Why Live Posting Is Essential To Your Content Strategy

After scouring the Internet for the best tactics to optimize live social posting, there was completely nothing to be found. Even social communities with an active member count of over 60,000 were left clueless when asked, “Why is live social media important to their business?” For those of you that don’t already know what live posting is or how it can benefit your business, this is a much-needed entity implemented into your marketing strategies and social campaigns.

What Is Live Posting?

Live posting primarily refers to live streaming or live feed. This is the ability to transmit or receive videos and audio coverage from an event (for example) through an Internet connection that is taking place during the current time. Live streaming of events can be found on your computer, mobile device, or even through radio with more options on the horizon with technology’s innovation creation experiencing rapid growth.

When using live posting in regards to social media, this refers to when a user posts in the present moment. Posting can be as simplistic as replying back to someone who commented on a photo you posted, possibly resulting in a (continued) conversation. Too often the conversational aspect of social interaction are forgotten, due to being so caught up in the act of posting itself, not keeping in mind who we are posting … who our viewers are.

How Does This Benefit Me?

Through the use of live posting, engagement is created and impressions increase, ultimately developing the formula for useful methods to be applied in lead generation campaigns to incur revenues.

Twitter and reddit are two of the main live social posting platforms used most often. Engagement typically spikes before, during, and after an event of some sort. For instance, Khloe Kardashian hosted a live Q&A session on Twitter to promote the new television season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Fans were blowing up Khloe’s Twitter with a multitude variety of questions. Not all questions pertained to the show, but that didn’t matter because anyone that remotely mentioned Khloe’s name online boosted not only her following, but validated keyword searches for the celebrity.

Other celebrities or technology masterminds will partake in this seemingly worthwhile practice for promotional sake or to raise awareness. For instance, Bill Gates contributed to reddit’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) forum where fellow redditors could literally ask him anything. Some people find reddit to be more valuable than Twitter concerning live streaming, but that will soon change as Meerkat (the new live video-streaming app for Twitter released earlier this year) grows.

Is There A Downside?

Not necessarily. Even though social platforms such as Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, and other social networking sites do not overly benefit from live posting, it’s not going to hurt to post live before everyone else catches on. The problem of posting live on these sites is viewers and followers are unaware of when you are actually posting live, meaning they can’t really tell the difference between a live post, a post that is 3 hours old, or a post that was scheduled days before actually going live.

The differentiation difficulty between posts that are live and those that are not make it seem as though a high frequency of posts are simply spam or a plead for another follower to boost personal social fame. Users must devise a way for their social posts to be seen as actual live posts that are relevant and interesting, not a massive, in the moment, blast of spam.

Event-wise, there is no going wrong with live streaming. When hosting events and incorporating live streaming feeds of videos, audio, and photos, you can create a community of people with shared interests, located in the same place (an online community or website), all at one time. This is a great opportunity for a business to leverage and influence consumers, in addition to the added frequently overlooked benefit for data information retention and virtual focus groups.

The Bottom Line

This untapped market will move neighborhoods online in the near future. Don’t underestimate the significance influence of talking to people in the moment. Acknowledge what live posting can generate and lend insight to. Live posting creates a culture of people that gathers together. Being unified is a vitally important and powerful movement.   

Society Fooled By Adobe's Photoshop

Society stresses the over-use of Photoshop, a photo-editing program by Adobe, on public figures, claiming the program blurs the line of what is real and what is fake.

Photos streaming the Internet community make headlines every time a celebrity’s unedited photos get leaked. Companies release campaigns that get bashed by the public for being ‘too Photoshopped’. The truly blurred lines between Photoshop and reality debuts from misguided truths of what is actually touched-up and what is not.

Photoshop is a post-production tool used to correct minor flaws and not for sole creation alone. Advertisements displayed across the inner beginning pages of Vogue Magazine are seen as flawless, making the viewer questions its authenticity. In March of 2013, L’Oreal “permanently discontinued” a set of mascara campaign advertisements due to claims of excessive Photoshop. But what goes into that L’Oreal headshot alone?

To start an advertising campaign, the company selects a model or celebrity to represent the brand or product. Usually the model already has close to flawless skin. Liquid makeup is placed on the models skin for an overall smooth base of foundation. Then a professional makeup artist applies high-quality makeup exclusive to specialists in the industry. After all of this is said and done, the photo shoot takes place and the photographer will then retouch the images to remove flyaway strands of hair, control light (if need be), and other small errors that would take the reader’s eye away from the brand or product.

The public is overly misled by how Photoshop works, what its purpose is, and who uses Photoshop. When it is even being used the statement, “it’s too Photoshopped,” has become a regularly occurrence. The photo shoot was probably a full-day production, with numerous salaries at work and endless light changes.

This year marks Photoshop’s 25^th birthday with the Alex Amado, Adobe’s senior director of creative and media, claiming “a huge milestone” for the photo-editing software program.

"It's the tool we put out into the world that's had the broadest impact," Amado said. "It's used in the design process of pretty much everything we see and touch these days—every ad you've reviewed, all the photography in every publication, everything from logos on T-shirts to billboards, industrial design and the movies."

So before making the claim “it’s too Photoshopped”, think about all the professionals involved in one single shot.

Tumblr The New Social Media Platform

For years, Tumblr has been the social media outlet for photo-interested college students and creative users. With call-to-action pieces being implemented in blog posts, along with other web-based content, Fortune 500 companies are taking advantage of this social medium.

Tumblr is just now being tapped into as social media specialists are looking for new ways to differentiate their company’s audience, especially as Generation Y and the Millennials take over where their company’s posts are being displayed.

Tip: Since Generation Y and the Millennials evolve as social media does, let them take the reigns and see how your company progresses. Take a chance to come out ahead.

Here are some benefits to Tumblr and why the big guys are reaping the benefits of this less unexploited social site:

Blogging alternative:

Not every company operates a written blog, even though they should. Sometimes, people are too busy to write or are not comfortable with their public voice, so they prefer a photo blog instead! Since Tumblr is photo-based, companies manage their image and increase impressions by posting detailed, interesting, or beautifully designed images instead. Your consumers will retain the same message without having to read a description, and a photo always lasts longer in a person’s mind anyways.

Tags are still tags, no matter where they originate

Tumblr uses the same basics to connect as all other social sites. You can still tag, which shows up in Google search results. This is the primary component to finding other’s blogs to follow and directly why users are able to discover one another. Pay attention to tags that are trending and used most often.

Operations are a-go Captain

Each user can follow, like, tag and post, as well as install tools to make operating the site easy. The trick to being “popular” on social media sites in interaction! Follow people you have not yet discovered, reply to posts you favor, and post often to boost your traffic. You can also view and monitor traffic via Google Analytics!

"Tumblr is one of the most visually appealing and user-friendly platforms out there, so it was an effective way to build our community online," says Lucy McIntyre, VP Communications at Andre Balazs Properties. McIntyre also helped to set up a Tumblr account for The Standard Hotel, who’s blog is packed with content from guest bloggers, downloadable music, and product pictures, reports Mashable.

Try something different to stand out. Worst-case scenario, your name appears more frequently in Google search results!