Social Bookmarking: What is Social Bookmarking and How to Use It?

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Creating a Facebook Ad? Implement These Call to Action Tips

Anybody with a little bit of time and a few dollars can create a Facebook ad and run a campaign. Not everybody has what it takes to create an ad that generates clicks and converts these people into buyers.
When creating a Facebook ad, regardless of your company size or industry, the call to action is one of the most important factors. If your ad is boring and unattractive, you can't expect it to receive a high click through rate. On the other hand, if you implement a killer call to action, you may be surprised at how much traffic you drive.

Here are three call to action tips that can take your mediocre ad and turn it into something much more powerful:

1. Use at least one "action" keyword. A Facebook page is full of content and images, so your ad has to stand out in the crowd. By using an action keyword, you are telling your audience that you have something special to offer. You are telling them to take action now if they want to take advantage.
   
   Some of the best action keywords include: save, discount, book now, sign up today, order now, try, and subscribe.
   
   You can build off of these, based on your particular industry and offering, to create an even more powerful message. For example, if you are pushing a weight loss product, you could use a phrase such as "lose weight today" or "lose weight faster."


2. Don't beat around the bush. You only have so much time to grab the attention of your audience and convince them to click through.
   
   Don't make people read through your ad to find out what you want them to do. Instead, the call to action should be displayed in a prominent and powerful location. If your audience can identify the call to action at a glance, while also understanding what it means to them, you have reached your goal.


3. Ask a question. This is one of the best ways to engage your audience. Not only does a question draw people in, but it can improve your click through rate as they will be interested in learning the answer.
   
   Note: if asking a question, keep it short and sweet.

With these three call to action tips, you will find yourself taking a different approach when creating Facebook ads. Subsequently, you may also find that your campaign is generating better results.

Peg McDermott is an award-winning marketing communications expert,Internet marketing specialist, and public speaker. Peg is the founder and president of COGO Interactive, an innovative Internet Marketing firm specializing in helping small to mid-sized businesses increase revenue and awareness by leveraging Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.

By Peg McDermott

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peg_McDermott

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Top Ten Effective Ways to Market Yourself on Facebook

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Brands Look to YouTube to Boost Sales

YouTube Stars Becoming Brand Ambassadors

As online viewing figures continue to rise, brands and advertisers are looking for new ways to reach their target audience. Their next port of call? YouTube.

 getchute.com

YouTube advertising on the whole is nothing new. I’m sure you've all been frustrated by seeing an advert at the start of a video you’re trying to watch, even more infuriating when that advert is longer than the video and won’t let you skip it! (I’m not bitter at all…)

The latest approach, however, puts a different spin on the tried and tested techniques. By collaborating with YouTube stars who have managed to accumulate a large following, brands are hoping to build a rapport with their customer base on a more personal level. The ambassadors are often content creators who focus on independent product reviews, a style that helps them to earn their viewers’ trust, as they will only endorse a product they have themselves tested and liked.

A major factor in why these people have amassed such large following is the genuine and personable feel you get from an independent YouTube star, as compared to a generic TV host. When a major YouTube star such as Zoella (recently appointed digital ambassador for the charity ‘Mind’) advises her viewers to invest in a particular product, they are more often than not taken on their word. They carry with them a certain level of credibility accrued from years of making videos, meaning their audience now are likely to have been following them for a while, and keep coming back because they enjoy, and importantly trust, the content.

thenextweb.com

When selecting a brand ambassador for your own business, getting the right representative is key. Make sure you’re hitting your target market, there’s no point in a make-up company teaming with a cooking channel, to make an obvious example. Once you've found your demographic, aim to find a YouTuber who is passionate about your product. They need to believe in what they’re selling or that edge they gain for being genuine with their audience is lost, and they may lose credibility as a result. Of course, that would be bad news for both your marketing campaign, and the star’s subscribers.

Done right, a brand ambassador can dramatically boost your business, but make sure you know the rules. Oreo recently had a YouTube marketing campaign banned for misleading viewers. The purely promotional videos were not labelled as such, and YouTube decreed that as it was unclear that the videos were paid for they had to be taken down. As long as you follow the guidelines however, a YouTuber on your side can be a big advantage.

By Sam Bonson

Article source: http://www.socialmediafrontiers.com/2015/01/youtube-stars-becoming-brand-ambassadors.html#.VK8WSPzlqos

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6 Apps You Need to Stay Social in 2015

New social media platforms and social applications are released every day. With so many to choose from, it can be difficult to know which apps and platforms are right for your business. So, here is a brief list of social applications to watch in 2015:

1. Line

Messaging is a quick way to communicate with your employees and staff. Since most people are busy, important conversations need to happen quickly and Line allows one-on-one chatting as well as group messaging. Additionally, it offers video sharing, voice messaging and photo exchange. Not only can you and your employees connect with each other, but you can use this app's social features by following popular artists and brands. This is especially helpful if you are in advertising or marketing because you can keep up to date with what's trending.

2. Quicket

If your business requires you to travel frequently, Quicket is a one stop shopping tool. It enables you to book your ticket online and choose your seat all from your smartphone. This app also allows you to be social by checking-in via Facebook and even connecting with who is sitting next to you on the plane.

3. Space Tag

Available for free, Space Tag allows people to leave their digital mark wherever they go. Users can snap a photo, leave notes about their location and share on social networks. It is a way to communicate with others about a particular place, capture a memory and even make a digital diary. This is especially helpful for businesspeople who travel or for advertisers and marketers who need feedback on their client's location and business.

4. Rinbw

This app can be a fun way for your employees to bond and have fun with each other. Rinbow allows you to share 5-second videos to people in your contacts. Creating and sharing these videos may spur conversations, spark creativity and help build team unity. Friends can also "fruit" videos that they like, which will definitely make the person sending the clip smile.

5. Viber

Viber is another great app for the traveling businessperson. It not only allows you to call locally and internationally for free, but it lets you text and send photo messages, too. Without the fear of running up charges and fees for long-distance calling, Viber allows users to talk and connect without pricey repercussions. This also is helpful if your clients are out of the country or if you have a global workforce.

6. Heard

Heard is a social network that allows users to interact anonymously based on the content they prefer. Visitors can check out polls, predictions and posts from others and then interact with them as much (or as little) as they want. Heard also connects your content to the right audience, which is especially helpful if you are in content marketing, an upcoming blogger or publisher or a writer that is trying to get noticed. The app then tracks user reaction and other stats that are helpful to your business.

Social companies possess the potential to make their mark in 2015. If you want your business to stay social and be noticed, be sure to watch these social applications and let them help your business thrive.

Written by TeamSMF

Article source: http://www.socialmediafrontiers.com/2015/01/6-apps-you-need-to-stay-social-in-2015.html

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Beyond Followers: How to Achieve True Engagement with Social Media

Click To Enlarge


Via Salesforce
Article source: http://blogs.salesforce.com/ca/2014/11/engagement-with-social-media.html

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Can Social Media Intelligence Really Help Your Business?

The answer is yes! But first let's understand what social media intelligence is all about. It is essentially the information or data that is gathered from various social media sites relevant to a particular business (both intrusive and non-intrusive). For small and medium sized businesses, can be a beacon of light to guide them through various business related decisions.

The next step is to use the correct tools and knowledge to apply the available information in a relevant manner. Let's look at some of the ways the businesses can use this data to make their decisions.

Audience selection

Any kind of business would require knowing their audience thoroughly to execute the proper campaigns. Using the correct tools is the first step towards this. For example, through Facebook Insights, one can gather enough market intelligence along with social media intelligence to gain information like the age, gender and general preferences of a potential consumer. This information will, in turn, help the business to target the right kind of audience for their product and focus their campaigns accordingly.

A soft drinks company launched a drink in 2009 and soon saw that young men loved the product while women were having mixed opinion and were not particularly fond of it. They found that young girls and women expressed their disdain freely on social media sites. Through this market intelligence, they slowly found out that they were actually opposed to the TV ad promoting the product, and not the product itself. The company, thus, changed their campaign accordingly to better target the respective audience.
With proper social media intelligence at your disposal, you can also locate your audience and understand where the best engagement is coming from to make better decisions. For example, Hootsuite's link shortener, ow.ly, will allow you to track the number of clicks you are receiving from your links.

Understand audience sentiment

Another advantage that comes with gathering enough market intelligence from social media sites is to track what your consumers think about your product or service overall. This can be done on various platforms, be it Facebook or Twitter. Consumers, these days, resort to various digital platforms like these and express their opinions on the products they use. These opinions also become a point of decision for other consumers who wish to buy that product or utilize the service. Thus, to avoid losing any potential customer, businesses can screen these comments, likes, and opinions and take the necessary steps. This kind of information will provide a business with the proper guidance on how to plan its next move to provide better service.

Engaging the audience

Creating a successful business is all about making the client feel valued. And nothing does it better than putting in a personal touch. With the proper social media intelligence at your disposal, you can arrange for events that will not only promote your product, but also give you an idea as to which section of the audience to target next. Social media intelligence helps you identify the sort of events that are likely to engage the highest number of customers- be it a poll, or a giveaway, or some sort of contest. A case in point is the recent launch of smartphones by Xiaomi. The brand, which is virtually unknown outside of China, managed to sell a few million devices in just a few months by the simple method of promoting the product via social media and making it mandatory for customers to register to obtain the product. Not only did it help generate a huge amount of publicity, it also made it possible for the company to estimate beforehand the sort of figures it was looking at.
Thus, social media intelligence is the way to go for any business that aims at targeting the right audience. After all, it is publicity that sells the product. With the right sort of intelligence at your disposal, you will know just how to create the right sort of noises.

by Reeya Bose

Article source: http://goarticles.com/article/Can-Social-Media-Intelligence-Really-Help-Your-Business/9929776/

If you would like to master social media marketing for your business, collect 4 free ebooks at: www.methodsocialmedia.com 

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The Biggest Change

Post by John Assaraf.

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Using Social Media To Make Official Communication Informal

Social Media is a buzz word that everyone wants the opportunity of being a part. But many people are very skeptical on the impression it may have on a serious customer about the positioning and image of a business. Social Media Websites are often seen as informal and unofficial hangouts for people and businesses alike. In the recent past more businesses are seeing social media as a tool to reach out to their target market where they are most likely to be noticed. This article highlights some ways in which businesses use social media in an official capacity, yet maintaining a friendly and informal approach.

Customer Support



We know many businesses who use Twitter and Facebook to provide customers with constant updates about their service. A world famous DNS and Proxy service uses Twitter to Report Service Outages across their global data centers. The company posts frequent tweets about maintenance and migration activities and also posts brief updates on server faults and restoration. Some Hardware and Laptop manufacturers now offer technical support on Social Media websites. They handle customer grievances and also provide contact details of their nearest service centers through tweets or posts. Many banks and financial institutions constantly provide safety tips and security reminders to their customers. While these reminders can be annoying for some, the constant nagging may really help people to take security of their account seriously. Although this type of support maybe limited only to forwarding the complaint to the concerned technical team, it offers the customer a quick and easy way to get support by short circuiting a lengthy support process. This can be pleasing for the customer, but can be quite a task for the company to manage.

New Product Launches



A famous Automobile Manufacturer has started posting inside updates and a sneak preview of their latest designer cars. In past years they used to "leak" this information only to a few car magazines which demanded a high price which only a few could afford. Running a teaser campaign for a new product can be done best on social networks, especially due to their brevity and instant nature. You can slowly release bit by bit of the campaign and let it unfold instantly. The beauty of it is that you will be able to get instant feedback about the response and how well it has been received so that you can plan your next campaign or next revelation accordingly. This can also be detrimental to your image if you run a lousy campaign or do a shabby job. You will immediately know whether your campaign was a success or a failure. This is something only possible with social media. In the past many companies have successfully created a pre-launch hype on social media to attract the attention of potential customers.

Informal Banter

Many companies indulge in small talk and entertain inquisitive visitors to their pages or feeds to keep

their page active and buzzing. While a bit of such informal talk is fine, when businesses go on a tangent on Social Media, it can get quite intolerable for the people following or subscribing to their updates. Sharing a joke or running a riddle campaign can be quite interesting and may generate a lot of publicity for your business if done well.

Educative Material

Pushing out educative material or academically interesting content can give your business a well needed boost. It not only creates more content for search engines to index, but it also shows your customers and prospective clients how much of relevant knowledge you have about your business. Almost all large corporations either have a YouTube Channel, or Blog or Facebook Page or Twitter Feed constantly buzzing with useful information which is aimed at catching the eye of a potential customer.

By By Alex H D 

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Using-Social-Media-To-Make-Official-Communication-Informal&id=8849669

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5 Tips for Making Social Media Marketing Work

For businesses today, it's not uncommon to have multiple social media accounts, across various platforms. For any business wanting to be at the top of their game, it's a must. Unfortunately, many businesses are lacking the ability to utilize their accounts to their full potential.

Business that are not online-based can find social media marketing especially difficult to navigate. Traditionally, marketing has been all about pushing products and the newest thing. In today's increasingly social environment, this simply doesn't work anymore.

If you want to get past those product-centric tweets and self-advertising status updates, try these five ways of making your social media marketing more successful:

1. Link your accounts and promote.
Social media accounts can all be linked together, so if you're posting on one account, you can easily post across all your other ones. Social media platforms like Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow an easy, one button sharing system so you can make sure all your accounts are being utilized with every post. It may seem funny to tweet to your Facebook account, but everything is interconnected now and people will be able to see where else they can follow you. Adding your online social media information to your printed or digital correspondence, including business cards, will also expand your reach.

2. Don't turn yourself into a spammer.
It's good to post on a steady and regular basis, but don't overdo it. Posting constantly will make your newsfeed look more like spam and followers may end up deserting you. Anything over three or four posts a day is bordering on over posting, and you need to make sure that all your posts have something useful in them for the followers, not just a product advertisement.
  
3. Inform and provide value.
Instead of trying to get followers to buy something, show them why they should. Rather than selling to them in every post, give them some content with value in it, and explain to them what your product can do to help them or how it can make their lives easier. Showing them is better than telling them, and informing them is a step in the right direction. They will start to believe that you care about them, rather than just their spending dollars.

4. Interact with your clients & potential clients.
Successful social media means actually being social with your followers and customers. Answer questions in a timely manner, and with more than just a one-word response. Be polite and helpful, and don't forget that even comments can be responded to. Never before have businesses had the ability to have such an open line of communication with their customers, and the customer is the one checking in. Being able to give your customers personal attention and high quality responses is an amazing opportunity that's not to be wasted.

5. Stick around and be consistent.
Your competitors aren't going anywhere, so if you take time off, they will get ahead of the game. Effective social media marketing is consistent. If you go away and come back a month later, your followers may have left you to follow more active businesses.
Keeping your followers engaged and your social media accounts active can be time consuming but it's an integral part of social media marketing. If you are struggling with it, don't give up and let your accounts dry up -- consider hiring a social media marketing freelancer until you can pick things up again.

About Out of the Office Virtual Assistance:
Since 2006 Out of the Office, has offered ideas and ways to increase your productivity, decrease your workload, and work more efficiently. We nurture a successful business relationship, while continuing to grow as your business partner. We are focused on streamlining your administration, social media planning and execution, and offering creative solutions for your business success. Schedule your free 30 minute consultation by visiting our website.

By  Denise Dukett.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Denise_Dukette

If  you would like to master social media marketing for your business, please collect 4 marketing ebooks at: www.methodsocialmedia.com

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13 Effective Facebook Advertising Tips You Can Start Implementing In Your Business

With over a billion active users monthly, Facebook is an avenue for social media marketing that is simply too huge to ignore! However, with the increasing diversity of this social networking website, leaving an impact becomes all the more difficult. Nonetheless, do not fret! With the right set of skills and just enough creativity, devising a strategy in order to get the maximum benefit out of Facebook becomes easy!

Listed here are some Facebook advertising and marketing tips that you can use to boost your performance for your business in a scalable way. Through my Facebook Advertising Tips, you will learn how to choose your campaign objectives, understand the benefits of using of a variety of Facebook advertising formats and begin devising a better way to market what you have!

#1 Take advantage of Facebook ads while keeping your own page appealing and up-to-date!
While it is important to advertise your business, it is just as important to maintain, if not increase, your credibility. Many businesses focus so much on Facebook ads that they actually begin to overlook their own page. Bear in mind that the page updates are just as fundamental to your marketing efforts as those clicks that you generate via ads!

Ads work best when coupled with an excellent timeline. After all, social media is not a simple matter of attracting attention. Social media is all about engaging people! And what better way to do that than having the perfect ad to the perfect page!

#2 Bring creative rotation into play.
Creative rotation allows you to generate better performances through continuous A/B testing. For those who are not familiar with A/B test, this where you simply test multiple ad copies, pictures and landing pages against each other. By making use of this technique inside the newsfeed, you can refresh messages, increase the click-through rate (CTR) and keep up with the impression amounts! Therefore, if you intend to rapidly boost your campaigns and make the most of your Facebook efforts, I'd suggest you set up a system based on a steady refresh of advertising messages.

#3 Utilize the proper page post format.
Each page post format has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. When choosing the most appropriate format to utilize, bear in mind the objective you wish to achieve. If you aim to generate site conversions or sales, choosing a "page post link" ad would do the job excellently. If you intend to compel brand connection as your campaign goal, a "page post photo" ad just might do the trick.
Page post link ads enjoy a higher percent in terms of conversion rate as opposed to page post photo ads. This is because you do not waste money on clicks by people clicking on the picture. Instead, a page post link drives your visitor straight to your landing page. On the contrary, I have found page post photo ads generate a higher CTR as opposed to page post link ads. By understanding the difference between the two formats, you can even combine them to get the best out of both worlds!

#4 Set your goals and appropriately choose your line of attack.
The multitude of ad opportunities provided by Facebook can help you accomplish your goals once you have clearly set out the things you wish to achieve. All that's left to do after determining what you want to reach is to get working. If your main objective is to manufacture brand awareness so as to cultivate a fan base, you may want to begin with standard marketplace ads. Standard marketplace ads are linked directly to your Facebook page and allow Facebook users to like your page straight inside the ad unit. If you have a considerable fan base, you might also want to attempt the use of a sponsored story, in which case an ad comes up to friends who have liked your page.
No matter what goal you have set your mind upon, or what method you have chosen to use, just make sure that you are positioned to calculate success!

#5 Set a target population.
Targeting a particular population or group with Facebook ads allows your promotion to proceed much more smoothly. By setting a target population, you can promote to the correct users based on their actual interests, thereby increasing your success rate. A target population need not be limited however to only those individuals whose interests are in line with your business. You can also target the friends of Facebook users who have previously liked your page. If you would like to advertise a specific post from your page, such as a unique offer or a significant news story, you can even make use of page post Sponsored Stories to switch your post into a newsfeed piece.

#6 Select photos that are simply superb.
Catchy images will always attract attention! The photos you select for your ad are perhaps among the most significant aspects of grabbing the viewer's interest. When choosing an image to use, do not limit yourself to your company logo. Consider looking outside the norm but within the scope of what you are offering.

In selecting photos, I have found the most excellent images for conversion are well-cropped headshots. Just a tip. Do your best to stay away from archetypal stock photos. Rather, try to make use of more natural images. Also, ensure that the photos you choose present themselves with colors that are distinguishable from the blue color format of Facebook.

#7 Use Call to Action (CTA).
Just because your ad can consist of up to 135 characters, doesn't mean you are required to use them all! Believe me, a lengthy ad does not necessarily entail a lengthy list of customers. From time to time, a shorter line can work much better! So, at appropriate situations, use a call to action (CTA) that persuades fans and users to click your ad. This way, not only does the ad deliver a short and convincing message, but it also enlightens the users as to what action you expect them to perform when they get to your landing page.

#8 Produce and experiment with several ads.
Do not simply run a single ad within each campaign! Diversity can do you wonders! In fact, even the smallest alteration in the words you select or the graphics you utilize can have an outsized effect on the CTR for your ad, so it's best to make numerous adaptations of your ad and experiment with them to find out which ad gets the best response.

#9 Quotes rock! Make use of them as you deem necessary.
What could be warmer than a post to lighten up the day? Posts involving inspiring or life-affirming quotes often perform very well, so don't be afraid to use those heart-warming words of wisdom. To spice things up, you can even attach a photo to your quote - even better, do Pinterest-style image/quote overlay. A great free tool I recommend for creating eye catching picture quotes is a website named Canva.com. People eat that stuff up!

# 10 Allow users to insert their own photo captions.

Asking for users to provide a caption to an exciting or laugh-worthy photo is a smart way to drive interaction and engagement. And it hits two birds with one stone! It catches the user's attention and allows you to assess the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

# 11 Give incentives! Share some exclusive content to your Facebook fans. 

Posting special, top secret content visible only to your fans on Facebook adds a sense of exclusivity and belonging. Posting information or tidbits that could not be found elsewhere gives a certain incentive to the fans and it can even make them feel special.

#12 Ask questions! 

Let's admit it. If there's one thing common among Facebook users, it's the fact that they love to let their voices be heard. When making posts, try incorporating questions or surveys. Just a piece of advice though. Keep the questions simple - no one wants to fill out the SATs on Facebook.

# 13 Lights, camera, YouTube! In other words, don't restrict yourself to pictures.
Videos have crazy high engagement rates so use them in your posts to get some serious attention. Make sure to get the right ones though - those with just the right amount of funny and the right amount of "I'm trying to make a point" in them.

Gerard Hall is an avid blogger, marketer, and online entrepreneur. As co-founder of http://gerardandchrisonline.com, he is committed to helping others achieve success in Life and Business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerard_W_Hall

Swipe these 12 untapped profitable niches to build an online business

http://tiny.cc/12niches

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LinkedIn Marketing - How to use LinkedIn for business

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Put the Old Dog Down

Put The Old Dog Down?
Inbound Marketing for Small Business
Old Dog Vs New Dog

When do you determine its time for a trusted old friend to go? Here's the dilemma. Marketing for small business and professionals has undergone significantly change during the last decade. In general, business has begun to move away from 'old dog' traditional marketing to a 'new dog' inbound marketing. In this two part blog post we'll cover what this new style of marketing is and why it works.

Traditional Marketing The Old Dog
Lets begin by defining "traditional" marketing. Old dog traditional marketing relied primarily on sending one-way signals to get the attention of consumers. When the consumers attention was peaked it then pushed a message onto the consumer without knowing whether the consumer had interest in receiving the message. And for many years (we're talking a century) this type of marketing seemed to work.

The delivery of the message is still important to the process of marketing, but with the adoption of the internet as the main communication channel (between sellers and customers) how the message is delivered and how it is received has changed the foundation of modern marketing.

Inbound Marketing The New Dog
Inbound marketing is a form of digital marketing designed to get customers to find the message. With inbound marketing a message is crafted to elicit the interest of a customer. When the customer 'wants' to hear a message they search to find the message. When the customer is returned your message you've been found digitally. The customers desire to hear the message increases the odds the message will resonate with the customer. Through this process of finding, receiving, and resonating messages a customer may start to develop a bond of trust with the sender of the message and begin to view the sender as an authority figure on the subject.

The message is not the only incentive for choosing the new dog over the old dog traditional marketing.

The digital delivery channels open up possibilities for two-way communication with potential customers. This two-way communication dramatically alters the formatting possibilities for delivery of the message. Instead of relying on the onetime one-way message of traditional marketing it encourages two-way communication between the sender and customer.

The inbound message is crafted to inform, support, and enhance the customers knowledge on a subject. And because the digital delivery channels allow two-way communication the message may help the customer engage with the sender of the message.

There is another important element that doesn't get much attention. And that is proactive outbound marketing. This outbound marketing is the response actions taken to 'further' qualify and engage with potential leads obtained from inbound marketing.

Marketing Definitions
Traditional marketing is signaling for a customers attention and then pushing unwanted messages onto unsuspecting customers. We define inbound marketing as the origination of a digital action to elicit interest or engage with potential customers e.g. on page seo, blog articles, reports, white papers, and social media messaging. Outbound marketing is defined by any proactive action to 'further' the engagement with the potential customer. This would include proactive marketing initiatives such as off page seo, email marketing, local search management, online meetings, and social media interaction.

Networking Similarities
Inbound marketing in its most rudimentary form, existed long before the modern term arrived. When I first began in business a form of inbound marketing was known as networking. In networking (we're not referring to MLM) people earned respect and trust by engaging with others and this trust advanced mutual benefit. Because there was an element of trust involved these relationships could, did, and do drive considerable business.

To be clear, the two are not exactly the same. On the contrary, one begins on a personal level while the other begins through digital interaction. The point here is there are similarities between the two. These similarities provide a better point of reference as to why inbound marketing is thought of so highly today, and why it works. Networking is still around and going strong, but is slowly being supplanted by inbound marketing. The the way parties meet and the style of earning trust changes with inbound marketing. But the core principals of networking, relevant two-way communication, trust building, and authority status development exists in inbound marketing.

How Companies, Brands, And Non Profits Communicate

The internet has changed the way companies, brands, and non profits engage with others and conduct business. I'd be willing to place a bet that at some point in time you've run across a blog post or article that interested or repelled you so much you left a comment, or if you didn't you wanted to leave one. This engagement with the senders message ( with or without response) is the way companies, brands, and non profits develop relationships with customers.

There is power in being able to move people into action whether this is a positive or negative reaction. The relationships (where there exists a positive connotation) that develop have a greater chance of turning into trusted relationships once the customer has granted authority status to the sender of the message for the subject matter.

Like in networking, when trust is established the customer is more open to hearing the message and the call to action. Likewise, if the customer and sender enjoy a reciprocal relationship there exists some probability the call to action will be heard and possibly acted upon. Taking it one step further, with a relationship based on trust the receiver of the message (customer) may now also influence the original sender of the message with their own mutual benefit call to action.

Relevance Core To Inbound Marketing
Relevance is the core competency in inbound marketing. If a company, brand, or non profit can deliver a relevant message to a prospective customer then an opportunity exists for both to receive mutual benefit. There's not much more to say about relevancy except to say without it you will not reach the parties you wish to reach. This places limitations on marketing actions that could be detrimental to inbound marketing efforts. Keep your message relevant and you'll likely find success.

Quality Over Quantity
A relevant well crafted message will help you get good traction in inbound marketing. An excellent crafted relevant message will rock! When considering content always remember that the quality of the content should remain steadfast over the quantity of the content. If given a choice between 100 good articles Vs 10 excellent articles don't hesitate to choose the 10 excellent articles.


Inbound marketing differs from the 'old dog' outbound marketing because of the way the message is sent, received, and in the manner parties can communicate. There are many additional benefits inbound marketing offers over traditional outbound marketing. Some are process related, others financial. So now that we've had a chance to diagnose the dilemma are you ready to put the old dog down? In part two we'll discover how small business can equal the playing field with their larger competitors and develop new customer relationships with inbound marketing.


For a well organized overview of inbound marketing Vs outbound marketing you can view this infographic originally posted in Mashable http://mashable.com/2011/10/30/inbound-outbound-marketing/

By Christopher Telles

Article source: http://goarticles.com/article/Put-The-Old-Dog-Down/5806123/

Christopher Telles is founder and CEO of inboundOut Small Business Marketing Platform. Chris has 20+ years experience as a marketer and sales professional building entrepreneurial companies in B2B markets. InboundOut http://www.inboundout.com is an All-In-One full service marketing platform for small business and professional service providers in B2B and B2C markets.

If you would like to master marketing with social media for your busines, please collect 4 ebooks for free at www.methodsocialmedia.com

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Post Planner Review: Social Media Syndication Made Easy- Post Planner Review & Tutorial

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Social Media Fails Whilst Drunk? Fear No More

Go Home, You're Drunk

At some point in your life, you will be in a situation where you have had one too many sherbets, whilst also holding a technological device. This is called a disaster in waiting, and many social lives have fallen foul to social media blunders whilst under the influence. But worry no more.

Source: hookmedia.com

In fact, a range of apps are becoming available to protect you from yourself, and they can keep you from making any unwise phone calls, texts, Facebook posts, and tweets.

Android users can now download an app called Drunk Locker, which is specifically designed to prevent you from creating destruction on social media when you are on a night out. For many, the temptation to hit social media whilst drunk is too much, so this app will prove invaluable. The app allows the user to block Facebook, Messenger, SnapChat, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter for a time period of their choosing.

When planning a night out, you can lock yourself out of these dangerous platforms for up to 10 hours. How on earth are you expected to cope? Even worse, if you set the lock, you will be unable to have a sudden change of heart. You will be locked out of society for an unbearable amount of time. You will be disconnected with the rest of the world, and will eventually feel alone and scared.

“We want to protect you so that you don’t make a mistake that will affect you for the rest of your life,” the site’s website dramatically declares.

“We know that social media runs the world and we want to protect your reputation.”

Source: theantisocialmedia.com

The app has been subject to critical acclaim, generating an average score on Google Play of 4.8 stars out of 5. Again, fear not Apple enthusiasts, as you can use Social Lock, which asks you to perform a test of your motor skills before giving you full access to your social media accounts. If you stumble or your fingers fail to move in the required way, you will be effectively refused entry to your own information.

On the way, there is a host of “drunk dial” apps, that will prevent you from calling or texting your contacts when on the verge of paralysis through alcohol.

So this is it. The end game. All this technological progression, and we as a species have finally reached the summit of our potential. We can now rest easy knowing that even in our most embarrassing states, out phones still have us covered. I suppose it is a contemporary first world problem that needs eradicating, just like world food shortages, economic inequality, and racial division.

By Alex Smith

Source: http://www.socialmediafrontiers.com/2014/11/social-media-fails-whilst-drunk-fear-no.html#.VGwgqckXLgU

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