CaliberPulse

In these uncertain times, companies from small businesses to major brands are turning to digital marketing and social media to offer valuable content, build brand credibility and engage with audiences. Consumers across the globe have dramatically increased their reliance on technology. So, including these tactics in your marketing strategy enables you to access to nearly […]

April 28, 2020

It’s that time of year again. As the weather warms up and spring turns to summer, all of our favorite social media analysts release their Annual State of Social Media reports. Each of these focus on different areas and each of them are required reading for anyone who uses social media as a marketing channel. […]

June 6, 2019

We’ve conducted our fair share of social media bootcamp sessions with clients from a variety of industries and two basic questions seem to always arise, “which social media platforms should I be using and how do you expect me to find time to do all of this?”

February 14, 2013

Two recent op-ed pieces featured by Mashable presented opposing opinions on the value of LinkedIn’s relatively new endorsement feature. One article, written by Todd Wasserman, called it “meaningless,” while David Berkowitz’s rebuttal article argued that it is “…one of the best uses of game mechanics online...” So which is true?

January 10, 2013

Have you ever discussed social media with a friend or potential customer and received a skeptical response? Many of us have. Perhaps you are the doubtful one. However you feel (or don’t feel) about social media, there is no arguing that our society has officially plunged into it head first. Social networking sites have become primary online marketing tools, communication outlets, and customer service vehicles. Instead of talking about the influence that social media can have, allow the numbers to speak for themselves. If you have ever doubted the power of social media, here are twenty unbelievable statistics that may make you rethink these qualms, and convince you to get more involved in one of the most influential resources of this generation.

June 30, 2011

LinkedIn posted a list of the top ten most overused buzzwords in U.S. user profiles. You’re sure to have seen them, and may have even used some of these words and phrases; the ambiguous descriptors that have diminished impact or meaning. The 2010 top ten overused terms in U.S. LinkedIn profiles are:

December 29, 2010

It’s been an evolutionary year for social media. Many new trends and facts have been published that may help you shape your 2010 marketing and PR plan. We have included a sampling of these facts and our recommendations on how you can use them when developing your 2011 plan. FACT: 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content. Source: Social Media Revolution 2 Video, based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman

November 24, 2010

New technologies changed the way businesses communicate with customers, friends and families throughout the last decade. For public relations and marketing professionals, the emergence of social media created new opportunities to build relationships never dreamed possible. Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, LinkedIn…Where are these social media platforms taking us? Will there come a day when information is somehow beamed directly into the cortex of our desired audience? While that seems unlikely, so did the concept of a social networking site like Facebook ten years ago. Today, one can update customers through a company’s social media account through a cell phone or notebook. Restaurants and businesses have free wireless Internet services to plug into. The news doesn’t wait for the evening broadcast or morning newspaper; rather, news reaches us instantaneously on our mobile devices through the latest post or tweet. Even traditional news sources allow for public comments after each story on their Web sites. Remember the days of dial-up Internet service or sending faxes to communicate 10 years ago? The times are certainly changing.

January 11, 2010

If a conversation happens in a forest and you're not there to be a part of it, did it really happen? In the online world of social media - you bet your bottom dollar it did. And an entire network of friends, fans and followers heard it, participated in it and repeated it to their friends, fans and followers. When I worked for a small town newspaper right out of college, we often joked the biggest threat to being scooped was the gossip that took place at a quaint diner downtown. There's no message tool more effective than word of mouth - especially when the topic is heated, controversial or sensational. That's how I like to think of social media. It's not really all that new to those of us who understand how gossip works - it's fast, can often be misleading (think the children's game of telephone - the more you repeat something, the more inaccurate the message becomes) and sometimes damages someone's reputation.

August 28, 2009

More than a hundred attended our Smart Marketing Workshop on Social Media yesterday morning! “Using Social Media to Build Your Brand and Business” offered a introduction to social media while representatives from Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Arizona Daily Star, KOLD News 13 and Buffalo Exchange discussed how they’ve used social media to improve their businesses. Some of the takeaways I Twittered during the workshop, in case you missed either: If your demographic isn't using social media, don't wait another six months, get there before your customers do. Best Western has been using a travel blog to allow visitors to share tips and great experiences. Result: Best Western's site has grown 50 percent since creation. Customers who want to identify with a cause can identify with Kenneth Cole and interact with the clothing brand and its fans on its Awearness blog. Result: The clothing brand is reaching a niche customer demographic interested in identifying itself as socially conscious (Gen X anyone?). Hewlett Packard created a scavenger hunt using Twitter, offering free products and building brand awareness for HP. Result: they increased traffic to their Web site around the holiday season - great timing! Domino's Pizza used social media (YouTube) to successfully manage a crisis situation involving former employees and food safety. Result: Social Media proved an important PR tool as they reassured their customer base that their food is safe. Nature Conservancy used Digg to raise awareness by posting articles like, "14 easy ways to be an environmentalist." Result: they substantially increased the number of visitors to their Web site.

June 18, 2009