RebelMouse: A Revolutionary Way of Storytelling

RebelMouse: A Revolutionary Way of Storytelling

What happens when Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Youtube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumbler, Instagram, Flicker and even your blog and RSS feeds – all gets rolled into one? What you get is a social network of social networks. Before you could wish such a platform really existed, someone already thought of creating it for you.

RebelMouse, touted as the social media front page, is one such platform that lets you curate content from all your social media accounts into one page in a single, sleek and smart layout. Many liken it to Pinterest in appearance. I, however, identified it more with Mashable. It, indeed, is more like one\’s own news portal, where one gather news and updates from all sources and offers it in a customized package, just like an online publisher.

It is no surprise then that the founder of this platform hails from a publishing house. That too, of no mean stature but from somewhere as tall as Huffington Post. Paul Berry, before he created RebelMouse, was the CTO of the very publication.

Let’s now jump into what’s in store in this new play tool. This is how Arianna Huffington’s social front page looks like:

Ariana

Ariana Arianna Huffington’s Social Front Page

Arianna chose to have only her twitter posts shown on the platform and has provided a short description of herself on her page.

The posts on the pages can be dragged and dropped in order to display them as you like. You have the option of choosing which post to highlight on your page or freeze a post on the wall for as long as you want. You can even post content to all your social media accounts you have chosen to add, directly from this platform. You can also share the page on you SM accounts.

Here’s another example of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) page, which looks entirely different:

WWE WWE Page Theme

WWE has included Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to its content sources. The platform allows you to choose different themes and layouts to suit your preferences.

You can decorate your page as you fancy with a header image and a logo or avatar. Here comes my moment in the sun ;)..

Mine What can I say!

Embedding your RebelMouse page to your site or blog page is also allowed. In fact, you have the choice of picking different embed themes to suit the background of the sites where you choose to embed. There are many other customizable options for embedding as shown below:

Embed Embed Options

You can add upto 25 pages of your choice on the RebelMouse platform. The content that you want to display on each of these pages can be entirely of your choosing, with enormous flexibility on content sources, filtering, and languages and so on.

You can filter posts based on #hashtags, twitter @handles, twitter lists and timelines and so on. You can have posts with media or without media, with link or without link, with a certain keyword or without it. The choices offered are plenty. The best part it is that all these gathered content doesn’t have to be published instantly. You can opt to direct them to your draft page first and then pick only the ones you want to go public with.

Filters Filtering your content to choose what appears

Coming to one of the most important areas of discussion, without which no modern day marketer would lend you an ear even if you bring rocket science to social media. Yes, it is the currency called metrics. Here’s all the stats this platform provides for each of your posts in a nice tabled format.

Stats Stat Parameters

It also tells you how many views you received for your social front page when it exceeds more than 15 in number. I beg apology for not being able to reproduce the table here, as I personally suck at twitter. Yes, I finally had to make the confession.

You can directly post a blog from the platform, add media to your existing posts, embed individual posts, edit them, remove them or even share them on some other SM channel. If you are browsing the web and find something interesting, you can directly post it to the RebelMouse page from your browser through this browser button that you just need to drag and drop from the platform.

Browser Browser Button

Sometimes your post needs that little Midas Touch in the form of an influencer who happen to repost your content and the very action causes it to go viral. RebelMouse orchestrates this process a little by allowing an interesting feature called \’Shout Outs\’. Shout Outs sends a notification to the person or entity or celebrity who is mentioned in the post.

If you intend to use your social front page as a publication then having a RebelMouse url certainly won\’t do. Therefore, the platform lets you have your own custom url. All you need to do is set it up on the platform and anyone can access your page by typing your custom url on their web browsers. Here’s an example – www.lererventures.com. What is more, you can send your pages as mailers with mailchimp integration. This and some more features are available only on upgrade. Some, that are still free, may also cost you in the future, such as filtering.

RebelMouse makes your content come alive in a dynamic, navigable and aesthetically designed format. It offers tremendous flexibility and customization of your content, even, allowing improvisations on your historical social media post. It offers a refreshing new look of your social media activities in a one stop destination. How can brands benefit from it? Let’s take a dive on that here:

Publishing: Different social media platforms have their own set of audience and unique story telling formats. Brands can take advantage of this platform to publish a wide variety of content spread across their social media properties and more, ensuring no content goes unnoticed by their audience. They can also promote this page back on their social media channels to gain more views. Swatch is surely keeping up with the times by doing so.

Periodic Mailer: While your brand pages may have a swell of followers but not everybody is active all the time. It is possible that you may miss engaging with many of your target audience who were just not present at the right time. Sending a periodic mailer with all your aggregated social content can help you tap into those who missed you on one or more of your channels.

Curating Content: RebelMouse does not limit content aggregation and curation just from your SM channels, it also allows you to share from different sources on the web. With pages on different topics, the platform lets you organize and share useful information with different target groups. Ogilvy Digital is making it click this way. If you are a brand with multiple products that spans across industries, you can take advantage of this platform to tailor content according to your specific audience.

Store Front: It may compete with Pinterest on this account, nonetheless, its visual aspects make it ideal for promoting your products on this platform. The funny part is, you can even use your Pinterest posts to do so here. See how Keep.com is cashing on it with style.

Your Take: Let us hear some of your ideas on how you would use it for your brand.

PS: If dropping names does the trick for you then Matt Cutts, Ashton Kutcher and Mashable – all have lapped it up.

Book your Radarr demo today!

RebelMouse: A Revolutionary Way of Storytelling

Analyzing Twitter Activity with Twitonomy

Twitter is a favorite with brands. It is almost always a complimentary companion when it’s not one’s primary social media Weapon of Mass Communication (WMD…err C). After all, you want to remind people on Twitter that you have posted something on Facebook or LinkedIn or Youtube or Pinterest and they should go check it out. Yet, strangely enough, Twitter’s analytics front has been rather fuzzy. Until recently, Twitter did not have analytics metrics of its own. At least, not a much publicized one. The others have only done a half-baked job of it so far. While, the brands have been tweeting away to glory, they never could tell how their tweets would fare in the big bad world of SMM. So far, they could simply spew the content out incessantly, wishing them good luck as they go. Recently, an elegant analytics tool has caught the attention of who’s who of SMM.  And finally, the better half of twitter has made her appearance. The name is Twitonomy. Apart from letting you track all the basics like mentions, retweets, favorites, hashtags and so on, it does much much more. As the zeitgeist goes – social is visual, I am going to give you a visual tour of this smart new kid on the block: Nike12 With Twitonomy you can track almost anything or anybody on Twitter and not necessarily your own brand. Now, what could be more fantastic for a Social Media Marketer? There is so much to learn from others. So I chose to pick the sports brand Nike for my own little experiment. The tool comes in both free and paid versions and I am using the free one here. You can track any number of keyword, twitter handle or hashtag and pin it to your Twitonomy dashboard. I added the Nike twitter handle @Nike and the keyword ‘adidas ‘. So here is how it looks: Nike13 When you want to analyze a profile in more details you simply go to the profile menu and type out the handle in the text box at the top right corner: Nike12a In a moment’s time it provides you with the most recent snapshot of the subject’s health in the social circuit. Here’s how: Nike1 A neat layout of the Twitter activity and engagement. Nike2 Nike3 The easy on the eye graphs and pie charts give you instant overview of the vital statistics of your Twitter activity as well your engagement with other users and your most favored hashtags. Nike4 With its easily navigable representation, you can find out which of your contents are most popular and which are the peak hours during a day and peak days during a week that people devote to your brand. It also gives you an insight about  the top platforms  people use to consume your news. Nike5 Again, a pleasant overview of things you liked most and the lists that follow you on Twitter. The tool allows you to back up all these reports, tweets, retweets and mentions into excel/pdf for easy reference or for a presentation at a later time. These come at a cost, though. Your mentions and retweets can easily be monitored through visual representations and you can even find your key influencers using this tool. An absolutely interesting feature is that you can visualize your mentions across geographies through this dynamic map: Nike6 Nike7 Nike8 The follower and following lists give you a glimpse into their own statistics and standing on this social network platform. Nike9 Nike10 If you want a more detailed insight into your followers and following, you may do so under the dedicated menus on the tool platform. You can also search or browse any hashtag, keyword or user through the search tool, though, this feature is not available in the free version. Twitonomy lets you manage your Twitter lists better than the original platform. Browsing and sorting them is as smooth as breeze on it. Overall, the tool platform takes the cake with its practical design, lucid representation and usability. A few things that I found lacking are the demographical data of one’s followers. It would have added more value, if one could segment one’s audience based on profile and content consumption pattern. Twitter’s own analytics provides some limited insight on that front. So, perhaps, combining the two would result in a more effective analysis of Twitter performance for a brand. All in all, you finally have a Twitter report card that justifies your presence on Twitter.

How We’d Use Twitonomy:

That’s the golden question isn’t it. What can and cannot you do with this tool, and how do you make it work for you the best possible?
  • Analyze Competitors. Duh. This is the first thing we do. Compare trends between our competitors and us. See what we’re doing differently, and if they’re doing something differently that’s working well for them – well then we should be doing it too!
  • Track Weekly Metrics. Take a look at the retweets, mentions, favs, hashtags and links that we used over the course of a week and compare it to the previous week. In the event one week worked better than the other – dive into the nitty-gritty of it all and figure out why. After all, there’s all the data you need.
  • User Metrics. Are there particular users we’re replying to or mentioning the most? They must be doing something right – and therefore deserve to be awarded a little. Give them a free trial of our service, product or a subscription to what we’re offering.
  • Tweet Metrics. In the event a particular tweet got faved/RT’d the most – perhaps tweet it again in the neat future, and structure future tweets in a similar manner or in a similar way. Talk about that topic a little more perhaps.
  • Scheduling. This is an important one. Since Twitonomy gives so much information about what time of the day your followers are the most active or which day of the week they’re most active in – schedule the most important tweets to go out at that particular time.
How would you use Twitonomy? Complete guide to Instagram social listening and Tik Tok social listening. Book your Radarr demo today!
The Best Time to Post on Social Media [Or Not]

The Best Time to Post on Social Media [Or Not]

It is a widely held view that content is the cornerstone of all your social media strategy. True, but it is equally important to know what is the best time to post on social media. When your audience is most likely to consume that content is as crucial.

You may have a stellar fan base on your social media pages but unless you maximize your reach, your efforts will go in vain. So, what is the best time for posting your content on social media? Fortunately, we now have a number of researches available on the web that tell us what the most active hours are for social natives. Here is an interesting infographic on the topic:

 Best Times to post across platforms

As you can tell from the above infographic, LinkedIn and Google+ reign the mornings, Twitter and Facebook take over the afternoons and Pinterest and Tumbler are evening and night time favorites. The trends make sense as it is expected that professionals would normally want to know the market buzz before or as their day starts and rush to LinkedIn and Google+ for it.

Twitter and Facebook are for conversation and entertainment, so, they naturally scoop up the time when people want to take some time off work and relax a bit. Leisure time is devoted to surfing through interesting stuff on Pinterest and Tumbler. The most active days of the week are in the middle for most of the platforms except Pinterest and Tumbler which again goes to show their association with leisure activities.

All this is great but generalizing everything in this manner may prove to be more detrimental than useful for your brand. Many factors need to be taken into consideration. As is evident from the infographic, every platform serves a different purpose and has diverse set of audiences. Sometimes certain events override these general rules and draw people to social media as they unfold.  Holidays and important incidents that capture public attention are some such events. After all, your ultimate goal is to boost engagement, create advocates and achieve amplification of your content by taking advantage of every opportunity presented. Based on these goals, here are a few things you should keep in mind:

Do Your Own Analysis

While you are following these external guidelines on best times, analyze whether these tactics are working for you too. Are you creating more engagement, amplification, click throughs at these times or your audience behaves differently? Experiment with other times, sometimes avoiding the clutter at peak hours may prove beneficial to you and you may enjoy undivided attention. Facebook provides you with a metric to inform you about the peak hours of your audience. Use third party tools to find out the peak time of your audience in each of your social media platforms.

Analyze Your Audience

This is the most basic element for any communication plan. Is your audience a professional set, school kids, house wives, teens or working women? A lot depends on that, as this article from Huffington post suggests that professional are likely to check their Twitter on their mobiles during commute times. So, the devices your audience is likely to use for accessing social media also alters their content consumption behavior. By carefully studying your audience and their behavior, you will achieve better results rather than following a general rule blindly.

Schedule Your Posts

Every social platform has a different peak time, so, you must have a distinct posting schedule for individual platforms. Mobile is a fast growing medium for accessing social media for consumers. It is equally handy tool for marketers as well. You may want to make use of your mobile both to set alarms for posting according to your schedule and actually posting your content from it.

Repost If Required

Often, we marketers take advantage of a trending topic or post content on live events. These may not necessarily fall within the peak time of a particular social media platform. In such cases, you may want to repost the content at a more receptive time for your audience.

In conclusion, I offer that every brand is unique in its appeal and social media marketers need to customize the intelligence gathered to come out with their most effective strategy.

Book your Radarr demo today!

What Made 2013 Pinterest-ing – Let’s Take a Look!

What Made 2013 Pinterest-ing – Let’s Take a Look!

That Pinterest is sparking curiosity and interest is something I have already talked about in my blog earlier. A recent study by Pew Research Centre on Social Media has just given a further proof of that fact. The study reveals that 21% of US adults used Pinterest in 2013 as compared 15% the year before. It has replaced Twitter to perch on the third spot as the most preferred social media platforms in the US. It also beat Twitter on users who solely use a single social media platform.

 

Pinterest clinches third spot as the most preferred social media platform in US

Though the study supported the obvious assumption that women still dominate the user base compared to men. With women being the most powerful brand ambassadors in the world, that ain’t a bad thing, really. However, if you nourish any doubts about Pinterest’s appeal remaining confined to women, you better think again.

Pinterest published a recent blog reviewing top pins in various categories from the year gone by. It throws up a few surprises if you were expecting only food recipes, cat photos and weddings on the list. While they do feature, the categories that stood out in 2013 were Technology, Cars and Motorcycles and History. Be it the latest in 3D printers or motions sensors, the dazzling new Chevy Corvette or archived photos of valiant and fearless men and women from history, they all made an appearance. Given that the list included most re-pinned items in each category, with Pinterest’s heavily women tilted audience, these appearances surely speak of future possibilities.

Among other notable members on the list were Travel, Women and Men’s Fashion and Education. While travel and fashion fit naturally to the visual-centric nature of the site, it was interesting to see how even categories like Education capitalized on the virtues of this visual discovery network. Based on these observations from 2013, there are some cues brands can take to make it to this year’s top pin list. Let us have a look what they are:

Normal is boring – Do the unusual

Yes, that phrase is old now, but it still hasn’t lost its charm. That’s what the ‘mismatched bridesmaid’ and ‘grandmothers as flower girls’ tell us. So, add a new trick to the old game, introduce something unusual to the regular rituals of your business. And, when you are doing it, make sure you’re pinning it.

Share some useful tips

People are always looking for solutions to the endless problems of their everyday life. Every business offer some kind of solution for their customers too. So, while you are selling you product or service, give them some useful tips relevant to that particular area. Brain breaks, parent involvement and treadmill plans are doing it on their way to success!

Have implemented an innovative idea, pin it!

You are in the business of creating innovative things or perhaps supplies that create them? Well, letting out your trade secret is never a good idea but, surely, there are ways you can use some of it for publicity. For example, if you are constantly experimenting with new recipes in your restaurant, you could probably agree to share one or two with your present and prospective customers. Going by Taco cupcakes, pallet walls and creative writing prompts, it seems, this idea has a viral effect.

Have glamour, show off!

The fashion, travel, and décor business is full of glitz and glamour. This explains the popularity of Pinterest among women. The platforms creates a world of beautiful, glamorous, and aspirational images, almost like a fantasy land. So, if you have anything to do with fashion, travel or décor, you cannot afford not to be on Pinterest. Show off all you have, for the site celebrates beauty. Some of the most pinned selections in 2013 come from these categories.

Book your Radarr demo today!

Google Plus – the dark horse emerges from anonymity

Google Plus – the dark horse emerges from anonymity

While all of us were training our resources on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – Google Plus was making a sly and steady ascent to the top. Recently, the dark horse made to it to the second spot right next to Facebook in terms of active users. Twitter, toppled, tumbled to the third.

Many of us dismissed Google Plus as a social network. It was thought that no sentient being treads that ground. The point we all missed is that Google is omnipresent. Clearly, we were way off the mark with that assumption. The above fact dispels that notion.

The moot point, then, is whether it’s time for brands to focus on Google Plus. The answer is a resounding ‘YES’. The few points explained below will bolster that assertion:

A Big Help for SEO

SEO, it’s the magic word that makes every marketer sit up. Google is massively invested in verifying authenticity of your content. So, with all the Google properties – Youtube, email, Google document sharing, hangout, maps, blog, listing in business pages and the myriad apps – when your customers are engaging with you on Google Plus, your SEO rankings are sure to go up significantly. Notably, a recent report announced Facebook ‘likes’ don’t contribute to Google search rankings.

Combines Features of Different Platforms

Google Plus has managed to encompass all the best features of different social media platforms we use for different purposes. So, it has the Twitter hashtags. It has the LinkedIn Communities. It has Youtube’s live streaming with Hangout on Air. It also has the Facebook ‘likes’ in +1s as well as Business Pages in line with FB Brand Pages and many, many more features. Even Pinterest and Tumblr will have a tough time competing with it.

Pays to be Early

It pays to be early on Google Plus, when there is less clutter of other brands in that space. It is all over the news that Facebook engagement is declining. Moreover, it now costs more in Facebook to cut through the noise. Google Plus is still free. The Millennials are rumored to be embracing Google Plus more. It won’t be far when Google Plus is a formidable force in Social media. Isn’t it a great scenario to be present already where your fans are joining it by hordes? They wouldn’t be distracted by your competitors while waiting for you to sprout-up out there.

A Natural Extension of the Mail Service

Google Plus is a natural extension of the mail service. With every new account, a Google Plus profile is automatically created. If one is using more than a few Google services, they are more likely to have a Google Plus profile. What is exciting is that, it is seamlessly integrated in the mail. So, when you are involved in mail exchanges with somebody, his/her Google Plus activity is displayed on the side, within the mail. This means, all the social media averse blokes and ‘blokettes’, who managed to stay away till now, will now be assimilated in this platform. Do I hear more reach?

Real Communities

Google Plus communities are designed to encourage real interactions. So, even as a business page you can join a community, participate in discussions, hangout, create an event, collaborate and so on. The best part is that they appear in Google searches. What could be more compelling?

Those Circle Things

The concept of circles makes it easy for you to segment your audience according to your preference and tailor communication accordingly. So, be it gender, age, locality and so on – it makes perfect sense for brands and a great remedy for reaching the right audience.

Post Activity Tracker

The post activity tracker had me give in to the promising appeal of this platform. Its elegant flip design lets you track the performance of each post just by clicking the option on top right drop down menu. The post flips to give you the details of the post engagement. It is so cool, it makes me play with it!

As the year progresses, Google will surely add many more features to Google Plus and make it impossible to resist. The reason to be there are already compelling enough. I am sure, there are so many aspects to this platform that I left uncovered. I welcome your comments on what according to you makes a case for Google Plus to be at the center of a brand’s social media strategy.

And since everyone loves infographics, here’s one about Facebook vs Google.

Book your Radarr demo today!