social media useful tools

So now you need to create a social media marketing plan. No easy task, right? Many of us struggle to iron out exactly what that is, let alone how to build one from scratch.

Put simply, every action you take on social networks should be a part of a larger social media marketing strategy. That means every Tweet, reply, like and comment should all be guided by a plan and driving towards pre-determined goals. It might sound complicated, but if you take the time to create a comprehensive social media plan, the rest of your social efforts should follow naturally. Everyone can do this if they approach it correctly.

Learn what a social media marketing plan should include, and follow our 6-step plan for creating your own:

Although B2B marketers tend to focus more on reaching and interacting with their audiences on LinkedIn, this infographic reminds us that there are opportunities on Facebook too.

The infographic from Marketing Mojo explains some of the basics when it comes to weighing up options for advertising across LinkedIn vs Facebook. For more advanced users, refer to our social media hub for LinkedIn and Facebook features.

How to you get more engagement on Twitter?
Start by sharing better content – make sure you credit the author and use an appropriate hashtag. Offer help or solutions to problems, and ask questions of your followers.

When it comes to tv advertising, there is always one ad you know by heart and even find yourself mimicking the tv when it comes on. This is when you know you have seen this advert too many times and in most cases, it starts to annoy you and you would never consider purchasing this product.

The same thing will happen on social media so it is crucial for your business that you follow the below guide so that you don’t make the mistake companies make when advertising on tv.

The best place to start is finding a balance between listening and sharing. You want to be sharing informative pieces of information on a regular basis but you don’t want to risk annoying your followers so where is your happy medium?

Automated scheduling app; Buffer shared their social media automation plan which included posting on Twitter 14 times per day, Facebook and Google+ twice a day and LinkedIn once a day. The reason I have shared these statistics is to show you how a huge, American business use social media. This is something that as a small business, you should NOT try to achieve.

Social media marketers – myself included – spend a great deal of time talking about the importance of content.

And the rationale for that focus is justified.

Great content is an important component of a greater equation for how you can provide value to your targeted audience and positively address your business goals.

But therein lies the crux of what this post is about: content is only part of the equation for how you can provide value to your targeted audience.

There are many ways that you can use social media to great effect that have absolutely nothing to do with creating content.

Every now and again we all could use a reminder about the many content-free ways that we can use social media, so let these five examples serve as that reminder:

Content curation, I believe, is a foundational key to how to both create (from scratch) and share (other people’s work in your industry) great content your fans and followers will engage with and read. In a world of over-saturated content, it’s hard to find great content and know where to start. With the right tools and the right way to go about it, I think curation can hold the key to a better content future in 2015.

When it comes to social media, you have to focus on the three Es.

Engagement, engagement, engagement.

Sure, a big follower number is nice, but in and of itself it’s worthless unless those same followers are actively reading and engaging with your content.

 The worst tech news I read last week was: “Twitter CFO says a Facebook-style filtered feed is coming, whether you like it or not.” The horrified firestorm of condemnation that erupted in response was the first time I’ve ever seen anything like...

Understanding your invisible audience is a key factor to your social media marketing. Here're some ways to respond and support this silent majority.

Doctors and nurses say social media including Facebook and Twitter are among their new professional tools.

More than two-thirds of physicians told surveyors in 2011 that they were utilizing some form of social media "for professional purposes," and likely that number has grown.

Alan Neuhauser, who published a piece in U.S. News & World report recently on the subject, said social media is used in varying ways, and it's helped to save time, and perhaps even lives.

"(Social media) lets (doctors and nurses) share articles and videos with a number of patients at once, it lets them monitor Twitter during big events like big games," Neuhauser told WTOP. For example, Twitter was critical to trauma teams as they awaited victims of the Boston Marathon bombing to local hospitals in 2013.

In his article, Neuhauser also talks about doctors and nurses creating their own professional Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to invite patients to weigh in and communicate. Aside from sharing information to a wider group with videos and links, they are also able to monitor the well-being of their patients on a regular basis. This has helped particularly with veterans who might not be so comfortable coming forward and asking for help.

"They have come across (Facebook) posts that let them know, that maybe a guy is having a tough day because maybe it is an anniversary of a tough event," Neuhauser pointed out. Doctors and nurses can take a more proactive role in their care as a result. The nurses he spoke to for his story say they prevented at least 12 suicides by reaching out to vets after reading their cries for help online.

As with all such technology, there are privacy concerns. While hospitals are still wary with the professional use of Facebook and Twitter, medical schools are beginning to issue guidelines, rather than prohibitions, for their use.

I want to take a look at curation through the lens of blogging. How can educators and students use their blogs to become their own information curators and content curators for others in their learning community.

Want to monetize your Facebook Page? Facebook has ramped up its’ business mojo on the backs of the Facebook page owners. The time has come to Pay to Play