Whether you’re an individual blogger or a giant corporation, it’s very important to monitor your brand and industry’s social media presence. Millions of people flock to social media sites to share their thoughts and opinions, so even companies without Facebook or Twitter profiles would benefit from monitoring the conversation.

Once you nail down the monitoring process, you can monitor your social media presence in 10 minutes a day. There are numerous tools, such free tools like Google Alerts or Google Reader, and paid tools like Radian6 and HubSpot that streamline the monitoring process. But why should you bother?

1. Learn what people think about your brand

Monitor keywords including your brand name, product names, and key executives. This way you can learn what people are saying about your brand in the social space. This is an easy and free way to garner insight on people’s opinions of your brand. You can then tweak your social media campaign messaging accordingly.

2. Discover unmet needs in your industry

Monitor industry terms such as product types, niche topics, or relevant terms people might use when referring to your brand or industry. This serves a couple purposes:

• Direct people to your solutions. People may voice their needs for your products without realizing your product exists. You can reach out to these individuals and, without sounding overly self-promotional, make these people aware of your company’s solutions.
• Get product ideas. People come to social media to ask questions and voice their frustration when they can’t find a solution to any given problem. This gives you the opportunity to fill that untapped need and high-demand market.

3. Join the conversation and answer questions

If people have questions about your brand or industry and you have a great answer in mind, join the conversation. Only provide an answer if it provides high-value insight; don’t participate just for the sake of of participating. You also don’t need to answer every question about your brand or industry otherwise social media can become a full-time job. But answering a few questions a day can help increase brand exposure and establish your brand as a knowledge leader.

4. Become a knowledge leader in your industry

Tools such as Google Alerts will also notify you when your target terms are mentioned in blogs or news articles. Here, you’ll often have the opportunity to reply to the author in the comment section of their blog post or article. Rather than spam the comments with an ad messaging and links to your site, add value to the conversation by crafting a message based on their author’s content. You can either agree or disagree with the author, but maintain a friendly and professional tone. You can even add a disclaimer that you work for your company/blog if you want to add the plug.

5. Provide customer service

People often come to social media to rant or voice their concerns, and some of these negative remarks may be directed at your brand. This doesn’t hinder your brand; rather, it gives you an opportunity to reach out to these individuals, give them your customer service contact information, and publicly show that your brand cares about your customers and audience.

6. Keep tabs on the competition

You can also add your competitor’s names as keywords you track to keep tabs on what they’re up to. This way you can make sure you’re ahead of the curve on their latest product launches and promotions.

7. Generate content ideas

Monitoring social media will provide valuable information, including content that people are writing about your industry. Take note of at least 1-2 ideas per day; since you know people are discussing these topics in the social sphere, you know there’s interest in the topic so that if you write a similar piece on your blog, you’ll likely gain traffic and interest.

What is your biggest reason for monitoring social media for your brand/industry? Share your thoughts in the comments below!Related Posts:

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7 Top Reasons Why You Should Start a Blog

There are lots of blogs out there. 50 million or something like that. I’ve started freelance designing blogs, leading some of my friends to wonder if they should start blogs of their own (knowing they would get a massive friend-discount).

But is there a point to starting a blog when there are 50 million other blogs out there?

Is there any way to possibly break through the clutter of 50 MILLION blogs? First of all, that’s a silly question. Not all blogs are about the same topic, and I’d venture to guess that 40 million have been abandoned after a month or two. But even if you never rise to the likes of Mashable, or become a bald head of wisdom like Seth Godin, there are many personal benefits to starting your own blog.

1. Become an expert.

If you blog consistently on any topic, you’ll be an expert on that topic within a year. Sure, there might be some exceptions. Like organic chemistry or astrophysics. Or Latin. You might actually have to go to school for that.

But generally speaking, you will become more of an expert than the majority of individuals interested in that topic, and at the same time you’ll be learning yourself. There’s no better way to learn than to teach.

2. Let others know you’re an expert.

After a while, you will establish yourself as an expert. U Stand Out has definitely opened doors for me; my current employer was impressed with my blog during the interview process, so who knows where I’d be now without it? It’s also giving me the opportunity to start a freelance blog design business, and people email me, Twitter DM me, etc. to ask me questions about social media and blogging. Having your own blog will make others perceive you as an expert in your field.

3. Fuel your passion.

It’s so important to blog about something that you’re passionate about. Otherwise it simply won’t be fun. Blogging can be quite a chore, especially if you’re writing about something you don’t love 3+ days a week. But if you’re passionate about your topic, not only will you learn more about what you love, but your passion will resonate with your readers and your blog will be more successful.

4. Build your online presence.

These days, if you work in marketing having a blog is pretty necessary to establishing your personal brand if you really want to make it big. So why not in other niches? If your blog is search engine optimized, when people search for your topic in Google they will come across your content. Add an author box to the bottom of each of your posts to let readers know who you are, and you’ll gain loyal readers faster than you’d think.

5. Network in your industry or niche.

Once you build your online presence and establish yourself as an expert with your blog, it will be easier to network on sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. Prominently display your blog URL, RSS feed, etc. on your profiles, so that when you reach out to industry peers, they will look at your profile and see that you’re someone worth replying to.

6. Learn how to write

Blogging will help you learn how to write. For me, this is one of the most valuable benefits, since I’d like to write books someday (ebooks, novels, you name it). Writing is an important part of any career path, whether you’re an engineer, historian, marketer, chemist. Blogging will help hone your blogging skills, and can also help you find your unique voice.

7. Have fun.

Sorry to disappoint, but “making money” is not on this list. Such a small percentage of bloggers actually make money from blogging that I honestly didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. You shouldn’t start a blog with the sole purpose of making money (though blogging certainly helps to market a company or product you’ve already launched). The point is to have fun and learn more about what you’re passionate about.

I recently came across a blog post about how bloggers should stop blogging about blogging. (Did you have to read that twice?) They have a good point in that social media is still under-utilized by the mainstream, so there’s so much opportunity for people who know how to blog to succeed in other niches. But if you’re passionate about blogging about blogging, then blog about blogging! Don’t let anyone tell you not to blog about a certain topic just because other people are doing it; who’s to say you can’t do it better?

If you choose a niche like blogging that has a lot of competition, pursue it anyway. What’s important is that you’re passionate about what you blog about. Just because other people are blogging about the same thing doesn’t mean that you can’t do it better, or that your presence in that niche community wouldn’t be appreciated. And you’d be learning more about what you’re passionate about.

What’s your top reason for blogging? Let me know in the comments below!Related Posts:

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If you’ve ever tried to change your Facebook profile picture before, whether for your personal profile or fan page, you know how frustrating it can be. On top of Facebook’s technical glitches, which leave you wonder if you’re permanently stuck with that question mark of doom, the thumbnail never seems to look right.

On your personal profile thumbnail, you’re either a tiny speck in the distance or you’re showing off your left eyebrow. On your fan page, your brand’s logo is cut off. Here are some fan pages that still haven’t gotten it quite right:

Facebook recommends that profile pictures should be 200px wide. They height can vary up to three times the width. However, they don’t make it clear how the thumbnail that Facebook uses is generated from this picture.

You’ll find that Facebook crops images when generating a thumbnail, losing information around the edge. You can edit the thumbnail to drag it to a different part of your picture, but you cannot expand the thumbnail selection. So when you create your profile image that’s 200px wide, allow a 12 pixel border around crucial information such as a brand name or logo to allow for automatic cropping.

Also remember that Facebook thumbnails are always square, regardless of the shape of your profile image. So when designing rectangular profile pictures, make sure to keep your desired thumbnail imagery within a square boundary. Then you can edit the thumbnail selection accordingly.

What brands have you found with awkward thumbnails on Facebook? Share the links in the comments below!Related Posts:

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Adding an author box to your post footers will help build your personal brand on your blog. An about the author box helps your visitors get to know you, especially first time visitors. And it also is useful on blogs like this that are not personal FIRSTNAMELASTNAME.com blogs, and the picture helps personalize the post. This post will show you how to add an author post box to your Wordpress blog, as well as to the Thesis theme.

Step One: Add Bio Info

In your Wordpress dashboard, go to “users” and then “your profile” in the left column. Scroll down to the box “biographical info” and click “update profile.” The code we’ll add to your theme pulls the information right from your profile.

Step Two: Add the Box

Open your single.php file and locate the section that is the bottom of the post, right before the comments begin. Every Wordpress theme is different, but you’ll want to place the code below before the line “<?php comments_template(); ?>”.

<div id="authorbox">   <?php if (function_exists('get_avatar')) { echo get_avatar( get_the_author_email(), '80' ); }?>
  <div class="authortext">
    <h4>About <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?></h4>
    <p><?php the_author_description(); ?></p>     </div>
</div>

This code calls a Gravatar, which pulls a profile image based on the one you’ve assigned to your email address. If you don’t have a Gravatar account, go set one up for free.

If you are using the Thesis theme, you’ll want to add the following code to the custom_functions.php file:

function post_footer() { if (is_single())
{
?>
<div id="authorbox">
  <?php if (function_exists('get_avatar')) { echo get_avatar( get_the_author_email(), '80' ); }?>
    <div class="authortext">
      <h4>About <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?></h4>
      <p><?php the_author_description(); ?></p>
    </div>
</div>
}
}
add_action('thesis_hook_after_post_box', 'post_footer')

Step Three: Style the Box

Add the following code to your style.css (and if you’re using Thesis, add it to your custom.css file).

/* AUTHOR BOX */
#authorbox {background:#fcf8d7; border:1px solid #e2dede; width:495px; margin:0 auto; margin-bottom:0px; overflow:hidden; padding:10px;}
#authorbox h4 {font-size:16px; color:#5a5a55; margin:0; padding:0;}
.authortext {padding-left:100px;}
#authorbox img {margin:0; padding:0px; float:left; border:5px solid #e2dede;}
#authorbox p {color:#5a5a55; margin:0; padding:0px; font-size:10px;}
#authorbox h4 > a {text-decoration:none;}
#authorbox a {font-weight:bold;}

Modify the CSS to match your blog’s theme; otherwise it will look like mine.

That’s it! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.Related Posts:

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Last week, Facebook updated its platform to include more “like” features to enhance the flow of social information, and make users’ experiences online more personal and social. This “social graph” connects not only people to each other, but people to what they care about. Two of the major functionality changes with the most impact are:

- Facebook users now “like” a brand instead of becoming a fan
- The universal “like” button that can be installed on any web page

So the big questions people are asking now are how brands and users will be affected by these updates.

The Brand Perspective

As a marketer, at first I was upset to learn that users were no longer “fans” of a Facebook page, but rather people who “liked” the page. There are already so many “likes” on Facebook, it seemed like it would eliminate the distinction between a fan page and basically everything else on Facebook, such as groups, photos, or every-day status updates. But there are several reasons why the fan page likes and universal like buttons will benefit brands.

• Low barrier to entry. Becoming a fan of a page seems like more of a commitment. But “liking” a page is so simple. Users endorse your brand by liking your fan page and the action still appears on their newsfeeds, just as becoming a fan would. And now this lower-barrier action will allow your updates to appear in their newsfeeds.
• Increased brand presence. Attaching “Like” buttons to each page or piece of content on your website creates a way for users to share your brand with their friends with a single click. Again, “liking” something seems easier than “sharing” something, bringing us back to the low-barrier action. More likes for you equals more of a presence for your brand on people’s newsfeeds.
• Expose brand to non-site visitors. When site visitors click the “like” button on your site, they will allow their friends who do not visit or know about your site to discover your brand. This friend-to-friend endorsement is more powerful than traditional communications, and will help bring in new site visitors.
• Gain new insights. The like button adds another dimension of insights to your site, so you can see which of your content is most popular. Although share counters like Tweetmeme and Facebook share allow you to see how many times your content has been shares, the Facebook like button is measured in clicks; all it takes is one click to “like” your content and share it with friends.
• Gain credibility. If your brand is smaller or just getting started, adding this Facebook functionality to your site will make current site visitors more comfortable interacting with your website. Seeing that Facebook “like” graphic would spark recognition for the nearly 400 million active Facebook users who visit your site. This will equate to more brand exposure for you once visitors start clicking.

The User Perspective

Facebook users’ reflexively perceive significant Facebook updates as being invasive of their privacy, without realizing (1) the awesomeness of these features. Here are the benefits to users or (2) how easy it is to opt out. Facebook is trying to change the way we experience browsing the web, and here’s how users can benefit:

• See what your friends like. We could already see before when people became fans of a brand, so I’m not referring to the newsfeed stories; rather, the activity feeds on third party websites. One of Facebook’s social plugins is the Activity Stream. For example, if you go to CNN.com and are logged into Facebook, you can see what your friends liked on CNN.com right on CNN’s homepage. If friend activity is minimal, the feed will display activity from everyone on Facebook.

• Get recommendations. The recommendations plugin lets you see what the most-liked content on a site is amongst your friends, but some sites are taking recommendations a step further. Pandora is using the Facebook Open Graph to personalize users’ experiences. There is a stream that displays what music my Facebook friends have “liked”. Also, Pandora recommends playlists for me based on bands I have liked on Facebook.

• Easily share what you like. The universal Like button makes sharing content even easier, without dedicating too much space on your newsfeed. The newsfeed story size is the key difference between “liking” something and “sharing” something.
• Stay connected with friends. These Facebook features scattered throughout the web keeps users tuned into their friends interests, provides meaningful recommendations, and creates points of conversation. The original allure of Facebook was to be able to see what your friends are up to, and now you can see what they’re up to throughout the web.

Whether you’re a marketer or a regular Facebook user, these new instant personalization features have its perks. Continue the discussion below: What do you think the pro’s and con’s of the open graph are?Related Posts:

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If you are an admin of a Facebook fan page, you’ll know that there aren’t many ways to customize a fan page with only its default applications. Although you can post different types of content, the design of and layout of your page is the same as a regular Facebook profile. Creating a Facebook landing page will help your fan page stand out.

There are several Facebook applications you can install on your fan page that will allow you to create a customized landing page. These pages can be used to encourage viewers to become a fan of your page, promote products and deals, or provide coupons or other incentives.

Here are some examples of Facebook pages with customized landing pages:

• Coca Cola
• Reese’s
• Dunkin’ Donuts
• Pringles

Here are the steps to follow to create your own Facebook landing page:

1. Add the Static FBML application

The first thing to do is add the Static FBML application. Static FBML allows you to add advanced functionality to your page. It’s basically a blank canvas to which you can use HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language) to create a mini-webpage right on your fan page.

Upon clicking “Add to Application,” select the page you’d like to add Static FBML to and click “Add to Page”.

2. Add content to your Facebook landing page

After adding the application to your pace, click “Edit Page” below your page’s profile image. Scroll down to the FBML application and click “Edit”.

The “Box Title” will be the name of your tab. The main text field is where you can add content and standard HTML. Just like any website, you can add images (hosted elsewhere), text, links, and other formatting. Do not add HTML, HEAD, or BODY tags.

3. Set up a tab for the landing page

Click “Edit Page” below your page’s profile image. Scroll down to the FBML application and click “Application Settings”.

Each FBML page can function as a full tab (which we’re doing here) or a box in the left-hand column of your page’s wall tab. When creating a landing page, make sure the “Tab” setting is added and the “Box” setting is removed.

4. Make the FBML tab the default landing page

If you want this customized tab to be the default landing page, so that it’s the first thing a new user sees upon entering your fan page, go back to your page settings and select “Wall Settings”.

In the “Default Landing Page for Everyone Else” dropdown, select your new custom FBML tab.

5. Test your new FBML tab

Make sure that your FBML tab looks right. To make sure that your FBML page appears as the default tab for non-fans, log out of Facebook and visit your fan page.

Have you created a customized Facebook landing page for your Facebook fan page? Showcase yours by linking to your fan page in the comments below!

Related Posts:

How to Get More Facebook Page Likes Using Exclusive Content
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Facebook launched a new feature yesterday that allows fan pages to target updates by geography and language. Admins of fan pages have access to this option, and this functionality will be great for local and global brand integration.

This will be great for brands considering creating separate pages in order to gain an international social presence; now they won’t have to. All international updates, in all different languages, can now live on the same fan page.

The functionality is very simple to use. First click the target symbol next to the “Share” button under the status bar.

Then select your location and language targets. For location, you can drill down by country, state/province, or city. Language is self-explanatory, and you can use it in conjunction with geo-targeting or by itself.

That’s it! Happy targeting.

Become a fan of U Stand Out for the latest news in social media.

Follow my awesome tweets.Related Posts:

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About two months ago, @ mentions went live on Facebook, mimicking the way @ replies work on Twitter. The “social media experts” exclaimed that it would be Twitter’s downfall. Yet very few people actually use @ mentions on Facebook. Fewer understand what the benefits are. And even fewer know the functionality exists.

Way to go, “social media experts.”

What are Facebook @ Mentions?

Mentions are similar to @ replies on Twitter. In your status box, when you enter the @ symbol and then start typing a friend’s name, the friend selector dropdown appears allowing you to select which friend you’re referring to.

I want to write a status update thanking my friend Melanie for agreeing to appear in my blog post. So I start typing @ and then her name.

Oh look. There she is. I click on her, then finish typing my message.

Cool. Now her name within my status update links to her profile.

But wait, look at this. My post mentioning her appears on her wall, too. Clever, Facebook. Very clever.

What the does this have to do with fan pages?

Fans of your page can mention the page in their status updates, and their status update will appear directly on your wall. So I can mention one of my clients Harley-Davidson in my status update (since I am a fan), and it will appear on Harley-Davidson’s wall.

That’s neat. Unfortunately, only 2% of Facebook users know they can do this.

Facebook pages can mention each other

This is the cool part. A fan page cannot write on the wall of another fan page. However, a fan page can mention another page in a status update and the update will appear on the mentioned page’s wall automatically, along with whatever content you’ve posted (link, poll, photos, you name it).

I created this awesome test page so I could show you an example of one page writing on the Fan Page of this blog, U Stand Out.

What’s the catch? The fan page you’re mentioning has to list you as a favorite in order for your update to appear on their wall. Otherwise your post will link to their page without them returning the favor.

But say you have a company with a subdivision (like Frosted Mini Wheats are to Kellogg’s), and both have fan pages, you can favorite each other and mention each other like crazy. Fans of one page will (hypothetically) flock to the other, and vice versa. Or you can contact the admins of the page and ask to be favorited, which is tricky since it isn’t made public who the admins are.

And don’t forget that as the admin of your page, you have to be a fan of the other page in order to mention it.

In conclusion, if you know every minuscule detail about Facebook functionality, you might get your brand a little exposure.

Otherwise, you have to be Coca-Cola. Or read this blog, which fortunately you do.

Become a fan of this blog to continue getting smarter about social media.

Follow me here to read my awesome tweets.Related Posts:

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If you’re new to Twitter (yes, many people still are new), getting followers can seem like rocket science. Twitter has evolved since a year ago, when everyone followed everyone back. Now social media is a glamorous affair, with celebrities, companies, and CEO’s joining the party. Now there are tens of millions of people on Twitter, and they’re more picky about who they follow back.

The biggest influence in the decision is interests and how much you have in common. When you follow someone, they’ll get an email notification from which they can click on your profile to see if they should follow you back. The decision is often made within seconds, so it’s important that your interests jump off the page.

1. Have a bio

You have 160 characters to write a bit about yourself that goes on the right column of your Twitter page. Don’t neglect the bio! It will also appear on various Twitter directories, and you’re more likely to be overlooked if the bio isn’t present.

If you’re a company, describe what your product/service is all about, and perhaps include who is the Twitter rep at the company. And if you’re an individual, describe your profession (if relevant) and some other personal interests. Here are some good examples of Twitter bios:

Dunkin Donuts: Dunkin’ Dave here, tweeting on the behalf of the DD mothership. I’m an American and I’m certifiably running on Dunkin’.

Ford: Feel the difference. Account run by @ScottMonty (^SM), @gwenj (^GP), digital communications, @MSchirmerFord, global vehicles comms (^MHS)

Harry Gold: Founder & CEO of Overdrive Interactive (@ovrdrv). Frequent lecturer on online marketing, and leader of search & social campaigns for many Fortune 500 companies.

2. Have an engaging background image

When people come to your page, the background is the first thing they’ll take in. This is a good opportunity to share more about yourself without a character limit restriction. Here are some good elements to have in a background:

• A picture of yourself or your product (after all, the user icons are so tiny)
• Important URLs, including your website, blog, Facebook page, etc.
• Other methods of contacting you, including an email address
• If you’re a company with Twitter reps, list th em (including short bios, photos, and perhaps a legend used within tweets to indicate who’s tweeting)

Here are a couple good examples of Twitter backgrounds:

Southwest Airlines:

Southwest Airline's Twitter Page

Verizon:

Verizon's Twitter Page

3. Talk about more than just yourself

It’s ok to talk about yourself on Twitter, but not in every tweet. Most people don’t want to follow purely self-promoting individuals or companies. For example, if you work in marketing, don’t only post about your own company’s accomplishments. Post articles other industry-related articles, perhaps about other campaigns that you admire. If you’re a car company, don’t only post about your products or campaigns; post articles about how to get the best gas mileage, tips for upkeep, etc.

4. Reply often

Other people on Twitter want to know that if they follow you back, they’ll actually be able to interact with you. They want to know that they’ll be able to ask you a question and not feel like they’re just talking to empty space. So have a variety of retweets and @ replies mixed in with the rest of your tweets.

You’d be surprised how many individuals and companies alike overlook these steps, but these basic elements will help others decide whether or not to follow you. What do you think are the most important factors people look at when deciding whether or not to follow you? Let me know in the comments!

I originally wrote this post for my company Overdrive Interactive’s blog. Overdrive Interactive is a full-service online marketing agency based in Boston that specializes in online media, social media, and search engine marketing campaigns and services.Related Posts:

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Social icons are important for both encouraging users to share your content and promoting your presence on social networks. So here is a large selection of social icons in different colors to fit the color scheme or your website or blog:

They are available in 20×20, 40×40, and 60×60. Right click and save each social icon individually, or click on an icon to download the entire icon pack (.zip file). If you have any color or size requests, leave a comment and I will add them as soon as I can.

If you use one of these images, donations or links back to this site are much appreciated!

40×40 Social Icons

20×20 Social Icons

60×60 Social Icons

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