In a blog post I published a few days ago: (Part 1: Monitoring on the social web for market intelligence), I explained that one of the core values of social media is to monitor the conversations on the social web for market intelligence. The information that you find can be very valuable because it will provide you with discoveries and insights that will help you to respond effectively, and ultimately increase your chance of success with your social media marketing campaign. I also gave an expla

With social media marketing not being that new anymore, many companies are starting to appreciate and understand the value of Web 2.0 for their business. Many of them are busy reaping the rewards of engaging with customers and prospects in conversation on the social web. But, even though social media has been around for a while, many more companies are yet to make any sense of the social web because they are overwhelmed and confused with all the available options open to them. If you are one of

Everyday more business owners are jumping onto the social media bandwagon after realizing the importance of using social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. With social media you can put your business in front of your target audience in the comfort of their own environment and on their own schedule. Even though this sounds all good, it is really not as simple as just signing up and achieving success. To be successful with social media marketing does take time and effort, but

In my experience, blogging can be a key part in your digital marketing and social media marketing campaign. Everywhere you will find new businesses that are adopting blogging to spread their message and to start building up a readership of people who are interested in what they offer. Even though you will find many articles, blog posts, and whitpapers listing all the benefits of business blogging, is it really the right answer for your business? Blogging is really not the best answer for every b

Starting and maintaining a positive presence on social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and your blog is time-consuming. If you are small business owner, you most likely have your hands full in all the day-to-day tasks regarding the running of your business. Where are you going to find time for your social media marketing campaign? Even though social media is seen as “free”, building a network of targeted followers takes time and effort, and this usually c

If you finally took the big leap and jumped on the social media marketing bandwagon to start promoting your products and services, that is great! However, take care in your digital marketing strategy journey because just in real life, you only get one shot at making your first impression to the social web. If you already have a few social media channels, you most likely have seen spammers trying their best to lure in people to their products. Spammers are constantly pitching their services and p

The basic principles of traditional networking is the same as social networking. If you want to be unsuccessful with traditional networking and make sure people look the other way when trying to connect with you, only talk about yourself, your products, and act as if you are the most important being alive. With social media marketing it is the same. Talk only about yourself online and others will look elsewhere for help. The birth of the social web enabled marketers to network online and build t

If you are already using social media marketing at your organization to build awareness for your services or products and you are not getting the results you were hoping to get, what do you do next? To answer that question you have to look at what you are currently doing with your SMM campaign. Do you have any social media profiles such as a Twitter account and a Facebook Page pointing back to your business without thoroughly thinking through the marketing implications or considering your busi

In today’s digital lifestyle when you are looking closely to what is happening on the social web, you will realize that one shoe doesn’t fit all. Just because one social media channel is working wonders for your neighbor’s business doesn’t mean it will definitely work for you. Many times I get bombarded by clients that have read an article online regarding the growth of all the big social networks and why they should be using those channels in their social media mark

Your “followers” and “fans” on the social web consists of your blog readers, Google+ followers, LinkedIn connections, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and even your Pinterest followers. For business growth, it is important to make your digital footprint trustworthy. An over advertised profile on the social web is really not what your audience prefers, because social media is transparent and it is a two-way communication medium. On the social web, social networking is