By Reid Rosefelt
Social Media networks go through phases in their lives, just as we do in ours.
Most of us go through periods of adjustment which we handle with varying degrees of success. Many of us don’t climb very high up the ladder of success, and it’s a rare few that become superstars like Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lawrence, Facebook or Twitter.
By Reid Rosefelt
In May of 2012 I decided to try an experiment. I wanted to see what kind of Facebook Community I could create over the course of three months. I created a page called “Save the Supreme Court–Re-elect Obama.” I did this because I was concerned about what might happen to the Supreme Court if President Obama lost, but I was also thinking about it as an experiment for promoting a documentary, something I had done as a marketing consultant, for films like “The Island President.” I could be getting ready to make a film about the Supreme Court, and using Facebook to promote that would involve essentially the same work– utilizing targeted Facebook ads to assemble a community of people who were interested in the activities of the Court.
I gave myself a budget of $100.
My hundred bucks purchased a wide variety of tiny ads that turned up hundreds of thousands of times on the Facebook pages of people I felt might be interested in the Supreme Court, or had progressive politics. My $100 took me to about 800 members, but then I found myself unsatisfied and hungering for an even thousand. I threw caution to the wind and splurged on another twenty bucks to get there.
By Reid Rosefelt
As I’ve said before, attempting to game social media is like trying to playing chess with a computer that can change the rules at will. Every social media guru is aware of this, as social media changes like the wind.
This is why I’m not interested in writing “[INSERT NUMBER HERE] THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT PINTEREST.” Rather than pretend to be an expert by recycling other people’s insights and research, I’d rather direct you to the original thinkers here.
More importantly, when you are dealing with something that is always changing, trusting experts isn’t always the best idea. I think you should be proactive–not just a passive receiver of other people’s ideas. I’d rather suggest a working process, instead of “tips.” I’m talking about curiosity and a willingness to make your own experiments.
By Reid Rosefelt
We define and display ourselves in social media through our taste. We show the books, movies, TV shows, theatre, music, technology, sports, food, and video games we like, and what we have to say about them. Pinterest does that, with the difference being that it’s not as evanescent as Facebook and Twitter. It’s not about what you said a minute or few hours ago, it’s relatively permanent. It’s a series of baskets–your boards–in which you place your interests. They are always there, you just keep putting more stuff in them.
Your boards are all dedicated to s
By Reid Rosefelt
Today many marketers are making twice as much money on Pinterest as they are on Facebook. Does that mean that for you–my filmmaker and artist readers–Pinterest is worth twice as much of your precious time? Yes, and there’s a simple reason.
All the big social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram have struggled to translate their large numbers into revenue. Eventually, the costs to simply keep in operation get so astronomical that they throw up their hands in despair–and the only answer they can come up with is advertising.
On the other hand, the ability to market and promote is built into Pinterest’s DNA. Pinterest is a colossally effective store that is as fun and addictive as “Angry Birds.” Like that thing you’re looking at? Click. Buy. It’s Google search on steroids.
By Reid Rosefelt
As a busy filmmaker or visual artist, you may feel you’re already spending too much time on Facebook and Twitter, and the last thing you need is to start soaking up your time with another social media platform. I understand that completely, but I’m going to show you how Pinterest can help you even if you don’t really use it.
In case you haven’t heard, Pinterest is a new and increasingly popular social media website that allows you to “pin” images and videos to virtual pinboards that you create, organized around themes. You can either upload your own creations, bring them in from other websites, or “repin” them from other Pinterest users.
A recent survey found that Pinterest is only one percent behind Twitter, up from twelve percent in August 2012 to fifteen percent in February. It skews very heavily female at this point, but that may shift as more people use it.
By Reid Rosefelt
I have a Movie Actor Quotes Pinterest Board with 86 graphics and a Film Director Board with 65 graphics. The Movie Actor Quotes Board is #1 out of 40,700,000 other results on Google Search and the Film Director Board is #3 out of 73,900,000. I am ranked over the sites where I find my quotes, an irony I doubt they appreciate.
