A few years ago, social media content hit a turning point. Perfectly curated Instagram grids and impeccably produced video gave way to carefree photo dumps, straight-from-iPhone footage and even networks that centered on real-time, unfiltered posts. “Authentic” has been the name of the game lately—literally, Merriam-Webster deemed it their 2023 word of the year. But how much can we talk about authenticity on social media without clearly defining what that means? And does that definition hold true across different generations of social media users? We sat down with Olivia Jepson, Senior Social ..read more

Need to increase your share of voice in the UK market? You need UK Instagram influencers. Homegrown content creators engage their communities more deeply and get more impactful brand endorsements because of their strong, authentic relationships. And so, partnering with local influencers for influencer marketing enables you to tap into their deep understanding of local trends, cultural nuances and audience preferences. According to The 2024 Influencer Marketing Report almost half of all consumers make purchases at least once a month because of influencer posts. This shows that when influencers ..read more

Do you have a “comfort influencer?” The one whose content you go back to again and again. You’re more invested in their personal life than any celebrity or other internet personality. No, you don’t know them. But you trust them. Our favorite influencers really do feel like friends, and we take their product recommendations seriously. According to the 2024 Influencer Marketing Report, almost all (86%) consumers make a purchase from an influencer at least once a year, proving the hold influencers we trust have over our buying habits. Yet, many of us underestimate (or are embarrassed to admit) h ..read more

A positive online reputation builds trust and credibility with your audience and helps you stand out from competitors. But sometimes, despite your best efforts, your business might attract negative attention. Whether it’s an unfavorable comment, review, social media post or press mention, without action, these incidents can spread like wildfire online and become a full-blown PR crisis. Reputation management services help businesses handle and avoid these situations, minimizing professional damage and guiding them through the storm. But how do you know which online reputation service is the bes ..read more

There are social media templates available for virtually any task you can think of—from content production to reporting to team onboarding. If you want to win time back in your schedule, make it your mission to never start from scratch. Consider this: When you spend an hour formatting a spreadsheet, you’re losing an hour that you could have spent on your social media marketing strategy. Starting with a template provides much needed direction so you can jump right into the work that matters. In this article, we’re sharing every social media marketing template we’ve ever made. These templates ar ..read more

We already instinctively look over our shoulders to see what the competition is doing. Refining this approach, by regularly conducting a competitive analysis, turns this reactive action into a proactive data source fundamental to marketing strategy. But it can be hard to decide exactly what you’re looking for. That’s where competitive insights come in. In this comprehensive guide, we’re going to break down what exactly competitive insights are, and what you need to know before searching for them. You’ll also find the six key forms of competitive insights to consistently track and use to improv ..read more

Sprout Social features are designed to help you move at the speed of social. We release over a hundred updates per year that span across publishing, engagement, analytics, social listening and customer care. That’s a lot of social media tools at our customers’ disposal. Of course, there are a few fan favorites. The Smart Inbox, Approval Workflows, Tagging and more all get a lot of love on social and on review sites like G2, but there are some lesser known Sprout features that deserve some hype as well. In this article, we’re highlighting Sprout Social features you might not know about. These ..read more

It’s time for another edition of the Post Performance Report (PPR), a series where we showcase social media posts and campaigns inspiring us, and explore what makes them so genius. We unpack how your brand can use these examples to spark your own scroll-stopping ideas—while maximizing your budget and doing more with less. This month, we’re fascinated by brands using AI to enhance their social presence. Candidly, social media users are still largely split on how they feel about brands dabbling in AI content creation. According to a Q1 2024 Sprout Pulse Survey, 38% of consumers would be more int ..read more

Chatbots are strategic assets that enhance your customer care and marketing strategies. The technology has come a long way from being simply rules-based to offering features like artificial intelligence (AI) enabled automation and personalized interaction. Integrating chatbots can transform your customer relations by automating responses to common queries and collecting feedback, freeing your team to focus on more complex issues. These bots boost engagement by providing 24/7 support, making businesses constantly accessible. They also streamline the customer journey with personalized assistance ..read more

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be a data analyst to craft social listening queries that drive results. Social listening has always been a powerful tool for brands that know how to wield it effectively. Even just one solid query can give a brand a rich, unbiased view of consumer sentiment. These insights build stronger messaging, campaigns, product lines—the opportunities are endless. In a bygone era, tapping into this data couldn’t be done without countless training sessions on everything from advanced analytics to structured query language (SQL). Today, listening tools are more ..read more