Social Media Zoom Factor with Pam Moore | Social Media Marketing | Branding |Business | Entrepreneur | Small Business | Digital Marketing | Content Marketing | Marketing | Influencer

The new always on, always connected, digital and social world provide amazing opportunities for smart digital brand marketers and business leaders to develop, test, and launch marketing programs, campaigns, products and services to market in far less time than days past. Gone are the days of waiting weeks and months to see how a multi-touch direct mail campaign performs to receive feedback on how well the program and message was received and acted upon by the target audience. Thanks to social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope and even native Twitter video, marketers can literally obtain real-time customer insight within seconds and begin using such data to optimize their digital and social marketing programs for the highest success and ROI possible. Social media is equivalent to one big fat focus group that never sleeps. There is not a time of day or night that you can't crawl up in your cozy chair with your laptop and learn what people think of you and your brand. It's there for the taking. Smart marketers know how to tap into the research and testing power of the social networks without becoming a spammer. Would you like to... know how your new message and brand platform resonates with your audience? know what people think of your brand? pre-test campaign themes before launch to best optimize for success? know what people think of your latest campaign? understand what visuals are going to drive action? know what call to actions will drive the highest conversion using social media? how to design your website or blog for highest traffic, engagement and conversion? know what content will drive social conversation, conversion and ROI? know what marketing mediums such as audio, video or text your audience will best respond to? test visual marketing campaigns before launch? know the goals and objectives of your audience? know the best times to publish on each of the social networks to better achieve your business objectives? The answers to all of these questions and more are available for the taking by smart digital marketers who know how to tap into the power of social media marketing to learn, tweak, rinse, repeat and optimize! Take a listen to the 187th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 8 ways you can leverage social media for test your own marketing with social media starting today! Be sure to subscribe to this entire brand new series, "Get Fit Social and Digital Business" on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: 8 ways to use social media to test your own marketing and social media programs How to test headlines for blog posts within seconds How to pre-test marketing programs and campaigns prior to launch How to save time with marketing and program development by using social media How to test content marketing programs How to test visual marketing programsHow to conduct a/b tests using social mediaHow to leverage social media to select the best mediums for your audienceHow to measure results of your own posts to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and more How to understand the impact of different mediums and actions for posting content such as tagging, using urls, hashtags and more How to test different marketing call to actions, offers, events, milestones

Social media presents tremendous opportunities for digital and social brand marketers to conduct market research. Long gone are the days of spending months and years in long drawn out focus groups, hiring expensive 3rd parties to gather people, rent expensive venues, pay for their insight, analyze the data for months and the list goes on. While there may be times that these longer research projects are required, most modern businesses of today don't need them as often as they may think they do. Social networks present all of us with focus groups that are alive and dynamic 24/7, 365 days of the year. Any time of day or night there are people online, ready to engage and likely give you feedback by way of their actions or conversations. It is important for marketers to focus on the needs of their customer as a top priority before developing any marketing program, campaign or piece of content marketing. Would you like to learn... what people think about your brand?What people think of your service?What people think of your employees?What people think of your store location?What people think of your website or blog?What people think of your content?What people think of your competition?What people think of industry influencer in your niche?Many of these answers are only a click or two away for smart marketers who know how to find the information needed. The goal is not to purchase the top 10 social monitoring and analysis tools. The goal is to select the tools and technology that will help the brand achieve the desired business goals and objectives. Marketers must have the power to select new shiny objects selectively and know when a new tool or technology is going to provide real and measurable value to their audience and the brand itself. Do you know the emotional driver behind the actions your audience and customers take online or offline? It is critical that brand leaders understand what is driving their audience and customers action. Why are they clicking? Why are they engaging? Why are they choosing to take a certain action? What is the business or personal driver inspiring them to take such an action? What was the emotion behind the specific driver of the action? Take a listen to the 186th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 5 easy ways you can leverage social media for customer and market research today. Be sure to subscribe to this entire brand new series, "Get Fit Social and Digital Business" on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: 5 Easy ways to use social media for customer and market researchHow to leverage social media to learn more about your marketTop social media research tools and technology (free and paid)Why you must know your audienceWhy you should focus on the relationship with your audience as an input to the type of research you need to doHow you can leverage social media to better understand your industryHow to leverage social media research to create content for your audience that will inspire and connect with them in a human wayImportance of understanding what content your audience is reading, listening to, watching, engaging with, curating and sharingHow to leverage social data to understand specifically what your audience wants from you

One of the most foundational elements in creating a social and digital marketing platform is building a platform that works when you are not working. Unfortunately too many marketers think they need to be the loudest brand on the social web to get attention. They focus on quantity versus quality. The truth is you want your audience to discover and find you in a natural and easy way. A goal for smart marketers should be to build a platform that helps you achieve defined and measurable business and marketing goals in the most efficient way and with the highest ROI possible. The platform should be constantly increasing brand awareness, inspiring people to connect with the brand, generating leads and even sales without the marketing and social media teams having to sit at the keyboard all day spamming links. The goal is not to spam the digital and social web with massive quantities of the same content every other brand in your industry is publishing, or to win the award for sending the most tweets on a daily basis. The goal is to work smarter, not just harder. Digital marketers must find a way to create unique, valuable content that is discoverable. You must find a way to create content that your ideal customer finds without you having to push it to them. You must find a way to create unique and personalized experiences that your customer, partners and audience will remember for a lifetime. Discoverable content is easy for the right people to find and engage with and share. It's content that is relevant to what they are searching for. Discoverable content that is relevant will give your reader that "oooh I like this" feeling after reading only the first paragraph. They should know they have landed on the right page, with the right content source and are about to read, hear or watch content that is going to help them solve their problems, achieve their business and life goals. Would you like to know how to... Optimize content for discoveryStop being a slave to traditional SEO since in reality it no longer works anywayUnderstand how SEO and SMO can work together to increase business and marketing resultsMaximize investment and results using the social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and SnapchatCreate evergreen content that has a long shelf life and can help you achieve your business goals not just today or tomorrow but next year as wellIf these are the questions you would like to understand the answers, then you are in luck today. Take a listen to the 185th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 7 strategies to create more discoverable content.

People will not remember every word you say. They will not remember every tweet you write or the Facebook post you publish. They won't remember every visual image posted to Instagram. However, people will remember how you make them feel. When it comes to marketing, experience is everything. Smart brands know how to create personalized experiences that are memorable, meaningful and inspire the human on the other end to connect with the brand in a real and human way. The truth is, customer experience is your brand. You can spend days, weeks, months and years and hundreds of thousands of dollars crafting the perfect brand story, brand and message architecture and still miss connecting with your audience, customers and broader community in a personal and human way. You must realize it's not about you. It's about the people. It's not about being perfect. It's about being human. It's about creating human experiences that give other humans a glimpse into who you are, what you are and what you can and will do for them. Would you like to better inspire and connect with your audience, customers and online or offline communities? Would you like them to feel they know you and you know them? Take a listen to the 184th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to hear 3 reasons why you should create personalized experiences for your audience and customers. You'll also learn 7 tips and strategies to help you start creating these unique and amazing experiences today. You don't have to have hundreds of thousand or a million dollar digital or social media marketing budget. Even if you are working for or own a startup or small, medium business you can learn from these examples. You need to embrace imperfect perfection and accept the fact you are human and so is your customer. Give them a feeling they will remember for life and maybe you will have them as a customer for life. Be sure to subscribe to this entire brand new series, "Get Fit Social Digital Business" on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 20 minute podcast you will learn: 3 Reasons why you should be creating personalized customer experiences today 7 strategies and tips to create digital and social marketing personalized experiences How to leverage customer experience to stand out from the crowdDifferentiating from your competition with unique customer experiencesWhy you must start from the inside out when creating the customer journey and designing personalized experiences Why you must also include partners, sponsors and your broader community Importance of planning and thinking about the end to end customer journey How to make the most of the 6-7 brand touches it takes your customer to remember you Making it easy for your customer and audience to engage, communicate and work with youHow to build community and leverage online communities to differentiate your brand Key metrics in measuring success of the personal and digital, social experiences you design

The holiday season is here. We're jumping smack dab into the middle of the time of year where digital and content marketers must balance keeping their family and own soul fed while at the same time ensure they are giving their audience, community and customers the content they need and expect from you. The truth is that the holidays are an amazing time to rise above the noise by providing real value. There are so many brands both big and small that fall to spammy sales tactics, pushing products and services, coupon codes and constant in your face promotion. Brands and marketing leaders that can focus on providing relevant, contextual content that inspires, connects and serves their audience will grab the mindshare, attention and heart of their readers, viewers, listeners and online communities. Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed and have no idea how to keep up your social presence, content marketing and overall brand during the holiday? You want to take time off but you don't want to do it so much that you lose the connection with your audience you have worked so hard to nurture this entire year. I believe wholeheartedly that we must take time to unplug. We need to disconnect from technology, social networks, mobile apps and connect with the people who are often the WHY we are connected to all of these devices in the first place! Take a listen to the 183rd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 10 tips to help you not just survive the holiday season but leverage the holiday to inspire and connect with your audience in a human way! Be sure to subscribe to this entire brand new series, "Welcome to The Inspiration Age. Are You Ready?" on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: 10 tip to maximize every piece of content during the holidayHow to leverage a content marketing calendar to increase efficiency and productivity in creating contentHow to rise above the holiday online noise with real value and inspiration for your audienceHow to focus on higher quality content over mass quantity How to leverage old content and refresh for the new yearContent ideas to summarize your yearTypes of content to help you inspire and connect with your ideal customer and audienceTips for writing "greatest hits" and "predictions" type of blog post and content How to ensure your content is unique and not falling into the echo chamber of others in your nicheHow to create one bigger higher quality piece of content you can break into numerous pieces of content to use over a long period of time How to leverage visual marketingHow to leverage automation to save time Importance of taking a break over the holidays How to inform your audience you are taking a break in your content

Do you have a dream so big it scares you? Is it a dream that keeps you up at night and zooming turbo all day, every day? Many entrepreneurs, business owners, business leaders and marketing leaders have dreams so big even some of the closest people in their life and business can't understand them. Many people struggle with getting people on board to join their journey. How do you get past the starting block to build the life and business of your dreams? How do you bring your dreams to fruition? The truth is you must start small but continue to build the dream. Most people have limited resources, time and budget. Very few people have millions of dollars sitting in a bank account ready to help them make their dreams come true. Dream it, plan it, do it, live it, love it! You can build your dream business and life. The only catch is that you must have plan to get there. You must be realistic. You must set goals. You must prioritize. You must learn to say no. Say no to the wrong thins so you can say yes to the right things! You can't spend the next year chasing shiny objects and implementing random acts of marketing and business and expect to be in a better place than you are today. Take a listen to the 182nd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to hear 7 tips for how to dream big and execute small for the win.

Social media is changing the game for events and conferences. It seems like just yesterday conversations were limited to the stage, break out sessions and show floors. Now event organizers have the opportunity to almost immediately ignite community, inspire, delight and entertain audiences like never before. You are serving an audience of audiences. Event conversations are now happening on every flavor of social network from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, to Snapchat. Attendees are live streaming what they see, hear and experience via live streaming on their mobile devices. They are using mobile apps such as Periscope, Meerkat to give their audience a real-time behind the scenes and front row view into exactly what they are experiencing. If you are a marketing or business leader planning an event in this ever changing social landscape, you better understand the social and digital landscape of today. There are tremendous opportunities to build community and increase overall business results and ROI if you integrate social media into your event with a well thought out, planned and organized approach. Event organizers and business leaders must understand the opportunities as well as the associated risks. What will you do if your hashtag gets spammed heavily? How will you curate attendee and user generated content? How will you organize your live stream video, audio, visual and other marketing assets to make it available pre, during and post show? How will you maximize use of all investments and the content that others are creating on your behalf? How will you handle wi-fi issues if too many attendees are live streaming? How will you handle intellectual property if people want to live stream your event and you prefer they don't? What is your plan B when something goes wrong with a social network? How can you maximize the conversations with hashtags? How will you maximize investment in paid speakers? How will you ensure maximum value for sponsors, partners, speakers and attendees? If you wait until the last minute to setup your Twitter account, choose a hashtag and jump on Periscope you are setting yourself up to fail. Marketers must educate themselves and truly understand both the art and science of inspiring and connecting with their audience. Even if you are brand new to social media, your audience and attendees are not. Take a listen to the 181st episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast and learn 25 tips and strategies to increase ROI at events and conferences by integrating social media. Learn how to plan, how to align to business goals, build community and more. In person events are the perfect medium to fully embrace the power of social media and social business. Social media is really one big conversation.

Twitter is an amazing platform to connect in a human way with clients, potential clients, colleagues, industry leaders, influencers, old friends and new peeps you haven't even met yet. They can live next door, down the street, across town or across the globe. No matter the time of day or night, it's a guarantee that someone is available right now and eager to have a conversation with you. The biggest struggles most business and marketing leaders face when it comes to Twitter is the learning curve as well as finding the time to make the investment to achieve a positive ROI on time invested. It takes time to plan a Twitter strategy, manage your account and following, create content, find new followers, inspire the followers they you already have and the list goes on. Many new to Twitter think it's a very overwhelming platform. They struggle with not only knowing how to inspire and connect with other Twitter users in a human way, but finding the time to do such. Leveraging automation and technology can help increase the ROI of time spent on Twitter as well as give you back your life! There is much debate in regard to automating Twitter or not automating Twitter. It is definitely both art and science. It requires setting goals, knowledge of your audience, customers and knowing how much automation will benefit your audience and your business vs hinder the results you are seeking. Using automation with social media requires a crawl, walk run approach. It's best to test the waters first and see how your audience responds. Then you can more easily tweak, rinse, repeat, and optimize for the highest results possible. The last thing you want to do is tick off your loyal followers just because you want to save a few minutes a day. If you are not already tapping into the power of Twitter video, you should be. Take a listen to the 180th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 5 of my favorite Twitter automation tools plus 5 best practices to leverage Twitter automation so it helps, versus helps your business. Show notes Page loaded with resources, worksheets and more. In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: 5 Best practices for using Twitter and any social media automation 5 of my favorite tools for Twitter automation 5 things you can easily automate with Twitter Why you must set goals and develop a plan for what you want to automate with Twitter How to leverage automation and not be a spammer Why you should not automatically tweet your Facebook posts Why you must understand each social network and not treat them all the same How to automate and curate content to keep connected with your audience How to choose the right times of day to automate your Twitter efforts Balancing both art and science with Twitter automation strategies

Do you have a brand story that you share with people who come in contact with your brand? A story that serves as the connective tissue and foundation representing the who, what and why your brand exists on this planet today? Your brand story should be the thread which connects your value proposition, team, vision, mission, and purpose with your customers, potential customers, audience, community and partners. It is who you are, what you are, why you are in business, where you have been, where you are going, why you are going there, who you have helped, and the list goes on. Can you answer these questions? What is your brand story?Who are the characters in your brand story?What is the setting?What are the lessons learned?What happened and is happening on the journey of building your brand and business?What differentiates your brand story from your competition?Why did you start your business in the first place?What is your short, medium and longer term vision and mission?How do you do what you do?Who do you help? What have the specific results been to date?Many marketers struggle with developing and communicating their brand story publicly. They may feel uncomfortable or simply have a hard time pulling it together in a way that they feel comfortable and confident knowing that it represents who they are and what the have to offer the market and the humans within. If you have ever struggled with creating, developing and launching your brand story, then you have landed on the right blog post and podcast today! Take a listen to 179th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 6 key foundational content elements that must be included in your brand story. In this episode you will learn how to begin to craft your own brand story that represents who you are, why you are in business and why anyone who comes in contact with you and your brand should trust you and be inspired to engage in a relationship with your brand and the people within.

Marketing and business leaders are experiencing tremendous pressure to get online, embrace and start leveraging the social networks, create content, launch corporate and executive blogs, design new Instagram profiles, fill Twitter feeds with amazing content, build Facebook communities, embrace live streaming and the list goes on. Unfortunately there are still some digital marketers who buy into the the thought process of "if you build it they will come." Sorry folks, but "build it and they will come" has never been a recipe for success for smart, social and savvy digital and social marketers. It simply doesn't work that way. Believing that if you build it they will come works about as well as chasing shiny objects as a foundation for your social business strategy. Stop the excuses and get to work. Quit wasting time all day on Periscope or Blab listening to your competition and all the awesome things you think they are doing. Why aren't you the one doing amazing things? You are not going to leap frog your competition and knock your business and marketing goals out of the park in the next 12 months by copying what others are doing. You need to design, build and implement your own plan that will attract YOUR ideal customers and grow YOUR business. The new year is coming and you need a plan. You need to know where you are going and why. You are never too big or too small to plan. If you fail to plan you plan to fail. Take a listen to the 178th episode of the Social Zoom Factor for 10 reasons you need an integrated digital and social media marketing strategy. You can't just throw some digital websites, blogs and pretty images at the web and tweet them out. Facebook ads for your social spaghetti content is also not going to solve the problem. You need to get your marketing, digital, social marketing and branding efforts aligned to business goals, integrated and rockin' real measurable results. You need key performance indicators to measure and optimize your success. There is no way around it. If you want to succeed in business today you need to plan your work and work your plan. Subscribe to series: Get Fit Social Digital Business In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: Why you can't skip the planning processWhy if you want to succeed in business today you must have a plan for your digital and social marketingImportance of integrated marketing including digital, social media, SEO, SMO, branding, email marketingWhy Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs) can kill your marketing resultsAvoiding Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs)Acknowledging you don't know your customer or standing in market placeIdentifying your unique value proposition and positioning in the marketSetting goals for where you want to take your brand, market position in the next 30-18 monthsHow proper planning helps you be more agile, more proactive vs reactiveBuilding a human brand requires proper planning, research of your audience and how you can connect with themTips to achieve buy-in for your programWhy brand consistency requires planning

You are the media. Yes you. You, your friends, your mom, your dad, your kids, your pastor, your teacher, your hair stylist, your car mechanic, and even your dog has the opportunity to be the media. We all know cats steal way too much time from the inter webs. Each of us has the opportunity to be the media. We can launch a blog, start a business, embrace video live streaming, get on snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and everything in between and within a short time steal media attention from even some of the biggest, baddest media platforms that have been doing this for decades. Media at a human level gives us all an even playing field. It enables the little guys and gals and even furry friends to compete with the big media. Here is the catch though. You are only the media if you participate. Times are changing and you can't simply throw sloppy media to the masses and expect to build your business or brand. Welcome to the participation age my friends. The age where you must embrace conversation, human connection and meaning in dialog, not just one to many show up and throw up content. The traditional media is changing regardless if you want to accept it or not. I am the co-founder and CEO of a successful social media, digital marketing and conversion optimization agency. We help brands of all sizes embrace the media of today to build community, build their brand, build their business and most importantly build the people who want to engage and join them in this world of inspiration and participation. The one thing we have found consistent in working with entrepreneurs to Fortune 10 brands is that the brands who have the mindset of participation, inspiration and human connection are the brands that see an ROI from the new media of today. Unfortunately the brands who embrace media today as a way to blast their noise, beg for tweets and downloads never see the light of day when it comes to success in the digital world of the ever and always connected consumer. Did you know that 90% of smart phone owners have their mobile device in arms reach 100% of the time? Why does this matter? Because they are available 100% of the time to listen, learn, engage and participate. It's up to you what you do with that person on the other end of the smart phone, iPhone, Android device. Are you ready for the participation age? Are you ready to inspire, connect and help your audience achieve their goals? It's going to require participation from you, period. You can no longer throw masses of dollars at a traditional agency and expect to get the same return you did 10 years ago. Take a listen to the 177th episode of the Social Zoom Factor to learn more about the participation age. I share with you 10 ways you can embrace the participation age and ensure your brand is smack dab in the middle of the fun, action, reaction, conversation, engagement and success of this new participation and inspiration era.

It's every smart and social, savvy digital marketers dream to reach their audience in a human, relevant, memorable and meaningful way. Video marketing provides marketers the unique opportunity to connect with their audience in the most human and relevant way. You can almost look your audience in the face eyeball to eyeball. They can hear your voice, see your facial gestures, experience where you are and the power of what you have to share like never before. Are you an active user of Twitter? Did you know that you can now within one minute record and upload a video to Twitter natively that will engage, inspire, educate and entertain your audience? Yes, one minute. Simply record up to a 30 second video, craft a simple 140 character tweet and hit the "tweet" button. Plus you can see the response and statistics within seconds! You will almost instantaneously know how many people saw the tweet, engaged with the tweet, watched the video, shared the video and more. Did you know... 82% of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter 41% of Twitter users think Twitter is a great place to discover Twitter videos Native video on Twitter drives more engagement than other 3rd party players (2.4x replies, 2.8x retweets, 1.9x favorites) I had not done much with Twitter video until Gary Vaynerchuk sent me a personal video using Twitter. It literally took me experiencing the personal and engaging video from Gary that inspired me to pick up my iPhone and send and share my first Twitter video that same day with my audience and community. Thank you Gary! :) If you are not already tapping into the power of Twitter video, you should be. Take a listen to the 176th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 5 best practices to tap into the power of Twitter video marketing as well as 10 ideas for Twitter video content to inspire and connect with your audience and social media community.

It's no surprise that even the most social and content savvy marketing leaders find it difficult to keep up with everything including creating compelling, relevant content that will inspire, delight, entertain and educate their audience. They have good intentions and know they need to provide value. However, finding the time is an entirely different story. As a result many overwhelmed marketers unfortunately resort to sloppy, irrelevant content that looks. smells and feels like everything their competitors are providing. It clearly lacks the unique factor and is often far from inspiring or valuable. These cookie cutter blog posts, podcasts, presentations, webinars, and even live stream videos all start to sound and read the same. It's like everyone is reading and writing from the same exact play book. They know they are starting to sound like a broken record. However, given the overwhelm they continue down the path of the status quo. It's almost a guarantee they wind up scratching their head thinking... "hmmm I wonder why my content isn't delivering value!?" Creating content that inspires and connects you with your audience doesn't have to require a PHD in rocket science or master of the shiny object syndrome. With knowledge of your audience and a creative mindset you can easily create a content calendar and framework jam packed with value, inspiration and helpful knowledge to keep your audience and community coming back for more. If done right you can absolutely leverage content marketing to attract your ideal customer, increase brand awareness and achieve your top business goals. Check out episode 175 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 10 types of content to help you consistently deliver value to your audience in the inspiration age! Be sure to subscribe to this entire brand new series, "Welcome to The Inspiration Age. Are You Ready?" on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: 10 types of content to help you inspire and connect with your ideal customer and audience How to create content that inspires, delights and entertains in the inspiration ageHow to create content even on a very limited budget and with limited resources How to tap into the power of co-created content in partnership with industry thought leaders and influencers Leveraging offline and online events for content How to tell brand and customer stories that inspire and engage your audience in your journeyThe difference between storytelling and bragging about yourself constantly Why it's important to share the good, bad and sometimes even the ugly to bring your audience closer to your brand Incorporating different mediums into your content such as video, audio and presentations Supporting Resources: Audience Analysis Worksheet (worksheet to help you prioritize your niche)Welcome to the Inspiration Age (episode 170)50 Ways to Inspire Your Audience (white paper)Twitter Persona Worksheet (worksheet to help you develop your Twitter Persona)Twitter Lists in a Nutshell7 Metrics to Measure Value of Your Content in the Inspiration Age (episode 172)Should You Narrow Your Marketing Niche? (episode 171)Brand Humanization in a Nutshell20 Tips to Humanize Your Brand10 Tips to Focus on Needs of Your Customer8 Steps to Develop a Social Business Plan (white paper) Show Notes Page loaded with free resources, worksheets, content calendar template and more! http://www.socialzoomfactor.com/175

Are you tired of hearing business and marketing leaders brag about the measurable results they are achieving using the social network, Twitter? They talk about all of their new friends, new communities and even new clients. Do you feel like you are being left in the Twitter dust and that you are never going to catch up or really learn what it's all about? Have you tried to use Twitter for business but honestly have no idea how to achieve anything close to an ROI on your investment of time and resource? Does this questions sound familiar? You want to reach new audiences and markets?You want to increase and enhance brand awareness?You use Twitter but have no idea what you are doing? You wish you could better nurture relationships using social media? You want to learn how to better use Twitter for business? You want to learn more about what your competition is up to? If you would like answers to these questions, then you must listen to episode 174 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. I share with you 5 proven strategies to maximize your results using Twitter in the inspiration age! Be sure to subscribe to this entire brand new series, "Welcome to The Inspiration Age. Are You Ready?" on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: Why you must learn how to embrace the inspiration age for success using social media for businessHow to tap into the power of Twitter to nurture relationshipsHow to leverage Twitter to grow your email list of subscribersHow to use Twitter to learn more about your market and competitionHow to test new products, services, taglines and other marketing messages with TwitterHow to truly inspire and connect with your audiences using Twitterhttp://www.socialzoomfactor.com/174

It's time get real on the value of your content. Is your content really providing value to your ideal customer, audience and community? Many business and marketing leaders are spending loads of time and money on content strategies, framework, media, posts and distribution. However, when you ask them the value of their content and how it is resonating with their audience they often return a shoulder shrug and head shake meaning "I have no clue!" Can you answer these questions?Do you know if your content is truly resonating with your audience?Is it providing them real value?Is it helping them solve their problems?Is it helping them grow their business?Is it helping them become part of something bigger together than they can be by themselves as one? Is your audience truly engaging with your content in a human way? Is your content helping you nurture real and human relationships? Is your content helping or hurting your brand? If you would like answers to these questions then you are in luck today. Take a listen to the 173rd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 7 easy ways you can measure and determine if your content is providing value to your audience in the inspiration age.

When I ask business leaders, owners and digital marketers who is their ideal client or target market I often get the response similar to "anyone between the ages of 35-65 who has problem A, B or C." What does this translate to in real business results? Nothing, nada, zip ROI. Having a business that is focused on selling to everyone and their mother, grandmother, kids, dog and cat is a recipe for failure. The world is filled with generalists who can sell you whatever you want if you simply pay the $99 and you too can become rich and super duper famous. We all know the tricks, the lies, the spam that many marketers throw at us. The media is everywhere. Heck, as we have discussed in past blog posts and Social Zoom Factor podcasts, you and me are also the media. We now live smack dab in the middle of the Inspiration Age where inspiring and connecting with your target audience and ideal customer in a human way is a requirement, not an option. Tell me, how can you connect with your ideal customer at a human level if you don't know who they are? If you state they are somewhere between the age of 35 and 65 and live in Colorado, Florida, Australia or Timbuktu? How you market, speak to, inspire, connect with, engage and build relationships with each individual persona is going to be different. This is why if you are wanting to build a successful business you need to consider narrowing your business niche. Maybe you are focusing too broad and it's time to get laser focused not only on who you are serving but also on what you have to offer them. Take a listen to the 172nd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn the benefits of narrowing your niche as well as 7 strategies and tips to help you build a niche strategy and plan. Be sure to subscribe to this entire brand new series, "Welcome to The Inspiration Age" on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 30 minute podcast you will learn: Benefits of narrowing your nicheAnswer to the question of "are the riches really in the niches?"How to find the right fit for your niche Why you must be careful of being "too unique" when choosing a niche Importance of researching your niche, what you must know How to research the larger ecosystem of your target market niche Determining how to position yourself Telling your brand story so people will understand your brand promise and value proposition Importance of planning your go to market strategy versus "winging it" Determining the actions you want your audience to take to engage with you Why focusing on a niche strategy will help you prioritize investment, time and resources for better success How to embrace the inspiration age with a solid niche strategy and plan Importance of humanizing your brand and leveraging niche marketing to do such

Welcome to the inspiration age where connecting with your audience is a requirement, not an option. In this episode Pam Moore, CEO & Founder of Marketing Nutz provides 5 solid tips to help you better connect with your social media communities and audience both online and offline.

Welcome to the inspiration age, where connecting with your audience and communities is not an option, but a requirement for business and life. What is the inspiration age and why should it matter to you and your business? We answer these questions and more in episode 170 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. Take a listen and learn what the inspiration age is as well as 8 solid strategies and tips to inspire your audience. You must learn how to embrace the inspiration age to grow your business, nurture relationships, earn trust, establish authority and most importantly touch the hearts of the people you want to bring closer to your brand. Coming out of the information age it was easier to put most marketing tactics and strategies in a box. Brands with big budgets could simply throw big money at advertising agencies and the remainder at more predictable marketing mediums such as traditional media, direct mail and email marketing. However, times are changing drastically. Now it's practically a free for all. We are all the media. The world is noisy on and offline. It is more difficult than ever to stand out from the crowd, to rise above the noise and to earn trust and connect with hearts. We can communicate anyway we want. We can communicate how, when and where we want... and so can our audience. You do not own your audience. You do not own your social media communities on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat even if they are following you, like you or snap with you. Your audience is not there to serve you. You are there to serve your audience, period! Download Whitepaper 50 Tips to Inspire Your Audience: http://www.socialzoomfactor.com/inspireme

Many business leaders, social and digital marketers are finding it hard to get buy-in and approval from their c-suite for their social media programs. Do any of these statements sound familiar? You can't get your social marketing budget approved. You are not getting buy-in across the organization for your social business program. Your CEO, COO, CTO and most executive stakeholders have shut down your employee advocacy program. You don't know where to go next as you just keep hearing no, no, no. If these are your struggles with regard to your social media marketing or social business program then you definitely want to tune into the 169th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast as I share with you 5 top social media metrics and priorities your CEO and c-suite cares about most when it comes to social media. If you are having difficulty getting the buy-in, approval and budget allocated for your social media program, the problem could very well be you are not understanding what really matters to your stakeholders and executives. You must "get in their head" and understand the risks they are concerned about as well as the metrics that truly matter to them. In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: What key metrics your CEO is most concerned about for your social media and social business program The key risks your CEO and C-suite is most concerned about regarding social media How to communicate the strengths, benefits and risk to your key stakeholders and executives How to get buy-in on your program from the C-suite and board members Why you must think both internally and externally Understanding the key risks associated such as brand protection Importance of aligning social media to business goals and outcomes including sales Importance of identifying key performance indicators that matter to the business and CEO

Learn how to save time and maximize ROI using Twitter for business. Pam Moore provides 8 social media tips to help zoom business results and save time. Learn how to balance automation with real time engagement, provide content marketing that is relevant and helpful for your audience.

If you are new to the content marketing, digital marketing or social media you may have heard the term "evergreen marketing" by the experts and not been certain what it is or why you need it. It's often a term that is thrown around by even top industry experts who don't develop or implement evergreen content marketing best practices themselves. Evergreen content is content that is timeless, sustainable and has a shelf life longer the latest Facebook feature or favorite mobile application. Evergreen content is foundational to helping your ideal client and audience solve their smallest and biggest problems. When done right evergreen content will drive continuous traffic to your blog. It's then up to you to make sure you can convert a large percentage of that traffic into community members, new friends or even sales. So what is evergreen content marketing and how can it help you achieve your business and marketing goals? Why should you care about evergreen content? If you would like to know the answers to these questions, today is your lucky day as the 167th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast puts evergreen content marketing in a nutshell. We also provide 15 types of evergreen content you can start creating and implementing today to help you better connect with your audience, build community, increase brand awareness and increase sales. Take a listen to the episode and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 40 minute podcast you will learn: Evergreen content marketing in a nutshell - what is it and what it is not 15 types of evergreen content marketing you can start implementing today Top business and marketing benefits of creating evergreen content Why evergreen content must be relevant, timeless and sustainable Importance of knowing your ideal customer, industry and niche Why you must inspire, inform, educate, entertain and delight your audience Why success is in the details and the importance of information rich content Why less is not always more when it comes to evergreen content marketing Why Google loves evergreen content How to tap into the power of industry influencers and leaders to curate evergreen content How to easily curate content that has a long shelf life How to leverage one piece of quality content to create multiple additional pieces of evergreen content

Would you like to build authority, establish trust, increase brand awareness and grow your business results? Guest blogging and syndicating your content to top sites in your niche can more quickly help you establish industry leadership, brand awareness and trust. When done right, integrated and aligned to your business goals and marketing objectives, guest blogging can also help you improve business results. When attached to a solid online conversion funnel you can grow your email list and subscribers, grow community and even increase sales. Successful content syndication and guest blogging requires both art and science. You must know your ideal customer, current and desired audience as well as understand the platform and audience for which you are wanting to guest post. Before pitching an editor it's best to establish a relationship, earn the trust and prove you are ready to deliver value to their audience and readership and you won't have to pitch. Take a listen to these 10 foundational elements to zoom business and marketing results with guest posting on the 166th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. This episode is part of a new series in which we are digging deep into how you can build an integrated social and digital platform that works when you are not working. A platform that helps you inspire, connect with and delight your audiences.

Why am I not on blab? Take a listen to this podcast to learn why Pam Moore has not yet jumped into the latest social shiny object and video streaming, collaboration platform. The answer might surprise you! In this 30 minute podcast you will learn: Why Pam Moore is not on Blab 8 Tips and strategies to work smarter, not just harder The importance of the Smart Hustle Why you must know your WHY Why you must know your audience Prioritizing activities, priorioties and goals Avoiding the Fear of Missing Out when it impacts your business and life goals Not getting caught up in the fallacy that hustle is required 24/7 to drive results The importance of adequate sleep for mind, body and spiritual health

Smart marketers and business leaders know that their online integrated digital and social platform is not simply a megaphone for to tell the world how great their business is and beg them to make a purchase. Though you may see many new marketers to the online and social world fall to spammy tactics, they don't usually last long. Your website, blog, Facebook page, Twitter profile, YouTube channel, Instagram page, Blab conversations, Periscope sessions and Pinterest boards all create opportunities for you to inspire, delight, connect, entertain and inform your audience and readers. With every virtual touch, swipe, view, and listen you have and opportunity to earn a friend, to earn an advocate and customer. You have an opportunity to earn trust, start and nurture real and human relationships. You have an opportunity to earn a sale, not just push sales. If you have not thought about using your online digital and social assets to inspire, engage, entertain and inform then you should. How are your sales? Are they hurting? Maybe you should look at the content you are sharing? Is it really helping your audience want to buy from you? Are you truly helping them make a decision to buy? Or are you leaving them confused or maybe even pushing them away to your competition because you are all about yourself. Take a listen to the 164th episode of the Zoom Factor podcast for 10 Tips to help your online community and audience buy from you. Show Notes Page Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: 10 tips to help your online audience buy from you Why you need buyer personas Why first impressions are so very important Why you must have a brand foundation and message architecture The importance of testing varying forms of media such as audio, video and text The importance of articulating clearly who you are, what you do and WHY Why you must share HOW you do what you do to help your ideal customer Why the first, last and every brand touch in between matters Why you should be a connecter of value, knowledge and people The importance of inspiring action How to choose a call to action that can help increase sales Letting your audience know what the next steps are to engage with you

With the explosion of social, digital marketing platforms and technologies such as mobile live streaming even small businesses and individuals have the opportunity to become the media. Becoming the media today does not require millions of dollars spent on advertising and fancy websites. Instead an individual person serving as an industry influencer or thought leader can launch a blog and integrated digital, social platform and quite quickly have brands eagerly wanting to engage with them. The brands want to tap into the power of their community, reach and voice because it is truly people who are becoming the media. You and me are the media. Many brands and people struggle with how much of them personally do they incorporate into the communications, platform and media. Because they don't know how to brand themselves, incorporate brand storytelling or properly engage their audience they wind up spamming and pushing people away versus drawing them closer to their brand. The leaders who are rockin' their personal and business brands online know how to balance content about themselves while always serving and making it about their audience. It truly requires both art and science. Take a listen to episode 163rd of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 10 key foundational elements to successful brand storytelling. This episode is part of the "You Are the Media" series in which we are digging deep into how you can build an integrated social and digital platform that works when you are not working. A platform that helps you inspire, connect with and delight your audiences.

Social media is a great way to rev up your brand to turbo speed and leave your status quo competitors in the dust! Not only can you tap into the power of community, human relationships but you can also increase brand awareness, equity and even sales. Zooming your brand to turbo speed using social media requires both art and science. It requires the knowledge and ability to connect with humans in a way that inspires, connects, delights and entertains while at the same time staying true to your brand personality and tone. Unfortunately many brands hop online with no solid understanding of their audience, or even their own business goals or objectives. They have no plan and wind up throwing social spaghetti at the wall and then wonder why it doesn't stick. They wonder why they get stuck with at best status quo results. Brands that hit turbo speed know who their audience is, know intimately how to grow and nurture their community and network, how to create and deliver content and conversations that surprise and delight them. They aren't afraid to try new things while at the same time balancing the desire to chase shiny objects while staying focused where they know they can achieve the highest measurable business results. The smartest social media marketing leaders know how to best leverage multiple mediums to tell brand stories, Take a listen to the 162nd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 10 tips and strategies you can start implementing today to finally once and for all start leveraging social media to grow your brand and business results. Show Notes Page

It's not news that people buy from people or that business and life are about personal, human relationships. People have been buying from other people, communicating with other people and connecting with other people for years, decades and centuries. It's in our DNA to want to connect with other human beings who believe in the same things we do. It's these common foundations that weave the threads for relationships, trust and community. If we all know life and business is really about people, then why do so many marketing and business leaders still fall to lazy marketing tactics and corporate marketing speak as they set out on their online digital and social media adventures? They claim they want to connect with real human beings. They say they want to build community. However, their priorities, actions and language is doing the opposite. For years people have gathered around campfires and dinner tables to connect and relate to one another. We share. We laugh. We cry. We tell stories. We grow. We become part of something bigger than ourselves. When you share a story you share a piece of you. You invite people into your world. You share with them who you are, what you care about, why you are doing what you do. You are inviting them in a human way to be part of your story, part of your journey. Brands can tap into the power of storytelling to inspire, connect with and serve their audiences. Storytelling helps build relationships and earn trust. Brand storytelling is not about bragging about yourself all day on the latest live video streaming mobile application. It's not about creating a viral video or a long winded essay in corporate speak. Brand storytelling requires both art and science. It requires having a solid brand architecture and message foundation as well as knowing your audience and how you can serve them real value. Show Notes Page

There is a clear separation between true social marketing business leaders and those that are sliding along with status quo. Many new and seasoned marketers and business leaders hop into the world of digital and social media marketing thinking they can send a few tweets, learn how to optimize visuals and social profiles and they will have a positive ROI on their investment in social media. Unfortunately too many of these same "status quo" seekers find themselves struggling to keep up with the true leaders, holding down a real job or feeling and experiencing real success. So what are the habits, behaviors and foundational success elements that true social marketing leaders embrace? How do they rise above the status quo? How do they consistently serve the needs of their customer, keep the brand top of mind and help achieve a positive ROI for the investment and time into social media? Take a listen to the 160th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 10 foundational habits of successful social marketing leaders. Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: 10 Habits of Successful Social Marketing Leaders How to rise above status quo with real business results Why social marketing leaders must take lead. Own the plan, business and results! Why social marketers should learn to embrace data and analytics to improve business results The importance of integration into business and marketing initiatives, programs The difference between social media and social business Why social media is not just about YOU! Importance of community and relationships Importance of shutting up and listening How to set priorities Why content is king, queen and joker

There is much confusion regarding online brand and reputation management. Some think it's only for brands who get themselves in trouble and need to cover up the bad. Some think it's public relations, while others think it's just social media monitoring or some ninja SEO tricks. The truth is every brand has a reputation regardless if they think they do or not. Your brand is the sum of what people think, say and tell other people about you. You can spend all the money in the world to create a beautiful brand inclusive of digital elements and visuals, fancy logo, website, blog and social media channels and profiles. However, if you don't deliver on your brand promise it's all for nothing. Your brand is the foundation of your business. It doesn't matter if you are a small business, corporation or something in between you impact your brand with every action you take. Every tweet, call, post on Facebook, Instagram photo, Google+ update is a representation of your brand. Every employee that works for you is leaving hundreds of brand impressions every day online and offline. They are talking about you! Yes, people are talking about your brand, your executives, your service and your employees. They are talking about what you do right and what you have screwed up on. The question is do you know what they are saying? Are you part of the conversation? Or are you choosing to ignore it? The truth is, the conversations are not going to go away. You might as well be proactive and understand how you can leverage the same social technologies and strategies that may scare you half to death to your advantage. It's all about perspective and how you choose to look at it and manage it. Take a listen to the 159th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast where I share 10 solid tips to help you protect your online brand reputation. Trust me, this is something every business leader, digital and social marketer should care about. If it's not keeping you up at night you should ask yourself why. Is it because you are proactively managing it or is it because you are ignoring it? Ignoring the need to manage your online brand and reputation is simply not an option if you want to be in business tomorrow.

It is every digital and social marketers dream that their ideal customer, partner and fan will easily find their blog, website or other online social channel. Unfortunately it's not as easy as building a website or blog and people just show up at your digital front door, banging to get in and buy from you. It takes time for the traditional search engines such as Google and Bing to even know your site exists so they can start sending your traffic your way. Plus now you have tremendous opportunity to earn traffic to your blog or website via the social networks. You can of course leverage paid media, earned media and even influencer marketing to increase blog traffic. Remember though that visitors to your online platforms are tourists. They are stopping by. It is up to you to make sure that you are inviting them in, inspiring them to connect with you and helping them feel at home so they will stick around for awhile and maybe even tell a few friends how great you are. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your blog or website is via organic traffic. Organic traffic is not paid media. Organic traffic is traffic that comes to you via search on the search engines, social networks or other online platforms. You don't pay for it directly, though you pay for it via your time invested in content marketing, website and blog development, influencer marketing and the list goes on. Our websites and blogs earn between 45% - 75%+ organic traffic. We don't pay for expensive SEO tricks or expensive earned media. Instead we focus on creating a platform with content that inspires and connects us with our target audience and online community. Take a listen to the 158th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 10 strategies and tactics you can implement today to increase organic traffic to your website or blog. I share with you the exact strategies and specific tactics we use in our business every day. This episode is part of a new “in a nutshell" mini-series of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to do a deep dive on many marketing and business concepts, strategies and tactics important to understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing.

Social media agencies face many exciting opportunities to work with brands and clients of all shapes and sizes. Although some may focus on a certain niche or industry, many consultants and agencies work with clients from varying industries, experiences and levels of understanding of what social media really is or what it can do for their business. Obviously, each client has different expectations, goals, objectives and grasp of the power of social media. Although it may be tempting to take on any client, a key to success is ensuring the client is a match for the agency. It’s also critical that as new clients are onboarded, they are taken care of from the start. A client’s first interaction with an agency sets the entire stage for how the relationship will kickoff. You only have one chance for your team to make a great first, second and third impression, so why not make the most of it at every touchpoint? Below are some best practices to help social media agencies ensure the onboarding process goes as smoothly as possible with new clients. The best part is that most of these tips can be used for many different types of businesses, not just social media agencies. Take a listen to the 157th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for a deeper dive discussion on each of these 13 points. I share with you exactly the most important steps, tips and strategies for how we onboard clients for my agency, Marketing Nutz.

Facebook has launched a mobile live streaming application and feature only available to users of the Facebook Mentions application which requires the Facebook page be verified. This podcast shares Pam Moore's thoughts on why Facebook made the decision and what is the possible future for the mobile live streaming via Facebook

What does it really mean to be a thought leader? Unfortunately too many digital and social marketers have a false belief that they can simply write a few blog posts, send a few tweets and increase their social influence scores such as Klout and they will quickly become the go to thought leader of their niche. We've all seen the blog posts promising the magic 10 steps to be a thought leader in 140 characters or how to be a thought leader on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and every other social network known to digital man and woman. The truth is that you can not become a thought leader in 140 characters. You also can't become a thought leader via mastering one single social network. Becoming a thought leader requires earning trust, respect and investing time in helping the human beings in your community, network and audience. I've seen loads of businesses and people promoting their own personal brand spending months or even years of time trying to become "thought leaders" yet they have no real business. In reality they are helping almost nobody as they are too focused on becoming "influential" vs actually helping a real business or person. Take a listen to the 155th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for an overview of what it means to be a thought leader as well as 5 steps to help you build a plan do establish yourself and your brand as a thought leader. This episode is part of a new “in a nutshell" mini-series of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to do a deep dive on many concepts, strategies and tactics important to understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing. In this 15 minute podcast you will learn: Definition of thought leadership Why you can not establish thought leadership overnight or in 140 characters How to build thought leadership 5 steps to get you started in building thought leadership Who can be a thought leader Why thought leadership is important for B2B and B2C organizations and brands Benefits of establishing thought leadership What thought leadership is not Why a content marketing strategy and framework is at the core of establishing thought leadership

Do you know the difference between traditional marketing, ecommerce, multichannel marketing and omnichannel marketing? Omnichannel marketing is not simply a buzzword for multichannel marketing. Omnichannel marketing requires that the multiple marketing channels are working together to create and deliver an amazing, seamless user experience. Did you know that according to Google, 25% of shoppers start on a PC but eventually move to a mobile device. Shoppers are no longer using one channel to research, shop and buy. People don't always simply walk into a store and buy a product. They may first be researching the product or service online via mobile device, tablet, desktop or all of the above. Even in the B2B (business to business) space, business leaders are doing the same thing. They are researching products, services and people behind the brands using multiple channels. They jump from iPhone to iPad to laptop within minutes. Both B2B and B2C (business to consumers) customers expect brands to design a user experience that is personal, relevant and seamless across devices. It is important for digital and social marketers to understand the reason why, the context, the when, where and how their customers are using what screen to connect with and buy from the business. Take a listen to the 154th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast "in a nutshell" episode for an overview and definition of omnichannel marketing. This episode is part of a new “in a nutshell" mini-series of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to do a deep dive on many marketing and business concepts, strategies and tactics important to understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing. In this 20 minute podcast you will learn: Definition and overview of omnichannel marketing Difference between traditional marketing, ecommerce, multichannel marketing and omnichannel marketing Why channels must work together to be considered omnichannel marketing How omnichannel marketing differs from multichannel marketing Why you should not force your online buyer to scale up screens (move from mobile device to desktop) Why marketers should become experience architects The importance of being at the right place at the right time, not every place all of the time The importance of creating personal and seamless user experiences

Marketers and business leaders spend a lot of time thinking about what we need to do as content writers, sales people, digital marketers, social marketers, brand leaders, data analysts and business owners to grow our business. We focus on content and visual marketing that grabs attention. We build beautiful landing pages that convert readers, listeners and viewers to buyers. We dig in deep to data, analytics, and key performance indicators so we can measure and optimize business results and achieve the desired business outcomes. However, what can often happen is that we get too inwardly focused. Too many digital marketers start forgetting about why they are doing the work in the first place. Remember, that human being you need to connect with on the other end of that tweet, post, pin or video? Yes, that is the person you need to be thinking about. Let's flip this conversation around. Let's talk about what we need from our buyer. What do you need from a potential customer or buyer before you can sell to them? Take a listen to the 153rd episode of the Zoom Factor podcast for 4 things you must have from your buyer (or anyone for that matter) before you can sell to them. In this 15 minute podcast you will learn: 4 things you must have from your buyer before you can sell to them Why you must earn the attention of your buyer Why trust is so important in online marketing and social selling Why it is important that your buyer also invest in a relationship with you and your brand

One of my favorite childhood stories is Goldilocks and the three bears. A story about a little mischievous little girl that made her way into a house owned by a family of bears. Goldilocks made herself comfortable in the house so much as to fill her belly with good porridge and even fall asleep in the little bear's bed. As digital marketers there is much we can learn from the story of Goldilocks. We need to build a digital platform that is inviting, serves value, makes our readers, viewers and listeners feel safe, comfortable and taken care of. We need to help them feel comfortable and invite them to come back for more. Take a listen to episode 152 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 8 key takeaways we can learn from Goldilocks to improve our digital and social marketing results. In this 30 minute podcast you will learn: 8 things digital and social marketers can learn from Goldilocks and the 3 Bears 8 tips to improve digital marketing results How to make sure your social media and digital platform is inviting to your target customer and audience How to make your blog and website visitors feel welcome How to make sure you are serving your audience real value How to earn attention but not be too overbearing with your marketing and sales communication

Smart marketers are not afraid to dig in deep and even "geek out" on data and analytics to achieve success in social media, digital marketing and business. Many marketers get overwhelmed with trying to understand how they can leverage data and metrics to guide their business in the right direction. As a result they run away from data and the power it can provide versus digging in and learning how to tap into the power of what it has to offer. I am thrilled to introduce Andrew Caravella from Sprout Social as a guest on the 151st episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. Andrew leads the marketing team and efforts at Sprout Social and has an amazing background and years of experience in digital marketing to help us all. Take a listen and learn how you can better tap into the power of social and marketing data to zoom your business. In this 30 minute podcast you will learn: How Sprout Social uses data and analytics to create an amazing customer experience Biggest mistakes brands and digital marketers make in embracing or not embracing social metrics and analytics Top questions Sprout Social receives from customers of all sizes as it relates to social media data and analytics The importance of planning and selecting the right key performance indicators for success Where to start when selecting KPIs, goals and objectives

Content marketing is at the center of marketing today. Everything we tweet, post, pin and create is a form of content marketing. Blogs are a foundation for many brands and people establishing thought and brand leadership online. Blogs can serve as a home base and help connect the dots between earned, owned and paid media to nurture relationships and achieve desired business outcomes. Unfortunately too many digital, social and content marketers think they can just write a long blog post or throw social content spaghetti at the wall and hope it sticks. They foolishly believe that hundreds or even hundreds of thousands of readers are going to come beating down the social blog virtual doors begging to buy from them. This couldn't be further from the truth. Attention is the most scarce resource marketers struggle with today. Throwing blog content spaghetti at the wall is not going to help you gain attention, build community or achieve real business results. Writing epic blog content that attracts, inspires and connects you with your ideal customer requires a combination of both art and science.

There is not a morning I log into Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram that my feed is not bombarded with spam. From people begging for clicks, link backs, free shout outs to over the top self promotional automated messages, replies and the list goes on. I even recently had an social media agency CEO spamming and begging for support of their non-profit campaigns that are based on a foundation of 1000's of fake RTs on every tweet on behalf of the client. They are charging the client for campaigns based on fake followers and fake metrics. This is a true story my friends and these things are happening all around us every single day. Think with me for a moment... Would you walk into a room of real human beings and start blasting the name and url of your business? When you meet somebody new at an event would you walk up to them and ask them to watch your video on YouTube before you had a chance to say hello? Would you tap someone you just met on the shoulder and asked them why they unfollowed you or if they would follow you, listen to you? Would you yell at people in real life asking them to pay attention to you? Would you keep sending people the same message over and over even if they already told you they were not interested? Would you keep talking to someone about a topic if they clearly let you know they didn't want to talk or hear about it anymore? If you did these things people would think you were crazy. However, there are thousands of marketers and brands who are embracing these spammy tactics every day. It's time we stop the spam insanity. It's time we put the human back in social media, marketing and business. Attention is the most scarce resource we have. The lack of attention is a core reason brands and even smart digital marketers are falling to lazy social spamming tactics. They are desperate for attention. They think that by blasting into our social feeds they will grab out attention. The thing many marketers are missing is that by spamming they are losing trust. They are hurting their brand more than helping. We all need to put food on the table to feed our families. However, that is not an excuse for any person or brand to fall to spammy, fake tactics. Build a brand that is built on authenticity, trust, integrity and serving others and success will be exponentially higher. Will it take a bit longer to get there? Absolutely. However, doing such will help build a brand that is sustainable and that will out last any campaign or Facebook news feed built on spamtastic nonsense. Yes I know spamtastic is not a word. I just made it up. ;) Check out episode 149 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for some serious tough love to help you identify if you are guilty of these spammy non-human tactics. I also provide 10 solid tips and strategies to help you put the human back in your social media, business and life. Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 30 minute podcast you will learn: 10 tips and strategies to put the human back in your social media marketing How to identify if you are guilty of spam tactics How to balance automation with being human Why you must be patient in building relationships and not just go for the sale at hello Why you must be aware of your own digital body language Why your intention is at the core of how others perceive you and your brand Why trust is key to earning the right attention and building relationships How a mentor can help you get real with your own digital and social behavior How to know if you may need to get help from an external social media digital agency or consultant The importance of knowing your audience Why spam will not build your business for the medium and long term

Welcome to the digital marketing era where attention is the absolute most scarce resource. There is clearly no lack of people and brands trying to grab your attention. Every where we turn, every device we turn on, every social network feed we scroll, there is noise. Brands want us to check out their hot deals, digital marketers want us to watch their videos, download their white papers and the list goes on. Many digital and brand marketers hop on Twitter with the hopes of grabbing quick attention of their target customer and audience. They foolishly think they can send a few tweets to a handful of influencers, beg for some clicks and links and they will achieve their business and goals. The core foundational issue is they have the wrong intention. They have an intent to help themselves and achieve a quick win versus investing in the people who they want to trust them. The truth is our actions speak louder than their words. Unfortunately many business leaders and even the most social savvy digital marketing experts are clearly unaware of their own digital body language. Their intention is easily seen by even those new to the social networks. It's often easy to identify a spammy business or marketer. When their posts, tweets and conversations are all about them, they wind up pushing people away versus bringing them closer to their brand. Your intention may be good, but your execution may be poor and negatively impacting your digital marketing results if you are not earning trust and attention as a result of the right intention. You don't have very long to earn and lose trust. You can lose trust in one single 140 character tweet if you are only using spam tactics. Because attention is such a valuable resource, it is critical for marketers to maximize every second they achieve attention from their communities and audience. Attention can no longer be taken for granted. Check out episode 148 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for a "get real" discussion on the power of intention and trust in earning attention. You will learn why intention and trust are foundational requirements to earning attention for your digital, social media and marketing strategies and tactics. In this 13 minute podcast you will learn: How to earn attention with the power of trust and intention Why and how your intention shines through your digital body language How to leverage social networks to best meet your goals and objectives The power of relationships and earning trust in building your business Why you must know who you are and how you can provide the greatest value to your audience Why the quick fix, spam tactics will not earn attention for the short or long term

Welcome to the digital age of marketing where you are the brand. You can run, you can hide but you can't escape the need to build your personal brand. We all know people buy from people. People also tweet with other people. They connect on LinkedIn with other people. They live video stream, Instagram and SnapChat with other people as well. When a new potential client contacts us to do business, the first place go to learn about them is the internet. We will start with a Google, Facebook or Twitter search. We then immediately click through to LinkedIn. In a matter of seconds we can find out who the person is and if they are who they said they are in the contact form. We can find out where they work now and where they have worked the past 10 - 20 years. We will within seconds know if they have a blog, if they have kids, where they went to school and the list goes on. Yes, you may be sitting there reading this and think... "Pam, you will never know that about me because I will never post all of that information." I want to ask you why? Why would you not want me to find out the best information about you? Why not ensure your digital persona is a true representation of who you really are? It is becoming a requirement , not an option to develop your personal brand. If you want to be trusted and rise above the noise you must connect with people as a human being, not just a logo. Building your personal brand doesn't happen by jumping on Facebook or creating a fancy Twitter background or highly edited profile photo of yourself. You don't build your personal brand in minutes or hours. You build your personal brand over days, weeks, months and years. You must earn trust, establish credibility and authority. You must know who you are. You must know who your audience is and how you can serve them. Even if you are just getting started online, it is important you start somewhere. It only takes a seed. it's how you nurture your personal brand that will bring success. Check out episode 147 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 7 fundamental steps to build your personal brand. Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 23 minute podcast you will learn: 7 fundamental steps to build your personal brand Why you must be self aware of your strengths and weaknesses Why personal branding is a requirement, not an option Why you must stop excuses and start building your personal brand today Why you are the media The difference between authenticity and transparency Why you must know who you are and what you stand for Why you must know your audience and what they need from you How to be aware of your digital body language

Do you ever feel like you are going through the motions of life? Maybe you get a strange feeling that your life is set on auto drive but you don't know who is at the wheel? Maybe it's the not the life you thought you would live? Maybe you aren't really sure how you got where you are right now but you do know you want a change. Do you ever feel like your business is running on turbo yet you are running out of fuel? Good things are happening but they are not the right things at the right time. Are you working way too many hours and the work is taking you away from the reasons you started your business or career in the first place? If we don't take charge of our life and business, there are sure enough things that will steal our time and mindset and run us into a state of frenzy, late nights without sleep and time with the ones we love most. It is time you take control of your life and business. It's time you design the life you want. Design your business to help you achieve the life you want to live. Take a listen to the 146th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 10 strategies and tactics to help you design your dream life and business. These tips include actions you can implement starting today. They are applicable to entrepreneurs, small business owners up to professionals and executives working in large corporations. Regardless of the size of the company you own or work for, taking charge of your own life is key to success and happiness. In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: Why you must design and take control of your life and business 10 tips to design the life and business you dream about Why you must value your time and knowledge so others will as well The importance of mind, body and spirit to achieve success in life and business The importance of envisioning the life you dream about Designing every hour of your day to achieve your goals Embracing and integrating your passions into your business Choosing clients and work that truly brings you joy Prioritizing your time and a focused mindset into the most important things How pivoting can help you move forward

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Are you tired of working 18 hours a day and yet still not achieving your life and business goals? Do you ever feel like a silly hamster in a wheel, running and running and not getting anywhere? There are far too many business leaders, entrepreneurs, digital marketers and executives who feel stuck. They know that things are not working. However, they are afraid to make change. They believe that if they move to plan b, c or even d that they have completely failed. The truth is moving on to plan b, c, d or even plan e does not mean you failed. We all learn from our mistakes. True success comes from falling down and getting back up, over and over again. Real leaders are able to embrace change. They help their organization, team and themselves stay relevant. Real leaders must be able to pivot. They must know when it's time to pivot. Staying "stuck in a rut" is not good for business or your life. It's the easy way out. Take a listen to the 155th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast as we explore the importance of embracing change and learning how to pivot. If you are feeling stuck, as though you need to make change in your life or business but haven't had the guts to do such, this is the podcast episode for you! In this 15 minute podcast you will learn: Why true leaders are not afraid to embrace change and pivot How pivoting can help you move forward How to stay focused on your life and business goals through major changes Importance of empowering and training your team to embrace change Definition of leadership and pivoting in business My personal story of embracing major career, business and life changes

What happens to your anxiety level and blood pressure when you think about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram going away? Does it rise? Does it stress you out? If Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Snapchat were to drop off the face of the earth tomorrow what would happen to your business? Would your business be negatively impacted? Would it thrive or would it crumble under algorithm changes and paid media models being aggressively implemented by every social network that hits prime time. Are you building your business on digital property that you own? Or are you too dependent upon the social networks and larger social ecosystem for your business success? Are you building your business on rented land? Are you building your business on social land that is far from a solid foundation to build your life and business upon? Building your business foundation on digital and social networks you don't own puts your business at much risk. You have no control on what these social networks do, what happens with their product roadmaps or how your audience and ideal customer react to their upcoming changes in the future. Simply take a look at Facebook, Twitter and any social network for that matter and you'll see how quickly they are changing. Facebook organic reach is in the tanker. Brand and digital marketers who put all of their social eggs in the organic Facebook basket are being hit incredibly hard. Don't let this happen to you. You need to build your own plan, strategy and integrated platform that inspires, attracts, engages and nurtures your ideal customer. You need to look past the numbers and market segment statistics and connect with real human beings in real ways on your owned digital property.

You have put your time, resource, sweat, sleepless nights and maybe even some tears into your product or business and are ready to take it to market. It's an exciting time. It feels like your baby. You want to shout from the mountain top to the world how awesome it is. You look at all the millions and billions of people on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope and the list goes on. You want to tap into the power of community. You want some social buzz. You want people to be talking about your brand. Slow down there my friend. I know you are excited but how you enter the world of social media is very important. Remember you only have one chance to make a first, second and third impression. You don't want to lose people at the first 140 character hello because you are all about yourself. Even though you may be new to some of these amazing social networks, the millions of people who are already living and breathing them daily more than they want to admit are not new to them. They have behaviors they are accustomed to. They have certain ways they like to communicate with people and brands. You can't just plop onto Facebook or Twitter and announce your new product or mobile application has launched expecting to build instant community and fame. You need to develop a solid plan and strategy for how you will integrate social media into your business and launch for real result. You need to think it through. You must start long before you launch, not the week before or morning of. Take a listen to the 143rd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast where I share with you 5 foundational elements you must have to launch your business or product using social media. I also provide 10 simple ideas and tips to integrate social media into your launch immediately. Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 30 minute podcast you will learn: 5 Foundational Elements Your Social Media Product Launch Must Have 10 tips to integrate social media into your product, service or business launch of any kind How to best leverage pre-launch activities and time to build community and earn trust of loyal advocates early on How to tap into the power of the OPC - Other People's Community and Content How to NOT work with influencers and industry thought leaders How to avoid damaging your brand with spam How to tap into the power of video live streaming and mobile broadcasting on apps such as Periscope and Meerkat How to leverage Twitter chats and Facebook groups to grow community The importance of integration vs random acts of marketing (RAMs)

What is the first thing that comes to mind when I ask you define social media? Is it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Periscope, or Snapchat? What if I told you that you should not be thinking about the technology first? You should be thinking about people. You should be focused on your ideal customer. Think DNA, not tools. How can you get in the head of your customer and inspire and connect with them? Your mission with social media is to figure out where your ideal customer is hanging out online and then determine how you can have the most relevant conversation with them possible. You need to be where your ideal customer is, not just where you want to be or even necessarily where you feel comfortable. Do these questions found familiar? I am spending loads of time on social networks with little business return. I am spending loads of time learning tools and technology with zero business return. I feel like I am online 24/7 yet am making no progress. I don't know where to go next and sometimes feel like throwing in the social media towel! If this is you, then you definitely need to listen to the 142nd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. I explain in plan english why you must quit focusing on the technology, and instead focus on how you can connect with real human beings. How can you best serve them value? You must know where you are going and why. Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 25 minute podcast you will learn: Why you can't start with technology when building a social media strategy and plan 5 Tips to build your social media strategy and plan The difference between social business and social media Why your priorities must first be focused on your audience and ideal customer Tips to avoid being online 24/ 7 and have even higher result Why your most important question you must ask in building your social media strategy is WHY Example social media outcomes, goals and objectives

Many digital marketers scramble and fight for attention every day to get their message heard on the social networks. They may fall to spammy tactics such as tweeting 24 hours a day with automated tweets, automated direct messages, blasting Facebook business pages with too many updates, constant cat photos and word puzzles. They often dilute their brand with these silly tactics when they could be increasing brand equity and building a thriving community who is on the edge of their seat waiting for every word they say. There is also another group of smart digital marketers who know the value of an email list. They create epic and compelling content offers that inspire, educate, delight and help their ideal customer and audience solve their greatest problems. They earn their trust and email address. They are then able to more easily nurture relationships with a captured audience who WANTS to hear from them. Unfortunately many business leaders and even smart marketers don't understand the value of email marketing. They don't know how to integrate email marketing into their programs and business. They don't know how to grow an email list and write off email marketing all together. Did you know that 88% of B2B marketers cite email marketing as their most effective lead generation tactic? If you are not using email marketing to inspire, connect, delight, entertain and serve your audience you are truly missing out on opportunities to grow your brand and business. Take a listen to the 141st episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 10 tips to grow build and nurture your email list. These are the exact same tactics we have used to grow our list from 12,000 to over 50,000 people over the past 18 months! Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 30 minute podcast you will learn: Why digital marketers can not ignore email marketing 10 Ways to grow your list by 400% Important foundational elements to implementing email marketing How to choose an email marketing service provider How to integrate email marketing with your other marketing tactics How to integrate social media to grow your email list How to leverage the new call to action button on Facebook to grow your list How to organically attract your ideal customer with relevant, contextual content Importance of managing the entire conversion funnel, end to end Importance of end to end user experience

Business leaders and digital marketers all over the world are struggling every day with how to stay up to date on the latest trends, technology, social networks, methodologies and more. Even with the large number of people we see of embracing change and having a genuine desire to "be the change" as change agents, there is very little real change happening in regard to mindset. There is very little that most people are doing to truly help people take action and move their business and life forward. Instead people are getting stuck on social media buzz from their own community and wind up in a dangerous swirling, whirling echo chamber. It's easy to get stuck in a box. Does any of the below sound familiar? You don't know where to start so you gravitate to things you feel comfortable with such as shiny objects or deep analytical data. You avoid public conversations on the social networks as you are afraid of saying the wrong thing. You are a lurker more than an active contributor. You want to embrace change but feel stuck. You worry too much about what others think of you. The arguments over semantics drive you nuts. You are part of the arguments and complaining over semantics. You have lots of social media buzz but very little social media bucks. You spend far too much time online for the business results you are achieving? The truth is there is far too much talk and not enough action being taken in the world of digital marketing, social media and online marketing. Answer this... Does it really matter if we use the term social media expert, guru, or professional? Do your customers and prospective customers really give a rip about half the things the masses argue about online all day via Facebook, Twitter chats and more? Does it matter if you get thousands of hearts on Periscope, or on every leader board on the planet? Is it really moving your business forward? Why do you have the customers you have? How can you earn and retain more of them? Shouldn't you focus there? Why are there so many events becoming a real life "echo chamber" that the only people speaking are the sponsors and same people speaking everywhere? Do you need to get out of your own box and help move the industry forward? Are you ready to truly embrace change and start helping the industry move forward? How are you going to get out of your box? It is my belief many are living and embracing the echo chamber. It's time we get out of the box. It's time to quit arguing about semantics. It's time for the masses to start delivering value, real value. Take a listen to the 140th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for some real talk on how we can get out of our box and move the industry forward. Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 15 minute podcast you will learn: Why it's time the social ecosystem gets out of the echo chamber and embraces change Why people must stop arguing about semantics such as "social media guru" Why you must stand on the foundation of your morals and value you offer your customers and community Importance of unplugging and getting out of your own box and way Tips to get out of your box and out of your own way, starting today The importance of self reflection and mindset Why you should take a look at your 2015 goals and assess how you are tracking toward progress

Many brand and digital marketers are poorly confusing influencer marketing with earned media. Some of these marketers may be making innocent mistakes. However, some very well know the difference but are pretending that they don't. As a result they are negatively impacting their brand perception and damaging relationships with the people who they claim they want to embrace and invite closer to their brand. Yes, this is the elephant in the room for many brand marketers and the influencers, thought leaders and people who they are reaching out to begging for tweets, likes, free blog posts or even days spent at an event on behalf of the brand with zero compensation. The brands make themselves foolishly believe they don't need to compensate the influencer for their time since they are bucketing the engagement into "earned media." Let me put this very simply for you. If you are paying for travel, accommodations, fancy dinners and entertainment it is not earned media. Earned media is media that you earn. It's not media that you pay for. It's not dependable. It's not something you can wine and dine an influencer for and expect to get measurable results. Learning how to integrate earned, paid and owned media is key to success for digital marketers. Check out the 139th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for some real talk on why brands must quit confusing earned media with influencer marketing now. I share with you a story of how one of the largest car manufacturers in the world reach out to me asking for 5 days of my time at an event without any compensation and claiming they couldn't compensate for time as it fell into the category of "earned media." Seriously people, let's get real on this topic. It's time we make the leaders in this industry accountable. They need to walk the walk,not just talk the talk. This episode is part of a new “in a nutshell" mini-series of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to do a deep dive on the 3 types of media you must understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing. I provided a quick overview of paid, earned and owned media in episode 138 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud! In this 15 minute podcast you will learn: Difference between earned media and influencer marketing Why influencer marketing is not necessarily earned media Importance of valuing relationships over reach, followers, Klout scores Why brands must value time of influencers and thought leaders they want to work with Tips to best use influencer marketing The difference between paid, earned and owned media How to avoid blurring earned and paid media

Remember the days of simple media and mass communication? The days marketers would simply buy an ad, tv commercial slot, throw out some direct mail, a few magazine ads, radio spots, measure the response and get on w/ their day job of herding cats, taming elephants and locking up the crazy monkeys in-house begging them for everything under the sun ;) Joking but you get the point. Media is not simple anymore, not that it ever was, but now it’s even more complex. It’s not just the explosion of social media, but the fact that according to a Nielsen study that confirmed the most trusted source of info in all countries surveyed world wide is earned media, also described as what use to be known as word of mouth. The issue is that many are confusing earned media with paid media and owned media. They are blurring them all together and as a results wasting millions of dollars, ticking off their audiences, ruining relationships with thought leaders and influencers and the list goes on. Today we are kicking off a new “in a nutshell: mini-series on the 3 types of media you must understand if you want to be successful in the online world and with digital marketing - paid media, owned media and the favorite earned media. This mini series is part of a larger “you are the media” and “influencer marketing” series. In today's episode we will cover in detail the definition of paid, earned and owned media.