Online Marketing News: Fortune 100 Social B2B Brands, Vine Embeds Coming to Twitter?

B2B Fortune 100s Effective in Social

B2B Fortune 100 Companies Prove Effective in Social Media Marketing

Who ever said only B2C brands get to be popular on social networks? The two companies sitting atop the Social Effectiveness Index just happen to be B2B brands Honeywell International, an aerospace and defense contractor, and financial services company American International Group. MetLife, Aetna, Chevron and Walt Disney all made the top ten.

The presence and effectiveness of Fortune 100 brands were measured across five areas: share of voice, identification of influencers and advocates, engagement rate, touch rate and net sentiment. Goldman Sachs topped the list in the banking sector, while Kraft Foods takes the cake as the most effective Fortune 100 in the food & beverage social space. Researchers from Blue Ocean released their findings in the form of an infographic, as well as a report listing their methodology and the results for all 100 brands evaluated.


Online Marketing News: Fortune 100 Social B2B Brands, Vine Embeds Coming to Twitter?

Online Marketing News: Facebook Brands Respond Faster, NASA Gets Social, Social Media Marketers Win Super Bowl

Brands on Facebook More Socially Devoted Than Ever

In order to be successful on social media channels, regardless of your industry, marketers must be socially devoted, say researchers at SocialBakers.com. Their latest Socially Devoted report and corresponding infographic shows that brands on Facebook have made great strides in both speed and volume when responding to fan interactions with their Company Page.

Among their Q4 2012 findings, SocialBakers reports:

  • The average brand response time on Facebook is now 13.7 hours, compared to 20.9 hours in Q2 2012.
  • Brands answer 55% of questions posed to them on Facebook; in the second quarter of 2012, only 30% were answered.
  • Airlines, finance and telecom remain the three most responsive industries, though their positions have shifted since Q2 2012.

Online Marketing News: Facebook Brands Respond Faster, NASA Gets Social, Social Media Marketers Win Super Bowl

3 Tips For Effectively Growing & Managing Your Online Community

Online Community BuildingWe live in a world where shopping, dating, watching new films and networking can all be done online.  In fact, these actions (and many more) have become a part of our everyday life.  Many of us may experience buyers remorse for purchasing something online that wasn’t within budget, a desire to post a bad review after a terrible movie, or have a sense of regret after a bad date.

When it comes to networking for personal and more importantly business use, there are many benefits to be had and pitfalls to be avoided.  If you are able to effectively engage your online community you can experience many advantages including:

  • An introduction to someone such as a thought leader you might not otherwise have access to.

3 Tips For Effectively Growing & Managing Your Online Community

Are Fortune’s Top 5 Fastest Growing Companies #Winning or #Losing with Twitter?

Each year fortune publishes their Annual ranking of America’s largest corporations.  This list is then broke into different categories such as fastest growing or most profitable.

When it comes down to it, this list is all about the numbers.  How much money was made, but not how the money was made.  It begged me to ask the question, do companies this large use social media and does it make a difference?  In this article you will find how Fortunes Top 10 Fastest Growing Companies are fairing on Twitter.

#1 – Allergan

Based in California, Allergan describes themselves as a “global, technology-driven multi-specialty heath care company pursuing therapeutic advances to help patients live life to their fullest potential.”

Tweets: 7
Following: 43
Followers: 3,785


Are Fortune’s Top 5 Fastest Growing Companies #Winning or #Losing with Twitter?

Online Marketing News: Facts Tell & Stories Sell, Start-up Tips from Tech Giants, Mobile Skyrockets, Breaking Up With Customers

The Content Marketing Institute Presents A Brief History of Content Marketing

The History of Content Marketing

From the dawn of time people with things to sell have been using stories to attract, engage, and retain customers ala #optimize. The infographic above from the Content Marketing Institute takes us all the way through the evolution of content marketing and provides some meaningful insight into what companies have done in the past to generate results. You might learn a thing a two, plus it’s a great read.

 “6 Start-up Tips From the World’s Biggest Tech Companies”  Every company has to start somewhere.  Famous companies such as Google, HP, and Microsoft were built on a set of core principals including creating long term customer relationships and listening to feedback.  This post provides tips from some of the largest companies in world on how to get through the start up phase of your business. Via Inc.


Online Marketing News: Facts Tell & Stories Sell, Start-up Tips from Tech Giants, Mobile Skyrockets, Breaking Up With Customers

Online Marketing News: Google+ Search, $10 per Twitter Follower, Facebook 1 Billion Users, Foursquare Search Engine, Social ROI: No, Really!

Search, plus Your World

The big news this week centers around the changes that Google has rolled out related to Google+ integration with search, which as the tech press buzzing.  Google is aiming to bring users additional search functionality that is incorporated with their Google+ profiles.   The official Google blog states that “you should be able to find your own stuff on the web, the people you know and things they’ve shared with you, as well as the people you don’t know but might want to… all from one search box.” Industry observers are saying it’s too much Google+, all the time.

Regardless, it’s a new dimension on the face of search and that spells opportunity (for those optimists among us) to Optimize. Here are a few tips on Google+ optimization. Be sure to add TopRank to your Google+ circles!


Online Marketing News: Google+ Search, $10 per Twitter Follower, Facebook 1 Billion Users, Foursquare Search Engine, Social ROI: No, Really!

Online Marketing News: Google+ Who?, Know Thy Customer, Social Media Law, TopRank Team News

Google+ Statistics

Who’s Using Google+?

The launch of Google+ in 2011 has put Google in the social networking boxing ring.  When it comes to user statistics some of them may surprise you.  This infographic by Flowtown shares some interesting information about the increasingly popular social media site.

  • 63% of users are male
  • Only 17% of users are considered active
  • 61% of top 100 brands have a page on Google+
Be sure to connect with TopRank on our Google+ page.

Online Marketing Tips & Tricks

“10 Brand-Building Steps For Beginners” For many companies 2012 marks the year that they will begin implementing a social media strategy.  This article provides 10 easy steps for those who have not yet many the plunge into social marketing.  Via Fast Company.


Online Marketing News: Google+ Who?, Know Thy Customer, Social Media Law, TopRank Team News

4 B2C Examples of How Companies are Using Twitter to Attract & Engage Customers

Make Your Tweets Count

If you are a B2C company, interaction on a social platform like Twitter can increase engagement and even sales if executed properly.  Small businesses like Tender boutique in Birmingham, Michigan have promoted special offers on Twitter and sold out in just a few days.

Social interaction via platforms like Twitter allow companies to gain a true understanding of their prospect base and serve as a real-time source of market research.

Customer engagement is a key benefit of executing a B2C Twitter marketing strategy. A recent survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey found 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from or recommend a brand they follow.  Twitter is also a great resource for crowdsourcing new ideas, getting feedback on current products or campaigns, and figuring out what it is that your customers really want.


4 B2C Examples of How Companies are Using Twitter to Attract & Engage Customers

What Chicago’s Best Restaurants Can Teach Us About Search & Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing Tips for Chicago Restaurants

I’m going to be visiting the windy city for SES Chicago this week and have been trying to figure out where to explore if I can find some time while I’m there. I always enjoy a great meal so turning to search engines and social media platforms was an obvious answer for me to find great restaurants.

Understanding how end consumers use search and social to find and discuss your business online is key in creating an effective online marketing strategy.  The more that you study and adapt your strategy to positively impact new customers, the more successful your social media strategy will be.


What Chicago’s Best Restaurants Can Teach Us About Search & Social Media Marketing

Timely vs. Buffer – Which Timed Tweets Tool is Right for You?

Twitter ToolsIn my quest to find a more efficient and effective way to leverage Twitter, I’ve come across a plethora of new and interesting social media tools.

Recently, I’ve been testing two tools that surfaced in my research, Timely and Buffer, which I classify as tweet timing tools.  Timely is a product of the folks at Flowtown and Buffer is from the co-creator of OnePage.

This relatively new and emerging class of tools helps users schedule their tweets based on the best time of day based on the probability of click or a re-tweet.  They both appear to use an algorithm that is able to discern what time of day the majority of your users will see your tweet, increasing the probability that someone will re-tweet it.


Timely vs. Buffer – Which Timed Tweets Tool is Right for You?

Get Optimized & Start Engaging: Essential Social Media Marketing Tips

[Note from Lee: I am happy to introduce readers of Online Marketing Blog to our newest contributor, AshleyZ.  A human dynamo for getting things done, Ashley has literally hit the ground running and works for TopRank as a Marketing Manager. She’ll be sharing her smarts here and  helping to elevate TopRank’s Marketing to more impressive levels of awesome.]

The social web has opened the door to many opportunities for individuals to share their opinions on everything from the weather to politics to the really cute thing their dog just did.  Business social media users however, must take a much more structured approach to sharing information and interacting with their prospects and clients.


Get Optimized & Start Engaging: Essential Social Media Marketing Tips

Twitter Engagement for Business

Twitter, TopRank, Tweet, Social MediaIt’s easy for early adopters and social media enthusiasts to get caught up in the latest and greatest tool available but many companies are still seeking a basic foundation. According to Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, only 12 percent of companies surveyed felt their organizations were using social media effectively.

Exploration and experimentation are viable steps when entering social media marketing for the first time. However, the key to successful social media use is identifying how a brand will use each social channel. Once the approach is set, it’s an ongoing process of testing and refinement to achieve the objectives that will make a difference to each business. A great place to start in sorting out a process for companies is our  social media checklist which provides questions to consider before jumping head-first into the deep end of the social media pool.


Twitter Engagement for Business