Since starting with SMCpros three plus beautiful months ago, many have asked what our name stands for.  Well it’s time to answer once and for all!  We here at SMCpros are so excited about our evolution as Social Media Consultants to a better, broader and brighter future!  We have grown our staff by over three times since our company started almost three years ago.  But it’s not just adding staff that makes our evolution interesting; we are evolving by hiring the best and brightest of specialists in our field.  With that information in mind, we at SMCpros are proud to announce the new definition of SMCpros! We are experts in:

S = Social Marketing

M=Measurement Analysis

C=Creative Development

So it’s one thing to say we are experts, it’s another to put our words into action to show our clients and agency partners what this entails.  First off, we are the leading experts in Social Media planning and development.  With a strong ROI focus we are one of the few Social Media agencies that will be able to deliver results and drill down to show you how your efforts will pay dividends for your business.  Secondly, our analysts take the idea of Measurement and Analytics to the next level via a thorough needs assessment of your business.  Through this process we can take a sniper rifle approach to ensure that your goals will be met and exceeded with your campaign.  Lastly, Creative development means messaging and copy writing that deliver a high click-through rate and brings quality leads to your web presence.

So to make sure that your business has the most effective and efficient web-based marketing platform possible, trust the three letter experts – the SMCpros – for your business.  What’s that?  You are emailing or calling us now?  Three cheers for you!

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Customer at Pet Store: “I’d like to buy this leash and dog food”
Cashier: “Great!! I’m curious, what kind of dog to you have?”
Customer: “Oh, well, I actually don’t have a dog, but I will some day.”

Seem far fetched? Sadly, it isn’t. As the lead analyst at an up and coming social  agency, I’ve had this conversation too many times – especially with Social Media Measurement. I don’t mean to be cliche, but many organizations jump the gun, or put the cart in front of the horse when it comes to social media measurement and web analytics. There are critical questions you must ask before you consider any social media measurement tool – big or small.

Web Analytics First

I am a firm believer in building a measurement foundation, and this foundation typically starts with web analytics. Before you start measuring social, start at home. Your website is home base, it’s the epicenter of your digital marketing, and if you can’t measure that, measuring social media is a lost cause before it even starts (is the pet store scenario making sense yet?). Before you move into social measurement. Ask yourself these questions:

1. What are the key (web analytics) metrics?
Why it’s important: Need I say more? Your key metrics (KPI’s) are the measurements that matter to you and your organization. These numbers tell you when times are good (and when they’re bad). Ask yourself: what is your cost per acquisition? Cost per lead? These metrics don’t always translate to social media, but they can provide a framework to what you should be measuring on social media.

2. What is the conversion rate?
Why it’s important:  Conversion is everything, how many visitors does it take for a purchase? A download? A sign-up? If you can’t answer that question, how are you going to know if your Facebook Fan Page or your messaging is actually working? How are you going to assess social media performance?

3. How much social traffic are you getting now?
Why it’s important: Ordinary web analytics can tell you how much social traffic you’re getting now. It’s important to have a benchmark. Are you increasing your social media presence? What are those visitors doing on your site now? Do they care?

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I want to start out by saying that I am not being too presumptuous with the above statement.  I of course, understand all change is not created equally.  However, if you know me at all, you know that I thrive on challenge, and typically do well in unknown environments.  So for me, starting at a new firm in Minneapolis focused on Social Media Consulting shouldn’t have been too difficult for someone of my “change” acumen.  Well, unfortunately for this guy, that wasn’t the case.  I was completely thrown off by the new people that I was going to be spending most of my work week with.

I was downright uncomfortable.  For some of you, while this feeling is all too common, for me it was a bit shocking.  Well, what could be so uncomfortable about a new team you say?  Intelligence, pure unadulterated intelligence.  My new home is already occupied by people who constantly challenge themselves to make sure that the clients we take on make good case studies and great referrals.  They make sure that we take time to understand the complexities and nuances of every opportunity.  While this probably sounds very self promoting, and more of an advertisement than a blog post, I wanted to share it because it reminded me of a few thoughts on what makes for happy employees.  I truly believe that to have a well balanced work-place full of quality people, you need to make sure your employees have the following:

1. Enough money not to worry about the necessities of life.  ( I realize this is subjective, but however still relevant)
2. A good work/life balance
3. The ability to contribute to the organizations success (hopefully at a high level)

These qualities are evident in the best places to work and the most successful companies in the world.  Thanks for reading.

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It’s been a BIG year for Social Media in 2011 – and a lot of changes have occurred. We wanted to take a moment to sit back and recap what’s changed this year and what you’ll want to look forward to in 2012.

For Facebook-  Big changes in 2011 with the introduction of Timeline. The user interface has drastically changed. Allowing users to see the totality of their Facebook presence; you can now see your profile from start to today. Additionally, the Ticker was added – a way for you to see Facebook interactions real-time while you are on Facebook.

2012 – With the looming IPO, Facebook has announced that they will introduce sponsored stories directly into users Newsfeed. Giving businesses and marketers alike the ability to more naturally engage with users.

For YouTube-  The video search engine got a facelift with a new thumbnail and layout. The new dashboard on the left  allows users to organize, search, and share their content. Also, with a deeper integration,, users can now watch and share YouTube videos seamlessly on G+.

2012 – YouTube Live, which will integrate live streaming capabilities and discovery tools directly into the YouTube platform for the first time should be rolling out in new year. This feature starts with a new YouTube Live browse page, where you can always find the most compelling live events happening on YouTube and add events to your calendar. Subscribe to your favorite YouTube live-streaming partners to be notified of upcoming live streams on your customized YouTube homepage.

For Twitter- Twitter’s new layout is simple, easy to navigate and clean. The microblogging site now features large customizable header images and highlight a top tweet with an embedded photo or video.

Learn more here!

Twitter’s new design includes: Home – Where you view tweets from the people you follow. @ Connect – The place to join the conversation and find out who has followed you, mentioned you, or Direct Messaged you. # Discover  – The place to find what is going on around you; this is completely customized to the user. Me – The place to adjust and view your profile.

Twitter Brand Pages will be the 2012 focus with the ability to “pin” a tweet that users will see when they visit your page. Twitter advertising will play a heavy role in the 2012 focus.

For LinkedIn-  With their IPO in 2011, users saw many impressive changes to the professional network that saw strong growth in 2011. LinkedIn and it’s shareholders have very high expectations in 2012.

LinkedIn Social Ads were brought to the forefront, along with the ability for companies to make status updates. Status updates resemble that of Facebook and Twitter.

For Google+ started with a bang in 2011, becoming the fastest growing social network in the world. With 50 million users just in beta, Google+ saw tremendous growth. Google made this growth easy with it’s shear brute strength. As the largest search engine, many people already had a Google profile making the G+ addition easy. Google+ launched with an easy to use interface that utlizes ‘circles,’ which make it easy to organize connections. Hangouts, another G+ feature,  made an addition that allows users to live stream their conversations with others. Brand pages also made their debut in late 2011.

2012 – We expect to see a deeper integration in ads, search, and traffic. The advantage Google+ has is that Google already has a hand (a big hand) in the web space – we suspect Google+ to continue to grow.  Also expect to see more and more G+ elements (like the +1) in the search page.

For Pinterest – The silent giant of 2011.  An invite only social site that let’s you “pin” images and videos you find online. Still an invite only platform has seen growth that no one expected.

As exciting of a year as it has been in social media, we expect 2012 to be even bigger. With the major platforms listed above fighting for users and usage, expect more features, rollouts and improvements more often – but don’t worry, we don’t expect another major Facebook overhaul any time soon.

Happy New Year from SMCpros!

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Twitter has recently come out with a bright, fresh new layout for Twitter that is cleverly labeled #NewTwitter. There are four new labels that comprise the new layout: Home, Connect, Discover and Me.

Home: Has the same old news feed, but with a few added bonuses. You can now click “Open” to view info on a specific tweet and have the ability to view the photos and videos directly in the tweet (after clicking it).

Connect: Interactions and mentions, all in one place.

Discover: This is Twitter search infused with an energy drink. You can find stories, trends and hashtags that are important and near to you!

Me: Bigger is better for #NewTwitter. This is your Twitter profile amplified, with your info on the opposite side now.

New features include a New Tweet Button, a Shortcuts cheat sheet, Bigger Images, Callouts, Brand Pages and a Twitter for Business page!

New Tweet Button on Horizontal Navigation Bar

You can tweet from any page on Twitter now instead of having to go to the home page!

Twitter Shortcuts

Helpful and efficient, so you can view and learn the Twitter shortcuts you need.

Bigger User Images

The Recent Images page for Twitter is new, as well. It is now displayed in a grid of larger images that you now click on to view each one.

Callouts for Viewing a Twitter User

Instead of the sidebar showing up after clicking on a user, a callout will appear with more user info and the option to view their “profile.”

Brand/Company Pages

The appearance is similar to Google+ Brand Pages, yet contains all you need for easily seeing their tweets, favorites and recent images. As you can see, it is a very clean, white layout similar to Google+.

Twitter for Business

This page explains to businesses how to use Twitter for Business, and walks you through step by step. The case studies provided are inspiring to see for future promotional ideas and campaigns. View the whole page here.

But what does this mean for businesses?

The new business section has many implications for the future of business and promotions, but also offers numerous benefits to businesses like yours. Benefits include how to use Twitter for smartphones and tablet devices more efficiently and how to share content effectively. Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends and Promoted Accounts are presented in detail on the new business page as well. Lastly, it gives a quick and easy way for businesses to contact Twitter about advertising on the 140 character social platform. To stay updated on how businesses and brands are using Twitter, follow @TwitterBusiness.

Questions? Just ask us @smcpros.

If you look closer at the Twitter Shortcuts image, they even call the profile page a “timeline.” The question that remains from all these changes, especially the Brand Pages though is

“Will Twitter be a direct competitor of Google+ and Facebook in the near future?”

Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts!

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We are pleased to announce the recent hire of Gary Stockert as a Speaker and Business Development Manager with SMCpros. Gary received his BA degree from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and has worked at Fuzed Marketing.

Gary specializes in Social Media ROI, Blog Marketing, SEM/SEO, Web Presence Improvement and Creative Strategy. His passion for marketing continues to expand and grow through new experiences and challenges. Each day he works with clients who are motivated toward finding new ways of improving the efficiencies through interactive marketing. Gary believes that Social Media Marketing is where those efficiencies are found and where our world is headed. He enjoys finding creative and innovative solutions in a volatile marketplace, customized with businesses’ goals in mind. He loves meeting real business owners like you and hearing their stories and experiences. Gary is excited to be joining a Top Tier Social Media agency (his words, not ours!) and can’t wait to take his passion for helping businesses grow through marketing to the next level. He looks forward to earning each opportunity that he is afforded.

Follow Gary on Twitter.

Connect with Gary on LinkedIn.

Learn more about Gary on his website.

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For those that missed it on Veteran’s Day, our very own BreAnna Fisher presented a free webinar on Google+ Pages. We invite you to check out the recording below. Comments / Questions are welcome!

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The banks saw it, heard it, and ultimately responded: A Big Win For Consumers.

There is no question that social media gives “us” (the consumers) a voice. In fact, a voice that is so powerful it changed Big Banks’ plans to charge a $5 monthly fee to use debit cards. With 77,000 people RSVPing to a Facebook event called Bank Transfer Day and an additional 300,000 signing a petition on change.org the consumer’s voice is clear. The Facebook event calls for individuals to close their Big Bank Account and move their money to a local credit union.”We won’t support companies with unethical business practices. It is time to invest in growth of the local community.”

This movement caused Big Banks to pay attention and quick. After the public outcry, Bank of America announced that it is reversing the $5 a month charge for debit card use. The Bank of America reversal was not enough for many consumers, though. In fact, one credit union in MN, reported a 65% increase of new accounts from September to October this year.

There is no mistaking that social media garners attention and gives consumers a voice. And this isn’t the first time that social media has sparked similar conversations. Recently, Netflix subscribers demanded that the company rethink their plans to charge customers for both DVD rentals and online streaming. With over 27,000 comments, Netflix decided to halt plans to spin off its businesses. So, what can we learn from these experiences?

Transparency

This is a word that is thrown around in the digital space as best practice. However, transparency seems to be lacking drastically. Bank of America claimed that the announcement of the new debit card fees were an attempt to be more transparent. This is not transparency. Transparency would have been an honest statement regarding intentions.

Communication

It wasn’t until after an uprising that the intentions of BofA were made clear. In one tweet, Bank of America said: “In early 2012 #BofA plans to introduce a $5 monthly fee for certain customers who use #debit cards for purchases.” The tweet was then followed by: “More details will be provided to customers who will be affected at least 30 days prior to the change.” And only then followed by: “#BofA is implementing the fee in response to new regulations in order to keep an array of features customers like. Similar tweets came from the @Netflix account. Communicating clearly and effectively is key to maintaining relationships with your customers.

Trust

Nowhere in the news releases and tweets could you find a link to more information like: Who are these customers being effected? When will these fees actually take place? What regulations are they referring to? BofA provided no information on what this all meant. All consumers heard was: I’m being charged for something, maybe, if I use my debit card.

Then a tweet was posted saying: “#BofA customers who don’t use a debit card for purchases or use it only at the ATM can avoid the fee.” Now you are telling me it is really no big deal you can avoid it by not purchasing. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Now if, I want to avoid a fee, I can just use credit. As spokeswoman Ann Pace stated, “They can continue to use the ATM and there is no fee associated with credit cards.” It should be mentioned that Bank of America makes more money if I use credit cards, as if there is a silver lining for the consumer.

Due to lack of transparency and clear communication, Bank of America’s consumer trust is vanishing. We can see it by all of the post, comments, tweets, and actual bank transfers in the last thirty days.

With social media at the helm, organizations, business, and brands are forced to be accountable to their consumers. Do you have a social media crisis plan in place? Is your messaging consistent, transparent, and trustworthy? Do you listen evaluate and evolve based on your consumer’s feedback?

Social media in all forms is a conversation, a two way dialogue; one that is here to stay.

Watch BreAnna on Fox9

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Social media has been getting a bad rep lately. What’s being said you may ask?

Oh, just that social media is causing teens to have high depression rates and drug usage. That social media is killing intellectual conversation and decreasing productivity.

It’s said that it’s causing people to be narcissistic and creating a false sense of self. That social media is even creating a false sense of reality.

And along with all of that, social media may not even be worth it, based on opportunity cost.

Many of these claims can be simply refuted though.

Anything without moderation can be harmful. Temperance is not only a virtue, but necessary to avoid becoming too involved or obsessed with an object.

According to this study, there is a connection between social media and drug usage. BUT this is a classic case of implied causality. Read more here. They said that SMS texting would kill spelling, but intelligent conversations still continue today. Before the internet and social media, it was normal to have very few like-minded people or good conversations in a year. Now, we can find a like-minded individual and have an intellectual conversation basically whenever or wherever we want (Source). Google Plus is a hub for intellectual conversation; we just might have to put up with a few cat pictures in the process.

Studies have proven that, in general, multitasking is actually less efficient than simply focusing on the task at hand. The act may result in time wasted due to human context switching, or worse may cause more errors due to insufficient attention. Multi-tasking is common even without social media. Many employers list it in their qualifications. With any computer software or program, any class or conversation can be interrupted at times by mobile devices and our own restlessness.

Narcissism in social media can be attributed to two factors. Social media allows individuals to express themselves and sometimes people are egotistical, whether we like it or not. Second, social media gives individuals an outlet for creativity that they might not feel comfortable voicing or showing in a board meeting or in a conversation in-person.

Just as actors portray different characters in each movie (besides Will Ferrell), sometimes we as humans like to present ourselves as something other than our true selves. This can be for coworkers, parents, family members or even our friends to give each what they want. Humans are naturally inclined to please others and sometimes mold themselves depending on the situation they are in.

For example, a normal teenager is almost an entirely different person when hanging out with friends, compared to when he/she is with his/her parents. The social media platform is no different.

With these concerns over social media and its effects, educating children (and adults) on how to effectively use social media will be extremely beneficial. Now, I’m not saying that social media education should be taught along with math or science, but it should be taught to keep children (and companies) from using it in a negative way. Learning how to manage social media, such as time spent using it, is also important.

Institutions such as public relations and advertisements have improved based on consumer feedback and up-to-date info provided by social media. The medium allows us to have a near instant conversation, whether it be through the use of video, audio or text.

Along with that, travelers use social media to stay in touch and update their friends and family. Social media also helps them to keep a personal journal or photo album that will be a complete and detailed record of their trip for years to come.

Social media inspires normal human beings to be creative. In order to receive a lot of “likes” or “+1′s”, the content we post has to be interesting and thought-provoking (for businesses and individuals).

But more than that, it has to be creative and original. Status updates and tweets …push the internet-at-large to improve their writing (spelling errors are mocked within an instant) and encourage everyone to let their creative juices flow.

Furthermore, Twitter and Facebook make us more connected to each other, in ways that we never thought possible! (Twitter is now available in 17 different languages).

Now after hearing those claims, some may say it would be easier to do away with social media. Whether you like it or not though, social media is here to stay. Like a tiny cell, it is developing and evolving ever-increasingly as we tweet, blog, post or speak!

Some related articles and videos: Social Network Analyst James Fowler
How Social Media Affects Children’s Brains and How it can be Used Positively
Travelers Use of Social Media
Complaints Against Social Media

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With G+ being toted as an identity service – combined with Google Wallet I think it has the potential to change the business  intelligence landscape. These technologies pared together have the ability to provide an incredibly high level of insightful information about user behavior to business owners, analysts, marketers, advertisers, and the like. Can you imagine a world where you could track from the time a person clicked on your ad – to the time they entered your store and made a purchase? I think with NFC technology and the G+ platform the potential is here. Now what will be done with it?

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