In the ever changing world of social media, websites are constantly trying to reinvent themselves to remain relevant. There is no better example of this than what Twitter managed to achieve on September 15th, 2015. On this day, Twitter made an ambitious move and partnered with Square, a mobile payment system, to cater to the Presidential candidates and their campaigns.
What this partnership between Twitter and Square allows supporters to do is to instantaneously donate money as to their preferred candidate. This is groundbreaking in the sense that anyone with a smartphone can make contributions anytime, anywhere. Its simple. All you have to do is open a Twitter account and click on the Square tab in the Twitter app. Once inside, you choose the preferred political party and finally your preferred candidate. Supports have the option of donating anything from $5 - $200 by linking their debit card account to Square in the Twitter app. Before Square and Twitter teamed up, supporters only had 2 options for sending donations: by mail or by logging onto a specific candidates webpage at home. Yes, you may think that logging into a candidates website and donating would be considered the same thing, but the mobility Twitter offers is clearly the fastest and most efficient way to go.
In this modern era where instant gratification is a must, Twitter offers everything you may need to keep up to date with the Presidential race in the palm of your hand. I think that Twitter hit the jackpot with this deal. This ensures that Twitter will be in the thick of this Presidential race and many others to follow. To think that just a few months ago Twitter was said to be losing interest and becoming just another forgotten social media outlet is a big testament to their resilience to stay relevant in todays ever-changing media platforms.
With a potential of reaching $327 billion by 2020, the Islamic fashion industry is on the rise at a rapid pace. According to a report by Thomas Reuters and Dinar Standard, a Muslim market research found that 1.6 billion Muslim consumers spent $266 billion on clothes in 2013. This number is only expected to grow, with the projection to spend $484 billion by 2019.
H&M's new fall collection features a young Muslim girl sporting a white checkered hijab who unveiled the brand's latest collection. Twitter posts reacted to their campaign in admiration and praise, with comments like:
"how rare it is to see a hijab featured in an actual collection? Like wow. Always knew I love H&M."
Another post read:
"So @HM knows how it should be! #Marketing at is its best."
For a culture that is not very Western-centric, the fashion industry is becoming more accepting to this kind of couture that steps outside its comfort zone. Twenty-three-year-old Mariah Idriss, H&M's featured
model, never expected the campaign to go viral. She does believe that it is an important step in incorporating Muslim women's styles in today's global fashion individuality.
Social media provides a platform that allows one to adapt its marketing strategy to connect with increasingly diverse cultures. According to some fashion advertising market analysts, this kind of marketing initiates conversations on cultural inclusion and acceptance while making business sense. Alia Khan, chairperson of the Islamic Fashion and Design Council, said:
"It wouldn't be very wise of retailers to not be inclusive anymore. This is a very legitimate and strong market and they need to acknowledge, cater and satisfy it."
Muslim women are even increasing their presence on Instagram by showing off their chic, modest style. Islam dictates that both men and women should dress in clothing that is not revealing or immodest. These women are obliging to their culture but showing off their individuality to the world. An Instagram account called HijabFashion has 1.3 million followers and growing, posting hijab style photos from around Instagram.
H&M is not only embracing Muslim culture. The fashion giant uploaded a number of pictures on its Facebook page to comemmerate all kinds of diversity, despite age or gender. Its newest campaign also aims to encourage conserving materials by showcasing recycled old clothes.
Although there are a number of social platforms where people can express their opinions, thoughts, and themselves, many prefer to use a personal blog. Here a few reasons why people choose blogging over other forms of social media.
Awareness. Many blogs focus on one issue and the main goal is to persuade others to think in a certain direction. These blogs are usually created by bloggers that want to make a difference in some way in their society or in the world. It helps to connect and join them with others who feel as passionate as they do about the issue and transitions to something big.
Creativity. Blogging is one of the best ways to express your creative side. You do not have to worry about people criticizing your work on other social platforms where they might not be accepted. On your own blog, you can attract readers that like your creativity and won't judge or make you feel shy about it.
Money. It might seem far-fetched, but you can't definitely make big bucks from blogging. Bloggers advertise and come up with cool ideas that can help generate some money towards them. All it takes a little patience and creativity as stated before.
Promotion. Blogs are an excellent way to market and promote yourself and your work. Your blog is all about YOU! You can show your skills and knowledge of what ever you're interested in and make your online presence known.
Expression. This relates to promotion slightly where you write about what you're interested in. The slight twist that bloggers love is that no one can censor them. They can talk about any and everything whether PG or not. They do not have to worry about it getting reported because their viewers have the same point of view. Bloggers take out their frustration, sadness, anger, and even express their happiness through their blogs. Your blog is a safe place to write your feelings.
Growth. Bloggers love that they can document themselves on their blogs. It's a great way to see how they have progressed and how they can improve the future. They love looking back on how they have grown over time; how there blogs have become lengthier or when they started to reveal more about themselves. It helps them learn more about themselves and appreciate how far they have come.
Produce. By focusing on your own blog it gives you the opportunity to produce more content. You don't have to worry about the irrelevant posts on Instagram or Twitter distracting you from your craft. Bloggers get to improve their content, come up with fresh ideas, and attract more readers.
Heidi Klum is one of the most influential celebrities when it comes to fashion. She started her career in the age of 18 and made it to the top. Now she has become a big success and her twitter account proves so.
Gigi Hadid has recently become one of the top fashion models and a great influence for young girls. To stay updated with fashion news it is worth to follow Gigi on twitter.
Fashion blogger, globetrotter, lifestyle and meanwhile fashion designer. This is Sincerely Jules, a young girl from California with a great influence on the internet. With more than a million followers on twitter or instagram, she includes her followers on her regular journeys.
It seems like every time you go on Snapchat now, their seems to be a new Discover roster. This is because the new media platform sensation draws a crowd of big media companies everyday so they can promote their specific company. Snapchat is used by millions of people daily to take pictures and videos and companies are starting to want in on this action to.
Now you possibly might be wondering what is a discover roster? Snapchat had created a discover roster for different networks and companies. It's almost like a T.V guide. It has a bunch of different channels for you to check out and even get to know the publisher or company that is promoting their channel. On the selective channel you may chose to browse or view, it will distribute different pictures and videos to any audience that may seem interested. On the other hand, the discovery roster channel is a great way to publish and sell Ads against other channels.
According to agency execs, Snapchat is only allowing publishers to sell five sponsorship takeovers of their Discover channels per month. These takeovers include a brand mention on a channel. However, it is not cheap by any means to publish an Ad channel on the discover roster.
Agency execs stated, "a standard Discover campaign can cost anywhere from $50,0000 to $200,000 per day, though prices can vary because each publisher can set its own price." Snapchat's head of content Nick Bell, thinks that it is a pretty simple process for the product. (adage)
"It's a really, really simple product. It's a 10 second ad, two cents per view to reach a really engaged audience" Bell Stated. (adage)
That seems like a huge amount of money for just a 10 second Ad right? The answer is of course yes, but because of the amount of viewers the channel may receive each day, it can pay it off. To add to that, the publisher of that channel may make the cost a bit higher even because of how many views the account had received.
Since January, when the discover roster was introduced to Snapchat, Ad sales have become a much bigger part of the conversation in the media, a media executive says. Before the discover roster was created, not many people really talked or cared about sales. However, because of the big impact the channles have had for companies advertisements they put out, sales is a big topic now. "They didn't talk about sales. Now they're asking: 'How many sales people do you have? Where are they?'" a media executive stated. (LAtimes)
Everyday Snapchat is now becoming bigger and bigger. Some executives and companies had never even heard of Snapchat before, till the discover roster channel was made. People than realized that this platform is pretty neat and it can be very useful for ones specific company, or just to even have some fun with and show your friends or colleagues any type of photo or video. Media companies are on the rise to get their Ads on the discover channel, because of the success that other companies have had so far and the money that they have made.
You get up to 10 seconds to show and to prove to people that your company illustrates Ads that will attract consumers. That may not be a lot of time to show what you have to offer, but if you think it can bring in revenue for your company and it can catch peoples eye, than it will be 10 seconds that you will make worth the while. The Discover Channel on Snapchat will continue to be a hot commodity. Who knows what the Discover Channel may add to the app next?
Sometimes the fashion brands need a little help to make them stand out over the rest. It's more than just a new burgundy suede bag or a vintage moto jacket. New marketing techniques are being used by some of the big time fashion empires to enhance their already creative images.
During October's long awaited fashion week, the season had a different focus of not just the clothes, but of social media channels. There weren't only photographers snapping photos of the models, but models snapping photos of the photographers, the audience, and themselves. Dolce & Gabbana's latest runway show featured models taking selfies as they walked down the Milan runways. Promoted hashtag's like #DGselfie, #ITALIAISLOVE, and #dolcegabbana spread throughout social media. The photos were posted real-time to the designer's Instagram account where fans all across the world commented and liked the pictures. Time Magazine joked that "narcissism sells, apparently."
Designer Misha Nonoo used a different take with her fashion show where she did away with the traditional live catwalk show. Instead, she took to her Instagram where she there revealed her collection. The term "Insta-Show" included models posting pictures of themselves on their personal accounts where pieces from thew new collection.
DKNY also took to Instagram, using it as a platform to connect one-on-one with fans. The brand sent personal messages about how the line was created to anyone who asked. Using Instagram's new "Direct" arrow which allows private communication, followers had to send looks they liked on the @DKNY account back to the brand. They then would receive information about the piece.
Instagram was not the only player in the social media fashion world. Burberry used Snapchat to preview its Spring collection a full day before it hit the runway. The fashion house shared both photos and videos of the finishing touches live from the Burberry studio for 24 hours prior, and then disappeared for the start of its womenswear show.
With over 100 million daily active users who watch more than 4 billion videos every day, Burberry hopes to use Snapchat to convert these statistics into sales. Burberry chief Christopher Bailey praised Snapchat co-founder snd chief executive Evan Spiegel for "creating a phenomenal platform that captures the spirit of a moment." Prior to the fashion show, he also stated:
"We are excited to be working with him to launch the Burberry Snapchat Show allowing a unique, real time view of the creation of our show which will include an unprecedented collection premier hours before it hits the runway."
Marketing Magazine pegged Burberry's Snapchat campaign as the best piece of marketing in 2015. The campaign gives a sense of urgency to the audience. It is completely mobile based, built for mobile, through mobile, delivered on mobile. The campaign foreshadows a future of how brands will be communicating over the next several years.
In this new digital era that we are currently living in in, how we get our news is changing drastically. We've graduated from reading newspapers to getting our news through a watch. Snapchat is among one of the most successful social media platforms in the world right now and its evolving into a news/media outlet.
What does this mean? This means that Snapchat is going to have to create a whole new branch of operations for its highly ambitious move. This is where the "Snapchat Producers" come into play. The purpose of these producers would be to curate talent and mine the platform daily to source great story ideas. The idea behind this is that live, breaking news is what audiences want nowadays and Snapchat is the perfect platform with its video and picture sharing system. The producers are essentially in charge of conducting interviews and getting all the live footage of a given assignment.
I think this would be a very rewarding job for any aspiring journalist or communications majors. It requires great communication and people skills, smart phone/device savvy, and editing knowhow. All of these skills would be a great contribution to any position in the world of media and communications. So far, there are job openings in the New York and Washington D.C. areas with other locations surely to follow. I'd strongly recommend joining the Snapchat revolution before its too late.
You don't need much to make your tweet stand out and be the star of all tweets. Here are 5 great tweets where you can get some pointers from.
1. The picture in this tweet of a greasy burger makes you feel like you can taste it and entices you to click the link and find out if people loved it or not. The image almost forces you to click the link to find out who cam up with this and when will it be available to the public. Everyone loves fattening foods and sweets from time to time, so why not pair a burger with some chocolate.
2. Everybody loves a good gif, especially if you're a frequent Tumblr user. This gif along with the very well known movie talked about in the tweet is bound to have a rush of people to this site. Also, check out the amount of 'Likes' and 'Retweets'.
3. This tweet is short and sweet and captures your attention in no time; which is great for those with short attention spans. Many have been freaking out about the return of Adele and keeping this tweet simple without sharing any information, forces you to tune in to their show and find out the story behind the mystery.
4. The use of a hashtag and an emoji give this tweet some character. The hashtag makes it easy to find when you search it and find other tweets related to it. With the emoji, it lets you know when the show will air. The picture also lets you know that you're in for some surprise-could be good or bad.
5. Using the term "budget-friendly" grasps the attention of many make-up gurus. Make-up lovers enjoy buying cheap cosmetics of great quality because these things can be expensive. The image shows the variety of lipsticks one can get from a drugstore for less, so of course many will not hesitate to click the tiny URL and find out more.
On Wednesday, October 28, 2015, Google has come out with a newly paid monthly subscription service, that will improve and make your viewing experience better than ever. YouTube Red is supposed to bring new features and even be more of a powerhouse than YouTube. However, you probably have a few questions of what YouTube Red may actually be. For instance, will the new media tool cost anything? What new features will it have that YouTube didn't? You may even ask, is YouTube Red and Netflix similar? Those are all very important questions, but the biggest one is simple. What actually is YouTube Red?
YouTube Red will let people use the popular video service without having to sit through ads. Yes, you heard me correctly. This new subscription will not show any advertisements from any videos, which is something the viewers will love. The New service will cost $9.99 a month. On the other hand, it will also give subscribers access to some premium content and the ability to save videos so you can watch them when offline. YouTube Music is set to make discovering, watching and listening to music easier than ever on YouTube Red. YouTube Red works with Google Play Music. In other words, when you subscribe to one, you automatically get access to the other which will hopefully make viewers very happy.
However, a big question come to mind. With everything that YouTube Red offers, it sounds a little like a comparison maybe to Netflix right? Or is it the complete opposite of Netflix. While Netflix might think their similar, YouTube doesn't think so. According to Robert Kyncl, who oversees all business functions for YouTube, he spoke to reporters about his thoughts on that topic the night that YouTube Red was released.
" Our membership service is completely different from what Netflix is. Every step that we have taken along the way is 180 completely the opposite of what Netflix is doing." (Adage)
One thing that YouTube has that Netflix doesn't and may never have, is the chance of becoming known or famous for a video that a subscriber created. While people may think their similar, their actually is a bit of a big difference. Netflix allows subscribers to watch whatever show or movie they may want to watch, while on YouTube and YouTube Red, you can not only watch a show or a movie, you can also create your own film. This thought had led Richard Raddon , whom is the founder and chief executive officer of Zefr, bring up a good point. Raddon states "It would be easier for YouTube to become Netflix, than for Netflix to become YouTube" (Adage)
While many think that YouTube Red is a good thing and brings a lot of new content to the table that regular YouTube wouldn't, their our a couple issues that are factored in. We all know that while YouTube and Netflix is free, which is an amazing thing. The more money saved the better right? However, YouTube Red isn't exactly that. It will cost $9.99 a month which has some consumers thinking.
"If YouTube had offered Red at $3.99, or even $4.99, then maybe it could have attracted a decent subscriber base from its heaviest consumers, but it seems very unlikely that the paid service as it's currently constituted will appeal to any significant amount of people." Daniel Kline goes on to continue, "Getting an ad-free experience is nice, but sitting through a 30-second spot every now and then is a much better value than shelling out $9.99 each month. Netflix is cheap enough that it's not an either-or decision, but Red is simply lacking." (Fool)
On the other hand, Netflix is only a couple dollars less than YouTube Red though right? The main reason why people still would rather have Netflix and pay the money than pay the money YouTube red is because Netflix is a service that has proven to be worth the money each month. Netflix is a service that will always have more subscribers than YouTube Red ever will.