Listening to industry ‘experts’ talk about Facebook marketing. many recommend pages to post just 1 time per day. Even worse, some suggested posting at the same exact time every day. These ‘experts’ are terribly wrong, and here are 4 big reasons why:

1. Your Fans Aren’t Coming Back to Your Page
2. Page Post Lifetime is ~3 Hours
3. Facebook EdgeRank
4. Your Fans Are Different

Learn more about these four concepts.

Have you ever wondered if what you’re doing on Facebook is right or not? Here’s a simple checklist to properly evaluate your Facebook Page and see if you’re on the right track.

Facebook Page Checklist: 

1. “About” section: is your website URL the first thing listed?
2. Additional “About” section: Are you providing links to your company’s other social channels, like your Twitter account and blog?
3. Cover photo: is it well-designed and does it meet Facebook’s Guidelines?
4. Cover photo description: when someone clicks on your cover photo, do you have a photo description with information, a call to action, or links?
5. Profile photo: does it clearly reflect your brand?
6. App thumbnails: are the three most important apps featured as “favorite” apps, and do the app thumbnails include a call to action or have a promising label?
7. “Talking about this number”: Divide your “Talking about this number” by your Page’s total number of Likes. This will calculate your Page’s engagement from the past seven days. Average Page engagement is two percent. If you’re below two percent, your content strategy needs to be adjusted.

One of the most important goals of inbound lead generation is to use your website to build credibility with prospects. All your prospective customers are going to read your website and check out your overall online presence before they decide to pick up the phone. The content and design of your website can make the difference between converting website visits to sales leads, and missing out on big opportunities from prospects who quietly scan through your site, but then leave without making their presence known.

Here are a few ways to make sure your website is sending the right messages to build trust and turn more of your website visitors into promising sales leads. Read more.

A great website doesn’t start with design. You may only see what’s on the surface — a well-designed and well-functioning website.  But behind it is weeks, sometimes months, of strategic planning. Without it, your website wouldn’t exist in the first place.

You would never build a house without a plan. Even before you meet with your contractors, you have an idea of what you want out of your house. The same goes for your website.

In the digital marketing era, internet users desire authentic and trustworthy connections. One method to bolster connections is through writing valuable content to your audience. Developing content is of very little use if no one is listening or responding. I often struggle with coming up with valuable content to write about. I have great ideas for content when I’m not at my desk, but those thoughts are long gone when the time comes to write a post. In a search for inspiration,  I ran across this infographic with great ideas for generating blog content. Thanks to the folks of Copyblogger for putting it together: http://www.copyblogger.com/create-content-infographic/

Social media marketing done properly is probably THE most effective and efficient marketing medium available today. Many small and/or local businesses see an incredible amount of new business derived from making meaningful connections with their audience within the social graph, however most do not. There are four main mistakes that small businesses make within social media that prevent them from achieving returns.

1) Lack of Consistency – Above anything, being consistent with your social media marketing is essential. You need to consistently post relevant content, respond to comments and shares, and reach out to your prospects and engage them in conversation. Just having social media accounts set up will effectively do nothing to build relationships and generate revenue. Being consistent in these core areas will.

2) Lack of Strategy – As with all things in business, without a proper plan it is unlikely you will be successful.  Social media marketing requires a very clear strategy and planning that consists of these minimum elements:

• A clear audience/market to target

• A content posting/topic strategy
• A community growth strategy

3) Knowing what you don’t know – A huge mistake many small businesses make is to just jump in without the knowledge and experience. You are better off not doing social media, then to do it wrong. Either a) Pay for some education from someone that has actually done it effectively or b) Hire the expertise, in the form of a professional social media agency. Either of these options will be WELL worth the expense!

4) Lack of Response – If someone called your company to inquire about your product or service and you waited three days to call them back, how likely would it be that they would do business with you? Imagine if you never called them back…  Too many small businesses respond to their community either way to slowly or not at all.

If someone shares your content, thank them immediately and ask them a question that furthers the conversation. If someone comments on your page, they are telling you that they are there, now. Respond and take advantage of the opportunity to build a relationship.

You may have heard that social media marketing is free. It is far from free and requires either a substantial investment in time, education and resources -or- a little bit of money by way of hiring an effective social media firm to help you.

Know that your competitors are already in the space and your prospects are too. Not doing social media or doing it ineffectively will result in a very sad conversation about your business in just a few years. I urge you to not only get in, but get in properly!

Article by SteamFeed.

Are you struggling to generate LIKES, comments and shares on your Facebook page? Whether your challenge is a lack of motivation, inspiration or creativity, knowing how to organically reach fans can be frustrating.  While there is no set rule to determining what content your fans crave most, there are creative ways to figure out what they find appealing, interesting and LIKEable! Read more.

YouTube finally launched its new site interface to the public in December in an overhaul that should allow creators to better connect with their fans and build a stronger community with users. This update has had mixed feedback from users (which tends to be the case with any big change to a social media interface). However, the new design offers a much simpler user interface and it offers some really great features that will help brands gain attention and better engage with the YouTube community.

One of the most noticeable changes is the completely overhauled home page. With a design that mimics Facebook and Google+, the new layout puts emphasis on subscriptions and playlists. The main center column contains the most recent updates from subscriptions. The left panel, which stays with you everywhere on the site, makes it easy to sort and find your videos and subscriptions. The right panel suggests additional users to whom you may subscribe. Read more.

Are you using SlideShare? Would you like more leads? This article reveals how to use SlideShare to generate quality leads.

SlideShare for Leads? SlideShare is the world’s largest content-sharing community for professionals. Data collected by ComScore and presented in an infographic by Column Five Media, reveals SlideShare has 5 times more traffic from business owners than Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn (which now owns SlideShare). Read more.