Finding The Best Stock Images for Content Creation
If you’re running a social media page set up for success, we understand that you want everything you post to look amazing. We also understand the struggle achieving this if you don’t have access to a photographer or stylist, or content readily available. Here is a list of our favourite royalty-free stock image sites, as well as a summary of the Copyright Act for Australian content creators, to help you create stunning posts for your business or personal pages.
Created by yours truly, we have a collection of styled and edited photos available for purchase, which you can adapt to your brand’s needs. Take a browse through everything available here. These photos are particularly tailored for lifestyle, business, blogging, decor and design.
Pexels have a variety of photos and videos, which don’t require any attribution. They have a wide range of images, with some premium options available for purchase. There is no login required, so download is convenient and easy!
Similar to Pexels, Unsplash has a variety of artistic photos available for free download, however this site does not include stock video. The creators also don’t need to be credited, and best of all, everything on the website is free.
Unlike some of the free sites, Stocksy includes several less traditional image options, such as prints and animations, photos of families, workplace and site photos, photo collections and a range of videos. These pieces require an account and payment, and the site includes the ability to search with JPG files.
Another paid site, SC Stockshot provides stylised images which have been used by Vogue Bridal and a wide variety of wedding sites. You can also access 20 images for free by signing up to the newsletter, and the site is unique in categorising various images by colour palettes, along with traditional category groupings.
Copyright law
Understanding Australia’s copyright law can be broad and complicated, so here’s a brief summary of how it works for content creators.
Copyright law applies automatically to every piece of work, regardless of where it was made, provided it is being used in Australia. This applies to unpublished content, regardless of whether it has a copyright notice included, including work you find on the internet.
To use someone else’s work, you need to gain permission, and may need to pay for a licence. You are also legally required to credit the work’s creators, unless they have explicitly waived this right. If the work is in the public domain, or author has explicitly denied the rights of use through Creative Commons Licensing, you may use their work without permission, however it is still polite to credit them. Other exceptions for using material without permission are listed under ‘fair dealing’ in the Copyright Act, which primarily applies to educational, legal and journalist organisations.
For content creators, you may use a portion of someone else’s work without permission, provided it is not an important, integral or distinctive part of their work, and the guideline for this is 10% of the piece. The wording on this clause is very broad, so we recommend seeking permission and licenses for whatever you use to avoid infringement.
If you’d like to know more about content creation and how we can help, contact us at [email protected]
The real cost of buying likes and followers
If you’ve ever been frustrated or disappointed by a lack of followers or likes on your page, chances are you’ve considered purchasing followers on your Facebook or Instagram platforms. At first, this may seem like a simple solution: it’s a small cost and you now have a heap of followers! If users see your online popularity that’ll attract genuine customers, right?
This is the logic that platforms selling followers would promote. The reality is, purchasing likes and followers is not only wasted money, but is detrimental to your analytics, and can create distrust amongst your target audience.
One of the reasons social media is such a powerful platform for advertisers is not only the opportunity to reach consumers, but the analytics it provides. If you run your own Facebook or Instagram business page, the reports you can access on who’s engaging with your page are vital for planning any campaign.
In the age of widespread digital advertising, the way to engage with potential customers is tailoring ads to their interests and social media habits. If your reports and analytics are cluttered with disingenuous likes and follows, not only will you be missing out on the analytics of your potential customers, but your advertising dollars will be wasted on wide reach ads (which thanks to the algorithm changes, are less likely for anyone to see).
Another major disadvantage of buying followers is that it can damage consumer trust. If you’re advertising via social media, chances are your target audience includes some tech savvy, regular users, who know what organic brand engagement looks like. If your page has a heap of followers which doesn’t equate to likes and comments, consumers will suspect your followers aren’t genuine, and may deter the users that could have turned into customers.
Ultimately, the main reason your brand is advertising is to attract genuine customers. Having likes and followers is a great measure of how your audience is responding to your content, but the only value behind these likes is to tailor engaging content, which will attract users to your brand. The money spent on buying followers could be spent better on literally anything else: buying props for your flatlays, boosting a Facebook post, even an extra coffee will be better for your brand than followers that have to be bought.
If you’d like to know more about creating great content and reaching your audience, contact us at [email protected]
How to choose a digital influencer to work with
There are so many reasons why using influencers is a great marketing tool for your brand, including creating brand awareness, fostering consumer trust, and an excellent ROI (return on investment) compared to other media investments. With influencer marketing, you’re effectively investing in quality content, media costs and celebrity endorsement in the one go, and if you choose the right influencers to work with, you can see some great results.
Here are our top tips for choosing influencers for your brand:
Followers, Engagement & Budgeting
The size of your brand and your budget will determine whether you partner with micro or macro influencers. A micro influencer has between 1000-10,000 followers, and generally yields an 8% engagement rate. While your content is reaching a smaller audience, this audience is generally highly targeted. Micro-influencers are generally cheaper, and some may even promote your brand for free in exchange for samples, however this is not the norm. Macro influencers have 10,000-100,000 followers, with an average engagement rate of 4%. These influencers will reach a larger audience, which may not be as targeted as your micro influencers, however can perform excellently if you choose an influencer who matches your brand target audience.
Budgeting for influencer campaigns can be tricky, as each influencer sets their own rates, which aren’t necessarily consistent across the market. As a general guide, between $25-75 per thousand followers is standard.
The Warning Signs
The biggest concern with consumer marketing is that the money you invest won’t turn into brand conversions or customers, and the biggest risk of this is if the ‘influencer’ has bought their likes or followers. To avoid making a poor investment:
- Take a look at their likes and comments, and compare these to the average engagement rates for their followers. If they’re only getting 100-200 likes with 50,000 followers, it’s almost guaranteed their followers aren’t organic.
- Take a look at their content. Is this an account you’d follow? Is their content original? If an influencer’s content doesn’t meet this criteria, it’s worth wondering whether you want to pay them to represent your brand. If you’re not interested in what their posting, chances are your audience won’t be either.
- What brands have they partnered with in the past? The value of consumer marketing can be lost if they’re promoting your brand directly alongside your competitors. One of the advantages of using micro-influencers is the reduced risk of existing sponsorships.
If you’re interested in influencer marketing or would like to plan your digital campaign, contact us at [email protected]
Instagram algorithm changes – a return to form?
In March, Instagram launched a fresh series of algorithm changes that aim to organise user feeds more chronologically. This change addresses criticism by users that feeds are regularly clogged up by old photos viewed hours ago, with new posts seemingly lost.
The shift will be a welcome change to users, who can now feel more confident that their posts will be seen by their followers in a timely fashion. However, these ‘changes’ aren’t really a huge shift, if anything they’re a return to form for the platform, who until 2016 arranged user feeds entirely chronologically.
If we had to organise social media platforms in terms of their user feeds, you could quite neatly divide most platforms into two camps. In one camp are platforms such as Facebook, who rely very heavily on algorithms to predict and arrange a user’s feed according to their activity and habits. In the other camp, real time platforms such as Twitter, who arrange their user feeds predominately chronologically and encourage news-based interaction and live tweeting.
Increasingly, Instagram isn’t very easily distinguishable into either camp. While the platform was founded on the principle of showing you and your friends’ personal snaps as they happen, the major shift in 2016 to an algorithm based feed mirrors its parent company Facebook. This latest ‘change’, best described as a ‘revision’ will hopefully strike an equilibrium by controlling what a user sees while keeping feeds fresh and timely.
The main takeaway from this latest round of changes? Expect to see more up to the minute posts, less photos from 2 days ago but a feed that is still arranged around your user habits. This minor tweaking of the Instagram feed is a timely reminder for businesses to evaluate their own social media strategies, and to explore the growing list of features Instagram now offer. At the top of the list is Instagram stories. Stories are a great way to reach users up to the minute, encouraging a series of posts throughout the day and lessening the dependence on the traditional feed to reach users.
Would you like to review your social media strategy or content plan? Get in touch today.
Why social media content must be engaging in 2018
Why creating and sharing engaging social media content is more important than ever
We are living in a day and age where our train ride to work, lunch time smoothie and evening workout are projected into the digital world. And brands have moved into the world of Instagram and Facebook as a means to further their influence and increase engagement. So much so, that our social media feeds are now flooded with ads and promotions, frustrating users to the point where there has been a decline in usage, particularly on Facebook.
In retaliation, both Facebook and Instagram have changed their algorithm. The algorithm affects where your posts appear on the feed, who sees your content, and therefore your reach and organic engagement.
Through the altered algorithm, the social platforms intend to show content that will encourage meaningful interactions between users. The posts appearing on our social media accounts are now arranged according to the content you are most likely to interact with. This change in the algorithm penalises brands that come across as overly promotional, therefore pushing them to work harder on gaining customers and potential clients attention. Many aspects of user’s online interactions are taken into consideration within the algorithm, but ultimately, content needs to be engaging to further reach and gain followers.
So, what makes a social media post engaging? How can you influence your followers and encourage them to interact with your content? And hence, how can you grow your following and further your reach?
Know your target audience.
And work hard on providing them with content they will take an interest in.
Ensure images, captions and comments are all “thoughtful”. This is vital in maintaining an identifiable persona. “Thoughtful” content is the kind where followers can see the authenticity, value and quality within each online interaction. Your account is a reflection of your brand, consequently, your online interaction must echo your accounts personality.
Encourage interactions on your account. The more interactions occurring on a post and the longer users engage with it, the more people who will see it. Prompting users to comment on your post, through questions or content they can relate to, will encourage conversation within your account.
Utilise your social platforms. Facebook and Instagram will reward you for this and it will also add dimension to your digital identity. Create stories, send messages and comment on other account’s posts. Videos gain more engagement than images and live videos gain 6x more interactions than regular videos on Facebook.
Social media is constantly changing and evolving. Staying informed of the latest changes will help in maintaining a strong digital presence. But, perhaps most importantly, ensure your online interactions reflect the essence of your brand.
“Social media is a way that businesses can humanise their brand. By creating and sharing really engaging content, both internally and externally with your customers, you put a face to your brand which helps develop trust – be it among your team or with your customers." says our Director Shelley, in a recent article.
Make sure every post, comment and like is made with intent and speaks to who you are as a business. Genuine interaction and engagement will always follow.
Want help creating engaging content for your brand? Find out more about our content creation services by getting in touch today.
A Day In The Life Of A Digital Marketer
A Day In The Life Of A Digital Marketer
Our Director Shelley recently chatted to the team at Fashion Journal about the digital marketing industry and what a typical day looks like.
(Hint, it's not all pretty flatlays and watching cat videos.)
Want to know more about joining our team at Melbourne Social Co? Visit our careers page to see our available positions.
Inspirational Women in Business
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’ve put together a list of inspiring women in business for you to check out. May their stories motivate and ignite the passion in you!
“Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them” – Stacey Bendet
Emma Isaacs - Emma is the founder of Business Chicks, Australia’s largest online community for women in business wanting to connect with likeminded women. The platform strives to empower working women through the sharing of ideas, knowledge and skills. Emma is a long-time entrepreneur, having never worked for anyone else (apart from the coffee shop jobs in her teens). She started her first business at the age of 18 and had bought another four by the age of 28!
Jane Lu - At the age of just 23, Jane founded Showpo, an online clothing store. Bored of her corporate life, Jane decided to quit and started her own business which failed and saw her $60,000 in debt. Not letting that discourage her, Jane launched Showpo a month later in her parent’s garage, with just a laptop and two shelves of clothing. The company is now a multi-million-dollar fashion empire...talk about determination paying off!
Lisa Messenger - Lisa is an entrepreneur, author and magazine publisher. She founded the Messenger Group in 2001 as a publishing company. It now has 18 arms including publishing, events, marketing and consultancy. Having written 14 books herself, she definitely knows a thing or two about business! Lisa also founded Collective Hub, a business and lifestyle platform that aims to uplift and empower people to live their best life. If you’re after a good read, give her book ‘Daring & Disruptive’ a go.
Ally Watson - Ally, a female developer, was put off by the predominantly male tech events and meet-ups she attended upon moving to Australia a few years ago. She decided to start her own tech event which then turned into Code Like A Girl - a business that runs events and workshops to provide girls with support to flourish in the world of coding. Ally is all about shattering stereotypes and breaking down barriers…what a great inspiration for young women!
How did we go? Are there other women in business who inspire you? Let us know in the comments below. Also, Happy International Women’s Day ladies! Send love and empower all the women in your life, not only today but every day!
If you’re looking to expand or grow your business in 2018, our team may be able to help! Whether you’re in need of content creators, community managers, a graphic designer or photographer, we’ve got you covered. Shoot us an email to find out more!
Why Instagram Stories are a must for business in 2018
Instagram Stories are a feature that Instagram introduced last year to fight off competition from Snapchat. The feature allows users to post photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours (unless you add them as a highlight on your profile, which stay there indefinitely). Instagram Stories are proving to be very effective in getting brand engagement for those who have embraced them already. So, what are you waiting for? Get insta story creating!
Fun facts:
- 250 million people use Instagram Stories daily
- Users spend 28 minutes more on Instagram now thanks to Stories
- 33% of the most popular stories are from businesses
- 20% of stories posted by businesses result in a direct message
Here are some ways to best utilise Instagram Stories for your business:
- A look behind the scenes
As a general rule, consumers love friendly, relatable brands. Stories is informal in nature, so use this to build a rapport with your followers. Show them the process of setting up a photoshoot, the planning that goes into an event or a product launch for instance.
- Gift unique offers
Try running ‘stories only’ competitions and putting discount codes up on Instagram Stories to build brand loyalty and reward those that check out all of your content. We all love a discount code or giveaway!
- Embrace geotagging and hashtags
Posts that feature one or more hashtags receive over 12% more engagement than those without and posts with a geotagged location get a whopping 79% more engagement. Another great benefit of adding tags to your posts is that you’ll get improved visibility as your post will be included in the Story ring for that area and hashtag. So, add in that hashtag and geotag location stat!
- Create polls
Adding a ‘poll’ sticker is a fabulous way to gather opinions from your followers and also get more engagement. The poll sticker allows you to ask your followers a question and customize the answers. E.g. What’s your favourite colour? Red or Green. Polls allow the audience to feel involved with the business and decision making. You get answers and they feel involved…win win!
Social media can be a confusing aspect of business for many people and that’s totally okay! If you think your business would benefit from a little help when it comes to Instagram and your other social channels, shoot us an email - we’d love to chat with you about your strategy!
Why Facebook algorithm changes aren’t as scary as we think
On January 11th, Mark Zuckerberg announced a series of changes to the Facebook algorithm, designed to reduce excessive news and business related content and promote interaction between family and friends, dubbed ‘meaningful interactions.’ By returning to their social roots, the shift has alarm bells ringing for many businesses and organisations – shares in the site immediately fell four percent, effectively wiping over $3 billion from Zuckerberg’s net worth.
For news sites, this Facebook algorithm shift will also involve the prioritisation of news sources deemed ‘trustworthy’, while celebrities and influencers can also expect to see less of their posts in followers’ feeds. In terms of hard data, Zuckerberg committed to reducing news content in users’ feeds from five to four percent. The changes have been deeply concerning for organisations – entire social media strategies have been plunged into jeopardy and many businesses are searching for viable solutions.
However, Facebook algorithm changes and calls for more user tailored feeds are nothing new. In fact, Facebook made a strikingly similar commitment back in August of 2014. Back then, the site pledged to show less promotional and recycled content, causing similar uproar among content creators, businesses and influencers. However, as these previous changes have demonstrated, organisations providing quality content and genuine engagement with users have emerged unscathed from algorithm shifts.
Crucially, data shows actual page engagement declined over 20% in 2017, highlighting overall user fatigue caused by clickbait pages and duplicated, poor quality content. The removal of low quality pages from users’ feeds is therefore a positive for the site overall. By creating an environment that favours meaningful content tailored to a user’s tastes, Facebook is effectively creating a more trustworthy and reliable site for both individuals and businesses.
While the changes won’t perhaps be as catastrophic to existing marketing strategies as first thought, algorithm changes are a timely reminder as to the importance of a dynamic and meaningful content plan.
So - what can you do to make sure your business content is seen and heard in 2018?
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Quality Content
It underpins any successful marketing strategy. Users don’t want to feel spammed or overwhelmed by the pages they follow. Be mindful in the regularity of your postings and enforce a standard tone and length to your content. Remember, poorly written and untailored content is the main target of the Facebooks algorithm changes.
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Prioritise building a genuine and targeted following
By creating content which users consistently click on, you can take advantage of the new algorithm which notes who is clicking on your content, and what they're clicking on, and knowingly promotes those pages.
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Embedding Posts
Pinning key posts to your business’ page is a practical method of making sure your content isn’t lost in the fray amidst newsfeed changes. Make sure that as soon as a user clicks on your page, they are presented with the most relevant content as opposed to merely your most recent posts.
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Facebook advertising
As actual page engagement declines, the importance of exploring a paid Facebook advertising campaign is continually increasing. Banners, page promotion, email opt ins and targeted viewers – advertising with Facebook is a multifaceted means of reaching your desired audience. Crucially, the algorithm for Facebook advertising is currently not being changed in tandem with these new shifts.
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Broaden advertising to Facebook’s additional features
Increasingly, younger users are engaging less with the traditional Facebook interface in favour of the dedicated messenger app. Take advantage of changing user habits and target your advertising to within the messenger app. Similarly, Facebook live is an emerging method which promotes active user engagement, with endless opportunities for business promotion.
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Like and share… and unfollow!
Promotions and competitions imploring users to like, share and tag your posts are set to be another casualty of the Facebook algorithm changes. Data suggests such competitions are a poor means of building an engaged audience, and worse, alienate your existing audience. In fact, many such competitions actually break Facebook’s community guidelines, running the risk of post or even entire page deletion. Choose your promotions and competitions wisely.
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Influencers
According to Forbes, influencers are not currently bound by the same restrictions placed on businesses amid these new algorithm changes. For the time being at least, collaborating with influencers is more important than ever, especially if your business is currently not engaging in a paid promotion with Facebook. The key to a successful influencer collaboration is choosing an influencer that has a genuine link to your product or service or desired audience.
Want to chat to our team about your Facebook strategy for 2018? Get in touch today!
How To Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
New Year, new you. How many times have you said that to yourself? Every year? Us too! So many of us set unrealistic resolutions each year and end up breaking them. The key to setting reasonable New Year’s resolutions that you won’t break is to make them measurable and achievable. We’ll leave your personal resolutions up to you, but to help you get on track for a more productive year at work, here are some of our top productivity tips!
- Address must-do’s first
Have you ever put of a big project in favour of smaller, less critical ones? We’re all guilty! Although you may get the smaller tasks done faster, you could find yourself running out of time to complete the big project. So, to ensure they get done on time, always work on the more important projects at the start of the day. Your future self with thank you.
- Take breaks
Try to figure out when your productivity begins to drain and take a break. Go for a walk around the block, grab a drink or snack. When you sit back at your desk, you’ll feel more alive and ready to tackle your to-do list. Also, taking time out of each day for a bit of mindfulness will do wonders for your productivity.
- Stop multitasking
It’s a myth, okay. We all think it’s possible but really it’s not. Instead of jumping between multiple tasks at once, commit your focus to one task at a time. You’ll be surprised how much faster you get them all done simply by tackling one project at a time.
- Schedule email time and turn off notifications
These are two infamous concentration breakers. Having a set time to check emails means you aren’t getting distracted throughout the day. Set aside time in the morning and afternoon to read through and respond to emails. As for notifications, turn off the insignificant ones to allow yourself to focus on the job at hand. Nothing is more distracting than a snapchat notification popping up on your phone!
- Know when it’s time to delegate and outsource
Many business owners think they can tackle everything on their own, and this is when they become overloaded and overworked. Learning which projects and tasks can be outsourced and which ones require your input is a skill. By outsourcing jobs to other professionals, you’re freeing up your time to focus on more important jobs.
Here’s to a greater, more productive work year for you and your team!
If you find your workload increasing and think you may need to outsource, whether it be with content creation, branding and strategy, or community management, our team is here to help! Shoot us an email to book a consultation.
