SOCIAL MEDIA, what we think about!

Spend some quality time with Reddit -- you'll find it an essential resource, a self-correcting marketplace of ideas. Get started with our guide.

To the uninitiated, Reddit looks like a mess — text links, comment threads, points, upvotes, downvotes. At best, posts seem contextless — at worst, totally random.

But spend some quality time with “The Front Page of the Internet,” and you’ll find it’s an essential resource, a self-correcting marketplace of ideas that’s nearly impervious to marketers.

Simply put, Reddit is a message board wherein users submit links. What differentiates it from a real-time information network like Twitter is that the stream of content is curated by the community. Items of value are “upvoted,” and those deemed unworthy are “downvoted.” This determines a post’s position on the site, and items that hit the front page are seen by hundreds of thousands of people (consequently, sending boatloads of traffic to the linked website).

Read more: http://on.mash.to/Ke9Bil

A simple guide to understanding how to effectively use Twitter hashtags in marketing and how you shouldn't! [note mg]

Every time we host live webinars (and as this long list suggests, that is quite often), quite a few attendees get confused about what to do with the hashtag we provide. What is it? What does it do? How do you create one? Let me explain!

What is a hashtag?

A Twitter hashtag is simply a keyword phrase, spelled out without spaces, with a pound sign (#) in front of it. For example, #inboundchat and #ILoveChocolate are both hashtags.

What does a hashtag do?

A Twitter hashtag ties the conversations of different users into one stream, which you can find by searching the hastag in Twitter Search or by using a third-party monitoring tool such as HootSuite.

Read more: http://bit.ly/K8LKcQ

Pinterest is the social media plateform where, not to be or not to be on the right way can make the difference for those who want to use this platform for their business. This guide should support you in your approach. [note mg]

Just because Pinterest is a female-dominated network doesn't mean men don't fit in. In this post, learn how to leverage this network as a male user or male-focused brand.

Pinterest’s popularity has exploded in the past few months. Their traffic and user base has grown exponentially, bringing it to the attention of marketers around the world.

One of the most unique factors of Pinterest is the fact that its user demographic is made up mostly of women. This key factor has forced many male-oriented brands to rethink their marketing strategy if they want to leverage this social network.

Read more: http://bit.ly/y0J3uK

Competitive research is an area that’s either completely overlooked by a brand, or taken to an extreme level while missing the basic goals that need to be reached. Because competitive research becomes a cornerstone for strategy development, it’s important to research from inside the trees, and outside of the forest.

Overall, brands need to:

1. Identify what others are already doing in the space, and how successful they are.
2. Identify areas of opportunity and weaknesses within their specific vertical.
3. Identify what tactics a competitor is using to gain a competitive advantage.

What We’re Doing

We approach competitive research with these fundamental questions:

1. What is their link building strategy?
2. How are they leveraging social media?
3. Identify areas of weakness or opportunity in their strategy (notice whether they’re focusing strictly on their brand, or expanding into other social areas for maximum reach).
4. How all these facets work together: focus on their overall “marketing strategy” rather than segregating them into “search” and “social.”
5. Continuing the stalking with tips and tools.

Looking for how to increase traffic to your blog or website, this article will give you some very useful information to achieve your goal. [note MG]

We’ve all been taught to create high-quality content to attract links. This argument is usually stated in the context of a blog that basically becomes an authority where you start to build a following around consistent, fresh content—think big sites like Problogger or Boing Boing.

This is not the technique I’m talking about.

Today, I’m talking about a link-building technique that’s bigger, better and quite possibly able to put you on the map faster than you would ever imagine. I’m talking about building a linkable asset—something you do by following the steps I’m about to describe.

First, let’s define “linkable asset.”

What is a linkable asset?

Read more: http://bit.ly/y67FKA

The Internet houses a wealth of information in all different forms. With so many creative avenues available to you to communicate an idea, how do you choose which medium to use?

This blog post details all of the different types of content used online and how they can each benefit you. Because it’s rather long, remember: ctrl+F is your friend.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

- Lists and Listicles

- Articles

- Photos

- Ceinemagraphs

- Infographics

- Interactive Infographics

- Video

- Video Graphics

- Kinetic Typography

- Graphs

- Quizzes

- Podcasts

- Linkbaiting

- Working with Memes

As Facebook begins rolling out its much-anticipated user interface, Timeline, now's the time to get to know what's so different about it -- and how to use it.

The Timeline interface, which will eventually replace the existing one for all personal Facebook profiles, is your Wall and Profile rolled into one with additional tools for documenting your life -- from the day you were born to the here and now. You can add a cover image at the top of your Timeline, add life events such as your high school graduation or your summer vacations, map places you've been, list pets you've owned, document relationships you started or ended and much more...