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Research Your Best Post Times

Regardless what you’ve been told or read, evening hours are the best to post social media content according to Kevan Lee. Following the charts for the best time of day or week to post all the various social media accounts can be a tricky and confusing matter. Even within the account there may be one or two “best” times varying in Twitter; for instance, from noon to three Monday through Friday, except five to six pm on Wednesday (according to sources), but no time on the weekend? Huh? Does that mean everyone is posting at work, possibly on lunch time or afternoon break? Perhaps afternoon break then, but he cites three pm and literally into evening hours. So have you researched your best post times?

I have to believe the stats may be leaning heavily on reporting by male respondents, as it would seem to me that the evening household commotion is still largely dominated by women. Mothers engaged with children’s after-school activities, mothers getting dinner; and then preparing for the following day leaves little time for computer games. Does she really crumple at 10 pm to catch up with Facebook friends or scan Pinterest? (I remember being too exhausted to do much other than collapse gratefully into bed.) Pinterest stats, by the way, say best engagement hours are between two to four am and evening hours every day, five pm on Tuesdays, and eight to eleven pm on Saturdays. There appears to be nothing we can no longer track down to the minute!

Perhaps accounting for the popularity of photos and the ever-growing demand for videos, Instagram has a stronger showing of engagement over Facebook or Twitter, although both the latter have increased video acceptance. As for photos, Kevan maintains that “The average interaction % on Instagram is up to 10 times higher than on Facebook.” Instagram best engagement hours are anytime Monday through Thursday, except three to four pm.

Need I repeat, however, the increasing interest in branding through video? Continue reading “Research Your Best Post Times”

So Much For Bugs Bunny!

It would probably come as no surprise to you to learn that studies have shown consumers spend more time with digital media than they do all forms of media–and that would include television viewing. Even back in 2012 studies by Global Web Index found that of approximately 10 hours a day spent in various media, it was digital media that edged out over 50% of attention. TV consumption down to 23%? No more Saturday morning cartoons? No more Bugs Bunny pulling Saturday morning babysitting duty?

As anyone who is more than 55 knows, if you can’t get a cell phone to work, hand it to a 5 year old.

phonefamily Continue reading “So Much For Bugs Bunny!”

Book Trailers Are Way Too Much Fun!

Book Trailers Are Way Too Much Fun!

Book Trailers–I love them! Like Movie Trailers, they can take myriad forms and while many are professionally created by artisans who know their craft, many others are created by you and me on a PC with little more than Power Point, Movie Maker, or other program such as Animoto (the latter of which is limited to 30 seconds. Consensus steers towards the shorter trailers, usually 1-2 minutes.

When I began researching book trailers, most have the caveat that they are best left to the professional as a poorly produced trailer can illicit the opposite effect desired. I’ve seen many a really remarkable book trailer that catches the attention, fires the imagination, and stirs the desire to see, read, and know more! WOW is that hard to achieve! But beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder. Most artists love their work and it’s extremely difficult to step back and view your baby with an objective eye, or for that matter, even know how the current public taste runs. Award winning book trailers have been produced by middle schoolers–and that’s some pretty stiff competition!

Since we’re talking about a simple D-I-Y project, this article will focus on Power Point Presentations. Your subject matter will no doubt dictate your target audience and that narrows somewhat the target age. There are simple book trailers that merely include text along with a slide presentation. Other movie trailers include video, fireworks, and fast action. You may include your own narration with or without a sound track behind it that you’ll verify is free through public domain (cannot use copyrighted material) or that you’ve properly licensed.

You create a storyboard by using your own photos or video clips or those free (or licensed) you’ve gleaned from appropriate public domain. Edit each slide individually adding text and timing (approximately 4 seconds per slide–keeping your text to the minimum). You may include transitions between slides, artful effects, or graphics. View lots of book trailers–tons of them on YouTube–get some ideas, decide what will appeal for your book, style, and timing.

Convert the presentation to video format and upload to your host, either your website or YouTube. YouTube is arguably among the top ranked social media sites (depending which ranking list you prefer). As with the description of your books, you’ll need a brief but powerful book trailer description as well as appropriate keywords.