5 Examples of Boring Businesses That Prove ANY Brand Can Win on Social Media

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Do you run what might be considered a "boring" business? Think you can't make a meaningful impact on social media? Think again!

Just because you're not a sexy fashion company or trendy coffee shop doesn't mean that you can't draw inspiration from other "more fashionable" businesses and apply their ideas to your own content marketing, or conjure up some more unique ways to draw attention to your brand. 

In this blog post, I'll show you 5 examples of brands who have innovated in the "boring" business space on social media, and hopefully inspire you to do the same.

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9 Killer Quotes and Insights for Brands By the Pros At Social Media Marketing World 2016 #SMMW16

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April 17-19th this year saw Social Media Marketing World 2016 take place in San Diego, California. Organized by Social Media Examiner, it is one of the world's biggest gatherings of social media marketers and experts. If you want the scoop on everything to make the most of social media marketing for business - the cutting edge of what's happening in the industry, you'll find it there.

In this blog post, I've compiled 9 of the juiciest advice and insights from Social Media Marketing World 2016, together with quotes that I encourage you to share! Some of the insights are new, some are reminders of the cornerstones of effective social media marketing, but all are important! Let's get going:

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How to Bulk Upload And Schedule Posts to Buffer WITH IMAGES Using BulkPublish

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Do you use Buffer to schedule your social media posts? Would you like to bulk upload your content to post text AND images at the same time? In this post, I will show you how.

Using BulkPublish to upload text and images to Buffer

At the time of writing, the official Buffer website does not allow you to bulk upload with images (just text), but the third party tool BulkPublish - which sends a prepared file of your content to your official Buffer account - does.

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19 Unmissable Takeaways From Social Media Experts at Ragan Disney 2016 (Day 1)

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19 Unmissable Takeaways From Social Media Experts at Ragan Disney 2016 (Day 1)

19 Unmissable Takeaways From Social Media Experts at Ragan Disney 2016 (Day 1)

This week sees the 3rd Annual Social Media for PR and Corporate Communications Conference at Disney World, organised by Ragan. Two days of presentations are packed with social media advice and strategy for business. Here are X of the best takeaways from Day 1, as tweeted by its attendees using the hashtag #RaganDisney.

First to speak was Danielle Brigada on ways to measure social media ROI...

Danielle Brigada (@starfocus) is the head of social media for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (@USFWS), and environmental comparisons played big in her presentation, bringing to life some really helpful social media strategies for measurement and report-building:

A super handy analogy to think about the way social media works.

No good going into social media with a singular focus; communication and measuring is just as important as content creation.

An easy way to break down and measure soial media ROI...

Want to impress your bosses? Here's a sample quarterly report to mirror.

There are so many variables in a social media strategy. To make sense of it all, isolate the elements that matter most to you, and align with your goals; measure the progress against them.

Video for Social on a Budget (Why Your Smartphone is All You Really Need

Hosted by Justin Allen (@Allen_Justin), social media storyteller and CEO of Ruckus Factory. He shared some great ideas for producing compelling social video using just your smartphone. Here are some of the highlights:

On preparing to get the best footage and audio...

Never zoom with a camera that doesn't have an optical lens, else you'll ruin the output.

On embracing the limitations of mobile video production...

If you're blessed with "sausage fingers", editing on mobile for long periods could get frustrating...

On producing compelling video content...

Think of a viral video you've seen recently. That's your benchmark and competition!

Depending on the platform, viewers will switch off if the content is too long. For a "catch all" solution, 30-45 seconds is a good length.

Preparation and planning video will result in the best results possible.

Closing Day 1 was Mark Ragan, CEO of Ragan Communications, who focused on brand journalism on social media

Mark's (@MarkRaganCEO) presentation aimed to make us change the way we approach our thinking towards the very essence of social media marketing, particularly those stuck to using the tactics of traditional media.

On creating a basis for a sound social media strategy

Rather than thinking like a broadcaster, think like a journalist... make your own stories. Mark said that it isn't about creating more stories, just better ones... quality over quantity.

On optimising social media content for your audience...

The content you create should be riveting, Mark said, encouraging us to be the "Buzzfeed" for your niche.

Stop thinking about what your audience could do for you, and start thinking about what you can do for your audience.

Upon delivery of content, your voice should match your brand personality, Mark said. If you don't have a defined brand voice, just make sure to be authentic and human.

Over to you

What are your thoughts about the ideas shared by speakers on day one of the social media conference at Disney? Let me know in the comments below and check back tomorrow for day two and more words of wisdom!

Andrew Macarthy is a social media consultant and the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips.

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How to Create A Social Media Marketing Plan For Business in 6 Easy Steps (Updated 2016)

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Do you have a social media marketing plan for your business, or would you like to create one? Many businesses struggle to pinpoint exactly what they want to get out of social media, and how to measure whether all of their hard work is paying dividends. In this blog post, I will show you how to create an easy-to-follow, robust social media marketing strategy in 6 easy steps.

Whether you're already active on social media or are starting from scratch, a plan will help guide your activity and provide you with solid reasoning behind everything that you do, from content creation to customer interaction, to advertising, and more. You'll be able to see how you are performing, experiment to improve results, and easily calculate your return on investment.

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