Despite what Google wants us to think, Google+ lacks the social element because well, our friends and family just aren’t on there. If you’re a business owner though, you NEED to be on Google+ and here’s why.

1. Boost Search Rankings. While we aren’t clear on the exact algorithm for how Google Plus ties into search, but we do know it is important. Google’s ‘Search Your World’ concept strives for tailored search results according to activity on Google+. When we are logged into a Google account and do a search for say, ‘B2B SEO’ you may see Google+ accounts related to those terms, articles or blogs shared on G+ in the organic search results and even posts or communities that tie in to your search topic. So, how can you capitalize on this?

• Add keywords and phrases in your company posts
• Also use hashtags (#) for major topics such as #SEO or #Dentistry depending on your topic
• Make sure your profile description is keyword rich
• Tag others in your posts using the plus symbol (+) to direct people to their page and also share content directly with them.

2. Quality Connections. It’s speculated that the number of followers isn’t as powerful as connecting with industry leaders. Sure, building a large network is still relevant but focus on connecting with those who already have a large following or are big names in what you do. If you’re a PR company, follow and share with PRwire, major PR firms and publications. If they share your content, Google gives you more authority because you’re viewed as more relevant. Also, share links from those trusted resources, ie articles, press releases, blogs, videos, etc. Google is trying to provide the most relevant search results for their users, right? So by becoming a resource of relevant and frequently shared information, you can also help improve your rank.

3. Distribute Your Content. It’s great to post your latest blog to your Google+ business page and share it with your circles, but what’s really effective is taking it a step beyond your profile. Communities are similar to LinkedIn’s ‘groups’ and allow you to engage, connect and share content with like-minded individuals. For instance, if you wrote a blog on the best places to go camping in Colorado, share that within communities about camping, Colorado, the outdoors, outdoor gear, 14ers, travel, etc. This is a powerful way to distribute your content across Google+ and drive interested users back to your website. Also, like mentioned above, if you shared an article from the NYTimes about Bing, tag NYTimes and Bing in your post so they see you shared the article with them. This helps to enhance your link building strategy across Google+.

Google+ is still relevant whether we believe it is or not. If anything, maintain an active presence, continue to connect with others and distribute content across the platform using keywords and phrases. For more information on how Google+ interacts with Google search ranking, we found this great article by SocialMediaToday that takes this analysis more in depth. Read it Here.

Connect with SmartSearch on Google+. To learn more about SmartSearch Marketing and how we can assist you in your SEO, Pay-per-click or social media strategies, visit www.SmartSearchMarketing.com.

Boulder, CO – May 8, 2013 – SmartSearch Marketing, a full-service B2B search engine marketing agency, announced today that Erich Toll, a senior web marketer and content expert, has joined the agency as content strategy manager. Toll will lead all content strategy, management and creation for SmartSearch clients.

“In a recent poll of top marketing executives, content marketing has surpassed PPC in importance in search marketing,” said Patricia Hursh, SmartSearch Marketing president. “With ever-increasing changes in search engine algorithms, content strategy is by far the best way to edge out your competition and boost your search engine traffic.”

SmartSearch Marketing is a full-service B2B search engine marketing agency that helps their clients generate leads, acquire new customers, and optimize online brand position. SmartSearch does so through search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC) advertising, conversion and usability, website analytics, local search, and content strategy.

With more than 17 years experience in content and web marketing, Toll’s expertise includes content strategy, management and creation, as well as research, writing and video production. Toll holds a Bachelor of Science in journalism with honors from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Toll has provided content expertise to hundreds of companies during the past two decades, including dozens of Fortune 500 companies. Prior to SmartSearch Marketing, Toll headed content creation for Champion Communications, Big World Media and Engaging Training. He started his career with seven years as writer and editor for B2B publications worldwide.

About SmartSearch Marketing
SmartSearch Marketing’s uniquely successful approach to search marketing, called Search Lifecycle Management, maximizes customers’ results from a prospect’s first search all the way through to customer acquisition and sale. SmartSearch clients are guaranteed to have a Google Certified Adwords expert serving them as part of their integrated agency team.

SmartSearch Marketing serves both B2B ad B2C companies by offering comprehensive search solutions that include:

• Strategic planning
• Search advertising
• Search engine optimization
• Content management
• Content strategy
• Content marketing
• Content creation
• Media buying and creative services
• Website usability
• Landing page development
• Conversion improvements
• Marketing analytics
• Social Search
• Mobile Website Optimization

To learn more about SmartSearch Marketing, visit www.smartsearchmarketing.com.

Most marketers do not actively employ mobile landing pages as a part of their greater B2B marketing strategy. Instead, they rely on personal opinions and gut reactions that tell them it’s okay to wait.

Don’t miss out on mobile! Review these five reasons to better understand why you must launch mobile landing pages now.

1. Take Advantage Of Dramatic Growth

Today’s product sales provide clues to future Web traffic. Smartphone sales are up 63% while PC sales are only up 15%, according to a recent Canalys report.

It’s clear that more users are choosing smart phones over traditional PCs when accessing the Internet. Are you ready for this new wave of users actively choosing smartphones over PCs?

Plus, tablets are fast becoming the new laptop, but still have many of the same challenges of smartphones. Designing websites to be mobile and tablet-friendly must be part of every marketer’s Web development plan to ensure capturing this growing audience.

2. Proactively Address Access Issues

The Internet is about instant gratification, and if you can’t meet this need on mobile devices, then your visitors will go somewhere else that does offer immediate information. When viewing traditional landing pages on mobile devices, 73% of users thought the page loaded too slowly, according to stats gathered by KISSmetrics from Akamai and Gomez.

Launching mobile-specific landing pages will ensure your visitors get the content they need, and let them perform the tasks they want when and how they want – instant gratification.

Another reason visitors leave your mobile website (and most likely never return) is frustration: 51% of users said pages crashed when trying to access them, and 45% experienced missing functionality, the same Akamai and Gomez data show.

When a webpage crashes, an image doesn’t load or a video won’t play — your customers and potential customers can’t engage with you, and consequently, may form negative impressions of your company/brand.

3. Ensure Readability

What good is your content and brilliant messaging if the visitor has to take out a magnifying glass to read it? Forty-eight percent of users thought that traditional landing pages were hard to read on mobile devices, according to the stats gathered by KISSmetrics.

If your pages are not easy to read, visitors will simply move on. I recommend that mobile page designers use a font size of 13 – 14 pixels.

4. Avoid “Page Not Available” Errors!

The above report found 38% of users reported pages not being available on mobile devices — one of the worst-case scenarios for Web marketers.

If your site is not available on mobile devices, mobile searchers will not know your company exists. Are you missing qualified prospects that perform research on mobile devices?

5. Mobile Is Here To Stay

One of the most important rules in marketing is to be present and stay in front of your target audience. Mobile currently contributes to more than 13% of all Web traffic, which is a 117% increase for 2012, according to a study by PR and marketing firm Walker Sands Communications.

You may have the greatest solution for your audience, but if your target audience doesn’t know about you, can’t find you, or can’t engage with your product, then it doesn’t matter. Are you missing a growing number of visitors trying to access your site via mobile?

The Mobile Edge For B2B Businesses

Mobile-specific landing pages can give your business an edge over your competition. Without mobile landing pages, your company is missing customers and revenue.

Take what we’ve learned — through our implementation of effective and very successful mobile landing pages for our clients — and reach your customers on-the-go while ensuring their brand presence remains strong. You’ll be glad you took this step into the increasingly mobile future.

I would like to make the case that SEO experts’ time is better spent focusing on primary results metrics (such as organic traffic and conversions) and only analyzing organic rank/position as it relates to these business results.

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The Value Of “Ranking”

A website can “rank” across search results for the same query, and that “rank” can change minute-to-minute, day-to-day, device-to-device.  Given the complexity of the factors considered before a search engine displays results, there is no definitive way to measure rank. Variables such as personalization, localization, search history, device in use, etc., — and their impact on search results — have been documented at great length.

We know that a webpage must rank somewhere in order to drive the associated organic traffic to a website.  The problem is pinpointing that somewhere and assigning a specific rank value.

I recently completed an (unscientific) experiment with a group of SEO experts, analyzing rank for a company’s high-priority phrases. During a 15-minute time period, we used Google to conduct the exact same search from various geographic locations within the U.S., on unique computers, using various browsers and Web proxies, some while logged into Google accounts and some not.

We found that the website ranked across the first page of the search results in dissimilar positions, or in some cases, did not rank on the first page at all.  So, what exactly is the website’s “rank” for that phrase? Who knows!

Rank Chasing

Chasing a specific rank is really a futile exercise. Focusing on measurable and actionable metrics is not. 

To “rank” in search results is to gain exposure and drive traffic to a website.  You will find — when reviewing a specific page of your site in analytics — the volume of keywords from organic search that drives traffic to your webpage is much larger than specific keywords for which you have optimized the page. Actual organic search queries are likely a combination of derivatives of your targeted phrases, direct variations of targeted phrases, brand phrases, and long tail phrases.

When optimizing a page for appropriate keywords and phrases, we forever chase the exposure that is measured by increased organic traffic to that page. While we don’t get a full picture of every single keyword due to the (not provided) privacy protection, there is plenty of actionable data at the landing page level for organic traffic (some query data, engagement data, conversion data, etc.).

Rather than focusing on ranking reports, I suggest that you prove the value of your SEO program by focusing on metrics that impact business results: first traffic, followed by conversions (sales, lead generation, engagement – whatever your goals are for the page or website).

In the end, it’s a quality game. Ensuring visitor quality is why we spend so much time researching potential keywords and phrases. We need to match the intent of the search with the content of the page to turn that traffic into qualified visits and conversions.

How will I know if something has gone wrong?

One case for the use of ranking reports is performance monitoring and internal assessment.  The ability to see a significant shift, specifically a decline, before it has time to do serious damage is a major concern. I think being proactive is an essential component of SEO success! I also believe there are effective ways to achieve this without the use of a ranking report.

3 Alternative Options For Analyzing Organic Search Results

Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools provides alerts for any major traffic changes (if you drop out of the search results – there will be a traffic impact, even if you catch it early).  Webmaster Tools also provides “average position” data that can be used to track trends with regard to “rank” if the keyword level data is a must.

Analytics

Most analytics programs allow for alerts to be set to monitor specific performance metrics.  In Google Analytics, you can utilize the Intelligence Events section to see both Automatic Alerts (alerts generated by Google when there is “a significant change in the traffic patterns on your site”) and Custom Alerts, which you can specify yourself. Read more from Google on this reporting:

Manual Spot Checks

While not as quick as a ranking report, I highly recommend performing manual spot checks to ensure not only the relative position is in line with expected results but also that the actual listing is desirable when compared to those around it.

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Plus, There’s The Penalty Factor…

“Scraping” Google’s databases for rank data is against their terms of use. The enforcement of this policy seems to be a nearly impossible undertaking, but knowingly violating any policy of a major search engine in which you seek increased exposure, and from which you desire more traffic, is counter-intuitive.  I like to err on the side of caution and not “anger the beast,” so to speak.

See “Using our Services” section of Google’s Terms of Service:

“Don’t misuse our Services. For example, don’t interfere with our Services or try to access them using a method other than the interface and the instructions that we provide… We may suspend or stop providing our Services to you if you do not comply with our terms or policies or if we are investigating suspected misconduct.”

Do You Really Need Ranking Reports?

If a client, boss or manager has ever asked why their site is listed in position “x” when your ranking report shows it is ranked in position “y,” then you have likely realized that reporting rank is a futile exercise. Eventually, a manual search will display something different — and you’ll have to explain (validate) your report.

Focus on the metrics that matter most, traffic and conversions, instead of chasing that moving target called “rank.” Performance data will always tell the tale that a mere ranking report cannot.

Final note: There are a lot of areas in the digital performance realm that must evolve, not just ranking reports.  In fact, the use of phrase “search engine optimization” in and of itself is very contradicting. Only the individuals at our favorite search engines can optimize them; so, at the very least, it is more accurately “website optimization.”

At present, most SEO’s wear several hats and focus more on site quality, technical performance, usability and good old-fashioned marketing… but that is an article for another day.

DO

1. Research – Is your target market actively on Twitter or can they be found on LinkedIn? Every social network has a different mix of users and demographic information. Research each platform and the capabilities it has to reach your target market. Many platforms also offer pay-per-click options that can target advertising to your demographic. It’s worth doing your research on.

2. Plan – Unless you’re learning social media for your personal use, I don’t recommend jumping on platforms for your company without coming up with a strategy. When Pinterest launched, it was important to analyze how it worked in terms of functionality but also how it could help our clients with current SEO and marketing efforts. Each platform has it’s strengths, weakness and opportunities but it’s critical to match your company’s goals with a strategy for each platform.

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3. Engage – Ever leave a comment, question or concern with a company and it goes unaddressed? Frustrating, isn’t it? Keep a close eye on your company’s profiles for people engaging with your brand and please, respond! Whether they are just saying thank you or great job, they want to be acknowledged. Take it a step further and respond to reviews left by online users on review sites and encourage reviews by your followers.

4. Be Active – Another pet peeve: ever come to a Facebook page for a brand that you love and there hasn’t been anything posted in months? There’s not much incentive to ‘like’ or follow them. That brand just lost out on a connection with a loyal customer. Providing quality, interactive and social content on a frequent basis gives you the opportunity to turn your followers in to brand ambassadors and loyalists.

5. Expand Platforms – You have a company page on Facebook. Congratulations. Now it’s time to take it a step further. Knowing your budget and time capabilities, expand into Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, whatever’s relevant, BUT only if you create the strategy behind it first. Think outside the box. Restaurants can offer deals for Yelp! check-ins, spas can create profiles on SpaFinder.com and car dealerships can highlight their new inventory on YouTube.

DON’T

6. Sell – How big of a turn off is it when you’re at a networking event and the person comes up to you trying to sell something? Social media is about giving your brand a personality, building relationships and being ‘social’. Think of it as a business networking cocktail party where you are among potential clients but in a social setting. Talk with others about things you can relate to, make it personable but keep it professional.

7. Get Off Topic – While it’s encouraged for brands to partake in trending memes and viral content that circulates the ‘socialsphere’, it’s best to really only do it if it’s relevant to your business. If you’re a photography company, share a photo of the week. If you’re an internet marketing company, share funny memes related to SEO on Fridays. Utilize content to enhance your brand in a social-friendly way.

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8. Over Post – Many businesses don’t post enough but there are companies that post too much too often. This is a sure way to get ‘unliked’. When a user follows your brand, they have acknowledged that they want to receive updates from you but don’t screw up that trust. Certainly, you want to tweet more frequently than you post to Facebook but share valuable content throughout the day. Don’t inundate your follower’s feed.

9. Ignore – 70% of social media users feel more comfortable engaging with ‘social care’ or social customer service than they do over the phone.* When customers come to you with complaints, listen and respond immediately. Many times, upset customers will become brand loyalists when their problems are taken care of in a timely matter and to their level of satisfaction. When developing a social strategy, make sure you have the tools and a process in place for responding to customer complaints.

10. Stick to One Strategy – Test, experiment and mix things up. So you tried a strategy one quarter and it did okay, but try new tactics, new platforms and new forms of content to continue exploring what works for your brand and what doesn’t. Maybe Twitter got you a lot of leads from an eBook, but they weren’t quality leads. Keep learning new ways to utilize social, follow brands in your industry that are doing it well and think outside of the box.

There you have it! These 10 tips can help guide your social presence in the right direction, but this is only the beginning. For more assistance on a social strategy for your company, contact SmartSearch Marketing.

* Nielsen, 2012 Social Report

Before you login into your Twitter ads account, it’s important to determine the following:
1. What are your goals with Twitter ads?
2. Who are you targeting with your ads?
3. How much have you budgeted to run these ads?
4. How will you track the success of your ads?

Twitter offers the ability to promote your account to encourage new followers, specific tweets to promote your content (i.e. articles, events, blogs, ebooks, etc) or promoted trends to highlight certain hashtags or keywords relating to your company. The option(s) you select need to be reflective of your goals.

Lets Get Started
To start, you login to ads.Twitter.com with your normal Twitter login. From there, you will be greeted with the welcome screen. Select the ‘Get Started’ button to begin creating your ads. Currently, Twitter’s ad targeting it limited to geographic location. You can select areas as big as entire countries down to specific metro areas. Select the targeting that makes the most sense for your business.

Promoted Accounts
Next, you’ll have the option to promote your account, which again, is great for brand awareness and attracting new followers. Based on the budget you determined prior, you can break down your spend for that month or quarter into a per-day cost.

You can also change your maximum bid. A higher bid could mean more exposure but also a more expensive campaign. A higher bid will change the projected new followers per day.

Promoted Tweets
If you want to skip promoted accounts, you can do so and Twitter will take you to the promoted tweets option. Here you can either have your most recent tweets promoted or manually select the ones you would like to be advertised.

I recommend manually selecting tweets that direct people back to your content that’s hosted on your website, blog or social profile. Also, don’t forget to select ‘Hide @replies’ so you’re not promoting responses to other Twitter users. The bidding process is similar to promoted accounts but you’ll notice by default, a lower maximum bid.

Promoted Trends
While on this ads dashboard, Twitter doesn’t show you the option for promoted trends, you can run keyword campaigns that show up in the ‘What’s Trending’ box on Twitter. These are great for highlighting a new product, event or for brand awareness by keyword/phrase connotation.

For more information on promoted trends, check out Twitter for Business.

Managing Your Campaign
One bonus about Twitter’s promoted options is the analytic reporting is live and will being showing stats as soon as you begin your campaign.

The promoted dashboard shows you basic analytic information about your campaigns, including impressions, clicks, rewteets, replies and engagement rate.

Another benefit is the ability to make edits to your campaigns quickly and easily. For instance, you may no longer want to promote a specific tweet because it’s time sensitive, so you can unselect that tweet, save and continue promoting the other tweets in your campaign.

Check out more of Twitter’s dashboard tools here: https://business.twitter.com/en/advertise/analytics/

Time to Rock!
It’s an exciting time for social advertising but how do you make the most of your budget on Twitter? Here are some tips we’ve compiled for getting the best bang for your buck.

• Experiment: Take an initial 30 to 60 day trial period utilizing the different promoted options and then analyze the results to see which campaigns were the most successful.
• Promote Your Content: Twitter is all about sharing and engaging, but if you’re advertising, it needs to be all about you. When using promoted tweets, make sure links or images you’re sharing tie directly back to your brand.
• Plan Ahead: Look ahead at your next quarter. Do you have blog posts, a webinar, new eBook or a marketing campaign coming up? Utilize Twitter’s promoted options to enhance your marketing strategy for those components and include a separate budget for Twitter in your marketing plan.
• Be Concise Yet Engaging: Promoted tweets and trends are limited on characters. Make sure your messaging gets the point across but uses keywords and verbiage that entice your target market to interact with your ads.
• Monitor Progress Often: Don’t just set up your ads and leave them to manage them selves. Check up on them a few times a week and make adjustments if they aren’t performing as you’d like.
• Be Trendy: Create promoted tweets around trending topics. If it’s relevant to your business, keep an eye on the ‘what’s trending’ topics and launch campaigns surrounding what people are talking about on Twitter.
• Continue Tweeting: Don’t just rely on paid options to enhance your Twitter presence. Keep sharing, retweeting and talking with other users to enhance your brand’s presence on Twitter.

Well, there you have it! Whether you’re launching a new product or just want a boost in followers, Twitter can help you get your brand in front of the right audience. Give Twitter advertising a try for your business and if you need a little help, contact SmartSearch Marketing for all your pay-per-click needs.

 Boulder, CO – January 23, 2013 –

SmartSearch Marketing, a full-service B2B search engine marketing agency, and a Google Adwords Certified Partner, announced today that senior paid search specialist Michelle Cruz has joined the SmartSearch PPC Services team. Cruz will boost capacity and provide increased expertise in paid search for SmartSearch Marketing B2B customers.

SmartSearch Marketing is a full-service B2B search engine marketing agency that helps their clients generate leads, acquire new customers, and optimize online brand position. SmartSearch does so through search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC) advertising, conversion and usability, website analytics, local search, and content strategy.

Cruz is a senior pay per click (PPC) expert with more than 14 years of experience in web marketing. Cruz’s expertise includes search marketing, mobile campaign implementation, retargeting, display, direct marketing programs, and campaign development and execution. Cruz holds a Master of Science in Direct and Interactive Marketing from New York University.

Prior to SmartSearch Marketing, Cruz worked for NAC Marketing and Didit, where she managed paid search programs and account teams. She also has helped grow a number of leading B2B and B2C companies including Dun and Bradstreet, TrendMicro, Redcats USA, The Scooter Store, and See’s Candies.

In her new role, Cruz will direct campaign performance management and strategic planning initiatives for SmartSearch Marketing’s clients. She also will be a part of the company’s Google’s DoubleClick search team — implementing tools and technology to continuously improve results for SmartSearch clients.

About SmartSearch Marketing

SmartSearch Marketing’s uniquely successful approach to search marketing, called Search Lifecycle Management, maximizes customers’ results from a prospect’s first search all the way through to customer acquisition and sale. SmartSearch clients are guaranteed to have a Google Certified Adwords expert serving them as part of their integrated agency team.

SmartSearch Marketing serves both B2B ad B2C companies by offering comprehensive search solutions that include:

• Strategic planning
• Search advertising
• Search engine optimization
• Media buying and creative services
• Website usability
• Landing page development
• Conversion improvements
• Marketing analytics
• Local Search
• Content Management

To learn more about SmartSearch Marketing, visit www.smartsearchmarketing.com.

Here are 6 big trends we plan to see in 2013:

1.     Bigger focus on content generation

We always stress that content is ‘king’ and it is but even more so as we go into the New Year. Many companies have jumped on the content creation band-wagon and so to stay competitive, your business needs to generate quality, interesting content that not only captivates but also is produced at a high frequency. It’s also important to diversify. Create images, infographics, blogs, eBooks, video how-tos, hold contests, webinars and exclusive promotions, then integrate these into your pay-per-click campaigns.

2.     Better ROI tracking

As a social media marketer, proving ROI has always been difficult. Analytics are available through hundreds, even thousands, of different providers but how do you track whether someone who likes you on Facebook, bought your product. This is much easier for an online retailer but services and off-line businesses struggle to see the value. This year will bring great strides in social tracking, lead conversion and data collection by developers. And, a big relief for social marketers everywhere.

3.     SEO & Social intertwine

This year, we’ve seen Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn profiles show up in search results and rely heavily on social bookmarking and directory submissions to enhance social SEO, but this year social will be a must for your SEO strategy. While Google has tried to block out Facebook and Twitter from search results in order to promote Google+, they will have to give up that drive in order to provide quality search results as Google+ loses steam power. We’ll see stronger search results around the content being shared socially, so once you’ve created your blog, video or graphic, share it anywhere and everywhere!

4.     Social advertising takes over

This year, Twitter released promoted tweets and sponsored accounts out of beta testing and LinkedIn also expanded their advertising capabilities for its users. Facebook really put a big focus on their advertising with sponsored stories and promoted posts. This is an indication that social platforms are pushed to drive extra revenue from their advertising. This year, Google+ could introduce PPC options as well as major players like Instagram and Pinterest. It’s unfortunate from the user standpoint, but as a marketer or business, it’s a great opportunity to target leads on the sites that they are using most.

5.     Video content regains strength

2012 was the year of images, such as infographics and memes. As mentioned earlier, content will reign this year, but diversifying your content is what will help companies to stand out. 2013 will lead businesses to step outside the box and venture into more video development in order to reach new audiences and at the same time, enhance SEO. This doesn’t mean businesses should throw their commercials up on YouTube and call it good but instead utilize video to education, share, interact and crowdsource. Don’t get me wrong. Images and textual content, such as blogs, will still be strong this year but videos will regain strength as part of company’s online marketing strategy that is if they’re smart.

6.     Company’s increase budget for social media

‘Oh, you don’t have Facebook?’ is a rare statement these days. Social media sites are where your customers are. Businesses who aren’t active on social media sites are so 2006. In order to see effectiveness in social media, it takes time and in turn, means more money. As we see the value in a quality social media presence grow, so does the budget. This is also the year we’ll see a lot more small businesses hop on. But in order to stay ahead of the curve, go beyond Facebook and Twitter. Evaluate adding in Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, social bookmarking, blogging, oh and even Google+, if you must, to your social strategy.

Well, here we go, another exciting year of innovation, imagination and inspiration for online marketing. For more assistance with your social presence, search engine optimization or marketing, contact SmartSearch Marketing at (866) 644-3134 or CLICK HERE.

The Highs

Images Rocked Content

Memes, infographics, Pinterest & Instagram gave us a year of imagery. Even Facebook, after purchasing Instagram, changed their algorithms to make photos more visible in the newsfeed. This was the year, as a business, to utilize your graphic designers and to turn marketing messages into marketing images. Whether educational and informational, like infographics, or entertaining and humorous, like memes, visuals got the most recognition this year. Will videos have their year next? We shall see.

Pinterest Blows Up

Ladies rejoiced when Pinterest went live September 2011. You could easily spend hours pinning recipes, dream destinations, wedding ideas, DIY projects and new hair-dos. 2012 was huge for Pinterest as it became the fastest growing social network of the year. Since its debut, it has evolved to appeal to larger audiences, reach new markets and recently added business accounts. It will be exciting to see where Pinterest takes us in 2013 but until then, keep sharing your recipes for low fat polo asado, homemade tricks for flawless skin and 25 ways to wear your scarves.

Timeline Debuts

Facebook profiles changed, yet again… shocking! Okay, we all knew it was destined to happen but Timeline gave us a new way to capture our lives within Facebook. The addition of milestones, cover photos, life events and an entire new layout allows users, and businesses, to document their day to day activities and highlights.  Sure there was resistance at first with every Facebook change but the new layout is clean, easier to navigate and we’re all getting used to it.

Twitter Releases Advertising

While in beta testing, big brands were able to promote specific tweets and encourage new followers by suggesting their accounts as ones to follow. Twitter has rolled out this ability to more and more Twitter users allowing even Joe Shmoe to share his/her view on the meaning of life, latest blog post or what he/she ate for breakfast with the world. Now, it will be interesting how Twitter expands their targeting and advertising options over the next year, but for now it’s been exciting running PPC campaigns for various tweets and accounts.

Gangnam Style becomes most watched video EVER!

Don’t act like you haven’t seen it and if you haven’t, you’re rare as Gangnam style become the most watched video online, ever! As I write this blog, it has 917 million+ views since being uploaded in July. I get asked all the time, ‘How do I make my video go viral?’ and sure there are some tactics to use but honestly, you just never know what’s going to be the next latest craze. Look at Nyan Cat for example. That one still has me puzzled. So next time you hear this song and think how bizarre it really is, know that guy is making thousands, maybe millions, for that ‘bizarre’ video.

The Lows

Facebook Has Epic Fail with IPO

Technological failures and poor estimations may have been the reason for Facebook’s instant drop upon release of their IPO this past summer, but regardless of the cause, investors in the social giant suffered. Tens of millions of dollars of trades were placed mistakenly and the initial stock price was set at $46 but dropped down to $30 and even dropping below $20 back in September. There is still litigation surrounding the incident. Let’s just say not a lot of Facebook stock owners gave a ‘like’ to their stock updates that day.

Google+ Keeps Trying

First there was Google Buzz and that ‘buzzed out’.  Then along came Google+, which was sure to be the end of Facebook. Well, not quite. Sure a lot of us early adopters jumped on out of curiosity and then more and more joined but Google+ has come to a standstill. Sure the male-dominated network has many people actively using Google+, but the ‘next biggest thing’ in social media got overshadowed by sites like Pinterest and social royalty, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Business Pages Still Struggle for Attention

LinkedIn may be another social media giant, in a more professional sense, but users spend the least amount of time on there than any of the other big players. LinkedIn recently released an upgraded version of business pages, allowing header images, enhanced product and service listings, status updates and more. Sure it sounds great, but it didn’t seem to increase followers and follower engagement a significant amount. LinkedIn is still driven by individual profiles. They have quite the task to find a way businesses can have more influence throughout the network. Even the ROI on LinkedIn ads has been a bit of a disappointment.

Big Brands Make Social Media Uh Oh’s

No company is perfect. And if you’re anything like Chick’fil’a, you’re going to stir up some controversy. Big names like McDonalds, the NRA, Microsoft and even the Olympic Committee made some mistakes this year. Business2Community came up with the top list of Social Media Fails for 2012 (http://www.business2community.com/social-media/top-5-social-media-fails-of-2012-0358965) and the one that tops our list, mostly because it falls close to home, is the NRA tweeting a pro-gun message during the Aurora movie theater shooting.  They defended their case, saying it was a previously scheduled post but still, it didn’t reflect well on the organization. They did learn their lesson, however, as their Twitter account has been fairly silent during the recent Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.

Oh and companies weren’t the only ones with slip ups this year. Celebrities also had their fair share of social media oops. See the list here  (http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/12/12/10-worst-social-media-screw-ups-2012/)

2012 came and went and what a year it was! We expect 2013 to be an exciting time for social media as it continues to dominate the online experience with new ways of creating, sharing, communicating and marketing continue to develop. For more information of how SmartSearch Marketing can help you with your online presence, CLICK HERE (http://smartsearchmarketing.com/contact/).

As an “individually qualified” Google Adwords Certified expert, Hamansy provides proficiency in Google account management including expert knowledge of the latest Adwords’ features and functions for SmartSearch Marketing B2B clients. Individual qualification in the Google Adwords Certification program is a way of demonstrating proficiency in Google AdWords attained by studying for and passing the Google certification exams including one fundamentals exam and one advanced exam.

Hamansy previously held positions at Google where she provided support for a range of clients from small business to Fortune 100 travel companies. Her experience includes hands-on expertise in pay per click (PPC) advertising, online marketing, and search engine marketing. Hamansy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College.