Quote of the day

4 Qualities of the Best Marketing Leaders

There are marketers, and then there are transformative marketing leaders.

Which category are you in? Even better, which category would you like to be in?

1. They've developed both right and left brains.

 What you need is a really unique blending of right brain and left brain. You need to be as comfortable in the bowels of a spreadsheet as you are in a Powerpoint. In one moment, you’re going to be digging in and understanding analytics. And in another moment, standing up in front of a group of a thousand people communicating a vision.”

A great marketing strategy has countless moving parts. Diving into every element, from data points to overarching vision, is crucial to reaching your leadership potential. Don't get discouraged if you're not a data pro just yet. Many of these skills can be learned and developed. The most important thing is to be thirsty for knowledge and seek out opportunities to practice.

2. They think like recruiters.

“The biggest differentiator I’ve seen [among leaders] is the ability to recruit"

No marketing leader succeeds on his or her own merits. Marketing is a team sport that requires collaboration both across the department and the company. To succeed in this fast-paced and constantly evolving profession, you need a world-class team. A true marketing leader inspires loyalty and creates a contagious environment that makes other marketers want to join.

The best marketing leaders recognize talent and applicable skills — even if a recruit's job experiences are unorthodox. Recruiting the best marketers is as important to your success as generating high-ROI campaigns, and transformative marketing leaders act like it.

3. They're committed to company culture.

Everybody throws around the word culture right now, but so few people are truly committed to that. Culture is not about painting your wall a particular color and offering free drinks. That might be a manifestation of good culture, but that's not good culture.Good culture has to flow," Tim shares.

Like it or not, company culture is part of your marketing. Potential customers and employees alike have access to your Glassdoor information to see what your culture is really like. The impact you make in your community can be a major indicator of your culture. A happier, more productive team will also create better work. Marketing leaders should be committed to fostering a culture that helps employees thrive. Culture encompasses much more than free gifts or happy hours.

4. They focus on the what before the how.

“It sounds really obvious, but it’s so hard for us to stay committed to this — focus on the what before the how.”

All the tools and channels in a marketer's arsenal today can sometimes distract us from our strategic foundation. Why are we using email marketing? What's the goal of this campaign?

How will all of this help our business grow? Are leads sales-ready? 

The best marketing leaders focus on strategic priorities for their business. Only then do they plan the best way to get there. In other words, Snapchat might be the hottest channel of the week, but if it’s not clearly tied to your marketing goals and if you have no way to measure your success, you should spend time on other projects.

   Source : http://sforce.co/2dzzREA

7 Ways to Take Your Content Marketing to the Next Level

Online marketing is all about the content. Content marketing is an essential part of building your business.

 How else will people find your content — and by extension your website. Part of converting is a good content plan that allows people to find you and decide that you offer something valuable enough to buy. But is your content marketing as effective as it could be? If you are struggling a little bit with getting your site to the next level, here are seven ways you can improve:

1. Start with Quality

 In the past, content marketing was a quantity game. While quantity can help, don’t forget about quality. Search engines — and consumers — are more sophisticated than they were 10 years ago. Quality content is a must if you want to stand out. Even if you post less frequently, you can see results if the content is high quality. This means including in­depth, useful pieces. While it’s tempting to give in and focus on the click­bait, at some point you need to provide value to your audience. 

2. Check Your Grammar 

While you might not be completely error­free all the time (we all make mistakes), you want to do your best to use proper spelling and grammar. Proofread your content before releasing. This goes beyond looking at website copy and blog posts. When content marketing, it also includes your social posts. You want everything to look as clean as possible. 

3. Post Consistently

 Start with a smaller number of posts if you aren’t sure you will be able to maintain quality output. These days, it’s more about expectations and readers and customers know that you will post consistently once a week, and your information will be high­quality, they will be more likely to return. They will even look forward to what you have to say

4. Research Your Topics 

Just because you think something is a great idea for your content marketing strategy doesn’t mean that it is. Instead, research your topics. There are plenty of tools out there that can help you analyze results of different topics. You can even figure out which are likely to do well using keywords or URL. Research to make sure that your chosen topics are going to convert well with your audience before you commit

5. Take Advantage of A/B Testing

 It can be a little tedious to use A/B testing with your content. However, effective content marketing includes keeping metrics on what works and what doesn’t. Pay attention to things like short articles and long articles, which headlines seem to do better, and which topics your readership prefer. Compare different efforts so you can refine your topics and approach to become more effective

6. Optimize Your Website 

Make sure your website is optimized for search engines. You want people to find you, and to stick around. Don’t forget to optimize your social posts as well. Content marketing that goes to the next level requires a great deal of planning on optimization. You need to coordinate what goes on your website with your social sharing.

7. Know Your Audience 

Understand what you audience is looking for and deliver. You don’t need to try to appeal to everyone. In fact, you are likely to fail if you try that approach. Instead, consider who is likely to buy your product or service, and focus your content on what is likely to be useful and relevant to that segment of the population.

  Source : http://huff.to/2bl5Bzi

7 Reasons You Need a Mentor for Entrepreneurial Success

Mentors. They've been there, done that and have seen it all. Yet, a woeful number of entrepreneurs start their careers without one. In an age where instant gratification is glorified, it's unsurprising that many entrepreneurs and young founders do not seek out a mentor as hard as they try to find a co-founder.

While arguments abound on why entrepreneurs do not need mentors but should only follow their own instincts and gut feelings, most successful tech titans have founders who had mentors. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was mentored by Steve Jobs. Jobs was mentored by Mike Markkula -- an early investor and executive at Apple. And Eric Schmidt mentored Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google.

Like most startup founders, I didn't start with a mentor. I got into the industry and had to look up to someone who is well known in the field. This is not as effective as working hard to get a mentor to guide you while you run your business -- but it's better than nothing. Having been in business for more than seven years, I've realized the importance of having a business mentor.

Here are seven reasons having a mentor is important.

1. Gain experience not shared in books.

Experience is a very expensive asset -- yet it's crucial to business success. There's only so much about a person's experience you can gain from books. It's an unstated truth that most authors do not feel comfortable revealing everything about themselves in books. Some personal experiences may be too intimate to be shared, yet how they dealt with it can help an inexperienced entrepreneur's career.

Mentorship is one guaranteed way to gain experience from others.

2. You're more likely to succeed with a mentor.

Research and surveys prove that having a mentor is important to success. In a 2013 executive coaching survey, 80 percent of CEOs said they received some form of mentorship. In another research by Sage, 93 percent of startups admit that mentorship is instrumental to success.

Your chances of success in life and in business can be amplified by having the right mentor. The valuable connections, timely advice, occasional checks -- together with the spiritual and moral guidance you will gain from having a mentor -- will literarily leapfrog you to success.

3. Network opportunities.

Aside the fact that investors trust startups who are recommended by their friends, a successful mentor has an unlimited network of people who can benefit your career. Since they are already invested in your success, it only makes sense for them to let you tap into their network of people when the need arises.

This is an opportunity you cannot tap into if you do not have a mentor.

4. A mentor gives you reassurance.

It has been proven by research that a quality mentorship has a powerful positive effect on young entrepreneurs. Having someone who practically guides you and shares your worries with you -- often placating your fears with their years of experience -- keeps you reassured that you'll be successful.

Self-confidence is very important to success as entrepreneurs. A 2014 Telegraph report revealed that having a high self-confidence contributes significantly to career success -- more so than talent and competence. Mentors have the capacity to help young founders tap into their self-confidence and see every challenge as an opportunity.

5. A mentor will help you stay in business longer.

When you imagine the number of businesses that fail, you'd wish a lot of business owners had mentors. According to SBA, 30 percent of new businesses may not survive past the first 24 months, and 50 percent of those may not make it past five years. However, 70 percent of mentored businesses survive longer than 5 years.

6. A mentor will help you develop stronger EQ.

Does maturity bring about a higher EQ in entrepreneurs? Emotional intelligence is crucial to entrepreneurial success. When a young entrepreneur has a more mature and successful mentor who advises them, they are likely to have greater control over their emotions.

We all know that a quick way to make a business fail is to mix it with emotions or make crucial decisions based on emotional feelings. Situations like this can be curbed as mentors will help show you how to react in given instances.

A story on Business Insider reveals how Schmidt worked with then inexperienced Page to manage the affairs of running a fledgling startup. An inexperienced CEO often makes decisions based on emotions, but one with a mentor like Schmidt is able to overcome critical hurdles by making smart decisive judgments.

7. Encouragement.

Enduring the consequences of failure on your own can set you back and impact your productivity. In hard times, having a mentor will help you keep your head high. Young entrepreneurs often deal with depression when they are unable to meet their goals and expectations. The impact of depression on entrepreneurs is often underreported. But entrepreneurs without mentors bear the brunt the most.

A mentor who has experienced the highs and lows of running a business is in the perfect position to give positive and soothing words of advice to you when things refuse to go your way. And not only do they have the right words to share, they would also have ideas to help you navigate your way to success.

Source : http://entm.ag/2bdJUAf

11 Stupid Mistakes Sabotaging Your Sales Success

Just a decade ago, sales was a fairly straightforward profession. Salespeople could be successful with only a fancy suit, an enthusiastic grin, and a well-rehearsed pitch.

But none of those things are relevant anymore, let alone effective.

Pitching prematurely does not work in today’s information-saturated marketplace. Your prospects are more well-informed than ever before. Modern buyers don’t always need or want to meet with you, making your winning smile a bit less critical. And you certainly can’t rely on your fancy suit to impress them these days.

It’s time to adapt to the times.

To catch you up to the current, Marc Wayshak provides some of the most concise and best advice I’ve been seeing lately. Wayshak is the best-selling author of Game Plan Selling, creator of the Sales Strategy Academy, and host of his own channel on YouTube.

1) Putting off your calls.

Phone prospecting is one of the most important sales skills. The only way to get past the fear of phone prospecting is to pick up the phone and get started. No matter the source or warmness of your leads, you have to pick up the phone. Create a calling schedule -- and stick to it!

2) Not using a script.

The only thing worse than a procrastinated phone call is an unplanned one. Salespeople are quick to reject the idea of using a script as a basis for a call -- but scripts only sound scripted if they’re poorly written, inflexible and not practiced. Use a script for every phone call to keep yourself on track, keep the call focused, and to plan your response to pushback from prospects.

3) Using a “sales voice.”

The tone of your voice can literally end a conversation before it even begins. Ditch the salesy, enthusiastic tone that most salespeople use, and opt for a low-key, friend-like greeting instead. Record your sales calls and listen to your voice to see how you can improve.

4) Focusing too much on yourself.

Prospects don’t care about you. They only care about themselves. Stop worrying about trying to present yourself and your solutions in an attempt to impress. Instead, focus on your prospects’ goals and challenges. Be interested instead of trying to be interesting.

5) Not setting a clear next step.

Never end a successful phone call or sales meeting without a defined next step. Unless it makes no sense to ever talk to your prospect again, always schedule a very clear next step during your current sales meetings or phone calls so both you and your prospect know how to proceed. Don’t wait to get buy-in for next steps after you’ve hung up.

6) Talking too much.

Ninety-nine percent of salespeople talk too much in selling situations. Very few salespeople talk too little. Cut the chat -- and get your prospects talking by asking them great questions. 

7) Trying to be like everyone else.

Far too many salespeople sound and act like they think salespeople should act. Prospects are sick of it. On the other hand, when you’re perceived as different from other salespeople, your value goes up in prospects’ eyes. Don’t be afraid to be unique. In fact, look for ways you and your company can seem and be different.

8) Not showing value.

Your prospects’ challenges cost them money. If you can find out the dollar amount of that cost, then you can quantify your offering’s value to your prospect. Make this a priority in every selling situation. You’re probably wasting your time if your prospect isn’t convinced you can save them or make them money -- or both.

9) Not qualifying on a budget.

Most salespeople never ask prospects about a budget. This is a mistake. Prospects usually have a budget, even if they say they don’t. It might not be earmarked for your solution, but most companies have money to spend if they believe they can get better results. Probing what the budget is, why it’s that size, and under what conditions they’ll spend it, will allow you to craft the right solution.

10) Continuing to pursue unqualified prospects.

The biggest difference between top salespeople and everyone else is that top salespeople spend the majority of their time with well-qualified prospects. This requires that you drop prospects who are less likely to buy. Dropping this dead weight allows you to spend your time finding and pursuing better opportunities.

11) Presenting too early.

Many salespeople start their sales meetings with a presentation -- and shoot themselves in the foot. Instead of leading with a presentation, begin by focusing on prospects’ key challenges and objectives. You may need to lead with a story about how you’ve helped people like them, but start a conversation, not a dog and pony show. 

Source : http://bit.ly/2aMiYUm

7 Tips for Seeking Out and Seducing the Best Influencers to Love Your Brand

The influencer marketing gold rush is underway, and recent surveys confirm that budgets are continuing to grow in this area. Unfortunately, when a lot of money is headed in one direction so quickly, some of it gets thrown out the window. To avoid wasting your budget, it's more important than ever to form relationships with the right industry influencers.

Through mistakes and many lessons, I've learned that remembering these seven things can help you seek out and attract the best influencers to become long-term advocates for your brand:

1. The best influencers aren't always well-known.

Sometimes, higher-profile influencers are in the business for themselves. They've had people cater to them for years and expect you to bend over backward for them, too. For example, one of my more well-known relationships emailed me on a holiday weekend just days after my daughter's birth to ask me to do something for him. That's not a healthy relationship. But lesser-known influencers usually aren't sidetracked by self-promotion or fame, which makes them more likely to become true brand advocates for you.

2. The one thing influencers love more than money is more influence.

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

Influencers are naturally attracted to influence, so do everything you can to build your own influence before seeking partnerships with them. In your own content strategy, do what you can to include these influencers in your work. Source their content, quote them in an article on your blog, mention them in your speeches, etc. My approach is to draw attention to those outside influencers who deserve more influence--those who are leaders and experts in their industries. As a result, I've formed solid relationships with many of these people.

3. Seek out influencers who are helpful people.

In one conversation with someone, I'm able to determine whether he or she is a helpful person. Helpful people listen to you and lend a hand because it's the right thing to do. They value the relationship and want you to succeed--and that makes them great influencers to work with. But if ego is involved or they clearly have an agenda, they probably won't help you unless there's something in it for them.

4. Earn the relationship before you pay.

Think about this: If you pay somebody $10,000 to be your best friend for six months and then ask him to stay your best friend even if you can't pay him again, do you think he'll be there for you? No. You should do all you can to naturally earn an influencer relationship before spending thousands of dollars to buy it. (Note: Sometimes, you have to pay up if there's no option, but at least attempt to earn it first.)

5. Make sure they actually have influence.

One of my friends who consistently shares my content on Twitter has about 250,000 followers. Fortunately, there are tools to help me track engagement, and I can see that almost no one interacts with our brand or my content when this person shares my content. However, I have another friend with about 5,000 followers on Twitter, and some kind of opportunity always comes when this person shares my content. Don't be fooled by the perception of influence.

6. Care about people beyond what they can do for your business.

One of our clients, John Ruhlin, is one of the leading appreciation specialists in the U.S. He and I had lunch recently, and I told him that my wife was having a birthday party. From the same conversation, he remembered a certain type of gift he once gave us that I told him my wife really enjoyed. On the day of her party, that gift arrived at my doorstep with a handwritten note to say happy birthday and that he appreciated our friendship. John Ruhlin is cemented in my mind as someone who cares about me beyond what I can do for his business and vice versa. And in return, I'll probably always be an advocate for him.

7. Remember the small things.

Just like any relationship, the small things matter most. The other day, I noticed that Jay Baer received his speaker's certification. Jay's received a lot of recognition in different ways as an influencer, but this time, he was being recognized for all the hours he's spent on planes and speaking to people and the positive reviews he's received for putting the time in. Right away, I sent him a personal note to congratulate him. I like to do small things like this for people because when someone does something small for me, it always sticks out.

Influencer marketing will only continue to grow, and it's up to you to make sure your budget is spent on building the best relationships with the right influencers. Whether it's mentioning an influencer on your blog or sending a small message about an accomplishment, it's important for you to build trust and stay top of mind in the right way to seduce influencers into becoming your long-term brand advocates.

Source : http://on.inc.com/2b0QZSC

Six mobile marketing tips for businesses and brands

From chatbots to personalisation, here advertising and mobile experts share their tips on how to master mobile marketing.

We type tap and swipe our phones, on average, 2,617 times a day, according to new research by data company dscout. For heavy users that can rise to more than 5,000 “touches”. The figures are stark: mobile is where you find people’s eyes and hands. It means that brands can’t afford to ignore mobile as a marketing platform; it’s now an essential way to attract new customers and build brand awareness.

Telegraph Media & Tech Connect asked some of the top ad agencies and mobile experts to share their tips for marketing on the powerful, pocket-based platform. Here’s what they said:

1. Know your chatbots

“Chatbots provide a great opportunity for brands to engage in a personal and smart way with their audiences. We’re seeing a big shift in traffic from traditional social media platforms to messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.

“With six out of the top 10 most used apps globally being messenger apps, it seems like a really interesting way for brands to exploit having a direct conversation with their customers. This worked well for KLM Royal Dutch airlines, when it launched a chatbot via Facebook Messenger to deliver flight information, itineraries, boarding passes and even delay information. That’s both useful and relevant.”

2. Think about how people travel across devices

“How you advertise across these devices depends on your product. Marketers need to understand how devices fit into the customer journey. There’s often a very complex path when people discover a new product or service: they jump between devices during the research and consideration process (this can be very varied across industries and product types).

“The size of the purchase makes a massive impact; a car purchase will involve a very different path across devices than buying replacement ink for a printer. It’s so easy to buy ink from Amazon on a handheld mobile device, you almost don’t even think about it. But if you are buying an insurance policy, it’s a lengthier process. Understanding how devices fit into your specific customer journey is important.”

3. Stop obsessing over tech and focus on users

“Businesses focus on what application or technology is coming next, but the people using it don’t care about technology – they care about what technology enables. The best technology is seamless, useful and invisible. Rather than focusing on technology or trend, shift your thinking to the user first: to their behaviours (the way the mobile user consumes content in a more snackable way); location (tailoring content depending on whether the user is at home in front of the TV or in a shop); and their need, which tends to be more immediate compared to a desktop user.”

4. Personalisation breeds quality

“Personalisation is the big trend in mobile. As datasets become richer, artificial intelligence becomes more powerful and shapes expectations, brands will be expected to offer more personalized content and better-curated experiences through mobile. Eventually ‘Recommended for you’ will reflect where you are, what you're doing and what your needs are, with no questions asked.

“In particular, it means that good content will find its way to the right people, creating a strong incentive for marketers to place an emphasis on quality rather than quantity when it comes to content.”

5. Sites need to work for mobile; being responsive isn’t enough

“Consumer behavior is different on mobile, which means that site builds must exploit the functionality mobile offers, with click-to-call buttons or GPS store locators to ensure the needs of consumers are met.

“If you have an app, it’s also really important to think about how it works with your site. 

“Having a single user journey – with actions performed on one touchpoint showing up in another – is critical to ensuring that the customer journey is seamless. The key here is they can continue whatever it is they started on the device or touchpoint, they choose.”

6. Ask yourself: where is the right place to advertise?

“Two important areas of mobile content consumption are the social ‘feed’ (Facebook, Twitter and so on) and editorial ‘read’ environments (for example, an article on the MailOnline mobile site). But consumers in the ‘feed’ are in a very different mindset than those in a ‘read’ environment.

“We asked a group of mobile users to spend 15 seconds interacting with a social feed and 15 seconds reading an editorial story. We found that users in the feed scrolled past about three ads, translating to a dwell time of only about 1.5 seconds per ad. In the editorial environment, users scrolled past an average of one ad, with five seconds dwell time – a much better exposure for a brand.

“But it’s not just about speed. Consumers in a feed are searching for something to engage with, but in read mode, they’ve already opted into an article they want to pay attention to – much better exposure for contextually relevant brand messaging.

“There’s one more thing to remember: grabbing an engaged consumer’s attention isn’t enough; if you don’t serve an ad that’s more creative and interactive than a standard static banner, for example, you can’t blame the audience for failing to interact with it.”

 Source : 

4 Reasons Why Small Businesses Need a Social Media Plan

Small business owners and their employees wear many hats. Often, the day-to-day management of their businesses takes precedents over important but overlooked marketing and promotional strategies (among other things). While the marketing landscape is vast, budgets are often absorbed quickly, leaving business owners wondering how they can get the most out of their marketing dollars.

With social media evolving at such a rapid pace, businesses large and small need to consider their presence on popular social platforms and how this presence can amplify their brand, increase recognition, and support their overall marketing and sales strategy. In fact, considering its potential impact on sales, there is no business too small for a social media strategy.

Given the accessibility of today’s most popular social platforms, the integration of cost-effective advertising, and the availability of social media content discovery apps that mitigate the time-consuming process of sourcing content, social media should be a go-to resource for small businesses. But, time, as we all know, is a precious commodity and small businesses must approach their social strategy with efficiency and effectiveness in mind.

For entrepreneurs and small business owners looking to harness the power of social media, they must develop a plan before diving into the world of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat and the like. Otherwise, much of the time and energy put into social media will be for naught.

1. It connects you to your target market

Social media allows businesses to connect directly with core demographics. But, first, they must think about the social channel(s) their audience populates. If time and budget are concerns, businesses should start with the platform that connects them to their target market the quickest and scale from there. For example, interior designers may find Houzz is the go-to platform to quickly reach buyers who are interested in their services. LinkedIn might be the trusted tool for a logistics company or law firm. 

A wedding photographer may look to Pinterest as a top website referrer because of the searching habits of brides-to-be and their families. And a fashion label may invest in Instagram to reach their ideal buyer with branded imagery. No matter what the industry, understanding your audience and how best to reach them is an essential first step to any plan. Without said plan, most business owners find themselves making posts on the fly and underestimating the overall impact social media can have on their business, even if it is just one account to start.

2. It supports your growth trajectory

Yes, the power of the organic post on platforms like Facebook and Instagram is diminishing. But, with the onset of audience targeting and conversion tracking tools, social media can quickly become an online sales tool for a business. For example, today’s social selling services, particularly Facebook’s advertising platform, allow businesses to target and re-target audiences, measure the results and repeat if successful. In essence, a link to a product offering or piece of content from social media becomes a lead magnet that provides businesses with conversion rates and ROI, supporting brand awareness and company growth.

3. It allows you to build relationships with customers

Any good social media plan involves consumer relations. From the beginning, social media has continuously evolved into an external customer service department for brands and businesses. Without an overall plan supported by consistent posting and account maintenance, businesses miss out on important customer interactions, like responding to reviews as well as public and private messages, that build relationships, encourage brand loyalty and, over time, yield substantial returns for their business.

4. It keeps you relevant in a competitive market

The digital marketplace is vast and the competition to have content seen and heard is great. A social media plan allows small businesses to not only have a presence but to become a part of the online conversation. By defining an audience and overall goals, and executing against these goals with curated content, businesses can position themselves as a leading enterprise, a go-to resource for clients and customers in need of sought-after information and services. This builds loyalty and keeps businesses top-of-mind with customers, giving them an edge over industry competitors.

  Source: http://bit.ly/2an8Y4n

4 Do's and 4 Don'ts for Businesses Using Social Media

As a business owner, you know the importance of social media as a way to make a connection between your business and customers. Whenever potential clients are looking for a new product or service, they generally start their search on social media, not only to learn more about your brand, but also to see what others are saying about a brand or business.

While more companies are creating social media strategies in their marketing, not every strategy is effective.

If you want to guarantee a more effective strategy, Caitlin Burns, a New York-based business strategist for media companies, has outlined a few social media tactics for brands to definitely use and ones to avoid.

1. Know who you are.

Understand your identity, your brand's identity and the voice of who is speaking on any social media platform. You’re the one who knows your product, production, company or brand best. Being able to communicate that is the first thing I recommend for clients so that on whatever platform they use, people have a sense of who is doing the speaking. The rest of the tactics come down to language and specific things that you might do to turn a phrase on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. 

2. Don't wait until after the fact.

You don’t want to find yourself without a sense of what’s coming next, or responding to controversy in a way that doesn’t seem like it’s coming from the same person who created a status update or tweet. You can get in a lot of trouble if you say one very appealing thing, but you can’t replicate it. Another problem is if what you say goes against what you do in the company.

3. Understand your audience.

It’s important to know who you’re targeting. What do they do? When do they live online? With a savvy social media expert, you’ll be able to figure these things out. Understanding your goals will allow you to see how your successes and failures are working -- social media allows you to see that faster than any other platform.

4. Don't make assumptions about your audience.

It is a mistake to think your audience is going to act a certain way just because you think they will. Treat your audience as a subject, not as an object. Your work on social media is a dialogue, a conversation between you and that individual.

Look at how your audience is changing. Learn about them by communicating with your social media team on a regular basis. They are the front-line people who can help you understand what’s working and what isn’t -- what people are really engaging with and what they couldn’t care less about. This is an opportunity to quickly understand how your brand is being received. 

5. Plan ahead.

Unless you yourself are a savvy social media strategist, it’s probably worth the energy and expense to bring in someone who is an expert. You need someone who is immersed in these platforms to help you measure your goals. Whether your team is very experienced or inexperienced in an application, a good strategy is going to put you in a great place to execute. 

6. Don’t assume that your presence on social media means you know everything about it.

Having a personal account is not the same thing as understanding the scope of what Facebook ads and Twitter-promoted posts can do. Because these platforms are refining and changing these specific things all the time, having an expert on call is going to save you a lot of heartache in the future. It helps to have someone whose job it is to stay up to date on what’s going on. 

7. Adopt a test and learn methodology.

Start out with your strategist and social media team to test the waters. Put out a variety of concepts to see what is working with your audience and what isn’t. The more you test out an idea and see if that hypothesis is validated by audience data -- which you can get very easily from social media platforms -- the better feature concept you’re going to be able to build. Learn what works and budget away from the things that don’t. 

8. Don’t get comfortable.

You want to make sure that you’re engaging in a creative experiment to communicate with other people. If I’m out with friends every Friday and tell the same story over and over again, I wouldn’t have friends to go out with on Fridays for very long. You want to keep engaging and developing partnerships with relevant communities. They can help you understand the broad strokes of all the things they’re interested in, which will help you keep your brand interesting. 

Finally, take a hard look at your social media strategy and make changes and additions where necessary. Always keep in mind that social media can potentially make or break your business. You want to use the strategies that drive people toward you and your business and make them come back for more.

  Source: http://entm.ag/29UYNI3