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Posts Tagged ‘Success Summit’

The vast majority of Americans are actively using social media. Has your business acted on this fact?

If you looking for a way to keep pace with the quickly evolving field of social media marketing I highly recommend this webinar series for any business. As a social media professional, I always stay on top of the latest happenings with big brands and online social tools. This social media webinar series is something I attend every year and highly recommend to clients.

More than ever, it’s critical to keep up with social media changes, to stay competitive and to learn the tactics and strategies that produce the best results and the greatest return for your business.

If your business has not yet tapped the massive opportunities presented by social media marketing, read on…

Recent Statistics on Social Media Adoption
Here are a few reasons why you should invest heavily in social media:

Mass adoption of social media: Nearly 80% of all active U.S. Internet users regularly visit social media sites (Nielsen). And while consumers spend 25% of their Internet time on social sites, Facebook has become the most visited website in the world. Your customers are there.

Social media benefits businesses: Among marketers who include social media as part of their overall strategy, 97% agree that it provides benefits and value to their business (eMarketer).

Social media improves branding: In a survey of more than 700 marketers, 88% of respondents found that social media helps grow brand awareness. Social media also benefited marketers by allowing them to engage in dialogue (85%) and increase sales and partnerships (58%). An additional 41% of marketers said it helped reduce costs (Wildfire Interactive).

These stats are just a sample of the power of social media.

Are you “all in” with your social media activities? Want to fast-track your success?

Social Media Examiner Announces Social Media Success Summit 2012
“Social media has changed radically in the last 12 months,” acknowledges Michael Stelzner, (CEO and founder of Social Media Examiner). “Google+ entered the stage, Facebook introduced Timeline for pages, YouTube unveiled their new layout, Twitter got a complete revamp and then there’s Pinterest. It’s a completely different world and there’s a need to discover new strategies and new ways to market your business with these platforms.”

To equip you with the latest strategies for marketing with Google+, blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest, Michael Stelzner and the people you trust from Social Media Examiner have recruited 27 of the world’s most respected social media experts to share their newest tips and advice at Social Media Success Summit 2012.

If you’re not familiar with these events, they’re large online conferences (so you don’t need to travel).

Typically, thousands gather at Social Media Examiner Success Summits to discover new social media tactics, network with peers and discover how other successful businesses are using social media.

What People Say About Social Media Success Summit

Last year, 3,000 people attended the online summit.
Some of the organizations represented were Coca Cola, Visa, Microsoft, 3M, Honda, Kraft Foods, SAP, Wells Fargo, Disney, AutoDesk, LexisNexis, Four Seasons Hotels, Fuddruckers, EMC and thousands of small businesses.
Here’s what some of them had to say:

“Thoroughly wowed by the format and content. I will most definitely attend future summits,” Kim Kiefer

“Guaranteed to improve the way you approach social media. I’ll be back next year!” Derrick Sweet

“Phenomenal topics and knowledgeable speakers. The ability to ‘catch up’ on sessions thanks to recordings was a selling point for me due to scheduling,” Erin Caples

“This is the most comprehensive training I have yet seen on social media. The lineup of presenters was most impressive and the whole summit exceeded my expectations,” Suzanne Kiraly

Meet Your Presenters
Among the 27 social media experts who will be presenting at this summit are:

• Jeremiah Owyang, Altimeter Group
• Chris Brogan, author of Google+ for Business
• Mari Smith, co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day
•  Brian Solis, author of Engage
• Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor Company
• Frank Eliason, author of @YourService
• Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner and author of Launch
• Jay Baer, co-author of The Now Revolution\
•  Jason Falls, co-author No Bullshit Social Media
• Mark Schaefer, author of The Tao of Twitter
• C.C. Chapman, co-author of Content Rules
• Dave Kerpen, author of Likeable Social Media
• Jesse Stay, author of Google+ for Dummies
• Amy Porterfield, co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies
• And experts from Dell, Ford, LinkedIn, Citigroup, Citrix and many others.

Why Attend Social Media Success Summit?
Here are a few reasons:

• Learn the latest and best social media business-building tactics.
• Learn about tracking and measuring social media return on investment.
• Learn how to sell with Google+, blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest.
• Learn how content marketing fits in with social media.
• You’ll have the opportunity to network via LinkedIn with thousands of people who are expected to attend.
• You’ll interact live with experts from big B2B and B2C brands such as Ford, Dell, LinkedIn, Citigroup and Citrix.
• Keep learning even after the summit is over—With the session recordings and the transcripts, you can keep studying the material for up to one year from the date of your ticket purchase.

Want to save some money? If you reserve your spot now, you’ll save 50%. Click here for details.
What do you think? Would you be interested in learning what the world’s top social media experts are doing that makes them so successful?

Leave your questions and comments in the box below.

Have you heard the buzz about Blogging Success Summit 2011—the web’s largest online blogging conference?

Before I tell you how this virtual summit will help your business gain more exposure, more qualified leads, better customer engagement and more sales, let me share a story with you.

PROOF BLOGGING WORKS…

In October 2009, Michael Stelzner started Social Media Examiner, a blog for marketers and small business owners. Almost overnight, his site became one of the top business blogs in the world.

He didn’t advertise, didn’t rely on the press and almost none of his traffic came from search engines.

Slightly more than a year later, he has nearly 50,000 email subscribers, a half-million page views a month, and has generated nearly $2 million in sales from the site.

Everything he does focuses around delivering high-quality content along with intelligent marketing.

Michael’s story is not unique. A significant 43% of U.S. companies will be marketing via their own blog by 2012, according to eMarketer.

Now the connection… Blogging represents a new marketing frontier because it bypasses all the costly middlemen and allows you to own your own platform, quickly engaging with your customers and prospects! AND this presents an enormous opportunity for you.

SO WHAT’S THIS ABOUT?

Michael (and his team) have been working for months to bring the best minds in blogging together in a fully online event called Blogging Success Summit 2011.

More than 4,400 marketers and business owners from around the world attended his last two summits. Businesses were transformed. In fact, 95% of attendees said they’d attend again.

This summit’s focus is to empower you to implement successful blogging strategies, grow a loyal following, generate quality leads and sell with your blog.

Twenty-three of the world’s leading social media superstars will be summit instructors.

Presenters include Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra, Scott Monty (head of social media, Ford), Darren Rowse (co-author, ProBlogger), Brian Clark (Copyblogger), Michael Stelzner (Social Media Examiner), Debbie Weil (author, The Corporate Blogging Book), Douglas Karr (co-author, Corporate Blogging for Dummies) and experts from McDonald’s, Cisco, Southwest Airlines, Sony and Procter & Gamble.

Plus join Joe Pulizzi (co-author, Get Content Get Customers), Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing), Jay Baer (co-author, The Now Revolution), Chris Garrett (co-author, ProBlogger), Dave Garland (author, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper), Mike Volpe (VP of marketing, HubSpot), and Rick Calvert (CEO, BlogWorld)—just to mention a few.

Attendees at our two last summits included well-known organizations such as General Electric, American Express, Staples, General Mills, Intel, Harvard, San Francisco Giants, Kraft Foods, Hyatt Hotels, Stanford, IDG and Disney. But you don’t need to be a big business to benefit!

This is the world’s largest online blogging event designed to empower marketers and business owners to master blogging. And the great news is it’s a live online conference you can attend from your home or office.

Go here now to learn more.

Here’s to your success!

Joann Whetstine, Social Media Marketing Consultant

P.S. You can get 50% off if you act now. Twenty-three successful blogging pros will show you how to use blogging to market and grow your business.

Remember, the experts teach the sessions live (and it’s all online). So you don’t need to leave your home or office! Go here to see how this works.

P.P.S. As a way of saying “thanks” for checking out the summit, there’s a gift just for marketers called “Building Community with Facebook and Blogs” (valued at $59) waiting for you. Go get it here.

I recently had a chance to hear Mari Smith speak again at the Facebook Success Summit (#fbss10) this week and she gave a great presentation about Facebook Engagement and creating Superfans!

It’s so true that Facebook is a community, and your Fan Page is part of it. For your fans to enjoy interacting with you on your business fan page, they must feel valued and depend on your updates as a source of relevant information.

But, how can you engage them? The best posts that will get your fans “engaged” or participating, commenting and communicating with you will have a mix of text, URL hyperlinks, videos and photos (with photos being the most engaging). And, you must be posting content with frequency, not just once a week. You need to put a Facebook strategy in place for three posts per day, when you feel is the optimal time for your audience to be online. (Check Facebook.com/insights and click “details” to determine where most of your fans live).

Everyone likes to be acknowledged, so, when someone comments on your post, be sure to comment back and thank them. Use their name, be personal. Recognize fans when you can, such as randomly choose a fan of the day, or feature a fan who uploads the most photos to your Fan Page wall.

Most of all, be sure to ask questions in your posts. “What do you think?” “Give us your comments below.” Tell them “we want to hear from you” or “click like if you liked this post”. Let your fans know you are interested in what they have to say. Create a fun place that your fans will want to visit again and again and post great content they will look forward to reading.

Here’s wishing you successful Facebook marketing for business.

I’m so excited to attend the Facebook Success Summit #fbss10 this month. I’ll be posting to my blog with a recap of the key takeaways from the presentations. It’s very important to me to stay current on what is going on in the dynamic space of social media marketing, and that is why I am taking part in this virtual webinar series through the month of October. With people spending a 55 minute average amount of time on Facebook, you want to make sure your page is a great experience for fans and also “sticky” enough so they will want to keep coming back.

How to Create a Compelling Facebook Presence that Generates Profits
Social Media Marketing guru, Mari Smith gave a wonderful presentation with a 6 step Facebook strategy. Once you have set your goal for using Facebook, these are the steps to follow to achieve it:

1. Design – Make sure your Facebook Welcome page is designed to meet your goal (ie. Are you trying to get more people to opt in to your list? Make sure to include your email collection box.)
2. Content – Decide how often (frequency, time of day) to post good content to your fans and what kind. (links, videos, other people’s content.)
3. Promotion – Decide how often to run special offers, coupons and promotions.
4. Engagement – Make sure you are engaging your audience with questions and fun.
5. Conversion – Are the fans buying or doing the action you’ve requested of them (ie. Joining your list, commenting on your wall). Track as much as possible.
6. Scalability – When your fans grow into the thousands, do you have the internal support staff to continue your current level of service?

How to Build and Manage a Loyal Fan Base
Amy Porterfield and Cindy King, managers of the Social Media Examiner Facebook Fan page, gave a great talk outlining how they keep their fans engaged and happy. Here are their 5 tips:

1. Engagement – Respond to every post and use their name so it is personal.
2. Ask Questions – You don’t always have to ask something specific to your brand (ie. What is your favorite frosting.)
3. Use @ Tags – If your fan page has a personal profile behind it and you are “friends” with the fans, you can “tag” their name in a post to build relationships.
4. Use 3rd Party Articles – Reference someone else’s article and then pose your own question or comment about it.
5. Negative Comments – If you receive negative comments, don’t ignore or delete. Use it as a time to shine.

The Power of Facebook Advertising
Facebook has exceeded Google in the weekly market share of total internet traffic. Facebook is now the largest display advertising in the world as of 1st Quarter 2010, surpassing Yahoo. Chris Treadaway told us about how you can easily test Facebook ads and how extremely targeted and cost effective they are.

Chose to show your ad based on geographics, gender, age, birth date or marital status. Pick keywords people display in their profile. Choose to exclude those already following you. You’ll see the estimated reach numbers before you make the ad live. You can choose from the self service option spending as little as $1 per day or sponsored ads, with a $5k minimum. Be sure to run your ad for at least 7 days to get results, before deciding to change copy, headline or photo images. Track results over time to determine the ad that works the best for conversion.

Again, before you can get the results you want using Facebook for business, be sure to set a clear goal then follow some of the suggestions above to achieve it. If you need social media training or help with social media strategy, I can help.

Facebook Success Summit

I keep very current on social media training, tools and results so, I would not miss the Facebook Success Summit 2010: The Web’s Largest Online Facebook Marketing Conference.

This event is ideal for any marketer or business owner focused on business-to-business OR business-to-consumer. Who’ll be there? Radisson Hotels, Microsoft, AAA, Cisco, Universal Studios Orlando, Ikea, California Travel & Tourism Commission, Philips, Kellogg, MetLife, CNN, HP, Henkel, Autodesk, Country Music TV, AARP, HealthNet, Tropicana Atlantic City, Long John Silver’s, Cutco, Ben & Jerry’s, Mary Kay, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Otis Spunkmeyer, Wyndham Hotels, University of Tennessee, Brueggers, Herbalife and hundreds of small businesses.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Discover the best ways to market your business with Facebook
• Find out how to build an engaging Facebook presence
• Learn how to grow a loyal Facebook following via news feed optimization, creative promotions and Facebook advertising
• Discover how to create an active community using Facebook
• See how successful businesses built Facebook pages and how you can achieve similar results
• Interact live with Facebook marketers from recognized businesses, including Intel, Microsoft Xbox, Cisco, SAP and the Washington Redskins
• Connect with the industry’s top experts (Brian Solis, Mari Smith, Jesse Stay, Paul Dunay, Justin Smith, Darren Rowse, Jay Bear, Michael Stelzner and many others!)
• Learn how to integrate Facebook with your website, blog and other marketing programs
• Gain a leg up on your competitors, helping you stand out and providing an early mover advantage
• Ask live questions and get answers

All this from the comfort of your computer. Attend real time, or view the recordings for session you miss. No travel cost and transcripts are included.

Keeping up on what’s current with Facebook is a full time job. That’s why I highly recommend the Facebook Success Summit to any business who wants to succeed with their social media marketing strategy.

Here’s my last installment of notes from the Social Media Success Summit webinar. These are great social media marketing tips from two top bloggers. Blogging is so important to getting your keywords found online and having a social media marketing strategy in place BEFORE you begin your social media efforts in Facebook, Twitter and your blog will help you achieve your business goals.

“Making Your Blog a Social Media Destination”
There are 1.8 billion people online which equals 26% of the world population. You’ve got to be found online and dominate search results for your keywords. So, what can a blog do for you? Technorati’s “State of the Blogosphere” reports these numbers about blogging:
71% = Blogging provides greater visibility for your company
63% = It gets clients to purchase
56% = Helps you be regarded as a thought leader
40% = Makes you more visible so you are asked to speak at conferences on your product/service

If that’s not enough, here are more reasons why you should blog: Enhances reputation, Establishes your brand, Builds credibility, Helps you get traffic (SEO), Helps you build your list and most importantly, it Brings you more business! Be sure to create great content, use your keywords, and tap into what your readers want. Via @denisewakeman

“Easily Integrate Social Media Into Your Marketing Mix”

Some people are just broadcasting in social media spaces and not responsive to customer service and replying to people. Don’t create a social media account unless you have a strategy in place to support it. Social media is about the pre-sale and relationship building. Once they love you, they will refer. Find out what your audience is interested in and give it to them in the way they want it. Talk to people about their problems then direct them to your articles that solve that problem. Network with those people who influence your audience for a bigger reach. Via @chrisgarrett

I love learning more and more about the dynamic, ever changing landscape of social media marketing. As it is still a relatively new industry, keeping current on what other companies are doing is essential to building your own strategy. Here’s some additional notes I’ve complied from the recent Social Media Success Summit #SMSS10 webinar series that can help you with your social media marketing efforts.

“Facebook Engagement – Building a Loyal Fan Base”
You have 420 characters to add compelling content to your Facebook page that adds value to your readers. Mix up the media of your content by using: blogs, articles, podcasts, videos, photos, interviews or slide shows. Post tips, questions, How-To Tutorials, polls, quotes and info on events. You can even post other people’s content. Make use of the FBML app and add a custom Welcome Page to your site. You could see a 45% improvement in conversion! The new “Like” app adds the element of social proof and when someone clicks it, it pushes out into their news feed. Very powerful marketing! Via @marismith

“Using Social News Sites to Grow Your Audience and SEO”
Using social bookmarking sites, such as the largest one, Digg.com with 350 million users, can support your SEO efforts when you publish content that gets shared. The top 50 users there provide 41% of the content. To participate in this space, you need to research the community you are interested in and become part of the subculture. Your headline should include a number, an adjective and a keyword for the best success. You should plan to build a relationship with a top user in Digg to have them post your content. Do your homework. Approach them with what they are interested in. Via @msaleem

“Twitter Power Panel”
@problogger @copyblogger @chrisbrogan Shared their strategies for using Twitter. Great stat: 44% of twitter users are the 1st to buy or try a new product before others. Build relationships before asking for the sale: send @ messages to people, get involved in the conversation. Twitter is a great tool for: promotion, info sourcing, conducting search, listening, promoting others, finding business opportunities, building your brand, building trust and authority, driving traffic! Make your posts useful, personal, relational and regular.

The Social Media Success Summit #SMSS10 continues to deliver powerful information on how you can utilize social media marketing in your business.

“8 Steps to Creating a Winning Social Media Strategy”
@JayBaer wants us to remember that tools change, so, start with a strong strategic plan for your social media efforts. Make sure you have a team at your office to support it. Decide who your audience is and don’t forget to listen to them. The best way to break through is make the company human. Tell stories or your customer’s stories (remember Jared from Subway?). Get beyond the features and benefits and make people feel your passion.

“How Mobile Marketing Can Improve Social Media”
@kimdushinkski wants you to know that even if you don’t think you are mobile, if you are sending email and someone checks it from their phone you are! You should even consider having a web page to your main site that is optimized for mobile so people can easily see how to contact you on their 2 inch phone screen. If you are ready to dip your toe into the mobile marketing waters, both Twitter and Facebook offer SMS test message feeds your fans and followers can subscribe to.

“The Future of Social Media”
@steverubel says that trends develop slowly but are timeless. Remember that people need to hear your message 3 to 5 times from 3 to 5 different sources for it to sink in. Tap into free tools online and become a data junkie to figure out what unmet needs are on the rise that you can provide the solution for and create content that will be passed around. All roads to content lead through Google, so, make friends with Google Insights. You could rise to the top of a search category if you are digitally visible in enough places. Klout.com is a great place to find out “who the world is listening to”.

As the Social Media Success Summit #SMSS10 webinar series continues, I wanted to share with you some tips and ideas to consider for your social media strategy.

“5 Social Media Case Studies”

@marketingprofs Ann Handley spoke about companies using social media and what they were doing well. Her main point was that your social media efforts should be Friendly, Focused and Fertile. Make sure you reach people on a lifestyle level, not just focusing on your products and services. Find out what people care about and create your social media campaign around that. A great example was a Fan Page from FiberOne called “Coping with Disbelief Clinic”: the disbelief is that the product is “high in fiber, but still tastes great”. They use videos and the branding for the product is low key, but, it’s very creative and 22,000 people are participating and creating characters to interact at the “clinic”.

“How to Bring Raving Customers to Your Local Business”

Groupon’s @andrewmason and Four Square’s @tristanwalker were on the panel for this discussion. Groupon harnesses the power of group buying with a daily offer to their subscriber list of 5 million people, in 60 cities. This service is great for a business because Groupon only gets paid if the deal goes live, which is set by the response rate. So, it’s a great alternative to newspaper ads. Something to look into if you are a brick and mortar.

Four Square is a mobile social application which “makes cities easier to use”. You are incentivized to explore your city and “check in” where you are. Consumers get points and businesses offer special offers to the “mayors” or, those who visit most frequently. Starbucks saw a 15 – 20% increase in check-ins when they launched a Four Square campaign offering free coffee.

“Creating Buzz With Social Media Contests”

@mike_stelzner spoke about why to hold social media contests. They: drive traffic, sell products, excite customers, increase exposure, provide goodwill, engage customers and are fun and memorable! Bottom line is that it should offer a compelling reward and make them very easy to participate in. To see big results, you need partners and those with a large following to help spread the word.

I’m really enjoying the great reminders and ideas speakers at the Social Media Success Summit #SMSS10 are sharing. Here’s my recap of the Social Media webinars from the Tuesday sessions:

Getting the Most out of LinkedIn
@LewisHowes has spent a lot of time using LinkedIn and he’s learned by trial and error the best place to focus. With 65 million business professionals using this tool, he believes it is the #1 social media site to build your business. You can export your contacts (to use in other marketing ways, like email) and the demographics of those who use it are people with a high net worth (an average Household Income of $109,000). These are business decision makers, so, if you make a good connection for a business partnership, you can most likely close a deal quickly.

Top 3 places to focus:

1. Optimize your page for keywords.
2. Join as many targeted groups as possible.
3. Add Blog Feed and Video Apps.

How Big Businesses are Leveraging the Power of Social Media
This webinar had the marketing directors of Whole Foods, Best Buy and Home Depot talking about how they are utilizing social media. Many have “global” sites for the brand and also “local” sites for stores (since they are brick and mortar) – both in Facebook and Twitter.

They are using Flickr for photo streams, YouTube for both user generated and vendor generated content, in addition to their own videos which range on a variety of topics. They are putting their social media sites in printed circulars, in their windows (since they are store fronts) and sandwich boards in front of the stores.

Many are using twitter as a customer service outlet like Best Buy @twelpforce and some even have twitter accounts just for specific topics like Home Depot and their sponsorship of NASCAR racing @homedepotracing or Whole foods and their food and wine guys @WFMWineGuys. The big takeaway was to have fun with it and find out who is passionate about your brand and tap into that.

3 Reasons You Need a YouTube Marketing Strategy
@GregJarboe spoke about YouTube, pointing out that 86% of internet users are viewing videos each month and 81% of all videos are viewed on YouTube, so, you need to be there! Many people stop watching at the 10 second mark, so, your call to action and good content needs to be front loaded. You must optimize your video for keywords, so, be sure to put them in the Title, Description and Tags. If you need ideas for what to make videos about, visit the YouTube Creator’s Corner:

There is also an “insight” button in “My videos” of your account where you can see demographic info, referring URL info and where people are bailing out.

Bottom line is to add video frequently so people will subscribe to it (like your blog). And, every time you post a video on you tube, embed it in your blog as the views there count in YouTube.