Twitter is a micro-blogging platform accessible via the Web and mobile phones. In just 140 characters or less, users can share thoughts, ideas, news, feedback, images, video and more. Twitter is also a searchable database of shared content and user generated ideas. It is a primary source for many realtime search engines and is useful for tracking trends and measuring sentiment about brands, events and topical issues as they occur. Continue reading “How to Tweet”
The Truth about Twitter, Trending Topics and Your Business
The wikileaks fiasco has revealed an ugly truth about social media marketing via Twitter – their top trends may not be ‘the top trends‘ after all. Marketers assumed that top tweets and trending topics were based on actual Twitter user activity, but according to Twitter – this is not true. When users raised questions about the omission of tweets about wikileaks in Twitter’s list of trending topics and top tweets, the company was forced to admit that “Twitter favors novelty over popularity…” and that the company is in full control of what topics make their lists. Continue reading “The Truth about Twitter, Trending Topics and Your Business”
How to use Twitter for Business
Millions of people use Twitter everyday to share information, ideas and random updates about what’s going on in their lives. It’s also a great place for shoppers looking for deals, businesses trying to make a sale, and organizations looking for advocates and donors.
Here are three tips you can use to effectively get your point across and generate leads in 140 characters or less: Continue reading “How to use Twitter for Business”
Email vs. Social Media – Should you follow Ben and Jerry’s?
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream recently notified their UK subscribers that they are dropping e-mail marketing and focusing on their social networks instead. US subscribers will still get the monthly edition of ChunkMail, Ben & Jerry’s e-newsletter. With over a million Facebook followers and a growing Twitter following, the company appears confident that social media can fill all of their relationship management needs – at least in the UK. Continue reading “Email vs. Social Media – Should you follow Ben and Jerry’s?”
Stop Your Email List from Shrinking
Businesses that depend on email marketing to engage customers will notice two things about their email list every year; 1. Your email list will shrink by at least 15% before the end of the year, 2. Your bounce (email return) rate will be greater than it was the previous year – but does this mean you are losing your subscribers? That depends on your Website.
Customers no longer depend on emails to keep up with the latest news from their favorite marketers – thanks to SPAM (the worst kind), your recipients have grown tired of wading thru emails to decipher which ones they really want to read. Continue reading “Stop Your Email List from Shrinking”
Why Twitter is Good for Small Businesses
Small business operators and educators are sometimes too busy to keep up with latest greatest social media tools. It’s hard enough to decide which one to take on, much more learn how to use them to boost your business. Well we’ve got a tip for you: start with Twitter! It is one of the best gateway social media tool for small businesses and here are 3 reasons why:
Realtime results: Start off by using Twitter as a search engine. Unlike Google, Twitter’s search results are delivered in “realtime” so you get the latest feedback and information on any request, in every subject area and in just about any language. Twitter limits the number of characters per post, so your results are “straight to the point”. Continue reading “Why Twitter is Good for Small Businesses”
When to use a Social Network as Your Website
Test your business idea for cheap. If you are an entrepreneur that’s just starting out, launching your business’ Web presence in a social network could be a great first step before launching a fully developed Website. Social networks are often free to use and the best ones even offer e-commerce tools for cheap. Take a quick peek at the top social networks and you will find entrepreneurs of every stripe using the networks to understand and break into their markets.
Create a buzz, get feedback. Social networks are great places for polling an audience and getting a product or service airtime that it would not otherwise get. MySpace for example has been a true blessing for unsigned bands. They are able to create profiles with pizzazz, upload their music, share it for free and even sell it; with a big enough following of “friends”, they might Continue reading “When to use a Social Network as Your Website”
Are Websites Still Relevant?
Some businesses are asking what’s the use in setting up a Website when everybody’s on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter? Why not just set up a Facebook or MySpace page and use that as a business Web address? After all, on any given day there are up to 110 million people on either Facebook or MySpace building trustworthy relationships–why not stay there instead of trying to lure them to your own Website? While it seems as if these folks are just creating customer profiles and waiting for smart marketers to present products and services which can be peddled in those networks outfitted with the necessary e-commerce and communication tools, taking this position is like saying its wiser to live in a hot new nightclub than to get your own home. Continue reading “Are Websites Still Relevant?”