How to Turn Social Feedback into Valuable Business Data Joshua March is co-founder and CEO of Conversocial, a provider of integrated social CRM and marketing software for Facebook and Twitter. He resides in London. You've set up your company's Facebook Page and Twitter account, pulled together a social media team to start generating engagement, and now you've got a decent audience involved in conversations about your brand. It seems most companies understand that they need to take advantage of social feedback; however, many aren't doing anything about it. Why is social insight so valuable? My company looked at the different messages retailers receive on Facebook and Twitter. Between 50 and 75% of messages that companies receive on Facebook and Twitter don't need to be actioned in any way — they’re just noise. The real challenge is to identify and learn from different, valuable lessons based on just one message. 1. Over a third of messages posted on social networks tell you something about how customers perceive your brand. 2. 3. 4. 5.
3 Steps to an Effective Social Media Strategy Do you have a social media strategy for your business yet? If you don’t, you could be missing out on game-changing results. According to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 78% of marketers saw increased traffic with just six hours a week invested in social media. The businesses that do social media marketing well will see even bigger wins in 2012, as the gap between who “gets it” and who doesn’t grows wider by the minute. The good news? As Michael Stelzner predicted, “The old mantra of ‘be everywhere’ will quickly be replaced with ‘be where it matters to our business.’ Below is a three-step plan designed to help you develop an effective, streamlined road map for social media success. Step #1: Assessment Start with a single question: “Why social media?” Put Your Audience First First things first: You need to clarify your audience’s needs, wants and challenges—not to mention where they’re spending time online. The five major benefits of knowing your audience are considerable:
9 Tips for Integrating Social Media on Your Website Are you leveraging the power of social media on your site? Together, social media channels and your website should work seamlessly to promote your online brand. However, if you’re like most businesses, you’re probably missing out on potential interactions, impressions and ultimately sales. In this article, I’ll dive into a quick how-to guide to ensure your business website and social media platforms are working together to maximize your online exposure. I’ve included examples from small- to medium-sized businesses that specialize in a whole host of fields to illustrate that you don’t have to be one of the big players to take advantage of these simple tips. #1: Include Visible Social Media Buttons This seems like a no-brainer, but double-check. To ensure that users don’t exit your web page altogether, you may want to create the buttons or links so that they open your social media pages in new windows. There are several ways in which to display your buttons or links and none of them are wrong.
Why Social Media Needs to Get More Personal Patrick Moorhead is president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, a highly regarded high-tech industry analyst firm focused on the disruptive ecosystems of smartphones, tablets, personal computers, living room devices and social media. New social media service Path promises to bring your true friends (not just acquaintances) together in a much more personal way. However, neither Path, nor Facebook, nor Google+ have fully comprehended that personal circles vary by context, and that context changes rapidly and infinitely. In the end, while services like Path get us closer to "personal," they are still very much "broadcast" versions of social media. How Humans Interact To fully understand how structured broadcast and personal social models differ, we need to look at real life. The "Broadcast" Social Media Problem For most people on the receiving end, a post is typically out of context, irrelevant, doesn’t require a response or was just plain missed.
7 Terrific Ways to Use Social Media for Instant Feedback Social media moves at the speed of light, and marketers have done an admirable job at keeping pace. Now that you have your social media bearings in this fast-paced inbound marketing world, consider another use for social media: collecting critical feedback that advances your business objectives quickly. Social media gives you the ability to get the kind of quick feedback inbound marketers require to stay agile. We looked back on all the creative ways we've used social media over the years to problem solve and help us meet our marketing and business goals, and some of them have proved to be really helpful. So we thought we'd share them with you! Here are some of the ways you can leverage social networks beyond your typical posts and updates. Collect Product Feedback When rolling out a new product or making changes to features of your existing product, it's common to experience backlash among your current customer base. Host a Focus Group Conduct Surveys and Polls Ask Industry Experts
9 Common and Costly B2B Social Media Marketing Mistakes Yes, B2B companies should be using social media. In fact, it is easy to make the argument that B2B companies are better suited for social media marketing than B2C companies. Think about it: with a relationship-based sales cycle, core subject matter expertise and a legacy of content creation, most B2B companies are a great fit to leverage social media as part of an inbound marketing strategy. In a world in which 60% of the sales cycle is over before a lead ever talks to a salesperson , it has never been more important for marketing to be involved early in the buying process. 1. Reach is an often overlooked metric by B2B marketers who are focused on generating high-quality leads often at a lower volume due to the high average sale price for many B2B deals. Fix It: Take active measures to build you social media reach by emailing existing customers and vendors to encourage them to connect with your company in social media. 2. 3. Social media is only one piece of the pie. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Want to Avoid Getting Banned on Social Media? Learn the Rules Ann Smarty is a search marketer and full-time web entrepreneur. Ann blogs on search and social media tools. Her newest project, My Blog Guest, is a free platform for guest bloggers and blog owners. Follow Ann on Twitter @seosmarty. For as long as I have been actively participating in social media, I have determined that no one is ever immune from getting banned. There are a lot of examples of this, both old and recent. In most of the cases of mass banning, social networks have responded to users who have broken the terms of service (TOS). Official TOS of Popular Social Networks Google+: Google+, the youngest social network of the five discussed here, has very complex and sometimes contradicting pages describing its terms of service. Here's the User Content and Conduct Policy page, which Google+ links to at the bottom of its stream page. Facebook: Facebook has only one TOS page: Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. What's Clearly NOT Allowed? How about less obvious areas?
How to Plan Your Social Integration Strategy Brian Sullivan is vice president of client services at Gigya, where he advises clients on implementing social technology. Gigya offers websites a suite of social technology like social login, comments, game mechanics and a social identity management platform. No longer does a business wonder whether its site should contain social components and functionality. The utility of social plugins on websites has been established. Unfortunately, the web is ripe with sites that offer social implementations that miss the mark. Instead, for marketers and IT professionals, it’s critical to ask "why do we have this technology?” Which Social Login Provider Should I Choose? Testing your site’s social functionality starts with testing your social login providers. When I’m helping clients conduct these tests, I almost always find that a great way to start is by offering user-sets different login options to determine which social network APIs should be implemented. What Is the Best Testing Strategy?
How to Automate Your Social Activities Are you looking to simplify management of your social activities? If so, then Ifttt is for you. Don’t be put off by Ifttt’s crazy name. This is one handy tool that you should definitely know about. Ifttt stands for “If this, then that,” which is a very basic way of explaining the site’s whole premise. With very little effort on your part, Ifttt will connect your online accounts and services to create triggered events. Ifttt lets us common people work with scary Internet codes like APIs without ever knowing it. So for example, you might set an RSS feed of local news to trigger an event any time your hometown is mentioned. Each recipe can be searched, shared and used by anyone on Ifttt. Personally, I believe Ifttt is incredibly useful if you use it right. Here are some examples of how Ifttt does do the drudgework for you and saves you time and energy. Share Everywhere If you manage multiple social media accounts, you’ll appreciate the ease of linking them together. Manage Social Media
5 Social Media Tips for Finding and Engaging Your Target Audience: New Research Do you know where your customers and prospects spend time online? Marketers have long relied on market research to determine where to spend their advertising dollars on television, radio and print advertisements. In the last few years, research organizations have begun providing intelligence on how consumers behave on social networks. The following article is based on new social media research studies. These findings will help you better strategize your company’s social efforts to match your customers’ behaviors. #1: Know Where Your Customers Spend Their Time Three recent research studies show active Internet users spend anywhere from 16% to nearly 25% of their online time on social networks. In comScore’s 2012 U.S. If trends continue, social networks will soon surpass Internet portals like AOL and Yahoo! Nielsen recently released the State of the Media: U.S. Note the significant differences between this Nielsen study and comScore's. PQ Media found the average U.S. Key Lesson: Case Study