Why Tweeting Instagrams Does Not Work

Sending photos from Instagram to Twitter is incredibly easy, but that doesn't mean that you're now social on Twitter. At least, not as social as you could be. 

Jered Gruber is a professional photographer who spends his life roaming from race to race with his wife Ashley in search of pictures, stories, and places to ride.  I recently contacted Jered with a simple request, “Would you ever consider posting your photos directly to Twitter instead of linking them through Instagram?”  After showing Jered this report he soon started posting his work directly to Twitter. Curious to know the change I grabbed the last four photos he did as direct-Tweet versus the last four photos he posted linked-through-Instagram (all eight photos were taken within two months and he had no significant change in the number of followers).

Here are the results:

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It’s a small sample right now, but posting photos directly to Twitter netted Jered an average of 23.25 Retweets and 41.75 Likes. Compared to Instagram links with an average of 4 Retweets and 4.75 Likes.  Nearly 6x the Retweets and 9x the likes.

Instagram links posted to Twitter are not as effective because they are not native to the platform. Meaning, you cannot view an IG photo on a Twitter feed without opening a new app or webpage. Whereas photos posted directly to Twitter are not only native and viewable on all devices, they are also the only photos that can appear in the feed as photos, rather than links.

You can check out Jered’s work here and connect with him on Twitter. 

If you found this interesting, please consider commenting and sharing. Thanks- Donny

Just Because You Count It, Doesn't Mean It Counts

The greatest trick the internet ever pulled was convincing the world it would be easy to do.

If you want to know the ROI on your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter feed, if you want to know the value of an impression, or if you want to constantly recreate your social campaigns, I hate to tell you that you're in for a lot of work There is a fallacy that says the internet is easy. That once you start tweeting fans, admiration, and money start rolling in. 

It' all a lie. There is no easy button. No one-size-fits-all aggregation tool. There is only hard work combined with a clear vision. 

There is an ROI on social, but first you have to understand your marketing strategy for the entire business. You show me the marketing strategy for the company, I will show you the ROI.

Social is not fast. It takes time, dedication, and a continued effort to connect to people you don't know. If you can't add value to someone's life then you're time on social is going to e painful (Hint: adding value is not selling you product. Not yet anyway.)

If you liked this, please consider sharing. Thanks- Donny

Read This Before You Waste Another Tweet

When is the best time to tweet? How about the best time to update your Facebook status? Or Instagram? We're all looking for a shortcut but here is the hard truth. 

There is no perfect time to tweet that works for every person or business. There is only the perfect time to tweet that works for you and your readers. Articles or experts that argue otherwise are usually presenting some form of aggregated data, which any data analyst will tell you, tends to clump.

Believing in clumps of aggregated data is falling victim to the shotgun fallacy. Aim a shotgun at the side of a barn, pull the trigger, and there will be hundreds of little holes spread across the barn. But there will also be a clump of those shots in the middle. A shotgun fallacy is when you draw a target around that clump and tell everyone, "I hit the target!"

For example, some social media experts will tell you that people check Twitter at 9:00 on Saturday. Though for a bike retailer, 9:00am on a Saturday may be the most popular time for their customers to be out riding their bike. So, that tweet is essentially wasted. Instead posting between 11 and noon might be better, when their customers are finished with their bike ride and checking their feeds. 

I encourage the bike retailers I work with to test multiple times and track which times of day create the most engagement. Turning your calendar to the viewership f your audience is the best way to get huge results from your social channels.

Thank you for reading this far. If you have found this piece valuable I would appreciate it if you shared it on your social channels. Thanks again, Donny