Create and maintain a successful social media strategy for your business Today, a large number of companies still don't have a strategic approach to social media. Others fail to calculate how effective they are at social media, one of the critical components of implementing any social media strategy. When companies start spending time and money on their social media efforts, they need to create an internal plan that everyone can understand. Maximize Your Social offers a clear vision of what businesses need to do to create—and execute upon—their social media for business road map. Explains the evolution of social media and the absolute necessity for creating a social media strategy Outlines preparation for, mechanics of, and maintenance of a successful social media strategy Author Neal Schaffer was named a Forbes Top 30 Social Media Power Influencer, is the creator of the AdAge Top 100 Global Marketing Blog, Windmill Networking, and a global social media speaker Maximize Your Social will guide you to mastery of social media marketing strategies, saving you from spending a chunk of your budget on a social media consultant. Follow Neal Schaffer's advice, and you'll be able to do it yourself—and do it right.

What people get out of social media—and how businesses can get more out of it Almost no one had heard of social media a decade ago, but today websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have more than 1 billion users and account for almost 25 percent of Internet use. Practically overnight, social media seems indispensable to our lives—from friendship and dating to news and business. What makes social media so different from traditional media? Answering that question is the key to making social media work for any business, argues Miko?aj Piskorski, one of the world's leading experts on the business of social media. In A Social Strategy, he provides the most convincing answer yet, one backed by original research, data, and case studies from companies such as Nike and American Express. Drawing on his analysis of proprietary data from social media sites, Piskorski argues that the secret of successful ones is that they allow people to fulfill social needs that either can’t be met offline or can be met only at much greater cost. This insight provides the key to how companies can leverage social platforms to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Companies need to help people interact with each other before they will promote products to their friends or help companies in other ways. Done right, a company’s social media should benefit customers and the firm. Piskorski calls this "a social strategy," and he describes how companies such as Yelp and Zynga have done it. Groundbreaking and important, A Social Strategy provides not only a story- and data-driven explanation for the explosion of social media but also an invaluable, concrete road map for any company that wants to tap the marketing potential of this remarkable phenomenon.

Filled with the latest information on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other key social-media sites, this all-purpose guide provides specific strategies and tactics that focus on building business. In addition to marketing and PR, this resource addresses recruiting, risk management, cost, and other key business issues. Marketing, sales, public relations, and customer-service professionals within any business will learn how to save time and develop a weekly checklist of social-media priorities, connect social-media sites together, attract the right job candidates, and help improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Keeping a close eye on return-on-investment, this clever resource promises to help market-savvy businesses outpace their competition.

Advance your B2B marketing plans with proven social media strategies Learn social media's specific application to B2B companies and how it can be leveraged to drive leads and revenue. B2B marketers are undervalued and under appreciated in many companies. Social media and online marketing provide the right mix of rich data and reduction in marketing expenses to help transform a marketer into a superstar. The B2B Social Media Book provides B2B marketers with actionable advice on leveraging blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more, combined with key strategic imperatives that serve as the backbone of effective B2B social media strategies. This book serves as the definitive reference for B2B marketers looking to master social media and take their career to the next level. Describes a methodology for generating leads using social media Details how to create content offers that increase conversion rates and drive leads from social media Offers practical advice for incorporating mobile strategies into the marketing mix Provides a step-by-step process for measuring the return on investment of B2B social media strategies The B2B Social Media Book will help readers establish a strong social media marketing strategy to generate more leads, become a marketing superstar in the eye of company leaders, and most importantly, contribute to business growth.

Profit Big from Social Media: Strategies and Solutions That Work! Using new social media marketing techniques, you can deepen relationships with your most passionate, profitable customers—and create more of them than ever before! In this 100% practical book, world-renowned expert Li Evans shows exactly how to make the most of social media—in any company, in any industry. You’ll discover exactly how to customize your best social networking strategy...then staff it, organize it, manage its risks, and execute it successfully! Evans shows how to understand your audience, enter the conversation, build trust, protect your brand, integrate social media into existing marketing programs, measure your results...and profit big from today’s hottest new social media sites and platforms! Topics include Make the most of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, and more Define goals and customize strategy to maximize Return on Conversation (ROC) Understand the whole conversation about you and all the communities you serve Manage legal, compliance, and ethical challenges Plan social media policies for your company’s employees Extend customer service into social media Maintain consistent branding and messaging Complement your SEO, PPC, offline marketing, and PR efforts Learn how to integrate traditional marketing tactics (TV, radio, print) with your social media marketing strategy

It's a fact that companies so far have only scratched the surface of what can be achieved with social media. Whatever continent, industry, company size, current degree of social media adoption or your job title, the purpose of this book is to inspire you to see how you can raise the bar further to reap new rewards. It will give you the tools to make a difference to your organisation's social media strategy development and delivery going forward. In addition it will also give you more intellectual support and confidence to discuss social media on a higher level with peers, inspire colleagues or negotiate and create support for increased investments from your leadership team. In The Social Media MBA editor Christer Holloman has crowd sourced 15 thought leaders from 4 continents to offer an exceptional educational programme written for experienced social media professionals just like you. In addition, learn through cases studies produced by the social leaders at these brands: ARM by Kerry McGuire Balanza – Director of Strategic Marketing Aviva by Jan Gooding – Global Brand Director Dell by Stuart Handley – Communications Director Evans Cycles by Will Lockie – Head of Social Media GlaxoSmithKlein (Ribena) by Verity Clifton – Brand Marketing Manager Kodak by Madlen Nicolaus – Social Media Manager Phillips by Hans Notenboom – Global Director B2B Online Sage by Cath Sheldon – Online PR Specialist There is more, connect with the co-authors and other readers by joining The Social Media MBA Alumi group, visit http://www.socialmedia-mba.com or search or the group on LinkedIn to stay updated on the latest, ask questions or join the discussions.

Create and maintain a successful social media strategy for your business Today, a large number of companies still don't have a strategic approach to social media. Others fail to calculate how effective they are at social media, one of the critical components of implementing any social media strategy. When companies start spending time and money on their social media efforts, they need to create an internal plan that everyone can understand. Maximize Your Social offers a clear vision of what businesses need to do to create—and execute upon—their social media for business road map. Explains the evolution of social media and the absolute necessity for creating a social media strategy Outlines preparation for, mechanics of, and maintenance of a successful social media strategy Author Neal Schaffer was named a Forbes Top 30 Social Media Power Influencer, is the creator of the AdAge Top 100 Global Marketing Blog, Windmill Networking, and a global social media speaker Maximize Your Social will guide you to mastery of social media marketing strategies, saving you from spending a chunk of your budget on a social media consultant. Follow Neal Schaffer's advice, and you'll be able to do it yourself—and do it right.