Blog

Instagram is NOT Dying

Over the past year, it has become trendy to declare the death of Instagram. (1)(2)(3)(4)

A lot of this negativity has been due to the rapid rise of TikTok and the huge reach that platform affords new users.

It is true that the rise and reach of TikTok is impressive, but Instagram isn’t going anywhere.

The people running Instagram are too responsive to let the app fall into irrelevancy. They are constantly tinkering with the app. Instagram will go so far as to outright stealing popular functions from other apps (Reels to match TikTok or stealing 24hour disappearing stories from Snapchat). They continue creating new interfaces that meet audience demands.

It’s up to us as marketers to be equally responsive and use the new features and interfaces Instagram is promoting, to continue to get value from the platform.

Don’t let the pronouncements of doom allow you to let your Instagram efforts lag. Stay consistent, adjust when necessary and employ new features as they become available.

One day, eventually, Instagram will fall into irrelevancy. But that day is a long way off.

Connect with me on LinkedIn! I post regular video updates, where I share marketing tips and insights and more.

Follow MacLaine Marketing on TikTok

TikTok has permanently altered the social media landscape.

Mobile-first video is here to stay. Scrolling through and watching short, entertaining or informative videos, shot in portrait mode on a smartphone, is now the most popular form of content on social media.

Politicians, celebrities, CEOs, entrepreneurs and marketers are all creating mobile-first video, which was pioneered by TikTok.

Today you’ll find TikTok clones on Instagram (Reels) and YouTube (Shorts). It’s also not uncommon to see a TikTok video uploaded directly into your LinkedIn or Twitter feed.

The MacLaine Marketing TikTok account has been active since February 2021. Initially started as a place to simply save and share LinkedIn story updates, it became immediately apparent that the reach on TikTok far outpaced what is typical on LinkedIn. Regular updates are now posted to the feed.

Follow for digital marketing talk and tips! Click here to follow.

@maclainemrktg

#contentcreator #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing #marketingtips

♬ original sound – MacLaine Marketing

Post to Social Media at Unconventional Times During Lockdowns

A quick lockdown tip for you: Post to your social media feeds at unusual times!

A lot of us marketers worry about when is the best time to post on our social media channels. Is it at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. for the beginning of day? Should we post during the lunch hour? Did we remember to post something near the end of the working nine-to-five day?

With lockdowns dragging on, all the old rules are out the window.

There are lots of night owls who are now able to stay up much later than they normally would during this period of extended lockdowns and normalized working from home.

Night owls like to stay up late and they’re online, so this lockdown period presents you with an opportunity to reach people who are browsing the web late into the evening.

Consider posting late at night (9 p.m., 10 p.m., or 11 p.m.). Who cares if people think it’s a bit unusual? We are living in unusual times!

Connect with me on LinkedIn! I post regular video updates, where I share marketing tips and insights and more.

The Growing Importance of LinkedIn Company Pages

Let’s talk about the growing importance of LinkedIn Company Pages and why you might want to spend some time creating and developing some content for your LinkedIn page.

Let’s start by reviewing some stats:

As the pandemic drags on and people continue to work from home or simply search for work from home, many are spending more time online. It’s a good bet that you’re if you’re at home and you’re in “work mode,” you may very well have a tab on your browser open the LinkedIn homepage. It’s the online space people are flocking to right now to keep in touch with their co-workers and to keep tabs with what’s going on in their industry.

Another reason to invest a little more time and effort into your LinkedIn company page is that you might not be seeing quite the same ROI on other platforms as in years past. Many of us have noticed that Facebook Pages don’t give the same level of ROI that they did years ago. Meanwhile, Instagram is undergoing a lot of changes to its layout that is upsetting a large segment of users. We will have to wait and see if this new layout will impact engagement levels and if it helps or hinders marketing efforts on the platform.

You can turn to LinkedIn Company Pages to make up some of the lost ground you’re seeing on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and even Twitter.

Start thinking about posting more regularly to your LinkedIn company page. In the next blog post, we will offer up a few suggestions for the types of content that perform well on the platform.

Connect with me on LinkedIn! I post regular video updates, where I share marketing tips and insights and more.

Three Tips For Managing Bilingual Social Media Accounts [EN/FR]

Today I want to share some tips on managing bilingual social media accounts specifically those that operate in English and French. I’m bilingual (EN/FR), however my written French is not what it once was. I use these strategies to avoid making spelling and grammatical errors en français.

Use the translation website Deepl, not Google Translate. Google Translate is probably the most famous one but it’s not the best one. Deepl is far better, especially when you’re going between English and French. Deepl is a German company that works to break down language barriers. Their translation service is second to none and it really is a lot better than what Google has to offer.

Use very simple sentences as much as possible. Avoid turns of phrase and resist the urge to employ expressions. These are the kinds of things that can trip up a translator, no matter how smart it’s A.I is.

Make sure that you have a French language keyboard activated on your smartphone. Keyboards on smartphones come with A.I that predicts what you’re about to type. This is really helpful for avoiding spelling mistakes and basic grammatical errors. The keyboard’s A.I, will do the work for you. All you have to do is think of the first couple of letters and you’ll be prompted with suggestions that help you type it out correctly.

Connect with me on LinkedIn! I post regular video updates, where I share marketing tips and insights and more.