In a business context, interchange via all these applications can take place between the company and its customers, between customers themselves but also within a company and finally, within a business-to-business environment as well. Social media improves communication between any two or more parts of a business: between employees, between staff and customers or between upper and lower staff. Third, social media allows managers to tap into communities where prospects – such as customers, freelancers, business connections, etc. can be found or created. MORE >>

Social media marketing opens channels to answer customer questions and drives ROI by reducing the cost of answering those questions. Example: • Infusionsoft reduced their customer service staff by two-thirds while increasing their customer satisfaction by 10 percent. Example: • AT&T’s customers who are engaged online convert two times higher than their other campaigns. This is a great little video by Ignite Social Media  on the ROI of social media. Transcript (Courtesy of Ignite Social Media). Awareness. Consideration. Preference. Intent. Purchase. Support. MORE >>

66% of executives believe that social applications for business represent a fundamental shift in how work will get done and how companies will engage with customers. 62% of executives cite the potential to achieve “better customer loyalty and service levels&# and 57% anticipate “increased revenue or sales&# as a result of implementing a Social Business strategy. Additionally, app stores are becoming more popular in business/enterprise settings, and while email may be growing, it’s not solving many of the communication issues in the enterprise. MORE >>

Marketers are using content marketing to meet multiple business goals, including brand awareness (69%), customer acquisition (68%), lead generation (67%), and customer retention/loyalty (62%). A study released last month by MarketingProfs  and the Content Marketing Institute  highlights some significant numbers in the area of content marketing for the B2B industry. In short, content production has become and will continue to be a major piece of the marketing mix for B2B marketers. There are several high-level takeaways from the report: Content marketing is still very widely used. MORE >>

Websites With More Content Generate More Customers [New Infographic] (hubspot.com). We do a ton of writing around here for clients – blogging, eBooks, white papers, press releases, etc – and we know the value it brings, both tangible and intangible. But it’s nice to put some numbers behind content marketing, which includes not only writing, but video, photos and other types of rich media. few numbers, not to be ignored: Companies that blog get up to 55% more traffic. They also get up to 97% more inbound links (which search engines like!). MORE >>