They’ve said a picture is worth a thousand words — and in the case of Instagram, those pictures are worth roughly a billion dollars — but right now, if you’re not creating and sharing rich media content, then you might be losing your users’ attention. With the changes to Google’s algorithm that have come in the past months, as well as Facebook’s continued tuning to its EdgeRank, it’s become more and more important to make sure that your content is reaching your audience, and one of the best ways to make sure is with rich media content.

Here are the three best reasons to consider producing rich media content:

EdgeRank and Panda
Google has time and again shifted the way it brings back its search to reward those of us who are regularly putting up timely, compelling content. Facebook’s EdgeRank does much the same by weeding out content that users have a low affinity for. Pushing images and infographics along with your message gives you the best chance to be heard by those you’re trying to get to.

The Share Button
The new Facebook timeline has given much more priority to images and links than ever before. Each design element of the site is used to best display this kind of content front and center. Producing this kind of content is the best way to catch the eye of your audience, but more than that, Facebook has made it easier than ever to allow users to share your content with their friends. People are far more likely to share your compelling image as opposed to your very clever text; it’s human nature.

User Engagement
Your audience is far more likely to comment on things they can interact with visually. A question posed is far less likely to garner responses without an image that viscerally drives an emotion. Rich media content doesn’t just have to be simple images; infographics are great ways to get your message to your audience in a format that they’re more likely to engage with.

Keep these things in mind the next time you consider posting that dry text-only status, and consider instead driving your point home to your audience with rich-media content.

We’re so happy to announce we have a new member on the Raidious team: Kira Peavley, director of social media.

Kira brings with her to Raidious the experience she acquired as a marketing manager & project coordinator for ChaCha, where one of her proudest achievements was helping ChaCha launch a social affiliate program. Before working at ChaCha, Kira was an Applebee’s Marketing Specialist for Apple American Group. She attended the School of Informatics at IUPUI.

In her free time, Kira enjoys spending time relaxing at home watching a good movie or TV show, reading or gaming.

We’re so excited to have Kira on the team! Welcome to Raidious!

Inspiration for a great piece of content can come from anywhere. However, a truly effective piece of content is borne from a content strategy built around your target market and personaes. Everyday events may neatly convey your company’s or brand’s messaging, but without an understanding of who you’re writing for and being an expert on it, your message may get lost in translation.

At Raidious, we draw from many sources for content inspiration, but we write for very specific audiences … and that’s by design.

Step one in our process is defining brand audience — who’s your target market? What voice do they use? What are their interests? Once we’ve defined your audience, we begin identifying topically relevant material for your specific audiences. Content may be in the form of a blog post, a contest, a social media promotion or a rich media unit like an infographic or video. Audience focused content drives engagement, shares, comments, likes and ultimately pushes the brands message further.

Remarkable content can come from anyone in your company, as long as they work within the context of your brand’s vision and goals. A content strategy for a B2B company will be vastly different than one for a B2C company. It’s important to identify the platforms that will be the most valuable for your message and to build a strategy around these areas. Don’t spread yourself too thin, and make sure you’re creating solid content for platforms where your customers and prospects are engaged.

You, your employees and your customers are the best ambassadors your brand has — make sure your company’s voice is understood and your target markets well defined.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

And an app with more than 1 billion pictures is worth $1 billion.

At least that’s what founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg is willing to pay to own an app where users are uploading more than 5 million photos per day and liking other users’ photos 575 times per second. But why would Zuckerberg want to pay a billion dollars? Facebook, the monster of all social platforms, has users who upload 250 million photos and like their friend’s photos 2.7 billion times per day. Is Instagram really worth $1 billion to Facebook?

The answer to the latter question is quite clearly, yes. Zuckerberg has already written the check (or however you give someone that huge chunk of change). So, yes. Instagram is worth $1 billion.

But the value in $1 billion doesn’t come from Facebook adding a mere 5 million photos to its daily upload statistic of 250 million. The value comes from the old saying that began this blog: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” (In fact, it seems a bit ironic to be writing a lengthy blog about how people truly prefer to look at pictures. But, alas. Stay with me.)

In Facebook’s recent Timeline and newsfeed changes, they are proving to their 800 million users that they are focused on the photo-sharing experience and its ability to connect people. Enter EdgeRank and Timeline.

EdgeRank is an algorithm that determines where, when and whether or not your content is shown in your friends or fans’ newsfeeds. Since its installation, every piece of published content (statuses, link shares, videos, photos, comments, likes, shares, clicks) has a weight and an associated EdgeRank score that will drive the individual piece of content into newsfeeds. If you hadn’t already guessed, Facebook gives more weight to photos than any other piece of content (other than videos).

And now, once a user clicks from the newsfeed to a personal or brand’s profile, what do they see? A timeline saturated with photos and minimal words. They see a friend or brand’s life story through photos.

But what Instagram was able to curate that Facebook could not is the desire for users to share photos of not only life’s milestones and big events, but also the fleeting moments in everyday life. The moments that smart phone owners already were taking pictures of, but never publishing. Instagram has given iPhone (and now Android) users the ability to transform their dodgy camera phone photos into funky, creative images that one looks forward to sharing with the world, and the world is happy to look at.

Instagram gives an emotional and personal touch to pictures of everyday life.

That is why Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page, “Providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook, and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”

So for those of you who manage a brand’s online image, remember the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Use photos to tell your story. It will give an emotional and personal touch to your brand that will engage your customers.

Are you interested in joining one of the coolest companies in the world?

Are you an excellent designer or production artist looking to join a fast-growing and exciting team of talented people?

Are you a hard-working and fun-loving professional with creative writing skills?

If you could answer “yes” to all three questions above, then we have the job for you!

As a Content Correspondent, your primary responsibility will be delivering high-quality content for Raidious clients. This content is determined based on research, trending topics and creative collaboration with the entire team at Raidious. We are looking for people who take work seriously but have a desire to function in a creative environment.

Rich media content is a major part of what we do here at Raidious, and this position will be an integral part of that. Thus, we are looking for designers/production artists with the ability to quickly create interesting and appealing designs for use on multiple platforms. Outside of rich media, there will be a need for article writing, so strong writing skills are a must.

Requirements

• College degree (Marketing, Graphic Design, Informatics, Journalism)
• Strong writing skills
• Excellent design and/or production art skills
• Proficiency with Web publishing tools
• Ability to work a flexible schedule
• Independent working habits with ability to complete assigned tasks and manage a complex production schedule

Most businesses dedicate a huge budget to searching for new leads. Even then, many of them turn out to be unqualified. While it’s important to allocate funds for generating new business, you may be missing out on the low-cost sales tools that social media have to offer you. Here are a few tips that will help you minimize your sales costs by increasing your LinkedIN presence.

Spend some time getting familiar with your loyal customers on LinkedIN. Cruise through their profiles to find patterns and traits of people you enjoy working with. This will help you learn what you are looking for during your search for new customers. Networking with current business partners on LinkedIN is made simpler if you utilize the recommendations features. Let your favorite customer brag about your hard work — it will bring you new business!

Join relevant groups and get in on the conversation! While LinkedIN is a professional network, some of the tactics we utilize on more informal social networks are still transferable. Share things with the group members that will engage them. Whether it be starting a new conversation or sharing your latest blog post on the industry, give the group some remarkable content to associate with your company! This is an easy way to position yourself as a thought leader amongst your professional community.

Lastly, personalize your interactions! When you connect with a new business prospect, send them an individual note and address them by name. People often forget to mind their manners in the social sphere, but a little bit goes a long way. By making each of your connections feel special, your reach will expand in no time!

For more tips on how to maximize sales with LinkedIN, check out this Inc. article.

Raidious is currently looking for sales executives to join our team. If you are looking for an opportunity to join a growing team, we are looking for people who can come in and help us crush our new business goals. If you fit the description below, please fill out this form:

More careers at Raidious.

Sales Executive Job Description

Responsible for all sales activities, from lead generation through close in the online marketing services industry. Develops and implements agreed upon Sales Plan which will meet both personal and business goals of expanding customer base in the marketing area. Works within the sales and support teams for the achievement of customer satisfaction, revenue generation, and long-term account goals in line with company vision and values.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the sales of online marketing services industry.
• Demonstrates technical selling skills and product knowledge in all areas listed above that allows Sales Associate to give effective presentation of Raidious Services.
• Develops annual business plan in conjunction with Sales Manager, which details activities to follow during the fiscal year, which will focus the Sales Associate on meeting or exceeding sales quota.
• Complete understanding of pricing and proposal models.
• Demonstrates the ability to carry on a business conversation with business owners and decision makers.
• Maximizes all opportunities in the process of closing a sale resulting in the taking of market share from competitors.
• Sells consultatively and makes recommendations to prospects and clients of the various solutions Raidious offers to their business issues.
• Develops a database of qualified leads through referrals, telephone canvassing, face to face cold calling on business owners, email, and networking.
• Assists in the implementation of company marketing plans as needed.
• Creates and conducts effective and timely proposal presentations and RFP responses that identify prospects business problems, the effects of the problems, and the Raidious solutions to their problems.
• Responsible for sourcing and developing client relationships and referrals.
• Demonstrates the ability to gather, submit detailed business information for underwriting, pricing, and presentation of solutions to identified prospects’ business problems.
• Maintains accurate records of all sales and prospecting activities including sales calls, presentations, closed sales, and follow-up activities, including the use of Salesforce.com to maintain accurate records to maximize potential.
• Adheres to all company policies, procedures and business ethics codes and ensures that they are communicated and implemented within the team.
• Participates and contributes to the development of additional programs and services offered to clients, prospects and company employees.

Relationships and Roles:

• Demonstrate ability to interact and cooperate with all company employees.
• Build trust, value others, communicate effectively, drive execution, foster innovation, focus on the customer, collaborate with others, solve problems creatively and demonstrate high integrity.
• Maintain professional internal and external relationships that meet company core values.
• Proactively establish and maintain effective working team relationships with all support departments.

Requirements:

• 2-5 years of experience in sales in the online marketing services or broadcast industry.
• Extensive experience in all aspects of Owned media marketing.
• Strong understanding of customer and market dynamics and requirements.
• Willingness to travel and work in a national team of professionals.
• Proven ability to consistently achieve sales quotas.

We’re pleased to introduce our new producer, Kelly Simon!

Kelly brings to the Raidious team skills from both traditional and digital marketing roles, which throughout her career have taken her to cities including Chicago and Nashville. She is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington, where she obtained her degree in Communications & Culture.

With Kelly’s experiences in relationship building, strategic thinking and communications, she is a superior fit in her new undertaking as a producer at Raidious.

Her hobbies outside the office include teaching cycling classes, watching college basketball, checking out live music and traveling.

We’re so excited to have Kelly on board! Welcome to Raidious!

We’re excited to announce the newest member of our content team, Natasha Richardson O’Neill, has joined us at Raidious!

Natasha is a proud graduate of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She previously worked as an editor for the educational company Class.com and was a devoted employee of her school paper, the Daily Nebraskan, during her college years. When she’s not crafting content, Natasha enjoys live music, fitness, photography, movies and reading.

Natasha is absolutely passionate about writing, which makes her an amazingly valuable asset to Raidious as she works on creating content for brands that need an energetic voice. (On top of that, she brings to the table editing skills that are put into use fixing the often-gratuitous mistakes in my other blog posts.)

We already love working with Natasha, and we look forward to her being a part of the Raidious family!

Director of Social Media Position Overview

The Director of Social Media is responsible for developing remarkable content for Raidious clients on social media channels. This includes working collaboratively with our entire engagement team to develop new and innovative social media strategy and methodology.

This position will be responsible for the coordination and execution of Engagment Services for Raidious at the direction of the senior team. Management of project deliverables, time-lines, and quality control will be the Director of Social Media’s primary responsibilities.

All deliverables will be assigned and tracked using our project management tool. It is critical that our employees execute their assigned tasks on time and within the parameters of the established strategy and scope of work. The Director of Social Media needs to not only adhere to this policy, but help enforce it as well.

Key Responsibilities of the Director of Social Media:

1. Create engaging social media content for Raidious clients.
2. Accomplish the client’s objectives within the assigned scope of work.
3. Social media monitoring for Raidious clients
4. Social media moderation for Raidious clients
5. Social media management for Raidious clients
6. Development of social media strategies for Raidious clients
7. Supervision and quality control of Social Media team

Essential Job Functions:

• Leadership on social media campaigns
• Further development of social media offerings
• Creative idea generation for clients

Requirements:

• College degree
• 2-3 years social media marketing experience for an enterprise-level company
• Strong communication skills
• Strong writing skills
• Knowledge of current interactive marketing best practices
• Project management skills
• Ability to work a fast paced but flexible schedule at 40 hours per week
• Independent worker with ability to complete assigned tasks, and manage a complex and fast-paced production schedule.