Social Media Examiner rounds up its leading bloggers and media experts to list and comment on the year's most useful articles on social media marketing.

1. 31
Must-Read
Social Media
Marketing
Articles

2. so cialm e diae xam ine r.co m
http://www.so cialmediaexaminer.co m/31-must-read-so cial-media-marketing-articles/
31 Must-Read Social Media Marketing Articles
By Cindy King
Published December 31, 2013
Are you looking f or rich and insightf ul blog posts to boost your social media marketing?
We asked our writers to share their f avorite social media blog posts.
What f ollows is a gold mine of content you can apply to your marketing in 2014.
# 1: Enlarge Your Digit al Foot print f or More Ef f ect ive Online
Market ing
I love this post by Barry Feldman because it emphasizes content promotion (which
is all-important) and includes a comprehensive list of specif ic actions.
It’s a great overview f or beginners. But the pros may also f ind a f ew tactics they aren’t
using.
It’s a great piece of writing. As usual, Barry is approachable and direct. Not a word is
wasted. It’s one of the great posts of 2013 f or both style and substance.
Andy Crestodina, strategic director of Orbit Media.
And y
Cre s to d ina

3. With of all last year’s changes
in the social media space,
there are so many articles to
choose f rom! But one article
that resonated with me was
Rand Fishkin’s A Visual Guide
to Keyword Targeting and OnPage Optimization.
Every blogger knows that it’s
important to optimize their
pages properly, but it’s hard
to keep track of everything
you need to do with on-page
optimization.
In this article, Rand clearly
lays out the most important
parts of onpage optimization. He uses
an inf ographic and also gives
details with visual examples to
explain his points. T hough
some of the points are highlevel and complex, he breaks
them down so they’re easy
f or beginners—as well as
advanced SEO prof essionals
—to understand.
Rachel Sprung, product
marketing associate at
HubSpot.
Enlarg e Yo ur Dig ital Fo o tp rint fo r Mo re Effe c tive O nline Marke ting .
# 3: Tell Your Business St ory, One Blog at a Time
Back in April, I came across Mike Alton’s article, Tell Your Business Story, One Blog at a
Time. As someone drawn to the idea of storytelling, I love the way Mike approaches the
subject matter, practicing what he preaches by telling a compelling story about storytelling.
Rac he l Sp rung

4. Sure, the connection between
storytelling and business
blogging has been made
bef ore, but what
dif f erentiates this article f rom
others f or me is:
A great lead-in photo of
Tom Hanks f rom the
movie Apollo 13 (never
underestimate the power
of images!)
Quotes f rom a f ew other
stand-out movies and
how those lines “touched
us and taught us
something…and we
A Vis ual G uid e
remember them to this
day.” For example, “Toto,
I’ve got a f eeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
to Ke ywo rd Targ e ting and O n-Pag e O p timiz atio n.
Mike suggests that storytelling is one of the most effective purposes of a business
blog. He outlines six dif f erent kinds of stories businesses can tell:
1. How you got started
De b b ie
He mle y
2. How you work
3. Teach with a lesson—using rich, authentic stories
4. Communicate vision
5. Demonstrate values
6. Overcome objections
As storytellers, Mike reminds
us to be genuine, paint a
picture with words, bring
the audience into the story
and keep them in mind. All
highly valuable points to take
with us as we write our way
into 2014!
Debbie Hemley, freelance
writer and social media coach.
# 4: Is Yout ilit y t he Fut ure
of Market ing?
Te ll yo ur b us ine s s s to ry, o ne b lo g at a time .

5. My f avorite post of 2013 is Jay Baer’s Is Youtility the Future of Marketing?
It’s becoming increasingly dif f icult to get the attention of a prospective customer. At the top
of the sales f unnel (i.e., when the potential customer makes f irst contact with you), Jay
outlines three ways of getting attention:
Top of mind awareness
Ian Cle ary
Frame of mind awareness
Friend of mine awareness
Top of mind awareness is an
expensive marketing
technique that uses constant
marketing, so when the
person is ready to buy they
will think of you. Frame of
mind awareness is also called
inbound marketing. T his is
where you produce content
that helps you get found
through search or on social
channels, so when a
potential customer is looking
f or your product or service,
they are attracted with
content and converted over
time.
Jay also talks about a third
option that he calls friend of
mine awareness. T his is
where you provide
something of real value to
the customer. For example,
Is Yo utility the Future o f Marke ting ?
you build an app that provides
a usef ul service. It may be
expensive to build the app, but it’s so usef ul that prospects become attached to the brand. T hey view the
brand dif f erently because your app adds real value. Jay calls this Youtility.
What I really like about the post is that it shows a new direction f or marketing. We can all provide “Youtility” to
our potential customers and stand out f rom the crowd. Jay’s book, Youtility, provides all you need to know
about this new f orm of marketing.
Ian Cleary, founder of RazorSocial.
# 5: 6 Facebook Report ing Tools f or In-Dept h Analysis of Fan Pages

6. T his is one of those posts where every single word is important and educational. In other
words: I actually read the whole thing!
What I love most is that it speaks to a more advanced Facebook marketing audience and
digs deep into how to analyze a Facebook page.
Many businesses are on Facebook just to be on Facebook, but there are plenty of tools
that can show the impact of the social network. Kristi Hines explains them here, showing
admins how they can demonstrate to bosses and colleagues the results they’re getting.
Plus it has a lot of pictures
and I love articles with
pictures!
J im Be lo s ic
I’d heard of all six tools
mentioned in this post, Simply
Measured, Socialbakers,
Sprout Social, Rival IQ,
Cyf e and Google Analytics ,
but I didn’t know just how
valuable each tool could be.
T his post really breaks down
the of f ers, options, f eatures
and benef its of each tool so
you can choose which one(s)
will work best f or your
business.
Jim Belosic, CEO of
ShortStack.
# 6: How t o Grow a
Billion-Dollar B2B Growt h
Engine
T he most valuable blog post I
read in 2013 was HubSpot—
How to Grow a Billion-Dollar
B2B Growth Engine. HubSpot
is known f or championing the
6 Fac e b o o k Re p o rting To o ls fo r In-De p th Analys is o f Fan Pag e s .
push toward inbound
marketing and has long been
great at using content marketing to drive leads. However, there has never been a good case
study on how they’ve done it and what led to their success.
I really enjoy blog posts that are backed by data and use specif ic examples because they
allow me to start thinking about new ideas. T hese posts also serve as motivation f or me as
an entrepreneur.
Eric Siu

7. partnership program, there’s enough in here to spark at least one actionable idea.
Eric Siu, founder of Growth
Everywhere and COO at Single
Grain, a digital marketing
agency.
# 7: 13 Charact erist ics of
Human Brands
If I narrow down to one social
Hub Sp o t—Ho w to G ro w a Billio n-Do llar B2B G ro wth Eng ine .
media article that really
shaped and guided me in
2013, it was this blog post by Pam Moore the Marketing Nut: “13 Characteristics of Human
Brands.”
It was like getting a bucket of cold water splashed in my f ace!
It wasn’t a strategy post. It was about the philosophy of lif e and business—not a “how-to”
post, rather a “who are you?” post. It caused me to think long and hard about the core
values, guiding principles and “human side” of our business.
Mike G ing e ric h

8. I loved this post because it
spoke to the heart of social
media f or business! Social
media is SOCIAL—it’s about
people and relationships. It’s
person to person, not object
to object or transaction
to transaction.
Pam wrote passionately
about this, cutting through
the f luf f , getting past all the
data-mining and f ormulas and
making a simple, clear point:
It’s about being real, authentic
and human. T hat’s the core of
social media f or any business.
Mike Gingerich, co-founder of
TabSite.
# 8: 11 Cont ent Market ing
Lessons Learned From
20 of t he Top 100 Blogs
Neil Patel’s blog is a mustread f or content marketers
and SEO prof essionals
because he goes straight to
the point and values the
power of data over gut
f eeling.
T hese 11 tips are
13 Charac te ris tic s o f Human Brand s .
instrumental to growing a
prof essional blog’s audience.
I had to learn them on my own when I started working on Nitrogram’s content strategy, and
now they all sit together on this list!
Following these tips will not only help you become a better writer and improve the
impact of your own efforts, but will also improve your productivity. You’ll get more
done by outsourcing ef f iciently.
Thib aut
Davo ult

9. Should you f ocus on your blog post’s body? Sure you should; that’s what brings value to
your readers. But what’s a
strong article worth if no one
clicks your headline?
Thibaut Davoult, head of
content marketing at
Nitrogram.
# 9: The Top 7 Social
Media Market ing Trends
That Will Dominat e 2014
One of the most valuable
posts I read this year about
social media was T he Top 7
Social Media Marketing
Trends T hat Will Dominate
2014 by Jayson DeMers.
I f ound this post valuable
because it clearly identif ies
many of the social media
marketing developments that
are important f or brands and
small businesses in the
coming year.
Yearly roundup posts are
of ten f illed with f luf f , but
Jayson’s post touches on
11 Co nte nt Marke ting Le s s o ns Le arne d Fro m 20 o f the
actionable trends that
business owners and
marketers must take note of if they want to remain relevant in the ever-changing
marketplace.
To p 100 Blo g s .
I learned about the continuing importance of Google+ and Google authorship, f urther
stressing how companies need to f ocus on content to make an impact across their digital
properties. Google is merely aligning with companies that are creating quality content,
which Jayson helped outline nicely.
Brian Ho nig man

10. Brian Honigman, freelance writer and content marketing consultant.
# 10: Social Media
St ardom: 7 Lessons
Market ers Can Learn
From Digit ally Savvy
Celebrit ies
One of my f avorite posts of
the past year comes
f rom Ekaterina Walter, who
shared Social Media Stardom:
7 Lessons Marketers Can
Learn From Digitally Savvy
Celebrities.
T he overarching theme is to
focus on your audience and
not yourself. T his is a
powerf ul lesson f or any
organization engaging on
social media.
I really like the concept of
building a tribe of brand
advocates as a classic
quality-over-quantity strategy,
The To p 7 So c ial Me d ia Marke ting Tre nd s That Will Do minate
with the upside being that in
social circles, quality can
actually beget larger quantity as the hardcore f ans are likely to be your biggest inf luencers.
2014.
Ben Pickering, digital marketing executive who has worked with many of the world’s top
brands.
# 11: 9 Persuasion Lessons From a 4-Year-Old
Be n Pic ke ring

11. sound smart (all of the time),
but because we usually don’t
get into our customers’
heads during the contentcreation process.
T he article 9 Persuasion
Lessons From a 4-YearOld not only gives us 9
valuable tips we can use
today, but also a perspective
that brings us back to our
own youth, when things were
much more simple. Bringing
out your inner child while
writing can of f er great results
f or your audience.
I learned that af ter I write or
record anything, I need to
review the content as if I were
my own customer reading it
AND make sure it’s simple
enough that a child would
know what I’m asking them to
do.
Greg Hickman, founder of
Mobile Mixed.
So c ial Me d ia Stard o m: 7 Le s s o ns Marke te rs Can Le arn Fro m Dig itally Savvy Ce le b ritie s .
# 12: Twit t er Files f or IPO—What it Means f or Users, Invest ors and Social
Media
Without a doubt, the biggest social media event of the year was Twitter going public, which
had a big ef f ect on social media marketers on both short- and long-term f ronts.
G re g Hic kman

12. Brian Solis wrote a great piece f or marketers about the IPO’s impact on media, society and
business, “Twitter Files f or
IPO—What it Means f or
Users, Investors, and Social
Media.”
T he post helped me
understand the business
effects the IPO will have on
the network. Advertising on
Twitter will become more
viable f or the company, and
theref ore more valuable f or
marketers as well.
As Twitter accumulates more
data and the network grows,
the platf orm becomes more
approachable by both big
brands and small businesses.
As f or what’s next, Twitter is
committed to improving mobile
engagement and mobile ads,
with relevant acquisitions
9 Pe rs uas io n Le s s o ns fro m a 4-Ye ar-O ld .
such as MoPub. As a public
company, Twitter’s business
decisions will strike a unique balance between monetization and user experience.
Lior Degani, co-founder of Swayy.
# 13: What Everybody Missed About Hummingbird: Social Signals
Lio r De g ani

13. social.
T his article expands on how
in the past Google has had
technical issues that impacted
social signals as a ranking
f actor.
Enge highlights a recent study
that showcased how Google+
share links hadn’t actually
impacted ranking in the past,
indicating that
while historically links have
been a driver
in SEO, social signals will
become more prominent.
T his piece illustrates how
experts who specialize in
particular topics should
and can be recognized
based on their online
credibility.
Twitte r File s fo r IPO —What it Me ans fo r Us e rs , Inve s to rs and So c ial Me d ia.
While this post is relatively
straightf orward, it endorses the notion that social will inf orm search to a higher degree in
the f uture and that to rank in Google, you must build social media credibility.
Stephanie Shkolnik, director of social media at Digitaria.
# 14: How t o Sell on Facebook: A Det ailed, 9-St ep Guide
For business value, I would recommend Jon Loomer’s How to Sell on Facebook: A Detailed,
9-Step Guide.
Ste p hanie
Shko lnik

14. Jon’s practical step-by-step
guide compiles tactical details
on how to create highly
targeted Facebook ad
campaigns that ultimately
result in sales conversions.
I loved the article f or
Loomer’s insightf ul strategies
such as:
Setting up conversion
pixels to track results
Creating unpublished
posts (to a/b or
multivariate test)
Targeting by email,
lookalike and connection
Tracking and optimizing
your ads
What Eve ryb o d y Mis s e d Ab o ut Humming b ird : So c ial Sig nals .
I loved it even more because it walks you through the process with clear language and
easy-to-understand screenshots.
Facebook ads have proven to be an ef f ective way to reach our market, so knowing how to
use the tools (with strategic tips) has been very valuable.
Krista Bunskoek, content marketer at Wishpond.
Kris ta Buns ko e k

15. # 15: This So-Called
Digit al Lif e: ReEvaluat ing t he Value of
Time Spent in Social
Net works
T his post by Brian Solis really
captures the other side of
social media—the side that
isn’t of ten talked about, but is
still very important to keep a
handle on.
While this article really looks
at how our teens are using
social media and how it
inf luences them, some of us
older f olks are f eeling just the
same way.
It can af f ect us all like a shot
of dopamine
(a neurotransmitter that helps
control the brain’s reward and
pleasure centers). Each time
we post something and get a
reaction such as a like—or
better still, a comment—it
gives us pleasure. So we do it
again and again and again.
Ho w to Se ll o n Fac e b o o k: A De taile d , 9-Ste p G uid e .
It’s not that we f eel like we
need a digital detox; we’re in control. But that doesn’t stop us enjoying the f eeling. Just like
opening a box of chocolates. We don’t intend to eat them all in one go, but to enjoy one or
two straight of f because they give us pleasure. We like them.
Linda Coles of Blue Banana is a sought-after speaker and LinkedIn influencer.
# 16: Social Media St rat egy in 8 St eps
Lind a Co le s

16. I love Jay Baer’s 8 steps post
because it lays out a roadmap
to easily f ollow to start
building a platform f or
social media strategy.
Taking away the idea that
small businesses and
companies “do” social, Jay
instead f ocuses on how they
can “be” social—an important
distinction to make, given how
powerf ul our social
communications have
become.
As Jay points out, I think it’s
obvious that too many
businesses f ocus on the
tactics and tools they can use
to do social media, all the
while f orgetting to actually
listen to their audience or
utilize the metrics to help
them measure and track their
goals.
What stood out to me the
most in Jay’s post, and a
valuable takeaway f or my own
social media strategy, is the
This So -Calle d Dig ital Life : Re -Evaluating the Value o f Time Sp e nt in So c ial Ne two rks .
idea that we need to become
more human. Putting
yourself out there as a relatable human being versus an entity is a great way to break
down any existing barriers there might be between you and your potential
audience on social.
John Lee Dumas, founder and host of EntrepreneurOnFire.
# 17: 10 Biz Owners Who Are Doing Rad Things Wit h Images
J o hn Le e
Dumas

17. media blogs. It was this one
on visual marketing by blogger
Karen Gunton f rom Build a
Little Biz.
With the rise of Instagram and
Pinterest, visual marketing
has become a higher-prof ile
social media strategy f or
small businesses.
Karen takes a whole lot of
overwhelm out of visual
marketing f or small
businesses who do it all
themselves. She doesn’t
f eature big corporations or
high-prof ile social media
stars. Instead she f eatures
real people and real little
businesses, and that makes
the content easy to relate to.
I love this blog post because
it shows you how to brand all
of your visuals, tools,
templates and worksheets
in a particular style. While I
do illustrate many of my own
social media visuals, I hadn’t
thought about taking a mixedmedia approach. Something to
have f un with in 2014.
I f elt ref reshed af ter reading
this post and my brain is now
f ull of new ideas on how to
use visual marketing to better
relate to my f ollowers on social media.
So c ial Me d ia Strate g y in 8 Ste p s .
Cas McCullough, founder of Content Marketing Cardiology.
# 18: LinkedIn Et iquet t e Guide: 20 Do’s and Don’t s
I f eel that the single most helpf ul social media post f or me was LinkedIn Etiquette Guide: 20
Do’s and Don’ts.
Cas
Mc Cullo ug h

18. T he blog post provides
helpf ul tips on how to create
real relationships with
people on LinkedIn and
practical tips on what you
should never do. To top it of f ,
it also has a beautif ul
inf ographic of all the tips.
I love this article because I’ve
put a lot of these tips into
practice and have seen
positive results. I’ve made
some great contacts within
the Pinterest marketing
community through LinkedIn,
and it’s led to a lot of guest
blogging opportunities and
interesting discussions.
T he tip that I like the most is
about sending a LinkedIn
welcome message that
delivers value to your
contacts. T his can be a
message that provides a link
to your latest ebook or a
report that’s helpf ul to your
LinkedIn connections.
Vincent Ng, president of
MCNG Marketing and a
Pinterest marketer.
10 Biz O wne rs Who Are Do ing Rad Thing s With Imag e s .
# 19: Facebook Market ing: From 2,500 t o 1 Million Fans in Just Two Years
T he most valuable social media blog post f or me, published on the Crazy Egg blog, was
called Facebook Marketing: From 2,500 to 1 Million Fans in Just Two Years.
Vinc e nt Ng

19. your business.
Specif ically, there are three
things that I really liked about
this post:
Grounded in reality: T his
post is based on a real
case study of Appliances
Online Co.
Takes you behind the
scenes: T his post shows
you things that aren’t
usually discussed about a
successf ul social media
operation.
Relatable to most
businesses: T his article
does a terrif ic job of
highlighting the
grassroots marketing
strategies that most
businesses can relate to
and utilize to see truly
ef f icient results.
Linke d In Etiq ue tte G uid e : 20 Do ’s & Do n’ts (Info g rap hic ).
Adeel Vanthaliwala, co-founder of Incentivibe.
# 20: Breaking Down t he Four Ms of Inf luence Market ing f or Bet t er ROI
T he post that truly made me reevaluate my perspective about online inf luence is Danny
Brown’s Breaking Down the Four Ms of Inf luence Marketing f or Better ROI.
Ad e e l
Vanthaliwala

20. Instead, I started to focus on
connecting with the real
influencers: people who will
motivate my customers along
the sales f unnel, ultimately to
the purchase decision.
Kimberly Reynolds, co-founder
of SocialNotz.
# 21: A Scient if ic Guide
t o Writ ing Great
Headlines on Twit t er,
Facebook and Your Blog
In 2013, this f abulous post
f rom Leo Widrich at Buf f er
was the one that I ref erred
back to the most.
Leo’s post is packed with hot
tips for getting more
mileage out of your social
media marketing. I love that
it includes some really clever
ways to structure your Twitter
and Facebook headlines, not
just on your blog.
Fac e b o o k Marke ting : Fro m 2,500 to 1 Millio n Fans in J us t Two Ye ars .
My key takeaways:
Don’t just post images, “post pictures that are meaningful without having to read
any text next to it.“
Test your blog post headlines f irst on Twitter and Facebook (Leo shows you how).
Use language that makes your headlines “pop.” Leo lists the 20 most retweetable
words—the words most likely to get traf f ic f or your blog post—and makes a case f or
including numbers in your headlines (the bigger the better).
T he importance of writing how-to articles, which of course has been a key to the
Kimb e rly
Re yno ld s

21. success of Social Media
Examiner
T here are hundreds of blog
posts that I read and love
every year, but if you want to
be successf ul on social
media, do what I did:
bookmark, ref er to and apply
some of the tips in this post
in 2014.
Donna Moritz, founder of
Socially Sorted.
# 22: 32 Expert s Share
Their Best Blog Post
Promot ion Tips
One of my f avorite social
media blog posts in 2013 was
32 Experts Share T heir Best
Blog Post Promotion Tips
f rom Kristi Hines at Kikolani.
In this post, Kristi gathers 32
best practices f rom the
experts on the most ef f ective
ways to promote your blog
content through social
media and beyond. You will
undoubtedly recognize many
of the experts whom she
asked to contribute to the post.
Bre aking Do wn the Fo ur Ms o f Influe nc e Marke ting fo r Be tte r RO I.
I really enjoyed reading the insights of these successf ul contributors and also picked up
some great tips f or my own blog promotion strategies!
Stephanie Sammons, founder of Build Online Influence.
Do nna Mo ritz

22. # 23: 51 Irresist ible Social Media Tool and Technology Tips
Ian Cleary has done a terrif ic
job taking his RazorSocial
blog f rom zero to 100 miles
per hour in just under 18
months.
He’s done it by creating
amazingly helpf ul blog posts
like 51 Irresistible Social Media
Tool and Technology Tips.
T he post is classic Ian
Cleary, packed with helpf ul
inf ormation that is not
only relevant but
also actionable.
If you want to see how to
take a blog f rom nothing to
something in just a year and a
half , and you want to learn
valuable social media tips in
the process, you can’t go
wrong with this blog post and
Ian’s blog.
A s c ie ntific g uid e to writing g re at he ad line s o n Twitte r, Fac e b o o k and Yo ur Blo g .
Jamie Turner, founder of the
60 Second Marketer.
# 24: 52 Unique Ways t o Creat e Social Media Magic
I loved this post because it reviews a lot of the basics that we all should be doing, but it
also gives some great insights into the nuances of specif ic platf orms.
Ste p hanie
Sammo ns

23. Rebekah’s easy-tounderstand style f or
beginning or advanced social
media marketers.
I especially like the tips f or
Pinterest and Google+ (two
emerging platf orms with
enormous SEO
opportunities). T hese are tips
I’ll be implementing
immediately!
Katie Lance, CEO/owner of
Katie Lance Consulting.
# 25: Empowerment
Market ing: Advert ising t o
Humans as More Than
Just Self ish Machines
I discovered Jonah Sachs this
year while studying
storytelling f or my degree in
Media Psychology. T his blog
post on Fast Company is an
excerpt f rom his book,
Winning the Story Wars, and
outlines what he calls
empowerment marketing.
It’s a f resh take on how
companies need to craf t
messages that empower
consumers instead of making
them f eel inadequate. He
reveals the tactics of the
inadequacy approach and
explains why they no longer
work on social media–savvy consumers.
32 Exp e rts Share The ir Be s t Blo g Po s t Pro mo tio n Tip s .
T he article also lays out specif ic empowerment marketing tactics that social media
strategists and community managers can use to connect with their audience. His tactics will
help you inspire, motivate and reach the core values of your target audience. Each
tactic outlined is supported with evidence f rom real campaigns f rom brands like Nike, Dove,
Apple and Volkswagen.
J amie Turne r

24. Lisa Peyton, a leader in the
field of digital marketing who
serves as editor at
So c ial Me d ia Tip s : 51 Irre s is tib le So c ial Me d ia To o l and Te c hno lo g y Tip s .
ThoroughlyModernMarketing.com.
# 26: Ten Visibilit y Tips f or Google Plus
I loved this guest post and inf ographic by Stephan Hovnanian, Ten Visibility Tips f or
Google Plus, that he created in October f or Denise Wakeman’s site.
Katie Lanc e

25. sums up 10 tips f or the platf orm.
Since Google+ has some
distinct f eatures and cultural
dif f erences f rom the other
social media outlets, I
appreciated learning f rom a
pro how to take advantage of
them to get more engagement
and boost visibility.
I particularly appreciated the
tip about posting to
communities vs. posting only
to your prof ile. It’s a great
way to get some traction on
your posts, particularly when
you’re just starting out on G+
and don’t have many
f ollowers.
Louise Julig, Social Media
Examiner’s case study writer,
freelance writer and former
engineer.
# 27: Taking t he Long
View: Social Media’s Real
ROI
When it comes to social
media, many businesses
simply want a clear ROI they
can calculate. It’s a topic that
continues to occupy
marketers who want to track
every single dollar that their
social media ef f orts have generated.
52 Uniq ue Ways to Cre ate So c ial Me d ia Mag ic .
In this blog post, Ian Lurie explains why social media’s ROI is actually all about the longterm, f rom great customer service through a company’s social media channels to improving
the overall opinion of your brand.
Lis a Pe yto n

26. term ROI, Lurie’s point is that these activities have big-time growth implications. Or as he
puts it: “T he long-term payof f
is huge.”
Bryden McGrath, social media
coordinator at Precor
Incorporated.
# 28: How t o Find More
Cont ent Ideas Than You’ll
Ever Be Able t o Creat e
I love this post because it
addresses one of the biggest
challenges f or businesses in
regards to social strategy:
content ideas.
Let’s not f orget that the blog
is probably the most
important and underutilized
social media tool out there,
and content is its f uel.
Without a constant source of
high-quality, original content,
your overall social strategy
will suf f er.
Emp o we rme nt Marke ting : Ad ve rtis ing to Humans as Mo re Than J us t Se lfis h Mac hine s .
What I learned f rom this post is that many of us have far more to say than we probably
ever realize and it’s up to us to pull these ideas and topics out of the deep recesses of
our unconscious minds.
Peter Shallard takes a deep dive into the psychology of content success and poses
three questions to help content creators and social marketers dig deep and never run out
ideas to write about.
Lo uis e J ulig

27. Shallard also reminds us that
the basics matter more than
ever: “writing magnetic
headlines, building
irresistible narratives and
f ocusing on good writing are
still important.” But by
continuing to ask yourself the
three simple questions he
proposes in the post, you’ll
get great ideas flowing and
have “an unlimited source
that you can craft into
brilliance.”
Timeless advice f or social
media and content marketers
alike.
Jason Miller, senior content
marketing manager at
LinkedIn.
# 29: The St ory Behind
t he Numbers: Social
Media Research
Having read extensively on
the subject in 2013, I loved
Te n Vis ib ility Tip s fo r G o o g le Plus .
the Internet Advertising
Bureau’s (IAB) research on
proof of ROI f or social. While those of us “in the biz” are of course aware that social is a
powerf ul medium f or businesses, it’s not always simple to convince clients of this.
Bryd e n Mc G rath

28. business owners are naturally
skeptical about such claims.
T he study claimed that f or
every $1.64 spent on social,
the return is $5.47
(converted f rom GBP to
USD), which is a signif icant
ROI.
Of course, not everyone
agreed with the study. Bryan
Urbick of the Consumer
Knowledge Center pointed to
a Pepsi campaign
that suggested otherwise.
I really liked the research as it
led to f urther research and
allowed me to get a grip
on understanding why the
debate on the value of
social remains. T his also
gave rise to a better
understanding of how tools
such as CRM can help.
Kerry Butters, founder and
director of markITwrite.
Taking the Lo ng Vie w: So c ial Me d ia’s Re al RO I.
# 30: 46 Expert s Share
Their Top Social Media Management Tools
T he single most valuable blog post I read on social media in 2013 was an article titled, 46
Experts Share T heir Top Social Media Management Tools.
J as o n Mille r

29. right tools to help do the job.
T his article teaches about a
lot of the social media tools
that are available to help
manage the day-to-day time
spent on social media.
What I enjoyed most was
learning about the dif f erent
tools many of today’s
social media prof essionals
are currently using and where
those tools can be applied
to help execute a successf ul
social media strategy.
Christian Karasiewicz, founder
of FB Marketing University.
# 31: Blog Opt imizat ion:
How t o Opt imize Your
Blog
Unlike many social media
marketers, Andy
Crestodina can be geeky (in a
good way).
Ho w to Find Mo re Co nte nt Id e as Than Yo u’ll Eve r Be Ab le
In this post, Andy lif ts the
hood on Google Analytics to
show bloggers how to get their posts to rank better. If it works f or top bloggers like Gini
Dietrich of Spin Sucks, it’ll work f or you.
to Cre ate .
Heidi Cohen, chief content officer at HeidiCohen.com.
What do you think? Which one of these is your favorite? Please share your comments
below.
Ke rry Butte rs

30. Ta gs : cindy king, s o cia l m e dia , s o cia l
m e dia blo g po s t , s o cia l m e dia
m a rke t ing, s o cia l m e dia s t ra t e gy,
s o cia l m e dia t ip
The Sto ry Be hind the Numb e rs : So c ial Me d ia Re s e arc h.
Chris tian
Karas ie wic z

31. 46 Exp e rts Share The ir To p So c ial Me d ia Manag e me nt To o ls .
He id i Co he n

32. Blo g O p timiz atio n: Ho w to O p timiz e Yo ur Blo g .