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Added the Google tracking code to the Landing page for the ads you are running? What about the Facebook landing tabs that you are running for a contest/sweepstakes/announcement or any other promotion. The insights are great and much more in depth than what Facebook provides. Do this now!Another great piece of code is the Google remarketing code. With the same added onto your Facebook page it makes for a great spread for your Google Adwords run ads. With a captive fan base account being pulled into the target range it makes for specific targeting.So you are running a contest on Facebook & Twitter at the same time? Ensure you talk about it on both platforms. Those with accounts on either will get involved. Sounds irrational? Now think where all your Twitter widget features and so does your Facebook News stream. Get it? Think social. Also remember they a lot of people stumble onto social media links via Google search and brows Twitter without logging in.Using a hashtag? Keep it small and precise. Do not add two words together that make puns or cannot be understood. Also, remember to keep the possibility of its use extremely narrow. You don't want negative publicity or feedback via the same.If you are using an application ensure you promote it using a Bit.ly link. No not for tracking the rate of the clicks alone but also the branding bit. A shot URL always saves space on Twitter and looks good too.

An auto reply for new followers does not always work on Twitter. Sometimes they follow you to DM you to make a complaint. Be careful. Keep it neutral if you have one. Who said the future can’t be predicted. On a content calendar plot dates of important holidays, days and celebrations. Include important soccer games, death and birth anniversaries of the celebrated personalities. Trust me. These trend on Twitter and do they go mighty!Keep a 5 time a day tab on your Twitter account. Twice a day checks are passé. Trends emerge and die within hours. Capitalize with these plugging in announcements, product launches or even new recruitment's. Trust me they work.The Youtube option of featured video makes for an excellent way to announce information to first time visitors. Simply set the same on auto play and have not only your videos plays increase but also your on channel engagement.So you have a welcome page as well as a thank you page that follows after the viewer has gone through the application/lead form etc. Does the thank you form have a tweet this/like this button? Build to scale when adding widgets to an interface and do so where the viewer is able to pause and dedicate time on the same.So people registered on your landing page and you forgot to add the Facebook widget there? Don't fret a simple mailer to the leads generated will ensure that at least some of them do follow you back on Facebook. In personal instances the mailers have generated as much as 400 likes when marketed to a database of 2000 leads. Unbelievable? Try it.

Google Adwords seems to be very generous with its marketing solutions coupons. Do you receive countless coupons for trial campaigns? Do you use them? Don't lie. The best way to use them is run ads targeting them to your page. This is an efficient way to use the trial versions and create some super cool traction on your page.Loaded a nice picture for the Facebook page? No not the cover, the profile we mean. Check how it appears on the news feeds of fans for a better perspective. Is it exciting to look at? Is it too cluttered? Note that most pages and updates pull traffic due to the nature of their visibility. Everyone looks at someone attractive right? Make a note.Wondering whom to follow on Twitter. Don’t worry, it’s ok. There are a million faces there. Heard about Twitter lists? These public/private database goldmines are a brilliant index of people according to the nature of their interests and hobbies. Another way of selecting whom to follow is by registering on wefollow.com – a twitter index on people and their influences. Wish to go more specific then there is klout and Peerindex. Both tools excellent on rating people on their merits in multiple aspects.Twitter makes for excellent ways to reach out to those who matter. Make lists according to the people who enquire and complain with you. Adding them to a special guess list will help in damage control as well as testing plans, products and packages in the future.

These digital coupons are often used as an incentive to encourage mobile consumers to scan a QR code or interact with an NFC-based advertisement.

55% of mobile consumers in the U.S. are interested in receiving mobile coupons, especially through interaction with NFC technology. The report notes, however, that only 10% of consumers have ever received a coupon.

Some simply do not understand how the codes work, but the majority does not see any gain in scanning them. Mobile marketers and companies using the codes have struggled to find a way to entice consumers into scanning the codes, but the reality seems to be that consumers will not do so if they will not get something in return.

The company has designed a QR code system and scanning application that, when used with a smart phone, will let consumers accumulate points for each scan.

it is important to drill down to where you have a presence, what you do on there are why rather than rashly signing up to every site going and leaving them lacklustre.  Taking a step back to research and consider where your customers are hanging out online and and what strategy you can employ to reach them is essential.

GREEN - the one where your customers hang out most, and makes most sense to your marketing strategy.  Green = Go! This is the site you should start with. Commit some time to updating it regularly, and read around how other businesses are using this channel for marketing. AMBER - these are the social media tools that could add value to your marketing, but should be considered as your business progresses and you find you have some extra time to commit. RED - Avoid these at start-up stage. These may be sites you could justify to yourself using as marketing tools, but they are not an immediate priority. Ditch them for now and put them in your business plan under 'growth strategy'.

Finding Content at Your Fingertips - Google Alerts is absolutely your best friend for narrowing down hours of thinking through "what on earth can I post about".

"We just started using them," explained Abby Suiter, practice manager for Daniel Island Animal Hospital. "…It’s all about clicking a link, so you don’t have to type in an address. You just scan it."

"We are using QR codes to try to get information out to potential patients and anyone who is interested in orthodontics as efficiently as possible," added Dr. Michael Zetz of Daniel Island-based Crescent Moon Orthodontics. "QR codes give you a way to give somebody information or access to information really easily."

Both Suiter and Zetz say they have added QR codes in their practice exam rooms, so patient families can literally tap into additional, relevant information while waiting.

53 percent of Americans haven’t ever used a QR code.

47 percent of people using QR codes, however, is still a significant amount.

71 percent of respondents said that QR codes are “pointless.” 68 percent of this particular demographic said that they’d rather just type in a company’s web address

QR codes have been misused and overused lately, but the fact remains that they are a great way to link the printed world with the digital one. Once a PDF document is printed, all the functionality of its hyperlinks are lost, but a QR code can bring a print reader right back to the web.

1. Provide instructions near the QR Code

2. Give people an incentive

3. Educate your audience ahead of time

Many experts recommend that your company have a social media crisis plan, but few companies actually take the time to think it through.

Consider some of the ways that a social media crisis plan could go wrong:   Two people from the company issue apologies through different mediums without talking with one another. This could cause miscommunication and one may promise something that the other did not. Worse yet, the two parties could promote conflicting ideas.The crisis plan may have been set into motion too late. If a member of a company is not very active on social media, he/she could potentially not hear of the crisis until a few days later.The crisis plan may be set for something less serious. If the crisis is serious to the company, yet it not treated that way, people could get very upset.

Step #1: Communicate with everyone in the company about who is going to be the spokesperson for both mishaps.

As part of their Q1 2012 Consumer Benchmark Survey, customer experience (CX) research and consulting firm, Temkin Group asked 10,000 U.S. consumers about their QR Code usage. Results show that 24% of consumers are using QR Codes but the usage is heavily weighted towards younger consumers (chart below). Approximately one-third of consumers younger than 40 years old use QR Codes at least a couple of times per month.

1. Mobile Shopping Doesn’t Equal Mobile Purchasing

2. Men Are More Likely To Consult Their Phone

3. Mobile Devices Often Trump Computers

One of the biggest downfalls is that brands often rush into the online and social media space without fully thinking it through or tying to incorporate it into their other marketing activities.

Social media plays a pinnacle role in terms of helping companies get into their consumer’s mindset, understand how they want to be communicated with and actively engage with them.But not everybody is getting it right. There are a number of brands constantly making mistakes in the space and paying the price for it.

One popular link building tactic is blog commenting. Leaving a thoughtful and insightful comment on a blog post along with a name, email address, and link is not only a great way to get an inbound link but it can also improve your company/brand visibility and establish your place as a thought leader in a particular industry.

“A year and a half ago, mobile users tended to spend considerably more time — an average of 64 minutes per day — using the Web browser on their phone or tablet. By comparison, they spent only 43 minutes per day in apps. Now mobile users now spend an average of 94 minutes per day using apps, but just 72 minutes browsing the mobile Web…”

“In March, the web browser accounted for just 18.5 percent of time spent online among US smart-phone users. Mobile apps accounted for the rest. Now we know why Safari for iOS capabilities advance so sparingly: Apple sees it as irrelevant. Stated differently: Safari is to mobile what Internet Explorer 6 was to the desktop 10 years ago. Apps matter more to both developers.”

Microsoft recently launched their updated, all-in-one, QR Code and Tag reader, that also has the ability to interact with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology.

The new Microsoft Tag app can not only scan QR codes and Tags but it also can read Near Field Communication triggers too.

The earthquake that devastated Haiti nearly two years ago was followed by a massive relief effort that was supported in part by millions of dollars in donations by people who used mobile phones to text $5 or $10 to disaster aid groups.

Mobile giving has also gotten religion -- literally. Some churches in Los Angeles and parts of Arizona have recently tested systems that allow their members use cellphones to make their Sunday-morning offerings virtually, instead of dropping coins, bills or envelopes in a plate passed down the pew.

Many disaster aid campaigns have relied on contributions of fixed amounts, such as $5 or $10, via texting, with wireless carriers dropping the texting fees and collecting the donations to distribute to charities. But new tools make it possible to make more generous donations via an SMS message or a smartphone app linked to a credit card or other account, Plank said.

“QR codes are perfect at bridging the offline with online,” Hodges said at a free seminar for small-business owners on Wednesday. “These are a mystery to some and old hat to others, but it’s basically a bar code to the Internet.”

Libby Schrum, who is the owner of a start-up furniture-making company in Camden said QR codes will be especially helpful to her because she has no storefront and relies on Web traffic to her site for sales.

Use of NeoMedia's NeoReader barcode scanning app jumped more than 240% on Black Friday compared to last year, according to a recent press release from the firm.

"Retail is going mobile. People are not only using their phones to get more information on goods and services, both in-store and on-the-go, but also to purchase," said Laura Marriott, Chief Executive Officer of NeoMedia Technologies, Inc.

We talk about "the web" and "the mobile web" as if the two are different, but they aren't.

The most common mistake I see is when site owners aggressively optimize their sites for very specific platforms.