Are you using videos on your social media? Well if you are then great but it's time to go back 20 years in time as we're back watching videos in 4:3 format, yep just like the good days. If you're filming in 16:9 still, don't panic just add two black or colour bars on the top or bottom and add some text too and make it a square video. Taking it a step further, why not try some videos in 9:16 (portrait). You would have seen these used on snapchat, facebook and instagram stories

"I see video as a mega trend" Mark Zuckerberg Feb 2017 Yes way back then in early 2017 Mark Zuckerberg said video on social is a mega trend, he wasn't wrong and went on to add more and more features to Facebook over the later months to rival the main video platform Youtube. For many years now video has grown, video content has grown and more and more brands are pushing out hundreds of videos per month, but are some wasting their time? Yes is the answer to that, some are but f

Amazing achievement by our clients Aberystwyth Cycle Festival on winning the Attracting Aberystwyth award at the Menter AberystwythAber First Awards this month... we have loved helping them with their video and media and the festival over the last 2 years. 🎬 Head over to our Facebook page or twitter page to see the video in full. Well done to all the Cycle Fest team, a fantastic achievement and we're looking forward to the 2019 event already!! #Aberystwyth #aberystwythcyclef

Over the weekend our client Squash Wales held it's annual National Championships, attracting the best squash players from around Wales to compete to be the 2018 National Champion. Over the last few months we have been working with Squash Wales to develop their social media presence, update and freshen their branding and logo as well as create their new website that's due to go live in May. The championships on the weekend gave Squash Wales a chance to showcase their talent to

We manage dozens of Facebook business pages, we mange advertising spend, creative and delivery for many others and create content for business in Aberystwyth, Cardiff and all over Wales and the UK. We think we know Facebook quite well. You're on Facebook right? You have a business so you have a Facebook business page right? There are billions of Facebook users, millions of Facebook pages but still only 24 hours in a day and there's only so much content a human being can consu

Nothing much changes more in marketing than social media, mainly the updates and opportunities they offer as they look to improve their service to the end user and business user. We manage a number of social media accounts for a variety of businesses in Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Swansea and London and we see the changes happened on a daily basis. Some of you would have noticed that some of the social media channels are merging in to one with the introduction of the "story feature

We shared with you some months back about being able to add videos to your Facebook page covers, have you started using them yet? We have had a play with some of the cover videos for our clients. A great way to add something exciting to your page and possibly stand out from other pages who have static images, only a few select pages had the option to add a video but mostly all pages we manage have to option. What will you add to your Facebook cover? Animated text, an intro vi

According to a study by Animoto 39% of consumers are more likely to finish videos that have subtitles and 81% of marketers optimise their social videos for mobile. Did you know that over 500 million people are watching videos on Facebook every day. 64% say watching a marketing video on Facebook has influenced a purchase decision in the last month. 56% watch videos in the evening and 84% watch on mobile devices. Facebook reports 1.74 billion mobile monthly active users as of F

GlobalWebIndex’s latest social media usage report shows that more than 40% of people use social media platforms to keep in touch with friends, making this the top reason for social media use globally. Among 16 to 24 year-olds, the key reason for using social media is not to keep in touch, but rather to fill spare time (too much spare time obviously) while among 25 to 34 year-olds, staying in touch with friends proves more important. (if you plan or run events, Facebook is the

Marketing changes all the time, we discuss this with our clients in Cardiff and Aberystwyth all the time; nothing changes much quicker than Social Media. This week along there have been updates and changes to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube as well as announcements for iOS 11 coming in September. FACEBOOK Facebook has finally added a dedicated GIF button to comments. All users on Facebook can now use the new GIF comment button that the platform started test

We love working with local businesses in Aberystwyth and the Aberystwyth Cycle Festival is no different. We're not as totally nuts about cycling as they are, but we do have a passion for digital marketing and a goal of helping businesses in Aberystwyth get the very best from their digital marketing efforts. The Aberystwyth Cycle Festival is a celebration of cycling in Mid Wales, including town centre criterium racing, downhill mountain biking and a mass participation ride - t

We are really pleased to offer you 360 video, are you based in Cardiff, Aberystwyth or Swansea? Let's add 360 video to your marketing plan and show off your business or products online in a full 360 video, what are you waiting for? 360˚ video is here and is one of the most entertaining ways to engage with audiences whether your B2B or B2C. The development of 360˚ video players on Facebook, Vimeo and YouTube makes it even easier to share videos on social media. We plan, create

Are you using video marketing in your social media? No, quick go grab your phone and get started! For those of you that are whether you're a plumber in Aberystwyth or a cocktail bar in Cardiff, how are you measuring success? Most measure success on video views, "oh look it's had 126 views" it must be a great video and people must love it, right? Wrong, first thing I would look at is engagement too, how many shares, likes and clicks. But if we do drill down on the views, what

Video marketing, it is everywhere! We spoke to five businesses in Aberystwyth and Cardiff talking about adding video to their marketing strategy. There are enough TV adverts, now that our attention has switched to our phones we will see more and more video content on social media and online. The best TV adverts, the best social videos are the ones that tell us a story, engage with us and make us feel, sometimes sad, sometimes laugh and sometimes it just makes us feel good! Ex

We tend to see more and more GIFs appear on Facebook, comedy and memes shared by LadBible, but can they fit in Facebook ads from businesses? It seems like Facebook will let us have a go in the coming changes. So a video but not a video with no sound and no chance of sound that will autoplay and loop, pretty similar to current videos but much shorter (and smaller file size) All these changes include tweaks to campaign objectives, the ability to use animated GIFs in video ads,

We manage a number of business social media accounts, twitter, instagram and of course Facebook, these channels are key to a business marketing to as many customers as possible. So getting the best for their buck is essential, when it comes to Facebook it isn't just schedule a post and hope for the best. What are the most engaging posts on Facebook? Questions, images and video are top of the pops for engagement; Facebook LIVE is the super star of it all though. Try it! Best d

So you’ve seen the name Red Squirrel Marketing. You may have read our article in the Aberystwyth Ego about us helping local businesses with their digital marketing? maybe you've seen us on social media or you’ve met a member of the team for a coffee in Cardiff or Aberystwyth to discuss marketing. But who exactly is Red Squirrel Marketing? Why are we so Nuts About Marketing and how can we help your business? My name is Damian Burgess founder of Red Squirrel Marketing. I'm a We

Do you use Facebook video on your page? Does it rely on sound? Most of the time we are viewing videos with no sound, perfect when you’re in work (naughty) or when you’re in bed and the other half is asleep. So there’s no surprise that when a video plays with sound most react negatively and move away from the post. So a video with no sound works better, but how do you convey a message in mute? Through captions of course! You could always import an SRT (subRip) file to do this,

Have you ever hosted an event on Facebook or been invited to one? Maybe an opening day in Aberystwyth or a Facebook chat like we host giving tips on digital marketing or social media tips. Events are great ways to spread the word of your brand, receiving RSVPs and letting people know more about your events with images, videos and discussions. Discover Local Events Facebook is a great way to find events happening around you and now it’s even easier to discover new things to do

Last week we were asked by a few of our clients who we manage some social media and general marketing for, ‘How can I increase my Likes on Facebook?’ The first question I posed back to the client was ‘Why do you need to increase it?’ and their answer was 'so that it looks better for their image' and that their competitors have more than them and need to catch up. The one client in mind has over 1,500 Likes on Facebook, they have grown this steadily over years and years and ar