Go big or go home? Forget that. These strategies for increasing your brand influence take hardly any time, and very little money.
Let's say you've got some down time between major marketing campaigns. Does that mean your marketing efforts have to go into hibernation? Of course not. You can fill in the downtime in your bigger advertising strategy with some mini-marketing campaigns that are often quick, uncomplicated and cheap—or even free. Experts from top marketing firms share some ideas on things you can do to run a smart—and influential—mini-marketing campaign that might even change the way you reach your customers in the future.

1. Experiment with new audiences.
"Throughout the year, large campaigns rarely stray from their core target audiences. But there are opportunities within secondary audiences. To draw on these opportunities, we usually turn to social first. We monitor social campaigns throughout the year and identify key questions and conversations we want to explore further. Then, when we have time, we survey these audiences, conduct small, targeted promotions, or post engaging messages to see what they have to say. More often than not, we learn something new that we weren’t considering for an upcoming launch or get added validation for a new idea or direction."
—Todd Miller, managing partner, The Archer Group

2. Go big with pop-up events. 
"Find a venue where many people who are your customers or prospects show up. Better yet, buy a booth or offer your services for speaking or host a party for customers and encourage them to bring friends. This gives you the chance to speak with current customers to learn what they like/dislike, but mostly it gives you the chance to prospect. Just don't make the mistake too many business people make after the event: failing to follow up on every lead. If you gathered hundreds of business cards or email addresses then send a thank you and invitation to stay in touch. Offer something of value in this email—a discount, a free newsletter, added features, etc.—then the people most interested will "hand raise" and identify themselves to you for further follow-up and marketing efforts."
—Linda Worrell, managing director, Red F

3. Sponsor conversations.
"People today love to talk and express their opinions. Blogs, chat rooms, comment sections are filled with loads of people expressing themselves. This, if you play your cards right, can be a great opportunity for your product or brand. Why not offer up topics for people to discuss? And make them topics that relate to your marketing efforts. Use Facebook or blog comments to start a relevant conversation where, at some point, your product can play a role. Be careful, however, not to appear to be 'selling.' Generate a conversation that is authentic to the topic, and that your brand can become a part of as opposed to a conversation that is about your product. People will happily talk about things that are interesting to them, and brands are not interesting. So make your brand a byproduct of the conversation, not the topic itself."
—Kevin Roddy, chief creative officer, Publicis & Hal Riney 

4. Attach yourself to large events.
"Sponsoring big events can be an effective but expensive way of connecting with industry leaders. Instead of going the sponsorship route, think of interesting ways to associate your product or service with the event to create organic buzz. For example, a cocktail hour at a nearby venue or a social-media driven game that incorporates panels and parties might be more cost-effective ways to leverage an event. Your campaign idea should provide value to event-goers; the reason Foursquare was a hit at SXSW was because it made it easier for friends to find each other. Keep in mind that early adopters can be your biggest cheerleaders, so connect with anyone going to the event who is an admitted fan of your product and reward them for sharing positive stories. People trust the advice of their friends and peers, so keep in mind that one good experience with your product can have a waterfall effect that goes viral."
—Maneesh K. Goyal, CEO of MKG, an experiential marketing agency

5. Emphasize earned media.
"Emphasize 'earned' media programs during these 'dark' periods in-between your big campaigns. Earned media, in the form of, for example, traditional public relations efforts and social media programs can be a cost-effective way to stay in market even when you don’t have ad budgets. We have found that emphasizing social media outreach and programs just as paid advertising campaigns wind down can be a highly effective way to keep an organizations message in market even after paid ads go away."
—Jose Villa, founder and president Sensis advertising agency

6. Try a new format.
"One of the things you have to look at when you attempt short-burst marketing is how much share of somebody's attention you can capture for the most reasonable share of money. What I would consider looking at social as an environment to capture market share. There's not much advertising in social apps. Usually, you get a large percentage or 100 percent share of voice within the application. Within that you're also getting a very engaged audience. Some offer the opportunity to buy in the stream of social activities people are performing across web and mobile. It's the most effective way you can spend your money for a short burst of time. The key is buying 'in activity:' as you send a gift, perform a mission, check in or set a status, that is when we perform our advertising. You're reaching an engaged consumer at the right time. As somebody performs a social activity, and you reach that consumer, that's when they're likely to share, that's when they're likely to 'like.'"
—Robert Victor, CMO of Appssavvy

7. Revisit old leads.
"One thing to do would be to recontact people that you've spoken to that have for whatever reason, in a friendly way, turned you down in the past. Revisit those people. If people have called you to inquire about your product or service but have not bought from you, it's always good to call those people back and re-pitch them. They've already expressed interest in you, they may or may not have been in research mode when they called. It’s a fruitful, no-cost list. You don't have to spend money to get that list. You know they're interested in your product."
—Dan Feldstein, cofounder and chief marketing officer, Red Ventures

Copyright © 2012 Mansueto Ventures LLC. All rights reserved.
Inc.com, 7 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007-2195.

Did you know that Google Caffeine makes everyone's search results different?

I'm not talking orders of magnitude different - but noticeably different.  Different enough that you can optimize your site in a way that helps you target even more qualified buyers to your local business.

Check out this video for a quick snippet of how Google Caffeine provides different results for the same exact search terms Googled by different people, in different cities at just about the same time.


Did you notice different search results?

1. The top three results were not consistent
2. The fourth result was always a local map unique to the searcher, be it Erin in San Francisco or Dan in Phoenix

Why is does Google Caffeine serve varied results?

1. Personalized search preferences, like sites you've looked at before, can impact what results you see in the future.
   
2. Google knows where you are and wants to give you results that might meet your local needs best.

What should your business do to have a chance to be included in that fourth map view listing?1. Register your business with Google Local - Free

Google wants you to register your business online, then verifies your listing by either calling you or sending snail mail to your address. Once registered, your business has the chance to appear in Google's Local Business Results for a given search term. But, your ranking inside the Local Listings is based on Google's ranking algorithm that awards well-optimized pages and inbound links to your website from other websites, so be sure to do step 2.

2. Blog about local topics and optimize all your content for geographic keywords

For most locales and industries, this is a quick and easy way for your site to start ranking keywords that local buyers are using to search across Google, Yahoo! and Bing. You should include your geo keywords in the major on page SEO items like: Page Title, URL, H1 tag and page content.

What is next?

It turns out that social search is having the same impact on results.  So, once you've ensured that your business profile and local listings are great, get yourself on Yelp!, Angie's List and local publications and review sites.

Learn something new?  Let us know and share your local stories and tips with us.


Learn more at Hubsport Blog here: 

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6033/Understanding-Local-Optimization-to-Improve-Your-Search-Rank.aspx#ixzz1k1WzYPSm 

Have a new marketing project you need copy written for? Thinking about doing it yourself? You may want to think again. While most everyone knows how to write “that is, put ideas down on paper” most people don’t know how to sell through writing. And that’s what copywriting is all about: effectively selling a product or service through the power of words. 

Think about it this way. You wouldn’t perform surgery on yourself, would you? Nor would you replace your car’s transmission, rebuild your computer’s hard drive, or design your own website. Nope. You’d hire a surgeon, mechanic, IT expert, or web designer for these tasks. Likewise, when you need marketing copy written, you should hire a professional writer. Here are seven reasons why:

Reason #1: Quality.

A writer writes. Period. That’s all they do. They know how to write persuasive copy that packs a punch, gets attention “and sells more.

Reason #2: Positioning.

Yes, it’s true, some people have a knack for writing. But developing copy for marketing materials (things like brochures, websites, and campaigns) goes beyond good grammar and spelling. It’s about knowing how to properly position your product or service so that it stands out and motivates your target audience to take action. A professional copywriter knows how to do that.

Reason #3: Perspective.

You’re in the middle of preparing for a new product launch, scheduling an investor’s meeting, hiring a new assistant “and a myriad of other tasks. Sometimes you get so busy that you lose perspective about your company “and about what makes it unique in the eyes of your customers and prospects. In essence, “you can’t see the forest for the trees.” But a professional copywriter can bring fresh eyes “and fresh ideas “to the table. They are not caught up in the day-to-day inner workings of your company and can therefore, many times, do a better job of communicating “big picture” concepts about your business.

Reason #4: Clarity.

Even if you are a good writer, you may not understand how to write for your target audience. A professional copywriter can take a complex concept “one that you may easily understand, but your customers may not “and turn it into easy-to-read copy.

Reason #5: BrevityLet’s face it. In today’s too-much-information age, everyone is deluged with more then they can possibly read. But a professional copywriter knows how to get ideas across using words economically. They can take all the information you provide and translate it into succinct and relevant points. With the help of a professional writer, your copy will take on a new energy, crispness, and focus.

Reason #6: Convenience.

Your time is valuable “and effective writing is a time-consuming task, constricting your already tight schedule. By hiring a professional copywriter, you’ll be able to focus on other tasks, while the writer does what he or she does best “writes.

Reason #7: Supporting the design.

A well-designed website, brochure, or direct mail campaign requires strong copywriting. If you have eye-catching graphics, you’ll invite your audience to begin reading. Compelling content will keep them reading. A professional copywriter can ensure the success of your design efforts by holding the attention of your audience.

The Bottom Line.In today’s economy, business is as cutthroat as ever. As the saying goes, “only the strong will survive.” You need every tool in the box to stand out and persuade your target audience to act. A professional copywriter may just provide the edge you need.

The only way we stand a chance of having the content of our business character judged in the age of social media is by creating Web content that is full of character. 

In his immortal speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream for this country.  In one of the most quoted parts of the speech, he spoke of his wish to see his children judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.  Those words will live on forever to inspire generations of people to come.  Because the content of our character is what tells people who we are, what we believe in and what we stand for.  And through this speech we understood the content of this remarkable man’s character.

So if we’re to be judged, we’d like to be judged by our accomplishments, capabilities, and by what we’re made of.  And from a business perspective, we not only should want to be judged in this manner, we need to be judged as so.  However, the people we seek judgment from do not preside over courtrooms and pound gavels, but rule over social networks and comment on blogs.  But shrinking attention spans coupled with an exponentially-increasing supply of online information is making it harder for us to plead our case to the judge.  One thing we do know — the only way we stand a chance of having the content of our character judged in the age of social media is by creating content that is full of character.

Some may confuse character-filled content with colorful content.  Others may feel images, pictures, and videos will turn heads and focus eyeballs.  And they absolutely can, but only for a minute if there’s no real substance accompanying the color.  Because substance is what our online judges are looking for to allow them to make important decisions.  And while it is important to offer up content on a regular basis, the quality of it is the most important factor.

Quality of content not quantity

Many feel it’s too time consuming to create good content, or that it’s too daunting a task. But you don’t have to write volumes to share the content of your character.  Abraham Lincoln needed less than three hundred words to express his feelings for what took place on a battlefield in Maryland during his Gettysburg Address.  What many feel was the most important speech in our country’s history is shorter than the average blog post.  No Flickr picture or YouTube video necessary.  But even today those words move people to tears. Just as Martin Luther’s words, nailed to the door of a church in Germany, started a religious revolution that’s still being felt almost 500 years later. 

Using content to display our true character, as individuals as well as business entities, is not a new thing.  But we have to be ready and willing to make sure the content we produce represents us in a truly meaningful way.  Meaningful to us — as we need to represent ourselves and our businesses properly.  More importantly, we need to make it meaningful to the judges out there who have to make the important decision on whether or not we have the expertise, experience, and character to help them answer the challenges they face. 

Despite the obstacles we are faced with, in terms of creating content that captures the attention of our online judges, it’s time to get over it.  Don’t tell it to the judge, because they have their own issues and concerns to deal with.  They are looking for help — good help. They’re willing to search for it, discuss it, and share their story in order to find it.  So use pictures, videos, blogs, and whatever you need to share your story.  Post once a day, once a week, or once a month.  Automate, co-create, and user generate it if it can help streamline the generation process.  But remember one thing: All the judges ask is that you make it as easy as possible on them to find the real you, by creating content that allows them to understand your business’ character.  Now go out there and throw yourselves on the mercy of the court.

Brent Leary is a small-business technology analyst, adviser, and award-winning blogger. He is the co-author of Barack 2.0: Social Media Lessons for Small Business (http://barack20.com). His blog can be found at http://brentleary.com, or follow him on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/brentleary.

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A couple of weeks ago, one of our guest writers wrote a post about a powerful copywriting technique that can be used to get great results even if you aren’t a professional copywriter.

In fact, we write a lot of posts on Copyblogger about how entrepreneurs can apply the techniques used by professional copywriters. Strong calls to action, compelling benefits, fascinating bullet points, magnetic headlines.

With all of this information, no one should ever need a pro, right?

Well … I wouldn’t say that.

Sometimes it can make sense to do it yourself, and sometimes it’s a very good idea to call in a professional writer. Today we’re going to talk about five scenarios when you’ll want to bring in a pro.

1. You just aren’t any good at itTalent is about 90% a function of putting in the work, but it’s hard to put the work in for something you don’t feel any connection with. Plus, sometimes you have a pressing need where you don’t have time to get good enough to do it yourself.

Lots of people hate to write. If it’s just a phobia about hitting those keys, you can try speech recognition software, which can be a fantastic time-saver. But if the thought of writing is about as appealing as dental surgery, you’ll never put the work in to get good.

Do more of what you’re good at and less of what you hate. If writing isn’t for you, hire or partner with a really good writer to make sure that part of your business is getting the attention it needs.

It doesn’t matter how fantastic your product or service is if you can’t communicate that to customers. Every company needs to communicate a powerful message — and that means you need strong writing.

2. You don’t have the bandwidthEven if you love writing, there’s a limit to how many words we can consistently get onto the page or screen every day. Marathon writing sessions can work for some people, but they can also lead to burnout and sabotage your productivity in the long term.

Copyblogger Media is a writing-based company. All of our founding partners have written their own content at various points in our business lives. And of course, Brian Clark built Copyblogger in the early days purely on the strength of his own writing.

But as our business has grown, we’ve needed to grow our writing staff with it. We pulled in additional writers to help us out with the sheer volume of content and copy we need to create.

Professional copywriters know “the more you tell, the more you sell.” And that’s even more true in the content marketing world — the more high-quality content you can create, the more authority and customer connection you can build.

Just realize that you need to understand the strategy behind the content you’re creating. Don’t add a writer for the sake of getting more words generated. Understand the business purpose behind allthe copy you create, whether or not you do the actual writing.

3. You need particular expertiseYou may create really good daily content for your blog, but you need a persuasion specialist to write sales letters that convert fans into customers.

Or you may need a subject matter expert to write a white paper.

Or a strong SEO copywriter to write content that both serves your business needs and can rank well in search engines.

Realize that you’ll pay more for a copywriter with specific expertise, rather than a generalist … just like you pay more for a Mercedes mechanic who’s been in business for 30 years over some kid at the quickie oil change who’s always wanted to try fixing a Mercedes.

4. You’re too close to the topicThe reason it’s so hard to move from features to benefits is that it can be really tough to be objective about your own business.

You know all the blood, sweat, and tears you put in to make your product or service great. (In other words, the features of your business.) You understand the details behind the scenes.

But your customer may have no interest at all in those things. In fact, they might care deeply about something that’s barely on your radar.

Sometimes a pair of outside eyes can be just what you need to communicate your most important benefits. Your winning difference could even be something you take for granted, but that your customers find wildly impressive.

Just make sure that your writer is looking at real customer feedback. This could come from survey responses, from social media listening, or from conducting interviews with customers. Your copywriter should have direct access to real customer language about why people like doing business with you.

5. The stakes are highIf you’ve got a big launch or an important marketing campaign, you need to make sure your copy is making a great impression.

• That means a terrific headline that gets attention immediately.
• It means well-structured content that conveys your authority.
• It means writing that gets to the point without a lot of fluff or verbal clutter.
• It means customer-focused copy that clearly conveys valued benefits.
• It means making sure you know the difference between your and you’re.

Professional copywriters are perfectionists about language. They’re obsessive about tone, subtle shades of meaning, copy structure, and the finer points of grammar and usage.

If that’s not you, you may want to bring in some help. Clunky, error-filled writing is a serious credibility killer.

But … the message still belongs to youWhile a talented, well-trained copywriter can help you find your strongest possible marketing message, ultimately that message does need to come from you.

You know the customer you want to reach. You know the little details that will make your copy more interesting. No one will ever know your business like you do, and you need to recognize the hidden remarkable benefit that becomes your best marketing story.

That’s why it pays to study copywriting and marketing even if you turn over every word to someone else. A terrific copywriter can make you sound fantastic — but as the business owner, you’re the one who’s ultimately responsible for your story.

About the Author: Sonia Simone is co-founder and CMO of Copyblogger Media. Share your charming, colorful, vivacious self with Sonia on twitter.

Do you want to optimize your website but have trouble communicating with the technical folks running it? Jargon alone shouldn't stop you from making your site the powerful marketing tool it can be.

This is a list of the 40 most essential search engine optimization (SEO) terms to help marketers communicate with developers and understand how to optimize their websites.

40 SEO Terms You Must Know!


301 Redirect – A way to make one web page redirect the visitor to another page. Whenever you change the web address of a page, apply a 301 redirect to make the old address point to the new one. This ensures that people who have linked to or bookmarked the old address will automatically get to the new one, and search engines can update their index.

AALT Text/Tag or Attribute - A description of an image in your site's HTML. Unlike humans, search engines read only the ALT text of images, not the images themselves. Add ALT text to images whenever possible.

Anchor Text - The actual text of a link to a web page. On most websites, this text is usually dark blue and underlined, or purple if you’ve visited the link in the past. Anchor text helps search engines understand what the destination page is about; it describes what you will see if you click through.

Blog - A part of your website where you should regularly publish content (e.g. commentary on industry/company topics, descriptions of events, photos, videos, etc.). Each blog post on your website is a new page that a search engine sees, and therefore a new opportunity to get found online. Make sure you keep your blog within your own domain.

Bookmark - A link to a website saved for later reference in your web browser or computer. Social bookmarking sites (example: Delicious.com) let users share websites they like with each other. Having links to your site in social bookmarking sites is a sign to crawlers that your website content is interesting to people.

Canonical URL - The canonical URL is the best address on which a user can find a piece of information. Sometimes you might have a situation where the same page content can be accessed at more than one address. Specifying the canonical URL helps search engines understand which address for a piece of content is the best one.

Conversion Form - A form through which you collect information about your site visitor. Conversion forms convert traffic into leads. Collecting contact information helps you follow up with these leads.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) - The part of your code that defines how different elements of your site look (examples: headers, links).

Directory - Just like directories for people and phone numbers, there are directories for websites. Submitting your site to a directory gives you more than just an inbound link; it helps people find you. The most popular web directories are Yahoo! Directory and Dmoz.

Domain - The main web address of your site (example: www.yoursite.com). It's good to renew ownership of your domain for several years. Search engine rankings favor websites with longer registrations because it shows commitment.

The Fold - The “fold” is the point on your website where the page gets cut off by the bottom of a user’s monitor or browser window. Anything below the fold can be scrolled to, but isn’t seen right away. Search engines place some priority on content above the fold, since it will be seen right away by new visitors. Having too many ads above the fold can be seen as a negative issue, too. (See Panda).

Headings - Text on your website that is placed inside of a heading tag, such as an H1 or H2. This text is often presented in a larger and stronger font than other text on the page.

HTML - The code part of your website that search engines read. Keep your HTML as clean as possible so that search engines read your site easily and often. Put as much layout-related code as possible in your CSS instead of your HTML.

Inbound Link - A link from one site into another. A link from another site will improve your SEO, especially if that site has a high PageRank.

Internal Link - A link from one page to another on the same website, such as from your homepage to your products page.

Indexed Pages - The pages of your website that are stored by search engines.

Javascript - A scripting language that allows website administrators to apply various effects or changes to the content of their website as users browse it. Search engines often have difficulty reading content that is inside of Javascript, but they are getting better at it over time.

Keyword - A word that a user enters in search. Each web page should be optimized with the goal of drawing in visitors who have searched specific keywords.

Link Building - The activity and process of getting more inbound links to your website for improved search engine rankings.

Long Tail Keyword - An uncommon or infrequently searched keyword, typically with two or more words in the phrase. Small businesses should consider targeting long tail keywords, as they are lower difficulty and often have more qualified searchers. Common keywords such as 'software' are more competitive, and very hard to rank high for them in search.

Metadata - Data that tells search engines what your website is about.

Meta Description - A brief description of fewer than 160 characters of the contents of a page and why someone would want to visit it. This is often displayed on search engine results pages below the page title as a sample of the content on the page.

Meta Keywords - Previously used by search engines in the 90s and early 00s to help determine what a web page was about, the meta keywords tag is no longer used by any major search engines.

mozRank - A logarithmic ranking provided by SEOmoz from 0-10.0 of the number and quality of inbound links pointing to a certain website or page on that website. A 10.0 is the best linked-to page on the internet, and a 0 has no recognized inbound links.

No follow - When a link from one site does not pass SEO credit to another. Do not use nofollow when linking to internal pages in your website. Use it when linking to external pages that you don't want to endorse.

Page Title - The name you give your web page, which is seen at the top your browser window. Page titles should contain keywords related to your business. Words at the beginning of your page title are more highly weighted than words at the end.

PageRank - A number from 0-10, assigned by Google, indicating how good your overall SEO is. It is technically known as 'Toolbar PageRank.' Note: PageRank relevancy is changing.

Panda - Refers to a series of updates released by Google to its search engine ranking algorithm that are intended to discourage people who create large amounts of mediocre content in an attempt to claim many keyword rankings without generating much value for users. Read a marketer's guide to understanding Google Panda here.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) - Advertising method in which an advertiser puts an ad in an online advertising venue and pays that venue each time a visitor clicks on his/her ad. Google AdWords is the classic example of this.

Ranking Factor - One element of how a search engine determines where to rank a certain page, such as the number of inbound links to a page or the contents of the title tag on that page.

Referrer String - A piece of information sent by a user’s browser when they navigate from page to page on the web. It includes information on where they came from previously, which helps webmasters understand how users are finding their website.

RSS Feed - RSS stands for 'really simple syndication.' It is a subscription-based way to get updates on new content from a web source. Set up an RSS feed for your website or blog to help your followers stay updated when you release new content.

SERP (Search Engine Ranking Page) - The page that you are sent to after you run a query in a search engine. It typically has 10 results on it, but this may vary depending on the query and search engine in question.

Sitemap - A special document created by a webmaster or a piece of software that provides a map of all the pages on a website to make it easier for a search engine to index that website.

Social Media - Online media created by and shared among individuals. Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter are popular social media websites. Links from many social media sites now appear in searches. It's important to have links to your site spread throughout social media.

Spider - A computer program that browses the internet and collects information about websites.

Traffic - The visitors to your site.

Title - The title of a page on your website, which is enclosed in a <title> HTML tag, inside of the head section of the page. It appears in search engine results and at the top of a user’s web browser when they are on that page.

Traffic Rank - The ranking of how much traffic your site gets compared to all other sites on the internet. You can check your traffic rank on Alexa.

URL - The web address of a page on your site (example: www.yoursite.com/contact).


What others SEO terms do you think are useful for marketers to know?



Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6080/40-Essential-SEO-Terms-Marketers-Should-Know-Glossary.aspx#ixzz1hUoZtGsH 

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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