Social Media
Our social media marketing coverage addresses management tools, educational courses, platform tips, social analytics, and strategies for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more. We’ve interviewed merchants who rely on social media traffic, and vendors who provide specialized services.
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Social Media
25 Ways to Use Twitter for Marketing
January 11, 2016 • Paul Chaney
Although marketing through social media is the norm, Twitter is still an enigma for many. I can't recount just how many times I have heard business owners and marketers tell me, "I just don't get Twitter."
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Social Media
7 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2016
January 8, 2016 • Kristine Wirth
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Web Marketing Today. Practical Ecommerce acquired Web Marketing Today in 2012. In 2016, we merged the two sites, leaving Practical Ecommerce as ...
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Social Media
Google Maps: A ‘Social Network’ in Disguise
January 4, 2016 • Paul Chaney
Gone are the days when Google Plus was the epicenter for local business information. Google My Business now owns that domain, for the business owner. For users, Google Maps has become a replacement for Google Plus Local and is somewhat of a social network in disguise.
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Social Media
Tips, Tricks to Optimize a YouTube Channel
January 4, 2016 • Samantha Collier
Using YouTube for your business is easy. Simply set up a channel and start uploading videos. But as your investment in video grows, so does the pressure to make sure ...
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Social Media
Advertising Options to Test (and Expand) in 2016, for Ecommerce
December 31, 2015 • Michael Stancil
With the new year, advertisers can put mistakes behind them, take note of what worked, and try something new. At Tailor Brands, my employer, we include marketing tests in every monthly ...
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Social Media
Changes to Google Plus: What You Need to Know
December 31, 2015 • Rodney Hess
Google has had many failed experiments in the past, such as Buzz, Wave, and, more recently, Google Glass. However, the search giant shows no signs of giving up on its attempt to compete in the social networking sphere, via Google Plus.
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Social Media
Creating 1-day Facebook, Twitter Ad Campaigns
December 15, 2015 • Michael Stancil
Do you have a single-day sale planned for your ecommerce business? One day is plenty of time to create and execute a successful social media campaign. Say it’s 7:00 a.m. on ...
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Social Media
11 Stand-out Social Media Campaigns from 2015
December 13, 2015 • Sig Ueland
Brands used new tools in 2015 to create compelling social content, with much attention on three innovations: live-streaming video, smartwatches, and emojis. Here is a list of stand-out social media in ...
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Social Media
Using the New Twitter Polls for Ecommerce
December 1, 2015 • Samantha Collier
Twitter announced its new polling feature in October and quickly rolled it out across the desktop site, mobile site, and mobile app. Here is Twitter’s announcement video. Coming soon! We’re rolling out the ability for everyone ...
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Social Media
9 Tools to Sell on Facebook
November 13, 2015 • Sig Ueland
Facebook recorded strong earnings in the most recent quarter, with a daily active user base of over one billion, outperforming expectations across engagement and financial metrics. Facebook continues to make inroads ...
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Social Media
Social Media Marketing: 11 Free Guides and Ebooks
November 4, 2015 • Rodney Hess
I love free guides and ebooks on the topic of social media marketing. I have an entire Google Drive folder full of them that I update consistently and share with my team. Here are 11 of my favorites, to share with you.
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Social Media
Retail Brands Embrace Emojis, for Marketing
November 3, 2015 • Samantha Collier
Emojis are symbols or icons that express an idea or an emotion. Unlike emoticons, which use plain text to create a facial expression — like this :-D — emojis are ...
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Social Media
How to Create a Social Media Calendar
October 29, 2015 • Kristine Wirth
Local businesses know they have to post on social networks frequently, to stay engaged with fans and followers. However, it is a task that often gets put on the back burner or, worse, overlooked entirely. Using a social media calendar can help alleviate this problem.
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Social Media
Twitter Share Counts Are Going Away; Now What?
October 28, 2015 • Michael Stancil
There’s a big change coming to your Twitter buttons: The tweet count number is going away by Nov. 20, 2015. In this article, I will elaborate on what Twitter said, what ...
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Social Media
Maximizing Facebook Ads for Ecommerce Sales
October 21, 2015 • Michael Stancil
Facebook ads are the rage lately — and for good reason. If you can supply at least a few valuable targeting components of your prospective customers, Facebook can do the rest and start ...
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Social Media
9 Essential Blogs for Small Business Owners
October 14, 2015 • Kristine Wirth
Keeping up with small business social marketing techniques and trends can be time-consuming. There are thousands of blogs that you could follow, to get advice. The problem lies in deciding which ones best suit your needs.
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Social Media
Setting Up Facebook Remarketing, for Ecommerce
October 13, 2015 • Michael Stancil
Not every visitor to an ecommerce site converts, and not every customer comes back to buy more. But, don’t fret, with remarketing on Facebook there’s a way to get more ...
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Social Media
SEO: YouTube Doubles Down for Search and Content
October 5, 2015 • Jill Kocher Brown
YouTube is more than a venue for cute kittens and dancing children. It’s a powerful social search engine with an engaged audience. Any company, with any size budget, can use ...
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Social Media
6 Social Media Lessons from the BBC, for Ecommerce
October 5, 2015 • Samantha Collier
The British Broadcasting Corporation operates 11 U.K.-based radio networks, 10 television channels, and popular consumer broadcasts — such as Top Gear, The Great British Bake Off, and Strictly Come Dancing.
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Social Media
10 Niche Social Networks for Small Business Marketing
October 1, 2015 • Paul Chaney
If you thought all social networking activity took place on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Google Plus, think again. There is a preponderance of niche social networks that appeal to nearly every interest and taste, many of which are ripe for small businesses to inhabit and participate.
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Social Media
Get More Guest Reviews with TripAdvisor Review Express
September 24, 2015 • Paul Chaney
TripAdvisor now offers a free service called Review Express that lets hotel and B&B owners who have their business listed on the site send review request emails for up to 1,000 guests.
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Social Media
Creating Facebook Custom and Lookalike Audiences, to Drive Traffic
September 23, 2015 • Michael Stancil
Facebook custom audiences can greatly help a business. Facebook has one of the most advanced targeting systems — every Facebook user tells you what she likes and doesn’t like. While that’s ...
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Social Media
7 Ways to Get Yelp Reviews (without Violating Its Policy)
September 10, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Yelp is possibly the most restrictive of all the business directories and review sites when it comes to asking for customer reviews. Basically, “asking” is forbidden, according to its policy guidelines.
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Social Media
Optimizing Instagram for Ecommerce: 10 Tips
September 2, 2015 • Samantha Collier
With 300 million active monthly users and 30 billion photos shared to date, Instagram is one of social media’s great success stories. This social channel is entirely visual, focused on ...
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Social Media
Pinterest: How to Sell Products Using Buyable Pins
August 20, 2015 • Kristine Wirth
Pinterest just launched a new feature, “Buyable Pins,” making it available to all U.S.-based companies. The feature gives smaller retail businesses a unique way to get their products in front of Pinterest's 73 million users.
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Social Media
How to Use Twitter for Remarketing
August 13, 2015 • Michael Stancil
Remarketing is an advertising technique that lets you show ads to people who have visited your website. If you have never used remarketing, perhaps it’s time to start. There are numerous ...
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Social Media
Local Businesses Still Need a Google Plus Page, for Now
August 10, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Google is in the process of slowly dismantling Google Plus, its ill-fated social network. The first signs occurred when Vic Gundotra, then head of the Google Plus project, left the company in 2014, and Google moved many of the project's staffers to other areas.
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Social Media
23 Tools for Social Media Monitoring
August 9, 2015 • Sig Ueland
Social media can be a good resource for promoting a business. But if you’re just plugging your brand, you’re missing the point. Listening to others is an effective way to ...
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Social Media
Little-known Social Media Features that Boost Engagement
July 28, 2015 • Samantha Collier
Once you come to grips with social media, the main functions of each network — posting, sharing, liking, commenting — become second nature. But there’s a hidden world of advanced ...
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Social Media
How to Deal with Negative Comments on Facebook
July 28, 2015 • Rodney Hess
Every small business that participates in social media must be prepared to handle customer service issues from time-to-time. Customers may leave negative comments or reviews about your company, products, or services on occasion, which can be a good thing. It gives you the opportunity to show your followers that you take customer service — and their complaints — seriously.