You GOTTA Try at Least Two of These Social Media Measurement Tools

There’s no getting around it: social media is here to stay. Every now and then you’ll hear the naysayers saying that its 15-minutes of fame is almost up. How anyone could say that, I’m not really sure. We live in the internet age where online marketing is just as viable as traditional marketing is—maybe even more so. Because businesses are spending so much time, effort, and money on social media, they’re undoubtedly going to want tools to help monitor those efforts. Below is a roundup of 6 tools that can help you measure your social media efforts.

Dlvr.it

Dlvr.it is a free to use website that grabs RSS feeds from your blog or website and automatically posts them to social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. It also uses real-time engagement stats to let you know where your content is getting the most attention. If you use Bit.ly to shorten links, you can connect your account to Dlvr.it. In addition, you can connect your Google Analytics account to Dlvr.it. Dlvr.it can also automatically add search-friendly hashtags to your tweets for you.

HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one inbound marketing software solution. It aims to attract and engage your target market thus earning quality leads and loyal customers. The all-in-one feature set allows users to create content and build websites without the need for IT support, improve your search rankings, access analytics to measure the effectiveness of your marketing, and nurture your leads by helping them with their buying through targeted emails. This social media-related service is the most expensive out of all on the list, ranging from $3,000 per year to more than $18,000.

Janrain

Janrain uses a platform that consists of three products. The products can be used separately or together to manage all aspects of user engagement and measurement of your social media network. Jainrain Engage allows your website users to login using social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Janrain Capture collects and stores user profile data that was gathered when a new user registers on your site. Janrain Federate enables users to sign-in once to your site and seamlessly navigate to each of your online properties or partner sites with one login. The end goal is to allow marketers to offer personalized content, email marketing, and tailor a user’s site experience based on what it learns about the visitor. Pricing ranges from free to $1,000 a year or more.

North Social

North Social offers a number of Facebook social media applications to businesses for business use. The goal is to dramatically increase the Likes on your business or fan page. Some really cool apps to note are:

Photo Showcase (which allows you to display large images; optional “Buy Now” buttons can turn the app into an online store)

• Sign Up (create contact forms, surveys, and invitations to obtain valuable feedback directly from your fans)
• Show & Sell (turns your fan page into a social mini-store where you can sell products or services)
• North Contact (a free social CRM extension for the North Social apps; creates user forms, list management, and outbound emails and auto-responders)

North Social is available for a monthly fee. Fees range anywhere from $20/month to $150/month depending on the type of business you have (entrepreunerial, small business, global brand, etc.). On the plus side, one account gives you access to all of North Social’s apps.

Squareberry

Squareberry allows businesses to plan and schedule events, messages, and promotions in advance. Squareberry will deliver them across social media sites, to email subscribers, mobile devices, and web calendars. You can also monitor social keyword mentions, see comments and replies, and respond to followers on Facebook and Twitter in one location. Digital promotions and events draw people directly to your business and promote social sharing. Prices range from free to $29/month.

Wildfire

Wildfire helps businesses build and launch social media campaigns and promotions that run on their company website and Facebook fan page simultaneously. Campaign formats include contests, coupons, and virtual gifts to name a few. The end result is to generate leads and build brand awareness. Pricing depends on how long you choose to run a campaign and the account type you want.

 No matter your social media budget, marketing (of any kind) without measurement is a waste of time. Invest your time and or money into one of these tools to be sure you’re getting the best ROI from your social media marketing efforts.

On the Go Marketing 101: Mobile Web Design Should be a Given for an Website

Okay, without delving too deeply into the design side of your website, do you know if it’s mobile marketing-ready? In other words, when you pull it up on your smart phone or tablet, do you have the option to adjust the screen width or does it upload within the screen window? Or, like many websites, does your content run off the page?

Mobile marketing web design is now the norm, not the anomaly, as most target markets continue to increase their use of pads or tablets, and smart phone sales vault 85% as each year passes. Business owners are often too far away from the why’s and how’s of their business website’s functionality to be aware of the mobile marketing effectiveness on a handheld smart device.

There are a few guidelines to follow when you redesign your website for mobile marketing. Take notes and get your web development team on it tout de suite, as every day without mobile marketing functionality for your website is a day of marketing and sales potential lost to the 5.3 billion mobile subscribers (that’s 77 percent of the world population).

Mobile Marketing Tips for Smartphones

Avoid Flash, fixed-element layouts and complicated navigation.

Mobile Marketing Tips for Tablets

Think less-is-more. Clean lines, easy navigation and eye-catching but relevant graphics.

For both of these mobile marketing mediums, keep the user experience at the top of your priority list. Like pc-based web design, keeping the information that site visitors are seeking as easy to find as possible is the main goal. Keeping pages uncluttered and easy to follow will not only increase your conversion potential for any site visitor, it allow for the fastest page loads in the mobile marketing realm.

With more than 428 million smart phones in the first quarter of 2011 combined with the tablet sales  estimated to reach 19.5 million this year, be sure your website is mobile marketing ready so you can get your slice of the mobile marketing pie.