It was in 2008 that I realised the power of creating and marketing unique content to pull people to your website and blog.

That was one of the primary reasons I started jeffbullas.com.

I discovered this when I stumbled upon Hubspot, a company that was one of the early innovators of content marketing. Their marketing was refreshing change to “old school” marketing and was based upon creating attention through attraction with blog articles and free ebooks.

It was  the dawn of “pull marketing”  or “inbound marketing” rather than push strategies such as telemarketing and direct mail.

Fast forward to 2012 and it appears that there is a growing groundswell of  activity and interest in content marketing is racheting up.

This momentum is not only for B2B but B2C is starting to adopt this marketing philosophy and  Coca Cola has created a brand new marketing strategy based upon this emerging trend.

Other companies such as American Express are also embracing this trend.

So Why has Content Marketing become Popular Recently?

More companies and B2B marketers are now recognizing the power of content marketing, and the effect it is having on customer engagement and brand awareness specifically.

The other enabling factor in this mix is social media because having great content is all good but it needs to be made “visible“.

Social media adds leverage and provides the free “distribution technologies” to your content that were not available before, this adds the “X-Factor” and increases visibility and buzz and creates marketing synergy that is hard to stop.

So What makes a Good Content Marketing Strategy?

According to the infographic below, it is quality, shareable content. Content that people actually want to read, engage with and share.

Companies like Coca Cola are becoming early adopters, maximizing their efforts with unique, compelling content development (such as the Content 2020 campaign). BlueGlass Interactive, a leader in the internet marketing space, has recently partnered with Voltier Digital, an innovative digital marketing agency specializing in content marketing and data visualization techniques (ie. infographics).

The Content Marketing Explosion by the Numbers

So what is the current status of content marketing and what are the marketers plans for 2012?

• 90% of B2B marketers are doing some form of content marketing
• 60% of B2B marketers plan to spend more on content marketing in 2012
• The major content marketing tactic is article posting at 79%
• B2B Marketers are investing on average 25% of their budget on content marketing (smaller companies are spending more)

Take a look at how content marketing has become a power source in marketing as a whole, and why it has become one of the fastest growing industries today.

More Reading

• 5 Lessons from Coca Cola’s New Content Marketing Strategy
• 10 Reasons Why “Liquid” Content Should be Included in Your Social Media Marketing
• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

437,356 groupies.

Um, no. This is not Martin...

Oops, I mean followers.

Yep, my friend Martin Zwilling has 437,356 followers on Twitter.

So you must be thinking, wow, this guy Eric is friends with movie stars or something. He must be chillin’ with celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Charlie Sheen and Martin Zwilling.

Wait a minute.  Hold the phone.  Have you ever heard of Martin Zwilling before?

Didn’t think so.

But that’s the cool thing:  Martin is an average, normal business guy just like you and I.

So if he can get over 400,000 followers on Twitter, why can’t we? Well, that’s just what I wanted to find out from Martin.  So I hooked up with him, hoping he’d pull back the curtain to reveal some of his secrets… and he did.

So, without further delay, here’s my chat with the wild Twitter man; Martin…

1st Secret Revealed:  437,356 and Counting.  How?

So Martin, how in the world did you get so many followers on Twitter? What is your secret? What strategy did you use to build your following?

“First, I proactively follow as many new people as I can every day – anyone whose profile looks like my target customer, or who talks about targeted subjects in their tweets.  This can be done manually with Twitter, but I have also tested other tools, such as TweetAttacks.  There are hundreds of tools out there, but the point is to find what works for you and do it on a daily basis.”

Second, I provide something of “value” to my followers on a daily basis. I provide up to six tweets daily, with pointers to the “best of the best” articles for entrepreneurs, which are my target customers. The idea is my follower can read my tweet stream and link to a useful, pre-filtered channel of information every day.  If your channel is empty for even a few days, people stop following.

To help me do this, I use the service SocialOomph:  It automatically sends a welcome message to new followers, and it spreads the tweets out across the day — so they don’t all come in a big clump”.

2nd Secret Revealed:  Following 384,554.  How?

And wow, you follow a whole bunch of people yourself. What is your secret on managing so many followers?  How do you handle engagement on that level?

“The secret here is to extract from the stream only those messages addressed directly to me, or talking about me or my business: Startup Professionals.

I use TweetDeck to do this.  In fact, I only get a few business messages per day requiring a response, and of course, I respond to every one.  Overall, I’ve allotted no more than an hour a day for all Twitter and other social media activities, usually early morning or late evening.  Not a high price for the value and learning I get from it.”

3rd Secret Revealed:  Impact on Business

So, how has having 437,356 followers impacted your business? In other words, what are the real world results you’ve seen?

“Twitter has clearly helped me build my brand.  It brings me real leads; both directly through Twitter and indirectly by Twitter users talking to their friends.  Because of the many followers; people give me great credibility, speaking invitations, and book sales.

For example, my large following entices great book authors to send me a review copy of their latest book, which I might mention to my followers.  In turn, these books keep me up to date and expand my expertise.  And that helps me close even more business as a consultant.”

Great stuff Martin.  Thanks so much for sharing.  And actually, you’re pretty smart.  Not a madman at all.

So there you go folks.  3 Secrets from a Twitter Sane-man who has over 400,000 followers.

Tell me, are you gonna be next to reach 400k and what are your secrets for getting there?

About the Guest Author: Eric T. Wagner is a husband, father and life-long entrepreneur. After starting multiple businesses, he is now focused on helping entrepreneurs nail it too.  Uncover Eric today at: Mighty Wise Media.

Read More

• The Marketing Secret About Twitter That Most People Don’t Know
• The Explosive Power of the Retweet Revealed by Twitter
• How To Get Targeted Twitter Followers
• 8 Great Twitter Tools that will Get You Tweeting like Pro
• How to Write a Mind Blowing Headline for Twitter

Do you ever feel a strong urge to update or check Facebook?

Is the desire to Tweet overwhelming and you have this compulsion to “Tweet” for no particular reason?

Are you starting to wonder if you have a social media addiction?

Well joining the self help group “social media addicts anonymous” may not be far away as a recent study by Chicago University has revealed that social media is in fact more addictive than sex, alcohol and cigarettes!

Pinterest the New Addiction

Pinterest is the new addiction in town that has everyone blogging, tweeting and sharing the news on Facebook and it is the new “hot” social network on the block.

It is a social media network that cannot be ignored.

According to Shareaholic’s recent report that used findings from more than 200,000 publishers and 260 million monthly unique visitors, it is driving more referral traffic than Google plus, LinkedIn and YouTube combined.

It is interesting to note the power of Pinterest to refer traffic despite it only having 4.9 million users compared to Google plus with more than 90 million users and LinkedIn with over 130 million members.

I have been using Pinterest for only a couple of months but my traffic stats show that in the last 3 days it is driving more traffic than Google Plus and LinkedIn for the Jeffbullas.com blog.

Forrester claims it is over-hyped but if it is assisting your business to increase engagement, drive traffic and raise your online visibility then I am happy to use an over hyped social network.

What Makes it so Addictive ?

I don’t know if you have noticed or not but Facebook has redesigned its user interface with its new Timeline which allows much larger and engaging images.

Google plus was launched with a design that provides a larger canvas to display high definition images and photos in all their glory.

2011 has seen the rise of the new “Visual” social networks.

Visual engagement addiction has never been more obvious than what has been revealed by Pinterest.

People find photos compelling and will share them much more virally on social networks than a link or text post. Photos are the most shared media on Facebook (250 million a day).

Pinterest has tapped into this and created a visual online pinboard that inspires with images and photos that invite to be shared and repinned.

Some have called it an “Inspiration Network”

Use the Power of Addiction

There is something I have learned over the last few years is that even if it is over-hyped but has addictive qualities, then it is a powerful distribution network and should be considered in your business marketing plans, especially if your business has a highly visual component such as fashion, food or photography.

Even if you don’t think your business has strong visual  elements, then take a cue from General Electric which uses Pinterest to post images of “Badass Machines“.

How do I use Pinterest?

You would think that social media marketing wouldn’t be a very visual topic that would use the Pinterest platform very effectively. In fact there is almost a visual element to anything and you may have noticed the “Infographics” trend that has rapidly grown over the last 12 months which has surprised me.

What I am trialling on Pinterest is pinning “Infographics” that are relevant to my target audience and currently with 60 pins and over 550 followers it is highly apparent that it taps into this visual touch point.

So I would encourage you to have some fun with Pinterest and tap into your creative side and find visual elements of your brand that will inspire and drive some sharing.

How are you using Pinterest?

Read More

We  consume information with an almost manic obsession. In most homes the 50 inch plasma high definition television is babbling on in the corner enticing us to watch and listen while cooking, cleaning  or chilling out.

We jump in the car and the radio or GPS is informing us as we drive to work or as we head off to the shops.

At work the computer monitor tempts us with high definition photos on Facebook  or an online news stream filled with a torrent of multimedia content.

Escaping media while out and about is now almost impossible as walking down the street is now an exercise in collision avoidance with 3.5 inch screens filled with apps distracting most of the population.

We live in a noisy world of  three screens with digital media content that is hard to escape whether it is  television, computers or a smart phone.

The lonely printed  newspaper is now often just reserved as company for the weekend coffee as most media moves online.

Digital Media will Dominate by 2020

It was predicted as far back as 2008 that digital media would dominate by 2020. This momentum is accelerating and content is fast moving out of the offline closet and onto a digital screen near you.

This has been confirmed by new research from the Isobar/Carat global report that digital media will consume 80% of media usage.

The explosion of numbers in this digital and increasingly mobile media consuming world are headlined by these facts

• On Christmas day, 6.8 million smart phones were activated
• In the last week of 2011, 1.2 billion apps were downloaded
• The Guardian Newspaper gets 1 million page views per day via Facebook due to its Facebook app which was downloaded 5 million times with half of those being under the age of 24
• In 2011 YouTube had over 1 trillion video views

If the majority of your content is not being created for online viewing then you need to listen to these numbers.

Challenge of Content Creation

Creating content for this social online world is a constant challenge and what to write, record and produce comes down to time and resources.

If it is a text based article it needs a good headline, a enticing opening paragraph and an easy to read structure so people will not click away.

If it is a video it needs a professional persona and in a world with short attention spans the message needs to be delivered in seconds not minutes.

The Old Spice videos are typically 20-30 seconds!

4 Key Goals for Creating Content

The ultimate goal of content marketing is to be so engaging that your customers will eventually buy, but before you get that far you need to achieve one of these 4 foundational objectives to attract interest, increase page views and maintain reader loyalty.

1. Educate

This type of content is often prefaced by a headline that starts with “How” . People’s thirst for knowing how to start a blog, market their business or solve a problem that is consuming their attention will always be content worth creating and sharing.

Examples:

How to Create a Twitter Marketing Strategy that Rocks

5 Lessons from Coca Cola’s New Content Marketing Strategy

10 Reasons Why “Liquid” Content Should be in your Social Media Marketing

2. Inform

Keeping people up to date with the latest news was the domain of the  newspaper, trade magazines or television. Today the blog or social network such as Twitter or Facebook is the source.

Remember with this type of content it will quickly become old news and only has a certain shelf life.

Examples:

Apple makes Huge Announcement about Twitter

6 Social Media Networks to Watch in 2012 [Plus Infographics]

Google+ Sets New Growth Records

3. Entertain

Entertainment is quite often best done by video and you only have to view a Coca Cola ad or a funny video to appreciate the marketing power of entertainment . It doesn’t have to be a video and entertainment can also be a media type that informs and entertains.Infographics can also be included in this category. Humour is one of the vital components in this category.

Examples:

Test Your Breath   – The Stench that Stole Christmas [Video]

10 Reasons Why Ducks Just Don’t Get Social Media

20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic

4. Inspire

So educating, informing or entertaining when creating content is vital in your mix of content but one often overlooked goal is to provide “Inspiration“.

This can be a challenge but inspiring people to be better, to push their limits or to be successful should be woven into your content.

This content can be examples of other successful people that have overcome adversity people or creative examples that showcase others achievements.

Examples:

The 10 Best Facebook Campaigns

The 10 Secrets Of A Successful Social Media Blog

Choose a Dream

These types of content can stand alone or they can be integrated into one post or woven together.

How about You?

Remember that creating and publishing the content is just the start of the journey, the hard work has just begun after you hit the publish button.

Promoting and marketing your content to make it visible online is the next important step to success.

How is your content? Does it educate, inform and sometimes entertain?

Does it  inspire your readers?

More Reading

• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by just.Luc

Twitter is often seen as one of Cinderella’s ugly sisters when it is compared to the multimedia beauty and the wealth of numbers that the 800 million plus engaged users that the Facebook social network offers.

Facebook is the girlfriend you would be happy to take home to dinner with your parents but Twitter is often seen as a bit too quirky, strange and cheap to introduce to the family and folks.

Too short and dumpy for most.

If you take the time to get to understand Twitter with its quaint 140 character limit and its charming simplicity, it can be a very powerful tool to distribute information and ideas in real time to enhance your marketing and promotion efforts.

Twitter Power

Twitter has some advantages that are sometimes not seen as a strength.

1. Simple

It doesn’t get much simpler that 140 characters and that is why texting (SMS) has not gone away but continued to grow.

2. Focused and Targeted

Twitter followers tend to be loyal and follow other Twitter users because they are interested in information or news about who they are following. This is not leveraged by many marketers and “the secret“of how to use this capability should not be ignored. Over the last 3 years I have utilised this Twitter capability to spread ideas and information to a targeted global audience. Don’t underestimate this capability!

3. Highly Shareable

The retweet feature of Twitter allow the user to quickly pass on information by retweeting the news and information contained within its headline and link to their network.

Why Politicians and Celebrities Love Twitter

Politicians and celebrities love Twitter and celebrities have found that one tweet can cause a storm of sharing. It can enhance (or destroy) their personal brand and get their ideas out instantly.

Twitter has just announced that it will now be revealing how many retweets  your tweet has received instead of just showing “50+”

Making the retweet count visibly quantified will help marketers find what does and doesn’t resonate with their target market and audience. This will help adjust the writing of tweets and the topics to find what people really want to read.

A Cool Tool to Count Retweets

TwitSprout have quickly responded to this announcement and have provided a tool that allows you to check out your most popular retweets.

It is called “MyTopTweet” and allows you measure your top “Tweets” for sharing

This will provide you with some real numbers on what tweets your users are finding worth sharing.

Nothing like a some numerical feedback to adjust your Tweet direction!

If it isn’t being shared then you need to look at some key elements such as the headline of the tweet, the number of followers and the level of engagement.

The 3 Top Retweets in the World

That Twitter announcement of this change has allowed Twitsprout to also find out what are the most powerful “Tweets” and here are the top three.

1. Justin Bieber

2. Kim Kardashian

3. Lady Gaga

Now you may not have 10 million followers but growing your Twitter following will provide you with a focused and powerful network that will share your ideas, information and news.

How are you growing your Twitter followers?

Read More

• The Marketing Secret About Twitter That Most People Don’t Know
• How To Get Targeted Twitter Followers
• 8 Great Twitter Tools that will Get You Tweeting like Pro
• How to Write a Mind Blowing Headline for Twitter

Image by by Fred Seibert

Image centric social networks are rapidly gaining market share due to their high engagement levels.

Everyone apparently loves an enticing photo.

Pinterest has become the social media network to watch after growing over 4,000% in the last 6 months. At an average of 88.3 minutes per visitor it ranks third on engagement behind Facebook and Tumblr and well ahead of LinkedIn (16 minutes) and Google Plus (5.1 minutes).

Pinterest is a social network with a simple premise: Users share photos that they find online by “pinning” them, the equivalent of “liking” a status on Facebook or giving a +1 on Google. Users have to download a toolbar that can be used to pin items from any Web site. The photo and information then appear on your Pinterest board, and users who follow you can see your collection of photos and even re-pin them if they like them. The simplicity of this system does not lend itself to obvious marketing strategies, but there are a number of ways that you can use this growing social network to promote your business:

1. Share Your Products

The most obvious way to use Pinterest for your business is to pin your own products to share with other users. There are a few ways that you can leverage this strategy for the most benefit. Since you can create several boards, it is best to group your pins into product categories for specific customers, such as items for moms, kids, artists, and others. Doing so creates a virtual product catalog of interest to these consumers or for gift ideas for these groups. You can also create a “best of” board, showing off your most popular products.

2. Add to Gifts

When you create an entry for your pins, you can add a price tag. When you select this option, you can then add a link, pointing back to your Web site. Items added in this way are automatically included in the “gifts” section on Pinterest, which is a virtual catalog of gift ideas. Be sure to select your best photos for pinning, and include an evocative description.

3. Highlight Services

Not every business sells products. Pinterest is still a useful marketing tool for these businesses. If you provide a service, you can create a kind of visual resume with Pinterest. For example, if you design Web sites, you can pin a screenshot of a home page. If you are a graphic designer, you can pin samples of your work. If you offer other services, such as consulting or writing work, you can use Pinterest to share photos that inspire or that share a message about your work. For example, financial consultants could pin to photos that represent client goals, such as financial independence or financing education. Non-profit groups can share photos of the clients they are helping.

4. Maximize SEO Efforts

When you pin your products, you have an opportunity to maximize your SEO strategy and to drive trafic back to your site. You create quality backlinks whenever you or other users link to your products. When you write descriptions, you can use your targeted keywords, which will attract your target customers and encourage them to visit your site. You can share your pins on other social networks like Facebook and Twitter, encouraging more links to your products. All of these efforts will help to drive more traffic to your site and to increase your search-engine ranking.

5. Offer Added Value

Savvy social-networking users can easily identify a profile that is designed primarily to market products and services, and they are likely to avoid these profiles. Offer other users more reasons to visit your profile by offering them added value. Pin to other products and services that will benefit them, but that also complement your own products and services. For example, if you create custom wedding gowns, you can link to other bridal accessories or to beautiful wholesale fabrics. If you are a Web designer, you can link to useful tech gadgets.

6. Offer Exclusive Content

Encourage users to interact with you on Pinterest and to visit your Web site by offering exclusive content. You can hold contests by asking users to re-pin your items for each “entry.” The more items are re-pinned, the more buzz you will build around your products and your site. You can also offer exclusive discounts or other promotions by using a QR code or other tactics.

7. Engage with Users

Pinterest is a social network, so take the time to form relationships with other users and to build a community around your brand. When you see that users have re-pinned your items, comment and thank them. Follow other users, and this will encourage them to follow you in return. Ask for customer feedback by encouraging them to re-pin their favorite products in your catalog. The more you can do to encourage customer interaction, the better relationship you will have with them.

With the number of Pinterest users growing rapidly — as much as 4,000 percent in the last six months — the site is quickly becoming a dominant player in the social-networking field. Finding ways to leverage this site to promote your business is important to your overall marketing strategy.

Source: Marketing on Pinterest

How About You

What other ways have you been able to use Pinterest to promote your business? What has worked for you?

Share your ideas in the comments!

About the Author: Bridget Sandorford is a grant researcher and writer for CulinarySchools.org. Along with her passion for whipping up recipes that incorporate “superfoods”, she recently finished research on culinary schools in Colorado and New York culinary schools.

Read More:

Facebook is changing and evolving all the time. Outdated features are being removed and new and more exciting features are added regularly.

These updates are added to make Facebook better and more convenient for its users.

If you want to succeed with using Facebook, you need to evolve along with it and learn how to manage it better. If you can use it better you will be able to take advantage of these changes and promote yourself better with it.

Three of the most important Facebook changes and how to make the most of them have been listed below.

Update 1. Subscriptions

Before, the only way users could get the latest updates from you or your company was through your Facebook page. People needed to like your page to get your latest updates. But now with the subscribe feature, people can just subscribe to your facebook profile. It’s like your profile has been made into a page. With this feature, your subscribers can check out all the public updates you post.

People actually like subscribing to public updates because a profile has a face and a personality, which is different from a page which sounds too official and salesy. When they subscribe to a profile it feels like they’re making contact with a proper human and not a brand. You need to take advantage of this and use your profile accordingly to form closer relationships with your subscribers.

So How do you use your Profile Effectively?

1. Promote your Profile

Promote your profile and encourage people to subscribe to your updates. Try and get as many subscribers as you can and increase your reach.

A good place to promote your profiles is on your website or blog. Facebook has introduced the subscribe button which can be placed on websites and blogs. This button displays the number of subscribes you have got too – all people have to do is click on the button to subscribe.

Another way to promote your profile is by displaying the owner of the Facebook page at the bottom of the facebook page. This will make it easy for people to locate the profile and subscribe to it. This can instantly increase the number of subscribers you have got, especially if your page has got a lot of “likes” already and is well managed.

The page owner can be displayed on the page by clicking on edit page which is located on the top right hand corner of your page.

Then visiting the “Featured” section and clicking on “Edit featured page owners.”

Here you can choose the page owners you would like to display on your Facebook page – choose the owners and save your changes.

You could also actively take part on Facebook to get more subscriptions – this can be done by “liking” or commenting on popular pages or on the updates of people you have subscribed to.

2. Share Different Kinds of Content:

When people “Like” a page they usually do it because they like something about it or because they want to receive updates from that page. Normally on your page, you share relevant content from your own blog and from other blogs. It’s the same with profiles you have to share useful content too, as people expect to see these updates – this is one of the main reasons why they subscribe to your profile, and when someone comments on these updates make sure you respond to them with comments and “Likes”.

Another important point you need to keep in mind, is to share anything interesting you come across. This could be funny pictures, interesting articles, etc. Your profile is different from your page and as it’s on Facebook, people will want some insight into your personal life. So make it a point to share some personal pictures, views, articles and images you come across.

Always make sure you use the public option when you want your subscribers to see what you share, as they can only see it when you share it with the public.

A great example of someone who uses their profile effectively is Mari Smith. If you visit her profile you will see that she not only shares her content and other’s content relating to facebook and social media marketing, which she is an expert in, but also all other kinds of interesting  articles and pictures. She also subscribes to other users and pages and actively “Likes” and comments on their updates. This is one of the reasons why she has more than 124,000 subscribers who actively “Like” and comment on her updates.

Update 2. Posting Facebook Updates

Before the posts that appeared in your news feed were the popular updates. These were the ones which received the most number of shares, “likes” and comments. The more the number of “likes,” shares and comments the updates received; the higher the updates were positioned, in your feed. This meant that the popular updates received the most attention. So if your post received many accolades it stayed at the top and received more and more attention. But with the recent facebook updates only the latest updates stay on top.

It doesn’t matter how many likes, shares or comments your updates get, they will still be moved down, as more new updates are posted.

So how can you take advantage of this new feature?

The best way to take advantage of this feature is to post more often. Normally people post updates only one or two times a day, but with this new feature you can actually post more often, maybe three to five times a day. You shouldn’t worry about people unsubscribing, as people will unlike your page only if your content isn’t helpful. If you share good, helpful content, more often, everyday, more and more people will subscribe to your profile or your page.

The best thing to do would be to share content from your blog once, content from another blog another time and ask your followers one or more questions which don’t lead to any link. People like being asked about their life and when you share an update which doesn’t lead to a link people will love commenting on it or liking it, it’s just like tweeting something without a link. When you tweet something like a quote or question which has no links, on Twitter, you will notice that many people will either retweet it or reply to it.

An e.g. of a Facebook page that does this right is the Social Media Examiner Facebook page. If you observe their Facebook page you will find that they not only share content from their blog every day, but also content from other blogs. They also post one or two questions each day. Questions like asking fans; how their day was, how effective is their social media campaign, etc. These questions receive responses through many comments and likes. All these updates by Social Media Examiner are interspaced by comments from their fans who appreciate all the great content they produce and asking more questions about Social Media which Social Media Examiner happily clear, making this a really good and interactive Facebook page.

So if you want to take advantage of the new feature, make it a point to post several updates each day.

Update 3. Tagging People

Now on Facebook you can tag your friends. When you type in@ and follow it with the name of the user they are automatically tagged. When you do this the person you have tagged is informed and they can check out why their name has been mentioned.

This might seem like something that’s not important and redundant, but it’s actually more important than you think. In the first webinar of Mari Smith’s latest webinar series, she mentions that relationship marketing is all about making people feel special.  When you tag someone and write their name in full, people will feel special about it and will treat you better or want to work with you. They will know that you took the extra effort to tag their name.

Even Leo Widrich of Buffer mentions this in his post “7 Twitter Habits to Adopt in 2012 to Double Your Followers”. In this post, he writes that on twitter when you tweet someone else’s post make sure you mention them and add a comment along with it – this will not only help you make a special connection with the user you mentioned, but will also help you get many twitter followers. This could apply to facebook too – when you mention someone’s name on facebook along with a good comment, you will not only make a special connection, but also increase your page’s likes or the number of subscribers you have got.

So at every opportunity you get make sure you mention your friend’s or your subscriber’s facebook name.

If you follow the above tips you will evolve along with Facebook and use it better to get more subscribers and build stronger relationships, which will prove helpful in the long run. Also make an effort to find out more and more about the latest facebook updates and use them to your advantage.

How About You?

What do you think about the latest Facebook updates?

Are there any other ways you can use these features effectively? What are your favourite updates?

Please leave your comments in the comments box below.

Guest Author: Mitt Ray is an inbound marketer and white paper writer. He blogs about Social Media on Social Marketing Writing. He blogs about white papers on The White Paper Blog and is the author of the book White Paper Marketing.

More Reading

• Social Media Marketing – 10 Inspiring Infographics
• 6 Fantastic Facebook Marketing Infographics
• 20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic
• 11 New Twitter Facts, Figures and Growth Statistics plus [INFOGRAPHIC]
• Past, Present and Future of Blogging: 3 Infographics
• How Do You Use LinkedIn [INFOGRAPHIC]
• How Do You Use Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC]

Image by dearanxiety

Coca Cola has been part of popular culture for over 100 years and has been called a “Vision Brand“.

Its marketing and communication is purposeful and connects with its audience in a way that makes it stand out from its competitors.

Its mission is not about selling products but to create significant positive change in the world that makes the world a better place.

Coca Cola’s mission statement

• To refresh the world
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness
• To create value and make a difference

Recently they have realised that their marketing strategy that has worked well for them for decades needed to evolve and as such they are moving from “Creative Excellence” to “Content  Excellence”

Creative excellence has always been at the heart of Coca Cola’s advertising and they have decided that content is now the key to marketing in the 21st century on a social web.

Content for Coca Cola is is now the “Matter” and “Substance” of “Brand Engagement”

So what can we learn from Coca Cola’s new marketing strategy?

Lesson 1: Create Liquid Content

The purpose of content excellence is to create “Ideas” so contagious that they cannot be controlled this is what is called “liquid content”.

On a social web people can easily share ideas, videos and photos on social networks such Facebook.

So create content that begs to be shared whether that be an image, a video or an article.

Lesson 2: Ensure your Content is Linked

The next part of the equation is to ensure that these ideas create content that is innately relevant to

• The business objectives of your company
• The brand
• Your customer interests

This is “Linked” content…. Content that is relevant and connected to the companies goals and brand.

Ensure that the content communicates your message that is congruent with your mission and values.

Lesson 3: Create Conversations

Coca Cola has realised that the consumer creates more stories and ideas than they do so the goal is provoke conversations and then “Act” and “React” to those conversations 365 days of the year.

The new “Distribution Technologies” of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook provide greater connectivity and consumer empowerment than ever before.

Don’t just publish but interact with your audience and tribe.

Lesson 4. Move onto Dynamic Story Telling

On traditional media in the past, story telling was static and a one way street. Television and newspapers shouted at you with no means of interaction.

Coca Cola has come the realisation that to grow their business on the social web they need to move on from “One Way Story Telling” to “Dynamic Story Telling”

This means you need to allow the story to evolve as you interact and converse with your customers. You need to converse with your customers in many media formats and social networks.

Storytelling has moved on from static and synchronous to multifaceted, engaged and spreadable.

Lesson 5: Be Brave and Creative with Your Content Creation

Part of the new Coca Cola content strategy is applying a 70/20/10 Investment principle to creating “Liquid content“.

• 70% of your content should be low risk. It pays the rent and is your bread and butter marketing (should be easy to do and only consumes 50% of your time)
• 20% of your content creation should innovate off what works.
• 10% of your content marketing is high risk ideas that will be tomorrows 70% or 20%…. be prepared to fail

This provides a blueprint regarding moving on from just developing white papers, to trying some content that is more visual, courageous and engaging in web world that has embraced multimedia and interactive content.

The 30 Second TV Ad is no Longer King

Coca Cola has come to the conclusion that the world has moved on from the 30 second TV ad. So has the the Old Spice brand and many other businesses who are embracing social media as part of their marketing strategy.

We need to move towards a genuine consumer collaboration model that builds buzz and adopts a more iterative approach to content creation.

Learning how to fuel the conversations, act and interact has never been more important.

Consumers ideas, creativity and conversations have been set free with the evolution of social networks, learning to leverage and wrangle those conversations to increase your brand visibility is now a vital part of your marketing.

What About You?

Do you create conversations with your marketing? How many people are talking about your stories on Facebook?

Is your content liquid, linked and multi-faceted?

More Reading

• 10 Reasons Why “Liquid” Content Should be Included in Your Social Media Marketing
• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by KB35

Marketing in the past often consisted of one off campaigns that didn’t build a relationship with your customer or prospect.

It was about the “deal” …closing the sale. It was sometimes called “Hit and Run” marketing.

Content Marketing is about creating compelling, contagious content and sharing it freely on social networks and blogs.

It is about building a relationship with your prospects and customers that builds credibility and trust that turns propsects into buyers and customers into high value repeat buyers.

The initial goal is to obtain the buyers permission to receive that content whether it is a subscription via an opt-in email or a Facebook  social opt-in ” like” that delivers information into the Facebook news and “Timeline” stream.

Creating content is time consuming and a creative challenge.

8 Content Marketing Challenges

These are the challenges among many.

1. Finding inspiration and ideas for the content
2. Creating it
3. Making it relevant
4. Resourcing it
5. Managing it
6. Monitoring it
7. Measuring it
8. Making it “Liquid” and Contagious

Sometimes you need some inspiration and you need to try some new ideas and different media that may provide a nudge to try something different and creative outside your comfort zone.

As Steve Jobs says “Stay Foolish”

The Power of Multi-Media

Many of us still don’t think about alternative media to text and articles because online video is still in its infancy. YouTube has only been with us for 7 years and in the world of business and brand marketing this is only a “blip”.

We need to “switch on” our multimedia mind and consider other media rather than just words to get our message out to the world that wants and demands multi-media.

Images and photos are much more likely to be shared than an article or a white paper. Videos or infographics will be shared at high velocity compared the the humble “written word” that have been with us for millenia.

Idea 1: Include Images and Photos

There has been a significant evolutionary shift on the social web in the last 12 months as marketers and social media network startups have realised the growing power of visual content.

By the end of 2011 the number of photos being uploaded to Facebook had reached 250 million a day.

This number hasn’t gone unnoticed and  has led to 3 key and noticeable events and changes.

1. The “Success” of Pinterest
2. Google+ being launched with the user interface designed to display photos, and images in high defintion and in a large format.
3. Facebook responding with the Facebook “Timeline” designed to give images and photos greater prominence. In fact you can now “feature” an image in a bigger size. Expect this change to be migrated to Brand “pages” in the next 6 months.

Photos and images drive high engagement on Facebook and if I look at my top ranked content on my Facebook page  and measuring the virality index using the Facebook “Insights” tool, the top 10 are all images or photos.

Some are cartoons that are relevant and congruent with my other content (written or visual) and with questions are used to drive conversations, stimulate  and create stories.

There are photos that may reveal the human side.

The marketer needs to embrace this and work out ways they can use images and photos in their social media and content marketing that

• Increase Facebook “likes”
• Inspire comments
• Drive sharing

Also don’t forget to just have some fun!

Fashion Brands such as Threadless use images in clever ways to survey customers on their Facebook page that ensure that the garments they produce will be successful driven by the crowd sourced voting through “likes”. The garment with the most likes is the one that is manufactured!

The indirect benefit of increased engagement on Facebook with likes and comments is that it increases your Facebook EdgeRank with your fans and so improves the flow of your “Page” updates into their Timeline.

Idea 2: Create a Contagious Online Video

One good example of a contagious video content is Dynamite Surfing created in 2007. It contained all the 4 main elements that were needed for it to become contagious and viral

According to Brent Coker  a marketing professor the four key elements required for a video to go viral are:

1. Congruency – The themes of a video must be congruent with people’s pre-existing knowledge of the brand it is advertising.
2. Emotive strength – Creating strong emotions is essential if you want to ensure you are giving your video the best chance of becoming viral and the more extreme the emotions, the better.
3. Network involvement – Videos must be relevant to a large network of people and the larger the better, some examples of large networks are college students or office workers.
4. “Paired meme synergy” – These memes can be elements such as “Voyeur” or “Unexpectedness” that were contributing factors in the success of the “Dynamite Surfing” video

The Dynamite surfing video tapped into all 4 key elements.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So how can you harness these elements to assist in giving your video the best chance of becoming viral?

Idea 3: Design a “Shareable” Video Graphic

Eric Qualmann is well known for his social media revolution video graphics which like “infographics” take numbers, facts and figures and make it entertaining and easy viewing via a video format. These concepts can be applied to many industry sectors.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Idea 4: Use the Hottest Trend in Content – Infographics!

Infographics has emerged in the last 12 months as one of the most popular and shareable forms of social content.

What are infographics?

“Infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge that present complex information quickly and clearly”

The internet and social web are a firehose of information and Infographics is one of the appealing and efficient ways of sharing it.

What are the major types of Infographics and applications?

1. Statistics
2. Concepts
3. Business models and processes
4. Cartoons
5. Information
6. Timelines

What sort of Infographic could you create that would be shareable in your industry?

Idea 5: Create a Well Structured Blog Post or eBook

Creating a blog post, article, whitepaper or eBook is a vital part of your content marketing strategy and for B2B companies is the foundational element.

Giving it the best chance that it will be shared and talked about is the biggest challenge.

What are some of the basics that need to be considered when creating text content?

1. Awesome headlines – This is needed to “Tempt and Tease” the person to click on the link and read your “Tweet” or find out more about your Facebook update!
2. Great writing – Be a story teller, find your voice
3. Good Structure – Sub Titles, bullet Points and reasonable readable fonts
4. Educational – How To’s
5. Informative – News, Facts and Figures
6. Visual – Include images in your articles and posts as well as infographics, photos or even cartoons from time to time

Here are 4 great blogs that provide examples of good articles writing but have different styles and  strategies but are all effective

• Social Media  Examiner
• Copyblogger Blog
• Hubspot Blog
• Zen Habits

What About You?

How do you use images or photos in your content and social media marketing? What do you find works for you in your content marketing.

What could you do better?

More Reading

• 10 Reasons Why “Liquid” Content Should be Included in Your Social Media Marketing
• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

It has been a big year in social media  and the relentless evolution of social publishing networks that are transforming how we communicate, market and do business.

The hesitancy to implement social media marketing is dissipating as many CEO’s and senior management have started to embrace the power of the social networks.

Some of the highlights included

• Google+ launched and reaches a user base of over 50 million by the end of 2011
• Twitter continuing to grow despite minimal changes and still no sustainable business model emerging (simplicity is still its number one feature)
• Facebook evolves into a more visual network with higher definition and larger photos featured in its new timeline feature
• Facebook commerce (F-Commerce) becomes established
• StumbleUpon makes a comeback
• Pinterest suprises everyone with it growth after only 12 months
• Tumblr starts to make headlines with its phenomenal user base

In looking at the most popular articles three things are apparent

1. Facebook is “the” social network that occupies most people’s focus and attention
2. Facts ,figures and statistics are always popular
3. Infographics are “hot”

Here are the top ten social media posts from 2011.

1. 50 Fascinating Facebook Facts And Figures

(64,446 views)

The rise and rise of Facebook is producing a scramble by marketers and companies to leverage its huge global database and traffic.

Google is looking over its shoulder as Facebook grows at over 10 million users a month and sits currently at number two on web traffic rankings according to Alexa.com.

Last year Facebook surpassed Google for the top ranking for total time spent online.

2. The 10 Best Facebook Campaigns

(59,911 views)

Facebook marketing campaigns seem to be going all warm, caring and fluffy recently as brands realize that solving problems and helping those in need can be a very effective marketing tactic.

Three of the Facebook campaigns in this list have an altruistic reason behind their campaigns, from donating $500,000 each to 20 schools to raising funds for the “Make A Wish Foundation”.

The marketing goals for the Facebook pages vary but quite often the simple goal of just increasing their fan count to their Facebook page seems to be top of the list as brands have worked out very quickly that being able to communicate to 1,000′s or even millions of fans via a simple status update is very efficient highly leveraged marketing. Companies have also realized that people’s main reason for becoming a fan for the most part is not so charitable, but is about having access to the latest special offers and freebies.

3. 20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic

(45,719 views)

Do you wonder why your productivity has dropped over the past 2 – 3 years?

There is a time sink and it’s not television!

Those of us who are connected to the internet and that is 2 billion of us, have been distracted by social multi-media publishing machines that are pumping out staggering amounts of content with enticing high definition images and videos!

You cannot escape their allure as they tempt you to log in when you are out and about with either with your laptop, iPad or smart phone.

These enticing, tempting distractions are robbing us of time that should be spent doing productive work like washing your car, cleaning the house or doing your tax… and I know how much you all enjoy those activities!

4. The 10 Best Social Media Campaigns

(18,735 views)

Since social media has become an integral part of our lives, marketers have used their creative talents to develop social media campaigns with various degrees of success which can be measured in a variety of ways.

One very successful social media marketing campaign that was run in 2009 was the competition for the “Best Job in the World” which was based on the simple concept of posting a one-minute video application on Tourism Queensland’s Web site explaining why you should be chosen as caretaker of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef and you might get to blog and cam your way through a six-month gig that paid about $100K U.S.

5. 30 Terrific Twitter Facts And Figures

(16,884 views)

Twitter has always suffered an image problem and is not usually taken very seriously by the general public. Its name doesn’t help with some people even saying that ‘Twitter is for twits’. Despite this glamor and brand problem this has not held back its growth after its humble origins and launch in 2006.

Since then Twitter has gained popularity worldwide and is estimated to have 225 million users, generating 65 million tweets a day and handling over 800,000 search queries per day. It is sometimes described as the “SMS of the Internet” and its 140 character limit keeps the messages short and simple.

Its attraction as a social web media platform is maybe in its simplicity and real time messaging that enables breaking news and information to hit the web instantly without filters and censorship.

6. 10 Top Small Business Facebook Page Designs to Inspire You

(16,732 views)

Facebook pages is the place where a lot of inspiring innovation, marketing and design is happening on the social web.

Major brands are often worth checking out as they can wow you with the the latest in innovation such as Facebook stores, inspiring embedded videos and designs that look like they cost a fortune. If you want to obtain some good ideas it is a good business practice to emulate elements of the most popular Facebook pages in the world such as Lady Gaga or one of the top company Facebook pages StarBucks.

7. Social Media Marketing – 10 Inspiring Infographics

(16,130 views)

n 2011 social media marketing continued to make its impact on business and brand promotions. Google+ was launched (with an investment of over $500 million in development costs), Twitter became embedded in the new Apple iPhone 4s and Blogging didn’t die.

Some surprising results and unexpected networks and social media platforms have made their mark this year .

• Tumblr is now attracting over 90 million unique visitors every month
• StumbleUpon driving over 50% of all social network traffic
• YouTube is attracting 50% more views than 2010 and threatening traditional TV advertising and marketing

8. How To Take Your Company’s Facebook Fan Page from Zero to 40,000 Fans

(15,761 views)

It was last year that I met a Facebook marketing specialist, Mike Watkins at a marketing event. I was impressed by his story about how he had taken the SUPRE’s fashion brand’s Facebook page from zero to 40,000 fans shortly after Facebook released the “Page” option to add to its “Profiles” and “Groups” membership options. I met him again recently for a video interview that I will be publishing in the next few days, in the meantime I would like to share his story.

9. 50 Awesome YouTube Facts and Figures

(15,322 views)

YouTube is a modern phenomena. The social media platform’s original concept is rumoured to have been inspired by the idea of being a video dating site with the unlikely title of “Tune In Hook Up”. In the end it launched as a simple video sharing site that has helped reinvent the web from a one way static channel to an interactive web eco-system (along with social networking channels such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter) that has enticed and compelled us to engage globally with other internet users using a variety of rich multi-media and social sharing platforms.

10. 50 Amazing Facts and Figures About Google

(14,154 views)

Google has become an integral part of our lives and the word has even become a verb as we are often heard to say let’s “Google” that. I have even heard the web giant referred to in hushed tones during heated discussions and when a controversial fact or figure is being debated across a dinner table or at the local bar as to whether it is true or false and a person will pull out their iPhone and say “let’s check Lord Google”.

What type of articles and topics do you want to read in 2012?

Read More:

Image by yoppy