Ever been sidelined with a tough social media question in your monthly board meeting? Or hop on the phone with a client and get hit with a few doozies you wish you’d been prepared for? Questions about the social media industry, where it’s been, and where it’s going are the stuff for experts — and in your job, you’re the social media expert. So to help prepare you, HubSpot and Who’s Blogging What got in touch with 8 of the industry’s best and brightest to get their take on some of the high-level issues social media marketers are facing.

We asked them one question: What surprised you about social media in 2011, and how did it affect your planning for 2012? Their responses brought to light some important issues for social media marketers this year that we think you should know. For a condensed one-sheet of their answers, download the visual pictured below here (as well as other pearls of marketing wisdom from industry experts!). We’ve also taken their insights and broken out what we think you should know about the issues they brought up. Take a look at their answers to the question below, and get up to date on the tough social media issues they brought up in which marketers should be well versed.

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Seth Godin on the Ebbing of Privacy

“I think the relentlessly ebbing of perceived privacy is happening faster than most people thought it would. This is leading to both small pockets of frustrated, trapped people who are afraid of what’s known about them, and a larger portion of the population that’s redefining what they think is normal. We haven’t had privacy for decades, but the social web is making that really clear.” - Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog

Marketer’s Takeaway: A key part of Seth’s insights is the phrase “perceived privacy.” He’s right. We haven’t had privacy for a while now, but as consumers get more savvy — and use social media more frequently to interact with brands — businesses are also being forced to reckon with their role in protecting consumers’ data and information.

What social networks do you use in your business, and for what purpose? If you’re doing customer service on Twitter, for example, are you operating it in such a way that there are sufficient safeguards for the sensitive information being transmitted between you and your customers? Or perhaps you’ve developed a mobile app. To maintain trust, the onus is on you to be public about how your app will access and use your leads’ and customers’ information. When the wool gets pulled over peoples’ eyes about how their information is used and then suddenly, at some point in the future, they become aware you weren’t playing by the same rules — that’s when you lose the trust of the social fan base you worked hard to acquire.

Jeff Bullas’ 7 Surprises

Jeff Bullas of JeffBullas.com noted 7 social media surprises from 2011:

• In July, Google+ launched, a new social network that no one apparently wanted. It reached 25 million users in less than 30 days.
• Facebook rolled out a stronger visual format for its user interface with its much more engaging “Timeline.”
• The rise of the micro-blogging platform Tumblr (10 million to 90 million users in 12 months).
• The explosion of the social apps on Facebook.
• Popularity of the infographic.
• Revival of Stumbleupon.
• The emergence of the visual online pinboard, Pinterest.

Marketer’s Takeaway: There are tons of new social networks popping up, old ones fading into oblivion, and sometimes — making an unexpected comeback. On top of that, there are new developments — Open Graph, new page structures, the emergence of dedicated brand pages, new ad platforms — that make a marketer’s life feel infinitely more complicated. But not every marketer needs to be on every social network. And not every feature needs to be utilized on those you are using, either.

You should, however, experiment with new networks and features, even if they don’t seem immediately applicable to your brand or industry. Take Pinterest, for example. It seems like a B2C marketer’s playground, but B2B brands have found success there, too, including your very own HubSpot. So while you should pick and choose what’s right for your business, never discount a social network or its features without running an experiment first.

Linda Bustos on Google+

“I have to say Google Plus. I notice that retweets of my blog’s articles are down since its launch, understandably, especially since Google Reader removed other sharing options in favor of the Plus button. This poses a couple of challenges — can I compare today’s Twitter engagement scores to last year’s? How do I reconcile this in my social analytics? Do I need to invest as much time in this new network as Twitter? Is it the same audience? Is doubling up tweets/shares going to hurt my social networking efforts? I’m also surprised that there’s room for another social network. This and new sites like Pinterest show us there’s still room for new social networks, provided they offer something Twitter and Facebook don’t.” – Linda Buston, Get Elastic

Marketer’s Takeaway: Be an integrated, agile inbound marketer. All of these social media changes happened in one short year. If you’re not willing to adapt your tactics, or you’re relying too much on any one tactic, you could find yourself with a serious traffic and lead shortage based off of just one platform update. That’s too little control for a marketer.

Instead, marketers should diversify their traffic and lead sources, and integrate them with one another. If you haven’t already, begin integrating your email and social media, blogging and social media, PPC and blogging, and everything else. If you stay agile and integrated, when one feature or network begins to underperform, you won’t be left treading water (or drowning). That gives people like Linda the ability to run experiments around the questions she raised — pose a question, formulate a hypothesis, run the experiment, analyze the results, then iterate. Great agile marketers aren’t afraid of failure — just standing still!

The Value of Split Seconds With Kyle Lacy

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised by the advancement of tools like Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook. We are moving to a world where the split second capturing of a memory is more important than taking the time to write a “post.” It is up to us, as marketers, to develop systems that fully enable a consumer to speak with our brand. I’m looking for 2012 to be the year of integration and interactive marketing hubs that will fully utilize and deliver social.” – Kyle Lacy, Kylelacy.com

Marketer’s Takeaway: We’re all getting better at setting up a social presence that lets consumers speak with our brand, but what Kyle hits on here is that we must set up systems that “fully enable” that conversation. 80% of success isn’t just showing up with social media. We must all become expert social monitors, and not shy away from social media automation when used correctly. We have two blog posts that help you understand when to automate your social presence, and when it is right, how to automate social media correctly.

Sarah Worsham Taken by Mobile

“How fast smartphone adoption has been, and how people are using them (e.g. for checking prices in store, connecting to their friends all the time, etc.)” – Sarah Worsham, Sazbean Consulting

Marketer’s Takeaway: 2012 is the year to go mobile. Smartphone users are set to increase to 107 million this year from 90 million in 2011; ereader users will increase from 33 million in 2011 to 46 million; and tablet users will jump from 34 million in 2011 to 55 million. On top of that, mobile browsing is steadily rising, and those consumers know exactly what they’re looking for when they’re doing it — things like store hours, price comparisons, reviews, and coupons.

All marketers should be optimizing for mobile. But if you’re running a local or brick-and-mortar business, it’s paramount to your success that 2012 be the year you go mobile. That means you should optimize your site for mobile browsing, optimize your emails for mobile consumption, experiment with mobile apps and mobile advertising if it’s relevant to your business, and get started with mobile SEO, too.

Ian Lurie Ties Social and Analytics

“I’m still more surprised by everyone’s failure to connect social media to indirect value contributed to their company. I just can’t get my head around why folks find it so difficult to equate online customer conversations with offline customer conversations. We’ve invested a lot of time and effort (and money!) in better social media analytics, so that we can better close this loop.” – Ian Lurie, Conversation Marketing

Marketer’s Takeaway: Many marketers assume social media is important to their company, but it’s a common struggle to justify the resources they’re putting into it — especially to a CMO who’s more comfortable with old-school tactics. That’s why inbound marketers need to invest in closed-loop analytics to help track leads from their point of first conversion through to the moment they become a customer. When you can look back and see documentation that not only did social media definitely contribute to a new customer, but that it also brings in new leads, you’ll have an easier time justifying your social media marketing program.

Sharlyn Lauby Incorporates New Social Networks

“What surprised me most about social media in 2011 was the meaningful emergence of so many social networks outside of Facebook and Twitter, such as Instagram, Foursquare, Pinterest, and, most notably, Google+. After what seems like countless failed attempts at social by Google (Buzz, Wave, Orkut, etc.), Google+ is already enough of a hit to force marketers to leverage, if only for its search implications. Our 2012 planning therefore will include a plan for all clients on Facebook, Twitter & Google+, as well as other emerging social networks as needed.” – Sharlyn Lauby, HR Bartender

Marketer’s Takeaway: The incorporation of Google+ into organic search is a controversial but undoubtedly important aspect of the social media changes from late 2011 and early 2012. Regardless of your opinion of every other facet of Google+ as a social network, if SEO is important to you, you’ll be hard pressed to totally ignore it if you’re trying to implement an organic search program without any holes. If you’re leveraging Google+ to improve your organic search presence, we’ve written a Google+ SEO guide with some tactics that will help you do it.

Priit Kallas Now Believes in Just One General Purpose Social Networking Site

“Failure of Google+ launch. This has confirmed my belief that there can be only one general purpose social networking site with a little activity on specialty sites like Twitter and LinkedIn. So, when planning, concentrate on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and verticals.” – Priit Kallas, Dream Grow Social Media

Marketer’s Takeaway: Speaking of Google+, the new social network’s launch has confirmed Priit’s belief in one general purpose social network, flanked by several niche social networks. This is absolutely the way social media usage appears to be going. In research published on the very subject, eMarketer researcher Kimberly Maul notes, “Many internet users are turning…to social networks that offer a more focused experience than Facebook. In the case of several popular or up-and-coming sites, this means giving users the ability to express themselves.”

Marketers investing in their social media presence should invest time in personalizing the experience for fans and followers. Using Google+? Set up persona-targeted Circles. Using LinkedIn? Target your product tabs to a customized audience. Dedicating time to Pinterest? Make boards that appeal to all of your audience, not just one segment. The more personalized you can make your social experience, the more you’ll get out of the investment you put into the social networks that end up being right for your audience.

What are some of the toughest social media questions you face? Share your challenges (and solutions, if you like!) in the comments.

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There are many valuable social media platforms for marketing, but arguably the hottest and most talked about platform right now is Pinterest. We recently spoke with two self-described Pinterest “power users,” who also happen to be marketers with some ideas on how practitioners should approach the social platform.
Marketingsherpa Blog

Do you prune? Personally or professionally?

According to new numbers from Pew Research, social media pruning is on the rise and it’s no wonder. Look at how the typical, personal, social media profile grows. They start with friends, then there are the obligatory follows (relatives, co-workers. . . ), brands with deals and coupons and the games you play. Before you know it, your newsfeed is moving faster than a vaudevillian quick-change artist.

That’s when people start pruning.

63% of [the social media users Pew surveyed] said they have deleted people from their “friends” lists, up from 56% in 2009.

Understandable. But how about this?

44% have deleted comments made by others on their profile; and 37% have removed their names from photos that were tagged to identify them.

Now we’re not talking about clearing the clutter. Now we’re talking about filtering what people see and say about you. Interesting.

How do you suppose these numbers would play out if you were talking business fan pages and profiles? Deleting a follower on Facebook would be a rare thing but I have deleted many followers on business Twitter accounts. I feel that the people who follow a business should reflect the business itself. Because of that, I remove spammers and inappropriate accounts. I don’t know if anyone actually skims the feeds or followers of a business, but just the same, I don’t want adult language showing up in the stream.

As for deleting comments, that’s a tricky one. We’ve looked at a number of instances where a fan page turned into a battleground full of angry customers. Deleting those comments usually leads to more and worse.

For the one time complainer, I’d recommend leaving the comment and responding with a solution. If your mistake leads to an angry mob, apologize then wait for the action to fall off the front page.

Comments I do delete include spam and anything with foul language.

The worst thing you can do is ignore complaints and inappropriate comments. It makes it look like no one is monitoring the site and that’s not good for business.

What do you think? Would you delete a whole thread on Facebook if the comments turned ugly? Or is it a bad business decision to censor what your customers have to say?

Marketing Pilgrim’s Social Channel is proudly sponsored by Full Sail University, where you can earn your Masters of Science Degree in Internet Marketing in less than 2 years. Visit FullSail.edu for more information.

Marketing Pilgrim – Internet News and Opinion

Interview with google’s founder Sergey Brin

Living in the U.S., we often use social media to reach domestic customers. But as social networking expands worldwide, the size of the audience we could be reaching has multiplied. Read on for some of the statistics and findings from the comScore’s report, “It’s a Social World.”
Marketingsherpa Blog

Women may be tops when it comes to communicating but online, they’re more careful about what they say and to whom.

A new study from UK company uSamp shows that overall, men were more apt to share personal information online, topping women in every area except one – brand’s liked.

78% of the UK women surveyed said they’d be happy to share information about what they buy and even 74% of men said they’d share that info, too.

One of the biggest gaps between “I’d share” and “I wouldn’t” was date of birth. 55% of men said they’d share their birth date but only 45% of women were willing to admit how old they were.

Men were also much more willing to share their phone number online, 12% vs only 4% of women.

The phone number, like the home address are security issues. But income was another taboo subject with men coming in the highest at only 10%.

The big surprise? 70% of women were happy to share their relationship status. Men actually topped that number with 73%. The survey didn’t say, but I wonder how many of those men were married.

Education and occupation were too other bits of info that scored high on the “happy to share” scale.

The survey doesn’t only relate to public, social sharing. It can be inferred that folks feel the same way about sharing this information with websites and retailers. Keep this in mind when you’re putting together your registration screen and profile pages. More and more sites are making a phone number a required box and that’s likely to drive away customers. Feel free to ask for the moon, but don’t require your potential customers to give out more info than you really need to service them properly.

Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Marketing Pilgrim – Internet News and Opinion

Email Summit 2012 keynote speaker Brian Solis offered some big ideas on mobile, social and email integration, including data points on the growing market of social and mobile users. He also offered eight points to create an integrated digital marketing strategy.
Marketingsherpa Blog

Which is better? 50 qualified social media followers, or 1,000 followers, many of whom will never buy from you? The answer may surprise you.

In social media, reach is of critical importance. It directly impacts how much your content and messages get shared, it increases your business’ ability to get found and generate leads, it can help extend your online footprint as a thought leader, and the list goes on. In other words, in an online world, social reach shouldn’t be a trivial factor for businesses leveraging inbound marketing. So, have you figured out what the right answer to our first question is yet? If the title of this article wasn’t enough of a hint, yes, more followers is always better.

It may seem obvious (more is always better….right?), but a lot of businesses fall into the trap of thinking fewer and more qualified is better. In this case, here’s why it’s not…

1. More followers means access to more followers’ followers.

This concept, albeit simple, is pivotal to understanding the overall importance of reach, so here goes. Think about it: Every one of your fans/followers also has his/her own followers, be it 5, 500, or 5,000. Let’s say that a follower who has 5,000 Twitter followers of his own shares one of your blog posts or retweets one of your tweets. Now, that content is getting exposed to 5,000 additional people who weren’t directly following you. If you can understand that every one of your fans/followers might share your content with their friends and followers, now you can start understanding the awesome impact of reach. So even if that original follower of yours never becomes a customer himself, that doesn’t mean one of his followers who saw your content because of him won’t. Now that’s some powerful stuff.

2. Influencers have, well, influence.

If you can build up a large following for your business in social media, you probably have a few influencers among the bunch. While these influencers may follow but never buy from you, remember that these people are called influencers for a reason. They can introduce you to co-marketing partnerships, put in a good word with investors, and provide introductions to other influencers, bloggers, and experts in your industry. For example, if you can solicit an introduction from an influencer to another industry blogger that you can contribute a guest blog post to, you’ll probably benefit from a couple of inbound links. That follower may not have contributed any direct revenue to your business, but those inbound links are very valuable.   

3. Followers who won’t ever buy can still refer your business.

Indirect exposure to your followers’ personal networks can be an invaluable source of business. Okay, so Frank the Facebook fan may never actually purchase your industrial vacuum cleaner for his teeny tiny small business office. But when his buddy, landlord Lenny, is searching for a new one for the apartment building he owns, Facebook fan Frank might just refer you some highly qualified business. Even if landlord Lenny isn’t the type to participate in social media himself, his good buddy Frank is. Need I say more?

4. Social shares impact SEO.

The impact social media is having on SEO is only increasing. Search engines are taking social cues like social media shares into account when they’re ranking your content, which means the more people you can get to share your content in social media, the better.

Let’s say you own a dog grooming business, and you and one of your competitors each wrote a blog article about how to take care of your dog’s coat in between visits to the groomer. But let’s also say your competitor has 10 times as many social media followers than you and his article got tweeted 50 times, generated 20 likes on Facebook, and got quite a few shares on LinkedIn and Google+, too. All of a sudden, your competitor has quite a leg up when it comes to getting his article ranked in search ahead of yours. In other words, because social shares are now one of the factors search engines take into consideration when ranking your content, it behooves you to build up your following and encourage those social shares. If you tweeted your article and you have 1,000 followers compared to your competitors’ 50 followers, you have a much better chance of generating social shares and a much better chance of ranking in search. Those people who shared your content may never become customers of your dog grooming business themselves, but someone who finds your article in search because of them might.

5. Your followers might surprise you.

If you’ve been doing your research and spending time developing buyer personas, you likely have a pretty solid grasp on who your ideal customers are. That’s all well and good, but if you have a very narrow-minded idea of who exactly will buy your products and services, you could actually miss out on a completely different set of people who might also buy from you.

To use a classic example, the makers of baking soda had a very specific use case in mind for their product: baking. But we all know that the uses for baking soda extend way beyond baking –  it can also be used to extinguish small electrical fires, for personal hygiene, and as a cleaning agent, to name a few. And you can bet that some people who buy baking soda never even use it for baking.

The lesson here is that building up a large following in social media could expose your brand and products to a group — or groups — of people you might never have thought would be interested in what you sell. Your product or service may not have completely different, original uses like baking soda does, but your followers could still surprise you. Just because a social media follower doesn’t fall neatly into one of your cookie cutter buyer personas, doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t buy from you.

Always Be Working to Build Social Reach

The ultimate takeaway here is this: just because followers may not directly turn into customers doesn’t mean they’re not valuable. Social media reach can be a powerful thing for any business, and the ones who understand this know that continuing to build reach is a smart social media tactic.

If building reach isn’t something you’re consciously doing, you may want to start working to attract more fans and followers for your social media accounts. In this article, we’ve got some great tips for building reach that can help get you going. Doing so can greatly increase the impact and ROI of your social media efforts. And if you’re having a tough time convincing your boss that building reach is important, share this article with them

In what ways are you working to regularly increase your business’ social reach?

Image Credit: Caitlin Doe

Connect with HubSpot:

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Complete Google Conversion University presentation by Stephanie Hsu. www.google.com

In preparation of Email Summit 2012, we had the chance to speak with Larry Dreves, founder and CEO, Janrain, about the social channel in more general terms, and to get his take on where it is heading and what marketers should be thinking about over the next six to 12 months. Here is what Larry had to say …
Marketingsherpa Blog

We have insight and advice from Loren McDonald, Vice President of Industry Relations, Silverpop, an email and marketing automation vendor. Social media marketing is an important channel for both B2B and B2C marketers, and Loren offers up a valuable perspective on the topic and some actionable takeaways to maximize that channel over the rest of this year ….
Marketingsherpa Blog

It’s time to teach that old dog some new tricks.

That old dog I’m referring to is social media.

Sure, you’re already blogging, and on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, and more. Great.

But I’m telling you — there’s more to social media than meets the eye. The final chapter on social media hasn’t been written.

When I kicked off my writing business in April, I decided to use social media my way.

I approached these overused networks as if I’d never heard of them. I made my own rules. I set different expectations. You could say I wrote my own chapter on social media marketing.

It made my website — and my business — better.

Here’s what I came up with, and how you can incorporate these features into your own marketing plan.

1. YouTube: For a bit of drama

YouTube’s not just for viral cat videos and covers of Justin Bieber songs.

I uploaded images of my best-looking writing clips, then stitched together a video portfolio on iMovie. (Take screen shots or scan documents if you don’t have original files.)

I like to think of it as my “me trailer” complete with sound effects, music, and dramatic editing.

Once I posted it to YouTube, I embedded it on my website and added a burst that says, “Click Here to See My Trailer!”

It’s super nerdy. It’s unconventional. It’s me.

Most importantly, it advertises my services in a fresh way and shows all of my specialties in less than three minutes. It’s not about getting the most YouTube views, it’s about getting business.

And it has Star Wars references. (Not required for success.)

Takeaway: Videos make your site more interesting and show your personality. A welcome video can introduce clients to your site. A video biography can turn you from a static picture into a new friend. Most computers, cameras, or phones provide all of the movie-making software you need.

2. Foursquare: For showing off

The location-based site and mobile app lets users “check-in” to venues like restaurants, famous landmarks, and their own homes in pursuit of badges and points.

Foursquare users can friend others and also follow their favorite brands’ pages. Upon unsuspectingly checking in to one of the brand’s favorite venues, a tip will pop up from said brand.

I took advantage of this feature and created my own brand page on Foursquare. But what kind of tips would I share with my followers? The best places to find free wi-fi around the world. Who doesn’t enjoy a free connection, plentiful plugs, and good coffee?

Now when people follow my page and check in to a location near one of my top wi-fi spots, a little pop-up box on their Foursquare app will remind them of my business and how helpful I am.

I even created a Foursquare venue for my writing business. So other nearby businesses — the original The Onion headquarters is steps away — know that I’m here. And I’m ready to rock.

Takeaway: Maybe you’re a movie critic who knows the best theaters around the country. Or a fashion blogger who knows all the top boutiques in New York City. Or a roaming travel writer who knows the best cheap eats from coast to coast. Share’em on your favorite social review site.

3. Pinterest: For going viral

Are you obsessed with Pinterest yet? Pin + interest = Pinterest. It’s a digital pin board site where users “pin” their favorite images to themed boards. You can follow other users’ boards and “re-pin” their content.

I run a little travel blog on the side because I’m working on breaking into travel writing. Pinterest and its cult following seemed like the perfect place to showcase my own travel photography in hopes of a little viral action.

So I created a Pinterest account for my travel blog and I pinned my images to boards like “Pretty Travel Pics” and “Must-Do Travel Experiences.”

I pinned other people’s images, too. This isn’t all about me — you gotta show some love to get some love.

My personal photography has been re-pinned oodles of times and every pic links back to my travel blog. Instant traffic.

If I’m lucky, my pins will appear on the Pinterest home page. Just another unusual way to get my name out there.

Takeaway: Image-based sites like Pinterest, Flickr, and Instagram aren’t just for photographers. If you’re a food blogger, showcase pics of your best recipes. If you’re a tech reporter, gather images of your favorite gadgets.

4. Facebook: For looking important

Every business has a Facebook page, but why did my business need one?

I decided to designate my official Facebook page as a newsfeed of all the things I’ve written.

It’s a vertical version of my portfolio and another way potential clients can see what I’ve been working on — especially what I’ve been working on this week.

Sure, the page won’t get a whole lot of ‘likes’ and my mom is the only person who ‘likes’ my posts regularly (thanks, Mom!), but that’s not the goal of my Facebook page.

It’s there to display my latest clients and clips. And to show that I know how to build Facebook pages – I’m a social media consultant after all.

Takeaway: There’s a cookie cutter social media plan that’s been set in front of us all. But if it doesn’t make sense for your business, don’t follow it.

5. Amazon Associates: for bragging

Amazon Associates is an affiliate program for Amazon.com products. Create an online store (complete with your own URL), fill it with hand-picked items, and you’ll get money for each completed purchase.

I decided to create my own “aStore” as they’re called, not to make money but to show off my latest books and the publications I’m featured in.

I’m simply taking advantage of Amazon’s free social shopping features for my own benefit. I don’t want the money.

I uploaded a branded header image similar to the image on my Foursquare page, Facebook page, and website.

I created a page called “Aubre Andrus Books” and included text explaining that I have five books coming out over the next two years.

I’m able to brag without looking like I’m bragging. And when my books come out, I’ll have a stocked store. Impressive, right?

Takeaway: There are a lot of free widgets and plug-ins out there that can make your business better. Don’t let a little html or an affiliate contract scare you.

Now, it’s your turn …

Choose the social networks that excite you, then throw the rules to the wayside.

This is all about doing it your way.

How do you use social media differently?

Do you use Google+ or Twitter in a way that make you stand out from the competition? Share your strategies in the comments below!

About the Author: Aubre Andrus writes for her favorite brands and publications as an author, creative copywriter, professional blogger, social media consultant, and roaming reporter. You can follow her on Twitter @aubreandrus or visit her website and portfolio.

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