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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.

"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.

Determine the kind of value you aim to derive for yourself and your followers from using the hashtag. Do you intend to crowdsource information? Do you aim to create buzz? Are you looking to provoke conversation? Make sure your intentions and purpose for employing the hashtag are clear and focused. Formulate a hashtag that is relevant to your purpose and the subject you intend to tweet about.  Check to see if the hashtag you have in mind already exists and is in use. It is also very important to check if your desired hashtag has not taken on some other meaning. Twitter Search, Hashtags.org and Tagalus are some tools you can use to do a quick hashtag check.  Start tweeting your hashtag. It helps to set the context of your hashtag by briefly explaining what it means. Tweet with moderation. The last thing you want is to be seen as a spammer. Always ask what value you and your followers can get from the tweet you are putting out.  If it does not exist yet, add your hashtag definition to online tools such as Tagalus.  Set up an automatic alert tool that sends you an email alert when someone tweets your hashtag. Twilert is one such tool.

The concept itself is deceptively simple; just add the “#” symbol in front of a word or a group of words with the spaces between them taken out.

By including a relevant hashtag in your tweet, it becomes visible to people searching for that specific topic, adding your voice to the general discussion. Conversely, hashtags automatically narrow down your audience, allowing your tweets to reach and engage only those interested in the same subject matter.

Test your site’s mobile usability. Does your site look good clean on your smartphone? If it doesn’t, get it fixed.

Use responsive web designs. You can save yourself and your website visitors headaches by employing a web design that automatically adjusts to the size of screen it’s displayed on. That way, users will get a positive website experience no matter which type of device they use.

Develop a mobile app. If you lack the funds to outsource the creation of an app to a company that specializes in it, you can develop an app on your own with platforms like Conduit Mobile.

• USPS – the Postal Service is now running its second campaign that uses a QR code. In this case, it is offering discounts of 2 percent to companies choosing to use their mailers with the barcodes printed on them. This benefits both the companies and shows that there is still a place for snail mail in this increasingly digital and mobile world.

• Coca-Cola – the soft drink giant placed a QR code on its containers throughout the 2012 Europe Cup soccer tournament, giving scanners exclusive videos from the tournament, as well as an easy way to obtain the free SmileWorld social app.

• Proctor & Gamble – PGMobile shopping trucks were launched last month by the beauty and home products corporation, distributing free samples as they patrolled New York City. Both the samples and the truck were emblazoned with quick response codes that could be scanned by smartphone users.

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.

Don’t include EVERYTHING on your mobile site. That means if you have 15 different pages on your main site, it might only be three or four series for the mobile version. Make it really easy to find the phone number and physical address. It is surprising how hard it is to find address and phone number information on many Web sites. Avoid unnecessary graphics that make the site slower to load.

Here are some best practices for maximizing the return on your QR code direct mail initiative:

Ensure that QR codes link to Web pages that are optimized for mobile devices

Provide online content that adds value for the targeted consumer and makes it worth their while to scan the code.

Mobile phone usage and internet traffic are growing at a staggering rate, causing powerful changes in consumer behaviour and in the way people socialise and work together.

Most company websites are not easy to use on mobile devices, meaning they are increasingly irrelevant to the average consumer. If you want to attract new customers, build rapport with existing clients or offer new services or other value online, then mobile is on the must-do list.

A new approach to mobile-friendly web design is to create a website which will detect and adjust to the size of the device it is viewed on. Mobile responsive website design means a single site works well on all devices, future-proofing your website as new devices become popular.

However, in the rush to jump on the bandwagon and join in with this critical new channel, they are forgetting to educate their own employees, and it is hurting the efficacy of any efforts that they are making.

After all, mobile isn’t just new to companies and their marketing campaigns. It’s new to consumers, too. Many of them haven’t had their smartphones for more than a few months, and they’re still discovering what is possible. Though they may have heard of the popular services that businesses are joining by the thousands, these consumers may not yet know how to make them work on their own devices.

Equally, if QR codes are being posted on advertising, signage, or menus as a part of a mobile commerce campaign, then it is important to make sure that the staff – especially those who will be interacting with the customers that could be using those barcodes – understand what they are and that they can be scanned with smartphones when a scanning app has been installed on the device. That simple information can be enough to encourage its use by the consumer.

With 40 percent of smartphone owners browsing the Internet more frequently on their phones – using their devices to make holiday charity donations and buy gifts online – it only makes sense to ensure mobile purchases are available anywhere at any time.

The No. 1 thing is brand cohesiveness. Use the same URL on mobile as on your desktop site, as opposed to m. or .mobi. All it takes is a simple redirect script.

product reviews and testimonials, which could even be presented in the form of videos. Additionally, incentives like discounts for an opt-in for future communication and for taking a survey or participating in a poll.

it is expected that in the United States alone, there will be 115.8 million smartphone users by the time this year comes to an end.

Statistics indicate that 64 percent of smartphone owners already take part in mobile commerce.

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.

Proximity based, action oriented marketing solutions saw an exponential growth to its demand last year, and a Smith’s Point Analytics report is now suggesting that it may bring this market to the $2.3 billion mark by the year 2016.

According to the report’s author, Peter Crocker, “QR codes and proprietary 2D barcodes are popping up everywhere and we estimate that outside of Japan, 164 million unique codes will be created in 2012.”

QR codes have reported the largest growth (63%) in the past six months. Activation through mobile can be a great opportunity to extend the conversation from a traditional medium and represents a tracking mechanism. However, it is only as good as the content provided; it needs to be done at the right time with the right content, providing value to the consumer.

visual (QR codes), mobile visual search (Google Goggles), audio (Shazam), and native (SMS, MMS).

According to comScore, 45% of all Facebook traffic and 55% of all Twitter traffic is mobile.

It suggested that 34 percent of smartphone users have bought a product or service with their mobile device, whereas only 20 percent of standard phone users had done the same.

Across all of these device users, there has been an 8 percent increase in interest for using a mobile device as a part of the overall shopping experience and to make a purchase over the last two years. Again, among both feature phone and smartphone users, 38 percent feel that being able to buy products using a mobile device is at least somewhat important. In this, smartphones feel more strongly that this is the case, as 59 percent of them believe that it is as least somewhat important to be able to buy something using the device.