This is a guest blog post by Leo Widrich, co-founder of Buffer , a Twitter publishing application. He writes Twitter Tips every week on his blog. Twitter is upping its game considerably. recent $800m investment followed by several acquisitions of various apps were the first signs. What I found to be even more impressive is the speed at which new features have recently been unveiled. An activity stream together with the new @username tab brings a lot of interactivity to Twitter.com. Making the most of Twitter in a time-saving, yet genuine manner, is the most important thing to consider. Bonus! MORE >>

What is that sets brands like Apple, Nordstrom and Nike apart from their competitors? It isn’t “customer satisfaction.” ” Lots of technology vendors, retailers, clothing makers and other types of companies have satisfied customers. What sets these brands, and outstanding performers in other industries, apart from their peers is reaching a level beyond mere satisfaction (which customers now expect): customer connection. We ‘expect’ to be satisfied.” ” Across industries, customer connection now drives increased brand loyalty, sales and referrals. MORE >>

Tweet The graph at right, published in MarketingSherpa’s 2011 Benchmark Report , provides a snapshot of what marketers care about most. And And it’s very telling, especially now. As we approach the fourth quarter, I am acutely aware of why marketers believe generating better leads is a higher priority than generating more leads. In an economy that’s more precarious than ever, there’s simply no room to waste time, budget or resources. And there is little that is more wasteful, and frustrating, than chasing down leads that will never be customers. CDT, and 9 a.m. MORE >>

I t’s easy to get overly ambitious when making the case for social media. When the board room is finally ready to listen, we breathlessly explain the social media sea change and how our organization can ride the wave. And in our excitement, we sometimes make the case too well. We make it seem too easy. We make it seem like this no-brainer marketing move literally requires no brain (or resources, or money, or time, or strategy). “We should be able to see results quickly.&# Social media is relationship-based, and relationships take time to grow. posts per day. Yes, you can (kind of). MORE >>

These days, most businesses understand the basic concepts of SEO (search engine optimization) and why it's important. However, when it comes to developing and executing a sound SEO strategy , most businesses don't know where to begin. Here are five steps you can take to make sure all of your SEO bases are covered. Step 1: Make a List of Keywords. Keywords are at the heart of SEO, and selecting the right ones can make or break your SEO strategy. Compile a list of about 10 keywords associated with your product or services. Then rank this list in order of priority or relevance to your business. MORE >>