14 Best Practices for Long-Term Social Media Success

The key to zooming in on purpose and usefulness within social channels starts with the realization that there is no one audience. Nor is there a sustainable market for branded messages, marketing campaigns, or “Tweet/Like to Win” contests. Indeed, every channel created to represent the brand must carry a purpose, mission and corresponding value. One of the most common questions I’m asked by businesses of all shapes and sizes is, “What is the right number of accounts we should have in each social network?” Or, “How many profiles is too many or too few?”

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4 Ways Behavioral Targeting Is Changing the Web

We’ve already seen signs of it — targeted ads on Facebook, suggested people to follow on Twitter, even Google Instant seems to know what you’re thinking — but how is behavioral targeting changing the Internet at large?
Here’s how behavioral targeting works: Targeting companies establish an agreement with a publisher, who puts a piece of code on his website. (That publisher must have a clearly stated policy for the consumer to opt out from having data collected.) Then, when you’re browsing the web, the site will put a cookie on your browser, which populates as you surf. (Though one interviewee, ContextWeb, targets based on content and not cookies.)
Now that your browser has a cookie, the targeting begins.

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Viral Marketing: Creating Content That “Pops” On Social Media

Viral. It’s been been the goal of marketers and website owners since the days of “RE:FW:FW:RE:You gotta watch this” emails, which made videos and images spread across the globe. Today, email is the last place to try to “go viral,” but there are plenty of new venues in social media that do the trick in a more controllable manner than ever before.

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Don't Measure Facebook, Social Media by Click-throughs

Critics still propagate the myth that Facebook display ads offer no return on investment. A study from research firm Webtrends last month found that Facebook's click-through rate declined to 0.051% in 2010, about half the industry average and down from 0.063% in 2009. This means that just one out every 2,000 ads is clicked, even though Facebook's CPM actually increased during that period.

But the study doesn't tell the whole story. It fails to differentiate between targeted and untargeted ads on the social network, and that is a huge distinction.

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5 Marketing Jobs Worth Paying For

Imagine a really nice wedding cake. Are you imagining it? Good. Now imagine how that cake would turn out if you tried to recreate it in your own kitchen.

You should be envisioning a finished product that, depending on your baking abilities, ranges somewhere from a total wreck to a cake that you could eat but wouldn’t enter into a professional cake contest.

That’s because you (presumably) aren’t a cake specialist. Pastry chefs are trained professionals who have the knowledge and tools at their disposal to create the best possible product — one that you’re willing to pay for and one that you’ll be proud of showing off.

Now, if you’ve started your own company, chances are you’re the type of person who is willing to roll up your sleeves and get things done yourself. But there are some areas of marketing in which the experience of a professional — administered at the right moment — can really make the difference between a polished, awesome product and a complete mess.

Here are five types of marketing professionals your startup should consider hiring.

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Most Effective Facebook Wall Posts: Short and After Hours 04/06/2011

If Facebook brand pages have become a key part of online marketing efforts for many companies, then Wall posts play a crucial role in attracting and engaging fans on those pages. With that in mind, Facebook marketing specialist Buddy Media undertook a study to determine a set of best practices for posting on Facebook brand pages.

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How To Measure Facebook Page Engagement

Are you trying to figure out how much your fans really like you or your brand? This guide outlines a few things you should never miss when monitoring your Facebook page performance.
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G 9:14 PM  2 comments

6 Smart and Effective Email Marketing Tactics

Although consumers’ communication habits have evolved with the rising popularity of social media and smartphones, brands are still turning to their dependable friend — email — to attract and retain customers and boost their bottom lines.

There’s no denying that email is showing signs of decline — the number of visitors to web-based email sites fell 6% in 2010 compared to the previous year, and email engagement declined at an even greater rate, according to a report from digital analysis company comScore.

In response to these changes, brands are quickly adapting by combining email, social media and even mobile marketing tactics.

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8 Ways to Improve Your Live Event With Social Media

Do you remember life before Evite, Facebook Events, and Eventbrite? Handwritten paper invitations and RSVP phone calls seem like relics of a forgotten age. The web has dramatically changed the way people plan special occasions. Social media is making it easier than ever before to plan, promote, and execute a wide range of events from industry conferences, client events and partner symposiums, to large social gatherings and charity events. What’s more, social media allows you to solicit feedback and extend the life of your event by inviting attendees to connect via online communities before and afterward.

Whether you just want to generate a bit of buzz or instead have specific goals to increase ticket sales and attract top speakers and attendees, social media can make the planning process smoother by leveraging digital word-of-mouth. Here are eight tips for best results.

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5 Ways To Converse With Fans On Facebook

Marketers make the most of Facebook when they remember it’s a two-way communication channel. Here are five ways to do engage fans in dialogues, culled from a white paper Buddy Media released over the weekend.

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How can social networks make money?

With social networks now big business, what can the companies do to turn free services into hard cash?

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5 Facebook Features To Jazz Up Your Marketing

Facebook users are extreme brand loyalists willing to endorse their favorite products amongst their friends. The social network boasts a broad membership, — over 600 million users – that you can reach with minimal monetary outlay. So, where else can you spread the word so quickly, run your own ad hoc focus group and collect product input from existing and potential customers?
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9 Digital Marketing Lessons From Top Social Brands

While there are hundreds of ways to calculate the ROI of social media, the general consensus is that Twitter and Facebook are worthwhile tools that can add a lot of value to your marketing campaign. Of course, the value of social media depends on how well you execute it.
Fortunately, a few big brands have already blazed trails in the digital marketing world. We spoke to social media and marketing experts at MTV, American Express, Xbox, NBA and AT&T to get the scoop on how they learned to hit the mark.

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3 Ways Companies Can Reach Generation Z

Generation Z is the most disruptive generation in modern history. Instead of waiting for ideas to filter through the generations that came before, Generation Z-ers are tastemakers — often before they’re out of elementary school. Social media has demolished all barriers to communicating about brands and products. If you can write, you can share, and Generation Z is all about sharing.
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Top 5 Innovative Ways PR Pros Are Using Social Media

Most PR professionals have now incorporated social media into their day-to-day activities, and many would say that they couldn’t live without it. But beyond the basics, such as following and engaging with key media, keeping tabs on competitors and sharing company news and perspectives, what are some of the more innovative ways that communications professionals can use social media in their daily jobs?

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How to Create Effective Facebook Wall Posts

Today, Buddy Media announced its latest research compiled by analyzing all Facebook Wall posts, “Likes” and comments from the Buddy Media Platform by more than 200 of their clients during the two week period between January 30, 2011 – February 12, 2011. The results were then analyzed and the resulting strategies are essential tips for brands to create effective Facebook Wall posts.

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