Tag: Social Media

Twitter: Beyond Self-Promotion

In our recent blog post about the best ways to use Twitter for small businesses, we mentioned several uses of Twitter beyond pure advertising:

• Research
• Content curation
• Sharing Information with key target audiences
• Keeping an ear to the ground

Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently published an article titled “50 Companies That Get Twitter — and 50 That Don’t.” The article looked at a use of Twitter that is an important element of the pure advertising we choose not to focus on, and yet has a much broader usefulness: Continue reading “Twitter: Beyond Self-Promotion”

Twitter: Beyond Promotion

Like most forms of social media, Twitter is largely used by businesses to promote a message, product or service. However, there are a number of uses for Twitter beyond purely promotional activities. Twitter, and other social media tools, can actually provide big benefits to businesses in multiple ways. Some of the ways we have used Twitter outside of traditional marketing include the following: Continue reading “Twitter: Beyond Promotion”

Social Media and Content Marketing: It’s a Journey, Not a Race

Small business owners and entrepreneurs can often be impatient when it comes to watching their businesses grow. That’s understandable. Many have left good-paying jobs, with benefits and other perks, to pursue their dreams. The financial strain of striking out on one’s own, and the desire to see that dream grow, would make most people a little impatient. This is especially true when it comes to waiting for marketing activities to pay off. But, especially in the world of online marketing, patience pays! Continue reading “Social Media and Content Marketing: It’s a Journey, Not a Race”

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Content Marketing

In today’s marketing environment, content is king. Content is what drives potential customers to your website and gets them to know your brand and what your organization has to offer. Often, potential customers are first and foremost content consumers. They don’t care about your products or services, but if you have something interesting to show or tell them, they might keep returning to your site and getting to know your brand in the process.

But content marketing isn’t easy, and there are many pitfalls. Continue reading “Avoiding the Pitfalls of Content Marketing”

Misconceptions about Social Media Data

The modern marketing strategy just isn’t complete if it doesn’t include a social media element. As we’ve discussed in a previous blog post, tools like Google Analytics are great for tracking your social media activity and its impacts on your business. While we encourage social media marketers to read that blog and the background information linked within, it’s also important to discuss some of the misconceptions many businesses have about all the social media data they are collecting. Some might focus on information that isn’t particularly helpful, while others might be disregarding or missing entirely key metrics. Continue reading “Misconceptions about Social Media Data”

Using Google Analytics to Track Social Media Strategies 

It’s hard for marketers to escape the call to take full advantage of social media in their marketing efforts. The conventional wisdom is that it’s foolish to not utilize free or low-cost platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, which hold the potential to reach huge and targeted audiences; and, while some sites require payment for premium offerings, most are free for the basic service. (For an overview of ten popular tools, see Continue reading “Using Google Analytics to Track Social Media Strategies “

How Small Businesses Can Get More Out of Their LinkedIn Accounts

For a small business without a big marketing budget, it can be tough to find economical marketing outlets. Paid advertisements on television and radio can get expensive fast, as can hiring a quality web designer and paying for regular content. Fortunately, there are a number of low-cost/no-cost tools that small businesses can leverage to achieve marketing success. Continue reading “How Small Businesses Can Get More Out of Their LinkedIn Accounts”

Critiquing Marketing Pieces in Context 

Have you ever been in a situation where you were asked to give your opinion about a marketing piece of some kind: an advertisement, brochure, website, etc.? This is a relatively common question when interviewing for a marketing position or when pitching your services to a potential business client, so chances are you have. What has your response been?  Continue reading “Critiquing Marketing Pieces in Context “

Managing the Noise on Twitter 

When Twitter first hit the social media scene, it seemed implausible or even inconceivable to many that 140 characters could provide any real value to social media marketing efforts, yet this application has emerged as one of the giants in the field. So popular, in fact, that it’s a daunting task to keep track of all of the activity on Twitter. There’s almost too much information. Some organizations Continue reading “Managing the Noise on Twitter “

Facebook as Your “Website”? Here’s Why That Might Be a Bad Idea

Not so long ago, having a website for a small business seemed like something that was only feasible for the high-margin business or the tech-savvy entrepreneur. Today, a professional-looking website is within reach of virtually any business. Still, in the Facebook age, many businesses are tempted to use a page on the social networking site as their primary online presence.

Facebook is certainly a low-cost option to very quickly get your business’ web presence up and running; however, there are a number of considerations to keep in mind before using Facebook as your only online vehicle. Continue reading “Facebook as Your “Website”? Here’s Why That Might Be a Bad Idea”