#hashtag
As anyone who uses Twitter knows, the ‘#’ symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. Interestingly enough, it was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. Hashtags are simply a way to “tag” your tweet with subject matter to make it easy to be found. Anyone can create a hashtag simply by placing the ‘#’ sign in front of a word. (more…)

Take your Twitter Account from Anonymity to Massive Popularity!

You have a Twitter account for your brand or business. You even have a handful of followers. Now, like so many, you aren’t sure how to get more Twitter followers (especially relevant followers) or what to do next. No worries; you can take your Twitter account from stark anonymity to massive popularity. Follow these Twitter tips to take your Twitter account to the next level of marketing. Done right, you can take your Twitter account from being a social outcast to being a social celebrity. (more…)

Social Media Goal: Brand Awareness

Brand Awareness is always at or near the top of our client’s list when we discuss social media marketing goals. Even for large brands, Brand Awareness continues to appear as one of the top 3 goals…typically in the form of “enhanced” Brand Awareness or “top of mind” Awareness. And the question usually comes down to… what should we measure (and how) to determine awareness and our success in achieving such? (more…)

When BP was confronted with the daunting challenge of managing the PR crisis after the oil-spill they didn’t just buy expensive TV spots and full page newspaper ads. Like any company with marketing-savvy,  they put in place an aggressive, integrated SEO and social media marketing plan in order to saturate the search engines with “their” side of the story. They bought negative keywords for paid-search, quickly created micro-sites and devoted Facebook & Twitter pages for their message, all this to negotiate the narrative. They topped it all with a series of electronic press releases. The objective was to dominate Google in order to combat the negative buzz! (more…)

Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization work best when synergized. Businesses that employ an integrated search and social media strategy achieve greater web-success at lower cost because they amplify their message manifold simply by combining the power of organic search and viral media. When you search-optimize and add relevant social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (etc) to your media mix the result is far greater than if you had used them as un-optimized channels, independently at different times!  Similarly using SEO without social media substantially limits the potential of organic search.  Synergy is the essential ingredient in achieving high ROI and maximizing the impact of your online media plan. Here are some tips on optimizing one with the other. (more…)

Tools for an Engaged Social Presence

I am always interested in finding the best and latest tools to enhance and expedite the  social media experiences, maintenance and growth for Harp and for our clients.

Following is an abbreviated list of useful tools, resources and/or apps with links and short descriptions that you may want to incorporate into your daily social media practice. Though we obviously don’t use all of these, I have used a good many of them for different reasons.

(more…)

What are the top five things beginners should know about social media?

The question was asked in one of the social media groups that I belong to on LinkedIn:

“I’m giving a speech for … and would like to know five hot topics you think
beginners would like to know.”

This is a very good question which got a lot of response from many members (me included). Following are some of the more insightful responses:

(more…)

Social media isn’t always the right tool for the job. Not every company needs a blog. YouTube worked for BlendTec, but it might not work for your company. And yet, there’s something to this. Over the last three days, I’ve spoken to four HUGE brands in America that are considering social media for one project or another, and there are many more out there working on how these tools might integrate into their business needs. Here’s a list of 50 ideas (in no particular order) to help move the conversation along.

(more…)

Facebook has significant implications for business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs. This highly successful online social networking platform currently boasts 200 million active members and is predicted to be at 500,000 million members by 2011 or sooner. Over half of all active members log in daily for an average session time of 20 minutes – that’s a huge captive audience! Plus the demographics are a more mature and wealthier audience.