14 Social Media Tools Used by Marketing Pros Are you looking for social media tools to get more out of your marketing? Are you wondering what tools marketing pros are using successfully? We asked fourteen well-known marketers to share the latest social media tools they’ve been using. Discover how you can use these tools to help you to get more out of your social media marketing. #1: Mention Todd Wheatland Mention was developed as a user-friendly replacement for Google Alerts. As well as being an absolute joy to use, it captures so many more, ahem, ‘mentions’ online than any other platform I’ve used that it’s become my #1 go-to social mention reference tool. There are many clever things behind the way Mention is set up. Mention provides clean and simple functionality. Apart from doing a fantastic job of identifying online mentions, some of my favorite features are: You can see how many online mentions you have in the left-hand column. Todd Wheatland, head of thought leadership at Kelly Services. #2: Addvocate Jay Baer #3: Swayy Jamie Turner 1.
The Ultimate Guide to Content Planning A transition is in effect. The web is maturing and like any form of media that has gone before it that can mean only one thing: That content is now at the epicentre of audience creation once again. The introduction of Penguin, as we know, is forcing every online business to re-examine how it ‘does’ online marketing and begin looking for ways to grow reputation, reach and visibility via content rather than the link building practices of old. As Google turns up the algo to promote great content and social gives us all access to the social graph and the network effect it offers there has never been a better time to get your content game in shape and pull together a killer strategy for your brand. I recently wrote a piece for another digital marketing site that goes into a little more detail around why content is coming to the fore and so for extra context it is certainly worth a read. How to Plan Stage one of any great content strategy is the plan. Understand your Brand Understand your Audience
The Top Social Networking Sites Social networking websites have been around since the mid-90's, but in recent years, social networking has exploded across the web. The Web 2.0 initiative has made modern social networking sites increasingly popular and easier to use than the initial wave of sites that launched in the 90's. Last year, Facebook surged past MySpace to become the most popular social network. The top social networking websites is divided into three categories: General purpose, special interest social networks with a specific theme, and international sites. A Guide to Social Networks Top Social Networking Sites - General Interest Facebook: Founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook was designed as a social networking site for Harvard students. More social networking sites of general interest Top Social Networking Sites - Special Interest Flixster: With a tagline of "stop watching bad movies," Flixster combines social networking with movie reviews. More special interest social networking sites
30 Essential SEO Resources for Beginners by Gregory Ciotti For many bloggers, SEO seems like some kind of black magic that only super technical people can ever get the hang of. I’ll admit, starting out with SEO can be very intimidating. The massive amounts of information (and misinformation) is enough to send any blogger into a state I like to call “information paralysis”, where they are unable to act. I’d like to alleviate some of that today. Below I’ve outlined some of the most essential and trusted SEO resources, from blogs, to tools, to guides, to forums and conferences: it’s all here. Dive in below, and don’t let the fear of learning something new stop you from utilizing this great inbound marketing aspect. It’s always good practice to keep updated on the world of SEO with the top SEO blogs. Below I’ve outlined a few of my personal favorites, covering search engine news, tips, and algorithm changes. Blogs can be an incredible source of information. These complete guides offer a more thorough offering on learning SEO.
Startup Tools Startup Tools 1. Startup Tools Click Here 2. Lean LaunchPad Videos Click Here 3. 4. 5. 6. Startup Tools Getting Started Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything – Harvard Business ReviewThe Lean LaunchPad Online Class – FREEHow to Build a Web Startup – Lean Launchpad EditionHow to Create a $1M Web Business – Noah KaganWeb Fundamentals – Google developersQuickMVP – test your ideasFoundersSuite – Startup Mgmt SoftwareThe U.S. Lists of Tools from Others Groups Startup Weekend – Launch a Startup in 54 hoursThe Lean Startup Machine – Launch a Startup in 48 hoursStartup Monthly – Launch a Startup in a monthStartup Grind – community looking to be educated, and network with the smartest startup mindsLean Startup Circle – Google Group for startup adviceWomen 2.0 – Launch a startup for womenMeetup – Meet people you’re interested inTop Startup Conferences (North America) Find a Co-Founder Developer Bootcamps Programing Bootcamp Finder – Thinkful “How Big is the Market?” “How Do I Contact Customers?” Surveys
The Guide to Developing a Content Strategy for "Boring" Industries The author's posts are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz. There have been multiple articles that have discussed the value and opportunities that content marketing brings to SEO - from organically building external links and ranking for more long tail keywords, to establishing a community and building brand awareness. As the SEO industry slowly moves away from manual linkbuilding and adapts a more long-term and forward-thinking approach (whether it be forced as a result of recent aggressive Google algorithm updates or because as an industry, we're starting to seek a sustainable methodology to establish authority), the challenge is in figuring out how to set up a proper framework that would help our community develop a content strategy for all websites. Image courtesy of SEOmoz Image courtesy of Distilled Step 1: Asking the Right Questions (Learning About the Industry) How do tire shoppers use the Internet?
12 Social Media Tools Recommended by the Pros Are you struggling to make social media work for your business? Sometimes a few well-chosen tools are all you need to get your social media marketing working for you. In our recent Social Media Success Summit, there were presentations that covered all the key topics you need to make your social media marketing easy. In this article, I’ll share 12 of those tools that were recommended by the pros. Tools to Refine Your Visibility and Engagement Here are three tools recommended by Mari Smith during her first presentation on increasing your visibility and engagement on Facebook. #1: Socialbakers Get useful stats from Socialbakers. Check out the useful marketing data on Socialbakers. #2: Kurrently Find out what’s being shared on social media with Kurrently, a free, easy-to-use, real-time search engine for results from Twitter and Facebook. You can search through Facebook or Twitter or both. #3: Blekko Select the sites you want to search with Blekko. Tools to Measure Specific Social Media Goals
SEO Was Yesterday. 500 Startups’ PostRocket Fires Up $610K For Facebook News Feed Optimization Businesses struggle to come up with what to post to their Facebook Page each day, and making those posts actually get seen is a difficult as the dark arts. That’s why PostRocket has raised $610,000 to help businesses blow up on Facebook thanks to news feed optimization. PostRocket analyzes your Facebook Page, and provides recommendations for when and what to post. The 500 Startups Fall 2011/Winter 2012 company pulled in the syndicate seed round from Polaris Ventures, 500 Startups, and several angels. PostRocket’s CEO Tim Chae is actually the youngest founder ever funded by Dave McClure’s accelerator. The money will build out the team, content recommendation tech, and marketing, and hopefully get it out of private beta. PostRocket’s team was originally managing the Facebook presence for multi-platinum selling musician Pitbull. Eventually the Boston-based co-founders dropped out of Babson College, drove across the country in 42 hours, and joined 500 Startups.
Readability-Score.com - Free Online Readability Calculator - Flesch Kincaid, Gunning Fog and more ... What are 10 Addictive Types of Content? Are you having problems driving traffic to your blog? Are you finding that no one is retweeting your content or sharing it on Facebook? When starting a blog the challenge for any blogger is providing content that will entice and delight your readers. You want them looking forward to your next article. Developing an antenna for creative ideas for content is a skill that can be developed. What I have found effective is to take notes when reading a book or after a meeting when customers provide insights into their business dilemmas. Everyone has Problems One thing to keep in mind is that every business or reader has day to day challenges and problems that they want help solving. Ideally you want your blog to become the industry resource or Bible that becomes the “Go To Portal” for your subscribers. Social Proof is Vital Do you have clients saying to you “What are some of your customers finding what works for them?” 10 Addictive Content Types 1. Example: 2. Example 90 Tips to Make Your Blog Rock 3.
Kurrently - A real-time search engine for Facebook and Twitter. 10 Old SEO Methods You Need to Stop I'm proud to say that I've never been responsible for a site that has been punished by any of the Google Panda/Penguin updates. I've seen my fair share of Google fallout though, usually brought forth by someone after they've seen their traffic tank. They don't know what happened, why, or much less how to fix it. Truth be told, I'm surprised by how often I've been presented with this scenario. Every single time it's boiled down to using bad SEO or outdated SEO tactics that they consider tried and true but are no longer valid. As Mark Jackson stated in "7 Habits of Highly Effective SEO": While we must be aware, and understand, things like Google Panda/Penguin and other major changes in the algorithms, if we focus on doing “good marketing”, all other things should fall in line, and major algorithm changes shouldn’t be a concern. And that's the crux of the issue: Here are 10 old SEO methods that I've seen come across my desk in the past two weeks and how you can do better. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.