Cara Pring recently posted a blog with over 200 of the latest social media statistics for 2012 (as of September) and the results are mind blowing. After reviewing all the social media stats for 2012, it’s hard to imagine that it won’t reach a point of near-complete saturation and integration into modern society. Some might argue we are already there but that’s for another article! There are many great social media statistics but I brought it down to the top 20 that truly blew me away. Make sure you visit the original article from Cara Pring to see the full list as well as links to the sources. Without further adieu, here are the stats: Top 15 Positive Social Media Statistics For 2012 91% of online adults use social media regularly 9/10 mobile searches lead to action (over half lead to purchase) There are more devices connected to the Internet than there are people on Earth 70% of adult social networkers shop online 54% of active social networkers follow a brand 61% of global internet users research products online 93% of US adult Internet users are on Facebook Watching video on computers has become as common as watching video [...]
Top 25 Social Media Statistics [Fall 2012]
3 Critical Online Marketing Strategies For Professionals
The days of people looking for your business in the local phone book are almost over. Today everyone is turning to online searches when looking for a product or service they are in need of. There is no doubt in my mind when people ask me what are the top three most critical online marketing strategies for professionals. Professionals need tools that will have them quickly and easily showing up in online search results while also positioning them an industry leader and experts. In a world where decisions are made in a few clicks, you need online marketing strategies that will have you being found and, in my opinion, these three are your best bet for your time and resources. Three Critical Online Marketing Strategies For Professionals 1. LinkedIn Recent stats show LinkedIn is 4 times better for B2B lead generation than Facebook and Twitter but that’s not what I love most about it. When your profile is properly optimized to get you found, prospects can literally come directly to you with little work on your part. You must ensure your LinkedIn profile is well optimized for the search results to make sure you are found. Once this is done [...]
Don’t Make The Mistake I Almost Made On Google+
It was a normal morning for me at my home in beautiful Kelowna, BC. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I brushed my teeth quickly before going to the kitchen prior to my routine morning workout. When I walked into the kitchen, the site of my boyfriend cooking bacon fully naked rudely awakened me. Not only was this a dangerous idea (I mean, who cooks bacon without even a shirt on?) but it was absolutely hilarious and out of the norm. I reached for my iPhone to take an equally unwelcomed photo that I could save for future blackmailing. The next time a hockey game interrupted The Young & The Restless, I was sure to win the remote control. He was quicker than me and ran to put on some clothes, so I was out of luck with getting any good blackmail material. To my horror, the next day I realized that every one of my pictures taken on my iPhone auto-uploaded to Google+. Uh oh! I said a short prayer thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t get the chance to take that photo. Can you imagine the embarrassment [...]
3 Reasons To Add Google Plus To Your Social Media Strategy
With Google Plus gaining more steam in the social domain, more businesses are wondering if it’s worth incorporating into their social media strategy. Many sites are still trying to take advantage of the social media hype with varying levels of success. A big contender that still has everyone watching it with a skeptical eye is Google+. I’m going to shed some light on what I’ve found to be the most important features that are certainly worthy of including Google+ into any great social media strategy. For the businesses that are still trying to figure out what is the best path for their marketing plan, here are the three things you absolutely must know before you dismiss Google+. 1. Search Position Is Influenced If you and I are connected on Google+ and you search for something on Google, any relevant content I have shared will be prioritized in the Google search results. Although this isn’t a big deal for people that don’t use Google+, it’s an incredibly valuable tool for your business once you’ve connected with people on G+. This already happens with other social networks but Google’s latest changes seem to favor G+ results over other social networks. Related: Chris Lang: [...]
How To Drive Traffic To Your Blog With Pinterest
This hot new social network is creating a lot of buzz in the social media world right now because of how simple and effective it is to drive traffic to your blog with Pinterest. It’s producing massive amounts of referral traffic for blogs, websites and even YouTube videos! If you haven’t managed to get an invite for Pinterest yet, you can do any one of these three things to get one: Request one directly from Pinterest Make a post on Facebook or Twitter saying “Hey, can anyone send me an invite for Pinterest?” Leave a comment on this blog and either a faithful reader or myself will be happy to help you out! I’ve really been enjoying my time on Pinterest and decided to make a quick video showing how to add a picture to Pinterest that will generate traffic to your blog. In under three minutes, this video will explain how you can optimize your photos and pins to begin to drive traffic to your blog with Pinterest. If you don’t have time to watch this short video, just keep this in mind. To start to drive traffic to your blog with Pinterest, you need to remember to keyword [...]
Social Media For Job Seekers: Interview With Career Expert Brenda Blackburn
Brenda Blackburn has been a workshop facilitator since 1991 in Vancouver and specializes in career topics with specialties in facilitating career exploration, job search strategies, professional development, and life skills. She’s a regular guest on radio and has been sharing her knowledge with career success radio and many other media outlets for years, so she was a natural selection for me when I decided to do a feature piece on someone with great advice on using social media for job seekers. Full Podcast Interview of Brenda Blackburn: Social Media for Job Seekers Brenda and I connected through a mutual friend on LinkedIn and decided to combine our efforts to address the challenges job seekers face today. We discussed how they can use the new social media tools that are available to leverage their networks to bring them closer to their goals, aka getting their dream job! This article is the product of our long discussion and has been written in a long-form blog format rather than the common “interview style” so that job seekers can skim through and get the info that is most relevant to their situation. Be sure to listen to the full podcast to get all the [...]
6 Deadly Consequences To Delaying Social Media Management
I know, I know. Who needs another article on why your business needs a social media management plan, right? The problem is that there are so many companies out there making major marketing mistakes that are not just bad for business…they’re downright scary when you realize these people have families to feed. This may come off as drastic but there is a serious disconnect between businesses and marketing strategies that work in 2012. It’s truly upsetting to see how many business owners and entrepreneurs that believe they should wait to implement social media until their new product or service is ready to launch. That really is working in reverse. You need to have your audience BEFORE you launch. Recently I’ve been contact by several of authors and coaches wanting to launch their books and products, they wanted to know about our social media management services. They continued to tell me that they weren’t ready yet to start social media, but wanted to be ready when their launched their book and/or product/service. I shared with them that their strategy was in deed backwards and that they needed to build up a community first of people who were hungry for what they [...]
You Might Be A Social Media Spammer (And Not Know It)
You might not even know it but you could be inadvertently spamming followers and connections and poisoning your social media strategy. There is a big difference between intelligent commentary in a blog/article and straight spam…no matter how cunning your attempt may be. Most people appreciate comments that promote conversation, are educational and are an exchange of ideas, but you will alienate your audience and get booted off a social network ASAP if you continue to spam. If you aren’t sure if you are guilty of spamming, here are some black and white examples of social media spamming to steer clear from: 1. You are being too promotional. You troll websites, Facebook and other social media forums either manually or with a software program in order to post the same inane comment with a hot link to your site such as “See How You Can Make BIG $MONEY$ ON TWITTER!” Although this is an overtly obvious example, it can be done in many ways. Even if you are posting your product on a site that is relevant to your product or service, you will get much more leverage with the readers and moderators if you actually post a piece of useful [...]
The Ultimate Marketing Strategy: Education Based Marketing
In a recent conversation with Callan Rush, a leading expert on how to build your business and fill your workshops, we discussed why so many businesses are failing to achieve results with their marketing efforts. It was clear to us the reason for their lack of success was they are pitching, not educating. In today’s market the most effective form of marketing is education based marketing. Not sure what that is? Well this article is an example of that. Social media has become such as effective tool for businesses to position themselves ‘top of mind’ and for professionals to position themselves as an expert or leading authority in their field and/or community. Examples of Education Based Marketing To help you really understand the power of education-based marketing, here’s an example of three ineffective marketing approaches followed by a more effective education based marketing approach. Business: Accountant Ineffective marketing: “This is why you should use my accounting services.” Effective education based marketing: “Let me show you the top five mistakes everyone makes when filing their corporate and personal taxes. No matter who you choose to do your accounting, you need to know these things.” Business: Financial Planner Ineffective marketing: “I want [...]
6 Steps To The Perfect Social Media Strategy
I spend a lot of time blogging on the importance of different social media tools, rules and tips to improve your social media strategy. Today I wanted to write a blog that could give you a few core steps that you should include when devising your social media strategy. Whether you want to increase leads, sales, visibility or (like most business owners) all of the above, make sure everything you do online and offline adheres to these six principles, that Dr. Robert Cialdini covers in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. 1. Scarcity Create exclusive offers on your Twitter and Facebook pages that provide enticing reasons to register, enroll or purchase immediately. Offers exclusively for current or past customers can be effective but one adding the element of scarcity is really your secret weapon. Groupon has a time ticker that shows you how many hours, minutes and seconds you have left to buy and it definitely encourages people to purchase sooner rather than later! 2. The Law of Reciprocity Ya ya, I know. I talk about The Law of Reciprocity all the time. I have a good reason though…it works! Make sure you are monitoring social media conversations involving [...]
