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Trump Media shareholder Justin Peedin says he plans to stand by Trump despite the former president's historic conviction. Courtesy of Justin Peedin hide caption

When a New York jury convicted former President Trump, supporter Justin Peedin in Florida was outraged.

So he decided to take a stand: By buying more shares in Trumps social media venture while encouraging others to do the same.

Its almost time to show them what DJTArmy is all about!!!! Buy more today and hollllllld, Peedin wrote in Truth Social a little before trading started on Friday.

Peedin is part of a legion of Trump supporters who own shares in Trump Media & Technology Group the company behind Truth Social.

Many supporters have invested despite all the warnings from professional investors about a company that's losing money and has little revenue.

And now, at a time when many investors would normally flee because of the former president's conviction, Trump Media shareholders are vowing to double down over their anger about a conviction they view as a miscarriage of justice.

At least on Friday, their push to pump up the stock didn't pan out. After initially opening up about 15%, shares ended the day down 5%.

But far from being discouraged, Trump Media shareholders are vowing to hang on.

It is the latest twist in what has been a volatile ride for Trump Media shares since making its stock market debut in March by merging with a listed shell company.

For those who invested early, it has been a remarkably lucrative ride so far. But nobody has benefited more than former President Trump.

And now, whether or not these shareholders decide to hang on will determine the fortunes of a company many in Wall Street have panned as a dud.

Trump has a lot riding on Trump Media. He owns nearly two-thirds of the company.

Despite taking a hit on Friday, Trumps stake was still valued at $5.6 billion a windfall that earlier this year placed him in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time.

Its an incredible value for a company that lost over $300 million in the first quarter and had almost negligible revenue. It also had just under 700,000 monthly active users in April, compared to over 76 million for X, according to data from Similarweb.

Trumps newfound fortune is all thanks to hundreds of thousands of investors who have bought into Trump Media, many of them to show support for former President Trump.

Donald Trump attends his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 29, 2024. Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images hide caption

Justin Peedin is one of them

Peedin became a Trump supporter in 2015. He was teaching English in an Arab village in Israel. He had left a sales gig in a call center in Maryland. He says he left partly to escape the racial strife in the U.S and partly to reconnect with his Jewish heritage.

I figured if I can help make peace over there, you can make peace anywhere, he says.

Peedin voted for Trump twice and he believes the world now needs Trump more than ever. Its why he also decided to invest in Trump Media.

Unfortunately, the world's not just hugs and kisses everywhere. There're people that really want to do harm. And we need strong leadership, he says. I'm scared for the future. So, 2024 is a big year. And that's why I'm invested in this, you know?

Peedin is a huge fan of Truth Social. Its a platform where he and others have found relief from what they see as censorship in rivals such as X and Facebook.

And Peedin believes that if the former president returns to the White House in November, Truth Social would become an incredibly valuable company.

I think he's got a good shot at winning again. And if he's only using this platform, I feel like the sky's the limit with it," Peedin says. "And I also believe in it, which is, like, very rare, to have an investment in something you believe in so much."

Trump Media is losing money and has little revenue. Scott Olson/Getty Images North America hide caption

That belief has gotten him a pretty handsome profit so far at least on paper.

Peedin got in early, investing just over $50,000. He paid an average of around $35. With Trump Media now trading at $49, Peedin is sitting on a paper gain of around $20,000 a sizeable return for a stock that media mogul Barry Diller recently referred to as a "scam."

Peedin says he bought a few more shares on Friday, a day after Trumps conviction.

If he were to lose it all, Peedin says he can still put food on the table for his wife and his toddler.

"I'm not gambling my son's diaper money, you know?" he says.

Not everybody has made money in Trump Media.

The stock has been incredibly volatile day to day. They are now slightly below the day before its debut, but they have delivered a nice return to those like Peedin who invested early.

Many professional investors have warned against the stock, which is trading at valuations well above what its financial performance should dictate even though there are multiple risks facing Truth Social.

The company is trying to expand into online video and has said it plans to grow through mergers and acquisitions, both of which could turn out badly.

Most importantly, professional investors warn that the companys fortunes are tied to former President Trump, whos due to be sentenced in July after being convicted of the 34 felony counts.

Trump also still faces several other state and federal criminal cases, and the stocks performance could be directly impacted by his electoral fortunes in what is expected to be a heated presidential campaign.

There are even more risks looming. Trump could one day cash in and bail from the company which could hurt shareholders like Peedin.

Trump cant sell his shares yet. Under his current agreement, he has to hold on to them until September, right in the midst of the presidential campaign. But he could be given permission to sell even sooner by Trump Medias board, which is full of friendly voices, like his son Donald Trump Jr.

Yet none of these risks faze Peedin.

He still believes Truth Social is a startup with immense potential even after Trump's conviction. He has an unwavering belief in the former commander in chief and he believes Trump would not hurt supporters like him by cashing out of the company.

I think he truly cares about the people that support him, he says. Because if you look at it, that would be kind of like stabbing everyone in the back. And I don't see him doing that.

Read the rest here:
Investors doubling down on Truth Social after Trump's conviction - NPR

Dive Brief:

LG is attempting to boost the positivity on social media with its latest campaign, an effort that is supported by a global survey which found that almost half of respondents (45%) have a social media feed that consists of an equal or greater amount of negative content than positive content. Additionally, 28% of respondents reported that negative content on their social feeds has increased their anxiety.

Inspired by the role algorithms play in the content fed to social media feeds, LGs Optimism your feed playlist offers up a slew of positive videos that, when interacted with, are intended to boost the amount of uplifting content pulled into a consumers feed. The playlist was made in collaboration with global influencers including Tina Choi, Victoria Browne and Josh Harmon each regarded for their positivity and includes over 20 short-form videos ranging from motivational to feel-good content.

LG is also supporting the effort by consulting with social media experts, including Casey Fiesler, a professor, information scientist and technology ethicist, which could help the brand establish stronger credibility and consumer trust. The Optimism your feed'' playlist can be viewed on LGs global YouTube and TikTok channels and will later spread to other social platforms through influencer collaborations. Consumers can also engage with the campaign via a microsite.

The move is part of LGs larger Lifes Good campaign launched last August in an effort to inspire people to view life through a more optimistic lens. The campaign also served to introduce LGs more dynamic and youthful brand identity, which was unveiled last April. Together, the efforts could help the brand build loyalty among younger demographics, like Gen Z, as their spending power grows.

LG, a South Korean company that manufactures consumer and commercial products like TVs, home appliances, automotive components and formerly mobile phonesreported a 3.3% year-over-year revenue gain in the first quarter supported by sales from its home-appliance and vehicle-component businesses, which rose 7.2% and 12%, respectively.

Other marketers beyond LG have also made healthy social media habits a focus of their recent marketing. In February, Snap launched an advertising campaign positioning Snapchat as an antidote to social media. In another instance, Doves long-running Self-Esteem Project launched the Campaign for Kids Online Safety last April to address the rise in youth mental health issues linked to social media.

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LG fuels positivity on social media with 'Optimism your feed' playlist - Marketing Dive

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Is social media the be-all and end-all of marketing? - Financial Mirror

Charli DAmelio is one of the most popular creators on TikTok, with 154 million followers on the video platform. Dunkin partnered with the social media star in 2020 to name her go-to order, a caramel cold brew drink, The Charli.

Just like a customers morning coffee run, Dunkin tries to keep its social media in sync with users lives. No matter the platform, we aim to spark personal connections that resonate deeply with our followers, often eliciting a Thats so me! type of response, said Jill Nelson, the brands chief marketing officer.

Dunkin keeps that authenticity and relatability prevalent in its posts. In late April, the company tweeted Were discontinuing iced coffee, followed by look between the H and the L on your keyboard. (JK, meaning just kidding. This was a trend on the X/Twitter platform in April.) For April Fools Day, Dunkin posted to its 3.3 million TikTok followers: ANNOUNCEMENT. were changing our name. again. Now were just DONUTS. We will have coffee still. Pls dont ask any other questions. Just going thru it rn.

But could all that engagement be for naught? In late April, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that requires China-based parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok within nine months or face a nationwide ban of the video-heavy platform. Itll be at least a year before a banif there even is onegoes into effect, and TikTok already filed its own lawsuit against the U.S. government to stop enforcement of the law.

While users and marketing managers dont need to panic just yet, with so many new social media sites growing in popularity, many brands are exploring other apps.

A majority of TikToks user base is between 18 and 34 years old, spanning the Z and millennial generations, according to Statista. The app has more than 1.5 billion monthly users. Facebook, YouTube and Instagram hold the top three slots, respectively, in regards to number of users, Statista reports. Facebook has more than 3 billion monthly active users.

Playa Bowls plays up its product presentation in social posts.

Social media has revolutionized how we connect with these audiences, Nelson said. Unlike traditional marketing, social platforms allow us to interact directly and adapt quickly to pop culture trends. This immediacy and relevancy have helped us build a vibrant, interactive community around our brand.

The Massachusetts-based brands audience comprises mainly Gen Z consumers, but its diverse overall, Nelson said.

Reached a tipping point

When it comes to the many social media platforms, brands should evaluate the draw of each website, Soci Director of Market Insights Damian Rollison said. Soci helps brands boost consumer engagement across digital channels. That approach changes from brand to brand and platform to platform. Theres not a lot of value in each individual store having an X account, but there could be value in each of a brands locations being on TikTok or Instagram, Rollison said.

Soci published its annual Consumer Behavior Index in February, which found that 18- to 24-year-olds overwhelming prefer using Instagram and TikTok to find local businesses, at 67 and 62 percent, respectively. Among other age groups, Google Search is the clear winner.

Weve reached a tipping point where more younger consumers think of TikTok first, Rollison said. TikTok is almost the pioneer that sets the standard. Instagram just happens to have a lot of reach.

TikTok doesnt feel like a search engine, at least not in the traditional sense people are used to, he said. But consumers can search for basically anything on the app, whether thats Minneapolis restaurants or Thrift stores San Francisco. People are more inclined, in this group, to want short-form videos filmed by people who they might think of more as peers telling them about these topics, Rollison said.

A lot of TikTok content serves that purpose, with customers showing videos of the meal and giving their honest opinions. I dont have to sit there and read a bunch of reviews, Rollison said.

Jill Nelson is Dunkins chief marketing officer. The brand has 3.3 million followers on TikTok.

Dawn Ray, GoTo Foods SVP of communications, said the social team will go where the fans go.

Playa Bowls stays on trend across social websites, says Becca Steinberg, social media specialist.

Follow the trends

Daves Hot Chicken knows the power of social media. The franchise started as a pop-up food stand in a Los Angeles parking lot after generating interest from an Instagram post. Its social media lets customers speak to the foods appeal, Chief Marketing Officer Brad Haley said. We want to amplify organic social posts on Instagram and TikTok on our own channels, he said.

Consumers look for brands that feel authentic online, rather than posts that have clearly been edited to death before appearing online. Establishing a brand identity onlineregardless of the platformcan help the franchise and its social team feel relatable.

Thats the strategy for coffee franchise 7 Brew. The thing with TikTok thats really uncomfortable for a lot of brands is its so different from what were all used to, said Cory Hinton, head of digital and social marketing. Before this role, he held a sales position at TikTok. Rather than extremely polished, high-cost television advertising, TikTok is more unrefined and casual, he said.

Staying on top of trends is easier with TikTok, Hinton said, because he can see a video in the morning and post something following the trend by the afternoon. Were very comfortable with being unpolished, he said.

Acai bowl franchise Playa Bowls sees a lot of organic posting of its products, because of the colorful and aesthetically pleasing presentation. The company works with influencers as well, serving as an extension of the organic content, said Becca Steinberger, Playa Bowls social media specialist.

But staying on trend helped the brand reach 49,000 followers and more than 1.5 million likes. Personally, Im always on TikTok myself, Steinberger said. So as soon as I see something trending, Im automatically thinking, How can we use this for Playa Bowls?

One of its more popular videos garnered 1.2 million views by using Taylor Swift song titles as punch lines.

Daves Hot Chicken started on Instagram but has a large TikTok following as well.

Social channels always evolving

A natural transition from TikTok, assuming thats ever necessary, is Instagram Reels. Its a similar concept, with videos, text, editing features, endless swiping and trendy music. Instagram has been around since 2010 and has more than 2 billion monthly users.

Pretzel franchise Auntie Annes leans into its name on socials, serving as an auntie. One early March TikTok has a video of cinnamon sugar pretzel bites with the caption, if you can smell this video Auntie loves you.

Dawn Ray is the senior vice president of strategic communications and earned media at GoTo Foods, formerly Focus Brands, the company that owns Auntie Annes and Cinnabon.

Pending a possible TikTok ban, GoTo Foods maintains its strategy of meeting folks where they are, whether thats TikTok or somewhere else, Ray said. As new platforms, such as Mastodon and Metas Threads, pop up, Ray said the company evaluates them to see if theyd add value to GoTo Foods. Threads was a natural fit for its brands, Ray said. This platform is an extension of Instagram, where we already have a strong presence.

Ultimately, our social strategy is about meeting fans where they are, no matter the platform, she said. The advantage of having iconic brands like Auntie Annes and Cinnabon is that through relevant, creative and trend-driven content, we will make fans wherever we go.

The social team at Dunkin has a similar mindset. Dunkin is prepared to navigate the constantly changing world of social media. Along with Mastodon and Threads, theres BlueSky and BeReal, to name a few. But popularity isnt the only factor, Nelson said.

Deciding whether to engage on new platforms involves more than just chasing trends, she said. We carefully analyze where our fans are most active and where we can authentically connect with them. We prioritize platforms that encourage real conversations and help us build lasting relationships with our community, ensuring every interaction is meaningful.

Originally posted here:
Marketing Execs Share TikTok Tactics and the Social Media They're Turning to Next - Franchise Times

Marketing on social media has changed from a nice-to-have to a must-have for modern brands. The power of social can be gauged from these facts:

Whether youre an expert or a rookie at social media marketing, you will agree with us that it isnt easy. Changing technological and social trends make it very challenging. Additionally, there are difficulties in strategy formulation, ROI measurement, and allocation of time and budget.

In this post, we cover five of the most common social media marketing challenges that marketers face and actionable solutions to overcome them.

Social media marketing can be a mystery if you are unfamiliar with the way it works. By understanding its challenges, you can cope with them better. You can draft your strategy, use the right tools, and tweak your approach accordingly.

In the past, brands didnt use to place much importance on a social media team. Far from it, social media teams were either non-existent or managed by just one person. Today, however, social is no longer limited to online ads. It also involves a range of proficiencies as illustrated in the photo below.

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with developments in the metaverse, has made social media more popular than ever. Not surprisingly, social media management is the third most in-demand marketing occupation today.

For companies, these added responsibilities mean more dependency on their social media efforts. And for that, almost 90% of brands expect to hire new social media marketing team members in the next two years, with over half of them predicting up to six new vacancies. The challenge is finding talents whose expertise is within the disciplines that contribute to the growth of the brands social strategy.

One of the best practices for hiring new talent is to adapt your core team to the challenges that social media faces. Invest in growing not just your social media team but also those other departments that contribute to your social strategy.

Moreover, each department should not be siloed. Instead, social media marketers should be able to reach out to sales, human resources, research and development, customer service, and other departments when creating marketing goals. Sharing data with these departments can help them improve the brands social presence.

Provide relevant resources and insights to help the team understand how the brands social media presence affects sales. Know which proficiencies are lacking in each department, review metrics with them, and find opportunities for collaboration across the team.

The next hurdle marketers face is in the selection of which platforms to leverage.The COVID-19 pandemic has increased social media use among users and drew marketers to new platforms that boomed during the pandemic.

However, few marketers research their target markets thoroughly enough to identify the platforms where their target audience is active.

You can see that 51% of consumers hope to use YouTube to discover brands, whereas only 35% of marketers will consider it for their marketing efforts. If brands dont revisit their marketing strategy, then theyll likely miss out on more bankable platforms.

Investing in the wrong platforms can exhaust your budget, especially if you regularly use paid ads. If the decision-makers in your company are not sold on the idea of social media marketing in the first place, they might just pull the plug if you commit this misstep.

In a way, if you overcome the first challenge of goal setting, you are well on your way to overcoming this challenge too.

For example, if you want to establish a personal connection with customers, Twitter is your best bet. On the other hand, Instagram is great if you want to leverage influencers to spread brand awareness.

Overall, your social platform investment should factor in your potential audience reach, ad cost, traffic potential, lead generation, and demographic, among others.

Take the time to get to know your audience. Which platforms are they active on? What are their main activities on social media? Dissect your audience demographics to learn about their genders, ages, and locations. Then, meet them where they are active.A lot depends on the nature of your business as well. B2C brands need to be active on visual platforms like Facebook and Instagram to grab the attention of consumers.

B2B brands can benefit from local SEO on Google My Business and Bing. They should also post regularly on LinkedIn to make useful connections with brands.You also need to keep tabs on your competitors. Out of sight, out of mind, is very true for social media users. If you dont have a strong presence on channels that your competitors are acing, youre bound to lose a lot of conversion opportunities.

Social media listening can help you track the brand mentions of your competitors. Identify the channels where they are garnering attention. Then, plan outreach on those channels.

There are many brands that do superb business in-store but fail miserably on social. The difference is that in brick-and-mortar stores, customers approach brands, whereas, on social media, brands have to seek out customers. And, do some brands have no clue how to do this.

Too often, marketers create content first and figure out the target audience later. They have the misconception that great content converts, even if it is not targeted. Though great content gets engagement, it might not generate leads if it isnt tailored to your target audiences needs.

Directionless marketing relies on a spray-and-pray approach that seldom gives the desired returns. In fact, it can damage your brands credibility. You run the risk of getting blocked or reported if you bombard people with irrelevant content.

Do you know who your ideal customer is? Have you created a precise buyer persona? Dig into your existing customer base, ad analytics, and email subscriber list. Create a fictional customer avatar from the data you collect.

Get personal with the data. How many kids does your customer have? How do they spend their weekends? What kind of music do they love? Gather as many insights as are relevant to your business.

You can use social listening tools to capture insights. You can drill down into customer conversations around your brand, product, and niche. Understand the consumer sentiment and pain points to shape your campaign goals and content.

Kraft Foods used social data when they were planning to introduce mini-burgers or sliders. Using social listening, they identified slider themes popular among different customer segments. Social research guides the brands product strategy as well. Their super-successful Mayochup was a result of one such research.

Social listening will also help you understand the why behind customer actions. Why are they following a particular platform? Why did they unfollow your brand? Why is your brand mention volume low? Use the insights you gathered to establish a personal connection with customers and create more appealing content.

The online world is constantly changing, continuously giving rise to new engagement tactics. Our fast-paced lifestyles inform us of new ways of reading, watching, or even conversing with others. Brands that cant keep up with these trends end up losing their leads and even their audiences altogether.

Garnering social media engagement is a competition to gain followers and even customers. But in its Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, RivalIQ reports decreasing organic engagement. This only proves that paid ads are gradually monopolizing the marketing industry within social media platforms.

The downward spiral of organic engagement tells us that social media algorithms are becoming increasingly difficult to overcome. Unless you have paid promotions under your belt, your brand is likely to spiral into social media oblivion. But even with paid ads, high-quality content is key to gaining engagement online.

Know what your target audience wants to see by assessing your top-caliber posts. Find their common ground, and capitalize on that for future posts.

Granted, creating high-quality content takes time and investment. Repurposing your old content can help you save some trouble. For example, you can take an old video, snip it, and post it as new content on short-form content platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

In terms of the most engaging type of content, short-form or less than five-minute videos should be at the top of your list. Short-form content is not only easy to create and share but also gains more than twice as much engagement as long-forms. Note, however, that long-form content is still more appropriate for YouTube.

You should also focus on content that appeals to your audience. More than half of consumers like seeing product-centric ads, which prominently feature products, services, and real customers. But spin that with user-generated content that allows your users to win prizes (case in point: yogurt company Chobanis #SwitchTheChobaniFlip on TikTok), and youll surely cut through the competitive social media noise.

Aside from gaining followers and engagements, social media marketers are also challenged by consumers current expectations. As we head into the metaverse, the third iteration of the internet, more people are drawn to emerging technologies, particularly non-fungible tokens, augmented and virtual reality, and virtual spaces. When interacting with brands in the future, younger generations of consumersGen Zs and millennialsexpect to use technology.

Moreover, people want to identify with a brand that represents similar values. 71% of people find company advocacies important, particularly those that relate to social issues and diversity. Brands that speak out on social media also carve a powerful identity for themselves and become culturally relevant online.

However, marketers usually have a hard time pushing for this, leaving it to their company leaders to decide. If brands fail to take a proactive approach and revisit their identity, then theyre likely to become stagnant or outdated.

Develop a distinct voice that makes your brand authentic. This voice must be aligned with your customers values. Support issues that matter to your company, and build a relationship with customers who share a similar advocacy.

You can also create positions that can help you address issues that your company wants to tackle. Hire talents that have had a similar role in the past and who can push their higher-ups to speak up and raise awareness on certain topics.

Additionally, invest in metaverse strategies that your consumers would surely engage in. Take it as an opportunity to gain a competitive edge and adopt future strategies early on. This will not only help you expose your brand to a new generation of online users but also allow you to stake a claim in the future of the internet.

All types of marketing come with their own set of challenges. Social media marketing is no exception. Now that you are familiar with these issues, you are better prepared to handle them. Use the tips and strategies mentioned in this post to risk-proof your social media marketing efforts.

About the Author

With over 15 years in content marketing, Werner founded Influencer Marketing Hub in 2016. He successfully grew the platform to attract 5 million monthly visitors, making it a key site for brand marketers globally. His efforts led to the company's acquisition in 2020. Additionally, Werner's expertise has been recognized by major marketing and tech publications, including Forbes, TechCrunch, BBC and Wired.

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5 of the Biggest Social Media Marketing Challenges - Influencer Marketing Hub