It’s the Tech News Tuesday #TNT roundup. Here’s a summary of useful news we found for you during June.
Instagram now has more users than Twitter
Did you know that 53% of young adults ages 18-29 now use Instagram regularly? There are 300 million monthly users on Instagram, and businesses are finding ways to interact with existing and potential customers. Is Instagram right for your business?
Check out this getting started guide with case studies.
Photos get the most engagement on all social media platforms, so you should put in place a strategy to capture photos regularly.
- Events, products, customers, your team, and behind-the-scenes shots are some good photo ideas.
- Use clever captions to make your content more shareable.
- Use hashtags # on social media to expand your reach.
Virtual Reality for Everyone
Google announced their Jump platform this month, a system for creating virtual reality video that can be viewed on YouTube. One use case for Jump is virtual tours. Google also announced a product called Expeditions where schools can take virtual field trips. This platform doesn’t require expensive virtual reality headsets – your phone and some cardboard let you enjoy the experience.
Read more about it in this ReadWrite.com post.
What products or services could your customers experience through a virtual reality preview? Restaurants,hotels, event facilities, realtors, and golf courses could all take advantage of this type of technology in the future to let customers preview their experience.
We look up everything now
It’s no secret that Smartphones have changed the way we access information when we need it. According to Google, searches including the words “nearby” or “near me” have doubled over the past year. Because of this, Google has added a “Nearby Business” mobile ad format for location-related searches.
Read more about it in this Search Engine Land post.
Near me or Nearby searchers are looking to fill an immediate need. Do you have your listing on Google My Business so your location is tied to your business? You’ll also want to make it clear in your website what communities and even neighborhoods you service are listed. Use the names for your area that your customers are likely to use. Don’t just put a laundry list of towns or communities though – that looks spammy.
Guidelines for Facebook Posting
There isn’t a perfect time to post to Facebook for everyone, but understanding when your audience uses Facebook will get you better results. When you publish your post, most reactions (likes, comments and shares) occur in the first 15 minutes, and decline after about one hour. Evening posts may see a slight bump the next morning as well.
Check out this Infographic.
Do you pay attention to the time of day you post? Look at the engagement on your posts, do you get better results at certain times of day? Experiment and use Facebook’s built-in scheduling or a scheduling tool like Buffer to help you get better results.
Local Searchers Prefer Mobile Browsers over Apps
You know you need a mobile presence, but many business aren’t sure if they should do a mobile website or an app. New research indicates that more consumers prefer searching for business information (location, phone number, hours of operation, etc.) via a mobile browser, not an app.
Learn more here.
Even if you have a mobile app, you still need a mobile website too! An optimized, mobile website is essential today. We recommend using responsive design, which means your regular website also works on mobile so you have one website to update and maintain. If your website hasn’t gone mobile, we can help.
