Have you heard about Google+ Pages for Businesses yet? Google is continuing to move steadily into the social media realm! Similar to Facebook fan pages – you can now create a page on Google to help brand your business. Add photos, links, videos and more to help promote your products and services. Although it seemed to have gotten off to a slow start, more and more companies are getting on board – here’s an example of Pepsi’s page:

Whether you’re a mom and pop store or a Fortune 500 brand, we highly suggest getting one now (and do it quick before your competitors find out about it!)

Here are the Top 7 Reasons to Get Google Plus for Business Now:

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There has been a lot of buzz lately on the Google Wallet – the app that allows you to purchase items with a single tap of your phone. Is my information safe? Why should I use it? I’m here to set the record straight. Arguably one of the most advanced mobile-payment systems in the U.S. to date – this virtual wallet provides a number of benefits, is quick, simple, and 100% safe according to Google.

Sounds cool. But why should I use it?

Jump on the digital bandwagon! Below are the Top 10 reasons to use Google Wallet: (more…)

Imagine a phone that you can talk to, understands what you say, and actually talks back to you. Don’t think it’s possible? Read on!

Last April, Apple dished out $200 million dollars for Siri’s Personal Assistant Software, an advanced voice recognition and personal assistant program for your phone. At yesterdays much anticipated iPhone event, Apple introduced Siri: The iPhone Assistant that talks. As one of the largest artificial intelligence projects of U.S. History, this software program is said to be “life changing” and will completely revolutionize the way humans interact with technology from here on out.

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Facebook contests are all the new fad these days. They can help build your brand and drive a huge amount of traffic to your site. The right contest can raise a ton of revenue and build great PR for your business, and can also be a lot of fun too!

Give consumers some ownership in the experience by creating your own contests with User Generated Content. “UGC” as it is most commonly called, is simply a promotion that allows consumers to upload their own content (images or videos) to the Internet and use the content to enter the contest. Find your ultimate fan, best dancer, best product recipe or whatever you dream up and we guarantee your customers will have a blast coming up with stuff. Voting mechanisms and viral marketing channels allow users to take ownership in the experience to spread the reach of your contest.
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With the use of new technology and social media tools, businesses are able to understand their customers’ needs and wants in ways never before possible. Fortunately for internet marketers, we have amazing technologies and tools at the tip of our fingers that allow us to listen and respond to customers on a whole new level.  Gone are the days of mass impersonal messaging in advertising and marketing. These days, there are new ways to engage in conversation with your audience and get the feedback you need. With these results, we have the power to give consumers not only exactly what they want, but how and when they want it.

How can you find out what consumers want?

Social Media Sites

Social media is completely revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers. Stored information from Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other networking sites can show us what brands people like. With this data, companies can now listen and respond to what it is people really want.

For example, Carnival Cruise Lines does a great job at listening to what people are saying. Their team monitors Twitter and Facebook for any mentions of their brand using the platform Tweetdeck. Social Media Manager from Carnival Cruise Lines Eric Schechter states, “We not only listen to the good, but also to the bad, correcting any customer service or providing service recovery if possible. We take into consideration what people write on our Facebook page and use these suggestions and comments to improve our cruise ships, guest experiences, etc. Social Media builds trust by being able to directly engage in conversation with the people who build and make our brand what it is.”
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