Social media isn’t just a “place for friends;” it’s a place for business. In fact, solid proof exists that social media campaigns grow more than leads or traffic, but increase sales as well.  (I recently wrote an article documenting increased sales as a direct result of social media campaigns.)

As more success stories are published, companies that haven’t already gravitated toward social media will begin to do so. This will increase the need for social media managers

There’s only one university of which I’m aware that offers a social media degree. The one-year, full-time, $6,500 program will get you a Master’s degree. However, some online sources doubt the program’s depth. A smattering of online colleges offer social media degrees (i.e., University of San Francisco), but I wasn’t able to find any data on the programs’ success (or lack-thereof).

The problem is multi-layered, the first hurdle being a shortage of  social media “masters” capable of teaching social media engagement in-depth; according to Traffickd, there are at least 475 active social media sites (ironically, two sites that I use regularly aren’t on the list…). Complicating matters further, social media is like shifting sand; a course curriculum in February is obsolete as soon as it’s printed.  These are endemic issues with tech companies, and until there’s a standard, companies that wish to increase their social media prowess will struggle to find knowledgeable social media managers who can not only drive results, but also add value to the organization. Read the rest of this entry »

So the latest Mashable article on the use of social media points to emarketer results indicating that two-thirds of marketers use social media in some capacity. The number is projected to increase to 82% in the next 12 months leaving a mere 12% of businesses uninterested in using the online outlet. The reasons companies aren’t using? They range from not knowing what to do, to not understanding measurement and benefits, to believing it is a poor use of employee time.

As this seems to be a great thing for businesses like myself that teach companies how to use social media and help create and execute social media plans, it definitely leaves the social media space cluttered. The space is becoming filled with a lot more noise than a few months ago, and the noise can definitely get in the way of effective messaging. Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry…I know! My last post was also on Twitter. I apologize! Yet, there’s some big news coming from the little company that’s taking the nation…make that the globe…by storm. There are companies that would be happy to be mentioned in a newscast or blog post once a month; Twitter’s being mentioned by traditional media (TV, radio, cable, etc.) on a daily basis while online it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the “little bluebird that could.”

What’s up with Twitter? First, and most importantly, ClickZ reported that Twitter surpassed Facebook as the most emailed link included in an email marketing campaign. Read the rest of this entry »