More Social Media News For You In April

Let’s get right into the social media news you can use to start the week ahead. This week, we’ll take a look at the latest platform update to Instagram, Montana becomes the first state to ban TikTok, and festival season is here which means influencers are posting about their travels across the country. Or are they?

Instagram Adds Multiple Links to Bio

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed on his Instagram on Tuesday that the Instagram bio can now include up to five links. "Probably one of the most frequently requested features we've had," he wrote.  

You can add links by editing your profile in the mobile app, where users can title and reorder them. If you've added more than one link, visitors to your profile will still have to click through to see them all. 

That means that if you have more than one link to display on your Instagram profile or already utilize a "Link in bio" service like Linktree, users will have to click an extra time to see your links. Given that last note, we don't expect brands to leave companies like Linktree because there are other features like more detailed reporting and design capabilities that Meta still needs to offer.

Montana Moves to Ban TikTok Entirely in the State

While the White House has not decided on TikTok's destiny, a state has decided to proceed with its ban. Montana is the first state to adopt a law outlawing TikTok entirely. The measure has yet to be adopted, but if it is, Montanans will no longer be able to use the app. 

This is the most critical move against TikTok regarding the app's prospective suspension. Meanwhile, the US-China relationship is deteriorating as China continues to ally with Russia and aggressively confront its neighbors, such as Taiwan. TikTok is completely prohibited on government-owned devices to avoid unauthorized access to sensitive material.

How Social Media Influenced Music Festivals

We talked about how YouTube live-streamed every stage from Coachella last weekend and will do so again this week. But let's talk about how influencers play a role not only at Coachella but at music festivals across the globe.  

Content creator Loren Gray said in a recent TikTok that Coachella is "the influencer Olympics." Gray even said that she knew influencers were driving themselves out to the desert, taking photos, and never actually going to the festival. 

And an insider from an influencer agency also made some bold claims that many influencers were flown up to Byron Bay to make it look like they were attending the festival. Another reminder that what you see in-feed isn't always what's real.

Are you looking for more social media and influencer marketing news worth using? You can read more of my writing, covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. and more deep dives on specific topics on my blog.

Social Media News You Can Use In April

Let’s get right into the social media news you can use to start the week ahead. Today, we’ll take a look at a fun campaign featuring the Wienermobile and Las Vegas weddings, the latest Twitter drama featuring NPR, and why you should look to build brand advocacy on social media.

But before we dig in, are you looking for more social media and influencer marketing news worth using? You can read more of my writing, covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. and more deep dives on specific topics on my blog.

Meat Your Match: The Wienermobile Is The Hottest Wedding Venue In Vegas

If a typical Vegas wedding isn't extra enough for you, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile will host marriages just north of The Strip. Oscar Mayer will cover all related expenses outside the Little White Wedding Chapel, including a delicious hot dog-themed dessert.

Leaning into a study that states 72% of couples stress about planning their big day, Oscar Mayer hopes to alleviate the pressure and provide a "unique and joyful celebration" opportunity.

Fun fact(s): There are actually six Wienermobiles that are cross-country and each year, the Hot Doggers go through a social media training session called Hot Dogger High, where they learn all they need to know about capturing content while on the road. I was lucky enough to teach the 30th class years ago. 

Twitter And NPR Are Leaving Each Other On Read 

If you've been managing your sanity by avoiding Twitter and are just tuning in, Twitter tagged NPR's account as "state-affiliated media" last week. NPR reacted angrily to the loaded term, which compared it to news sites known for propagating government propaganda, such as China Daily and Russia Today. Following the backlash—and a reminder that federally financed grants account for less than 1% of NPR's $300 million annual budget—Twitter modified the tag to "government-funded media."

NPR will maintain its 52 accounts but will not provide any news to those accounts. In a statement issued yesterday, the media group stated, "We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility."

Is there a real impact to NPR? Not as much as the societal impact this decision can have on people's ability to access unbiased news. Most news outlets gain little web traffic from Twitter, and one NPR reporter found that less than 2% of NPR's website traffic comes from Twitter, which is standard across the industry. 

The Power of Brand Advocacy  On Social Media

Sprout Social has put together a short blog on the power of brand advocacy. If you're unfamiliar, brand advocacy occurs when people become excited about your product or service and share that excitement with others. And brand advocates are your most faithful and intense customers, who will take action if asked. The customers who leave positive feedback on a brand's comments or the Amazon review section are brand advocates.

Unlike influencers or brand ambassadors, brand advocates engage with a brand because they genuinely love it. These brand advocates can have a sphere of influence themselves but on a much more micro level.

Want to learn more about how you can leverage brand advocacy through your social media efforts? Check out a previous blog I’ve written on the topic.

Why You Should Explore A Content Audit For Your Brand

Content auditing is crucial to SEO, ROI tracking, and content marketing. Content audits can help optimize websites for search engine rankings, reader engagement, and overall website performance. In this blog post, we will explore the process of performing a content audit, the goals and categories for optimization, and the tools and video platforms for business engagement. By the end of this post, we will better understand content auditing and how to use it to our advantage.

A content audit requires optimization of several factors, including meta descriptions, images, internal & external links, page speed, etc., for improving rank.

Content Audits: A Must-Have Resource For Marketers

Anyone looking to improve their website's SEO (search engine optimization) should consider performing a content audit. Content audits are a planning resource that can help you organize your analytics, create a roadmap for future content creation, and identify trends that will help you determine which content you should prioritize writing.

Performing regular content audits has several benefits, including optimizing your website for search engine ranking, finding new opportunities to boost traffic to your site, improving web page comprehension from readers by updating outdated information or fixing broken links, and more.

As a content marketer, you know that generating quality content is key to success. However, generating high-quality content can be challenging – especially if you're not creating content on a regular basis. And because you may not have access to your audience to understand what they value most, you can end up creating content in a vacuum if you’re not careful. That's where a content audit comes in. A content audit is simply analyzing your website's content and ensuring it is working to its fullest potential. By doing this, you can ensure that your website provides valuable information to your audience and promotes your brand in the best way possible.

Several resources are available for conducting a Content Audit, including HubSpot's SEO Audit kit. This kit contains information about a variety of topics, including page types, canonical tags, sequencing code, page titles, focus keywords, and headline/title tags. By utilizing a tool like this, you’ll be able to better monitor your rankings and optimize your content over time. Ensure that your website's content is optimized for search engines and leads directly to success for your business.

Content Audit: Establish Goals And Categories For Optimization

Before you begin your content audit, having your goals in mind is vital. Content audits can be used to increase brand awareness, optimize pages for SEO, drive traffic and clicks, and many other objectives. However, the audit will be easier and more manageable with a clear understanding of your goals. Have that figurative North star to guide you in your efforts and once you have your goal, work back from there.

To begin the audit, you’ll likely want to gather a backlog of all relevant content and create an inventory using spreadsheets or an online tool like SEMrush. Doing so will help you track metrics for different pieces of content, which you can use to measure success. Once you have your list of content and you can identify them by category or topic, use this spreadsheet to evaluate the effectiveness of each piece of content toward your overall objectives.

A spreadsheet should be created to analyze the data into relevant categories that meet specific goals at the beginning of the audit process. For example, you can analyze blog posts by topic or category, analyze blog posts for engagement (e.g., likes, shares), or analyze blog posts for SEO purposes (e.g., keywords used). When analyzing results, it is important to scan for patterns, trends, and connections which may indicate happy accidents impacting performance (i.e., "a correlation isn't necessarily causation"). Finally, creating action items – such as deleting, updating, or rewriting blog posts by ranking them according to priority or timeline considerations previously established during the audit process is always a good idea.

For example, if one goal of your content audit is to increase brand awareness, then key metrics you’d want to look at could include page views, keyword density, social media shares, likes, and comments. Suppose another goal of yours is to improve SEO rankings. In that case, things you would want to evaluate could include keyword strategy, time spent on page, page descriptions and on-page optimization, such as link building.

A tool like SEMrush makes it easy for marketers to complete a comprehensive audit in three steps by simply entering the desired domain & connecting an analytics account like Google Analytics to see more information about sitemaps & engaging posts from audience-related data, which all help inform strategic decisions.

In Summary

A content audit can be a powerful tool not only in your content marketing efforts, but also for SEO, and tracking ROI. It can help you optimize your website for search engine rankings, identify what blog posts of yours are garnering the most engagement, and your website’s overall performance. To perform a content audit correctly, you must understand the process of conducting an audit, the goals and categories for optimization, and how to analyze the data gathered from a content audit to create actionable items to ensure success in your content marketing efforts. Now that you have learned about a little bit about putting together a content audit, you can take the next steps in conducting your own.

The Latest In Social Media For Your Brand

Here are some of the latest social media news that I think you can use to support your brand or organization. This week, we’re highlighting how Coachella will utilize YouTube Live for each of its stages, Pinterest shares insights from a sustainability report, and how France is cracking down on deceptive influencer practices with potential legislation.

But before that, are you looking for more social media and influencer marketing news worth using? You can read more of my writing, covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. and more deep dives on specific topics on my blog. 

YouTube Leaning into Live Video and Shorts for Coachella  

Where are my live music fans at? YouTube will offer a live stream of all Coachella stages at the same time. YouTube users can access six live feeds over both Coachella weekends to promote their live video service. In addition, there will be on-site updates and behind-the-scenes content in the broadcast.  

While this is an opportunity for YouTube to connect with music fans across the globe, the company is also planning on highlighting the platform's other features. Last year, YouTube activated a YouTube Shopping integration, Live Chat and this year, they will be promoting exclusive content within their TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts.  Learn more about YouTube’s plans for Coachella here.

Pinterest Shares Tips for Sustainability Messaging

At the Motion Agency, our clients frequently collaborate with us to incorporate sustainability messaging into their social media strategy. With increased worry about climate change and in honor of Earth Month, Pinterest researched 54 brand campaigns to determine how effective sustainability messaging is and gave ideas for improvement.

They found that brands that featured sustainability-focused messaging were 2.4x more likely to inspire a user to take action than non-sustainability-focused campaigns. Pinterest suggests that if you want your target audience to inspire sustainable action, ensure your ads on the platform have a strong visual focus on eco-friendly conduct. Furthermore, using relevant stats or figures to highlight a brand's sustainability efforts connected to its products or services.

France Cracks Down on Influencers and Deceptive Marketing

According to The Washington Post, the French government is looking to craft a legislature to regulate influencers as their popularity in promoting certain companies, and services is having negative consequences. 

If passed, it would:

• Require influencers to disclose paid content.

• Prohibit paid promotion of cosmetic surgery and some financial goods, including cryptocurrency.

• Demand that influencers label photographs and videos in which their faces or bodies have been modified using filters or editing.

• Require the use of banners in content that promotes something harmful, such as gambling.

Why, you ask? According to studies, the mental health and self-esteem of adolescent social media users suffer when they can't “look” like their favorite influencers, who typically obtain those looks through filters, photo manipulation and cosmetic operations.

My Time On Winfluence Influencer Marketing Podcast

Thanks to a connection, my path finally crossed with Jason Falls, author and the host of the Winfluence podcast. After getting to know each other, I was grateful to get a chance to talk about influencer marketing on his podcast. If you’ve been in the industry for as long as I have, you’ll get to meet many outstanding professionals. And just going through Jason’s list of guests, I’m honored to be one of the newer additions.

Check out two clips from our conversation below. And for the whole interview, check it out on YouTube or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

How I Leverage My Thought Leadership To Increase Reach & Engagement

Are you seeking a new marketing strategy to increase your reach and engagement? In today’s blog post, I’ll talk about a strategic concept when it comes to creating content as a subject matter expert. Specifically, the Hedgehog Concept by Jim Collins. The Hedgehog Concept is a powerful approach that leverages thought leadership to help you reach a wider audience and boost engagement.

This blog post will discuss why this strategy is so effective and how it can help you become a thought leader in your field. I’ll also provide practical tips on creating effective content and strategies for promoting your blog and brand on social media. By the end of this post, you will better understand the Hedgehog Concept and how it can help you increase your reach and engagement.

Finding ways to repurpose my speaking opportunities into shorter, digestible content. With a tool like Go.Charlie., I truly have a content creator’s best friend and repurpose video footage of my talks, into blogs and Twitter threads.

Creating Effective Content For Business Success

Creating content for your business is an essential part of any successful strategy. However, many businesses need help creating content that resonates with their audiences. According to a recent study by Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 45% of marketers say they struggle to create content that is both useful and interesting to their audience. This is partly because most businesses focus on what they know best instead of embracing a hedgehog concept – which means focusing on what they know best and delivering excellent value.

The book Good to Great by Jim Collins introduces the Hedgehog Concept. A concept that flows from a deep understanding of three circles: 1) what you are deeply passionate about, 2) what you can be the best in the world at, and 3) what best drives your economic or resource engine. Applying it to writing, the goal is not best writer in your field. It’s an understanding of identifying what you are good at, and leaning into that. We all have a unique story to tell based on our experiences, personal and professional. And by telling that authentic story, you can find your tribe.

By embracing a hedgehog concept, businesses can focus on delivering detailed buyer personas, segmenting the audience, becoming a thought leader by leaning on Google’s EAT (Expertise, Authority and Trust) principles, and making content shareable. In addition, thought leadership can be leveraged to change perceptions for the better in addition to being more trustworthy than marketing materials. By taking these steps, businesses can utilize their employees to help increase their content's reach and impact while engaging their target audience more effectively.

Strategies For Promoting Your Blog

You can find ways to increase your blog’s reach by utilizing social media as well. Having a social media presence is the first step, but you can also incorporate tactics to help. Bloggers everywhere are using social media to promote their blogs. In fact, according to a study by BrightLocal, 69% of bloggers use social share buttons on their blog posts. This is an effective way to ensure that your blog content reaches your target audience and makes it easy for them to share it with their respective audiences as well.

Instead of trying to develop supplementary products or services that will drive traffic, focus your energy on developing well-researched and unique products or services that stand out from your competitors. By identifying the topics that are driving the most clicks to your website, and writing content around that, you'll truly be tapping into your audience’s interests. This will put you in a better position to succeed over time, resulting in more eyeballs on your thought-leadership content. And lead to increased website traffic, higher search engine rankings, and building affinity with your audience.

Be sure to publish your blog content on LinkedIn. It's a great platform to become a thought leader in your local community and overall industry by engaging with your current and future LinkedIn connections. It's also an opportunity to share your organization’s culture with potential customers, partners, and future employees. 

When thinking about what type of content lives best on LinkedIn, a recent platform survey said 44% of respondents said the last piece of content they read on LinkedIn was straight to the point, and provided real value to businesses in their industry. 

Final Thoughts

By leveraging your thought leadership as a subject matter expert, you can increase your overall reach and engagement through blog content that resonates with your target audience. Over time, you can position yourself as a trusted source of information. Furthermore, social media, like LinkedIn, can be used to promote your blog and personal brand to reach more potential customers. Be sure to consider how the Hedgehog Concept can be used to identify what your niche is, so you can focus your content efforts on that.

Looking for more ways you can amplify your social media efforts, be sure to check out one of my freebies to help you and your brand.