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.

How to Generate Facebook and Twitter Reports With Sprout Social

The articles here at Sprout Insights are written to keep you informed about ways to improve your social media presence. But beyond this publication, Sprout Social has tools that help you track and control that presence.

We recently wrote about how to schedule Facebook and Twitter updates with Sprout Social. This time, we’re walking you through the different Reports you can create with the tool. Not only are these reports quite attractive, but they contain a wealth of information about your social media presence. Read on to find out how to incorporate Sprout Social reports in your social media marketing strategy.

If you don’t already have Sprout Social, sign up for a free trial so you can try out these reports! [ Read More... ]

FOMO: Social Media Tools to Alleviate Your Fear of Missing Out

In his first inaugural address in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Perhaps if that speech were given today, in the globally connected era of social media, the phrase could be accurately restated as, “The only thing we have to fear…is missing out.”

Like any powerful tool, social media can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand it provides us the ability to connect with countless people, in real-time, from all over the world. On the other hand, it’s developed its own built-in sense of urgency along with an insatiable appetite for content.

But don’t worry. You needn’t suffer any longer from the fear of missing out, or “FOMO.” Acknowledging the problem is half the battle. Once you’ve done that, use the following tools to keep your finger on the pulse of social media and the world of information in which it operates — all without the nagging fear of missing out! [ Read More... ]

3 Pinterest Mistakes: Don’t Do What These Brands Did

Pinterest is still enjoying its moment in the sun. It has surpassed Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Google+ as the third most popular social media network in the U.S., behind only Facebook and Twitter. It’s also been a boon for companies, with Pinterest referrals 10 percent more likely to convert to purchases than referrals from other social media platforms.

So, you know you should be on Pinterest. But are you using it correctly? Have you been making some of the same mistakes as other big brands on this platform? The good news is that once you uncover these mistakes, they are easily fixable. Many of the brands mentioned below have plenty of good content already, but a few slight tweaks would give them an even stronger Pinterest presence. Here are three potential Pinterest mistakes to avoid. [ Read More... ]

Spotlight on Startups: HelloFax says goodbye to the fax machine

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 the Sprout Insights series Spotlight on Startups. We’ll find the most innovative, useful startup 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 HelloFax — an online, document signing and faxing service based in San Francisco, CA.
[ Read More... ]

Here’s Why Facebook Might Make a Phone

Rumors have swirled for some time that Facebook could making a play towards the mobile phone market. However, the story picked up some credibility recently when The New York Times suggested Facebook has been hiring hardware engineers from Apple to work on a secret smartphone project.

While the project could be a skunkworks endeavor that may never see the light of day, it certainly provides ample food for thought. Let’s consider why (and why not) Facebook could release a smartphone and what that might mean for consumers and brands.
[ Read More... ]

The LinkedIn Problem: How to Calm Customers If You Get Hacked

Last week, the world learned of major security breaches at three high-profile, online companies. Millions of LinkedIn and eHarmony members’ encrypted passwords were posted publicly on a Russian hacker website. Last.fm confirmed that it was investigating a serious security breach of its own.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how these companies reacted to these events, and the public fallout that followed. We’ll also take a look at how Sony responded to similar security breaches in 2011 when its customers’ sensitive information was compromised.

Armed with examples of what worked and what didn’t for these companies, you’ll have a better idea of how to react and calm your customers should your business ever get hacked. [ Read More... ]

How to Install the Facebook Plugin On Your WordPress Blog

This week we’ll show you how to install Facebook’s new WordPress plugin on your self-hosted WordPress blog.

We’ve talked again and again about why businesses should have a multi-platform approach to social media marketing. That is, they should be on every social media platform possible, and cross-promote between them whenever they can.

Hopefully you’ve heeded our advice and you have both a Facebook Page and a company blog! If that blog runs WordPress — not a bad choice, given that it’s one of the most powerful options available to businesses — then this plugin will be handy. [ Read More... ]

[Image credits: Son of Groucho, Dennis Lapets, HelloFax(FB), John Morrison, HonestReporting]