Social Media & SEO

If you’re a brand communicator, you’re not likely to wade into politically hot waters, but in this incendiary cultural moment any topic can inflame certain groups of people—or the government. The Amy Goodman case in particular demonstrates the increasing power and inherent dangers of live streaming and the seriousness with which government authorities are approaching the medium.

Without Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appearing in your brand’s YouTube video, and lacking the professionals and budgets of the major broadcast, cable and Spanish-language networks, does your brand’s video stand a chance? Indubitably so, communicators tell us. In this first of this two-part series we’ll concentrate on bolstering your YouTube content; part II, in a future edition, will focus on measurement and analytics.

As the company tries to focus on everything live—from streaming on Periscope to following breaking news and events—savvy users will notice a blending of old and new in the new feature. Explore takes two tools Twitter created for compiling essentially separate conversations and blends them together. Long-time Twitter users will see pieces of the now defunct “Discover” feature—suggested account and trending topics—coexisting alongside Moments’ signature highlights.

Today’s SEO is a complex stew of content, links, site performance, user experience and a bunch of other variables pushed to perform in a wide array of environments. But for all the considerations that go into developing a successful SEO strategy, it’s important to remember that the driving force behind SEO is people. At its core, SEO is just a machine that’s trying to keep up with humans’ search expectations by monitoring and emulating their behaviors. Keywords are one of the ways that search engines do this.

In the new update being rolled out, auto advance is no more. Users will be returned to the story list, unless they use the new story playlist feature, tapping the thumbnail image of each story they want to view and then seeing all of those stories in order.

One nonprofit essentially is like every other nonprofit, except for size and the causes it supports, right? Not really. While less unique than snowflakes and fingerprints, some of the most-engaged nonprofits on Instagram in Q2 took different routes to amass their impressive figures.

With the Snapchat environment in flux, what should communicators do to measure their Snapchat efforts now? A sensible approach is to begin with the basics, Baird says. Set goals from the outset. Are you trying to sell product through Snapchat? Gain exposure for your brand, raise awareness and create buzz? “Your goals will dictate your measurement methods,” she says. Indeed, the communicators we interviewed favored various measurement tactics, including unique views, open rates, story completion rates, screenshots and Snapchat’s own Snapchat score.

For those representing academic institutions online, the task of evaluating yet another new social network or social media offering from established outfits can feel overwhelming. Several years ago, it was tempting to think the world would cleave neatly into Facebook and Twitter camps. With some extra effort, we could adjust our messages to both, engage with their respective audiences and respond to new features. The market for social networks seemed almost mature.

Snap Inc. is preparing for an initial public offering as early as late March, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The potential valuation: $25 billion. Those following Snapchat’s history may remember that Facebook offered a $3 billion buyout in 2013, which CEO Evan Spiegel turned down.

If your brand is on Twitter, it (literally) pays to respond quickly and consistently to followers’ tweets. A recent survey conducted by Twitter in partnership with Applied Marketing Science (AMS) found that brands that respond quickly to customer queries on Twitter see increased revenue and brand loyalty, while waiting too long to respond can cause major drops in potential sales.