3 Steps to an Effective Social Media Strategy
Do you have a social media strategy for your business yet?
If you don’t, you could be missing out on game-changing results.
According to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 78% of marketers saw increased traffic with just six hours a week invested in social media.
The businesses that do social media marketing well will see even bigger wins in 2012, as the gap between who “gets it” and who doesn’t grows wider by the minute.
The good news? You don’t need to be everything to everyone anymore. Chances are your strategy will be more effective if you keep it simple. 
How Ideas Spread With Social Media
Have you heard of the expression social media myth? Would you recognize a myth if you heard one?
There are those who believe that social media is about joining the conversation, engaging with your customers and being authentic.
Then there are others who believe that if you can’t measure it, you can’t control it. For them, it’s all about setting goals, experimenting, testing, analyzing and measuring.
Measuring social media activity helps you figure out if you're on the right track.
How Social Media Drew 27,000 More People to the Races
In Southern California, the Del Mar Racetrack is the place to see and be seen. And now it’s the place to check into, tweet about and post via Facebook.
This Southern California institution, in business for 71 years, draws thousands every summer for horse racing, its cool bars and restaurants and a busy slate of concerts and festivals.
But like many entertainment industry venues, Del Mar attendance has dipped in recent years due to the ailing economy. But in 2010, the track added a new star to its marketing lineup – social media.
With virtually no other marketing changes, social media boosted attendance this past season by 4.2 percent.
“That’s an increase of 27,000 bodies,” said Craig Dado, senior vice president of marketing at Del Mar Racetrack. “In this economy, I’ve got to be honest, it was a little bit surprising.”
6 Social Media Success Metrics You Need to Track
People who say social media isn’t measurable aren’t looking very hard.
The truth is there are dozens of viable metrics you can use to gauge the success of your social media efforts. The challenge isn’t measurability; it’s knowing which measures are meaningful.
Here are the 6 undervalued social media success metrics you should be tracking:
#1: Daily Story Feedback
Instead of just counting the number of Facebook “likes” you accrue, which signifies nothing more than digital bumper-stickering, track how often your fans click “like” and comment on the status updates you post.
Why Our Mascot Hasn’t Got a Name…
When you’re a new parent, you have a name all picked out for your little bundle of joy, right?
But we never got around to giving our mascot a name. And his first birthday is just around the corner! And that’s where you come in…
Would you help us name our mascot? We affectionately call him “the little dude” around the Social Media Examiner offices. We want to make this fun, so we’ve got some great prizes we’ll give away to the readers who come up with the best names. See below for details.
The Dude’s Wild Ride
It’s hard to believe that Social Media Examiner is not yet even a year old! With the help of outstanding writers and a brilliant reader base (yep, that’s you!), we’ve achieved a lot.
How Big Brands Employ Social Media Marketing
I recently interviewed Andy Sernovitz, founder of the Social Media Business Council, an organization that includes many of the world’s largest brands such as Cisco, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Microsoft, Proctor & Gamble and Wells Fargo, just to mention a few.
Andy is also author of the book Word of Mouth Marketing and founder of GasPedal, a group that advises big brands such as TiVo, Dell, Sprint and Kimberly-Clark.
During this interview, you’ll gain insight into how large corporations are employing social media and you’ll also gain Andy’s insight into word-of-mouth marketing.
9 Ways to Sell Social Media to the Boss
Conversations are happening online with or without you. This is one of the most frequently used social media sayings. If you’re engaging with social media for your company, it’s almost second nature.
However, there are still many who are struggling to ‘sell’ social media to their executives. And as Doug Frisbie, Toyota National Marketing Manager says, “The price of inactivity is greater than the risks of anything we’d be doing in social media.”
Let’s explore 9 ways you can make a good case for social media programs.
