(1) 8 Data-Based Tips for Optimizing Your Content on Pinterest and Instagram from HubSpot

There are some great tips (with charts) to help you create content for Pinterest and Instagram in this article. Even if your business isn’t product-based, you can create some appealing images for both of these social networks.

(2) How to Optimize Your Marketing for the Visual Marketing Revolution from sMedio

Another great article focusing on images, videos and visual content. Use these first 2 articles to put together a “visual marketing” strategy and content calendar for your social media sites.

(3) How to Do Keyword Research: A 6-Point Checklist from Bruce Clay, Inc.

If you’ve ever wanted a thorough, step-by-step guide for doing keyword research, this is it! Set aside some time to do this important step in your marketing/social media strategy.

(4) The Best Books in the World on Writing from Duct Tape Marketing

This is an excellent list of resources! If you are writing blog posts, web content, white papers…you’ll find some helpful books on this list. I plan on adding several of these to my bookshelf.

 (5) Vine: 12 Ways to Make Your Videos Stand Out from Mashable

There are lots of great tips and strategies in this article. If you haven’t started using Vine, I recommend saving this resource for when/if you do! (I’m hoping the App makes its way to Android soon!)

Bonus: Wired to Share: Online Social Behaviors of Moms from ShareThis and Digitas

If you market to moms, you’ll find this study/Infographic very interesting. This study surveyed 200,000 moms, so take a look at their social behavior.

We hope these resources give you some great ideas for your social media marketing! If you found any great resources and want to share, please do so in the comments below or visit our Facebook Page.

Tip #1: Make sure your Pins (and descriptions) are appealing 

Upload high-quality images with a good description. Shorter descriptions are easier for users to quickly read through. Use keywords that relate to the Pin and your target audience for better Search results.

There is no maximum height for Pins but users may lose patience scrolling through an unusually tall Pin, so start with a maximum height in the 1000 – 1400 pixel range. The maximum width of a Pin is 736 pixels and the minimum width for best viewing is 300 pixels.

Tip #2: Use calls-to-action on your Pins and/or descriptions

In addition to placing your website name/URL on each Pin (use the free tool PicMonkeyto “overlay” text on a photo), use a call-to-action to spell out the next step for users. i.e. – “Click on this Pin for a free copy of …” “Visit our site for more products like this…” “Click here to learn how to make …”

Typing a link with http: or www. in the description makes the link “clickable”. The link will be truncated, but it still works. So you can give users a call-to-action with a live link in your Pin’s description (see below).

Note: Pinterest does not support link shorteners (like bit.ly), so don’t use them in your description. Users get a message and can’t click through to the bit.ly link (see below).

Tip #3: Make sure you have the correct source on your Pins

When someone clicks on a Pin, they are taken to that Pin’s source (website). So If you upload an original Pin, you want to make sure people will be sent to your site. If your website URL is not automatically uploaded with your Pin, Edit the Pin, go to the “Source” box and manually enter your site (i.e. http:// name of your site . com).

To edit a Pin:

You can hover over a Pin and then click on the Edit button (see below).

Or click on the Pin itself and then click on the “pencil” icon in the lower right corner (see below).

Then fill in your website URL in the Source box (see below).

When sharing someone else’s Pin within Pinterest (Re-Pinning), make sure the Pins you share on your Boards give proper credit to the original source. If someone has Pinned a photo from a Google Image search then they are not pointing people back to the correct source.

Tip #4 – Create Pins or Re-Pins for popular categories or trending topics

View the “Categories” in the drop down window on your Pinterest home page and create Pins (or Re-Pins) that relate to those categories. Use the name of the category in the Pin’s description so it will show up in searches.

Click on the Popular category to see what Pins are currently trending. If you see one (or more) that fit into your Boards’ topics, then Re-Pin them.

You can also use a free tool like RePinly to find out what Pins and Boards are currently trending and share them or create your own Pins on those topics.

Use these tips to increase engagement by making your Pins more “pinnable” and send more traffic to your website.

While live interaction on any social media site is a necessary part of a successful social media strategy, if you are managing multiple accounts, you don’t always have the time you need to post to them consistently.  I recommend scheduling some of your posts to keep up with a consistent posting strategy.

Currently, you do not have too many options for scheduling Google Plus posts. I’m sharing 3 below that you can use for free or test out with a free trial. If more tools become available, look for an update to this post.

#1 – Do Share (free): This tool is a Chrome extension that allows you to schedule posts for both your business and personal Pages. Do Share makes it easy to save a post as a draft, schedule or post it real-time. You can share with the “public” or any other Circles you have created.

#2 – Hootsuite (free and paid versions): A relatively inexpensive social media management app/dashboard where you can schedule posts for your Google Plus business page only; not your Personal Page. You can schedule posts for Google Plus just like you would for any other social network connected to your account. Hootsuite offers a variety of other options and applications (including an Instagram app) in addition to publishing services.

#3 – Sprout Social (paid versions but a 30-day free trial is available): This is another social media management app/dashboard, with much more than just “publishing” services. Like Hootsuite, this tool will schedule posts on your Google Plus business page. There are numerous other services available with Sprout Social as well.

Plan to schedule one post a day using one of the above tools and then find 10-15 minutes to spend live on Google Plus. This is a good beginning strategy for using Google Plus.  Let me know how these tools work for you!

(1) 15 Things You Need To Know About The #NewGooglePlus  from Just Ask Kim / Kim Castleberry

One of this week’s biggest stories was the major changes at Google Plus. If you haven’t taken a look at your Google Plus page(s) yet, be prepared for a major new look (some people are suggesting it’s a look that combines Pinterest and Facebook). We’ll be exploring the changes and new features over the next few weeks, but this is a great article to help you learn more about what’s new at G+.

(2) How Your Business Can Use the New Facebook Cover Photos from Social Media Examiner

Now that Facebook has relaxed the rules on Cover Photos (you can include calls-to-action, phone numbers, websites, “arrows”….any text, as long as it doesn’t take up more than 20% of the Image), you may find new ways to use your Cover Photo for marketing. Take a look at some great examples in this article.

(3) Instagram Marketing Ideas | 5 Tips for Growing your Business Exposure  From MediaNovak

Are you using Instagram for business? I am using my personal Instagram account to connect with people as myself  instead of the company, since I am the “face” of the company on social media accounts. But no matter how you are using Instagram – as a personal branding account or for your business’ products/services, these 5 tips are a great way to increase your exposure.   If you want to connect with me, my username on Instagram is terryleague  www.instagram.com/terryleague

(4) Facebook Ads vs Promoted Posts: A Side-by-Side Comparison from SocialMouths

This is a very helpful post that points out the differences between Facebook Ads and Promoted Posts. Several great charts list the Pros and Cons of each. Use this as a resource to help determine which form of advertising will work best for you, depending on your goals.

(5) Did You Already Pin This? Now You’ll Know! From the Pinterest official blog

Two major feature announcements this week from Pinterest: notification when you Pin something you’ve already pinned before (this will be so helpful!). And a new Send Pins to Friends option for sending a Pin directly to a friend/contact.  Both features are being rolled out, so you may not see it yet; but I’m excited to get them and think they will add a lot to the Pinterest experience.

Read more about both features on the official Pinterest blog: http://blog.pinterest.com/

(Bonus): Infographic – 7 Tips to Get More Followers on Twitter from AllTwitter / mediabistro

A really nice infographic for a quick reference on how to increase your Twitter following!

We hope these resources give you some great ideas for your social media marketing! If you found any great resources and want to share, please do so in the comments below or visit our Facebook Page.

Google Alerts

You receive an email update of the latest results (web, news, etc.) for the words/phrases you enter.  You can set up alerts for your name, business name, product name, keywords in your industry, topics for content curation, competitor names…any important words or phrases you want to monitor.

Go to google.com/alerts and set up as many alerts as you want.  Choose the type of results you want (you may want to start with “everything” and weed it out later), how often to receive the email alerts and how many (I suggest “only the best results”).

Enter the email address – if you set up a lot of alerts, you may want to consider creating a separate email to handle the volume or assign a specific folder just for “alerts” so your main email account doesn’t get overwhelmed.

TalkWalker Alerts

Use this tool as a companion or replacement for Google Alerts. TalkWalker even states they are “the best free and easy alternative to Google Alerts” when you sign up.

Go to http://www.talkwalker.com/alerts and fill out the form in the same way as you completed the Google Alerts sign-up page.

I’m using both Google Alerts and TalkWalker Alerts and in my experience, I get more results with TalkWalker. But a good deal of the TalkWalker alerts are not good “quality” results for me, so I’m going to continue to use both.

After Google’s decision to shut down Google Reader, there were some rumors that Google Alerts may not be around much longer either; I don’t know if there is any truth to that, but I think it’s a good idea to have an alternative in place or ready to go if you rely on Google Alerts now.

Mention

This tool works the same way as Google Alerts and TalkWalker (set up “mentions” for keywords/phrases), but it offers a few more options.

• Favorites – you can mark and save mentions: customer testimonials, positive feedback on articles, etc.
• Tasks – you can share an alert with another user and then assign a task to them: read, share or comment on a mention.
• Users – share your mentions with anyone, even if they are not a user of “Mention”.
• Social Accounts – you can connect a Facebook or Twitter account to a mention. You can also manage multiple accounts within Mention.

There are several plans available: the Free plan gives you 3 alerts, 500 mentions per month and 1 month of history. You can try their Pro Plan for free for 30 days and this gives you unlimited alerts, 50,000 mentions, statistics and data export options. If you don’t sign up for the Pro Plan after 30 days, your plan simply reverts to the Free plan.

Go to https://mention.net/ to sign up.

You receive your mentions in real-time, which you may find useful.

So test out one or all of these free tools to help monitor what’s being said about you, your brand or important keywords in your industry. Let me know if you have a favorite one here or another to share!

(1) 9 Ways to Become a Better Facebook Community Manager – All great tips, whether you manage your own Page or someone else’s. A resource to save!

 (2) Google+ Misconceptions: Why You Should Give Google+ a Try – Some great tips on why you can’t ignore Google+ ; summed up by this line “Let’s put it this way: if you use the Google search engine, then you use Google+.”

(3) 14 Steps to Generating Leads on Twitter – A great post on the lead generation  process, from Tweets to Landing Pages to Email Marketing.

(4) 7 Ways To Get More Engagement Out of Your Photos on Facebook – Helpful tips for using photos on Facebook!

(5) What to Write About: 25 Blog Post Ideas for Your Business – A list of some great ideas for your business blog. I suggest you save or print the list for reference later, when you get writer’s block!

Bonus: 5 Tips for the New Facebook Timeline for Personal Profiles – do you have the new Personal Profile Timeline yet? Kristi Hines shares some great tips in this article –  there are a few things like editing what “sections” appear, that you may want to do right away.

We’ll post more tips on the blog or Facebook Page as we look more closely at the Timeline changes.

But if you don’t have access to software to create your own images (or the time to learn how to use photo-editing applications), the free tool Quozio offers a quick, easy way to create and share image quotes.

Step #1: Go to a website that specializes in sharing “quotes”. Here are a few sources: brainyquote .com, quotegarden. com, quotationspage. com, and  thinkexist. com. You can do a Google search for motivational quotes and find more.

Step #2: Find a quote you like and highlight (copy) the text.

Step #3: Now go to Quozio.com. Copy your favorite quote into the text box and then choose one of Quozio’s ready-made images.

Backgrounds include photos and plain colors, so experiment to see what looks best with your quote.

Step #4: Once you’ve created your quote image in Quozio, share it with your social networks right away or save it to your computer/desktop, and then upload it later to Pinterest, Facebook or your blog.

A few notes:

(1) Make sure you give proper credit to sites where you find quotes.

(2) You can install the Quozio bookmarklet (found on Quozio’s home screen) in your browser for quick text highlighting on any site.

(3) You may find that some of Quozio’s photos/backgrounds are a little large for optimal viewing on Facebook (a size of 405 x 405 pixels works best for a post). Another one of my favorite free tools – PicMonkey – gives you the ability to Re-size a photo (in the Edit Photo menu). After you’ve created the image quote in Quozio, save it to your computer and then quickly Re-size it in PicMonkey (and then Save the new size). Then upload that photo to your social media sites.

For information on two other free tools that help you create image quotes, see our post on Pinstamatic and PinWords.

Give Quozio a try today and let me know how your image quotes turn out!

Top image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

(1) The Hidden Benefits of Social Media Marketing: Why Your Strategy May Be Working Better Than You Think – A great article! If you ever wonder if social media marketing is worth it, make sure you read #8. Mindshare with Lurkers, I’ve found this to be true many times!

(2) 29 Tools to Enhance Your Business Blog – A fantastic resource! You are sure to find some new tools for your blogging. Save this and try out a few when you have time.

(3) 3 Tips for Maximizing YouTube’s New Layout for Brand Channels – Good tips for this new layout, including tips on creating a “welcome” video.

(4) A Comparison: Facebook Ads vs. Promoted Posts – This is a very helpful resource! Learn the difference between the 2 ways to advertise, and check out the Pros/Cons chart.

(5) How to Write Interesting Content for a “Boring” Topic – Another fantastic resource to save! Helpful tips (and resources) on how to make any topic “interesting”. Great for business bloggers!

I hope you found some great tips in this week’s list! Check back next week for another social media wrap up!

(1) 4 Ways the Twitter You Know is Changing Forever – An interesting article from Convince and Convert on some changes on Twitter. Assigning a “high”, “medium” or “low” value to Tweets could be an unpopular change (we’ll just have to wait and see how it works). I’m looking forward to learning more about Nestivity (read the article for a link to get on the wait-list).

(2) 5 Creative Ways to Use LinkedIn Company Pages – There are some terrific ideas in this one from Social Media Examiner for using your Linkedin Company Page to drive traffic, engage your community or get leads.

(3) 7 Surprising Ways to Grow Your Business on the Twitter Vine – If you’ve set up a Vine account and are wondering what to do next, this article from KISSmetrics should help. From testimonials, to putting a face to your business, to user-submitted “vines”, there are some interesting ideas for you.

(4) Pinterest Launches Free Analytics Tool for Business Accounts – HubSpot has a great write-up on the new Pinterest Analytics tool. If you switch to Pinterest’s “new” look and verify your website, you will get this tool as well.

(5) Photo And Video Grid View For User Galleries Returns To Twitter.com – Check out your photo gallery on Twitter – it’s now a grid-based interface. This change might encourage you to upload more photos and videos (Vine?).

(6) Bonus: Google Reader Alternatives

If you are a Google Reader user (like me), then the announcement of Google’s plans to shut down Google Reader has left you wondering what tool to use in its place.

Kristi Hines has an in-depth article on three alternatives, in the article below.
Google Reader Alternatives: 3 Web Based RSS Readers to Manage Your Subscriptions

I’m also sharing this fabulous presentation from Ana Hoffman with plenty of alternatives:

(1) 16 Ways Businesses Are Using Twitter Vine

Have you tried the new mobile App, Vine? “Think of it as Instagram, except with videos instead of pictures.” Get some tips on how to use it for business in this article.

(2) 28 Easy Ideas For Visual Blog Content Your Customers Will Love

There are a lot of great ideas in this article; you’re sure to find some new ones that will work for your business.

(3) Case Study: How Keyword Research Works in the Wild 

Follow the steps in this case study for an in-depth tutorial on keyword research. Helpful resource!

(4) 19 Sure-Fire Ways to Amplify Your Social Reach

Terrific social media tips in this post from HubSpot!

(5) 5 Tips to Enhance Your Facebook Graph Search Ranking

Some important steps to take to make sure your Page has the best chance of showing up in the upcoming Graph Search.

We’ve been collecting the best resources we’ve seen on Facebook’s Graph Search: you can find them on our Graph Search Resource Page.

(6) Extra Resources:

Big news items this week were the updates made on Google Plus – and here is a great article click here . It highlights the changes (which go into effect immediately).

Also announced were upcoming changes to the Facebook News Feed.
We’ll probably be starting a Facebook News Feed Resource Page to keep track of these changes (roll-out will happen “slowly” according to Facebook).

For now, you may want to watch this video Behind Facebook’s News Feed Redesign click here and stay tuned to our blog and Facebook page for more resources, as we find them!