Mediaboss Marketing

This article is written by a member of our expert contributor community.

Our training firm, Social Media Marketing University, recently did a survey of entrepreneurs, executives, marketing pros, and social media practitioners, and discovered this fact: 65% of those executing social media campaigns were self-taught.

What makes social media so tempting as a marketing tool for businesses is the fact that, unless you opt for paid advertising on these sites, using them is absolutely free. However, that temptation can also be a trap. Because social media can seem so easy to use, it's also easy to misuse--in ways that can backfire on your business.

Expertise matters a great deal when you're performing any business task, and social media is no exception. Trying to feel your way through a social media campaign can potentially create a disconnect between you and your target audience.

A recent Intuit survey shows a marked contrast between what companies believe attracts consumers and what those consumers think. Most small business owners (51%) feel that wall posts are the best way to engage potential leads, while only 18% of those potential leads agree. 37%, however, say that special offers and/or discounts are what really grab their attention.

Being an amateur in any arena causes you to make mistakes you shouldn't. In social media, that problem is magnified by the fact that you're making your miscues in front of the whole world. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is becoming more sophisticated about Facebook, LinkedIn, and the like--and that group probably includes your competition.

So, the next time you think about updating your status, up your marketing game as well--and consider the following three important points:

1. Creating an effective social media overall strategy is crucial.

Here's a frightening fact (at least to a business)--two-thirds of everyone who uses social media has never, ever "followed" a brand. That indicates that companies are not giving consumers compelling reasons to be "fans" on social media sites. If you don't have a real social media plan, you won't have a consistent and engaging presence that achieves your business goals.

The rest is here:
For Social Media Marketing, Go Pro Or Go Home

18-06-2012 21:22 2012 Cause Marketing Forum Conference - An Interview with Sheri Turnbow, Director of Partner Marketing of World Wildlife Fund (3BL Media) Sheri Turnbow, Director of Partner Marketing of World Wildlife Fund sat down for an interview at the 2012 Cause Marketing Forum Conference, which took place May 30th and 31st in Chicago, IL. The annual Cause Marketing Forum is the must-attend conference of the year focusing solely on this increasingly important marketing approach and subset of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Appropriate for both novice and seasoned cause marketers, the annual Cause Marketing Forum covers a wide range of topics featuring expert cause marketing speakers and discussion group leaders. More than 500 attendees gained insight from marketing and corporate social responsibility professionals from Zynga, Procter & Gamble, Campbell's Soup Company, Whirlpool, ANN Inc., Yum! Brands, The Coca-Cola Company, AOL/Huffington Post Media Group and other companies. Nonprofit speakers included representatives from US Fund for UNICEF, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, KaBOOM!, ACCION, World Wildlife Fund, DoSomething.org, March of Dimes, Adopt a Clasroom and others. Cause Marketing Forum, Inc., producer of the Cause Marketing Forum conference and Cause Marketing Halo Awards, helps business and nonprofit executives succeed together by providing access to practical information and inspiration, opportunities to build valuable relationships and recognition for ...

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An Interview with Sheri Turnbow, Director of Partner Marketing of World Wildlife Fund - Video

SAN FRANCISCO, June 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Meltwater Group, one of the world's leading social media management and news monitoring companies, today announced the immediate availability of Meltwater Buzz Connect, a new module that integrates seamlessly into the Meltwater Buzz Social Suite. Connect is a feature-rich Facebook publishing platform that allows businesses and agencies to quickly and easily create and maintain highly customized Tabs for their Facebook Pages.

Game-changing solution Connect will allow brands to rapidly set up content-rich Tabs to run promotions and surveys, serve live content from their other social sources, and create tailored landing pages for their campaigns and audiences. These are proven to help drive traffic, improve stickiness and repeat visits, enhance customer engagement, and quickly increase 'Likes' -- all critical success criteria for businesses wishing to improve and maintain competitive advantage. Facebook's recent changes to brand Pages have driven increased focus by organizations to create tailored experiences using Facebook Tabs. The platform provides a wizard that guides users through a sleek and simple three-step process that enables a one-click selection and integration of content to attract and engage social audiences.

Connect's live previews enable users to see updates to their Tab's active content as they're editing -- a key differentiator that increases productivity and reduces user frustration. By focusing on ease of use and the ability to tailor and publish Tabs quickly, Connect helps companies develop greater interactive, personal and trusted relationships with customers.

"More companies are focusing resources on Facebook to capitalize on consumers who are increasingly open to social marketing programs from their trusted brands. Meltwater Buzz Connect is an exciting addition to our expanding social media suite of solutions that will help brands provide a far better customer experience on the world's most popular social network," said Niklas de Besche, Executive Director, Meltwater Buzz, "We now provide companies with the ability to attract and engage customers on their preferred social channel and turn a Facebook 'Like' into something more meaningful and valuable. The introduction of the Connect module has expanded Meltwater Buzz into a powerful suite of products that addresses the needs of brands and agencies that desire to see measurable ROI from their social activities."

Whether working with developers or agencies to create Facebook Tabs or doing so independently, the simplicity and ease of development offered by Connect, makes it possible for brands to develop and maintain pages themselves, resulting in significant cost savings. Meltwater Buzz Connect enables brands to offer their customers the best possible Facebook experience and bring their Tabs to life.

The introduction of the Connect module marks the next step in the evolution and growth of the Meltwater Buzz product. The product suite has evolved to meet the expanding opportunity in the social space, and Connect's capabilities allow brands and agencies to ignite customer engagement through tailored and agile content publishing.

Meltwater Buzz Connect's features include:

The Connect Module is available as a stand-alone product or as a fully-integrated module within the Meltwater Buzz Suite. Meltwater Engage Module users can seamlessly add Connect's functionality to their existing licenses.

Meltwater is a $100+ million company delivering online news and social media monitoring and search engine marketing solutions. The company entered the Social CRM space last year with the release of Meltwater Buzz Engage. Meltwater's acquisitions in the social space include blog search leader, IceRocket in August 2011, Social CRM company, JitterJam in March 2011, and BuzzGain in February 2010. To meet its goal of generating $100 million a year in social solutions alone, Meltwater intends to acquire additional businesses and technologies to help the company further expand its product suite.

About The Meltwater Group The Meltwater Group is a privately held software company founded in Norway in 2001, serving more than 20,000 clients through 57 offices located across North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. Meltwater is committed to providing digital intelligence and marketing solutions, and provides dedicated, personal support and consultation through a global Client Relations infrastructure to help customers navigate the online maze and maximize their e-spend. For more information, please visit: http://www.meltwater.com.

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Meltwater Adds Facebook Marketing Platform, Meltwater Buzz Connect, to Comprehensive Social Suite

"VerticalResponse Social makes it easier than ever for small businesses to share content across email and social media and also engage with their customers, because now they can do it all from the integrated dashboard," said VerticalResponse CEO Janine Popick. "They can choose curated content from our automatic feeds or their own content, then create and schedule a campaign that's spread through both email and social media to amplify their message. They also can manage social conversations and deepen their engagement with their customers."

Using VerticalResponse Social brands can:

Create, schedule and publish social media content across social channels for up to 30 days Share content across channels Direct content feeds to share with social communities View, respond and track comments, replies, etc. from social media

One example from VerticalResponse - a restaurant owner could schedule social media posts highlighting a limited-time menu, launch an email campaign for that menu and promote the menu from the VerticalResponse dash. Once launched, the business would receive reports and metrics about the campaign in the same dashboard, making it simpler to update and tweak campaigns on the fly.

The platform is free for the first 30 days, giving SMBs a window to try the suite and determine if it will work for them.

Tags: social ads, social marketing, social marketing tools, social media, social networks, VerticalResponse

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VerticalResponse unveils social toolset

18-06-2012 16:04

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Panel: Social Marketing - Video