This article is by Melissa Parrish, senior analyst at Forrester Research, serving interactive marketing professionals. She is an expert in mobile marketing, social marketing, and communities. Read her blog at blogs.forrester.com/Melissa_parrish, and follow her on Twitter @melissarparrish.

With more than 100 million active users, marketers have taken note of Twitter. While it’s not the largest social network, the potential for marketers is still huge, and the recent introduction of brand pages offers a stronger avenue to promote compelling and relevant content to consumers. Companies have successfully used Twitter already to bolster their brands’ identities —from aiding organizations in a crisis to acting as a listening post for the voice of the customer. But, just as my colleague Nate Elliott noted regarding Facebook marketing, there is a problem here. The fact is, while many marketers have jumped on board the Twitter bandwagon, most are yet to see the tool as a strategic channel.

So what’s holding marketers back from maximizing Twitter’s marketing value? The main impediment is the unconventionality of Twitter.  The technology doesn’t look, feel or act like traditional marketing tools, so it requires a different approach than traditional marketing channels. Companies need to consider the wide range of skill sets required in order to take full advantage of the tool—from PR to interactive marketing to Customer Intelligence, disparate departments need to come together to harness the use of the tool. What’s more, given the open nature of Twitter, marketers must be mindful of the classic misstep of saying the wrong thing. Companies such as Chrysler, Kenneth Cole, and Vodafone are too familiar with the repercussions of one poorly thought-out Tweet.

The good news for marketers is that with the proper plan, current obstacles to success can be overcome, making Twitter a powerful marketing tool. To get the most out of Twitter, marketers should follow four steps:

Determine its role in the marketing mix. Whether you’re setting up just one Twitter account or many, you need to start by deciding why and how it fits in with your other channels. This requires getting to know how your customers use the platform—are they actively speaking, or just listening on Twitter, and deciding the purpose of each account within the larger marketing programs. Unlike Facebook, Twitter allows brands to have more than one account, which can be useful for managing separate segments with specific objectives (like PR, customer support, and direct marketing). But each account must deliver a clear value for the audience. For instance, HP has dozens of Twitter accounts that several different departments use for PR news, product content, and direct sales.

Prepare your team to use it well. Twitter may seem familiar in the evolving social media space, but as a marketing tool, employees still need to understand how the tool works and how you want them to use it. At many companies, employees are generally being trained on how to use social media well. But this is especially important with Twitter as the language, behavior, and uses of the medium are more unusual than more established channels like Google, YouTube, or the company website. At Intel, social media training includes required reading of playbooks for varying platforms (including Twitter).

Build a strong base of followers, then catalyze them. It’s going to take more than simply setting up a Twitter account to be successful. For content to have an impact, brands need to build an active base of followers , especially influential ones. Then, a variety of additional tactics can be used to activate the community of followers in order to meet brand objectives. For example, it will be important to keep the community active in order to ensure conversation doesn’t wane. One way to do this is by building a calendar that schedules when to publish content that will keep the community active and engaged with the brand.

Drive conversation and sharing. Once your Twitter accounts are developed and a strong fan base is solidified, marketers can use a combination of relevant content and Twitter ads to stimulate conversation and sharing. At Ogilvy, the director of its 360 Digital Influence team told us: “Twitter is a very effective trigger because it can be used to create deeper engagement with other content–” like blog posts, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The tool can also be used to ignite real-world brand interactions. The NHL used tweet-ups to spark engagement for the Stanley Cup among passionate customers. They energized more than 1,000 fans directly, and reached hundreds of thousands through Twitter and millions more through press coverage.

Remember, your job isn’t over once you’ve followed this four-stage action plan. Over the long term, it will be necessary to play a role in coordinating the use of the technology, and sharing best practices. Doing so successfully will require securing the appropriate funds, implementing guardrail technology around Twitter marketing, and making sure each individual company Twitter account stays consistent with the brand. But, it’s also important to note: in order to be successful, marketers must know when to step out of the way, making room for empowered employees to do their jobs.

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1. Maintain an Active Business Blog: Launching a blog that covers important topics relating to the industry in which you're selling is perhaps the best way to establish and uphold your image as a thought leader. A well-written blog will make prospects and current customers confident that the products and services they buy from you are created using industry expertise. Not only will maintaining an active business blog reward you with a more credible industry presence, but when done right, it will also afford you additional business benefits such as improved lead generation and a boost in search engine optimization.

2. Contribute Guest Blog Posts: Once you start gaining traction as a credible business blogger using your own blog, it's also a great idea to seek opportunities to contribute guest articles to the blogs of other industry thought leaders. Being recognized by already-established thought leaders as a credible source and contributor will further legitimize your industry expertise.

3. Publish Long-Form Content: Publishing longer form content such as ebooks, whitepapers, and even webinars shows prospects and customers that your knowledge about given topics expands beyond 600-word blog posts. By publishing well-crafted, educational ebooks or other downloadable content, you'll demonstrate that you're capable of thought leadership on an even higher scale.

4. Launch Your Own Podcast: An alternative or complement to blogging, launching a regularly scheduled audio or video podcast is another great way to exhibit thought leadership. Consider discussing important industry-related topics or news and inviting other industry experts to join you as guests to create an even deeper level of credibility.

5. Speak at Conferences/Events: Your thought leadership doesn't have to be limited to the web. Live, in-person conferences and events are valuable marketing assets, and a presence at these gatherings can be valuable to any business' marketing efforts. Apply to speak at these types of industry events. Start with smaller events to introduce yourself into your industry's speaking circuit, and work your way up to larger, more prestigious events once you've gained more experience and respect as a speaker. Once you've secured speaking engagements, always be sure to make your presentations as educational and non-promotional as possible to achieve maximum credibility.

6. Answer Questions in Social Media: This is perhaps one of the easiest thought leadership tactics to keep up with on an ongoing basis. Social media is littered with people trying to learn more or find answers to questions they have. Monitoring social media sites for industry-related questions can help you identify opportunities to share your expertise. LinkedIn Answers is the perfect platform for this, allowing you to search users' questions by industry and topic. Also consider using Twitter Search to find users' questions on Twitter. Quora and Facebook are also great places to search. Once you've identified questions for which you can provide a helpful response, answer it in an informative, non-promotional way. (Bonus points if you can link to a blog post you've written that expands on the topic in question!)

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/22170/6-Ways-to-Establish-Yourself-as-an-Industry-Thought-Leader.aspx#ixzz1UcvXAiLs

The average person does more than 30 searches per day in Google. They also clock over seven hours per month interacting with branded content on Twitter and Facebook. And its not just reading -- the Average Joe also watches more than 180 videos per month on sites like YouTube and Vimeo. These statistics all add up to one very educated consumer.

Knowledge is everywhere online, in every form, and your typical internet user has a voracious appetite for learning. But from the perspective of an online marketer, this consumer is also a click-happy and easily distractible one. Employ the below tactics to make sure they click on -- and stick to -- your website with a purpose.     

Own Their Next Click  Your visitors are going to click, but it's up to you to make sure the link is productive for your business. In addition to your main navigation links, make sure links to other web properties you own are prominently displayed on your homepage. Have call-to-action buttons and other offers above the fold so they're as front and center as possible. And wherever you can, prove that your clicks are worth it. Visitors will never know your blog is informative and bleeding edge unless they get there, so if its normal position is in your main navigation, experiment with placing a bigger, more-blown out linking image in the margin, or even a module that shows titles of recent posts. Also, make sure your company's social media accounts are front and center. A click to your Facebook Page or recent Tweets isn't a loss, but a click on the back button is.   

Be Smart About Flash and Graphics   Image sliders look great on home pages and give businesses the opportunity to convey multiple messages on their website's most prime piece of real estate. But if you have a scrolling mechanism that shows six images for five seconds each, what happens if your visitor only hangs around for 20 seconds? They won't see the fifth and sixth image in your sequence. What if those links direct visitors to your biggest money-makers, like your demo request page or free consultation landing pages? Low visibility will dictate a poor return. Lots of companies like to lead with brand messaging in these spaces, but avoid this. Prioritize your best offers, and show them first.  

Position Yourself With Simple Language  People are spending seconds -- not minutes -- on your site, so be as clear and concise as you can be with the language you use. Avoid populating your "Products" or "Services" drop-down lists with brand names, because people don't know the names of what they're looking for yet. Instead, use adjective-rich phrasing to explain what those products are, and introduce them to your registered trademark on the product page. And when folks click through to those pages, don't bury critical facts about your products and services under a mountain of text. Think like your customer. Ask yourself what you would want to know, and use that answer to craft a strong thesis statement for the first paragraph of each page. 

How are you ensuring you get the most out of each visitor?



Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/13662/How-to-Ensure-Your-Website-Visitors-Click-and-Stick.aspx#ixzz1M16kVnHT

Step #1: Identify Your Target Market and Listen to Them
The first step to measuring success in social media marketing is proper scope. There are new social networks popping up each week. It's a waste of resources to join every new social network only to find you have no time to manage them. Find out where your most active customers & influencers spend time online - then listen and take notes.

Here's some tools you can use to tune into the conversation: Technorati, Google Blog Search, Ice Rocket, Bloglines, Twitter Search, AideRSS and  HubSpot's HubFeed. More advanced social media monitoring tools include Radian6 and Techrigy.

Step #2: Get Involved in Conversations
The second step towards success is consistently utilizing social media to engage prospective customers. When you start listening to conversations, you might hear some things about your company that aren't very complimentary. That's ok. Your job now is to engage these customers and find a way to help. Be willing to acknowledge mistakes when they happen. Customers are surprisingly forgiving if a company engages in an honest and egoless manner. 


If you're one of the lucky companies who only has enthusiastic and happy customers, recognize their desire to interact with you and be generous with your time. Be open to engaging with them on their turf. They'll reward your brand with greater enthusiasm - which is a message that spreads through social networks like wildfire, and solidifies your brand.

For instance, on Twitter both Starbucks and Whole Foods share customer comments, local specials, and ask customers what their favorite items are. It's casual and open, yet subtly appeals to the attractiveness of the brand. Check out some of the brands on Twitter, and implement some of their conversation techniques.


Step #3: Give! Give! Give! 
How involved is your team in communicating with prospective customers, influencers and current customers on social networking sites? How often are you publishing great content that helps your prospects do their jobs? How often do you blog, Tweet, post photos on Flickr, comment on other blogs, Podcast, upload videos, etc? The more content that you produce and publish on social media sites, the more traffic you can attract back to your website. If your site is designed well to convert visitors into leads, these activities will help you increase sales.

Step #4: Master the Tools of the Trade
"Social media strategy should tie to business and communication strategy, rather than being based on the available tools. But it is not possible to develop a social media strategy without at least having an understanding of the various tools that are available, their functionality and purposes, and the kinds of audiences and conversations for which they might be best suited." - Joel Postman, Principal Socialized PR

It's critical to tie your business strategy to your social media strategy. However, without a knowledge of what social media and social networking sites enable you to do, it's hard to know how to do that. It's important to establish a blog as your home base. Then, learn the capabilities of each site to help you interact. For example, Twitter provides an almost unfettered ability to connect with your prospective clients. But, it only allows you to type 140 characters at a time. So, maybe a video posted to youtube would be a better way to publish a "how-to". Linkedin & Facebook let you see who your contacts know. But, facebook makes it much easier to connect with them. LinkedIn Answers is a much better place to answer business focussed questions than any other social network.

It's important to learn how to use these sites in order to get business value out of your social media activity. Talk to an expert to determine where to spend your time to get the best return. 

Step #5: Use Website Analytics Software to Measure Leads and Sales
Many experts agree that social media will affect the next generation of search engine optimization techniques as search engines start to use the signals we collectively leave as we network and share media online. Even today, social media activity affects the success of many other inbound marketing techniques: 

- Search engine ranking

- Social bookmarking activity

- Social networking connections

- Video/podcast views/listens

- Inbound links

- RSS subscriptions

- Comments on your blog

- Mentions of your brand

- Number of times people search for your brand

- Visitors (first-time and repeat)

- Leads & Customers!

The end goals is lead generation and sales. But, there are plenty of leading indicators as you ramp up your efforts. 

Use tracking codes, a solid analytics package and closed loop marketing in order to track the visits, leads and sales that occurr as a result of your social media activities.

This article was co-authored by Peter Caputa IV from HubSpot & Ghennipher, a 10 year veteran of the Internet Marketing world. Ghennipher is an independent Social Media Marketing consultant and writes on Social Media's effect on business. Subscribe to her blog here. 
Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4359/5-Steps-for-Successful-Social-Media-Marketing.aspx#ixzz1FVM2IFfj

1.    Craft a brand position rooted in a customer benefit.

An awful lot of young companies do a good job of describing a product's features rather than synthesizing them into a single benefit. A simple handle, either expressing what a brand stands for or declaring its point of difference, will serve you well in everything from appearing in search results to being remembered.

2.    Take your message and content to your consumer. Engineer your presence.

You may want a website where you fill orders, capture data, or simply demonstrate your product, but you shouldn't assume your customer will instantly come to you. Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, and YouTube are all basically free tools. You need to go where your consumer lives online. If your customers, prospects, and influencers are there, you should be there: listening, engaging, sharing, and helping them.

3.    Find inventive ways to create or gather content.

For starters, make your website into a blog. Fresh content, the ability to post comments, and pages that get linked to will add to your online visibility. No doubt it’s challenging and time consuming to generate enough content to populate your network and blog, but there are smart ways to go about it.

First, whatever you’re doing, write about it. Report on your progress. Second, come up with a daily question you'd want someone to ask and respond to it in a blog post or video. Third, save time by collecting content from others. Place your product or service, even in beta form, in front of people willing to blog, make videos, and tell stories about it. Aggregate this content to your blog or video channel. Fourth, conduct polls or ask questions about a related topic and turn these results into future posts as well as “news” you can release to both bloggers and press.

4.    Get on Twitter and use it actively.

It takes time to build a large Twitter following, but it’s a quick way to connect with industry influencers, bloggers, and press that might matter to you.

No matter what you sell, someone on Twitter is having a conversation about it. It's your chance to listen, respond, and engage with potential enthusiasts. More importantly, on Twitter there’s a willingness to help each other that you just won’t find anywhere else. Perhaps it’s because re-tweeting information is virtually effortless, or that people practically vie to share new finds, or that users feel a sense of obligation to those who follow and promote them, but for whatever reason, you’re likely to find people who are willing to help promote your brand on Twitter, presuming you learn Twitter protocols and give more than you take.

5.    Connect your customers and prospects to each other.

One of the best things you can do as a young company is to foster word-of-mouth conversations among your earliest customers. Whether you do it on Facebook or on your own site, it's important to invite your customers to talk to each other and share ideas. Allow them to guide one another on how they use your product or service. Not only will you have the opportunity to learn what people like and don't like about your product, you may end up with a bunch of people you can ask to help you.

6.    Develop relationships with the right bloggers.

Every start-up in the world wants that article in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal.  But the fact is, the right bloggers might be more influential for a number of reasons. They have loyal readers. Their references or links to your site will drive up your search results.  And these days, it’s more likely that ideas will bubble up from the blogosphere to the mainstream press than vice versa.

7.    Start Crowdsourcing.

There is no shortage of services - companies like crowdSpring (design) or Tongal (video) -- to help you source affordable content from designers, videographers, writers, and others. But there's an even better reason to crowdsource. You allow your customers to participate in the creation of your brand. If you want a great example, take a look at how HBO seeded True Blood. Instead of advertising, HBO shipped samples of synthetic blood to popular videographers and bloggers, who, of course, couldn't resist making videos or posting pieces about the mysterious liquid. You may not have anything as cool as fake blood, but you can still learn to think this way.

8.    Read Brian Halligan’s Inbound Marketing Book.

Even if you have a product with enough mainstream appeal to justify paid advertising, consumers today spend more time searching than watching. You want to be found. Inbound Marketing covers all of the basics you’ll need to know to make your content Google friendly.

9.    Give stuff away for free.

Take a look at what HubSpot does: free tools (Twitter Grader and Website Grader); free webinars (How to use SEO, Blogging for Business); free eBooks (Facebook for Business, Getting Found Online). If you sell food, give away recipes. If you’ve invented a sleep monitor, offer free tips on better sleeping. Free content generates awareness, builds loyalty, creates newsworthy topics, and spreads word-of-mouth. Remember, in this day and age, what a brand does is far more important than what a brand says.

10. Make the time, build in the role, or hire the right partner.

As folks like Chris Brogan and Gary Vaynerchuk have proven, you can do all this yourself if you have the right time, energy and commitment. If you can’t muster that, give this role to one of your first hires. If you’re less than comfortable identifying that person within your own company, (hint: it’s not an intern or a kid right out of school; Digital Natives may know all the technology, but they often lack the strategic chops and the ability to create truly compelling content) retain the services of a public relations agency with real experience in social influence. Make sure that if you go this route, you ask for case studies as evidence that the PR team assigned to your business actually practices what it preaches.



Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5297/10-Ways-a-Start-Up-Can-Use-Social-Media-to-Market-Itself.aspx#ixzz1ErR5W0lx

You're probably being bombarded with a handful of social media platforms that promise to give you or your business more visibility and drive sales on a daily basis. These 10 tips will help you get started now:

1. Clean up your website or online image
2. Plan out your branding strategy carefully
3. Sign up for a personal Facebook account
4. Start blogging
5. Create a Twitter account
6. Begin writing and creating content
7. Network, network, network
8. Make connections with people you know (on all levels)
9. Open up a Public Page on Facebook
10. Create an account on LinkedIN