Many marketers and business owners struggle with social media because they lack a well-designed marketing strategy. Social media is extremely manageable with effective automation and planning. The number of social media platforms has skyrocketed in the last few years. It is easy to get overwhelmed and give up, but don’t! Your customers are out there [...]

If hyperlinks are the currency of the web, the number of Facebook Fans could be considered the social currency. Many brands strive to have the highest fan count in their industry. Unfortunately, most of them do not know how to grow their fan base or what to do with them once the goal is been [...]

Whether you care to accept it or not, social media is here to stay. It is becoming a powerful marketing tool for businesses all over the world to connect with their customers. The questions is no longer, “should we be doing social media?” It is now, “are we doing social media right?” One way to do [...]

The Cisco Connected World Technology Report for 2012 is out, and it speaks volumes to mobile technology trends. The study looked into the “everyday life” of today’s connected consumer, their use of app-packed smart phones, broadband connections, and daily habits shaping mobile technology. They surveyed college students and workers, 18-30 years old, in 18 countries. [...]

According to a new FastCompany article, the future of social media – the third phase, as they call it – is more about social collaboration with a brand’s followers. “It’s not about listening to customers, or even communicating with them. The future of social marketing is now all about collaboration” the report says. It is important [...]

Coffee shops are in the relationship business. Period. Each day, baristas and customers strengthen the relationship and discuss families, plans, and life. It only makes sense for our social hubs to incorporate social media – or, as I call it, “relationship media”. Social media is built around the basic human need for belonging. We all [...]

Gaining new relationships online can be tricky.  You want people to trust you and follow you, but gaining trust is a slow process.  And learning authenticity sounds like an oxymoron.  But the truth of the matter is, learning authenticity in social marketing is a skill set like anything else.  If you are able to master [...]

Our buddy, Dan Zarrella (@DanZarrella) from HubSpot, has analyzed data from over 1.3 million Facebook posts and 10,000 popular Facebook Pages to identify the characteristics that resulted in more “Likes”, fans, comments, and shares. Check out the result and his recommendations on how to get more likes, comments, and shares on Facebook:

When it comes to Facebook campaign ideas that have been getting a lot of attention, the “give back” campaigns garner a lot of press. The individual campaigns may differ, but the basic concept is the same: donate an amount of money to a charity for every “like” you receive on your fan page for a [...]

The blogosphere was atwitter (sorry) last week over Twitter, rather abruptly, ending its 3-year relationship with LinkedIn. Meaning users cannot post from their LinkedIn profiles to Twitter any longer. The news follows Twitter’s recent announcement that outlined new goals for creating a “core Twitter consumption experience through a consistent set of products and tools.” To the cut-off, [...]