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ContentGems’ New Hootsuite Integration Will Skyrocket Your Content Marketing Capabilities

I love Twitter. It wasn’t love at first sight, but after getting to know the social platform better and, more importantly, understanding how it can optimize my content marketing agenda, it quickly stole my heart. However today, it’s not enough anymore to just follow people on Twitter. It’s not enough to follow Gartner if you’re in the tech space; you’re missing the mark if you’re only following Bobby Flay as an aspiring chef; and it just doesn’t cut it anymore to follow that top social media influencer or communications strategist as a content marketer.

contentContent marketers are being pushed now more than ever to proactively find exciting content and deliver this content to its target audience as quickly as possible. In other words, there’s always a way to further surpass standard practices to find those “diamonds in the rough” type of material. While Twitter is great to get you started, it’s certainly not an end-all solution. This is where platforms like Hootsuite come in.

I might just be addicted to Hootsuite. In my ever-filled tab bar throughout the day, Hootsuite’s infamous owl icon serves as my content marketing compass. It’s a directional guide of which I can always return to manage, organize and discover new content from those I’m following and keeping a close eye on.

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Instragram Incorporates Video

Instagram revealed this week that it will be rolling out video to its users. As noted in a blog post:

Over the past two and a half years, Instagram has become a community where you can capture and share the world’s moments simply and beautifully. Some moments, however, need more than a static image to come to life. Until now those stories have been missing from Instagram.

instagramvideoThe new video feature comes with thirteen filters which allow you to change the colors and feel of each video. The addition of video seems like a natural fit for Instagram, which focuses on everything visual. Businesses will now be able to share more interactive, behind-the-scenes moments and users are sure to download fun videos to share with their friends in short, 15 second clips.

With online video accounting for 50% of mobile traffic, it’s no wonder that social networks are jumping on the video train – and this number is predicted to grow to 55% by 2016. For businesses, this can mean huge marketing opportunity, especially when you factor in that 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions.

What kind of impact will video have on Instagram? When Vine was introduced to Twitter, it didn’t seem like as natural of a fit. I predict video being more widely accepted on Instagram.

How will you use video in your Instagram strategy? Let us know!

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Foursquare’s ‘Time Machine’: A Content Marketer’s New Best Friend

When the commanding forces of social and mobile combined – widely known as the “social revolution” – companies were pushed to accelerate content marketing strategies to further engage existing customers, to pique the interest of those uninterested and to keep their brand at the forefront of as many churning minds as possible.

Having said that, we’ve read countless articles jam-packed with pieces of advice about how Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram can help secure leads, increase traffic and establish companies as thought leaders in their respective spaces. I don’t know about you, but it’s all beginning to morph into one giant, redundant social marketing entity. Where’s the splash of uniqueness that keeps these words of wisdom fresh? That’s exactly what sparked the light bulb above my head when I caught wind of a new tool, Foursquare Time Machine.

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A Brand Above the Rest?

Here at Content Boost we are constantly lending our best tips and tricks to our clients, giving them the fuel they need for their engines to drive their content marketing strategies down unprecedented paths.  One tidbit we share often? Not only do you need to leverage social media, but you need to do so  wisely.

This can mean a few things. First, it can mean choosing the right platform to share your story. No, Twitter is not for everyone. Nor is Pinterest. The key is to determine your audience, figure out what social platforms they utilize and then adopt a social presence in these areas.

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Everything You Need to Know About Using Vine for Content Marketing – Part 2

In part one of this series, we discussed the basics of Vine and why it should play an integral role in your company’s content marketing strategy. However, knowing the history of this mobile video sharing app and what it is simply isn’t enough to augment sales, bolster brand awareness and secure leads.

Sure, it helps to know that Vine videos are four times more likely to be shared than branded online videos and that four days worth of YouTube videos are shared on Twitter every minute. But, in today’s image-centric and social media driven world, it is most vital to know how this critical tool can be leveraged to support your unique business objectives. Otherwise, these numbers have no meaning.

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#Facebook Rolls Out Hashtags – How Can Your Business Take Advantage?

facebookhashtagFacebook has taken a page out of the Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest book and has introduced searchable hashtags to its platform. If you aren’t familiar with hashatags, they allow users to put the “#” symbol in front of a word or phrase in order to categorize it and make it easier for users of similar interests to find. The goal: to drive more engagement and conversation within the platform… and, of course, there is probably a revenue model in there for the social network.

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Everything You Need to Know About Using Vine for Content Marketing – Part 1

vineVine – a mobile app acquired by Twitter back in October 2012 – has quickly made its way into our social media schedules and hearts. Whether it’s being used to propose to your significant other (yes, it’s happened) or being leveraged by a business looking to broaden its social media horizons, the app has exploded since its initial release on January 24, 2013. In fact, in less than five months since being introduced to the public, Vine not only became the most used video-sharing application on the market, but also the number one most downloaded free app within the iOS App Store.
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Don’t Forget The Sauce!

You have your shiny shoes on, crisp shirt freshly pressed, nice slacks and funky belt. She has on her silky dress, her shiny shoes and her swanky purse. You heard about a great new Italian restaurant owned by that famous TV chef and are anticipating experiencing what everyone is talking about. The talk of the town is their special; a must-have on the menu.  The critics have raved about it all week. As you walk up to the restaurant it is pulsing with energy.

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Are You Encouraging a Two-Way Dialogue with Your Stakeholders?

Have you visited SocialMedia Examiner yet? If you are in the digital marketing space and have not yet done so, do yourself a favor and pay the site a visit. The “guide to the social media jungle” covers a variety of pertinent topics for marketers, from Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest to LinkedIn to the more broad-speaking “How on Earth do I weave social media into my content marketing strategy?”

Today’s top post, titled “26 Ways to Create Engaging Content” by Debbie Hemley could not be more dead on. Hemley explores the chief strategies for getting readers to engage with your copy—from injecting timely data to identifying keywords for optimization purposes to honing content objectives. My personal favorite? Encouraging a two-way conversation.

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A “Pin” Says A Thousand Words

When Pinterest exploded onto the scene a few short years ago, users instantly became hooked – I know I did. I submitted my request to join and eagerly waited for the confirmation to hit my inbox. I was, and still am, easily sucked into the site for longer periods of time than I’d like to admit.

The premise of the site is quite simple: you “pin” images you like from other sites —from tablets to wedding dresses to sporting equipment—to have a central location of items you want to revisit for later use. You can also re-pin images that other users have posted and follow other users. So why has the site seen so much popularity and growth over the last few years?

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