Duke's Loss Escalates on Twitter

     Basketball fan or not, millions of people in the world participate in college basketball by completing their March Madness brackets. As many of you know, these games call for unexpected upsets and a whirlwind of emotions. On Sunday, number two seed Duke shockingly fell to SEC number seven seed South Carolina. In college basketball, Duke is the team that every person loves to hate, similar to the New England Patriots of the National Football League. Despite this hatred, 7 million people had Duke winning all of March Madness. With that being said, fans everywhere were saying goodbye to their brackets and escalating the Duke loss on Twitter.

                

     The real-time power of Twitter has allowed news to be shared more quickly and to people worldwide.  Twitter, and other social media platforms, have changed the world of sports. Even for people who do not enjoy sports, Twitter memes or gifs are created and launched on the platform, and can't be ignored. In the world of sports, Duke memes are created all the time because the love to hate relationship with team, due to their "privileged" attitude. However, Twitter even took it a step further and made general jokes about the pictures of the players, appealing and engaging to audiences who do not even watch sports. Moreover, this activity on Twitter then will be shared to millions and continue to be used as it now has become a trendy meme or gif. Twitter has almost become a place of news for sports, while also providing humor to keep up with pop culture and other users in general. 

Promoted Video on Pinterest

     Just like Facebook and Snapchat, Pinterest has adapted the use of video in order to attract consumers to the website. Even though Pinterest has not launched video as quickly, the trend is growing and becoming more attractive for marketers on Pinterest. And, Pinterest might even be more relevant for video content than other social media platforms, with 75% of people on Pinterest saying that they would rather watch a video about a topic, compared to 55% of people who choose video on other sites.
     In order to strengthen their social media strategy, Pinterest conducted a survey to determine the most important elements to enhance the presence on the platform. First, the two most efficient types of video for Pinterest are "how-to" videos (i.e. recipes) and "storytelling" videos. Second, brands should focus on creating quality content for their videos as opposed to creating lengthy videos, quality over quantity. Third, the content should lead to action (pinned posts), not necessarily just focus on getting views. The content should relate to the subsequent pins in order to drive action. Lastly, Pinterest should continue to connect with the pinners throughout their entire journey on the site in order to increase the likelihood of not only viewing the content, but also increase the likelihood that the content resonates with pinners enough that they pin the posts or visit the brand's website. If Pinterest fits with your brand, marketers should use the platform to increase engagement through video content, just like other social media platforms. Promoted video on Pinterest is a valuable way to connect with consumers and directly increase brand awareness.