5 Tips for Making Your Brand More Social
What message does your brand convey to socially engaged customers?
As we enter the golden age of social media, companies can no longer afford the luxury of tightly scripted, top-down messaging (e.g., “We’re the best! Take our word for it.”).
Nor can a company simply opt out and remain silent (as epitomized in Northwestern Mutual’s “The Quiet Company” ad campaign of years past).
As social media channels have increased, so has the need to communicate effortlessly and simultaneously. Just as presidential candidates now face the constant scrutiny of a 24-hour news cycle, companies are being called on to respond in real time across multiple media platforms. This is not a time for hesitation.
To market effectively, companies need a consistent, compelling brand voice—one that doesn’t pause, mumble or clam up. Here are five ways to share your message comfortably and confidently. 
9 Reasons Your Company Should Use Brand Advocates: New Research
What would you say if you could add 5, 10, 100 or 1000 marketing reps to your team? For free?
What if these marketing reps would freely write about your brand and tell their friends and all they expect in return is recognition and access to insider information?
Who are these free marketers? Brand advocates. BzzAgent has recently released a new research study giving us the skinny on the habitat, behaviors and motivations behind brand advocates.
Who are brand advocates and what motivates them?
This careful study identifies many attributes of brand advocates. I’d like to discuss nine of them that will help you think through how to effectively engage advocates for your business.
Most Marketers Clueless About Social Media Conversations
Alterian’s 8th annual survey of marketers examined the changes affecting marketing professionals today. The results below show a developing shift—one that’s moving away from the typical broadcasting we’ve seen in social media’s early days and moving more toward higher engagement.
According to the survey, marketers admit to struggling with customer engagement on multiple channels. This makes sense as many marketers are just beginning to experiment with more engagement efforts, one channel at a time.
In the near future, we’ll begin to see this single channel engagement morph into a more synergistic engagement effort over multiple channels. As we’ve seen with other social media trends, these shifts take time.
26 Ways to Use Social Media for Lead Generation
Is your business looking for leads?
As enticing as the saying is, “If you build it, they will come,” we all know that just because we build a social media presence, people don’t magically start knocking down our door.
Instead, we need to encourage people to come to our social pages and once they’re there, we have to create enough value for them to hang around. And through these repeated exchanges, casual users can become regular visitors as well as valuable leads.
In previous posts, I’ve written A-Z guides to help create the absolute best presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs. Now let’s turn our attention to harnessing the power of those efforts for lead generation.
How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business
What are QR codes and how can they help your business? Keep reading to find out.
Quick Response codes (QR codes) and other two-dimensional codes are expected to achieve widespread use this year – and for good reason. Consumers want immediate access to what’s relevant and QR codes are being used to make that possible.
QR Codes 101
If you’re not yet familiar with QR codes, they’re similar to the barcodes used by retailers to track inventory and price products at the point of sale. The key difference between the two is the amount of data they can hold or share.
10 Top Business Blogs and Why They Are Successful
Does your business have a blog? Are you looking to generate engaging comments and new daily visitors? If so, look no further.
This article showcases 10 top blogs in multiple markets. Follow their lead to take your blog from good to great. And if you don’t have a business blog yet, now’s the perfect time to get in the game!
Each of these successful blog examples has incorporated unique features that have attracted thousands of readers. The great news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel—just model the best. Take a look at these thriving blogs and apply the same success strategies to your own blog.
Does Your Brand Pass the Mirror Test?
In this video I interview Jeff Hayzlett, former CMO of Kodak and author of The Mirror Test. Jeff explains what the mirror test is and how this can help you establish your brand online.
You’ll also learn about the hot concept of the 118 rule and how to create the digital version of your elevator pitch.
Be sure to check out the takeaways below after you watch the video.
Cold Stone Transforms the Ice Cream Social With Facebook
Ice cream has always been social. But Cold Stone Creamery has found a way to make it even more so—with Facebook.
The American ice cream retailer, known for pounding and slapping customized creations on a “cold stone,” has long been a favorite of ice cream lovers – enthusiasm that has helped churn out 1,459 locations in the U.S. and 16 countries.
Study Reveals Why Consumers Fan Facebook Pages
Have you ever wondered why people decide to become fans of Facebook pages? Understanding the reasons people become fans can help your business or brand develop better strategies.
In this article, I take a look at two studies.
The first reveals why consumers fan businesses on Facebook. The second one examines how marketers are keeping up with the ever-changing world of social media.
How to Build Your Facebook Fan Base by Creating Experiences
It’s obvious that Facebook pages are quickly becoming an essential part of most businesses’ marketing strategies. But how can you find ways to differentiate yourself from the competition?
In this article, I’ll take a look at how brands are standing apart from the crowd on Facebook. And how you can employ some low-cost techniques to grow your fans.
