7 Social Media Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2015

By Jason DeMers at Forbes: 

It’s that time again: When I look ahead to 2015 to predict social media marketing trends we can expect over the coming year. If you want to see what I predicted for 2014 (and whether those predictions came true), you can do so here:

But without further ado, here are my top 7 social media marketing predictions for 2015!


1. We’ll witness the rise of Ello

What we couldn’t have predicted last year was the emergence of a new social platform intended to go head-to-head with social media giant, Facebook. The platform, which is still in public beta (meaning invite-only), has caused quite a stir; dubbed by some as the ‘hipster social network’, Ello offers a forever ad-free experience and promises to never sell its users’ information to third parties. Their website states: “Collecting and selling your personal data, reading your posts to your friends, and mapping your social connections for profit is both creepy and unethical. Under the guise of offering a “free” service, users pay a high price in intrusive advertising and lack of privacy.”


It’s unclear at this point whether the extreme buzz around the platform is simply because of its positioning as the ‘anti-Facebook’, or whether it has the substance, design and functionality to actually become a serious competitor for Facebook. Engagement on the platform doesn’t seem to be high at this point, and some are pointing out the current weaknesses of the platform, including the lack of video-integration and meaningful conversation and engagement.

Regardless, Ello is likely to grow in 2015, both in terms of numbers and engagement, and many will be watching closely. For more background on the platform, see my article,

Ello: What Is It and Why Does Everyone Want an Invite?


2. Facebook ad pricing and demand will significantly increase

It’s no secret that Facebook post reach is significantly decreasing, and has become a serious problem for business owners who are using the platform for marketing purposes. This steady decline in reach is what has been coined the Filtered Feed Problem.

As Facebook continues to limit the number of posts page fans actually see, the demand for promoted posts and ads will continue to increase. And with this increased demand will come increased pricing. According to an Ad Week article earlier this year, 2014 Q1 Facebook ad pricing was up 10% over 2013 Q4 pricing. This trend is likely to continue into 2015 as organic post reach continues to fall.


3. Twitter’s new business advertising model will skyrocket in popularity.

With Twitter’s move to offering businesses more choice and flexibility in how and what they pay for in terms of advertising, more small and medium sized businesses will jump on the Twitter ad bandwagon.  The new fee structure allows businesses to pay for certain performance-based actions rather than just retweets or clicks.

These objective-based campaigns, which are still currently in beta, will offer more flexibility including tweet engagements (retweets, replies, etc.), website clicks or conversions, app installs, new followers and leads. These campaigns will be particularly appealing to small business owners who want to pay for results, not just for brand visibility.


4. Google+ will begin to fade into obscurity

With the failure of Google’s Authorship experiment, Google+ now brings no unique value that Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook don’t already provide. After the highly publicized departure of Google+ chief evangelist Vic Gundotra earlier this year, along with TechCrunch declaring Google+ “The Walking Dead”, the platform is quickly making the descent into obscurity.

In fact, according to Tech Crunch, Google+ will “no longer be considered a product, but a platform — essentially ending its competition with other social networks like Facebook and Twitter.”

For an in-depth conversation on the rise and fall of Google+, see my post Is Google+ Really Walking Dead?.


5. Instagram will become essential for image-based social media marketing

Instagram isn’t showing any signs of slowing down; not by a long shot. With 200 million monthly users, Instagram has become the network when it comes to image-based social media marketing. Research confirms this, although perhaps not to the same extent: According to the Social Media Marketing Industry report, 42% of marketers are planning to increase their use of the platform this year, compared to 38% in 2013.

Instagram will also continue to grow in the micro-video space. With both Vine and Instagram vying for billing as the top video networking site, the platforms have continued to differentiate themselves from the other offering different features, video lengths and editing capabilities. However, I believe we’ll see Instagram begin to outpace Vine as we enter 2015.

And with the recent emergence of Instagram’s in-feed video advertising, marketers will now have the option of paying to target their 15-second videos to users based on age, gender and country. While some have called the new video ads incongruous, the new feature is a welcome addition for marketers looking to promote their wares to Instagram’s young, affluent user base.


6. LinkedIn will widen the gap as “the” B2B social network

LinkedIn has been the top network of choice for the B2B crowd for years already, and I believe we’ll see the gap between LinkedIn and other networks continue to widen in 2015.

While B2C marketers report LinkedIn as being significantly less important than Facebook or Twitter for their marketing efforts, the numbers are quite different for the B2B crowd: according to the 2014 Social Media Examiner survey, 88% of B2B marketers are using LinkedIn, compared to 89% for Facebook and 86% for Twitter. I believe 2015 is the year LinkedIn will surpass Facebook for B2B marketing.

For guidance on using LinkedIn for your business, see my article, The Definitive Guide to LinkedIn Groups for Marketing.


7. Social media marketing will finally be embraced as a core pillar of content marketing

In 2015, marketers will finally realize that there are two core pillars of a content marketing strategy: publication and distribution. Marketers will learn that social media is the most effective method of expanding the reach and visibility of their content, and because of this, will come to view social media as more of an “amplifier” for their published content rather than as the content itself.

In 2014, we saw marketers succeed at realizing the importance of creating and publishing content with the rise of “content strategy” as a buzzword and core focus of online marketers, but many failed when it came to designing and executing a successful content distribution strategy. I discussed this trend in my article, Why No One’s Reading Your Marketing Content.

So, while the content marketing buzz continues to pick up steam, marketers needs to remember that a distribution strategy for that content is just as important, if not more important, than the content itself.


Conclusion

These predictions aside, I’m curious to see the state of social shopping in 2015, particularly as it relates to Pinterest and to Facebook’s new ‘Buy’ button. I’ll keep an eye on this and other trends, and keep you posted as we venture into 2015 and beyond.

#INFOGRAPHIC: The Landscape of Social Login

By Kimberlee Morrison at Social Times:


Facebook is indeed a powerful force on the Internet. Not only have recent reports indicated that the social networking behemoth refers more traffic than any other social site, according to Q2 data from social identity management software provider Gigya, Facebook is regaining its lead — and taking market share from other networks, too.

Gigya director of marketing Victor White attributes this trend to the fact that Facebook makes it easy to auto-populate data across a wide range of services. This is done to create personalized experiences.

There’s also a trust factor at play. During the F8 developer conference, Facebook announced that it was giving users granular social login control, effectively enabling them to control what information they share with business. Of course, we’ll have to wait for the Q3 data to find out if the controversy over recent experiments have had any impact on user trust.

White also notes that the social component is not to be underestimated.

“When users log into a site, they intuitively want to share their experiences with networks of real friends,” he says. “Users know that when they log into sites with their social network credentials, they will be able to share seamlessly with their friends.”

On the other side of the spectrum is Yahoo, which has seen its share of social logins decline steadily over the last few quarters. In March, Yahoo disabled Facebook and Google+ identity management on its online properties — a move that hasn’t had any impact on the free fall in consumers using Yahoo to manage their social identity. White says that Yahoo’s only chance is to provide real value to both businesses and consumers.

“They’ll need to consider how identity can be used to power on-site personalization, social graph integration and potentially even payments,” he says. “Until the company can offer substantial benefits for consumers as an identity provider, Yahoo will continue to lag far behind companies like Google and Facebook.”

Check out the infographic below for Q2 social login data from Gigya:

#INFOGRAPHIC: Tracking Social Media Data

By Christie Barakat at Social Times:


Many businesses make an effort to be active and involved on social media. But information-sharing and interactivity with users does not go far enough.  Tracking data and its effectiveness across channels is crucial to examining and altering activity levels and success strategies.

Traffic, the relevance and quality of content, voice, community size, engagement and sentiment can be tracked with measurable data and channel specific tools. Dashboards let you measure data from multiple sites at once. Aggregators are great for discovering Internet trends.

In addition to measuring the success of your social media profiles, other tools let you measure data such as click-through rates, when most of your followers are online and more. Infographicworld.com created the following infographic to break down what you should be measuring, the most useful tools and the capabilities of each.

Courtesy of: Infographic World

#INFOGRAPHIC: Top Social Efforts to Boost Referral Traffic to Your Website

By Thomas J. Armitage at Social Media Today:  

Social media has many benefits for a brand. Raising awareness, generating buzz around events or news, keeping your name or products top of mind, managing customer service, gathering consumer-generated content, market research, and the list goes on. But for some reason, many of us get hung up on the fact that social media has to have an immediate, short term return on investment. Many social strategies are long term investments, so when looking at a tight time frame, we migrate towards metrics that try and allow us to justify our efforts. Enter: referral traffic.

Referral traffic is a very important thing to measure within a social media campaign. For many companies, bringing visitors to your website helps them learn about your products and services and establishes one more touchpoint in that very important buying process. It gets the user away from all the chaos on social media and lets them solely focus on one thing…you. And that’s valuable stuff. So after using many social media channels over the past few years, I’ve learned which ones generate the highest return on investment, based on time/cost vs referral traffic. Of course numbers will very based on your industry and the content you’re producing, but for the most part, this will give you a simple indication of which channels are best for driving traffic back to your website.

1) Blogging

The only one with 5 stars in terms of referral traffic is blogging. Are you surprised? If on a subdomain, blogging can be tremendously helpful to sending traffic to your website, if using links properly. If housed on the company site itself, blogs will generate organic traffic from search and attain visitors from referral links from any sites or bloggers who re-run your material or cite your writing. A misconception is that this effort is free but it is one of the biggest investments your company can make in the social space. The best blogging companies invest tons of time and resources into blogging efforts. Beyond time for writing, you will want to budget money for stock photography or time for your design team to create custom graphics, infographics, charts or visuals to supplement your material within the post and/or for social media when distributing. It makes the world of a difference in getting people to read, react and share your content. It's also helpful to promote your blog articles on social using ad dollars to "light the fire" and get the traction rolling.


2) E-Newsletter

Email marketing may not be the best approach to reach your teen audience (most do not use email with the exception of using it for registration purposes) but email is still widely used among most working professionals. It’s a great way to reinforce messages, introduce the latest news to a loyal audience, and keep them coming back to your site. Carefully design a layout – don’t have too much information there – and drive people deep into your site on specific landing pages, not just the homepage. Tell them what you want them to be looking at. Costs here are associated with monthly software fees (MailChimp, Constant Contact, etc), stock photography, design costs, and the time it takes to prepare and distribute. Your list is critical. Always be conscience about growing this – whether it’s through other social channels, events, contests with registration walls, etc. Your list is powerful in bringing visitors to your site.


3) Twitter

Many of us know how great this tool can be at luring traffic to your site. But this audience is very cautious what it clicks on – simply because we are being bombarded with hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of tweets each day. Because of this, be strategic when you include a link to your own site. Always use the old adage “What’s In It For Them?” Push them to an educational blog posts, a cool new product, a fun contest going on, etc. Be creative and straightforward in your limited description too, because you have to convince them to click in less than 100 characters or so. Costs here are related to stock photos or designs you’ll want to use to pair with your content. Also, do not overlook Twitter advertising. It’s a great way to get new users in front of your material and you can select the type of person that is most appealing to your business, so it works well.


4) LinkedIn

Of all the promoted post-style advertising on social media, LinkedIn can often times be the most expensive. But it’s a great way to get highly targeted people in front of your content and lead them to your site. The filters available through LinkedIn are extraordinary, allowing you to target by age, geography, profession, industry, hierarchy, group, and more. Naturally, you’ll pay for this luxury in your higher cost per clicks. But regardless, it can be effective. LinkedIn readers love tips on how to do their jobs better, motivational articles, and the inside scoop on new jobs available in their fields. Keep this in mind when sharing material that refers back to your website. You don’t want them to be disappointed when they go for that click. So make sure it’s meaningful and in line with the type of professional readers that are here.


5) YouTube

I have YouTube listed as the most expensive of all the tactics. Because quite frankly, video production ain’t cheap. Sure, you can get away with haphazardly winging some videos together and throwing them up online. You might get a few views. But ever notice the ones that we gravitate towards every week (if they are a regular series) or the ones you pull to use in presentations or demonstrations. You and I both are using the ones that look professional, are in high definition, boast great audio quality, and subtly use visuals as examples to support the verbal discussions. You’ll need lights, microphones, a great camera (preferably two), lots of time and research, a personable and lively spokesperson, and more. But here’s the bright side. Of all the types of content available to you, in my opinion, videos are the one type that is most likely to really take off if done right. You can include links in your description area or within the videos themselves. And finally, you can expose your messages to more people through advertising (which again, costs money on this platform). But think about all the embeds and shares you can get if your videos are valuable to your target audience. In all, YouTube can be one of the biggest spends in your social media budget but can also see one of the greatest returns on investment, especially in terms of referral traffic.

Social media has a variety of benefits. Gaining visitors to your website is only one – though an important one if it matches your goals. Share content that is worthwhile and carefully select the channels that you wish to invest in to see high levels of return. Keep in mind that you don’t want to *just* share content about yourself – social media is all about sharing the wealth and getting involved in conversations that are out there on the web. But being selfish every now and again to impact the bottom line is a no-brainer.

Which channels, in your experience, have you seen bring about the highest levels of referral traffic?




Authored by:

Thomas J. Armitage

Thomas J. Armitage is a digital marketer and PR professional with a concentration on social and new media. He helps lead the social and content efforts at Site-Seeker Inc and has a track record of researching, interpreting and executing the latest and best tools/techniques available to clients. He is also an adjunct professor at Utica College where he teaches on PR and social media.

#INFOGRAPHIC: How to Increase Your LinkedIn Engagement by 386%

LinkedIn may not seem as sexy as Twitter or Facebook, but with over 259,000,000 users and 2,100,000 groups, it’s a social channel that you can’t ignore.

Sure, you won’t generate as much traffic from LinkedIn as you will from other social sites, but it’s audience tends to be businesses, which means each LinkedIn visitor is going to be worth more money.

So, how can you leverage LinkedIn? Well, you probably already know that posting on the weekdays during the mornings helps. But did you know that if you do 20 posts a month, you’d reach 60% of your audience?

If you want to maximize your LinkedIn engagement, just follow the steps in the infographic below.

Published by QuickSprout.

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#INFOGRAPHIC: LinkedIn: Refferrals Make A Difference

Agree or disagree, but finding a job after college is really more about networking with the right people than applying for countless jobs. When you consider that most jobs are not even advertised, the value of networking becomes evident.

In fact, Lou Adler, author of Performance-based Hiring, suggests that job-seekers apply a 20/20/60 approach:

- 20% of job search time responding job postings through a backdoor (via referrals) instead of the front door (applying through a form or sending in a resume).

- 20% enhancing your resume and LinkedIn profile for findability and readbility.

- 60% networking the hidden market for jobs.

In addition, he claims that candidates who are “referred to a hiring manager by a trusted person is 50-100x more likely” to get an interview and get hired than those who simply submit a resume to a posted job. The referred person also has the advantage of being considered for jobs not publicly posted.


This Infographic is published by DegreeQuery.

Source: DegreeQuery.com

How To Get the Most Out of LinkedIn Groups

By Stephen Key at Entrepreneur:

LinkedIn groups can be a great resource for people looking to network on the career-social platform. Not only do they connect you with other like-minded people but also provide a bevy of information small-business owners and entrepreneurs can use. But are they for you?

To make the most of LinkedIn-discussion groups, follow these guidelines.

Ask questions that can benefit everyone. The only way to do that is to really understand the goals and purpose of the group. So do your homework first and observe the group. What are members asking for? What do they want to achieve? Don't jump in without knowing, or you will look foolish.

Don’t sell, be social. Joining a group is like being invited to a party: It’s best to get to know people first. Demonstrate your sincerity by asking questions. What do people do? What are their interests?

Avoid dominating the conversation. Take the time to let a dialogue get going. Pause before you respond. This reaction will let people know you’re open to hearing their opinions.

Don’t brag. (You’re not the only expert.) Your achievements are much more impactful when you let others discover them on their own. Being humble speaks volumes. And it’s actually a great sales tool.

Thank people when they contribute. It’s such a simple thing to do but giving thanks makes people feel needed and helpful, which goes a long way towards establishing a trusting relationship.

Keep an open mind, even when you disagree. It’s okay to disagree. It makes the conversation that much more interesting. It’s amazing what you will learn when you put yourself in someone else’s shoes.


Is participating in LinkedIn discussion groups benefiting my business? Absolutely. Because of this new approach, we’re receiving anywhere from five to 10 leads every day. That’s pretty remarkable. People see that we’re invested in our community. And because of that, they feel encouraged to reach out to us for more information. That’s powerful. Do yourself a favor and contemplate how you can make the most of the LinkedIn community.



Read the full story >>

#INFOGRAPHIC: How To Build Your LinkedIn Profile Like a Pro!

Having a good LinkedIn profile is very important if you want to strike up new relationships, meet fellows members and start new opportunities in business. But how do you build a perfect LinkedIn profile? Link Humans explains it step by step in this infographic.

This Infographic is published by Personal Branding UK. Designed By Link Humans.

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Tips on Enhancing Your LinkedIn Company Page

By Anita Loomba at Social Media Today: 

This week LinkedIn released a list of the 10 best company pages in 2013. LinkedIn reached out to its members and asked them to nominate businesses and organizations who inspired and engaged users. The list of top companies included: Adobe, Dell, Four Seasons, and Hubspot, to name a few. This begs the question: What encompasses a great LinkedIn company profile?

A great LinkedIn company profile can complement your website and allows you to build a following of professionals who are interested in your products or services. Here are some tips to help you enhance your company page:


Optimize your page

Have you filled out the Products/Services section of your LinkedIn profile? If you answered no, then that needs to change. Marketers who utilize this section tend to attract twice as many followers. Use this section to explain what you do and give users more reasons to follow you. Along with this, company pages are very SEO friendly. Google previews up to 156 characters of your pages text. This means you should take the time to edit your description and use keywords that describe your area of expertise.


Make sure you have a good banner image

It goes without saying that the first thing a user sees on a company page is the customizable cover image. This image welcomes users to your page, so you should definitely make it pop. You can use this space to share company specific info, upcoming event info or even a new product or app launch. Ultimately you need to choose an image that represents your company and concurrently impresses potential followers.


Post engaging content

It’s very important to update your page regularly. LinkedIn is a social marketing channel, which means you need to be social! You should use this channel to share new blog posts, product announcements, company updates and other relevant news. Users are following you because not only are they interested in your business, but they also want to know what you’re up to. Just taking a few minutes a day to update your page regularly will help make your page engaging and resourceful.


Final thoughts

LinkedIn provides companies, brands and small businesses the opportunity to share their stories, and engage with potential and current customers. It’s also important to note that LinkedIn, like other social media platforms, also allows companies to engage with employees and partners. By utilizing the tips provided above, businesses can achieve greater visibility and also add value/thought leadership to their industry.

People were hoping for a way to dislike things when Facebook launched the Open Graph, but the company went so far as to block the action:

How To Use LinkedIn To Promote Your Professional Services

By Stephanie Frasco at Social Media Today:

LinkedIn is one of the best ways to promote your professional products and services because, quite simply, it was created just for that. Well, it was created as a networking tool, but in the world of business networking, a little self-promotion and sales are never far behind.

No matter the industry you're in, if your livelihood and business revolve around selling professional services, LinkedIn is the network of your dreams. And no, it isn't just a resume placeholder, nor is it a place only for recruiters. With a few little tweaks, and a customized LinkedIn strategy, you could be sitting pretty while the leads and sales come a' knocking.

Sounds good, right? If you need a little more sweetener, let me list a few statistics that might change your mind.

LinkedIn Stats For B2B Companies

* There are 200 million users on LinkedIn. (via visual.ly)
* It's great for International businesses with 64% of users outside the US. (via visual.ly)
* 84 million Americans are on LinkedIn (via ExapndedRamblings.com)
* 35% of LinkedIn users access their account daily. (via visual.ly)
* There are 1.5 million groups on LinkedIn. (via visual.ly)
* 81% of LinkedIn users belong to at least 1 group. (via visual.ly)
* LinkedIn users spend 17 minutes a month on the site. (via ExapndedRamblings.com)
* People trust LinkedIn and brand experiences on LinkedIn. (via Slideshare)
* LinkedIn helps you get leads, which can increase sales. (via The UnderCoverRecruiter)

Convinced? I thought so. Now that you know it's worth your time, here are 10 ways to start promoting yourself and your business.


How To Use LinkedIn To Promote Your Professional Services

1. Optimize Your Profile
Your profile is very important, as it is the first thing people will see when they come across you. If you have optimized it well —and by "well," I mean for your industry—you're likely to see an increase in people viewing your profile. If your experience and skill set is of interest to the viewer, you are one step closer to building a business relationship.

2. Visualize Your Profile
Many businesses and professionals are in a visual industry. Until recently LinkedIn was very text heavy. But with the visualization of the social web, LinkedIn also became more visual. Given that we're constantly looking for ways to stand out from the other 200 million users on LinkedIn, the use of visual content can turn your once boring black and white profile into one designer-friendly profile, with a rainbow of colors. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to showcase the work you've done in the past.

3. Share, Share, Share
The number one way to be social is to share. I think it is most valuable to have your own content to share. (Cue in the "blog" drum roll.) You can share within your company page, your personal profile and groups. When you share content that drives readers back to your own site, you are not only sharing your expertise and building your authority with the network, you are also increasing the odds of gaining a lead.

4. Connect & Expand
LinkedIn is a social network, so be social. That means connecting with people who are interested in the services you provide and begin to build relationships there.

5. Cross Promote
LinkedIn, and social media in general, are about building relationships. If you want others to help you promote your services, it's probably a good idea to start promoting theirs.

6. Be Thoughtful
Your LinkedIn strategy will be one of the most powerful lead generation tools out there. If you want it to work, you must think about your audience and who you want to connect with. Talk to them, they are your target.

7. Be Consistent
There is nothing worse than a social media ghost. Don't promote heavy, introduce yourself to a lot of people and then just run away. That isn't going to get you anywhere. In fact, you'll just loose the interest you garnered.

8. Be Personalized
If you are reaching out to someone to let them know what you do, make sure it fits what they do. Oh, and make sure you address them by their name. :)

9. Advertise
LinkedIn advertising is really effective, because it's highly targeted. Test it out and decide whether it's a good fit for you.

10. Update Your Company Page
Your company page allows you to promote your services and products to it. Here is my advice on that topic.

How do you use LinkedIn?

#INFOGRAPHIC: How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

By Kimberlee Morrison at Social Times: 

LinkedIn might not be going to way of Facebook and Twitter with ads in the newsfeed. That doesn’t mean the social network for professionals doesn’t offer marketing products. It does and according the Q3 earnings announcement, those products made up about 23 percent of it’s revenue.

The bulk of LinkedIn’s revenue is from what it refers to as Talent Solutions, which made up nearly 60 percent of the company’s revenue for Q3, with premium subscriptions accounting for the rest.

For recruiters, LinkedIn has become a great hunting ground of sorts. If you apply for a job, you can almost be certain the potential employer is going to look at your LinkedIn profile. Even if you don’t pay for a premium account, according to Neal Schaffer, Editor-In-Chief of Maximize Social Business, smart professionals should consider the LinkedIn profiles “the front page of the website of you.”

“Whatever activity you do on LinkedIn, it will always lead people back to your profile,” he says.

Indeed, there is some debate about LinkedIn being a new digital version of the curriculum vitae, which means it needs to be complete and optimized for maximum exposure. Schaffer also provides 17 tips that include:

- Using professional looking photo

- Using your professional names

- Including a professional headline

- Including your location

- Aligning with your industry

- Customizing your LinkedIn URL

- Posting regular status updates

- Including a professional summary

- Connecting with past and present employers

- Making good use of keywords

- Establishing credibility with recommendations

- Embracing endorsements

- Embracing the visual

- Making yourself easy to contact

- Joining relevant groups

- Making smart use of the “sections”

- Building a robust network

The folks at Visual Loop compiled these tips into an infographic for those who are visually inclined. In addition to the 17 tips, there are a few stats. Only 50 percent of LinkedIn profiles are complete and less than half of all users update their profiles regularly. Interestingly enough, the average number of endorsements is about five, so anyone with more than that has the potential for standing out.

Here’s the infographic.

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#INFOGRAPHIC: What Your Favorite Social Network Says About You

It’s no wonder everyone is on one or more of social networking sites. What you chose as your favorite SNS says a lot about your own preferences and needs, and even reveals your personality. It says who we are in ways we wouldn’t have thought of. Check out What Your Favorite Social Network Says About You.

Published by irfanahmad1989

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#INFOGRAPHIC: LinkedIn: What's it actually good for?

An infographic that aims to dispense with all the jargon and explain what LinkedIn is good for and why jobseekers should use it.

This infographic is published by TheMolehill blog.

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#INFOGRAPHIC: The Best Times To Post On Social Networks

This infographic from Fannit proposes the best times to post on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest and blogs. Published by Media Bistro.

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10 Simple Ways To Improve Your #LinkedIn Profile

By Lisa Kalner at Social Media Today:

LinkedIn is a network that you should visit daily for professional development — whatever your employment status may be.

Is your LinkedIn profile ready to be seen by others? Here are ten suggestions to give you instant LinkedIn cred.

1. Upload a decent photo

Your LinkedIn profile photo sets the tone for everything else a viewer will experience on your page — just like match.com or Instagram. Except LinkedIn isn’t match.com or Instagram. It’s the world’s largest professional network. So that means:

• No blurry photos
• No photos of you cropped out of a group shot
• No photos of you at a ball park (unless you’re gunning to work for one)
• No avatars
• And for goodness sake, no selfies! (That’s mobile camera speak for self-portraits.)

If you don’t have money for a professional photographer, get a family member, roommate, or neighbor to take your photo against a solid colored wall. Try a few standing, then some sitting down. Get a few with a formal shirt, a few with a “business casual” top.

Or consider the low-cost approach I took: bartering with a photographer for your services or product. This was by far the best deal I made in my first year of business!

2. Your headline = you, not your job

The headline of your LinkedIn profile is highly searchable. I know that no one on LinkedIn (or Google for that matter) is looking for “founder of Sierra Tierra Marketing.” So I list something more search-friendly that speaks of what I do on a daily basis — and for which people may want to hire me. “Social media consultant specializing in analysis, strategy, and instruction. Author | Speaker | Educator” paints a much better picture of who I am and how I can help potential clients and agencies with social media marketing.

3. Make your summary shine

Don’t let the positions in the “Experience” section do all the talking about your professional abilities. Many recruiters and potential clients won’t take the time to scroll that far without incentive.

How have you excelled at your job? Why do you often get promotions? Why did that last person tap you on the back (or send you an email) with “NICE JOB!”? Find common traits and spell it out in the summary, preferably with numbers or percentages of related increases (of sales) or decreases (of expenditures).

4. Update your most recent job

Even if you’re not actively looking for employment, review what your most recent entry is under “Experience.” Do you have a new title? New responsibilities? A recent accomplishment that speaks of your professional prowess? Be sure to list those here.

5. Add visuals to your experience

LinkedIn allows you to upload images, documents, and videos to each job you list under “Experience.” Why not liven up that section with visuals that show the greatness of which you’re capable?  If you’re a graphic designer, professional organizer, or landscape artist, show off your most stunning accomplishments. If you’re a storyteller, community activist, or professional athlete, use video to show your work in action.

6. Join more groups

At times LinkedIn might not seem like it, but it is considered by many to be a social network. Demonstrate your ability to network with like-minded professionals by joining LinkedIn groups. Look at your coworkers’ and competitors’ profiles to see which groups they’ve joined — pick the best of the bunch you find there.

7. Follow some influencers

By following LinkedIn “influencers,” you give viewers a sense of which thought leaders you respect — whether it be President of the World Bank Jim Kim, industrial psychologist Dr. Marla Gottschalk, or Nancy Lublin of DoSomething.org (or all three). Influencers regularly post to LinkedIn, so you’ll also be able to comment on and share articles that are meaningful to you.

8. Follow your own company

It’s surprising how many employees do not follow their own company’s page on LinkedIn. Where’s the company pride, people? Seriously, show that you’re a proud team player and affiliate yourself with your current employer’s page.

9. Select skills and expertise that you want to be endorsed for

There is a ton of controversy over the value of LinkedIn endorsements. But you know what? They’re here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. So use them to your advantage.

Make sure that you list only the skills for which you want to receive a thumbs up. Hide skills that will not speak well to the place you are now and the path you wish to follow in your career.

10. Edit your contact information

Did you sign up for LinkedIn with your work email address? Is that address still valid? It would be a shame for you to do the nine previous steps and then have a potential client or recruiter write to an outdated address.

#INFOGRAPHIC: 22 Amazing Linkedin Stats

Did you know that there are 1.5 million groups on Linkedin? That’s 1.5 million different business niches represented among the 238 million Linkedin Users. That gives any B2B marketer a great opportunity to find and market to their target market on Linkedin.

Infographic by Wishpond.

Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

LinkedIn Launches Redesign For Groups

LinkedIn announced today that LinkedIn Groups is getting a big redesign with new customization features. Here’s what it looks like:

“The new streamlined interface also makes it easier for members to find content and engage in a Group,” says LinkedIn’s Jennifer Bunting. “On LinkedIn, members join Groups to share knowledge and network. Brands like Citi, Staples, and Capital One use Groups to build relationships with these members, drive advocacy, and generate engagement with their content marketing efforts.”

Read more >>

#INFOGRAPHIC: Social Media Spec. Guide For Content Designers

By Ashleigh Lay at Raidious:

You may not be surprised to find out that each of these social media platforms has their own graphic specifications. But you may be surprised at how many specifications there are. When I first started creating social media images, I had to look up the specs online using multiple sources. Occasionally, I still look up specs when my memory fails me (getting old is a B). It can be hassle, considering, there isn’t just one source that has all the specs I need. After months of fighting it, I decided to make my own spec guide for myself and others who have suffered my same fate. If that is you, enjoy!

by ashleighlay.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

LinkedIn Users Can Now Send Applications From Their Mobile Devices

LinkedIn members have been able to use their mobile devices to find a company and search for job openings on the network since July, but the mobile apps were missing one thing: the ability to fill out an application.

Starting today, job seekers on LinkedIn can respond to a job listing using their iOS or Android devices.

To save space on a tiny screen, LinkedIn has simplified the process by letting members use their profile details as a resume instead of attaching a separate document to their applications. They’ll also be able to quickly update their profiles before they hit the “Apply” button.

LinkedIn associate product manager Vaibhav Goel explained that ever since LinkedIn went mobile, members who never looked at job listings on their desktops before are now viewing and saving them on their phones.

Read the full story >>

7 Tips for New (and Inactive) LinkedIn Users

By Sue Cockburn at Social Media Today:

Wondering whether you should be investing time and energy in LinkedIn? Consider this statement made in a February article in the Financial Post: “LinkedIn Corp., the business-oriented service for recruiters, job seekers and corporate networking, is showing investors the sort of promise from a social networking stock that many had hoped to find in rival Facebook Inc.”

And success on the profit side means that LinkedIn is doing something right and, according to this article and others, the growth is far from over.

As mentioned last week in LinkedIn: 5 Important and Often Neglected Profile Areas, “LinkedIn is one of the most important social networks for new business owners looking to build their reputation, brand awareness, influence and network of contacts, particularly for business-to-business companies and those whose clientele tend to be white-collar.”

Last week’s article provided five important and often neglected tips to setting up your LinkedIn profile:

1. Create ‘Your public profile URL’
2. Use a Professional Photo
3. Customize the Professional Headline that shows below your name
4. Add three ‘websites’ and Twitter to your profile
5. Write a Background overview/summary role that is interesting, informative, concise and typo-free

Now that you’ve got the bare bones of your profile set up, here a few other areas to pay attention to as you develop your LinkedIn profile and online reputation.

(Asking for) Recommendations
When people don’t know us they rely on what others say about us. Recommendations are an important part of building our reputation online.

We can say anything we like about ourselves but when other people speak highly of us and are willing to put their recommendations in their own words this, obviously, has much more impact.

LinkedIn recommendations added to your profile must come from the person making the recommendation. They can’t be added by you in any other way and this adds even more weight to them.

While some suggest ‘waiting’ for others to send you their recommendation, a more proactive approach is often needed. Under ‘Profile’ in the LinkedIn navigation bar, click on ‘Recommendations’. This will take you to the area where you can request a recommendation. You will also manage and approve your recommendations through this area.

You then choose the role you’d like to be recommended for, the name of the connection you would like a recommendation from along with a place to create your request. LinkedIn provides a template that is best customized, both the subject and the content. (see below)

The Personal Touch
While LinkedIn provides a pre-completed template for you to use to request recommendations, it is better to personalize these. It will (my guess) increase the likelihood of a positive response to your recommendation request and may even increase the quality of the recommendation.

The personal touch is best in almost all cases when you ask someone to connect with you, endorse you or recommend you.

List your Experience & Accomplishments
The more information you provide, the more people will find reasons to connect with you. Think broadly about all your experience and training and think of your audience and what they might want to know as you’re completing these areas.

Add Your Skills & Expertise
Click on the ‘More’ button in the top navigation bar to find the ‘Skills & Expertise’ link where you can add these to your profile. Or, click on ‘Profile’, then ‘Edit Profile’, scroll down to the ‘Skills & Expertise’ area and click on the pencil icon.

Enter your skill or expertise in the box provided and click enter each time one so that each will show up as an individual item. LinkedIn will prompt you with standard terms and these are best used, unless they don’t fit. In some cases, you may need to create your own.

This article by Nicky Kriel goes into more detail on how to Sharpen your Skill Sets on LinkedIn.

As your connections are now able to add their endorsement to your skills and expertise, essentially agreeing you possess the skills you say you do, this area is important. That said, there is concern that the new endorsements feature may be undermining the value of the Skills & Expertise area. That’s a whole other topic! For now this area is still important as it helps people get an overall sense of your abilities.

Promote Your LinkedIn Profile Online & In Print
Add your LinkedIn profile to your email signature, your business cards, letterhead and other marketing/print materials, and to your website and social networks. Make it easy for people to find you on LinkedIn, and of course this includes creating a distinct URL or personal profile URL.

Check out our article 6 Ways To Make It Easier For People To Find You On Social Networks for other suggestions.

Connecting With Others
If you’re new to LinkedIn the first place to start is with those you know. Start by searching for those you know or by connecting with someone you know who is also connected to many of the people you know. You can also send an invitation to those you’re connected to through email by importing your email address book into LinkedIn.

Inviting people to connect with you who have no clue who you are isn’t usually good form. In some cases individuals may encourage others who don’t know them to connect with them and then that is fine. But when asking to connect with those who do not know you, a personal and tactful approach is needed. In these cases, don’t use the standard LinkedIn connect request!

Personalize your request and rather than “I’d like to add you to my professional network” tell them why you’d like to add them and/or how you know them or know of them.  An honest and professional approach to making contact is much more likely to result in a new connection than an impersonal and unprofessional approach.

One final tip, think carefully about inviting the connections of your connections to connect with you. If you discover one of your connections is connected to someone who you would like to connect with ask for an introduction or for permission to invite their connections to connect with you.

Share Interesting Stuff
As a professional network what you share on LinkedIn will be quite different from what you share on Facebook.

People are more likely to watch for your name and read your content when what you post is helpful, interesting and relevant to them.

There are many people sharing activity on LinkedIn but Richard Young, the Director of EMEA at Nimble happens to be one of the ones I pay attention to when I’m scrolling through my news feed. Why? Because Richard posts articles I haven’t necessarily seen and his posts are helpful, interesting and relevant for me.  He will occasionally promote Nimble expressly but mostly he just shares good content. The result, when I see Richard’s name come up I also think of Nimble. He is promoting the brand indirectly even when he is not mentioning their name.

As a small business owner myself, one of the first places I turn to when looking to find out more about another business or professional person, known or unknown, is LinkedIn. Often this is because when I search for them online, and if they have a LinkedIn profile, one of the first results that appears is their LinkedIn profile. This can be good news or bad news, depending on what is (or isn’t) on their profile!

The value of LinkedIn, to not only job seekers and recruiters but to small business owners and business professionals, has increased exponentially as the use of social networks has grown. Don’t neglect this important opportunity to build your online reputation and influence!