SMM - Business Owners Fall for These Mistakes AGAIN and AGAIN

Thousands of dollars have been lost, but sadly, business owners still keep on falling for the same misconception again and again.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about the 5 most common misconceptions that business owners have about social media marketing, that’s costing them A LOT OF DOLLARS!

Before I even share what they are, I’d like you to think about your social media marketing strategy as you read through. Should you find that you’re making the same mistakes, do whatever it takes to stop what you’re doing before you invest any more of your resources in these damaging activities/concepts.

Without further adieu...

Videos: The Modern Form Of Content Marketing - infographic

Are you leveraging video content as a part of your online marketing strategy?

The content marketing landscape is rapidly growing, and businesses have turned to video content to garner clicks, win traffic, drive sales and build their brand. With each days passing, video content is becoming more and more compelling than ever before. According to a recent study by CMO, Smartphones account for 10 percent of world-wide online video plays, while consumers are 27 times more likely to click through online video ads than standard image banners, plus, 44 percent of email marketers experience increased engagement rates in messages containing an explainer video.

Take a look at the following infographic created by the folks at IDT – to learn more about why the use of video marketing will rise even faster in 2014 and beyond.

20 Mind-Blowing Stats To Get You Active On Google+

Unless you are OK with tossing off your budget on pricey individuals and their pricier strategies, social media isn’t a platform you can afford to ignore. You aren’t likely to fall short on options that social media tosses at you to promote your products and brand as a whole, and you can find the biggest of brands reciting homilies on how it has helped them achieve the level of success they make a boast of today.

That said, everyone has their own take on different platforms on offer. While some like to channelize most of their resources on Facebook, others are keener on Twitter or LinkedIn or for that matter, Google Plus.

But, let’s be honest, despite being a Google product, Google Plus hasn’t got the kind of credit it commands from the brand community. Even after 2.75 years of its existence, it remains underrated and undervalued as a social media marketing platform. And, is it justified? Darn no! So, just to make sure you aren’t left oblivious to the various leverages Google+ can power you with, here is a list to convince you of the efficacy of this highly resourceful platform.

And no, I am not reciting any of those homilies; I present to you some incredibly convincing GPlus facts by the means of stats (something that works for me as well, as they are more likely to intrigue you to the page).

What Finance Businesses Need To Know To Excel Digital Marketing

Did you know that 94 percent of people in all age groups are using online banking, and nearly 6 out of 10 mobiles searches are likely to use "to make changes to their bank accounts", and that 84 percent of financial companies are using Facebook, 63 percent have a twitter presence and 31 percent have a company blog.

In addition, 68 percent of online American adults that own an investment account also have a presence on at least 1 social networking site, while 61 percent of financial professionals with a social profile use it for business at least once in a week. Plus, financial services sector makes up 14 percent of overall money spent on all online advertising

However, a lot of this "marketing dollar" is being spent without taking the time to see how impactful it is, 5 in 10 banks either do not measure their marketing ROI at all, or measure it in less than 25 percent of their digital marketing campaigns.

These all stats came from bluefountainmedia's infographic called Digital Marketing for Finance: What Businesses Need to Know to Excel Online. See complete visual below:

LinkedIn By The Numbers - infographic

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social network and being tied to the popularity of social recruiting. It is also known as a business oriented network and through this you can share and receive updated news, job details, marketing a business or about any other brand details. LinkedIn is very popular among the marketers and business professionals those who are seeking work and trying to connect with those who are interested in their services.

LinkedIn having 280 million total users and more than 87 percent of the total people belief the product-related information they find on the network. Some are getting involved with it only to extend their friends circle to make fun and gossip and some are to maintain a strong network of close professional colleagues to get success in their professional life.

For more details about the LinkedIn’s success as a professional social networking site and its market value, here is an explained infographic which comes courtesy of Degreequery.

Social Media: Going Beyond Online Company Presence

Companies are starting to use social media to set strong online presence. Since most people today use social media in their everyday lives, companies see this as a mean to improve their sales and brand awareness. To get better mileage from social media, let us look at how it is used beyond building online presence.

What Are We Doing On Our Mobile - infographic

The use of smart devices has grown around the globe over the past few years and it's easy to forget that 15 years ago how we could utilize our cell phones was actually surprisingly limited. Thanks to the revolutionized technology and emerging communication mediums, the humble "calling device" has transformed itself into a pocket-sized PC, with almost limitless potential.

So what do we do with our smartphones? 40 percent people use their mobile for social media, 50 percent smartphone subscribers serve ads, while 2 in 10 use it for watching videos, 35 percent sleep with their mobile and 7 out of 10 check it during a meal at least once a day.

Heck, almost 5 in 10 say it is acceptable to use your mobile while on the toilet.

Check out this infographic created by Citrix for more stats on what are we doing on our mobile devices, how mobile subscribers use data, and the peak time for content on mobile.

Critical Lessons That Business Owners Can Learn From REAL Social Media Marketers

Why is the word “REAL” in caps you might ask? The thing is, there are A LOT of posers in the web claiming to be social media experts when in fact, they don’t have the slightest clue about what it REALLY means to do social media marketing.

The sad part is, the business owners (especially the new ones and those who are cutting corners to make ends meet) are misled and influenced by these posers and they end up making the wrong decisions when marketing via social media.

If you want to know how true my statement above is when I say there are a lot of posers in the web, then check out some freelancing sites like Odesk, Freelancer and eLance (among many others), you’ll find thousands of freelancers claiming to be social media experts for only $1 per hour. While their hourly rate shouldn’t really be the sole gauge to determine what their performance is, you ought to see a HUGE RED FLAG on that. Bidding TOO LOW reeks of “shadiness” (if there’s such a word).

So if you’re a business owner, what EXACTLY can you learn from REAL social media marketers to help you grow your business? What are the things that they do, that’s SO VALUABLE that you simply cannot ignore it?

If that’s what you’re hoping to learn about, then these tips will end your search!

How to Select Instagram Photos Shoppers Will Love - infographic

Small business and retailers are unlocking the power of Instagram by featuring customer pictures within the eCommerce experience. And if you are wondering how to choose images your shoppers will love and what makes a Instagram photo outstanding? Then take a look at below infographic to get your answers and more, which comes courtesy of olapic.

Olapic analyzed 130,000 photos from 61 different companies to determine what type of images drive more engagement, likes and comments.

They found many visual triggers and context clues that can increase engagement, but on other side can cause decrease in sales performance as well, and vice-versa.

A key takeaway is - brands and retailers should use separate selection criteria when integrating Instagram photos into websites, optimized for either sales or engagement.

Women Use Social Media More Often And In More Ways Than Men - infographic

It's no wonder that almost everyone has a social media presence, but did you know that, except LinkedIn, women are dominating major social networking sites, they use social media more often and in more ways than men.

What if I told you that 54 percent of American adult women are more actively using Tumblr, as compared to only 46 percent of men, and 76 women and only 66 percent men use Facebook, and that 33 percent women while only 8 percent men use Pinterest.

In addition, 30 percent of women access their social media profiles multiple time in a single day, compared to 26% of men.

Similarly, women are more likely to interact with brands on social media to access offers, consume news and stay up-to-date as compared to men.

Find out more statistics on women's social media usage in below infographic which comes courtesy of  FainancesOnline.

What Social Can Learn From Traditional Customer Service - infographic

We have seen so many brands and businesses that are notoriously lousy at dealing with their customers over social media sites. With a massive increase in "handling customer on social channel", companies need to align more and more resources to tackle the demand.

The infographic below created by Sentiment team proposes 10 lessons that social brands can learn from traditional customer service.

Some key statistics are:

50 percent of customers feel frustrated when having to repeat the same information to multiple customer representatives or across multiple channels.

57 percent of customers cite that a brand's customer service response time should be the same on all weekdays as well as on weekends.

How News Publishing Brands Work With Twitter And Twitter Works With NewsBrands - infographic

Did you know that News-publishing brand followers are 3 to 4 times more likely to be active on Twitter than non-followers. And that 56 percent of news-brand followers visit Twitter on a daily basis vs 35 percent of non-followers.

What if I told you that 6 out of 10 news-paper brand followers cite "Twitter gives me the opportunity to engage with newspaper brand I would not normally read in print format". And that 3 in 4 of news-brand followers cite "it is important that news on their Twitter feed provides links to more in-depth articles".

A recent study of 1266 UK Twitter users by newsworks reveals that almost 6 in 10 Twitterers are following brands that publish news, while 57 percent of users retweet interesting links and comments. In addition, 60 percent of respondents say, news-brands are important for driving and spreading news on Twitter, while 62 percent of them think it is "important that news on Twitter is verified by a respected brand".

How to Build Credibility and Authorship with Google+

When someone asks to search on the internet, Google search strikes through the mind at once. The increased use of Google’s search engine “Google Search” has enticed business owners too, just not to search, but ‘to be searched’ and located in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). This becomes even more exciting when see Google Plus profile photo along with the content search item is displayed right there with the search results.

Yes, it is true what you read above! You can also be listed in these searches by making righteous use of an initiative “Authorship mark-up” released recently by Google as a strategic update to blend its social search capabilities with the most popular search engine. This move is part of a mission that would credit the authentic work of an author to be commemorated in the SERP. The best part is that the content directly be related to an author’s social profile at G+.

If You Ignore GooglePlus, Google Search Will Ignore You

Wondering why should you use GooglePlus in your marketing mix? Just one solid reason, "if you ignore Google+, Google search will ignore you", says Larry Page co-founder of Google.*

Beside that, Google+ is the second largest social platform with over 540 million members, of which 359 million are monthly active users. Google+ helps improve your visibility, increase social signals and networking for your brand.

In case you are not familiar with this social giant then check out this chart created by milestoneinternet that emphasizes why GPlus should be a core part of your marketing strategies in 2014, and also offers some basics and best practices of G+ with some key performance indicators to measure your success.

A Dr. Seuss-Inspired Social Media Rhyme

Can you think of a Dr. Seuss inspired Twitter rhyme?

Social media is full of great posts for you to read, - and photos and videos that dance through your feed.
That's all well and good, expect when you need, - People to see YOU! That's challenge indeed.

So how do you stand, apart from the pack, - Or send Tweet that keep them all coming back?

There's a few points, to keep in mind, - If you're looking to leave all the other behind.

So what exactly those points are based on?

To honor Dr. Seuss, the writer of The Cat in the Hat a famous children's classic, the team at HootSuite created this poster, that delineates a wealth of Twitter tips in Dr. Seuss style.