aimClear Search Marketing Blog

Though social media participation has exploded, we meet businesses nearly every day  that have barely, clumsily or not dipped their toes in the in the water.  They ask, “Should we have a Facebook page,“ “What about YouTube” or “Gee, should we be tweeting?”

These entrepreneurs are usually full of life, energy, present a history of offline success and have little idea what to do about social media. Is your business wondering how to incorporate social media in day to day marketing, customer service and public relations routines? This post recommends classic D.I.Y. social media marketing tactics & real-world examples for businesses. Read the rest of this entry »

Should direct marketers place Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and/or other buttons as part of the template for every email blast?   What about PPC landing pages? Should Twitter and Facebook be exit-options for every PPC landing page impression? How should advertisers think about socialization as either primary or secondary KPIs (key performance indicators A.K. A “goals.”)?

At first gape, these questions seem easy, yes?  “Of course, yes, socialize everything” you shout!”  “After all, isn’t the ‘net  all about social media these days?” How could it be wrong to ever consider omitting the all-powerful and ubiquitous social media click-me-now badges? Read the rest of this entry »

When Twitter launched four years ago, it (perchance inadvertently) gave businesses the most precious gift imaginable: an intimate glimpse into consumers’ daily lives. It gave them the power to monitor brand reputation in a clean, accessible interface. Corporate brands like @Zappos & @Zappos_Service, @Starbucks, @DellOutlet, @JetBlue, and @TheHomeDepot, as well as personal “brands” like @StephenFry and @AlyssaMilano have been wildly successful with social media because they’re structured, devoted, attentive, engaging and personable.

Tragically, there are also bandwagon-jumping companies and celebrity glory-whores who go at Twitter like a portly dude at a buffet. They use it as self-centered bullhorn and nothing more. Read the rest of this entry »

The concept of “Follow Friday” started with one simple tweet. Eleven months later the viral tradition continues to dominate trending topics at the end of every work week.

It’s great to give and receive ego-stroking shout-outs, but Twitter’s 140 character constraints often prevent us from explaining why a person is follow-worthy. Let’s take a little look-see at traits common amongst the beautiful tweople. Read the rest of this entry »

[This post continues aimClear's ongoing coverage of Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009.] Your company’s Facebook account is an entirely different animal than your mom’s. Companies have a lot more at stake when it comes to social media. Research, strategy development and a clear plan for measurement are a crucial prerequisites to engaging customers in online social space. Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings from Chicago. The weather outside is frightful but we’re rockin’ here at Search Engine Strategies!

Setting up social media profiles is the easy part, but did you choose the right platforms for your business and how will you engage the community? Industry experts: Sean Carton, Chief Strategy Officer, idfive; Jeanniey Mullen, Chief Marketing Officer, Zinio; Heidi Cohen, President, Riverside Marketing Strategies; and Brian Boland, Performance Solutions Manager at Facebook dished out to-dos for companies eager to engage with the community on the SES Social Media Checklist panel . The session was moderated by Anna Maria Virzi, Executive Editor of ClickZ.

Regardless of which social media channels companies delve in to, developing the brand’s social strategy for genuine engagement must be the big-picture-focus. Whether selling goods, acquiring leads or providing a service– read this before you build or expand your company’s social medial profiles. Read the rest of this entry »

Google Insights For Search

What does it take to rank in Facebook’s newly enhanced internal search engine, which now spans the entire user base? This post offers results from aimClear’s study of Facebook search and offers SEO tips & tricks for getting keyword queries ranked in FB’s organic SERPs.

We also examine opportunities for savvy marketers to best exploit Facebook’s expanded social graph search to immediate advantage and share what we learned about ranking factors.   Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Nick J Webb

Whether dealing with a Twitter avatar,  teenager, office associate you see each day, ex-boyfriend or StumbleTrolls, resorting to ugly name-calling is counter productive. Because social media amplifies physical life and vice a versa, it’s doubly important to be civil.

A review of the daily news and subsequent social media buzz highlights how damaging rhetoric flares between physical and online channels. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: SkitterzPRO

Today’s panel at SES San Jose had a lively round table discussion on the ethics of white hat vs. black hat practices in social media. The outstanding cast of speakers featured (the never ghoulish) Lee Odden CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, Beth Harte Principal of Harte Marketing, Chris Bennett president and founder of 97th Floor and the notorious Dave Snyder co-founder of Search & Social.

The bottom line is- don’t be stupid, consumer trust is sacred and they can smell BS from a mile away.
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Just because you have 20,000+ followers doesn’t mean your Twitter feed is successful. Rebecca Lieb, Li Evans and Jennifer Slegg- the lovely and intelligent panel of SES San Jose’s “Extreme Makeover: Live Twitter & Blogging Clinic” session took audience volunteers’ Twitter and blogs and ever so kindly tore them to shreds. Warning: bad Twitter practices below (and some awesome advice).

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