Mikal E. Belicove

Tag: Social Media Marketing

  • How To Shoot Great Videos for Your Business

    How To Shoot Great Videos for Your Business

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    I was recently talking with the owner of a popular Southern California-based chain of restaurants about his online marketing efforts. While his four restaurants have garnered more than a combined 100,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, he has yet to venture onto YouTube. Ironically, that’s where many of his customers have posted videos…

  • Big Companies Are Adapting to Social Media Marketing

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    More large companies are using social media to promote their brand online, according to a report from the Center for Marketing Research (CMR) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. That’s quite a change from last year’s report, which found use of social media at big companies waning. The newest report, titled Social Media Surge by…

  • How to Compete with the Big Chains? Think Locally

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    What do you do as a small, independent retailer when a major food chain, big-box store or national franchise becomes a direct competitor? All along you’ve been specializing in items that aren’t in the mainstream but sell well, and then some big outfit like Sears or Walmart decides they’re going to horn in on your…

  • Time for a Second Look at Daily Deals?

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    News of the demise of the daily deal may have been premature. A new study from Rice University shows that small businesses that partner with daily-deal providers do better as they gain experience with the marketing tactic. Interestingly, that finding stands in contrast to the same researchers’ conclusion last year that cast doubts on their value…

  • Big-Company CEOs Out of Touch When It Comes to Facebook,Twitter

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    CEOs at the world’s largest publicly held companies are light years away from the rest of us when it comes to using social media. According to the 2012 Fortune 500 Social CEO Index, only 7.6 percent of Fortune 500 chief executive officers use Facebook, while 4 percent use Twitter. Those figures stand in stark comparison…

  • 8 Do’s and Don’ts for Marketing on Online Forums and Message Boards

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    Online forums and message boards can be fertile grounds for finding new customers or gaining insights from those you already have. Marketers should take these platforms seriously, but not lightly. One misstep and the brand you represent could be tossed out. Seventy percent of marketers are looking to expand their mix of social media, with 33…

  • Courting Bloggers to Tout Your Products? Get Ready for More Content Marketing Disclosures

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    If you’re doing content marketing and reaching out to bloggers and other social-media “influencers,” get ready for more disclosure rules now in the offing. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association is seeking comment on its updated Social Media Marketing Disclosure Guide before forwarding a final version to the Federal Trade Commission. The guide is meant…

  • New Facebook Features Help Businesses Better Manage Their Pages

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    If you manage a business or brand page on Facebook, you’ll be happy to know there’s a slew of new features that can help make your job easier. Here’s a rundown: Administrative roles: You can now assign administrative roles to the people who help manage your page. There are five different roles: manager, content creator,…

  • When It Makes Sense to Outsource Social Media Marketing

    When It Makes Sense to Outsource Social Media Marketing

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    While I believe most businesses should handle social media in-house, here I share at least one compelling reason to hire a consultant or outsource your social media marketing (this video was created for Entrepreneur magazine’s “60 Second Solutions” series): http://youtu.be/CW9kmOuepBg

  • Why You Should Manage Your Own Social Media

    Why You Should Manage Your Own Social Media

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    I make my living as a business-aligned communication strategist. Basically, that means businesses and brands hire me to create and publish editorial content that engages their audience in ways that relate to specific business goals and objectives. While consultants like me offer a valuable service, managing your company or brand’s social media in-house is a better option,…

  • Is the End Near for Traditional Advertising?

    Is the End Near for Traditional Advertising?

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    The demise of in-your-face marketing and advertising is close at hand, to be replaced by what Facebook’s Paul Adams terms a form of advertising that depends on “many lightweight interactions over time.” Adams is Facebook’s Global Brand Experience Manager, a job that allows him to spend the balance of his day researching and designing better…

  • How Facebook’s ‘Offers’ and ‘Reach Generator’ Can Deliver More for Less

    How Facebook’s ‘Offers’ and ‘Reach Generator’ Can Deliver More for Less

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    All anyone seems to be talking about these days is how much they dislike Timeline, Facebook’s new user interface for business and brand Pages. Fortunately, the social networking giant also offered a couple of new advertising options that might just ease the tension surrounding the new look and feel. During Facebook’s Marketing Conference in New York…

  • What You Need to Know About Facebook’s Business Page Facelift

    What You Need to Know About Facebook’s Business Page Facelift

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    Beginning this week, businesses and brands will start to notice significant changes and enhancements when using Facebook Pages. Among other things, you’ll be able to assign up to five different degrees of access for Page administrators and gain access to real-time analytics surrounding popular activity metrics. You’ll also see an entirely new user interface —…

  • See What Attracts People to your Business’s Facebook Page

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    When it comes to the layout and design of a business or branded Facebook page, there isn’t much room for imagination. Aside from a customizable profile image, everything on screen carries a standardized look and feel. Heck, even the profile image appears in the same spot for all pages. That’s why it’s so important to…

  • Where to Focus Your Business’s Ad Dollars in the New Year

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    The Internet is settling in and getting all comfortable in its new role as the reliable, go-to source for people looking for news and information about local businesses, especially restaurants and bars. Newspapers — in printed form on the doorstep or newsstand, or on newspaper websites — also register as good sources for information about…

  • Understanding the Value of a Facebook Fan

    Understanding the Value of a Facebook Fan

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    If you’re like most of the marketers or business owners I talk with these days, you’re wondering what exactly are the benefits of Facebook fans (i.e., “Likes”) to your brand. Also, how much more likely are they to do business with you than those who don’t “like” you on Facebook? Those who profess to be…

  • Measuring Offline Vs. Online Word-of-Mouth Marketing

    Measuring Offline Vs. Online Word-of-Mouth Marketing

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    The now commonly held notion that social media-related marketing is a requirement for business success may not carry as much water as once thought. Despite all the technological advances in recent years, especially in the realm of social media, a recent study suggests that the vast majority of public discussion about products, brands and services…

  • More Small Businesses Extol the Benefits of Social Media

    More Small Businesses Extol the Benefits of Social Media

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    The vast majority of small-business owners are discovering that social media doesn’t have to be painful. And as a result, those entrepreneurs who are choosing to take advantage of social channels say they’re reaping huge rewards besides being able to commune with customers, according to a new report. The Fall 2011 Attitudes and Outlook Survey from…

  • Video and Social Media Strategy

    Video and Social Media Strategy

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    In this segment from BlogWorld 2011 in Los Angeles, I answer questions about video and the role that a business-aligned communication strategy should play in a business or brand’s social media-related efforts (interviewed conducted by Mark Yoshimoto of .TV). http://youtu.be/Qf2mSe-tDgE