Courtesy of agilescout.com

#1: Social Media Has Matured

Social media is no longer some wishy-washy fad concept that will blow by at any minute. It’s matured into what is the most important marketing route forward for your business. Executives that are still dabbling in or ignoring social media are going to find themselves coming last in the marketing race, in a few years’ time.

Social media is not only here to stay, it’s taking over. Sideline it at your own great peril.

#2: Facebook is a Sound Investment

Facebook continues to grow like crazy, thanks to a very clever expansion and development plan from this idea team. Your Facebook business page is essential to the success of your social media strategy. Some experts are even saying that as much as 30% of your social spend should be limited to Facebook. It’s where your clients are!

Spend more time this year developing your Facebook page, and investing in advertising.

#3: Pinterest is Poised For Mass Traffic

You’ve heard about the new site Pinterest, but haven’t bothered to test it out for your business. Well here are some sobering stats for you – Pinterest drives more traffic than Twitter and Google+, and it attracts more interaction than anything on Facebook. In other words, it’s highly valuable to your overall social marketing strategy.

Executives who focus on Pinterest early, will be rewarded with huge traffic streams.

#4: Social Media is Going Mobile

If your business has yet to jump on the mobile bandwagon – do. All social media in the future will be accessible, perhaps even exclusively, by mobile. With devices out there that keep people on the go, it’s unwise to not get involved in the changing online attitude. Your websites need to be mobile. You need mobile apps and infrastructure.

Prepare for the mobile onslaught by investing in mobile technology early on.

#5: Be The Interaction You Want To See

If your pages are dead and lifeless – you’re not out there making friends and supporting other people’s social campaigns. If you want lots of fans, followers and engagement, then you need to be highly interactive yourself. No one is going to do it for you. Get your staff involved – start a sharing movement in your business.

These five crucial points will keep executives working in the right areas, while improving their overall business. Best of all – they’ll be steps ahead of their competition, because they had the vision to see the social future. Get your business involved in these points, if you want to have large scale success later on in the life of your business.

Is there something else executives should know about social media? List your tip here for our community to see!

Courtesy of techwench.com

#1: Tinyurl

The first of the URL shorteners and still one of the best, TinyURL provides a quality link shortening service for free. Best of all these links never break, and they never, ever expire. Once they’re done, they last forever. Pop it in your browser, use it.

#2: Bit.ly

A great tool to use if you need to track the links that you use on your social pages. Bit.ly is simple, clean and the tracking analytics are very useful for finding out which pages make the most impact in your campaigns.

#3: Adjix

Adjix is an underrated URL shortener that allows you to make money while going about your daily social activities online. Shrink your link, and add and advert that will display at the top of the page when the user clicks on your link.

#4: Snipurl

Snipurl lets you create short urls, manage them and track them all in one place. You can also integrate it into your browser, or application – which is very handy. The only problem with this link snipper, is that it has no 301 redirect.

#5: Goo.gl

Google’s link shortener is very fast and efficient, and could be a great addition to your Google toolbox. As expected, they also have a comprehensive tracking and analytics section – which gives you all kinds of useful info on the people that click your links.

#6: Moourl

Moourl is a basic url shortener to use if you’re in a hurry, and can’t be bothered about analytics and all that other tracking business. It’s also famous for being the cutest url shortening service on the internet.

#7: Tiny.cc

Tiny.cc is a mini link management system, and easy enough to use in seconds. Shrink urls, manage them, see a list of your most recent links and how they are performing on your social pages.

#8: A.gd

With A.gd you can protect your links with a password, which adds to site security if you’re exchanging sensitive information or sharing content on public pages. You can also track your urls, and find out their geo data and where they clicked your link.

#9: Ow.ly

Ow.ly is another service you might find useful, and you can use it to bookmark links that you’ve retweeted on Twitter. It’s also captch protected, to prevent spambots from making use of it. Great to use on Twitter and as a general link shrinking tool.

Each link shortening service comes with similar features. The best by far are still goo.gl and tinyurl. Though any one of these services will help your marketing goals. If you’re link building, Google is a safe bet. The company will probably never go under, so you don’t have to worry about your link network disappearing one day.

Which link shortener do you use and why? We’d love to know!

Here are today’s top 10 tips for sharing in the current social climate.

Courtesy of theonethingblog.com

#1: Use ShareThis Buttons

Though understated, ShareThis create social sharing buttons that tell your community how many other people have shared your content. This in turn motivates more sharing, and leads to more connectivity overall.

#2: Twitter Follow Button

The Twitter follow button opens up directly on the reader’s page, and doesn’t divert to Twitter. Sign ups are done faster and easier, which means more follows for you and your website.

#3: Google+ Share

If you still haven’t added a Google+ button to your blog or website, then do it now. Even though the platform isn’t doing so well now, it’s proven to be a great place for influencers to meet and chat.

#4: CommentLuv

CommentLuv is a plugin we use here on SMM, its great for giving your readers a chance to leave backlinks to posts they’ve written. It motivates people to comment, and helps share more information from your blog.

#5: Disqus

Disqus is a comment app that integrates with most blog platforms. The best part about it is, it notifies your commenters when they get replies, which stimulates repeat comments. It’s also free to use in its basic version.

#6: Facebook Subscribe

The Facebook subscribe button allows you to follow people who aren’t your friends. You can still read their updates though, which means you can gather more info from top news sources, personalities and competitors.

#7: Work At It

Sharing means you’ll be giving away a lot of content to others. This is a good thing. While you might spend months working hard to get others to share with you, it’s really your own habits you should be working on. When you begin to share, and care, about your networks – people will do the same for you. It’s how social sharing works.

#8: Face The Music

If you’re not on video yet, doing livecasting or face to face video updates for your fans – where are you? The next logical step in sharing is come out from behind the 2D photo, and become a full 3D person that talks and laughs with their viewers. The more info you share with video, the more traffic and return shares you’ll get back.

#9: Gravatar

A lot of sites are requesting small avatars to use, so that when you comment people can see who you are. That’s where Gravatar comes in. Upload your photo, create a mini profile, and you’ll never have to worry about a blank space again.

#10: AddThis

AddThis is a super powered bookmarking widget that you can use to get more sharing going, on your websites. It casts the net wide, so any one of your readers will be able to select their favorite platform when they are about to share your content.

How do you share content online? Share your story.

Courtesy of blogs.position2.com

Monitoring your niche is the fastest way to learn what works when trying to connect with your audiences. Here are 5 tools you’ll want to use, and how to use them effectively.

#1: Google Alerts

Google has given social marketers an excellent tool for staying in-the-know on all things news related. Google Alerts use tracked keywords to provide you with updated alerts on the latest news stories in your chosen niche. To use it properly, target between 5 or 10 keywords, set how often you’d like to be notified, how much content you’d like to receive and where it should be delivered (email or RSS).

Tip: The trick with Google Alerts is to use advanced search terms. Find them here.

#2: Social Mention

Social Mention is a great listening tool if you want a quick run-down of your brand’s strength, reach, passion and sentiment. While it’s not always 100% accurate, it gives you a nice overall idea of how your brand is performing on a variety of different social media. To use this tool, simply go to the Social Mention website, and type in your brand name. You can also type in personal names, blog names, product names, competitor names or anything else you’d like to monitor.

#3: TweetReach

TweetReach is excellent for tracking just how far a tweet went after you published it. This tool will help you keep your Twitter strategy on target. This tool has a free version that presents tweet types, exposures and impressions in graph form, but it’s advisable to use their paid plans if you can. This will give you in-depth reports on how your tweets behave once they are published. Just sign up and add your keywords.

#4: Addict-o-matic

Another easy to use tool for finding out what’s being said about your brand, or about any brand for that matter. Addict-o-matic pulls in data from a number of other tracking sites and displays them in a convenient way. Its real-time monitoring at its best, but it’s only effective for general impressions. No sign up necessary, simply punch in the keywords, brands and names you want to monitor.

#5: Co.mments

Co.mments is useful if you find yourself needing to track your comments as opposed to your blog posts. When a blog takes off, negative comments can be a killer. To use this monitoring tool sign up for a free account, add your book marklet and you’re away. Now whenever someone posts something negative about you on a blog – you’ll be there in a flash.

Use these 5 social monitoring tools to track natural conversations that are happening about your brand all over the internet.

Do you have a favorite monitoring tool? Tell us about it below and we’ll check it out!

Here are 10 ways you can ensure that your business is being as social as it can be. Even a few of these will improve your social profile online.

Courtesy of communifire.com

#1: Create Videos

Video marketing is an understated social tool – but it has incredibly high impact results. Build your business a Youtube channel and contribute videos to it. The key is to focus on getting subscribers, views and keeping your comment threads active.

#2: Facebook App

Get a Facebook app created for your business. When your fans can interact with you in new and exciting ways, it definitely makes your business more social, approachable and fun! Plus you’ll earn more from your Facebook campaigns.

#3: Build an Email List

Email is still a great social tool, and an excellent way to really get to know your readers. Invest in a great opt-in page, sign up form and incentive – and grow your email list. Keep in contact with your list at least once a month.

#4: LinkedIn Newsletter

Instead of syndicating an email newsletter, create a LinkedIn group and use it as a way to distribute newsletters to fans. The benefits are immediate – real-time interaction, questions, new connections and whole lot more social buzz.

#5: Twitter Starter

Spend some time on Twitter starting conversations with people interested in your niche. Make a point of answering any questions they have, and go out of your way to help. Doing this will get you on more lists, and will enhance your social profile.

#6: Image Feed

Sign up on an image sharing site like Flickr, and share your business images, infographics or photos all around the net. Join in on conversations about your niche in the comment feed and let people use your images for free.

#7: Get Staff Involved

If your staff aren’t allowed to use your social media pages, it’s time to change that. If your own staff can’t even say nice things about your business, how will your fans? Draft a social media policy and let them loose. Free PR for you!

#8: Print Social Media

Being more social is also about letting people know that you are, so advertise that you have a social presence online. Display icons in your office, on business cards, in emails, in adverts – everywhere you can. Great for a social boost.

#9: Friend Your Competition

This one is hard, but it proves that you’re ready to embrace social media completely. Become friends with your direct competition – real friends, and share information with them. Being social means putting aside your differences.

#10: Comment Explosion

Tired of managing your social media pages? Stop for awhile. Focus on commenting on everyone else’s pages. Comment on Facebook updates, Twitter updates, blogs, reviews, articles, videos, slideshare presentations, image galleries, LinkedIn groups – just keep talking.

Use these great tips to become a more social business online!

How do you stay social on the internet? We’d love to hear more about the strategies you have to get social and stay that way!

Courtesy of Hetemeel.com

But how? How do you measure things like community, interaction and likeability? The truth is you can’t, not until you’ve actually tried, failed and tried again until you get it right.

But you can measure the costs involved, and the time it will take you to make these elusive concepts a reality. Once your sales start to increase, you know you’re doing something right. No one wants to mess around with social media, spend thousands of dollars on it, and then get almost no returns. It happens, if you don’t figure out how to properly assess the social media ROI you want for your business.

Be Realistic and Define Success

Success happens when you achieve your marketing goals. The key to social media success, is to start small – and be realistic about these predefined goals. Examine your market, and study similar businesses that have used various social marketing tactics to earn money, exposure, or to grow a larger community.

Take into account that your business is small, and has a limited budget. If all you can afford is a time investment, that’s good enough for now. We can’t overemphasize the importance of trial and error when using social media. Remember that just because a specific campaign or method worked for one company, doesn’t mean it will work for you. It’s a guessing game. Begin by employing small social marketing tests.

Set an easy-to-achieve success level. Then use this data to plan larger, more successful campaigns based on this model. If it all becomes a little too murky, and you begin to lose sight of the ROI for all of your hard work – set financial goals. These are difficult to achieve in the beginning, but they are easier to measure.

The Measurable Goals Defined

There are a few other features of social media marketing that you can measure. Traffic for example, the growth in your communities on a specific platform, and an improvement in brand recognition. You’ll have to use various analytics programs to help you measure these, but any upsurge or clime is a positive one.

If these features improve, then you’re doing something right. If your brand exposure and community grows along with your traffic and sales – you’ve been successful. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out the different levels of success. As a small business, it’s easy to get discouraged by a Youtube video promotion that only gets 2000 views, and not 2 million. Keep your business in context.

You aren’t a Fortune 500 company that can throw millions into a Youtube ad – so your 2000 views is a good thing. In fact, it’s 2000 more people that have seen your brand. That’s success! Stay open-minded and learn from your mistakes. Social media marketing is not an exact art – and frustrating as that may be, it can also be exhilarating when you strike gold with something that works.

Just be sure when that happens – that you can retrace your steps. Continue raising the bar, and progress at a speed that suits your individual business needs.

How do you determine how much money you spend on your social media campaigns? We’d like to know!

HootSuite

HootSuite has evolved from purely a Twitter management tool, to one that encompasses other social networking sites like Facebook, Ping.fm, and LinkedIn.  Schedule updates, track metrics, and see what others are saying about your brand all from the web.

TweetDeck

A desktop application, TweetDeck offers the user management over four of the big sites – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace – plus others as well.  Send out updates, and post photos, videos, and more.

Ping.fm

A web-based service, Ping.fm brings you the ability to post to a whole slew of different social sites all from one location.  They now offer some measurement tools as well, such as link visits, referrals, unique visits, etc.

SocialOomph

Formerly known as TweetLater, SocialOomph changed to their present name when the decided to broaden their scope beyond Twitter.  They offer the ability to schedule tweets, track predetermined keywords, vet your followers, manage multiple accounts, and more.

What tools are you using to monitor and simplify your conversations and updates?

HootSuite

HootSuite has evolved from purely a Twitter management tool, to one that encompasses other social networking sites like Facebook, Ping.fm, and LinkedIn.  Schedule updates, track metrics, and see what others are saying about your brand.

Buzzmetrics

Part of the Nielsen family, Buzzmetrics will not only measure and track the health of your reputation, it will also provide analyst reports covering why and how you are winning and retaining, or losing customers, helping you to measure success.

Trackur

Trackur is a social media monitoring tool that focuses on reputation management.  Select keywords of interest to you and Trackur goes to work scanning pages across the internet for information containing those words.  Track trends, monitor your influence, and more.

Omniture

Ominture offers a whole range of products and services geared towards measuring and optimizing your online presence.

Got a great tool you’re a fan of?  Let us know about it!