MSDARANGA

The pandemic has truly heightened the importance of the internet. Internet traffic has rapidly increased, the hours spent online is at an all-time high, and there are countless users eager to consume fresh content on the daily.

Last year in 2020, despite the increased amount of time spent at home, traditional tv watching had gone down 15%, and the popularity of live streaming had an increase of 50%.

In fact, during last year’s lockdown from March 2020 to May 2020, Facebook’s live streaming views had an increase of 239%, and the daily watch time for live streaming increased 4 times what it had been during the previous year.

Additionally, a whopping 80% of people admitted they would rather watch live streamed content than read a blog or a post. Live streaming makes for a greater impact and a more meaningful connection between a company and its audience.  

Here are five ways in which live streaming can be beneficial for your business!

1. Reminds Viewers Of Your Authenticity

Live streaming is an unedited, natural way of communicating with your audience. It helps build trust and show authenticity through the screen. You can use it as a way of introducing employees or new services and products.

By showcasing real people behind your company’s name, you further strengthen the bond and relationships you have with your viewers.

People connect easily with others who are speaking to them face to face. Live streaming shows spontaneity, natural facial expression, body language and tone of voice. Unedited and unscripted content makes your business appear approachable, real, and trustworthy.

2. Grows And Expands Your Audience

One of the best things about live streaming, is that it isn’t costly for the consumer. New viewers are more likely to stick around knowing there is nothing to download or purchase for their viewing pleasure. They will exit feeling as though they have learned something valuable, thus strengthening their loyalty to the company and brand.

Also, in comparison to traditional videos, live videos are more likely to be liked, commented on, and shared with family and friends – expanding your audience and reaching new members at a much faster rate.

3. Increases Traffic On Your Company’s Website And Media Platforms

A great way to start is by sending the live stream right to your company’s website. Not only does it encourage foot traffic to your website (which is where all your important information is), but it makes for a tremendous addition to your business’ brand.

While there are numerous platforms that offer live streaming abilities, it is more important that you choose the spots where you have the biggest following to send your live streams. This attraction will help build your brand and bring attention to your company where it counts the most.

Some of the Top Live Streaming Go-Tos are:

• Facebook (Facebook Live)
• Twitter (Periscope / Twitter Live)
• Instagram (Instagram Live), and
• YouTube (YouTube Live)

If your company has a strong following on multiple social media platforms, then simulcasting –  the term used when streaming to multiple destinations simultaneously, is the best way to make sure you’re covering all your bases!

4. Receive Real-Time Feedback From Viewers

Live streaming gives you real-time feedback so you can effectively reach your goals as a company.

Nearly every popular online platform offers the ability to live stream, and more than that, it can capture real-time data about the behaviour and the preferences of your viewers.

A good way of promoting new services and products is by inserting some advertising into your live stream. Mixing the analytics of your viewership, site traffic, and sales during and after the live stream will help you form a clear vision of your audience and their commitment.

Viewers can often make comments and ask questions while they watch, and the live streamers can answer questions on the fly. For a viewer, receiving an immediate response highly influences the feeling that their opinions and feedback really matter to you.

People want to know that they’re important and valued, and who better to make them feel that way than your business?

5. Stay Current and Influential

In general, humans like to retrieve and distribute information. They enjoy being part of the conversation, learning about what’s new, interacting with each other, and staying current and connected.

More and more people are embracing and welcoming newer technologies and are swiftly leaving older, traditional media methods behind.

Actively sharing posts, blogs, images and videos is a great way of keeping your followers updated and intrigued to know more. But, when it comes to live streaming, it is by far the most personable and influential approach to making meaningful connections.

Being able to virtually connect with an audience and remain relevant is imperative – especially if you want to attract the attention of younger generations who spend the majority of their time online.

———– Leave A Memorable Impression ———-

People love unpredictability on the internet, and they also love the sense of being involved. Live streaming videos brings anticipation and excitement for the viewer, and this rewarding and engaging connection results in increased future interactions.

Keeping up to date with what’s popular is key, and right now live streaming is what’s popular. It will help you succeed in making loyal and long-lasting relationships with your existing and soon-to-be followers.

Don’t fall behind. Get involved with this dynamic, new-age tool so that your business can start reaping the benefits!

IT’S OFFICIAL!

Yes, social media has officially taken over. Whether it be one favourite platform or a full variety, all of us use it as the way of interacting with each other. It’s the most popular way of retrieving and distributing data, all the while staying in the loop of what’s new.

This important way of sharing information has hit society with a crushing wave of necessity, and it isn’t going anywhere. This wave keeps us connected in a way like no other and it’s no longer just for personal use, as businesses consider it a highly important asset in order for their business to thrive.  

Sharing daily posts, blogs and updates all play a key role in the success of a business as it allows users to remain in touch with what’s new and what’s important. Nowadays, individuals are actually hired to manage social media pages for a business as their full-time job.

Social Media as a Full-Time Job?

To some, it might seem like a dream-job, just sitting around while being encouraged to be on your phone or computer all day. But it’s not that simple. After a while it can become more and more difficult to know what to post, on what platform, and when.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHEDULING.

A good rule to follow, is to not only post daily but to mix promotional posts with other kinds of posts – so you don’t overwhelm your audience with a single-toned posting system. So, how do you stay on top of that?

Well, the quick answer is to plan it out ahead of time. Which is where scheduling comes in handy.

Gain an understanding of who your audience is, what platforms are most interactive with the users, and when during the day and the week the users interact with your posts the most. After you understand this, the rest will seem a lot easier to manage.

Your posts should sound professional but should also give off an impression that a real-life person wrote them. Otherwise, your posts might come across as robotic and underwhelming. Users want to know that there is a human behind those words, so they can relate to them and therefore, the business.

Once or twice a week, you should plan ahead and think about what you’ll post for the following week. Using a scheduling dashboard such as Tweetdeck, you can schedule out your Twitter posts ahead of time so that you don’t have to come up with new material on the spot.

GETTING THE HANG OF IT!

If you get in the hang of this, it will make your social media-posting life a lot easier and slicker. Not only will you be able to properly and thoroughly brand yourself or the company, but your audience will gain a respect for you and/or the business you’re trying to promote. It’s a win-win!

So, remember… there is a technique to posting on social media, and it will always benefit you to stay ahead of the game and schedule your posts ahead of time.

Hashtags are used by almost every social media user around the world. Growing its popularity on Instagram and Twitter, Hashtags have become incredibly useful for growing a strong following, gaining attention and/or promoting a post.

To help guide you in your social media marketing, I’ve developed a short list of tips that will help you, as social media user, use the best hashtags for your next post, and the posts to come after that.

TIP #1 – KEEP IT SHORT

When it comes to using Hashtags, a rule of thumb is to keep them short. For example, don’t use a full sentence as a Hashtag. Readers want to be able to scan your Hashtags without having to think too much.

Stick to three words or less unless it is absolutely necessary to include more. Simply put, shorter Hashtags are better because users shouldn’t have to decipher your message.

TIP #2 – FIND OUT WHAT’S POPULAR

There’s an awesome website you can use to not only view the popularity of Hashtags, but see when, where and other ways they’re used – if at all. Not only is site interesting and factual, but it offers you highly recommended suggestions of which Hashtags you should use if you want to reach your desired audience.

So, before you include any Hashtags in your next post, run your ideas through Hashtagify’s website to make sure they’re the best ones!

TIP #3 – QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

Nothing is more annoying than seeing a post followed by as many Hashtags as the user could think of and write. It’s better to use fewer Hashtags so long as the Hashtags are of high-quality.

Not only should they all relate to the post, but they should add importance without cluttering your text. This will help to capture the attention of a user, and will intrigue the reader to keep on reading – resulting in more follows, post likes, shares, retweets, etc.

TIP #4 – CHARACTER RULES

Certain rules apply to what characters are allowed to be used in a Hashtag. For instance, Hashtags will not work when you include spaces and/or punctuation in them.

This rule also relates to the importance of keeping your Hashtag(s) short. Without the use of spaces and punctuation in Hashtags, the words tend to blend together and will cause users to ignore the Hashtag completely.

TIP #5 – KEEP IT RELEVANT

Hashtags need to be relevant to your post. For example, if you posted about a new Indie Pop album, you wouldn’t want to add a Hashtag about Death Metal, and vice versa. Only use Hashtags to help emphasize an idea or to promote something.

Hashtags that have scattered meaning and appear all over the map seem confusing and misleading. Always make sure they’re relevant to the subject and they stick to the brand or the idea of the post.

THE CONCLUSION

Whether you’re a Hashtag expert or a total newbie, the importance of smart Hashtagging is crucial for proper social media marketing. When used professionally and thoroughly, Hashtags allow your post to live its full potential when it matters the most.

BEWARE OF CONTENT

You must think you’re pretty tough if you’ve already started reading this post. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. This content will blow your mind. It might even stop you from clicking a link ever again.

What I’m about to tell you is not for the faint of heart. It is something so incredibly unpleasant and shocking that I’m considering not sharing it at all.

LAST CHANCE TO TURN AWAY

Wow! You must be a sucker for danger… but I knew that already. If you weren’t as courageous as you are, you would have left minutes ago, yet here we are. I bet you’re wondering what this post is about. Well, it goes to show that it’s scarier than you could have imagined since it worked so flawlessly!

CLICK BAIT AT ITS FINEST

I’m about to tell you about a thing called “click-bait” and why it works for so many users – including you, right now.

It’s a scary fact that people almost always choose to do something when they’re told to do the opposite, or to not do it at all. It’s almost as if it is ingrained in our DNA to keep going and to ignore all of the warning signs. By nature, humans are typically…

• Curious
• Competitive, and
• Inquisitive

We are animals, after all. And we all want to succeed. So, when it comes to click-bait, it works because humans believe they’ll learn something valuable by clicking on the bait. The frightening fact is, a lot of the time they don’t learn anything valuable and they end up feeling betrayed. Do you feel that way right now? Sorry.

IS IT ALWAYS A BAD THING?

Click-bait isn’t always a bad thing, and it doesn’t always have to mislead the user. Unfortunately, most of the time it does let someone down because they were led to believe they’d learn so much more than they did, and yet click-bait still works the majority of the time.

It can be a positive thing, if the writer actually delivers what is intended. But who is to say that it’s the writer’s fault if they don’t deliver? I mean… it works, doesn’t it?

HOW DO YOU FEEL?

• Betrayed?
• Confused?
• Sad?
• Disappointed?

I hope you don’t feel any of the above. In fact, I hope you got what you were searching for and have learned something valuable. Imagine how totally uninformed you would have remained if you didn’t click on the link in the first place!

I think at some point soon you should give it a try, just to see how easily it can be done. Oh, and don’t worry, I won’t do this to you ever again. I promise. No, seriously! I promise.

THE ULTIMATE NEW-AGE OXYMORON

To any social media user, these words might stir up some emotions. It is highly probable that some of us have already asked ourselves the following question. Is it possible to be your true authentic self while trying to self-promote and brand your image?

Why do we use social media?

I think it’s safe to say that people use social media to be able to share their own ideas and experiences in hopes of connecting to as many people as possible. But what if what you’re sharing doesn’t receive the attention that you had hoped for? Is it because you’re doing it wrong or it isn’t good enough? Well, it’s not that simple.

There is more than one way to use a social media platform, and we all know that. But there are definitely better ways than others.

This is where things can get complicated

It’s hard to imagine yourself as being successful if you receive one single like on a post that you just put your heart into, and on top of that, it looks like it came from a fake profile. But that’s not what social media is actually about. We all know deep down that you can’t please everyone, but it often ends up feeling that way.

It’s impossible to measure success as everyone’s perspective on the term and feeling is different, but something that remains true is that humans like humans who are genuine.

It’s easy to get caught up in this mindset that you have to be “perfect.” If you’re not careful, over time you lose touch of YOU and become a persona.

Nichole Howson

It shouldn’t come down to how many followers one has, or how many likes a post gets, but more-so if the readers can relate to you or not – and being your authentic self is the number one way to let that happen.

We use social media – Social media doesn’t use us

The important thing to remember is nobody but yourself can be you, and that’s where the true magic happens. Once you know who you are, it becomes easy to discover and promote your brand – without feeling guilty of being inauthentic.

If you know you’re being honest with yourself, then readers will pick up on that, and assume you’re being honest with them as well.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BRAND YOUR AUTHENTICITY?

So, is it possible to brand your authenticity? The answer is yes! And what makes it even better, is that when you’re being authentic, the branding automatically follows suit.

Just remember, if you’re being your true self, others will genuinely appreciate it, and therefor enjoy whatever it is you have to offer and share without letting the facade of social media make the rules!

I want to know what you think. Leave a comment below on whether or not you agree or disagree that anyone can brand their authenticity.

The other day, as I was listening to a local Rock Radio Station (which shall remain unnamed), I thought to myself, “how is it possible that all I hear on this station is the same 30 or so Rock ‘n’ Roll songs that were popular almost 40 years ago… where are all the other newer rock songs?”. It left me wondering if Rock ‘n’ Roll is actually just dying out in general.

Nowadays, there is a crazy amount of music that is being released every hour of every day, and somehow these radio stations are stuck playing the exact same playlist all day long, week after week. I do realize that radio stations get a lot of their funding from companies that direct their song choices, but still! Where has the passion gone? Where are the songs that are current and fresh? I say bring in the new stuff, and let the old stuff go.

For someone like me, who has thousands of songs in her iTunes and is always psyched to discover new and inspiring music, this way of listening to music becomes ineffective. I mean, no one should have to listen to “dad-rock” on repeat. That’s just cruel.

In my opinion, the best time of Rock was in the 90’s and early 00’s when bands like Nirvana, Marilyn Manson, Radiohead and AFI made a huge impact on teens and young adults. As the early 2000’s rolled along, I remember how quickly Rock, Alternative, Indie and Screamo music took over – resulting in the “emo” fad – which is where the teen me flourished and thrived. To me, that was the only type of music that mattered, and it was spreading around like wildfire. Even people who weren’t normally into that genre knew about those bands and listened to their music.

Sadly enough, the emo scene died off almost as quickly as it started. I guess the emo in me is still being emo about it, but I know I’m not alone… Or am I? (Emo humour 101).

Either way, I think that Rock music isn’t just Classic Rock, it’s a wide spectrum, and all types of songs in this genre should have a chance to be exposed on a Rock Radio Station. However, if I’m wrong, and Rock ‘n’ Roll is specifically interchangeable with Classic Rock, then maybe Rock ‘n’ Roll is not only dying out, but it’s been dead for years.

Technically I could blog all day, but who actually has time for that? I’m going to use this blogging platform mainly to discuss music and the substantial amount it means to me, but I’ll also be dipping into photography and other artistic endeavours. I’d like to say I’m open-minded, but… I like what I like and I dislike what I don’t like.
Simple right?

Disclaimer: I don’t like country music.