social business

attract fans / shutterstock

Facebook is a beast. Small business owners who attempt to tackle the beast have the best intentions in mind, but the beast inevitably wins and the small business owner gets lazy. If this sounds familiar, we’ve got your cure to improving Facebook engagement by truly understanding your audience.[read more]

Twitter & advertisers

Last week, Twitter announced their ads could target keywords of Tweets, or Tweets that users engage with, allowing Twitter to compete with Google and Facebook ads. Twitter strived to make the new self-serve interface as user friendly as possible allowing just about anyone to navigate easily.[read more]

digital engagement / Shutterstock

Whether a customer stands on the stage of awareness, consideration, purchase, or post purchase, touch points open and close. And it is in those moments that engagement, regardless of source or shape, affects the next steps and impressions of customers.[read more]

Facebook strategy

You may have tens of thousands of ‘likes’ on your Facebook page and therefore think you’ve achieved success because of those numbers. Well, think again! Unless you actually work for Facebook, then you need to stop having your social media marketing plan entirely focused here.[read more]

social data / shutterstock

With social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook on a meteoric rise, companies are beginning to incorporate data collected from these social sites and their users into many aspects of their business from marketing to internal Human Resources issues – and with good reason.[read more]

Pinterest linking

One of the lucky things for those who are looking for how to link build is that we have access to great niche communities like Pinterest for free. There’s no need to buy a list or pay a fee to sign up; you just sign in and go. Here are some ways to find links and build relationships using Pinterest.[read more]

hashtag marketing campaigns

A brand is not built based around logo or advertising or taglines, but rather by what OTHER people say about your product or services, and featuring that content directly on your website is a great way to reinforce your brand message. Check out these 6 effective hashtag marketing campaigns.[read more]

customer relationship management / shutterstock

Customer retention is a critical issue. It seems the two strategies for most companies center around “Keep them from leaving,” or “Let’s make them want to stay.” They sound the same, but they are really quite different – and produce very different outcomes. Which strategy do you use?[read more]

Content marketing tools: organization

Corporate spend on content marketing continues to grow, so content marketing directors need a scaleable solution for keeping their editorial calendars in check, providing up-to-date insights on progress to senior management, and centralized document storage.[read more]

Blogging with Google-friendly content

Even though social media is often in the spotlight, business blogging is still vital to your marketing success. Some companies have lost focus on original content creation, thinking that social media is all that matters. But original, high-impact content still needs to be the lure for your audience.[read more]

social media plan: birgerking/Flickr

If you can carve out some time to stop, reflect and strategize on your current marketing ideas, then there are some ways you can quickly cut the fat, save some money, and still get better results in the long run. Here are three easy ways to save money -- and still thrive -- in social media.[read more]

Facebook's got a bigger plan.

Regardless of what emotion (or emoticon ;-) ) the new Facebook emoticons register with each user, it is important to see that there is a greater design at work here: a first step to a reimagined Status Update aiming to capture more consumer habits and preferences with better frequency.[read more]

advanced social intelligence / shutterstock

As social media grows, so does the valuable intelligence it delivers to businesses smart enough to take advantage. Never before has understanding the intricacies of a market, consumer or competitor been so accessible with a flood of data from social networks and open-source channels.[read more]

brand reputation / shutterstock

It’s no secret that social media can break a brand’s reputation in a single Tweet or Facebook post. How can YOU make sure you either avoid this or take control of the situation straight away? You need to use a tool that allows you to monitor your business's mentions on Social Media.[read more]

create content: tips and tools

By spending time to find, filter and enhance content – which is shared across social media – you’re building interest and value in your brand. But what is the value for your business? Content curation gives your visitors reasons to re-visit, refer and interact.[read more]

Jon Ferrara, CEO of Nimble

Check out this video to what I call "Jon Ferrara's Gospel" from the Social River. Jon does an awesome job of mixing the lessons he's learned over the years creating successful businesses, with great insights into where he sees CRM/Social Selling/Social Business going in the years ahead.[read more]

social media marketing speakers

As this industry matures, I’m starting to really see some separation between the knowledge, experience and insight of social media marketing leaders. I believe they fall into three buckets: practitioners, theorists, and vendors. Here's what you need to know about all three.[read more]

Annette Shaff / Shutterstock.com

Consumers are heading to Twitter with customer service issues, and when they do, 32% expect a response within 30 minutes. What are the risks of not being there to respond, and how can a brand set-up an effective response strategy on the micro-blogging channel?[read more]

LinkedIn best practices

Last week, LinkedIn introduced the mention feature, allowing the social media giant to become a bit more social. But for the professionals looking to take advantage of this feature, I would highly recommend exercising caution -- because there doesn't appear to be an actual benefit for the user.[read more]

B2B home run / shutterstock

Why do some videos steadily attract viewers while others can’t catch on? Based on my experience, I point to three keys to creating successful videos: creating good content, having a cohesive video plan, and telling a quick yet memorable story that represents your brand well.[read more]