By Daniel Goldstein

Unless you have been living under a digital rock, you probably know the increasing importance of social-media marketing to your business both today and in the future. However, it is important to know that social media is not a panacea – it is not a magic bullet that will get you a quick million dollars in sales in return. If it were, then every business would be successful within weeks of creating a Facebook page or Twitter account.  Read more...

By Samuel J. Scott

A lot of business and marketing is impossible to measure quantitatively but still widely regarded as valuable. Take branding, for example. Companies spend millions on logos, product appearance, communications, and guerilla marketing – among countless other tactics – to ensure that consumers think of a desired connotation when they think of a brand. It’s not a cheap endeavor – it can take years to build a solid brand.  Read more...

By Josh Cline

Is every single one of your Facebook and Twitter posts delivering something that your target market will find valuable, or are you posting items in social media just to put something there? The answer will likely determine the future of your social-media marketing efforts.

In a recent Harvard Business Review blog-post, Brian Solis relates how he had once attended a presentation by a Facebook sales-representative and was shocked at his useless recommendation:  Read more...

By Daniel Goldstein

Online search may have come down to “Like” versus “Follow” versus “+1.” Who will win?

Facebook’s “Like” feature has become well-known since its unveiling in February 2009. Twitter recently announced its “Follow” feature, which lets visitors subscribe to a website’s Twitter (through, it seems, two clicks rather than one). But the most significant release of all may have been Google’s announcement of “+1” early this week:  Read more...

By Josh Cline

Much as been written of the ROI of social media. While the value of strategic marketing should already be known, the ROI of online marketing should be recognized. Ultimately, with some still scared of technology, the ROI of social media might be as simple as “Will you be around in 5 years?”

What is the ROI of a marketing campaign? Unfortunately, there are some that still do not ask that question. However, in order to answer that question, one must first talk about marketing strategy.  Read more...

I’ve already written about social media ROI before, but this socionomics video further shows the economics of social media. As a recent HubSpot report showed, inbound marketing has a 60% lower cost per lead than traditional, outbound marketing. Companies that have a higher level of social media have higher sales. Gary Vaynerchuk was able to use the Internet and the power of video blogging to turn his father’s Shoppers Discount Liquors to the powerhouse that Wine Library is today.

Just a few stats from the video about how the Internet and digital marketing helps businesses save costs:  Read more...