Your Digital Marketing Coach with Neal Schaffer

Many companies invest in using a customer relationship management tool, or CRM, such as Salesforce. But there’s a free tool at your fingertips that you need to take advantage of: LinkedIn. LinkedIn has plenty of functions like searching and tagging that allow you to keep track of and maintain your professional relationships, sometimes better than CRM tools that are already out there. After collect...

Some people say that guest blogging is dead, but Neal Schaffer disagrees. Content curation is a great way to have enough content to share, and it’s beneficial for both business and the content creators. How? This week, Neal talks about the importance of building those relationships between brands and influencers: how organizations can strategically partner with bloggers, and work with them to crea...

I get a lot of requests from various businesses saying, “We’re behind on our social media, and we need help.” A lot of these calls for help are coming from people with small businesses, so today I want to discuss some of the options that are available for you, such as working with consultants, agencies, and virtual assistants. We know that social media requires its own set of skills, so it’s impor...

Neal has talked a lot about the benefits of social selling and some of you are farther down the road of creating a successful social selling program than others. Social allows you to create connections faster and contact prospects you otherwise might not have been able to. If you haven’t started your social selling journey yet, this week Neal wants to help you begin. It can seem overwhelming, but...

You’ve heard about Neal Schaffer’s Social Tools Summit that he’s launching this May in Boston, but maybe you haven’t heard why he’s creating this event. Aiming to educate organizations about the social tools that are available, the goal of this event is to close the gap between customer understanding and company potential. By bringing vendors, CEOs, and potential clients into the same room, everyo...

What is the relationship between social selling and employee advocacy? Neal goes deep into describing the evolution of social business and how it is bringing sales and marketing together with the emergence of these new trends, together with practical advice on how to align your sales and marketing departments for social selling success. Key Highlights [01:01] Different Types of Convergence of Tren...

Where should you focus your social media efforts and budget in 2015? In this episode, Neal Schaffer encourages you to start the year by analyzing your content and process. This means helping you find more places to share your content, explaining the importance of internal education and ownership, and advocating for systems that help you amplify your strategies, like paid social and automation. Key...

Is your social media strategy stuck in "2011 social media?" Let Neal help guide you through how to re-measure your social media ROI and reallocate your precious resources for your social media program in 2015. Key Highlights [02:53] The Market Is Becoming More Fragmented [03:20] Think ABout Your Social Media On A Channel By Channel Basis [03:50] Calculate Your ROI From Each Platform [04:...

Neal introduces the how, what, and why of the first social media event in which he will be curating and co-producing to serve the social media industry: The Social Tools Summit in Boston in May, 2015. Key Highlights [02:05] An Announcement of A Big News [03:23] Why I Enjoy Speaking [04:08] My LinkedIn Group [04:33] Social Media Conferences that I Have Attended [07:33] What Is My Favorite Tool? [08...

Now that you see the value in publishing on LinkedIn, should you simply republish your blog's content on LinkedIn? Or ... ? Neal responds to the question point-blank with advice to help you better understand, leverage, and maximize your LinkedIn content marketing. Key Highlights [01:07] Should You Publish the Same Content On LinkedIn As You Do On Your Website? [02:09] Why Numbers Are Importan...

Neal gives a preview of his upcoming one day workshop in Bucharest, Romania by focusing in on those advanced social media marketing concepts that you need to dive into to help you raise your social media to the next level. Key Highlights [02:23] One Day Social Media Event in Bucharest, Romania [03:27] How I Help Businesses Get to the Next Level [04:02] Elementary Workshop [05:38] It All Starts Wit...

Neal shares best practices with social media campaigns by showcasing Passion Planner's Kickstarter campaign and what can be learned from it. Key Highlights [01:40] What's the Best Social Media Campaign for Me? [02:45] What Are the Best Practices in Creating Campaigns? [03:45] The Passion Planner [05:58] One of the Things I Like About The Passion Planner [07:54] The Kickstarter Campaign (...

This episode goes into depth on what a pre-sales social media consulting call would look like, and with that six ideas to improve your social media that go above and beyond social media. Key Highlights [02:04] Importance of Social Proof [03:10] What Should You Do to Acquire More Followers? [03:37] Let's First Work on Your Message [04:24] People Need to Have A Crystal Clear of What You Do When...

Neal talks about the launch of his new Social Media Center of Excellence Facebook Group and what he has learned building a new community in social media - and how you can leverage Neal's experience. Key Highlights [02:14] My Own Facebook Group [02:41] What to Expect When You Join My Facebook Group [04:24] How  Started My Group [05:42] Deciding On Who You Opt-In Your Group [06:13] How to Get M...

As your company's social media presence grows and you begin to yield "influence" in social media, you will be faced with those who copy your content as well as attack you. Neal shares his own experience as to how he deals with these issues to help prepare you and your business for what may lie ahead for you. Key Highlights [01:35] Who Are Considered As Influencers? [02:21] Content C...

Have you had a bad experience on a social network and refused to venture back into it? That's not good business sense. Perhaps it has happened to you by being opted-in to several Facebook Groups without your permission. Now is time to join Neal in rediscovering the potential business value of Facebook Groups. Key Highlights [02:47] Do A Reset On Everything You Do [03:30] Facebook Statistics [...

As Instagram continues to gain in popularity, many haven't started to leverage the opportunities that Instagram provides businesses. Neal introduces his own story of the why and how he is transitioning to use Instagram as a more integral part of his social media marketing - and why you should as well. Key Highlights [01:35] The Rise of Visual Social Media Marketing [02:19] Where Does Instagra...

Neal interviews Glenn Gaudet, CEO and founder of GaggleAMP, and talks about the history of employee advocacy and the challenges that face companies that try to launch such a program internally. Key Highlights [00:51] The Primary Use of GaggleAmp [01:32] Introduction of Podcast Guest, Glenn Gaudet [02:42] How Glenn Got the Idea of the GaggleAmp Notable Quotes [06:52] How the Market Evolved [07:47]...

A first look at the newest social network Ello. Should you sign up? Spend much time there? Use it for your business? Listen to Neal's advice and gain some rational perspective on what value Ello might be able to provide you and your business. Key Highlights [01:15] New Social Network - ELLO [02:07] Remain Holistic on Your Approach on Social Media [02:45] What is ELLO? [03:56] Experiment on EL...

How should small businesses approach an investment in social media? Learn how a social media consultant views how small business should consider what business value they should derive from social - and how to better manage their expectations vis a vis budget spend on social.  Key Highlights [00:49] The Power of Habit [01:31] The Concept of Unplugged [05:01] The Challenge with Social Media [06:06]...

If you're looking to better leverage social media for marketing, this is the one question that you need to answer to help guide you towards implementing the right social media strategy. Key Highlights [01:18] The One Question You Should Be Asking Yourself About Your Business [03:43] My Laser-Focused Approach [04:30] Where Do You Get Your Leads? [04:47] Businesses Through Referrals [05:26} Wha...

Building a brand in social does not happen overnight. Learn about just how important consistency in your social media efforts are and how to use paid social to help accelerate it.  Key Highlights [01:10] Importance of Consistency in Social Media [03:33] Other Things You Should Be Consistent About [04:52] The More Recognition, The More Credibility [05:35] Accelerating Our Efforts in Social [06:40]...

How can a B2B company find success in a social network like Pinterest? Find out how and learn some new tips, tricks, and concepts to help you Maximize Your Social in this episode. Key Highlights [01:11] What is Pinterest Myth? [01:27] Why Pinterest? [05:35] Pinterest Statistics [06:51] What I Like About The New Pinterest Analytics [08:34] Looking at Demographics [11:25] Top 6 Interests of Females...

Neal takes a deep dive into LinkedIn Pulse and reveals a "hidden" back door to help you get your content featured into LinkedIn Pulse. Key Highlights [01:33] One of the THings I Am Writing About in the Ebook [02:09] Why Would You Want to Syndicate Your Blog Posts Within LinkedIn [02:42] What is LinkedIn Pulse? [03:43] How LinkedIn Pulse Works [05:00] How to Get Your Content to Be Seen By...

LinkedIn is not about the connections but the engagements and relationships you can build with other professionals and businesses. This episode will change your perspective on LinkedIn for the better. Key Highlights [01:48] Engaging on LinkedIn Differently [02:31] What to Do When LinkedIn Permanently Restricts You? [03:23] You Don't Need to Have As Many Connections As I Do [04:17] How LinkedI...