Every company wishes for brand loyalists like Apple attracts. Airlines use frequent flier programs to try to increase loyalty. Local restaurants and coffee shops use stamp cards (buy 10 and get one free). Social media can also be used to increase brand loyalty if we first identify what makes someone loyal to a brand. Loyalty vs. Repurchasing There’s a difference between brand loyalty and repurchasing. Frequent flier programs and stamp cards increase repurchasing, but do not necessarily increase brand loyalty. Without those programs would people still purchase from those companies? MORE >>

Social media really is most effective when you put together a strategy, have a plan for implementation and can devote at least an hour per day to engagement and content production. The reality is, most small businesses just can’t find an hour per day (sometimes even per week). While it may not be the most effective way to use social media, just 15 minutes per day can gain you some benefits. Here’s how: Choose Your Weapon Decide which social network makes the most sense for reaching your target audience — not where your industry is necessarily hanging out. Thoughts? MORE >>

While Google finally allowed Gmail users to have images in their signatures, there still isn’t a way to automatically update your signature with a link to your latest blog post, for example. Or have a random quote. Or show your latest tweet. WiseStamp is a free plugin for Chrome, Safari, and Safari which lets you customize your signature with links to your social networks, images, links, plus provides applications which can bring in the title of your latest blog post with a link. Customize Your Signature. Social Network Icons. Easily remove, add and change the order. IM Icons. MORE >>

Old Spice has turned their “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like&# ad campaign into a viral sensation by having the “Old Spice guy&# respond to people’s comments and tweets via videos which were posted on YouTube (click on the response videos on the right) — my favorite is below. The move has gotten quite a response , but only time and sales will tell whether it was successful for the brand’s bottom line. Sales can a bit of time to react, but there are some measurable effects that can give insight into how the ads are doing now. Mentions & Brand Awareness. MORE >>

Most PPC (pay-per-click) software is focused on helping advertisers manage bids on keywords, WordStream’s new AdWords Quality Score Management Tools are designed to boost quality scores in Google AdWords campaigns while driving costs down. These tools are now incorporated into WordStream’s flagship PPC product and should make it much easier for AdWords advertisers to develop more cost-efficient and effective campaigns. AdWords Quality Score is assigned by Google based on relevancy and click-through rates and has a big impact on how successful campaigns are. MORE >>