• Custom Content Generation to Win New Customers

    USA Today announced today that it is outsourcing content generation for its Travel Tips section to Demand Media, a content network that generates story ideas based on search behavior.  With traditional media companies like USA Today beginning to embrace Web 2.0 content strategies, the value proposition of blogging and content generation based on...

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  • Expanding the Business Uses of Twitter

    Convincing clients about the commercial utility of social networks is always a crucial part of our education process.  Many people initially think networks like Twitter are solely used for meaningless babble about breakfast choices and weekend plans.  For instance, one client recently summed up the goal of activities on the social networks he...

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  • Twitter Predicts Consumer Trends

    Yesterday, Fast Company published an article that qualified what so many of us have been confident is true for a long time.  Social media are capable of predicting consumer behavior. As Cliff Kuang reports : "We've all got the vague intuition that Twitter allows you track, in real-time, what people are concerned about or obsessed with. But this...

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  • How to Convince Management That Social Media Outreach Will Be Valuable

    We talk to marketing professionals every day about the ways social media can impact their business results and drive awareness and sales for their companies.  But we also hear that once these VPs of marketing or CMOs have been convinced about the viability of social media as an outreach tool, they often have trouble convincing upper management....

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  • Small Businesses Seeing Business Value from Social Networking

    Small businesses doubled their use of social media in 2009, according to a study by the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.  Only 12 percent of small businesses had adopted social media as a marketing or customer service tool in 2008.  In 2009, 24 percent of small businesses reported using social networks. The...

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  • Social Media Delivers Customers for Less than Traditional Marketing

    Social media outreach by businesses is beginning to show true value, according to a recent HubSpot study on inbound marketing.  The research also finds that business-to-business companies are seeing success in using social media, countering claims that social media may only be able to move the needle for consumer-facing companies. The study...

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  • Small Business Marketing Advice: Tips On Engaging Locally on Social Networks

    Much has been written about the effectiveness of social media outreach in national campaigns, such as Scott Brown’s victory over Martha Coakley in Massachusetts.  But social media can also have an outsized impact on local policy proceedings and elections, as an interesting Huffington Post article today explained.  The article...

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  • How Are You Reaching the 200 Million US Residents Online?

    New statistics released by Nielsen show just how ubiquitous Internet activity has become.  This insight into user behavior demonstrates how crucial interacting online is for small businesses who want to attract more business.  Users spent an average of 58 hours online in January, and visited an average of 2,621 Web pages while online,...

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  • A Generational Gap: Google Buzz and Online Privacy

    Google is working out the kinks in its new social media offering, Google Buzz.  The service’s most contentious feature—auto-following of Gmail contacts without user permission—has been replaced with an opt-in list of suggested people to follow.  I had a conversation with a colleague this weekend about the auto-following...

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  • Small Business Social Media Logistics: Facebook

    Last week, we covered the basics on how a small business can set up a Twitter profile and begin using it .  In addition to Twitter, businesses that want to engage in social media marketing should set up a Facebook Fan page.  Maintaining accounts on both services helps expose your business to the widest array of potential customers and offers...

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