aimClear Search Marketing Blog

aimClear’s demographic research product includes social media influencers from a number of channels ranking from Facebook and YouTube to forums.  We then challenge Community Managers to take these “friend leads” and convert them to organic friends over 3-5 days, at a “cost per friend lead” calculated from how much time the friend-conversion takes.  This post samples techniques to identify and qualify friend-leads, influencers and several holistic tactics proven to convert those leads to friends. Read the rest of this entry »

B2B, B2C…B2 anything, every marketing department would love to somehow crack the social media code. Be it by content marketing, participation in Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Flickr, Digg, Delicious, etc… invariably, the conversation turns to the same question: “What are we going to do and who’s going to actually execute on this every day at the office?”

Then comes the obligatory: “How are we going to measure it?” and, “When will we set business goals?” or, “Are we just doing this for the hell of it ‘cause everybody else does?” All are reasonable questions. This post offers time-tried blueprints for building out a social media marketing plan, while empowering data-driven, KPI-oriented community managers. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you’re talking about sex, singing, or social media, it’s a fact of life: people don’t like to hear they’re “doing it wrong.” But when it comes to tweeting– a communal activity that’s constantly expanding in both significance and scope– how can you define what’s right?  Everyone and their mother has an opinion about what it means to “use Twitter correctly,” particularly for businesses. Since Twitter is so versatile, the types of brands who use it so diversified, the debate about right versus wrong becomes more of a quest just to not be an oblivious jackass. Read the rest of this entry »

Here at aimClear, we’re proud of our in-house authors. Like many publications we also open our pages as a community platform to host guest bloggers. Sometimes guest posts are written by industry professionals whose practices are perceived by some as controversial.

Wait. Let’s stop right there. “Controversial.” That word can carry a negative connotation, one of altercation, agitation, even acrimony. But on the flip-side of the coin, “controversy” can be a beautiful thing. Controversy when hosted on a public, unbiased, progressive platform, such as a third-party blog, can function as an open invitation for conversation- healthy debate, passionate exchange of perspectives and core occupational beliefs. Other times, visitors with an unrelated agenda attempt to ruin the discourse. 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 »