You Should Be Gathering Insights, But You’re Not

As Dave Kerpen always says: “Listen first, and never stop listening.” Not only should you never stop listening on social media, but often the truth is that you never started to listen–and don’t know how.  (more…)
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The One Thing That Drives Facebook Engagement

By Barry Hott

What users want.

When writing content for a Facebook page, it’s hard to remember that users aren’t on Facebook to read your Facebook posts. They’re there to see their friends’ photos and activities and, if you’re lucky, they won’t be frustrated when they see your page’s content. So how do you get users to engage with your content when they don’t even want to see it?

You need to understand what motivates your fans.

In her post last week, our CEO touched upon a topic that I’d like to expand upon: What drives you to click the ‘like’ button? Is it a cute kitten? A political point you agree with? A beautiful sunset? A funny story? A greasy hamburger? A friend’s new job/relationship/house/pet/car/child? All of these drive back to one key motivation:

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5 B2B Companies That Excel At Being Likeable

By Dane Cobain

Being likeable isn’t an easy task; it requires authenticity, dedication, and the willingness to say both “thank you” and “I’m sorry” when necessary. It requires transparency, responsiveness, and a company culture that promotes the importance of building relationships–whether online or off.

Likeability is a growing trend among B2C companies, which can no longer afford to be anything else, but B2B companies are falling behind. “After all,” they think, “people find my product boring. How could I possibly be likeable?”

The answer lies not in some marketing campaign, press release, or mailing, but in a sincere and motivated approach to adding value to your relationship with your clients–and to going that extra mile. Here are five companies that are doing just that. (more…)

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Do The Google + Updates Really Matter?

By Cara Friedman

BIG NEWS! Google made a bunch of significant updates to its properties.  At Wednesday’s announcement, the company shared that it would be making changes to a number of different products including new apps, Google maps, and Gmail. But as social media marketers, the news we were most excited about were those changes being made to Google +. (more…)

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Facebook Mobile Ads For Dummies

Facebook Mobile Ads For Dummies

By Frank Emanuele

Since the launch of Facebook’s mobile advertising offering nearly a year ago, the platform has seen new features and iterations just about every single week. What’s more, mobile ads are enjoying tremendous success; Facebook’s recent Q1 earnings call revealed that ad revenues doubled quarter over quarter. And yet, with such an incredibly powerful tool at their disposal, it seems that many marketers aren’t using it to their advantage.  With over 600 million Facebook members using the mobile app each month, there would appear to be a huge missed opportunity in not advertising on mobile. In reality, optimizing your Facebook ads for mobile is actually pretty simple once you set aside the resources to make it happen. Below are some simple ways to implement mobile ads.

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4 Brands That Did Mother’s Day Campaigns Right

By Mallorie Rosenbluth

It’s no surprise that during key holidays, social media is heavily populated with branded campaigns–and Mother’s Day is no exception. While children were preparing to have special days with their mothers, filled with flowers and brunches, brands spent months planning to reward their customers and communities (and their mothers). Here are four of our favorites from this year: (more…)

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4 Ways Marketers Can Adapt To Evolving Technology

By Jon Igielnik

Technology is only becoming more and more integrated into our everyday lives; staying ahead of the curve is critical.

Google Glass combines many technologies, each of which are game-changers in their own right, including augmented reality, HD video, geo-tagging and NFC (Near Field Communications). Together, these innovations are thrusting us into a world where users will see, report, and consume in new ways. You may find yourself getting caught up in the advancements, but it is your job as a marketer to lead the charge.

Consider these four ways that you can stay ahead of the technological curve. (more…)

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4 Reasons Why Your Brand Should Reconsider Tumblr

By Tiffany Hopkins

Among the more prominent social networks, Tumblr is often overshadowed by Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest. However, as the old adage goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and when leveraged properly, the network can prove to be social gold.

Brands like Coca-ColaAmerican Express OPEN ForumLand Rover, and Target have jumped on the Tumblr bandwagon, successfully solidifying their presence on the network. In addition, as AdWeek recently reported, Champs Sports is including its Tumblr URL in their TV spots and digital ads during the NBA Playoffs while Cole Haan is including its Tumblr address in a series of NYC subway ads without mention of any other social networks. What are these brands seeing that you’re not?

See below for four reasons why Tumblr should be included in your content strategy: (more…)

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3 Ways To Measure ROI For Social Customer Service

By Brian Murray

The rise of social media has caused a shift in the dynamic between organizations and individuals to one where the power is in the hands of the consumer, but it has also enabled brands to use social as a tool to work with their customers at scale. There are many examples of companies who have built amazing customer service into their culture’s DNA. Unfortunately there are just as many brands that have not fully embraced using social yet because they have failed to see the benefits. The truth is people are talking about your brand already, you just need to start addressing them. Here are three benefits of customer service via social:

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