Wherever your specialty lies in the the digital marketing world, social media will continue to grow in importance in 2015. In fact, 92% of content marketers use social networks for content publishing. (CMI/MarketingProfs)
Earlier this month, Lee Odden put together a list of our most popular blog posts on social media marketing throughout 2014. From that list, we see contributions from a mix of TopRank Marketing team members, each with a unique perspective.
To provide some context behind these social media marketing posts that have attracted tens of thousands of page views and social shares, I’ve reached out to our team members to understand the lessons learned.
Nick Ehrenberg @NickEhrenberg
The Hashtag Test: Best and Worst Practices for Social Media Marketers
At this time I wrote this post, I was beginning to learn more about specific social best practices. Hashtag use is something that comes up frequently in client discussions, though there are ample opportunities to guide them toward more strategic use.
Too many businesses are guilty of using hashtags as a novelty – whether by using a trending hashtag for irrelevant purposes, or overusing to the point of exhaustion. Hashtags should be treated with the same standards as all other social elements – they should mesh with brand messaging and give audiences a reason to engage.
Emily Bacheller @EmilyBacheller
24 Social Media Tools To Boost Your Marketing Performance
I often refer back to the list of tools in this post whenever I need a tool to do something specific on social media. Some of the photo editing tools that are mentioned in this post have also helped us take our visual marketing efforts to the next level. For instance, Canva has become an indispensable tool for creating visually appealing social media posts for our clients.
I like to follow Ian Cleary’s blog to stay in-the-know on new social media tools.
Lee Odden @LeeOdden
15 Women Who Rock Social Media at Top Tech Companies – Career Advice & Insights
TopRank works with quite a few B2B technology companies providing social media marketing services and a number of our client contacts are women. As young women (and men) consider their career options in the social media space, I thought it would be valuable to share the insights from some of the women I’ve come to know and respect in the industry.
Feedback about the post has amazing – both from readers that appreciate the career advice as well as the women that were recognized in it. Everyone is influential about something and posts like this help us shine a light on both established and up and coming influencers.
Evan Prokop @eprokop1
New LinkedIn Profile Features: 4 Tips to Optimize Your Presence
I wasn’t aware of some of these LinkedIn features until I starting putting together this post. The most interesting point was related to the 4th point in the post. It’s interesting to compare yourself in relation to your network and see how you’re increasing or decreasing. That’s a cool feature.
Opening up LinkedIn profile accessibility was a major change. They were just introducing that when I wrote this. One of my major questions was whether this would open people up to spam, and I haven’t seen that has been the case.
Lee Odden @LeeOdden
25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know According to LinkedIn
It’s so easy for anyone to put up a blog, register a few social profiles and start proclaiming their unqualified social media awesome.
That’s why, when I saw the list of social media marketers cited in The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn, it made sense to publish the list as a stand alone blog post. How many social media marketing practitioners can say they’ve been endorsed by one of the top social networks and the dominant business social network? The list has been a great resource for companies looking for social media marketing expertise, especially in the B2B marketing world.
As social media marketing becomes even more ingrained within integrated digital marketing programs in the coming year, there will be many more lessons to be learned. You can be assured that we’ll continue to share those lessons here on TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog and appreciate you for being a part of our community.
For a glimpse into the future of digital marketing, here are a few predictions (200, actually) to get you on your way to a successful 2015.
Top image: Shutterstock
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I really like Nick’s article on the use of hashtags in social media marketing. It’s a nice guide on using this social media element in getting your point across to your target audience.