The Four Main Types of Blog Posts and How to Use Them

There are several kinds of blog posts Content Marketers can use to attract and retain their audiences, each of which come with distinct advantages and disadvantages. Using each type to its fullest potential is a sure-shot way to build an audience of consistent, engaged readers, and this week we examine five of the crispest ones for our very own blog post!

1. The Newsjacking Post

Newsjacking is a great strategy to mix one's own opinions into an existing news story. A prospective blogger can start by framing some current events relevant to his industry, then delve into the company’s position on the matter, including how the business might change in response to it. News posts, whether original or opinionated newsjacking posts, are beneficial because they provide raw, current information to your reader, ensuring that the perception of the blogger and the company especially is one at the top of the information curve.

2. The Instructional Post

Instructional posts are some of the most common for a content marketing campaign as they are relatively easy to write. Instructional posts, as the name suggests, provide instructions to a user on a given task or actionable item. They can be a step-by-step “how to” article, or simply general information articles that provide background for an abstract subject, like marketing. These can be written by both B2B and B2C companies, and can be taken advantage of for several universal fields.

3. The Media Post

Media-specific blog posts are popular already, and are becoming even more popular due to the increase in demand for visual content. Infographics, high quality images, and short videos are just a few examples of focal pieces of media that can be used for a media blog post.

Moreover, visual media has a higher propensity to be shared, giving a brand more visibility and in many cases, more inbound links - which in turn improves SEO.

4. The Entertaining Post

Usually, an Entertaining Post possess elements from other post varieties (such as containing media or presenting items in a list format), but their main stated goal is to provide amusement. The amount of entertaining content one should publish depends on the seriousness of the brand in question. If the brand is one of a playful, interactive nature, one can publish as much entertaining content as they desire. If it is a conservative, more professional brand, such content is best limited.

Do you have a Corporate Blog that needs managing with the tips above and more? Contact the Brand Update team via brandupdate.in and they'll get in touch with you to explore various Social Marketing options for your blog and brand as a whole.

How to Plug your Corporate Blog on Social Media

The growth of Social Media services such as Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon and Reddit; has fundamentally changed the way we share content on the Internet. Before Social Media exploded a few years ago, it was more common for people to share content by email, or by sharing websites and pages they like on their blogroll.

Even if you do not use social media services frequently yourself, it is vital that you take advantage of Social Media and use it to drive traffic to your brand or company's corporate blog. We list out a few tips for you to consider in the pursuit to drive your blog's past and future articles to sustained success.

Promote your Company's Social Media Profiles

If you do not clearly indicate the presence of your company's Social Media profiles to your readers, nobody will know that they exist. It is therefore important to promote them on your website, the common means of which is by prominently displaying Social Media follow buttons on your blog header, or sidebar. This makes it clear to visitors that they can stay in touch with the company and your blog through those informal services. 

Share your Latest Blog Posts with your Followers

Social Media is the perfect medium to let people know that you have just published a new blog post. Many bloggers to this manually to give themselves the flexibility to customize their message, that is pushed out to each service, but a more efficient way of sharing posts is to update your Social Media accounts automatically by dispensing the title of the blog post along with the link to the particular article just published. 

Add Social Media Sharing Buttons to Your Content Area

Visitors to your blog who enjoy reading one of your blog posts may choose to share it with their own followers and friends. They can do this at will by copying your article URL and sharing it through their favourite Social Media service, but you can ensure that your content is shared more frequently if you make the process of sharing easier by integrating sharing buttons into or just outside of the content area.

Allow Visitors to Leave Comments Using Their Social Media Profiles

People who use Social Media services tend to stay logged-in to those networks whenever they browse the web. You can therefore save visitors the hassle of having to enter their details in your comment form by allowing them to publish a comment using their chosen Social Media service. All they have to do is authorize your commenting application the first time around after which they are good to go.

Do you have a Corporate Blog that needs managing with the tips above and more? Contact the Brand Update team via brandupdate.in and they'll get in touch with you to explore various Social Marketing options for your blog and brand as a whole.

How to deliver Customer Service through Social Media

Social Media has arguably been the biggest thing that has hit the customer service industry since the mid-1960s, which was when modern day Call Centres were born. It is taking customers and organisations into untested ways of relating: transparently, collaboratively, instantly. The consequences of great and poor service are forever changed, and it is well worth it for yourself and your company to excel in this art.

One of the great benefits of providing customer support on social media is being able to connect with consumers in real time. Handling customer issues on a public stage can benefit both you and the customer you’re working with, and it doesn't hurt to go above and beyond a generic “Please call us so we can resolve the issue.” 

Keep an eye out for mentions of your company. Remember, the audience is larger than the sole customer himself, and anybody could be tweeting or posting about a positive or negative experience of your brand at anytime. Reciprocate well, and build a connection with the audience to tap into their undying loyalty to your brand over time.

Likewise, don't hesitate to go the extra mile. Regularly monitoring all of your company's social media accounts helps you find specific opportunities you can use to elevate your business over the competition, and help you maintain an ongoing relationship with your customers. While the end result of a particular interaction may not be perfect, your listening skills certainly should be.

Lastly, do make a note and constantly hunt for keywords relevant to your industry, brand or products, so your team can proactively identify and serve dissatisfied customers before they take their business elsewhere.You can use such insights to create new support resources for customers, such as helpdesk articles and blog posts.

This blog is powered by Brand Update. Also give them a shoutout on their Facebook page, or dial them through +91 080 41266279.

5 Tips to Maximize your brand's potential on Pinterest

Facebook and Twitter may have a large userbase and get the bulk of the press, but brands who really want to diversify would do well to look at some of the other niche networks as well, with Pinterest being the safest bet from amongst them.

Did you know that the average Pinterest user is a follower of nine brands on the network, and spends over 15 minutes on the platform at any given time? People use Pinterest as a shopping site – no wonder that it now drives more sales than Facebook, which is seen more of a tool to connect with friends and family, followed by other priorities later. 70% of users say they went to Pinterest to find inspiration for what to buy!

Here are several different ways you can use Pinterest to increase your sales and grow your customer base:

1. Understand the Pinterest Culture

Pinterest has a very different mode of working and browsing when compared to its counterparts from the Social Media genre, and this in turn makes it ideally suited for brands who are selling products on the site. Many businesses who get on the network thinking it to be a similar service to Facebook and Instagram, thereby putting their foot in the wrong step in the process.

From your brand's perspective, take some time to explore the site and see how others are using it. Which ones end up as the most popular pins? What kind of users are considered influential over a period of time? Learn from them before jumping in!

2. Pinning over Re-Pinning

As an active manager of your brand, your strategy should include fixed benchmarks on how many pins you are willing to share during any given week. 'Re-pinning' fellow users' pins is also encouraged, as is commenting on pins you encounter sitewide, and is a neat way to clock up on more followers.

However, simply re-pinning other peoples' content will not increase your sales - in fact, it will probably increase someone else's! Therefore, it is very prudent to be strategic with your re-pins, and consistently share a steady but not overwhelming stream of your own products to keep your audience interested and interactive.

3. Tell your Story using Pins

It's always a great idea to tell people about your company using visuals that communicate part of your story. How did you start out? What challenges did you encounter?

It is an equally great step to share testimonials from established customers. What did you learn from them, and how did you solve their problems? Keep in mind that potential customers like to connect with brands on social networks, not see faceless, nameless logos that have no personality or back story.

4. Invest in Great Visuals

While you could have a great strategy and great content on your website or online store, but if the pins are not optimized for Pinterest, they will not get re-pinned and liked. As is the case with other similar networks such as Instagram therefore, shareable, pinnable images are clear, colorful, elicit emotions and get a reaction.

5. Enable Rich Pins

'Rich' Pins is the term in vogue all over Pinterest that represent pins that have a price, consequently increasing sales. Firstly, they put people in a shopping state of mind subconsciously, in addition to the benefit of increasing purchases by broadcasting prices on pins outright.

Do you need help with marketing your company or brand on Pinterest? Give a shoutout to the friendly folks at Brand Update and they will be at your service!

2014: India's First Social Media Elections

If trends tell a story, Facebook and Twitter users may be the new votebank Indian politicos have to worry about. And that is a fair enough assertion too, as we have just witnessed an election with several firsts to its credit. Not only is it the first time that several millions of youth are voting, it is also the first occasion where the campaign spends on all forms on online digital media of political parties were second only to the USA.

Social Media was an important cog in the elections just gone by; allowing politicians from parties big or small to reach out to the minds of the people directly, conveniently bypassing any semblance of bias or arrogance from conventional media such as television. The 2009 Lok Sabha did not see as much mobile and Social Media penetration. So much so, that the FICCI Frames annual report did not have a 'new media' section until 2011.

According to the said report, the total number of Internet users in India is 214 million, out of which 130 million also access the medium through their mobile phones. It took a decade for the country to grow this base from 10 to 50 million, but only three to double it to a 100 million, says the report. The age group of 18 through 24 years are the most vocal in the metros, but the maximum growth is being witnessed from tier two and three towns, a scary prospect from top honchos across all political spheres, urging them to not mess up on the online front in the slightest lest they shell a couple of million votes across the country.

Naturally, TV networks too don't want to be left behind, and are pulling out all stops to get viewers hooked onto the second screen. CNN-IBN has a tie up with Microsoft and Google; ABP News and Aaj Tak are using their intense Social Media following; Times Now and CNBC-TV18 have tie ups with Twitter; while NDTV depends on its own proprietary material such as its app which has over six million downloads as of the start of May 2014.

In essence, the fact that news travels and gets consumed faster through Social Media means that it is effectively used for content dissemination and to provide breaking news. 'Viral' and 'trends' are the new operative words of our era, and long may it continue - as India's mobile and Internet penetration sharpens and connections become better and cheaper, political parties, voters and news channels alike will have to stay attuned to a digital landscape that serves their interests, but also constantly changes over time.

How to Engage your Fans on Facebook

The Brand Update team is always looking to provide pointers to help you implement the latest ways to engage more of your Facebook fans, by fine tuning some tried and tested engagement tactics that are in deserving need of it.

After all, your visibility in the news feed depends on engagement like never before!

1. Develop Evergreen Content

If your content tends to be dictated by trends, you'll find that once the trend has passed, so has interest in your content. Evergreen content on the other hand, stays relevant for at least a good 6 -12 months.

Create a number of such articles that are valid through the year, and you'll always have something that generates engagement on Facebook.

2. Craft Posts to Drive Click-Throughs

On its own, a link posted to your page won't generate many clicks. Move your fans from your Facebook page to your app or content with a combination of incentives and calls to action in your updates, and watch the interaction in the form of likes, comments and shares rise.

3. Balance Various Types of Content

If every piece of content you deliver on Facebook has the same look and feel, your fans will begin to pass them over for content that looks different and more interesting.


To make your Facebook page more engaging, share your content in a variety of forms. Experiment with photos, videos, links and questions, and choose your top-performing post types to include a variety of each in your updates in future.

4. Gain Insights from Facebook Data

Facebook’s Page Insights provide businesses with key information that takes the guesswork out of which types of content your fans like seeing most on your page.


Simply put, use the data from Insights to tell you which types of posts achieve greater engagement for you on Facebook and adjust your content to include more of them.

Do you have a Facebook page that needs managing with the tips above and more? Contact the Brand Update team via brandupdate.in and they'll get in touch with you to explore various Social Marketing options for your brand and page as a whole.

Top Tips to Optimize your Twitter Stream

Well, it is perfectly appropriate to open a Twitter account with the intent to just listen. You never have to send a single tweet.; Twitter even say so themselves. Conventionally however, depending on your goals and objectives -  be it personal or that of your brand, you may decide that you want to become an active tweeter over time. If that is indeed the case, you'll want to make sure you engage the various netizens of Twitterati in the best fashion ever, to ensure that you're viewed as more of a valuable contributor rather than merely a wall of noise. This post offers 5 tips to accomplish just that:

1. Strive for Quality over Quantity

As the greatest unspoken secret of Social Networks Internet-wide, curating content based on quality helps followers deal with information overload and increases your value to them. High quality tweeting essentially includes responding to and engaging with followers, and not simply talking 'at' them. There are certain exceptions of course; in certain situations, like live tweeting during an event or responding to a crisis, people’s tolerance and appetites for greater quantity increase - so don't hesitate to indulge them in such niche instances when you possess the power of real time exclusivity to tide you over.

2. Craft your Tweets Well

This one sounds like a no-brainer, but never exceed the 140 character limit while typing out your tweets. In reverse of course, this means that you don't need to truncate your tweets below this figure to say, 120 characters in length - a mistake that many jounralists and celebrities, among others, are increasingly guilty of. 140 is the absolute limit - make use of it. The only exception being when you spot a potential for dominant re-tweeting, in which case you can snip it down to 130 characters or below to allow room for the textual paraphernalia that accompanies such posts.

3. Introduce #Hashtags Wisely

Though Twitter hashtags have been around almost as long as Twitter itself, many people still do not understand what they are or how they work. So when in doubt, leave it out! Only use a hashtag when a regular key word is unavailable or ineffective, and there is generally little need to hashtag a fellow Twitter handle, or even a webname or url. Also keep in mind that special characters like a comma, full stop or apostrophe break the flow of a hashtag.

4. Time your Tweets Well

The 'best times to tweet' vary, but for professional engagements, weekdays during work hours usually work out the best. It would help nevertheless, to know the time zone(s) of the majority of your followers and scheduling your tweets accordingly. Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite or SocialBro can help you determine the metric at the click of a button, and allow you to 'attack' the said market at those opportune moments by scheduling tweets accordingly.

5. Don't Overdo It

Be it endless selling and self-promotion, indiscriminant live tweeting, or excessive re-tweeting, it is never ideal to overexpose yourself or your brand in such a ubiquitous fashion. Linking other Social Networks such as Facebook - and with it all their posts also falls under this category. Though tolerance levels on Twitter are generally higher than one would expect, the above are still swampy ground that you're best avoiding altogether, even if push came to shove.

Would you like your brand's Twitter stream to be managed? Shoot out your specifics to the good folks at www.brandupdate.in and they'll get started ramping up Social Media for your brand in all of Twittero-sphere at the pace you would like it!

Five Underrated Google Plus Features

Google Plus has a good reputation within online branding circles - it's good for Search Engine Optimization, Networking, Marketing and more, with new reports coming in constantly about user growth.

But even if and when you're actively engaging on the platform, there are still many features that you're likely missing, if only because there are so many features to try. With that in mind and in order to help you take greater advantage of Google's latest Social Media offering, allow us at Brand Update to list out five specific Google+ features to check out!

1. Helper Extension for Chrome

If you're already hooked onto Chrome for your browsing needs, then you're just one quick download away from a free extension that makes using Google+ a little easier. With the Helper for Google+ Extension, you gain access to the following benefits:

• A One-Click tool to share Google+ content on Twitter and Facebook
• Desktop notifications on new posts
• Bookmarking tool for reading Google+ posts later

Feel free to head over to the Chrome Web store, download the extension and follow the setup instructions, and you have a tool particularly designed to extend your reach.

2. Built-In Formatting Codes

Unlike Facebook, Google+ allows you to change the style of text you post with various short codes you might not know about. Here, for example are a few ways with which you may customize your text:

• Bold: Add an asterisk at the beginning and end of words you want to embolden.
• Italics: Add an underscore before and a plus sign after the words you want to set in italics.
• Strikethrough: Place a dash before and after the words you wish to have a line run through.

3. Google+ Ripples

When you wish to view responses to your Google+ post in an uncluttered, visually focused way, try out Google+ Ripples. Simply head to the top right-hand corner of your post, click the downward facing arrow, and click on the option to "View Ripples". From thereon, Google+ will take you to a chart that shows how your content has spread, including which users have shared it, who's liked it, etc.

4. Google Brand Page Audit

In order to obtain clear information on how well your Google+ page is performing, go to Steady Demand. With this free Google+ tool, you enter your brand page's URL and receive a free report on what you're doing right, and wrong. The software checks to make sure you're linking your website from your profile, for example, as well as how well your posts are performing. After looking at the resulting metrics, you have a clear guide to improve your page in future.

5. Turn-Off Google+ Emails

Google+ recently launched a new feature that, by default allows anyone connected to you on Google+ to be able to email you through Gmail. Some users see this as a new convenience, while most see it as a huge privacy breach. If you want to disable others from being able to auto-email you, there's good news - you can. Here is how:

From within your Gmail account, click the wheel at the top right-hand corner of your screen above your inbox, and scroll to the "Settings" tab, from which you can change the dropdown option from the "Email via Google+" section from the default "Anyone on Google+" to your preferred option - either "Extended Circles" or better yet, "No one". Scroll down to the bottom of the said page and click "Save Changes" and you're all set.

Have you already been utilizing these Google+ tools and features, or were some of them new to you? Would you like your Google+ page managed by the competent folks at Brand Update? Visit our website and contact form to let us in on your company's profile and feel free to request any Social Media service you may need help with.

The Best of Instagram's Filters

The total number of filters in Instagram number up to 14, but have you ever pondered on which ones amongst those make your photos look the best, regardless of context? Sort of like a one-size-fits-all imaging solution? Think of those pictures where you simply grab and snap, just for the sake of it.

Have a look at the range of photos above, of an everyday cup of coffee; and yet off the surface you can notice that some filters work out better than others. Placing them side by side clearly demonstrates that there are sharp differences in hue, contrast, lighting and saturation. Three of them stick out though, even if the subject were a loaf of bread:

1. Hefe

Hefe, simply makes the coffee, or rainbow and its contents several shades bolder and colourful because of its philosophy of upping the contrast and intensifying the colour. Seemingly naturally, it stands out from the others as more vibrant, fun and aesthetically pleasing. This filter works well for most photos, but obviously only if the object has a lot of colour in the first place!

2. Inkwell

Of the two monochrome filters, Inkwell is quite clearly the better and classier pick, and it transforms your photo into a black-and-white still. And everybody loves black-and-white effects - they're stylish, elegant and quite fashionable. Not to mention the lack of bright colours to serve as a needless distraction. Colour minus colour is the new black, pun intended.

3. Rise

Likely a left-field choice, but as a thumb rule, it should be your 'first' resort while playing around with any kind of photograph, and more so the landscape ones. The brown, pale hue sharpens the image and provides a smoother texture to any picture. It overlays a wonderful layer of light haze, and gives everything a soft, warm glow. It works even better should you choose to use the 'High Contrast' button from the gallery panel on the latest update.

With these three musketeers, it's pure instant photography for all. 

5 Twitter Practices that will make your Brand Resonate with your Audience

Among the plethora of social networks that have popped up over the past decade, Twitter is undoubtedly the most intuitive of them all. Combining exciting, useful content with an engaging tone to uniquely connect with your audience is a fun experience to say the least. It's all the more better when fragments of your audience hang on to your every word and make it a point to respond or 're-Tweet' what you have to say. 

That is Twitter in a nutshell, and below we highlight five top practices to help your Twitter account become the best in its sphere, to in turn achieve the results that you want.

1. Keep Tweets Short & Sweet

Creativity loves constraints and simplicity is at Twitter's core. Tweets are limited to 140 characters by default, so they can be consumed easily anywhere, even via mobile text messages. There's no magical length for a Tweet, but a recent report by Buddy Media revealed that Tweets shorter than 100 characters get a 17% higher engagement rate.

19 flavors. #washedchinos #bonobos http://t.co/r6Q7YUPE
— Bonobos (@Bonobos) May 8, 2012

2. Make it Real-Time

Timing matters, especially for breaking news or live Tweets. But how about for everything else? The short answer: it depends on the content of the Tweet, your objectives, your audience, their geography and more. The best way to optimize the timing of your Tweets is to test and learn, through Trial and Error. Once you have mastered thus, you can space Tweets sufficiently apart to grasp your audience at the right intervals of time.

3. Tweet Often

Like timing, Tweet frequency depends on a number of variables such as your audience, purpose and business objectives. That said, a good basic rule is between three to five Tweets per day. You may want to try tweeting a couple times a day to see how your audience reacts, then adjust as needed. Keep in mind that aiming for the stars is not the way to go here, though. Strike off the options of Tweeting out ten or twelve updates a day, that doesn't work under normal circumstances.

4. Follow your Interests

Following is a fantastic way to discover compelling content and inspire ideas for your own Tweets. Follow accounts that are interesting to you or your business, and feel free to re-Tweet, even if they are your steadfast competitors.

5. Simply @Reply

Engage other Twitter users in conversation using @replies and mentions. The @reply feature is intended to make communication between users easy and seamless. Users will in turn keep little things like these in mind, promoting greater loyalty towards your brand during any future endeavours.

@meerakini Hi Meera, liquids etc are not permitted in the hand baggage. For more info click here: http://t.co/659VMPAGAp
— Jet Airways (@jetairways) February 20, 2014

Would you like active engagement in the sphere of Twitter for your brand? Get in touch with us at Brand Update to examine and zero in on one of the various service plans on offer.

Why Outsource Your Facebook Management?

Facebook has been the new directory of many businesses online. Almost all businesses are maintaining their own Facebook visibility in the hopes of maximizing social exposure. In this article, we will talk about as many as five good reasons why it’s good to outsource Facebook Management to a third party services provider, like Brand Update!

1. Expertise

When we are experts in a certain task, chances are the work we produce will be of a high quality. The same can be said in outsourcing particular work to an external third party services provider with a dedicated speciality in that field. Established outsourcing firms are good at what they do and really focus on their services. After all, they make a living providing such services, so if you pay them, they will be obliged to do the job well!


Look for Facebook page managers, let them do the job at a reasonable negotiated price, and let them do their thing as for sure they are more knowledgeable than you and are surely better equipped at doing the task more effectively. Creating, managing and maintaining a Facebook page for a business is not that simple to do effectively, so allow the experts into the job.

2. Efficiency

In business, time is of essence! Having other experts do other tasks for you will result in a faster paced and higher quality of work. You will then again have enough time to do all the other things associated with your business on a day to day basis. Having more time means having more opportunities for all sorts of things. It will give you space and more peace of mind too.

3. Save Money

Chances are that third party service providers abound as they offer great services at reasonable and lower prices. Hiring an in-house team to do the task may prove to be more expensive and may require a lot more effort such as training and doing researches for all sorts of data for your page. Outsourcing the services on the other hand, may save you time, effort and money, but ensure first a great negotiation before deciding on either of the two options.

4. It’s a Business in Itself

Social Media isn’t just for socializing socially. It’s the new word-of-mouth, a huge aspect of public relations, an integral part of marketing communications and networking. It is results-driven, and is an important investment in the future of your business. Using social media for marketing is a whole lot different than using it for personal purposes. It would be in your detriment to underestimate it and take it under your personal wing, in addition to all of your other chores within the business in question.

5. It's not their Job

There might be the temptation to add Social Media marketing to a current employee’s duties. However, this may not be the best use of his/her time or your money. First, your current employees already have jobs to do. Social Media marketing, being time-consuming, will take them away from their other duties. If they’re not already well-versed on Social Media, add time for the learning curve. You also need to consider whether or not they understand the strategic aspect of your marketing. You might also consider letting your public relations firm, website designer, or other outsourced service agency take on your social media marketing. Again, this is not their specialty, so consider it as a last resort to hiring a dedicated Social Media Manager - one who handles content and budgeting for all the popular networks out there!