Erik Qualman's Blog, page 672

The LinkedIn Gold Mine

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There is no debate that LinkedIn is an incredible resource for networking, career transitions, and prospecting, great group forums and following your favorite company. But it has a very powerful feature that I find to be more valuable than any other – "Q&A".

Under the "More" tab in the tool bar, the first category that appears is "Answers", click on it. Here's the Gold Mine. About three times a week, I come to this page to contribute. I browse the "categories" section on the right and pay it forward as best I can. Finding a question you can answer for someone else is usually easy to do. Combing the answers that others have provided is equally valuable and I've learned a tremendous amount from others commentary on a topic that I thought I knew well. Providing answers is helpful for others and helps establish your presence on LinkedIn and increases your visibility.

For social network geeks like me, clicking on the "Ask a Question" tab is where turbo power of LinkedIn begins. Have you ever had a question about new (or old) technology, travel tips, IT issues, best practices, leadership, sales, healthcare, apps, etc.? This is the place to ask it. You'll get a response from people around the world or around the block. Chances are you will get more than one incredibly useful answer and will start building relationships, and your network, in the process.

Recent questions that I've tossed out to the LinkedIn answer gurus include topics on webinars, video conferencing, alternative names for social media, the effectiveness of QR codes, whiteboards business apps and so on. The responses are timely, incredibly useful, and always provide additional tips and tricks that coincide with their answer(s).

If knowledge is power and information is valuable, LinkedIn's Q&A section is your Gold Mine. It's a tremendous resource of experienced professionals willing to share best practices to anyone who asks on almost any topic you might have. And, it's a great way for us to pay it forward on a topic or solution we know well and that can be useful to others.

So what question do you have for LinkedIn today? Post it and let the power of 120+ Million LinkedIn users help you solve your problem (oh, and it's free).

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3 Quick Tips for Digital Sales: Interview with Andrea Lake

With so much business being conducted on the internet these days, I find myself on a perpetual quest to discover the latest and greatest "secrets" for digital sales.  Not surprisingly, I often find that the "secrets" are really just the fundamentals, being practiced very well.  I recently sat down with Stickerjunkie.com CEO, Andrea Lake, to discuss their digital sales strategy and what has made them so successful. Stickerjunkie sales are 100% digital and as such, optimizing their website traffic and experience is a must. Andrea attributed their success to three key strategies:

Letting customers share- After a person places an order  they are prompted to "Share" their stickers on their Facebook wall. On the wall it links visitors back to a unique personalized page on the StickerJunkie website displaying the stickers they just made. The page is within the StickerJunkie website, and invites the visitor to create their own stickers, oftentimes converting them to a client right on the spot.
Let customers create- While it is not necessarily feasible on all sites, giving customers the ability to customize their orders in a variety of ways gets them invested in the site. Our average time on the stickerjunkie.com site is 5 minutes, thanks to some simple customization tools
Let customers find you- We use a ton of ad-words and get VERY specific, all the way down to the exact type of sticker, be it bumper, refrigerator, etc. This level of specificity ensures we attract the exact type of customer we want.

And there you have it. Make your site fun, invite happy customers to share, and get real specific with your marketing campaigns!
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Believe in Tim Tebow. Follow Tim Tebow.

The greatest gift in life is to give of oneself. This is a mantra in my newest book Digital Leader. But what is a Digital Leader? The title is somewhat confusing as the book is not about being a technical whiz kid, but rather it's about how to be a leader in this digitally crazed decade. So, where exactly does Tim Tebow fit in?

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Tim Tebow with an invited special guest (Source: Tim Tebow Foundation)

With everyone trying to amass a bazillion followers on Twitter or have you like them on Facebook how does a real leader emerge this digital decade? They emerge by doing what Tim Tebow does; realizing that the greatest gift in life is to give of oneself rather than talk about oneself.

That once we figure out we can't get everything done, we can focus on the items that we need to get done. Items that make a difference. Items that center on Life, Leadership and Legacy. That doing social good is the best kind of social media around.

Tim Tebow is such a leader. Not for what he does on the field, but for what he does off it. After reading the below article from ESPN's Rick Reilly, you will realize that whether Tebow wins the Super Bowl or not, he is already a winner. He is a Leader we all should aspire to be, now, and in the digital decades ahead. I believe in Tim Tebow as does Rick Reilly (below) and my guess is you will too.

Via @ReillyRick Sports Illustrated: I've come to believe in Tim Tebow, but not for what he does on a football field, which is still three parts Dr. Jekyll and two parts Mr. Hyde.

No, I've come to believe in Tim Tebow for what he does off a football field, which is represent the best parts of us, the parts I want to be and so rarely am.

Who among us is this selfless?

Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying, or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster's), gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them 30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them off with a basket of gifts.

Home or road, win or lose, hero or goat.

Remember last week, when the world was pulling its hair out in the hour after Tebow had stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 80-yard OT touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in the playoffs? And Twitter was exploding with 9,420 tweets about Tebow per second? When an ESPN poll was naming him the most popular athlete in America?

Tebow was spending that hour talking to 16-year-old Bailey Knaub about her 73 surgeries so far and what TV shows she likes.

MORE FROM TIM TEBOW

"Here he'd just played the game of his life," recalls Bailey's mother, Kathy, of Loveland, Colo., "and the first thing he does after his press conference is come find Bailey and ask, 'Did you get anything to eat?' He acted like what he'd just done wasn't anything, like it was all about Bailey."

More than that, Tebow kept corralling people into the room for Bailey to meet. Hey, Demaryius, come in here a minute. Hey, Mr. Elway. Hey, Coach Fox.

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Zac Taylor is one that had his spirits lifted by Tebow (Source: Stephanie Taylor)

Even though sometimes-fatal Wegener's granulomatosis has left Bailey with only one lung, the attention took her breath away.

"It was the best day of my life," she emailed. "It was a bright star among very gloomy and difficult days. Tim Tebow gave me the greatest gift I could ever imagine. He gave me the strength for the future. I know now that I can face any obstacle placed in front of me. Tim taught me to never give up because at the end of the day, today might seem bleak but it can't rain forever and tomorrow is a new day, with new promises."

I read that email to Tebow, and he was honestly floored.

"Why me? Why should I inspire her?" he said. "I just don't feel, I don't know, adequate. Really, hearing her story inspires me."

It's not just NFL defenses that get Tebowed. It's high school girls who don't know whether they'll ever go to a prom. It's adults who can hardly stand. It's kids who will die soon.

For the game at Buffalo, it was Charlottesville, Va., blue-chip high school QB Jacob Rainey, who lost his leg after a freak tackle in a scrimmage. Tebow threw three interceptions in that Buffalo game and the Broncos were crushed 40-14.

"He walked in and took a big sigh and said, 'Well, that didn't go as planned,'" Rainey remembers. "Where I'm from, people wonder how sincere and genuine he is. But I think he's the most genuine person I've ever met."

There's not an ounce of artifice or phoniness or Hollywood in this kid Tebow, and I've looked everywhere for it.

Take 9-year-old Zac Taylor, a child who lives in constant pain. Immediately after Tebow shocked the Chicago Bears with a 13-10 comeback win, Tebow spent an hour with Zac and his family. At one point, Zac, who has 10 doctors, asked Tebow whether he has a secret prayer for hospital visits. Tebow whispered it in his ear. And because Tebow still needed to be checked out by the Broncos' team doctor, he took Zac in with him, but only after they had whispered it together.

And it's not always kids. Tom Driscoll, a 55-year-old who is dying of brain cancer at a hospice in Denver, was Tebow's guest for the Cincinnati game. "The doctors took some of my brain," Driscoll says, "so my short-term memory is kind of shot. But that day I'll never forget. Tim is such a good man."

This whole thing makes no football sense, of course. Most NFL players hardly talk to teammates before a game, much less visit with the sick and dying.

Isn't that a huge distraction?

"Just the opposite," Tebow says. "It's by far the best thing I do to get myself ready. Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. The game doesn't really matter. I mean, I'll give 100 percent of my heart to win it, but in the end, the thing I most want to do is not win championships or make a lot of money, it's to invest in people's lives, to make a difference."

So that's it. I've given up giving up on him. I'm a 100 percent believer. Not in his arm. Not in his skills. I believe in his heart, his there-will-definitely-be-a-pony-under-the-tree optimism, the way his love pours into people, right up to their eyeballs, until they believe they can master the hopeless comeback, too.

Remember the QB who lost his leg, Jacob Rainey? He got his prosthetic leg a few weeks ago, and he wants to play high school football next season. Yes, tackle football. He'd be the first to do that on an above-the-knee amputation.

Hmmm. Wonder where he got that crazy idea?

"Tim told me to keep fighting, no matter what," Rainey says. "I am."

Social Good: Visit the Tim Tebow foundation here.

 

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Tim Tebow Sets Twitter Record

#Tebow: After Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow threw the game winning touchdown pass in overtime he set several playoff records and one social media record. The name "Tebow" was tweeted a record 9,420 times per second breaking the previous record held by Beyonce Knowles of 8,868 tweets per second when she revealed her baby bump at the MTV Music Awards. Tim Tebow is a Twitter phenomenon.

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Tim Tebow's Twitter Handle is @TimTebow he is closing in on 1 million followers

Tebow was helped by such celebrities as Lady Gaga and Kobe Bryant tweeting about him. Tebow even earned a bonus of $250,000 by winning the game. Tebow has transcended sport and is one to watch on Twitter if somehow he and the Broncos defeat Tom Brady and the Patriots this coming weekend. Tim Tebow's Twitter handle is @TimTebow and he is closing in on 1 million followers.

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The Social Spark: Strategies to Increase Social Engagement

Engagement with your audience is one of great advantages of social media marketing, but creating meaningful and advantageous conversations is as much an art as it is a science.  Engagement increases brand loyalty and public conversations can serve as free advertising.

The team at Awareness, Inc. reviews proven steps and real world examples of how to ignite the social spark with your fans and followers from our recent whitepaper 11 Strategies to Increase Engagement with Social Media.

Contests and Promotions

Know your audience and provide content that is valuable, useful or interesting. One of the best ways to get the social customer engaged with your brand is to give something they want away through contests, promotions or coupons. 65% of people who follow brands on Facebook are looking to score a deal. When considering your own contest or promotion, think about these two cases and how you can model your own promotion with the least barrier to entry.

Example #1: Healthy Choice, they took the common task of offering a coupon and made a game out of it. Healthy Choice introduced a coupon on their Healthy Choice Facebook Page. With each new "Like" on Facebook, the coupon, first valued at $.75, gradually increased to a "buy-one-get-one-free" deal. In just a few weeks, Healthy Choice's fan count grew from under 7,000 to over 60,000. More importantly, 60% of new fans subscribed to Healthy Choice's newsletter, generating fresh new leads for the company.

Example #2:  USA Today used a social contest to gain recognition and reposition its brand as the "everyman's" paper. They created a contest called "What America Wants." Using the hashtag #AmericaWants, USA Today asked fans to win free ad space in the paper for their favorite charity retweeting the following post: "#AmericaWants (insert charity name) to get a full-page ad in USA Today". The charity mentioned the most in retweets over a three-day period would win a full-page, full-color ad in USA Today, valued at $189,400. The campaign generated over 60,000 tweets in support of more than 500 organizations with an estimated reach of 67 million users.

Ongoing Social Engagement

Contests and promotions can serve your social engagement well, but variety is essential for a successful campaign. Special promotions need to be balanced with interesting and useful content – only then will brands see the lasting power of the meaningful social conversation. Asking questions, doing the unexpected, and empowering your most passionate followers are three ways brands can enhance ongoing social engagement and loyalty, which eventually leads to more customers and increased sales.

Engagement Trick #1: Keep Asking Questions

This may seem obvious, but many brands continue to post about their products and services without asking for feedback.  Asking your audience questions not only shows you value customer feedback, it is also a great way to learn insights from and about your fans. For example, Rue La La, the members-only e-commerce powerhouse, and posts questions daily on both their Facebook page and Twitter feed. Their questions relate to top fashion statements, trends, and users' favorite fabrics or designers, keeping their brand top of mind and offering the company a stream of real-time insights on people's "likes".

Engagement Trick #2: Do Something Unexpected

Few brands have the guts to try something unexpected and even fewer can be successful at it. Which reminds me of Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman's talk at our Awareness Exploring Social Media Business Summit this past October, when they shared inspiring case studies from their book Content Rules. Meet one "Do-Something-Unexpected" superstar - Magic Hat. They sent out a newsletter via email to promote their Number 9 beer for the brew's sixteen-year anniversary. The email was written from the point of view of a proud parent, poking fun at the beer entering into adolescence. The email was so bold, funny and captivating, Handley actually read the entire newsletter from start to finish.

Engagement Trick #3: Empower Your Most Passionate Users

Empowered fans will boast of our brand and spread the word and are ultimately your number one asset. Rewarding fans for their passion needs to be a staple in every marketer's toolbox. Discover your what it is about your brand that ignites your fans' passions.  By fueling the fire you can build a loyal following – exactly like what Fiskars did not too long ago. Fiskars, a scissors manufacturer, discovered most of their customers were avid scrap-bookers. The company saw an opportunity to build a community and launched a new community site Fiskateers. Fiskateers empowers passionate scrapbookers to blog, connect in real-time via chat forums, and share creations online. And in the process Fiskars has helped build one of the most vibrant online scrapbook communities, the success of which has been widely published and followed as a best practice of how a brand listened to its followers, saw a need, and created powerful toolset to benefit their most loyal fans.

For more social engagement tips, download our whitepaper on the 11 Strategies to Increase Engagement.

We welcome your thoughts, reactions and feedback.  Let us know how do you engage with your users?  What are some of your engagement tricks? Share your successes, hiccups, and proven practices on this blog, on Twitter at hashtag #AwarenessSMM, on Facebook at Social Media Marketing Best Practices, or LinkedIn at the Social Media Marketing Mavens Group.

Mike Lewis

@Bostonmike

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Digital Integrity vs. Digital Reputation

"When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion." — Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's words are appropriate this time of year when we try to reset our lives and formulate New Year Resolutions. Some are surface level resolutions like cutting back on soda or exercising more. Others are deeper in terms of donating more time to charitable work or spending more time with family. Whether our resolutions are major or minor our digital world will influence our success or failure.

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Digital Leader book signing at the sold-out Chicago House of Blues. The theme of keynote was what STAMP are you going to leave on this world? What will be your reputation?

Let's focus our attention on the deeper level changes, those to our reputation or integrity. Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy does a great job of describing the difference between integrity and reputation in his book Uncommon:

Integrity is what you do when no one is watching; it's doing the right thing all the time, even when it may work to your disadvantage. Integrity is keeping your word. Integrity is that internal compass and rudder that directs you to where you know you should go when everything around you is pulling you in a different direction. Some people think reputation is the same thing as integrity, but they are different. Your reputation is the public perception of your integrity. Because it's other people's opinions of you, it may or may not be accurate. Others determine your reputation, but only you determine your integrity.

With our hyper-connected world the amount of difference between your integrity and reputation becomes smaller and smaller. In the digital decades ahead, your integrity and reputation will be one and the same. Why is this the case? Let's take a quick look at Dungy's words "Integrity is what you do when no one is watching." A key premise of my new book Digital Leader is that someone is in fact watching you all the time. These are the realities of our fully transparent world. People start to think twice about committing adultery when they see the ramifications with public figures like Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods, Andrew Weiner, or Eliot Spitzer. Phones with high definition video cameras that port to social media sites instantly are becoming more prevalent, not less.

As the lines between integrity and reputation blur this is a great thing for the world, meaning that your reputation becomes more accurate. Think of reputation as your digital shadows (what others are saying and posting about you). The best way to influence these shadows is through your integrity, which is reflected in your digital footprint. The more you can simplify what you stand for in life, the easier it is not only on you, but on others that are contributing to your online reputation by developing your digital shadow. For example someone posting photos of their kids at the Church bake sale that later accidentally checked in via a geo-location tool during a KKK rally is sending mixed signals that will be discovered and revealed.

The easiest way to avoid digital blunders is to believe in your mission in life and stand by that mission. This concept of integrity and reputation isn't new; it's just even more important today as a result of more information being publicly posted. Most people's and companies' reputations will be more accurate than in any time in history. Being fully transparent and having integrity is the starting point to managing your online reputation, digital legacy, and leadership role.

"Integrity does not come in degrees—low, medium, or high. You either have integrity or you do not." — Tony Dungy

You can learn more about this and other factors that contribute to success and influence in Qualman's latest book Digital Leader.

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Mobile Meals: Connecting With The Best Meals On Wheels

Social media may have unintentionally begun defy the norm of the traditional lunch hour. Working in a busy midtown New York City office I can attest to this as I've closely watched the noon lunch hour continue to prematurely creep ever so slightly to 11:59, 11:57, even early as 11:46. The reason? An all out effort by employees to anticipate the rush and get their hands on whatever gastro-delight the day's nearest specialty food truck is serving up.

Fresh luncheon ideas and unique culturally inspired dishes tend to set these food trucks apart from your ordinary hot dog cart. Yet culinary ingenuity is not the only way in which these mobile eating destinations distinguish themselves. Equally as important, many of these trucks compliment good food with an innovative social media centric business plan. Location, location, location has always played a definitive part in both the identity and ultimately the success of any restaurant. When constantly on the move, as is the nature of a food truck's business, this can present an obstacle to building recognition. This is where social media steps in to play an integral role in a food truck's ability to harness a sense of identity. And, the recipe is arguably simpler than anything these trucks are cooking up.

Hot spots in any city have always thrived and died on the word of mouth. Platforms such Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, and Foursquare offer the perfect channel for restaurants to ignite and amplify the impact of word of mouth. A traditional static restaurant may still be able go about their business in lieu of any social media. For a food truck however, whose presence in a given location literally comes and goes every day, a strong social media identity drives their business. The most powerful tactic, judging from the office buzz I touched on earlier, involves trucks blasting followers via various social media outlets on their intended locations about twenty minutes prior to arriving at that spot. In doing so, the truck need not wait for customers to come to them. They effectively bypass the customer traffic uncertainty associated with taking up new locations daily by creating their own buzz and directly seeking out their customers.

In addition to the operational component social media plays in this business plan, it also fuels the growth and development of customer relationships. Ploys aimed towards promoting viral grow of their reach on social networks often include trucks offering rewards for customers tweeting, sharing, or commenting on their experience. (Now who said there was no such thing as a free lunch?) It all comes full circle after a few successful hours of business when trucks add a nice socially conscious touch by thanking their customers for coming out across the same social media networks that brought them there in the first place.

One of my favorite NYC food trucks (both for their food and their commanding social media scheme) is @seoulfoodnyc. The truck features a Korean spins on Mexican dishes such as Kalbi short rib tacos with kimichi aioli, cilantro lime onions, sesame seeds and lettuce. Upon walking up to the truck you get a nice waft of simmering meat and spices. A friendly attendant[image error] will welcome you and pass you a sharp looking menu flyer (also if you mention to him the day's password advertised on Facebook you'll score yourself a free taco). The front of the menu features their Twitter name @seoulfoodnyc and Facebook page seoulfoodnyc along with a witty hash tag #feedyourseoul. The truck is painted with a Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare logo offering a free taco for anyone who respectively likes, posts a pic, follows, tweets, or checks in with the truck. Along with social media proficiency, the truck also displays a savvy Ipad interface to facilitate operation. The set-up allows the person at the front of the truck to plug orders into an Ipad, swipe a credit card and then send a receipt to a customer's email. The Ipad in the front of the truck sends the order to an Ipad in the back of the truck where the cooks whip up your order. The truck is also equipped additional personnel and bikes to deliver orders placed via phone or online at Seamless.com within a reasonable delivery range. If all of this doesn't provide you enough of a wow factor just wait until you take a bite of the food!

What are your favorite food trucks serving up? Feel free to comment on your favorite food trucks and some of the best social media tactics they employ.

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Did Ohio State Football Players Get Penalized Before the Kickoff?

[image error]The 2012 college football season has not even officially started and yet players at Ohio State were left wondering if social media would be in their playbooks come spring practice.

Reports earlier this week initially said new head coach Urban Meyer was banning players from using Twitter. Then, reports surfaced that Meyer's plans were essentially flagged for illegal procedure.

Defensive players Bradley Roby and Reid Fragel told a Columbus radio station that reports of the Twitter ban were in fact not true.

Meantime, tight end Jake Stoneburner initially tweeted, "Twitter=Done. Me=back for senior year, leading this team, and shocking the world!! #gobucks #12-0."

OSU athletics representative Jerry Emig, who was sat in on the football team's Jan. 3 meeting, told a local publication that Meyer never informed him of a Twitter ban for the Buckeyes.

"All I know was I was not made aware of a ban," Emig told The Lantern in a Wednesday email. "I have no idea where this all originated or how it originated."

The Buckeyes, who fell to Florida 24-17 in the Jan. 2 Gator Bowl, are coming off of one of their toughest seasons in school history, finishing a mediocre 6-7.

Not only was Ohio State inept at times on the field, but it was and will in essence pay for the prior actions of a number of players and former head coach Jim Tressel through next fall.

The NCAA sacked Ohio State with a one-year bowl ban and added penalties recently for violations that began with eight players taking a total of $14,000 in cash and tattoos in exchange for jerseys, rings and other Buckeyes memorabilia.

So, could a head coach institute a broad band on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook for his or her players? Looking at it from a legal point of view, the answer is likely no.

Imposing a ban on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc. would essentially be like telling one's team they are not allowed to talk outside of any football-related activities. While many coaches prohibit their players from talking to the media without permission, the thought that you could completely ban your team from hopping on the Internet seems a little out of bounds.

It is safe to say, however, that more and more eyes are tuned on how athletes are using social media venues these days, especially in light of some comments by both pros and amateurs that stoked controversy in recent years.

For the Ohio State Buckeyes and new head coach Urban Meyer, there is likely going to be a 15-yard penalty for pass interference, which is passing along bad information.

So, do you think college athletes should be banned from using sites like Twitter and Facebook?

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Why the Social Funnel? New eBook from Awareness

In 2004 I launched my first corporate blog.  At the time I was running sales and marketing for a small software company and was focused on demand generation through 'traditional channels' like email, banner ads, direct mail, etc.  I still remember the reaction I got from the team when I told them we would be launching a new blog.  To quote a line from one of favorite movies, A Christmas Story, 'they looked at me as if I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.'

Fast-forward to 2006.  That blog had grown to become an integral part our marketing mix and was directly responsible for a high percentage of our inbound leads.  We learned quickly that those 'blog leads' were typically higher quality leads than those that we generated from other vehicles.  The company had evolved from viewing the blog as something we were 'experimenting with' to a critical component of our brand.  It positioned us as thought leaders and allowed us to tell our story in a way that attracted buyers and nurture relationships with our prospects and customers.

I was reminded of my first blog story several times while developing the content for the eBook we released this morning, "The Social Marketing Funnel: Driving Business Value with Social Marketing". Although social media is no longer seen as a fad, many companies still struggle with how to participate in it and generate meaningful results.  While companies' social media understanding has evolved from 'should we be on social media? ' to 'How can we improve our social media activities?', brands still grapple with the key question of  the value of social media.  That simple question of value transcends company size, industry and focus.

Our team at Awareness realized that while social is still evolving as an industry, we don't simply need new processes, how-to's and a set of measures – our industry needs a new decision framework.  A framework that offers companies a scalable way to think about and participate in social, allocate resources, and measure the impact to their bottom line.

The Social Marketing Funnel sits atop and alongside the traditional sales and marketing funnel and serves as a way to nurture buyers throughout their lifecycle. By utilizing and understanding the Social Marketing Funnel, brands are able to identify demand before buyers enter the traditional sales funnel.  They are also able to better manage their relationship with buyers throughout the buying process and customer lifecycle.

 

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The research also uncovered a series of metrics and key performance indicators companies can use to track their overall progress and better understand the value of social media including:

Social Reach Velocity: gauging a brand's ability to attract new social profiles across social media platforms over time.
Social Reach-to-Traditional Lead Ratio: measuring a brand's ability to move social profiles into your traditional marketing funnel.
Social Profile-to-Sales Ratio: tracking social profiles that turn into customers over time.
Content-to-Contact Ratio: understanding the impact of content on generating new contacts and inquiries.
Share of Social Conversations: measuring a brand's ability to dominate social conversations.

I'd like to personally thank all the individuals who participated in this research for their time, their insight and their overall willingness to help with this project including David Meerman Scott, Jason Falls, Jeremiah Owyang, Nathaniel Perez, Erik Qualman, David Berkowitz, Paul Gillin, Christine Major, Jonas Nielsen, Justin Holmerud, and Andrew Patterson.

We hope you enjoy the findings of this book and we are looking forward to your feedback and comments.

Mike Lewis

@BostonMike 

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Top 15 Facebook Countries

Top 15 Facebook Countries Infographic….

Thank you: Fortunecat.it

 

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