Instagram checkout is finally here. Third parties, such as rewardStyle, have linked Instagram with shopping for years. But, now the app has launched its own checkout platform that can all be done with the click of a button.

What is it?

Checkout on Instagram allows users to buy items they love from their favorite brands. While flipping through their feed, users will be able to buy items directly on Instagram without ever having to leave the app. Twenty-three different brands will be involved in the launch of checkout. These include Adidas, H&M, Kylie Cosmetics, Revolve and various others.

How does it work?

When tapping an item on a brand’s shopping post, a button in the corner will read “Check out on Instagram.” Tap this button to view the various colors and sizes the product comes in. Once adding the item to your cart, Instagram will direct you to a secure checkout page without leaving the app. This payment page includes name, email, billing address and shipping address for your first time. Instagram has promised its users that this payment page is entirely confidential and that all information will remain safe. Once the order is complete, updates on your order status, shipment and delivery will come from Instagram. This allows all your personal information to remain in one place and all notifications to be kept organized.

How will this affect other Instagram shopping platforms?

Only time will tell. RewardStyle came about to monetize being an influencer. From there, the company launched LiketoKnow.It to create an easier platform for buying items directly from your favorite influencer. Other third party shopping stages include ShopStyle. These companies pride themselves off creating lasting relationships between influencers and brands. But, with the convenience of never having to leave Instagram, it is unsure how they will hold up against Instagram checkout. They may hold up when it comes to creating brand partnerships. But, when it comes to shopping off Instagram, we’ll have to wait and see. 

Creating an online presence is essential when entering a job search. It is essential that an employer be able to find you on social media. This allows the recruiter to find any mutual connections, verify past experiences, and gain more insight on who you are. But, it is crucial to remain smart about what is put on social media channels. Remember the aspects that will aid in your job search, but also remember to omit those that will hurt you.

1: Do Create an Online Presence

Create a profile on channels such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. This allows employers to gain more insight on your personality that they would not otherwise see from a resume. LinkedIn creates professional connections and even notifies you when there is an opening at a company you follow. It is important, however, to always stay active on updating professional experience as relevant. All relevant personal and professional information should be most recent and updated when you begin your job search.

2: Do Be Consistent

Be sure to update all social media profiles as it’s relevant. By staying on top of updating your profile, it ensures that a possible employer is seeing the most recent job experience, location, etc. But, also being consistent in posting relevant material on social media shows a possible employer that you are up to date on trends and current events. It also can give them current insight on your life that they would otherwise not see on a resume.

3: Do Be Careful What You Post

Job recruiters have ways to see what you post, even with a privacy setting. So don’t post your underage party pictures or tweet about controversial subjects. But, reposting an insightful article about the industry you wish to enter or retweeting an image that speaks to you shows a job recruiter that you care. It shows your knowledge on the industry and that you are interested in learning more. It reflects your interest in the industry which, in turn, shows your interest in the position.

4: Don’t Connect with Everyone

Be insightful with who you connect with on social media. You must value quality over quantity and think about what this person can do for you professionally. Your connections are a reflection of yourself. Connecting with an individual who has the potential of spamming your profile or has a bad reputation in your city can reflect poorly on you. Be smart with who you connect with and look at the credibility in their profile before clicking accept.

5: Don’t Lie

Lying about past experience, no matter how small, ruins any credibility you had. Some industries are very small, especially in certain cities. So, by lying on your social media about what seems to be one miniscule piece of information, it can spread quickly to companies by word of mouth. Remain honest in how you were let go from a position or why you left a position. Stay honest about the time you spent at a company and the position you held. Keep your credibility and show a company that you are trustworthy.

6: Don’t be on Social Media at Work 

Stay off Facebook, Instagram, or any social media channels while on your boss’s dime. Unless it is relevant to the task you are given, it is unprofessional. Companies can track what you do while utilizing their Wi-Fi, so unless it is inherent that you use it to complete the task you are given, stay off it. 

Twitter is a platform that is most difficult to master, especially when it comes to an organization. It is often overlooked and most don’t understand how to maximize an organization’s presence. But, with these 5 easy tips, understanding Twitter and enlarging your presence will be easier than ever.

#1: Use Keywords

Utilize words that the audience is most likely to look up. These are words that have anything pertaining to what the organization does, its core values, and key distinctions. Twitter has even published an article discussing how to maximize the usage of key words in relation to establishing an organization’s presence. Use these words that the target audience will look up. Drive the audience to the organization’s Twitter page and, in turn, the audience will go to the website or other social media pages.

#2: Use Hashtags

Hashtags, especially popular and catchy ones, will drive traffic to the organization’s page. Coming up with a phrase that is two, maybe three words long and making it a staple on all relevant tweets will make the organization’s content seem more interesting. Also, when a hashtag is catchy, it becomes memorable and that is how potential clients and the public remember the organization initially. 

#3: Target Social Media Influencers

Catch the attention of influencers with a high following and high engagement. By targeting tweets towards these influencers, it creates the hope that it will catch their attention. By drawing these individuals to the organization, it also creates a bigger buzz through word of mouth. But, the most important aspect is that these influencers will eventually begin to tag the organization’s handle in their own tweets. Followers of these influencers will begin to take notice and will therefore be drawn to the organization’s Twitter page and eventually the website.

#4: Less Is Always More

It used to be that Twitter only allowed 140 character tweets. Now, with the expansion to 280 characters, it can be tempting to try and fill the space with as much writing as possible. However, making sure that the tweet is straight forward is more important than the fluff that can be thrown in there. Potential clients and fans of popular organizations want tweets that will be short, concise, but are also attention grabbing. In this case and because space is limited, less is always more. It isn’t necessary to fill all 280 characters if it doesn’t make sense and the audience isn’t interested. Create a single sentence that will draw in the audience and leave them constantly checking back for more tweets.

#5: Consistency Is KEY

For any organization to create a successful presence on social media, consistency is key. But, this is especially true when it comes to Twitter. Because Twitter is a fast-paced media outlet, it is especially important to remain up to date. Followers are always looking for updates and when an organization goes long periods of time without tweeting, followers become confused and uninterested. This leads people to unfollow the account and therefore forget about the organization. Keep followers interested and remain consistent. 

Twitter is a difficult platform to master, but following these 5 tips will insure the perfect baseline to creating a successful presence. 

How does one approach social media monitoring? Is it measured by likes? Comments? Views? Posting on social media platforms is essential to some organizations to bring awareness to their products or services. Monitoring social media posts is difficult without the proper tools to do so. But, with these three platforms, social monitoring just became exponentially easier. 

#1: Cision

Cision has many features that are essential to communications and public relations professionals. It covers all aspects of communications: social engagement, audience targeting, message engagement, and many others. Based out of the Cayman Islands, Cision is one of the leading software’s in the PR industry. It is simple to use with a straightforward search feature and numbers that are easy to read. But, not only does it provide social media monitoring tools, it also provides its users with much more. Cision has a database of media outlets worldwide, giving public relations professionals the tools to pitch to editors and contributors of these media outlets. The diversity of features and everyday usability of Cision is what makes it one of the leading softwares.

#2: Meltwater

Meltwater is another leading software for PR professionals. It provides a platform for organizations and communications professionals to have easy access to numbers regarding social media monitoring and engagement. Meltwater customizes its features to give advanced analytics specifically tailored to the client. It gives customized social reports to each client with exported data regarding engagement on each social media platform. But, not only does it monitor social media, it also has a database of social influencers. This allows organizations to look at the engagement of successful influencers and apply what they are doing correctly. It includes over 500 million profiles divided into 60,000 categories with five years of historical data to provide its users. 

#3: Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a platform that allows organizations to customize the features they want in their plan. With four different plans, users can pick and choose what features will be best suited for their organization’s needs. Ranging from automatic posting and basic performance metrics to social media certifications and 24-hour support, organizations have access to all assets possible. Most plans offer a 30-day free trial and each plan is designed for companies small and large. It is a leading software for PR professionals due to the levels of each plan. There are over 16 million users in over 175 countries across the world. Hootsuite also gives an ad budget to organizations to utilize on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to reach a larger audience each month. 

Given the right software and platform, organizations have the tools to be successful when social media monitoring. These three platforms provide custom plans for each need an organization has. From monitoring to analytics to databases, these programs provide all the information an organization needs to be successful on each social media platform. 

The world has begun to shift entirely towards working digitally, forcing all companies to emphasize their social media presence now more than ever. Through digital platforms, brands build their platform for recognition. This makes it essential for their social media strategy to appeal to all generations. It drives traffic to a company’s Instagram profile which then leads to website traffic or people to look at the Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest page. Not sure how to do this? Follow these three guidelines to kick start a strategy to build a social media presence for any organization. 

#1: Create a universal hashtag

Create a hashtag that can be used across all social media platforms. It must be creative and catchy, but also sound smart at the same time. It can be two, maybe three words that gives other users insight on what the organization does or the personality of the organization. Alliteration is most commonly used to give users a catchy phrase to think of when it comes to the organization and their social media presence. It gives users something to recognize when looking through different platforms. This hashtag must be used across all platforms. By changing it for each platform, it confuses the users as to which hashtag goes for which platform. It creates consistency and a tagline for others recognize when thinking of the organization. 

#2: Create a pre-set filter for all photos

This is a tip taken directly from all successful Instagram influencers. One single filter that can be applied to all photos creates a signature aesthetic to all pictures posted on each social media platform. If there’s anything an influencer is an expert at, it’s creating a signature look to each Instagram page. Influencers such as Disco Daydream, Hunt for Styles, and Happily Grey all use a single pre-set filter which creates the aesthetic for their page. Especially when looking at an organization’s Instagram page, it looks messy when each photo is edited using a different filter. It creates a confusing and unorganized look to the page. This goes for Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter pictures as well. Users and potential clients want to see consistency. By creating that consistency through the images posted by the organization, it leads clients to be more attracted to the company.  

#3: Utilize all live features

Utilize Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Instagram stories. These features engage users and potential clients in real time. They can follow alongside the organization and see inside the company more than they can with basic posts. It also allows individuals within the organization to do “take over’s” and showcase the personality within the individuals who work there. These live features and stories are only posted for 24 hours, making them perfect for those personality-type photos that are less permanent. They are interactive and engage the viewers through more candid and lifestyle photos and videos. These videos can then be saved and posted to other platforms, such as Twitter, to drive more traffic to the company’s pages.

These three tips allow social media users to be driven to an organization’s page to see a clean and well promoted profile. Follow them and it will engage the intended audience and therefore drive the necessary traffic to the website and the company in general. They are the perfect starting point for any organization to create a following and through consistency with these three tips, a strong social media presence will establish itself.