To demonstrate the growth of social channels in the last one year, here is an interesting infographic designed by Internet marketing firm Dream Systems Media based on the data provided by AdAge. Twitter now has 100 million active users and LinkedIn has over 64 million users in North America alone. few interesting take outs for  social media statistics in 2012 : Facebook Statistics 2012: An average Facebook user has 130 friends and likes 80 pages. Twitter Statistics 2012: 34% of marketers have generated leads using Twitter. infographic]. MORE >>

This reminded me of the lesser-known, and rarely-discussed side of marketing. Behind the public side of marketing there are fundamental mechanisms that take place. And, just like cooking, marketing is a process that culminates in a quickly-consumed output. Much too much conversation happens around the output so I decided to put together a list of the “secret sauce” ingredients that will help you improve your marketing efforts, starting with the foundation. Every business needs a website, marketing (old and new), SEO, and PR. marketing calendar is your map. MORE >>

The target publication date is late 2012. Were he speaking it today, he might refer instead to Twitter. Twitter is the enigma of social networks. The hash tag (#), which was created by the Twitter community to help bring order to the service’s inherent chaos, has become one of the Internet’s most powerful organizing and amplification tools. It’s helped Twitter become a core utility for arranging everything from book signings to mass protests.  More than five years after Twitter launched, we still hear questions all the time about its value. Brandjacked! MORE >>

The vast majority – 70% – of B2C marketers are moderately to highly engaged in social media, followed closely by 63% of B2B marketers, according to Webmarketing123′s new “ State of Digital Marketing 2012 Report.” The report examines lead generation, marketing budgets, and measurement of ROI for both B2B and B2C marketers using social media in the US. B2B and B2C marketers are spending their social media budgets in different ways. The majority (65%) of B2C marketers spend money on Facebook, vs. only 40% of B2B marketers. MORE >>

For the London 2012 Olympics, the organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recognized that people want to receive their event news in different ways. This is a change from even the last Olympics four years ago as Twitter was banned in China during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and there was no official Facebook integration. For the London 2012 Olympics, the IOC created a website to become the hub of all digital media. It automatically pulls in Olympic Twitter posts and allows you to connect with Facebook. INFOGRAPHIC]. MORE >>