Demystify Content Marketing with Content Rules

The intermediary is dead. We don’t need to rely primarily upon the media or some other conduit to communicate with our prospects and customers – we can do it ourselves. Eventually, every company is going to have to think of itself as a TV station and a magazine. Telling your story and answering customer questions […]

The 4 Marketing Metrics Mandates

4 marketing metrics mandates

There are four mandates that companies are adopting when they are examining and analyzing the success of their online marketing and social media programs. I recently gave a presentation to the Measured Marketing Roundtable at Techpoint, Indiana’s technology and economic development association, that outlines these new metric must-dos. The 4 Modern Metrics Mandates View more […]

Are We Making Our Fans Work Too Hard?

Just because you CAN do something in social media, doesn’t mean you SHOULD. This point was driven home for me recently when reading an AdAge article about CKE Restaurants (Carl’s Jr. and Hardees) launching their own mobile loyalty cards via iPhone and Android app. “As far as we know, we’re the first quick-service restaurant to […]

Focus on ‘Being’ Social, Not Just ‘Doing’ Social

It’s more about the social, than it is about the media. It’s easy to forget that when we’re besieged by technology and tools inventions and announcements every single day. But the fact that your company has a Twitter account, or a Facebook page, or uses CoTweet (client), or has a blog doesn’t mean a damn […]

Maybe You’re Just Not Ready for Social Media

My Mom is a legendary high school English teacher. I took three classes she taught, including one where we studied Oedipus Rex and the difference between seeing and perceiving, which has widespread business and social media implications. Sometimes our brands write checks our operations simply can’t cash. I was in New York last week to […]

Brand Haiku – Delta

Today, I’m participating in a project with 20+ other bloggers. Each of us is writing a haiku about a recent experience we’ve had with a brand. Devised by the crafty Aaron Strout from Powered, this Brand Haiku initiative is set up so that you can link from here to the next blogger on the chain, […]

It’s More About the Social Than It Is About the Media

Sure, the gadgets and gizmos and the apps and androids of social media make it more convenient for us to interact with one another, and with brands. But it’s not really about the bits and bytes and data and Dick Costolo, is it? It envelopes us, but technology is only the third most important “ly” […]

Is Twitter Advertising a Threat to PPC?

Guest post by Shannon Suetos, an expert writer on phone systems based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively at Resource Nation. Back in February of 1998, Jeffrey Brewer of Goto.com first presented the concept of pay-per-click advertising (PPC) at the TED conference. Google started implementing search engine ads in December of 1999, and by […]

5 Staggeringly Simple Ways to Create Custom Facebook Landing Tabs

Do you have your copy of Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype? Visit Amazon or Barnes & Noble to get your copy now! Unless you can get people to click your “like” button, your Facebook strategy will be as limp and lifeless as Matt LeBlanc’s post-Friends career. That’s because the vast majority […]

When Will the Social Media Losers Emerge?

social media losers

Today, social media is like a soccer league for seven year-olds: everyone gets a trophy. The vast majority of press coverage and conversations around social media centers around the fact that businesses are DOING social media, not necessarily doing it EFFECTIVELY. Do you know why every article or blog post with even a scintilla of […]

Runza Combines Social Media and Email – Something to Chew On

runza in store

Remember, the goal isn’t to be good at social media. The goal is to be good at business because of social media. Here’s one of the best ways to live that creed. Proactively use your social outposts to drive behavior among your current and prospective customers that has a higher value than just a one […]

Rocket Content – Your B2B Secret Weapon

rocket content

Guest post by Ian Greenleigh, the Social Media Manager at Bazaarvoice – the market and technology leader in hosted social commerce applications. He also blogs at Dare to Comment. There’s no doubt about it, those of us tasked with enterprise-level B2B marketing have some incredible hurdles to overcome. The business decision makers (BDMs) that have […]