The debate and discussions about measuring social media, and those about social media ROI, often focus more on what can be measured than on the value that social media is creating for a brand. Over the last few years as brands have been experimenting with social media this is not unexpected. When we go through periods of innovation and experimentation we always tend to explore and discover the new tools we are using. But as social media has become more mainstream for brands, both as part of the marketing mix and more broadly across the business, we need to move from discussing the things we can measure to the things we should measure. From measurements to the actual value that social is adding to a brand.

Measuring and then evaluating the value that social is adding to a brand will be different from brand to brand. They are using social in different ways, across different parts of their business and are used to measuring value in different ways. There is not one solution, a panacea for all our social media measurement ills. Things are more complicated than that. However, this does not mean that we cannot measure the value we are having when we use social media. And as social media has moved from innovation and experimentation to more mainstream we need to take a more mainstream approach to value. And we need to talk about what we are measuring and the value social is creating.

Read the rest of the story here:
via Why we’ll all be talking about the value of social media in 2011 | Social media agency London | FreshNetworks blog.

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Google Maps-Places-Business Listings may very well be the most important search engine listing you can have. It also alllows you to post tons of relevant information about you small business in the St Pete area, as well as videos, photos, logos, etc. AND you can direct your happy customers to put up glowing reviews of your Pinellas County business, Just like Yelp, except better, since Yelp is not widely used in the Gulf Coast region of Florida, and Google Places is.
This article was commissioned by the staff of American Express and approved by Mashable's Samuel Axon, so you know it full of great SMM and SEO information.

Did you know you can use Google Maps to promote your business? Many of the features that you might normally associate with Yelp are actually included in what Google calls Place Pages. And since they're integrated tightly with the hugely popular Google Maps, you won't want to ignore them.

Even if Google already lists you, you'll want to claim your page and make sure all the information is accurate. Either creating a Place Page for your business or acquiring its existing one is easy if you know how to do it.

Below is an introduction to using Google's provided tools to incentivize would-be customers or clients to stop by. It will get you started with managing your presence on Google Maps, but for the deeper cuts you might eventually want to refer to Google's vast guide to Google Places.

Read the whole story here.
Via: http://www.openforum.com/
Thanks: Samuel Axon
St Pete’s Seven North Web Design & Graphics Social Media-Hub Website: Leveraging WordPress for Easy SEO and Lower Cost.

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You think I can be enthusiastic when proselytizing social media for small business in the Tampa Bay area? Some people use ALL CAPS, I'm just sayin'. But Julie Wassom has an important message for small business owners-- here is an excerpt from her article "Why Small Businesses MUST Use Social Media" . From Wassom’s Marketing Wisdom. Julie's message is worth shouting.

Facts

• According to Nielsen Statistics, 2/3 of the entire world population is using social media… that’s amazing when you stop and think about it.
• Especially for older businesses; in order to remain relevant in the business world today and to reach your new customers, you have to be where they are… which is online. 70% of people trust peer review over conventional advertisements, so it’s time to start getting friendly with your customers. The easiest way to do this is via social media.
• Your competitors are doing it already… and if they aren’t, then they will be soon, so you may as well start the bandwagon and be the first one so it doesn’t look like you are just copying others success. Being first, will make it much easier for you to become the “go-to” person for information in your industry. When people depend on you for information, they will depend on you for other things as well such as your services and products.
• Whether B2C and choosing to market on Facebook where there are (as of June 16, 2010) 400 million active users! Or B2B and opting to go the avenue of LinkedIn with over 75 million business professionals, average income of $109k, and where 50% of the users are major decision makers in their company. There is a social media opportunity for whatever your need is.
• You will not find a less expensive way to grow your business base, and improve customer relations than social media.

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