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December 1st, 2019
TikTok Reaches 1.5 Billion Downloads and Seeks to Distance Itself From Chinese Government

The social media app TikTok is a platform that allows users to post short videos

         TikTok is a tremendously fast-growing social media platform in which users can upload short videos featuring lip syncing, comedy, or talent. The popularity of TikTok over this last year has not slowed down one bit. The app has just exceeded a total of 1.5 billion downloads worldwide, making it the most popular, non-gaming app of the year. TikTok is also expanding its capabilities looking into music streaming partnerships and social commerce links. Social media marketers should keep TikTok in mind going into 2020 because there is a ton of potential.
           
         Unfortunately, TikTok has been under investigation for its potential links to the Chinese government. TikTok is a Chinese based company which means it faces less data collection laws than a U.S. company, and the data could potentially be available to the government for surveillance. If there was a request by the Chinese government to turn over user data, TikTok CEO, Alex Zhu, says he would simply turn them down. What TikTok says they would do and what would actually happen are two different things. There is a large gray area that could be a major issue for the social media app in the future. 2020 could be the year for TikTok, but it’s hard to say where things are headed due to its Chinese government ties.
 
         You may want to get to know TikTok come 2020, but that is completely up to you as a marketer. To learn more about the app and its implications click here. 

December 2nd, 2019
4 Things Social Media Marketers Can Do to Improve Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is important for every business to have

         Having corporate social responsibility (CSR) can mean a lot of different things, like revamping manufacturing policies to be more sustainable, hosting fundraisers, volunteer activities, charitable donations, or implementing massive social cause campaigns to create attention for specific issues. While these sound like large commitments, here are 4 smaller efforts that social media marketers can do to implement CSR within their company.
 

1. Commit to Thorough Content Research – When creating content for your social media accounts, you should take extra steps to ensure that the content you share is well-researched, valuable and not misleading. You have a responsibility to supply your audience with correct and relevant information.
2. Read Beyond the Headlines – Before you get ready to share a piece of content or article with your audience make sure that the headlines match the story. Many publications intentionally sensationalize headlines to mislead readers to get clicks.
3. Zero Tolerance for Fake News – Sharing misleading or fake news can harm your brand's reputation and your readers’ trust.
4. Practice Authentic Social Media Marketing – Providing authentic content and genuine value to your followers can help you build trust. Avoiding fake likes, content paywalls, or overbearing self-promotion are different ways to do this. You should be committed to supplying your followers with authentic content that you genuinely think will create value for them.

 
         To read more about how you as a social media marketer can implement CSR strategies click here. 

December 3rd, 2019
Twitter Is Implementing a Political Ad Ban This Month

Twitter is banning all political advertising this month

            Twitter has released some new details on how it plans to enforce a ban on any political advertising. “Political reach should be earned and not bought,” says Twitter’s legal, policy, and trust and safety lead, Vijaya Gadde. This represents one of the most drastic actions a major platform has taken in the political realm. This could have some impact on brand advertisers like companies who promote causes like climate change, but as long as they don’t have a specific political stance, they should be allowed. Twitter is the first among its U.S. social media peers to limit political advertising which puts pressure on Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. They both have had problems in the past with attack ads that have been posted throughout their platforms that spread lies across their large audience. There are a ton of gray areas with publishers like the Washington Post and The New York Times that will sponsor news articles relating to politics. Gadde acknowledged that there will be a period of trial and error where they will come up with the best formula for identifying what falls under their new guidelines. Dealing with all the issues that come with politics on social media platforms is not worth it in the end, so outright banning any political advertising is the best move for Twitter.
 
         To read more about Twitter’s ban on political ads click here. 

December 4th, 2019
B2B Digital Marketing Strategies That Capture and Convert

B2B strategies are very important in lead generation and sales

         A strategy is everything when it comes to business to business lead generation on a digital level. The capture and convert equation consists of getting lots of leads, filling up your sales funnel, and identifying the best strategy that turns these leads into sales. Here are a few tips on how to capture and convert leads through digital marketing.
 

1. Separate Browsers from Buyers – Rather than focusing on your landing page looking nice to browsers, you should focus on creating value for them with relevant content, email newsletter sign-ups, social media links, etc.
2. Email Marketing – This lead generation strategy remains one of the best in the digital age. Use marketing automation, sweeten your pitch, and try cold emailing. Marketing automation contacts leads based on their position in the purchasing process. They get the right information at the right time which leads to more likely conversions. Sweetening your pitch could mean putting a call to action in your emails. Give them reasons why they should take further action in contacting your business. With cold leads, try to stand out from the rest as best you can. Differentiate yourself and get to the point quickly.
3. Content Marketing – Social media, email newsletter, website articles, blogs, videos, and infographics are content marketing tactics that marketers use. Anything that creates value for your leads will help draw them in.
4. Social Media Marketing – This is definitely one of the most effective lead generation strategies. LinkedIn is an amazing platform that connects businesses to one another. Defining and targeting your goal market on social media is always a good idea. Last, on social media, you have endless chances to experiment with different strategies.

 
         Click here to read more about B2B digital marketing lead generation and conversion strategies you can implement.

Check out last months blogs here!