How to Stand Out in the Social Media Marketing Frenzy

Social media has long ceased to be a setting for primarily “social” interactions and discussions.

Now social media platforms and services predominantly function as devices for businesses, entrepreneurs, and freelancers to market their skills on the web to a clientele that numbers in the hundreds of millions. Yes, the web is a marketer’s paradise, where the smallest idea can reach countless people in the amount of time it takes for you to tweet it.

But in case you haven’t noticed, the blogosphere is a big place, filled with entrepreneurs and ambitious self-starters who want to share their unique vision with the world. There might be a dozen small online enterprises specializing in selling supplementary educational apps to college students, all looking to be the biggest player in the market.

In other words, there’s some serious competition in the realm of social media.

You could have a solid and commercially viable idea, but if you don’t have the marketing savvy to harness social media, then you honestly don’t have much of a chance. You’ve got to find a way to stand out among the masses if you want to get anywhere in this business.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to offer the following pearls of wisdom in the hopes of boosting your chances at success through social media marketing.

Don’t shy away from the big and bold

Human beings, especially those of us who spend too much time on the web, tend to have short attention spans. This general impatience among web users has fostered the most distilled and concise marketing tactics ever devised, where whole campaigns rise and fall upon on the successes and failures of social media usage.

A cleverly designed infographic with a hard hitting topic paired with vibrant colors and easy to understand language may launch a graphic designer from obscurity to celebrity overnight. On the other side of things, an ill thought out Twitter campaign (think of the recent McDonald’s fiasco with the #McDStories) could backfire on you as soon as you launch it, completely reversing whatever momentum you had built.

The lesson here is simple: stick to big and bold ideas that can be translated into equally big and bold graphics, images, phrases, and titles. You want to grab your potential reader from the get go with the best that you have to offer, and that might mean taking a risk to stand out among your peers. If there’s some hot topic that other social media users might see as too controversial, be the pioneer and dive into it.

Explore all avenues of social media

Social media doesn’t just mean Twitter and Facebook. I know, I know: they’re by far the biggest players in the industry, they have the most users, and they’re the easiest services to make inroads with. Just because they’re the kings of the industry, that doesn’t mean that they’re the only viable social media services in your marketing campaign.

Tons of niche social media services abound, many of which probably go unnoticed by other web marketers who spend all their time tweeting and friending people. The enthusiasm behind Pinterest is just one example of newer social media services taking a chunk out of the figurative pie. Services like Spotify or Instagram, which have niches in music and pictures respectively, are other targeted social media tools that have massive potential for marketing campaigns.

Have the content to back up your pitch

Most importantly, be sure that you can deliver on whatever it is that you pitch through various social media platforms. I said earlier that you should aim for big and bold messaging in order to grab your reader’s attention—and I stand by that. But if you promise your readers the rainbow, you better have it waiting for them on the other side of that link in your tweet. Otherwise you run the risk of coming off as some spammy service that wants nothing more than a few more followers.

Of course, you don’t have to worry about delivering on your social media pushes if you have the content to back it up. Most people in web marketing take a great idea, test it, develop it, and then think of a way to market it to the masses online effectively. This is how it should be; you let the product speak for itself. You get in trouble when you think of a clever social media marketing scheme without anything beyond the pretty infographic or the witty tagline.

What about you?

How do you develop and execute a successful social media marketing campaign?
Do you use social media services other than Facebook and Twitter to get your message out there?
Let me know!





















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How American Express Found Its Social Media Groove

American Express went from virtually zero social media presence in 2009 to being hailed by Advertising Age as the “real winner” at South By Southwest this year.

How did AmEx do it? Leslie Berland, SVP of digital partnerships and development at the company, attempted to retrace the brand’s steps during a talk at Mashable Connect, and then dispensed a few social media tips on Friday.

Berland highlighted two major inflection points in AmEx’s social media marketing history: its introduction of Small Business Saturday and its promotion of Sync at SXSW. The former started with a “lofty goal,” which was to “start a movement,” Berland said.

Launched in 2010, Small Business Saturday was designed as a response of sorts to Black Friday, which comes the day before. The idea is to motivate consumers already in shopping mode to spend their cash at their local mom and pops. Berland says her aha moment with the program was realizing that it was a great fit on Facebook, where the SBS Page drew 1 million fans in three weeks. (It now has 2.8 million fans.)

That’s a respectable showing considering the brand only began focusing on social media in 2009, when it set up AmEx’s first Twitter account. Berland recalls that it took three weeks to come up with the account’s first tweet. No wonder she likens getting a large brand on social media to giving birth.

Berland’s coup de grace was this year’s SXSW promotion for AmEx Sync‘s Twitter tie-in, which appears to have captured the hearts and minds of much of the event’s attendees.

The effort, which introduced a program that offers cardmembers discounts for tweeting advertised hashtags, began before SXSWers even arrived. Berland secured 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi from GoGo to 80% to 90% of the flights to Austin, Texas, that included a plug for Sync. Then, once in Austin, AmEx offered 700 tickets to its Jay-Z concert. The concert became a major draw at the show, an outcome that reflects Jay-Z’s popularity as well as AmEx’s exacting standards as an entertainment partner. As Berland recalls, there was a long list of potential concert draws, but the brand was seeking someone who was both hip with the local crowd and popular nationally. (Justin Bieber was among those who didn’t make the cut.)

Though Berland’s talk included some trite advice (“Think like a startup”), she was more candid in her Q&A with the audience. When one attendee challenged her about her statement that “90% of our strategy is defined by the things we don’t do,” Berland said she meant, for instance, that it’s wise to resist the pressure to embrace all formats. “What I’m often challenged with often is a lot of ‘I want this, we want that’” she said, referring to internal pressure. However, “It’s not a ‘build it they will come,’ thing.”

Berland also said it doesn’t make sense to back a Facebook campaign with traditional media like print and TV ads. “If you’re running a program on Facebook, buy ads on Facebook.”

The contents of each bag given to Mashable Connect attendees.
Attendees Arrive
Mashable Connect attendees gathering in the hotel lobby.
Attendees Arrive
While Thursday didn't have a full day of activities, there were things planned for Thursday evening.
Attendees Arrive
In this photo from left to right: Mashable reporter Brian Hernandez, a Mashable Connect Guest, Mashable Community Assistant Stephanie Haberman, Mashable Reporter Sarah Kessler, and Mashable Features Editor Matt Silverman.
Attendees Arrive
On the right is Mashable's Marketing Manager Jennifer Diamond with another attendee.
Attendees Arrive
More happy Mashable Connect attendees.
Speed Networking
Attendees were invited to a speed networking session to get know other attendees the first night.
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You'd have two minutes to get to know the person sitting across from you.
Speed Networking
At the end of the two minutes, attendees got up and slid to the right.
Speed Networking
Second from left, Mashable U.S. and World Reporter Alex Fitzpatrick makes connections at speed networking.
Speed Networking
Attendees were able to meet almost everyone during the session.
Speed Networking
Mashable Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff listens during the speed networking session.
Speed Networking
At the sound of the chime, it's time to change seats.
Speed Networking Speed Networking
Mashable Community Manager Meghan Peters talks to another Mashable Connect attendee.
Speed Networking Speed Networking
It's always important to start with the handshake.
Speed Networking Speed Networking Thursday's Dinner
A lone smartphone a picture of the Mashable Connect Thursday dinner.
Thursday's Dinner
Guests proceeded into the dinner room, where they would eat and listen to a keynote from Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore.
Thursday's Dinner Thursday's Dinner
Mashable COO Sharon Feder addresses the Mashable Connect crowd with the help of Mickey Mouse.
Pete Cashmore's Keynote
Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore addresses the Thursday night crowd at Mashable Connect.
Pete Cashmore's Keynote
Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore addresses the Thursday night crowd at Mashable Connect.
Pete Cashmore's Keynote
The crowd listening to Pete Cashmore.
Pete Cashmore's Keynote
The entire Mashable staff in attendance gathers on stage with Pete Cashmore.
Thursday's Dinner
Some delicious looking dishes being served to Mashable Connect guests.
Thursday's Dinner
Mashable COO Sharon Feder laughing at Thursday's Mashable Connect Dinner.
Thursday's Dinner
Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore enjoying Thursday's Mashable Connect Dinner.
Thursday's Dinner Thursday's Dinner
Mashable U.S. and World Reporter Alex Fitzpatrick talks to another Mashable Connect attendee.
Thursday's Dinner Thursday's Dinner
Mashable's CTO Robyn Peterson, Sales Director Adam Berberich and founder and CEO Pete Cashmore share a conversation at Thursday's dinner.
Thursday's Dinner
Mashable Senior VP of Communications Stacy Green addresses the crowd during dinner.
Mashable Connect Sponsors

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Why Automating Social Media Marketing Could Change Facebook

Jeremiah Owyang is an industry analyst on customer strategy and partner at Altimeter Group. As author of the blog Web Strategy, he focuses on how corporations connect with their customers using web technologies.

What if there was a way to determine the best time to share your tweets, Facebook updates, and response-worthy content? And what if you could automate the entire process?

That’s the thinking behind a new wave of companies that claim to have social media communication down to a science. Recently, I analyzed nearly a dozen vendors in this burgeoning field, which I call the “social performance” category. These firms offer software tools and methods that analyze, plan, deliver, and measure media such as ads, content, and conversations published in social channels. For a price, of course.

Although the business is young, there are a lot of players out there already. New entrants include Adobe Social, which employs Adobe acquisitions Context Optional and Omniture; BuddyMedia, which is optimizing earned content to be ads with its Brighter Option acquisition; Bazaarvoice, which has introduced a solution to launch social ads outside of traditional social networks; and Webtrends Social, which tracks social content off domain, ads and their performance back to the corporate website; and finally, Wildfire which has partnered with Adaptly to measure the paid-to-owned transition.

In addition, there’s also a focused group of companies which help with optimized publishing including: Crowdbooster, which measures and optimizes when content should publish; Prosodic, which analyzes
the who, what, where, and aids publishers; Shoutlet, which helps companies manage complex publishing at scale; SocialFlow, which offers a solution to optimize content resonance and publishing timing; Tigerlily, which optimizes social content to publish by theme, audience and location; and UberVU, which first mines the data then optimizes content to be published.

For any marketer looking to get a handle on their social media marketing, these companies have a solid selling proposition. Some of them claim that average click-through rates could increase up to 50%, drive up more fans, and even influence larger order values or the ability to drive additional sales. Ultimately, though, these vendors have the potential to not only improve branding, but to disrupt Facebook’s business as well.

Here’s how:

• Alternative social networks could emerge. The firms could take what they’ve learned from the social media ads they run on Facebook and apply that information to outside the network. Bazaarvoice has already used its earned content to create new forms of social ads that can appear off-domain of Facebook and Twitter.
• Brands could integrate paid, owned, and earned. Brands will start with content publishing optimization, analyze this content and re-purpose earned content into social ads ala Facebook’s sponsored stories (or its new premium ads.) Expect the media buyer to bring her chair closer to the corporate social strategist as they work together to reach communities like never before.
• Social media agencies might get in the ad game. Social media agencies will no longer offer community engagement only, but now start to offer media buying in social networks, then become or combine with existing digital agencies. The term “social media agency of record” dies out and we return to “agency.”
• The category could heat up. This would make firms prime acquisition targets. Likely suitors include existing direct and performance marketing software companies, which would incorporate them into their suites. As the tools become standard, social media content created by brands will start to become automated as these tools suggest what to say, when to say it, and to whom.

There is, of course, one possible downside to the spread of social media automation. As marketers become more targeted and eventually predict what content an audience will want, authenticity could leave the room, making social yet another over-branded, corporate medium. Consumers will then question if they’re speaking to a real-life community manager or an automated robotic script. In this scenario, consumers will move on to a non-bastardized channel that we’ve yet to see, and the cycle will start anew. Meanwhile, Facebook’s social ads will have lost much of their potency.

















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5 Ways to Turn Twitter into Your Most Powerful Social Media Tool

What do you use as your daily Social Media dashboard every day?


Most likely not Twitter.com I am guessing.

Yet, in recent months, there were a great number of browser extensions released, specifically for Twitter.com. They help you create a much greater experience right inside Twitter.com.

What I like best about this is that you are in charge regarding how many bells and whistles you are adding. You can basically fully customize your own Social Media dashboard.

So here are my top 5 finds you can use to make Twitter.com a truly powerful Social Media tool for you:

Tool #1. Klout for Chrome

Function: Find top users more easily

There has been a lot of discussion around Klout in the last few months. One aspect, where it helps me greatly to make my daily Social Media life more efficient, is deciding how to best interact.

When I only have a few minutes at hand every morning, being able to glance through my Twitter stream with everyone’s Klout score next to their Tweets is a great filter. It helps me make better decisions and at the same time deepen my most important connections:

Tool #2. Buffer

Functions: Optimal timing, multiple accounts posting and old school retweets

Another extension I am using every day is Buffer’s Chrome extension. It puts a brand new Buffer button right into Twitter.com next to your Tweet button. If you click it, you can conveniently add any new Tweet to your Buffer to be posted later on at a better time:



The extension also allows you to Buffer your retweets, either posting them now in old school retweet style or later on, when more of your followers will be online.



There is plenty of more places you can now Buffer from on Twitter.com. Personally, I love going through my Twitter lists of top Social Media experts, Buffering everything that’s handy, without flooding my followers.

Tool #3. Pocket

Function: Save your best article finds to be read later

How often does it happen to you, that you come across a terrific article, but can’t read it right now because you are just too busy? From now on, instead of letting it go into Twitter’s limbo, just save it to be read later on with Pocket’s browser extension:



This way, you can save any article you are finding on Twitter to a reading list available any time later on for you. Personally, I found this to be a terrific way to just spend a few minutes browsing, and “pocketing” everything worth exploring later on:

Tool #4. Tweet Filter

Function: Unclutter your Twitter stream from the noise

One problem I have on Twitter is that it often takes lots of Tweets to glance through, until I spot one that is worth reading. And a lot of the time, it’s not even the people, it’s just that I am looking for certain things throughout the day.

With Tweet Filter, you can easily customize this for your own Twitter stream, getting rid of those Tweets that don’t add any value for you at that moment. Filter out words like “4sq, twitpic or award”. Whatever happens to add little value to you:

Tool #5. Embedly

Function: Get full media previews right inside Twitter.com

The last goodie I have for you to really make Twitter.com as powerful as it gets is a neat extension called Embedly. It allows you to expand any Tweet to show you the full article or video view right inside Twitter.com:



I find this to be a huge time saver. You don’t have to click through and see if the headline is really what you expected, but you can just read the first few paragraphs right where you discover that content:

5 Quick Workflow Tips To Optimize Your Day On Twitter

Adding those 5 lightweight solutions to your Chrome browser have saved me hours of time every day. In case this helps you at all with your personal workflow, here is how I approach every morning on Twitter with just 20 minutes per day:

Glance through Tweets spotting the best ones using the Klout extension.Previewing the articles I like best with Embedly right on Twitter.comSaving those I want to go into more detail with Pocket to read later onAdding the best Tweets straight to my Buffer as old school retweets.Filter out any words that annoy me with Tweet Filter (this is something I don’t do daily though)How about You?

I am really curious, have you discovered Twitter.com as your personal Social Media dashboard already?
Let me know if you know of any other ways to enhance your Twitter.com experience





















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