State of Mobile report by App Annie

App Annie has released a report - 55 pages - detailing the state of mobile marketing.

Here are the highlights from the report that I thought were key findings as we dive into 2021:

• 218 billion app downloads in 2020, a 7% growth from year-over-year.
• $143 billion app store spending, a 20% growth.
• 4.2 hours daily time spent per user on mobile, a 20% growth.
• $240 billion spent on mobile ads, a 26% growth.
• Americans spent 8% more time on mobile than watching live TV each day in 2020.
• Gen-X/Baby Boomers spent 30% more time on mobile in 2020.
• Popular apps among Gen-Z (people born between 1997-2012) are Snapchat, Twitch, TikTok, ROBLOX and Spotify.
• Popular apps among Millenials (people born between 1981-1996) are Discard, LinkedIn, PayPal, Pandora Music and Amazon Music
• Popular apps among Gen-X/Baby Boomers (people born between 1965-1980 and 1946-1964, respectively) are Ring-Always Home, Nextdoor, The Weather Channel, Kindle and ColorNote Notepads Notes.
• Mobile fuels 45% more financial engagement.
• TikTok is on track to have 1.2 billion active users in 2021.

Here is the full 55-page report by App Annie.

ARTICLE: How To Create A Poll On Facebook

Social media is about engagement. One way to pump up engagement on your page(s) is to create a poll.

Digitalmarketing.com explains how in this article.

PODCAST DIRECTORY

Want to access my podcast? Here are the different platforms that currently host it.

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qLBnih44TdXpOdot5fByO

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dettmann-media/id1550363317

TuneIn Radio: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Media--Entertainment-Podcasts/Dettmann-Media-p1402122/?topicid=160377664

Twitter rolling out changes, striving for long-form communication

The early days of Twitter limited to us to 140 characters in a post. Then the company doubled that to 280 characters.

As social media has evolved, so has Twitter.

The latest developments with Twitter has to do with options called "Twitter Spaces" and also working toward integrating email newsletters to Twitter user profiles.

Let's first go over "Twitter Spaces."

In this article by wersm.com, Twitter Spaces Will Bring Live Audio Conversations To The Platform, Twitter is opening up its platform to have the capability to have audio-only chat rooms, much like Clubhouse. It is still in development, so this is something worth paying attention to see how the tests play out and how users who are testing it feel about it.

Below is a sample via wersm.com:

The article said, "Twitter’s plan would take on Clubhouse, an invite-only social platform where users join voice chat rooms. Twitter Spaces will be hosted right on Twitter, providing voice-based conversation rooms – or 'Spaces.' The new feature will come with new tools that let creators of these 'Spaces' better control the conversation and ensure they remain free of harassment and abuse from trolls or bad actors, the company announced.

"Inside a conversation on Twitter Spaces, you will be able to see who has joined the room and who is talking at any given time. The user who creates the space will have full moderation controls and determine who can join and participate. Creators and participants will be able to invite others to join in the audio conversation via direct messages or right from a public tweet."

Here are some other articles, including more from Twitter about "Twitter Spaces""

About Spaces on Twitter

Moderation concerns being addressed, tested

Twitter Announces Acquisition of Newsletter Platform, Revue

Go back to what was stated earlier about Twitter being known for being a short-form communicator. Twitter announced recently it acquired Revue, an editorial newsletter service.

According to the article by SocialMediaToday.com, "The bigger idea behind the acquisition is to help the two platforms drive more conversation on both of them simultaneously. Enabling users to subscribe to the newsletters of their favorite authors directly through Twitter will enable writers to direct them to their longer, private content, while the discussion over the premium content will flow back to Twitter." (Read full article here)

Also, "In the marketing world, this is a great opportunity for thought leaders and brands with large Twitter followings to get into the inbox of their most loyal followers."

Here is a blog post by Twitter about the acquisition: Making Twitter a better home for writers

Here is Revue's website: https://www.getrevue.co/

ARTICLE: Facebook Reports Record Revenue and Warns of Apple's Privacy Changes

Given how the COVID-19 pandemic forced many around the world to adopt more digital technology, it's not surprising to see Facebook report record revenue.

According to SocialMediaToday.com, "In Q4 of 2020, Facebook's profit climbed 53% to a record $11.2 billion as revenue increased 33% to about $28.1 billion, per its quarterly earnings report. The company ended the year with a 22% gain to $86 billion in revenue, including a 21% rise in ad sales to $84.2 billion."

Plus, "The user base for its family of apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and its main social network, grew 10% to 2.6 billion for the period, per its earnings presentation. The strong results may indicate that companies like Amazon, Google, Pinterest, Snap and Twitter also will report significant gains in digital advertising for the holiday quarter."

In regards to Apple's privacy changes:

"Apple hasn't backed down from its plan to update the software that runs its devices with new privacy protections. After the update, Apple customers will see a pop-up warning when an app asks for permission to access the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) that the company puts on its devices. The identifier helps to track online activities of Apple users and improve ad targeting. Apple CEO Tim Cook is scheduled to speak about data privacy at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection virtual conference, which is Jan. 27-29 in Belgium."

ARTICLE: LinkedIn Adds New Post Visibility and Reply Controls to Manage On-Platform Discussions

This one is a bit surprising, but makes sense.

SocialMediaToday.com's report says, "LinkedIn's following Twitter's lead with the addition of new reply control tools on your LinkedIn posts, which enable users to restrict who's able to comment on their platform updates."

I say it was surprising to me only because LinkedIn's demographics lean more toward business professionals. That platform also doesn't have a history of having "trolls" on LinkedIn posts. Not to say there isn't any, but it's not as common as other platforms.

ARTICLE/VIDEOS: Facebook Explains How the News Feed Predicts What We Want to See

One of the greatest challenges a social media marketer faces is to drive up engagement with their content.

When social media/Facebook first came into society in the early 2000s, posts were organized chronologically. As the industry has evolved, many changes have come with it. And one of the biggest changes was organizing posts not by when they posted, but by one's history. This is also referred to as an algorithm.

For years, Facebook has been relatively quiet on how it works. But, the "writings on the wall" show, in some part, how those algorithms work ... until now.

Via SocialMediaToday, Facebook released information and tips on how the company tailors users' newsfeeds, specific to what they like or don't like.

Here are some really neat resources related to this topic, including some videos:

• Facebook Explains How the News Feed Predicts What We Want to See (via SocialMediaToday.com)
• How Facebook’s research lab is thinking about AI (via Facebook)
• How machine learning powers Facebook’s News Feed ranking algorithm (via Facebook)

ARTICLE: Pinterest Adds New AR 'Try-On' Tools for Eyeshadow, Expands Product Tagging Within Pins

One thing we know for certain: the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and we don't have a clear picture of when it might end.

Because of that e-commerce is rising.

According to emarketer.com, US ecommerce sales will reach $794.50 billion in 2020, up 32.4% year-over-year. That's a much higher growth rate than the 18.0% predicted in our Q2 forecast, as consumers continue to avoid stores and opt for online shopping amid the pandemic.

Also, according to Forbes, ecommerce U.S. retail sales are expected to be up about 11% of total retail sales, since 2019.

Pinterest's best function is providing online recommendations and shopping referrals amongst its users.

SocialMediaToday.com says in this article, "Pinterest is looking to facilitate more capability in assessing and comparing products, with the expansion of its AR 'Try On' tools to better replicate the in-store shopping experience."

NOW LIVE ON MY PODCAST CHANNEL: TikTok introduces new tools, how to improve SEO and more

In this episode, we'll discuss some tools TikTok is making available for content creators to help them better understand the app's functionality. It's worth repeating. TikTok had 318 MILLION app downloads in the first quarter of 2020, a record for any social media app.

How it fits into marketing strategies and how they perform is still up in the air. But, if you're a social media marketer, it's worth paying attention to TikTok and researching it.

Other topics covered:

• Google SEO (search engine optimization) and SERP (search engine results page). How does Google find out? How do internet surfers find you? How do you get your website in front of people?
• Handling a crisis on social media. Are you prepared for if and when a crisis takes place on your social media platform(s)? How do you handle it?
• Facebook removing "Our Story" section. What does this mean?

Download at Buzzsprout.

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NOW ON APPLE PODCASTS

My podcast, where I discuss trends and tips related to social media marketing, digital marketing and website design/SEO, is now available in the Apple Podcast market.

It's also available on Spotify and TuneIn Radio.

ARTICLE: TikTok Launches New 'Creator Portal' Education Platform to Help Creators Maximize their Efforts

If you're not familiar with how TikTok works, but are seeing the booming popularity, you probably have a lot of questions on how the app works.

Well, via SocialMediaToday.com, TikTok has created a section to help aspiring "TikTokers" get started, including those who want to use it as a marketing tool.

In one of my previous posts (TikTok Provides New Video Overview of How to Set Up a TikTok Ad Campaign), it was noted that TikTok had 318 MILLION app downloads in the first quarter of 2020, a record for any social media app.

That's a hard statistic to ignore.

According to SocialMediaToday.com, TikTok has launched a new Creator Portal platform in order to provide additional guidance and tips to help creators maximize their in-app presence. (Click here to read article).

It offers six key areas of focus:

• Getting started on TikTok.
• TikTok creation essentials.
• Foundations for success.
• TikTok content strategy.
• Community guidelines and safety.
• Getting paid to create.

ARTICLE: Instagram Launches New 'Professional Dashboard' Platform to Provide Quick Guidance for Creators

Did you notice anything different with your Instagram business page? If you didn't, take a look (of course after reading this blog).

Via SocialMediaToday.com, Instagram has announced the launch of a new 'Professional Dashboard', which is essentially a management overview platform that provides basic performance insight, as well as access to relevant tools to help Instagram creators maximize and monetize their platform presence.

It's not a big change. However, it simplifies a few areas.

ARTICLE: Facebook Announces New App Login Parameters to Assist with Transition to Apple's IDFA Update

Facebook and Apple are in a battle.

According to Social Media Today, "Facebook's gone on the attack over Apple's coming changes to its Identifier for Advertisers - or IDFA - in iOS 14, which will likely make it much harder for companies to track user activity within apps, as users will be specifically prompted to approve or reject all forms of data tracking."

Read more about it from Social Media Today. 

Facebook Lead Form Ads: How to Optimize for Results

Reaching users on social media organically (meaning no financial backing) is harder and will continue to get harder. So, considering social media ads, in this case on Facebook, is a worthy thought.

Here is a video about how to get results from Facebook ads.

Plus, here is an article by Social Media Examiner: Writing Facebook Ad Copy That Converts

ARTICLE: SEO Field Guide: The Google Ranking Factors that Really Matter

Getting found on Google is crucial for any business to be successful. It's hard, but doable.

Although Google does not share exact numbers, as reported by SEOTribunal.com, Google handles 3.8 million searches per minute on average across the globe. That comes out to 228 million searches per hour, 5.6 billion searches per day, or 2 trillion searches per year! And, according to statista.com, ever since the introduction of Google Search in 1997, the worldwide market share of all search engines has been rather lopsided. Google has dominated the search engine market, maintaining an 86.86 percent market share as of July 2020.

So how do you get found?

There are number of ways. Here are a few key ones:

• Make sure you website is up to date.
• Make sure you have keywords on your website that define what your brand does or offers.
• Have a mobile-friendly website.
• Have a website with strong speed.

There are many others, but those are ones I continuously hear as THE important ones.

This blog here by Northwoods Solutions goes into deeper detail.

ARTICLE: How New-Age Social Media Marketing Is Changing and What You Need to Know

As we know, social media is a fun, but also challenging industry. It changes regularly.

Even though social media has gotten a bad rep lately, there is no denying social media is something we're addicted to. Social media still has high value and importance in any marketing strategy.

This article from business.com, showcases the importance of social media.

Did this happen to you? It did to me

On Friday night, I opened Facebook on my phone and it said I had been logged out and had to log back in. Did this happen to you?

Well, according to reports, there were plenty of people that had that happen to them.

Here is an article that sheds some light on what happened and possibly why.

NOW AVAILABLE! MY PODCAST

Now available, the Nicholas Dettmann podcast called "Dettmann Media."

With the podcast, stay up on the latest tips and trends in social media and digital marketing, as well as website analytics and design, and SEO.

Currently available on Spotify and TuneIn.

First episode is already up!

ARTICLE: TikTok Provides New Video Overview of How to Set Up a TikTok Ad Campaign

Recently, I sat in on a webinar talking about potential marketing trends for 2021.

In that presentation, a startling statistic was shown. TikTok had 318 MILLION app downloads in the first quarter of 2020, a record for any social media app.

I've said it routinely that TikTok is growing. But, what that means for business, e-commerce and marketing still remains to be seen. Regardless, TikTok is worth studying if you're looking for new ways to reach people.

In this article by Social Media Today, it talks about how to consider TikTok for potential ad revenue.

ARTICLE: From Crisis to Connection: How to Build a Social Media Crisis Management Strategy

A lot of what social media is can also be public relations and with that is resolving a PR crisis on social media.

A great example of that was the events in Minneapolis in 2020 after the death of George Floyd. What messaging should go out? What happens if users attack your brand on social media? It's a very scary place to be. And, like with anything else, having a strategy can make life easier.

Sprout Social developed this plan to help marketers tackle a PR crisis if and/or when it happens.

In my opinion, transparency is the easiest method. It may be tough at the beginning, but I've found through experience that being open and honest up front will go a long way with people.

Also, understand your audience and what your brand is about. Don't do something because you think you have to or it's what everyone else is doing. That may not be the best method or tactic for you.

ARTICLE: How to Use Hashtags On Instagram Effectively

Late in 2020, Instagram announced several platform functionality changes. You can read about those here.

One of those was allowing users to find posts with keyword search as well as on top of hashtag searches. Personally, I've had mixed success with it. The challenge is crafting the right words/content to make your posts searchable. But hashtag remain the easier way to find posts on Instagram. And it has proven to be effective, both industry wide and with my own research.

Recently, business2community.com, published an article offering tips on how to best utilize hashtags on Instagram.

INFOGRAPHIC: 11 Email Design Trends to Improve Your Email Marketing Strategy in 2021

Uplers has shared email marketing design trends for 2021 (click here).

A couple highlights:

• Bid on Bold Typography
• Embrace the Dawn of Dark Mode
• Give voice to your email with Muted Colors
• Try out the marvel of Monochrome Layout
• Spruce up your emails with Illustrated Animations

2021 Social Media posting calendar suggestions

Meltwater, a digital marketing company, has released a suggested calendar for social media posts based on national day celebrations.

National day celebrations include National Puzzle Day, National Trivia Day, National Pretzel Day and so many more. Posting on these days often lead to higher engagement and can add personalization and humor to your social channels.

Check out the suggested calendar here.

ARTICLE: Facebook's Removing the 'Our Story' Section from Pages Next Month

This is a key change to Facebook's platform, especially as marketers continue to try and reach users.

According to the article by Social Media Today (click here), " ... Facebook is prompting Page owners to shift their 'Story' description to the 'Additional Information' section instead, which will alter how that extra information is presented on your Page. The Page Story section was added back in 2017 as a means to help brands provide more background on their business 'why', in order to better connect with Page visitors."

Also, "Given the way that it's currently presented, the change does make sense, but it will mean that you need to re-assess your Facebook Page layout to align with the update."

INFOGRAPHICS: The Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2021 and Beyond

 

From Social Media Today and Oberlo: The Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2021 and Beyond

ARTICLE: Optimal Posting Practices for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in 2021

It's probably the most-asked question in social media marketing: how often and when should I post?

Unfortunately, there is not a sure-fire answer. It varies from business to business, platform to platform. My advice is to experiment. Understand what your visitors are doing on your social media. What grabs their attention? Do they react to it?

I've found that the answers to those questions vary from A to B and B to C.

But this article by SocialMediaToday outlines recommended practices for posting on social media. Again, it's not the once-for-all solution, but there is valuable information.

ARTICLE: Twitter Shares Planning Guide for Your 2021 Tweet Strategy

A carefully thought out and executed strategy is key in social media marketing. And, because of the ever-changing behaviors and trends, it's hard to hit it right every time. But we can try, right?

Recently, Twitter shared some strategy recommendations for 2021.

Here is an article by Social Media Today that helps outline those recommendations.

How to analyze your social media analytics

If you watched my webinar "How to Make Social Media Work for You" (which I highly recommend) you'd know that the analytics available on social media is very valuable. But it's also a lot of data to process. The challenge is understanding what's important, or what's important to you and your goals.

Therefore, what social media analytics are telling and what you need to know varies, again based on your goals.

Here is a good article from BConnected LLC to help as well.

ARTICLE: How to Improve Your SEO on WordPress

I've worked with several web design programs - GoDaddy, Wix, SquareSpace, Umbracco and WordPress. My least favorite is WordPress. I've only used it for a company interoffice website. But still not my preferred choice. The layout arrangements are nice, but functionality, in my opinion, can be frustrating.

But, it is an option and if it's yours, no harm.

Here is an article from Northwoods about how to improve your SEO or Search Engine Optimization if you're using WordPress. 

ARTICLE: Facebook Shares New Insights into Emerging Shopping Trends

The pandemic has greatly changed so many things hasn't it? One of them being how we shop.

Recently, Facebook offered up insights to help marketers understand those trends and which way they might be going.

Here is the article from SocialMediaToday, which includes several graphics.

ARTICLE: LinkedIn Launches 'LinkedIn Marketing Labs' to Provide Education on the Platform's Ad Tools

LinkedIn has launched a new platform that'll be a handy tool for marketers eager to use LinkedIn in advertising.

Here is the article by Social Media Today.

ARTICLE: Facebook Shares New Insights Into Emerging Trends in eCommerce and Digital Engagement

In 2021, as marketers on social and/or digital media, we're going to have to think differently. Facebook has recognized that.

In article by SocialMediaToday, in an effort to study potential shifts in social media, Facebook recently commissioned Ipsos to survey 12,500 people, ages 18–64, across 14 global markets.

Here are some of the bullet points:

• 90 percent of people say that are actively looking for ways to simplify their lives; 86 percent of those would pay for products or services that would save them time.
• What would those people do with that additional time? 65 percent say spend time with loved ones, 63 percent say get exercise.
• 82 percent say social media has allowed them to interact more and deepen their relationship with brands.

Click here for the full article, which includes an infographic of the survey's findings. 

Tips to improve conversions from your website

Creating a positive user experience on a website is a key component to a successful online marketing strategy. From that, how do you create a positive experience? Well, give the user what they're looking for.

In many cases, it's either one or two things users are looking for when visiting a website: information or to make a purchase.

So, if you're a business that sells products and/or services, lead the user right to where you want them to go. Don't frustrate them with multi-page navigation, just to help improve your bounce rate.

In other words, lead them to what's called the "landing page."

A landing page is a standalone web page, created for a marketing or advertising campaign. It’s where visitors “land” after they click on a link in an email, or ads from Google, Bing, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc., or similar places on the web.

How do you structure the landing page?

It's not complicated actually. You want to create the page based on what you want people or users to do once they're on the page.

• Say there is a product or products you're highlighting. Give all the pertinent information related to your product (cost, dimensions, function, etc.).
• If there are multiple options for your product, give them on your landing page too.
• Be sure to have a clickable call-to-action, such as "Purchase here" or "Add to Cart"

Remember. It's about the user experience. Make it convenient for them. Tell them what you want to do. Keep the user focused on what you want them to do and that is a conversion or sale.

ARTICLE: New Research Shows that 71% of Americans Now Get News Content via Social Platforms

What we learned in 2020 (among many things) was the power of social media and how quickly messages can be sent (true or false). Look at all the events we dealt with in 2020: George Floyd's death, COVID-19 pandemic, the election and so on.

Each of those events triggered massive social media usage to spread news and information (true or false).

And look what we've already had to deal with in 2021? The riot at the Capitol. Again, an event that triggered heavy social media usage. In many ways, we're still seeing it.

Social media has a power that has overtaken many of the people in the world.

According to an article by SocialMediaToday, new research shows 71 percent of Americans get their news via social media platforms, with Facebook and Twitter often being the go-to platforms. The research was done by Pew Research, which surveyed more than 9,200 Americans.

Again, social media has a power and is often criticized for how information or misinformation is spread. Thus it is still an important tool to use because data shows people still actively use it, despite a brewing lack of trust and frustration.

In other words, people are on social media. So do you.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

ARTICLE: How to Use Pinterest for Business: 8 Strategies You Need to Know

A few days ago, you may have read here on my blog about a change made by Pinterest to its platform: the launch of story pins (Click here if you missed it).

Here is an article from Hootsuite about how to use Pinterest and to help you find out if Pinterest is a viable option for you.

ARTICLE: New Report Underlines the Growth of TikTok, eCommerce, and Other Key Mobile Trends

In an earlier post, TikTok Announces New Policy Updates to Better Protect Young Users, TikTok is booming and highly popular.

A new report has been released and it details that growth.

Here are a couple takeaways from the 54-page report:

• "The average American watched 3.7 hours of live TV a day, whereas they spent 4.0 hours on their mobile device in H2 2020."
• "TikTok's average monthly time spent per user grew faster than nearly every other app analyzed, including 70% in the US and 80% in the UK - surpassing Facebook. TikTok is on track to hit 1.2 billion active users in 2021."

Check back and I'll break down the rest of the report.

Otherwise, here is the article from SocialMediaToday.

ARTICLE: TikTok Announces New Policy Updates to Better Protect Young Users

TikTok has announced several changes to its platform, specifically at the default privacy settings for its younger users.

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, seeing massive growth over a couple billion users since its launch about five years ago. The platform, which focuses heavy on video, skews toward younger users, as young as 13-15.

Click here to read the rest of the article by SocialMediaToday. 

How to put together an email marketing campaign

In addition to social media, email marketing is another way to communicate with current or potential customers of your brand. What separates email from social media is that it is a direct communication. Maintaining that communication and connect is important.

But, because we're often flooded with emails, it's very easy for users to scan through their messages and can miss your message completely.

According to KWSM Digital, a business is six times more likely to get a click through from an email than a tweet. In addition, with 3.9 billion daily users, email has the highest ROI (return on investment) of any marketing channel. And, 59 percent of respondents say marketing emails influence purchase decisions.

So how can you be successful in email marketing?

• Establish goals. What's the point of trying to get a result when you don't know what you want to achieve? THIS IS A MUST. Ultimately ask yourself: where do you want users to go on your website and what do you want them to do? Lead them there.
• Build your email list. There are a couple ways to do this. One is to import contacts from a known list. Another way is to offer incentives for those who do sign up. If you do the latter, keep it simple. Don't bore them. Examples of incentives include quality content, discounts and/or free/express shipping. Once you figure out which you want to do, let people know about it.
• Plan your campaign. Shape your campaign to your goals, whether it's offers, announcements, events, educational information, newsletters.
• Be simple with your campaign. People don't want to bombarded. Think of it as you sending a message to a friend or family member. Make the email simple, easy to read and easy to format between desktop or mobile/tablet devices. Personalize it. Address people by name.
• Measure your results. IMPORTANT. Have to measure the performance, then adjust accordingly.

VIDEO: Sample of short ad

This is a sample of an ad I created that saw good performance.

It had an audience reach of 15.2 percent, good measuring stick is 15 percent. But it had an engagement of 5%; 2% considered good.

In 2021, engagement is my number one goal because I see it as a true measuring stick to a post's effectiveness. After all, when posting to social media, we often do it to get reactions, right?

This video, I believe, worked because it was short, which means it didn't impose on people's time, but also still got the message across. In addition, it left a bit of curiosity.

I included a horizontal video and a square.

New project

Incredibly exciting news to share. NASCAR has hired me for a digital project it's working on to enhance its website! I'm on cloud 9 about this opportunity.

ARTICLE: YouTube Ads for Beginners: How to Launch & Optimize a YouTube Video Advertising Campaign

I apologize for being repetitive. But I'm really driving home the point that video is going to be key in 2021 on social media and should be absolutely considered when putting together your social media and digital media marketing strategy in 2021.

In this article from HubSpot Academy, here are tips and samples on how to adopt YouTube into your digital marketing/advertising strategy.

ARTICLE: How to boost your organic social media reach

This year is going to be challenging for a social media and/or digital marketing specialist, manager, etc. As trust fades and frustration grows amongst social media users, reaching those people will only make it more difficult. On top of that, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, are pushing for more ad spend by account administrators. That means if you don't put some money behind your posts, it's not going to have the same reach it used to.

So how do you work around that?

I came across two articles of information that I think present great and valuable information.

Want more organic reach on Facebook? Expert Mari Smith shares how she’s boosted her reach to 65%

How do I increase my business’ organic social media reach?

ARTICLE: Apple, Amazon Move to Marginalize Parler

Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. halted support for Parler, dealing a major blow to a social-media service that has soared in popularity among conservatives and escalating a campaign by tech giants to regulate content they see as dangerous in the wake of the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Read the rest of the article from the Wall Street Journal here.

Pinterest joins in, unveils Story Pins tool

As to showcase the evolution and popularity of quick-hit videos on social media, Pinterest has also joined in on the party.

To summarize, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest are among the platforms that have changed their designs to give users the option of Story Pins.

In article by techcrunch.com, Pinterest’s head of content, creator and homefeed product David Temple told reporters that Pinterest’s approach is different in a few key ways.

“Story features on other platforms are designed to show you what people are doing,” Temple said. “Story Pins are designed to show you how people are trying new ideas and new products. That means the features and intent are dramatically different.”

Pinterest is a little different as far as content. The content that drives Pinterest is people looking for "inspiration." That includes gift ideas, recipes, vacation spots, products, etc.

A Hootsuite.com blog said, "Some 84% of weekly users use Pinterest to help decide what to buy. According to Pinterest, 55% of Pinners are specifically looking for products. And 83% of weekly users have made a purchase based on content they see from brands on Pinterest."

So if you're a business that sells services and/or products, Pinterest is worth a hard look.

Here are the step-by-step screens.

This is your home screen. Along the top is where you'll see the stories. You can add to your story at the top or by tapping on the plus in the center-bottom.

When you click/tap to create a story or pin, these will be your options. If you want to create a standard pin, which is like a Facebook post, you'll click/tap "pin." If you want a story pin, click/tap on "story pin."

Then you'll get this screen. You can create up to a 60-second story pin.

This is where you can edit your story pin, such as design. Then you'll click "Next."

This will be your final screen to make finishing touches. Once completed the "publish" button will change color and you're good to go!

ARTICLE: Instagram Tests New Stories Layout on Desktop

Instagram has really stepped up over the last several months to enhance the user experience on its platform. The trust in Facebook is fading. I see many other platforms growing, Instagram being on one of them.

Changes being made by Instagram, for that reason, are worthy of paying attention to.

Here is the article.