The Reality of Competition in a Maturing Social Marketplace
Interview with Steve Lundin from Big Frontier when I was in Chicago for a presentation of The NOW Revolution. We discuss: Competition and social media gurus, wheat, and chaff; The future of Twitter and its stickiness problem; Agencies stubbing their social media toes; Do social crises create measurable business declines; The path to social ubiquity […]
An Easter Surprise, Using QR Codes for Instant Sampling
I’m a big fan of QR codes and similar technology. Maybe it’s my failing memory brought upon by encroaching middle age, but the ability to snap a photo of something rather than remember a URL is a big win in my estimation. In fact, we included 22 Microsoft Tags (similar to QR codes) in The […]
Is Starbucks the Most Dangerous Competitor to Facebook?
Today’s post is a collaboration with Clinton Bonner, community connectivity expert, futurist, and blogger at Everything to Everything. Starbucks is not only offering free Wi-Fi in all stores come this fall, but also unveiling their Starbucks Digital Network that all in-store web and mobile users will have the opportunity to enjoy (it’s a partnership with […]
Driving Sales with Relevancy and Utility
Guest post by Jeff Molander, professor of digital marketing at Loyola University’s School of Business, public speaker and author of a forthcoming book aimed at improving digital marketing results. Find him at jeffmolander.com In this economy need is the new want. And exceptional businesses are realizing tangible, meaningful outcomes using social media & mobile marketing. […]
The Science of Inequality – Finding Your Influential Customers
Does social media breed inequality? Because our behaviors on the social Web leave a noticeable fingerprint, smart companies can modify the way they engage and interact with us, based on our social graph, purchase history, etc. Would the VP of Customer Satisfaction of Southwest Airlines have called Kevin Smith at home (after he was kicked […]
The Best Advice Has No Shelf Life
Who Influenced You? All of us have influences. People who have educated, inspired, engaged, supported us. Or maybe just kicked us in the ass when we needed it. Tell me in the comments who influenced you and why, and you could win a copy of the uber-classic book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.“ […]
The 39 Social Media Tools I’ll Use Today
Subscribe to our new Definitive newsletter: High grade digital marketing guidance, topically sorted, and curated to the max. You pick the categories, we deliver the content. The best content from around the web, on topics you care about and need to be an expert in. Amazingly, it seems like there’s more social media tools than […]
Is It Curtains for the App Store?
Guest post by Bob Dennis, freelance Web designer with experience in everything from audio production to social networking. After two-and-a-half years, iPhone app developers are getting fed up with Apple’s lengthy and often inconsistent approval process. Also, $0.30 may not seem like much, but the fact that Apple is taking 30% of all app profits […]
Mobile Marketing Your Time is Now
Are you ready to launch a mobile campaign? I’ve been a big proponent of mobile and SMS for a while, but we’re finally getting to the point where the number of mobile users and consumer acceptance is high enough to make entirely viable for most brands. Consider: More text messages are sent than mobile phone […]
Mobile Opt-in Flies at US Airways
A recent study by ExactTarget and Ball State University showed that consumers 24 years old and younger prefer text messages to email. For consumers 25+, email still reigns supreme. Does that put text/mobile/SMS out of reach for most brands? Not at all. In fact, using mobile to drive email subscriptions is an emerging best practice. […]
Red Robin’s Email Program Has a Broken Wing
By all accounts, Red Robin is very successful restaurant chain. With hundreds of locations nation-wide and well-deserved plaudits for their Unbridled Acts customer service program, Red Robin has it together. (try the Bonzai Burger, Bruschetta Chicken Burger, and the Tower of Onion Rings). But the Red Robin customer loyalty messaging program is far less than it […]
Media Buyers Say Internet Advertising Will Grow in Next 6 Months
Market Research firm Advertising Perceptions released a new survey of 1,811 media buyers showing that a whopping 72% of them believe Internet advertising spend will increase in the second half of 2008. This is a shocking finding, considering that no other medium (other than mobile) was expected to grow by more than 28% of the […]