social networks

Facebook and Twitter Are Not Your Best Social Media Marketing Channels Anymore

Published December 30, 2014 | By Elaine Fogel

I’ll bet your small business or nonprofit organization spends considerable time on its Facebook page and Twitter account trying to engage new people. After all, aren’t these two social media sites the most effective in reaching prospects, customers, and donors?

Not anymore says a recent Forrester study. “It’s clear that Facebook and Twitter don’t offer the relationships that marketing leaders crave. Yet most brands still use these sites as the centerpiece of their social efforts — thereby wasting significant financial, technological, and human resources on social networks that don’t deliver value,” says Nate Elliott of Forrester.

Now get this… “In the next 18 months… Facebook will become nothing but a repository for display ads,” Elliott predicts. Holy!!

So now what? Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Email Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Study Results, Small Business, SMBs | Tagged brands, content, Contests, customer loyalty, customer service, customers, display ads, donors, existing customers, Facebook, Facebook ads, Facebook marketing, Facebook page, financial metrics, Forrester, give-aways, good prospects, integrated marketing approach, Marketing plan, newsletter, nonprofit marketing, nonprofit organization, organic reach, prospects, quizzes, Small Business, small business marketing, social media ads, social media marketing strategy, social media plan, social networks, Twitter, Twitter ads

Overwhelming Majority of B2Bs Use LinkedIn to Distribute Content

Published October 17, 2014 | By Elaine Fogel

In the business-to-business world, LinkedIn is the king of content. In fact, 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content, making it the social media platform used most often.

The 2015 B2B Content Marketing Trends - North America from Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs also demonstrates that respondents find that LinkedIn is the most effective of all social media platforms. What’s interesting is that 55% of respondents represent micro and small businesses in North America.

So, why is LinkedIn number one with B2Bs? Continue reading →

Posted in Content Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Study Results, Social Media | Tagged B2B, B2B marketing, content, content marketing, demographics, Infographic, LinkedIn, small businesses, Social Media, social media platforms, social networks, typical LinkedIn user

Offline Conversations Rule for Millennial Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Published September 25, 2014 | By Elaine Fogel

Millennials are tech-savvy. Millennials live in their social networks through mobile devices. But, guess what? They share most of their conversations offline in person!

According to Keller Fay Group’s TalkTrack^® May 2013 – April 2014,Despite their tech savvy, 84% of [Millennials’] WOM (word-of-mouth) impressions are as a result of offline conversations, primarily face-to-face.”

This is quite shocking considering that Millennials are a communicative generation, accounting for 689 million WOM impressions about brands per day. And, I always thought they had their thumbs buried in Facebook pages. Who knew?

So, what are they discussing?

Continue reading →

Posted in Branding, Generational Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Study Results, Word-of-Mouth Marketing | Tagged brand stories, Branding, brands, Digital media, Marketing, marketing to Millennials, marketing touch points, media, Millennials, offline word of mouth, social networks, technology brands, word-of-mouth impressions, word-of-mouth marketing