Your Digital Identity – 2017 Vol. 1

Your Digital Identity Social Media Marketing for Restaurants 2017 Trend Edition

5 Technologies Poised to Disrupt www.nrn.com December 28, 2016 Article by Ron Ruggless

Yelling Out Your Order at Home Growing adoption of in-home digital assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home gave pizza chains a new way to reach consumers.

In February, Domino’s Pizza launched ordering capabilities on Amazon Echo, just before Super Bowl Sunday, the busiest day for pizza delivery. In December, the company expanded the service to rival Google Home and its Google Assistant. Domino’s customers with “pizza profiles” could either awaken Amazon’s Alexa or, if using the alternative service, say “OK Google, talk to Domino’s” to begin the ordering process. The two platforms are linked to Domino’s Tracker to chart the progress of an order. “This is yet another way we are making it easier for our customers to order Domino's pizza from anywhere they turn,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino's chief digital officer, at the Google launch in December.

Domino’s called its portfolio of commerce avenues an “AnyWare” suite, including ordering via social media platforms like Twitter, as well as pizza-emoji text message, smart TV and Facebook Messenger.

Other brands soon embraced the so-called chatbots, including tests at casual-dining chains TGI Fridays and Pizza Hut. In April, Taco Bell Corp. began testing a TacoBot on the Slack real-time messaging platform.

“Taco Bell is about food tailor-made for social consumption with friends, and that’s why integrating with a social communications platform like Slack makes perfect sense,” said Lawrence Kim, Taco Bell director of digital innovation, at the time. “TacoBot is the next best thing to having your own Taco Bell butler. And who wouldn’t want that?”

Creating Delivery-Only Restaurants Delivery-only restaurants attracted the interest of investors in 2016.

Ando, the delivery-only restaurant from Momofuku founder David Chang, closed a $7 million funding round in November to expand the new company’s delivery reach throughout New York City. Chang also founded Maple, a New York City-based, delivery-only restaurant.

Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc., added its voice to the chorus in December, when it teamed with Amazon to provide the Alexa-based voice-ordering service on Amazon Echo, Amazon Tap, Echo Dot, Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets. The hands-free voice commands to initiate the ordering include: “Alexa, open Pizza Hut” or “Alexa, ask Pizza Hut for a pizza.”

“Mobile technology has completely transformed our daily lives, and it’s certainly impacting the overall dining experience with the ease of delivery,” Chang said.

Tapping Social Media for Delivery

For Ando, Momofuku provides the food made famous at its restaurants, such as ginger shrimp salad, chicken tenders and spicy tofu, and the culinary and back-of-house expertise. Expa provides the logistical, technical and startup background, along with delivery.

Ando uses data and analytics to examine how customers order food, how efficiently the kitchen is moving and the effectiveness of delivery partners.

In June, Wingstop Inc. inaugurated a conversational ordering platform on Twitter and Facebook Messenger that only required customers to send the word “order” to start the process.

Other restaurants were launching or experimenting with the platforms, variously called chatbot ordering, conversational ordering, social ordering or conversational commerce.

“Social ordering allows us now to actively reach out to consumers in the social media channels that they are already participating in,” said Flynn Dekker, Wingstop’s chief marketing officer. We don’t require you to come to us; we’ll come to you, in the two most popular social media channels,” he said. “You can transact your entire order and customize it all within the channels.”

Chang’s Momofuku and Expa, a San Francisco-based startup investment company created by Uber co-founder Garrett Camp, launched Ando in the spring.

Other entrepreneurs entered the delivery-only space as well.

At the National Restaurant Association’s Innovation Summit in Austin, Texas, in September, Jeremiah Green, co-founder and CEO of the Chicago-based Eat Purely Co., said his delivery-only restaurant company has doubled sales every month since debuting in March.

Eat Purely promises organic meals delivered in 20 minutes.

(L) Chain restaurants including Pizza Hut and Wingstop are testing new social media-based ordering methods.

(R) Momofuku founder David Chang is expanding the reach of Ando, his delivery-only restaurant concept.

Providing the App-y Homemaker

Providing the Un-staffed Grab-and-Go Experience

New York City-based Umi Kitchen, with backing from Union Square Hospitality Group’s Danny Meyer, enlists area home cooks to provide meals, ordered through an iOS app, that are delivered through the third-party service Postmates.

In early December, online-ordering monolith Amazon announced details of a new brick-and-mortar convenience store, to be called Amazon Go, to provide consumers with prepared foods to go, grocery essentials and convenience items, without requiring them to check out.

The platform was co-founded by Khalil Tawil and Hallie Meyer, Danny Meyer’s daughter. In February, they brought on former Tumblr engineering vice president Derek Gottfrid as a third co-founder to integrate Umi's technology into Postmates.

The 1,800-square-foot store, located in Seattle, is now open to Amazon employees who are using it in a beta test. The store will open to the public early in 2017.

With that pedigree, the Umi Kitchen app menu features four to seven options each evening, with users choosing the time slot in which they wish to have the meals delivered. Some have likened it to Etsy for dinner.

"I think very big picture, we want to affect a paradigm shift in how people eat," Tawil told Crain’s New York Business in September, when the platform launched broadly.

Umi Kitchen recruits home cooks, which it calls "umis,” through various channels, including culinary school networks and job boards.

The company also reaches out to people who post photos of their home cooking on Instagram, which Meyer said was the best recruiting tool for the service so far. They are vetted and added to Umi Kitchen’s roster if they pass muster.

Amazon said the store uses proprietary technology that allows shoppers to take items and walk out — without checking out.

They are billed later.

“Our ‘Just Walk Out’ technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart,” Amazon said in a press release.

“When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store.

Shortly after, we’ll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt.” The company said Amazon Go offers ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options, as well as meal kits.

Meals are offered at three prices: $12, $14 and $16. Delivery costs an additional $4, not including tip.

As of early fall, Umi Kitchen had raised $1.4 million. Umi meals also come with a low-tech, high-touch benefit: a handwritten note from the home cook who created it.

Amazon is re-inventing retail with their announced brick-and-mortar convenience store that will offer prepared foods and grocery essentials without requiring customers to check out.

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5 Trends that will Dominate 2017 forbes.com

January 3, 2017

Article by Jimmy Rohampton

3. Authentic Content (a.k.a. Live Video) YouTube was built on videos that capture real, unfiltered moments.

Now social media is taking it to the next level by offering the content in real-time. Live streaming video was first made popular

by Twitter’s Periscope. Now Facebook Live is here, and growing.

Social videos have much more engagement than any other content format, and have been responsible for recent growth on Facebook.

Even news sources are citing Facebook Live videos when covering major events. The world of media is changing thanks to live video.

Instagram is now testing their own live video option, and they won’t be the last platform to implement live streaming video.

Social media is becoming fascinated with live, authentic content.

Millennials love video content and are currently the most active video viewers of any age group in the U.S. and they're not likely to slow down in 2017.

4. Augmented Reality 1. Social Messaging When people discuss social media, there always seems to be more focus on social networks than social networking. That’s strange, considering that messaging apps have a much wider community of users than social networks. In fact, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber and WeChat together have more users than the big networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Over-the-top (OTT) messaging and SMS messaging are millennials’ preferred form of communication. Sixty-two percent of millennials are more loyal to brands that engage them via those channels and an estimated two billion users will be messaging through OTT apps by 2018. Why more loyal? Millennials want the personal touch, transparency and collaboration that the one-on-one, direct messaging communication allows.

Businesses are already taking advantage of the huge audience base on social messaging platforms -- on Facebook, you can click on an ad and it takes you directly to a chat window with the brand. As more brands start to realize the value of social messaging compared to regular social networks, they’ll make even more efforts to have a presence there.

2. The Fight Against Fake News Every year, more and more people, especially millennials, are turning to the internet as their main news source instead of TV, newspaper, or radio. As a result, there’s been a rise in “fake news” from sites that deliberately publish and circulate inaccurate information about current events.

We saw the worst of it during the 2016 presidential election -- fake news about both candidates was shared widely across Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms. Now, Facebook is taking steps to curb fake news appearing on the site. These “news outlets” are no longer allowed to advertise on the platform.

But the fight against fake news isn’t likely to stop there. Germany is considering legislation to fine social media sites that let fake news proliferate. That’s bound to catch the attention of all the major platforms. Millennials are tech-savvy, get their news predominantly from social media and value honesty, so they’re likely to investigate and verify news they see, push for more transparency from media outlets and reward factual reportage by sharing such content.

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Snapchat selfie lenses brought the idea of augmented reality into the social sphere. Pokémon Go (arguably a social media app) turned it into a sensation.

So expect the other social platforms to jump on the bandwagon in 2017.

Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that Facebook is already experimenting with augmented reality and lenses.

They acquired Masquerade, a live filter and selfie app for live streaming video.

Augmented reality is actually an old technology that’s started to go viral thanks to social media. While Snapchat has come a long way since puking rainbows (their first filter), there’s still a lot of room to expand on the concept in 2017.

And like live video, augmented reality creates new opportunities for brands to connect with their audience by sharing experiences, rather than just information, on social media. Almost 75% of millennials are interested in virtual reality, and 2017 may just be the year they blow up the idea of self insertion into media.

5. Chatbots Chatbots are a kind of artificial intelligence that can have a conversation with someone. Facebook had integrated them within Facebook Messenger, and businesses are now using them to communicate with customers.

Chatbots are already helping businesses improve customer service by quickly responding to their comments and questions. Expect the tool to become more popular in 2017 -- especially since social media sites are doing everything they can to keep people on their platform instead of navigating away to a business website.

It’s still early days, but chatbots already have the intelligence and ability to help people consume content, answer questions, and complete transaction. More than a third of people already prefer social media over a phone call for customer support. Millennials want self-service and like to resolve their customer service issues mainly via technology as it's fast, efficient, and brief. Soon, brands might not bother having a website at all, and conduct all their customer relations through social media.

Top Social Media Trends to Prepare For socialmediabeast.com Dec. 23, 2016

Continued Rise of Posting Content in Real Time In 2016 we saw Facebook, Snapchat (or “Snap,” the new name of the company) and Instagram go head to head, debuting and improving features that allow users to experience and engage with content in real time. We saw the debut of Facebook Live as well as Instagram Stories, ephemeral livestreaming, and video messaging. Snapchat is expected to continue growing considerably in 2017, as it surpassed YouTube as the most popular video sharing platform with over 10 billion video views a day.

It’s no longer enough to talk about what’s happening; it is essential to give your audience the feeling of being there.

Data from various brands show that users are captivated by first person experiences shared on social media, performing considerably higher than infographics, app use and more.

Dark Social In 2016 companies continued to struggled to navigate “dark social.” Dark social, aka private messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger and the encrypted WhatsApp, are now responsible for 70% of shared content online. Less data is available for information shared through “dark social,” making it harder for brands to engage audiences and track data. In 2017, we expect to see innovation in data tracking to help brands better target audiences originating from dark social. Companies will begin to communicate privately with social media users in order to engage them more with the brand and build relationships.

Bots and the Need for Companies to Provide Timely Customer Service Online Social media, unlike traditional media such as television and newspaper, is a two way street. Part of the reason you use social media is to engage users with your content, so why wouldn’t you respond when they try to engage you? According to Twitter, 71% of their users expect a brand to respond to their questions and issues within an hour. Monitoring social media channels this frequently can be tricky, especially for businesses with smaller staffs. We are anticipating a rise in companies utilizing chatbots across their digital channels in order to alleviate some of this stress. Bots may also be beneficial when it comes to building relationships and engaging consumers in “dark social.”

The Year of the Influencer When you think of Influencer Marketing, does Shaq for Gold Bond or Sofia Vergara for Head and Shoulders come to mind? Influencer marketing on social media doesn’t have to be limited to celebrity endorsements.

Snapchat or Instagram takeovers, if promoted correctly, can significantly increase brand engagement. The use of a simple and thoughtful hashtag can create a dialogue between users and your brand while providing you with even more trackable data.

Twitter Will Continue to Decline While Twitter’s bite-sized bits of content were fun at first, we’ve seen a shift in the popularity of short, frequent posts to more detailed content shared less often, similar to that on Instagram.

We’re still ecstatic that the micro-blogging platform has lifted images and usernames from counting against its character count, but the brand needs to find more ways to reimagine itself in the next year besides integrating its live video platform, Periscope, into the Twitter app.

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4 Millennial Social Media Trends To Watch www.forbes.com December 29, 2016 Article by Lauren Friedman The millennial affinity for technology is reshaping the digital landscape, and a strong brand presence on a few social channels isn’t enough. Millennial social-media usage, commitment, and habits are changing. Some millennials are taking a step back and reevaluating their social-media usage and determining which platforms they want to participate on and what kind of content they want to consume.

We Dig Live Video, Augmented Reality (AR) Lenses, and Filters.

Here’s a quick break down of four millennial social-media trends to look out for in 2017.

With live video (and video content in general) comes lens filtering – like Snapchat’s Selfie Lens or Masquerade, a tool that lets users record video-selfie animation — that is perfect for keeping us entertained and engaged. These lenses animate what may be mundane moments and have truly been a playful introduction of augmented reality into our lives.

Millennials are Setting Boundaries on Facebook.

Over the past year, we’ve wondered about the fate of Facebook with millennials. What started out as a social platform only for college students quickly expanded to those college students’ parents (and drove many millennials away). So when the percentage of older people using social media gets closer to that of millennials, does that change the way millennials see or use social media?

In a recent survey, 41% of millennials still use Facebook every day, however, Facebook was found to be more popular with non-millennials. Every other measured social media platform (YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn) was found to be more popular with millennials than non-millennials.

Another reason for this shift could be that Facebook actually makes us unhappy, and millennials are tired of it.

Comparing ourselves to our friends’ highlight reels is no longer as exciting as it once was. Longtime Facebook users — millennials — are growing older and, in many ways, wiser. Unlike our younger cohorts, we’re unimpressed by a dogmatic newsfeed that serves to polarize audiences, and we’re moving away from traditional Facebook in search of smaller, less-constricting platforms.

Disappearing Media Is Hot Among Younger Millennials.

Older millennials have grown up with and become accustomed to the thought that once something is posted on the internet, it is there to stay, forever. And we’re okay with that, even as new technologies claim to make this notion moot. But, for most younger millennials, the allure of disappearing digital content is too tempting to ignore.

They love that intimate thoughts, risqué pictures, and incoherent ramblings disappear forever.

And, while most older millennials understand the attraction, many of us roll our eyes while watching our younger brothers and sisters use Snapchat and Instagram with what we can only described as naiveté and an over-exuberant youthfulness. Surveys show that while 25% of millennials ages 25-34 are on Instagram every day, 34% of younger millennials 18-24 are using the platform daily.

Even more telling, 30% of millennials 18-24 are on Snapchat every day compared to a mere 19% of older millennials ages 25-34.

Social Media Predictions

While this might go a bit against the concept of disappearing media, live video is where it’s at right now. With capabilities to share video content in real-time on nearly every social platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.), there’s no shortage of live vlogging, Q&A’s, or just sharing a specific moment in time.

Last year’s complete infatuation with Pokémon Go foreshadowed the widespread attraction millennials have toward AR. It’s entirely possible that Facebook, attempting to remain relevant, will become a major leader in the AR scene. Live video, AR lenses, and filters are likely to be huge drivers in 2017. Yet major social channels had better differentiate themselves — even in their application of buzzworthy technologies — or they’ll quickly risk losing millennial attention to smaller platforms that aren’t scrambling to catch up.

We Crave Technology That Simplifies Life.

A good number of millennials are at that stage in their lives in which they’re turning to technology to make life easier. It’s all about a positive experience, whether it be with brands or bots, to ensure we have the information to set our days up for success.

From the weather forecast for tomorrow’s game to quick information about how to return an online purchase — in 2017, consumers of every age will demand more seamless customer experiences, but millennials will be willing to interact with technology to obtain it. In fact, we couldn’t care less that we’re speaking to machines — unless, of course, the interaction goes wrong. Innovative new technologies such as Google Home make our lives easier, and we trust technology to do things for us.

Nevertheless, there’s a balancing act developing — between convenience and the need for privacy — that’s likely to grow in intensity. Anonymous search engine, Duck Duck Go, has seen a huge spike in popularity lately, even beginning to compete with Google simply because it doesn’t track browsing experience.

Erosion of privacy doesn’t happen overnight, but ultimately, millennial consumers will be the ones to decide how much of it they’re willing to trade for convenience.

www.searchenginejournal.com

Prioritization Brands will need to fine tune focus on the platforms that are most important to their audience and figure out how to make the most of them. Do an audit of best performers and eliminate the time suckers.

The Need for Greater Creativity Lisa Buyer Author & Consultant

With platforms such as Canva, Adobe Spark and Buffer’s Pablo, visuals are spoonfed to social media marketers.

Brands will be expected to take canned visuals to the next level in 2017. Standing out in the newsfeed’s visual competition will require more than just using stock visuals.

Go Beyond the Basics of Snapchat www.restaurantbusinessonline.com Sept. 19, 2016 Article by Kelsey Nash It’s time to pay attention to Snapchat. The social channel reaches 41% of 18- to 34-year-olds in the U.S. on a given day, according to a Nielsen study. And it’s beating out the big guys—a recent Piper Jaffray survey noted that 28% of teen respondents consider Snapchat to be the most important social media channel, first eclipsing Facebook, and now all other players, including Twitter and Instagram, for the first time.

1. Work the ‘NEW’ angle

“[Snapchat] continues to be the best for reaching millennials and Gen Z,” says Christine Ferris, recent PR and marketing manager at Smashburger. Yet it isn’t all smiling ghosts and wacky selfies.

2. Be branded—but barely

As with any evolving technology, there are challenges for brands, says Melanie Cohn, social media manager for Dunkin’ Donuts.

They have worked closely with Snapchat to improve their engagement on the channel, she notes, and are aiming to be more agile to take advantage of new content delivery opportunities as they roll out.

For an app that intentionally tried to go against the grain (it was designed to be tough for parents to use, let alone brands), Snapchat has debuted an interface that puts branded content front and center. Here’s how some companies are getting results.

“We’re always experimenting with Snapchat’s new offerings,” Cohn says, adding that Dunkin’ was one of the first brands to employ what she calls the “Snap to Unlock” feature, where users can take photos of a Snapcode (the Snapchat version of a QR code) to unlock geofilters. It also uses the channel to offer fans sneak peeks at new products, such as its cold-brew coffee.

With the help of an internal designer, Smashburger aims to strike a tough balance: keeping its content from feeling overly branded while still remaining unique to the chain. Dunkin’ strives for a similar vibe. “The essence of Snapchat is to have unedited, unfiltered and real, everyday stories—so we create a plan in that way,” Cohn says.

3. Leave breadcrumbs In the early days, Snapchat engagement was baked in by way of requiring users to keep their fingers on-screen to see content.

That’s changed in recent versions, leaving brands to foster interaction in fresh ways. One workaround: Smashburger places callouts on its “stories,” or collections of Snaps, reminding viewers to tap to get to the next screen.

4. Bring the online IRL Smashburger ties its geofilters to incentives—customers who show they’ve used a geofilter can receive coupons for a free item during their next visit. The brand also uses in-store collateral to drive guest engagement in the social realm; the Snapchat logo is on branded to-go bags and more.

Social Media Sways Restaurant-Goers www.foodbusinessnews.net Sept. 14, 2016 Article by Rebekah Schouten Social media has become an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives, and according to Zagat’s latest National Dining Trends survey, it’s influencing how and why they dine out.

60% of U.S. diners said they browse food photos on social media, the survey found, and 75% said they have chosen a place to eat based on these photos alone.

So who is taking and posting these photos to social media? Almost half of diners nationally (44%) said they snap photos of their food while dining out to share on social media, and 19% said they have picked a specific restaurant just to take food photos.

Once at the restaurant, 60% of diners admitted to stopping their companions from eating so they can photograph the food.

50% of those surveyed said they have taken pictures of every dish at the table, and 5% have even asked another table if they could photograph their dish. When posting the pictures to social media, 41% said they do so right at the table.

The foods appearing most often on social media feeds include trendy foods such as avocado toast, which 33% of respondents said they “love,” up 24% from last year. Ramen, sriracha and pork belly are also popular; each received “love” votes from 31% of respondents.

However, not all trendy foods are earning favor or social media space from consumers. Food mashups such as the cronut, ramen burger and rainbow bagels are on their way out, according to the 38% of national diners who said they are “over it.”

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7 Trends That will Change Social Media in 2017 blog.hubspot.com January 13, 2017 Article by Sophia Bernazzani

1) Live video content will become even bigger.

2) Brands will lean on messaging apps more than ever.

Live video content is on the rise -- in fact, 14% of marketers experimented with it in 2016, according to Social Media Examiner, and 43% plan to use interactive video this year, according to new survey data from Wyzowl.

If you’re only thinking about messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat as alternatives to traditional text messaging, think again -- messaging apps are used by 4 billion users worldwide, and there’s tremendous opportunity for brands to leverage this presence.

While there are a ton of streaming sites and platforms out there, both Periscope and Facebook Live are among the most popular -and they have the numbers to prove it.

In its 2016 annual recap, Periscope noted that users watched 110 years of live video every day using the app. And just this New Year’s Eve, live streaming on Facebook reached record-breaking numbers around the globe. In addition to Facebook Live and Periscope, Instagram and Twitter launched their versions of live video streaming in November and December 2016, respectively.

More specifically, many brands are using messaging apps to communicate one-on-one with customers, which is completely changing the way customer service gets done. These apps provide a faster and easier way for customers to get the assistance they need, rather than being placed on hold or waiting for a returned email. Deploying messaging for customer service is more scalable and cost-effective for businesses, and by providing a better experience for the customer, brands can solve their problems quickly and retain customers more easily.

First and foremost, you’ll want to consider where your audience already spends time on social media -- and try to connect with them on those networks.

For example, Hyatt uses Facebook Messenger for 24-hour customer service, where guests can make reservations, ask questions, and get recommendations for their trips.

Periscope users watch 110 years of live video every day using the app.

HubSpot Vice President of Marketing, Meghan Keaney Anderson, predicts that messaging apps will eventually become a part of every online interaction. “Maybe we shouldn't be thinking about messaging in terms of apps at all,” Anderson notes, “but rather as an evolving infrastructure.”

As for what to broadcast, there are a lot of brands out there that are nailing this strategy across several use cases. For example, many brands are using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to live stream events. This approach aims to keep your followers engaged with your brand by bringing an event they otherwise might not be able to attend directly to their screens.

Brands can also use live video for customer service by hosting Q&A sessions and product demonstrations. These videos drive engagement because hosts can ask for comments, questions, and feedback from the audience.

Brands can also stream multiple live videos in a series, providing more opportunities for engagement, which Facebook said happens at a rate 10X higher with live videos.

This year, keep an eye out for new features rolling out to the different live streaming platforms to amp up your video strategy. For example, Facebook Live is launching 360-degree capabilities, which would be a neat way to record a crowded event, a beautiful landscape, or a behind-the-scenes tour.

So far, Anderson’s theory is well-supported by the stats: A quarter of all apps that are downloaded are abandoned after just one use -except for messaging apps. In 2017 and beyond, marketers should anticipate less social networking and more messaging for instant, real-time connection with audiences.

3) Social media e-commerce will become a powerful avenue for sales.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest offer ways for users to purchase products from directly within their apps, and Snapchat started testing and rolling out e-commerce features in the spring of 2016.

According to a survey from Aimia, 56% of consumers said they followed brands on social media to browse products for sale, and 31% of online shoppers say they’re using social media specifically to look for new items to purchase.

Brands should leverage these shopping habits when thinking about their social media strategy for 2017. People come to social media to interact with interesting content, so instead of sharing a photo of a product on Instagram with a “Buy Now” call-to-action, share gift ideas and product trends (24% and 16% of survey respondents relied on social media for these, respectively) and encourage online shopping without directly asking for it.

Another idea? Product demonstration videos on social media.

According to research from Animoto, 4X as many customers prefer to watch a video about a new product, so share them on social media to encourage online shoppers.

4) Virtual reality will find its way into more and more marketing experiences.

6) Many brands will make the shift from Snapchat to Instagram for Stories.

Virtual reality is still new to the marketing scene, and in 2017, we predict the market will get even more popular. What's unique about virtual reality is that it encourages engagement by offering an immersive, memorable experience unlike any other medium -and brands are quickly recognizing that value.

Instagram introduced its Stories feature in August 2016. After just two months, Instagram Stories were experiencing 100 million daily active viewers, and as of February 2017, it’s up to 150 million each day -- the equivalent of Snapchat’s entire user base. For this and other reasons, Emanuele predicts that brands will start transitioning from Snapchat to Instagram for sharing Stories (photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours).

For example, TOMS uses virtual reality to shed light on the mission and impact customers are having. Its mission, “One for One,” refers to its pledge to match with each pair of shoes purchased a new pair for a child in need around the world. While visiting children who received new shoes during a trip to Peru, TOMS shot the following 360-degree virtual reality video to create a firsthand account of the impact this initiative is making: What’s so great about this video is how transportative it is.

Most customers might not be planning a trip to Peru, but all of them can see the direct impact of their purchase. The experience is improved when they use a VR headset or viewer, but the video is still viewable on mobile or desktop devices, so the brand can effectively share its story.

At 600 million users (and growing), Instagram offers a vastly larger audience than Snapchat at 150 million users. And because Facebook owns Instagram, Instagram advertisers can target based on Facebook and Instagram insights.

Instagram also lets users publish photos and videos in a permanent portfolio in addition to ephemeral Stories, so users can more easily share content with their friends.

BrandFire CEO Adam Padilla agrees with Emanuele's prediction, also noting the adoption of Instagram by a larger number of celebrities and public figures, and a slicker Instagram interface.

This year, video streaming will represent almost 75% of all internet traffic, and since audiences want more video content, brands should continue experimenting with different formats -- including virtual reality -- to see which audiences respond best to.

Despite its rapid growth and sheer volume of content being shared, Snapchat offers fewer means of measurement and analysis for social media marketers, so Instagram may offer greater ROI in 2017.

5) Ephemeral content will continue to find its place and purpose.

7) Mobile advertising will grow more competitive.

HubSpot Social Media Marketing Manager Marissa Emanuele artfully coined the term “Frankenfeatures,” which are born when a social media platform launches its own version of another platform’s successful feature.

One example? Snapchat started the ephemeral, or disappearing, visual content sharing trend, and Instagram recently launched a similar disappearing video feature -- but with the ability to share live ephemeral video, too.

We’re not suggesting that you abandon professional photography and marketing video production, but ephemeral content on Snapchat and Instagram is a great way to showcase the ‘other side’ of your brand’s personality with authentic, unscripted, unpolished content. Content ideas for ephemeral stories include: • How-to videos • Behind-the-scenes looks • Contests and giveaways • Recipes • Interviews • “Takeovers” – when a different user chooses what content to share • Live events • Daily or weekly video series • Holidays • Announcements or product reveals “The most important part of ephemeral content is to be human.

This is a unique opportunity to show an unpolished, lighthearted side to your brand, so don’t be afraid to share content that’s humorous or otherwise 'flawed' in some way," urges Emanuele.

In 2017, marketers should expect greater investment in mobile advertising. Here’s a rundown of what that will look like on some of the largest social networks: Facebook is the behemoth when it comes to social media ad revenues, bringing in more than $7 billion last year -- 80% of which came from mobile ads. Facebook’s News Feed algorithmic changes now prioritize content from friends and family first, so the 75% of brands on Facebook that pay to promote ads will have to get creative and design visual, engaging ads to get noticed first.

Twitter’s ad revenue is increasing, especially in the mobile format, and in 2017, they’ll likely continue experimenting with visual content, such as sponsored hashtag icons and stickers, to provide a variety of ad options to users.

As we’ve discussed previously in this article, Snapchat and Instagram will be competing for a lot of attention this year, and advertising revenue will be no exception. Where do they stand in terms of developments? Snapchat recently launched a new advertising API that makes it easier to buy ad space, in addition to a greater variety of video ads and sponsored filters. Instagram, on the other hand, is doubling down on e-commerce with the introduction of Shoppable Instagram, a feature that lets users buy products directly by clicking on a call-to-action in the app.

According to an Adweek survey among millennial Snapchat and Instagram users about their experiences with ads, the results are roughly split -- with a few noteworthy distinctions. While a greater percentage thought Instagram ads were more memorable than those on Snapchat, more millennials loved Snapchat ads than Instagram ads.

In short: Marketers should experiment with ads on different platforms to see which perform better among their audience and take advantage of the cool new features each rolls out.

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Social Media Trends for Small Businesses in 2017

www.entrepreneur.com December 21, 2016 Article by Santosh Kanekar

Video is King

Content Rules

Facebook Live and Periscope are creating a deep personal engagement platform for videos. Facebook users alone watch 100 million hours of video every single day! Small businesses are using video to stay topical and quickly communicate relevant information to their customers. Here are some stats to get you kicking:

Social media feeds on content. Develop content which Informs, Inspires, and Entertains. Find out what is relevant to your customer's life and give them the information that they want.

• Real estate listings which have video receive 403% more inquiries than those without.

• 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video.

• 90% of users confess that product videos help them in their decision-making.

Video helps communicate everything from the complex to the simple in an engaging way. Whether it is big companies like Caterpillar using video to demonstrate their machines or the local bistro highlighting their latest specialty dish, video connects you to your customers and increases engagement.

Are you a corner restaurant? Talk about the latest food trends in your local area. Shoot videos of how you are making your signature dishes. Show your chef visiting the market for picking up ingredients. Showcase and celebrate your staff.

Content which takes your customers on a journey should be the focus of your social media. Content is the step before Conversion.

Conversion is the real goal.

What are the Next Steps for You? Do a review of your social media marketing efforts from the past year. What worked? Can you do more of it? How? What didn’t work?

Can you shut it down and cut your losses?

Social Media Engagement is Vital

Develop goals for every stage of your social media marketing for next year. These goals will set up a measurement system for you to evaluate whether you are on target.

Does your content create engagement? There are various measures, but the three critical ones are:

Use the above trends as a checklist to guide your social media marketing initiatives on a week-to-week and month-to-month basis.

Engagement %: What is your ratio of comments to followers?

If your Facebook post generates 100 comments and you have 1,000 followers, then your Engagement % is 100/1,000 i.e. 10%. Good or bad, comments mean your audience is engaged with your content.

They have an opinion, and they are voicing it.

Social media is a big leveler. Big budgets don’t necessarily win this war. Smart Planning and focusing on results do. Don’t let marketing become just an expense item. Make your marketing drive your business results.

Share %: What is your ratio of shares to followers?

If your blog post generates 200 shares and you have 1,000 followers then your Share % is 200/1,000 i.e. 20%. A good Share % means that your audience loves your content and is spreading your message.

They are on their way to becoming your raving fans.

Conversion%: What is your ratio of leads to followers?

If your Instagram post generates ten sales leads and you have 1,000 followers then your Conversion % is 10/1,000 i.e. 1%.

Conversion % is the Holy Grail of social media.

Domination, Not Just Participation Find out where your audience is hanging out.

If your audience is most active on Facebook, engage with them there. Entice them with Facebook Ads and then move them to your Facebook Business page, and then your website. If your audience is younger, be sure to have an Instagram business account.

Develop a social media personality that’s both true to your brand and relevant to the medium and then dominate the medium.

While long form content rules in blog posts, quick snackable content is the rule in the world of Instagram and Facebook.

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Top Food Marketing Trends www.condimentmarketing.com Article by Sara Lancaster

1. Targeted Social Advertising Expect targeted social media advertising to become more common among food businesses. According to the Direct Marketing Association, “Social media will grow to 24% of marketing budgets within five years, up from 10% today.”

The ability to thoughtfully target social media ads using data as a guide has never been better. The new Facebook pixel helps with that.

Target your ads to users with specific interests or demographics and track impressions and clicks with intense precision, not just from the insights of the social media network, but from your website analytics, too. You can run ads on most social networks, even Snapchat.

We have found that: • Pinterest and Facebook ads work well to drive traffic to your site • LinkedIn ads are best for generating B2B leads • Twitter ads help you get market research done Social media advertising is far less expensive than a magazine ad, billboard, radio spot, or a trade show booth.

2. New-ish Word of Mouth Marketing Influencer marketing is a form of word of mouth marketing.

An influencer is someone who, either on their own or with coaxing from you, shares the good news about your brand. That promotion could take place on social media, on the street, in a book — wherever — and it is fantastic.

4. Food as Community The Bacon Social House in Denver could be a case study in current food trends. Bacon continues to delight food lovers with locallysourced ingredients and boozy brunches. But all that aside, the location strikes us as an excellent example of food as community, a definite 2017 food marketing trend.

Bacon (the restaurant) is set back and not obvious from the street.

Once you find the door, you will likely need to wait for a table, which is fine because you’ll want to meander in the nearby boutiques and specialty food shop. With garage doors and windows open at all establishments, you can easily hear your name called while you are buying your pineapple earrings (true story).

Once seated, share a bacon flight and watch your fellow diners in the multi-level restaurant. You really do feel like you are part of something here.

Other ways to create food as community…

Influencer marketing is not new, but there are a lot of terms for this concept: influencer marketing, relationship marketing, brand advocates, brand ambassadors, and on and on.

In 2017, expect to see more food businesses partnering up with influencers to further the brand’s content reach.

3. Real Authenticity The trend in marketing for nearly all industries, including food, is to be transparent; to show your customers who you really are in creative ways and create an avenue for personal connection.

However, many food businesses are getting busted for being dishonest in their seemingly transparent claims.

The public and media are not kind to bogus representation.

Take, for example, Mast Brothers Chocolate and Chick-Fil-A. Bottom line…make your message true to your company values and your ingredient list. The marketing trend toward a transparent company-consumer connection is not going away. Do it right.

• Support a cause (e.g., child hunger, reducing food waste, etc.)

• Purchase ingredients from suppliers in line with your vision / mission / brand identity • Get creative with loyalty programs • Community tables 5. Awe-Inspiring Food Videos Jon Levy, a human behavior expert, said the emotion that prompts the biggest engagement from people is not happiness, sadness, or anger – it’s awe.

This ties very closely into the video marketing trend you’ve no doubt seen all over social media and the web. There are a variety of reasons why video works so well in marketing food, but one of the biggest reasons, I think, is because when done well, video can effectively generate that feeling of awe.

LATE-BREAKING NEWS AND STATISTICS Instagram faithful are protesting a new feature currently in beta-testing: Instagram Albums. Core users claim that letting anyone post up to 10 photos at a time would strip Instagram of its only core differentiating idea - the focus on carefully curated, perfect single photos, in favor of making the network more like Facebook (Instagram’s parent company.)

Facebook is testing augmented reality lenses, borrowing one of Snapchat’s most popular features.

There are currently 1.86 Billion active users on Facebook and 600 Million active users on Instagram. Over 150 Million people use Instagram Stories daily. 1.2 Billion users are active on WhatsApp while 1 Billion are active on Facebook Messenger.

Despite once claiming 200 Million users, Twitter is shutting down the Vine community website. The app has been rebranded Vine Camera. Time to start looking for the next hot social media startup technology.

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E.A.T. Your Way to Social Media Success www.pizzamarketplace.com

September 13, 2016

Article by Megan Redzia

Restaurant use of social media continues to increase as operators realize the medium's marketing potential. People of all ages use social media to make dining decisions and share their experiences.

But simply having a social media presence for your restaurant isn’t enough. If you’re investing time and resources into social media, you need to guarantee meaningful results tied to your business goals.

So how can you maximize your social media marketing impact?

Employ the EAT strategy:

Align with your Brand's Identity You likely go to great pains to unify your brand across its many uses in your logo, on your website, in your restaurant design, menu and server uniforms. This should also carry over to your social media use of your brand. Granted, with an ever-changing array of emerging new social media venues, this can be tough to keep up with, but it's still critical to unify your message across all channels.

Engage your Community

Develop brand guidelines and outline how they extend to social media, including use of color, font, logos and other graphics, as well as the tone of voice your brand projects through these venues.

So, will you interact with customers using humor? Or do you want to be more formal or conversational? If you know your customers and your audience, you can develop your brand's voice accordingly.

When it comes to a brand's social media fan base, quality is more important than quantity. Though many businesses measure a campaign's success by verifiable numbers, such as Facebook "likes" and Instagram followers, these metrics don't necessarily indicate success.

Once you have a plan, develop monthly content calendars that schedule social media copy and graphics. Indicate which content can be reused across platforms, such as converting a blog into an infographic. Creating a content calendar can help show you the big picture across venues so you can align your identity.

Focus your efforts on building an active community, rather than a high number of followers. Understand your audience and develop content catered to their interests. If your restaurant has pages representing each location, tailor the content accordingly.

Turn Social Actions into Foot Traffic

Engage your community.

Align with your brand identity.

Turn social actions into traffic.

Listen to what your patrons are saying and engage with them in real time. Reacting to positive feedback via social media offers your brand an opportunity to convert those making casual comments into true brand ambassadors. By addressing negative experiences, you can quickly diffuse situations, demonstrate that you care and possibly even convert an upset customer into a loyal one.

Building an active, engaged community requires nonstop monitoring of the conversations about your brand. Streamline this process by employing a social media management solution such as Nuvi, Hootsuite or Sysomos. These tools can help automate the process of posting content, while providing insight to measure campaign progress.

Having 200 fans "like" your Facebook post about the upcoming opening of your newest location is great, but it's likely you'd rather have 200 people walk through your door on the first day. To inspire your social community and garner their interest and business, take advantage of the power of location-based engagements. LBEs include any action taken to interact with individuals on their mobile devices when they are in a specific geographic place. Some of the most common LBEs include direct check-ins, Yelp reviews, or photo/video tagging in specific retail locations.

Some social media management solutions combine keywordbased monitoring with location-based listening to track online conversations in or near restaurants. There are also a variety of geo-specific monitoring tools that can locate customer feedback, identify influencers, uncover service issues and discover potential customers. These insights can be used to proactively reach out to local audiences and shape other aspects of your marketing plan.

3 Unwritten Rules of Food Porn www.restaurantbusinessonline.com

Oct. 3, 2016

Article by Alaina Lancaster

Good lighting and delicious-looking food are musts for attracting foodie eyeballs. But here are a few lesser-known best practices.

1. Show of Hands The appeal of uber-popular (and frequently shared) recipe videos showing a pair of hands preparing a simple dish carries over to food photos as well. Shake Shack and Ben & Jerry’s both load their Instagram feeds with appetite-triggering, food-in-hand shots with wish-you-were-here backdrops.

2. Highlight Ingredients As customers hunger for more transparency, some restaurant brands, such as Noodles & Co., are taking a high-art approach to not just the finished dish but the fresh ingredients that go into it.

3. Call it How They See It When a colorful secret menu item became an Instagram sensation this summer, Starbucks carefully capitalized. Formally a Strawberry Acai Refresher made with fresh berries and coconut milk instead of water, fans dubbed the remix #PinkDrink, and it went viral.

Starbucks played along, even suggesting more colorful riffs such as #PurpleDrink, which garnered nearly 32,000 likes.

4 Ways Restaurants Can Win Over Gen Z www.nationsrestaurantnews.com January 31, 2017 Article by Joseph Szala

Restaurants have traditionally been a means to an end. But due to mountains of options, they’ve surpassed the basic utility of satiating hunger, and have created new need and want states.

This phenomenon is especially prevalent among Generation Z. For them, brands have evolved into cultural and social statements. Translation: Restaurants are no longer here to simply satisfy hunger.

In today’s world, young diners and would-be brand ambassadors want brands that reflect and contribute to their shared values. Great products and superior customer service are cost-of-entry table stakes.

Restaurants that help exert and receive influence among this generation’s peer group get their attention, and eventually their loyalty. The culmination of brand experiences has to be more than just purely transactional. They must connect with authentic participation as the catalyst.

A recent study conducted by Iris Worldwide looked at shopping behaviors of Millennials and Gen Z. Overall, this group looks for brands that deliver a unified and genuine message that aligns with every experience, including the transaction of buying.

They want seamlessness in all the ways they communicate.

After all, these brands do the talking for the consumer.

There are brands that are ahead of the curve and understand this evolution, and others that must innovate or perish. Here are four things restaurants should consider in cultivating more meaningful relationships with Gen Z:

1. Celebrate communities that share the same values.

Focusing on core influencer groups within your market is a stellar way to gain traction and build buzz. Celebrate the things that get them excited inside and outside your four walls. Aligning with their passions will position you as a “friend” and spark more opportunities for word of mouth, social chatter and buy-in from those who have a much larger reach and loudspeaker.

Freebirds World Burrito does a stellar job of connecting the brand to a cause that resonates with the same values as their audience.

The chain’s program leverages the power of locality with the help of “tribe members” — staff members who are engaged in the local communities. This effort is honest and effective at aligning the brand with the values in each community.

2. Present your brand and food within their culture.

Too often, restaurants only consider the experience inside their four walls. Instead, they need to consider the potential for their brand to be a lifestyle, not just a hunger cure. This happens outside the four walls and within different subcultures. So ask not how the culture of Gen Z fits into your brand, but how your brand fits into their culture. They want real, authentic experiences that aren’t afraid to be human. That means fessing up to mistakes, listening to people and having a personality.

Many local, independent restaurant brands excel at community integration by having strong showings at local events large and small. It’s more genuine than throwing money at sponsorships and calling it a day. These brands get face to face with the people in their market and create connections with each other and with the brand.

3. Help them experience your brand in their channels.

The restaurant industry has been stuck in a rut with old-fashioned dining experiences. Gen Z is tech savvy and tech dependent, and, in the traditional sense, they don’t always want someone to take their order, provide suggestions and interrupt their conversations to ask them how their meal is. They’re well versed at handling the process — and complaining when something isn’t right.

Brands like Domino’s in the U.K. allow customers to build their own pizza with any toppings of their choosing. Then they name them and promote their creation through social media.

This example hasn’t only proven engaging — it has driven sales.

Utilizing new features on popular social platforms can also work towards building your brand. For instance, Instagram’s new “shop now” capabilities can quickly convert a passive viewer into a potential customer. It just takes some extra thinking and an attention to creative opportunities.

Many restaurants saw the value in emerging platforms last summer, when Pokémon Go hit like a tidal wave. By setting up PokéStops and using the platform’s lure item creatively, they were able to draw in people quickly, effectively and inexpensively.

4. Make dining super simple and super social.

Many full-service brands have been hesitant to implement a kiosk or a digital-forward approach to ordering. The rationale usually includes the lack of personal touch and the ability to upsell. However, the industry continues to fail to reinvent the way we grow with ever-changing consumer needs and wants.

Rethinking how customers order and engage could be the disruptive game-changer, akin to Uber’s overhaul of personal transportation. It wasn’t that personal transportation wasn’t available before Uber; it’s that Uber made it simple and intuitive.

For instance, Taco Bell is constantly pushing its cultural relevance by simplifying and streamlining the way customers order tacos.

From ordering using taco emojis on Twitter, to simple messagebased ordering on popular communications platforms like Slack, Taco Bell obviously understands that simplicity is king.

Attracting Gen Z isn’t an enigma. These customers aren’t mythical beasts that require magic to be found. Above all, they require authenticity from brands across the board. By following the four points above, you can conform your brand to their will and wants effectively. After all, their buying power is only growing.

Those who choose to stay ahead of the curve will win.

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sproutsocial.com/insights January 4, 2017 Article by Alex York There was no shortage of changes to the social media industry in 2016, which included several new features, consumer preferences and brand opportunities. Looking toward 2017, social media trends will continue to evolve and surprise us.

While it’s impossible to predict how the social media marketing landscape will change over the course of a year, we’re here to point out six social media trends marketers should keep an eye on.

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10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Social Media Consultant www.socialmediatoday.com

January 31, 2017

Article by Lucy Rendler-Kaplan

Today, more than ever, people are leaving in-house marketing jobs, choosing instead to begin their own consulting business. There are both pros and cons for small businesses looking to hire a consultant.

The pro is that you can find people with years of experience and can hire them as consultants. Not bringing them in-house means you save money on their insurance, bonuses and at times, even equity.

The cons come when you realize there's a much lower barrier to entry now - anyone with a personal Facebook Page and a large number of Twitter followers can offer their services to you.

5. What is their process for reporting?

How often will you meet with them? How often will you be provided status updates or check-ins?

If the agency doesn’t have a method to suggest immediately to you on how they'll communicate, it might be a red flag that the agency isn’t as connected with their clients as you'll want to be (or that they haven’t even thought of this yet).

6. What will you do if something goes wrong?

And while they might be more affordable, it can sometime be hard to discern if they have any experience building brands, or if they’re simply any good at promoting themselves. Once you make the decision to outsource, you'll want to strongly vet potential consultants and/or agencies. Here are 10 things to ask or consider:

How would you handle a social media crisis? Marketing campaigns that look great on paper can go wrong in application, no matter how seasoned the consultant is. How will they react?

How do they respond to negative reviews? Tweets?

Negative Facebook comments?

1. Can they demonstrate a proven track record?

7. How do they come up with strategic plans?

Ask what brands the person or agency has worked with and is currently working with (to ensure they're not working with a competing brand).

How much does writing content figure into their experience and plan for your business? A good consultant will have a workflow that works for them and you. They'll know how to integrate social media with PR and traditional media. They'll want to talk to your sales team and find out what plans they have and will know how to integrate them into all they are doing.

Don’t be shy about asking for references. Ask about a brand they worked with where something didn't work out – how did they handle that? Were they able to quickly adapt and change course?

Do they have the necessary experience in your industry to properly advance your business?

The more they know about your industry, the less of a learning curve there'll be, and the more resources they'll bring to your brand.

What are their first steps when taking on new clients?

2. Where can I find current and past examples of your work?

Anyone with experience will be readily able to show you a portfolio of work as well as links to initiatives they've either run or been involved in creating. Look for campaigns that have been repeated.

You know things are working when you keep doing it.

Have the campaigns led to brand exposure? Sales leads? Will this experience help in your market?

3. Who will be handling my account and what background does this person come from?

The background of each person working on behalf of your brand is important. If you're looking for marketing, PR and/or social media help, you want people that have leveraged those skills working with prior companies.

Do these people have knowledge and experience with trends in these areas?

4. How will we track Return on Investment?

We know that not everything has immediate return that's trackable when it comes to social media. But you can track most things.

You want to know that this consultant or agency isn’t simply looking to add likes, followers or fans, but is actually able to analyze conversion rates.

Brands that hire an outside agency will want to know that the agency or consultant is consistently monitoring results, and is being held accountable. You'll want to know there's a standard monitoring and reporting process in place that works for both you and the agency or consultant.

8. How will content be developed?

And, will you have to approve all of the content written on behalf of your brand? Will it all have to be planned, or will you trust this person or agency to create on-the-fly content for you? Does this person have the experience necessary to understand the nuances of writing content specific for each platform and for your audience?

Content developed for your brand needs to be likeable and shareable. A consultant or agency should be able to show you examples of previously created content for other clients, as well as their content calendar, or what their content creation process looks like.

9. What does success look like, and how will we measure it?

Brands that are investing in consultants and agencies must have clear goals in mind when starting this process. An agency should be able to help you achieve your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).

The consultant or agency you choose will help you establish these KPIs and will work with you to write strategies and tactics to hit those goals.

10. What will this cost?

Outside of the monthly retainer or fee you agree to with the consultant or agency, you want to know that your budget is being kept in mind in all they're doing. Are there going to be additional costs in monitoring brand mentions? What's the process for getting additional budget approved, before this consultant agrees to something? Do they have a plan for ads on Facebook and Twitter?

What will that cost?

By no means is this an exhaustive list. Choosing a consultant or agency is a big decision for every brand. You're entrusting your baby to someone outside the “inner circle.” You want to know what influencers they're friends with and for how long, what their personal social media profiles look like, and how they conduct their network.