We've all wished for an easy way to share something you've already posted? Coming soon, you can Retweet and Quote Tweet yourself! Any tweet you feel that has been missed, or that you want to make a comment on, can easily be shared. 

​Twitter veterans are used to adding a period before the @ symbol so that the tweet will go out to their entire list of followers instead of just the person the tweet is aimed at. Now, this will no longer be an issue. As mentioned before, you can also Retweet your tweet to make sure it is seen by your followers.

One more update to be aware of on Twitter is the changes that are being made to the video feature. It's not hard to believe that according to Twitter, video tweets have increased more than 50% since the beginning of 2016. As of June 21, videos can now be longer. Instead of the previous limit of 30 seconds, and in honor of Twitter's well known character limit, you can now upload videos as long as... 140 seconds!

Keep an eye out for another video feature, coming soon. When you tap on a video or vine to watch it, you'll automatically be brought into full screen mode, with suggestions of other videos you may like at the bottom.

Twitter may be facing some challenges in the public eye, but they are certainly doing their best to make the user experience as positive, fun and social as it can be. Keep an eye out for the roll out of these changes as well as whatever new things the developers and innovators at Twitter are coming up with in the city by the Bay.

​The quick answer to this, and the one that most marketers like to give you, is that social media is FREE! Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? I don't know about you, but I have always heard that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. In this case, it is and isn't true.

It's true because claiming your social media pages and handles is free. Just log onto the desired site, put in your general information, choose a name that hasn't already been claimed, and there you go! You're up and running on social media without spending a dime. The truth is that is the easy part. Now, you'll have to find time to update your profiles to keep them relevant as anything changes with your business. You'll also have to put together content to share with your audience on a regular basis so they don't lose interest. On top of content you need to make yourself available to respond to comment, questions and concerns. Failing to do this is one of the fastest ways to turn your fans into foes. The power of responding to your audience is amazing. A quick comment or acknowledgement can turn a mildly interested audience member into a loyal fan. Not responding, especially to a complaint or concern, is a fast way to turn that audience member into a very vocal negative review. An unhappy customer will talk about their issues on social media as well as telling on average 7 friends and family members about their negative experience.

Another challenge that will cost you, in the very least, time is that social media is constantly growing, changing and adapting. New platforms are regularly making appearances and if you want to be as successful as possible, you'll need to keep up with at least a few of them. You may have heard of Snapchat and Periscope but have you heard of Wanleo, Kik, Shots or Hyper? No? You're not alone. These platforms are new and are still trying to find their foothold in people's lives. Maybe they'll skyrocket like Instagram, or maybe they'll crash and burn like Friendster (the forefather to Myspace and Facebook). Instagram came on the scene and took the world by storm gathering more active users faster than any other platform had before it. It is now one of the heavy hitters. So, it's important to at least keep an eye out for what people, especially in your industry, are talking about. Some of these new platforms may be a secret weapon to your success. 

So, you haven't spent any MONEY yet, but by the time your social media platforms are productively connecting with your audience, you will have spent hours and hours developing them. Then, maintaining your platforms takes most small businesses an average of 8-10 hours per week to develop content, post to profiles and respond. So, if time is money, social media isn't REALLY free.

​With all the negativity that social media can open doors to, the one place we don’t expect it from, is our friends. People we have let into our space interact with us on different levels. Some people comment regularly. Some people only comment on specific issues. Others still are your friends, but don’t really communicate with you at all. The worst kind of connections are the ones that only comment when they want to argumentative.
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Now, there is nothing wrong with having different opinions. There isn’t anything wrong with discussing them. The issue is that some people ONLY comment when they want to tell you that you’re wrong. The sad fact is that these people are trolls just as much as the ones that you don’t know, only worse. When you post something on a social forum you would expect your connections to, at the very least, treat you with respect. So, when they don’t, it comes as a shock. Then, when they do this repeatedly, it becomes an attack. People who do this are not developing or maintaining a relationship with you. Instead, they are abusing their access to you. They are worse than the random keyboard warriors out there and you should consider dealing with them instead of ignoring them.

​Then, you exclude them. You can do this so it automatically happens, or you can do it on a case by case basis. On Twitter you can go into settings and click on Muted Accounts. Here you can add people who you won’t see their posts and you won’t be notified if they try an contact you.

It’s nice of these networks to acknowledge that situations like this happen and to help with us deal with them. It’s a sad fact that we even HAVE to deal with these things. Whatever happened to simple respect among friends? When sitting at a keyboard all sense of normal human interaction seems to disappear, even among friends. I’m not really sure where it comes from, maybe it’s partially that we don’t realize how we come across. So, I’m asking everyone who is reading this… if someone takes the time to tell you that you come across as rude, arrogant, condescending etc. you should consider it. Even if it is not your intention to come across that way, you may. Take a deep breath, don’t take it personally and consider not saying whatever it is you have to say.
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Remember: Just because it’s in your head, doesn’t mean you need to say it – especially if all you ever have to say are things that can be taken negatively. The world will be a better place for it.

Mobile Marketing
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that mobile marketing will become even more vital as the number of people who own smartphones is supposed to hit 2 billion in 2016. Looking around it’s hard not to notice the majority of people walking around, sitting down, eating etc. while looking at their smartphone. According to Salesforce, 71% of marketers believe that mobile marketing is core to their business. It gives us instant access to everything we want, whenever we want it. Any website or content that is not optimized for mobile will be ineffective as users navigate away from it, annoyed that they couldn’t view it properly when they wanted to. These negative experiences are held onto by users and create negative brand associations.

With Google’s announcement that their algorithm will phase out all sites not optimized for mobile (Mobilegeddon), there has already been a rush to get on board the mobile marketing trend. Something to keep in mind though, Google doesn’t care if your site is optimized for desktops as well. They seem to be throwing their support behind mobile and no one is going to slow them down.

This avenue of marketing is becoming so powerful that 58% of companies have a dedicated mobile marketing team. This leads us to the trend that by 2019, mobile advertising will represent 72% of ALL US digital and ad spending. Don’t get left behind, start focusing on mobile NOW.

Utilizing Data for Relationship Marketing
The key to personalization, data. There is no stressing this enough. The data we have that can provide us with key insights into our audiences keeps increasing. This is especially true if you are using automation. Marketers are no longer bound by mass marketing that can feel pushy and irrelevant to their audiences. Using social media and other platforms you can provide two key elements to build relationships with your audience: transparency and access.

Your customers want to feel like they can trust you. Announce things first, both good AND bad. Let them here the negative from you, not from someone else “breaking” the news and “exposing” you. It gives you the power to take responsibility as well as tell them how you intend on fixing whatever the problem is.
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Having access to voice complaints, concerns and testimonials is huge for audiences. They want to feel connected to and heard by you. Even unhappy customers can end up more loyal if you take the time to respond. Sometimes even, it’s worth the time to respond to each person individually and not just in a statement. Let your audience know you care and that they are worth your time.

App Indexing
Would it surprise you to know that 85% of smartphone internet usage is through mobile apps? Leaving a mere 15% to be websites. Google says that, the average person only uses 26% of their apps daily, while one in four apps are never used at all. (Google) For marketers this in incredibly helpful because it gives them the ability to re-engage your existing users through a Google search. As more and more companies launch apps that have the ability to be intuitive, customizeable, personalized and often more convenient than websites, it is no wonder that people prefer to launch an app, rather than search for the answer via a search engine.
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Google, taking it to the next step, is going to indexing the information within apps, in other words, providing deep links in search results. So, if you’re searching for a specific item, the results will include a link to that exact item, the deep link, instead of just the company’s surface page. In essence, this increases customer satisfaction by giving them exactly what they want in one click.

That special moment just happened! The love of your life just asked you to spend the rest of your days together… and you just can’t wait to share it with everyone! Sound familiar?
Before you jump on social media and share it with everyone you’ve ever met, it’s worth it to pause and take a deep breath. It won’t be any less exciting if you consider a few things before you post it on social media.

First, let’s look at the things you SHOULDN’T do.
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Don’t brag!
Your friends that aren’t there yet don’t want it rubbed in their face. Be happy, but don’t be a braggart. This isn’t a competition. It’s about love, right?

Before it’s actually really happened
It doesn’t matter if you already talked about it, or if you even shopped for rings. If you share with your friends privately, that’s completely understandable. Don’t, however, post it on social media ANYWHERE. Don’t take any light away from the moment it ACTUALLY happens.

Pro Tip: Consider a quick manicure, at home or professional, before you snap photos of the ring to share.
Now, let’s look at what you SHOULD do…
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Enjoy the moment
They asked!!! You said YES! It’s really real. It’s happening and you are so filled with excitement and love you feel like you could burst. Don’t waste this moment worrying about exactly how to word your Facebook post, or which Instagram filter to use. Be in the moment.

​Who should you tell in person?
At the very least, if at all possible, your immediate family should be told face-to-face. Personal notification is especially important if there are children involved. If this isn’t possible, phone calls are the next best thing.
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Choose your wording carefully
You are so excited to share this and you can’t wait for the big day. Something to consider, however, is that your 500+ friends on social media probably won’t be getting an invite. So, don’t insinuate that they will all be included.