Social media has garnered a great deal of attention for big business. Corporate budgets are able to integrate complete marketing campaigns and promote them on social media. If you are a small business looking to be the next social media influencer, you are probably finding out how tough it is to engage with users on social media. However, there is some good news for you and for other small- and medium-sized business owners. The 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report saw that SMBs who used social for local marketing saw boosts in exposure, traffic, and sales. Whether you are a late adopter or consider yourself a social media pioneer, chances are, if your business is doing some sort of social media marketing, you at least understand its significance. Over 90 percent of small business owners and Internet marketers believe that social media is important to their business. Depending on the industry you operate in and how “brand-heavy” you are influences – Read the full article
Whether your business has 100 followers or 100,000 fans, you’ve probably already realized that your community needs to be cultivated – and monitored – on social media channels weekly, if not daily. Recent news about the Taco Bell class-action lawsuit, which was filed against Taco Bell for “misrepresenting the contents of its beef,” is nothing surprising. I’m sure most customers don’t expect they are eating wholesome, organic meals at Taco Bell. However, it’s not the lawsuit that is interesting here; it is the way that Taco Bell warded off a potential crisis by being proactive and effectual on social media. Taco Bell has already gotten some previous press for their impressive works on Facebook and Twitter; but this is more impressive, and the way they turned this particular misrepresented beef crisis into something positive is a great lesson for Internet marketers as well as for online reputation management professionals. First step: Address the issue A confident and clear message doesn’t – Read the full article
Social media marketing can be very effective in driving traffic to your blog and website, as well as in enhancing the visibility of your brand and business. But if you’re looking to improve your results, here are some great tips and tricks you can follow: Target the right sites There are literally hundreds of social media sites you can use. However, no one has the time to effectively use all of them. The first thing you need to do is locate a few sites which will fit well with you and your audience. Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon and Digg are some of the obvious popular choices since they send generally large traffic volumes, but to find sites that can send you high-quality, highly targeted traffic, look out for niche-specific and geo-relevant social media sites. Targeting general news and social bookmarking websites like Reddit or Digg can also be useful; once you have established a prominent profile, you can promote all manner – Read the full article
A long time ago, aka a couple years, Social Media had no relevance to your page rank or SEO campaign. Social Media was simply another tool, or middleman to connect your business with your clients. Usually links to social media were rel= nofollowed (tell search robots to not click on link). Up until a few years ago, social websites media sites were not considered as high quality links and did not carry much authority. As of today, the number of Facebook and Twitter users exceed 500 Million! If this isn’t a reason to give a website authority, then I quit this industry. Google and Bing realized that there is quality in Facebook and Twitter and have said they can directly impact you page rank. Fret not friends, your quest for more followers and to get Gaga to retweet you can actually pay off. Twitter: Twitter, while some still call it a ‘new’ phenomenon, it is crucial for successful business today. It has been one – Read the full article
Looking to get ahead of the social media marketing game? Sure, Facebook and Twitter are still the king and queen of this kingdom – just as reported in a recent StrongMail survey of online marketing budgets in 2011 – but the New Year also heralds a number of new social media darlings that are certainly worth keeping an eye on. Last year, it was Foursquare and Posterous leading the pack. This year is just as promising – if not more promising, thanks in large part to the continued expansion of social media and to the crazy range of new sites, apps, and startups out there. Here are our picks for social media websites to watch in 2011. Quora Last March 2010, Quora reportedly received $86 million in funding from Benchmark Capital (also a Twitter investor). It didn’t make any million-dollar noise the rest of the year, but this 2011 just might be the year Quora really makes waves. As a – Read the full article
In a new social media marketing ploy – call it the “Twitter Boycott” strategy – the Los Angeles Times reports that social media superstars Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, and Ryan Seacrest, among many others, are boycotting all social media sites until $1 million is raised for the charitable foundation, “Keep a Child Alive.” The “Keep a Child Alive” charity, which is dedicated to providing life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, care, and support services to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS, is fronted by talented singer and new mother Alicia Keys. The concerted sign-off of leading celebrity Tweeters and Facebook “friends” – what is described in the campaign as “digital death” – is slated to remain in effect until the $1 million target is met. In addition to swearing off all social media activity, the altruistic celebrity superstars will post “final tweet and testament” videos to the “Keep a Child Alive” website. Lady Gaga’s final tweet is already live on their website. The often – Read the full article
A number of the world’s biggest businesses and brands are using Twitter. Chances are, they’re also using Facebook. And their employees are using LinkedIn, to connect with other professionals. How do you, as a small business owner, set yourself apart from the competition? Obviously you’ll have to be more creative with leveraging social media, and with finding alternative platforms where you can engage with customers. You’ll have to seize overlooked opportunities for marketing, or create these opportunities where none exist. Start by knowing there are other social networking tools in town. Like Flickr, for example. Okay, so we can almost hear you say it. Flickr? Really? How do you use that for marketing? Um, isn’t Flickr a picture community for hobbyists and photographers and artists? Just like Vimeo is a video community? And doesn’t Flickr explicitly say that you can’t use the site for commercial purposes? All of the questions above have a point, but that doesn’t mean you can’t – Read the full article
Forgive us? We’re feeling kind of guilty that we’ve written a number of Twitter articles that provide a lot of tips on how to use the popular social media site – without providing an equal number of examples. So let us make it up to you with these great examples of how today’s biggest brands and businesses are using Twitter. Starbucks (@Starbucks): The Seattle-based coffee giant offers “freshly brewed tweets” to a loyal following of over 1 million Twitter users. Check the brand’s profile out, and you’ll be surprised by the number of @replies/mentions they tweet in a day. That’s what engagement is all about. All too often, companies misuse Twitter by spamming their followers with relentless sales talk and ads – without caring to respond to mentions or direct messages. Sure, while Starbucks does post the occasional promo or new offer, the brand’s use of Twitter is mainly to connect intimately with fans and customers. It listens, and as – Read the full article
