Insight for Business

Think it’s all about the Benjamins? Think again (although a few crisp hundreds never hurt anybody). But as it turns out, integrating social media into business isn’t all about making profits. In fact, that’s one of the least important results around, according to a poll released on Marketing Pilgrim this week. Among the top motivators…

Finding the Connection

Yeah, we know, this year’s season of The Bachelor is over, but that doesn’t mean we’re ready to stop talking about making connections. That said, ours don’t have much to do with beautiful blondes in bikinis pining after one lone pretty-boy. After all, business is all about making connections with your customers, and we’ll admit…

Do or Die!

Listen, we’re not trying to be dramatic here, but your business is at risk. Okay, that was a bit dramatic. But according to Fox Business this week, resisting the urge to utilize social media in your company can be as good as death wish for your business. As you’re probably realizing about now, this whole…

Get Tweeted Well

Here are few quick tips for you business folks that use Twitter. First off, don’t be a Twitter snob! Unless you are a rock star like Michael Jackson, you want to “follow” everyone within your industry. Following others will keep you updated on developments in your market and enable you to network with other professionals…

Twitter or Chatter

Sure, you’ve adjusted your business to the times and have started Tweeting. But social media isn’t just about building a presence – it’s about creating conversations. That can be tough, even for the more seasoned Tweeters. In fact, without a genuine conversation, your Twitter account may just be a stream of useless chatter that your followers may or…

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The Differences Between Facebook and Twitter

Social media marketing newbies and veterans alike tend to make the same mistake: They post the same content to all of their social networks. There’s a reason for this: Managing multiple social media accounts is time consuming and labor intensive, especially when you consider all the other work you need to do to keep your…

Driving responsibly? Progressive wants to make sure

Driving responsibly? Progressive wants to make sure.

Car insurance company Progressive has found a new way to give its customers deep discounts when appropriate: It’s giving drivers tiny devices that plug into their cars; if the devices show the driver is responsible, he or she could get up to 30% off insurance rates. Snapshot Called the “Snapshot” program, this plan is currently…

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Social Media and Sales

Can Social Media really help sales? The simple answer is of course yes, but probably not quite the “yes” that you are wanting. Social media is rarely, if ever, the direct sales channel itself. Social media can increase the likelihood of sales through better targeting, more consistent touchpoints and availability of information, establishing affinities and…

Breaking News (Where to get it?)

U.S. smartphone owners are increasingly turning to mobile to access breaking news over other media, including newspapers, TV and desktop web browsers, according to a recent study from mobile app developer Handmark. In a survey of 300,000 mobile consumers, 88% of whom owned a device running one the five most popular smartphone operating systems, more…

Hire Online Experts

Online Experts

Expertise for Hire. Whether you’re ordering a wedding cake or searching for a new employee, the lesson is simple: People will pay for expertise. Whether painting your home, repairing your car or – cough, cough – handling your social media, customers demand things done right – especially if they’re paying for it. That’s where your business and its expertise…

Black Friday Check-Ins

A tiny percentage of the population uses location-based checkin tools like Foursquare; and in all likelihood, these digital citizens aremore likely to be shopping online than in stores during the holiday season. So numbers gathered by Trendrr and AdAge represent a tiny sliver of what in-store numbers might have actually been. The number-one store by Foursquare checkins was Target,…

Education and Social Media

Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, compares education without technology to the medical profession without technology. “If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar,” he says. “Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots.” Out-of-the-box teaching Technology is helping teachers to expand…

Let's Make a Deal

Let’s Make a Deal

Recently some game changing news hit the social street when Facebook announced “Deals,” which finally explains why Facebook’s “Places” function unrolled earlier this year. Places felt like a Foursquare knockoff that Facebook incorporated just because they felt the need to not only be ubiquitous on the web but in the physical world, too. The functionality…

Google's Got Visuals

Google’s Got Visuals

Google Product Listing Ads are now being rolled out to all of Google’s advertisers in the United States. The format, which has been in testing with select advertisers for the past year, makes AdWords more visual by allowing advertisers to list specific products with accompanying images. While the ads represent a departure from Google’s traditional text…

Veterans Day

Today is November 11th, which of course means it is Veterans Day. Social Media is reaching out for our Veterans to help them know that they are amazing individuals who helped our country become what it is today. New generations of veterans are being commemorated, as well as all the Veterans of past conflicts. Here…