Welcome to another edition of The Matter Social Second — keeping you current about what’s trending in social media. We’re sharing the most important and impactful social stories from May.

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LinkedIn Updates Algorithm to Deemphasize Certain Posts

LinkedIn is updating its algorithm to crack down on specific posts and post types that users are sick of seeing. Seen enough polls? Don’t worry. They’re only going to show you what’s relevant from now on (fingers crossed). 

Edit Feature is Finally Coming to Twitter

Have you ever wanted to edit a tweet after you hit publish? Well now you can! This long-awaited feature will be rolling out soon. Although you’ll be able edit your tweets, users will also have access to the original content and can see what changes were made.

Twitter Limits Reach on Duplicate Tweets

Sick of reading the same tweet on Twitter from multiple users? Well, don’t worry about that (as much) anymore. Twitter will be limiting the reach of these duplicated tweets to favor originality. What does this mean for brands sharing giveaways monthly or reminding you of a product? I guess we’ll find out. 

Instagram Adds Full Screen Home Feed for Video Scrolling

According to Later, a new era of Instagram is upon us! Instagram is editing their interface to look more like TikTok with a full-screen scrolling option, making suggested video the new focus of IG. Static images will still be available in drop down tabs, but the focus will be on video. 

LinkedIn’s ‘Funny’ Reaction is Almost Here

As one of the most requested updates, you’ll soon be able to react accordingly with the new ‘funny’ reaction. LinkedIn’s Chief Product Officer noted, “We hear you loud & clear – humor is a serious business.” Hopefully, we’ll have this reaction sooner than later! 

TikTok Launches New Interactive Insights

A new interactive insights platform on TikTok will allow you to use a range of filters to hone in on your audience and discover key data points within your target market(s). You’ll be able to see top trends as well as which locations and demographics are performing the best. Check it out for yourself. 

Twitter Tests Spaces Within Engagement Options

Twitter spaces are ephemeral live audio conversations, and we may begin to see them as a response option within a tweet. They are currently testing the feature to allow users to record themselves and their thoughts on a particular tweet. Could this increase arguments, or will this spark engagement? 

NFTs Are Coming to Instagram

Instagram is in the initial stages of testing NFT (non-fungible token) options, and Meta will be next. Users will be able to display their NFTs on their feed, stories, and DMs. They’re also working on adding an NFT tab and will verify authentic NFTs.  

Could your team use more social media best practices and support for your brand? Reach out below and our team will be in touch.

Our world is a loud place — we’re constantly bombarded with advertisements competing for space in our busy day. But if you really want to capture someone’s attention, you don’t want to just shout louder. You want to speak directly to them. To reach your target audience, you have to — well — target them. With Account-Based Marketing (ABM), you align your sales and marketing efforts to deliver targeted advertising and content to a focused list of high-value accounts. Instead of marketing to a wide target audience, ABM prioritizes those specific business targets to drive high sales volume and a strong ROI. Simply put, ABM flips the traditional marketing funnel upside down. 

According to Hubspot, 70 percent of marketers report using ABM in 2023. If that has you wondering why so many B2B brands moving away from the tried-and-true marketing tactics, you’re in luck. I’m here to tell you the four big reasons marketers are introducing ABM strategies in their marketing mix.  

Before I dive in, let me say I only scratch the surface of the capabilities and benefits of an ABM program. There’s a lot that goes into developing an ABM strategy and getting a program up and running. But first, let’s start with the reasons your brand should explore an ABM strategy: 

1. Increased Efficiency.

Instead of dedicating time and resources to a large audience that may not purchase your products or services, ABM allows marketers to focus their efforts on select lists of high-value businesses and targets that fit the brand’s ideal customer profile. This enables marketers to create more attractive content and programs that speak directly to the audiences most likely to become customers.  

2. The Right Message at the Right Time.

One of the biggest challenges brands face today is figuring out how to deliver personalized content to audiences at each stage of the buying cycle. Individuals are more likely to respond to messages that speak to their specific needs and stage in the buying journey.  

ABM allows marketers to target users based on their specific needs, buying intent or historical online behavior, delivering relevant messages to audiences in real-time. Using these audience insights increases engagement, which can boost sales. In today’s world where advertising is ever-present, personalization is critical to help brands break through the noise and capture the attention of their target audience.   

3. Closer Alignment Between Sales and Marketing.

It is not uncommon for many sales and marketing teams to operate in silos – the marketing teams focus on generating new leads, while sales teams are focused on nurturing and converting leads. But when marketing and sales teams work toward a common goal and share ownership of business outcomes, it delivers a more consistent brand experience.  

One of the biggest advantages of an ABM platform is the ability to ingest first-party sales data, CRM data and account lists to inform ABM targeting strategies. Leveraging shared information allows the marketing teams to hone in on specific high-value accounts the sales team has identified. As a result, the marketing team can deliver more qualified leads to the sales team. 

4. Actionable Audience Insights.

ABM platforms can help marketers manage and measure the performance of account lists to understand audience intent signals and develop actionable insights. Audience-intent data, such as keyword searches or content consumption behavior, can be used to identify what stage of the buying cycle a prospect is in. This helps marketers prioritize accounts which are actively researching your product or similar offerings — you know, the ones that will probably make a purchase. This is just one example of the many ways marketers can leverage intent data to inform marketing strategies! 

ABM opens the door for marketers to reach new audiences, drive quality leads and garner insights about their audience to inform targeting strategies and develop personalized messaging. It’s no surprise that ABM has become a key tactic in driving sales for B2B brands. Building the foundation for a strong ABM practice takes time and resources – and our Integrated Marketing team is ready to help your brand implement an ABM program. Reach out to see how we can work together! 

Ten years ago, the word “blog” often referred to an individual offering personal musings on travel, fashion or politics. Now, blogs are one of the most powerful marketing tools a company can use, employed by small businesses and mega-corporations alike: half of the top 200 Fortune 500 companies had a corporate blog in 2018, and marketers that prioritize blog programs see ROI grow dramatically⁠.

A business without a blog program is missing out on a key web traffic driver and is sidestepping one of the most valuable ways to engage with customers. Blogs have been proven to increase web traffic by more than 55% and produce 67% more monthly leads.  

Part of the reason blogs are so successful is that they add real value to customers, and build brand confidence in a much more natural way than traditional advertising. More than three-quarters of internet users read blogs. Increased interest and growing readership have also led to increased competition.

With more organizations running blog programs than ever before, how can yours stand out and deliver the revenue-driving results you want? Having worked with clients across industries to build thriving blog programs, Matter is here to help.  

Here are five best practices for running a dynamic blog program: 

1. Know your audience.

Pumping out blogs without an understanding of who is reading them will not help anyone – or improve your bottom line. Take the time to research your audience. Though you want your blog to eventually reach a broader population, a good place to start is looking at your customer, prospect and client base. How old are they? What do they like? What are their needs? Why are they coming to you for information? If demographic information is not available, outline a clear intended audience.  

Write for your audience and work to understand their needs. This will fuel your content and blog topics as well as the tone and voice of your blogs. If your audience is mostly older businessmen, perhaps you shouldn’t open the piece with, “Wassup, bros?”. 70% of people would rather learn about a company through articles instead of advertisements. Take advantage of that preference and use the blog to directly answer common questions or concerns about your products, services, business or industry. 

2. Add value.

Every blog should be engaging and add value to the reader. Attention spans are remarkably short – most people only spend about 15 seconds on a blog page before clicking away. Blogs must grab readers immediately, and keep them there. When selecting topics and building out a content calendar, be very thoughtful about what the article is providing and how your expertise will enhance their understanding. Never post a blog simply to post a blog. 

Corporate blogs are a great opportunity to highlight thought leadership within your company. Leverage the expertise of innovators internally, and collaborate with external experts when relevant to bring in other interesting perspectives.  

On the whole, blogs should not be overly self-promotional. Top 10 Reasons Why Our Company is the Best is off the table. However, unlike byline opportunities in media publications, blogs can occasionally be leveraged to directly tell your company’s story and can include links to your product/service when relevant.  

3. Be consistent.

Posting blogs consistently can help build a base of loyal readers, and will also help grow your credibility with search engines, increasing your chance that your content will reach new audiences. Creating a robust calendar that outlines priority topics well in advance of target deadlines can help guide you. Smaller businesses should always be careful to work within their capacity and prioritize quality over quantity, knowing they can scale output as they grow. 

4. Optimize for search engines.

Many businesses start blog programs to boost their Google rankings and increase visibility. To maximize your chances of an impactful boost, conduct keyword research, choose your titles carefully and craft the article with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind. The Google algorithms are constantly changing, so be sure to update your published articles when necessary to align with those changes.  

5. Don’t forget the visuals…or the skimmers.

Blogs that include images receive 94% more views. Inserting visuals that pair well with the written content can help break up the text and keep readers on the page longer.  

Write and format your blogs as if the person reading only has one minute to gather all the information you wanted them to. Subheadings, bullet points, bolded text and lists are easy ways to make your content skimmable.  

Once your blog program is running, actively promote the content on your brand’s social media, your leadership’s LinkedIn pages and e-mail newsletters ⁠— whatever channels will get more eyes on your articles. We’ve even had clients package multiple blogs and put them into an e-book. The potential reach is wide and ever-growing. 

Looking for help building or running your company’s blog program? Reach out below and one of our experts will be in touch!