Persuasive Picks for the week of 05/30/11

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JetBlueHow JetBlue’s Social Media Strategy Took Flight
Mashable‘s Todd Wasserman shares an interesting Q&A with JetBlue Marketing SVP Marty St. George that provides some insight into the company’s tremendous success with their social efforts.

5 top social media security threats
There’s plenty of information out there about the benefits of integrating social media into your overall marketing strategy and how to dip your toes in the water. But how much thought have you given to the risks? This Network World post from Chris Nerney covers five of the biggest social media security threats that enterprises could encounter.

SEO + Social Media + Blogging: When Will Big Business Catch Up?
Crispin Sheridan, Senior Director of Search Marketing at SAP in New York, shares highlights from Hubspot‘s recent “2011 State of Inbound Marketing Report” via this post on Clickz.com.

Behold the Awesome Power of Social Media
Bnet‘s Steve Tobak recaps the recent viral social media storm surrounding artist Stevie Koerner and retailer Urban Outfitters. The article shows how social media has the power to emotionally charge a situation and negatively impact a brand regardless if the company is legally in the right.

B2B Marketers and Social Media – The Catch 22 Situation
Sometimes it might feel like the success of our social content and SEO optimization efforts are tied to the whims of Google and their continual tweaking of their search algorithms. To some degree it may be, but this Technorati post from Amit Saxena provides some helpful direction to B2B marketers on how to cope with the fluctuations.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 05/16/11

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sm_expert.pngI Will Never Hire a “Social Media Expert,” and Neither Should You
Lets start things off with my favorite post of the week. Peter Shankman provides a wake up call for the so called “Social Media Experts” and the companies that have made the poor choice of hiring them in this entertaining post that puts everything in perspective.

Study: Marketers Reporting Social Media ROI of 100, 200, Even 1,000 Percent
Aprimo CMO Lisa Arthur highlights four key findings from MarketingSherpa‘s 2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report via this post on Forbes.com.

6 Ways to Boost Return on Twitter
So you’ve found your groove on Twitter, but are your efforts as effective as they could be? Riverside Marketing Strategies President, Heidi Cohen provides “Six strategies to boost your Twitter return” via this post on Clickz.com.

7 Guidelines To Taking Your Global Brand Local Via Social Media. And Vice Versa
Enjoy some great nuggets of advice on how to make your big company more personable, or how to make your small company look bigger, via this post on MarketingVox.com.

Unfollow, Unfriend, Retweet: AP Stylebook Adds Another 21 Words
Keep your writing in check by getting a quick brush-up on the latest social media-oriented additions to the AP Stylebook via this post from Ann Handley on MPDailyFix.com.

 

 

Persuasive Picks for the week of 05/02/11

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Measure Metrics6 Social Media Metrics for SMBs To Track
Congrats! You’ve finally launched your brand on a few social platforms and you’re starting to make some headway with your efforts – but, how do you really know if you’re doing it right or if its working? Tracking a few basic metrics will help keep you on track, and Lisa Barone suggests a few to help get you started via this post on SmallBizTrends.com.

Social Media And The Modern Startup
Fast Company Expert Blogger Aaron Arnold explains how “social media allows early adopters to share the experience without the risk of being the entrepreneur creating it” via his own personal experience.

Social Media Policies: Let’s Talk About What You Should Do
Creating a social media policy for your organization can be a tricky task. Its almost like you need to be controlling without being controlling, right? Most organizations base their policies on telling employees what they can’t do when it comes to using social media. This GigaOm.com post from Mathew Ingram suggests trying to create a social policy with a positive stance, and he provides a few suggestions on how to do so.

Video and Social Media Marketing: Getting C-Suite Executives To Lead
Getting executive level buy-in for social marketing campaigns can be difficult – even more so if you want the executive to be physically involved with the project. David Murdico from Supercool Creative shares some helpful tips in gaining their support and participation in this article on MediaPost.com.

How Barbie & Ken Were Reunited by Social Media
Mashable‘s Erica Swallow began writing about Mattel’s social campaign to reunite Barbie and Ken earlier this year, and I selected her initial post as a Persuasive Pick back in January. This week, she follows up with more detail about the campaign and shares the results of its success.

Image Credit: RambergMediaImages

Persuasive Picks for the week of 04/25/11

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Jumping20 Blogs Every Entrepreneur Should Read
Whats that? You’re looking for some new and exciting content to read? This Business Insider post from Alyson Shontell and Bianca Male has enough recommendations to keep small business entrepreneurs busy for quite some time!

Four Ways Leading Companies Are Using Social Media: Lessons For Us All
Ramon Ray shares four easily digestible social media success stories from some well-known brands – in this post on SmallBizTechnology.com.

SMB’s Continue to Increase Social Media Use
Marketing Pilgrim Managing Editor Frank Reed provides highlights from a recent American Express Open Small Business Monitor report that reinforced SMB’s slow and steady march into the deep end of the social media pool.

The shortcomings of Facebook “Likes”
Amielle Lake puts SMS and Facebook “Likes” up against each other to see which can inject a campaign with more juice – in this interesting read on iMediaConnection.com.

Frito-Lay Sets Guinness Record for Facebook Likes
Mashable‘s Todd Wasserman recaps details of Frito-Lay setting the Guinness World Record for highest number of Facebook Page “Likes” within a 24-hour period. Not only is the number they obtained impressive, but Fritos are really tasty when added to a nice bowl of chili and cheese.  🙂

Image: Cordey via Flickr

Persuasive Picks for the week of 04/18/11

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Content Delivery Are You in Charge of Content Delivery?
Valeria Maltoni expands on how content creation and distribution is changing the face of marketing – and that companies (both SMB and Enterprise) need to understand the importance of using content to meet business objectives.

Say it with Me: ‘Social Media is Part of Marketing’
Many marketers are drawn to social media with the impression that it can provide instant gratification, and most are sorely disappointed after approaching it with that attitude. This SocialMediaToday post from Wendy Bryant urges marketers to view social media as an integrated part of their overall marketing strategy, and she shares a personal experience of how human connection and social media make for marketing success.

5 fantastic examples of interactive video
Many brands have started experimenting with their online video efforts by adding interactive elements to their productions that help drive user engagement and provide a more direct call to action. This iMediaConnection post from Dave Sanderson provides five examples of brands that have incorporated interactive elements into their efforts and the reasons why each one was a success.

Which Social Media Channels Matter the Most?
Choosing which social media platform will get the most attention can be a challenging, but necessary, task. Marketer Ernan Roman provides some insight on how to go about selecting the correct channels on which to focus your interactions – via this article on HuffingtonPost.com.

Social Media Usage By SMBs Often Ad-Hoc
InformationWeek‘s Kevin Casey shares the results of a recent SMB Group study that revealed while small- and medium-sized businesses are more apt to engage in social media than in prior times, many are still doing so without any formal strategy in mind.

 

Persuasive Picks for the week of 04/11/11

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White HatPR Is Not A White Hat SEO Technique
This post from Nichola Stott on SearchEngineWatch expands on the dangers of using press releases as an SEO strategy that could ultimately “backfire and possibly damage your clients’ reputation.“

5 Top Marketing Blogs by Entrepreneurs
I’m always on the look-out for new blogs to add to my newsreader, and this post from ReadWriteWeb‘s Danny Wong provides some noteworthy alternatives to the traditional marketing streams out there.

13 ways to get your clients to think like a blogger
Continuously creating new content for a blog can be a daunting task for some. This post from Arik Hanson provides numerous tips to jumpstart your brain and get the words flowing.

Facebook and Email are NOT distractions, but necessities!
This “energetic” post from Peter Shankman schools readers on how to properly use Facebook and email for business rather than seeing them as distractions.

How to Measure Your Facebook Engagement
This SocialMediaExaminer post from Facebook Diva, Mari Smith provides a wealth of information on measuring your Facebook page’s level of user engagement.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 04/04/11

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Chrysler TweetThe 7 Worst Twitter PR Fails
The Huffington Post‘s Catharine Smith compiles an entertaining list of the top Twitter-based PR blunders to-date. Prepare to cringe and learn!

Managing elephant-sized social media blunders
Reuters small business writer Deborah Cohen shares an informative Q&A with global brand strategist Jonathan Salem Baker that contains helpful tips on managing social media blunders like this week’s “elephant hunting” video released by GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons.

Top Companies Still Bashful About Social Media Presence
Frank Reed, managing editor for the Marketing Pilgrim, starts off a new blog series with this entry that highlights a recent Ad Age report that revealed less than half of Fortune 50 companies promote their social presence on their corporate homepage.

Report: Social Media Worth the Time
There’s no doubt that executing a well thought out social media strategy takes time. However, you need to stick with it and be consistent in order to reap the rewards. Inc.com‘s contributing editor Courtney Rubin shares some interesting stats around this topic and small business.

Getting real about social media budgeting
This post from Rich Karpinski on BtoBOnline suggests that Salesforce.com‘s recently announced acquisition of Radian6 might be a turning point for marketing teams to really focus on their social spending, and he provides highlights of last year’s Altimeter survey from Jeremiah Owyang to show what an aggressive social budget looks like.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 03/28/11

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Phil Collins Rolling Stones Cover7 Social Media Lessons From Phil Collins
Marjorie Clayman guest posts on Jay Baer‘s Convince and Convert blog with this entertaining post that draws parallels between Phil Collins‘ career and social media best practices.

Do You Need a Social Media Detox?
Creating a balance between social media responsibilities at work and personal time can be a tricky task, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. GigaOm‘s Om Malik shares this fun info-graphic from Column Five Media that might help determine if you’re in need of a Social Media Detox.

15 Services to Manage Your Social Media Activity
If my previous pick found you in the need of a detox – but quitting cold-turkey isn’t in the cards – then perhaps one of these social media management tools can ease the flow of the information fire hose.

With +1, Google Search Goes Truly Social — As Do Google Ads
Google launched its anticipated “response” to Facebook’s Like button in the form of its new “+1” button which will appear in Google search results and later as a standalone button that can be added to individual websites. Get the full rundown via this TechCrunch post from MG Siegler.

Our Choice: The Funniest April Fools’ Jokes
Seeing that this work week ends on April Fool’s Day, it’s only fitting that I top off the picks with Mashable‘s selection of online pranks from the likes of Google, YouTube, LinkedIn and ThinkGeek.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 03/21/11

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Pepsi RefreshPepsi Refresh: Social Media’s Pearl Harbor or Waterloo?
This post by Chris Yeh on the Agency Collaboration blog responds to Bob Hoffman’s “scorching” Ad Contrarian post with a fresh and insightful view on the highly publicized Pepsi Refresh campaign.

Why I’m Glad I Went to SXSW (Despite My Reluctance): One Virgin’s Experience
Fresh off the heals of our own @missusP’s post about her first-time SXSW experience comes this entertaining recap from MarketingProf‘s Ann Handley. And yes, this is the second week in a row that Ms. Handley has appeared in our picks…let the rumors begin!  😉

Three social media marketing techniques that brands should probably ditch
Econsultancy tech reporter Patricio Robles provides a short list of social marketing techniques that brands should consider avoiding when deploying new campaigns.

Why Social Media is Perfect for Small Businesses
TMCnet.com contributing editor Gary Kim shares the results of a recent American Express survey that revealed that word of mouth is still one of the primary ways small businesses gain new customers – which is also one of the benefits of a properly executed online social strategy.

Facebook Questions Goes Where Quora Can’t
Quora certainly rocked the “buzz meter” in the beginning of 2011. ReadWriteWeb‘s Mike Melanson shares highlights from Facebook‘s announcement of its newly enhanced Questions feature that will make it more valuable to users.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 03/14/11

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Lady GagaThe secrets of Lady Gaga’s social media success
Simon Owens highlights the path of Lady Gaga’s success with all things social including some pretty jaw dropping stats via this post on TheNextWeb.com.

5 Questions (and Answers) About Social Location Marketing
MarketingProf‘s Ann Handley shares a short Q&A with “Social Location Marketing” author Simon Salt, who explains why location-based marketing will continue to be relevant and worthy of consideration as part of your overall social strategy.

How Do You Know if Social Media Marketing is Working?
Ira Kalb challenges a recent post from BNET blogger Jeff Haden, where he suggests that “social media marketing is a waste of time” and “doesn’t produce tangible results.”

Most Marketers Clueless About Social Media Conversations
This SocialMediaExaminer.com post from Amy Porterfield highlights the results of the 8th annual Alterian survey, which found marketers admitting to struggles when it comes to customer engagement across multiple social platforms.

Facebook ‘Likes’ more profitable than tweets
Mashable‘s Sarah Kessler breaks down the findings from a recent Eventbrite study that used “in-house social analytics tools to track ticket sales on the site” to determine that Facebook “Likes” drive more sales than Tweets pointing to the same event.

Photo source: AllieIsWierd.com