Instagram follows TikTok and adds auto-generated captions to videos

Instagram is adding auto-generated captions for videos, making the feed more accessible to users who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Announcing the new feature on Twitter, the company notes that content creators will no longer need to manually add captions to videos themselves, with the automatically generated scripts set to launch in 17 languages.

More will be coming in the near future, Instagram says, but English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian and Arabic are among the first rollout.

 

Naturally, as well as being a long-overdue feature for those who need assistance when viewing videos, the new addition is also handy for those who simply need to view a video without sound. And, as ever, users will have the option to turn the auto-generated captions on or off via the app's advanced settings.

 

Interestingly, company head Adam Mosseri described the move as a "long time coming", though it does lag behind competitor TikTok, which launched auto-generated captions in April 2021.

 

It also comes as Instagram places a continued emphasis on improving Reels, its direct TikTok rival, with features like Remix (similar to TikTok Duets) and Reels Visual Replies both arriving in the last year.

 

This latest move also comes a day after support for the standalone IGTV app was ended, with Instagram pointing out that it will continue to simplify video within the main app - a natural move, considering

 

Reels is the company's largest contributor to engagement growth.

 

All in all, auto-generated captions is a small but significant addition, as it's one that continues to blur the lines between TikTok and Reels and make them both ever-improving platforms.

 

However, as we saw in the early days of back-and-forth between Snapchat and Instagram Stories, a winner will almost certainly emerge over the next couple of years in the short-form video arena. 

Article from PocketLint

Read More

Get Ahead of Your Competition With 2022's Must-Have Digital-Marketing Trends

 

Now's the time to look ahead and hone in on the strategies that make the most sense for you and your business.

The digital ecosystem has been continually changing and expanding, particularly since the pandemic began in 2019. From the minute consumers wake up in the morning, companies are trying to sell to them.

But marketing is shifting away from salesy, static approaches and towards engaging experiences that benefit customers. As a result, businesses and marketing professionals must be aware and adaptable if they want to succeed. Although we can't foretell the future, we can brainstorm the top digital-marketing trends for 2022. Separating the true trends from the duds is what will set you apart from the rest.

So, what are the digital-marketing trends that will put your business ahead of the competition?

 

Video production

We're sure you've heard of the "mobile-first" trend that has been gathering speed for a few years. And today, with 5G and faster mobile-data plans, video streaming on smartphones and tablets is easier than ever. You can record your video anywhere and watch it whenever you want — something that was far more expensive when mobile-data plans were limited to megabytes of the internet rather than gigabytes. 

People love watching videos; that's how TikTok gained so much popularity. Without question, video production will be one of the most important digital-marketing trends in 2022. If you aren't already producing videos, you should think about expanding your digital approach.

"Read the room" on social media

Have you seen a drop in social-media influencer trust? When it comes to promoting a certain product or boosting brand recognition, influencer marketing has long been the go-to method. This began to shift a few years ago, and it peaked around the end of 2021.

 

Many Instagram superstars' problems have led to a huge trust issue though. When it comes to influencer endorsements, people are growing increasingly skeptical. However, this does not mean that influencer marketing is ineffective. It just means people are more selective about whom they trust.

 

If you want to delve into influencer marketing, we suggest really researching the influencer you want to work with. Pay attention to what's being said in his or her comment section — don't just look at his or her follower count.

Voice search (finally?)

You might remember back in 2019 when tons of marketing experts claimed that voice search would be the next big thing. However, it didn't quite take off as they'd anticipated.

 

But you might want to reconsider your marketing plan this year and add voice-search optimization. Don't worry. It's not as difficult as you might think. With search engines like Google still using textual information to deliver results for spoken inquiries, optimizing for voice search is no different. The one disadvantage is that it results in so-called zero-click searches, which can be inconvenient for looking back at your pay per click (PPC) results.

 

Getting personal

We leave a vast amount of data on the internet. Many of us, in turn, look for hyper-targeted personalization. We can't ignore this marketing tactic while discussing digital-marketing developments.

Consumers want to see the exact material they want at precisely the right time. That means it's essential to tailor your digital-marketing message and deliver it the right way.

 

The good news is that it's really easy to use more customizable messaging. Whether it's advertising with Google Ads or sending welcome emails with Mailchimp, endless marketing platforms allow for automated personalization.

 

Don't forget to segment your users while developing your email-marketing plan. Using sophisticated systems, you can construct several subscription pop-ups and separate consumers into categories based on when and where they subscribed.

 

Additionally, don't just target all of your customers when developing social-media advertising. Consider the different sorts of customers who could be interested in your products and build ad sets that target their tastes.

Metaverse and VR/AR

Mark Zuckerberg announced the metamorphosis of Facebook into Meta in October 2021. The company also announced its development of the "Metaverse," a next-generation social-media platform. Will it impact the perception of internet social life and how people consume material on social media? We're still waiting to find out.

 

Regardless, you can begin preparing Metaverse plans right now. There's a lot of information on how it'll look, and you don't have to wait for it to be fully realized to investigate the possibilities of virtual-reality and augmented-reality marketing. Many applications function with augmented reality that you can access with your smartphone's camera.

 

VR and AR marketing will take an even greater hold on marketing in 2022, as mobile devices get more advanced and VR sets become more affordable.

 

Now's the time to look ahead and hone in on the strategies that make the most sense for you and your business — waiting until these emerging trends are entirely commonplace is a sure way to fall behind the competition.

Article from: Entrepreneur

Read More

Rachel Pedersen 30-Days Plan to Build Her Empire!

Register for the 30 Days Interview Series and watch Rachel Pedersen's 2 interviews showing how she would rebuild her empire in 30 days if she lost everything today! 

Russell Brunson the founder of ClickFunnels  ask 30 star marketers: 

"You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.

You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone. Plus, you have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month. You no longer have your big guru name, your following, or JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie."

Rachel's first interview is a blueprint of her method and I loved it! In the second interview Rachel shows us her back end system, every page of he funnels.

I implemented one of her strategies and I 10Xed my profit last week!

The other great news is that there are other millionaires sharing their secrets.  When you register to receive the 30 Days Interview Series for free, yo will get access to 30 amazing ‘Two Comma Club’ award winning experts lined up to WOW you with their incredible interviews and 30 day action plans! 

To Know EXACTLY What They Would Do To Get Back On Top... • Day #1... what would you do? • Day #2... what would you do? • Day #3... what would you do? Day #4, then #5, #6... and so on for 30 days.

Don't wait and register now before it they make it paid! Click HERE!

Read More

10 TikTok Marketing Tips & Best Practices

 

Looking to improve your visibility on TikTok? Get inspired by how top brands use fun, engaging content to connect with their audience.

TikTok has exploded onto the marketing scene as a way to reach millions of people through creative video content.

Leading brands are finding all kinds of ways to take advantage of the marketing possibilities available to them.

How can you emulate their successes?

Get familiar with the best practices and attributes that make TikTok content appealing and engaging so you can grow your presence.

Read on for tips and tricks that will help you create a successful TikTok marketing campaign.

1. Take Advantage Of Existing Trends

TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes content based on popularity and the number of views.

Therefore, marketing teams should utilize trending hashtags and memes to create relevant content appealing to their target audience.

Unlike advertising set up on other social media platforms, TikTok requires your team to be engaged to keep up with the latest trends.

Users on this platform will seek out content under trending hashtags that can help introduce your brand to a new audience.

Leveraging existing trends can expand your creativity and tap into content that you already know successfully draws in viewers.

Kraft took advantage of the popular Duet challenge on TikTok and the use of the hashtag #KraftMacMeSkip to engage with their audience, attracting over 6 million views.

2. Find A Balance Between Entertainment And Promotion

While TikTok offers an opportunity to inform and entertain your target audience, there is also the necessity to promote your brand.

If a video appears to be too much of an advertisement, viewers will skip over it.

It is important to inform and entertain first, bringing in an audience to engage with your videos when just starting.

After you have a following, bring in more promotional posts, including tutorials with your product, people interacting with merchandise, or exclusive offers.

By balancing entertainment and advertising, you can foster a connection with potential buyers.

3. Use Partnerships To Boost Brand Awareness

As with any new marketing venture, there is a learning curve when conquering the TikTok realm.

So don’t be afraid to use the expertise of others to help make the most of your advertising strategy.

TikTok has a Creator Marketplace that can help businesses find personalities that are experts at creating meaningful content online.

With people from different backgrounds, a brand can find someone with the expertise they need to help produce relevant videos, entertain audiences, and offer a unique point of view.

Using experienced content creators can help your team take your brand to the next level.

Along with creators, the use of influencers can also help set your products apart by getting real people with a built-in following to advertise your brand.

Influencers can offer authentic content that is relatable to their specific audience.

Creating a partnership with an influencer can help boost brand awareness and visibility.

Influencers can help connect your products with the consumer by demonstrating products, offering promotions, and providing links to merchandise from their posts.

Relying on the experience of others can help launch your brand and give your team valuable content to guide future advertising decisions.

For example, Famous Footwear partnered with fashion blogger Makenna Willhite (@makennachristinexo) to showcase products authentically with a relaxed and relatable setting.

4. Give TikTokers Full-Screen Focus

TikTok users prefer to view content in portrait mode.

Your marketing team should consider a 9:16 video format to ensure the most appealing video for your audience.

This format ensures that you are taking up the entire screen with your message and implementing best practices for displaying your brand on this platform.

It is important to consider this preferred layout when developing content that best showcases your product.

5. Variety Is Key For Product Placement

TikTok’s top-performing ads use a variety of backdrops and settings to keep the viewer engaged with the product.

Instead of a stagnant background, try changing scenery, viewpoints, and camera angles to create a more diverse and appealing advertisement.

Creating various scenes helps draw in the viewer and creates a memorable message.

The visual appeal of your ad can set it apart from other videos and help your product stand out.

6. Connect Through Call To Action Opportunities

Displaying a Call to Action (CTA) within the ad creates a connection with the viewer and gives them a clear next step after watching your video.

TikTok’s Ad Manager offers features for clickable CTAs.

Depending on your brand’s goal, customers can click to shop deals, view offers, learn more, find a location, and more.

Clickable buttons can create more traffic on your website and seamlessly connect your product with the audience.

Furthermore, this creates a more interactive experience for the viewer as they can go beyond the content of a short video to learn more about what your brand has to offer.

Providing a call to action can increase conversions and is a staple of high-performing advertisements.

For example, the Starbucks New Year’s campaign for #GoodVibeMessenger clearly communicated the next course of action for the viewer.

By connecting through this marketing strategy, the brand will be able to send future promotional content to the consumer who engages with this offer.

7. Maximize Impact With Effective Timing

For videos to be effective on TikTok, timing is everything.

Too short, and the message can be vague and unclear; too long, the viewer loses interest and may check out or move on before the essential information is displayed.

According to TikTok metrics, videos that fall between 21 and 34 seconds are ideal for video ads to be effective.

Therefore, maximizing your message for this time frame gives you the best opportunity to create an ad that will connect with your audience and drive conversions.

8. Post Often With Authentic Content

A key to success when marketing in TikTok is making sure you post regularly with original content.

If your goal is to increase brand visibility, it’s crucial to stay relevant.

By posting often, you can also see what is working and what isn’t.

In addition, the platform algorithm can help you adjust your posts based on the impressions that it generates.

When brands are first starting out, posting often can help them try out various content types.

Creating different videos to showcase your brand is part of figuring out what appeals to your target audience.

By posting every day, you can collect feedback on what is effective.

It gives your team insight when creating relevant content.

If you find a design that works, follow that formula for continued marketing success.

9. Have A Sense Of Humor

The best way to engage with TikTok users is to have fun and connect through humor.

Users on this platform are looking to be entertained.

It takes time to figure out your niche and how to create content that highlights your brand.

Creating playful videos and fun can make your product memorable.

Instead of focusing on views, have fun creating content, and the audience will follow.

Do your research by looking at how other marketing campaigns stand out.

People want to see content that is light-hearted and fun.

As you peruse TikTok, what ads stand out to you?

Is there a way to highlight your brand by creating content that resonates with a fun and playful audience?

10. Use Closed Captioning

The use of captions throughout your video can help amplify the message while making the content accessible to more of your audience.

The use of text for CTAs, along with captioning content, can make your ad stand out and more memorable.

It also allows users who are scrolling without sound to access your message, creating an impression and preventing them from skipping the video.

Final Thoughts

When deciding how to advertise on TikTok, consider the trends that are making waves.

Continue to immerse yourself in the culture of TikTok and learn to insert your brand in areas that will lead to more impressions.

Be sure to utilize the metrics offered through TikTok to analyze how your content is being received and be flexible to adapt to changing trends.

Your brand can experience increased visibility and growth through creative marketing and responsive strategies.

Article from: SearchEngineJournal

Read More

How To Increase Business Leads for Your Facebook Page?

 

You might have a full house personal Facebook account with 5000 friends and many more Facebook followers. Or, you have a Facebook page intended for your business. Either the one or the other works for you to increase your business.

Now, in case you are new to the platform, you can live by a few tips on how you can grow your trade while you are soaked in this specific type of social media. Growing your audience, in as much as you make your business grow, it can all happen while in your Meta Business Page. In fact, the app developer has made changes to the platform, mostly in favor of business owners.

Essentially, Facebook has around 2 billion users in a month who are active and online most of the time. Making use of such a huge audience can benefit the business owner, just as it does most entrepreneurs who have been increasing businesses via their individual Business Page.

A Facebook Page is supposed to come with a strategy that engages leads and eventually making them into paying clients. Use this to your full advantage.

Credit: Search Engine Journal

Increasing Business Through the Facebook Page

Being creative is one thing. Earning from your creativity by increasing business on your Facebook Page is another. You can separate your personal and business FB profiles so you do not prick the inclinations of your supposed audience. The goal is to be acceptable and patronize by everybody, regardless of their belief, their opinions, or their interests. Imagine the number of prospective clients you can reach and convert into paying customers, if you are doing things right. Here’s how.

Create a Non-Partisan Facebook Page

A neutral Facebook Business account targets more network than those that limits gender, age group, and all other demographics. Some restrictions can hamper growth of your business. So be as non-partisan as possible. Work on a Facebook page that inclines to one set of audience only. Unless the business you are engaged in is limiting to a certain set of buyers only, you can always maximize the possibility of reaching all kinds of customers to help your business grow.

Start with a goal in mind. Your Business Page must be generic yet unique enough to gain following from interested parties. Allow it to be available for all sorts of audience and start from there. While you can be specific in your business objective, devise on a targeted marketing strategy by having a Business Page that is not delimiting nor degrading.

Come Up with a Business Logo and Brand

Business success depends on the consistency of using one and the same brand to promote awareness towards target customers. Before Starbucks or Colgate or Louis Vuitton made it big, they started with a single brand. The brand has been consistent until it no longer needs to present itself to be recognized. Everything started small, from scratch, others started from nothing at all. Treat your business as a brand where it needs to develop a sense of consistent trademark or signature so it gets known even without telling what is it and who it is about.

Many businesses would start with an interesting name. A logo comes next, which would either appear in product packaging, marketing, or in this case, the Facebook background. Selected color palettes can be kept as is so it stays as the brand theme. Work on complementary colors so it would be pleasing and harmonious to the eye. Contrasts can work sometimes but it should be done with utmost care. Otherwise, it can turn the page into a chaotic canvas.

Layout a Great Profile Picture and Cover Page

If you can create a profile picture and cover page which depicts your brand or the products you are engaged in, that would be great. Other business owners would even hire a professional photographer to do the job. However, if you are on your own and budget is currently an issue, you can maximize the professional photography features most recent phones are built-in with. You can edit your captures, filter, and tweak it so it can turn into a great form of art to represent your business.

Strive to come up with an enticing photo which would present your products without you saying anything yet. Remember that the very first thing your leads would see would be your profile photo plastered next to your business name. So, it would rather be relevant and suggestive, more that it appears personal an unbusinesslike.

Fill Out Bio and About Page

This is where you pour in your Business Objective, your contact details, your website, your appointment booking style, and your headline. Fill this out in a way that if you are reading it as a prospect, you would be interested to click further and browse through the page. Your legitimacy can be tested here. Others would copy and paste some testimonials from previous clients to prove credibility of the business. Some would post something about what the business can do to help.

Pitch here without being too pushy. Discuss a little about what you are looking after, at a customer’s perspective. Highlight the benefits of your product, and detail how it would be convenient or beneficial for user to have your product. Appeal to the fact that people would appreciate honesty from a seller and this is where they would likely see that.

Include Contact Details with Call to Action

The most important part of creating a Business Page in Facebook is to have a contact number where you can be reached easily for order or appointment booking. This is also where you would direct your leads on what to do next.

Are they supposed to chat you? Or, fill out the form? Or, they will send you a message? Think about how you can quickly respond. Always think of the convenient part. For instance, emailing for orders can mean clients going out of the platform to get in touch and that can be annoying.

Setup a Call to Action such as Chat Now or Message Me with a link towards sending you a message or a call really quick. Others would create a Chatbot with ready questions and answers for clients to simply tap and go. A live respondent would be great, and that could be you.

 

Create an Online Shop

If you have the time, arrange albums and pictures of your products in your Facebook Page gallery. Or, even if you are busy, you have to find time to arrange your Business Page. Lay down your prices, product features, and mode of payment so it will be seamless for clients to place an order, even without the help of a live person.

Create an automatic welcome message for a start and upon sending of order, ready a “Thank You” statement to close the deal.

Just like how a typical shop would do, excellent customer service matters. Reach out to inquiries fast. Deal with issues showing a sense of urgency. Resolve conflict as fast as you can. Maintain the good business etiquette even while online. Keep in mind that customers make the business run, so always make them feel important. The growth of your business depends on frequent order, repeat buyers, and referrals.

Assign Roles

Maintaining a business to run smoothly could mean more hours spent online, watching over comments, private messages, and even reactions to about just anything in your Facebook Page.

When this is a one-man business, this can be tiring. Naturally, you need sleep and rest. When you’re down, either you will need someone else to take care of the job for you, or you allow clients to wait until you’re ready and available again. Hire someone or have a partner and assign the role.

Since this is an online shop, there is no need for you or for your employee to be at the physical store.

You can simply go to Setting and assign roles so someone else would assume time to answer inquiries and engage in comments. You can all do this in a Business Page. As much as possible, this must be open 24 hours as inquiries don’t stop at the time you are asleep. Delegate work.

Create Content Calendar

Prepare a plan of action or create your order of attack. It’s like setting up a system that you and your business partners must follow. High engagement and traffic when running an online business is a must. Map out a schedule as to what you are going to do with the page from Day 1 to Day 7 in a week.

Say you will post random informational content every Monday, an inspiring video with an inspirational quote on Tuesday, or a Live Selling on Wednesday, and so on. Improvise and be creative with your content so you do not end up boring and without audience.

Target dates and holidays where you think more people would be visiting your page for whatever reason. Say you make a Valentine Special Challenge in an upcoming Valentine’s Day or you hold a Black Friday Sale on Black Friday.

You market these schedules ahead of time as it would be one way of increasing business by simply triggering the interest and holiday spirits of your target audience. Update the content calendar regularly and prepare it ahead of time so you do not run out of ideas moving forward.

Article from: TechPresident

Involve Search Engine Optimization

It may be Facebook and not a website, yet you should still remember that search engine optimization still works on it. Due to the interconnectivity of social media platforms and search engines, anyone can always surf and look for something at any time of the day, and it could be the product or service you offer that they’ve been looking for. The use of hashtags in Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook work across all platforms so once searched, your page might be suggested and clicked on, considering you have an optimized page equivalent to the search.

Backend digital experts normally have a list of what trends and what is the most searched for the hour, in a day, in a week, and so on. It always varies as the people’s taste for what is trending differs every now and then. Never discredit the value of search engine optimization strategies as it is still the most powerful marketing tool for years, and up to the present.

Go Live

Facebook Live is currently gaining fame over business owners. Live selling schedules are normal in most Facebook Business Pages.

Facebook live viewers would normally flock a page at a designated live selling time. That sense of hoarding and winning against the other buyers creates an interesting scenario. Everyone wants to go first.

And it benefits the business in a way that the tendency of a sold out is high, knowing the customers are already interested, and are competitive in owning or commenting “mine” to a product as fast as they can.

This marketing strategy, when moderated properly can become a regular increase in business. If you do the same event on a regular basis, it is likely for you to be noticed by many.

Moreover, if your pricing is reasonable, the more that you would like to have a higher audience every time you are live, selling your stuff to the active Facebook users.

Post Regularly

A business activity is a measuring tool of your consistent trade. As much as you can, update your Business Page by writing posts, creating polls, or sharing good things related to your industry. Most users are looking back to as far as when you started and seeing nothing in your feed can be a markdown.

Take note of the legitimacy check most buyers are doing. Scams are everywhere so most clients are normally cautious. Be consistent in updating your business profile wall and news feed to promote awareness.

The tendency of a business to be considered legitimate is that, it has something always going on. Nobody would buy in a Facebook Business Page which has minimal to zero engagement, much more if there is no business activity to be seen, at all.

Read More

Facebook Posts 2022: How to Manage and Turn Off Comments

 

Facebook limits how and when you can prevent other users from commenting on your posts, but you can make changes if you wish to.

Disabling Facebook Comments

For your personal posts on your Facebook timeline, you need to set the visibility to Public in order to manage the comments for them, according to How to Geek.

Also, you won't be able to fully disable the comments on your posts, you can only limit the comments to your friends or friends of your friends.

However, in any Facebook group where you are the admin or the moderator, you can fully turn off the comments for any post that you want.

Control the Comments for Personal Facebook Posts

You can change who can comment on your posts for both all your public posts and the select public posts. Here's how you can manage the options for both post types.

Manage the Comments for All Public Posts

In order to apply a single rule as to who can comment on your Facebook's public post, change the account-level option in your account.

Open a web browser on your Mac, Windows, Linux or Chromebook computer and log in to your Facebook account. You can use the app on your iPhone, Android phone, or iPad too, according to Mashable.

At the top-right corner of the site, click the down-arrow icon and choose Settings and Privacy. Next, select Settings. Under the General Account Settings page, choose Public Posts from the sidebar on the left.

You will see a Public Post Filters and Tools page, so just choose the Who Can Follow Me option, click the drop-down menu and select Public.

On the same Public Post Filters and Tools page, choose the Public Post Comments option. Under the expanded menu, click the drop-down menu and choose who can comment on your posts.

The available options are Public, which means anyone can comment on your posts, even those that don't follow you; Friends, which means only your friends can post comments and if you tag someone in your post, that person and their friends can comment on your posts; and Friends of Friends, which means your friends and their friends can comment too.

Once you are done choosing an option, Facebook will immediately save your changes.

Manage Comments for Individual Public Posts

In order to manage who can comment on a specific post, you need to access that post on Facebook. At the top-right corner of the post, choose the three dots. From the menu, choose "Who Can Comment on Your Post."

A window will open so you can choose three options. First there is Public, which allows anyone to comment on your post, according to MakeUseOf.

There is Friends, which allows your Facebook friends to comment on your post, and Profiles and Pages You Mention, which means if you mention a Facebook profile or page in your post, the profile or page can comment on your post.

That is all there is to managing the comment settings for your Facebook account. If there are certain friends you don't want commenting on your post, you may want to hide the post from them altogether.

Article from: Tech Times

Read More