Social Bookmarking site- How You Can Use Them Effectively
Social bookmarking is a medium for internet user to bookmark, tagg,save webpage instead of saving them to your web browser for later use or to share with friends.It goes beyonds that you can also see what other people are tagging. You can easily browse through whats trending or the most popular tag searched. Most of them are categorized, registered user can vote, like and comment on the popular tag that interest them.
Importance Of Social Bookmarking Site.
Its sperlative to bloggers , writers and publishers of news and press releases. Its effects can introduce sites with imformative contents to relevant and people in need and at the same time drive huge traffic to your site. If used properly, you can used it to increase your adsence revenue and affilated marketing.
*its get your site index on various search engine few minutes as you bookmark on different bookmarking site.
*Its expose your site to the world, the more your site is being mentioned, voted for on social bookmarking the more exposure your site gets and search engine will ranking your blog. This will create more awareness.
*Its creates quality backlink easily without going through the stress of link building.
Social bookmarking site is unaviodable, its a must use. Popular brand take advantage of it to promote and spreading thier site to the whole world. Its has become greate tool in building web presence. There are hundreds of them but only few are make my listed. Below are the ones i have made used of and i can testify, they're very good.
1. Twitter.com
One of my favorite , according to the company facts, twitter boast of 316 million monthly user and over 500million tweet sent per day. It support over 35 langauge making it easier to use no matter which langauge you speak. Twitter works by following people of same interest,mentioning them, send DM all this in only 140 charater but the 140 was recently removed for DMS.
Ways to Use Twitter to Market Your Business
2. Find out who the influencers and experts are in your target area(s) and interact with them on a regular basis. "Use Twitter search or a tool like Topsy [or Followerwonk] to find like-minded prospects, customers and influencers/media by searching keywords that relate to your industry," says Stacey Miller, social media manager at cloud marketing provider Vocus. Then follow and interact with them on a regular (daily) basis.
"Make a list of the 100 most influential people in your space -- journalists, thought leaders, potential clients/customers, big-name bloggers and writers, potential partners, etc.," says Shanelle Mullin, the director of Marketing at Onboardly, a provider of PR and content marketing for startups.
"Add them to a private Twitter list and engage with them daily. (Tools like HootSuite make managing this process much easier.)" And remember to "be casual [and helpful], not promotional," Mullin says. "Build a real relationship and then look for opportunities to collaborate."
3. Get colleagues involved. "The first people to help build your brand should come internally," says Amanda Cohen, marketing coordinator, Homescout Realty. "Make sure your coworkers are following you on Twitter and tweeting, retweeting, engaging, etc."
4. Tweet regularly. "Regular tweeting is a sign of an active, healthy profile," says Sandra Fathi, founder & president, Affect, a public relations and social media firm. "If you only tweet once a week, or once a month, you aren't keeping up with the Joneses [or the Twitter equivalent]. Worse, folks will forget about you," she says.
"I recommend daily postings and engagement so that you are top of mind on a consistent basis," Fathi says. Just be sure you are tweeting relevant or useful information, content your followers will read, click on, retweet and/or favorite.
5. Don't be afraid to ask for some Twitter love. Ask followers to retweet, mention or favorite your tweets -- or to share content with a fresh tweet.
6. Track mentions -- and respond if appropriate. "Track brand mentions and keywords to make sure [you know what's being said about you]," says Vikram Bhaskaran, director of marketing at Freshdesk, a customer support Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. And be sure to respond in a polite, professional manner if appropriate. "After all, customer service is the new marketing!" And many customers now post their product queries and complaints on Twitter.
"Set up Twitter searches for terms relevant to your brand," adds Ginger Geoffery, director, Social Marketing, The Mac Groups, a social media agency.
"Monitor the conversations in that search and jump in to the conversations when appropriate," Geoffery she says. "For example, say you're a dentist in Buffalo. You could set up a search for the term 'dentist Buffalo.'" Then, when "you then see someone in Buffalo tweet 'I need to go to the dentist but it's so hard to get an appointment,' you could jump in and [tweet], 'We'd love to have you as a new patient.'"
7. Retweet. "Don't be afraid to retweet as this will help link you with and cement your own thought leadership within your industry," says Mark Rushworth, head of Search at Blue Logic Web, a Web services provider.
8. Favorite tweets. "Many people don't know about favoriting tweets, but it can get someone's attention more than a retweet or a mention," says Amy Marshall, COO, Fathom, a digital marketing and analytics agency.
9. Follow trends/hashtags. "Look at the trending topics and hashtags and find a way to make a relevant connection to your brand," says Crystal Cantabrana, director of Operations, Grizzly Group LLC, which provides social marketing solutions. "By putting your business among the trending topics, your handle will be seen when people search tweets regarding that particular hashtag."
"Tagging our posts with one or two relevant and trending hashtags has [helped us] to reach new users," says David M. Burrows, vice president of marketing & PR, Cinsay , an online video commerce company. However, "hashtags should be used sparingly, as they can be seen as 'Twitter spam' when over used or attached to irrelevant content."
11. Use images and videos. "Get visual," says John Lee, manager, Brand + Social Marketing, Webtrends, a digital marketing solutions provider. "Photos and videos drive three to four more clicks on Twitter."
"Images, videos and other rich media have proven to receive more views, clicks and shares than plain text tweets," says Marko Muellner, vice president, Marketing, ShopIgniter, a social performance marketing platform.
"While community managers may be doing a great job engaging followers, a banal post about enjoying the weekend is much less effective than rich, in-stream content in which someone can, for example, view a film trailer and find out where the movie is playing in their neighborhood," Muellner says. "In fact, research shows that rich tweets have significantly lower negative feedback rates as consumers appreciate interactivity and content designed for their social mobile context."
12. Use Promoted Tweets. "Be sure to directly target your audience with Promoted Tweets," says Bryan Shaw, community manager at 3dcart, an ecommerce platform. "Failing to define exactly who you're trying to reach [could] cost you time and money."
Just "be sure that your promoted tweets aren't spammy," says Aaron Endré, a marketing and PR expert helping B2B tech startups. "The goal is to provide value that establishes trust and credibility, not trick people into clicking a link."
And "Keep it fresh," adds Alicia Antoniolli, account manager, Social, 3Q Digital, a digital marketing services provider. "Make sure your promoted tweets don't run for too long." If you want to continue to get that message across, find a slightly different way to say it.
13. Make sure Twitter is integrated with your other marketing efforts. "Twitter, like other social media platforms, is much more effective when integrated with your other marketing activities," says Mark Schmulen, general manager, Social Media, Constant Contact, an engagement marketing company. "For example, if you're running a promotion or contest on Twitter, let your email subscribers know about it, as they are another customer base who have already let you know that they want to receive messages from you," he says. "Inversely, by occasionally tweeting out the link to your mailing list, you can also tap your Twitter base into your email content."
14. Use Twitter analytics. "Use Twitter's native analytics daily to get a grasp on what's resonating and what's not with your audience once you've built it," says Miller. "In the analytics dashboard, you'll be able to tell what your best days to tweet are, the types of content that are more favored and the demographics of the followers that you're attracting," she says. Then you can "replicate what's working and rework or reevaluate posts that aren't."
2.Stumbleupon.com
Stumble is one the best source for traffic, is a giant collection of all the best pages on the internet. You find videos, photos and links. Its very easy to use. Its boast on 10 million member as of May 2010.
Use StumbleUpon for Business
How do I use StumbleUpon?
If you’re not actively going to use StumbleUpon, this solution may not be a good fit for your marketing campaign. In order to get your website “stumbled upon,” you need to be an active user and receive high ratings from other users. If you do nothing but create a profile, submit your site and walk away, you won’t get any benefit from the site. Moreover, StumbleUpon has a very specific policy against using their service for promotional purposes. If you run a business and are only promoting your business’ website, you will most likely be identified as a spammer and kicked off the service. That is why it is greatly important to participate in the community.
If you want to use StumbleUpon purely for promotional purposes, then you will need to sign up for their Paid Discovery program. Essentially, StumbleUpon will place your site in front of users that are interested in discovering new sites. Every user that clicks on your site will cost you a flat fee of $0.10. They also offer some upgrade options that allows your site to get seen more often. They also offer the option to create a site or brand channel that will allow users to follow your company. You need to contact StumbleUpon directly for this service and it will cost you, not to mention the bounce rates are sometimes known to be high if your website does not fit the category well.
Why you Should Add a StumbleUpon Badge
The simplest and least expensive solution, if you feel StumbleUpon is the right fit for your business, is to add the StumbleUpon badge to your website. StumbleUpon offers html code for free that allows you to insert their badge onto your website pages, encouraging other users to add your site to their profiles. This will exponentially increase your discoveries in StumbleUpon, especially if those who add you are active users.
Of course, every social media site offers some sort of badge or widget – we see them everywhere. One thing to keep in mind here is that you don’t want to clutter your home page with every service’s badge. You only need to utilize those that you are targeting. Dedicated users to any service, including StumbleUpon, will actively promote your site if they find the content useful. StumbleUpon even offers a toolbar for their users to easily like websites and add them to their profile.
Choose the Right Social Network for Your Business
Ultimately, you need to choose the social media services that are right for your business. You can’t be engaged with users everywhere. If you try, you’ll quickly be focusing only on social media and not on your business. Stick with a handful of services where you can build a following and engage customers on a regular basis.
Reddits.com
Self acclaim the front page of the internet is one the best site to suck more traffic to your blog to increase your online awarenesss. User sumit links while other upvote or downvote the summission. The 169 million registered user is trully the front page of the net.
Use Reddit To Grow Your Business
Sign-up is free, solicits no emails or spam, and is completely anonymous (if you choose to be). Just register and begin submitting links or reading material by other users.
But what should you check out?
There are already a great number subreddits to choose from. Try checking out /r/business to get macro-level analysis on current market trends and landscapes.
Head on over to /r/entrepreneur to see what over 66,000 new business owners are already excited about.
Want to get a more specific experience? See what other options the site offers. Starting a new brewery and need ideas on how to sell to taps in your market? Subscribe to /r/craftbeer and speak with other enthusiasts. Whatever you choose, you make your own experience.
Here are suggestions on subreddits to get familiar with:
/r/business – An overall community perspective on the business landscape
/r/entrepreneur – A community of self-starters discussing ideas on their projects
image: http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/reddit.jpg
reddit
/r/startups – Primarily focused on start-up companies and is full of suggestions and questions
/r/smallbusiness – Small business owners and enthusiasts
/r/growmybusiness – Small business focused, tools for developing leads
And a list of popular subreddits you can utilize (and are fun to read):
/r/todayilearned – Fact sharing subreddit, post trends or analyses here to generate buzz on your research
/r/ama – (Ask Me Anything) this is a great subreddit for information as well as a chance to talk with the community about what you are doing in your business.
/r/askreddit – Post a question and see how the community feels about it
The former list are not necessarily business focused, but you can utilize their hive-mind thinking to gather feedback and suggestions (after a few visits, you’ll know why I chose to use the term “hive-mind”).
Kick Starter Campaigns
Perhaps the most significant tangible effect a crowd sourcing site like Reddit offers is the ability to generate funds.
You probably have heard of Kickstarter, an online market for a large number of users to submit funds to the development of a new business. It’s a great tool for up-and-coming businesses to generate missing funds to get their ideas on track.
Reddit can be a supplementary tool for businesses looking to get off the ground. Used with loans, local business grants, and other avenues, this can be a great way to finalize the financials on your project.
Jasco Games, a board game company looking to finalize their project, raised over $400,000 for their Kick Starter through a combination of social media buzz and investor activity. Much of that influence came from the Reddit community themselves.
The benefit of Reddit is that it can generate buzz for your idea and allow users to discuss the merits of your endeavor. It’s one thing to get a dollar from a random stranger, it’s another to get a dollar and a suggestion.
/r/kickstarter allows users to discuss their opinions on the submissions, to support the efforts towards their particular choice, and to offer feedback on the ideas themselves. Many people post their favorite campaigns as a way to generate more interest. If you’re already utilizing crowdfunding, having an extra forum to generate interest is invaluable.
Touch Point
Start-ups aren’t the only ones who can benefit from an enhanced social media presence. Reddit is another opportunity for people to connect with your company.
Social Media has taken on a sort of necessity for businesses. The absence of a social media presence draws a red flag for users. Connectivity is validation.
As I mentioned earlier, people have used Reddit to gather more interest in their blogs or podcasts, and in effect, more interest in their companies. Amy Schultz, blogger for MythBustingMommy, posts to parenting subreddits and has gotten the interest of thousands of new parents. If you have something to offer the community, they will give you their attention.
But let me be clear: Reddit is not a “golden ticket” to lead generation. The forums on Reddit can be difficult to make headway in, not everything is seen by the people who want to see it, and you may not get completely positive feedback.
The main take-away is that this is another opportunity to create a touch point for potential clients from a site that has a number of people already congregating and interested in specific topics. Your job is to engage that audience.
Tips For Successful Posting
While Reddit can be a powerful tool to generate interest in your brand, it can be just as powerful at blocking you if you are not careful. Spamming is not permitted and
image: http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/redditposts.png
redditpoststhe moderators are quite good at identifying spam and restricting your access if you do things they consider spammy. Here are some guidelines to follow to prevent that from happening:
Choose a catchy title– This should go without saying, but you are limited to a small band of text to hook in readers. If you wouldn’t click it, they won’t click it.
Post to the proper subreddit- As discussed earlier, finding the right platform is as important as finding the right words. Choose from the suggestions above or go searching and find your own niche.
Post material other than your own- Posting from the same URL repeatedly draws red flags. This is an information sharing site, not necessarily an advertising site. Share posts from other blogs you find interesting, facts you would like to share, the works. The wider the variety, the more interest you gain for your future posts.
Do a little bit of everything- When you do want to share your stuff to the world, put some work into it. These are people you’re talking to, and if a person would think you are submitting boring information, Reddit will also. Make podcasts, do a funny blog, share infographics on interesting market trends, just make sure it is engaging. Really sell it. Make comments on similar threads, do an Ask Me Anything and answer questions from strangers.
LEARN- Don’t go in with a blind eye. See what has been done and what the community responds to. Chances are, you might pick up a thing or two in the process.
You can also advertise straight to the site. You can buy spots that are displayed throughout the whole site or direct them to specific subreddits. The sheer volume of traffic makes Reddit an appealing opportunity if you just need clicks and are willing to pay for them.
Pinterest.com
Pinterest is where creative is discovered and saved. You can pin all your favorite photos. The network of 72.8 million registered user. 85% of thier user are females. If you love pininng photos then pinterest is the right place.
Using Pinterest for Business
#1 Plan for Pinning Success
As tempting as it is to jump in and start pinning, I recommend that you do the following first:
Take time to set up your account properly. Think about what you will be using the account for. If you are a Public Figure, you will most likely use your own name, but if you own a business, set up an account in your business name, using your logo as an official business page. To set up your business account (or to convert your page to a business page) click here and click on “Get Started”. The process is fairly straight forward. You may need some help from your IT person to help you add some code to your server for verifying your website, but other than that, it is an easy process.
Use the Pinterest Business Centre. You can access this site at any time by typing in business.pinterest.com. At this site you will find many resources including all the Pin It buttons for your browser and website, follow buttons, case studies and tools. It is a great site to come back to at any time. Pinterest has also created an awesome Pinterest for Business Guide, which you can download by clicking here.
Ensure that you include key words in your description. Set up the links to your website and social media channels on your profile.
Prepare Your Blog for Pinning. Install these tools from the Business Resource Centre:
Pin It Button for Websites – on your website or blog. Embed the button wherever you have “pinnable” content – including your blog, content pages, and products for sale.
Follow Me Button for Websites – on your home page, email footer and newsletters/email marketing.
Pin It Bookmarklet on your browser to make it easy to pin from the web!
Install the Pin It Button on your Blog!
Integrate with other social media platforms. Add Pinterest sharing buttons and apps to other social media platforms, such as Facebook. Give a Call-to-action to your Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn Followers to follow you on Pinterest! Integrate, integrate, integrate!
Link Facebook and Twitter. Facebook links only to your personal profile (not Pages), so you may find it better to link to Twitter for business posts. Post to Facebook selectively as relevant – all linked Pinterest posts are now featured in a Facebook “album”.
Linking Facebook and/or Twitter to your account gives your pins more exposure. Choose which pins are posted out on an individual basis.
Research what your ideal client is pinning. Search under Keywords and Categories on the Pinterest Dashboard. Create your boards with an ideal client in mind. Provide answers to their questions. Feed their inspirations. Solve their problems.
Set up your initial “Boards”. Choose topics or categories that reflect your business values, culture, interests, products and services. Also create boards that will be attractive to your ideal client. What will they be dreaming about, pinning for later and researching on Pinterest before making a decision to buy (hopefully from you!). Be creative with your Board Names but also keep “search” in mind. Pinterest Board names are also searchable, so include key words!
Winner of Best Australian Blog 2011 (Nikki Parkinson from Styling You) showcases her brand, culture, interests and blog posts. Her Boards capture her “real-girl guide to fashion, beauty and life”.
#2 Check the Source Before You Pin
Here are some steps you need to take to Pin Ethically:
Be Copyright Savvy. Read the fine print first!
Check the Source of the Pin. This is so important. When re-pinning, click before you repin to see if pins are sourced to a legitimate website. If content has been “re-sourced” with a false URL to another site, don’t repin it – report it or leave a comment. Give credit where credit is due!
From Pinterest’s “Pin Etiquette” Guidelines – Credit Your Sources!
Add a watermark. When pinning original content, consider adding a watermark of your website or logo to your image, to preserve pin integrity. This way the image will always stay connected to your website, and will continue to promote your brand, no matter what!
LinkedIn.com
The grandfather of social media with a reputable of being the most Proffesional for professional in all aspect of life. Wiht 187 million active monthly professional. Its bring the right person to your face. Learn how you can effectively put to use this great netwok.
Use LinkedIn to Grow Your Business
Don't be afraid to invite people you don't know to connect with you.
After all, the more people you have access to, the better the chances you'll be exposed to opportunities. "Motivated people are always open to networking and meeting like-minded individuals," he says. "So don't let fear hold you back from just clicking the button to invite them to connect."
Connect with people who will benefit from knowing you, too.
For example, recruiters are always looking to broaden their networks because the more people they know, the more prospective employees they can bring to clients. "Always ask, 'Is this hugely beneficial?'" he suggests. "It's really kind of a give and take, so don't just be thinking about yourself."
Complete your profile without overexposing yourself.
You don't want to give anyone reason to pass judgment on you. In other words, don't offer information that's too old or not relevant to what you're doing now. "All I really want to know is where have you worked, where did you go to school, what do you do in your role?" he says. "I don't want to know hobbies, birthdays or any of that."
Don't use LinkedIn like a social media site.
Rather, it's for professional networking, meaning you want to use it to make yourself look informed and professional. To do so, consider posting articles that demonstrate your expertise or portray yourself as an insider in your industry.
Frequently export your LinkedIn contacts into an email address book.
It may not have occurred to you but everyone you're connected with on LinkedIn probably has associated their email address with their account. This means you can contact them directly outside of LinkedIn. "Unless it's in China," he says. "[People from] China often communicate with me through LinkedIn because... email is really weird over there. They censor everything, so I have had greater success communicating through LinkedIn."
There exist more social bookkmarking site on the internet. Utilizing them properly will do nothing but expose your brand to the a wide audiencce in no time. The have come to stay, some have become something people can do without. As a website owner you need to have a profile in many of them and most importantly the above and be active in each of them to yield a better result.
Importance Of Social Bookmarking Site.
Its sperlative to bloggers , writers and publishers of news and press releases. Its effects can introduce sites with imformative contents to relevant and people in need and at the same time drive huge traffic to your site. If used properly, you can used it to increase your adsence revenue and affilated marketing.
*its get your site index on various search engine few minutes as you bookmark on different bookmarking site.
*Its expose your site to the world, the more your site is being mentioned, voted for on social bookmarking the more exposure your site gets and search engine will ranking your blog. This will create more awareness.
*Its creates quality backlink easily without going through the stress of link building.
Social bookmarking site is unaviodable, its a must use. Popular brand take advantage of it to promote and spreading thier site to the whole world. Its has become greate tool in building web presence. There are hundreds of them but only few are make my listed. Below are the ones i have made used of and i can testify, they're very good.
1. Twitter.com
One of my favorite , according to the company facts, twitter boast of 316 million monthly user and over 500million tweet sent per day. It support over 35 langauge making it easier to use no matter which langauge you speak. Twitter works by following people of same interest,mentioning them, send DM all this in only 140 charater but the 140 was recently removed for DMS.
Ways to Use Twitter to Market Your Business
2. Find out who the influencers and experts are in your target area(s) and interact with them on a regular basis. "Use Twitter search or a tool like Topsy [or Followerwonk] to find like-minded prospects, customers and influencers/media by searching keywords that relate to your industry," says Stacey Miller, social media manager at cloud marketing provider Vocus. Then follow and interact with them on a regular (daily) basis.
"Make a list of the 100 most influential people in your space -- journalists, thought leaders, potential clients/customers, big-name bloggers and writers, potential partners, etc.," says Shanelle Mullin, the director of Marketing at Onboardly, a provider of PR and content marketing for startups.
"Add them to a private Twitter list and engage with them daily. (Tools like HootSuite make managing this process much easier.)" And remember to "be casual [and helpful], not promotional," Mullin says. "Build a real relationship and then look for opportunities to collaborate."
3. Get colleagues involved. "The first people to help build your brand should come internally," says Amanda Cohen, marketing coordinator, Homescout Realty. "Make sure your coworkers are following you on Twitter and tweeting, retweeting, engaging, etc."
4. Tweet regularly. "Regular tweeting is a sign of an active, healthy profile," says Sandra Fathi, founder & president, Affect, a public relations and social media firm. "If you only tweet once a week, or once a month, you aren't keeping up with the Joneses [or the Twitter equivalent]. Worse, folks will forget about you," she says.
"I recommend daily postings and engagement so that you are top of mind on a consistent basis," Fathi says. Just be sure you are tweeting relevant or useful information, content your followers will read, click on, retweet and/or favorite.
5. Don't be afraid to ask for some Twitter love. Ask followers to retweet, mention or favorite your tweets -- or to share content with a fresh tweet.
6. Track mentions -- and respond if appropriate. "Track brand mentions and keywords to make sure [you know what's being said about you]," says Vikram Bhaskaran, director of marketing at Freshdesk, a customer support Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. And be sure to respond in a polite, professional manner if appropriate. "After all, customer service is the new marketing!" And many customers now post their product queries and complaints on Twitter.
"Set up Twitter searches for terms relevant to your brand," adds Ginger Geoffery, director, Social Marketing, The Mac Groups, a social media agency.
"Monitor the conversations in that search and jump in to the conversations when appropriate," Geoffery she says. "For example, say you're a dentist in Buffalo. You could set up a search for the term 'dentist Buffalo.'" Then, when "you then see someone in Buffalo tweet 'I need to go to the dentist but it's so hard to get an appointment,' you could jump in and [tweet], 'We'd love to have you as a new patient.'"
7. Retweet. "Don't be afraid to retweet as this will help link you with and cement your own thought leadership within your industry," says Mark Rushworth, head of Search at Blue Logic Web, a Web services provider.
8. Favorite tweets. "Many people don't know about favoriting tweets, but it can get someone's attention more than a retweet or a mention," says Amy Marshall, COO, Fathom, a digital marketing and analytics agency.
9. Follow trends/hashtags. "Look at the trending topics and hashtags and find a way to make a relevant connection to your brand," says Crystal Cantabrana, director of Operations, Grizzly Group LLC, which provides social marketing solutions. "By putting your business among the trending topics, your handle will be seen when people search tweets regarding that particular hashtag."
"Tagging our posts with one or two relevant and trending hashtags has [helped us] to reach new users," says David M. Burrows, vice president of marketing & PR, Cinsay , an online video commerce company. However, "hashtags should be used sparingly, as they can be seen as 'Twitter spam' when over used or attached to irrelevant content."
11. Use images and videos. "Get visual," says John Lee, manager, Brand + Social Marketing, Webtrends, a digital marketing solutions provider. "Photos and videos drive three to four more clicks on Twitter."
"Images, videos and other rich media have proven to receive more views, clicks and shares than plain text tweets," says Marko Muellner, vice president, Marketing, ShopIgniter, a social performance marketing platform.
"While community managers may be doing a great job engaging followers, a banal post about enjoying the weekend is much less effective than rich, in-stream content in which someone can, for example, view a film trailer and find out where the movie is playing in their neighborhood," Muellner says. "In fact, research shows that rich tweets have significantly lower negative feedback rates as consumers appreciate interactivity and content designed for their social mobile context."
12. Use Promoted Tweets. "Be sure to directly target your audience with Promoted Tweets," says Bryan Shaw, community manager at 3dcart, an ecommerce platform. "Failing to define exactly who you're trying to reach [could] cost you time and money."
Just "be sure that your promoted tweets aren't spammy," says Aaron Endré, a marketing and PR expert helping B2B tech startups. "The goal is to provide value that establishes trust and credibility, not trick people into clicking a link."
And "Keep it fresh," adds Alicia Antoniolli, account manager, Social, 3Q Digital, a digital marketing services provider. "Make sure your promoted tweets don't run for too long." If you want to continue to get that message across, find a slightly different way to say it.
13. Make sure Twitter is integrated with your other marketing efforts. "Twitter, like other social media platforms, is much more effective when integrated with your other marketing activities," says Mark Schmulen, general manager, Social Media, Constant Contact, an engagement marketing company. "For example, if you're running a promotion or contest on Twitter, let your email subscribers know about it, as they are another customer base who have already let you know that they want to receive messages from you," he says. "Inversely, by occasionally tweeting out the link to your mailing list, you can also tap your Twitter base into your email content."
14. Use Twitter analytics. "Use Twitter's native analytics daily to get a grasp on what's resonating and what's not with your audience once you've built it," says Miller. "In the analytics dashboard, you'll be able to tell what your best days to tweet are, the types of content that are more favored and the demographics of the followers that you're attracting," she says. Then you can "replicate what's working and rework or reevaluate posts that aren't."
2.Stumbleupon.com
Stumble is one the best source for traffic, is a giant collection of all the best pages on the internet. You find videos, photos and links. Its very easy to use. Its boast on 10 million member as of May 2010.
Use StumbleUpon for Business
How do I use StumbleUpon?
If you’re not actively going to use StumbleUpon, this solution may not be a good fit for your marketing campaign. In order to get your website “stumbled upon,” you need to be an active user and receive high ratings from other users. If you do nothing but create a profile, submit your site and walk away, you won’t get any benefit from the site. Moreover, StumbleUpon has a very specific policy against using their service for promotional purposes. If you run a business and are only promoting your business’ website, you will most likely be identified as a spammer and kicked off the service. That is why it is greatly important to participate in the community.
If you want to use StumbleUpon purely for promotional purposes, then you will need to sign up for their Paid Discovery program. Essentially, StumbleUpon will place your site in front of users that are interested in discovering new sites. Every user that clicks on your site will cost you a flat fee of $0.10. They also offer some upgrade options that allows your site to get seen more often. They also offer the option to create a site or brand channel that will allow users to follow your company. You need to contact StumbleUpon directly for this service and it will cost you, not to mention the bounce rates are sometimes known to be high if your website does not fit the category well.
Why you Should Add a StumbleUpon Badge
The simplest and least expensive solution, if you feel StumbleUpon is the right fit for your business, is to add the StumbleUpon badge to your website. StumbleUpon offers html code for free that allows you to insert their badge onto your website pages, encouraging other users to add your site to their profiles. This will exponentially increase your discoveries in StumbleUpon, especially if those who add you are active users.
Of course, every social media site offers some sort of badge or widget – we see them everywhere. One thing to keep in mind here is that you don’t want to clutter your home page with every service’s badge. You only need to utilize those that you are targeting. Dedicated users to any service, including StumbleUpon, will actively promote your site if they find the content useful. StumbleUpon even offers a toolbar for their users to easily like websites and add them to their profile.
Choose the Right Social Network for Your Business
Ultimately, you need to choose the social media services that are right for your business. You can’t be engaged with users everywhere. If you try, you’ll quickly be focusing only on social media and not on your business. Stick with a handful of services where you can build a following and engage customers on a regular basis.
Self acclaim the front page of the internet is one the best site to suck more traffic to your blog to increase your online awarenesss. User sumit links while other upvote or downvote the summission. The 169 million registered user is trully the front page of the net.
Use Reddit To Grow Your Business
Sign-up is free, solicits no emails or spam, and is completely anonymous (if you choose to be). Just register and begin submitting links or reading material by other users.
But what should you check out?
There are already a great number subreddits to choose from. Try checking out /r/business to get macro-level analysis on current market trends and landscapes.
Head on over to /r/entrepreneur to see what over 66,000 new business owners are already excited about.
Want to get a more specific experience? See what other options the site offers. Starting a new brewery and need ideas on how to sell to taps in your market? Subscribe to /r/craftbeer and speak with other enthusiasts. Whatever you choose, you make your own experience.
Here are suggestions on subreddits to get familiar with:
/r/business – An overall community perspective on the business landscape
/r/entrepreneur – A community of self-starters discussing ideas on their projects
image: http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/reddit.jpg
/r/startups – Primarily focused on start-up companies and is full of suggestions and questions
/r/smallbusiness – Small business owners and enthusiasts
/r/growmybusiness – Small business focused, tools for developing leads
And a list of popular subreddits you can utilize (and are fun to read):
/r/todayilearned – Fact sharing subreddit, post trends or analyses here to generate buzz on your research
/r/ama – (Ask Me Anything) this is a great subreddit for information as well as a chance to talk with the community about what you are doing in your business.
/r/askreddit – Post a question and see how the community feels about it
The former list are not necessarily business focused, but you can utilize their hive-mind thinking to gather feedback and suggestions (after a few visits, you’ll know why I chose to use the term “hive-mind”).
Kick Starter Campaigns
Perhaps the most significant tangible effect a crowd sourcing site like Reddit offers is the ability to generate funds.
You probably have heard of Kickstarter, an online market for a large number of users to submit funds to the development of a new business. It’s a great tool for up-and-coming businesses to generate missing funds to get their ideas on track.
Reddit can be a supplementary tool for businesses looking to get off the ground. Used with loans, local business grants, and other avenues, this can be a great way to finalize the financials on your project.
Jasco Games, a board game company looking to finalize their project, raised over $400,000 for their Kick Starter through a combination of social media buzz and investor activity. Much of that influence came from the Reddit community themselves.
The benefit of Reddit is that it can generate buzz for your idea and allow users to discuss the merits of your endeavor. It’s one thing to get a dollar from a random stranger, it’s another to get a dollar and a suggestion.
/r/kickstarter allows users to discuss their opinions on the submissions, to support the efforts towards their particular choice, and to offer feedback on the ideas themselves. Many people post their favorite campaigns as a way to generate more interest. If you’re already utilizing crowdfunding, having an extra forum to generate interest is invaluable.
Touch Point
Start-ups aren’t the only ones who can benefit from an enhanced social media presence. Reddit is another opportunity for people to connect with your company.
Social Media has taken on a sort of necessity for businesses. The absence of a social media presence draws a red flag for users. Connectivity is validation.
As I mentioned earlier, people have used Reddit to gather more interest in their blogs or podcasts, and in effect, more interest in their companies. Amy Schultz, blogger for MythBustingMommy, posts to parenting subreddits and has gotten the interest of thousands of new parents. If you have something to offer the community, they will give you their attention.
But let me be clear: Reddit is not a “golden ticket” to lead generation. The forums on Reddit can be difficult to make headway in, not everything is seen by the people who want to see it, and you may not get completely positive feedback.
The main take-away is that this is another opportunity to create a touch point for potential clients from a site that has a number of people already congregating and interested in specific topics. Your job is to engage that audience.
Tips For Successful Posting
While Reddit can be a powerful tool to generate interest in your brand, it can be just as powerful at blocking you if you are not careful. Spamming is not permitted and
image: http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/redditposts.png
redditpoststhe moderators are quite good at identifying spam and restricting your access if you do things they consider spammy. Here are some guidelines to follow to prevent that from happening:
Choose a catchy title– This should go without saying, but you are limited to a small band of text to hook in readers. If you wouldn’t click it, they won’t click it.
Post to the proper subreddit- As discussed earlier, finding the right platform is as important as finding the right words. Choose from the suggestions above or go searching and find your own niche.
Post material other than your own- Posting from the same URL repeatedly draws red flags. This is an information sharing site, not necessarily an advertising site. Share posts from other blogs you find interesting, facts you would like to share, the works. The wider the variety, the more interest you gain for your future posts.
Do a little bit of everything- When you do want to share your stuff to the world, put some work into it. These are people you’re talking to, and if a person would think you are submitting boring information, Reddit will also. Make podcasts, do a funny blog, share infographics on interesting market trends, just make sure it is engaging. Really sell it. Make comments on similar threads, do an Ask Me Anything and answer questions from strangers.
LEARN- Don’t go in with a blind eye. See what has been done and what the community responds to. Chances are, you might pick up a thing or two in the process.
You can also advertise straight to the site. You can buy spots that are displayed throughout the whole site or direct them to specific subreddits. The sheer volume of traffic makes Reddit an appealing opportunity if you just need clicks and are willing to pay for them.
Pinterest.com
Pinterest is where creative is discovered and saved. You can pin all your favorite photos. The network of 72.8 million registered user. 85% of thier user are females. If you love pininng photos then pinterest is the right place.
Using Pinterest for Business
#1 Plan for Pinning Success
As tempting as it is to jump in and start pinning, I recommend that you do the following first:
Take time to set up your account properly. Think about what you will be using the account for. If you are a Public Figure, you will most likely use your own name, but if you own a business, set up an account in your business name, using your logo as an official business page. To set up your business account (or to convert your page to a business page) click here and click on “Get Started”. The process is fairly straight forward. You may need some help from your IT person to help you add some code to your server for verifying your website, but other than that, it is an easy process.
Use the Pinterest Business Centre. You can access this site at any time by typing in business.pinterest.com. At this site you will find many resources including all the Pin It buttons for your browser and website, follow buttons, case studies and tools. It is a great site to come back to at any time. Pinterest has also created an awesome Pinterest for Business Guide, which you can download by clicking here.
Ensure that you include key words in your description. Set up the links to your website and social media channels on your profile.
Prepare Your Blog for Pinning. Install these tools from the Business Resource Centre:
Pin It Button for Websites – on your website or blog. Embed the button wherever you have “pinnable” content – including your blog, content pages, and products for sale.
Follow Me Button for Websites – on your home page, email footer and newsletters/email marketing.
Pin It Bookmarklet on your browser to make it easy to pin from the web!
Install the Pin It Button on your Blog!
Integrate with other social media platforms. Add Pinterest sharing buttons and apps to other social media platforms, such as Facebook. Give a Call-to-action to your Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn Followers to follow you on Pinterest! Integrate, integrate, integrate!
Link Facebook and Twitter. Facebook links only to your personal profile (not Pages), so you may find it better to link to Twitter for business posts. Post to Facebook selectively as relevant – all linked Pinterest posts are now featured in a Facebook “album”.
Linking Facebook and/or Twitter to your account gives your pins more exposure. Choose which pins are posted out on an individual basis.
Research what your ideal client is pinning. Search under Keywords and Categories on the Pinterest Dashboard. Create your boards with an ideal client in mind. Provide answers to their questions. Feed their inspirations. Solve their problems.
Set up your initial “Boards”. Choose topics or categories that reflect your business values, culture, interests, products and services. Also create boards that will be attractive to your ideal client. What will they be dreaming about, pinning for later and researching on Pinterest before making a decision to buy (hopefully from you!). Be creative with your Board Names but also keep “search” in mind. Pinterest Board names are also searchable, so include key words!
Winner of Best Australian Blog 2011 (Nikki Parkinson from Styling You) showcases her brand, culture, interests and blog posts. Her Boards capture her “real-girl guide to fashion, beauty and life”.
#2 Check the Source Before You Pin
Here are some steps you need to take to Pin Ethically:
Be Copyright Savvy. Read the fine print first!
Check the Source of the Pin. This is so important. When re-pinning, click before you repin to see if pins are sourced to a legitimate website. If content has been “re-sourced” with a false URL to another site, don’t repin it – report it or leave a comment. Give credit where credit is due!
From Pinterest’s “Pin Etiquette” Guidelines – Credit Your Sources!
Add a watermark. When pinning original content, consider adding a watermark of your website or logo to your image, to preserve pin integrity. This way the image will always stay connected to your website, and will continue to promote your brand, no matter what!
LinkedIn.com
The grandfather of social media with a reputable of being the most Proffesional for professional in all aspect of life. Wiht 187 million active monthly professional. Its bring the right person to your face. Learn how you can effectively put to use this great netwok.
Use LinkedIn to Grow Your Business
Don't be afraid to invite people you don't know to connect with you.
After all, the more people you have access to, the better the chances you'll be exposed to opportunities. "Motivated people are always open to networking and meeting like-minded individuals," he says. "So don't let fear hold you back from just clicking the button to invite them to connect."
Connect with people who will benefit from knowing you, too.
For example, recruiters are always looking to broaden their networks because the more people they know, the more prospective employees they can bring to clients. "Always ask, 'Is this hugely beneficial?'" he suggests. "It's really kind of a give and take, so don't just be thinking about yourself."
Complete your profile without overexposing yourself.
You don't want to give anyone reason to pass judgment on you. In other words, don't offer information that's too old or not relevant to what you're doing now. "All I really want to know is where have you worked, where did you go to school, what do you do in your role?" he says. "I don't want to know hobbies, birthdays or any of that."
Don't use LinkedIn like a social media site.
Rather, it's for professional networking, meaning you want to use it to make yourself look informed and professional. To do so, consider posting articles that demonstrate your expertise or portray yourself as an insider in your industry.
Frequently export your LinkedIn contacts into an email address book.
It may not have occurred to you but everyone you're connected with on LinkedIn probably has associated their email address with their account. This means you can contact them directly outside of LinkedIn. "Unless it's in China," he says. "[People from] China often communicate with me through LinkedIn because... email is really weird over there. They censor everything, so I have had greater success communicating through LinkedIn."
There exist more social bookkmarking site on the internet. Utilizing them properly will do nothing but expose your brand to the a wide audiencce in no time. The have come to stay, some have become something people can do without. As a website owner you need to have a profile in many of them and most importantly the above and be active in each of them to yield a better result.
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