Businesses today need a social media presence in order to grow.  Through social media, businesses can attract and engage consumers, promote brand awareness, and steer those consumers to their website.  It can be confusing though, trying to figure out the best ways to accomplish this.  The Infographic below provides some essential tips on how to achieve success using social media.

If you're searching for ways to grow your association, take a look at our Spring Clean-up Special.  Whether you're wanting to update your email templates in order to modernize how your association presents itself, or you're interested in lead generation strategies to find new members, we have a spring program for you. Other programs included in this special are A Digital Transformation Assessment, An Automation Program For Membership, and an Email Optimization Program.  Enroll before May 31st and receive 25% off any of our spring clean-up programs.

One of the main goals for any association is keeping membership levels high.  Recruiting new members and retaining current members requires multiple strategies.  If you're feeling pressure to boost member engagement and increase membership, here is a helpful article from our partner Aptify.  The article, written by Jennifer Barrell, gives six proven strategies to increase member engagement.  The strategies range from the use of metrics, social media, and member forums to utilizing segmentation, responsive web design, and education.  The article explains each strategy and why they work.

Social media is a rapidly evolving world.  As marketers, we continue to be challenged by new social channels and changing consumer preferences.  Below are six social media trends to be aware of in 2016.  

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network on the internet.  With more than 259 million members, LinkedIn connects the world's professionals, including executives from every Fortune 500 company.  If you missed our LinkedIn Toolkit or would like to review it again, it is always available on HighRoad U.  Learn best practices to grow your business by using LinkedIn.

Marketing automation tools can free up your staff from time-consuming, manual processes, so they can spend that time nurturing quality leads instead.  If you are curious about who has what to offer in marketing automation,CIO has a good article that may help.

Based on the reviews of users from the IT Central Station Community, a comparison is drawn between Act-On, HubSpot, and Marketo.  In no particular order, beginning with Act-On, the valuable features users listed were analytics & reporting, social integration, CRM integration, and the ability to segment visitors based on behavior and lead score.  

Next was HubSpot, which users cited email automation, workflow automation, a social tracking module, and lead nurturing workflows as valuable features.  Last but not least was Marketo, who users listed email drip campaigns, and automated customer outreach from sign-up to upgrade as valuable.  If you're thinking about marketing automation solutions, this comparison will help you start to understand what the marketing automation landscape looks like, who are the software industry leaders and what features you need.

If you are trying to understand what is a good fit for your organization, consider talking to one of our digital marketing experts to provide some starting points and guidance: