To create more ROI from social media, marketers need to ensure that they are delivering the right message, to the right person, through the right social media channel. This article will help you to figure out which audience to target, what type of message to communicate, and which digital medium will be most effective to deliver it.

I'm not sure if it's arrogance or ignorance, but United Airlines almost seems proud to be the airline known for the worst customer service in the industry. In the most recent survey of airline customer service conducted by the American Customer Service Index, United came in dead last. (Jet Blue and Southwest came in first and second, respectively.) And my own anecdotal and unscientific experience flying United recently confirmed it. But this isn't just another travel rant. Since Inc. is all about teaching businesses how to better serve their clients and customers (while being as profitable as possible), I'd like to use my run-in with the company as a case study in how not to treat customers when business goes awry.

Newsflash: In case you haven’t heard, social marketing is not just about likes, shares, and mentions anymore. The ways that brands promote and engage via social media is evolving and so are the ways to measure key metrics and ROI—and with more and better tools on the market, it’s getting faster and easier to acquire data. Why is this is a big deal? Because companies who use social media as a marketing tool need to know it’s working, just as they would with any other tool in their arsenal. If it doesn’t work, why use it?

American playwright Nicky Silver reflects on his experience opening (and closing) his play, THE LYONS, on Broadway.

Here's the big shocker: If you don't think about strategy before you dive into Pinterest marketing, your pinning efforts are very likely to be a giant waste of time. The first thing you need to do--even before you create your boards and pins--is to define your company's Pinterest strategy in order to determine which individuals you are trying to reach with your marketing efforts. And the more you know, the better your chances of being able to truly connect with those people.

For the past 40 years, futurists, economists, and media mavens have debated which business strategies are best suited for the networked, postindustrial era. In his 1971 book, Future Shock, the futurist Alvin Toffler talked about the upcoming “experiential industry,” in which people would be willing to allocate high percentages of their salaries to live amazing experiences. Apple has been held up as the definitive example of how to integrate a brand and its products and services to create an extraordinary company. The stock market, the ultimate arbiter of American business success, now places more value on a design-driven company than tech titans like Microsoft and Google.

"How much time do I need to devote to LinkedIn and/or Facebook per day?" Stop. Behind this question is a lie that is preventing your success. Wanting to know the optimal amount of time to invest in social media platforms each day is a natural desire, but having that answer won't make social strategies produce more leads. That's why top social sellers are putting down "hour-a-day" books and picking up a new habit: Changing the question entirely.