9 Reasons Why Your Content Is Not Shared on Social Networks: New Research
Do you wonder how to get your content seen amidst a sea of information?
What if you could understand why your audience shares some information and not other? That would make your content stand out from the competition.
The Science of Sharing
30 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook each month, including blog posts, links, news stories and photo albums.
HubSpot’s Dan Zarrella has found that three things must happen to get your content shared.
First, people must be exposed to your content (be a fan on Facebook or follow you on Twitter). Second, they must be aware of your content (meaning they actually see it). Finally, they must be motivated by something in your content to share it.
Many articles have been written on how to increase your audience size and make people aware of your content, including these by Mari Smith and Denise Wakeman. This article will focus on the motivations for sharing. 
How to Use Blog Commenting as a Networking Superweapon
When it comes to driving awareness through social media channels, most marketers think about using tools like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube videos to reach key audiences.
But very few think of leaving a comment on a blog as a strategy to driving awareness—and potentially, down the road, garnering leads.
Wait, how can leaving a comment on a blog drive awareness (or leads) for your brand? You might be surprised at how effective this strategy can be, given the right circumstances. B2B organizations, for example, are often positioned well to capitalize on this approach based on their need to establish themselves as thought leaders on various topics.
But, before we get to the “how,” let’s talk a bit more about the “why.”
The 5 Pillars of Business Blogging Success
Are you looking for practical tips for blogging success? Are you wondering what to avoid? While my position is generally that there are no “rules” in blogging, there are best practices that will help your business blog succeed.
There are a lot of obvious elements you need to include to make a blog reader-friendly: quality, compelling content, good navigation, a contact page, an about page, focus and clarity about the subject of the blog… and there’s a lot of not-so-obvious or overlooked things that can really help make a blog stand out if they’re implemented.
While I do have my own list of do’s and don’ts included, I decided to get input from other smart, savvy bloggers. I posted a request on LinkedIn Answers and received many great do’s and don’ts. I’ve grouped the tips into five categories: Planning, Content, Design, Marketing and Engagement.
How to Develop a Social Media Content Strategy
Do you have a social media strategy? Does it involve content? Should it?
The other day I drove past a local convenience store that makes most of its profit from beer, Slush Puppies and beef jerky (not that there’s anything wrong with that). A big sign out front asked passers-by to Like them on Facebook.
“It’s official,” I thought. “Now every business in America has a Facebook page.”
Unfortunately, few businesses actually have a strategy for their Facebook page, or for the rest of their social media activity. They tweet, blog and set up a Facebook business page out of fear of being left behind, rather than as a way to engage their audience.
5 Ways to Effectively Manage Your Online Reputation
Are you a Sketchy Sam or a Likeable Laura? When it comes down to doing business with someone, there’s no doubt that reputation is a major factor in making a decision.
After all, would YOU do business (knowingly) with a sketchy person?
But with the rise of social media comes new challenges for businesses of all shapes and sizes, especially when it comes to reputation: Who knows you and what do they know you for?
Are you helpful? Are you a great person to do business with? Are you a trusted resource or a product pusher?
More importantly, in the transparent business world we now live in, are you AWARE of your reputation… and are you doing something about it?
5 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Outstanding
Are your blog posts just “okay”? Want to make them great? If so, keep reading.
A great blog post respects the needs of three distinct entities. It educates and informs your audience (your subscribers and visitors), optimizes for the search engines and sufficiently energizes you so that you do a good job creating it.
Every blog post should address the following five components to ensure it hits the mark for your audience, the search engines and you.
Event Promises 16 Ways to Master Facebook Marketing
When Michael Stelzner started using social media to market his business, he focused exclusively on Twitter. “My first attempt at using Facebook for business was a big flop. I was pretty convinced I could just use Twitter for business.”
Stelzner is a well-known white paper writer, author of the book Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged and founder of Social Media Examiner.
But he literally had to be dragged kicking and screaming onto Facebook.
How to Succeed With Social Media: A Brian Solis Interview
I recently interviewed Brian Solis, author of the new book, Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web. He is also coauthor of the book, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.
During this interview, you’ll gain some great social media insight, discover some key mistakes businesses make, and learn which corporations are excelling with social media.
Mike: In your book, you made the following statement: “We are forever students of new media. We should never strive to master something that evolves much faster than our ability to grasp its lessons.”
Can you elaborate on what you meant?
4 Ways to Measure Social Media and Its Impact on Your Brand
Do you know how social media is helping your business? Want to find out how Twitter, Facebook and other sites are impacting your brand awareness?
The good news is social media has finally made it to the grand stage of “accountability.” A place where there are lots of people who want to measure it. The bad news is there isn’t a single clear-cut answer.
However, with a few simple steps, you can build a measurement strategy that accomplishes your goals.
Defining Terms
To start, let’s agree that brand awareness is a measure of how recognizable your brand is to your target audience. For those looking to get ahead of the curve on social media measurement, the first step is to align your social media metrics with metrics your company is already comfortable with.
7 Ways to Use Psychological Influence With Social Media Content
One of the hallmarks of social media is content: creating it, sharing it and engaging with it.
The best content in social media inspires, informs, educates or entertains (and if you’re really lucky, it does all four!). But how do you create content that goes viral?
What follows are seven strategies you can employ to help your content succeed.
The idea for this post came from Jay Baer’s excellent article on creating reusable social media content, which defined how companies can generate more value by repurposing existing content.
