Oscar Mayer...Superhero? - Carney
The Daily Carnage

Oscar Mayer…Superhero?

The hot dog brand is taking quality to the people this summer.

How the Instagram Algorithm Actually Works

It’s true. We’ve been showing Instagram a little extra love. C’mon, remember yesterday’s Carnage? We made up a little jingle just for the ‘gram.

But in our defense, it’s the fastest growing social platform and is becoming more e-commerce friendly. How can we not talk about it? The hosts at Science of Social Media agree and are helping us crack down on Instagram’s algorithm. Plus, they reveal other need-to-know updates.

We got the timestamps all ready for ya, fam!

  • (02:50) Instagram relies on machine learning based on past behavior to create a unique feed for everyone. So, feeds are based on interaction, not what you follow.
  • (03:33) There are three main factors to determine what you see in your Instagram feed, which is interest, recency, and relationships. Interest stems from predicting how much you will care about the post. Recency is prioritized by time, of course. Relationships is determined by how close you are to the person who shared it.
  • (04:45) Businesses need to keep the recency factor in mind. Be aware of time-sensitive content because people may or may not see it. Stories bring on new advantages.
  • (05:40) Other factors that are considered are frequency, following, and usage
  • (06:40) Conspiracy theories:
    • Instagram is not, at this time, considering an option to reverse to the old chronological feed.
    • Instagram does not hide posts in the feed.
    • Feed ranking does not favor photo or video format universally but users feed is based on interaction. So if you react more to video than you’ll be shown more video.
    • Instagram does not give preference to business versus personal accounts.
    • Shadow banning is not real. Instagram does not hide people’s content for posting too many hashtags.
  • (08:25) An experiment with hashtags on the Buffer account. They went back and added hashtags to older posts and got an increase in followers, comments, and engagement.
  • (08:50) As more users/businesses join Instagram and post more often, the average post will get drowned out. Focus on quality content and engagement!
  • (09:35) Instagram could soon allow users to post long-form video up to an hour long. Say whaaaaaaaaaat??
  • (11:05) Instagram will expand on shopping beyond the feed and into Stories.

That ain’t all. Take the jump for the rest…

How to Make a Successful Website: 10 Critical Factors

Do we really need to write an intro for this one? The title is a pretty good intro on its own.

So with that in mind, let’s just get into it. If you’re building a new website from scratch, or just revamping your current one, you gotta pay attention to these factors:

1) Clearly Define Your Goals

All websites have different goals. Start with the main one: what is the primary purpose of the website? It is to generate sales, leads, or traffic? Those are three very different goals, even though the strategies to get to the end goal might overlap.

2) Earn the Trust of Your Audience

Trust on the web is a finicky thing. The slightest sign that your company might not be trustworthy will cause you to lose customers.

A page that companies often mess up is the About Us page. Users want to know who they’re doing business with and not that you’re just another company in the industry. That page is your place to put names, pictures, culture, philosophy, and stories about your company.

3) Find Ways to Stand Out

Pro-tip you won’t find in this article: Take all the written copy on your website and Photoshop it onto a competitor’s website. Can you tell the difference between the two companies, or do they both sound, look, and feel interchangeable? If you can’t tell the difference, you’re not doing enough to stand out.

4) Focus on Usability & User Experience

Above all else, give users the minimum amount of clicks to accomplish a task. Want them to buy something? Make it very, very simple. Always assume that users don’t want to click anything to accomplish a goal.

5) Optimize Your Landing Pages

Create a way to quickly build new landing pages. You should have separate landing pages for all campaigns you run. Facebook ads, email marketing, PPC, etc. all need to have different landing pages because the user is different on each of those platforms.

That’s only half of them, there are still tips about analytics, heat mapping, and more in this one ↓

Look! It’s Super Hotdogger!

You’ve been planning for weeks now and it’s all come down to this moment…your annual fourth of July cookout. Everything’s perfect, it’s a beautiful day, you’re surrounded by all of your friends and family…

You’ve prepared trays and trays of food. Dang, you did good! There’s juicy watermelon, mac and cheese, and oh yikes… WHAT ARE THOSE?! Wrinkly, cold, grey hot dogs. Blerg. No one’s eaten a single dog, how embarrassing.

What’re you supposed to do now? Nobody wants to be remembered as the host with the horrendous hot dogs. Next thing you know you hear screams. Something in the sky is coming toward you. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a…Super Hotdogger?!

That’s right. No cookout is complete without some quality hot dogs. Oscar Mayer’s newest commercial is showing just how far they’ll go to get people like you the best possible hot dog, and save your cookout reputation.

You are no longer the horrendous hot dog host, but don’t forget with great hot dogs, comes great responsibility.

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”
Tom Fishburne

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