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.

3 E-Commerce Businesses with Brilliant Facebook Strategies

It makes sense that an online company would have some good insights into creating a strong, successful social media presence. After all, when your entire business is focused on transactions over the Internet, you’re bound to pick up some good ideas about how to interact with customers who you aren’t seeing face to face.

But not every e-commerce company is bound to have a stellar understanding of how to apply those lessons in online activity to a social media channel. Facebook is a great tool for these businesses that can drive purchases, improve word of mouth reputation, and bolster customer support. Here are six companies that have the right idea. [ Read More... ]

Reset Your Twitter Marketing Strategy: Go On a Twitter Fast

This week we suggest that taking a temporary fast from Twitter every now and again can do wonders for resetting your Twitter marketing strategy.

At Sprout Insights, we love social media — and Twitter in particular. So, although this week we’re advising that you consider taking a (brief) break from Twitter, it’s simply to re-frame or reset your perspective on the platform. It’s not a recommendation to forego Twitter altogether, nor is it a caution against the platform as a whole. With that disclaimer out of the way, here’s how spending a little time away from Twitter can help you focus on what really matters — at least in this facet of your social media marketing strategy. [ Read More... ]

5 LinkedIn Mistakes: Don’t Do What These Folks Did

With features to help you make long-term career plans or stay on top of industry news, LinkedIn has plenty to offer business professionals. Even if you aren’t currently hunting for a new job, it’s a network loaded with opportunities. But if your profile doesn’t represent you well, you won’t have as many chances to tap into LinkedIn’s full potential.

It’s especially important to be smart about managing how people perceive you on this network, since your profile is the first impression you’ll make on possible employers, partners, or associates. You should consider it a part of your personal brand and take the time to maintain it, just as you would for the social media page of a corporate brand. Below are some general pointers for sprucing up your LinkedIn profile, along with two examples of what can happen if you don’t invest some time into putting your best face forward. [ Read More... ]

Comments Are the New Content: How Publishers Leverage the Community

Though many times ignored or simply overlooked, there is a lot going on in the area beneath the articles and blog posts you read every day — the comment section. Accusations, finger pointing, and sensationalism are what led Nick Denton, founder of the controversial blog network Gawker Media, to attempt to revolutionize the way we interact with stories.

Commenting platforms have untapped potential to facilitate meaningful discussions, and could also enable a new form of content marketing for brands. While their functions are beginning to evolve, most publisher commenting sections are still playing host to irrelevant and often offensive ramblings. Gawker Media (and blog named Gawker which headlines it) is particularly known for its commenting subculture, complete with cliques of “superusers” that comment just as much as a normal person might check his or her email.

Denton’s mission to better the commenting sphere has pushed the topic into the limelight, setting a higher standard for discussions and clearing a path for meaningful content created by the readers themselves. [ Read More... ]

Spotlight on Startups: Monetize your call center with SalesPortal

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 SalesPortal — a pay-per-call ad network for contact centers, based in Redwood City, CA. [ Read More... ]

4 Facebook Alternatives and Why They’re Good for Business

Facebook has been the top of the heap in social media for quite some time, but there are now rumblings of change. Many consumers on Facebook have become disillusioned with the company and how it has handled operations, so there is room for a shakeup in the pecking order.

Twitter is usually seen as the number two social media contender, but with the recent antagonization against developers using Twitter’s API and hiding the names of apps members use to tweet, it too has been attracting some raised eyebrows from professionals in the industry.

So, what are the up and comers for social media? Here’s a look at four of the social networks that could dethrone Facebook and how your business can approach them. [ Read More... ]

How Social Media Could Revolutionize High Finance

The financial industry has been notoriously slow to embrace the full potential of social media. After all, the sector is very tightly regulated, so it’s tricky for companies to give their employees online freedom while obeying the letter of the law.

But as the financial industry gets its footing, businesses are starting to take advantage of social media’s amazing capabilities. Many industries have been able to reach new clients or provide customer support through Facebook, Twitter, and their brethren — but the financial world has some even more high-tech things it can accomplish. Here’s a look at how high finance may see radical changes, thanks to the power of social media. [ Read More... ]

August in Review: 10 Facebook Stories That Matter to Businesses

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. It’s been an eventful month for professionals using Facebook to reach consumers and partners, so this week we’re recapping some of the biggest Facebook stories and resources of August.

Among the selections this month are news stories about Facebook’s ever-expanding feature set for targeting your Page’s updates to specific demographics, a comparison of video uploading strategies for Page admins, a look at the strategies employed by one of the top brands on Facebook, and other small tips and and news stories.

Did we miss anything exciting? Be sure and share it in the comments for everyone to check out if you think so. [ Read More... ]

[Image credits: FamZoo Staff, AKZOphoto, Open Knowledge Foundation, SalesPortal, Julien Haler, Refracted Moments]