Social Media Marketing & CRM

Why It's Important To Stay Active With Social CRM No longer is traditional media by itself an effective way to reach your customers.

In any business venture, implementing a solid customer relationship management (CRM) strategy is paramount to success.

There are thousands of social media channels available to us all. From blogging to Facebook, all of these channels are not created equally and for the same purpose. Just because a certain social media channel works well ...

The State of Social Media 2012 by The SEO Company...

What was once considered a trend has become a way of life - and now the way we do business.

Download / Embed: http://bit.ly/KjsJZ6

Here are the most popular retailers that are killing it on social media. (Who Are the Top Retailers on Social Media?

Chas Begley: LinkedIn recommendations can be very useful but if they are not used correctly they can do more harm than good.

This post by Linda Cole offers a guide to best practice including:

1. Ask For Specific Recommendations

2. Don’t Ask Everyone

3. Don’t Ignore a Request

4. Be Careful About How You Recommend

5. Update Recommendations

6. Say ‘Thank You’

You can read it here:

http://goo.gl/U71pF

Pinterest has been grabbing the headlines recently as its network approaches 20 million users per month.

In March compete.com reported that Pinterest had received 18 million unique visitors with AppData reporting that the visual social network had received a record 4.4 million daily active users on March 18.

There are reports that Pinterest’s growth is slowing but just like Twitter and Facebook reports of its demise maybe slightly premature.

The Power of “Low Friction” Photo Sharing

Pinterest’s value to marketers is that it provides an easy to use platform for “pinning” images, photos and videos to your Pinterest account while also posting and sharing to your networks to Facebook and Twitter in the same process.

Pinterest reduces the effort and friction to share images on the social web which crowd sources your marketing and the spreading of your brand images.

Read more: http://bit.ly/Kqlbn9

One company that has developed and successfully implemented an integrated social media strategy is Lowe's. Lowe's has focused on three social platforms: Twitter, Facebook, and the newest game player, Pinterest...

Brands do need to be mindful about pushing their messages too hard or frequently – 44 percent of users said that marketing on mobile social media was “too invasive”, and almost two-thirds (62 percent) said that they did not enjoy reading updates or comments from brands.

You don’t have to be a lifestyle-type site to win on Pinterest, you merely need to make your brand fun and create interesting, shareable images. Pinterest offers other benefits, including social links generated from content shared on Pinterest.

**Pinterest is now the third most popular site, just behind Twitter and Facebook [Experian Traffic Report-April 2012].

**Pinterest is now looking to go Global

**The demographics have also shifted to a more balanced gender viewship - 65% Female and 35% Male [ComScore March 2012].

Pinterest is growing in overall volume, becoming more gender balanced, increasing its age group range, and building out a global community. Much as Facebook and Twitter are a general part of your SEO/social strategy, so should Pinterest.

Value Of Pinning

Will this strategy necessarily bring massive boost for established brands or highly competitive keywords? Probably not!

Will this help diversify your backlink profile? Yes.

Does Google like fresh content from social sharing? Yes.

Is this an easy way to inject some fresh content and new social citation for your site? Yes.

If you create creative and interesting images, and have some influence on Pinterest, could something go viral? Yes.

Should companies and sites invest in using Pinterest? Absolutely!

Pinterest is becoming a major social medium to build your digital strategy around. Creating interesting and creative images to share with others is the key to success.

Original Post: http://bit.ly/KWiLgb ;

Danger: ignoring social benefits in the traditional sales funnel.

Sales Happen Slowly;  

Time To Harness The Power Of The Social Funnel

Social media marketing should never be salesy; rather, it’s about accruing a following, engaging your community, and influencing their actions.

So how does that all lead to a sale?

You’re reaching a customer early in the sales process, meaning that you’ve likely reached them before your competitors.

The earlier you reach them, the more history they’ll have with you when it’s time to make a purchasing decision.

We make purchases based on trust.

The more you engage with your fans and followers, the more they “get to know” you and your brand, which breeds trust.

You also become infinitely more memorable to your customers, since they now see you as a presence, not a product.

Through engagement, you show you’re invested in them — and in turn, they become more invested in you.

Social Media allows you to stay present in your customer’s minds. 

Social media followers can always play a huge part in your funnel, even if that subscriber never makes a purchase. They can:

1. Recommend you to friends, family, or colleagues,
2. Share your posts/tweets/content with others,
3. Buy your content or know-how (books, eBooks, etc.),
4. Cause your company to show up in their friend’s search results through Google Social Search,
5. Stay alert of ALL your brand offerings/sister sites/etc.,
6. If nothing else, give you a number on your follower/friend count to encourage others of your authority.

Continue reading some

Quick Tips To Remember When Crafting A Social Funnel - http://selnd.com/JvIc8Q ;

We examines how government agencies and other organizations are using social media in emergencies.