Impact on design

Across these trends, there are a few stand-out themes that span multiple audiences and categories. Trends like , and highlight a new mixture of bright colors with natural tones, which parallels a shift toward mixing eclectic pieces with modern design in home and fashion categories. search terms like “eclectic interior design vintage” and “mixing modern and antique furniture” are up by 850% and 530%, respectively. This home décor trend reaches across the Boomer Generation, Gen Xers and Zoomers, as many people are finding vintage décor as a sustainable option, choosing to honor family heirlooms and blending the things they love without abiding by someone else’s style guidelines.

This lean toward a creative mix of vintage and modern styles can also be seen in the Team Jukebox’s . If you’re looking to add more character into your text, maximalist designs like expressive, “rule-breaking” typography will be popular this year, while minimal vintage style “hearkens back to a simpler time when everything was made by hand with an eye for detail.” Not sure to go minimalist or maximalist? Brutalism is a mix of both, incorporating the functionality of Utilitarian Design with the rawness and bright colors of Y2K.

Putting pen to paper

Something seen across generations and lifestyles in these trends is a desire to break down barriers and feed the authentic self. Think of going back to basics while intentionally breaking tradition. This matches the oxymoronic attitudes fueling the trends in Pinterest Predicts 2023 – a dark optimism, a bright creativity with a dystopian sense of humor.

As the conversation over mental health has been normalized in recent years, many are taking digging deeper into self-improvement and self-care as a worthwhile journey toward holistic wellbeing. Trends like , and place a focus on the analog side of creative expression and self-improvement. While the primal movement trend concentrates on anti-tech exercises to improve posture and combat “tech neck,” now processing emphasizes alternatives to talk therapy like expressive art, art journaling and writing therapy. In fact, searches for “writing therapy” have increased by 1840% and “art journal therapy” has increased by a whopping 3755%.

Pinterest predicts both the primal movement and now processing trends will bloom in Millennial and Gen Z crowds, but there is an interesting generational audience for the good on paper trend. Paper crafts like quilling, origami, paper mâché and paper art will be a therapeutic outlet mostly for the Boomer and Zoomer Generations in 2023.

Behind the trends

If this year brings opportunities to rethink tradition or repurpose the old to mix it with the new, celebrate those moments! For print, this means it is a great year to try out a new, bold style – think bright colors mixed with neutrals, repurposed vintage and artistic representation of the mundane. You can pare down and go back to basics with a refreshing twist, or go all-in on weirdcore chic.

The gradual relaxation of restrictions in the wake of the pandemic has led to more introspection and empowerment in the midst of turbulent times. Most audiences will be looking for ways to be the main character of their stories this year as they bring moments into focus and add value to their lives in personal ways.

If your publication can provide an inclusive and freeing space where your readers feel empowered to express their creativity, that’s going to look good on paper.

The post <em> Pinterest Predict’s </em> Trends for 2023 Look Good on Paper appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

In addition to the commitments made in each community, ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ also sponsors a scholarship program for the children and grandchildren of employees. Through this program, started in 1984, ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ has awarded 210 scholarships worth over $2,382,000.

Our first ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ scholarship recipient, John Kelley, shared his story of how ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ’s scholarship program affected his education and career.

“Throughout childhood, my parents emphasized the value of education and how important it was to maintain good grades and do my best in school. When I graduated from Marceline High School in 1984, I was excited about going to college but was concerned about the cost and how I was going to pay for it. Our family had limited financial resources so I knew I would need some other forms of assistance to help pay for my college expenses.

John Kelley

“Getting a $2,000 per year scholarship from ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ was a huge help in easing that financial burden. That was a total of $8,000 over my four years. A $2,000 per year scholarship may not seem like a lot in today’s world of skyrocketing college costs, but it was a huge help in the late 80s.

“I attended Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, which at the time was called Southwest Missouri State University. I majored in Finance with a minor in Marketing. My plan when I graduated was to find a job in sales and work my way up in the world of corporate finance.

“After graduating, I decided to stop in at ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ to thank Don and the ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ family for the support their scholarship provided. During that visit I met with Ed ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ, who was the Midwest Sales Manager and we discussed my plans after college. I mentioned I was deciding between a couple of sales positions I had been offered, and he asked me if I had ever considered yearbook sales.

“I had not considered yearbook sales, but after talking with Ed I soon realized the opportunities a sales position at ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ offered. One thing led to another, and three days later I agreed to be an associate sales rep for ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ based in Columbia, Missouri. ĚýThis past year, I completed my 33rd year at ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

“I have stayed at ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ all these years because I love what I do and I love what the company stands for. We produce the highest quality product of any yearbook company as well as provide world class service. I truly believe everyone at ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ wants to provide the best product and experience for the customer. When you have a company like that, it makes your sales job a lot easier.

“During my time at ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ, I have earned many top sales awards. But, more important than any awards, my 33-year career at ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ has enabled me to provide a wonderful home and a comfortable life for me and my family.

“I think it is awesome that ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ has expanded the scholarship program over the years by adding more scholarships and higher amounts to match the ever-increasing cost of getting a college education. It’s a great feeling to know that you work for a company that cares about its customers, its employees, its employee’s families and its communities.”

As a company with a long history of excellence, we believe it is our responsibility to give back to the communities we serve. This commitment to investment in higher education has been made to positively benefit the lives and futures of ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ communities through financial aid provision for employees, their families, and their futures.

We are committed to being good stewards of the resources entrusted to us and to making a positive impact in the communities where we live and work. As we celebrate our First 85 Years, we remain focused on the future and committed to giving back in even more ways. Thank you for supporting us as we continue our tradition of excellence and giving back!

The post Making a Way for Higher Education – ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ Scholarship Program appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

When you look at TikTok, , it’s rarely the highly produced and calculated videos making it big. If you scroll through the account of Charli D’Amelio, who has almost 140 million subscribers and was the , you’ll see a lot of videos where she’s using her phone to record in front of a mirror, or filming a lip sync video in selfie mode while sitting in the car. D’Amelio is young, pretty, has an extensive wardrobe, and is plenty skilled with a makeup brush. Part of her appeal, though, comes from her willingness to post videos in her pajamas or without makeup on .

Why is that appealing?

Because people crave authenticity. Specifically, Gen Z craves . They trust real people more than celebrities, and they’re good at .

So how does that translate to print? It’s not like you would pour time and resources into a printed piece only to run a blurry photo. Or would you?

REI Does It Right

Flipping through a recent REI catalog, I had to double back a page when something registered – that was a slightly blurry, almost full-page photo! Of course, it was artfully done, conveyed motion, and you could still make out the hiker wearing an orange jacket to connect that slightly blurry jacket to a crisp cutout of that same jacket on the next page. But still! And it didn’t even register as unusual at first!

A few pages later, the slightly blurry heads and torsos of two runners whiz by in the center of the spread. But you can make out enough to see that these are the two runners seen in the previous spread, wearing the same clothes in both photos. One runner wears a baseball cap and the other has her hair pulled back in a braid – like runners actually do.

It’s only a 12-page catalog, but the same few people are shown multiple times. A group of three hikers is silhouetted on the cover, but you can just make out that the same three people appear on page four. If they weren’t all decked head-to-toe in gear from REI, these photos almost look like pictures I would take on a casual hike with friends. It all feels very intimate and authentic.

YETI is the King of Practiced Authenticity

My colleagues and I started chatting about interesting catalogs we’ve seen lately (as the cool kids do), and one brought in a recent YETI catalog for me to review.

The front page of the YETI Dispatch shows Malik Martin climbing a mountain. Not a single piece of YETI gear is visible. Opening the cover, there’s a photo of JT Van Zandt and Lauren Spalding at the end of the 260-mile Texas Water Safari canoe race. They’re wet and rumpled. JT is holding a beer and missing a shoe. Lauren is barefoot. The only visible YETI logo is on JT’s hat.

The YETI catalog includes in-depth stories and photos that don’t seem to be selling anything. In fact, in the 68-page catalog, only 35 pages are actually devoted to selling products. The other 33 pages feature in-depth articles or photos often without a single YETI product visible in them.

Even though the YETI team must have worked very hard to put this catalog together, the end product feels slightly unpolished, very real and completely authentic.

How Do I Do This?

Because REI and YETI are both B2C outdoor adventure brands, we will admit that embracing the unpolished is a little bit easier for them. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t, too!

Could you crowd-source photos from your customers? Could you hire a freelancer to write something?

If you sell farming equipment, what might a one-page profile of a farmer do to help your brand stand out? If you sell auto parts, could you include a few candid images of people laughing at an auto show? Or a mechanic who’s been working on cars all day? If you sell board or card games, you could search social media for photos of people playing that game and ask permission to use those images in your catalog.

Think about the way your product will be used. Think about the people who will interact with it. Then set aside a small part of your catalog to highlight those. And don’t worry about that section being perfect. In fact, it’s better if it isn’t.

The post Diamonds in the Rough: Embracing the Unpolished in Your Catalog appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

This is where you can catch the wave before it crests.

Custom Luxe

Consumers are willing to pay more to invest in higher quality products. This year, Millennials and Zoomers will focus on bringing luxury into every corner of the everyday. The trend focuses on this idea in specific areas of the home, as search terms for luxury laundry rooms have increased by 11x and luxury garage interiors by 5x. Gen Xers and the Boomer Generation are joining the trend for , as all generations are searching to create their own “safe spaces for feels.” Searches are soaring for these curated and customized rooms designed purely for decompressing, vibing or raging. Far and away, ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ’s fave sub-trend has got to be . Just scrolling through the pins on this search makes me want to take a deep breath and buy yet another beautifully bound book to add to my own collection.Ěý

Other home trends worth a look:

– Arched doorways, circular shelving, curved couches and kitchen islands are rounding out home trends this year.

– More than bringing the outside in, this trend focuses on plant-first architecture in residential and corporate buildings around the world.

– If you’re a pet parent who would love to have luxury dog beds made from furniture or , 2022 is your year to have a pet-focused redesign!

Celebrating Mood at Any Age

According to Pinterest CMO Andrea Mallard, Mallard’s trend predictions for 2022 encompass a forecast for every generation.

Gen Z will revolt through subverted fashion and hairstyles, like or makeup styles, jewelry and fits.

Millennials will rethink traditions and celebrate the undercelebrated with like adoption parties and breakup cakes.

Gen X will achieve much desired work-life balance by focusing on highly styled business storefronts () and then planning effortless, all-inclusive resort getaways ().

The Boomer Gen will find their inner child through fearless baking () and kidding around with playful hobbies and .

Impact on the Print Industry

While many are improving their financial literacy (#) and delving into the market for future returns, what people will value in 2022 is their own emotional wellbeing in the moment. Yes, it’s a treat-yo’-self year, but it’s more than that.

Consumers of all generations want their print to speak to them. From the font on their next package to the binding of their next coffee table book, they want their mood to be validated this year.

Opulent vibes will journey deeper than an aesthetic this year as . Last year, the print industry focused on bringing optimism through vibrant colors and punchy shapes, and that upbeat style is most likely to continue. The design difference in 2022 will be a shift to communicating emotional support to consumers. This might mean folkloric or cottagecore color palettes for comforting vibes or monochromatic minimalism for that high-key drama.

Simple tactics like opting for a thicker, textured paper or incorporating an embossed or foil-printed element to your next publication will go further this year with consumers as they look for luxury, uniqueness and longevity in printed goods.

Do you have ideas for your next publishing project? Contact us here, and we will work to transform your inspiration to realization.

The post How <em>Pinterest Predicts 2022</em>’s Not-Yet-Trending Report May Affect the Print Industry appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

Print is an important offering that can forge strong relationships with your audience. At the same time, it has a cost that can be a hurdle for a new publication with an unproven audience.

That’s where reverse publishing can help media organizations build up to a successful print launch. In a general sense, reverse publishing relies on ensuring audience demand with digital platforms before pursuing a print product. It can involve a brand-new publication seeking to organically build a following before launching a print product or an established platform making forays into a new niche. The main benefit of a digital-to-print strategy requires less upfront capital than the conventional model.

One recent example is , launched by Meredith this spring. The print publication is a companion to , which was established last year as a digital brand publishing high-quality pet-care content. The platforms capitalize on the growing popularity of pet ownership and pet pampering in the U.S. own at least one kind of pet, and spending on pets will reach this year, up nearly 10% from two years ago.

“Paw Print is a clear progression toward serving Meredith’s pet consumers with desired content in a print product,” George Baer III, VP, Managing Director of Foundry 360 @ Meredith, told FIPP.

. . .

Three steps to succeed with reverse publishing

Reverse publishing will look slightly different in each instance. But there are three general steps that all entities employing the model take.

1. Find your footing with web traffic

Reverse publishing succeeds when brands have established digital audiences that will become an immediate group of print subscribers. Your web traffic is the best tool to understand this audience. Go beyond the big picture to focus on the data behind your content — both to understand what there’s demand for and to determine the potential for investment in additional mediums. This analysis should involve not only looking at your overall website traffic, but also the traffic to individual stories. Is the successful content suited to a digital medium, or is it best in print? If not, how would it have to change — and would your audience support that change?

2. Build a social media following

It doesn’t matter how awesome your content is if no one notices it, and that won’t help you make a case for investing in a print product. That’s why it’s valuable to have a strong social media presence. The spends several hours each day on social media. Meet them where they are, and they may follow you to new mediums. Social media pages are a great way to build support and anticipation for your print launch. Furthermore, they are a great place to gather feedback on the types of content your followers want.

3. Find a balance between print and digital in your content strategy

Once the statistical and social media support is there, it’s important to outline the relationship between your print and digital platforms and stick to it. Bonus points for transparency in telling your readers what you hope to accomplish on each. There is some overlap, but oftentimes print and digital audiences are mostly distinct. Thus, your content strategy must evolve to incorporate your print publication. Consider less time-sensitive quick hit stories in favor of more long-form content, graphics and striking photography that benefit from being in print — and is something your audience will keep and pick up again.

. . .

Print and digital succeed when they work in tandem with one another. While print is increasingly viewed as a place to showcase the best content you have, digital platforms are important to build your audience and have engage them on a regular basis. A print product can not only support your current audience but also help you expand into new circles.

The reverse publishing model is one way to make your investment in print a safe and secure win.

The post Three Steps to Succeed with Reverse Publishing appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

Since then, however, LinkedIn has evolved into a much more robust tool that can and should be used for so much more. Networking is still a huge part of ł˘ľ±˛Ô°ě±đ»ĺ±ő˛Ô’s purpose, as their demonstrates, but don’t overlook ł˘ľ±˛Ô°ě±đ»ĺ±ő˛Ô’s value as a platform for sharing content and gathering feedback. It can be a valuable recruitment and member engagement tool for associations. It provides a space for companies to grow their customer bases, generate product and service ideas, and gain valuable feedback from the people they want most to hear from: potential clients.

So, how can you take advantage of what LinkedIn can offer your organization?ĚýHere are four advantages:

Get connected:ĚýLinkedIn was built for networking, and it’s still a useful networking tool. Networking for your business takes work. Don’t just post content; cultivate meaningful interactions with people on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a decent search feature that can help you find people in your industry and in the industries you serve. Don’t link with people just to build the number of connections you have. Use your connect requests more strategically to engage and build relationships with your target customers and influencers in your market space.

Build trust for your brand:ĚýLinkedIn is chock full of groups that are devoted to specific professional topics. Join the ones that are relevant to you. Once you’re a group member, become an active participant in discussions that help you and your company gain recognition as an authority in the field. After participating for a while, consider starting your own discussion topics within the group, or even posting an article for the group to digest and discuss. Don’t use it as an advertising platform to promote your products and services. Instead offer insightful information, and the requests for information about your products and services will come on their own.

Promote your brand as an authority:ĚýIf you’re creating great content pertinent to your industry, share it on LinkedIn. Is there value in starting your own group to share content and foster engagement? This could become a channel for you to become a trusted source for insights in your industry. Be certain to include updates from your blog and a few well-placed links leading back to your website. Encourage employees to share your content, too, so it isn’t only coming from your organization’s branded page.

ł˘ľ±˛Ô°ě±đ»ĺ±ő˛Ô’s keep expanding. This is a great tool to establish your organization as an authority while also showing the human side of the company or association. People respond well to video and LinkedIn is making it easier than ever to share.

Gather feedback:ĚýHave a new idea or a product that’s just been launched? This is the place to ask for feedback from people whose ideas and opinions you trust. If you’re a business, asking for input can be a great way to identify potential customers and to make current customers feel valued. And notice that asking for input also gives you an opportunity to mention a product or service without it sounding like an advertisement. If you’re an association, asking for input allows you to learn more about what your members (or potential members) really want.

The bottom line? LinkedIn is a great place to grow your brand. Like any tool, making best use of LinkedIn will take time, especially as you work to develop your company’s voice and build participation levels.

¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ can help you determine how LinkedIn fits with your overall social media and content marketing strategy. PleaseĚýcontact usĚýto find learn more.

The post Four Advantages of Using LinkedIn appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

Based on what has been popular recently, as well as what experts predict will be useful in the future, we’ve prepared a list of trends to help you reach and engage your target customers.

Building trust

A common thread that seems to be running through all is the idea of using social media to build trust with your audience. In the wake of privacy issues and fake accounts, consumers are sometimes wary of interacting with brands on social media.

For that reason, it’s important for organizations to focus on being transparent and engaging with individuals in a way that’s authentic and valuable.

Here are just a few ways you can work to build trust through quality engagement:

• Use Twitter chats to publicly discuss topics important to your audience.
• Build a Facebook group for your audience focused on their interests.
• Hold regular Instagram or Facebook Live Q&As to address questions and concerns from your audience.

Upping your ad game

In today’s social media landscape, it’s still largely pay-to-play. This means that organic posts alone won’t get you the traffic or engagement your organization needs to make a significant impact with your social media marketing. Your organization will need to also include social ads as part of your overall strategy if you want to be successful.

With this in mind, special care should be taken to ensure that your ad campaigns are fresh and that you’re utilizing metrics that will help you measure campaign success. Try A/B testing your ad content and targeting to find a combination that works best for you.

Invest time in developing creative that gets your audience’s attention. To ensure the right people are seeing your ad content, you may need to revisit how you identify your target audience.

Providing more messaging opportunities

Customers are expecting good one-on-one social experiences. Trends suggest that social media users are actually spending more time on messaging than sharing news and content on their social media feeds. This means that your social media inboxes are an important place to connect and build stronger relationships with your audience.

If you want to ensure that you can provide an effective private messaging experience for your audience, enable Facebook Messenger on your Facebook Business Page. Similarly, if you don’t already have a chat bot on your site, you’ll want to add plugins to your website that drive visitors to messaging apps where they can connect with someone about their questions and concerns.

Employees posting content

Another trend that organizations are adopting is using their own employees as influencers and brand advocates. While it is difficult for consumers to determine if brand deals with celebrities and other influencers are genuine, quality content posted from employees is seen as far more sincere and trustworthy.

Having your employees post sharable content on their own social media channels is a great way to expand your reach while building trust with your target audience. Make it easy for employees to post content by providing them with ideas and visuals that will help them show your brand in the best light.

Social media stories

While the social media story concept was first introduced by Snapchat, now Facebook, Instagram, and even YouTube have introduced similar features on their platform. These disappearing videos are a great way to provide valuable and exclusive content for your fans and followers. Stories allow you to offer real-time updates about your organization or behind-the-scenes videos that help your brand build trust with your audience.

Storifying social may be the most significant trend shift

While utilizing any of the trends above will help you better connect with your target audience, the most significant trend that organizations need to consider adopting this year is to reach and engage your fans, followers, and potential new customers. As a visual medium, stories have the power to not only grab your audience’s attention but show a more fun and personal side of your organization.

Rather than just sharing the same content on your static feed and stories, start creating story-specific content. This type of content should reflect the raw, unedited, and live action medium. Since story content typically disappears after 24 hours, this medium tends to be the best for sharing exciting news about your business as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

When developing content for your stories, try experimenting with different formats. You can use a combination of video, text, and images to tell your story. You can use live videos to host a Q&A, announce the winners of a social media contest, or give a behind-the-scenes look at your company culture. Branded imagery is a good way to get the word out about upcoming promotions and campaigns. While text may just help add more details to some of the visuals you’ve already shared.

Once you’ve developed some compelling story content, use the highlight feature to categorize your content and make it available later. The highlight feature allows you to display content in categories on your profile for as long as you’d like. This is a great way to address frequently asked questions as well as organize content that’s based around a specific promotion or campaign.

¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ assists print customers with digital presence assessments and content assessments to help identify ways for organizations to grow their business. To learn more, contact us to let us know.

The post Social Media Trends to Benefit Your Brand appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

Effective social media usage requires identifying an audience, determining the best channels for your organization, and identifying effective channels for sharing a message and engaging the audience.

The right partner can help your organization define success and set a plan to reach it. Success could mean increased following of social media accounts, more shares and likes, higher conversions from posts, or a combination of many factors. Determining what’s right for your organization is part of laying the groundwork for your strategy – but it can be difficult to do with little social media experience. Bringing in an outside force can help your organization perform a fair assessment and establish beneficial priorities.

A social media partner can help your organization look to the future. The right partner’s ongoing involvement will help forecast changes to the organization and outside trends. They’ll also serve as a powerful tool to monitor internal progress and external trends.

This eBook lays out what to look for in a social media partner (and a few things to watch out for). It explains what to expect in your role in developing a strategy, what to expect from the social media partner and what to plan in your budget.

Results won’t be instant, but Finding the Right Social Media Partner for Your Organization includes information on how long to wait for results and how to plan for the delayed effect in the contract. It also helps to define your organization’s long-term role in social media success.

Download this eBook and start your decision process today.

The post Finding the right social media partner appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

However, there are some mistakes that could deal a major blow to your brand.

1. Confusing your personal account with your work account.

Having multiple social media accounts is common. Many people want to keep their professional and personal lives separate, or run a company account from a personal device. This is all well and good, but the accounts can be easy to mix up. These mistakes are often innocuous. Occasionally, people love it and the post goes viral – as one NPR editor learned when he on the NPR Facebook page.

However, it can also go very, very wrong – as one staff member at KitchenAid learned when they about Barack Obama’s deceased grandmother on the company handle.

2. Choosing the wrong hashtag.

You may have come up with the perfect hashtag for your event or promotion, but check it before starting a campaign. Singer Susan Boyle’s PR team used the hashtag #susanalbumparty for her 2012 album party – but that’s the hashtag.

3. Association with disaster or controversy.

Never use tragedy to promote your brand. Hopefully everyone with access to your organization’s social media accounts knows this.

You need to watch for unintentional associations, too. The bakery company Entenmann’s learned this the hard way in 2012. They in reference to their low-calorie food options. Unfortunately for them, this happened at the same time people were using the hashtag in reference to a murder trial verdict that was in national news headlines.

This is an easy mistake to avoid if you do a quick search before posting.

4. Allowing pre-scheduled messages to post in times of crisis.

It may be a major company crisis, or a fairly minor one. However, if customer service is affected, allowing pre-scheduled messages to continually post creates the impression that you aren’t focusing on the problem at hand.

5. Jokes in poor taste.

You should have some fun with social media, just don’t let it go too far.

Think about a joke before you post it – is it offensive? Make sure it’s not hurtful to any group of people. If you’re unsure, have a few other people look at it before posting. And when in doubt, don’t post.

6. Being too spammy.

Toyota came under fire for its . People tweeting about the game or teams would receive replies from Toyota accounts. Obviously, people trying to watch a game did not appreciate being distracted by something they never asked for.

7. Misreading public opinion.

If you are encouraging highly visible public input, be sure you’ll get responses you like – especially on platforms you can’t moderate. McDonalds made this mistake in 2012. Their #McDstories campaign received a lot of posts , with no way to control the conversation. The campaign was pulled within hours of launching. It’s the Internet, so you’ll always receive some negative feedback, but you should be reasonably confident that a good portion of it will be positive.

Most of these mistakes can be avoided with a little forethought, common sense or knowledge of current events. You don’t want to be overly cautious – social media works best when it feels organic and unpremeditated. Just make sure you have someone with good sense running your accounts.

The post 7 Social Media Mistakes Your Organization Should Avoid appeared first on ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ.

If you’re looking for a definitive answer, I have bad news. The target is constantly moving, and there are several schools of thought.

We’ve collected the social media theories of several leaders and experts in the field about how often you should post.

Where should I be posting?

Pretty much everyone agrees that you need to find the channels that are right for your organization. Forbes recently published a of Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. The Pew Research Center publishes a on social media usage and demographics, which you can use to track trends.

The beautiful thing about social media is that it’s fairly easy to start up a new account, so don’t hesitate to try something new if you think it might be a good fit for your organization.

Quality over quantity

It is possible to post too much, which BufferApp learned :

“We were posting way too much.

Just last year, we were posting four to five times to and .

The company had plenty of content, but decided to reel it in and only share the very best.

When we posted less (once or twice per day) to our Facebook Page, .

Limiting our Facebook posts to just one or two per day forced us to share only the best content. These quality posts resonated with our Facebook fans, and the Facebook algorithm surfaced them to more people.”

Just how much you should post remains up for debate, and opinions vary. However, what you post on social media needs to be high-quality content. Don’t make a post simply for the sake of writing a post. Share it because you think your followers will find value in it.

Break it down

The various social media platforms have different audiences and styles. Most everyone agrees you can post more to Twitter than to Facebook, although just how much more depends on the expert.

Let’s look at the recommendations by platform.

Twitter
This is a social media channel where you can post quite a bit. Once a tweet is put out into the world, it can quickly disappear into a feed. Add to that the brevity of Twitter, with a limit of 140 characters, and feel free to post frequently.

• suggests three tweets per day, but recommends organizations also regularly respond to questions, retweet and favorite other people’s content.
• tweets from their account 14 times per day, between midnight and 10 p.m. Central time, but never more than once an hour. However, they cited studies suggesting that engagement starts to fall after per day, and that is the optimal number of tweets.
• suggests a minimum of five tweets per day with no maximum.
• says six times a day is ideal.
• Marketing expert that the number of daily tweets should depend on your goals, but one to five per day will optimize engagement.
• recommends a minimum of five times per week, but says there’s no maximum number of tweets.
• and marketing expert both used the same graphic recommending three posts per day.
• suggests three to five times per day.
• shared his opinions on LinkedIn. For Twitter, he suggests three tweets per day.
• recommends a maximum of five tweets per day and a minimum of five per week.

Facebook
A constant theme among marketers was to avoid posting too much on Facebook or it will start to feel spammy. Facebook frequently , which affects what people see. The best thing to do is to pay attention to the and features that are available. Until you’re able to do that, err on the side of less content with high value for consumers.

• recommends six to 11 posts per week. That would mean one or two times each weekday and once over the weekend.
• suggests five to 10 posts per week. They post to their accounts twice per day.
• follows the commonly used rule of two posts per day.
• and both recommend a minimum of three times per week, but a maximum of 10 posts per week. Quality should always win out over quantity.
• Marketing expert that it really depends on your following. The rule has generally been twice per day, but if your organization’s following is smaller, it may be beneficial to ease up.
• and marketing expert both used the same graphic recommending three posts per day.
• says once per day is ideal for most brands.
• recommends posting five to 10 times per week.
• is very firm in his opinion – a maximum of two posts per day.
• recommends anywhere between three posts per week and one post per day.

Instagram
Instagram is all about the visuals. While the majority of social media time is , Instagram is special in that it was built specifically for mobile. So keep that in mind while posting – is it visually appealing and will it look good on a cell phone screen? The recommendations range from 1.5 to three times per day.

• recommends three times per day.
• that it’s not about frequency, but consistency.
• says 1.5 posts per day, but you won’t hurt your company by posting more.
• suggests two posts per day with an appealing visual aspect.

LinkedIn
This is the social network for professionals, so treat it differently than you would, for instance, Snapchat. Most experts suggest one post per day. Think about what you’re hoping to achieve with this post, and how it will come across to a person using LinkedIn.

• recommends a minimum of 20 posts per month, but more if you have the resources.
• suggests a minimum of twice per week, but a maximum of five posts per week.
• says one post per day is best.
• suggests two to five posts per week.
• suggests one post per workday, which works out to roughly 20 posts per month.
• suggests once per day. The end of the workday seems to be a popular time.
• recommends one post per business day – or about 20 posts per month.
• suggests anywhere from one post per week to one post per day.

Pinterest
This is a network where a high volume of posts is beneficial. Most experts recommend five to ten posts per day. Pinterest skews heavily female, and the platform works best when a post includes a good image.

• suggests between five and 10 per day. Be sure to include large, quality images with each post.
• recommends three times per day.
• recommends five to 10 posts per day.
• recommends three pins per day.
• recommends at least five posts per day. If you have the content, make up to 30 posts per day.
• echoes the calls for a high volume of posts, suggesting five times per day.

Google+
There are a lot of U.S. adults with a Google+ account, but not a lot of daily users. However, posting to Google+ is a good way to boost SEO value. Treat it similarly to Facebook. You should try for engagement, but don’t be disappointed if it’s minimal on this platform.

• posts two times per day, mostly during work hours. They suggest you model your Google+ posting frequency on your Facebook model.
• recommends a minimum of three posts per week, but a maximum of 10 per week.
• suggests posting three times per day.
• says three to 10 times per week is plenty.
• suggests three posts per day.
• recommends a minimum of three posts per week and a maximum of one post per day.

Snapchat
The new darling of social media, Snapchat is the place to reach millennials. Because it’s fairly young (even for social media), there’s not a lot of data available.

suggests one to five posts per day. SnapChat stories disappear after 24 hours, so frequency is key.

However, a says it’s OK to skip a day if you don’t have anything worthwhile to post.

Takeaways

If you want to go into more detail, breaks down posting frequency by industry. And many say it all depends. says organizations should ignore the studies and only post to social media when they have something worthwhile to share.

Really, you need to choose what is right for your organization. Just make sure that whatever you create is of the highest quality possible. And if you’re sharing another organization’s content, it needs to be relevant to your audience.

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