Twitter users use acronyms or abbreviations in their tweets. For those of us who are not avid Twitter users, may not know what they mean. Some of the abbreviations and acronyms may be common on all social media sites, but others are unique to Twitter. Here’s a list of terms you may see in tweets..
In a recent study by Custora, which measured the purchasing habits of 72 million online shoppers, it was discovered that customers who find an online retailer via organic search spent more money and shopped more frequently than customers who originate from other channels, such as Twitter or Facebook. In fact, in 2013, less than one..
Having your content or post go viral on social media means that it’s exploding in popularity and getting passed around by people on various sites. Typical viral posts include a great meme, a funny video clip, or a facepalm-worthy story. Here are some tips for creating a viral post:
Adding useful real-world elements to your brand messaging will connect your customers to your brand. Reality marketing is customer-generated content that delights your customers. In order to be real, you need to add elements of storytelling to your online marketing. This is part of humanizing your brand – appealing to your customers emotions. Following are..
Karen Leland, author of Ultimate Guide to Pinterest for Business, gives advice to help you drive website traffic, build your brand, and increase business on the Pinterest platform. To optimize your appearance in search and attract more traffic, give each pin a perfect description and include relevant keywords. You can be deliberate with what you..
If you’ve heard it once over the last couple of years, you’ve heard it a million times – if you’re marketing strategy doesn’t include social media marketing, it’s time to add it. Even though the majority of people in the US still use traditional search engines to find anything they’re looking for online, users, especially..
It doesn’t matter what type of business your company is, every company has to have the right online presence to bring more customers to its organization. If you’re a company that still has only a website and a Facebook page, keep in mind that there’s a lot more to maintaining a successful online marketing presence. ..
Social Media Marketing strategies continue to evolve and marketing professionals are constantly having to change their methods. In addition, Google’s algorithm continues to be updated. So it’s important to improve your content marketing strategy continuously. Stay focused on producing high-quality content that works to engage your audience. This way you will remain relevant in your..
Using hashtags on #Google+ is different than using them on Twitter. Unlike clicking on a Twitter hashtag that takes you to a different hashtag-specific stream, when you click on a Google+ hashtag it will take you to other similar hashtag posts in the stream. Google+ will also show you related hashtags. You can also search..
In a recent article on Yahoo, a social media expert gives advice on “How to Quench Your Social Media Thirst in 60 Minutes a Day.” I know you’ve heard this before and it may get old, but Social Media is an important aspect of any business. If you’re not on it yet, now’s the time..
Do you remember when teens left MySpace to join Facebook? Shortly after, adults also joined Facebook. Even though adults didn’t really join MySpace, they joined Facebook by the hundreds of millions. This resulted in the Facebook platform not being as popular for teens. So what social media platforms are teens joining now, and what can..
Utilize your employees in your social media marketing strategy. Don’t let your Facebook posts go unnoticed and unshared. Ask your employees to help share your content. Employee social sharing can be done with automated features that are triggered by each post or blog publishing. The value of employee social sharing isn’t only about the likes..
Facebook’s popular photo-sharing app ,Instagram will now have video. Facebook is trying to stay competitive, since Twitter’s video-sharing app, Vine is growing. On Thursday, Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s co-founder said users will now be able to record and share 15-second clips. All they have to do is tap the video icon in the app. Users will..
Facebook recently announced that it’s launching the ability for users to follow conversations via #hashtags. Even though people were using hashtags before, there was no real functional value. According to Facebook’s blog post, the company confirmed that it’s not a new idea and stated that it will be “similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter,..
A new study published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EUI) and sponsored by Lyris, found some noteworthy information about purchasing decisions and preferred marketing channels. Here’s what consumers had to say:
Recently, Christopher Litster, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Constant Contact shared the top 10 reasons that people don’t like your Facebook status updates. Here is the advice that he gave: Questions that are too broad or personal According to a recent Inc. article, Twitter messages with a question mark had 52 percent..
Consumers are now using social media and emails to voice their concerns. In addition to getting promotions/free gifts, one of the major reasons people like a brand’s Facebook page is so they can voice their complaints online. Using an online forum to deal with customer service is a fast and easy way for otherwise shy..
Building your business’ brand isn’t easy. From the moment you begin thinking about starting your business, you have to consider how you want it to be perceived, who your target audience will be, and how you reach them. Your brand is representative of your products and services. Consumers should be able to learn everything they..
Today, everyone is using smart phones. Do you know how to connect with them using mobile social media marketing techniques? You can use the social media tools that you’re already familiar with to create mobile marketing ideas. LinkedIn Mobile You can connect with customers and prospects with LinkedIn mobile. Use the LinkedIn mobile application to..
Social Media Examiner recently released its annual Social Media Marketing Report. The study reflects that 80 percent of marketers aren’t planning to use daily deal sites in their future campaigns. In this study 3,025 marketers were surveyed. The most significant points determined by this report will be highlighted in this article. There’s been a decrease..
Twitter limits its tweets to 140 characters. However, you should not look at this as an issue. Instead look at it as an opportunity. It may be hard to get your point across within that limit, and getting people to act on your tweets might be even harder, yet if you use the right approach,..
There are user generated groups filled with jokes about rape and domestic violence along with gruesome images of assaulted women on Facebook. This week, Facebook announced that it’s stepping up efforts to eliminate such gender-based hate speech from its site after protesters sent around 60,000 tweets to advertisers making note of these posts. Facebook apologized..
Social Media Today recently interviewed Ted Shelton, a strategy consulting leader at PwC and author of Business Models for the Social Media Cloud to discuss topics that will come up at the Social Shake-Up Conference where Ted will be speaking. When asked to describe why companies should focus on how they use social, mobile, and..
Now that Facebook allows you to include calls-to-action (CTAs) on your cover photos, you can use your cover photo to drive actions and conversions. Following are a few ways to turn your cover photo into a CTA that converts: Promoting a Facebook Page Tab Based on Facebook studies, users on Facebook want to stay on..
Does your website look like a brochure and nothing more? Websites should have coherent site structure or some form of rational organization. Otherwise, site visitors will be lost. Are you thinking about interoperability, interactivity, and social share buttons? PC users have a hard enough time with certain websites, imagine how that affects mobile users. Your..
Pinterest has made a number of changes and upgrades over the last few months. If you use Pinterest daily, a couple of these will make a significant change in your usage. We’ve also put together a few marketing tips for this platform. Sending pins to your friends If you come across something on Pinterest that..
Developers and tech-geeks nationwide attended the annual Google I/O Developer conference in San Francisco for three days this week. This is where Google rolled out the new updates for its Google+ platform. The company added 41 new features. Even though Google+ has 190 million monthly active users, it’s still not as popular as Facebook, Twitter,..
One of the most important questions that brand marketers ask themselves is “How do I sell with social media?” This is a question that is commonly asked and repeated with every marketing campaign. In order to sell your product or service, you have to convert a follower into a customer. Last month, Matthieu Chereau, cofounder..
You need to know which platform will work best for your business in order to have a successful social media marketing campaign. So what social media platform is right for your business? According to the 2012 social media marketing industry report, businesses need to get the answer to this question right. In this report, 85%..
You’ve set up your profiles on social platforms and you started your social marketing campaigns, but you’re not sure how to maximize your social media results. Social media marketing will continue to evolve and trends will change. However, there are a few steps you can take to ensure that your marketing campaigns don’t become outdated. ..
Social media marketing presents a challenge to all businesses. It seems that as soon as you learn how to do one thing it’s evolving into something different. So, what are the most effective social media tactics? This is what every brand looks for in the analytics of their social campaign. Following are seven social media..
Today businesses use social media to enhance their marketing efforts and to meet other objectives such as brand recognition, sales, increasing customer base, improving their customer service and increasing loyalty. However, the majority of companies activate social media campaigns without a clear strategy. According to new research, 72% of businesses don’t have a clear strategy..
Are you ready to jump on the social marketing bandwagon but you’re wondering how to target your market on social platforms? Today we’re going to discuss the Facebook platform and what tools it offers to help you target your market. There are three ways to build your target market on Facebook that will cost you..
To engage your audience on social media platforms, you need to understand how to use each platform. If you don’t know how to engage your audience, you can actually hurt your business. You need to learn how each platform works and how the audience uses each platform. There are books available that can help you..
Have you asked yourself this question; how do I measure social media marketing? Are you concerned with how you learn the metrics to measure your social media campaign? Don’t worry because there are tools available to help you measure the success or failure of a campaign. Social marketers typically launch marketing campaigns and tend to..
BIA/Kelsey a consulting firm in the local media industry, is projecting that US social media advertising will increase from $4.7 billion in 2012 to $11 billion in 2017. This would be an 18.6 percent in the compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The company believes that social media networking companies will continue to improve targeting and..
Google is ready to release the much-anticipated Google Glass, wearable computers that can connect to the Internet using your mobile phone or Wi-Fi, in 2014. With these glasses you can take pictures and HD720P video and use Google services such as Gmail, Google+ and Google Maps. The device uses Google’s Android operating system and is..
#Socialmedia has transformed the way people communicate and live their daily lives. Who would have thought that with the internet becoming available to the public in 1995, it would have evolved to everyone including businesses living their daily lives through social networks? Today social media has such an influence on everything and its platforms contribute..
In 2012, it was revealed that time spent on mobile devices to access Facebook increased 85 percent, LinkedIn 114 percent, Pinterest 4,225 percent, and Twitter 140 percent. That’s an overwhelming increase. With 46 percent of social media users using their smartphone and 16 percent using their tablets, it’s time to focus our marketing on optimizing..
Organizations continue to experiment and learn about new approaches to engaging customers. However, a company can suffer on social media when unflattering posts are shared within platforms. The reality is that even if the company was justified in the post or if a story is false, the only thing that matters to consumers is how..
Social media has proven to be an effective marketing tool for businesses. Having a presence on all the major social media platforms has become essential for any business’ marketing strategy. So how do you manage all these accounts without going crazy? The tools that social media masters use to manage their multiple accounts are: Hootsuite,..
A big shift that’s underway with YouTube’s ranking system is to rank videos based on being watched longer. If videos keep people watching longer, they will be given a higher ranking over those that only get clicks. According to YouTube’s head of content partner marketing, Eric Meyerson, this should motivate contributors to create high-quality content..
Facebook released a mobile device today. According to Facebook, it’s not a phone, but it’s more than an app. It’s similar to a digital skin that you slide your phone into so that it’s covered in Facebook. Android phones will come with Home pre-installed or you can download it from Google Play. Basically, it provides..
The trail you leave behind for others to find on the internet every time you upload a photo, share anything, publish videos, or get tagged on social media platforms is your social media footprint. Companies and people alike are realizing that some of the things they posted or shared in the past are not what..
The power of a hashtag is expected to take off and all businesses should be prepared for this. Facebook recently announced that it would begin supporting hashtags. Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, and other social networks have already been supporting them. Depending on the user some words following a hashtag are written with no spaces and..
Thousands of businesses use Twitter for micro-blogging. Any business, large or small post short and precise updates to Twitter constantly. Most businesses consider Twitter to be a combination of instant messaging and a chat room. It’s somewhat of an open forum, however, businesses have the ability to limit their audience. Regardless, Twitter is a magnificet..
Noreen Hertz a British economist and author used social media conversations to predict who the winner of X-Factor would be. Hertz believes you can predict real-world outcomes using social media sites. She believes that using chatter from social media platforms will become a predominant tool for business forecasting. Hertz told CNN at Names not Numbers..
Up until a few years ago, the words “social media” and “marketing” were never used in the same sentence. Today, marketing is not marketing without social media and networking. Brands attain more recognition and advocacy through social media platforms. Engaging followers and appealing to their personal senses are essential elements to successful social media marketing…
Google announced it will be shutting down Google Reader on July 1, 2013. Google is trying to consolidate its services. In 2011, Google rolled up Reader and Picasa under Google+. Then in 2012, Google shutdown a lot of services. Now, comes the shutdown of Google Reader. Google Search continues to be the leading revenue generator..
Google has been driving local results since 2007. The world’s largest search engine influenced the shift to local internet marketing services. Because Google pioneered SEO, the company has always had the attitude that you either “play the game, or get left behind.” Over the last couple of years, Google has been promoting its local business..
Pinterest’s Web Analytics is a new set of tools that will help brands analyze the effectiveness of their content and social engagement. Cat Lee, Pinterest product manager said, “The goal is really to help websites understand what content is resonating with people on Pinterest.” Businesses and marketers have been trying to figure out how to..
Technology and social media professionals from all over the world attended this year’s South-by-Southwest conference. A collection of experts attended and spoke at the various SXSW sessions. The following insider tips for brand marketers were concluded from the various sessions:
Real-time marketing is a new phrase that came about in the last month. It’s an extension of content marketing. Brands need to adjust to a new 24/7 marketing model, according to social media commentary. A prime example of real-time marketing in action is Oreo’s tweet, “dunk in the dark” in response to the power outage..
Are you ready to take your marketing campaign to the social world? Are you wondering where to start and what type of dashboard you will need? To implement your social media marketing strategy you will need a good dashboard. There are several key factors that need to be considered when shopping for dashboards. You need..
Social Madness is a corporate social media challenge launched by The Business Review and its parent company American City Business Journals. Social madness measures the growth of each participant’s presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. The contest will be based social engagement. The local challenge starts on June 3, 2013. The contest will conclude..
Businesses today need to focus on a more specific media marketing strategy. The internet and social networking platforms have opened the doors for brand recognition and marketing strategies. Following is a sample social media plan that any company can use to put together its marketing strategy:
You need to plan and organize for your social marketing. Once you’ve established your brand and executed your social marketing well, you win the loyalty of social users. Following is a list of brands and the area of social marketing that’s worked for them:
Many of you may be asking….what’s going on in social media marketing? Why is it changing faster than I can keep up? Reality is that we now have to “be fast on our feet and quick with our brains.” This is why link building is now obsolete. As a result of the latest Google updates,..
Although Facebook is simple to use for most everyone, it’s not as simple for marketing. There are a lot of reasons your Facebook page isn’t getting the fast follower response you would like. Now that Graph Search is the new search feature, it’s even more important to use your page to engage your fans. There..
Are you following a brand in social media? Are you enjoying it? If you find you’re enjoying brands that you’re following, their strategy may be one of the following: connecting with one of your passions or interests, entertaining you with their engaging personality, or providing interesting and/or important information to you. As a business or..
The emergence and widespread infiltration of social media has dramatically changed the public relations industry (PR). This isn’t the first time the PR industry has had to evolve its way of doing business. Orlaith Finnegan (author) on Social Media Today remembers a PR director who relished telling his new interns how fax machines were the..
Are you looking for ways to increase leads and traffic on LinkedIn? In December 2012, LinkedIn was visited by 94 million people in the U. S. This was an increase of 40 percent compared to December of 2011, according to Experian Marketing Services. Regardless of whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, you should focus..
Marketing requires excellent content. Creating original content, having time to create it, and finding high-quality content are the top three challenges of content marketing, according to Curata’s B2B Marketing Trends Survey 2012 Report. Content marketing is a major challenge for companies which is why 28 to 33 percent of marketing budgets is dedicated to this.
Do you take the time to consider your online reputation? Not only as an individual, but, do you consider your business’ online reputation? It’s important to think about this before something negative happens. A few keys to managing your reputation lie in social footprints, knowing what others are saying about you, and staying positive online.
Now that you’ve created followers on your social media platforms, you may start facing serious questions from upper management – how do these numbers improve the bottom line? What was the ROI on this marketing platform? Understanding social media market trends and reports will help you answer these types of questions.
Be cautious when accepting friend requests on social media networks. If you take a good look at your friends list, you’ll find that you don’t personally know everyone on that list. Accepting friend requests from criminals is fairly easy to do. In addition, it only takes one friend’s carelessness with who is added as a..
Seven findings from Nielson and McKinsey’s Social Media Report (where consumers were surveyed to learn how they use social networks) are: more time is invested on mobile devices, Pinterest use continues to increase, social networking produces positive sentiments, Twitter impels social television, social care is the new customer care, social ads get mixed feelings, and..
You have a brand and message that you’re distributing through social media. In previous blogs, I’ve discussed how to use Pinterest and Instagram to successfully promote your brand image. Promoting your story or brand image needs to be consistent with other social media platforms when marketing with video on YouTube. In accordance with my previous..
Social Media marketing strategy is crucial to a company’s brand recognition. Businesses need to understand social media marketing and which social media platforms to utilize. Based on recent studies, a business’ brand needs social media marketing. The study conducted in 2012 by Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Ipsos ASI, and Bloomberg determined there is a..
Using Instagram the correct way can lead to brand recognition for businesses. As previously stated in my blog, Marketing Strategy for Social Media, Instagram isn’t a platform for every business. However, if you use it wisely, you can include it in your social media marketing program. The key to post pictures; don’t post text or..
Social media is visible in all advertising. Company websites are including links to social media platforms while TV commercials are including the symbols to social media platforms and hash tags for Twitter. For example, Mercedes uses the hash tag, #youdrive, in their TV commercials.
In continuation of my blog, “Time to Revisit and Refresh Your Marketing Plan,” I would like to add further detail to the marketing strategy for Social Media Blogs. Creating a marketing strategy for your posts on social media sites is equally as important as creating a business plan. A marketing strategy for social media will..
Smartphones are terrific. They keep you connected to friends, can help you find directions when you’re lost, take and post artful photos, and find local restaurant reviews when you’re starving and stranded. But for all the good that comes with your phone, there is also a whole lot of bad—specifically when it comes to identity..
Whether your goal is to own your own business, become a consultant, a speaker or an author, you’ll need to start with a business plan. Even if you launched your business years ago, it’s important to revisit and refresh your plan. In recent years, the economy, technology and consumer habits have changed rapidly and dramatically,..
Today, if you tell someone you’ll be in touch, he or she may not only ask when, but how. Modern technology has dramatically changed the way we communicate, providing multiple ways to stay connected at any time. For small and medium-sized businesses, this means big opportunities to stay competitive, provided that they understand technology trends..
It is imperative for your business to have a website that finds itself at the top of major search sites like Google and Bing. Why? Social media marketing is hot but online search is king. If you’re not showing up at the top, or at least on the first page, you’re missing the opportunity to..
While smartphones can perform a plethora of functions, according to a recent Harris Poll survey, very few smartphone owners are actually taking advantage of the time- and paper-saving potential of their devices. Today’s smartphones can store information to make our lives more efficient – information that can be scanned to make a purchase, or displayed..
Consider for a moment the annoying, interruptive, often obnoxious nature of traditional marketing. Dinnertime phone calls from strangers in noisy call centers. Glossy pictures of the latest fashions worn by models who barely look human. Crowded store shelves with head-spinning arrays of options arranged in no discernible order (“I just need some toothpaste!”). Company websites..
Press releases are an essential public relations tool. Whether using an online press release to create widespread news coverage, or as an internet marketing tactic to gain backlinks and boost SEO or as a combination of both, press release distribution will help boost the reach received with each news release. But how can you extend..
If you’re like millions of other people, you’re checking into at least one social network multiple times a day. The most frequently used networks are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google + but there are many more out there that are used on a frequent basis. Although social networks provide a great way for us to..
Have you ever wondered why you seem to hit it off right away with some people, while with others it’s more like oil and water? A person’s temperament style not only determines his or her energy level, behavioral traits, body language patterns, and buying style, but it also influences compatibility with other people. Yin Yang,..
While the holidays may be the “most wonderful time of the year,” it’s important to keep your brand’s message from getting lost in the excitement and imagery of the season. Here are three ways to make sure your brand’s message stays on point during your holiday marketing campaign:
Social media is the most rapidly changing aspect of communications to begin with. Throw in an IPO (Facebook) and a major overhaul (LinkedIn) and modifications are barreling ahead so fast, even the techies seem unable to keep up.
Nearly everyone thinks that saving money is a good idea. But hunting down deals and finding the best stuff to buy can sometimes feel like a hassle. However, now that mobile technology is here to stay, these days, shoppers can easily find what they are looking for at a great price. The November 2012 issue..
People have changed in dramatic ways over the past five years, and businesses should take that into consideration this holiday season. “As people’s values change, so do their shopping habits. To market effectively, businesses should be aware of how their prospective customers have changed,” says Marsha Friedman, CEO of EMSI Public Relations in Wesley Chapel,..
The smartphone market continues to reach milestones both here and abroad. As of March 2012, over 50 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers now owned a smartphone, according to Nielsen. A new report published by HIS indicates that global smartphone adoption will reach 54 percent by the end of 2013; two years faster than previous..
Replacing bricks and mortar with virtual space is no longer a new concept. It’s a tactic born during the recent downturn because it simply made economic sense. But it’s a strategy today that is gaining favor for a variety of reasons – for instance, in the world of real estate; agents are at their desks..
Mobile malware is becoming a bigger problem every day. Especially now, considering some Americans use their phones more than their computers. Putting a stop to mobile malware isn’t that easy. What is malware? It’s essentially viruses or programs that can wreak havoc on your phone. Malware can cause lags and system errors, and can introduce..
It happens all the time: The hard-working crew at a small business loses customers thanks to the sour grapes of one person. It could be a disgruntled employee, an angry customer or even a competitor, says V. Michael Santoro, coauthor with John S. Rizzo of Niche Dominance: Creating Order out of Your Digital Marketing Chaos…
Employers looking to increase productivity should consider breaking up water-cooler talk or upgrading their software before banning Facebook. In a nationwide survey, 14 percent of knowledge workers cited chatting with co-workers as their biggest waste of time, followed by dealing with computer or software problems (11 percent). Five percent (5%) of respondents cited Facebook, Twitter..
“Why can’t I just keep doing business the old way?” This is a question that I hear so often from business owners who fall in the “boomer” category – those born between 1946 and 1964. The fact is, in certain, important ways, the old ways still work. Really? I know what you’re thinking but let..
Like most businesses, you own/operate a website, or at least you should! Most business owners are familiar with the term search engine optimization but are you also aware of the term “social media optimization”? According to Enterpreneur.com, now we need to add social media optimization to our to-do lists! I know what you’re thinking, “But..
(eM+C)—New communications channels have changed how brands and their customers interact, making it a necessity for businesses to adapt and create stronger digital relationships that extend and strengthen their customer connections. Where and how consumers spend their time online has changed.
Customers have always been fickle, but never before has it been so easy for them to channel discontent into social-media campaigns with potentially disastrous consequences for companies. In The Conference Board Review cover story, “Anger Management,” writer John Buchanan explores how technology has helped spur “a massive power shift,” emboldening consumers to express their outrage…
Why are we talking about social media? Apart from the fact that today’s youth are being referred to as the ‘Facebook generation’ and that 65% of adult Internet users claim to use social media platforms? Social media has altered our interactions within our community and our perceptions of our relationships. It is in our homes,..
According to a new study, “SocialShop,” released by Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide, 42 percent of Americans are using social media to shop – this equates to nearly 95 million social shoppers in the U.S. – and that number continues to rise. In fact, when asked how often social media is used to shop today versus a..
Could 2012 be the year of 5G? According to an article by FT Tech Hub, even though TV’s Ultrabooks and Smartphones grabbed headlines at the Consumer Electronics Show, there was a quieter wireless revolution taking place that have the potential to provide important connectivity benefits for all our devices in 2012.
According to Chelsea Hejny who is a social media writer at ShortStack, creating and managing a Facebook Page for your business or organization is only half the battle. For a Page to have real value, its content needs to be seen and shared. She provides six tips to improve your Facebook Page’s News Feed presence.
Facebook currently has over 750 million active users, and that number continues to grow steadily. According to Compete.com, it is currently the second most popular website in the world (behind Google) in terms of unique visitors, and according to ComScore, the most popular social network overall.
I am always searching online for new gadgets, gizmos, technology and anything and everything to do with social media. Scouring through the blogosphere is one of the things that keeps me up til the wee hours of the morning. On one of my scavenger hunts while researching for the 5th part of our How to..
Here is a list of 5 must-haves that every small business website needs to include. Whether you’re building a website yourself, or have a web designer to do it for you, work through this check list and you won’t go wrong.
This is part four of our five part series – How to Get Found Online What is social media? Media (content that is published) with a social (anyone can add to and share it) component. Social media is like a business networking reception without the constraints of time and space.
