But it doesn’t stop at games and hangouts. App builders are working overtime, crafting diverse apps tailored for this new realm. Some experts even project that the metaverse market could skyrocket to a whopping $800 billion by 2024! It’s vast, it’s audacious, and it’s the buzz of tomorrow everyone is discussing. This isn’t a simple tech trend; it’s shaping up to be a massive digital revolution. We’re on deck to decode it, bit by bit. Ready for the ride?

The Metaverse Application Ecosystem

The metaverse, it’s huge, right? But what makes it tick? It’s the apps! Let’s dive deep.

First, think of the metaverse as a massive digital city. Now, in any city, there are places to work, play, and chat, right? The metaverse is the same! Apps are like the buildings in this city. Some apps are shiny skyscrapers (big games where many people meet). Some are like cozy cafes (small chat rooms). And some are like libraries (places to learn).

Entertainment and Thrills: These stand out prominently. You can be a hero, explore new worlds, or just hang out.

Work and Study: Yes, you can have meetings or attend classes here. It’s like video calls, but way cooler.

Shopping and Exploring: Fancy buying a virtual dress? Or visiting a digital museum? It’s all possible!

Behind every app, there’s a group of smart people (developers) building it. They pick the right tools, designs, and ideas to make our time in the metaverse awesome.

Yet, remember this: the metaverse is in its expansion phase. New apps pop up every day, making the ecosystem richer and more exciting. It’s like watching a city evolve in fast-forward. Fun, right?

Key Drivers Behind Metaverse App Popularity

So, why are people loving these metaverse apps? Let’s break it down.

A New Adventure: Remember the first time you played a video game or used a cool app? The metaverse feels like that, but bigger. It’s a whole new world to explore. Every corner holds a surprise.

Being Together, Apart: It’s magic, really. You can be sitting in your room in New York and hang out with a friend from Tokyo. No planes, just a click. It’s like a global playground where everyone’s invited.

Express Yourself: Ever dreamt of flying or having a chat with a dragon? In the metaverse, you can. It’s a space where your imagination is the limit. Want to wear pink hair and dance on the moon? Go ahead!

Education Becomes Exciting: Let’s admit, traditional classrooms can often feel mundane. But imagine learning history by walking through ancient Rome or understanding science inside a volcano. Learning in the metaverse isn’t just reading; it’s experiencing.

A Booming Economy: This might sound a bit grown-up, but people are making money in the metaverse. Selling art, designing clothes, or even hosting events. It’s a new kind of job market!

Now, with all these exciting things, it’s no wonder metaverse apps are the talk of the town. But it’s not solely for entertainment. It’s a novel approach to bond, acquire knowledge, collaborate, and even prosper. The landscape is shifting, with the metaverse at the forefront. It echoes the initial phases of the internet, right? A time filled with curiosity and wonder. And we’re all here for it.

Challenges and Considerations for Developers

Jumping into the metaverse? It’s not all rainbows for the builders, the developers. They face some real challenges. Let’s dive into their world.

Tech Hurdles: Building for the metaverse is tricky. It’s new territory. Think about making a cake for the first time but without a recipe. Developers have to experiment, sometimes failing before getting it right.

Safety First: Here’s a thing – with new places come new dangers. Developers have to make sure the metaverse is safe. No bullies, no scams. It’s a big job, keeping this new world secure for everyone.

Keeping It Real: In the metaverse, things should feel real, even if they’re not. That’s a tough cookie for developers. Making virtual water feel wet or a digital wind feel breezy? It’s hard work!

Money Matters: Did you know there’s money in the metaverse? Virtual money. And where there’s money, there’s complexity. Developers have to be super careful, ensuring virtual transactions are safe and smooth.

Staying Ahead: The metaverse is changing. Fast! What’s cool today might be old news tomorrow. So, developers need to keep learning, adapting, and growing.

It’s a challenge, sure. But every challenge has a solution, right? These developers, they’re the pioneers of a new age. They have dreams and tools. And with every hurdle they overcome, the metaverse becomes a better place for all of us.

The Future of Metaverse Application Development

Curious about what’s next for the metaverse? Let’s hop into our time machines and take a quick trip to the future!

Realer than Real: Today’s metaverse feels a bit like a video game, right? But imagine this: in the future, it might be so real, you’d forget it’s virtual. That warm virtual sun? You might just feel it on your skin!

Not Just for Play: Think the metaverse is all about gaming? Think again! Tomorrow, it’ll be our shopping mall, our office, even our concert hall. The line distinguishing the virtual from reality? Soon, it might be nearly invisible.

Everyone’s Invited: Here’s a big goal: the metaverse for all. Young, old, rich, poor – it won’t matter. The doors will be open wide for everyone to enter.

Kind to Our Planet: Did you know the digital world can impact our real environment? That’s changing. The future metaverse aims to be energy-smart. Fun without the eco-guilt.

The metaverse? It’s like a book with many chapters. And trust me, the next pages are full of surprises. We’re all in for a thrilling ride. Ready?

Conclusion

The metaverse is like a new, huge adventure park. There’s lots to do and see. Some parts are fun, some are serious. And it’s always changing. Exciting, isn’t it? Ready to explore?

Author Bio

Ciaran Stone is the CEO of Square Root Solutions, – Well-known app developers in Ireland that help businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups transmute their app development ideas into actual mobile applications. In his spare time, Ciaran likes to write an article on different aspects of app development.

The post The Rise of Metaverse Applications: Exploring the Next Frontier of App Development. appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Ecommerce businesses have many risks to manage, from supply chain and inventory issues to chargebacks. Reputational risk is also an ongoing concern. Consumers are more likely than not to switch brands after a bad experience, and customers have instant access to social media and review platforms that let them share those experiences with the world. Other consumers read those complaints and reviews not only to make smarter buying decisions but also for entertainment. (A quick search for “viral bad review” will turn up dozens of cautionary examples.) 

Because customers are willing to drop companies that don’t meet their expectations and to talk about it online, improving CX and fighting fraud don’t just help with the bottom line. These functions can also reduce reputational risk by preventing the kinds of experiences that drive customers away and lead them to warn others. Companies concerned about protecting their brand reputation should make sure their CX and fraud prevention programs include some key elements.  

A warm welcome for first-time customers 

Creating a positive first impression for new visitors to your website or shopping app can be challenging. First, there’s the fact that you don’t yet have historical customer data available to personalize their shopping experience. That comes later, after they’ve visited the pages that interest them, perhaps shared some products with friends, and, ideally, signed up for your marketing emails or made a purchase.  

If that brand-new customer does make a purchase, it’s important to assess their risk of fraud correctly. Too often, we see consumers who are new to a retailer, or perhaps even new to shopping online, receive a false decline when they place their first order. This can happen when fraud parameters that are too rigid or simplistic flag an order as suspicious and then automatically reject it because of the lack of order history or the newness of the customer’s contact information. Consider that, according to ClearSale’s State of Consumer Attitudes on CX & Fraud 2021 survey, 13% of consumers shopped online for the first time after the start of the pandemic. 

When good customers are rejected by mistake, 34% will complain about the retailer on social media, per the survey. Over time, if fraud controls generate a high number of false positives, those complaints can tarnish the company’s reputation. 

False declines also rob retailers of the ability to capitalize on the customer data they gain from new customers’ site activity, because 40% of rejected shoppers won’t return. To improve CX and protect their reputation, companies can implement fraud scoring that flags but doesn’t automatically reject customers with thin histories so they can be manually reviewed and approved if legitimate. 

Better recognition of returning customers 

False declines can also undermine the relationship between repeat customers and retailers. If these customers have already made purchases on your site and perhaps even said positive things about your brand on social media, a mistaken order rejection may feel like a personal insult or a betrayal of your relationship with them.  

One way to avoid rejecting good customers with a history of safe orders is to make sure your fraud control processes can account for changing behavior. For example, many people have moved since the start of the pandemic, and an increasing number of people are working (and shopping) remotely. If the customer suddenly has a new IP address, phone, or delivery address, it’s worth verifying that the order is good before approval, but rejecting this kind of order automatically risks offending a loyal customer who’s traveling, working from a new location, or who simply upgraded their mobile device. These shoppers, like brand-new ones, may complain about the rejection on social media or tell their friends in person about their bad experience.  

A more active social media presence 

Apart from the risk of customer complaints about declined orders, companies can face other reputational risks online. One is related to how, or whether, they respond to customer questions and complaints on social media. McKinsey describes social media as a “preferred channel for customer service interactions — and a challenging one.” Because customers expect a quick response whenever they contact a company on social media, slow or absent responses can damage their impression of the brand. For example, McKinsey cites a survey finding that 81% of consumers who don’t get a response from a company after complaining about a bad experience on social media will refuse to recommend that company to others.  

The solution here is to invest in a strong social media service team, one that monitors social platforms for company mentions in addition to responding to direct inquiries. Social listening can also help companies identify and combat any fraudsters who might impersonate their brand online in order to phish login credentials or payment data from customers, sell counterfeit goods, or trick shoppers into to placing orders for products they’ll never receive. By finding and reporting these scams, companies can protect their brands from the reputational damage impostors can cause. 

Better CX, fraud management, and brand protection over time 

As your company gathers more data to personalize customer experiences, prevent fraud and false declines, and resolve customer service issues, you can analyze that data to uncover insights about your customers’ product preferences, purchasing behaviors, and pain points. With this information, you can go beyond defending your company’s reputation from negative events to strengthening your positive reputation by building better customer experiences, reducing fraud and checkout friction, and ensuring that you deliver the best possible customer service.  

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Rafael Lourenco is Executive Vice President and Partner at ClearSale, a global card-not-present fraud protection operation that helps retailers increase sales and eliminate chargebacks before they happen. The company’s proprietary technology and in-house staff of seasoned analysts provide an end-to-end outsourced fraud detection solution for online retailers to achieve industry-high approval rates while virtually eliminating false positives. Follow on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram Twitter @ClearSaleUS, or visit https://www.clear.sale.  

The post Worried About Reputational Risk? Boost Your CX and Fraud Prevention appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

After slowly gaining traction with younger audiences during its American debut in 2017, the platform’s popularity has exploded year over year. In 2020 alone, TikTok had more than half a billion active users worldwide, including over 100 million from the United States. 

The TikTok boom has introduced new challenges but also new opportunities for social media marketers. Now, brands have an entirely new channel to engage with a young, growing, and passionate audience. 

Marketing on TikTok can present unique requirements compared to more established platforms, but it can become a powerful part of any effective social media strategy when leveraged appropriately.

If you’re looking to tap into the massive potential of the TikTok platform, here are all the basics you need to know to develop an actionable strategy.

So…What Is TikTok, Anyway?

Let’s start things with the basics. TikTok is a social platform available on iOS and Android where users can post short videos of themselves, typically no more than one minute long. Think of it as the continuation of the now-defunct Vine without that app’s signature seven-second time limit. 

TikTok videos can encompass everything from music videos to dances to lifehacks to vlogs…the list goes on. It’s an incredibly versatile platform: it might have started life as a music app similar to Musical.ly, but it’s evolved to become so much more. TikTok lovers continue to push boundaries, creating just about every kind of short-form video content imaginable on the platform. 

Why Target TikTok?

Maybe you already have successful video marketing strategies lined up for other social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You might be wondering, why should you put time and resources into TikTok?

Simply put, targeting TikTok in your social media strategy allows you to tap into a vast and growing platform passionately used by a young and diverse audience. It’s not a passing fad, either – despite numerous attempts to take it down, TikTok is projected to enjoy continued growth for years to come. 

TikTok might have a reputation as teenagers’ platform of choice, but in reality, the apps’ users are hugely varied. While teenagers and adolescents make up a third of the app’s audience, another third is over the age of 30 – giving marketers access to a vast audience from many walks of life.

Marketers who have already capitalized on TikTok’s rapid expansion have seen noticeable benefits for themselves. TikTok has one of the highest rates of user engagement of any social media app, meaning that brands who establish a presence on the app can foster a more connected audience. 

Organizations that have taken part in the TikTok craze are already seeing the benefits for themselves. Brands like EA Games and L’Oreal developed specialized hashtags and videos for the platform that have gone on to accumulate tens of billions of views – and that’s just one example out of many.

How Do You Use TikTok In Your Social Media Strategy?

Successful marketing on TikTok has to be a little different than other platforms. You can’t recycle the same text posts or videos you use on Twitter and Facebook. Instead, when you’re looking to market your brand on TikTok, you need to create entirely original content with one goal in mind: going viral.

You’ll need to make your videos laser-focused on grabbing users’ attention and growing engagement with your brand. It can be tough to accomplish at first, but it’s a manageable goal by following a few simple tips.

Keep these actionable pieces of advice in mind when you set out to integrate TikTok into your marketing campaign.

• Keep things (very) short and sweet. It’s always good to be concise as a general rule of thumb, but on TikTok, it’s a necessity. You only have a minute to present your video, and with millions of other TikToks vying for users’ attention, you need to make that time count. Create your videos to be punchy, brief, and to the point. Try to open with something that immediately hooks your audience, whether that’s flashy colors or zany humor.
• Stay trendy. Trends are essential for any social platform, and TikTok is no different. Keep a close eye on the “trends” tab on the app; if you see a trending hashtag or challenge that’s relevant to your brand, jump on it as quickly as you can. Capitalizing on trends is a great way to reach audiences that wouldn’t engage with your brand otherwise.
• Be creative. TikTok is home to billions of videos, with millions more added every day. If you want yours to stand out, then it’s critical to think outside the box. Follow trends, but make sure you put your own spin on them. Your brand has a unique identity, and your social content should always reflect that. Sometimes the riskiest ideas are the most successful when it comes to social growth and engagement, so let your creative juices flow when you’re making TikToks.
• Focus on information. Contrary to what you might think, TikTok isn’t all about memes and silly dances. Some of the platform’s most popular and engaging videos are all about sharing helpful or informative content. Your brand can do the same thing by creating TikToks that quickly and simply walk your viewers through a procedure, whether that’s tossing pizza dough, jumping a car, or any other activity relevant to your business. 
• Make your own hashtags. There’s nothing stopping you from making your own trends! You can expand brand awareness by developing specialized hashtags and creating TikToks supporting them. Doing so can increase brand familiarity and, if you end up with a viral hit on your hands, dramatically boost brand loyalty.

How Do You Develop a TikTok Social Strategy?

It’s one thing to make great TikToks, but it’s something else entirely to know how to market them. It’s essential to have a clear-cut, formal strategy in place when you start developing your TikTok social media plans.

Consider the following elements of a successful TikTok strategy.

• Keep your goals in mind. You should have concrete objectives for TikTok marketing, whether they include generating leads, driving sales, growing social followers, or anything else. Having goals will help you stay focused and measure your success.
• Upload consistently. You can maintain interest in your TikTok efforts by implementing a regular upload schedule, which can also help you retain an audience and build a following.
• Dedicate resources. It might be tempting to take a budget approach to TikTok marketing, but that’s simply not fair. Like any other marketing channel, TikTok has serious potential to increase profits and boost your brand’s reputation. Make sure that you set aside enough resources to explore TikTok thoroughly.
• Watch your analytics. You can always ensure that your TikTok strategy stays on the right track by eying your analytics and checking that you meet your desired benchmarks in terms of engagements, shares, or impressions.

TikTok might be the new kid on the block for social media marketing, but there’s no denying its possibilities. Taking the plunge to invest resources in TikTok marketing can feel like a major risk, but by going with it one step at a time, you can eventually reap the results.

Author Bio: 

Torrey Tayenaka

Torrey Tayenaka is the co-founder and CEO at Sparkhouse, an Orange County based video production agency. He is often asked to contribute expertise in publications like Entrepreneur, Single Grain and Forbes. Sparkhouse is known for transforming video marketing and advertising into real conversations. Rather than hitting the consumer over the head with blatant ads, Sparkhouse creates interesting, entertaining and useful videos that enrich the lives of his clients’ customers. In addition to Sparkhouse, Torrey has also founded the companies Eva Smart Shower, Litehouse & Forge54.

The post TikTok is Changing How We Consume Media: Here’s How to Integrate TikTok to Your Video Marketing Strategy in 2021 appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

After a year under the onslaught of a global pandemic, the trends are changing. More than ever, social networks are a link to animate its community and even expand it.

Thanks to them, you will be able to generate more and better-qualified traffic, you will be able to attract new targets and retain your customers. However, to achieve this, you must also take into account new trends. In this blog post, we review 10 social media trends for 2021.

10 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2021

Social networks have become a very important pillar of digital marketing. It is difficult to find a marketing strategy that does not include the use of social networks (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn …) However, for the use of social networks to be effective and the strategies implemented to be solid it is vital to know the factors that will shape these platforms during 2021:

• Social Selling

Social selling is not just the creation of social media profiles by your marketing and sales teams. Social selling is a process of finding, selecting, listening to, and interacting with potential prospects through social media. It makes it possible to detect, accelerate and/or develop business.

In recent years the use of Social Selling has grown a lot, promoting electronic commerce within social networks. This, without a doubt, marks the future and trends of social media since it helps that users of social networks do not have to leave a platform to make a purchase. And not only this. From 2020 we will be able to see how different social networks launch new e-commerce functions so that companies can sell their products, as for example, Instagram Shopping did.

The recent explosion in social selling reminds us that shopping has always been a social experience. And given the wealth of opportunities for brands today to make sales, social feeds are fast becoming the more modern way than to get to the mall.

• Use of Audiovisual Content

Audiovisual content will continue to top the list of main trends in social networks during 2021. Some experts already predict that about 80% of the content we consume will be video in the coming years. The main reasons why video is positioned as one of the great trends are the following: audiovisual content is much more attractive and, also because nowadays it is easy to do with medium and high-quality smartphones.

You know, video is the queen of the web! It is found everywhere: on websites, social networks, YouTube-type hosts, marketing campaigns; and for your content to have a chance of being seen by the most people, you must optimize it according to the algorithms of each platform. Each channel has its preferred codes and formats, and this year the algorithms will be even more demanding. The trend is towards VSEO (Video Search Engine Optimization). This practice refers to optimizing audiovisual content to make it stand out highest in search results.

• Use of Artificial Intelligence

AI is gaining importance in content marketing. It makes it possible to target an increasingly precise audience but also to create content. This latest trend is expected to take hold in 2021. While machines are still struggling to replace humans when it comes to pure writing, AI tools like Copy.AI are already helping to prepare advertisements or newsletters.

Online background removal tools also help create images that can be used for social media marketing campaigns. Artificial intelligence is therefore, becoming a powerful ally for publishing content on a large scale and ensuring global visibility. 

• Collaborating with Micro-influencers and Virtual influencers

In 2021, two important figures in the world of social networks are expected to occupy an important place: micro-influencers and virtual influencers.

Virtual influencers are humanoids who are succeeding on social media. A clear example is Lil Miquela, a virtual influencer who has already been trusted by major brands in the world of fashion. These influencers, not being human, do not make mistakes or get carried away by emotions, which is why brands trust them so much.

The phenomenon of micro or nano-influencers is not new but continues to develop at a rapid pace. With a more limited but also more targeted audience and thanks to their level of engagement often higher than influencers with a greater number of followers, micro or nano-influencers are ultimately more influential. On the other hand, because these influencers create their own content and directly manage their accounts, they are able to convey a more personal and authentic tone that resonates with their followers. It’s also easier for brands to get in touch with them.

In 2020, 46.4% of brand mentions with the hashtag #ad were posted by Instagram accounts with between 1,000 and 20,000 followers (classified as micro-influencers). In 2021, HypeAuditor predicts that more brands will collaborate with micro-influencers, and the paid placement share featuring #ad will increase to 50%. As a result, with brands opting for more sophisticated partnering strategies, influencers will specialize more on a particular topic. Thus influencers developing more generic content will become scarce.

• Instant Messaging Advertising

WhatsApp’s announcement that, in 2020, it would begin to include advertising in the app, has generated great excitement and expectation, due to the accumulation of opportunities and avant-garde that this represents. 

The challenge is great because, although Facebook and Instagram already have the stories feature, it is true that WhatsApp is an app of a different nature and use, so it will be necessary to find a way to encourage the user to constantly visit this section; there are still a lot of people who never take a tour of this section.

On the other hand, as we know, Facebook Messenger already has different advertising formats that range from sponsored messages, messages sent by brands with which the user has already interacted, in addition to Facebook ads with a button to start a conversation via Messenger to request more information.

In addition to advertisements, brands can give other uses to instant messaging applications (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Telegram) in the same way that email marketing or SMS marketing campaigns are carried out; that is, creating a subscriber database to send them regular communications that add value. Among the brands that have already engaged in these practices with great success are KLM Airlines and Hellmann’s.

• Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the most exciting social media trends nowadays. This technology is not only limited to games. It is also applied in different applications both desktop and mobile, eCommerce, and in product marketing.

Spark AR by Facebook is an upcoming social media content creator that enables you to create and apply AR filters for your social media posts. It is a powerful tool designed for the Facebook camera and allows you to distribute it to other social media platforms like Instagram and Messenger. You can check out the latest experiments and filters for this tool through joining Spark AR’s community on Facebook.

• Virtual reality

Virtual Reality creates a different experience compared to AR as it requires one to immerse into a completely different world or environment. By letting consumers virtually experience a product, place, or a device’s functionality, it can enhance significantly their interest and makes your product more exciting and share-worthy.

Good VR technology investments can surely amplify your social media presence. This video by Mbryonic enumerates some of the most exciting VR marketing campaigns that you can also take inspiration from and apply on your own marketing campaigns. 

• User-generated content

Relying on the content of followers has many advantages for companies. Among them, it stands out that they generate greater trust and this has an impact on engagement. Don’t confuse this trend with the influencers’ trend. In this case, we are referring to fans of a brand who publish their opinion about the brand, about a product or service, etc.

Because of the reputation of devices like Reels from Instagram or Stitch from TikTok, UGC(User Generated Content) has attained a higher degree of personalization. Thanks to these tools, which have removed technical barriers, anyone can easily remix or adapt content from other users and share it on networks to express their ideas, opinions, and points of view. As a brand, you should make things easier for your audience, create content that can be mixed and provide your brand resources to users.

• Personalization

To offer customers what they want, personalization will prevail throughout 2021. ‘Social listening’ allows companies to know the reputation of the brand and, above all, the mentions that users make of their brand and products. All this allows the services and products to be offered to the client in a more personalized and effective way.

This is the case of search engines with recommendations. One of the clearest examples of personalization can be found in the content catalog that Netflix offers its users, with which it recommends series and movies based on the content they consume. Personalized marketing is also applied through the sending of emails based on user behavior. That email that you receive in your mail, reminding you that you have left several items in the basket and that you are one click away from getting them.

Tools based on artificial intelligence allow you to reach high levels of customization. Although if you want to start with simple tools that allow you to identify, capture and interact with your users, you can bet on online marketing campaigns. For example surveys, quizzes, voting, etc.

• Social welfare

With social welfare, the study refers to the awareness that is generated about the impact of social networks on our mental health. According to the statistics of the analysis, this year there were 78.0K conversations about well-being on social networks. In fact, National Disconnection Day garnered more than 3.3K mentions (the use of the #DigitalDetox hashtag should be noted).

This is also related to one of the novelties of the year and that is that Instagram is already trying to hide the likes to avoid the pressure of the exposure of popularity among users. “Increased awareness of the link between social media and mental health means that users are more aware of what they allow to influence them and more skeptical than before.” (Jualia Bramble from Bramblebuzz.co.uk).

Our challenge as brands in the networks is to avoid toxicity, content saturation, and, consequently, misinformation; but also draw the attention of our followers promoting a healthier life. Quality will be the protagonist over quantity.

The Power of Social Media

Social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, etc. are gradually establishing themselves as intermediaries between the media and their readers. Here, we have 5 points that display the power of social media:

• Social Media as a Marketing Channel

There are several ways on how this can be. Market research, brand recognition, lead generation, relationship development, customer service, etc. These are the best ways that social media can help people and organizations connect online to share information and ideas. 

While networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are not the oldest form of social networks, they definitely define them now. These channels started as relatively simple services, but these days,  since the mobile internet innovation, these systems have transformed into focal points that change every facet of modern life – from checking the news, posting holiday photos, to browsing for jobs and careers – into a communal encounter. If you’re not already using these core networks as part of your social media marketing plan or looking for ideas to improve your existing strategy, you’ll find a wealth of information in our guides for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

• Social Media as Multimedia Content Exchange Networks

Media sharing networks offer people and brands a place to find and share media content online, including photos, video, and live video. The distinction with social sharing communities from social media is still blurry since social networks such as Twitter and Facebook add augmented reality, live video, among other media utilities to their program. However, what distinguishes media content sharing networks is that media content sharing is their defining and primary goal.

Similarly, on sites like YouTube and Vimeo, video is the primary mode of communication.

When determining whether or not your business needs to establish a presence on a media sharing network, it is important to consider your available resources. If it’s that one element that very successful platforms like Instagram and YouTube have in their arsenal, it’s a well-planned objective and meticulously mapped multimedia resources that strictly follow a specific theme.

• Social Media as a Platform for Information Exchange

These networks can be excellent resources for market research. If used properly, you can also advertise on them, although you will need to be careful to separate your ads and posts. Discussion boards are one of the oldest forms of social media. Before we connected with our first friends from college on Facebook, we would talk about pop culture, current issues, and ask for help on forums. Observe the massive, widespread consumer rates on forums such as Quora, Reddit, and Digg. You will discover that the populace’s desire for cumulative information and insight remains steadfast.

• Social Media as Bookmark Networks and Content Organizers

These networks can be highly effective in driving brand awareness, customer engagement, and website traffic. Content organizing and bookmarking networks help people discover, save, share and analyze new and popular new content and multimedia. These networks are a breeding ground for creativity and inspiration for people looking for information and ideas, and by adding them to your social media marketing plan, you will open new channels to generate brand recognition and engagement with your audience and customers.

1. Social Media as Consumer Review Networks

Positive reviews present social proof of claims. If they are taken care of well, you can solve the problems of dissatisfied customers. Consumer review networks give people a place to comment on brands, companies, products, services, tourist spots, and just about anything. Consumer reviews through social media networks go one step further by creating networks around the review as a fundamental part of the value they provide.

Your Turn:

So far, the digital marketing trends for 2021 seem to revolve around two different, but almost contradictory, concepts. First, it is a general improvement, focusing on real problems and adapting content to cater to the individual for more intimate engagement, rather than mass allure. The second is a much more mechanical and technical optimization, tweaking areas behind the scenes like SEO and the way campaigns are structured.

Above, we’ve covered 10 of the hottest social media trends for the year 2021, to give you an edge over your competition. Take these marketing trends to heart and consider them when you design your own digital marketing strategy for the new year.

Author Bio:

Yen Pedrajas is an eCommerce and digital marketing writer who loves to share ideas and create strategies about social media and content marketing for start-ups, small and medium businesses. Read her work at Medium.  Currently, she manages public relations for Removal.AI, an AI-powered technology that can automatically remove image background and a photo editing software used for photo editing ideally for eCommerce, printing and all other app and web development purposes.  

The post Social Media Marketing: 10 Trends in Social Networks That Will Mark 2021 appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Social media platforms are constantly evolving, and brands that maintain an active online presence can get a firsthand look at and even help shape that evolution. If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to move away from traditional sponsored content and join the TikTok era of viral videos and owned media, then Instagram just gave you the green light.

With its Reels feature, the Facebook-owned app allows users to create 15-second video and audio clips. It’s no secret that the success of TikTok resulted in Instagram launching a brand Reels. But where Instagram comes out on top is through its distribution options: Reels, Stories, and curated images. Because Instagram has already built a strong foundation with the creative community, it beats TikTok, which is still just getting started and acts more like a media distribution channel than a social platform.

Major brands are already using Reels to participate in trending social media challenges, collaborate with influencers, and sell via Reels’ shopping function. If your digital footprint is still relatively small, this represents a great opportunity to grow. By becoming an early adopter, you can significantly expand your reach because Instagram will prioritize videos created on its new feature over other content. With that in mind, here are four strategies for creating engaging short-form content for Instagram Reels:

1. Deliver unique, exclusive content.

If you’re releasing a new product or service, Reels is a great place to give fans a first glimpse. The popular streaming service Netflix is a great example of this. The company’s Reels provide another way for its 25.3 million followers to experience TV show teasers and trailers. Rather than overwhelming viewers with a barrage of videos, Netflix aims for quality — and so should you. Give your followers an engaging and exclusive look at a product, service, or event.

2. Educate your audience.

There’s a reason people flock to sites like YouTube to learn new things. Video is a great medium for sharing knowledge, and Reels is long enough to allow you to impart something useful but also short enough to keep viewers’ attention. If you’re an expert in your field and know something that might help others, don’t keep that wisdom to yourself. Think about what you know and what you’re good at, demonstrate those skills in a short video clip, and then share it. If your audience appreciates your helpful content, it will boost your credibility.

3. Aim to entertain.

If you can consistently make followers laugh at your jokes, wow fans with your stories, or delight viewers via your comedy routine, they’ll keep watching. And don’t worry if you don’t succeed right away. Short-form videos are perfect for trying new ideas and seeing what resonates without spending your entire marketing budget. Once you have a sense of the type of content your audience wants to see, develop a content strategy that can cater to their preferences while remaining flexible enough to allow you to grow as a creator. National Geographic, for example, knows that its audience wants to see the wonders of the world we live in. Most of the brand’s Reels feature breathtaking scenery or playful animals.

4. Feature others.

Social media is all about connecting and sharing online, so get others involved in your Reels activation. Partner with influencers, other brands, or customers as part of your strategy and leverage their networks to amplify your reach. Walmart, for instance, created a Reel that highlighted its influencer partnerships throughout the year. And don’t limit yourself to just one platform. If you want to succeed on Reels, you’ll probably need to have a presence on TikTok as well. Trends, challenges, and viral videos shift from one platform to another, so monitoring TikTok will help you become a better brand leader on Reels.

Social media isn’t a golden ticket. Most brands that succeed online have thoughtful social strategies and disciplined approaches to creating and sharing content. If you want to expand your brand presence on Instagram and maybe even go viral, you’ll need to create content that meets the wants and needs of modern viewers.
David Ciccarelli is the founder and CEO of Voices.com, the largest marketplace for audio and voice-over products and services in the world with over one million business and voice actor registered users. David is responsible for setting the vision, executing the growth strategy, creating a vibrant culture, and managing the company on a day-to-day basis. He is frequently published in outlets such as The Globe and Mail, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.

The post Get Reels: How Brands Can Use Instagram’s Newest Feature appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

With its ForYou page built for discoverability, short-form videos, and a heart-shaped “like” button, you might mistake TikTok for just another Instagram. Although TikTok is most certainly trying to overtake the photo-sharing app, this isn’t only the battle of Instagram vs. TikTok. In fact, Instagram is finding TikTok much harder to knock off than platforms like Snapchat. TikTok wants to be the No. 1 social platform in the world — and it has the advantage of learning from its competitors’ past mistakes.

Let’s take a look at TikTok’s playbook for becoming the best of the best in the social media world.

Step 1: Poach the smartest people in every room.

The first part of TikTok’s strategy has involved recruiting top talent from other social media giants to recreate their successes. The company has already hired dozens of ex-employees from Facebook and Google, including Blake Chandlee, Facebook’s former vice president of global partnerships.

Trevor Johnson, former director of marketing operations at Instagram, is now the head of marketing in Europe for TikTok, and David Hoctor jumped ship from Facebook to work on TikTok’s brand partnerships. While talent poaching isn’t unusual in Silicon Valley, these recent hires and early initiatives are strong signs that the future of TikTok hinges on its ability to build an ad solution that competes with the likes of Facebook.

Marketers familiar with both platforms find TikTok’s ad-buying interface bears an uncanny resemblance to Facebook’s. If you know how to make Facebook ads work for your brand, TikTok is a natural arrow to add to your performance marketing quiver.

Step 2: Build a better ad platform.

TikTok seemed to realize early that it could build the product of every Facebook engineer’s dreams if they had the benefit of experience. By the time Facebook introduced its ad platform in 2007, Google had already created an incredibly compelling model with AdSense. To compete, Facebook lured in large holding companies with enticingly low CPMs. By the time the news broke that Facebook had been inflating its metrics, the company had successfully grown its ad platform into one of the largest in the world.

The platform had managed to build some of the most robust user profiles in existence. Whenever publishers installed Facebook’s software development kit, Facebook would extract and store data from each of those sources. Once it had a gigantic data pool, it had another compelling offer for advertisers.

Like Facebook, TikTok gathers a wealth of information on its users and relies on data-driven decision-making to inform its next moves. More than that, TikTok has established its standing as an ad platform, rounding up an impressive roster of advertisers and announcing a global partnership with WPP. It’s clear that, in numerous ways, TikTok is closely adhering to the Facebook/Google blueprint to challenge their current oligopoly.

Step 3: Craft a narrative of positivity.

Another way TikTok has differentiated itself from its predecessors is by creating a narrative of positivity. TikTok’s tagline “Make your day” clearly communicates its mission to build a social network where users can escape the 24-hour news cycle, and the content on TikTok generally reflects that.

Americans particularly struggle with news fatigue, and there are hardly any corners of the internet where people can escape the political division and ugliness. When users open the TikTok app, though, they won’t see Antifa or QAnon posts. They’re more likely to see a video of Shaquille O’Neal dancing or a funny prank captured on camera. TikTok’s creators have managed to build a platform that’s just as addictive as Facebook — without the negativity.

The Challenges Ahead

Despite its early success, TikTok will still face many challenges moving forward. Its monthly usage has already surpassed the amount of time spent on Facebook and Instagram, but its daily active user base numbers in the tens of millions — far fewer than Instagram’s more than 500 million users and Facebook’s 1.85 billion.

As TikTok grows, it will have to expand this base so brands comparing social media tools for marketing and advertising no longer question whether their target audiences are using the app. TikTok has a reputation for being a youth-centric platform, and it will have to capture the attention of users older than 24 to maintain its rise to the top. More specifically, the battle of Instagram vs. TikTok will boil down to which platforms users have the most disposable income.

In its quest to grow a competitive ad platform, TikTok must also avoid anything similar to the caustic narrative that developed around Facebook. After Facebook turned off notifications for games like “FarmVille,” it burned bridges in its partner ecosystem — and the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and bad publicity from “The Social Dilemma” film has created public distrust. To find more success than the long-established social media giant, TikTok will have to avoid being tied up in similar scandals and negative associations.

While it remains to be seen whether TikTok will soon be better than Instagram or Facebook, the future of TikTok looks bright. It has assembled a team of brilliant minds in social networking, and it has been successful in carving out a space for lighthearted content and positivity. The playbook TikTok is following is tried and true, and the platform has the benefit of hindsight.

We’ll all have to watch to see what happens as the platform writes its own playbook and works to make it to the top.

Brian Freeman is the CEO and founder of Heartbeat, a marketplace that connects brands with real consumers to run influencer-style campaigns on TikTok or Instagram. Heartbeat has more than 340,000 on-demand brand ambassadors for launching turnkey ambassador solutions.

The post Breaking Down the TikTok Playbook to Take on Instagram (and Everyone Else) appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

• Efficiency. Eliminate the added time and stress of delegating tasks to employees that may not have the resources to produce quality content.
• Diversification. Build your content with a wide range of age, race, and gender demographics.
• High-volume content with few resources. The stack gives you resources without you needing to come up with new ideas all the time.
• Avoidance of content confusion. Let the stack be your guide from pre-production to distribution.
• Money-saving. Budget just for the expertise needed to complete the project and nothing more.

The full Stack can be found here.

The shift to remote work has made assembling large teams for video projects on big budgets more difficult, but the technology included in the Stack can lessen the need for it. A small crew can devote their time to the steps of the production process they do best and then use these platforms as a means of outsourcing, so some of the work will be done for them. Because these platforms can be accessed on an as-needed basis for each project, tailoring projects can be easier. A small production team won’t, say, have to hire an entirely new team member to do a job that only one of their projects requires.

“The emphasis of digital collaboration ingrained in the technology behind these tools promotes this shift we are seeing in production altogether, hiring out contractors for specific roles versus an agency giant,” producer Megan Soh says.

Quickly being able to access a tech platform, or multiple, that specializes in the specific tasks your company needs increases efficiency. In a world where a high volume of content is king, the Stack can help cheapen, quicken and ease the production process without sacrificing quality for quantity of content.

One area included in the Stack is project management. Most general project management software facilitates scheduling, collaboration and productivity that can help connect even the most far-flung production crews. The Stack also includes software specific to video production companies, including Studiobinder, Yamdu, and Celtx, that can act as a one-stop “mission control” for your project. Many of these platforms are available on computers and phones, so key members of the production team can oversee their work from just about anywhere, an especially valuable ability now.

The Stack’s array of pre-production tools cover storyboarding, budgeting, casting and crew assembly, location scouting and gear hire—a full slate to assist any crew’s needs. Like the project management tools, most of the pre-production technology is adaptable to facilitate remote collaboration. The script-writing software Final Draft, for example, now allows multiple users to edit scripts in real time. With on-location shoots still presenting challenges—finding a suitable filming location chief among them—the Location Scout software can help you in your search for that perfect haunted house or woodland cottage to shoot. And Backstage is the perfect hub for casting that eliminates the need to sift through hard copies of headshots or arrange live casting calls.

The production process itself no longer has to occur totally in-person, either. The Stack’s production resources aid with crew management, tech support, content production and legal needs. The major perk of using the content production software in particular is that past projects and versions can be easily stored for reference later should you need it. Adobe Spark, for example, is a content management software that incorporates everything you’ll need—text, images, and video—and options like Sauce, Wideo, Stencil, and Crello are all also available in the Stack. In addition, similarly to the project management software, much of the crew management software provides access to real-time production updates from anywhere. Celtx Studio, one of the video-specific project and crew management platforms, generates dynamic call sheets—scripts, schedule, and production catalog—that update on-the-fly as production schedules change.

The Stack has you just as covered in post-production, with tools for image and video editing, sound editing and mixing, hiring for audio, finding stock media, and storing and archiving content.

Once you’ve created all this content, distribution is key to ensure people actually see it. Of the five production areas, distribution has seen the most disruption now that there are so many channels to reach audiences on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and (most recently) TikTok only scratch the surface. Luckily, the Stack includes a slate of tools to facilitate distribution as well. There is a group of influencer marketing tools to help a company handpick the right influencer for its needs and craft a tailored media campaign around them. Companies without the budget for a full-time social media expert can make use of tools like Buffer, Hootsuite and Loomly to manage their social platforms themselves.

A platform like Bamboo takes it a step further by facilitating the planning of events (virtual for now), campaign management, paid social, paid search, and creative services for paid social and paid search, and it is joined in the Stack by other platforms like Ladder and Juice for algorithmic content testing. The Stack also includes various types of content hosting platforms, such as Vimeo, WordPress, Mailchimp and Podbean; content creation platforms such as Quuu and Juicer; and platforms like Wyng, Sparkle and Taggbox for user-generated content. 

All this is necessary because running a business in 2020 requires not only producing lots of content, but also knowing how to market it. Three-quarters of companies now use content marketing to build brand awareness, create trust, and educate audiences, and digital advertising is now a $30 billion larger business than television advertising. Social media and online video are the two fastest-growing channels by revenue growth, so brands need content for social media, including Facebook ads, Instagram stories, and Snapchat and Tik Tok content, to name a few. They need content for their website. And they need services to deliver the content into the right peoples’ feeds, to monitor success of said content, to ensure ROI, which the Stack provides.

Soundbetter, one of the audio hiring platforms featured on the Stack, is an example of a platform that has found success in this. Soundbetter gives content creation teams access to the world’s premier singers, songwriters, studio musicians, and mixing and mastering engineers. According to co-founder Shachar Gilad, the company has built a niche since its inception in 2012: “One of the profiles of clients that we’re seeing more and more of is marketing agencies looking for jingles. Even people come to hire voiceover, occasionally, on SoundBetter. We see people coming looking for backing tracks, for full songs for ads. They actually want them to record vocals and they want, really, a short song. Those jingles end up sounding less like elevator music and more like real tracks.”

Companies like Listen Lively have also made use of platforms included in the Stack; their purpose was to rebrand. As a direct-to-consumer hearing aid company, it wanted a lead image for its website featuring a modestly attractive person in their 40s or 50s to show that hearing loss is not limited to the elderly. The company used Backstage to cast the perfect talent.

“Over the past two years, we’ve seen tremendous growth in postings from brands and creative agencies looking for talent for their content marketing campaigns. Brands are turning to solutions like Backstage to directly hire talent and produce content at scale,” said Josh Ellstein, Backstage’s CEO.

Ultimately, though, these platforms are but support for a creative director with a strong vision; a skilled creator can produce quality content with any scope of monetary and technological resources. Many with limited resources resort to the DTC aesthetic—millennial pink and sans serif fonts—but it works, because such content is often made by and for millennials who know their target demographic. Creating polished content with such an aesthetic doesn’t require a large, expert team—just a core crew that can piece together additional services as needed by using the various technologies available.

Another way the Stack’s technology types aid creators is by helping to combat content fatigue. Helena Price Hambrecht, founder of aperitif company Haus, discussed how she took all her company’s photos herself at its inception, and while thousands were strong enough to use in ads and the like, they looked similar, which can lead to social users especially tuning out after a while if they’re not seeing anything new. Looking forward, she’s searching for partners who can create multiple different types of content that can be rolled out across the months to prevent content fatigue. She might do one larger shoot per year to set the direction and tone and augment the content from it with small production houses and high-quality user-generated content as a means of diversification.

The need for all this technology, especially as a means of facilitating remote production, was only accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. However, many of these technologies have the potential to remain relevant even when in-person shooting resumes. From remote viewing technology to online crew management, it will be harder for life or distance to get in the way of industry workers seeking opportunities.

About Backstage:

For over 50 years, Backstage has served as the #1 resource for performers to find work while helping talent-seekers move their projects forward. Their 100,000+ members represent a powerful network of entertainment professionals who leverage their unlimited submissions, best-in-class casting tools, and more performance roles than any other casting service. Learn more at www.backstage.com.

The post How New Technology Makes Creating Social-Specific Content Easier Than Ever appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

We’ll all be watching and waiting to see what happens next, but the app remains incredibly popular among consumers. For brands, it has become an essential marketing tool.

But for many, controversies aside, it’s already overwhelming. They don’t feel comfortable using the app for marketing because they don’t feel comfortable using the app period — but it becomes more apparent that they need to embrace TikTok if they want to stay relevant and reach their audience. That said, how do they move forward marketing with TikTok in the face of these challenges?

The TikTok Challenge

TikTok is huge. That massive scope allows brands and creators to experiment and get creative. But marketers don’t yet know how to test content on the app or what metrics to use — and many are still struggling to understand the basic purpose of the platform in the first place.

And it’s not just TikTok’s format and newness that poses a challenge to brands; now that the Trump administration has targeted TikTok as a way to regulate China’s influence in America, the platform feels like it isn’t worth the trouble.

On top of that, there isn’t a standout brand that has unlocked the secret to succeeding on TikTok. Some, like Chipotle, are leading the way by setting viral challenges to engage potential brand followers, but they’re just bold outliers for now. No brand has the playbook on how to win on TikTok — especially a smaller brand trying to create campaigns on a limited budget. Some might say this means the opportunity is greater than on platforms like YouTube or Instagram, where it feels like the winners have already been chosen.

Brand leaders are having conversations and looking for guidance about whether it’s still worth experimenting with TikTok at all. Is it a strategic marketing decision? If they have to invest heavily to do that, is it even worth investing?

The answer is yes. But how?

How to Do TikTok Marketing

Start building your plan for marketing with TikTok by forgetting the misconception that your first video has to go viral for you to have a chance at success. While it’s possible for your first post to go viral — like my wife and I did — it’s not the end of the world if your first video barely gets any views. It’s just about getting started!

Here’s how to start small and potentially get big on TikTok, without letting anything hold you back.

1. Know what you don’t know.

As you get started navigating the world of TikTok, your first task is to understand what you don’t know. Formulate a list of questions. What can I do to understand more about what TikTok is and how it works? What are some of the ways that brands have succeeded there? What would my goals and presence be on the platform?

2. Experiment with your campaign idea.

Your brand image and values will determine what you post on TikTok. The profile of your brand is not about what you’re selling; it’s about who you are behind the scenes and what you value. For that reason, experimentation is critical. You have to be willing to migrate a little marketing spend over to your TikTok campaigns, see what happens, and make changes to future videos based on the results.

3. Create a code of conduct.

To avoid trouble and misunderstanding, start with clarity — especially when you start working with creators. Define your expectations. Have a code of conduct visible and open to creators on your site. This way, you can enable them to express their creativity without worrying that they’ll go off message or hurt your brand image and perception on social outlets.

You’re going to need to experiment as you grow, so shake off the notion that a million people are scrutinizing everything you do. Thankfully, Gen Z has a lot more patience for brand experimentation because it feels authentic. They want to see brands be vulnerable, which makes TikTok a great place to experiment and show some personality.

4. Review the process before you go live.

Once you’ve added your checks and balances so that creators know what your brand is looking for, you still have room to review. Before anything goes live, conduct a final check that everything in the campaign is consistent with your values and personality.

Once you’ve created your code of conduct and reviewed your creator content, your goal should be just to get started. Nobody knows you’re there yet, and it’s going to take a long time to start building brand visibility on a massive scale. In the meantime, have fun flexing your brand’s creative muscles.

Does the difference between the first TikTok video you uploaded and your later, better-quality videos matter? No. What matters is that you keep showing up and growing — even when taking on a new platform feels overwhelming and uncertain. Sometimes, the best things come from uncertainty.
Brian Freeman is the CEO and founder of Heartbeat, the first platform for ambassador-powered marketing at scale. Heartbeat has more than 140,000 on-demand female brand ambassadors for launching turnkey ambassador solutions. Its mission is to empower real women by giving them a voice in marketing and paying them for the power of their collective authentic voice. Heartbeat has done campaigns with Amazon, Laura Mercier, Saks Fifth Avenue, Warner Brothers, Netflix, and other big brands.

The post TikTok Might Seem Overwhelming, but Taking the Plunge Now Will Benefit Your Brand appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

People who are currently reduced to their homes are experiencing extreme levels of anxiety. Of course, this is inevitable. A study from Canada that examined the psychological impact of quarantine during the SARS outbreak of 2003 found 31% of participants reporting symptoms of depression. The sense of isolation and lack of social and physical contact with loved ones were found to be the major reasons.. 

Managing stress is extremely vital in these depressing times. People need to keep themselves distracted with their favorite in-home activities and avoid gluing themselves to news media 24/7.

But that is easier said than done.

Youtube Channels Helping Me Through Social Isolation

Since we have been in this situation for quite a while now, home activities that kept us going in the early days have lost their value. Still, the advent of the internet allows us to explore new things everyday, even if they are in the form of Youtube channels. 

And since Coronavirus lockdowns don’t seem to be going away anytime soon, venturing into new corners of the internet might be our source of excitement for a while..  

So without further delay, here are some lesser known YouTube channels that have helped me deal with the quarantine stress. 

Disclaimer: Many of these channels have over a million subscribers but they will still be unfamiliar to most readers and hence they’re categorized as “lesser known”.

Suna ASMR

ASMR is a polarizing subject. Those who can not feel the ‘tingles’ (the relaxing feeling in head and neck) find it somewhat creepy. Others consider it a godsend. But whether you’re a big fan or not, you would appreciate what this South Korean ASMRtist brings to the table. 

Suna has a series of ASMR VLOGs where she gives you a glimpse into her daily routine. The aesthetics of her countryside house combined with the sound effects create a soothing video experience. Some of these videos are simply Studio Ghibli animations come to life and are a must-watch.

 Riddle Me This

As grown ups, many of us have lost our love for good riddles —and that is an absolute tragedy. Riddles are great mind exercises that polish one’s cognitive ability. They can be extremely fun and engaging too. 

Riddle Me This is a YouTube channel that will revitalize your interest in finding answers. With their quirky animation and sublime storytelling ability, Riddle Me This makes for a good quarantine time-pass. 

I Am

Youtube has amazing educational content and “I Am” is another great entry into this category. The channel tells the story of important events and personalities through powerful animation and first-person narration. 

You learn about individuals who lived through wars, disasters and epidemics in their own words. One of the riveting tales told on this channel is of a plague doctor in 16th century Venice —a story that’s sadly relevant in the current circumstances. 

World War Two

Being a history geek, nothing catches my attention faster than YouTube channels that discuss history in a new and exciting way. We all know how the second world war unfolded. The horrors of this bloody period aren’t something that has attended grade school.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP1AejCL4DA7jYkZAELRhHQ

However, World War Two explains this global warfare in a unique manner. In that, it tells you the events of the war week-by-week as they unfolded. The highlight of this channel is historian Indy Neidell who brings narrating experience from “The Great War” —a similar channel that covered World War 1 on a weekly basis.

Butter Side Down

Alright, it is hard to explain Butter Side Down. Their videos are absurd and outrageous while funny and creative at the same time. Butter Side Down creates fast-paced comedy skits that are backed by sleek animation. 

Some folks might find this content to be a bit bizarre. But believe me when I say this, this channel will grow on you. We could all use a laugh these days and Butter Side Down is a good resource of some chaotic humor. 

Lana Blakely

Lana Blakely is a Youtuber from Stockholm, Sweden that talks about a whole lot of issues. She discusses her relationships and experiences and speaks on subjects like loneliness, anxiety and self-esteem. 

Lana’s channel doesn’t have your run-of-the-mill self help content. Instead, her videos come off as genuine, authentic and incredibly thought-provoking. As a bonus, you also get to enjoy some beautiful views of Stockholm city. 

Natacha Océane

Gyms are closed in most parts of the world and this leaves fitness freaks with only the option to workout at home. Thankfully, individuals like Natacha Océane have us covered. 

While YouTube’s fitness community is a world on it’s own, Natacha Océane consistently puts up great workout tutorials and diet routines. Every now and then, she sits down to discuss beauty standards, body image and everything else related to fitness. Natacha provides a holistic guide towards a healthy life and this makes her content all the more appealing. 

Conclusion 

There you have it, seven channels from different corners of Youtube that have great value in quarantined life. Whether you’re looking for education, inspiration or something to kill your time with —head over to these channels. Youtube has some brilliant creators and they can be your help in these days of social isolation.

By Evelyn Johnson

The post These Lesser Known YouTube Channels Are Helping Me Deal with the Quarantine Stress appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

The creative industry is no stranger to shifting production timelines and budgets. But the COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented – the stock market recently took its biggest hit since 1987 and the entire world is facing restrictions that will change the way we move and work for who-knows-how-long. However, during this period of uncertainty and isolation, the Internet has never been more important – especially for brands, marketers, and creatives. 

When I started out as a visual researcher for advertising agencies, production companies, and special effects shops, there were far fewer resources to search online. I had access to Google Images (no video in the beginning) and a handful of small to medium-sized stock libraries. Flickr was still in beta. I spent quite a bit of time searching offline (oh yes, books and films!) and would go to any extent necessary to find the right shot.

Cut to 2020: Social media sites like Instagram have made photography ubiquitous, and cameras with incredible resolution have turned everyone into a content creator. Millions of images and videos are created and uploaded to the web every day – every second, in fact – by novices and professionals alike. If we know where to look, we can find experiences, perspectives, and moments we’d never be able to capture on our own. From a creative standpoint, the possibilities of this phenomenon are virtually limitless.

I started Catch&Release because I wanted my clients to license what they love from anywhere on the Internet just as quickly as they could purchase images from a stock library. At a time when it feels like the world is getting smaller, our new licensing platform can help to expand brands’ and agencies’ creative options like never before. 

C&R’s Catch Extension is a digital curation tool that allows users to capture images and videos from anywhere on the Internet – it’s like Pinterest for anyone in search of unique, relevant creative content. Meanwhile, the AI-powered Licensability Assessment tells users whether or not material can be licensed, and the collaborative digital workspace allows them to request rights, analyze content, and manage every aspect of the licensing process. 

In order for brands and agencies to use the ocean of online content out there, licensing is crucial. They must obtain permission from the owner of any image or video they want to use in an ad. The commercial production industry is a high-exposure, high stakes environment, so ensuring that content is fully legal before it’s used is mandatory. That means the owner of a photo, anyone who appears in it, any recognizable logos, buildings, artwork, etc. need to be cleared prior to use. 

This is how Catch&Release brings order to the “wild west” that is the Internet. We have built a platform that reduces the inefficiencies of a laborious, often opaque process of clearing and licensing content, while at the same time building proprietary technology that opens up huge reservoirs of content and new methods of discovery. At a time when we’re all stuck inside, just remember that there’s a vast digital world to explore. 

The post Why licensing is the key to discovery appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

The competition calls for filmmakers at all skill levels to create a short film in 48 hours, and 90 percent of the film must shot in your home. Participants can either work solo or in groups of two to three adults (if they live with you). Submissions must incorporate a “mystery element” that is emailed to entrants at the start of the competition.

Entry into the competition is $10, and all proceeds will go to the Cinema Worker Solidarity Fund and Rethink Food. The deadline for entries is 11:59 pm EST on Friday, April 3^rd. Participants can sign up using THIS FORM.

The festival will also live stream new “out-of-competition” short films from avant-garde filmmakers like Isabel Sandoval, Marion Hill, Sarah Salovaara and Harrison Atkins. More great talent will be announced in the coming days.

At Talkhouse, artists create the latest essays, opinions, podcasts and live events from today’s most in-demand creative talent. Talkhouse provides rare yet insightful juxtapositions such as Lou Reed reviewing Yeezus, and its celebrity one-on-one podcasts and live interviews offer riveting raw discourse.

For more information on how to get involved, visit: Without Precedent Film Festival

The post Celebrity-Driven Media Platform Talkhouse Launches First-Ever Coronavirus-Friendly Film Competition and Movie Festival appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Social media is a great way for kids to keep in touch with their friends and develop their interests as well as other benefits. However, most kids aren’t aware of the dangers of social media. Viruses, privacy, internet safety, the list goes on. Parents need to learn and teach children the best practices for their kids’ safety and protection. There are also steps that parents should take to block access to any content which may compromise their safety. Below are some of the most important things to teach kids to keep them safe and ways you can further help to protect them.

Rules to teach your kids

1. Not to use a screen name that is their real name or gives away their identity. Ensure they don’t fill in personal information such as the school they go to.
2. Make sure kids don’t accept any friend requests from people they don’t know and only add friends online who are their friends in real life. Encourage them not to become friends with people they meet online because you don’t know who’s sitting behind a computer screen and they might not be who they say they are. 
3. Teach kids to keep private information to themselves and not to share it on social media. Information such as their address should under no circumstances be shared on social media. Even answers to security questions such as the name of their first pet should be kept private because it could provide information that allows people to hack their account. If your child uses a debit card make sure they never give away the details or transfer money without your permission.
4. Check any images that your kids want to upload before they upload them. If they want to upload images which show your house or location then you should advise them not to upload these images as they could give away their address to strangers online.
5. Cyberbullying is a common problem on social media. Make sure your kid knows they can come to you if they ever feel upset, threatened or bullied by anyone on social media. If they are a victim, look to follow the advice from Child Mind to help them.

Actions you can take 

1. Login and set their privacy settings when they create their account. Ensure that any personal information is shared with friends only and that no one else can see their pictures of account information. Make sure that ‘public search results’ is turned off so that their account can’t be found in search results.
2. Install parental control that restricts content that is not considered suitable for children. Use ‘safesearch’ browser controls to help prevent kids from seeing inappropriate content. 
3. Carry out searches of your child every couple of weeks to check that you can’t find them online. If you can find them, then it means that strangers could too. If you find personal details, look to remove them from search results by either updating privacy settings or deleting the information.
4. Make sure your child is on the right type of account. If your kid is under 13 they should be using ‘Messenger Kids’ instead of Facebook Messenger and are not legally permitted to join many social media platforms. 

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