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15 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed. It's happened again. Another week, jam-packed with expert insights, has flown by. You've probably caught a few of the week's essential resources, but there's always that chance you missed something that could transform your social media or business strategy. Here at Mashable, we don't like to take those chances, so we've gathered up the week's essential reading and prepared this one-stop-shop for the guides, lists, interviews, and how-tos you may have missed during a hectic week.

Get ready to dig into these 15 posts that will render you more knowledgeable and engaged when you come out on the other side. Social Media 5 Stellar Ways to Explore Space Using Social MediaThe far reaches of outer space have never been closer thanks to the wonders of social media. For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable's social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Mobile Business. Download Kit. With HubSpot's no-obligation marketing assessment, one of HubSpot's marketing experts will evaluate your business' current website and marketing for areas of improvement. You can ask our experts: How can I drive more traffic to my homepage? Should I be blogging more frequently? How do I get my website visitors to fill out my forms? What's one thing I can do to improve my website today? Or any other questions you have! We'll also provide a competitive analysis so you can see how your marketing stacks up against your competitors'.

There's no risk, no obligation, and no credit card required. HOW TO: Target Social Media Influencers to Boost Traffic and Sal. Ben Straley is the CEO of Meteor Solutions, provider of the leading word-of-mouth analytics and optimization platform that enables marketers to measure, manage, and monetize earned media. Your brand has 10,000 Twitter followers and 2,000 fans on Facebook. Does that mean your social media marketing efforts are paying off? Maybe not. As the old adage goes, it’s quality, not quantity, that counts.

Recent data that Meteor Solutions collected from across more than 20 brand marketer clients shows that the type of friends, fans and followers a brand amasses on social media sites matters more than the number. On average, approximately 1% of a site's audience generates 20% of all its traffic through sharing of the brand's content or site links with others. As this data shows, successful social media marketing isn't simply about amassing thousands of followers, but instead precisely identifying the most influential members of your audience and recognizing them for their value. Make 'Em Famous. HOW TO: Maximize Your Content's Reach on the Social Web. Bill Flitter is an experienced entrepreneur and expert in online advertising.

His newest venture, Dlvr.it, helps publishers easily syndicate, measure and increase the reach of their content. We have all heard that "content is king" — Sumner Redstone deemed it so, then Rupert Murdoch upped the ante, calling it "emperor. " But how do we make sure content is delivered to the right places, at the right times? How can we measure the effectiveness of this content and its distribution? The model for publishers is changing due to today's social media growth and the reliance on "stream consumption.

" Audience attention is increasingly fragmented and traditional ways to reach them with content and advertising are becoming less effective. These indicators point to the future of a "siteless" web — a consumer-centric online economy where audiences decide when and where they will receive content, with less emphasis on single destinations. Measure Learn what content they like on each social destination. 101 for Business — A Special Guide. The Formula for Effective Facebook Ads [REPORT] In order to understand the value of a Facebook ad impression, Nielsen analyzed over six months of responses from 800,000 users to more than 125 Facebook ad campaigns by 70 different brand advertisers. The study — after analyzing reach via impressions and effectiveness of impressions — concluded that earned media and social advocacy made Facebook users more likely to notice ads, absorb their content and make purchases.

Paid vs. Earned Media To arrive at the aforementioned conclusion, Nielsen looked at three types of impressions on Facebook and categorized them as either paid media, earned media or both. Homepage ads: Above-the-fold ads that contain ad creative as well as an option for users to engage with the brand (e.g. Earned media is being used to describe brand mentions on Facebook that are broadcasted ("shared") by the consumer, whereas hybrid organic impressions offer a more controlled way to generate earned media from paid advertisements. Tips for Advertisers. Facebook Fan Pages, Community Pages, and Privacy Updates: What Y. The Formula for Effective Facebook Ads [REPORT] Why Retention Should Be Your Top Priority in Social Media Market. Jeremy Richardson heads up Business Development at Mixpanel, Inc. a real-time analytics service that helps companies understand how users behave with web applications.

Everyone in social media knows that virality is the number one metric to track if you want to be a success. If a game goes viral, then there’s no stopping it, right? On the surface, this may seem correct. However, I believe that there's a much better metric for businesses to pay attention to: Retention. The viral growth rate, or "K-factor," is the accepted way to measure the virality of a product. Now don’t get me wrong — I believe that virality is a very important metric and should always be tracked. Why Track Retention? There are two primary reasons why tracking retention is important for any business. Retention and Virality As I stated, the K-factor is the product of three numbers, so to increase that product, we want to make all three numbers as large as possible. Retention for the Long Term Think Value, Not Hype. Must Read Online Marketing & Social Media Articles. Why Branding Yourself is Important. Branding yourself keeps you current in your chosen field, opens doors for you, and creates a lasting impression on clients.

By developing your own brand, you’ll have control over people’s initial perception. If you don’t brand yourself, someone else will, and the outcome might not be in your favor. Relatively speaking, a strong brand influences its target audience and works overtime to engage those who may not have been targeted at all. A successful brand self-promotes, stimulates a unique experience, breathes loyalty, and offers consistency in the quality of the service it offers. Brands are also used as a way to connect on a universal level. You’ll be an Expert in Your Field Not everyone knows who you are, and since that means they probably have no idea what you do and how good you do it, it’s vital for you to give your skills a bit of recognition. Branding yourself isn’t entirely about who you are as an individual, but mostly about what kind of services and goods you can offer.

7 Scientifically Proven Ways To Get "Shared" On Facebook | Fast. These days, sharing isn’t just caring--it’s ensuring virality, especially on Facebook. And Dan Zarrella, the Hubspot viral-marketing scientist who gave us nine proven ways to get retweeted on Twitter, knows exactly how to encourage it. For several weeks, he compiled roughly 12,000 articles posted to Facebook, most from big-name sites such as Mashable and CNN. Then, he found the average number of times each was “shared”--meaning it was commented on, liked, or directed to a friend--and analyzed the make-ups of the winners and losers. Although Zarrella freely admits that that correlation does not necessarily imply causation, he’s also adamant that, in this case, “it’s certainly a hint.”

And after poring over his findings, which he sent to FastCompany.com exclusively, I’d definitely agree. Below, a look at Zarrella’s seven most effective ways to get shared on Facebook: 1. Hello, one-track mind! 2. 3. Although the “vs” bit strikes both myself and Zarrella as odd--don’t people love controversy? Sponsored Blogger Event Newbie Guide - Dos and Don'ts for Brand. I was recently asked by Jai of Mami’s Time Out about sponsored blogger events. She is going to be attending her first brand-sponsored event next month and wondered what she should expect.

Just like attending a conference for the first time, attending a brand’s event can bring about many questions. I asked around and gathered a few more questions about sponsored events from bloggers like Carrie of the Tiki Tiki. While I’m not an expert, here I give you my personal opinion and experience from having attended brand events in the past. Dos and Don’ts Photo from Chromatic Do bring business cards.

Photo by Lawrence Peregrine-Trousers Other Questions Can you hustle your own product or service at a sponsored event? While I think that blatantly pushing your own products and services might be frowned upon, I don’t see anything wrong with the information being on your business cards and you talking about it. What if you disliked the event/product? Honestly, I had never thought about this. My best tip?