According to a Pew Internet and American Life Project survey, 73 percent of adults are on a social network and about half of them are on more than one. We use it to maintain old friendships and to make new ones, to find jobs, and to brand ourselves and our companies. 2014 will bring new ways to develop these online relationships and any tools that make this easier will be a blessing to most of us.
mUmBRELLA
About a third of companies use social media to recruit new talent and six percent use it to retain and motivate existing employees. The mUmBRELLA site (Mumbrella.com.au) is a combination of database and news outlet for media and freelance for Australia. This is less of a social media tool, and more of a social media starting place for people that need access to Australia’s robust freelance market.
Logo Garden
Social media is a great way to use relationship marketing to develop professional associations, but a strong brand image is necessary to get the recognition that you want. Logo Garden is an online logo maker that can help you can create your professional image. Brand images have an important role in decision making. The faster a person recognizes a logo, the more likely it is that they will make a favorable decision.
Buffer
Using social media can be time consuming, especially if you are active on several networks. Posting to Facebook, then to Twitter, and then to Instagram, can quickly cut into your daily productivity. That is why Buffer (BufferApp.com) may be the tool of 2014 for the social media savvy marketer. Buffer allows you to manage, schedule and analyze your social media message, delivering it to nearly one million users worldwide. In addition to simply saving time, using Buffer helps you integrate your marketing communication into one coherent message.
RebelMouse
If you think that writing for Facebook is time consuming, try writing web content on a daily basis. As much of a hassle as it may be, the best way to keep yourself relevant on the web is to have new content every day. RebelMouse (RebelMouse.com) does this for you. It pulls content from other sources on the internet and imbeds it into your site. The system can be customized to your needs and can be automated if you wish. To keep your brand ranked high on search engines, the information does not need to be new to the world, just new to your readers.
Google Plus
Sometimes old is new. Google Plus is one of those times. According to a new study by SearchMetric, the Google Plus social media network which was launched in July of 2011, will overtake Facebook by 2016. This is the bandwagon that a good social media marketer needs to jump on. Besides the fact that it is free, Google Plus offers a huge boost for your search-ability. Unlike Facebook, sharing information and sites on Google Plus adds to the search rank algorithm of Google searches. In other words, properly posting pictures of Rover on Google Plus can be good for your business.
Zestee 