By: Pola, Director of Digital Marketing

Launching a new social media channel for your business or brand? The first step to a successful social media presence is recognizing the need for a social content strategy and plan.  Start with outlining your goals for the page – Customer Acquisition? Brand Awareness? Creating a Loyal Fanbase? Your objectives can be a mix of all of these and more. Continue by identifying industry leaders and pages that feel are doing a great job. What is it that you like about their content? Perhaps it is the level of engagement they receive per post, or the high-quality graphics used. Apply these insights to your strategy.

By: Kaia, Social Media Manager

“Authenticity” has become marketers’ favorite buzzword, and brands are now expected to always be honest and transparent in their efforts to connect with consumers. Telling consumers a brand story instead of just advertising to them is what wins trust and appreciation. In a time of social media-fueled cynicism, knowing what your brand stands for and communicating that effectively is a powerful tool.

Over the past decade, the field of public relations has undergone a lot of changes. Many different aspects of technology PR and communication advancements led to this, but perhaps none more than the growth and popularity of social media. Social media changed how people communicate, as well as when they communicate, where they communicate, and even who they communicate with.

So here are five ways social media changed the field of public relations forever.

Developing a unique voice for a brand’s content helps set it apart from others in the media. It also helps inspire a sense of familiarity when customers hear or read its content, making it easy to identify and identify with. This unique voice also begins to take on the qualities of a familiar friend, which is the ultimate goal for brands looking to establish awareness.

But how do brands achieve this? Check out our recommendations below.

Social media has experienced explosive growth over the past few years. As of July 2015, there are 2.3 billion active social media users. With 1 million new mobile users joining social networks every day, it’s hard to ignore the boom and impact of people-based media.

Due to the widespread adoption of mobile smart devices and the increase in the number of businesses that offer Wi-Fi hotspots at their brick and mortar stores and other public locations, consumers are now more digitally connected than ever before.

In a world where everyone is constantly connected to each other, the demand for instant communication has never been greater. As video content becomes king, more and more Millennials and Gen Zers are ditching their old school social networks for new school video platforms. To compete with short-form video and ephemeral publishing platforms like Instagram, Vine and Snapchat, first-generation social networks such as Facebook and Twitter had to find new ways to innovate and jump on the live-video trend to keep their younger demographics from disappearing.

As the competition heats up between Facebook and Twitter in the realm of online video marketing, it’s important for social media experts to learn when and how to use live streaming technologies like Facebook Live and Periscope to authentically connect with consumers.

Video ads have certainly proven their power on Instagram according to a report released by Brand Networks from a study done on more than 2 billion Instagram advertising impressions.

The fashion industry especially has fared well with its use of video ads. According to BN Video, ads account for 71% of the fashion industry’s ad spend, driving 90% of its impressions during the first three months of 2016.