Erik Qualman's Blog, page 526

Top 21 Tips for Successful Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing has become an incredible way to generate new leads and business. The mobile marketing world is hot and only the innovative are truly getting ahead in this field.  New businesses should direct a marketing budget towards mobile marketing. And it’s important to note, that besides for providing your users with a positive mobile experience, mobile friendliness has become an integral part of Google’s ranking algorithm and how your site appears in the SERPs. Obviously, Google is the authority on the ranking of your site and if they are integrating mobile functionality, then you definitely need to get on board as well.

It is actually not even that difficult to obtain the necessary skills for mobile marketing, and by following these tips you’ll be on your way to mobile success.

1) Use shorter words – You have users looking on small screens, so make sure the words are concise so they get the gist.

2) Desktop to Mobile Environments – If the environment is emergency-based; consider your ad and how you market to that group.  Regular ads on computers will not likely change, but ads dealing with emergency services like a tow truck need to display relevant info like hours and the phone number. Make sure it is simple and straight forward.

3) Accentuate the word Mobile – Use the word mobile in your ads and highlight the importance of being a mobile business.  Have your mobile number prominently displayed.

4) Include Call and Sitelink Extensions – Consider placing call extensions in your ad to generate click through traffic that works with AdWords. Also, add a sitelink extension to get as much ad space as possible.

5) Content should be Smaller – Make sure your ad is condensed to fit on a small screen. It needs to be centered and easy to read.

6) Contact Fields Short -  Businesses want as much information from their customers as possible, but make sure to keep the contact fields short and just a few, because filling them can be time-consuming and your would-be customers may decide it is not worth it and leave your site.

7) Click-to-Call – Use the click-to-call buttons throughout your ad that links your number to their phone and immediately calls your business.

Minimize video – Videos are not as effective on mobile devices because their sound may be off and they may just want to read the ad without the drama.

9) Don’t go Mobile until you are Ready -  When setting up your mobile site, make sure it is in working order and ready to go before you allow it to go live.  The worst thing you can do is start the site and then have people trying to get to the desktop site because yours does not work.

10) Text Message Marketing – Make sure to use the technology, but don’t over text and interrupt their day.

11) Use Social Media – Boost your marketing by linking to Facebook in real-time.

12) Direct sales to Mobile Users – You can’t market the same, use the mobile functionality to market in a new way.

13) Make it Interactive – Make sure your mobile site uses all the technology available.

14) Test your site – Take the time to test the site from all angles so it doesn’t disappoint.

15) Use Location – Make sure your site knows how to see location so you can see where the audience lives.

16) Google My Business – Ensure your site is registered with Google My Business to obtain local searching customers.

17) Check-In – Get your customers to check in on social media for rewards.

18) QR codes – Use QR codes for scanning of promotional items or contests.

19) Mobile App – Mobile marketing works best if you have an app as well.

20) Keep it Simple – The ads should be simple, eye-catching and to the point.

21) User-friendly – The mobile site should be extremely user-friendly with large call to action buttons and limited text.

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Organize a Social Approach to Helping Your Kids

Keeping your children entertained when they aren’t in school is a challenge most parents face; just ask many parents about summertime or holiday breaks when the little ones are round 24/7.

Luckily, social media is the perfect resource when it comes to finding activities to keep your kids busy during school breaks.

Here are just a handful of ways you can take a social approach to keeping your kids busy when school isn’t in session:

Reach Out to Other Parents

One of the best ways to use social media to find activities for your kids is by reaching out to other parents.

Whether it is friends or family with children, reaching out via social media is an effective approach when it comes to gathering advice and tips on activities for your kids.

You can create a Facebook post asking other parents how they’re keeping their kids entertained while school is out. Likewise, you can create Twitter hashtags such as #activitiesforkids or #summeractivities.

By doing so, you’ll likely receive tons of helpful responses from your followers.

Search for Social Coupons

Although keeping your kids entertained when they’re out of school is important, sometimes the cost of fun activities simply isn’t in the budget. Fortunately, social media and deals go hand-in-hand when you search for social coupons.

The article, “Kids activities: 5 ways to save money!” mentions creating a budget for extracurricular activities.

In order to help make that budget last, you can search for social coupons and coupon codes from local museums, water parks, theme parks, arts and crafts programs, sports programs, and summer camps.

Most businesses post coupons through their social accounts, which use codes that are redeemable on their websites.

By taking advantage of social coupons, you can keep your kids entrained throughout their entire school break without breaking your budget.

Follow Parenting Blogs

Another great way to use social media to keep your kids entertained while school is out is by following parenting blogs. A number of parent’s blog about raising their children, including all of the activities and events that go along with the process.

Most parenting blogs coincide with school breaks and summer breaks, which make them an extremely helpful resource when you’re looking for activities and ideas.

From affordable road trips to backyard activities, following parenting blogs will inspire you to come up with fun ideas for your kids.

Follow Summer Camps

Sending your kids to camp for the summer is definitely an option, but sometimes the cost of summer camp just isn’t in the budget. However, by following summer camp business pages and blogs on Facebook and other social sites, you can recreate camp activities at home.

Whether it’s teaching your kids how to pitch a tent or bird watch, following summer camps via social media will provide you with a number of activities.

The best part is most of the activities can be accomplished in your own backyard or at local parks and green spaces.

Share Experiences

You can also use social media to share all of the activities you come up with during your kids’ school break.

Sharing your experiences through posts, tweets, and blogs will result in suggestions and helpful comments from other parents and followers.

Likewise, you’ll also help inform and inspire other parents looking to entertain their own kids when school is out of session.

If you’re looking for ways to keep your kids entertained when school is out, then keep in mind the social suggestions above.

 

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Get Social and Turn Down the Heat on High Energy Bills

These days, social media is becoming indispensable.

Whether you are a business trying to gain customers and their loyalty, or a consumer trying to determine the best way to get what you need, many turn to social media.

The energy industry is one turning more and more towards social media, on both sides of the coin.

The industry can use social platforms to get information out and increase customer base, while consumers can use social media platforms to find the best deals in their area and some tips on creating a more energy efficient lifestyle.

Summer Heat and Winter’s Chill

Summer is a time when people are thinking not only about saving on cooling their homes and being more energy and cost-efficient, but also about the upcoming winter and getting the best cost on heating.

As the following article looks at, whatever you’re looking for, summer is a great time for energy reviews and social media can be your friend in getting one done.

Here’s how you can use social media for being more energy-efficient…

• Ask around on your social media sites about local energy reviews and who your friends and neighbors would recommend. An energy review is basically when a professional comes to your home and assesses energy usage. They’ll find ways to improve and save energy, and by simply asking around on Facebook or Twitter, you can find a good reliable source to start out with. Remember, word-of-mouth is a great way to find local professionals, and your social media is a great place to start;

• Take into account what the reviewer finds. You may not be able to complete everything they recommend, but some things you can, at low or even no cost. Sure, it may be expensive to replace all of your windows, but it’s free and just takes a minute to close the flue on your chimney;

• Talk about all seasons. Yes, it is summer, and you want to make sure that your home is cooled efficiently and cost effectively, but it’s also a great time to discuss savings on gas and heating for the winter during your energy review. Social media can help out here as you can research costs per therm and related costs. You can ask around at what your neighbors are paying to heat and cool their homes;

• Use the energy companies’ social media sites. If you are debating changing companies, look to social media to find a new one. Check out the Facebook page, Instagram account and even YouTube channels of your local energy companies. You may find some good information to help you decide, as well as just some good tips to employ in your day to day energy usage.

If you are concerned about your energy output this summer, consider an energy review.

Check out your social media pages for tips as well, things beyond keeping your doors and windows closed to let the cool air out.

You’ll find some great money and energy saving tips and stay cool the summer long.

 

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Twitter Experiments With A ‘News’ Tab

Buzzfeed – Starting Monday, some U.S. Twitter users will see a News tab appear in their Twitter apps.

The experimental feature, part of Twitter’s effort to make its best content easy to find, inhabits the middle tab of the app’s navigation bar and brings up a list of headlines that are trending on the platform. When you click a headline, you’re taken to a story screen with an image, headline, block of text from the story, and the top tweets discussing it.

“We’re experimenting with a news experience on iOS and Android as we continue to explore new ways to surface the best content to users,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.

Between the News tab and Twitter’s still-unreleased Project Lightning — which will curate tweets from live events — the vision for the next iteration of the company’s platform is slowly coming into focus. Both of these products grab the best tweets from Twitter’s raw feed and present them in more digestible formats. Think of it this way: Twitter’s raw feed is turning into the product’s engine. And that engine is powering mini-products with what is perhaps the best live feed of information in the world.

The News tab could lower Twitter’s barrier to entry a bit, making its platform and culture more understandable to hundreds of millions perplexed by it. Instead of leading with tweets, the tab introduces people to Twitter with something everyone understands: headlines. Tweets come after.

Though no ads currently accompany this experiment, Twitter’s News tab could have significant revenue implications for the company if its implemented as a core platform feature. One of the main issues advertisers have with Twitter is that its conversational nature makes it difficult to insert ads into the stream without appearing to have barged into a discussion. The News tab could give advertisers a less conversational experience with defined topics they can plan around. Sports news, for instance, would likely be of interest to a sporting equipment advertiser.

The experiment, which is already live in Japan, is starting out with a list of pre-approved publishers that number in the double digits. Though Twitter hasn’t discussed the possibility of creating an Instant-Articles-style product, the News tab could certainly set the stage for something along those lines.

Image from Buzzfeed

Article by Alex Kantrowitz for Buzzfeed

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The Top 10 Rules for Student Startups

Probably every third student dreams to use his 4 years of college as a perfect time for a startup. Every student wants to become successful and famous, to farewell to student loans and earn oneself a decent living. And just as well every student wants to spend minimum time and money on it. However, to become a serious competitor on the internet market, all students need to know the basic rules of successful startups. So:

Do one thing, but be the best in it. Usually, the winner is the startup that brings its little feature to perfection.
Stand out. Be different from others. You need to create something so great, that it would be spoken about abroad. You can’t drag your startup to serious level by simple involvement in the project. Examine the demand and supply, and then figure out a way to stand out from the competition.
Choose a memorable name for a startup. Look for all sorts of options, test, ask friends, family and passers-by. People tend to .
Develop your logo. It must be quickly memorized and easily recognized. This way information about you will spread by word of mouth.
Always consider your customers. It is the most important part. If you do not know the basics of usability, then learn it. Custom software development plays an important role here. It is better to redo a function 100 than to leave it wrong. You have to live and breathe with your customer needs. If your startup concerns online business, do not forget that innovation is the best way to stay afloat.
Firework. An interesting game of words. You must shoot your work from time to time, and remind about your startup with different activities and social events. It is easy to do in college. Here a big budget is not so important as a well-publicized event. Make your competitors pretty nervous. You will be able to attract the attention of your consumers as well as your competitors.
Long-term cooperation. Don’t be lazy to carry after your investors. Every startup has different spheres of cooperation: investors, creditors, suppliers, contractors, consumers. Try to go a little further into economic discipline. After all, with all of them you’ll need to maintain a two-way dialogue.
Business is not a risk. Many people want to reach success in business, but not all of them do. Why is that? They are afraid of risk. However, if you start with nothing, then you can go back to nothing. Take it as you have nothing to lose.
Search for solutions. Never leave problems unresolved. Otherwise, they will snowball on your head. Be dynamic and always develop.
Be greedy. You have to be greedy about everything: ideas, quality of execution. The more the better … Look for additional income that will accelerate the growth of your startup. Try to add a donation button.

But of course the main key to success of the student startup is the quality of the actual product or offer. Try it yourself, and then you will know all its advantages and disadvantages. Stay on one foot with your business and your customers.

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Guide to Your Local SEO

Having a local SEO strategy is place is essential to attracting more clients to your business, irrespective of whether you a nationally-based chain or a single store front. In order to increase the chances of prospects finding about your business in local search results, you need to optimizes particular aspects of your website.

Search engines are constantly on the alert and looking for certain signals, among these, social profile pages, local content, citations and links to provide their users with relevant search results. You should really try to optimize the following areas as much as possible in order to elevate local search signal to a whole new level. These are the external citations/links, local profile pages and on-page.

On-page signals

You would need to set up your address, name and phone number with local area code to make it easy for both search engines and people to discover you. These details should be available on your website as easy to crawl HTML. Try to avoid the all too common mistake of including the details in an image. Search engines cannot crawl images the way they do HTML.

Once you are done with this, concentrate on publishing locally relevant content. Establish yourself as an authority in your type of business, in your area. Engage in industry gatherings, publish news and other content of educational nature on your blog.

Local profile pages

Ensure you have a local Google+ page for all of your business locations and use Google Mapmaker to remove duplicate listings.  It is common for employees to make duplicate listing without knowing these already exist.

Having a system for creating customer reviews can be also very advantageous. If you don’t know where to start with this, use the review handout generator by Whitespark.

Don’t forget to optimize your business categories! The local profiles at Google+ grant business owners the option to state the type of their business category. According to one local SEO Toronto company, you should include no less than 5 categories that relate to your type of business. These must include both specific and broad categories.

Citations and inbound links

While you may already know what inbound links are, citations are a little different. These occur when other websites mention your business name and address. Both external links to your site and citations are important for your local SEO.

In order to receive more of these, ensure that your business address is consistent throughout the web. Your local SEO requires the consistency of your address, business name and phone numbers.

Your local search presence will also benefit from more local links. While you have limited control over this, try to earn as many local links as possible. One strategy for doing this is to try to create worthy content people would want to link to.

This guide is meant to improve the SEO of your local business. While some of the activities are one-off tasks, others, like publishing locally relevant content and building reviews, you should perform on a regular basis.

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Apple Slump Deepens on iPhone, China Concerns

Associated Press – Apple is slumping as the usually high-flying tech stock struggles with the burden of raised expectations.

The world’s most valuable public company saw its stock price drop for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, falling as much as $5.19, or 4.4 percent, to $113.25 as investors fret over China’s economy and whether Apple can keep growing at the pace it’s maintained over the last few quarters.

Apple shares closed Tuesday at $114.64 – down 14 percent since hitting a record $133.60 in February. That puts Apple in a “correction,” which is Wall Street jargon for price declines of 10 percent or more from a peak. The slide has wiped out more than $96 billion in market value.

The stock also dropped below its 200-day moving average, a technical indicator that traders use to gauge momentum. And as a sign of Apple’s outsized role in the market, its decline Tuesday accounted for more than half of the 47-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average for the day. Apple is also by far the biggest component in the Standard & Poor’s 500, making up 3.6 percent of the index, which is a benchmark for most mutual funds.

Apple sold more than 47 million of its signature iPhones in the last quarter, or 35 percent more than a year earlier. That drove the company’s profit and earnings above Wall Street estimates. But demand for the iPhone and Apple’s new smartwatch still fell short of some analysts’ more bullish predictions, and executives gave a forecast for the current period that was also lower than some analysts expected. That has sent the stock into a decline since Apple reported earnings on July 21.

Shareholders are also worried about recent hiccups in China’s economy, because the country is viewed as one of Apple’s biggest markets for expansion, said Daniel Ives, a managing director and senior analyst for FBR Capital Markets.

He added that investors are looking ahead to the December quarter, which is traditionally Apple’s strongest. The company sold 74 million iPhones during that period last year, a 46 percent jump. But with a much larger volume to compare against, it will be more difficult for Apple to show that kind of year-over-year growth again.

But new products like Apple Pay and the expected release of new iPhone models this fall could give the company a boost, Ives said.

Apple’s current slump isn’t as severe as an earlier slide that began almost three years ago, in a period when investors worried that the Cupertino, California, company had run out of ideas to counter growing competition from other smartphone and tablet makers. Apple shares fell 45 percent from a split-adjusted peak of $100.72 in September 2012 to a low of $55.01 in April 2013. By June of that year, however, the stock had embarked on a steady climb upward again.

Article by Brandon Bailey and Steve Rothwell for Associated Press

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How to Make Cloud Computing More Secure

Cloud computing is clearly the way of the future (it’s just too convenient not to be!) but a lot of individuals delay the process of converting because of security concerns. And let’s face it, it does feel more secure to have all of our information in a physical place: our computers.

But those waiting aren’t alone, and it’s a fact that many IT infrastructures are not equipped to address concerns about cloud-based security, especially for organizations handling sensitive data. For example, most public cloud computing services use shared hosting hardware for multiple clients, meaning there’s no control over data storage practices.

Image via wikimedia.org

Public clouds are made available for personal use through services like Google Drive and Apple Cloud, but these are primarily used in closed environments. How does one look for great services to host their organization’s needs for cloud computing without sacrificing security?

Know the Location of Your Data

We all know that encryption keeps data safe, firewalls keep intruders out, and antivirus software keeps it uncorrupted. But the first step in securing data is to know where it is. For this reason, insist on dedicated hardware for your data storage, even on cloud-based operations. It’s more costly, but far safer. When there are fewer individuals accessing a server, there is a reduced opportunity for anything untoward to happen. Always keep all of your server information stored in hard copy, just in case. Which leads nicely into the second suggestion…

Back Up Your Data Regularly

This is something often preached and rarely practiced, but all sensitive data should be on a routine backup plan. All backups should be stored in hardcopy by date, just as a matter of good recordkeeping, and so that if there are any issues, it can be easy to discover when and how they originated. Your data backup dates and rates should be determined by the size of your database. Larger databases are so time consuming to back up that often it can prohibitive to do it more often than a few times a year at best. Smaller data sets should be backed up monthly.

Make Security Your Data Center’s Primary Concern

Do you know what the acronyms SOC, SSAE, or SAS mean? If not, learn them fast! Knowing your data center’s security standards is as important as knowing your server’s standards. Are they running clients which have been PCI or HIPAA certified? This is a great hallmark of a truly secure data storage plan. A managed service, like AWS Security, can take care of issues such as this for you, and quickly elaborate upon potential security options to make your data and applications more resilient.

As With Any Other Business, Use References

Considering a specific cloud computing company? Always ask them for client references. Not just snippets on their website, but real individuals you can email or speak to. Always look for companies willing and able to give you a battery of clients; one is never enough, especially given the cost which often goes into transitioning an organization to cloud computing. References do more than just reassure you about security; but also about how responsive a company might be to customer service or other issues.

Never Stop Testing

Testing, like backups, should be done regularly and consistently. You will never know for certain if your cloud computing is secure without a good test, and luckily, many organizations and consultants offer this service. Vulnerability scanning is a standard in many industries, and your assumptions are worth nothing compared to hard evidence one way or the other.

Conclusion

There’s no such thing as a guarantee of total security; not even the Pentagon gets that. But just as with any other IT initiative, due diligence, regular maintenance and checks, and critically analyzing your systems will always provide a safeguard against the worst case scenario.

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Physicians Need to Routinely Give Social Media a Check-up

Although physicians do all they can to help their patients, sometimes healthy outcomes aren’t always a possibility.

Unfortunately, a growing number of disgruntled hospital patients are turning to social media to spread the bad news about their medical experiences.

In order to avoid bad reputations, here are a few ways doctors can navigate social media:

Don’t Respond Publicly to Negative Comments

As social media continues to grow in popularity, professionals of all kinds are expected to have an online presence, including physicians. Although many physicians and doctors keep their social activity to a minimum, some use their social outreach on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, this can lead to patients who think they can post comments about their healthcare experiences on physicians’ social accounts. When negative comments do arise, physicians are advised not to respond.

Responding to negative comments on social media only heightens the situation.

The best way a physician can handle negativity on social media is by contacting the patient privately. Resolving the problem through private message, email, or with a phone call is much better than doing so publicly on social media.

Monitor Review Sites

Review websites have become a large part of the social landscape, which can be a good thing and a bad thing for physicians.

The article “Physicians: Protect Your Online Reputation” describes how sites like Vitals and Healthgrades are making it possible for patients to rate their doctors without any consequence.

By monitoring these review sites, physicians can ensure their practice and their bedside manners aren’t being negatively reflected online.

If physicians do find multiple negative reviews on these sites, then it might be a sign that changes need to take place with their practice.

Never Share Specifics

Doctor-patient confidentiality is of the utmost importance in the medical world. However, social media has changed the way society shares personal information.

With that said, physicians should never make specific social comments about interactions with patients.

Sharing general posts about the workday or a particularly difficult surgery is fine, but specific information like the patient’s name or surgery type should be avoided.

Take Advantage of Privacy Features

Whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or any of the other social media websites in between, it’s important for physicians to take advantage of privacy features.

Setting profiles to private and only friending acquaintances and colleagues will help physicians keep their online reputations clean.

Physicians who run their own clinics and practices can also set their social business profiles to private as well. This allows the practice to gain a social presence without inviting unwanted comments.

Stay off Certain Sites

The best way physicians can protect their online reputations if they have any concern is by staying off social media altogether. Some social sites like LinkedIn are perfectly fine for professional use, but others aren’t.

For example, Facebook is great for personal use, but physicians shouldn’t use this site in a professional capacity.

Facebook, Twitter, and other similar social sites are more for socializing with friends and family rather than building a professional reputation.

When it comes to healthy reputations, physicians should keep the advice above in mind.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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13 Social Media Tips From Top Executives

Social media is a tool that can skyrocket your company to success if used effectively. It is also a tool that can destroy your brand if used poorly. As different social media platforms become more and more important to the success of businesses new and old, top executives are becoming more outspoken on the topic. The following list of quotes from top execs can help you figure out how to harness the power of social media for your own company and avoid detrimental slip ups.

“The viral power of online media has proven how fast creative ideas can be spread and adopted, using tools like cellphones, digital cameras, micro-credit, mobile banking, Facebook, and Twitter.”

Tina Brown, co-founder and former EIC of The Daily Beast

Social media is powerful. It has built and destroyed brands. It has even started revolutions. A single idea can travel across the world in seconds through different platforms, and your brand will be at a huge disadvantage if you fail to realize this. With all of this potential, why would you not take advantage?

“Social media has shaken up the world of sales, with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter offering new ways to hound leads and unprecedented insights into clients.”

Ryan Holmes, founder and CEO of HootSuite

Social media is changing the way businesses interact with customers. Not only do you have unprecedented access to customer feedback, but you can also engage with potential customers in a way that has never been seen before. As Ryan Homes notes, this gives you a variety of new ways to source leads.

“Social media is changing the way we communicate and the way we are perceived, both positively and negatively. Every time you post a photo, or update your status, you are contributing to your own digital footprint and personal brand.”

Amy Jo Martin, CEO of Digital Royalty

Personal brand is just as important to maintain as your company’s brand. Many CEOs and even regular employees are now viewed as an extension of their business’s brand. These days, like never before, the two go hand in hand. Therefore, it is just as important to maintain personal social media accounts with a sense of decorum.

“The evolution of social media into a robust mechanism for social transformation is already visible. Despite many adamant critics who insist that tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are little more than faddish distractions useful only to exchange trivial information, these critics are being proven wrong time and again.”

Simon Mainwaring, founder and CEO of We First

Social media is here to stay. Naysayers have doubted the permanence of various platforms, from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, since they came into existence, but it certainly seems like they are here to stay. If a fear of fads has kept you from getting involved in social media in the past, now is the time to abandon that mindset.

“Online I see people committing ‘social media suicide’ all the time by one of two ways. Firstly by responding to all criticism, meaning you’re never going to find time to complete important milestones of your own, and by responding to things that don’t warrant a response. This lends more credibility by driving traffic.”

Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Once you begin to engage with social media sites, beware of “social media suicide.” If you can address a customer complaint, do that by all means. But do not feel obligated to respond to every small bit of criticism. This will get overwhelming and you will lose time that could be spent doing things that are actually useful. You are not going to be able to make everyone happy. Fix the mistakes you can, but do not get bogged down by a sea of petty complaints.

“Social media is all about an exchange of value. Sometimes that value is in the form of entertainment, sometimes education, and sometimes economic. If you’re not providing significant value in some form, your audience has no reason to have a relationship with you.”

Christopher Barcinas, Head of Digital Marketing at Toptal

You have to give your audience a reason to keep returning to your content. Followers are not going to engage if you are not providing things that they are interested in. Use a mix of entertainment, education, and discounts to help accomplish this. If you constantly provide value, your following will grow.

“Being effective at social media, whether for business or personal use, means capturing people who have short attention spans. They’re only a click away from a picture of a funny cat, so you have to make your thing more compelling than that cat. And that can be a high bar.”

Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit

It’s hard to compete with pictures of funny cats. The internet is full of all kinds of distractions, so Ohanian, like Barcinas, stresses the importance of high quality content to keep your users engaged. Avoid posting nonsense simply to post something. Instead, set a high bar for your social media engagement. This will keep your followers engaging with your content in the future.

“I think the adoption rate with respect to social media and how companies leverage that varies by the company. Cisco is probably a leader in the space. A lot of times, we actually use virtual ways to communicate our brand and do some of our advertising, first on the social space, then we do on physical advertising.”

Padmasree Warrior, former CTO of Cisco Systems and Motorola

Social media can be a great warmup for physical advertising. You can test how your audience responds to certain campaigns before spending a ton of money to launch them in a physical space. Of course, social media is valuable on its own, but it can also be combined with other forms of advertising for the highest impact.

“Social media is the future, with employers recognizing they need to start hiring people with the right skills.”

Ryan Holmes, founder and CEO of HootSuite

It’s a common misconception that anyone can figure out social media. Like any other skill, there are those who are bad at it, those who are mediocre, and those who are truly great. View social media as an investment and hire people who are suited for the job.

“It’s a dialogue, not a monologue, and some people don’t understand that. Social media is more like a telephone than a television.”

Amy Jo Martin, CEO of Digital Royalty

Actually engage with your audience, do not just talk at them. Social media provides a space to engage with your customers like never before. Above all, social media is social. It breaks down the wall between you and the consumer. Treat interactions on social media platforms like you would treat in-person interactions. After all, there are real people behind those screens.

“Expressions are more valuable than impressions.”

Laura Ruff, Marketing Manager at Coca-Cola

Speaking of real people, never forget that is who you are really targeting. You can focus on likes, favorites, impressions, and page views all you want, but if you do not truly connect with your followers, you are not using social media effectively. Social media is an important tool, but in the end, it is people’s attitudes over analytics that truly matters. Keep your conversations authentic.

“You can buy attention (advertising). You can beg for attention from the media (PR). You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales). Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free.”

David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR

This goes back to the importance of adding value. In the end, you can try to get attention from customers in many different ways, but you won’t actually keep their attention unless you do something interesting and valuable.

“Social marketing eliminates the middlemen, providing brands the unique opportunity to have a direct relationship with their customers.”

Bryan Weiner, CEO at Digital Agency 360i

Social media is an opportunity. If you can figure out how to use it to your advantage, you can engage with customers like never before. Instead of fearing change, embrace it. Gone is the barrier between you and your customers, and this can be a huge advantage if you leverage the opportunity well. Now, get out there and engage!

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