Social media platforms, led by Facebook, are noticeably going all out in their attempt to encourage brands to pay for online video ads. And with the number of people now using devices on a regular basis, they might just convince marketers it is worth their while.

"These companies went from just talking about or lightly testing video to deploying it in a pretty big way. There's kind of a perfect storm now of consumer behavior, technology, development and content availability," said a research analyst at eMarketer.

The audience is obviously there and they're willingly spending much time online. In fact, it is so evident that marketers are now taking the platform seriously. What's more, these social media companies are capable of targeting certain demographics that advertisers prefer because of the trove of user data they are sitting on.

Drawn by the ever-increasing numbers of social media users, brands are now looking to spend around USD 8 billion for video ads for this year alone. Facebook is the prime choice for video ads, especially if the target user segments are those who are on mobile. Twitter and YouTube are also perfect platforms for marketing big events.

Video ads online cost almost as much as some television ads -- but that's not to say that TV is suddenly not going to matter. Television advertising is still going to be a critical point for any marketer; it's just that they are now paying equal attention online to keep up with its phenomenal growth.

However, social media platforms and marketers alike have to avoid overwhelming users with too much video ads or it will ruin their online experience.

For marketers, it is recommended to try different types of tone for the video to be sure that it catches users' attention and help them retain the information. Creative and humorous clips tailored for your brand are going to hit when done well.

Rumors have been flying that Google+ is going to be discontinued due to its lackluster performance, but its recent launch of new features may be hinting at a mere shift of gears.

Now, it's really difficult to gauge the situation because Google is not very fond of sharing user numbers. However, estimates put its total users to 2 billion, with a mere 9% having public content. What's more, only 6 million of those have posted this year -- apparently, most of those user profiles are just created due to Google requiring one before you can sign up for YouTube or Gmail. Sure the place is nice but it's also practically a ghost town. The only advantage, it seems, is in the presumed SEO value that you can get from having your content on it.

"If the public activity on Google+ really is this small, surely it can't have much value to Google, and they must be planning to shut it down or dismember it, right?" said Eric Enge of Stone Temple.

Many naysayers are already foretelling that launching Streams, Photos and Collections features is Google's last ditch effort before shutting down altogether. On the flip side, if it's really dying, perhaps it is counterintuitive that new features are added to it?

While it is still unclear just how Google will use Streams and Photos, the Collections feature would be one similar to Pinterest. It will basically be a group of content based on a certain subject or interest that any other user can opt to follow. Unlike Pinterest though, Plus' Collections are not limited to images but can be anything from text updates to videos. Also, any collection by a user can be set to be public, private or shared with a certain group of connections. According to the tech giant, Collections came about because of observed user behavior -- getting connected around a shared interest.

Although it is not certain that launching those features would significantly engage users more, there are lessons to be taken away from this. First off, you should be all-present in all major social media platforms and not just focusing on one. So just in case Plus really would dismantle, you won't have to scramble to start over again on a different platform.

Also, make sure your content works well on the various platforms your target audience is on. Make different kinds of content and customize it for each one.

Lastly, don't rely on social media to safeguard your data for you. It would be a good thing to have your own website, or at least your own server where you can store every single file, without having to worry about social media scares.

Facebook is trying to woo publishers to let them host the news content locally in order to keep users engage -- and they're willing to pay for it.

The current setup is that news publishers can post links on Facebook directing users to their content, something that's worked very well for them since a great part of their traffic comes from social media. However, Facebook found out it's not working terribly well for them. Apparently, opening the links and waiting for it to redirect to the news sites which host the content counts for extra seconds that put off some users, and most importantly, get their attention off of Facebook.

To attract publishers, Facebook has decided to go against its usual revenue-sharing model. It offered to allow the publishers to keep any and all revenue that might be generated from ads that are going to be associated with their hosted content. Another version of the offer has Facebook keeping 30% of the revenue when ads are sold.

Facebook is still in talks with National Geographic and New York Times, among others, to launch the Instant Articles feature so there's no timeframe yet of when this is going to be implemented.

Letting go of some percentage of the revenue is going to pay off big time because directly hosting news content will load it faster. And everyone knows the faster anything loads, the happier the users will be, making them likely to stay longer. Moreover, Facebook does not have to worry that users will shift their attention to other sites as there won't be any need to go out of the site to read news.

In the past, publishers have already been miffed with Facebook's algorithm change in users' news feeds, arguing that the changes resulted in referral traffic drop. So even if the deal sounds good, other publishers are understandably wary of joining in especially when it's still not clear what aspects they would have control over, if at all. Also, they would want to get their hands on reader data for various reasons so it's going to get dicey considering Facebook's privacy policy. One of the officials in talk with Facebook is asserting that as publishers, they still like to "defend other aspects of the business".

Mind On Board: A strategy board game in memory of Joel "Owe" Castillo.

For the last part of our series on social media rules, we're focusing on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Social media rules for Twitter

- No to keyword-stuffing. Before posting a tweet, try saying it out loud first then think of how human or how robotic it sounds. A tweet stuffed with targeted keywords will always sound weird to human ears -- and will probably hurt the eyes, too. Strike a balance by concentrating on just 1 or 2 keywords in every tweet.

- Never automate. One of the most annoying things for users is seeing a brand answer their praises with a generic "Thank you!" and respond to their concerns with "I'll get back to you soon". This becomes even more infuriating for them if a huge issue comes up and all they can see in the brand's timeline is the same generic reply to every single user complaint. Give your social account a friendly character by giving more personalized responses to users' tweets. Remember that making them feel special is the key in developing a strong fan base.

- Leave room for a reply. Some users like to RT manually and then insert their reply at the end. And if you want them to love you, always be mindful of going over the 100-character mark.

Social media rules for Pinterest

- Give props where it's due. People tend to share a lot online and when it comes to images, the last thing most of them do is put proper attribution. Set an example of always giving credit to the original source by linking back to whose account or from what website it came from. This also makes it easier for interested users to track it back to the real creator.

- Avoid irrelevant content. It's tempting to pin popular images even if it's not in any way related to your content just to get more attention. Sure, this trick could seemingly work but don't expect any increase you'll see on your numbers to last.

- Give it a nice description. This is a golden opportunity for you to put in some keywords so you can be easily found by your target market. But that's not to say you should only focus on keywords -- make the description really catchy and worth reading, too.

Social media rules for Instagram

- Time your posts. One of the worst things you could do is clog users' feeds with your 'new' posts. Although there is yet to be a standard posting frequency for Instagram, common sense dictates that it is bad form to post shots every hour of every single day.

- Instead of begging, be interesting. Time and again we've warned against asking users to follow you. It doesn't matter if you ask nicely; the fact that you have to beg for followers reflects how unprofessional your online persona is. Be creative in your posts and the users themselves will do a marketing campaign for you.

- You're permitted to go hashtag-crazy. Compared to other social networks where you have to limit your hashtags so as not to look like a robot, in Instagram you're allowed to #gonuts. In fact, you can use an average of 10 hashtags per image and still gain a dedicated following! #Sweet


As always, feel free to contact us if you're planning of kicking off a social media campaign for you or your brand. Or just drop by to say hi -- that works, too! But seriously, we would love to hear from you.

Basically, an encompassing rule can be made from all this -- customized your content on each specific social media platform. But because we want to get down to specifics on this second installment, we'll tackle the unwritten rules of Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ anyway.

Facebook

- Do not "like" yourself. Even when you say it's just a way to get your post to the top of the news feed again, it still gives off a desperate vibe. It should be obvious that you're posting it because you like it, right?

- Do not solicit shares/comments/likes. The only situation where this would be acceptable is when you're doing a survey (e.g. "Like if you're a night owl or share if you're an early bird"). Asking for likes is just plain off-putting and has an effect on your content visibility, too. The new newsfeed algorithm in Facebook reportedly factors in if you are asking for shares/comments on your post so better stay away from this.

- Be careful when tagging others. If you wouldn't like an unflattering photo of you posted or tagged with your name, neither would others. So don't just tag everyone on the photo without their permission or knowledge that it's being posted in the first place -- this is the fastest way to alienate your audience. Whether it's an image of your clients, employees or fans, the best practice would be to get a written permission from them first before even posting it. It's not just a case of embarrassment but more of a question of privacy; something you do not want to get involved in.

- Attach only relevant tags. Tagging as many people and pages as possible has been common practice to get more attention on a posted content. Although it seems to be working for most, it is still not recommended to annoy people with your constant tagging to stuff that they don't actually want to hear about.

LinkedIn

- Ditch the generic connection requests. When connecting with another user, make it a point to include a brief introduction and tell them why you are connecting. This will certainly differentiate you from a bunch of other requesters and will increase your chances of getting accepted, too. (And once you do get accepted, send a thank-you message.)

- Groups are not for marketing. Well... at least not exclusively for marketing. We all know the big reason for joining a group is to sell yourself but it just won't look good to do that right off the bat. A great benefit of joining a group is that you can message any fellow member even when you're not personally connected. So as a newbie, take advantage of this and test the waters first. Get acquainted with the other members and build a rep for yourself as a useful contributor in the group.

- Take note of the professional atmosphere. Getting used to the extremely casual and chatty tone of Facebook and Twitter is not going to help you much in LinkedIn. It's safe to say that most of the users here are professionals and business owners so always err on the side of caution and tailor your content accordingly.

Google+

- Take advantage of circles. A circle is not just a neat way to compartmentalize your connections, it's also a great tool in sending targeted content. It's very much like sending a group message on your mobile phone as only those in a particular circle will be able to view what you sent.

- Comment first, then share. It appears that the custom in Google+ is to share blog posts rather than bits of updates so often it gets really lengthy. When you're sharing a post, remember to put your own notes first before the content; this way, others will know why that content is relevant.


*On our last instalment: Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

As always, you may consult us here about a suitable social media campaign for you or your brand.

Back when social media is still on its early stage, users -- marketers included -- are operating largely based on intuition and common sense. But as the online population grew exponentially, so did the need for more definite rules, if only to maintain some semblance of order. The thing is, the so-called "rules" are ever-changing so it makes sense that they are mostly unwritten.

But if that's the case, then what are we to do as marketers who are trying to maximize the social media platforms to connect to our target market? We adapt.

And since we at LGO are feeling extra generous, we thought we'd with you what we've learned so far. After much research, observation and a bit of trial and error, we have come up with five rules that are generally applicable across different social media platforms (for now):

Update daily. As much as possible, post several times within the day. However, this takes a lot of sensible discretion for you do not want to flood anyone's timeline (a sure fire way to get unfollowed). A good strategy would be to allow for an interval of a couple of hours before you post another update.

Be responsive. When users comment or engage you in a conversation, you'll be in their good graces if you can reply within an hour. Remember, these people are already used to "instant" stuff so they'll be expecting you to be online round the clock, ready to answer them.

Don't be too hashtag-happy. Two hashtags in a tweet are okay but anything more than that borders on annoying. For one, it's an eyesore; for another, you'll hardly have space left for the message itself. Keep your hashtags at a maximum of three per post and you'll be fine. (Note: This rule does not seem to apply to Instagram where hashtags are being generously used in place of a proper caption.)

Your audience must always come first. Yes, we know you're on social media to reach out to people and sell them stuff, but if you're going to be effective, you've got to leave the traditional mindset behind. In social media, your top priority is to entertain your audience; promoting your brand only comes second to that.

Use a friendly/casual tone. Companies have learned this over time -- using the first-person plural (e.g. we, us) sounds more informal, therefore more friendly to the eyes (ears) of the audience. Employing casual tone in company posts is all too common today and you'll hardly find any that uses formal language when dealing with customers.

Check back next week for the continuation of our series regarding social media rules. If you hardly have time, feel free to consult us about a suitable social media campaign for you or your brand.