Social Media Training for Sales Professionals - Social Media Training

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Social Media Marketing in 3 minutes

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10 Things Entrepreneurs Should Be Tweeting About

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Apart from creating a vibrant branded Twitter account for your startup, business owners should consider creating their own personal account on Twitter. Fans and followers often want to connect with the person behind the brand.
Giving customers and prospects a glimpse into the entrepreneur's life and mindset can allow them to cultivate a deeper relationship with customers separately from the brand. The goal, of course, is to increase customers' loyalty to the brand.
Here are 10 things every entrepreneur can tweet about, which can allow your clients and prospects to see another side of you:
1. Personal news: Share the big events of your personal life -- vacations, weddings, births -- the type of info you'd share with close friends. It can help keep your followers feeling like they're "in the loop." You're also more likely to make a connection with followers who have experienced something similar.

 

2. Mistakes and lessons: Sharing mistakes and what you learned is a sign of growth, not weakness. Try doing a "What I learned this week" tweet and see how your followers respond.
3. Answers to questions: If someone asks a question on Twitter and you know the answer, share it. This can also be a way to develop a FAQ within your industry, which you can later point them to via a link.

4. Links to articles: They key to sharing articles is to also include your unique opinion. Let others know why you liked or didn't like an article.
Just remember that your opinion paints a public image, which means you should be cautious about which opinions you choose to share -- ideally only those which are congruent with your market. Keep the rest to yourself.
5. Pictures of unusual things you see: If something catches your attention, it's probably going to catch the attention of others, too. So why not share it? This includes visually impressive products, food and architecture.
6. Wisdom from the book you're reading: When you hit a "golden nugget" of wisdom in a book, share it. It not only shows that you're well read, but that you value wisdom. Those are two things that can only help your reputation.
7. Interesting advertising: When a billboard or any other advertising catches your attention, take a picture and tweet it. Everyone can benefit from seeing smart marketing.

8. Fun purchases: Sharing your recent purchases, such as music, video games or sports equipment can stir up comments and conversations from others that have bought similar items and enjoy the same kind of entertainment.
9. Share wisdom from outside the world of business: Quotes from sports heroes, military leaders and artists can teach us about innovation and leadership, which are essential to business success.
10. Your work: The greatest links you can share are links to your personal work, but don't limit that to what you do professionally only. If you have a hobby or passion for something creative, share it.


http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/224972

Facebook marketing: 5 effective ways to cater to your mobile audience

There are 1.08-billion active monthly users on Facebook, which is why your business would be crazy not to have a marketing strategy for this platform. However, many businesses don’t realise that it’s also important to cater to a mobile audience. Currently, there are 680-million monthly active users, and this number is growing. So here are five effective ways to improve your mobile Facebook marketing efforts.

Optimise all website content for mobile users

If you plan on sharing content on Facebook, you should realize a lot of users will click through on a mobile device. So you need to make sure all of your content is mobile optimized. This means you need to have a mobile website that adjusts your content for smaller viewing screens.
According to a 2012 Mongoose Metrics report, only 10 percent of websites are currently optimized for mobile use. This presents a unique opportunity for you to boost traffic. A developer can help you out with mobile optimization, or you can choose an app to turn your website mobile.
It’s also important to note that the number of mobile users is growing, making mobile websites even more important to businesses. According to HubSpot, more smartphones than PCs were sold in 2011, and one in seven searches is performed on mobile devices.
Case in point: Kiddicare.com grows via mobile optimisation
A good case in point would be Kiddicare.com, an online nursery and infant supply company that experienced significant growth thanks to a mobile optimized website. Kiddicare discovered that seven percent of its traffic came from mobile devices, but its website was too difficult to use on a smaller screen. That’s why they decided to optimize, which was a process that took seven weeks from concept to launch. After the optimization, they predicted 20 percent of their revenue came from mobile users in 2012.

Build brand awareness with Facebook business pages

It’s important for every business to have a website, but it’s equally important to have a Facebook business page. This can drive more traffic to your website, which helps acquire more customers. Additionally, people search for local stores and businesses when they are away from home, and Facebook drives some of that traffic through its mobile app.
The mobile business page on Facebook features recent photos, events, and check-ins, so it’s very important to use compelling images that look good in a mobile browser. Plus, as more and more people use the Facebook mobile app to interact with brands, fostering brand awareness is more important than ever. Ergo you need to carefully choose the content you share.
Case in point: Property Minder gains new Facebook fans
Property Minder is a web-service firm that offers services to real estate companies. The company used its Facebook business page to establish credibility in the industry. It worked on brand awareness, and subsequently gained new fans. It also had 584 whitepaper downloads through brand-awareness efforts.

Integrate coupons and promotions into your Facebook posts

Facebook users want to read informative and useful posts. Your business will be “unliked” if you’re too promotional. So the best way to overcome this is by integrating coupons and promotions into your Facebook posts. For instance, you can offer a coupon or run a contest via Facebook’s “Offer, Event+” function. You’ll be advertising, but users will also like the content.
Promotional Facebook posts are also important from a mobile user’s standpoint. Conversion rates are 12 times higher with sponsored ads on Facebook mobile than with the desktop version.
Case in point: BellaSoleill increases sales
BellaSoleill is a Tuscan home décor retailer which decided to offer a special code on their Facebook business page for 10% off merchandise. This offer increased profits by $10 000, and it helped subscribers grow by 200% in only three weeks. This was all because Facebook users had to like the page to gain access to the promotion.

Create targeted Facebook ads to promote your business

Facebook was originally slow to adopt ads on its mobile platform, but it now nets US$305-million from mobile ads quarterly. These ads look and feel more like natural posts, which means more clicks for your business. Additionally, people using 4G phones can access Facebook feeds as quickly as someone on a laptop or desktop computer.
The Facebook app is the third most downloaded app for mobile phones — it’s only behind Google Maps and YouTube. This means mobile ads on Facebook get a lot of views. You can used sponsored stories to drive more traffic to your business, because these stories have a click-through rate that’s seven times higher than regular posts.
Case in Point: Zappos.com increases annual ROI
Zappos.com claims that Facebook ads drive traffic in the US$10-million range each year. This demonstrates the obvious advantages of using Facebook ads. Plus, these ads can be targeted toward specific demographics, meaning you gain traffic outside your page’s own fan base.

Build a customer list and discover customer interests

From a marketing standpoint, one of Facebook’s biggest advantages lies in creating a huge list of followers with relatively little effort, especially if your business is already has a big name in the mainstream public. Then you can learn about customers by reading their comments and viewing the limited information on their profiles. You can also target potential customers based on their location. If you have a physical location, there’s also a check-in feature for mobile customers to share their patronage with friends.
Case in point: Sugarbush Resort increases subscriber list
Sugarbush Resort had a goal of increasing their email subscriber list and Facebook fans to have more opportunities for targeted marketing. The company ran a sweepstakes on it Facebook business page and gained 3 000 likes in only one month. Additionally, they gained 2 000 email list subscribers. This helped Sugarbush in its mobile marketing efforts, too.
Mobile marketing is a constantly changing animal, but your business is missing out on a lot of traffic if you don’t implement a mobile strategy. Use Facebook in your marketing efforts and you’ll likely see a significant increase in sales and customer loyalty.

http://memeburn.com/2013/03/facebook-marketing-5-effective-ways-to-cater-to-your-mobile-audience/

Ranking #1 in Google for 110K Exact in 30 Days

5 Underutilized LinkedIn Marketing Tools

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When it comes to nurturing professional relationships and developing a community, LinkedIn is one of the best resources. But while entrepreneurs might already be aware of important features such as its custom groups or the Question and Answer section, there are a number of tools and features that the professional networking site offers that have gone mostly unnoticed.
I recently connected with Fenot Tekle,senior communications manager from LinkedIn's Marketing Solutions team. Here's what she had to say about how small-business owners can use LinkedIn to help take their ventures to the next level:
Entrepreneur: What LinkedIn tools are underutilized by small-business owners?
Tekle: We offer a number of tools that small-business owners should be aware of when considering how best to engage with professionals on the platform, including:

 

Partner Messages: Small-business owners can utilize LinkedIn's InMail messaging platform to deliver relevant messages to specific audience segments.
Polls: This allows users to easily find answers to their business and market research questions. You can share a poll through LinkedIn's Facebook or Twitter integrations, or embed the voting module on your own website or blog.
Display Ads: Yes, businesses can advertise on LinkedIn. The display ads service allows advertisers to target specific groups of professionals through display ads on the LinkedIn platform.
Recommendation Ads: These ads display the number of recommendations that a small-business owner's product or service has generated on their LinkedIn Company Page.
Targeted Status Updates: Users can tailor the content in their status updates to specific types of company followers. Make sure the right people are seeing the right content.

Entrepreneur: What's the best application for an entrepreneur to promote their business?
Tekle: The targeted status updates, a feature that increases the relevance of conversations between companies and members. Accessible from a LinkedIn Company Page, the targeted status update allows an entrepreneur to tailor relevant messages to professionals who follow their company.
Entrepreneur: For business owners, what's the most important metric to measure?
Tekle: Key metrics will vary from one company to the next, but, in general, business owners are interested in seeing an increase in engagement.
An increase in engagement is the beginning of turning followers into advocates for the business. Engagement analytics are accessible on any established Company Page, so it's convenient for business owners to track their progress.
Entrepreneur: What does an entrepreneur need to know to get the most out of LinkedIn advertising?
Tekle: Have a clear understanding of the target audience. There are many tools available to marketers to attract desirable targets, but campaigns will likely be most effective if business owners reach the right audience, with the most the appropriate content in the right context.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/224337

Should Your Business Have a Podcast?

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Your business probably has a website, Twitter account and Facebook page, but does it need a podcast? Consumers enjoy podcasts because it gives them alternative and more convenient ways to consume content, says Deborah Shane, a Florida-based branding expert and podcast host.
She says that more professionals are using podcasts as a marketing tool to establish expertise and distinguish themselves from the competition. Shane's Metropolis Radio business podcast has featured more than 350 guests and has been downloaded 245,000 times in the last four years. The 15 to 30 minute segments consist of interviews with expert guests on topics such as branding, social media, and entrepreneurship. "Podcasting has opened up more doors than just about any platform I've used," Shane says. By inviting experts as guests on her show, she's networking, building credibility, and making professional connections.
 But podcasting is a time commitment. Shane suggests waiting a month before you start promoting your podcast. Use that time to create visual branding for your site, think about the content you'll provide, the show's format, how frequently you'll record the podcast and which guests you'll invite on the show, etc.
Shane recommends using BlogTalkRadio, which offers a free, turnkey solution to record your show and link it to iTunes, Facebook and Twitter. Once a show is scheduled through BlogTalkRadio, the host and their guest(s) call a special number and are patched through to a "studio" dashboard that the host controls on his or her computer where he or she can take calls live or interview through the switchboard.
The show is recorded live and archived as a podcast, where it's made available on iTunes and can be shared on social networks or blogs. Editing is not available with the free version, but premium paid levels (which range from $39-$249 a month) allow users to edit their shows.
Here are six things to consider before starting a podcast:
1. Choose your format. Shane uses a late night talk show format and discusses talking points with her guests beforehand, but allows the conversation to evolve on the show. Another popular format is giving a tutorial or lecture on a topic relevant to your business that many people have questions about.
2. Record a podcast at least once a week. You want to listeners to know when to expect new content. While "live listeners" (people listening to the show as it airs) are great, Shane says the goal is to increase the number of downloads your podcast receives once it's posted.
3. Find guests with energy. Your guest may be brilliant in their field, but you want someone who's interesting and with whom you can have a good conversation. Shane suggests reaching out to experts in your field who have written a book or have a lot of Twitter followers, so they can promote their appearance on your show. The appearance is mutually beneficial, as they are gaining credibility as an expert, and you're building an audience and area of expertise.
"Great guests are actively marketing on their own social media platforms. They have energy, articulate well and know how to tell their story," Shane says.
4. Practice. Do two or three practice shows to get the feel for podcasting. Shane recommends recording a few test shows and posting them on your site to become comfortable with the process before promoting the podcast. You can set the show as "test" or "private" when scheduling your podcast.
5. Promote your podcast consistently. Use your other social media platforms, blog, website, etc. to promote your podcast before, during, and after the show has been recorded. BlogTalkRadio allows you to post updates automatically to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
6. Get ideas from the competition. Visit podcast.com or iTunes to see how other businesses are using podcasts to promote themselves.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226298

5 Online Marketing Strategies for a Tight Budget

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In a world where attention is currency, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to attract the eyes and ears of your target market. Not only are you up against larger companies with nicely funded marketing departments, you're also competing with social media and a multitude of other distractions for the attention of your prospects.
But that doesn't mean your marketing efforts have to cost a ton of money or be overly dramatic in order to stand out from the crowd. Here are five creative and inexpensive ways to market your business in a digital world:
1. Get endorsed by a local celebrity.
Many business owners dream of having their product or service endorsed by a global celebrity. But instead of trying to get a superstar to support your business, try seeking out a local celebrity instead.
Who exactly are local celebrities? These are people your local paper is writing about -- perhaps an "unsung hero" such as a teacher or a resident who's doing something positive and newsworthy. Since they're in your neighborhood, these people should be relatively easy to locate and contact by phone or e-mail. Let them know you'd like to send them a gift, namely your product or service.

 

The only catch: you'd like to follow up with them in a few days to get their honest feedback. Their responses can make for useful blog or marketing content.

2. Create a LinkedIn group.
Not only is a LinkedIn group free to create, it can enable you to offer your professional network a vibrant, useful information resource all while driving traffic to your site and increasing sales. Just don't use the platform to hard sell anyone.
It can take time and effort to get one going, but the goal should be to help provide resources and start discussions on topics that can benefit your community. Groups should also be a place for your members to network with other professionals online.
3. Get published on niche blogs.
While it may be difficult to get on the front cover of a major magazine, you can create marketing opportunities by being featured in a popular niche blog. Identify three to five blogs that target your market then contact the creator and offer a few ideas of how you'd like to bring value to his or her readers. You can:

• Demonstrate good will by offering the niche blog owner a small amount of your product or service for free, which they can give away to their audience as a gift. This is different than a product review, which only offers information.
• Send ideas for blog posts you'd like to write and explain why they would be helpful for their readers.
• Ask if you can interview them for your site. This might entice the blog manager to promote your content since it highlights his or her business.

4. Create videos for YouTube.
With more than 800 million unique visitors a month, YouTube can be a powerful platform for marketing a business online. To do so, go beyond simply posting random videos of your product or sharing your thoughts.

The marketing videos you create should include the following elements:

• A keyword-researched headline
• A clear editorial message (don't try to accomplish too much in one video)
• A call to action (tell the viewer to do something, such as subscribing to your channel)

While you can spend a small fortune on cameras, lighting equipment and editing software, the camera built into your smartphone should be able to capture suitable online video. As for editing, if you're on a Mac, for instance, you should already have iMovie in your applications. Even if you don't have a Mac you can find free software online or hire a professional editor on sites such as Fiverr.com, possibly for as little as $5 depending on the scope of the work.
5. Write an e-book about the biggest issues in your industry.
No longer do you need a publishing company or thousands of dollars to get distribution for a book. Amazon, for instance, will let you upload a digital book for free, with a 33 percent take on every sale. The goal is not to make a profit from direct book sales but to use it as a lead generation tool, encouraging readers to opt into your website for further information.
Even time-strapped entrepreneurs who aren't great writers should consider this. You can search sites like E-lance or Odesk to hire an affordable ghostwriter who can help you convert your blog posts or audio recordings into book format.
When it comes to marketing your book, set the price between $1 and $5 -- which makes it affordable -- then use social media, video marketing and e-mail list marketing to promote it. To generate more leads, keep in mind that Amazon allows prospective buyers of your book to take a sneak peek of the first few pages. Be sure to embed links into these early pages so you can capture leads from people who were interested but didn't wind up buying your book.


http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226146

7 Tips For Building a 'Power Network' on LinkedIn

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Among the social networks, LinkedIn can be one of the most useful when it comes to cultivating critical, lucrative business opportunities, since it has a high concentration of business decision makers. The trick is going beyond connecting with cousins and college buddies to strategically building a "power network" of individuals who should be potential clients.
But building a power network on LinkedIn doesn't happen overnight. Here are seven tips for making the kinds of connections that can benefit your business the most:
1. Optimize your profile: One of the easiest ways is to update your profile picture. LinkedIn views this kind of update as "freshness" and it can help your ranking when others are searching for someone like you.
2. Tell people who you are, who you help and how you help them in your headline: A headline that communicates these points is often what grabs a person's attention when searching the site. I should be able to read your headline and know exactly what you offer and why I should get in touch with you. Be clear and compelling.

 

3. Fill out all current and past work experiences: You never know who's looking for you, possibly a co-worker from an old job, or maybe a classmate that's suddenly feeling nostalgic and wants to see who they can find online. By listing all of your places of employment -- including your educational institutions -- you can create a larger net for capturing searches. Plus, these connections could be second- or third-tier connections to people you've been trying to meet.
4. Join targeted groups: This can be one of the most effective ways to connect with like-minded professionals who are serious about using LinkedIn to form deeper business connections. Participating in these groups also enables you to share your knowledge and to learn from other members.
5. Create a targeted group: Not only can leading a group give you a certain level of credibility, it allows you to connect with people who are influential within your specific industry.
6. Send personal invites: These, in my opinion, always trump generic requests to connect. The invite is your first communication on LinkedIn, so make a good first impression by writing a personal request and asking how you can help the person, or whom you can introduce them to.

7. Get endorsements and recommendations: This can help enhance your profile, but there's a right way and a wrong way to do this. Don't send a mass or generic e-mail to clients or colleagues asking if they can endorse your skills or write a recommendation. First, identify people who have a great story to share about you and your skills. Contact those people directly, via phone or e-mail, and let them know you're personally reaching out to them because of (insert how you've helped them here) and would appreciate it if they'd be willing to write a quick recommendation for you, based on that story.
The same goes for endorsements, which are much easier to give since it's just a click of a button. It also helps if you mention you'll be endorsing their strongest skills as well.


http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/224651

One Channel Now Available for All YouTube Users

YouTube’s One Channel is now available for all users after spending about a month in beta.

The new layout includes cover photos and trailers in an effort to “make your new channel look great on browsers across all screens and devices,” YouTube product manager Jeb Havens says in a post on the YouTube Creators blog.

“It will also help you convert more visitors into subscribers with a slot for a channel trailer, and you can customize how you organize your videos and playlists so it fits your programming strategy.”

The redesign, Havens says, received its final tweaks over the past month after collecting and implementing suggestions from early users and creators.

YouTube image
iJustine sports the new One Channel look.

Havens suggests trying the following three activities to get the most out of your new channel:

• Create a trailer that will play for any visitor who has yet to subscribe to your channel. “This is your chance to hook them and win a new fan,” he says. “Treat this trailer as if it were an ad. Keep it short and engaging and have a compelling call to action at the end.”

• Create and upload a large, eye-catching piece of channel art to act as your channel’s visual identity. Unlike the branding on the old channels, your channel art will look good across all screens and devices, no matter the size.

• Organize your channel’s videos and playlists so they are functional both for your audience and for your programming.

Now, when your subscribers click on your channel from the guide, your full channel appears rather than just your activity feed.

YouTube image

“With the new channel home and customizable sections, you’re in control of what subscribers see when they click on your channel from the guide,” Havens says.

To get started, go to www.youtube.com/onechannel and click the button at the bottom. YouTube will migrate your channel to the new design, and take you through it step-by-step. For a limited time, you will have the option of switching back to the previous design if you like it better.

Tips and strategies on optimizing your YouTube One Channel, can be found under Channel Optimization in the YouTube Creator Playbook.

 

http://www.sitepronews.com/2013/03/08/one-channel-now-available-for-all-youtube-users/

Top 10 Social Media Marketing Tips for 2013

Many social media sites started out as personal sites but social media marketing has become one of the most powerful online strategies for businesses, online and offline.

In 2002, Friendster was launched in the U.S and then in 2003 MySpace began.

Next to be launched was Facebook in 2004. Facebook was originally started for students but quickly spread, becoming much more. Twitter was born two years later in 2006. Pinterest, said to be the fastest growing site ever, was launched in 2010.

All of these sites, along with others, have become powerhouses in social media marketing. As each year passes the possibilities continue to grow and expand. There probably are not many businesses left that do not engage in social media marketing.

These social sites are continually growing, expanding and changing and it can sometimes be difficult to keep up with the changes.
 

Below are the top 10 tips to help your social media marketing in 2013.
 

1. Make your posts more relevant — When people first started using the social sites they were posting things like “Going shopping today with the kids. Wish me luck!” The social sites have grown and changed. You need to start posting more relevant information. Make it about your readers and followers, not about you. Post solutions, inspiration and interesting facts that can be useful and helpful.
 

2. Utilize features and tools — Social sites are increasing the possibilities for your business with more tools and features than ever before. Take stock of all of these tools and learn to use them for the benefit of your followers and your business.
 

3. Visual marketing — Marketing is going visual and you need to do the same. Embed text and your business info in relevant graphics to post. Pinterest, using image sharing, has broken records with its growth. Pictures are also the mostly widely used and shared method of posting on Facebook. When people share your images you want them to see your website link or other relevant info.
 

4. Help Your Clients/Readers — No matter what business you are in, you cannot provide solutions to all your clients’ needs. Be willing to post links, information and resources of other businesses that can help your clients when you cannot.
 

5. Use Your Analytics — Review your analytics regularly to see what is working and what isn’t. Are people visiting one social site more than others? When are people visiting your pages? Find out everything you can from your results. You can learn a lot from your analytics but you must use them to reap the benefits.
 

6. Host events — Hold regular events such as giveaways, seminars, chats, networking parties, promotions, etc. Facebook has recently updated its event feature so it is easier and more efficient.
 

7. Connections not sales — Use your social media pages to connect with your potential customers not for sales. You want to use social media to share information, respond to questions and comments and to showcase what your business is about. You don’t want to continually bombard your social sites with sales pitches and ads. Help your followers find solutions, do not pitch to them.
 

8. Slideshare — Slideshare is predicted to be the fastest growing social site in 2013. Slideshare will allow you to share your presentations with millions. You can also share documents, PDFs and videos. The possibilities are endless with this site.
 

9. Google+ — Google+ will be more important to your business. By being on Google+, you will be able to take full advantage of Google’s many services and tools. It hasn’t the social power of some of the other sites, but it is a central part of Google and you should be a part of it.
 

10. Use fewer social sites — Concentrating your marketing efforts to a few of the better-producing sites is more effective than spreading yourself too thin over many of the social sites. The time it takes to successfully participate in social media is substantial, so you need to build a strong presence on the sites that deliver rather than trying to dominate them all.

Social media marketing is expected to reach new and unequaled heights in 2013. Don’t let your business be left behind. Become active with social media. Really get involved. Make new connections and post relevant visual items. Make it about your followers and clients, not about what cereal you had for breakfast

 

http://www.sitepronews.com/2013/02/01/top-10-social-media-marketing-tips-for-2013/

How Men’s Wearhouse attracted 300,000 social media followers in 18 months

The Men’s Wearhouse Inc. was late to grasp the potential of social media, says Joe Nolan, the retailer’s director of social media. It didn’t even launch on Facebook until a little over two years ago.

Despite being a multichannel retailer with 1,239 bricks-and-mortar stores across its various brands and Internet Retailer-estimated 2011 online sales of $42.59 million, the Men’s Wearhouse had only about 4,000 social media followers 18 months ago on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. Given the company’s target customer—shoppers who are between 21 to 40 and likely active on social media—that posed a problem, he says.

Recognizing that it needed to do a better job reaching consumers on social media, Men’s Wearhouse, No. 289 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, turned to social media marketing firm Viralheat Inc.’s software. The technology enables the Men’s Wearhouse to understand what its fans engage with on various platforms, what the retailer’s competitors are posting on social media and what consumers are saying on social networks and blogs.

 

Viralheat is a crucial element as Men’s Wearhouse develops its social media efforts and promotional campaigns, Nolan says. “The success of every campaign starts and ends with technology,” he says. He says the software tracks the retailer’s posts and promotions, and how consumers across the web respond. For example, it might track how many mentions its $19.99 tie sale on Twitter received and how that percentage changed week over week. That data then will likely help shape its next Twitter discount offer.

Broadly speaking, the retailer has found that Facebook users respond to—as measured by sharing and interactions—branding and public relations-related posts more than consumers on other social networks. For instance, a recent post highlighting the chain’s new mobile app—“The modern man is mobile. Now you can shop our designer brands anywhere in the world from the palm of your hand. Men's Wearhouse is now mobile. http://mensw.com/h” —garnered 262 Likes. On Twitter shoppers can engage with daily deals and contests.

Viralheat also enables Men’s Wearhouse to see how many consumers view posts related to its brand. For instance, when a consumer uses the retailer’s Twitter handle @menswearhouse in a tweet, his Twitter followers see the post, and the software tracks those impressions. The vendor also lets the retailer track what consumers and competitors are posting on social media and blogs across the web. For example, the retailer can run an analysis of posts on tuxedos in the past six months. And it can dive into that report to see what percentage of those tuxedo-related posts mention Men’s Wearhouse or specific competitors.

Seeing what consumers and its competitors are talking about has helped Men’s Wearhouse fine-tune the content and timing of its posts. In turn, that’s helped boost its number of followers across its platforms to more than 300,000.

Men's Wearhouse is No. 247 in the Social Media 300. 2.11% of traffic to MensWearhouse.com comes from social networks, according to Compete Inc.

Both Viralheat and Men’s Wearhouse declined to share how much the retailer pays for its technology. However, the vendor says custom social media marketing packages start at $499 a month.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2013/03/12/how-mens-wearhouse-attracted-300000-social-media-followers

10 Questions to Ask When Creating Your Company's Pinterest Page

Pinterest has quickly evolved into a social media eye-candy powerhouse. People are now pinning images as often as they tweet, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.
If your business isn't on Pinterest yet, you might want to think seriously about jumping on board. Pinterest can enable you to tell your company's story in visually engaging ways that enhance your brand image and attract potential new customers.
To help you create a Pinterest presence, here are 10 key questions to ask:
1. What does my company want to achieve on Pinterest?
You may simply want to create a strong brand image, or you might hope to use Pinterest to help launch new products. Whatever your goal, defining it can help you decide which types of Pinterest boards to create and how to organize and promote your pins.
If your company wants to publicize its commitment to sustainability, for instance, you might create boards that relate to gardening and recycling, as Whole Foods has done. Or, if you simply want to drive traffic to your business's website, create boards with images that link directly to it. The Travel Channel's 37 boards -- with intriguing titles like "Travel Bucket List" and "We'd Rather Be Here Than Work Right Now"-- feature pins linking to relevant travel destination articles on its main website.

2. What's a Pinterest board and what kind should I create?
A board is where you organize multiple pins by topic or theme. You can customize your boards based on themes that directly or indirectly relate to your products and services. For example, Etsy, a popular online arts and crafts marketplace, curates 61 boards for some 235,000 followers with themes that range from handmade gift ideas to holiday decor to wedding accessories.

Related: 5 Ideas for Pinterest Boards That Can Help Build Your Brand
3. What types of images will best showcase my brand without being spammy?
Choose brightly colored, interesting pictures that show your followers how they can use your products and services in interesting, non-promotional situations.
"Images tell the story of your clientele and their relationship to your brand," says John A. McArthur, an assistant professor of communication at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina, who integrates Pinterest into his curriculum. "Consider how your customers would use your product or service and provide images that would speak to their experience."
Instead of pinning promotional pictures of paint cans, Benjamin Moore highlights its products Pinterest in unexpected ways. For example, the paint maker's popular "chalk it up!" board showcases its Chalkboard Paint in dozens of creative DIY projects, including chalkboard paint-dipped wine glasses and chalkboard-painted motorcycle helmets.
4. How do I upload images to Pinterest and where should I get them?
Add images via the Pin It bookmarklet or by uploading a picture directly from your computer. For businesses, it's generally best to use your own images rather than generic stock photography or other people's images. Your own original pictures can help your brand stand out from the crowd. More importantly, they reduce the risk of photo license infringement liability.
If you have too few of your own pictures or lack the budget for original photography, you can source images for free with appropriate attribution licenses from services like Creative Commons.
5. Will other people be able to contribute to my company's boards?
With Pinterest's "Me + Contributors," you can invite clients, customers, employees and even similar brands, to contribute to a group board. They will be notified via email that you have invited them, and you will receive emails from Pinterest when they add pins to your group board. To be added as a contributor, a person has to be one of your followers already, and you must follow at least one of his or her boards.
Group boards can quickly build an active, engaged community around your brand. The Food Network's "Let's Game Day" recipe group board, which complementary brands like Good Housekeeping magazine and Epicurious.com contribute to, has attracted some 71,000 followers so far. Just be mindful of users posting spammy or inappropriate images.

The Food Network's "Let's Game Day" recipe group board

Related: 6 Tips for Being More Visual With Social Media (Infographic)
6. How can I build an active community?
First, create several boards with compelling images. Then, make sure to #hashtag your pins with descriptive keywords that can help people find your images when searching Pinterest.
Whenever you create a new pin or new board, share a direct link to it, using Pinterest's Facebook and Twitter share buttons. Also, alert your web visitors to your Pinterest boards by adding Pinterest's follow button to your company's main website.
You might want to host a "Pinterest party" to encourage others to pin alongside you in real-time. HGTV recently had a Holiday Pinning Party, that let followers pin their favorite holiday decorations, gifts and recipes, while interacting with HGTV editors in pin comment fields.
7. Should my company follow other Pinterest users?
Following other users shows that you are an active Pinterest community participant and that you aren't just there to promote your products and services. So, make a habit of following people, brands and influencers who share similar pinning topics and themes in related industries. You can repin their images and comment on their pins.
8. How can I find and engage influential pinners?
To discover so-called "power pinners" who share your interests and can potentially boost your reach on Pinterest, click on the Popular link at the top of every Pinterest page. It will tell you which pins are trending and who is pinning them.
9. Should I pin videos, too?
A Pinterest gallery of humorous videos that feature well-designed textual infographics, and offer how-to tutorials can be an engaging way to bring your products and services to life.
To add a video pin, select the Add button at the top of Pinterest's main page. Choose the Add a Pin option and enter the URL of the video you wish to upload, either via YouTube or another link. Click the Find Images button to choose a thumbnail image from the video that best sums up your video. Next, select which of your boards to pin your video to. Click Pin It and you're done.
10. What's the most common mistake to avoid?
Don't go for the hard sell by filling your boards only with images of your company's products, projects and services. Pinterest frowns upon purely pushing your brand in its official marketing guidelines.

"Limit self-promotional pins to 10 percent of what you pin at the most, and stagger them when you do," says Kelby Carr, author of Pinterest For Dummies (Wiley, 2012) and Pinterest Marketing For Dummies (Wiley, 2012). "Use Pinterest as an opportunity to humanize your business in unique, fun and creative ways."
Carr also advises businesses to avoid "pin it to win it" contests that encourage "spammy" behavior, including asking followers to comment repeatedly. Running the occasional promotion or sweepstakes is fine, but don't overdo ithttp://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225936