Stars: Spotlight on @TweetSmarter This is the second of a new series on Klout influencers (“Klout Stars”) and how they got to where they are today. The first was with Brian Solis and we’re excited to be able to interview Dave Larson, behind @TweetSmarter for today’s post. About TweetSmarter: The @TweetSmarter account has won a Knight Foundation and Shorty award, been pictured on the front cover of CNN’s technology section, profiled by the Huffington Post, and has answered thousands of questions for Twitter users around the world over the past three-and-a-half years. Run by Dave Larson with the help of his wife Sarah, @TweetSmarter has been ranked as high as one of the three most influential accounts in the world in years past by various influence measurement services. Outside of Twitter, they are both public speakers, Dave being an internet entrepreneur and investor who likes to bring people together on various projects, and Sarah teaching and performing as a professional dancer and voice actor. We asked… 1. 2. 3.
How Social Media Has Helped to Reshape Marketing - TNW Social Media Marketing is an ever-changing landscape, which we’ve seen with the rise and fall of SEO and the revolution of Inbound Marketing led by the guys over at HubSpot. Social Media has also become one of the big influencers in marketing, becoming an integral part in any successful business marketing strategy. Here are some ways that Social Media has helped to reshape marketing. Facebook and Twitter’s new influence on Search With how ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ plus ‘retweets’ are becoming more and more important in getting the word out, the big search engines have started to realize that those public announcements are like a vote of confidence from the sharer. Companies Focus on Engagement versus Selling Blogging to Build Influence and Authority I was recently approached by the awesome Noah Kagan who asked about leveraging blogging to build influence and authority after seeing my name pop up in some of the bigger outlets in the startup space. Social Media as a New Distribution Channel
How I use Twitter Hello, I’m Robert Clay. Thanks for stopping by and Welcome to Marketing Wizdom. If you’re on this page it’s probably because you’ve clicked through from my Twitter profile (@marketingwizdom). This page explains how I use Twitter, what you can expect from my tweets and who and how I follow so that you can decide whether you’d like to follow me. How I use Twitter I use Twitter as a news source, to add to my knowledge, to maintain cutting edge awareness in my area of expertise and to discover, learn from and engage with people globally who share similar interests. I have many rich interactions on Twitter and, time permitting, try to respond in person to everyone who interacts with me. Tweet topics: I mainly tweet about entrepreneurship, business and marketing strategy (including social media), trends and technology. Much of the content I share daily on Twitter is planned in advance and, time permitting, I also share other content spontaneously as I come across it or think about it. Finally …
6 Steps in Developing a Social Media Strategy inShare75 Having a solid social media strategy can really help make a difference in the success of your campaigns. Start here. Because social media is around us more and more, companies are starting to see the value in add it to their marketing mix. 1. Get online and listen to what is being said. Determine your audience and where they are online. Once you have identified where your audience is, then listen to what they are saying. Next, find out who's driving the conversation or those that have a strong influence. 2. You should now be in a better position to establish your goals now that you have had a chance to "listen" to your audience. Consider not only your company goals but your audience's goals. Once you have given people something of value, you've earned the right to plug yourself a little. 3. Map out your approach to delivering content to your audience. Now identify the social platforms you should use to deliver your content. 4. Optimize your content with your targeted keywords.
Four steps to make social media work for your business - Dream Local - Belfast - Waldo - The Republican Journal I often get questions from business owners wondering how social media can work for them. Many say they have no time at all to utilize social media, and I completely understand – but share they are missing a huge opportunity. Others will have questions that go straight into tactics: “I posted x, y, and z on Facebook, but I only have 25 fans”, or “I post things all the time but no one comments”. Even though it may seem counterproductive, before I start to answer these questions I make them take a step back and talk to them about their overall strategy and business needs. Because social media marketing can be largely free, many people jump in and start using the tools without first putting together a plan of how they want this marketing to work for them, or without understanding its strengths and weaknesses. This often leads to wasted effort and less than stellar results. 1. 2. 3. Questions to ask yourself when developing your plan: What is your target market? 4.
Which Social Networks Should You Be On? [Marketing Cast] Maybe being on all possible channels isn’t quite as effective as focusing on a few of them. In this episode of the Weekly Marketing Cast we discuss how you can approach this question. Where Is Your Target Audience? “What is really important is to figure out where the people that you are trying to reach are,” says David Meerman Scott. If you are trying to reach executives, for instance, LinkedIn is probably a good starting place. If you are trying to reach teenagers, however, you might need to look elsewhere. Don’t Be Everywhere You don’t need to be on every social network in order to be a social media-savvy business. Eventually, as David pointed out, it comes down to choosing the right social media networks and giving yourself permission to not stress about being present on some other channels. Photo Credit: Asthma Helper
5 Must-Dos for Effective Twitter, Facebook, and Blogging Campaigns Time suck Life is funny, isn’t it? You jump into blogging and worry about organic optimization because ABC SEO specialist said, “if you build it, they will come.” Ah, the undefined they. Well, in this case it’s they, as in, the search engines, the visitors, the conversions. You jump into the huge time suck of engaging on Twitter and Facebook because XYZ social marketer said, “you have to give your customers some face time”. Do you feel like a Mexican jumping bean, yet? Although no one has exactly the same reasons why a campaign hasn’t worked out as expected, usually it’s because they’ve forgotten something – some step – along the way. 1. Look – most of you didn’t start your business without a plan of action, right? So, whether you’re blogging, giving Facebook some face time or tweeting on Twitter, first figure out why you’re doing these things. For example, a goal to reach might be “increased engagement on Twitter” or “more comments per post”. 2. 3. Choose your metrics 4. 5. Conclusion
How to track Social Media within Google Analytics - TNW Social Media For all the information and insight Google’s powerful Analytics tools can provide, they’re still only providing some top level figures, primarily Direct, Search and Referral traffic. Think, “Traffic is traffic?” well think again, as more and more marketers and private individuals are drilling deeper to gain a better understanding of what social media actions are resonating well with their communities, and which aren’t. But how do we separate the social media wheat from the day-to-day chaff? Let’s get started… First and foremost, you’ll need a fully functioning Google Analytics account, meaning, your tracking code is installed correctly, and Google provides the, “All systems are a-go!” To set up a custom segment, first navigate to Traffic Sources in the list of available options from the left column. Once in “Create Advanced Segment,” we’ll now need to define the parameters for our custom filter. Again in the left column, select “Traffic Sources” from the available options.
Why Twitter Marketing I have so many great connections on my twitter, many of who take time out regularly to give a re-tweet or to say a few kind words. That’s what I look forward to the most every time I go to my twitter account. If they could only see me smile…. :-). Do your twitter friends and connections make you smile too? Social networking is a powerful medium for people with a mission and a vision to do good in the world by helping others along the way. Idea… not another one LOL … :-) As I’ve set up this site for dofollow links back to websites I thought it would be a great idea to invite everybody over to get some new connections and a few links back to wherever they choose. As for Twitter I’m inviting you to come over and give a brief about yourself and hopefully we can all find a few more followers or new folks to follow, in our niche or areas of interest. Are you ready to give it a go?
14 Best Practices for Long-Term Social Media Success Brian Solis is principal of Altimeter Group, a leading research-based advisory firm. Brian is also the author of the all-new Engage!, an award-winning guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web. As a consumer, you are blasted with the same request over and over: “Follow Us on Twitter, Like Us on Facebook.” Today, a notable number of businesses are approaching branded social channels from a "ready, fire, aim" approach. The key to zooming in on purpose and usefulness within social channels starts with the realization that there is no one audience. The answer is as simple as it is revealing. So what are the best practices for creating an engaging social stream? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Following these best practices will prevent your brand from falling victim to the coming wave of customer unlikes and unfollows. Interested in more Soccial Media resources?
Web Sites - Thirty Ideas to Help You Tackle Blogger's Block In this article, you'll learn... 30 ideas for posts to help you create a well-rounded corporate blog Key types of information to share with your audience via your blog A corporate blog can be a key component of any marketing strategy. It can help generate leads via search engines, demonstrate your team's customer-centric culture, and engage your target audience by providing them information they need and allowing them to interact with thought leaders in your organization. Rather than placing the responsibility of blogging solely on the CEO or VP of Marketing, however, you can involve nearly every employee; the result will be to nurture thought leadership throughout the company. But your coworkers may be initially hesitant to jump on the blogging bandwagon. Here is a list of 30 ideas sure to help get everyone's blogging fingers typing: Your company's elevator pitch. Still need more ideas? OpenView Labs has packaged a complete guide to help you start a corporate blogging program.