recently, Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s Head of Consumer Product, spoke to Nilay Patel from The Verge to explain how Twitter is reinventing itself in 2021, and from this interview, Beykpour explained the five latest developments on the app; Periscope, Fleets, Spaces, Revue and Super Follow. 

So, what actually are these developments?

Periscope

This isn’t so much a development but still a change to Twitter. They are going to be relying completely on Twitter Live and discontinuing the Periscope app this year, which has always been used for live streaming on Twitter. This means that instead of having to have a separate Periscope account, you will go Live directly through Twitter, just like with any other social media platform.

Fleets

Fleets were created as a solution for people who are too afraid to tweet and don’t feel safe doing so online due to public scrutiny. They are a portrait-size tweet that can consist of an image, text, or a 30-second video and like Snapchat and Instagram stories, is automatically removed after 24 hours. As the post doesn’t last, people share with a degree of safety and greater emotion. If you haven’t already guessed it, they’re called Fleets as the post is fleeting, and disappears after 24 hours.

Spaces

Spaces is the new feature with the most hype. It is an audio-only format still limited in access, where a user can start a Space and other users can join the call and have a conversation, inspired by the party line phones in the 1980s. Beykpour has already addressed some of the ideas highlighted by Spaces users, including a recording aspect.

Revue

Revue is a new news platform that Twitter is in the process of integrating into the app. The idea is, where the Twitter narrative is in short-form content, Revue newsletters incorporate more long-form content into the platform. This allows users to use Twitter in a more general way, instead of having to go elsewhere to share lengthier articles of information. It’s also a path for creators to narrow their audience into a direction that represents being more than just a passive consumer on the app.

Super Follow

This is Twitter’s most recent feature, which allows creators to monetise what they’re posting. Rather than working to create influencers on the app, the feature is designed so people can charge for access to their tweets who might be sharing deeper and more private content than they would want to publicly, for example, private or mental health coaches. Like Revue, this is something businesses can use to easily direct followers on Twitter to subscribe.

How are they used?

You might use Tweets and Fleets to advertise a future Spaces chat, and during which you could discuss your weekly Revue newsletter, that your listeners could subscribe to for free, but if they wanted could pay to subscribe as a Super Follower and have access to your exclusive Twitter Live, where you can share your private advice and followers can ask their questions.

All these new features display Twitter’s commitment to improving the app for consumers, brands and influencers.

If you enjoyed this blog, read our blog onhow Instagram’s algorithm works in 2021,or access all our other blogs here.

5 Common Social Media Mistakes Brands Make

Social media is an essential marketing communication tool for brands now, but there are recurring mistakes that many brands make. Marketing on social media doesn’t have to be big or expensive, as a little but effective creativity can go a long way. 

Here are five common mistakes observed on many brand’s social media, and how you can get it right.

Assuming people actually care about you and your products

To start defining your purpose of social media, you need to understand it. You need to understand what you are gonna offer to customers and why they will want to interact, and hopefully purchase from your business. Everyone is busy, and the general attention span on social media is down to seconds, so how are you going to stand out? How is the consumer going to find you? Think about relevant areas and ways to target them, and encourage engagement, but remember that a lot of audiences remain passive, so need to find a way to make your brand memorable. Make people search for you, not just you searching for your consumer.

Creating content no one sees 

Consider your audience and the times of day they are most likely to go on social media. When are they most likely to interact with your content? Bear in mind the day of the week and the time of the day. If your content is that bold and creative, it will capture the attention of your audience, but one thing that your brand will benefit from would be a bulk of content, rather than just relying on one image. This gives your audience more of a chance to come across your posts, no matter what time of day they go on their socials.

Confusion on what you want to achieve

 To have a successful social media strategy, you need to focus on your objectives and how you measure the success you see. As a brand, make sure you are clear on the current picture, and you are using insights and data to evidence your actions of what you are posting. Most campaigns on social media have something to learn from, so find something from each of yours that you could change for next time, or even research into case studies of other campaigns that have or haven’t worked and learn from them.

Posting the same content on every channel

 It’s easy to do, and very tempting, to resize content and post on every platform, but people get bored easily and want to be constantly engaged and stimulated. Different channels have different concepts, so use them to their full potential and tailor content specifically. There may be occasions when content does need to be visible across every channel, but keep this rare for special campaigns or limited content. Your audience will thank you for it.

Expecting immediate return 

Excuse the cliche phrase, but it’s not about the destination but the journey. Social media rarely gives immediate return on investment, and a long-term strategy will keep you on track to achieve your brand’s goals and objectives. Count on the small wins too, and reward yourself on effort, not just acquisition. Remember to keep referring to insights and data to keep your content and strategies relevant to your consumer’s behaviour and learn as you go to connect with them, and grow your presence.

If you would like help with your social media marketing, get in touch now, and speak to a member of our team. If you enjoyed this blog, find more here.

How to Increase Your TikTok Followers in 2021

TikTok may be the most recent contender in the social media game, but it already has a substantial reputation and creates quality growth for users and businesses. The app has over 800 million active users, and in 2020, was the most downloaded app. It is currently the fastest growing social platform and the concept of the app is that users can create and post short videos under 60 seconds for comedy, promotion, interaction, and educational purposes. 

Businesses who want to stay on-trend, engage with their audience on a more authentic level, and would benefit from the attention of Generation Z, succeed on TikTok. Even though the audience generally falls in this age range, there are tons of business owners and CEOs active on the platform researching for their business. 

To be successful on TikTok, you need to understand it takes time and experience, despite the algorithm also making it possible for people to go viral overnight. 

Here are 5 tips to increase your TikTok followers in 2021:

 

  • Identify your audience

 

To start identifying your audience, you should know that each age group interacts differently on TikTok. There’s a lot of niches within the app and so there’s room for everyone, however you won’t be able to appeal to everyone, so know your target audience and what content they interact with the most. Users aged between 13 and 25, tend to interact with trends, challenges, and funny videos, but if you’re planning to target adults over 35 years old, they prefer to be educated and find unique advice.

 

  • Understand trends and create challenges

 

Trends are obvious on TikTok, more so than any other social media channel, and TikTok makes it clear which specific hashtags and challenges are trending on the For You Page feature. This feature is unique to individual users, based on the algorithm that works off the posts you’ve interacted with most. 

As a creator, you can easily research which song or trends your followers are engaging with and then use them in your videos. While it’s important to be trend-aware, you should attempt to create your own trend and challenges specific to your target audience. This will set you apart from competitors and gain genuine respect and interest from your followers.

 

  • Use hashtags

 

Using hashtags on any social media app is a great way to increase reach and interaction, and TikTok is no different. The most effective way to utilise hashtags on TikTok is a mix of relative and trending hashtags, and don’t forget about general hashtags like #fyp and #foryoupage, to ensure you feature on your target audiences’ For You Page.

 

  • Cross-promote on other social media

 

The most effective way to increase engagement on your TikTok is to cross-promote on your other social media platforms, by sharing onto Stories and even your feeds. TikTok makes it so easy for you to do so, with the option already available via the share button. If you already have a substantial following on other accounts, you can use them to promote your TikTok. You can also develop brand-influencer relationships as well to promote your content and expand the community created around your business.

 

  • Engage with the content you enjoy

 

Finally, the most simple way to boost your followers is by looking at the content your followers are engaging with and being interested in what others in your industry are doing right, and maybe wrong, and learning from that. Strengthen the community you’ve created on the app by commenting and leaving positive feedback on other users’ videos. This creates a conversation and eventually, you will see accounts return the favour to your videos.

If you follow all these tips, you’ll soon notice an increase in your TikTok followers and will have developed your presence on the app and within your consumer community.

 

If you enjoyed this blog, read our blog on7 Invaluable Marketing Skills That Help Teams Produce Consistently Great Content, or access all our other blogshere.

How to make the most of video content

We’re just a few months into 2021 and it’s clear to see that video content continues to be a very powerful tool for consumers to connect and engage with. With a huge change in consumer habits, many brands have moved online. But The big question is, where are consumers browsing and is video content still influencing their purchasing decisions. This blog will explore these questions and also provide you with some great tips on how your business can stand out from the crowd with video content. 

Where are consumers buying? 

Animotorecently surveyed 580 consumers to help us answer this question. They found that 93% of consumers said that video content was helpful when it came to purchasing a product. This is because consumers prefer this content over reading about a product. Not only this the participants said that their favourite video content from brands was posted on social media, the top platforms being Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. It’s said that 73% of participants express they engage with ads on Instagram stories! This tells us that now, is the time to be making the most of these platforms and video content. 

Top tips on how your business can stand out from the crowd 

1. Create story-friendly content

Vertical video content is continuing to grow in popularity, 2021 is the year to create engaging, eye-catching and relevant vertical video content.

 2. Cater your content to the social platform 

Before posting the same video content across all your social platforms, make sure to consider the audience on each one. For example, short eye-catching content is great for stories but Youtube is better for longer content. 

3. Test your content

Make sure to vary and compare your video ads, this will help you determine what draws in your audience. The only way you can find out what’s truly going to work is by testing the content you’re sharing. 

4. Save the best till first

Be sure not to wait too long to get your message across. If you’re promoting a sale or a promo code, don’t leave it till the end of the video as consumers who like short and sweet video content may end up missing out on the message you’re trying to share. 

 

If you’re not making the most of video content, then you could be preventing your brand from engaging with up to 93% of your consumer base. To find more blogs like this, click here.

Instagram tests new link feature

Unless you have over 10,000 followers on Instagram, you may have noticed that only a select few accounts can share links in their stories. This is all about to change. Instagram is starting to test link stickers, rather than a swipe-up link you may be used to. Instead of swiping up on a story with a link, you’ll now have to tap the link sticker to reach the intended website. Instagram is also introducing the ability to react to stories with link stickers, which is currently not possible with the swipe up link feature.

Sticking to a small few

With over 1 billion active daily users, it is worth noting that this new feature is only being tested across a small number of accounts, so you may not see this feature on your account right away. Instagram’s VP of Product, Vishal Shah, has explained that the link sticker feature is mostly to see how people take advantage of links. They’ll be keeping a close eye on the types of links people are posting and whether accounts are misinforming their followers or using spam links. Instagram has also noted that the transition to link stickers simplifies the system and works better with how people use the platform. 

Even though Instagram will be trialling this feature across a wide range of accounts, it is still unsure as to whether it will be officially rolled out among everyone or people who already have link privileges. However, it has been confirmed that links will be sticking to stories with no plans to roll out onto main feeds, any time soon.

Linking together

Activist accounts have long mastered the art of call-to-action posts, but they’ve not yet been able to send their responses to their website through Instagram before. This test may finally change this, as the platform is targeting people who have recently found a voice on Instagram. So you won’t need 10,000+ followers or a verified account to fit the bill, as was the previous formula for link privileges. 

This test may be small and we’re not likely to see the platform change overnight, but it may mean that browsing the web on Instagram becomes much more second nature. 

If you want to find out more social media news, head over to ourblog.

ONTIME drove a 32x return on ad spend in 2020 Eid campaign

Leading accessories retailer, ONTIME offers a wide selection of branded watches and trend-based jewellery across Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq. In addition to their regional presence, ONTIME also has an online presence with an even wider selection of products.

Adapting To COVID-19

Earlier this year, ONTIME took notice of how the coronavirus pandemic would affect Eid in 2020. Due to the nature of the festival, Eid is usually a very competitive time for retailers. However, in 2020, people couldn’t be given gifts face-to-face, which meant that ONTIME had to focus their attention on online sales. 

In light of this, ONTIME partnered with a performance marketing agency, Merkle, who designed and ran an Eid campaign adapted to the changes that COVID-19 brought. This campaign aimed to drive online sales by promoting high-value products that could be bought as gifts for the festival, alongside discount codes. 

Creating Dynamic Ads For Lookalike Audiences

In order to do this, their teams went for a data-led approach in which they started by creating lookalike audiences, based on their regular store and website visitors, as well as people who were interested in fashion and accessories. 

After this, the two companies set up product feeds for all of ONTIME’s top products, which were split into 3 key product categories, in order to ensure that their top products would automatically appear in dynamic ads. 

These ads were shown in Facebook News Feed and Instagram Fees and Stories, which were optimised for conversions. This meant that during this 11-day campaign, relevant products and discount information were directed towards audiences in relevant countries in the Gulf region. These people were then directed to ONTIME’s website with a strong call to action. 

Results

As a result of ONTIME bringing a combination of relevant products and enticing discounts to high-intent audiences, they were able to stand out against their competitors during Eid. Between May 21st and 31st, their ads helped them to achieve;

  • 32X return on ad spend
  • 33% increase in average order value
  • 3.1X more website visits
  • 69% decrease in cost per website visit

 

This blog was originally fromFacebook if you are looking to create dynamic ads through Facebook conversions,contact us today for a FREE online workshop.

Social Success: Finance Company deliver a 42% increase in leads through WhatsApp

Turkish finance company, Multinet, ran an ad campaign that used WhatsApp to encourage businesses to sign up for their services. Read more to find out how they achieved a 42% increase in qualified leads compared to their use of other channels. 

Multi-faceted finance company

Multinet, first founded in 1999, has grown to become one of the leading fintech groups in Turkey. With over 200,000 institutions using their services, they offer prepaid cards and online payment systems for meals, restaurants, hotels, outlets, and petrol stations. Multinet also offers management services for small and medium-sized businesses expenses. 

After already using Messenger to successfully gain leads, the company wanted to try using WhatsApp due to its increased popularity in Turkey. By using WhatsApp, Multinet was hoping to offer a much more improved and personalised customer service practice.

Sending the right message with WhatsApp

Introducing WhatsApp as their new customer communication channel, Multinet were able to provide great customer service whilst also managing to gain high-value leads. The fintech company approached businesses that wanted to provide meal cards to their employees. They then worked with customer engagement expert, Infobip, to launch their Facebook ads that clicked straight through to a WhatsApp conversation.

Every time an ad was clicked, an automated WhatsApp chat would then trigger. This would then give potential customers more information about Miltinet and its services. Additionally, as part of an eligibility requirement, the automated WhatsApp chat would ask a series of questions. Multinet also managed to train a customer service agent who was then always on hand to take over, should the automation face any issues. To showcase the new communication channel, they were sure to feature WhatsApp throughout their website, contact page and even their Facebook Page.

Positive results: Delivered

After launching this different campaign in December 2020, Multinet saw that 7% of their WhatsApp leads converted into sales, 42% more qualified leads were earned on the platform and they saw an increase of 25% in conversations started, all in just two weeks. On top of this, 18% of potential customers who started a conversation on WhatsApp also opted to receive follow-up communication from the Multinet sales team. 

Multinet’s use of WhatsApp shows that you don’t have to stick to what every other business is doing in order to make a change in your business. If you’d like to find out more social media news, head over to ourblog

This article was originally published byFacebook

What to Include in Your Valentine's Social Media Strategy

Ah, Valentine's Day, when love fills the air and marketers are on the prowl. As we step into the month of love let’s dive into the world of social media and marketing. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it provides the perfect opportunity to really connect with your consumer (no pun intended). You’ve got your very own cupid with us, so we’ve put together a list of trends and ideas that’ll really boost your social media engagement. We hope you LOVE them! 

The Importance of Pink and Red

Who needs to set a reminder for Valentine's Day when your favourite brands will do it for you?! As we head into February we start to notice an increase in the usage of pink and red on our social media platforms. These colours are synonymous with Valentine's Day, and are a great way to let your customer know that you’re getting involved in all the action! 

Get creative with your social media posts. You could focus on making them stand out or create something aesthetically pleasing. Either way, have fun with it, experiment with what works for your brand and remind your customers about Valentine's Day!

For themed social media post ideas, click here.

Perfect Timing for a Campaign 

14th of February is not only the best day to show that special someone you love them, but it’s also the perfect time of year to up your A-game with Valentine-themed marketing campaigns. Valentine's offers a unique opportunity to connect with your customers, boost sales and increase brand awareness. So, why not try introducing a campaign into your social media strategy?

Amongst all the creativity, a campaign that really stuck out to us was Walker's “Heart Shaped Crisp Hunt” in 2023. Walkers were giving out £100,000 to whoever found the best heart-shaped crisp. Customers were to take photos of their heart-shaped snack and upload them to Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #LoveFromWalkers. 

Using your own hashtag can create a sense of community and ignite curiosity. It’s a great way to boost sales and get your customers involved! 

Love from, Everyone 

Valentine's Day isn’t just for traditional romance. Think LGTBQ+, pets, family and friends. Take Galentines for example, a celebration that has become more popular over the years to ensure the single consumers feel included and embrace the love they have for each other and themselves too! If you’re not feeling the love this year, why not get your gals together and have a Galentines? Or, even better, host an event for them! 

London-based gaming bar, Electric Shuffle is hosting a Galentines Brunch (heart eyes emoji) to celebrate the love of friends. With drinks flowing and music playing, it’s guaranteed to have you raising a toast to your besties! 

Target Last-Minute Shoppers 

We’ve all been there, we’ve all forgotten someone's special day at one point or another. To avoid your customer ending up in someone's bad books, why not set a countdown offer/promotion to get those sales in before it’s too late. 

Having an active promotion is a great way to secure sales, especially amongst those last-minute shoppers who are hunting down a bargain! Why not include a pop-up on your website or a personlised email promoting your offers - In 2021, we saw Thorful send out a 7-day countdown to their customers. 

Examples of successful Valentine's promotions: 

  • 2-4-1 on selected lines 
  • % off Valentine-themed products 
  • Free Next Day Delivery (a great incentive for any Valentine purchase) 
  • A rewards programme to join to access future discounts 

Be Interactive 

What better way to boost engagement and interaction on social media than by having interactive posts? Instagram stories offer a range of ways to engage with your audience, such as polls, quizzes, “add yours” and many more! 

People love an easy way to gain insights into their feelings and behaviours; adding a Valentine-themed quiz to your Instagram will do just that thing. How about a "What kind of lover are you?” quiz? Or, a Valentine's general knowledge quiz, here are some examples of questions you could use to make your content engaging: 

Q. What is Cupid's name in Greek Mythology?

  1. Eros 

Q. From where was the first Valentine's letter sent?

  1. Prison 

Q. On average, how many Valentine's proposals are there on Valentine's Day every year?

  1. 220,000

There you have it - some of our favourite trends and ideas to boost your social media engagement this Valentine's Day. Don't forget, be creative and have fun! 

- Your secret admirer 

  P.S. Happy Valentine's Day! 

What's New In Social Media - May 2023

Welcome back to our monthly update on the ever-evolving world of social media! As we’re getting to the end of May, we bring you the latest stories and trends that are reshaping the digital landscape. From platform enhancements to valuable insights, there's plenty to catch up on. So, let's explore the exciting developments in social media this month!

Meta’s Professional Dashboard

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, continues to invest in empowering creators with new educational and insight elements. The Professional Dashboard for Creators has received significant upgrades, providing creators with valuable resources to refine their content strategy, understand their audience, and optimise their reach. These additions reinforce Meta's commitment to supporting the creative community and helping creators thrive on their platforms.

LinkedIn’s Best Practices

LinkedIn, the leading professional networking platform, has released a comprehensive infographic outlining the best posting practices for this year. This resource offers valuable guidance to individuals and businesses looking to maximise their impact on the platform. From optimising post length and using engaging visuals to leveraging hashtags and embracing video content, LinkedIn's best practices equip users with the tools to create compelling and successful posts.

Optimal Times To Post 

A recently published report has shed light on the ideal posting times across various social media platforms in 2023. The findings provide valuable insights into when audiences are most active and receptive to content. By aligning their posting schedules with these optimal times, businesses and content creators can increase their visibility and engagement. Whether it's Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, understanding the best times to post is essential for capturing audience attention.

Meta AI Ad Targeting Process

Meta continues to refine its AI ad targeting process, aiming to enhance ad performance and deliver more relevant content to users. By leveraging advanced algorithms and user data, Meta is working towards creating personalised ad experiences that resonate with individuals. This evolution in AI ad targeting showcases Meta's commitment to delivering meaningful and valuable content while balancing user privacy and preferences.

Social media trends

From the rise of ephemeral content and the growing popularity of audio-based platforms to the fusion of NFTs and social media, there is a range of new emerging trends shaping the digital landscape. Staying ahead of these trends empowers businesses and individuals to adapt their strategies and stay relevant in an ever-changing social media landscape.

May brings exciting advancements and valuable insights to the world of social media. Meta's commitment to empowering creators and refining their AI ad targeting process showcases their dedication to enhancing user experiences. LinkedIn's best practices, the report on optimal posting times, and new social media trends provide valuable guidance for businesses and content creators seeking to maximise their impact on these platforms. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, it's essential to stay informed and adapt strategies to leverage the latest trends in social media. Stay tuned for our next update as we explore the dynamic world of social media!

For more social media tips and advice, browse our blog page now!

What’s New In Social Media - April 2023

Calling all social media enthusiasts! It's April, we’ve made it through the first quarter of the year and we’ve got some exciting social media news to share with you. In this blog, we'll be discussing the latest updates from your favourite social media platforms. So, sit back, relax and we’ll get started!

Twitter’s Code and Inc

First up, we have some big news from Twitter. At the end of last month, Twitter published its algorithm recommendation code. This means brands will get more transparency regarding how their content ranks on the platform. This exciting development is sure to give brands a better understanding of how Twitter's algorithm works and how they can improve their content to gain more visibility.

But that's not all! Twitter has enrolled in a different venture called X Corp. That's right – Twitter Inc. no longer exists. X Corp is a privately held corporation based in San Francisco, California.

Instagram DMs

Moving on to Instagram, the platform has released some useful tips for brands on how to use DMs to build personal relationships with customers and grow their business with Instagram messaging. Instagram has given out practical tips on their DM connection process via their new info page, along with a range of case studies too that might spark inspiration. If you're looking to maximise your Instagram presence, make sure you check out Instagram's guide on using DMs. 

LinkedIn Feeds

Next up, LinkedIn has announced their product updates, ones that will be noticeable in our feeds. They want to show LinkedIn users more topics and posts that are relevant to them. Some of the updates include the ability to build your feed around what matters to you, so you’re suggested topics that are actually relevant to you! This also means that suggested posts should be more beneficial too, not something random that you aren’t interested in. It’s obvious that LinkedIn wants to boost its users’ experience. Keep an eye out on your feed!

TikTok’s Focus On Communities

If you're looking to tap into the power of communities on social media, then TikTok has some tips for you. In a recent post, they recommended that brands take on a 3-step approach to utilise the power of communities. The first was to, find your communities using their Keyword Insights Tool, the second to develop your content strategy, and finally, create content that resonates with your target audience. They truly believe that embracing communities and their subcultures is where true inspiration lives. It’s key to be creative and think outside the box! 

Meta’s Ad Tips

Last but not least, Meta (aka Facebook) has introduced two new video series for brands to help improve their ROI from Meta ads. The first video series, 'Performance Talks', features marketing experts from Meta and beyond discussing the latest insights around ads and the digital marketing world. The second, 'Ask an Expert', focuses on giving the community guidance on questions they have asked themselves on popular topics around Meta ads. This is not one to miss if you want to improve your ad campaigns on social media!

That's all for today! We hope you’ve found these updates informative and useful. Social media is constantly evolving, and it's important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and developments. Be sure to follow us for more updates on social media news and trends!

If you’ve enjoyed this blog and want more social media tips and advice, visit our blog page!

What’s New in Social Media - February 2024

Just like that, February is here! After a month which felt like it would never end, we’ve never been so excited to welcome a new month, even if we are still in Winter. With that being said, a new month brings, you guessed it - new social media trends! You already know the drill, so let’s jump straight into the ever-changing landscape that is social media. 

TikTok & Universal Music cut ties

First up (and it’s a big one) it’s the end of TikTok and Universal Music’s relationship. After failing to reach a new rights agreement, Universal announced on Feb 1st that it was withdrawing its music from the platform. This saw popular tracks from well-known artists being deleted almost immediately (yikes). While this has been a cause for concern among many, it also presents an opportunity for new, emerging artists to promote their sounds to a potentially huge audience, helping to increase their discoverability and popularity. 

TikTok as the new Google?

Hands up who already uses TikTok as their search engine rather than Google? I know some of us at Gather can certainly say we do. However, the platform is now encouraging users to download and add the shortcut to their device's home screen. This comes as their latest effort to encourage more people to search on the platform, rather than using alternative search engines.

While a recent study has discovered that 51% of Gen Z women prefer using TikTok as a search engine as opposed to Google, it still has a long way to go until it can claim the search engine top spot. Google holds an impressive percentage of search engine users, 83.5% globally, to be precise. So, just what will TikTok do next in pursuit of being number 1? Stay tuned…👀

Bard’s rebrand into Gemini

Google has rebranded its AI products as Gemini, aiming for a simpler, more coherent user experience. Under Gemini, features like chatbots and collaborative tools will be integrated across Google's platforms. This move reflects Google's push towards monetising AI advancements, with access to the most recent Gemini model available for a subscription fee. The launch of a dedicated Gemini app for mobile devices signals Google's commitment to expanding AI-driven experiences beyond voice-only interfaces. As Gemini takes centre stage, it hints at a future where Google Assistant may evolve into a fully-fledged Gemini experience, offering users a richer, more immersive AI journey across devices and platforms. So, should we get ready to embrace the era of Gemini, and experience new AI-powered possibilities? 

Instagram's ‘Flipside’

Instagram is shaking things up with its latest experiment: Flipside. This new feature aims to formalise the concept of "Finstas" by offering users a private space within their existing accounts. Essentially, Flipside lets you create a personalised space where you can share content exclusively with a select group of followers, whether that be friends or family. 

You get to set up a custom profile with its own unique name, bio, and photo, then curate a smaller, more intimate group of followers. With a simple swipe, you can seamlessly switch between your main profile and your Flipside world. This move reflects Instagram's recognition of users' desire for more privacy and authenticity in their social interactions. For marketers, this shift highlights the importance of understanding and adapting to the evolving dynamics of private sharing. As Flipside undergoes testing and potential rollout, it's crucial for marketers to stay tuned and adapt their strategies accordingly. So, keep your eyes peeled and be ready to flip the script (no pun intended). 

Well, that’s all for this month! Be sure to keep an eye out on ourblog page for any social media marketing updates, tips and tricks to ensure you nail that social media content. Bye for now. 👋

What’s new in Social Media - March 2024?

Spring has finally sprung, and after what felt like an eternity of winter, we're on the brink of summer! As the days grow longer and the mornings brighter, there's no better time than now to catch up on all the latest buzz in the world of social media. So, let's dive in and get you up to speed on the hottest trends and updates. And hey, with Easter just around the corner, it's the perfect time for a little egg-citing social media adventure - let's get cracking! 🌷🌞🐰

Instagram’s Creator Marketplace: 

Ah, Instagram, the ultimate playground for both creators and brands! With its vibrant community and endless opportunities for creativity, it’s no wonder it’s been a powerhouse for so long. Instagram’s Creator Marketplace offers to shake up influencer marketing as we know it, connecting brands directly with creators for seamless collaboration. Brands can easily discover and partner with influencers that match their audience and values, simplifying campaign execution. For creators, this platform offers new opportunities to showcase their skills and monetise their content, allowing them to grow their audience and optimise their profile for success. Well, let’s just say this platform opens up a whole new world of possibilities. 

Move over YouTube, TikTok is dominating: 

Get ready for TikTok's latest power move as it sets its sights on claiming the top spot! Brace yourselves for some major algorithm shake-ups - TikTok is now all about long-form content, allowing creators to upload videos up to 10 minutes long. (Sorry, YouTube, but TikTok's coming for your crown!🤷🏼‍♀️) This bold move is driven by TikTok's push to enhance its search engine capabilities, with 40% of users turning to the platform for information. This development signals an intensifying rivalry between the two platforms, as both continue to compete for the attention and engagement of users.

Google gets Social:

Google just levelled up its game. Now, within its business listings in Search, you’ll find a fresh feature that showcases recent social media posts from linked profiles. Yep, you heard that right - Google Business Profiles will now feature a new sub-section called “Social Media Updates”, where you can catch the latest posts from connected social accounts. This integration not only makes it a breeze for users to access up-to-date content but also offers businesses a golden opportunity to spice up their online visibility and connect with their audience. We’ve got to say that this update has us intrigued - especially considering Google’s significant influence in driving website traffic. So, if you’re looking to give your Google Business Listing a boost, this feature is worth checking out. 

TikTok’s Picture Perfect Plan: 

Hold on - as TikTok is about to shake things up yet again! Rumour has it, TikTok is expanding its horizons with the development of a new photo app that’s set to give Instagram’s carousel format a run for its money. The goal? To provide its users with a universal platform to showcase their creativity and connect with their audience in new and innovative ways. This bold move is another example of TikTok’s commitment to pushing boundaries and keeping things fresh. So, as TikTok works its magic and fine-tunes this new feature, you better believe we’ll be keeping a close eye on how it might shake up the social media scene. 

That wraps up this month’s update! Stay tuned to our blog for more social media marketing news, tips and tricks to upgrade your content game! Until next time, take care! 👋

What’s Trending On TikTok This Month - March 2024

Before we dive deep into the world of social media, I would like to just address…we’re in March?! With the year already flying by, it means there's no time like the present when it comes to hopping onto social media trends and sounds before they pass by. So, without further ado, let’s begin! 

All that work and what did it get me?

Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like something hasn’t gone your way, no matter how hard you tried? Well, this sound encompasses that feeling to a T. Whether you’ve put your all into work and got some negative feedback you weren’t expecting, or simply made a silly mistake and deleted everything you’d spent hours working on (we know that feeling too well, Facebook Ads, we’re looking at you👀), this sound is a playful way to share relatable experiences with your audience. Click here to see our very own clip!

Babylonging all day long

Making a comeback since its first release over 25 years ago, ‘Babylon’ by David Gray has suddenly become one of TikTok’s favourite tracks. Thanks to TikTokker Danielle Collins, who has brought the track back to life after using it in one of her videos, the song has gained huge traction on the platform. From funny sketches to reactions of people rediscovering the tune, this trending track has huge potential. Take a look at one of our favourite clips here!

Now, some of our younger audience may not have heard of the classic ‘Babylon’ song. However, we can guarantee once you’ve heard this catchy tune, it’ll be stuck in your head on repeat for days. 🎶

And I wonderrrrrr

Hands up if you’ve watched ‘Mean Girls’? (If your hand isn’t up, I’m sorry but we’re judging 💁‍♀️). 

‘Built This Way’ by Samantha Ronson is just one iconic track which makes an appearance in the iconic film, and bizarrely, it’s now a popular sound on TikTok. We’re not sure what’s going on right now with the use of these nostalgic tracks - does it have something to do with cutting ties with Universal Music? Who knows, but all we can say is we’re LOVING it! 

Whether you’re using the sound to re-enact an ironic situation or simply having some fun making up a relatable situation, this tune is perfect for sharing your humorous side with your audience, and sparking light-hearted conversations. See here just one funny example of how it can be used within the workplace.


That's a wrap for this month! Stay tuned toour blog page for the latest updates, tips, and tricks on social media marketing. We've got everything you need to improve your social media content game. Until next time! 👋

What’s Trending On TikTok This Month? - April 2023

TikTok has brought some great trends into our feed this month. Want to find out what the most popular trends have been? To save you the trouble of having to go through your feed and find them, we have put together a list so you know which TikTok trends you could try for your business. Read on to get some TikTok inspiration. 

Lighting McQueen

You have probably heard this sound from a well-known movie, it’s now made its way into our TikTok feeds merged with another well-known TikTok song. This TikTok trend is a great way to show the support you have felt from someone, or the support you have given to someone, remember to make it relatable and the likes and comments will come rolling in. 

We have jumped on this trend and related it to the support the Gather team gives to our client TikToks, this is something relatable to many social media agencies. Click here to give it a watch.

It’s five o’clock

Can you think of two things you can’t go about your daily business without? Why not integrate them into this TikTok sound? This can be software or objects you use in your day-to-day work day or even your two work besties. Make it fun, and relatable!

One of our favourite examples of this trend is the Social Media Manager, @emmmilybrooke, as it was very relatable to us, at Gather. 

Bombastic Side Eye

Have you got unspoken icks for clients or even around the office? Use this TikTok sound to finally get them off your chest. 

An example we love is from @traffictech, they imply the inconvenience of a calendar invite for a meeting late in the day, something that is very relatable across all industries! With this trend you can be as creative as you like, you can dance, act or just simply sit in your office chair and lip sync.


Would you like to learn more about how TikTok is becoming a search engine? Head to our blog page to give it a read. And remember to keep an eye out next month for May’s TikTok trends.

When marketing goes really wrong…

When marketing goes really wrong…

Sometimes your ideas work great on paper, and execute even better. Sometimes they should have stayed on paper. Sometimes a great idea can go really wrong, and hurt your brand. Here are a few of our favourite marketing fails...

Not quite what you were going for… 

A lesson as to why you should never directly translate something comes from Pepsi. Their popular ‘Pepsi Brings you Back to Life’ slogan was used across english speaking countries. However, when they launched the campaign in China, they got a slightly more literal translation than they were aiming for. In Chinese, the slogan translated to ‘Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave.’ Probably a bit of an exaggerated claim from them.

Context is key

Pepsi have had their fair share of controversial campaigns that have missed the mark completely. (Kendall Jenner and her peaceful can of Pepsi ring any bells?) However, this one took top spot for us. Burger King’s UK division tweeted ‘Women belong in the kitchen.’ on International Women’s Day… This tweet was meant to promote a campaign around a cooking scholarship for female employees, but nobody got past the first tweet and this caused a barrage of abuse. The tweets that came after this put the offensive tweet into perspective, ‘If they want to, of course. Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We’re on a mission to change the gender ratio.’ It might have been a good idea to add some context before tweeting out a sexist stereotype on IWD...

White is what?!

Nivea gave us a great example of when a campaign should have stayed in the drafts… In their Middle Eastern division, they posted a campaign for their new invisible on black and white clothing deodorant. The image showed the back of a woman with long, dark hair covering her white outfit. The slogan showed ‘White Is Purity.’ This was not taken well, for obvious reasons. This was interpreted as racially insensitive and white supremacist groups started to applaud Nivea for this campaign… Not what you want. 

Always do your research

In 2014, a twitter trend showcasing the stories of Domestic Abuse survivors. They were #whyIStayed and #whyILeft. Digiorno Pizza failed to do any research into what these hashtags were about and carelessly tweeted ‘#WhyIStayed You had pizza.’ This missed the mark for obvious reasons and they were promptly reminded as to why they shouldn’t have gotten involved in this hashtag. Maybe do your research next time...

#FreeCuthbert.  

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Marks & Spencer is suing Aldi over its Cuthbert The Caterpillar cake. They claimed that the products are too similar and that Aldi is infringing on their intellectual property. However, the plan backfired due to the incredible response from #TeamAldi, they used memes, created hashtags and made the whole thing into a huge joke. The stats don’t lie, and Carrie Rose, CEO ofRise At Seven posted these recently on her LinkedIn.

Aldi
News Sentiment +8.5%📈
Purchase Consideration +6.08%📈
Social Engagement 460,629
M&S
News Sentiment -134.1%📉
Purchase Consideration -2.72%📉
Social Engagement 253,581

This shows exactly how much the humorous approach adopted by Aldi has resonated with consumers, and why M&S should consider adding a bit more humour to their brand if they want to keep up. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed taking a look at some of our favourite marketing fails, let us know what your favourite marketing fail has been. You can take a look at some more of our blogs here.

Why Video Marketing is Essential for Estate Agents

According to Facebook, people spend an average of 1.7 seconds looking at a post on social media, so a moving piece of content has more chance of grabbing the attention of the consumer, and therefore is a valuable marketing tool for all businesses, not just estate agents.  Regarding the estate agency sector, well-made video footage is invaluable for both buyers and sellers, as it shows the property in the most detailed way digitally possible. 73% of homeowners say that they are more likely to sell with an estate agent who uses video on their site, but only 9% of estate agents create listing videos of properties. Already, there’s a key factor highlighted that to stand out from the crowd, you should be using video footage for listings. 

Why are video listings so trusted in the industry?

1. They work in all parts of the sales funnel.

At the top of the funnel, a video can lead to page views; links to pages with a video result in 157% more search results than ones without. In the middle and at the bottom of the sales funnel, a listing video could be the nudge a buyer needs to make the communication with the estate agent. A professional video can also push sellers to work with an estate agent to be confident that they will show their property in the best way. 

2. They have versatile uses.

Using video content for property overview is just one way they can be used within the estate agency industry, they can also be used for informative guided tours of the residence, sometimes using AR or VR technology. They can also be used for testimonials from customers, and to introduce the agents to the companies.

3. They create and achieve immersive perspectives.

Using AR and VR technology, estate agents can achieve very immersive experiences through video, which lets buyers get a close up feel of the property without actually being present. While these methods are still new and rare, aerial footage is the next best thing and stands out in the industry, as it’s fun to watch and equally as informative.

How do you create and use video within the industry?

The first thought for many estate agents is whether to give it a DIY job or hire a professional, and there’s positives and negatives to both. Shooting your own property video is cheaper, you have full control of the aesthetic, and can even shoot using your phone if you wanted, however it can be more time consuming, due to trial and error, and you need a tech savvy member of your team to help. There are many tutorials available on YouTube, with tips on what type of lens you will need and how to edit them afterwards. Hiring a professional to shoot the property is less time consuming for your business personally as they know what they are doing, and almost guarentees a good quality result. However, there is less editorial control when someone else is filming, and it can potentially be expensive. 

The number one rule for shooting video as an estate agent, no matter if it’s done yourself or by a professional, is that it should be between two and six minutes long, to make sure you find the balance between displaying all the information and keeping the viewers attention.

What video content should you create?

1. Listing Video: These types of video should give an overview of the property, showing all the rooms and relevant features in detail.

2. Testimonials: These videos should be well edited and come off as genuine and positive, no matter if you’re interviewing previous sellers, buyers, or local businesspeople like mortgage lenders.

3. Introducing Agents: A video showing the an estate agent and introducing them increases the trust aspect to the buyers or sellers. The agent should address the camera directly and should prompt people to get in touch.

4. Advice: An advice video should feature an agent giving the advice, and should also address any of the commonly asked questions from buyers and sellers.

What should you take away?

Video content within the estate agency industry is an essential marketing tool, and also is rare, so creating and using video footage will allow you to stand out from competitors. As you make and share videos, remember there is a lot of helpful information online and many tutorials on filming and editing available on YouTube if you are doing it yourself.


If you enjoyed this blog, then we recommend you read our blog ‘Double Down on Your Marketing’ for more marketing tips and inspiration. To look through our other blogs, click here.