Attention all LinkedIn users who share external links! There’s been a recent update to the platform that you need to be aware of.
LinkedIn is now rolling out a change that reduces the size of image previews for links shared in organic posts. This means the eye-catching visuals that used to grab attention in your feed will now appear much smaller.
Why the Change?
According to LinkedIn, this update aims to encourage users to:
Post native content: They want users to create content directly on LinkedIn using features like LinkedIn articles and direct updates.
Increase sponsored content usage: Sponsored posts will still retain the larger preview image size, potentially incentivizing users to pay to promote their content.
What Does This Mean for You?
While the smaller thumbnails might not be ideal for click-through rates, it doesn’t mean you have to stop sharing external links altogether. Here are some ways to adapt your LinkedIn posting strategy:
Focus on high-quality headlines and descriptions: Since the visuals won’t be as prominent, craft compelling headlines and summaries that pique users’ interest and encourage them to click on your link.
Consider creating custom thumbnails: While LinkedIn doesn’t allow uploading custom thumbnails for link previews, you can create a visually appealing image related to your content and share it directly within your post along with the link.
Experiment with native content: Consider creating LinkedIn articles or direct updates that summarize the key points of the external content you want to share. This keeps users engaged within the platform.
Here are the new link preview image dimensions to keep in mind:
Minimum: 360 x 640 pixels
Maximum: 2430 x 4320 pixels
The Takeaway
By being aware of this change and adapting your strategy, you can still leverage the power of LinkedIn to share valuable external content and connect with your professional network. Remember, strong headlines, informative descriptions, and well-crafted visuals (even within your post) can still grab attention and drive engagement, even with the smaller preview size.
Lots of stories in the new have caught my attention but none more so that the David and Goliath battle in the frozen desserts aisle and it really got me thinking – is your brand bigger than your reputation?
When Aldi took on M&S over the saga of “Colin the Caterpillar”, Aldi seemed to get a lot of positive media support but how quickly it can all change. Aldi now seem to be in the firing line and their reputation is being called into question.
In the world of business, it’s not uncommon to see the giants of industry flexing their muscles, often at the expense of smaller players. But when does competition cross the line into blatant imitation? One small business is finding itself in a classic David and Goliath battle after supermarket chain Aldi allegedly copied one of its flagship products.
The product in question? Freezecakes – a dessert brand from Pleese. These frozen cheesecakes have been making waves in the dessert aisle, delighting customers and available from the Co-Op and Waitrose. But, Pleese’s joy turned to dismay when they discovered that Aldi had released a strikingly similar product under the same name, with nearly identical packaging, slogans, and flavours.
So, why does this matter in the world of branding and marketing?
It’s about more than just protecting intellectual property; it’s about fairness and respect for the hard work and creativity that small businesses pour into their products. In an industry dominated by big players, small businesses rely on their unique offerings and brand identity to stand out from the crowd. When those efforts are undermined by copycat tactics, it not only hurts the bottom line but also erodes trust and goodwill among consumers. It can also damage a good reputation. People will vote with their wallets.
In this case, I hadn’t heard of this brand or Freeze Cakes but I have now and I really want the real thing! Supporting small businesses is key for me in this case. Taking a look at Pleese’s socials and they have capitalised on this and doing a sterling effort. While Aldi has championed smaller players in the past, their actions in this instance leave a sour taste in the mouth, highlighting the double standard at play in the world of business.
As consumers, we have the power to vote with our wallets and support businesses that uphold principles of fairness and integrity. While the outcome of this David and Goliath battle remains to be seen, one thing is clear: small businesses like Pleese deserve to be celebrated and protected, not overshadowed by corporate giants.
So, the next time you reach for a dessert in the freezer aisle, remember the story behind the product and the people who poured their passion and creativity into bringing it to life.
Pop over and give Pleese a follow and show them some support and I will be following this case with interest:
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High-impact marketing doesn’t have to be high-budget. Inflation is unfortunately having a huge impact on how much we are all able to spend at the moment, so this is the perfect time to make sure that the basics are doing their job. Conscientious business owners will be trying to save money wherever possible, and rightly so in such uncertain times. But being money conscious doesn’t have to come at a cost to your marketing strategy. Here we discuss some of the foundational elements of marketing your business effectively, and how you can make the most out of the cheap or free tools available to you. Read on for our money-saving marketing ideas.
1. Google Business Profile
The lowdown
Formerly known as ‘Google my Business’, Google Business Profile is a fantastic and FREE tool to increase the visibility and accessibility of your business via the world’s biggest search engine. The information you enter and update as part of your profile can appear in Google’s Maps, Search and Shopping functions, making it an essential element of your marketing strategy. So many people use Google as an easy and quick one-stop-shop for their needs, so it makes perfect sense to position yourself as a business where you know your target audience will already be looking.
Why we love it
This service features a ‘Create Post’ function, allowing you to easily add information about offers, new updates, events and products which will be visible on your profile for a week. We recommend that you take full advantage of this by posting something new every week in order to maximise the visibility of your profile. An effective strategy is to ensure you are rotating the aspects of your service that you advertise each week to give an accurate picture of the breadth of your business.
Now you know
Start by reviewing your profile and ensuring all of the information available is up to date. At a time, convenient for you, slot 10 minutes each week into your diary to complete a new post for your profile and this will increase your visibility to avoid your voice getting drowned out among your competitors’.
2. Email marketing lists
The lowdown
Social’s may be king in this day and age, but don’t underestimate the power of your own email marketing list. Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok can be fabulous platforms to connect with your customers through, however they don’t belong to you and as such it is wise not to be totally reliant on them. Every day there is another story about a business owner or influencer’s account being taken down or hacked. If these social platforms stopped existing or performing in the same way, do you have other established routes of reaching and communicating with your audience?
Why we love it
Email lists are a great way to transport your content directly to the inbox of your audience. You can drip feed content in a variety of formats to keep things interesting and creating a regular email which goes out on a weekly or monthly basis will keep your audience looking forward to hearing from you. Email lists are an opportunity to tell the story of your business, you can combine sales, humour, personal updates and relevant news to engage with people on a deeper level and in a longer form than social media allows.
Now you know
You can use your online followers as a basis for building your email marketing list, think about how you can maximise your conversion from online engagement into your email marketing channels. Think creatively about how you can encourage people to sign up, but under no circumstances can you add people to your lists automatically. It is crucial to abide by GDPR law and maintain a positive public image. Offers of discounts or exclusive content can be effective methods of enticement.
3. Your own website
The lowdown
How many times do you leave a website without even bothering to look around, because the layout is off-putting or inaccessible, or the content is out of date? Your website reflects on your brand, so it is important to keep it refreshed and up to date.
Why we love it
Refreshing, maintaining and updating your website doesn’t need to be a mammoth task. Websites are split into pages, and just like the layout of your website, it is easy to make this a manageable task by tackling one page per week. Your website can effectively communicate the style, feel and values you want to leave your customers with, so putting the time into getting those correct is worth the potential impact.
Now you know
The first things we would recommend that you review on your website are:
Page content
SEO performance
Refresh your images
Do you have enough ‘calls to action’?
Are you linking through to your email marketing?
Blog posts
Do your internal links work?
4. Social media
The lowdown
More than half of the world now uses social media in some capacity, making it a massive resource pool for your business to take advantage of. Social media is wide ranging, with different platforms offering different benefits and audiences. Your business might not mesh well with every platform, but there will definitely be at least one which suits your business and its needs. Platforms now also offer analytics, allowing you to easily monitor how effective your usage of your chosen social media channel is.
Why we love it
Social media channels are a cheap, wide-reaching marketing tool, allowing you to grow your audience through consistent and effective use. You can use your channels as funnels to filter your audience through to other areas such as your website, blog posts, YouTube videos or to sign up to your newsletter. Social media will be accessed by your customers in short bursts each day – meaning that the best way to communicate to them is in short, easy to digest chunks. This will keep your brand relevant and at the forefront of your audience’s mind. The nature of this method of communication means that it does not need to take a long time to produce and share effective content.
Now you know
Invest a bit of time in reviewing your social media and coming up with a refreshed strategy. Questions you should be asking yourself include:
Is our messaging/voice as we want to be heard?
Are we using the right platform(s)?
Can we improve our bio/business information?
Do our graphics look the way we want to present ourselves?
Is what we are already doing working (analytics)?
All of these ideas can be executed quite simply without the need for an expensive marketing team. However, if you are looking for a more in-depth review of your marketing strategy, support with content creation or any other aspect of marketing your business help is only a phone call away. Call us on 01158376260and we can find the right package for you and your budget.
BeReal is the latest social media app (yes, there’s another new one…) however, this one is different to the others! For a start, it currently doesn’t give you the option to share stories and it also encourages users to share an authentic, in the moment, unedited version of themselves online.
So, how does BeReal work?
The idea of BeReal is super simple. Once you have the app, you get a daily notification telling you that it’s time to “BeReal.” You then have a couple of minutes to capture and share and photo of what you’re doing, in that moment. If you post after the two minutes are up it shares how late you were posting, so no cheating and waiting until you’re doing something exciting.
The notification comes at a different, random time every day, adding to the app’s authenticity.
The app has no editing or filter features, you can simply snap and upload.
You also have the option to comment or react with a “RealMoji” on posts shared by others. The “RealMoji” works in a similar way to reactions on Facebook, but uses a selfie of you captured in the app rather than an emoji.
Why is BeReal popular now?
There are said to be many reasons it is particular popular, especially amongst Gen Z:
You can only see posts shared by others if you have posted yourself that day, meaning only those engaged with the app can use it, this means there is a lot less uninteresting content to scroll through.
It’s a lot less polished than other forms of social media such as Instagram as users are not incentivized by likes or engagement.
The app promotes a filter free and less toxic relationship with social media than we are used to being promoted in 2022.
…and we’re not talking about your favourite Christmas film either.
You can feel it can’t you? The nights are darker, the air is colder. The shops are starting to fill out and November begins to drag its way through to the last month of the year. Local towns begin to start preparing decorations, you’ve probably noticed an early bird in your neighbourhood begin to light up the house and your funds begin to slowly dissolve into a chaotic festive expense. It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas; but what is the biggest clue? What rings the bell and gets all that anticipation snowballing? The video in Christmas Marketing that appears on our television, in our newsfeeds and the topic of conversation between your friends, family and co-workers.
It’s been long since a tradition that was universally recognised by our eager Christmas spirit and a very literal consumer-driven thirst, Christmas has not begun until you see the Coca Cola lorry advert appear. Yes, that iconic cacophony of ‘holidays are coming’ has become synonymous with kickstarting the Christmas spirit and sits quite comfortably being recognised as indicative of Christmas to us as much as the tree, Michael Buble and mince pies. Yet the company at the foundation of this has one aim- to sell us a fizzy drink. This memorable form of iconography is now the cornerstone of Christmas Marketing Campaigns. So much so, that Coca Cola has long since been rumoured to be the actual birth of modern Christmas and its widely accepted tropes altogether. Albeit up for discussion, this isn’t necessarily true…but did they set a new standard for brand engagement? In the last ten years, particularly with the rise of Social Media, companies looked to entice our business by doubling down on the emotional impact of our Christmas spirit. Prompting the ever desirable viral social points of likes, shares and comments.
In later years, one company sought to carry the torch in being just as iconic and again, with the simple strategy of selling us emotion as the product rather than its actual business. Again, we speculate, anticipate and wait for its arrival to signify the beginning of our inner festive buzz. You probably know who I’m talking about. The John Lewis adverts began to use Video advertising to create a feel-good, forgiving and empathetic video that oozed the very same festive concoction of emotions we all willingly invite during this time of year…and they do it well. So much so, that other retail giants Aldi, Tesco, and Sainsburys amped up their video marketing efforts to produce their own examples in a similar fashion. Whilst their products and services exist all year round, it is the festive flick of the switch to remind us your weekly food shop was now something different and that as a business they are ready, willing and engaged to compete for your extra budgets and attention this Christmas.
Do your customers/clients know you’re Christmas ready? Have you prioritised your communication channels to tantalise their festive spirit? Whilst we’re not suggesting a bandwagon attempt to outshine the multi million-pound platform big companies use, there’s still a variety of strategies and tools you can implement into your festive marketing.
We update this blog regularly, so come back next week when we will be giving you our 5 best tips to extend your Christmas presence online!
Can’t wait till then? Are your Reindeers ready to fly into Christmas already? Then get in touch. The Creationz workshop Elves would be very happy to help you in understanding video in Christmas Marketing and your online presence this Christmas.
They say Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year but is also a marketers favourite time of year! The minute the calendar flicks to November we all begin to anticipate this year’s Christmas adverts.
As retailers compete for the biggest, best and most tweeted about Christmas adverts, we’ve rounded them all up in a short blog so you won’t miss out on any festive magic. We’ll be updating this list as new adverts get released so make sure you come back!
John Lewis
This list of course has to begin with the most widely anticipated retailer of the season, John Lewis. The one we all patiently wait for as the countdown to Christmas begins.
The John Lewis Christmas advert, Unexpected Guest, follows the story of a young boy called Nathan who befriends an alien named Skye, after her spaceship from another galaxy crashes in the woods beside his home. The main themes of the advert are friendship and experiencing wonderful Christmas moments for the first time. As always, John Lewis has got the perfect music to match the joyful story with the advert featuring a wonderful cover of Together in Electric Dreams.
Marks and Spencer
Much to our surprise, Marks and Spencer have actually released two Christmas adverts this year! One to advertise their festive food range and another to showcase their clothing and gifting selection.
Judging by the reactions online it is safe to say their food advert featuring Percy Pig has stolen the show! In this advert, Percy is brought to life when a fairy voiced by Dawn French drops a magic wand on a gift wrapped in Percy wrapping paper inside an M&S Foodhall. It is also worth noting Percy Pig is voiced by Tom Holland aka Spider-Man. They both explore the aisles together discovering the delicious delights featured in the M&S Christmas range.
The second advert follows a woman as her day goes from dreary to magically festive in a whirlwind of M&S clothing, from cosy Christmas pyjamas to festive party frocks.
Boots
Boots have pulled out all the stops this year with former Doctor Who star, Jenna Coleman starring in their Christmas campaign!
The theme of the advert is joy, the joy of being with friends and family, the joy of getting out there and connecting with each other, the joy of giving that perfect gift. This heartwarming advert pulls on your heartstrings and it highlights some of the things we have all missed over the past two years. Jenna’s character makes everyone’s Christmas dreams come true, then heads to visit her Nan to give her a gift, a bottle of her favourite perfume, reminding her it’s what “love” feels like.
Sports Direct
The advert titled “GO ALL OUT” certainly lived up to its name, featuring an array of professional sports stars.
Their Christmas campaign features a wide array of athletes from England players, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount and Declan Rice to Emma Raducanu and Jessica Ennis-Hill all participating in a snowball fight. It is rumoured to be the most expensive Christmas advert of the year and it’s clear to see why.
Lidl
Lidl’s Christmas advert shares a glimpse of a futuristic Christmas, with a laser turkey cutter and relatives visiting from the moon.
The advert is designed to reinforce their key messaging, that they are “big on quality” and always “Lidl on prices”. Showing that Christmas may change in the future, but their prices and brand values will not.
Asda
The music for Asda’s Christmas 2021 campaign is the Bolero, as made famous by Nottingham’s very own by Torvill and Dean.
The ASDA advert follows a family skating through a series of festive moments before reaching the big day itself. Showing many of the much-loved magical experiences we missed out on in 2020, from the big family food shop to the school nativity and the office Christmas party.
As previously mentioned we’ll be regularly updating this blog so come back and check it out! What is your favourite advert? We’d love to know, so get in touch.
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