By Cara Fuggetta Many marketers are investing in Influencer outreach strategies in hopes that a known name can deliver their message to a vast audience. By Raymond Morin At a time when the biggest social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest) are starting to make a move towards e-commerce, the subject of influence marketing is more than ever a major issue for most companies. Blog Social Media Social Media Marketing brand advocates social media influencersHow should you approach influencers and advocates on social media? Find out in today’s must-reads. MORE >>

By Dori Zinn With our favorite restaurants and brands offering deals and gifts on Facebook and Twitter, there’s no shortage of companies eliminating the marketing middle man and advertising straight to the consumer. Blog Social Media Social Media Marketing2012 was an exciting year in the social media space. Learn all about the good, the bad and the ugly in these must-reads. From the Nielsen Social Media Report for 2012. Big Social Media Disasters of 2012. There are, however, companies that make mega mistakes for millions to see. Here are eight disasters from 2012…. MORE >>

Blog Facebook Social Media Social Media MarketingWhen it comes to posting on your business Facebook page it’s important to keep in mind the value that photos add to your text and/or link posts. The infographic by Wishpond reenforces strong data that photos are king when it comes to posts. For example,  photo posts on Facebook receive 84% more link clicks and 53% more likes on average. Facebook Facebook posts that include photos also have 120% more engagement than the average posts. Are you posting photos on your Facebook page? MORE >>

Blog social curation Social Media Social Media Marketing Social Curation SummitThe result of 24 images shot from the penthouse. Shot with an iPhone. 16 images stitched together. In July, I participated in the Social Curation Summit in New York City. Here are 9 noteworthy sound bites from Twitter that represent the variations in conversation, people and moments – my curation from within the Social Curation Summit. You’ll see that I’ve ended with two of my own tweets. Hope you enjoy this. People turn to curation when search stops working. – @editortim. MORE >>

By Kevin Green Typically, I avoid prediction posts for the simple fact that the social marketing and social business space changes so dramatically almost every day. 150+ Content Marketing & Social Media Predictions for 2012. By Joe Pulizzi This year’s content marketing and social media predictions contain more than 150 predictions from over 75 of the leading marketing experts (a big thanks to all our contributors). Customers are expanding their uses of social media to more devices and into more daily tasks, and marketers are following. By Jeffrey L. MORE >>