Now that you know how to give recognition, let's look at some ways that you can make your recognition even more special! This article will show you how to:

When you first log in to Bonusly, you are greeted 👋🏼 with a sample text that is automatically generated as an example of how to give a recognition.

The sample text will disappear the moment you begin typing and clicking to add components to your recognition post! 👍🏼

Give an entire team recognition:

Your team really rocked a presentation and you want to recognize everyone on the team. Giving recognition to a specific group, department, or location is super easy!

First, click the multi user icon:

A dropdown will appear with the group names. Select the team you would like to give the recognition to:

*If you don't Posts Tagged: Bonus the group you'd like to give to, start typing the group's name and it will appear.

Then, the usernames of everyone in that group will populate in your give field: 

Tag someone in a recognition:

Your teammate did something awesome and you want to make sure their boss sees the recognition you send. You can tag your teammate's boss to send them a notification of the recognition. When you tag Posts Tagged: Bonus person, it does not give that person points. 

To tag someone in your recognition just click the tag icon: 

*The '&' symbol means a user is tagged and will not be recognized with points. You can type “&” in the recognition field as a shortcut to start a tag.

The posted recognition will have both names highlighted, but only Abby received the recognition:

Add an emoji to your recognition:

Who doesn't love a fun emoji? 😁 🎉 To add an emoji to your recognition, click the "smile" icon.

You'll then be able to pick from the drop-down or start typing the name of the emoji you would like to add to your recognition:

The preview of the recognition post will show the emojis you selected!

Here is what the recognition will look like with the emoji(s):

Add a GIF to your recognition:

Sometime words just aren't enough to express your gratitude. If that's the case, click the "GIF" button on the bottom of the give box: 

A small window will pop up with a text box. To search for the perfect GIF, type the words you would like to convey! For example, I wanted to show my appreciation to Abby and Pep for their hard work:

The GIF will now appear in the recognition box.

When you actually give the recognition, the GIF image will show on the timeline, and be animated: 

Bonus GIF Tip:

Try Posts Tagged: Bonus one of our many work-relevant GIFs made by Bonusly! Communicate your thanks, appreciation, and recognition towards your peers in the best way, Posts Tagged: Bonus. The GIFs are uploaded onto Tenor, so they can easily be used in the Bonusly app.

After clicking on the GIF button, type “Bonusly” into the search box. Scroll through to find the right GIF to communicate your recognition to someone.

Add an image to your recognition:

Want to add a picture to enhance your recognition? Images can be great to show off the hard work your colleagues are doing to the entire team. 

You can attach an image three different ways:

1. Drag and drop the image into the recognition field.

2. Copy and paste the image into the recognition field. 

3. Manually find and add the image, by clicking the Posts Tagged: Bonus an image" button:

-Select the image from your computer you would like to add:

We'll add your image to your recognition message as text:

After you click the 'Give' button, the feed will show the recognition with the picture you've selected! 🎉 

Add a hyperlink to your recognition:

Adding a hyperlink to your Posts Tagged: Bonus is an easy way to refer back to the reason Posts Tagged: Bonus why you are giving recognition, so the rest of the team can see the excellent work that inspired the recognition.

 First you will want to highlight the words you would like to add the hyperlink to. 

Next select the hyperlink icon. This puts the word(s) you want to hyperlinked into [brackets], and generates a field that looks like this: (url)!

Paste the link inside of the (parenthesis).

Once you recognize your teammate, the link will Posts Tagged: Bonus and the words you highlighted will show as hyperlinked in the recognition. If you click on the hyperlinked words, it will take you to the linked page! 🎉 

*Pro-pro-tip: you can also use the cmd+k shortcut to add a hyperlink

Now you can go beyond just words and have fun with your recognition! 🎉 If you want to learn more about how to write an inspiring recognition, take a look at our article about how to give great recognition. 

Having trouble adding an image? A link? Anything else? Send us an email at support@bonus.ly and we'll be glad to help you out!

Social Media Day (#SMDay) is almost upon us! Saturday will mark the 9th Social Media Day since Mashable started the tradition in 2010. So what is Social Media Day? Well, since Mashable created the day, I’ll let them define it for us.

Mashable launched Social Media Day as a way to recognize and celebrate social media’s impact on global communication. Today, social media is the heart of global communication; and since its inception, Mashable’s been using social media to connect between cultures, movements, and Posts Tagged: Bonus one can deny social media’s impact on how we communicate. Though not even a generation old, social media has already massively shifted our dialog, introduced us to new and interesting people from around the world, and opened the door to global marketing in ways previously unimaginable.

From instant messaging (anyone remember AIM?) to Myspace, to the overwhelming dominance of Facebook and Twitter, social media has evolved a great deal in a relatively short time. It’s connected us as never before and fostered a culture of connectivity and sharing.

Today, we’re going to focus on the good social media does for our culture by looking at one of the up-and-coming social media platforms: Instagram!

Gettin’ to know THE ‘GRAM

Why Is Instagram Important And How Should I Use It?

Instagram is different than any other social media platform, telling strictly visual stories. It’s best used to show off who you are, the face(s) behind your brand, company culture, & products!

Instagram is also one of the fastest-growing platforms. From September 2017 to June 2018, Posts Tagged: Bonus, their monthly active users grew by more than 25% to 1 billion. For comparison, Twitter is sitting at 336 million and Facebook had 2.19 billion monthly active users in the first quarter of this year, Posts Tagged: Bonus. (Statista)

If you haven’t started using Instagram, make sure it’s right for you, Diamond Bonus Slots Machine brand, and your audience before diving in. It’s important to remember – you don’t have to be on every single social platform, Posts Tagged: Bonus. With anything, do your research, figure out your goals for this specific platform, and define your success metrics. Additionally, understand your audience on this platform, listen to them, Posts Tagged: Bonus, and then get started creating content and publishing!

Instagram makes it extremely easy to engage with your audience. Not only can you ‘like’ and comment, but you can now follow relevant hashtags – so find your audience and connect with them!

As a bonus, Instagram is full of user-generated content (UGC), meaning you don’t have to stress about creating something new every day. By following relevant hashtags, you can easily identify quality UGC and simply repost.

Pro tip: Create a UGC hashtag that people can use for their chance to be featured on your account. When reposting UGC, only post high-quality photos and make sure to tag the Instagrammer.

How Often Should You Post On Instagram And What Types Of Content Should You Post?

As we always say, start slow. Choose a few days per week and post once a day. You don’t have to post every single day right away. Choose the days based on what works best for your schedule and when your audience is most active on Instagram. Consistency is key.

Here are three things to keep in mind as you’re starting to develop your Instagram platform:

• Mondays and Thursdays are the best days to post and 11am-1pm or 7-9pm are the best times to post. (Instagram Report 2018 by Mention)
• Test out different types of posts. Instagram offers a plethora of options – photos, videos, Posts Tagged: Bonus, boomerangs, carousel posts, you name it!
• Each piece of content you post on Instagram should be high-resolution and visually appealing. But don’t worry, you won’t need a DSLR and a graphic design background to make your feed pop. Your iPhone and an image editing app will do the trick!

Pro tip: Keep your style consistent with your brand. Use the same palette. For example, stick to the same few filters for all of your photos, Posts Tagged: Bonus. Also, don’t forget to include your URL or logo on your photos.

What Hashtags Should You Use And How Many?

You can use your own branded hashtags or popular hashtags on Instagram. Remember you are choosing hashtags based on the conversations you want your posts to appear in.

The most popular hashtags may not always be the best choice because it will lessen your discoverability. If everyone is using the same tags, Posts Tagged: Bonus, your content might get lost among the masses!

There isn’t a magic number for hashtags. Always keep testing! More hashtags does not mean more engagement. 33.3% of posts don’t contain any hashtags. If you are going to use them, around 5 max per post is generally considered ideal. (Instagram Report 2018 by Mention)

Pro tip: Search for people who are using your branded hashtags to find UGC if they haven’t tagged you. You can also use this to find Influencers to collaborate with!

What Posts Tagged: Bonus Some Of The Benefits Of A Business Profile?

Primarily, you get access to Insights to view your audience and post-performance data. You also get access to Instagram Ads, which you can manage in Facebook Business Manager.

Plus, Posts Tagged: Bonus, if you have a Facebook Shop page or a product catalog in Business Manager, you can also get access to Instagram Shopping.

What Do I Need To Get Started With Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping is a way for businesses to tag products and create a storefront. Customers can easily Posts Tagged: Bonus products in posts, casino tattoo within the Instagram app. When it comes to selling your book, Posts Tagged: Bonus, the more options for buying, the better right?

To get started with Instagram Shopping, Posts Tagged: Bonus, your business profile must first be approved by Instagram, Posts Tagged: Bonus. Your business profile must also be connected to a Facebook Shop page. You can manage the Shop page through Facebook Business Manager, your Facebook Page, or through Shopify®.

Can My Shopify® Store Integrate With Instagram Shopping?

If you don’t know already, Lulu has an eCommerce solution that integrates directly with your Shopify® store! Using the Lulu Direct app, you can sell your print-on-demand book simply and easily on Instagram too.

Shopify® and Instagram partnered up to make it easier for users to shop. Shopify® allows users to checkout directly through Shopify® all within Instagram, Posts Tagged: Bonus. Originally Instagram created a beta program with 30K Shopify® businesses. You can enter your email to get started here: https://www.shopify.com/instagram.

Learn more about Instagram and Shopify®: https://www.shopify.com/blog/shopping-on-instagram

What Are Some Of The Latest Instagram Features?

IGTV is a new platform that allows long-form videos, Posts Tagged: Bonus. Videos can be published up to 60 minutes long, and they are displayed vertically. IGTV is a new way to get eyes on your content. Check it out if you’re sick of YouTube or want to publish videos longer than 1 minute!

Story Highlights on your profile allows you to create albums of saved Stories. Use Highlights to feature different products, events, or anything else you’re passionate about to expand upon your bio.

Pro tip: Customize the Highlight cover image of each album to match your brand colors. Use Canva to create the cover images.
Pro tip: If you plan to have more than 4 Highlight albums, make sure that the most important information is in the first four albums displayed (last 4 albums created).

WHAT’S HOT – The Latest Instagram Trends

Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is a fairly easy and budget-friendly (depending on who you’re working with) way to get the word out about your brand and products. Plus, people tend to trust social media Influencers and their recommendations over brand advertising because they are seen as trustworthy and relatable.

It isn’t about finding the Influencer with the largest audience but finding Influencers who hit your target audience and who potentially have fewer followers, but a closer relationship with them. These are the micro-Influencers.

• Pro tip: Choose Influencers with high engagement rates.
• Pro tip: Be transparent about your relationship with an Influencers. Include #ad in your Influencer’s posts.
• Pro tip: Use video to engage with Influencers. Interview them or have them do a take Posts Tagged: Bonus to build interest among their audience.

Video & Stories: Videos have the highest engagement rate of any media type currently on Instagram. Just be aware that videos posts do have a limit of 60 seconds. So your videos will have to be quick, concise, and engaging.

300,000,000 people Posts Tagged: Bonus Instagram Stories every day. The Story feature displays content in the form of photos or videos that only last for 24 hours.
Stories and videos have a few important benefits for you and your brand, Posts Tagged: Bonus. As Instagram grows, the algorithms make feed posts harder to see and find, Stories are a good alternative to get in front of your Posts Tagged: Bonus off the Press: A day after this blog went live we learned about a brand new feature Instagram added! Thanks to deals forged with a range of popular musicians, Instagram stories can now incorporate soundtracks.

With over 1 billion active users worldwide and 400 million using Stories a day, the right sound can be crucial in making your Story stand out. Learn more about Story Soundtracks from Social Media Day creators Mashable!

A few important things to note about Stories:

1. Stories can now be seen by people who don’t follow you.
2. You can now add hashtags to stories.
3. Shopping in stories is only available to select businesses at this time but will be expanding in the future.
4. Stories disappear after 24 hours.

• Pro tip: Use polls in Stories to get instant feedback from your audience.
• Pro tip: Download and save your Stories before they vanish and reuse the content on other platforms.

TOOLS TO HELP YOU KICK ASS AT INSTAGRAM

Posting (planning, scheduling & metrics):

Images (creation & editing):

Videos (creation & editing):

And that’s a wrap on our Social Media Day rundown featuring Instagram and Lulu’s own Social Media Manager. Everyone remember to celebrate this weekend!
And of course, Posts Tagged: Bonus, stay social! If you liked this post, share it! Tag @luludotcom and use #SMDay on your favorite social channel!

Share This Post!

• 

Now that you know how to give recognition, let's look at some ways that you can make your recognition even more special! This article will show you how to:

When you first log in to Bonusly, you are greeted 👋🏼 with a sample text that is automatically generated as an example of how to give a recognition.

The sample text will disappear the moment you begin typing and clicking to add components to your recognition post! 👍🏼

Give an entire team recognition:

Your team really rocked a presentation and you want to recognize everyone on the team. Giving recognition to a specific group, department, or location is super easy!

First, click the multi user icon:

A dropdown will appear with the group names. Select the team you would like to give the recognition to:

*If you don't see the group you'd like to give to, start typing the group's name and it will appear.

Then, the usernames of everyone in that group will populate in your give field: 

Tag someone in a recognition:

Your teammate did something awesome and you want to make sure their boss sees the recognition you send. You can tag your teammate's boss to send them a notification of the recognition. When you tag a person, it does not give that person points. 

To tag someone in your recognition just click the tag icon: 

*The '&' symbol means a user is tagged and will not be recognized with points. You can type “&” in the recognition field as a shortcut to start a tag.

The posted recognition will have both names highlighted, but only Abby received the recognition:

Add an emoji to your recognition:

Who doesn't love a fun emoji? 😁 🎉 To add an emoji to your recognition, click the "smile" icon.

You'll then be able to pick from the drop-down or start typing the name of the emoji you would like to add to your recognition:

The preview of the recognition post will show the emojis you selected!

Here is what the recognition will look like with the emoji(s):

Add a GIF to your recognition:

Sometime words just aren't enough to express your gratitude. If that's the case, click the "GIF" button on the bottom of the give box: 

A small window will pop up with a text box. To search for the perfect GIF, type the words you would like to convey! For example, I wanted to show my appreciation to Abby and Pep for their hard work:

The GIF will now appear in the recognition box.

When you actually give the recognition, the GIF image will show on the timeline, and be animated: 

Bonus GIF Tip:

Try using one of our many work-relevant GIFs made by Bonusly! Communicate your thanks, appreciation, and recognition towards your peers in the best way. The GIFs are uploaded onto Tenor, so they can easily be used in the Bonusly app.

After clicking on the GIF button, type “Bonusly” into the search box. Scroll through to find the right GIF to communicate your recognition to someone.

Add an image to your recognition:

Want to add a picture to enhance your recognition? Images can be great to show off the hard work your colleagues are doing to the entire team. 

You can attach an image three different ways:

1. Drag and drop the image into the recognition field.

2. Copy and paste the image into the recognition field. 

3. Manually find and add the image, by clicking the "upload an image" button:

-Select the image from your computer you would like to add:

We'll add your image to your recognition message as text:

After you click the 'Give' button, the feed will show the recognition with the picture you've selected! 🎉 

Add a hyperlink to your recognition:

Adding a hyperlink to your recognition is an easy way to refer back to the reason of why you are giving recognition, so the rest of the team can see the excellent work that inspired the recognition.

 First you will want to highlight the words you would like to add the hyperlink to. 

Next select the hyperlink icon. This puts the word(s) you want to hyperlinked into [brackets], and generates a field that looks like this: (url)!

Paste the link inside of the (parenthesis).

Once you recognize your teammate, the link will disappear and the words you highlighted will show as hyperlinked in the recognition. If you click on the hyperlinked words, it will take you to the linked page! 🎉 

*Pro-pro-tip: you can also use the cmd+k shortcut to add a hyperlink

Now you can go beyond just words and have fun with your recognition! 🎉 If you want to learn more about how to write an inspiring recognition, take a look at our article about how to give great recognition. 

Having trouble adding an image? A link? Anything else? Send us an email at support@bonus.ly and we'll be glad to help you out!

Social Media Day (#SMDay) is almost upon us! Saturday will mark the 9th Social Media Day since Mashable started the tradition in 2010. So what is Social Media Day? Well, since Mashable created the day, I’ll let them define it for us.

Mashable launched Social Media Day as a way to recognize and celebrate social media’s impact on global communication. Today, social media is the heart of global communication; and since its inception, Mashable’s been using social media to connect between cultures, movements, and super-fandom.

#SMDay

No one can deny social media’s impact on how we communicate. Though not even a generation old, social media has already massively shifted our dialog, introduced us to new and interesting people from around the world, and opened the door to global marketing in ways previously unimaginable.

From instant messaging (anyone remember AIM?) to Myspace, to the overwhelming dominance of Facebook and Twitter, social media has evolved a great deal in a relatively short time. It’s connected us as never before and fostered a culture of connectivity and sharing.

Today, we’re going to focus on the good social media does for our culture by looking at one of the up-and-coming social media platforms: Instagram!

Gettin’ to know THE ‘GRAM

Why Is Instagram Important And How Should I Use It?

Instagram is different than any other social media platform, telling strictly visual stories. It’s best used to show off who you are, the face(s) behind your brand, company culture, & products!

Instagram is also one of the fastest-growing platforms. From September 2017 to June 2018, their monthly active users grew by more than 25% to 1 billion. For comparison, Twitter is sitting at 336 million and Facebook had 2.19 billion monthly active users in the first quarter of this year. (Statista)

If you haven’t started using Instagram, make sure it’s right for you, your brand, and your audience before diving in. It’s important to remember – you don’t have to be on every single social platform. With anything, do your research, figure out your goals for this specific platform, and define your success metrics. Additionally, understand your audience on this platform, listen to them, and then get started creating content and publishing!

Instagram makes it extremely easy to engage with your audience. Not only can you ‘like’ and comment, but you can now follow relevant hashtags – so find your audience and connect with them!

As a bonus, Instagram is full of user-generated content (UGC), meaning you don’t have to stress about creating something new every day. By following relevant hashtags, you can easily identify quality UGC and simply repost.

Pro tip: Create a UGC hashtag that people can use for their chance to be featured on your account. When reposting UGC, only post high-quality photos and make sure to tag the Instagrammer.

How Often Should You Post On Instagram And What Types Of Content Should You Post?

As we always say, start slow. Choose a few days per week and post once a day. You don’t have to post every single day right away. Choose the days based on what works best for your schedule and when your audience is most active on Instagram. Consistency is key.

Here are three things to keep in mind as you’re starting to develop your Instagram platform:

• Mondays and Thursdays are the best days to post and 11am-1pm or 7-9pm are the best times to post. (Instagram Report 2018 by Mention)
• Test out different types of posts. Instagram offers a plethora of options – photos, videos, boomerangs, carousel posts, you name it!
• Each piece of content you post on Instagram should be high-resolution and visually appealing. But don’t worry, you won’t need a DSLR and a graphic design background to make your feed pop. Your iPhone and an image editing app will do the trick!

Pro tip: Keep your style consistent with your brand. Use the same palette. For example, stick to the same few filters for all of your photos. Also, don’t forget to include your URL or logo on your photos.

What Hashtags Should You Use And How Many?

You can use your own branded hashtags or popular hashtags on Instagram. Remember you are choosing hashtags based on the conversations you want your posts to appear in.

The most popular hashtags may not always be the best choice because it will lessen your discoverability. If everyone is using the same tags, your content might get lost among the masses!

There isn’t a magic number for hashtags. Always keep testing! More hashtags does not mean more engagement. 33.3% of posts don’t contain any hashtags. If you are going to use them, around 5 max per post is generally considered ideal. (Instagram Report 2018 by Mention)

Pro tip: Search for people who are using your branded hashtags to find UGC if they haven’t tagged you. You can also use this to find Influencers to collaborate with!

What Are Some Of The Benefits Of A Business Profile?

Primarily, you get access to Insights to view your audience and post-performance data. You also get access to Instagram Ads, which you can manage in Facebook Business Manager.

Plus, if you have a Facebook Shop page or a product catalog in Business Manager, you can also get access to Instagram Shopping.

What Do I Need To Get Started With Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping is a way for businesses to tag products and create a storefront. Customers can easily shop products in posts, all within the Instagram app. When it comes to selling your book, the more options for buying, the better right?

To get started with Instagram Shopping, your business profile must first be approved by Instagram. Your business profile must also be connected to a Facebook Shop page. You can manage the Shop page through Facebook Business Manager, your Facebook Page, or through Shopify®.

Can My Shopify® Store Integrate With Instagram Shopping?

If you don’t know already, Lulu has an eCommerce solution that integrates directly with your Shopify® store! Using the Lulu Direct app, you can sell your print-on-demand book simply and easily on Instagram too.

Shopify® and Instagram partnered up to make it easier for users to shop. Shopify® allows users to checkout directly through Shopify® all within Instagram. Originally Instagram created a beta program with 30K Shopify® businesses. You can enter your email to get started here: https://www.shopify.com/instagram.

Learn more about Instagram and Shopify®: https://www.shopify.com/blog/shopping-on-instagram

What Are Some Of The Latest Instagram Features?

IGTV is a new platform that allows long-form videos. Videos can be published up to 60 minutes long, and they are displayed vertically. IGTV is a new way to get eyes on your content. Check it out if you’re sick of YouTube or want to publish videos longer than 1 minute!

Story Highlights on your profile allows you to create albums of saved Stories. Use Highlights to feature different products, events, or anything else you’re passionate about to expand upon your bio.

Pro tip: Customize the Highlight cover image of each album to match your brand colors. Use Canva to create the cover images.
Pro tip: If you plan to have more than 4 Highlight albums, make sure that the most important information is in the first four albums displayed (last 4 albums created).

WHAT’S HOT – The Latest Instagram Trends

Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is a fairly easy and budget-friendly (depending on who you’re working with) way to get the word out about your brand and products. Plus, people tend to trust social media Influencers and their recommendations over brand advertising because they are seen as trustworthy and relatable.

It isn’t about finding the Influencer with the largest audience but finding Influencers who hit your target audience and who potentially have fewer followers, but a closer relationship with them. These are the micro-Influencers.

• Pro tip: Choose Influencers with high engagement rates.
• Pro tip: Be transparent about your relationship with an Influencers. Include #ad in your Influencer’s posts.
• Pro tip: Use video to engage with Influencers. Interview them or have them do a take over to build interest among their audience.

Video & Stories: Videos have the highest engagement rate of any media type currently on Instagram. Just be aware that videos posts do have a limit of 60 seconds. So your videos will have to be quick, concise, and engaging.

300,000,000 people use Instagram Stories every day. The Story feature displays content in the form of photos or videos that only last for 24 hours.
Stories and videos have a few important benefits for you and your brand. As Instagram grows, the algorithms make feed posts harder to see and find, Stories are a good alternative to get in front of your audience.

Hot off the Press: A day after this blog went live we learned about a brand new feature Instagram added! Thanks to deals forged with a range of popular musicians, Instagram stories can now incorporate soundtracks.

With over 1 billion active users worldwide and 400 million using Stories a day, the right sound can be crucial in making your Story stand out. Learn more about Story Soundtracks from Social Media Day creators Mashable!

A few important things to note about Stories:

1. Stories can now be seen by people who don’t follow you.
2. You can now add hashtags to stories.
3. Shopping in stories is only available to select businesses at this time but will be expanding in the future.
4. Stories disappear after 24 hours.

• Pro tip: Use polls in Stories to get instant feedback from your audience.
• Pro tip: Download and save your Stories before they vanish and reuse the content on other platforms.

TOOLS TO HELP YOU KICK ASS AT INSTAGRAM

Posting (planning, scheduling & metrics):

Images (creation & editing):

Videos (creation & editing):

And that’s a wrap on our Social Media Day rundown featuring Instagram and Lulu’s own Social Media Manager. Everyone remember to celebrate this weekend!
And of course, stay social! If you liked this post, share it! Tag @luludotcom and use #SMDay on your favorite social channel!

Now that you know how to give recognition, let's look at some ways that you can make your recognition even more special! This article will show you how to:

When you first log in to Bonusly, you are greeted 👋🏼 with a sample text that is automatically generated as an example of how to give a recognition.

The sample text will disappear the moment you begin typing and clicking to add components to your recognition post! 👍🏼

Give an entire team recognition:

Your team really rocked a presentation and you want to recognize everyone on the team. Giving recognition to a specific group, department, or location is super easy!

First, click the multi user icon:

A dropdown will appear with the group names. Select the team you would like to give the recognition to:

*If you don't see the group you'd like to give to, start typing the group's name and it will appear.

Then, the usernames of everyone in that group will populate in your give field: 

Tag someone in a recognition:

Your teammate did something awesome and you want to make sure their boss sees the recognition you send. You can tag your teammate's boss to send them a notification of the recognition. When you tag a person, it does not give that person points. 

To tag someone in your recognition just click the tag icon: 

*The '&' symbol means a user is tagged and will not be recognized with points. You can type “&” in the recognition field as a shortcut to start a tag.

The posted recognition will have both names highlighted, but only Abby received the recognition:

Add an emoji to your recognition:

Who doesn't love a fun emoji? 😁 🎉 To add an emoji to your recognition, click the "smile" icon.

You'll then be able to pick from the drop-down or start typing the name of the emoji you would like to add to your recognition:

The preview of the recognition post will show the emojis you selected!

Here is what the recognition will look like with the emoji(s):

Add a GIF to your recognition:

Sometime words just aren't enough to express your gratitude. If that's the case, click the "GIF" button on the bottom of the give box: 

A small window will pop up with a text box. To search for the perfect GIF, type the words you would like to convey! For example, I wanted to show my appreciation to Abby and Pep for their hard work:

The GIF will now appear in the recognition box.

When you actually give the recognition, the GIF image will show on the timeline, and be animated: 

Bonus GIF Tip:

Try using one of our many work-relevant GIFs made by Bonusly! Communicate your thanks, appreciation, and recognition towards your peers in the best way. The GIFs are uploaded onto Tenor, so they can easily be used in the Bonusly app.

After clicking on the GIF button, type “Bonusly” into the search box. Scroll through to find the right GIF to communicate your recognition to someone.

Add an image to your recognition:

Want to add a picture to enhance your recognition? Images can be great to show off the hard work your colleagues are doing to the entire team. 

You can attach an image three different ways:

1. Drag and drop the image into the recognition field.

2. Copy and paste the image into the recognition field. 

3. Manually find and add the image, by clicking the "upload an image" button:

-Select the image from your computer you would like to add:

We'll add your image to your recognition message as text:

After you click the 'Give' button, the feed will show the recognition with the picture you've selected! 🎉 

Add a hyperlink to your recognition:

Adding a hyperlink to your recognition is an easy way to refer back to the reason of why you are giving recognition, so the rest of the team can see the excellent work that inspired the recognition.

 First you will want to highlight the words you would like to add the hyperlink to. 

Next select the hyperlink icon. This puts the word(s) you want to hyperlinked into [brackets], and generates a field that looks like this: (url)!

Paste the link inside of the (parenthesis).

Once you recognize your teammate, the link will disappear and the words you highlighted will show as hyperlinked in the recognition. If you click on the hyperlinked words, it will take you to the linked page! 🎉 

*Pro-pro-tip: you can also use the cmd+k shortcut to add a hyperlink

Now you can go beyond just words and have fun with your recognition! 🎉 If you want to learn more about how to write an inspiring recognition, take a look at our article about how to give great recognition. 

Having trouble adding an image? A link? Anything else? Send us an email at support@bonus.ly and we'll be glad to help you out!

Social Media Day (#SMDay) is almost upon us! Saturday will mark the 9th Social Media Day since Mashable started the tradition in 2010. So what is Social Media Day? Well, since Mashable created the day, I’ll let them define it for us.

Mashable launched Social Media Day as a way to recognize and celebrate social media’s impact on global communication. Today, social media is the heart of global communication; and since its inception, Mashable’s been using social media to connect between cultures, movements, and super-fandom.

#SMDay

No one can deny social media’s impact on how we communicate. Though not even a generation old, social media has already massively shifted our dialog, introduced us to new and interesting people from around the world, and opened the door to global marketing in ways previously unimaginable.

From instant messaging (anyone remember AIM?) to Myspace, to the overwhelming dominance of Facebook and Twitter, social media has evolved a great deal in a relatively short time. It’s connected us as never before and fostered a culture of connectivity and sharing.

Today, we’re going to focus on the good social media does for our culture by looking at one of the up-and-coming social media platforms: Instagram!

Gettin’ to know THE ‘GRAM

Why Is Instagram Important And How Should I Use It?

Instagram is different than any other social media platform, telling strictly visual stories. It’s best used to show off who you are, the face(s) behind your brand, company culture, & products!

Instagram is also one of the fastest-growing platforms. From September 2017 to June 2018, their monthly active users grew by more than 25% to 1 billion. For comparison, Twitter is sitting at 336 million and Facebook had 2.19 billion monthly active users in the first quarter of this year. (Statista)

If you haven’t started using Instagram, make sure it’s right for you, your brand, and your audience before diving in. It’s important to remember – you don’t have to be on every single social platform. With anything, do your research, figure out your goals for this specific platform, and define your success metrics. Additionally, understand your audience on this platform, listen to them, and then get started creating content and publishing!

Instagram makes it extremely easy to engage with your audience. Not only can you ‘like’ and comment, but you can now follow relevant hashtags – so find your audience and connect with them!

As a bonus, Instagram is full of user-generated content (UGC), meaning you don’t have to stress about creating something new every day. By following relevant hashtags, you can easily identify quality UGC and simply repost.

Pro tip: Create a UGC hashtag that people can use for their chance to be featured on your account. When reposting UGC, only post high-quality photos and make sure to tag the Instagrammer.

How Often Should You Post On Instagram And What Types Of Content Should You Post?

As we always say, start slow. Choose a few days per week and post once a day. You don’t have to post every single day right away. Choose the days based on what works best for your schedule and when your audience is most active on Instagram. Consistency is key.

Here are three things to keep in mind as you’re starting to develop your Instagram platform:

• Mondays and Thursdays are the best days to post and 11am-1pm or 7-9pm are the best times to post. (Instagram Report 2018 by Mention)
• Test out different types of posts. Instagram offers a plethora of options – photos, videos, boomerangs, carousel posts, you name it!
• Each piece of content you post on Instagram should be high-resolution and visually appealing. But don’t worry, you won’t need a DSLR and a graphic design background to make your feed pop. Your iPhone and an image editing app will do the trick!

Pro tip: Keep your style consistent with your brand. Use the same palette. For example, stick to the same few filters for all of your photos. Also, don’t forget to include your URL or logo on your photos.

What Hashtags Should You Use And How Many?

You can use your own branded hashtags or popular hashtags on Instagram. Remember you are choosing hashtags based on the conversations you want your posts to appear in.

The most popular hashtags may not always be the best choice because it will lessen your discoverability. If everyone is using the same tags, your content might get lost among the masses!

There isn’t a magic number for hashtags. Always keep testing! More hashtags does not mean more engagement. 33.3% of posts don’t contain any hashtags. If you are going to use them, around 5 max per post is generally considered ideal. (Instagram Report 2018 by Mention)

Pro tip: Search for people who are using your branded hashtags to find UGC if they haven’t tagged you. You can also use this to find Influencers to collaborate with!

What Are Some Of The Benefits Of A Business Profile?

Primarily, you get access to Insights to view your audience and post-performance data. You also get access to Instagram Ads, which you can manage in Facebook Business Manager.

Plus, if you have a Facebook Shop page or a product catalog in Business Manager, you can also get access to Instagram Shopping.

What Do I Need To Get Started With Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping is a way for businesses to tag products and create a storefront. Customers can easily shop products in posts, all within the Instagram app. When it comes to selling your book, the more options for buying, the better right?

To get started with Instagram Shopping, your business profile must first be approved by Instagram. Your business profile must also be connected to a Facebook Shop page. You can manage the Shop page through Facebook Business Manager, your Facebook Page, or through Shopify®.

Can My Shopify® Store Integrate With Instagram Shopping?

If you don’t know already, Lulu has an eCommerce solution that integrates directly with your Shopify® store! Using the Lulu Direct app, you can sell your print-on-demand book simply and easily on Instagram too.

Shopify® and Instagram partnered up to make it easier for users to shop. Shopify® allows users to checkout directly through Shopify® all within Instagram. Originally Instagram created a beta program with 30K Shopify® businesses. You can enter your email to get started here: https://www.shopify.com/instagram.

Learn more about Instagram and Shopify®: https://www.shopify.com/blog/shopping-on-instagram

What Are Some Of The Latest Instagram Features?

IGTV is a new platform that allows long-form videos. Videos can be published up to 60 minutes long, and they are displayed vertically. IGTV is a new way to get eyes on your content. Check it out if you’re sick of YouTube or want to publish videos longer than 1 minute!

Story Highlights on your profile allows you to create albums of saved Stories. Use Highlights to feature different products, events, or anything else you’re passionate about to expand upon your bio.

Pro tip: Customize the Highlight cover image of each album to match your brand colors. Use Canva to create the cover images.
Pro tip: If you plan to have more than 4 Highlight albums, make sure that the most important information is in the first four albums displayed (last 4 albums created).

WHAT’S HOT – The Latest Instagram Trends

Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is a fairly easy and budget-friendly (depending on who you’re working with) way to get the word out about your brand and products. Plus, people tend to trust social media Influencers and their recommendations over brand advertising because they are seen as trustworthy and relatable.

It isn’t about finding the Influencer with the largest audience but finding Influencers who hit your target audience and who potentially have fewer followers, but a closer relationship with them. These are the micro-Influencers.

• Pro tip: Choose Influencers with high engagement rates.
• Pro tip: Be transparent about your relationship with an Influencers. Include #ad in your Influencer’s posts.
• Pro tip: Use video to engage with Influencers. Interview them or have them do a take over to build interest among their audience.

Video & Stories: Videos have the highest engagement rate of any media type currently on Instagram. Just be aware that videos posts do have a limit of 60 seconds. So your videos will have to be quick, concise, and engaging.

300,000,000 people use Instagram Stories every day. The Story feature displays content in the form of photos or videos that only last for 24 hours.
Stories and videos have a few important benefits for you and your brand. As Instagram grows, the algorithms make feed posts harder to see and find, Stories are a good alternative to get in front of your audience.

Hot off the Press: A day after this blog went live we learned about a brand new feature Instagram added! Thanks to deals forged with a range of popular musicians, Instagram stories can now incorporate soundtracks.

With over 1 billion active users worldwide and 400 million using Stories a day, the right sound can be crucial in making your Story stand out. Learn more about Story Soundtracks from Social Media Day creators Mashable!

A few important things to note about Stories:

1. Stories can now be seen by people who don’t follow you.
2. You can now add hashtags to stories.
3. Shopping in stories is only available to select businesses at this time but will be expanding in the future.
4. Stories disappear after 24 hours.

• Pro tip: Use polls in Stories to get instant feedback from your audience.
• Pro tip: Download and save your Stories before they vanish and reuse the content on other platforms.

TOOLS TO HELP YOU KICK ASS AT INSTAGRAM

Posting (planning, scheduling & metrics):

Images (creation & editing):

Videos (creation & editing):

And that’s a wrap on our Social Media Day rundown featuring Instagram and Lulu’s own Social Media Manager. Everyone remember to celebrate this weekend!
And of course, stay social! If you liked this post, share it! Tag @luludotcom and use #SMDay on your favorite social channel!