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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.

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.

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.

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.

The survey results from the independent mobile ad network found that mobile has surpassed TV in terms of time spent,with mobile web users spending more than a quarter (27%) of their media time on mobile as compared with 22% of their media time on TV and 32% online.

Mobile, PCs, and TV are the most powerful media that influence the purchase decision among mobile users and two thirds (66%) of mobile users say that they are just as comfortable with mobile advertising as they are with TV or online advertising.

In just the two years since the release of Apple's iPad, the U.S. tablet market has reached a "critical mass," with nearly one in four smartphone owners also using a tablet in the three-month period ending in April, according to data released by market researcher ComScore.

Tablet use among smartphone owners has more than doubled in the past year, going from 9.7 percent last year to 23.6 percent this year, ComScore found.

"Tablets are one of the most rapidly adopted consumer technologies in history and are poised to fundamentally disrupt the way people engage with the digital world both on-the-go and perhaps most notably, in the home," Mark Donovan, ComScore's senior vice president of mobile,

Pew also found that 53 percent of Americans who use their phones to go online do so at least once per day. That's more than 47 million daily mobile internet users in the U.S.

Age matters. About 65 percent of U.S. cell phone users ages 18-29 go online from their phones, compared with 43 percent of those aged 30-49.

1. Use Technology Tools To Listen And Learn

2. Be Prepared And Set Expectations You Can Live Up To

3. Decide Who You're Going To Respond To--And Who You Can Ignore

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.

The holiday shopping season has officially begun, and a new survey has revealed that shoppers are going mobile to find the perfect gifts for their friends and loved ones.

More than half of respondents report they are making purchases using their mobile devices, and nearly a quarter have used mobile devices in the past to purchase holiday gifts. The results also show that during the holiday season: -- 56 percent of respondents had made a purchase from their mobile phone; -- 58 percent of respondents will use their mobile phone to compare prices while shopping; -- 48 percent will use their mobile phone to find store locations that carry the products they seek; -- 90 percent of those who had made a mobile purchase said that convenience was a major factor, and 47 percent said ease of use was a primary reason they had made a purchase.

"A person standing at the curb can go through the photos and decide whether this is a home they'd like to see," says Nowicke.

She's one of 30 realtors in the Bay area using QR codes. She says the new technology is the perfect trend for the real estate industry.

despite the rapid increase in smartphone usage, only around 25 percent of companies have bothered to create a mobile smartphone version of their sites and only 13 percent have created sites specifically for tablets.

Currently, over 90 percent of people in the U.S. have mobile phones and estimates of smartphone users generally run between 70 and 80 million people in the U.S. It's even more important if you're trying to reach those oh-so-valuable 18 to 34 year olds: 42 percent of smartphone owners fit this age bracket. Looking at it another way, fully 62 percent of mobile users aged 25 to 34 own a smartphone. And, as I reported in my last column, 40 percent of smartphone and tablet users break them out when they're watching TV.

Make it easy to share.

Don't assume your name for something should remain its name.

Keep an eye on trends.

When customers scan the QR code, according to Mobile Commerce Daily, they’ll be taken to a Johnny Rockets’ mobile-friendly landing page where they’ll be asked to provide their name, address, city, state, zip code, and the location of the Johnny Rockets they go to the most.

They’ve placed the QR codes on table tents in their restaurants, which gives consumers ample time to scan them with their phones.