If you haven't already heard - Facebook Places went live in the UK today. Facebook's new rival to Foursquare will allow anyone using Facebook on a mobile device with geo-location to "check in" wherever they are and have it display on their status. This will provide businesses with new opportunities to promote their services, and offer discounts for customers who regulartly check in.

To learn more about other ways to promote your business using Facebook, we run a 2-day Social Media Training. You can also combine this with our Email Marketing Training and other Internet Marketing courses with our Pick'n'Mix deals also offering Search Engine Optimisation Training and PRINCE2 training.

If you want to promote your business using Facebook Places, the first thing you're going to have to do is to claim your business.

This step-by-step guide explains each part of the process...

If you haven't already heard - Facebook Places went live in the UK today. Facebook's new rival to Foursquare will allow anyone using Facebook on a mobile device with geo-location to "check in" wherever they are and have it display on their status. This will provide businesses with new opportunities to promote their services, and offer discounts for customers who regulartly check in.

To learn more about other ways to promote your business using Facebook, we run a 2-day Social Media Training. You can also combine this with our Email Marketing Training and other Internet Marketing courses with our Pick'n'Mix deals also offering Search Engine Optimisation Training and PRINCE2 training.

If you want to promote your business using Facebook Places, the first thing you're going to have to do is to claim your business.

This step-by-step guide explains each part of the process...

Much has been said about the usefulness of Social Media within Project Management, but a topic that as yet seems to have been left untouched is how Project Management can help in Social Media Marketing campaigns.

Many of the principles and techniques that we teach in our Project Management Training, as well as on our PRINCE2 Course, can be applied to Social Marketing campaigns in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency.

In this post we'll be taking a look at some and how they should be enacted.

Initiating a Project

The 'Initiating a Project' stage of PRINCE2 can certainly be applied to a Social Media campaign. This process effectively outlines the reasons for and initial format of a project.

With regard to a Social Media campaign, it would require an understanding of the goals you hope to achieve by engaging on this platform.

It would also set out the preliminary ideas as to how to go about enacting this, both from a strategic point of view (what sort of things will you post, who are you targeting) and from a logistical perspective (which networks will you use and how much.)

Much has been said about the usefulness of Social Media within Project Management, but a topic that as yet seems to have been left untouched is how Project Management can help in Social Media Marketing campaigns.

Many of the principles and techniques that we teach in our Project Management Training, as well as on our PRINCE2 Course, can be applied to Social Marketing campaigns in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency.

In this post we'll be taking a look at some and how they should be enacted.

Initiating a Project

The 'Initiating a Project' stage of PRINCE2 can certainly be applied to a Social Media campaign. This process effectively outlines the reasons for and initial format of a project.

With regard to a Social Media campaign, it would require an understanding of the goals you hope to achieve by engaging on this platform.

It would also set out the preliminary ideas as to how to go about enacting this, both from a strategic point of view (what sort of things will you post, who are you targeting) and from a logistical perspective (which networks will you use and how much.)

The psychology of social proof gives marketers an incredible tool for increasing the reach of their content.

We are influenced and we influence others based on the groups we identify with and the content we share online.

Digital marketing can tap into that mentality to increase inbound traffic and drive conversions; Social Influence Marketing.

The theory of social influence is excellently explained by Victor Yocco for Smashing Magazine in his article 'Social Influence: Incorporating Social Identity Theory Into Design'.

I recommend reading Victor's post first to understand the theory behind social identity and then come back to find out more about how you can apply it to your own site.

Victor sees great opportunity for designers to enhance websites and products by using social identity theory in the way that Nike has built an entire network around Nike+.

You don't have to build your own social network from scratch to take advantage of social identity theory. It can be as simple as adding sharing buttons to your site.

Social Influence Marketing is simply the use of social signals to increase online reach and improve conversion rates.

Not sure where to start with social media? Create your own effective strategy with Social Media training, part of our comprehensive Digital Marketing training package. It will really help you to improve your outreach skills so that you can start working on social influence marketing!

I believe there are three main social signals to identify; everyone, friends and celebrities.

The psychology of social proof gives marketers an incredible tool for increasing the reach of their content.

We are influenced and we influence others based on the groups we identify with and the content we share online.

Digital marketing can tap into that mentality to increase inbound traffic and drive conversions; Social Influence Marketing.

The theory of social influence is excellently explained by Victor Yocco for Smashing Magazine in his article 'Social Influence: Incorporating Social Identity Theory Into Design'.

I recommend reading Victor's post first to understand the theory behind social identity and then come back to find out more about how you can apply it to your own site.

Victor sees great opportunity for designers to enhance websites and products by using social identity theory in the way that Nike has built an entire network around Nike+.

You don't have to build your own social network from scratch to take advantage of social identity theory. It can be as simple as adding sharing buttons to your site.

Social Influence Marketing is simply the use of social signals to increase online reach and improve conversion rates.

Not sure where to start with social media? Create your own effective strategy with Social Media training, part of our comprehensive Digital Marketing training package. It will really help you to improve your outreach skills so that you can start working on social influence marketing!

I believe there are three main social signals to identify; everyone, friends and celebrities.

Your profile and cover photos on social media are an essential consideration when setting up your page but they're often one of the most neglected areas for trainees on our social media courses. They tend to be the first thing any visitor looks at and therefore are your chance to make a great first impression.

Getting the right image for each position and platform can be tough - there's no consistent size or rules that apply - which is why we decided to put together this handy guide to help you get the best images for each of your pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube.

There are two options for you to choose from, depending on your experience and understanding.

If you're a dab hand at Photoshop, we've created a set of social media cover photo templates for you to use. You can download all of them here and to use them, just follow the instructions below. We've also added graphics showing the dimensions for each so you can resize your images without using our templates.

Struggling with images for the web? Photoshop is an essential tool for web marketing and our Photoshop courses are perfect for getting to grips with resizing, cropping and saving images for the web.

Your profile and cover photos on social media are an essential consideration when setting up your page but they're often one of the most neglected areas for trainees on our social media courses. They tend to be the first thing any visitor looks at and therefore are your chance to make a great first impression.

Getting the right image for each position and platform can be tough - there's no consistent size or rules that apply - which is why we decided to put together this handy guide to help you get the best images for each of your pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube.

There are two options for you to choose from, depending on your experience and understanding.

If you're a dab hand at Photoshop, we've created a set of social media cover photo templates for you to use. You can download all of them here and to use them, just follow the instructions below. We've also added graphics showing the dimensions for each so you can resize your images without using our templates.

Struggling with images for the web? Photoshop is an essential tool for web marketing and our Photoshop courses are perfect for getting to grips with resizing, cropping and saving images for the web.