Posted by: Carlee Vellinga

Valerie Jennings offered tips in a podcast that was picked up by MSNBC.com. She provided advice for business owners and marketers on attracting visitors to their websites, building brand awareness, and protecting their brand online.

Jennings said that one method for driving website traffic to a page “is by using social media press releases that are highly search engine optimized.” She goes on to suggest the use of Marketwire and WordPress to increase search engine optimization.

Jennings promotes the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These social media sites build brand awareness. However, she advises managers to utilize them carefully. “If these sites are set up properly and managed well, it will prevent competitors from trying to hijack your company’s brand,” said Jennings.

Posted by: Carlee Vellinga

Young Internet users may believe that their parents do not have a place on Facebook or Twitter, but studies show that older adults have a different view. A new article shows that the number of social media users over the age of 55 has increased rapidly in the past year. Read this article by Samuel Axon at mashable.com to see the statistics.

Older Adults Nearly Double Social Media Presence

A new study from Pew Internet found that between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking site usage grew 88% among Internet users aged 55-64, and the 65 and older group’s social networking presence grew 100% in the same time frame.

Young people still dominate social networks like Facebook, but their usage only grew 13% during the year covered by Pew’s report. Older adults are catching up at an incredibly quick pace, though it remains to be seen whether they will pass the youth or hit a ceiling at or below the usage levels reported by young adults and teens.

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Posted by: Carlee Vellinga

Social media marketers are continually improving the systems they use to monitor searches online. While these tools are becoming more complex and intelligent, they still need further development. This article by Jim Tobin at mashable.com shows why analytics are the key to improving these tools.

Why Social Media Monitoring Tools Are About to Get Smarter

Jim Tobin is president of Ignite Social Media, where he works work with clients including Microsoft, Intel, Nature Made, The Body Shop, Disney and more implementing social media marketing strategies. He is also author of the book Social Media is a Cocktail Party: Why You Already Know the Rules of Social Media Marketing.

Over the last three years, social media marketers have gotten a lot more sophisticated about the programs they deploy and how they’re measured. Platforms like Sysomos and Radian6 have become vital tools in understanding not only the social universe in which you operate, but how that universe responds to your brand.

But for all of our success, we’re still largely entering strings of Boolean variables into a tool and waiting for matching results to roll in. Most tools have added sentiment processing, but that clearly has a long way to go. Beyond sentiment, however, how are these tools going to evolve to provide more insights? The answer is with math.

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Posted by: Carlee Vellinga

Social networking sites are implementing creative methods for presenting advertisements to their users. Businesses recognize the impact of advertising on sites such as Facebook and Myspace. This article by Adam Ostrow at mashable.com shows that U.S. advertisers are expected to spend more this year on social networking sites.

Advertisers to Spend $1.7 Billion on Social Networks in 2010

The latest numbers from eMarketer project that advertisers will spend nearly $1.7 billion in the U.S. on social networking sites in 2010. Worldwide, spending will hit $3.3 billion according to the report.

The numbers represent a significant bump up from estimates published by the research firm at the end of last year, when it projected $1.3 billion would be spent on the space in the U.S.

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