From the latest updates you need to know about in social media marketing to inspiring online video creation, our five things you might have missed will make you a hit at happy hour. Enjoy the list (as well as your status as a happy hour hero)!

1.) Analytics Come to Twitter: Twitter announced this week it’s now allowing access to analytics for all of its users. Once available only for a few big-time advertisers, these helpful tools will help marketers see which links followers are clicking on as well as how many achieve “favorite” status, which posts get retweeted and the general popularity of tweets.

2.) Photoshop in Real-time: Our favorite viral video of the week, this incredibly clever video from Photoshop uses ace photographers and a killer graphic designer to pull off a series of incredible bus stop pranks. Innocent folks waiting for the bus soon find themselves featured on bus shelter posters in real-time, and the results are pretty cool.

3.) Facebook Bites Twitter: Hashtags have popped up on Facebook for a long time, so why not make it official? The social network said this week it will rollout official hashtag recognition and make it even easier to find hashtags with its search engine. “Hashtags are already happening across Facebook, but now they will be clickable and it will pop out a hashtag feed,” a Facebook spokesperson told ABC News.

4.) Fashion Blogging Explained: Among the branded blogs in the webisphere, fashion blogs are surely one of the most popular. But how do fashion blogs make money and how can regular folks make their fashion blogs more popular? Business of Fashion has the answers and so much more in this informative article.

5.) You’ll Be GLAD You Did: Here’s a heartwarming video from GLAD products in Dubai celebrating Ramadan and helping hungry children, too. It’s clever interactive marketing with a soul.

Social media experts have seen brands of all sizes rise and fall when it comes to dealing with crazy customers, employee drama and company politics on sites like Facebook and Twitter. In our era of instant information, every triumph or mistake can be spread and posted in a moment’s notice. Last weekend, an altercation at a Florida Dunkin’ Donuts confirmed just how powerful social media and viral video really are.

Two teenagers behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts had no idea that the racist rant of 27-year-old Taylor Chapman would turn them into heroes. Chapman unleashed an 8-minute explosion on the teens after claiming she didn’t receive her receipt from the night before. Chapman filmed her abusive tongue lashing and promised to post it to Facebook. The employees stayed cool and gave Chapman her free food as dictated by company policy when a guest doesn’t receive a receipt. What Chapman didn’t anticipate was how social media would be on the side of the beleaguered and berated employees. Facebook and Twitter were soon populated with messages of support for the teens for coolly handling the situation. The Dunkin’ Donuts Facebook page was soon filled with messages from followers who just wanted to commend the employees and the brand.

Even Dunkin’ Donuts bigwigs stood by their employees.

“We are aware of the video and the situation that occurred at the Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant located in Fort Lauderdale,” Jessica Gioglio, a spokesperson for the company, said. “We commend the franchisee’s crew members for handling this difficult situation with grace and patience. We believe this is a powerful example of great customer service and the respect our crew members have for our guests.”

The lessons here are good ones to remember. First off, video is forever, so it’s important for brands and businesses to always be on their best behavior. Secondly, branded Facebook pages are powerful places for customers to show their support and disdain. Lastly, treating people with respect — whether they deserve it or not — is something that never goes out of style.

Back in April, Nestivity released a list of the most engaged brands using Twitter for business. This list featured the creme de la creme of companies who don’t just tweet their faces off but also interact with their followers.

“Most brands have fallen into the trap of using Twitter for push marketing: broadcasting messages and expecting to influence customers with little to no listening or community building,” says Nestivity founder and president Henry Min in an interview with Mashable. “This view of Twitter as a one-way communication tool severely limits quality interactions between brands and their customers. It is a short-sighted use of an inherently interactive communication channel.”

To expand our Twitter practices, we wanted to check out how these big companies were using Twitter and see if small businesses can use some of the same Twitter engagement tactics.

With nearly 5 million followers, romantic quote factory and meme generator Notebook of Love tops Nestivity’s list for most engaged. While this kind of sappy romance stuff might not be everyone’s bag, what Notebook of Love does right is tweet a lot. By delivering the kind of tweets its audience wants all day long, the brand stays on top and is a favorite of Twitter’s ever-growing female audience.

Both Disneyworld and Disney appear on the list (at numbers 2 and 5, respectively) meaning that somebody at the House of Mouse knows how to tweet and how to engage followers. Disney tweets dozens of those famous images from its iconic animated films. Small companies can take a hint from this and start Tweeting pictures of their own products and services.

ESPN came in at number 3, and a glance at its page will easily tell you why. ESPN has mastered Twitter marketing by using tweets both to give the latest sports news headlines and also to start lively conversations with its followers. Back and forth discussions are what Twitter was built for, and if you’re not using it for that, you’re missing out.

Friends, now it’s your turn. Tell us how you engage your followers on Twitter and give a shout out to your most-engaging fellow tweeters in the comments section below!

Where, oh where is a busy mover and shaker like yourself supposed to go to get the latest in online marketing news? Look no further. Our weekly list of five marketing news stories you might have missed has everything you want to know in an easy-to-read, condensed list! Let’s get started, shall we?

1.) Hashtags are #Everywhere: When hashtags are showing up in restrooms, you know we’ve officially crossed over. Attendees at Wednesday’s CMT Awards were greeted with messages like, “Hopefully your tweets are better than your aim. #CMTawards” when visiting the restrooms at Bridgestone Arena. Since the awards were voted on by fans, CMT encouraged attendees to tweet and use the hashtags throughout the show.

2.) I Can’t Believe it Took So Long: We don’t know why it’s 2013 and only now is Paula Deen getting her own brand of butter. But we do know somebody on Team Deen must have figured out that when its comes to Paula the brand, we like her better with butter. This new line of finishing butters will be sold at — wait for it — WalMart. Again, duh.

3.) PR Stunts at New Heights: To promote video/social media/mobile app Vine, founder Jack Dorsey went straight to the top. Dorsey climbed to the top of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge and filmed a series of six-second videos which feature jaw-dropping views and more than a couple of scares.

4.) Wrapping Up Hunger: Soup Kitchen Stockholm found a cool way to show that in order to fight hunger, you don’t necessarily need money. The non-profit printed sandwich wrappers with the message, “We don’t want your money. But we want your bread.” The creative and cool campaign, according to creativity-online.com, “encourages people to make an extra sandwich, wrap it, and give it to a homeless person, with the aim that they get involved in the issue of homelessness, and break down prejudice by spending five minutes talking to homeless people.”

5.) Mystery Solved: Know what makes Grumpy Cat grumpy? According to this new billboard created by high schooler JT DeMarco, drinking at prom is behind that sourpuss. A junior from Elizabeth, Pa., DeMarco beat out dozens of other student-created campaigns by using America’s favorite foul feline. DeMarco didn’t, however, get permission to use Grumpy Cat’s image for the billboard, so we’ll see if a copyright dispute goes from grumpy to downright ugly.

Hot tips on blog marketing? We got ‘em. Hot buzzed-about online video creation? We got that, too. In fact, our weekly list of five things you might have missed has a little something for everybody. Let’s get started, shall we?

1.) Do it Like a Bluth: So much Arrested Development hype, so little time. One could barely turn on their favorite electronic device without being bombarded with news, opinions and reviews surrounding the return of the cult sitcom on Netflix. Yet this blog post from Kristin Kovner for ClickZ is worth checking out if you missed it. In it, she gives four Bluth-inspired marketing lessons sure to satisfy Arrested Development fans and marketing gurus alike.

2.) Share a Coke: Coca-Cola is pretty much tops when it comes to creating terrific digital content and memorable videos for a global audience. Each of the soda giant’s recent videos perfectly capture the brand’s sense of fun while cleverly playing with the viral marketing platform. This recent little bit of ambient advertising goodness features the first sharable can of Coke and is sure to put a smile on your face.

3.) Blog Title Badassery: Having a hard time getting folks to care about your latest blog posts? Maybe you need to start with creating eye-catching titles to get folks to stop and read. After all, how many times have you personally slowed down and read something just because the title piqued your interest? Lucky for you, Business2Community.com has 6 must-have tips for writing awesome blog titles in this great post you might have missed.

4.) Dance to the Brainwaves: Smirnoff Vodka has a new campaign doing something unexpected: using brainwaves to make music. Working with a brainwave expert and an electronic music producer, Smirnoff helped folks with disabilities who cannot play musical instruments to make music with their mind by controlling musical software. The song created with brainwaves can be purchased online and the proceeds go to Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People.

5.) Have You Heard the One About the Hitler Tea Pot: And finally, no recap of the week’s biggest marketing stories would be complete without mentioning the silly kerfuffle that swelled up around a tea kettle folks said looked like Hitler. The kettle in question, which was featured on a billboard for JC Penny, became a social media phenomenon and sold out online in a matter of days.

As Twitter marketing specialists, we’ve heard it a billion times: “I don’t understand Twitter,” “What’s a hashtag?” and our favorite, “What am I supposed to tweet about?” But it’s not just older folks or the technically challenged who find Twitter confusing. We’ve tried to explain how tweeting works to a slew of great minds and legends in their respective professional fields with mixed results. As it turns out, even Twitter’s CEO admits that the social network is hard to use.

Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo, in an interview with Kara Swisher at the D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes on Wednesday, said he believes Twitter is still too complicated for the masses to understand.

“Simplicity,” Costolo said when asked what he thought was missing from Twitter.

Costolo marveled at how Twitter, thanks to its 140-character confines, has forced users to create a language of their own, but notes the downside is “remarkable language is super hard to understand” for newcomers. Costolo cited placing quotes around an “@” as one example of new user error commonly found on Twitter. Costolo says Twitter’s future relies on bridging the gap of pleasing longtime users and making the site easier for newcomers. In his chat with Swisher, he also championed Twitter’s ability to break news and spread important information, but denies the company’s rumored desires to become a media company itself.

“We are the platform for global information distribution,” he said to emphasize Twitter’s goal of staying by the people and for the people.

Perhaps Costolo is right. Maybe Twitter is still too difficult for the casual social media user. But as folks who run Twitter for business campaigns, we happen to think it’s those very things that make Twitter an awesome marketing tool. Once a brand has learned the lingo, Tweeting can be an incredibly powerful way to keep in touch with clients, address customer service issues, promote new products and create new content.

Readers, what’s your take? Is Twitter too complicated, too easy or just right? Tell us about it in the comments!

On today’s menu: a delicious Facebook meltdown, a sweet smash hit of online video creation and a delectable sampling of the best treats from the world of online marketing. So pull up a chair and enjoy a buffet we call Five Things You Might Have Missed!

1.) Kitchen & Facebook Nightmares: If you want crystal clear examples of how NOT to use Facebook marketing, how to get a reality television audience to turn against you and generally make the Internet explode, please direct your attention to Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale, Arizona. To say the restaurant has experienced negative backlash after an epically horrific appearance on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares would be the understatement of the decade. Things went from bad to worse when the owners freaked out on their Facebook page and started insulting, well, everybody. It’s a branding train-wreck that must be seen to be believed.

2.) No. 1 in Twitter Marketing: Meet TweetPee, a Twitter-based alert that lets parents know every time their bundle of joy needs their diaper changed. This is either the grossest use of branded Twitter campaigns we’ve ever seen or one of the most genius. Either way, it’s Twitter for business that folks are talking about around the globe.

3.) More Social Google Goodies: This week’s Google I/O Developers conference saw a bunch of new, big-time social media stuff from the world’s most visited site. Lucky for us, Taylor Hatmaker from ReadWriteWeb breaks down the ins and outs of these innovations and what marketers need to know in a new blog post.

4.) Slingshots Never Disappoint: We’re not sure what produce wrapped in socks hurled at a wall of champagne glasses has to do with anything, but we do know that as a viral commercial for Hanes, the idea is a hit — and one worth watching. A couple of times.

5.) Snap, Crackle, WTF: On second thought, you may actually want to miss the noisy adjustments in the online commercial for Ryan Lee Chiropractic Center in Los Angeles. After all, the exaggerated snapping and popping of human body parts are just a tad disturbing. But regardless of how this ad makes you feel, it’s memorable.

“Relationships matter.” Not only is this a motto social media experts tend to live by, but it’s also the original tagline for LinkedIn. Launched a decade ago this week, LinkedIn had 4,500 members at the end of its first month. According to co-founder Reid Hoffman, “Today, hundreds of millions of professionals around the world are turning to LinkedIn to connect with each other, manage their identities, get insights they need to be great at what they do, and find their dream jobs.” LinkedIn is the original professional social network, and at ten years old, it continues to be a terrific place to market our small businesses, brands and ideas. Here’s just a few reasons why LinkedIn is a social media marketing must.

It’s a great place for blogs and articles: Worried your company blog is too heady, too technical or just too business-like to find an audience among regular blog readers? Post that sucker on LinkedIn and watch the schmoozy professional set gobble up your content. LinkedIn’s audience reads and responds to more serious and specific blogs and articles than, say, the kids over on Facebook.

It’s like giving your business card to millions of people: LinkedIn boasts more than 200 million active users from millions of companies and organizations in every possible field imaginable. Having your company active on the site, therefore, introduces you to millions you might not otherwise have met.

It’s a great place to see what your competitors are up to: From the ice cream place in the mall to the Fortune 500 investment firm, they’re all here on LinkedIn — and for users, this is great news. Not only do job searchers get a more creative way to widen their nets, but companies using the site for marketing get a front row seat to see how their contemporaries and competitors are using the site, too.

It’s drama-free: Tired of the blubbering and griping on Facebook? Over Twitter meltdowns? LinkedIn is the place for you and your company. For a social network, the site is delightfully free of most of the personal BS found on other platforms. It’s a mature exchange of information, for the most part, and is largely free of baby mama drama, cat videos and unsolicited political opinions. And for that we’re extremely grateful.

Feeling overwhelmed and out of the loop? Take a break and catch up with five fantastic stories from the worlds of online marketing and digital branding! Grab a coffee and enjoy our weekly list of five things you might have missed.

1.) Awareness, Orchestrated: In an effort to raise money, CRIS Against Cancer organized a classical music concert in Madrid. According to I Believe in Advertising, “The idea was that the orchestra played the 9th Symphony of Beethoven according to audience response. But, each bar of the score corresponded to a seat in the National Auditorium, therefore any un-sold tickets would mean an unplayed bar, and silence in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony score.” This incredible video shows what happened.

2.) Bestseller Blogs: If you are an indie author planning on using blog marketing to help sell your latest book, this article from Huffington Post is a must-read. In it, the Writer’s Relief staff outlines three essential blogging tips for any budding writer wanting to grab the attention of readers and publishers alike.

3.) Disappearing Ads: If, even as a marketer, the ads on Facebook Mobile drive you nuts, we have some good news. In a story you might have missed, Facebook mobile now lets users hide annoying and plentiful advertisements that pop up on our smartphones. The innovation comes right on the heels of an article from The Atlantic which griped about the irritating ads.

4.) Skinny Machine: “Never underestimate the power of style” is the moral of this little soda story. Diet Coke’s “Slender Vender” is one of those clever marketing ploys that plays perfectly with the brand’s image while producing a memorable visual. The thin, silver vending machine looks as cool and stylish as Diet Coke’s new bottles and cans. Plus, the song in the video is super catchy, too.

5.) A Mother’s Day Marketing Miracle: Finally, we think there’s no better illustration of how to use social media marketing to put your tiny, homespun business on the map than JumpSacBaby. This incredible article from Mashable is as inspiring as it is inspirational for anyone trying to use social media to grow their business and find ways to give your brand a social media makeover.

When it comes to getting ideas from consumers and followers, nothing quite beats Twitter. Questions like, “What do you guys think of this hot new product?,” “What sort of specials would you be interested in?” and “How do like our new logo?” are the kind of crowdsourcing questions that can really inspire tons of responses from consumers.

And when you think about it, this sort of information is invaluable. Back in olden marketing days, we used focus groups and other ridiculous avenues to try to figure out what consumers were thinking. Now, we can hop on Twitter and ask a few questions to see what’s on their minds.

But when it comes to crowdsourcing on Twitter, it’s important to remember we won’t always love the answers our following will provide.

British pop star and reality TV show judge Tulisa learned a tough lesson about Twitter crowdsourcing recently when she asked fans on Twitter to help her pick a name for her new perfume. Most of the ideas from smart-alecky fans, however, stunk. Amateur Twitter comedians came up with perfume names like “Desperation,” “Unemployed,” “Chip Shop Reject,” “Capri Sun” and “Chavalicious.” While hilarious, this smartassery isn’t exactly helpful. Nevertheless, the failed crowdsourcing attempt did help me discover Tulisa and probably helped thousands of others do the same.

Sarcastic responses on Twitter won’t ever be avoided completely (and some may argue this kind of thing is the sole purpose for Twitter’s existence). Yet as Twitter marketing experts, we can minimize this sort of thing by asking more specific questions when we crowdsource. Had Tulisa given her fans a choice between names, maybe the sassy responses would have been fewer. Also, to get the most of crowdsourcing on Twitter, it is best to routinely turn to your followers for ideas and engage them regularly with fun, interesting and engaging questions. Lastly, remember that Twitter users are quick with one-liners and witty retorts, so just make sure your questions aren’t setting you and your brand up to be the butt of a joke.