Midsize Insider is a valuable repository of expert content tailored for small-to-midsized business owners and IT decision makers. Expert insights and perspectives in the Midsize Insider are gleaned from actionable business experiences and will assist readers in creating efficiencies, cutting costs and delivering results.
SOCIAL LOCAL and MOBILE, also known as SoLoMo, is the latest trend in marketing and can be broken down into three components. Social consists of friends, networking, content, sharing, and sentiment. Local consists of position, place, vicinity, and proximity (mobile ...
Becoming a social business is more than engaging with your customers via social networking platforms. It also includes engaging socially with those who are internal to your own organization. Certainly, there are many definitions of a social business. Mine happens ...
If someone in the C-Suite within your business has given the go-ahead to dive into social media, that’s both good and bad news. It’s good news because your business can now compete with others in your industry with a presence ...
One of the most popular ways to facilitate corporate communication in the past was via SMS messages. Most if not all employees, regardless of their department, have an SMS-capable phone, and employees could send direct messages to each other any ...
Facebook is today's social business platform of choice. A new study from Avanade shows the networking platform is used more than social platforms like SharePoint, IBM Open Connections, and Salesforce's Chatter. This finding proves that there's an upswing in the ...
In a recent online survey of IBM Business Partners who’ve taken part in either our Social Media Boot Camp training or Engine of the Week recognition program, some 61.4% said it’s important to have a Facebook presence. However, only ...
Many leaders in the midmarket space aspire for their businesses to be industry leaders. But there can only be one leader for each industry, or in marketing terms, there can only be one product, brand, or business that controls a ...
Social networking at the office has now seemingly touched every department. Like email and SMS before it, social networks like Twitter and Facebook have become the chief way that people communicate with one another outside work. Now this trend has ...
If your company has built a large community of loyal customers who frequently interact with your staff and who are a continuous source of new business, you are unusual. Although companies have invested and continue to invest in social business ...
Though Facebook and Twitter have long been a part of the social business plan of most midsize businesses, the Pinterest social network is a bit new to the world of business social networking. Though Pinterest launched their "Pinterest for Businesses" ...
I’ve been at this a very long time and, as far as I know, there are only three ways to increase your revenues. You can … Make more calls or Raise your average $ sale or Improve your ratios (also ...
Facebook Home, the Android-only software from the social media giant, brings a user's news feed directly onto his or her Android lock screen, making it easier to spend more time on the social network. Despite Zuckerberg's efforts in making the ...
Crowd sourcing is not necessarily a new trend, but it has improved in recent times. Probably the first and best example of successful crowd sourcing is Wikipedia. Wikipedia gathered a large group of volunteers to build what has become the ...
Every business is trying to stand out in today’s social economy. But how can businesses do that? Can a lower price guarantee more customers? Can a more varied product choice guarantee more customers? No, the answer is so simple that ...
Many businesses create pages on Facebook and encourage visitors to "like" their page. You can increase the number of likes by running ads on Facebook or placing corresponding links elsewhere online. Obtaining a like from a customer is understood to ...
Popular networking platforms like Facebook generate revenues almost entirely through ads. Until recently, similar ad services haven't been available to businesses on Twitter, the leading micro blogging social networking site. Twitter ads were previously offered as an invite-only service for ...
In addition to the commercialization of IT, BYOD, and the use of personal cloud services, mid-sized businesses are grappling with how to manage, adopt and embrace social media as a tool for internal business collaboration and communication. Social media has ...
No matter who I am consulting with or where I am speaking, the “ROI of social media question” is bound to come up. I have a different view of the ideal role of social media in the marketing mix that ...
A social media marketing plan is the foundation of any successful social media marketing campaign. If the goals of a business are not well-defined it will be difficult to determine what to achieve with social media and be almost impossible ...
B2B marketing is typically laden with cliches and bullet points. That stuff doesn't resonate with customers any more. In this ...
Employee communication is an evolving concept and has become more fluid as technology develops. While email use to be the best way to communicate with the cubicles down the hall, instant messages, SMS, and even social networking services have all ...
Cloud sourcing is an ideal solution for midsize firms today. It allows growing companies to maintain clouds from different sources in an organized and hassle free way. Cloud sourcing is similar to outsourcing in that the cost for services is ...
A recent report found that smaller sized tablets are preferred by the masses. In this age of the bring-your-own-device movement (BYOD), IT pros at midsize firms are keeping a close watch over which mobile devices offer the most productivity for ...
Please note that the operative phrase is “engaged with” and not “connected to”. I’m sure that there are probably thousands of folks out there who are connected to thousands of other folks on LinkedIn. The question is, how many are ...
The midsize business gets a more convenient way to manage its presence across Google's array of online services with the release of the Google Places for Business app, available for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The app is also ...
Blogging brings ideas and interaction from a midsize business to an end-user customer. The new, recently introduced Google Plus (G+) commenting system allows bloggers to integrate G+ comments into the Blogger platform. Not only will this help interface the social ...
What is leadership? We all know what effective leadership looks like, just as we all know what ineffective leadership looks like. But can we stand back from a business situation and provide a 68,000-foot view explanation as to why leadership ...
Is your midsize enterprise an agile business? If not, it could be missing out on a methodology that will improve how it responds to market changes, resulting in better profitability and competitiveness. But what exactly does it mean to be ...
Social media and Web 2.0 tech are both making a difference to business. That's according to a new report by Gartner. The analyst firm found these are two top trends that are creating positive change in industries and these industries ...
I was watching a basketball game between a bunch of 8-year-olds the other day. The “red” team was winning 18-0, an insurmountable lead at that age. The “blue” team was exhausted and disheartened from the pummeling. But within a heartbeat, ...
As the midsize business grows, a knowledge tree can helps the IT department document the structure of the current environment. Knowledge trees encompass video, content, and an organizational structure that makes it easy for IT workers to find information on ...
Social media usage statistics are great for analyzing data and empowering organizations to make informed business decisions. Yet while a plethora of social networks like Twitter and Facebook have connected the world like never before, the information they provide are ...
Mobile apps are being downloaded at a rapid pace and changing consumer habits. That's according to a new study by Parks Associates. As a result, midsize firms are thinking about the best ways to benefit from the trends and improve ...
To the average user, Facebook is seen simply as a social network that connects people from across the globe -- not much thought is put into how emerging markets are captured by the social giant, only that they are captured. ...
Using social media management tools can make a big difference to the health of any business. IT managers already know that 85 percent of adults in the US use the internet daily and 66 percent of online adults use social ...
Tablets have become a dominating force in the consumer market, but businesses have been slower to adopt tablet computing, viewing them as unnecessary when desktop computers are already present. However, a new study suggests that having a workplace tablet equipped ...
Five years ago when I first investigated “social”, my choice of monikers for this phenomenon was limited to either “social media” or “web 2.0″. Neither made any sense to me. They still don’t. My biggest quandary was just how would ...
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps are a hot issue in the IT community. Problems emerge when employees at midsize businesses access SaaS applications in the public cloud and fail to notify IT Departments. This leaves the IT professionals unaware that certain software ...
Over the last year I’ve been reading a lot about disruption. I’ve read Clayton Christensen’s book, The Innovator’s Dilemma and I’m reading Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation by James McQuivey. I’ve seen several speakers too who have ...
If you use Twitter, chances are good you have heard of Vine. The video equivalent of a character-limited tweet, Vine is a service that allows users to upload quick six-second videos to Twitter to share a small bit of information ...
One of the things that makes Facebook such a valuable marketing tool for businesses is its ability to target ads to specific subsets of consumers. For instance, if a user posts a lot about having a baby, ads for diapers ...
Social media has changed the way people keep up with friends and family. In the process, it has changed the way companies go about their business. The impact of social media on business can be felt on multiple fronts. From ...
Is your midsize business ready to become a social business? If not, you might be left behind. Most of your customers and potential customers are active online, and increasingly they expect you to be there, too. Social networking sites and ...
With over a billion users worldwide, Facebook owns the top spot on the list of social media platforms. If you have a personal Facebook account, you may use it to connect with family and friends. But you may also use ...
A new Pew Research study reveals that the social networking platform Twitter may not be a trustworthy barometer of public opinion. The year-long study found that Twitter reactions to the 2012 presidential campaign do not reflect general public opinion. According ...
As more and more companies develop social media footprints, the issue arises as to which individual or department will be responsible for commenting, responding, and maintaining accounts. The CEO may comment, department Vice Presidents may comment, the marketing or public ...
We’ve all heard the stats about the explosion of social media users. One-billion-plus on Facebook. One hundred seventy-five million Tweets a day. An expected 5 billion professional searches on LinkedIn in 2012. But that’s all mostly for Justin Bieber fans, ...
The question "what is social business?" is being heard more and more these days. While some may interpret the phrase to mean normal business plus a social media element, the true social business is a completely different animal from its ...
Facebook news feed algorithms attract intense interest from an array of social media journalists and tech pundits ranging from Wall Street Journal contributors to billionaires like Mark Cuban. Facebook has built a successful business model around connections online, and many ...
In many organizations social business seems like a qualitative exercise. They think, “We need to do this because it will make our organization work better together.” Ed Brill says this perspective would be short-sighted. Social Business Study IBM decided to ...
One of the keystones of the Twitter social networking platform is its use of "hashtags" (words or phrases preceded by the "#" symbol) that users can use to group their tweets into conversations about a single news event or topic. ...
Social media is about more than observation - it's about interaction. According to a new study, being interactive is very important for businesses if they want to implement successful social media campaigns. The results of the study provide valuable insight ...
The corporate social responsibility definition is changing and evolving, particularly as technology progresses. Because these changes to the definition are hinged on technology, it forces IT in midsize businesses to play a larger role in implementing and managing corporate responsibility ...
Sales organizations have many more sources of information available to qualify prospects and understand when and how to approach them. ...
Facebook has cemented itself as an integral part of the modern digital lifestyle, and businesses have done well using its news feed to interact with users and build their brands. However, whenever Facebook announces a shift in format, businesses have ...
Is your midsize business using social tools for collaboration? If not, you could be missing out on something that has the potential to transform your business and the service you offer to customers. These collaboration tools are tools that mimic ...
The recent news that Google was dropping its RSS reader app, Google Reader, has caused many users to flock to Feedly as their choice for a Google Reader alternative. The IT executive at a midsize business looking for a Reader ...
Aberdeen Group research reveals that the most successful B2B sales organizations embrace user-generated content to collaborate, sell, and service customers. ...
If you are one of the millions of who watched last month’s Super Bowl, then odds are you remember that the lights went out before the third quarter started. But if you also use Twitter either for personal communication or ...
Do you remember the sickening feeling that you got when you finally came to the realization that the all-star you had hired three months ago was no all-star at all? I have probably felt this queasiness 100’s of times ...
The IBM Voices activity stream promises to tap into the wisdom of the crowd by delivering insight not only about ...
Companies are looking for a social business model. They believe they need one, but don't know how to find one that works. Most corporate social media pages have a bit of traffic but are otherwise of little use. Online content ...
When Twitter acquired the TweetDeck software in 2011, many faithful users were apprehensive about the move, wondering if the social networking giant would develop or eliminate the software, which collects real-time tweets but doesn't require users to actually visit the ...
Midsize businesses don't always have the budget to recruit and hire top talent for every department. To be nimble enough to remain competitive, these businesses must run lean. Through social collaboration, IT workers at midsize businesses can play a role ...
If you run a business of one, you must be the rainmaker, the finance department, the personnel department, the technology department, the chief marketer, the electrician, the coffee guy, and the copy guy. If you work in a large business, ...
To harness the power of social media, midsize businesses must not only post often and respond quickly to consumer concerns, but also be prepared to report on and analyze the discussions of users in real time. Doing so requires social ...
Twitter advertising just got easier with the microblogging network's release of an application programming interface (API) tailored to support advertising initiatives. Release of the advertising API marks a major step forward in Twitter's efforts to make itself attractive to marketers.For ...
One way to get a return on your investment in social media is to integrate it with the your customers' experience dealing with your company. Customer support is a good place to start. A strategy of social media integration with ...
Social media is not a one-way communication tool, although a number of businesses use it as such. Some companies make each platform a venue for making announcements, promoting sales, and sharing links to blog posts and press releases. But social ...
Social media is more than just an Internet darling--many companies use sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to reach both customers and collaborators. While building relationships offers significant benefits for a midsize business, harnessing the power of social media networks ...
A study of last year's post-Thanksgiving "Black Friday" shopping spree suggests that social media as a force in commerce is already plunging, off sharply from 2011. At the same time, a study also suggests that social commerce is gaining a ...
Although social media presence is important, many people are still going to find your business through its website. They find the website by doing a search, and more people will find you if you optimize your site for such searches. ...
As a midsized business you probably have some kind of mobile support as part of your marketing mix. So what? People’s primary method of interacting with technology is now becoming a mobile device. This is how they stay in ...
Enterprise content management is an overarching term used to describe the ways in which businesses gather, store, manage, and protect content. In the world of big data, content management is an issue for more than just enterprise level businesses; it ...
Everyone's talking about website analytics. What are they and how can they help your midsize business? Also known as web metrics, web analytics describes numbers about who is visiting your website, and what they are doing while they are there. ...
For IT departments, apps are powerful tools that have the potential to increase efficiency of tasks. As mobile technology rapidly expands, there are many applications available to IT professionals, and they're only a few taps away at an online store. ...
While the trend may have technically started with the younger generation, particularly in the case of Facebook, social media opens its doors to multiple demographic groups — and the members of those groups keep on filing through. People of all ...
The role of IT in midsize e-business is ever-evolving. It's no longer enough to simply know how to program, develop, or install security measures. Today's IT must also be part marketer and part financier in order to speak the language ...
It’s hard not to be drawn into a conversation about Social Business. Everyone seems to be talking about it. Usually, one to two sentences into the conversation the focus is on, Twitter, blogs, Facebook, Piinterest, LinkedIn, how many followers, how do generate ...
Does your social media strategy consist only of occasional tweets or status updates? If so, it is likely time to reevaluate it.Today's midsize businesses must expand their social media strategies to stay competitive. Update your strategy to encompass two audiences: ...
How can your midsize business become a more social enterprise, and why would you want to do it? The answer to the second question is easy - it's because a significant proportion of your potential customers are online, and while ...
By now, most companies know that their web presence can make a difference in finding, retaining, and building relationships with customers. How that web presence is managed is especially important for midsize businesses that require fast turnaround times and efficient ...
During the last three years since social media went mainstream, there have been countless epitaphs mourning the death of public relations, but that just isn’t the true state of affairs. If international brands have PR plans, why shouldn’t other businesses? ...
Social media has gone from second thought to business front-runner over the space of a few short years. Customers and employees alike want a certain level of action, reaction, and interaction with companies - and they aren't shy about asking ...
Ideas are powerful. They are the driving force behind the products, services, and technologies that move the global population forward. Every company in existence started from a single idea, and the successful business understands the importance of keeping fresh ones ...
Do you have a social business strategy? If your midsize business isn't harnessing the power of social, then you are missing out on a large potential customer base. More and more, your potential customers are using social networking sites as ...
How well do you know marketing? While you may have a business plan with a section for marketing and a few employees focused on social media, are you up-to-date on the latest concepts in the marketing realm? When you ...
Website metrics help midsize firms understand their online presence. As part of an analytics package, they help a growing company measure, collect, and analyze internet data in a valuable way. If done well, website metrics will ensure a midsize firm ...
In the near future, it's likely that most businesses that have yet to become social will do so, and social tools are a necessity for managing the transition. Social marketing, social media branding, and social responsibility are all congealing into ...
For today's consumers, it's not enough to have new features and products - any new developments must meet a need or desire. Savvy businesses are learning that the best new ideas don't always come from the top. Often, they come ...
Social media campaigns aren't just for your customers; social technologies can change the way you run your business, for the better. Most of us now use some form of social media in our personal lives, but did you know that ...
Your ability to measure online behavior could be an important factor in making your midsize business more competitive--and more social. More and more of your customers find it convenient to browse your services via mobile devices and buy products online, ...
Corporate responsibility (CSR) is an overarching term to describe the measures taken by companies to be good stewards of the land, good neighbors in communities, and have a positive impact. Both consumers and investors are looking at a business holistically, ...
Facebook users, according to one study, are taking frequent "sabbaticals," avoiding use of the service for up to weeks at a time. Other findings touch on a larger Facebook question: Are users starting to drift away? Or has swearing off ...
Facebook has begun experimenting with the size of the advertisements that appear in a user's right sidebar when accessing the social network from a desktop computer. It is a small test that affects only a small subset of site visitors. ...
I know this blog post title might sound a bit simplistic — perhaps sensational — coming from me, but I do think there is one core idea to consider when starting a social media strategy that is often misunderstood … ...
If you aren't wondering how to integrate social into your business, then you should be. No midsize enterprise can afford to ignore the social side of business. That's because more than 60 percent of Americans now use social media and ...
Social media is more than just a buzzword for midsize businesses; those without a solid social platform may find themselves left behind in a technology world dependent on personalized interaction and real-time responses. The power to sway public opinion now ...
For teenagers, has Facebook become their parents' social network? The question has been asked since Facebook became the leading social network and began to extend its reach beyond its initial core of teen and young-adult early adopters. Would teens stay ...
Increasing consumer engagement is one of the biggest benefits of becoming a social business, but there are many other ways you can use social media to benefit your midsize business. Before you begin, find out where your customer base hangs ...
Facebook stats can be accessed both within and outside of the social platform. Facebook Insights, its resident tracking system, serves up a platter of information pertaining to users and interactions from the built-in dashboard. On the outside is a host ...
According to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the volume of paper documents created by most organizations increases by 25 percent each year. When combined with the alarmingly fast production of digital documents, this leaves midsize business IT leaders with a growing ...
In 2012, social media marketing accounted for less than 5 percent of the leads generated in B2B marketing, according to the 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report published by Optify. Does this mean that B2B social media is ineffective? Not at ...
As an IT manager, you know that expanding your social network to include Twitter is a great idea. With 500 million total users in 2013 and more than 200 million active users, it is a tool that management can't afford ...
Apple's popular iPad tablet computer is seeing an increased adoption rate in the enterprise. iPad business users leverage the slate for a variety of uses, including email access, office productivity software, and video conferencing apps. CIO Insight reported, earlier this ...
How can businesses potentially reach 90 million people and get at least 1,000 of them to share their information in a matter of seconds? Using Instagram through Facebook may be the answer. According to Forbes, while many may not know ...
It's easy to define crowdsourcing, as it's comprised of two words central to its meaning. The term describes business tasks that are "outsourced" to a "crowd" of workers online. The idea is affordable, and it's a simple way to find ...
As technology continues to grow, more and more businesses are realizing that engaging with their customers is an essential part of helping to grow their business. 2013 looks to be a big year for consumer engagement, as small, midsize, and ...
Which are the top social networking sites that your midsize business should be targeting? It depends on who you ask. Most people agree on the top three, though there are others to consider too.FacebookWith more than a billion users, Facebook ...
Google's Nexus 7 tablet device has been gaining major traction in Japan. One recent study suggests that it is pushing past Apple's iPad to gain the lead among Japanese consumers. For the IT community at midsize firms looking at mobility ...
It appears that Facebook is not just a place to stay in touch with friends or even search for your friends' favorite hangouts. The social-networking giant, as it turns out, is also deeply involved in behind-the-scenes engineering. Through its Open ...
The number of LinkedIn registered users is at an all-time high. Growth of the professional network suggests it is a platform for IT professionals at midsize businesses to incorporate into social media activities.The network surpassed 200 million registered users in ...
When IBM launched SmartCloud Docs last month there was considerable buzz about Big Blue jumping into the cloud productivity suite space. After all, the new feature had Docs right in the name, evoking Google Docs. Apparently, IBM has more on ...
Websites are an integral part of any business venture, whether it is a small, medium, or a large one. The content management system (CMS) plays a key role in managing and controlling the content of the website. It is a ...
Is your midsize enterprise harnessing the power of social business technologies? If not, perhaps it should be. According to a recent white paper from IDG Enterprises, 70 percent of companies around the world are using social technologies for their business. ...
Social networking is about maintaining contact and creating value. One way to accomplish this is with mobile apps. Many of your customers and potential customers are out there with their mobile devices, but they're probably not visiting your company's Facebook ...
Facebook is making changes again, and the latest app from the social media enterprise is one that can benefit IT professionals at midsize businesses. The Pages Manager app is for Android smartphone and tablet users.The application is live in the ...
In popular mythology, young adults are all too careless about their social media use and resentful of the intrusion of brands and advertising into their online social worlds. The reality may be considerably different. One panel discussion suggests that Generation ...
Google Play, Google's Android app store, will now allow all app developers to respond to user comments. This option, previously available only for "top developers," has now been expanded to all developers with apps in the store.For IT at midsize ...
Facebook stocks are now north of $27, well above the $18 that had investors so concerned when the IPO first debuted. Wall Street experts are bullish about the beginning of 2013, with three major firms setting their price targets above ...
With the growth of big data, rapidly increasing content production, and ever-evolving technologies, small and midsize IT departments are under increasing pressure to adopt a content management system (CMS) that meets the business' need for affordable and scalable infrastructure, while ...
Facebook is a great tool for midsize businesses and the consumers who connect with them. However, one of the biggest issues that users have raised is that of privacy. The service hasn't really been known for having the greatest practices ...
As social and mobile technologies become more sophisticated, more businesses are tapping into online communities to enhance relationships with existing customers. Known as community marketing, this type of outreach on a company site or through external social sites gives businesses ...
Facebook Messenger is Facebook's flagship chat product, initially providing an IM-style communication feature to users. The social media giant recently updated the app, adding an assortment of welcome features. According to TechCrunch, the company's update is "all about voice," allowing ...
Google is taking a new approach to getting people to join their social network site, Google+. Facing an arguably disappointing number of users, as compared to social giant Facebook, Google is now forcing people who sign up for Google Mail, ...
Internet analytics—a mix of social, web, mobile, and other online usage statistics—can give midsize businesses valuable insight into their customer's needs and interests, helping them adapt to a rapidly changing online environment. This is great for marketers and business decision ...
Midsize companies face a host of new challenges in the changing IT landscape. One is how best to improve employee engagement using technology, while at the same time improving their bottom line. While there's no magic wand here, a number ...
A world in which job applicants had to put their name, address, and social networking password on a resume sounds like something from a dystopian sci-fi nightmare. However, privacy advocates are growing increasingly nervous about the prevalence of social media ...
Recently, Instagram came under fire for their new privacy policy changes, stemming from the consensus that the photo-sharing company could profit from user information and photos. On the flip side, the new Foursquare privacy policy is designed with the customer ...
The Facebook Poke app, the social-networking giant's response to Snapchat, took only 12 days to develop and launch. For the IT community at midsize firms, however, Facebook's rapid action reflects another speed challenge: Social-networking trends can develop at a blinding ...
Traditionally, Christmas Day for countless families is filled with gift-opening, eating, watching some TV, and taking naps. This year, however, data from one cloud-based intranet provider demonstrates that many also chose to check in with their corporate networks during the ...
If you've noticed that software can't simply stand alone anymore, you're not alone. Applications ranging from computer operating systems to shopping carts are becoming more connected to social networks and user-generated data. Known as social computing, this trend involves both ...
Content might not be the first priority for many IT leaders, but as businesses become more social, they're also beginning to produce more written material--essentially becoming publishers. IT staff at midsize businesses can help their organizations stand apart from the ...
Social networking sites are all the rage, especially for businesses that have learned the importance and impact of joining these sites on reaching their consumer target market, retaining current customers, and gaining new ones. But with so many social networks, ...
Social content management is an approach to social marketing and brand management that provides midsize IT leaders with the ability to comprehensively and cohesively deliver an established marketing message across a wide variety of social platforms. Not all messages are ...
If someone posts on Twitter, but no one is around to read and share it, did he really tweet? From the viewpoint of a small or midsize business seeking to maximize social media in their marketing efforts, the answer may ...
Last week, Instagram really took a nose dive in the PR department when it changed its terms of service (TOS) to allow the images shared using the service to be used for for commercial means. (Read more about it on ...
Since the dawn of social media on the Internet, companies have been trying to tap into these virtual meeting places to grow their business. While the first few attempts were rocky, the concept of a "social business," one that leverages ...
Twitter users are tweeting up a storm. The "microblogging" service now lays claim to over 200 million users, up from 100 million in September of 2011 and 140 million in the spring. As Twitter grows, its usage pattern is evolving. ...
Crowdsourcing is one of the hottest ideas in tech, of particular interest to the IT community at midsize firms. Online reviews have become a standard tool. Wikipedia is our go-to for basic information and key facts about a subject. And ...
While not new, crowdsourcing has become an increasingly popular way for businesses to create content, collect data, and gather ideas, all typically at low cost. As small and midsize companies try to do more with less, IT departments can expect ...
A survey of 100 businesses in the United Kingdom showed that about two-thirds of those surveyed said that they did not include the use of social media in their business disaster recovery plans. According to an article in PR Week ...
In recent years, cloud computing, social media, and mobile innovation have gained traction in the enterprise technology marketplace. Technology research firm Gartner believes these trends will significantly change the dynamics of IT at businesses.Gartner suggests that businesses mold their computing ...
Google+ has added a number of new mobile features. And while Android has received particular attention, most of the new features are available for both iOS and Android users. Photo support was the primary but not exclusive focus of the ...
No midsize business can afford to ignore social media statistics. That's because social media sites are where most of any business's target customers are hanging out. Mobile devices have made it easier than ever for people to be online all ...
Generation Y, those currently between the ages of 18 to 30, are serious smartphone users--so serious, in fact, that a majority of those surveyed wishes it didn't feel compelled to check the devices so often for emails, texts, and social ...
Twitter announced updates to its photo options for Android and iPhone users. The app update includes eight new photo filters for users and is an update that midsize businesses can benefit from if they tweak their Websites and social media ...
A few years ago, no on was talking about social media trends. In fact, no one was talking about social media at all. Now, we struggle to keep up with it.It is true that the Internet has been largely a ...
Many midsize businesses have a Facebook and Twitter page. But as more and more social media options pop up, many are questioning if they really need to be on all of them. Anyone in the business world will tell you ...
Facebook is never out of the public eye, and it was under even greater scrutiny in recent weeks as it held a vote for all its members, dealing with proposed changes to the site's privacy policy. As of Monday, December ...
Are you using social data to improve your midsize business? If you're not, you are missing out on information that can help your company to become more collaborative, more productive and more innovative. According to the Pew Research Center, about ...
Social media for businesses is no longer optional. In fact, used correctly, it can have huge business benefits. The people you want to reach are using sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to share their experience of interacting with ...
A recent study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute carried out by the Social Cognitive Network Academic Research Center (SCNARC) discovered that location may have more to do with developing friendships than the use of social media. The study's impact may be ...
In a fast-moving tech environment, Microsoft has already shown that it does not intend to be your parents' software company. Now it is launching into social networking with Microsoft Socl. At this early stage - Socl just shifted from a ...
Most people don't give much thought to the photos, comments, and articles they "like" on Facebook. A recent bust by the FBI highlights just how important social networking sites have become -- even in law enforcement. The case is also ...
Over 300,000 businesses are taking advantage of promoted posts on Facebook, according to the social networking giant. Those 300,000 Pages have paid for 2.5 million posts since the introduction of Facebook's advertising management app six months ago. CNET reported on ...
Social networking technology has already changed the way we interact online. With a couple billion people using Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ alone (according to an article on Contently), your employees are almost certainly using these channels in their leisure time ...
Google+ has introduced a new feature, Communities, designed to bring together groups of users around a common interest. The debut further emphasizes Google's moves toward making its social network offering a distinct environment, not just a "Facebook rival." The new ...
In a recent interview, Google's Bradley Horowitz said Google+ represents the future. Facebook, meanwhile, considers its options for breaking into the search game: could it really become a viable competitor?Seems Familiar...As CNET discusses in a recent article, the Google+ vice ...
The traditional business model had clear boundaries. Employees were inside the company and customers, suppliers, and partners were outside. Companies interacted with the outside as necessary and kept control of the exchanges. Engaging customers was expensive and was carried out ...
Facebook, as Google is eager to let you know, is yesterday's social network. Perhaps Google is a bit too eager to let you know, since Facebook is still by far the dominant social network online. But Google+ is more than ...
Simple Message Service, or SMS--better known simply as texting--is so old hat. At least that is how Facebook sees it. The social network hopes that its own Facebook Messenger app will supplant SMS, especially in fast-growing emerging markets.For the IT ...
Social analytics tools are no longer optional for midsize businesses; they are a must. With petabytes of data generated each year via multiple social media channels, this is a rich source of customer information that no business can afford to ...
Google's online store, Google Play, is putting an end to anonymous reviews. Going forward, reviews will be linked to Google+ accounts, thus attaching a user identity to each review. For small and midsize businesses - and their prospective customers - ...
One thing that Facebook's IPO earlier this year has not changed is the company's ability to generate controversy. Once again, changes in Facebook policy are stirring up the hornets' nest of privacy advocates. Facebook is ending users' right to vote ...
Facebook recently announced a new service called Developer Alerts. The system sends notifications to developers that there are adjustments to make to their apps. IT professionals that manage Facebook apps for midsize businesses may receive alerts that coding or other ...
Although much of the early business use of social media was largely focused on broadcasting marketing messages at customers, social media transformed word of mouth into word of data and empowered customers to add their voice to marketing messages, forcing ...
Mid-level managers bear the brunt of social media problems, according to the findings of a new IBM study. Despite increased budgets and executive interest, making social technology a part of day-to-day life in an organization is no easy task. But ...
The world of social media may not be a natural fit for many small and midsize business leaders, but in today's tech environment the failure to adequately engage customers on these platforms can doom a business. A number of new ...
Badgeville, a "gamification" and behavior management specialist, has introduced Embed, a toolkit designed to help software developers to incorporate its game-oriented social mechanics directly within their applications. The goal is to increase engagement with applications, both internally and with customers.For ...
The Global Twitter Heartbeat project offers a way to visualize positive and negative sentiment worldwide. Tweets from Twitter are analyzed in real time and visualized by way of a heat map showing "tweet location, intensity, and tone." According to a ...
Whether your midsize business uses BYOD or company provided devices, it is likely that a social media policy is in effect. However, some midsize IT professionals are discovering that their company's policy doesn't really work or isn't being enforced. In ...
When it comes to social media and your midsize business, the question is no longer whether you should be there, but how you are going to approach it. Here are five key areas you need to consider.Where are your Customers?There ...
What are social media metrics and how can they help your midsize business? This is a fancy term for measurement of all the data you can harvest from social interactions online. According to All Twitter, people send about 400 million ...
Are you still wondering whether a social media policy is right for your midsize business? More than 91 percent of adults use social media regularly, and that number is certain to include many of your employees and your customers. Both ...
The great thing about Twitter is that so much is going on there, and in real time. But that is also the big problem with Twitter: How do you keep track of it all? Just following one Twitter feed can ...
VOIP provider Skype has geared its latest public beta release as a networking platform for small and midsize businesses.What originally started as a classroom offering, turned into an offering for small and midsize business. The service, according to a recent ...
Collecting social media statistics is an important aspect of today's business environment. Recent research by the Pew Research Center shows that approximately 60 percent of Americans use a social networking site. Other research from Pew shows that 45 percent of ...
Social media has changed the way small and midsize businesses market themselves. According to two recent surveys, they are using it more and more. Now the challenge remains for them to act on effective strategies to make it work for ...
Pinterest is a social networking site that has a uniquely feminine appeal, judging from the sheer number of women who use the site to post recipes, fashion, bridal shower ideas, and arts and crafts. Now, however, the site has unveiled ...
Facebook recently released strong statistics for Open Graph, its platform that lets third parties develop applications for the social media network. In the Developer Blog post, Lincoln Hochberg explains that with only a year under its belt, the platform has ...
Click to Tweet ★ The Future of Social Business ★ Recap of MidMarket IBM Social Business’s Futurecast * -New here? Get more useful social media news and insight by subscribing for free to the zero SPAM Steveology Blog email ...
If you have been purchasing apps from Verizon for personal use, that service will no longer be available after January 2013. However, the shut down will not hurt the business world since private business applications will still be taken and ...
Understanding the difference is important not only for marketing but for business leaders. Companies that don’t fully understand what this means to them are holding watch over a dying enterprise. Let me explain. A few years ago the true experts ...
Despite some initially harsh criticism and obviously intense competition from tablet makers like Apple, the new Microsoft Surface is selling enough to be placed on three-week back order on Microsoft's online store. Customers are lining up online and offline to ...
Marketing is about facilitating more closed business, and ultimately grow the company. When asked, most midsized and B2B companies will tell you that they are “doing content marketing.” However, often when you look at their social channels and company blog ...
If you are a public relations professional for a B2B or midsized company you have watched coverage opportunities become even more scarce than ever before. I asked Jeff Vance about this. Jeff exemplifies the new breed of Journalist. Jeff is ...
Instagram announced updates for the process of sharing content from its network to Twitter. The photo-based network tweaked @mentions for people who have different usernames on the two platforms. The changes streamline the sharing process. Midsize businesses will likely see ...
Are free mobile websites good for small to medium sized businesses or is there a cost to going that route? ...
Think people are sharing too much on their Facebook pages? If so, prepare to be dismayed, at least if Marc Zuckerberg is right. The Facebook founder and CEO predicted that Facebook sharing will increase by a factor of a thousand. ...
October 14 is a day to remember for the record-breaking skydive of Felix Baumgartner and for the marketing power of YouTube. The Web video platform streamed the space jump live to more than 7 million people, which clearly establishes the ...
Back in June, Facebook launched a paid status feature for businesses that allowed groups to pay a scaled amount of money for greater prominence in subscribers' news feeds. While the business community cheered the move, it didn't exactly work the ...
Mark Zuckerberg might as well walk around with a bullseye on his back. There are few technology companies so well-known and yet so despised as his Facebook--accused of everything from spying on user data, selling it to the highest bidder, ...
Launched in 2003, LinkedIn rode the social networking wave of the last decade to establish itself as a major force in the social media world. While other competitors such as Facebook and Twitter focused on building personal social networks, LinkedIn ...
Twitter is debating whether to create its own video-hosting service for its mobile app. The technology would be the latest in a slew of products and services the social media network is bringing in-house. If the mobile app integration occurs, ...
The much-speculated-about Facebook Want button has officially entered testing phase in a new feature for the social networking giant called Collections. Collections groups the now-ubiquitous Facebooke Like button alongside the new Want and Collect buttons on the Facebook pages of ...
Oracle has announced an agreement to acquire cloud-based social recruiting and community management app provider, SelectMinds. Hiring skilled candidates has become a priority for business organizations that are in search of expert professionals to perform complex business operations such as ...
There was something for the naysayers and for the optimists in an important survey of small and medium size business ...
Facebook is getting more aggressive about advertising as it seeks to monetize its enormous user base. But one analyst is warning that overly in-your-face Facebook ads could backfire. Users could be annoyed, especially by a clutter of ads on the ...
LinkedIn announced a new feature to allow users to "follow" others, seemingly broadening its culture from somewhat static business connections to a more socially connected and dynamic form. The company has hand-selected a group of 150 people who can have ...
By now everyone knows that Facebook, the number one social networking site, has hit a billion users. Mark Zuckerburg has been busy talking to various media outlets about how he plans to continue to engage all the users. CNET reported ...
Many midsize businesses are starting to realize the benefits of using social media, and those benefits just got better. According to CNET, Twitter has teamed up with Nielsen to create a survey tool intended to help businesses. This new survey ...
Leading figures at Facebook say that the social media giant is "very focused" on placing ads in its news feed and, especially, on reaching consumers via their mobile devices. Obviously the future of Facebook ads is critical to Facebook itself. ...
Today it is impossible to have a strategic marketing discussion without including social media for engaging customers and prospects. A marketing plan that doesn't include a sizable investment in social media activities is not only almost unheard of today even ...
In September, Salesforce decided it was a good idea to try and trademark the term "social enterprise." After blowback from both users and other companies, the CRM giant finally dropped the idea; not only was it low on the "good ...
* One thing I love about social media is connecting with like-minded digital marketers. Having the opportunity to meet them in real life is even more fun. Joe Chernov is one such like-mind marketer. Even in the few years I ...
Hiring great software developers and data scientists is hard enough without worrying about whether these employees will have unbearable issues within a midsize IT firm. No one wants to hire a developer who likes to tell jokes about how he ...
The timeline feature at Facebook has had privacy advocates up in arms since it was first introduced. And now Facebook timeline is triggering a new wave of concern. A French newspaper reported that Facebook users were seeing old personal messages ...
Facebook search technology is ramping up to new levels amid a fiercely competitive social-media environment. The upcoming round of developments have been characterized as "friend mining," an analogy to data mining.The question that IT managers at midsize firms may be ...
The business world is currently undergoing a social revolution, at least according to Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff, speaking at his company's Dreamforce conference. There's plenty of data to back him up. The rise of social networks has changed the way ...
A whopping 90 percent of small business owners believe social media networks help their businesses connect to customers and business partners. The survey, conducted by online community Manta, was featured in a ZDNet article recently.According to the article, an increasing ...
Google asserted that its social website, Google+ now has 100 million regular users, defined as users who visit the site at least monthly. This traffic may remain modest compared to Facebook traffic, in spite of the latter's well-publicized stumbles.But for ...
* If you are a blogger for a mid-sized company, or trying to build a B2B’s reputation, growing your readership is an ongoing objective. This is the same challenge that all business bloggers and individual bloggers struggle with alike. I ...
Social media is a problem for midsize IT admins, despite its oft-touted boons. From the amount of time employees spend on Twitter and Facebook to the hassle of maintaining company accounts that act as a viable link rather than half-hearted ...
The fight over Facebook at work is over; the social media site won a few years ago. Some midsize IT admins wish this weren't the case and still struggle against the tide, using access block programs or trying to limit ...
Facebook has no China plans and is unlikely to anytime soon. Despite its global 950 million-strong user base, the world's largest social networking site holds none of the Chinese market. According to The Next Web, Jayne Leung, north Asia director ...
Restaurant owners and similar local business people have not been feeling the love for Yelp. The social rating website has alarmed business owners, who fear that a few negative ratings on the site can crush their businesses. Allegations of paid ...
IBM has announced an agreement to acquire the social business company Kenexa for $1.3 billion. The latest acquisition will enrich the vendor's business analytics solutions with social capabilities as well as help businesses dealing with human resource challenges.With this acquisition, ...
Google's social networking platform, Google+, is starting to be integrated into the Google Apps enterprise toolkit. The interesting question for midsize firms and their IT departments--and also for Google--is, does it matter?And the answer seems to be, very possibly, yes. ...
Facebook's stock market debut wasn't exactly what the social giant and founder Mark Zuckerberg were hoping for. After a day of mismanaged trades, Nasdaq and other organizations were struggling to account for what happened and find ways to recoup their ...
Almost as popular as buying links, Facebook likes are a commodity in the SEO world. Social networking is believed to be a factor for search engine algorithms, so SEO companies have popped up selling likes to new websites. The problem ...
Twitter is defending the privacy of ordinary Americans, or at least that's the line they're selling when it comes to their newest appeal in the case of New York v. Occupy Wall Street protestor Malcolm Harris, who was arrested in ...
Social media outreach, a targeted and well-designed content plan, continuous and iterative program design evolution - these and other initiatives are critical components of any marketing strategy today. While the details of social media usage and interaction may vary across ...
* If you are a midsized or B2B company you probably are deeply aware that getting “ink” these days is next to impossible. There are fewer publications, fewer reporters, fewer editors, and the publications that are left produce a lot ...
Google actively promotes the use of the Google+ social networking tool, and now it's releasing vanity URLs for celebrities and popular brands. Although it was quick to start up, some users have hesitated focusing too much effort on building up ...
A little-discussed but growing challenge in social media is handling the sheer clutter. Hollywood executives may boast about having thousands of close personal friends. But most of us can't handle that many. And now Google Plus is doing something about ...
Google has responded to the ever-growing demand in the social media service market by acquiring social media marketing company Wildfire Interactive. Now, search engine giant will offer marketing and advertisement campaigns on social media platforms, including Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, and ...
Social media is hot everywhere, including in the business world. Everyone loves to talk about customers engaging with brands. But in the process, customers are also taking over brands. The message for midsize firms is that they can no longer ...
Imagine getting a pink slip from an employer after your boss checks out your Facebook profile and noticing you happen to "Like" something unpalatable to him or her. Seems a bit Orwellian and a violation of your Facebook privacy, doesn't ...
The app development community has been hit with new, restrictive application programming interface (API) rules concerning Twitter apps, and Twitter it is not alone in clamping down on app developers using its platform. Facebook has been accused of using heavy-handed ...
The benefits of social media for business are something any midsize admin needs to consider--and will likely be tasked with exploring as a company matures. A consistent Twitter feed, regularly updated Facebook page or well thought out LinkedIn profile can ...
The massive growth of social media in the consumer space over the past decade has directly led to businesses taking up the technology in hopes of enhancing the customer experience and increasing sales. A new look at the social space ...
Developers of social apps are not happy about Facebook and Twitter policies. But some app developers are doing more than just grumbling. They are launching a new social network, App.net.For the IT community, the message may be that in the ...
Security teams for business executives seem to be moving beyond supplying physical security by delving more into the realm of social media monitoring, keeping tabs on what is socially shared and on the location-based data that may accompany it. This ...
Twitter has been hailed as a revolutionary platform, something more messiah than machine--what would the Occupy movements or Arab Spring have looked like without the constant stream of tweets keeping the world informed? But despite its sometime brilliance, the social ...
Michael Phelps is the most successful Olympian of all time, winning 22 medals, and now the recently retired American swimmer can add another claim to his list of achievements: He has garnered more Facebook fans and Twitter followers than any ...
Facebook has been hitting some bumps in the road, but it remains the dominant social media network. For developers of Facebook apps, this can make for a much bumpier ride. Some have taken to the Internet to express their displeasure ...
Despite impressive early growth figures, Google+ does not have a great reputation as a vehicle for digital marketing and consumer engagement. Although the social network claims 75 million users, not everyone agrees on the validity of that figure, and its ...
People we know in midmarket companies tend to do what works – until it doesn’t work so well any more. ...
Where there was once a dearth of social interaction, there is now social media overkill. As the value of social media strategy in attracting customers and securing relationships has increased, so, too, has IT and business use of these social ...
While Facebook is heralded as the largest social network site the world has ever seen in terms of membership size, it pales in comparison to its much younger rival Google Plus (Google+) when graded on merit of how satisfied its ...
Social media giant Facebook claims that about 83 million accounts on its site are "fake" or dubious. These include accounts for businesses and groups that have been opened as personal accounts instead of as a business, group, or fan page, ...
The age of social media has arrived in the corporate world, or so say tech pundits. Consumers expect that not only will companies respond to queries but provide channels for easy interaction, whether through Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, or LinkedIn ...
A top Google engineering executive assured developers that a full write API for Google Plus is on the way. The developer community will be watching closely to see if Google delivers on its promise. And at a time when rival ...
Limited Run, formerly known as Limited Pressing, is a start-up that, until recently, was an active part of Facebook. They had their own business page and were buying advertisements from the social giant. From the outside, none of this should ...
The power of Twitter is quickly coming to rival that of social media giant Facebook, in large part because of the service's ability to provide near-instantaneous updates packaged in an easy to digest format. Without the emphasis on games, photos, ...
Hotmail may be the most successful email service in the world, but Microsoft feels it can do better. So, Microsoft has decided to start a process that will change all of these email accounts to Outlook accounts. The process will ...
Chief information officers have a lot to do to get full benefit from social media, says a recent article by Michael Krigsman in the Wall Street Journal. He highlights the need to balance issues of security, political considerations, and the ...
On July 26th, two major social networking tools crashed: Twitter and Gchat (also known as "Google Chat"). Even though these systems were created for socializing and networking, they have become integrated in business marketing, which means that when they go ...
Recent research from Gartner Inc. is predicting global revenue from social media of $16.9 billion this year. That represents a 43.1 percent increase over last year's revenue figure. The research highlights several areas with implications for midsize businesses looking to ...
Unless you are a seasoned hacker, you probably don't know what the term "bug bounty" means. To put it simply, it is a program that rewards hackers who report security holes, rather than exploit them for personal gain. These generous ...
Microsoft has been at the forefront of the computing scene; a direct result of their recent hardware and software releases. Microsoft's latest product innovation comes in the form of Office 2013. Heralded as the "biggest and most ambitious Office" by ...
As a midsize IT professional, you know the importance of social media and growing your brand. You can wax eloquent on the features of Facebook, the timing of tweets and the long-term prospects of LinkedIn. You know that in order ...
Many businesses use Skype to conduct conference calls, general overseas calls, and even to call forward to their cellphones. While many people think they are having a private conversation, that call could be wiretapped and shared with government officials.CNN reported ...
Twitter is now allowing brands to send promotional tweets to specific subsets of their followers with targeted tweets. As a result of this functionality, brands on Twitter can reach specific audiences on the social network without first sending a tweet ...
You have heard about Twitter. You know about tweets. Maybe, if you are an IT admin at a midsize business, you are savvy when it comes to promoting your company online or putting out social media fires. But what you ...
Managing social media can be a minefield for midsize businesses. As Martin Zwilling points out in a recent article on Business Insider, they may be asking the wrong question. Instead of wondering which platform they should use, midsize businesses might ...
A report by Capstone Investments suggests that Facebook usage in the U.S. and some of the social networking site's other main markets may be on the decline. According to the research, the number of American users of the popular social ...
Much is often made about customer relationship management (CRM) software solutions, but some of the best options for midsize business to connect with customers come in the form of stand-alone social media efforts like Facebook or Twitter. Clients now expect ...
Social media buyouts by tech giants have become the norm in recent months, with start-up companies receiving huge payouts from providers like Oracle, Salesforce.com, and Microsoft. Powered by the same technology that drove cloud adoption, the social media craze is ...
After an ongoing, months-long legal battle between Yahoo and Facebook, the two social networking giants have finally settled their patent disputes and formed a partnership. The lawsuit that was initiated by Yahoo against Facebook came just months before Facebook was ...
In recent years, many business organizations have adopted collaborative technology to facilitate effective communication among employees and with customers. According to an article on PCWorld, a survey conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts strong growth in enterprise social software ...
Microsoft has acquired enterprise social networking (ESN) firm Yammer. The Redmond giant thus affirms its commitment to workplace social networking tools, an area in which analysts have seen it as lagging. And the acquired social solutions will get a major ...
The recent acquisition of Yammer by Microsoft for $1.2 billion places a value on the concept of social networking in business and puts the marketing weight of MS behind it. As reported on CIO, it will join the Office division ...
Much has been said and published about inbound marketing, and its use to attract customers to learn who you are ...
Rumor on the street has it that Microsoft is preparing to acquire Yammer, a social enterprise company, for $1.2 billion. This speculation, by Forbes, has further solidified the significance of social enterprise within the business environment. If the deal were ...
A new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project has found that while the growth of Twitter has slowed since last year, current users of the site are much more active and engaged than in previous years. The ...
A recent study by Shopify.com found that users made purchases that averaged $80 from retailers on the Pinterest website, double what Facebook users spend. Retailers point to the importance of the social relationship with the customer and say that the ...
New social games startup Qmerce is offering a platform for businesses to add customizable social games to their online community spaces, such as Facebook, where players can win real rewards, such as coupons, loyalty points, or discounts from the company.Branded ...
Citrix Podio is a new collaboration between Citrix and Podio, a company Citrix acquired in April 2012, that aims to blend work collaboration platforms with social media. The new platform was showcased at Citrix Synergy 2012, and Citrix CEO Mark ...
A recent IBM study of chief marketing officers (CMOs) suggests areas that midsize businesses may want to address in terms of the provision of IT services. The CMO study, part of a series of interviews with leading executives, polled 1,734 ...
Facebook has long struggled with monetization of their core functionality, status updates. However, the Facebook paid status program has recently launched, according to PC World, and it looks to change the way businesses can use Facebook for promotion, and the ...
Facebook has gone public, it seems everyone (and their dog) has a Twitter account and if your company doesn't make an effort to engage customers socially, there's a real possibility you could be left behind, or so says the hype. ...
Facebook, Facebook. It seems no matter where a business looks these days, there's Mark Zuckerberg's company, trying to edge its way out of the social media niche and into the boardroom. The sharing site is already making inroads among CEOs ...
Social media is everywhere and far from being just a social tool; it's now firmly established as a useful business tool. Some companies have gone even further and integrated social media and similar platforms into their business intelligence mix to ...
Facebook is now public in one of the largest, and most hyped initial public offerings (IPO) in history. As a result of the IPO, the company now ranks as one of the most valuable firms in the world.The IPO makes ...
Most IT admins aren't exactly fans of social giant Facebook, and it's no wonder. The site hogs time that employees could be doing work or anything else useful and not everything that's found on the social media site is exactly ...