May 15, 2015
Where does the name ‘Pomegranite’ come from?
We get three types of reactions to our business’s name.
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Aug 5, 2014
10 quotes to inspire the hell out of you
Everyone loves a good quote. Especially when it’s in a sexy font. Perhaps written over an evocative image. I am a big fan of a well-timed quote that seems to have been created just for me – and the other how-ever-many-thousands-of-women are trolling through Pinterest on a Tuesday morning.
So, for your viewing pleasure, I’ve put together a little montage of my 10 favourite quotes that apply to the work we do – but also the lives we live (or the lives we wish we were living when we read these quotes in sexy fonts).
When you get rid of all the other superfluous stuff, this is what it all comes down to.
Don’t love what you do? Stop waiting around for it to find you – get out there and look for it! Life is happening right now.
Once you start, it will get messy before it gets amazing. But sometimes, in the midst of the mess, it IS kind of amazing. Because it’s yours.
What makes you different? Embrace it.
Set goals. And keep coming back to them. Sometimes that goal is trying not to lose your sense of humour that day. And that’s ok.
Corny? Perhaps. True? Mmm-hmmm.
There’s always a way to figure it out. Sometimes you just need a dance break in between.
Sometimes clients come with their own drama. And you need to step back and realise what’s theirs and what’s yours.
Also – THIS. You’ll need it from time to time if you start your own business. But you know what? It’s one hell of a party in those pants.
Follow Pomegranite on Pinterest for more of this cheesy goodness.
Mar 20, 2014
5 simple ways to engage your audience on social media
Ever wanted to have your own shop selling stuff you love or be a radio presenter recognised and adored for your sense of humour? If you’re active on social media, you’re already taking on roles like these.
Social media is space we all curate – whether it’s our personal brand (of life being amazing all the time) or a business’s brand (of the business’s values, products, lifestyle). Visual platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr can be compared to custom magazines and you could say that Twitter is like having your own transcribed podcast beaming out to followers who are tuned in. So what are you doing with your curated spaces? Getting people to participate is one of the best ways to build loyalty. Here are five simple ways to get followers to engage.
1. Polls
Polls are a great way to get feedback from your community while not asking them to make much of an effort. There are plenty of apps out there to facilitate them – just be aware of your settings: pranksters can have (hilarious but) devastating effects when you allow the public to add suggestions.
2. Competitions
For as long as society has used pronouns, people have loved free stuff. Facebook recently slackened the rules for running competitions which has made life a lot easier. By using an entry mechanism where ‘liking’ your page is a condition, you can build follower numbers quickly. After that, it’s up to you to keep them around.
3. Videos
Generally, we’re a pretty lazy society and there’s no better example of this than our internet habits. We would much rather watch a short clip than read a paragraph of text. Film is a multi-sensory experience and, while it’s expensive in relation to writing text, the impression it gives is incomparable and you can get a lot of mileage out of it. A short, captivating clip to introduce your brand and a number of key points can be used in presentations, on your website, and shared on all of your social media platforms.
4. Links
Your curated space doesn’t have to be made up exclusively of original content. While a certain amount is crucial, your brand’s online presence can also be a hub for relevant and useful content. You can be the go-to place for all things [insert your field here].
5. Photos
Because they communicate immediately and powerfully, images are some of the most shareable content on the internet, especially when overlayed with text. There are plenty of easy-to-use, free tools out there such as PicMonkey which make creating this kind of content a cinch.
If you’d like to take your social media to the next level, check out 26 Facebook Fan Engagement Tips or get in touch about our social media workshops and social media management.
Feb 12, 2014
10 amazing social media stats (to make you sound like you know what you’re talking about)
I wasn’t a huge fan of numbers at school. Maths was my worst. WORST. The day I wrote that final matric exam was possibly the greatest feeling in my life to date. Ok, let’s call it top five…
However – as I’ve grown older and wiser, I’ve come to appreciate the power of a good statistic. Here is a little fact for you: quoting an (accurate and current) statistic makes you sound like you know what you’re talking about. It just does.
So I’ve compiled a little list of 10 amazing social media stats for you to quote in your next meeting/dinner party/awkward conversation that descends into silence and badly requires you to make words.
1) 72% of all internet users are now active on social media. My mom is one of them. The other day she invited people to like a page. It’s happening guys!
2) 5700 tweets happen every second. Every. SECOND.
3) As you might expect, the majority of Pinterest users are female, but those demographics are shifting. Right now the divide stands at 68% female and 32% male.
4) There are currently over 1.15 billion Facebook users, 23 percent of whom log in at least five times per day. (Where do you stand here? More or less? Be honest…)
5) Approximately 50% of individuals between the ages of 18 and 34 check Facebook immediately after waking up. More than half of these individuals check their Facebook pages on their smartphones before getting out of bed. (Guilty)
6) Instagram now has 150 million active users, and the most followed brand on this platform is MTV.
7) Facebook users share 2.5 billion pieces of content each day. I can’t even wrap my mind around that number…
8) Twitter has 560 million active users. It’s not quite Facebook’s 1 billion, but it’s growing at a rapid rate – particularly in SA. Not one to be ignored!
9) 79% of LinkedIn users are 35 and older. Let’s be honest – this is not the most exciting platform. But I know a few people who have been offered jobs through LinkedIn or generated leads. It has its place for sure.
10) 71% of users access social media from a mobile device. So often, in fact, that it’s hard to go to dinner with friends without someone picking up their phone mid-conversation to check a tweet or Facebook update. New game? Upon arrival, everyone puts their phones in the middle of the table. First person to touch their phone buys dinner for the table.
[Sources: Mediabistro, jeffbullas.com and lifementalhealth.com]
Jan 14, 2014
‘GIRLS’ talks to its viewers in their language
Love it or hate it, GIRLS is back and they’ve developed a great online presence ahead of the launch of their third season, which aired on Sunday night. I’m an unabashed GIRLS fan, so move on over if you don’t smile with fondness at these ladies (I’m a lady, you’re a lady, she’s a lady, we’re the ladies.)
The show hasn’t gone without criticism – indeed the above images show a group of well-off twenty-somethings staring at their navels – but if you happen to be a twenty-something ‘girl’, it reflects your messy existence better than anything else out there. It’s refreshing to laugh at your own ridiculous naivety and self involvement through this group of undeniably hilarious characters.
The show’s target audience is of a similar age and that market is online. All the time. “For us, this is an increasingly challenging demographic to reach with traditional means,” Sabrina Caluori, HBO’s vice-president of social media and marketing, told Mashable. In the lead-up to the release of season 3, HBO has made some great marketing choices, reaching viewers through a range of current platforms.
Because the show is so quotable, an early mark online was the ‘GIRLS’ Tumblr page (previously WhatShouldWeCallGirls), which posts a bunch of GIFs, memes and fan-art, allowing fans the satisfaction of in-jokes and reliving moments from the show. Their Facebook page has run a fun campaign giving character portraits through emojis (Shoshana’s signature mode of communication) accompanied by translations. Over on Twitter, it’s a family affair with cast and crew members live-tweeting during the show, and answering fans’ questions after the show, starting with episode three using #GirlsFYI. These strategies have been adapted for emerging platforms such as Instagram, Vine and even Snapchat, as well as the usual social suspects like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The biggest move so far has been the release of the double-episode season premier on Youtube just 12 hours after its release on HBO.
While the show may not speak to everyone, GIRLS is doing a great job of using online platforms to reach its audience.
Dec 10, 2013
A thousand words: The rise of the visual social network
We’ve said it before – images and video are becoming increasingly important elements when it comes to social media and your online presence. People would much rather watch a quick video clip than read a whole page of text. And if they are going to read a page of text, they’ll be much more likely to do so if it’s peppered with interesting and appealing visuals.
Just look at the top three fastest growing apps in 2013: Vine, Flickr and Instagram – it’s all about the images and video. The online audience is hungry for visually-rich material, and it is the brands that deliver this on social media platforms that are winning followers and recognition.
A recent example from South Africa is the Soweto Gospel Choir and Woolworths’ heartfelt and beautiful tribute to Nelson Mandela – a video that left me with tears and lasting goosebumps.
The infographic below, created by @ManwthePlanigan, unpacks this shift to the visual in the online space, and provides brands with a few ideas to navigate this ever-changing landscape.
Oct 15, 2013
Winning pinning: Three great Pinterest campaigns
Pinterest. It took a while for people to catch on to this social media platform in South Africa (and to be able to pronounce the name – “pin-interest”? Awkies.), but it’s growing rapidly. There are currently just under 50 million users worldwide. My mom is one of them. Just saying. Yip – best you get on that, if you’re not already.
Because it’s such a visually-rich platform – Pinterest is like a big digital pinboard that allows users to create and curate theme-based image collections, in case you weren’t sure – it has been used very creatively by brands in some nifty campaigns.
There are loads of examples of great uses of Pinterest floating around the internet. These three are of our favourites:
The whole attraction of Pinterest for many people is that it is a platform of aspiration. It allows them to pin pictures of items that, in a perfect world, they would love to have: a dream wardrobe here, an ideal home there, places they’d love to travel to – the list goes on. And then UNICEF showed up and turned the whole concept upside down. They created a fictional character, Ami Musa, a 13-year-old girl from Sierra Leone. She has one board. It is called: “Really want these”. “These” are running water, soap, basic food, shoes, an education – things that we take for granted.
6 pins. 1550 followers – all left with something to think about.
Kotex pop-up store
So this is pretty clever. Kotex and Tel Aviv marketing agency Smoyz got together and created the first ever pop-up Pinterest store. Intrigued? I was too. The store was designed to look like a Pinterest board, and local women lined up for a chance to “pin and win” whatever was inside the mystery gift boxes. Each box had a sentence on it, and ladies had to pick a sentence that inspired them and pin that sentence to their Pinterest board in order to win the contents of the box.
Free stuff + Pinterest – what’s not to love, right? The store attracted a decent amount of attention pretty quickly. Never underestimate the power of an excited woman and a smartphone. Marketing mileage for days on social media.
Clever Kotex, clever.
GIRLS fan art
There are a lot of great series out there that get under people’s skin and crawl into their hearts. Most of these series inspire awesome fan art – but HBO’s GIRLS actually showcases it on their fanGIRLS board. Great use of Pinterest, girls.
P.S. Watch this show. If you haven’t – where have you been?
P.P.S. Follow Pomegranite on Pinterest and check our our boards of things that inspire us, beautiful office spaces, useful infographics, social media laughs, ALL the pomegranates, and all things proudly Cape Town.
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