With billions of social media users worldwide, it is no surprise that 93% of marketers use social networks to promote their business and services. As most companies end up targeting the global market with the help of the Internet, their needs for multilingual and multicultural marketing and public relations follow a constantly growing trend. SociaLingo by ComTranslations was created to answer those marketing needs – it offer real-time social media translations in over 140 languages.

SociaLingo allows you to engage potential and existing customers regardless of the language they speak, reducing tremendously the difficulties in promoting products and services arising from speaking different languages.

“While businesses may be actively engaging in social media, unless they are participating across a wide spectrum of languages, they are missing the boat. An estimated 50% of social media users communicate in languages other than English. This is where SociaLingo comes in, offering businesses a near real-time translation solution, available in over 140 languages,” explained Carlos Garcia, ComTranslations CEO.

Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube are only the most popular of the social media channels supported by SociaLingo. Using the services, companies create the right messages for the social media channels, choose the languages they want them translated into and then sit by while they are being translated and posted on social networks by a team of native translators. Replacing automatic translation services, such as Google Translate, with human translators, offers a better accuracy and adaptation to cultural aspects of a company’s communication.

Multicultural social media marketing is something any company looking to target more than one country needs to consider.  Having their communication strategy adapted and their messages localized to reach each targeted audience in their native tongue is indeed an important advantage.

As every business and their grandmothers are haphazardly hurling themselves onto the social media websites, the neglected corporate initiatives of yesteryear patiently lurk in the dark annals of the World Wide Web anticipating the time when high ranking execs will again begin to realize the power of the corporate blog. Just about 5 minutes after businesses began to wake up to the idea of adding a blog to their online presence, Facebook and Twitter hit the scenes, and most companies plans of improving their blogs went from being on top of the CEO’s desk to being ‘filed away somewhere.’ The result- a wealth of business websites, which possess attractively developed blogs that utterly lack any semblance of marketing strategy.

As is true with any form of marketing or content production, the best way to determine an effective presentation method is to consider the audience first and foremost. In many niches, the personal flavor, that only a blog can offer, creates a viral effect due to their friendly and likeable content. Admittedly, applying the personal touch is not the only effective method of corporate blogging, but the personal blogging method does have viral potential for connecting with former and future customers.

One of the things that people like about corporate blogs is having the opportunity to learn about the individuals behind the company logo. By showing potential customers a face, telling them about the individuals in the business, and letting them into your companies world, it makes them feel connected, and lets them care about the businesses on a personal level. Since most people prefer to conduct business exclusively with people that they like, it’s a good idea to use the blog to showcase the likeable aspects of a business.

In John Jantsch‘s book, Duct Tape Marketing, Jantsch asserts that the internal workings of a business are very much a part of the external presentation that marketing efforts should strive to communicate. In other words, the branding process is not just about convincing people that a brand is awesome, it’s about truly being awesome and then communicating that awesomeness to the world. If a company boasts high morale inside of the walls of the store or office, it behooves them to market that morale, since potential customers will want to be a part of it too. Adding a personal touch to the business blog can do just that.

Case and point, the popular online shoe store, called Zappos, has a blog which people simply love to read. The Zappos corporate blog has a deceivingly amateurish chic to it. Interspersed between fun and cute posts, which almost forget to mention the products that they are marketing, are posts featuring their employees. The employees don’t seem to possess any superhuman abilities, but they are totally engaging because of the fun passion that they each posses for their beloved online shoe store brand.

By the looks of many poorly developed corporate blogs, it may appear that the corporate blog was a fly-by-night fad. But smart companies are proving otherwise. Because blogging is an underdeveloped art form amongst corporate marketers, and successful blogging initiative often requires a more personal marketing touch than that which most marketers are comfortable with, this potentially dominant marketing beast appears to be in hibernation until the corporate giants wake up and take their cues from Zappos and other progressive minded businesses.

About the author
Susie Brown is a FastUpFront Blog contributor and business author. Fastupfront offers quick business loans for merchants based on business cash flow. For more information about business loan options visit FastUpFront.com

Buying fans or followers has somehow become a sort of a taboo whenever PR or marketing experts discuss social media strategy. It is something people regard with distrust and the act of paying someone to like your page or follow you on Twitter is something devious and wrong. As always, things are not black and white, most of the online world has an intriguing grey attitude.

Let’s face it, if you advertise your page or profile on Facebook, Twitter, Google Ads or wherever, you still pay for people to like you. When you buy social media fans, does that mean they are worse then when you pay for advertising? Maybe. It all depends on what service you’re using for your purchase, it depends on their method of getting you fans and so on. 

A while back, someone asked me on Twitter if I would ever recommend to a business to buy social media followers. And I took my sweet time to reply! Sorry Kushal!

After considering it and actually testing some services, I still say it depends. If you have limited time and you can either interact with existing fans or increase your followers count, it might pay off to buy some fans and invest your time in building trust-based relationships with them. You might get a crowd of really enthusiastic people who actually are worth the money you’ve invested. So why not try to get Facebook likes using a service such as BuyRealFansandLikes.com, which I am currently testing, or something similar to increase your follower base on Twitter?

If you decide to test it, here are some quick words of advice:

• Try to get targeted fans – either by region or by interest. Businesses that sell fans or followers can also refine their services and connect you to the audience that’s most relevant for you. It might cost you more, but if you sell exclusively to the USA, for example, having cheaper fans from the rest of the world won’t help you much.
• Don’t rely exclusively on the social media fans you buy! It is important for you to reach out to the audiences you target and try to engage existing fans so that they recommend you to their connections. Organic growth is as important as a fresh batch of 500 new fans that don’t really know that much about you to actually instantly buy or instantly recommend your products or services.
• Even if you have the budget, don’t jump to get the high numbers unless you have tested the service before. Start small, with a few hundred  targeted followers or fans and see if it works out for you. If you get real value, you can always buy more. If it turns out to be just a number that does not say much, you haven’t invested a huge amount in hordes of useless fans.
• Before you choose a service, try to do a bit of research. Has anyone you know used them? Are they happy? Would they recommend them to you? If no one you know has used them, just google the company in question. Blog posts, comments or social media updates might give you the information you need.

BlueGlass Interactive has recently acquired Voltier Digital, a content marketing company specializing in infographics production and data visualization. We all knew infographics and visual aids used to deliver a certain message were becoming more and more popular, but this recent acquisition by BlueGlass to support their strategy to boost their digital offering once again proves this type of products will play a key role in overall content marketing strategy and production.

BlueGlass Interactive, Inc. an Internet marketing company focusing on social media marketing and search engine optimization, will integrate Voltier Digital into their operation, thus expanding their marketing capabilities. All Voltier Digital employees will join BlueGlass and Voltier’s three founders will hold senior roles on BlueGlass’ production and marketing teams.

“It’s hard to express how excited our team is about joining BlueGlass,” said Nicholas Santillo, CEO of Voltier Digital. “We have watched the impressive trajectory BlueGlass has taken since its inception and we are eager to add our team’s experience to an already stellar group of Internet marketing visionaries.”

BlueGlass Interactive Co-founder Chris Winfield described the move as strategic:

“I first started working with the team at Voltier in 2007 and I have always been amazed at their ability to constantly innovate and stay at the forefront of the inbound marketing industry. The need for companies to implement and execute effective content marketing strategies is constantly increasing, so we are thrilled to have one of the leaders in this space become a part of BlueGlass.”

The move is indeed strategic for BlueGlass, as they tap into a content marketing field that is bound to drive more sales in 2012 and more so in the years to come. The acquisition and the value they put on infographic production is confirmed by recent studies, such as the results published by the Custom Content Council,  showing more than 75% of US corporate marketers say they are aggressively (16%) or moderately (62%) shifting spending from traditional marketing to branded-content marketing.

We are already seeing the high use of data visualization products and their high potential of going viral – infographics have become a welcome and powerful addition to most blog posts, press releases, research results articles and pretty much any type of content published online.  Why they work so well? They are fun and colorful and explain in an easy, fact centered and easy to remember way the issue they focus on. And social media users love to share them – no matter what field they tap into, they take sometimes boring or complicated issues and make them fun and engaging.

Have you already included infographics in your content marketing strategy? Were you pleased with the results?

It is no secret that if you want to increase your website statistics and increase your brand’s revenue, you are going to have to implement some sort of social media campaign into your marketing mix. Instead of plugging a brand with a press release or an advertisement, Twitter and Facebook are becoming the most relevant forces in a brand’s life cycle. While most of the people on these services can be labeled as followers, a very select few have a certain je nai sais qua and are able to promote beyond belief. Here are 5 types of social media users who can generate buzz for brands:

The One With the Hollywood Credentials

All of the recent celebrity social media news has surrounded Alec Baldwin and his recent “run-in” with an American Airlines flight attendant. Baldwin refused to quit playing the popular game “Words With Friends” and caused a scene when he got kicked off the plane. According to The Washington Post, Baldwin’s tirade caused #letalecplay to trend worldwide and boosted the number of people playing the game. Baldwin’s scene was such an effective form of social media marketing that he will even get cross promotion for his television show 30 Rock out of the ordeal.

The One With the Industry Authority

From digital marketing to information technology, the biggest players in the game are going to have the most followers on Twitter and the most subscribers on Facebook. These are the types of people we turn to when we need a highly technical question answered. By Tweeting them, we are participating in a much more personal and social form of communication than a general Yahoo! Questions conversation. If you’re business’ website is mentioned by an authority, expect traffic to go through the roof.

The One With the Weird Taste in Music

The pop princess, pretentious indie kid, or heavy metal slacker are all cultural memes that most of us knows very little about. They dig deep into their respective underground worlds and come back out with music to share with us. We may not like to admit it, but most of us follow a couple of these people on Spotify in order to further satiate our ever growing and increasingly eclectic tastes in digital music. This is great for touring musicians who need to get their name out there.  They can freely distribute their music which can then be shared on Spotify and seen on Facebook.

The One With the Local Weatherman

While the national news media has a far reach, there is no more trusted authority than our local media personalities. National media can advertise large products and brands, but the smaller, more local personalities are making sales and generating publicity for small local treasures. Everything from restaurants to special events can benefit from social media posts from the local media.

The One With All of the Followers

By sheer coincidence and luck, some people are able to generate a staggering number of followers. While you may not know how they got so many people to listen to them, the A/B testing they can provide for a brand is phenomenal. Those who want products endorsed should latch on quickly because these types of people usually amount to a flash-in-the pan.

While your traditional media mix is still important, having the proper social media influence can propel your brand to new heights. Figure out the audience you want to reach and try to do some outreach with the types of people they follow. If all works out, you too can have massive social media influence.

About the author
Guest post by Nick Jameson. He is a freelance writer specializing in business and marketing

Guest post by Annie Wallace

One of the most important things that you can do in the computer age to promote your business, whether it’s an online company or a brick and mortar store, is getting into social networking and social media. These sites have made setting up your profile relatively straightforward, but knowing exactly what to do with that profile can be an entirely different matter. Here are some important things to keep in mind when building your brand through social media.

Avatars: Tiny Pictures with Powerful Impact

Your avatar, a small picture that is no more than about sixty by sixty pixels, is the place where you’re going to make your first impression on potential contacts. As such, it’s important that you have a professional and recognizable picture. This same picture should also be used on all the sites that you frequent to increase your branding opportunities.

Making this picture look professional means following a few basic rules. It’s a good idea to start by putting the picture on a background that is white or neutral. Avoid busy backgrounds. What exactly should you put on this background? Well, surprisingly, your logo isn’t recommended. Using a personal picture on these sites tends to make your networking go more smoothly.

The picture of you should be taken with a higher quality camera so that it’s not blurry. You should get proper lighting, and you should absolutely have someone else take the picture for you. The focus should be on your face, so resist the urge to include gimmicks like a fake mustache, giant glasses, or a snazzy hat. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be creative. Using basic photo editing effects, including color washes or cut-out shapes, can make your avatar stand out, so long as you use them in moderation.

Now that you have a professional looking picture, it’s a good idea to use tools like “gravatar” that allow this same avatar to be used at a number of social networking and blogging locations.

There Are Multiple Networks for a Reason

While you should take time to get established on any given network, it’s also a great idea to spread into multiple locations. Do you need some help knowing where to go? A little bit of web stalking can go a long way to discover other sites that your potential customers are frequenting.

Just look at the other profiles for people who have already networked with you to get an idea of other locations that may work well. Once you’ve done so, don’t be afraid to cross promote yourself, mentioning your posts, tweets, notes, or pages on other networks.

Blogs, Videos, and Other Media Magnets

Beyond using social networks, it’s a very good idea to have some other locations for written and media content. A blog is essentially mandatory these days, and other pages like a YouTube account are great ideas. Promoting yourself by creating and uploading videos with viral potential, such as “how to” or “best of” videos can really push your networking forward.

What’s more, social media marketing is the only affordable method to put your brand in front of the targeted audience. It requires much time, but it can save you a lot of money which makes it possible even for start-ups and non-profits to brand themselves effectively while avoiding huge investments.

About the author
Annie is a social media enthusiast and blogger teaching brands to market themselves effectively though social media. She blogs for Home Loan Finder, the large free home loan comparison tool. You can follow Annie on Twitter as @ViralMomTweets

I’ve read quite a few blog posts on how to get social media love. There are quite a bunch who go around the same old issues and try to rearrange the lists. For money making purposes and sometimes as a blogging tip, social media is trendy, it’s hype, it’s everything anyone is interested in these days.

One of the most common advices is not to submit your own content. OK, let’s assume for a moment we’ve all decided this practice is frowned upon. What’s the advice following this “don’t”? You’ll never guess: keep writing quality posts. Really?

It appears we all forget a basic rule of marketing: you might have the greatest content in the world, if no one knows about it, it has no effect. It’s like writing the perfect novel and never having it read by anyone. So what should you do? Optimize for search? Sure, but that would bring you search traffic, not necessarily social media attention.

So? What should you do. Well, here are a few quick and effective tips:

1. Decide what social media site or social bookmarking site you’re interested in getting traffic from
2. Create an account. If you want to be on more, start with two or three to make sure you give each site the needed attention.
3. Make sure you put links to your blog on your profiles to get social media visitors.
4. Start voting, commenting and making friends with common interests, while adding quality content, not your own.
5. Ask your friends to also take a look at your content, maybe they’ll submit it.

There it is. It’s not a big secret, as what to do in theory is easy. Putting it into practice is a bit harder But if you want some further advice, let me know, I’ll do my best to help you out.

And a note to my fellow bloggers. We never write everything we can on a subject. We keep some details for other posts and some for paid advice. But that does not mean we should give crappy advice, no matter how much online profits we have on public display.