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How times have changed since our last #SocialCulture! With many of us self-isolating at home, it means more time tapping at your phone and hitting up social media apps. We are guilty of falling into the vortex of TikTok, one of the best boredom killers! While you may get songs stuck in your head such as the iconic “Carole Baskin” (side note: we totally think there is something fishy about the disappearance of her ex- husband) it is a great way to see what others are doing around the globe, and the content can be (sometimes scarily) relatable! Aside from the abundance of Tiger King and Corona memes, social media has made plenty of updates to accommodate the changes that our world has experienced over the past couple of months. Continue reading below for some of the top updates we’ve seen in April for social media!

Instagram launches new ‘challenge’ sticker

Joining in and nominating your friends in viral challenges has just gotten a lot easier with Instagram’s new challenge sticker. With this new feature you can join in on any challenge that already exists or create your own and nominate a friend through your story. When scrolling through your stories timeline if you come across a story with the challenge sticker, you can join by tapping on the sticker which will take you to a fresh story draft. From there, you can record a video or photo of yourself doing the challenge, and nominate the next person you want to see do the challenge. Have some fun and step up to the challenge if you get tagged, or join in on an already existing one! For more info on how to use the challenge sticker, click here.

If you could ask your LinkedIn followers anything, what would it be?

LinkedIn is in the works of adding a poll feature in posts which will allow users to ask their followers anything and everything. Although the new poll option is not available yet, the new feature would allow users to add a question and include up to four possible answers to choose from. You’d then be able to set a poll duration and post it, as you would a regular LinkedIn update. Now’s the time to get your list of questions together for your LinkedIn followers as this could be a valuable tool for businesses and individuals to gain insight into their followers. In addition, LinkedIn has also been busy testing a new hashtag ‘presentation mode’, which would showcase the broader conversation attached to a specific hashtag on the platform in a full-screen format. For more info on Linkedin’s new updates, click here.

Netflix & Instagram join forces to promote mental health with new weekly live series

Netflix launched a new live series on Instagram this month that focuses on taking care of yourself and your mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wanna talk about it? features some of Netflix’s top stars such as Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before), Joey King (The Kissing Booth), Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why), Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things), Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before), Jerry Harris (Cheer) and Alisha Boe (13 Reasons Why). The stars talk with trusted mental health experts from US organizations such as National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health America, The Trevor Project and more, aiming to raise awareness and create a safe space for people seeking to address the challenges and questions stemming from these confusing and unique times. Wanna talk about it? goes live every Thursday up until May 14, on Netflix’s Instagram!

Facebook Lives Can Now Come At A Price 

Facebook Lives are about to become more profitable for small businesses and creators! Brands and businesses will soon be able to charge users a fee to be able to access their virtual Facebook event. This may help musicians and stand-up comedians earn revenue for streaming their gigs, or other people offering cooking or fitness classes and even virtual conference organizers. Other updates in the works from Facebook include Messenger Rooms, which is similar to conferencing platforms such as Zoom and an option to go live on Instagram from your desktop. Your virtual parties and live streams just got easier! For more info, click here.

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Brand is more than just a logo, it’s your whole identity. It is the basis for all things that are rolled out by your company, and it’s pretty darn important. Whether you’re creating a brand from scratch or spicing up your current brand, it is important to look at all aspects, to ensure that your basis is perfect. A brand needs to be clear, concise, authentic and unique to a company. Developing an amazing brand that speaks to your customers is vital to business success and is much more than just a snazzy and eye-catching logo. Every brand has a story, mission and vision that shape your brand’s ‘look’ and ‘feel’.

The Look

One of the major components of a brand is ‘the look’ or the face of a brand – it’s what people instantly identify and recognise. A logo design should be simple enough to be memorable but powerful enough to leave a lasting impression of the brand on its customer. While logo design is only one part of a company’s brand, it serves as the foundation for the entire narrative on which the brand is built. To complement your brand’s logo, a strapline, brand colours and font needs to be established that aligns with your company’s mission and values. These elements will later translate from your logo onto all of your branding materials including business cards, collateral, email straps and anything else your brand desires.

The Feel

The Look is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to brand, especially in this day and age where consumers are looking to form a connection with brands. This connection stems from creating a brand voice. Brand voice refers to the personality and emotions that a company’s communications emit. It can encompass everything from tone of voice and brand values to key messaging and any other factors that make the brand unique. It is important that your company consistently delivers clear and concise brand messages to define its tone of voice. The best way to do that, is to step into your customers shoes and think how they would like to be spoken to? What kind of messaging will remain with them? Knowing your brand’s tone of voice will help you create your marketing assets, write your copy and say what you want in a way where your customers will listen.

Why it’s important

So, with all of this being said, why is branding so important? Why should you invest so much time and effort into establishing a look and feel for your brand?

Branding improves recognition & recall

Recognition is crucial to your brand. The logo of the business is one of the most significant parts of branding as it is essentially the face of your brand. One look at an apple icon and you know it is tech giant Apple- this is the power of branding. A well designed logo will get you noticed and increase your brand recall. Brand recall plays an essential role in customer brand loyalty and repeat purchasing.

Establishes credibility & trust

Consumer trust is one of the most important success factors for a business and effective branding is a key component to create this. A professional appearance builds credibility and trust where people are more likely to purchase from a brand that appears polished and legitimate. If your brand is consistent and easily recognisable, people will feel more at ease purchasing from you. Buyers are drawn to familiarity and authentic brands.

Stand out from the crowd

A good brand helps you differentiate your business from competitors and appropriately position your brand in the market. Developing a professional, creative identity through the look and feel of your brand can help you stand out to potential customers.

Branding harnesses the power of emotion

If you give your customers a good enough reason to feel strongly about your brand, they have more reason to make the transition from consideration to purchase. In order to do this your brand must make an emotional statement each time your potential customer comes across your business through key messaging, tone of voice and engaging storytelling.

Here at made4media, we understand how important a brand is, and we hope you do too! We are here to help your business with all of its branding needs, whether you‘re looking to start from the ground up, a brand tweak or a full brand refresh. Get in touch with us today to get your brand into the strongest shape it’s ever been!

February has flown by in a flash and with it, so have plenty of social media updates. Here in the m4m office we all agreed January felt like it lasted a year while February felt like a week at best! This month we saw Instagram’s AR filters take off including their Valentine’s Day edition which told you your V-day fate (unfortunately some of the team didn’t get the best readings), Facebook launched two new apps, Snapchat released Bitmoji TV which allows your Bitmoji to star in their own TV show, along with many more updates. For the full run down, continue reading below.

Facebook releases Pinterest app clone

Facebook is back at it again and has launched a new app via its New Product Experimentation team. The new app called Hobbi is similar to Pinterest, where users can save and share photos and videos of their hobbies or interests. Although the app has Pinterest similarities, the new app is not just a pinboard of inspirational ideas. Aimed at hobbyists, the app organizes photos of projects into collections so users can track their progress over time. At the moment, it doesn’t have a social sharing component, but Hobbi can be used to create videos of projects after they’re finished. We’ll have to wait and see how far Hobbi will make it, with Facebook proving to have a not so great track record with their previous apps including, meme-making app Whale, social networking app Bump and teen meme hub, LOL. For more info on Hobbi and its key features, click here!

Bring your social videos to life with Vimeo Create

Content creators your life is about to get a whole lot easier with Vimeo’s new video editing creation platform and app! The new app, called Vimeo Create, includes a set of video creation tools aimed at small businesses or marketers looking to tell their stories using social video who may not have the resources, time or budget for a full scale production. Available on both desktop and as an app, users can choose from pre-made templates that can be customized to add captions along with plenty of stock footage and music to choose from. For more info on Vimeo’s new video creation platform and how to use it, click here!

Facebook launches new creator studio app

Facebook’s Creator Studio tool has added a mobile companion, allowing users to manage their Facebook pages on the go. The insights dashboard that originally debuted in August 2018, is now available as a mobile app and has similarities to the desktop version including tracking performance of content, as well as publishing, scheduling and making adjustments to posts, replying to messages and more. This isn’t the first time Facebook has offered a dedicated app for its creator community, in 2017 they debuted a creator app that offered a unified inbox and analytics. However, the app was shut down last year, where creators turned towards the Pages Manager app or desktop version of Creator Studio instead. The new Creator Studio app seems to be a refreshed version of the scrapped creators app with a new user interface, however comes with some limitations. Users are unable to upload content and create new posts via the tool, instead they must upload their posts via the Facebook app or desktop, where they can then save to drafts and edit in the creator studio app. While there are some limitations with the app, there are definitely some great features and tools that provide value to Facebook creators and page managers. For more info, click here!

Snapchat launches Bitmoji TV 

Your Bitmoji can now be the star of Snapchat’s new feature called Bitmoji TV! The new TV channel is a continuation of its Bitmoji feature, which lets users create their own personal cartoon avatars. Snapchat will now create short cartoons featuring the Bitmoji of users, their friends and celebrity guest stars which will appear on the app every week as mini TV shows. At launch, Bitmoji TV doesn’t include ads, but it is safe to assume they’ll eventually arrive soon if it ends up becoming a hit! For more info on Bitmoji TV, and how you can star in your own show, click here. 

m4m’s top social tip of the month!

While scrolling through Tik Tok’s never ending feed, the team stumbled across a great Instagram story hack! If you’ve ever struggled to find the perfect Insta story sticker gif, an easy way to find popular cute gifs is to search these search terms: chxrry, joules, helen, gravitando, the uncommon place and boho. Searching these names will bring up all of the gifs the creator has made, making it any easy way for you to find gifs that may not have originally popped up on regular search terms such as ‘cute’ or ‘love.’

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Public Relations (PR) is an essential part of any marketing strategy, and when done correctly, can lead to great opportunities. It is an important consideration for businesses who are looking to expand their Brand Awareness or Drive KPIs.  

What Is PR

PR is all about communication. Simply put, it is the process of managing the stories shared about a business, person or event to maintain on brand messaging and achieve the goals of those who the stories are about.  While there is a lot more to it when you get into the nitty gritty, the primary purpose of PR is to achieve publicity opportunities for a client to ensure they reach their goals. 

PR is used for businesses and individuals alike to increase exposure, awareness and drive particular messaging that aligns with their mission. It is the role of the PR professional to take the goal/information, identify its news value, write the key messaging/wording and pitch it to the right person at the right time.  

It is more than just sending out a mass email to a media contacts database, an effective PR strategy should be targeted, precise and well planned. Knowing the right journalist to pitch to, the right angle to pursue, and using the influences of current trends to leverage a pitch are essential.  

There are a number of services that fall under the umbrella of PR including:

• Publicity
• Copywriting 
• Promotions
• Activations 
• Campaigns 
• Crisis Communications 
• Influencer Engagement 

It is also important to know that PR does not just apply to ‘Traditional’ forms of media such as print newspapers, radio, and TV. With the continuous succession of technology, a lot of publications and sources of news/information are on or shifting to digital platforms. This means that it is also important for PR to work with Social and Digital Teams to effectively achieve the goals of clients.  

Why is it Important

So why is PR important for your business? Essentially PR can be used to:

• Create brand awareness/credibility 
• Change the perception of a business 
• Increase Profits/Sales 
• Direct attention to a certain event or occasion

Creating Brand Awareness If you are a new business, PR can be used to gather a wider audience to your brand. People are more likely to visit a new business based on the recommendation of a trusted source, whether that be from a friend, colleague or their favourite source of news. By engaging a PR expert you will be able to get access into the right publications through a targeted campaign that will help you reach your desired target audience. 

Changing the Perception of A Business It is also important for larger organisations who might require ‘crisis management’. Should they find themselves in an unfavourable opinion, it is the role of the PR expert to quickly provide key messaging and responses that will diffuse or lessen the negative impact which is thrust upon the organisation.  It can also be used to spice up the image of a business, if it is wanting to adjust its identity.

Increase Profits or Sales In collaboration with social/digital strategies, PR can be used to push profits and sales. By having a client within a trusted publication it will gain additional eyes on their brand. Partnered with tactics such as utilising a special offer to get people into a bricks and mortar store, it can be used to increase profits or sales.

Direct Attention to an Event or Occasion If a client is hosting an event or a time conscious occasion, PR can be utilised to drive further awareness and interest to this. Timely and well placed PR will help an event or occasion flourish and be a success.

As mentioned, PR is all about communication. So if people aren’t talking, seeing or hearing anything about your business it might be time to seek advice and see how PR can fit into your existing marketing strategy or generate results by implementing a stand alone PR strategy.

Talk to us about getting people talking about your business!

2020 has begun in full force for the world of social media and there are no signs of it slowing down! In January we saw new TikTok dances pop up (again), viral challenges, memes such as the “Dolly Parton challenge” and plenty of updates from social media giants such as Instagram and TikTok. Continue reading below for the full roundup of the latest news and updates for social!

Byte (A.K.A Vine 2.0) is here!

Vine 2.0 is here and is coming for TikTok! Byte is the successor of the video-sharing app that launched the careers of social media stars such as Jake and Logan Paul (not the best examples, but hey… you know their names don’t you!). The new platform released at the end of this month for users to create and share six-second looping videos. Although similarities between Byte and TikTok exist, at launch Byte currently lacks some functionalities that TikTok has such as; remixability, AR filters, transition effects and longer uploads. Vine was shut down in 2016 after views declined and the app failed to provide monetization opportunities for creators, which led to some of the top stars abandoning the app. It will be interesting to see just how many users will bite (pun intended) and jump ship from TikTok to Byte. For more info on Byte, click here.

Instagram launches new layout mode for stories

For those of you who have been dying to add more than one image to your Instagram story, this new update is for you! Instagram has recently released a new layout mode that offers various grid styles to place your photos in. Users can now upload up to six images in a single story via several different grid patterns. For now the feature is limited to images and doesn’t allow videos or the option to include Instagram’s “Live” feature. For more info on Insta’s new layout mode, click here!

TikTok is developing a curated content feed

TikTok is in the works of rolling out a feed of curated content showcasing a range of user videos in an attempt to give advertisers more control of ad placements. The concerns raised over ads being placed alongside controversial posts has sparked TikTok’s new development. The Curated Content Stream has taken inspiration from Snapchat’s Discover Stream and will allow TikTok moderators to have more control over viewer experience and ensure that ads do not get wedged in between controversial posts. In the past, TikTok has definitely had its fair share of controversies including dangerous viral challenges and videos that spread misinformation, leaving advertisers scratching their heads over whether the app is worth the risk. Find out more about TikTok’s new content stream here.

Are influencers old news?

If you open Instagram right now and scroll through your timeline you’ll most likely find at least one post of someone promoting a brand, whether it’s a celeb or social media influencer. With the growing influx of brand’s adding influencer marketing to their mix, just how effective are these paid partnerships anymore? Recent studies found that only 3% of consumers are influenced by celebs or social media stars to purchase which isn’t a lot considering how much money some businesses are willing to fork out for influencers. Instagram engagement rates have also hit an all time low with sponsored posts falling to 2.4%. Although some influencers are struggling to keep a high engagement rate, it doesn’t mean we should say thank you, next to them just yet! It means that influencers and brands have to find more creative and authentic ways to engage with their target audience (not just have Kylie Jenner holding a bag of weight loss tea…) To find out why people are switching off influencers and for ways to better engage with your audience, click here.

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Trend Hunter has released their report for the Top 18 Trends of 2020. This detailed report leverages their proprietary framework of 18 Megatrends and six Patterns of Opportunity to explore critical trends that will shape 2020 and beyond. 

The report highlights trends that are a must-know for anyone looking to accelerate innovation personally or on behalf of their workplace. If you are looking to spark new ideas, get caught up on the latest innovations or get a competitive edge in your industry, we have pulled some of the trends from the report that got us the most excited for 2020 and beyond!

AI

“Evolving technologies- from AI to blockchain- act as a catalyst for the betterment of the human race.”

This one is a no brainer. AI is already embedded in our everyday society through things such as Siri and Google Home, so it’s only natural that this space is going to continue to grow. While AI is designed to make our lives easier, it is a topic people are often wary of. We have all seen the movies where technology fights back, and sometimes the realness of AI can make us wonder “have we gone too far this time?” As marketers in 2020,  the Trend Hunter report outlines that it will be our challenge to embrace AI and reassure consumers that not all AI is bad. “As consumers become more concerned about how to discern what’s real and what’s fake online, creative endeavours that educate instead of sensationalising are allowing them to be more informed and empowered with how they engage with the content.”

Naturality 

“Consumption guilt causes consumers to seek products conducive to environmental, spiritual or physical purity.”

With climate change, plant-based and plastic-free conversations dominating 2019, it is evident that we are becoming ‘woke’ (as the younger Gen’s say) when it comes to the products, and items we are buying. Consumers have endless access to resources at their fingertips, enabling them to be more educated on the products they are buying. As marketers, it is important to jump on the bandwagon and ensure that, where possible, a client’s brand is showcasing its naturality and ethical behaviour at the forefront of messaging. No matter how great the product or service you are providing is, if things aren’t up to scratch behind the scenes, consumers aren’t going to buy into your business. 

Youthfulness 

“The world is becoming more playful, redefining what it means to grow old, be young, or assign to any specific age or generation.”

The trend we are most excited for is Youthfulness! We are all for breaking down the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding what you should or shouldn’t because of your age. “Because the ageing Boomer demographic will have free time and resources in retirement, they’ll acquire the freedom to reconnect with old tendencies from their youth. These broader tendencies mirror what is observed with the Millennial demographic and the modern ways in which they’re manifested mimic Millennia methods in a more literal way.” With this in mind, as marketers, we should be aware of the gaps or potential new spaces in our target markets so that we can explore and reach more opportunities for our clients. 

Tribalism 

“The need to belong results in allegiant groups being formed around causes, common interests or brand fandom.” 

K-Pop (Korean Pop) is breaking stereotypes with their development of genderless beauty. Beauty and skincare brands in Korea often have the face of a male K-Pop group as their ambassador, pushing forward the cause for gender neutralism. While this is the norm for Korean culture, who has a very different version of masculinity than Western, it is a great concept to see how we can introduce foreign trends into our marketing techniques to leverage more results. As marketers, we should be looking at how we can break the moulds, support causes and common interests and implement them into strategies for our clients. 

Gamification 

“The application of game dynamics and incentivisation to day-to-day tasks results in a more competitive and engaging world.” 

Gamification has been used in marketing techniques for years, providing consumers with an additional incentive to engage with brands or businesses. A classic example of this is McDonalds Monopoly, which sends people into a frenzy to collect all of the tiny tabs, getting prize rewards or free meals all through an app. It seems as though this trend is here to stay for 2020. So when planning strategies for clients, consider how you can implement gamification to provide additional incentive. 

Co-Creation 

“Companies work with consumers to collaborate on better, more consumer-centric products and services.” 

Last year we saw the release of Netflix’s Black Mirror episode, Bandersnatch, which gave viewers the control to choose how the story would go. This is a trend we will be seeing more of in 2020 and beyond, and consumers are wanting to become less idle and more collaborative. Consider how you can incorporate Co-Creation into your client’s brand and tap into their consumer’s creativity to keep them engaged. Click here for the full report from Trend Hunter.

Linkedin is well known as the leader in social media for corporate, business and industry information. While Linkedin is a ‘social media’ platform, it’s far from the stereotypes of its less formal counterparts. You won’t find any funny cat videos, or the classic ‘Live, Laugh, Smile’ inspo posts on the platform. It is a space that is essential in job hunting, networking and establishing professional and business credibility. There are two strategies to Linkedin; personal branding and business. 

Whether you are just starting your career/business or are established in your role, Linkedin has numerous benefits and it should certainly be a part of your plan when expanding your career or business.

Below we touch on the strategy for your personal professional Linkedin profile. 

Define Your Personal Brand 

Linkedin is where you can showcase your personal corporate brand. Follow the brands that you would love to work with, share content you think is great, interact with others to show that you are fully immersed and passionate in your industry.  However, it is important to keep in mind that the content you are interacting with and sharing is relevant to your industry. 

Your Linkedin Profile is where you can really ‘show yourself off’ in a professional sense, highlighting your strengths and areas of expertise. Unfortunately, as hard as it is for some of us, you do have to ‘toot your own horn.’ 

Taking the time to create your profile properly, and keeping it updated will help you in the long term when you are networking or potentially looking for a new position. 

Build Trust In Your Brand 

People love putting faces to names, and Linkedin does just that for businesses. Linkedin provides people with the opportunity to see who is behind a brand or business, and in turn humanises it. 

While you can create a business page for your Linkedin, they do not have the capacity to interact to the same extent as a personal page. This means you cannot currently comment, like or follow as a business page on Linkedin. It is therefore crucial for employees of the business to share content posted on the business page, to draw attention to the page. 

By being an active brand on Linkedin, you can build trust and establish credibility in your services. 

Networking Made Easy 

Linkedin allows you to easily connect with other people within your industry to form meaningful/mutually beneficial relationships. However, there are certain protocols that should be followed when connecting with others on Linkedin. 

Simply connecting to a complete stranger or someone you don’t know well, is a sure fire way to get your request ignored. If you are unknown to the person you are reaching out to, it is considerate to write a short message introducing yourself and why you would like to connect with them. This reassures them that you are a legitimate connection, and that it would be beneficial for them to accept your request. 

It is also important to ensure you connect with someone in a timely manner. If you meet somebody at an industry event or meeting, it is beneficial to connect with them on Linkedin within 24 hours. This ensures that you are top of mind and remembered when you send the request and it will be more likely to be accepted. It’s like the business card of 2020.

Position Yourself As An Expert 

Linkedin is also a platform where you can position yourself as an expert through sharing, liking and writing content. In addition to this, it is a great tool to help keep up with what others are doing within your industry, and will help you keep ahead of the game. 

Writing a post on a topic that you are knowledgeable in can establish you as an authority figure, expert and show that you are passionate. Show the world what you know and invite people to read your content, this gives you a voice in your industry.

As we enter 2020, people around the world are talking about the fires raging across Australia. It has been a time of devastation and sadness, however, it has also been one of inspiration as the world has come together to support Australia, even to the extent that it was a recurring topic at the Golden Globes.

 In particular, there is one person who has used her influence and social media presence to help those affected by creating a Facebook Fundraiser. Celeste Barber, the comedian who took to Instagram a few years ago to mimic models and other influencers of the world that make their lives look picture perfect. She then ended up becoming a cover girl of Vogue and a model herself for Tom Ford. Celeste’s legendary effort has seen donations surpass $40 million in less than a week and it has become the largest fundraiser ever created on the platform globally.

While social media can often be on the receiving end of negative criticism, the above generosity shows that it can in fact have substantial positive impacts.This is a prime example of how social media can influence, impact and connect people around the world for the better.

Why You Should Consider A Facebook Fundraiser
There are a number of success stories when it comes to Facebook Fundraisers. Movember raised $9.9 Million for Men’s Health, even Gordon Ramsey used a birthday fundraiser to raise money for sick children and received over $33,000. It’s evident that Facebook Fundraisers have power, and can deliver results. Read more success stories here.

If you still need convincing, here are the top reasons you should consider implementing a Facebook Fundraiser for your next cause.

Ease

• The Fundraiser is easy to set up and manage.
• Used alongside an effective social strategy, it can be a great way to amplify a charity’s campaign and cause.
• Less manpower required than traditional fundraising drives or physical donation stations.
• People can donate whenever and wherever they want.

Timing

• If you are a charity and have a certain day or month throughout the year that you run a campaign, you can set up a Facebook Fundraiser to coincide with this as an additional way to receive donations.
• Likewise, if your company has a yearly lunch or charitable event a fundraiser can be created to time with this.
• Facebook Fundraisers can be created and commence almost immediately.

Build Your Company’s Humanitarian Side

• If you have a verified company and create a fundraiser, your company will be recognised by the Facebook community as supporting various causes. This is a great way to not only build a good reputation for your business, but also promote positivity internally with your company helping others.
• If you support a variety of causes as a business, Facebook Fundraisers give you the opportunity to fundraise for a variety throughout the year, without limit.

It Can Reach More People

• Facebook has the ability to reach more people through amplification strategies, and organic sharing.
• People often avoid eye contact and walk past fundraisers stationed in shopping centres etc, however, online they have the power to read and consider donating in their own time, without the feeling of pressure to contribute.
• You can also see when your friends have donated to a Facebook Fundraiser (if their settings are public), meaning that your cause can be amplified this way as well.

The Ins and Outs of Facebook Fundraising

There are two levels to a Facebook Fundraiser; Charity Fundraising or Personal Fundraising. 

1. Fundraisers for Charities
You can nominate a charity as the recipient of your fundraising campaign by simply searching for your nominated charity and selecting them. For these fundraisers, Facebook provide the donations to  the charity directly. If the charity is not listed they may not be eligible for a fundraiser at that time.

2. Fundraisers for Personal Causes
Personal fundraisers can be created for yourself, your friend on Facebook or someone/something not on Facebook. When creating a personal fundraiser you will be required to select a category, i.e  family, medical, personal emergency, travel, pets/animals or more. Personal fundraisers receive donations directly to the creator’s personal account.

At this stage only individual profiles, verified public figures, pages for verified brands and pages for verified charities are able to make a fundraising campaign. So this means an unverified business/general page cannot make a fundraiser, but would instead have to create it through an individual/personal profile.

In terms of fees, fundraisers for charities will receive no charges/fees. Personal Fundraisers on the other hand incur a fee which varies depending on your country. You can see a full rundown of fees here.

Unfortunately, payments are not made immediately. For a full rundown on when you can expect payments if you are a charity check out this link. As for Personal Fundraisers, you will receive payment six days after the donation is received.

Partnering With Ambassadors To Amplify Your Cause
Celeste Barber’s strong presence on social media and as a public figure has certainly amplified her cause far and wide. If your business or charity is considering running a Facebook Fundraiser it might be worthwhile to partner with an ambassador or patron of the cause to amplify it to more people. They can run a fundraiser on their verified account to reach their ample followers and use their influence to help your cause.

So if you are considering spreading some kindness, and raising money for a cause close to your heart, make sure you consider Facebook Fundraising. Whether it’s as an additional element to your larger campaign, or as a stand alone fundraiser, it is a great tool to have up your sleeve for collecting donations.

Our world has become driven by data, and nothing is more critical than finding out exactly what is going on around you. When it comes to marketing, there’s now ample opportunity to dive into rich data analytics to drive major business decisions. No longer do you have to make choices by either guessing or using your gut and hoping for the best. Data lets you strike gold, without all the digging. Eureka!

The beauty of digital marketing and in particular social media marketing, is that it has enabled businesses to delve into ample and informative analytics, giving access to a world of information which was not available a few years ago. Data can tell us exactly how people interact with your brand, how they access and use your website and what they are saying about you in the online community.

Analytics also tells you exactly who your customer is and how you can best serve their needs and desires. You can answer questions they’ve asked, provide them with information on something they’ve requested or help them accomplish a task online. Whatever it may be, a business is clearly missing a big opportunity if they aren’t truly learning from their analytics.

One roadblock many business leaders may face is the fact that when it comes to analytics, there’s a lot to understand with a fair bit of marketing jargon thrown in. Don’t despair – we have listed some key terms and explained them so you don’t have to be a marketing processional to understand them. These terms spread across all digital platforms within a strategy including social, web and paid SEM.

Conversions: A conversion is when a user has taken a desired action on your campaign. This may be commenting on a social post, a retweet or something else that you’ve asked them to do, like fill in an online form, signing up on your website or clicking through to a link you’ve provided.

Engagement: This is the number of unique people who have interacted with your content in some way. This can include clicks, likes, comments or shares

Reach: This is the number of people who had your content on their screen from being live, and can be broken down by total, organic and promotions.

Impressions: The number of times your content is displayed, regardless of it being clicked or not. There is often confusion between reach and impressions – a user may see your content more than once, hence the larger number of impressions. Even if that user saw your content multiple times, the reach count would remain at 1 for that user.

Bounce rate: The percentage of page visitors who click the link on your content only to quickly leave the page without taking any action. If you have a low bounce rate this generally means that your campaigns are targeting the right audience and in turn driving high-value traffic.

Click-through rate (CTR): Is the percentage of people who clicked on the call-to-action link.  This may be a link to your website or whatever you are promoting in that particular campaign. CTR is not to be confused with other engagement actions such as shares, likes or comments- your CTR is specifically tied to a link that brings your audience to additional content. It’s important to keep an eye on CTR as it will give you a valuable insight into how successful your content is to your target audience.

Cost-per-click (CPC): Is the amount you pay per individual click on your advertised content.

Referral traffic: Refers to the visitors of your site that come from direct links on other websites/platforms rather than directly or from searches.

While one marketer may prefer some metrics over another, the key is to choose the metrics that provide you and your business the data and information you need to make the right business decisions. One indicator may be a lot more powerful in your industry than someone else’s so use your business nous and follow the trends most likely to succeed for you.

Now that you have an idea on the different types of social metrics and have they can be a huge benefit to business success, it’s time to get measuring and tracking!

Take a look at our resources to find all the key data terms all marketers should know.

Another month has flown by and there is no stopping social media either! Tik Tok is growing by the second and has more downloads than Facebook and Instagram. Instagram is hopping on the short form video bandwagon, creating a video editing tool of their own and if you haven’t heard of AI influencers you will now! These computer generated characters are on the rise and may begin to pop up in your timeline more and more. For the full social roundup, continue reading below.

Facebook launches meme generating app called…Whale

Facebook is at it again with another ‘genius’ idea to try and stay connected with the younger Gen. Their latest project is an app called ‘Whale’ which enables users to create their own memes with simple to use templates and tools. Users can take a photo, select a picture from their camera roll, or browse the app’s library of stock images in order to create a meme. Meme creators can customize their images by adding emojis, text, effects and filters. Currently the app is only available in Canada but could possibly hit Australia at some point if all things go well. However, we’d recommend not getting your hopes up for Facebook’s latest experiment, given their track record- especially after their previous meme app, ‘LOL’, flopped. To find out more about Facebook’s new meme generating app click here.

Tik Tok: What you need to knowTik Tok has now hit 1.5 billion downloads – and no we’re not talking about the song by Ke$ha…The short form video app is now the third most downloaded, non-gaming app of the year – beating Facebook and Instagram! Growing at a phenomenal rate, the time is ticking for marketers to jump on board the Tik Tok train before it’s too late. Thinking your brand could benefit from the highly addictive, video platform? We’ve compiled the top things you should know about Tik Tok to stay ahead of the game and your competitors, find out more here!

Instagram launches Tik Tok clone! 

Speaking of Tik Tok, Insta has jumped on the bandwagon by launching its own version, ‘Reels’. Instagram Reels lets you make 15-second video clips set to music and share them to Stories, with the potential to go viral on the “top Reels” section new to Explore. Just like Tik Tok, users can soundtrack their Reels with a wide selection of music, or use audio from other user’s videos to create a remix of the meme. Reels is currently only available in Brazil but could have the potential to be rolled out to other countries depending on its success. For more info on Reels, click here.

The rise of Virtual Influencers

Love them or hate them but influencers are here to stay…however there is a new type of influencer that is making its way up the influencer chain – AI influencers. If you didn’t already know, virtual influencers come in all shapes and sizes, from looking so real that you can’t tell they are fake, to cartoonish Sim-like characters which seem like they don’t belong on your Insta feed. However, no matter what your opinion on these so called influencers are, there is no doubt that they are rising. In fact, a new report suggests that they have almost three times more engagement than real influencers! Brands are already jumping on board to work with these influencers and it will be interesting to see how many more AI influencers will pop up on Insta. Will we be second guessing who is even real on our timelines in the future? To find out more about these virtual reality influencers, click here!

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