Let Social Media Help You Identify New Mentors and Expand Your Business Network

By Kurt Rathmann, CEO of Shride Ventures I have a ritual I perform every month or two. Some find it a little strange. Others find it helpful and have even adopted it themselves. For several years, I have maintained a spreadsheet of information on those I consider mentors. It includes things like when we last […]

When is the Best Time to Tweet?

By John Foley, Jr., Chief Executive/Marketing Officer at Grow Socially Much like any other marketing campaign, Twitter shares one critical ideology—maximum exposure. When you tweet, are as many people seeing it as possible? If we put in the effort to carefully craft influential and noticeable tweets, we certainly would want to make sure they are […]

Blending the Art of Marketing with the Science of Technology

By Jeff Schick, Vice President, Social Software at IBM Investments in IT have long been the domain of the CIO, but all of that is changing as CMOs increasingly impact IT investments in today’s social and digital world. Given the business realignment between marketing and technology, the CMO and CIO can no longer afford to operate […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#8: Continue Listening

By Eric Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer at McGlinchey Stafford All listening is not created equal. Consider how a physician uses the stethoscope in order to measure the activity of the human heart, or how a mother calibrates her ear to detect the faintest whimper of a newborn, or how a conductor trains the ear to pinpoint […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#7: Ensure Value

By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success “What’s the ROI from all that social media stuff you’ve been doing?” your boss asks. One of his favorite questions, right? Or if you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably heard that same question from your partner or CPA. Generating reliable performance metrics for […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#6: Build Community

By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success Building a loyal community of fans and followers is not a snap-your-finger deal. You have to put the “right stuff” out there to attract and grow an audience, and you’ll have to continually nurture the crop before it bears any fruit. But the payoff […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#5: Demonstrate Leadership

By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success Social media leaders—as is the case with their offline counterparts—are most often valued and respected for their knowledge, experience, passion, and vision. The most effective social media leaders also demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility, serve as standard bearers, have a relatively high tolerance […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#4: Establish Trust

By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success The success of virtually every brand relies largely on the bond of trust generated between customer and company. That same bond can obviously be created between individuals as well. But as is the case with Mandate #3 (develop relationships), trust also has to be […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#3: Develop Relationships

By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success A true relationship has to be earned. It’s about respect and trust. And a balanced relationship is reciprocal. You do something for somebody else, and they do something for you. You exchange ideas. You use each other as a sounding board. For a relationship […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#2: Plan Carefully

By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success Too many marketers jump right in and start using various social media tools and technologies—such as Twitter, Google+, and blogs—before they’ve even developed a strategic plan or thought about how those activities might impact the rest of their marketing initiatives. Don’t make that mistake! […]

8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#1: Start Listening

By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success I believe that listening is the single most important key for marketers who want to be successful in social media. Although the average person spends about 45% of his or her waking hours listening, most of us are simply not very good at […]

5 Ways to Legitimately Increase Your Twitter Followers

By John Foley, Jr., Chief Executive/Marketing Officer at Grow Socially Twitter can be a mighty tool in your social media arsenal. You can reach a specialized audience with carefully constructed tweets, relevant links, and engaging material. Of course, you can maximize the effect of those efforts by having a solid number of followers. Here are […]

LinkedIn Helps You Pay It Forward to Nonprofits

By Wayne Breitbarth, CEO of Power Formula and author of The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success: Kick-Start Your Business, Brand, and Job Search You’ve polished your LinkedIn profile, developed a large network of valuable contacts, and joined the most advantageous LinkedIn groups. From a professional standpoint, you should now be reaping the benefits—growing your client/customer […]

Using Twitter for Marketing and PR: Do the Pros Practice What They Preach?

By Kent Huffman, Chief Marketing Officer at BearCom Wireless and Co-Publisher of Social Media Marketing Magazine It seems that everyone claims to be a Twitter expert these days. Of course, most are not. But several of the real Twitter pros I know—including those who have written books about using Twitter as an effective marketing and […]

Turning Facebook “Likes” into More than Just Clicks

By Kelly Loubet, Social Media Consultant Everyone knows that clicking the “like” button on a company’s Facebook page shows that company is increasing its fan base. But what happens after the click? For me, it’s often just that. A click. I’m sure I’m not alone. So how do brands turn a simple click into loyal […]

The Digital Native: 5 Things You Need to Know

By Michelle Manafy, Director of Content at FreePint Between all generations lie gaps. Yet in the course of some generations, major events occur that cause tectonic shifts. The fact is that many individuals and businesses today face a massive and growing generation gap. As this digital native generation—which has grown up immersed in digital technologies […]

Bridging the Digital Gap with SnapTags

By Jeffrey Hayzlett, author of Running the Gauntlet: Essential Business Lessons to Lead, Drive Change, and Grow Profits If you are a marketer, I can almost guarantee that one of your goals for 2012 is to figure out your mobile strategy. You’re not alone. Everyone is talking mobile, but very few have figured out how […]

6 Reasons Social Media Campaigns Should Include Flickr

By Emily Johnson, Media Relations Specialist at Walker Sands Communications The photo-sharing site Flickr is a valuable but often overlooked social media platform. Here are six reasons why marketers and communications professionals should add Flickr to their campaigns: People are visual. With Flickr, you’re able to tell a story in a way you can’t through […]

Tips for Addressing Brand Misuse While Mitigating PR Backlash

By David Bell, Lawyer and Chair of Social Media Practice at Haynes and Boone, LLP Perhaps you’ve heard about Chick-fil-A’s recent “oops” moment. The company fired off a cease and desist letter to a Vermont artist over his use of and trademark application for EAT MORE KALE. The chicken eatery sent the letter in an […]

Will Social Media Change the Face of Modern Marketing?

By Debi Kleiman, President of MITX (Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange, creators of FutureM) The very foundation of marketing is transforming before our eyes, and social media is playing a bigger and bigger role in the way marketers communicate. MITX’s FutureM offers the community a week of events exploring the future of marketing and media, […]

The Trend: “Alone Together.” The Trigger? Web 2.0

By Berenice Ring, Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas There are now 2.1 billion Internet users on planet Earth—30 percent of the world’s population! And to access the Internet, we now have countless models of cell phones, laptops, tablets, and every other wonder technology has provided us with. We can no longer live without them! Visiting […]

Google+: Where Do You Fit In?

By John Foley, Jr., Chief Executive/Marketing Officer at Grow Socially Google+ has taken the social media world by storm. The search engine mammoth has finally created a social network with some traction, and everyone is taking notice, including Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team. At this point, businesses should be sitting up and paying attention. […]

When Crisis Knocks: Being PR Savvy through Social Media

By Amy Howell, CEO of Howell Marketing Strategies Social media has been a game changer for PR folks across the board. No matter what type of business, industry, or organization you are in, social media means you can run for a minute, but you sure cannot hide. I have been in PR and marketing for […]

How to Overcome Your Own Fear of Social Media

By Phyllis Zimbler Miller, co-founder of Miller Mosaic Have you recently found yourself standing in the checkout line at a chain drugstore hearing an ad for a product that includes a reference to social media? For example, you may hear, “Follow us on Twitter or ‘like’ us on Facebook to learn about our new products.” […]

Social Media: Still a Mystery to Most Small Businesses

By Amy Howell, CEO of Howell Marketing Strategies Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask me about social media for business. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are all new media tools that can help bolster your Internet or digital “footprint.” You can read all about how social media is ramping up the conversation by […]

“Like” is the New Link: How Facebook is Reorganizing Google’s Web

By Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media and author of Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) You wake up one morning and your back really hurts. You’ve been putting off finding a new doctor ever since you moved to […]

The Power of “Likes”

By Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media and author of Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) I was standing in line to check in at Las Vegas’ then-trendiest hotel in town, the Aria Resort & Casino, for nearly an […]

Wow, What a Story!

By Adam Karwoski, Founder of Social Brand U Isn’t social media cool? Since I graduated college in 1992, I’ve been involved with two of the biggest fundamental shifts in communications in our history: mobile phones and social media. I started selling cellular phones in 1994 for BellSouth Mobility and just left that industry last summer. […]

Five Tips to Leverage Your Social Media Strategy

By Jeffrey Hayzlett, author of The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing? Traditionally, ROI means “return on investment.” And that’s a very important component to consider in any marketing strategy. However, it can be difficult to track when it comes to zeroes. In the absence of hard numbers, ROI becomes something I call, “return […]

Going Gaga!

By Nina Buik, Chief Marketing Officer at HP Connect I admit that I’m a fan of Lady Gaga’s music, but even more a fan of her marketing strategy: Creates a globally recognizable brand image Creates edgy, compelling headlines Is “virtually” ubiquitous Fearless of putting herself “out there” Has built an incredibly loyal following You don’t […]