Instagram: Better Tags and Better Brands

Instagram may be profitable yet.

According to AdWeek, the photo-friendly Facebook arm released last week "Photos of You", a better way to accurately tag users in photos (other users including brands).

So how does this look? Just like Facebook, if you tag someone they get notified and can approve or disapprove of the tagging. Once the user approves, that image is put into that user's photo-feed.

Again in +Adweek, they use the timely example of the +H&M partnership with Beyoncé. If H&M tagged Beyoncé in a photo during their campaign, she could approve it and share it with all of her fans. But perhaps even more powerful, the tagging could be done vice versa.

An example of this, say that could be used by +Urban Outfitters, is a consumer could tag themselves in a trendy shot wearing their latest lion t-shirt. If they tagged the retail business in their post, Urban could then more easily share and promote their customers and products.

What about Instragram ads? According to Zuckerberg, they're still thinking on them; but in the meantime this is definitely something brands can easily and freely sink their teeth into.

Tracking Reveals Chinese Censorship Is Automated and Geotargeted

Due to censorship-tracking software developed by Harvard researcher Gary King, new conclusions can be made on how China’s social media censorship works. Here are the main points as elicited in MIT Technology Review:

Automation Is Huge

While censorship teams at Weibo may reach up to 1,000 people, the high volume and speed of censorship indicates that China’s model has many automated functions. Mass posts can reportedly be censored in a matter of minutes.

Censorship Is Geotargeted

King’s software has indicated in areas such as Tibet, that have seen more political opposition, posts with sensitive words are over four times more likely to be censored.

Government Participation Has Soared

According to Nele Noesselt, a researcher at the German Instute of Global and Area Studies in Hamburg, the government has begun taking a more proactive stance by channeling public interest instead of simply trying to battle it head on. This approach is much more popular with the public as it gives the government the appearance of prevalence and accountability while remaining positive.

Prevelancy of Censorship Can Predict Scandal

King has used his software to predict when either controversy is on the rise or mass arrests are to be made by tracking the number of censored posts in a certain area or about certain content. This new discovery has been recognized as a serious enough topic that he has been invited to speak with an undisclosed agency in Washington. Reportedly, after his talk, said agency has sought contractors to begin censorship-tracking.

 For more information on Chinese social media and which networks are what, read Chinese Social Media: What You Need to Know.

How to Set Up Twitter Advertising

Now that Twitter is available to all US businesses, it’s about time everyone learned to use it. Here is how Twitter breaks it down in four easy steps.

1. “Tell us who you’d like to target”
Twitter gives you two options for targeting your audience: location and topic. Location is by country (right now only the US) or city, while topic is either by interest category and subcategory (Food and Drink: Chinese, Health: Vision, etc.) or by users following similar interests to you. This feature is perhaps the most tasty as it allows you to strategize upon which competitors or industry leaders you’d like to be closer in line with.

Another cool feature: If you click the “More targeting options” another cool feature is searching by device (Android, iOS, desktop, etc.).

2. “What do you want to promote”
This is only in regard to your tweets, Promoted Accounts can be seen in step 3. You can either set up your account so it promotes whatever is your latest tweet, or you can pick compose a new Promoted Tweet through the Ads dashboard.

3. “How much do you want to spend”
Here you can either promote your tweets or promote your account. For tweets you pay upon each interaction (@reply, RT or favorite) while your account you pay for followers. Caps are set for each to ensure that if someone goes viral, you don’t owe Twitter an excessive amount of money.

Tips to optimize Promoted Tweets.

Tips to optimize a Promoted Account.

4. “How do you want to pay?”
Exactly what you think it is. The only question is which company card you plan on using.

Overall the practice is as streamlined as you can get. Twitter has eliminated the worry of running over budget while simplifying the process for even the digitally-impaired small business owner. Twitter also provides Promoted Account Analytics to help businesses measure results and build campaign strategy.