This article was originally published to ABA Banking Journal.

Easily measurable results are just one benefit of a great social media marketing strategy. Analytics offer definitive information about what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs to change. Plus, the ability to accurately and clearly measure results is much greater with social media than with more traditional bank marketing strategies.

Topics: social media strategy, metrics, tips, social media measurement

In the first two installments of this series, we guided you through using LinkedIn and Facebook to grow and nurture your network as a loan originator (LO). Next we’ll talk about Twitter, and how you might tweet your way to closed deals in 140 characters or less.

Topics: financial services, gremln, social media, social media compliance, Social Media for Mortgage Banks, social media marketing, strategy, tips, twitter, twitter business tools, twitter marketing

 

Have you resolved to improve your social media marketing efforts? If getting a team together that can help you meet your social media goals is part of your game plan, we’ve got some advice for you to heed when staffing your social media squad.

Topics: social media, social media marketing, Social Media Marketing, social media policy, strategy, tips

If you break your leg, you know what to do – call 911 or head to the nearest Emergency Room. In the digital world, social media emergencies are more difficult to diagnose. What even constitutes a social media emergency? Who deals with it? What should response time be? Here are the most critical social media crises, and the 911 on how to handle them.

Topics: compliance, Compliance, social media, Social Media, social media compliance, social media for banking, Social Media for Banking, social media for business, tips

We know the world of social media and online marketing can be a bit… fast. Slow down for a minute and get caught up on what’s been happening in the world of social.

Topics: analytics, facebook, google plus, netflix, pinterest, social media, social media news, social media update, Social Media Updates, tips, youtube

Does your company have a social media policy? Maybe you’ve determined your business needs one, or perhaps you’re on the fence about the value of such a policy. Maybe the one you have needs a little finesse. In any case, you need to know where to start, what to include, and why it matters. We have some tips to get you on your way toward compliant, secure, and engaging social media success.

Topics: 101, Business, business, compliance, gremln, Marketing, policy, regulation, social media, social media policy, strategy, tips, twitter business tools

Last week, RAM Racing sponsored the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K race in Chicago. The race was held on Sunday, and the runners were to pick up their race packets on the preceding Friday and Saturday. The race on Sunday came off smoothly; packet pick-up, on the other hand, was something of a disaster.

Due to poor overall organization and a few technological hiccups, the packet pick-up process, which might normally have taken 15 or 20 minutes, took some people over three hours. Three hours of standing in line, out-of-doors, in the famously brisk Chicago wind.

This wait, born of organizational missteps, would not normally be worth mentioning here on the Gremln blog—companies find themselves handling dropped balls all the time. But the irritated runners who were made to wait outside for hours took to Twitter and Facebook to express their anger toward the organizers of the Hot Chocolate race, and RAM’s response, or lack thereof, warrants an examination.

Many runners were quite vocal in their social media anger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics: 101, analytics, brand, Business, business, crm, dashboard, education, facebook, google+, google plus, gremlin, gremln, linkedin, Marketing, media, network, ROI, small business, social, social media, strategy, tips, twitter

Facebook has built itself a pretty great set of offerings for businesses that want to use the social network to promote their products and services. Companies can have their own Pages, they can generate social shares, they can encourage engagement through liking, commenting, and tagging, they can purchase Facebook ads, and they can pay a few bucks to promote their posts to a wider audience, thus increasing page views, awareness, and, hopefully, overall “likes.”

But for most companies, one piece of the Facebook marketing puzzle has been missing. Driving engagement on the social network is a big step toward increased sales, but all the engagement in the world won’t give your bottom line a boost if your Facebook fans don’t end up buying your product. To date, a handful of companies have been able to sell their products through Facebook with the help of third-party applications and developers, but for those organizations that can’t or won’t shell out the big bucks for a customized merchant app, many of their fans don’t have easy access to the “purchasing” step of the marketing cycle. Facebook just hasn’t offered any features designed to help companies actively sell their products through the Facebook system.

Until now.

Topics: Business, business, campaign, dashboard, education, facebook, gremlin, gremln, Marketing, media, network, pinterest, ROI, social, strategy, tips

Our fantastic (and socially savvy) Marketing intern Kristy Okada is wrapping up her time with Gremln, and as one of her final projects, she jumped at the opportunity to write a blog post for college students everywhere with advice on how to use social media to find internships and jobs. Kristy is a Junior at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She is majoring in Economics.

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College students, let’s be honest with ourselves for a second. Under the guise that we’ve got it all together, we are freaking out…a lot. In addition to maintaining a social life, receiving good grades, and staying involved in extracurricular activities, we feel the pressure to find an amazing internship or job that will give our resume that “WOW” factor.

Although the job market is recovering, the competition is still tough with hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of students clamoring for the same job. Especially with other candidates just as qualified as us, differentiating ourselves can be quite a tough task. Fortunately, the advent of the Internet has changed this completely. Instead of being a name on the page, we can wield our technological literacy to make ourselves standout in a sea of electronic applications by branding ourselves through our social media accounts. So loosen those strict privacy settings a little bit and show the world who you are and why you should work for them!

Here are some of my best tips:

Topics: Business, business, facebook, gremlin, gremln, job, linkedin, network, recruiting, social, social media, tips, twitter

We're nearing the end of December, which means that many offices are about to hit Ghost Town status for a week or two. Between holiday time off and the last-minute usage of leftover vacation days that won't carry over into the next year, the time between Christmas and New Year's is a time of relaxation for many people.

This can be tricky for marketing departments, especially in small businesses, because the same surge of vacation time that's allowing marketers to stay home over the holidays is also giving millions of potential customers the chance to spend some quality time browsing around on social media. Many companies have strict policies about social networking, so their employees are likely to experience a little digital release from home over the end-of-year break. With so many potential customers surfing the Web, it's a prime time for marketers to shine. Here are a few ways you can keep your campaigns and promotions running, even if there's no one in the office:

Topics: Business, business, christmas, education, facebook, gremlin, gremln, holiday, linkedin, Marketing, ROI, small business, social media, tips, twitter