Social media is perhaps the most misleading name for a marketing-related concept ever, given that it’s grown to represent a philosophy of consumer empowerment and brand/customer partnership – far beyond it’s humble roots of user-generated content. As a result, social media has different meanings and connotations to different people, many of whom utilize social media [...]
Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy?
Join me and 21 other speakers for Facebook Success Summit 2010, a Webinar series with everything you need to know about Facebook for business. Sessions start October 5. Go to http://bit.ly/facebooksuccess to save 50% for a limited time. Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, and Kyle Lacy popularized the idea that companies in social media need a [...]
Friend or Faux – 6 Ways to Activate Customers
Two questions. How many Facebook fans does your company have? What do you want your Facebook fans to do on behalf of your company? Way too many people can answer the first question, but not the second. And that’s the biggest weakness of company-based social media at present. The Friend Bubble Doing something (buying Google [...]
The Consequences of Social Media Silence
Is your inaction in social media killing your brand? Most companies know they have some sort of operational or customer satisfaction skeletons in the closet, and fear a customer that has had a genuinely inadequate experience pointing out those shortcomings to an audience that is far larger than one. But isn’t it possible that those [...]
Don’t Put the Social Media Cart Before the Horse
Are you eschewing the basics to focus on social media? At two recent conferences where I spoke (Online Marketing Summit and Email Evolutions) there were several discussions about the confluence of email and social media. Thinking about email and social media concurrently is healthy – and appropriate. Both are best used as customer retention and [...]
Marketing Sideways to Win at Social Media
Are you ready to kill features and benefits? You need to find the one thing about your brand that’s inherently interesting. The one thing isn’t something obvious. Instead, it’s an unusual aspect of your operations or corporate culture that often requires some anthropological thinking to uncover. Once you find the one thing and build social [...]
We’re Not All Social Media Spielbergs
Are we expecting too much of people in social media, even the raving fans? Jim Beam has a history of great social media programs, and their most recent is “The Remake” video contest. The premise is that you create your own video that spoofs Beam’s hilarious “Girlfriend” TV commercials. First prize is $25,000 and a [...]
Strategy Destroys Social Media Tools
I’ve written a lot about social media strategic planning and how to find the “hook” for your social media efforts. Why do I write more about strategy than I do about social media tools and tactics? First, because I’ve been an Internet marketing strategist for 15 years, so that perspective is my home turf. But [...]
7 Critical Elements of Your Social Media Strategy
(Originally written for MarketingProfs Daily Fix) It’s fantastic that interest in social media is so high, but I’m alarmed at the number of brands and agencies that are ready to jump into social media to take “advantage” of audience concentration in Facebook, Twitter, and other fast-growth outposts. What’s lacking in most social media programs is [...]
Find Your ONE THING Before Launching in Social Media
(originally written for MarketingProfs Daily Fix) The history of marketing has been an unending stream of “biggest sale ever,” “now with extra raisins,” and “easy financing available.” The power of social media is that it allows consumers to peek behind the curtain of brands that have historically been stoic, pushy, and unresponsive. Successful social media [...]
