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.

What the London Olympics Teaches Us About Employee Social Media Use

The 2012 Olympics in London has faced some new and unusual challenges with the rapid adoption of new technologies. For instance, NBC has attracted a lot of complaints about how it has handled the decisions to broadcast time-delayed events during primetime — which is challenging when social media means results are instantly reported.

But one of the biggest topics of debate for the 2012 Games is the set of social media rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee. The organizers drafted restrictions and guidelines for both the athletes and the spectators that have caused confusion and sparked criticism, even though the Games had plenty of positive social media ideas this year. Here’s what the IOC’s rules were, and how you can learn from its pitfalls when monitoring your own employees’ use of social media. [ Read More... ]

Read Links Before Retweeting Them

This week we remind you that you should never retweet a link without reading it first!

Last week, we talked about the value of retweeting other people’s content. Among other things, retweeting is a great way to leverage other people’s efforts to bring valuable information to your Twitter followers. After all, your followers will likely assume that if you’ve found content worthy enough to retweet, then it must be good, right?

To help ensure the answer to that question is in the affirmative, always curate the information you pass along to your followers. In short, make sure you read, review, and vet all the content you’re sending out before you hit the retweet button! [ Read More... ]

3 Signs That Facebook’s Dominance Is In Jeopardy

It’s good to be king — and these days it would be hard to find a company as solidly on top of its respective industry as Facebook appears to be. However, since the company’s initial public offering in May, cracks in its foundation have started to appear.

Vulnerabilities have come about as the company has struggled to transition to a mobile-focused world. A company once focused on long-term growth has had to turn to reactionary methods and strategic partnerships to maintain its growth.

Is Facebook at risk of losing its dominant position in the social media space? Here are some signs that suggest Facebook’s best days may already be behind it. [ Read More... ]

Social Media Manager vs. Community Manager: What’s the Difference?

The terms “Social Media Manager” and “Community Manager” represent two very distinct positions, yet these job titles are often used interchangeably. The recent influx of startups and tech companies has provided an abundance of job openings, but there seems to be a bit of confusion between the two titles.

While they do share similar characteristics, each position requires different ways of thinking and involves very specific responsibilities. Community Managers are often the public face of brands, interacting with the community and generating buzz for their companies. Social Media Managers are strategists and communicators, with the ability to measure and analyze effectiveness. Here’s a more detailed break-down of exactly what these positions entail. [ Read More... ]

How to Keep Up With Your Industry Using LinkedIn Today

Staying informed and in-the-know about what’s happening in your industry can be a daunting task. With real-time content being published on a wide range of websites, blogs, social media platforms, and applications, you could spend your entire day just catching up on the latest news.

Launched in March, 2012, and re-designed a few months later, LinkedIn Today is a content discovery tool that finds the headlines that are important to you. Instead of aggregating content from all over the web, LinkedIn Today shows you news being posted and shared by your professional LinkedIn network.

By filtering out extraneous sources of information, you’re getting a quick look at your industry, the people in it, and what matters most to you. Even if you’re already using a host of news apps or websites to check for breaking news and interesting content, here’s how you can leverage LinkedIn Today to keep up with your industry more efficiently and effectively. [ Read More... ]

Spotlight on Startups: ExchangeMyPhone pays cash for your old phone

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 ExchangeMyPhone — a web-based platform that facilitates the resale (or recycling) of old cellphones and iPads. [ Read More... ]

Square, Starbucks and a Watershed Moment for Mobile Payments

Starbucks recently made headlines when it announced that it was teaming up with Square to improve its overall customer experience.

The coffee giant, already familiar with mobile payments, not only invested in, but agreed to integrate Square’s payment solution into thousands of its retail stores across the U.S.

This partnership is significant for both companies, as well as the payments industry as a whole. Let’s take a look at what this deal means for the future of mobile payments.
[ Read More... ]

Why Red Bull Sets an Example for Facebook Timeline Presence

Facebook Timeline is a great marketing platform for companies — particularly those in media and entertainment fields. These types of companies may not feel the same pressure as other brands to use Facebook as a direct sales tool.

Many brands chose to cover their Facebook Pages with information about sales, promotions, and products. While this isn’t necessarily a bad choice, it does mean that company’s interactions with other Facebook members will always be defined by a merchant-customer relationship.

One brand that has taken a different approach is Red Bull. Rather than just focusing on its product, the company’s Facebook Page emphasizes less direct corporate content. It highlights events that the company sponsors — mostly competitions for extreme sports, and occasionally specific athletes. Red Bull is more interested in promoting and celebrating a lifestyle than simply selling energy drinks. Here’s how the company makes it work with Facebook Timeline.
[ Read More... ]

Should You Upload Videos to Your Facebook Page or Share From YouTube?

This week we’ll consider all the angles: Should you upload videos directly to your Facebook Page, or share YouTube-hosted videos on Facebook instead?

First, let’s talk about the advantages to using Facebook. As you probably already know, the social network to rule all social networks is rapidly approaching a billion users.

When you upload your videos directly to Facebook, you don’t have to manage two separate online presences. Comments on the video on Facebook all happen within Facebook, whereas sharing from YouTube means you’ll have to track comments and engagement on both the source video’s page at YouTube, and on the sharing post you send out to your Facebook Page fans.
[ Read More... ]

[Image credits: Shawn Carpenter, Andrew Feinberg, John Nyberg, Fora do Eixo, ExchangeMyPhone, Justus Blümer]