This week on Sprout Social Insights we tackled guides for Facebook, Twitter, and small business to help you better reach your customers with the social media tools that make a difference.

Check out our articles below to find out more about each one and how they can help you with your social media goals.

And check in every day to Sprout Social Insights for more how to guides and breaking social media news.

Why Regulations Create Social Media Barriers for Pharma Brands

You won’t get much argument from the business community that social media is a vital marketing tool. Its capabilities for connecting with customers and creating a brand presence are hard to beat.

However, for industries that are subject to strict regulatory rules, navigating social media is not as simple as creating accounts on Twitter and Facebook. It takes a greater investment of time and energy to stay within the letter of the law, especially when the law may not been evolving as quickly as social media.

The pharmaceutical sector is one example of an industry that must tread the social media world with great caution. Businesses have to adhere to rules about when they can directly mention their products and how they interact with possible patients. Here are some of the barriers that heavy regulation has created for the drug industry, along with some examples of how savvy businesses have overcome these obstacles. [ Read More... ]

Twitter Success Story: Party Biz Connect

This week we’re profiling a real-world Twitter Success Story from Party Biz Connect — a social media marketing company that throws “Twitter Parties” on behalf of its clients. Successes for Party Biz clients include impressive stats like a 32 percent increase in sales, a membership launch that generated over $25,000 in sales, and more.
[ Read More... ]

Case Study: Authenticity Beats a Social Media Crisis

Businesses and educational institutions can learn from how the University of Southern Mississippi used social media to mitigate the effects of a few students whose ignorant remarks could have damaged the university’s reputation for years to come.

Even through March Madness has come and gone, and the loss or win of your team has faded by now, Southern Miss’s communications team is still thinking about the aftermath of the events that transpired during its game against Kansas State.

When five of the University of Southern Mississippi’s pep band members shouted, “Where’s your green card?” at Kansas State player Angel Rodriguez (who is of Puerto Rican descent), the university responded swiftly.

Southern Miss’s communications team is comprised of Director of Web Services Geoff LoCicero, Chief Communication Officer Jim Coll, and Social Media Specialist Samantha Kinard. They didn’t have time to carefully consider their response or draft a press release — their student body and everyone else watching the game were already tweeting about it. [ Read More... ]

5 Sources for Beautiful, Legal Facebook Timeline Cover Images

When Facebook rolled out its new Timeline layout for branded Pages it created an opportunity to present a more exciting, expressive and personal experience to fans of your brand. One of the most striking changes was the addition of a Cover image. The Cover image gives you an opportunity to add a touch of customization and closely align your Page with your company’s branding.

When deciding what image to include for your company’s Cover there are many factors to consider. One factor that is frequently overlooked, and can get you into trouble, is legality. It’s important to make sure you have legal permission to use the image you choose. Here are some great resources you can use to find the right (and legal) image for your Page. [ Read More... ]

Spotlight on Startups: Parking Panda is a parking space marketplace

At Sprout Insights, we comb the web to bring you the most up-to-date and actionable resources on how to use social media to grow your business.

To that end, we’re pleased to present a new series on Sprout Insights: Spotlight on Startups. We’ll find the most innovative, useful start-up companies out there, get the inside track on what they’re doing, and tell you how you can leverage their products and services for your own business.

This week we’re pleased to cast the spotlight on Parking Panda — an online, parking-space marketplace based in Baltimore, MD. [ Read More... ]

3 Facebook Timeline Mistakes: Don’t Do What These Brands Did

Brands and businesses have been living with the new Timeline layout on Facebook for more than a month now, and most have been adapting well, if begrudgingly. It takes a bit more time and energy to keep your fans interested with the current setup, but many companies have had success and continue to engage their readers with this new format.

The bad news is that there are still some pitfalls. Whether it’s a problem specific to Timeline or simply a less than ideal approach to customer interactions, here are a few mistakes that we’ve found companies making on Facebook. Use Timeline more effectively for your businesses by avoiding what these brands have done. [ Read More... ]

Is Managing Yelp Still Worth Your Precious Time?

A few years ago, Yelp could have been cited as a defining example of the democratizing power of the Internet. From a consumer perspective, it put power in the hands of the people to demand good customer service, lest a business get a negative review on Yelp.

From a business owner’s perspective, it offered a chance to receive and act on potentially critical feedback. While not everyone was a fan of this model, it was instrumental in placing new value on customer service.

More recently, competition from outside sources has put Yelp’s rule into question. Social media tools that harness the power of geolocation have changed the game and Yelp has found itself increasingly under attack from unexpected competitors like Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare .

Is managing your company’s Yelp page still worth it? Let’s dive in and find out.
[ Read More... ]

How To Create A Google+ Hangout On Air

Google recently made it easier to expand your reach and connect with customers worldwide through Google+ Hangouts On Air.

Unlike typical video chats, Hangouts On Air enables you to broadcast a live session to a much larger audience; current Google+ Hangouts are limited to 10 participants.

For brands, this is an opportunity to interact with customers beyond text and photos and easily populate your YouTube Channel with fresh content. Creating a Hangout On Air is very easy. Let’s take a look at how you can get started.
[ Read More... ]

Facebook Goes Public: All the News About the Facebook IPO, Stock Price

This morning, Facebook became a publicly traded company. CEO Mark Zuckerberg rang the opening bell for the Nasdaq and trading of Facebook stock began at $38 per share, then rose as high as $43 per share before settling down (presently) at $40.

It’s Facebook Friday — each week we’ll offer one tip for leveraging Facebook to increase customer awareness of and engagement with your brand or business. This week we’ll take a look at the Facebook IPO and survey the news from this morning, then share what we think it means for businesses and brands trying to connect with customers through social media. [ Read More... ]

[Image credits: Atlanta Scott, UMS, John Fowler, Parking Panda, Tuomas Puikkonen, Richard Cocks with John Morrison, Katie Lips ]