Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform of 2018—now reaching 1 billion monthly active users, up from 800 million in September 2017. This year continued to see a growing number of brands actively adding Instagram to their social media marketing mix.

Research has shown that successful brands are using popular Instagram hashtags to better connect with target audiences. The benefits for businesses and marketers are that hashtags are also searchable and can be tracked to measure a social media campaign’s ROI.
 
What are Hashtags?
Hashtags are basically words or phrases, that follow the symbol “#”. These #hashtaged words or phrases work to categorize and link posts to content with the same hashtag/s. Using popular and trending Instagram hashtags can be a powerful way to increase exposure and draw attention to branded posts, but don't over do it, use three to five as a general guide.
 
Popular Instagram hashtags for 2018:

1. #Love
2. #Instagood
3. #Photooftheday
4. #Fashion
5. #Beautiful
6. #Happy
7. #Like4like
8. #Picoftheday
9. #Art
10. #Photography

 
How to use Hashtags?
The best way to use hashtags is to find popular ones and use them in your branded post. Businesses should also create a hashtag that reflects their brand or campaign message. An example could be using the business name, product offered, product tagline, or the name of a current campaign, along with a popular/trending hashtag.

Benefits of using Hashtags?
Using hashtags consistently on Instagram boosts brand exposure and target audience awareness to your business. An added benefit of using hashtags is that you will be able to track and analyze campaign results across varying demographics/regions.
 
So, now that you know some of the popular hashtags on Instagram for 2018 and how to add them to your marketing mix—make smart use of them in 2019.

Scopic builds businesses socially through creative communication solutions, contact us to find out more.

With Facebook now driving the increasing popularity of Instagram, it's fast becoming one of the leading social media platforms—current global community of 800 million. For this reason, a growing number of businesses are actively adding Instagram to their social media marketing mix.
 
To maximize the power and exposure of Instagram, these businesses need to utilize the use of Instagram hashtags.

Hashtags are basically words or phrases, that follow the symbol “#”. These #hashtaged words or phrases work to cluster and link your posts to topics with the same hashtag. The benefits for businesses and marketers is that hashtags are searchable and can be tracked. Using the most popular and trending Instagram hashtags can be a powerful way to increase exposure and draw attention to your posts, but don't over do it, use three to five as a guide.
 
Here are Instagram’s 10 most popular hashtags of 2017:

1. #love
2. #fashion
3. #photooftheday
4. #photography
5. #art
6. #beautiful
7. #travel
8. #happy
9. #nature
10. #picoftheday

 
Read Instagram's full report here: Instagram’s 2017 Year in Review

Branded Hashtag Idea: Create a hashtag that reflects your brand or campaign message. An easy example could be your business name, product tagline, or the name of a current campaign. Use it consistently on Instagram posts to drive exposure and awareness. An added benefit of using a consistently branded hashtag is that you will be able to track and analyze results.

More Ideas: Hootsuite's - The Complete Instagram Hashtag Guide for Business

Scopic connects businesses and audiences through creative communications, contact us to find out more.

You already know, to connect and engage with your audience on social media—it takes much more than just a few random minutes across the day—you must consistently produce relevant and targeted content.
 
Here are four key components of an effective social media strategy:

• Define your objective -- increase likes/followers, increase website traffic, promote products/services or create sales leads.
• Identify your audience -- sex, age, background, interests, location, preferred platform, preferred device (mobile or desktop) and social media habits.
• Plan your guidelines -- how many posts per day, what time, content type (text, image, video, audio, live), content length (300 word post, 15 second advertisement or 10 minute video blog) and importantly who will manage and monitor the platform/s. 
• Find your influencer -- an influencer will allow your business to communicate in a manner that is more relevant and targeted to your audience. The right influencer has already built an existing relationship through content that is liked and shared. This will allow your business to quickly connect with a wider audience. 

​For convenience—see below two social media strategy templates designed to help your business amplify its social media exposure—an editable template for social media strategy planning and an editable social media strategy calendar.

As we hit the tail end of this year, it is nearly time to start evaluating your 2017 content marketing strategy.

​We know—you already know, to really connect and engage with your audience—it takes much more than just a few random minutes across the day—you must produce relevant, targeted, valuable and consistent content.

 So, which of these 2017 content marketing trends did your business embrace?

1. Going mobile
As mobile device users surge and speeds accelerate, people want more than just text-based content. Mobile users want to find mobile compatible content quickly and easily, so make the user experience stress-free with clear headings, bullet points and quality visuals that engage users.
 
2. Going visual
Research shows images/videos perform much better than just words on a screen, but don’t compromise loading time. An easy way to increase loading speed, is to compress/reduce images and videos to ensure audience attention is not lost while waiting around.

3. Going live
With live content marketing becoming more achievable on mobile devices via FacebookLive, SnapChat, PeriscopeTV and Instagram Stories live streaming continues to explode. Both large and small businesses will easily be able to share product launches, new campaigns and branded events.

4. Targeting content
To truly connect and hold audience attention businesses can no longer be everything-to-everyone across multiple channels of communication. With a massive amount of content being published across numerous channels, businesses need to be more targeted with the content they create. 

5. Test driving
Through testing engagement, businesses will start to better identify audience behaviors that will influence the content created and the distribution channels used. Winners in the race of content consumption will be those businesses that conduct A/B testing (split-run testing) of content/channels - measure engagement, analyze results then create content that is personalized.
 
How did your business measure up!
​
Scopic works with businesses to create quality content that grabs attention and delivers a positive user experience, contact us to find out more.

1. You launch your social media platform/s with no (long-term) strategy in place.
​Without a clear long-term strategy in place and a commitment to that strategy you are doomed to fail.
 
Three important components of your social media strategy:

• Clearly define your objective — increase likes/followers, increase website traffic, promote products/services or create sales leads?
• Clearly identify your audience — sex, age, background, interests, location, preferred platform, preferred device (mobile or desktop) and social media habits.
• Clearly plan your guidelines — how many posts per day, what time, content type (text, image, video, audio, live), content length (300 word post, 15 second advertisement or 10 minute video blog) and importantly — who will manage and monitor the platform/s.  

2. You feel that you don't have the budget to go social.
Obviously a bigger marketing budget if implemented correctly — traditional anyway — should provide greater results, but this is where social media is different.
 
If you have an iPhone, an Internet connection and a well-developed social media strategy, you can now communicate with a global audience like a big brand without the obscene marketing budget. 
 
Just remember — keep it real — genuine, informative, entertaining and useful to the audience you want to engage with.
 
3. You feel you don’t need a social media presence.
Sorry, but you are wrong.
 
Social media is not just a passing fad: 

• Every second there are 61,500+ Google searches
• Every day there are 4.5+ billion Likes on Facebook
• Every day there are 500+ million Tweets on Twitter
• Every day there are 95+ million photos and videos uploaded to Instagram

Fact source: www.internetlivestats.com
 
If you are not social — you are not visible!

However, you may prefer spending your marketing budget solely on traditional forms of marketing (print advertising and television spots) that are overpriced with a rapidly eroding (attentive/engaged) audience. If this is the case, it’s your money!
 
Scopic works with your business to craft communications and marketing solutions that drive accelerated growth in a multi-channel world, contact us to find out more.

With 1.94 billion monthly active users as of March 31, 2017 Facebook continues to strip away advertising dollars from traditional platforms like television, print and radio.

Boost your Facebook marketing spend for free with these 5 simple tips!

1. Timing is everything 
Research the best times and days to post for your specific target audience and global region. For many businesses, this may be Monday to Friday between traditional trading hours of 9am - 5pm. However, if your audience is working at this time they may not be connected, so this is where researching and A/B testing the social media habits of your target audience will be truly beneficial. 

2. Use more than just words
As mobile device usage grows and speeds continue to take off in 2017 people are wanting more than just words in their feed. Research shows images and videos perform much better than just words on a screen. Remember, if you do use images and videos make sure they add value to the message and are always of a high quality.

3. Provide value for your audience
Take the time to create quality Facebook content that provides value to your specific audience. We are all time poor, so remember, content such as product advice or tips will provide value for your customers. Your target audience will keep coming back to you and potentially share it with “friends” if they discover something interesting, informative, useful and engaging.

4. Take creative risks
Playing it too safe could leave your business coming off as uninteresting, so your Facebook content needs be creative and intriguing. As social media platforms continue to evolve and grow, businesses need to look and think outside the box. If a creatively risky post generates positive engagement and increased exposure, do it again!

5. Make use of an influencer
An influencer will allow your business to communicate in a manner that is more relevant and targeted to a specific audience or demographic. Influencers also have already built an existing relationship through quality content creation that is — liked and shared — this will allow your brand/business to quickly connect with a wider audience.

Scopic works with your business to create effective social media strategies designed to increase your exposure, contact us to find out more.

Basically, Snapchat offers users multiple communication tools: snaps, chats and stories.​​

Today, users can use the platform to share time-limited photos (or snaps) and videos. Fast growing in popularity with users and marketers are Snapchat Stories (linked short videos or snaps) launched in 2013. Stories are viewable for 24 hours, vanishing after 1 to 10 seconds (depending on your settings and if screenshots are taken). In 2015 Snapchat launched Lenses which saw user numbers boom. The lenses feature allows users to add real-time special effects and sounds via creative filters to both photos and video. Users can personalize these selfie snaps and then share them with friends or upload them to other social media platforms.

​To further increase the platform's diversity and revenue streams Snapchat launched Geofilters in 2016. Geofilters are location-based graphic overlays that users add over their snaps. Users have the option of creating personal or business (sponsored) filters. Geofilter pricing (starts at approx. ¥500) is based on location, geofence size (the geographical size the geofilter will be active in - from approx. 20,000 square feet up to 5,000,000 square feet) and length of time the filter is viewable.

​Checkout these Geofilter tips: www.snapchat.com/geofilters/tips

​Snapchat's users watch over 10 billion videos per day - more than a 350% increase in the last year. Due to the attention, reach and interactive experience the platform offers, big brands in the United States are starting to embrace Snapchat Ads as a communication tool to connect with targeted audiences. Over the coming years, advertising will continue to grow on Snapchat as the platform's audience starts to age up (fastest growing Snapchat user being over the age of 25). With a growing global base of over 100 million active users, marketers and brands are starting to take Snapchat fun - seriously! 

Snapchat's active user numbers are predicted to double over the coming years to 85.5 million by 2020 in just the United States, it may be time for Japanese brands to consider getting their geofilters on and start storytelling.  

Need help identifying social media platforms to increase customer engagement?

Scopic works with Japanese businesses to identify the best social media platforms to increase global customer engagement, contact us to find out more.

Now we are officially at the halfway point of 2016 – 1st July 2016 – it is a good time to evaluate your social media objectives and plans for 2017.
 
What we continue to find interesting about 2016 is the preferred communication platforms and behaviors of Japanese users on social media. With much of the world dominated by Facebook 1090M+, Japan users continue their love affair with LINE 50M+ and Twitter 26M+. Even the way Japanese users post and interact on third-placed Facebook 25M+ is different compared to United States users; with a slower shift to video posts and a greater preference to link content in Japan. It will be interesting to see whether Facebook uses their rapidly growing Instagram 8M+ user base (55% Females) in Japan to generate growth and synergies across the two platforms in 2017.

See the statistics here: www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook 

In 2017, we see Facebook move to become an even more valuable tool for professionals and businesses as it continues to strip away at Linkedin's 340K+ user base and gains the respect of major Japanese brands. 

Scopic works with your business to identify the best social media platforms to increase your customer engagement, contact us to find out more.

Content marketing is the new currency of our digital age, and if done correctly offers the most effective way to connect and engage with your target audience. To get real results, it takes much more than just a few minutes a day and random articles about your products or services.

Here are five content marketing business basics for free.
 
1. Make sure your content is engaging
Your headline and first sentence must grab the attention of your target audience. Make sure your heading is engaging and is what your audience needs to read.
 
Good headlines include:
What is it about?
Who should read it?
Why it should be read?
 
Also, as mobile device usage grows and speeds reach new levels, people are wanting more than just words. Statistics compiled by HubSpot show images and videos perform much better than just text-based content on a screen.

1. 40% of people respond better to visual information than just text-based content
2. Facebook posts with images generated the most likes, comments and shares
3. Video posts attract 3 times more inbound links than just text-based content

See all the statistics here: 19 Reasons You Should Include Visual Content in Your Marketing 
 
2. Choose the best platform for your content
There are plenty of media platforms to publish/post your content other than your website, so take the time to check out which platforms your target audience is engaging with on a regular and genuine basis. Unless your business is a major global brand, you are probably safe with choosing just a few from the more common platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter or YouTube.
 
3. Maximize your time, money and energy
Content marketing is all about quality and not quantity. In a saturated environment businesses need to look and think outside the box to create attention grabbing content. Take the time to research, create and schedule quality content.  Remember, content such as product/service advice or tips are a value add for your customers. Your target audience will keep coming back to you if they discover something interesting, informative, useful and engaging. 

4. Create a content calendar and guidelines
Create a content calendar and guidelines to manage/monitor your content marketing. These content planning tools will keep your content focused, fresh and visible in the right place at the right time. Having clear content marketing guidelines will provide consistency for your business across various media platforms. Keeping your content consistent will ensure your audience develops a connection and relationship with your business. 
 
5. Monitor your content
Track your posts to learn what content, platform and timing is most popular to your target audience. Google Analytics gives you important information on page visitors, page impressions, and geographical tracking. Being able to accurately measure the success of your content marketing is a fundamental element of any business. Over time you will start to identify trends that will influence the content you create - results drive decisions!
 
Scopic works with your business to build creative content designed to increase your exposure, contact us to find out more.

In 2015 mobile Internet usage continued to skyrocket and 2016 looks no different.
 
According to a white paper by commScore Digital Future in Focus over the past 4 years “smartphone usage is up 394 percent, and tablet usage is up a whopping 1,721 percent as these platforms now combine to account for 60 percent of digital media time spent.”
 
Read the report: 2015 U.S. Digital Future in Focus

Mobile-only Internet usage is becoming the norm, so 2016 is a your time to go mobile.  
 
Here are 5 simple rules to consider before creating your mobile website.
 
1. Quick and easy
A mobile website must be quick and easy to navigate. Mobile site users want to find information hassle free, so make things easy to find with clear buttons, icons and headings that guide and inform users. The less pinches, swipes and taps the better.
 
2. Short and simple
Users on mobile devices looking for products or services don't want to waste time, and really don't want to scroll, scroll, scroll through long paragraphs. Keep paragraph length to 2-4 lines. Use short, simple, targeted sentences that engage and help users find what they want. Sentence length should range from 10 – 30 words.
 
3. Minimize input info
Mobile users are working on a small canvas, so limit the amount of information you require them to tap in. Using drop downs instead of input fields will make things much easier. Also, make sure the input font size is readable at least 14 px.
 
4. Stay on message
Make sure your brand and communications (logo, colors, copy and style) are consistent across your desktop and mobile platforms. Brand consistency will ensure users develop familiarity with your business, and with familiarity comes brand trust and loyalty.
 
5. Time to test
Once your mobile website is live test it on mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets of all shapes and sizes. Also, make sure you test it across various operating systems like Windows, iOS and Android. Finally, check your page speed with Google PageSpeed Insights.
 
Scopic helps you build your global audience through creative communications, contact us to find out more.

1. Know your audience
Knowing your target audience is an essential element in creating content marketing that connects. Clearly defining who you are speaking to will help you target your content so it is seen, liked and shared.
 
2. Understand your audience’s habits
Understanding when/how to schedule content and using the right platform/s will help your business gain exposure. Using Google Analytics, Google Trends and other online tools will help you understand your audience’s social media habits.
 
3. Create your content calendar
Create a content calendar to manage/monitor your content marketing plan. This essential planning tool will keep your content focused, fresh and visible in the right place at the right time.
 
4. Maximize your message
Research shows images and videos perform much better than just words on a screen. It may take time to capture or search for the perfect image/video, but your audience will like/share you for it.
 
5. Set your targets
Setting and being able to measure/analyze the success of your content marketing is a fundamental element. Overtime your targets will influence the content you create - results drive decisions!

Scopic connects businesses and audiences through creative communications, contact us to find out more.

Effective social media marketing requires planning, time and money. To get real results, it takes much more than just a couple of minutes a day and random posts/tweets about your products or services. So, here are 5 simple ways to boost your social media marketing for free.

1. Choose the best platform for your business
There are plenty of social media platforms to choose from, so take the time to check out which platform your target audience is engaging with on a regular and genuine basis. Unless your business is a major global brand, you are probably safe with choosing just a few from the more common platforms like Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter or YouTube. Finally, always make sure that across your chosen social media platforms you maintain your visual brand identity.

2. Timing is everything in this space
Research the best times and days to post/tweet for your specific industry, target audience and target region. For many businesses, this may be Monday to Friday between traditional trading hours of 9am - 5pm. However, if your audience is working at this time they may not be connected, so this is where researching and testing the social media habits of your target audience will be truly beneficial. 

3. Tell the full story with words and pictures
As mobile device usage grows and speeds continue to take off people are wanting more than just words. Research shows images and videos perform much better than just words on a screen. It may take time to create or search for the right image, but your audience will like you for it and even share you amongst their network. Remember, if you do use images, videos or even infographics make sure they add value to your brand image and are always of a high quality.

4. Maximize your time and energy
Social media is all about quality and not quantity, there’s no point using every social media platform and posting/tweeting the same content across varying platforms. Each social media platform serves a different purpose and attracts a unique demographic. Take the time to create quality content and your target audience will keep coming back to you if they discover something interesting, informative and engaging.

5. Be a creative and intriguing business
Playing it too safe could leave your business coming off as uninteresting, so your social media content needs be creative and intriguing. In order to build great social media content businesses need to look and think outside the box. Mix things up a little and see what kind of engagement you get. If the content, image and timing of a risky post/tweet generates positive engagement and exposure, do it again!

Scopic works with your business to build creative social media strategies designed to increase your exposure, contact us to find out more.

Everyone loves stuff for free, right? So, here are 5 free Google tools you should consider using to improve your websites SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

1. Google Webmaster
Purpose: Diagnostics and health checker
Webmaster Tools remains one of the most important resources of diagnostic and health tools for website managers. Understanding and using Webmaster Tools will help keep your website running smoothly, and help identify bigger issues quickly.

2. Google Analytics
Purpose: Website analytics 
Analytics gives you important information on page visitors, page impressions, and geographical tracking. Keep in touch with your target audience by seeing when and how they interact with your website. 

3. Google Adwords Keyword Planner
Purpose: Keyword research and campaign planning
Keyword Planner allows you to workshop keyword ideas, get historical keyword statistics, and see how a list of keywords may perform before spending your cash. We recommend making use of Keyword Planner to lay the groundwork before your next campaign.

4. Google PageSpeed Insights
Purpose: Website speed and functionality
PageSpeed Insights measures the performance of your website on both desktop devices and mobiles devices. PageSpeed fetches and rates (out of 100) your webpage url twice, once with a desktop user-agent, and once with a mobile user-agent. Your website's speed matters, as it has become a signal in Google’s search ranking algorithms.

5. Google Trends
Purpose: Identifying keyword trends
Google Trends is a great tool for seeing what is trending in Google search results and to get a glimpse of keyword search popularity. Understanding if a keyword is increasing or decreasing in popularity is highly valuable for creating rich content, and like all of the above is available for free!

Scopic will look, listen and find fresh ideas and creative solutions that make people want to engage with your business, contact us to find out more.

Nielsen a global leader in consumer measurement and information offers a snap shot of the global consumer.

As global opportunities grow companies need to identify what drives global consumers. 

Watch the video: Who are the global consumers?

Scopic will work with your business to build creative strategies designed to increase your market exposure, contact us to find out more.

Fresh online content about your business is a powerful way to boost website traffic. Use your online content to educate and engage with your target audience.

1. Start blogging
Blog posting is an extremely effective way to market your business online.
 
2. Build a “Did You Know? or "Tips for...” bank of articles
Regularly share your industry knowledge and experience with your online audience.

3. Update case studies about your clients
Reach out to new clients by making them aware of what you have done for others, and how you did it.

4. Write about news in your industry
 Share your thoughts on recent news relating to your industry.

5. Time your online content
Create an online content plan that identifies and maximizes peak sales activity and consumer trends.

Scopic works with you to market your business more effectively, contact us to find out more.