For the past 8 years, Facebook has been stealing designs and strategies from Twitter. It's now Twitter's turn to return the favor.

As social media evolves, brands are finding more and more ways to engage their followers. Online marketing today is about what happens after brands and their audiences connect. It’s all about including consumers in the process.

We have all heard 2014 dubbed the “year of content” in the marketing world, but many sources are projecting that marketers will master a new trend this year: Moment Marketing. Moment Marketing a.k.a. Adaptive Marketing is a term used to encompass any sort of communication or marketing efforts that drive engagement with consumers on up-to-the-minute topics. This year, expect many brands to incorporate current events into their marketing - and specifically social media - strategy.

I’m a con artist. And, honestly, it’s a label I wear proudly. Don’t act like you’re innocent. If you’re in the marketing biz, chances are you’re a con artist as well (or at least on your way).

It’s been a big few months for both Flipboard and Pinterest. The personal magazine creator, Flipboard released it’s latest update allowing users to buy products via Flipboard, create their own magazines and “flip” content from commerce websites using the new bookmarklet feature. An announcement that they have gone live on Windows 8.1 quickly followed the update.

You may have noticed videos on your newsfeed acting a little different recently. Since September, Facebook has been testing a new feature that plays users videos automatically as you scroll or swipe past them. They report seeing an increase in views, likes, shares and comments by more than 10%.

There’s no denying that social media has quickly become one of the most effective and efficient ways to communicate with an audience. Social media provides the interactive platform necessary to build the irreplaceable connection between brands and their audiences. Consumers and B2B buyers alike are no longer viewing this interaction as optional – consumers expect to communicate with businesses where they already spend time. So why are so many businesses still skeptical as to how and why they should incorporate it into their marketing plans?

T’was the day of Christmas
And all through the house,
Every person was playing
But not with a mouse.

Thanksgiving is past. Christmas is bearing down and the end of the calendar year is upon us for all practical business purposes.

Have you ever left a comment on YouTube? What about anything on Blogger? Ever left a review on a Google Place or maybe you're one of the 540,000,000 accounts on Google+...if you nodded your head to any of these, there is a good chance you are about to become a Google advertising star.

Since the day I started tweeting, I’ve seen calculators that show me how much my account is worth. Generally, these are based on a ratio of how many people you follow to how many people follow you. They also consider your number and frequency of tweets, and the popularity of your content (number of favorites and retweets). We’re all familiar with the popular website and now app, Klout, which gives you a score ranking your social media influence. My personal Klout score is in the 30s – not too bad for a girl who neglects her Twitter 5 days a week. Barack Obama, for reference, has a Klout score of 99.

If you've updated your Twitter App recently you might have noticed a few changes: