9 Eye-Catching Photo Ideas For Instagram That Your Business Needs to Try (With Real Examples)

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Has your Instagram marketing stalled? Looking for fresh new ideas to spark the attention of your audience? Read on.

If there's one social network where one-upmanship rules more than any other, it's Instagram - a hub for creative, eye-catching content creators - brands included. With the recent algorithm change forcing brands to rock their Instagram game more than ever before, here are 9 Captivating Photo Ideas For Instagram That Your Business Should Try.

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5 New Instagram Features Every Business Needs to Know About (April 2016)

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Do you use Instagram for business? Want the scoop on all of the newest updates your business needs to know about?

Since being bought by Facebook, Instagram has evolved at a quicker pace than any time in its history, and the changes continue to come - this time, with at least one real big shift that will impact marketers hugely. Let's take a look at 5 New Instagram Updates Every Business Needs to Know About.

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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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The 6 Best Sites to Download Royalty Free Music For YouTube (Copyright Free, Commercial Use)

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The 6 Best Sites to Download Royalty Free Music For YouTube (Copyright Free, Commercial Use)

Are you looking for royalty free music for YouTube or other video projects on social media? The right track can transform your video and wow your audience, but the last thing you want is an unexpected copyright claim.

Sourcing totally free royalty free music to use in YouTube videos can be a minefield, and full of frustration. Simply typing "royalty free music" into Google returns hundreds of sites, many who require a one-off payment before the tracks they offer are actually royalty-free.

What's more, if you want to use music for commercial purposes (i.e. make money from its inclusion in a video in any way, including the monetisation of a YouTube video), the search can become even trickier. 

In this blog post, I have put together a list of the best online resources for royalty-free music tracks, in particular this list only includes sites that do not charge for commercial use of the songs available.  

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