3 Ways Infomercials Can Inspire Your Social Media
I know, I know. You’re thinking that I’m crazy. But, I’m not. I’ve been in marketing or advertising (online or otherwise) for 20 years. I’ve been thinking lately about why I got involved in social media. What was the attraction? I’ve realized it’s THE TRUTH. That’s something sorely missing from a lot of traditional advertising, […]
Why You’re the Key to Social Media Success
The biggest obstacle standing in the way of companies’ embrace of social media isn’t the tools, or measurement confusion, or even being able to make the time to do it day-to-day. The biggest obstacle is corporate culture. New research from White Horse of 104 companies found that in 86% of companies, executives are not using […]
18 Social Media Quotes My Wife Is Sick of Hearing Me Say
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. In my ongoing quest to have chicken served in every […]
Is Social Media Too Big For Its Britches?
Maybe what we need is a little deconstruction. At Monday’s Social Fresh conference in St. Louis, I was delighted to join Sarah Evans, Jason Falls, Amber Naslund, and Zena Weist on the closing panel discussion. During the session, an audience question got me fired up (no surprise, as the Social Fresh attendees were a very […]
Nobody Said Social Media Was Easy
Social media isn’t inexpensive, it’s different expensive. In the QA portion of recent speeches, I’ve frequently been asked “this is great, but doesn’t it seem like it will take a lot of time?” Yes. It. Will. Succeeding on the social Web requires daily participation. Whether it’s brand reputation management, PR and influencer outreach, customer service […]
The Key to Social Media Success is Just 2 Letters
I’m sitting in a restaurant in Cincinnati recently, surrounded by televisions with the sound turned down. The bartender approaches, and asks if I’d like to hear the TV. I say “sure” expecting him to saunter over to a monitor, and turn up the volume. Instead, he reaches under the bar, and pulls out a Soundog […]
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.“ […]
Build Your Brand a Social Content Ladder in 5 Steps
Sure, social media takes a lot of time, but probably not as much time as you think. Too many companies and organizations are reinventing the content wheel for every social outpost they maintain. A better approach is to create a content ecosystem that allows you to repurpose and cascade your best information. Instead of a […]
13 Observations From South by Southwest (SXSW)
As usual, this year’s South by Southwest Interactive conference was a blur. Between the people, the parties, and purveyors of all things bacon, it was a twenty ring circus of the sublime and bizarre. There was no shatteringly impactful takeaway from SXSW 2010, as it seems we’ve entered a (sure to be brief) innovation lull. […]
How to Match 10 Key Success Metrics to Your Blogging Strategy
If you’re blogging for business, rather than blogging about your cat, baby, fashion addiction, or crush on Taylor Swift, you need to set some success metrics. Without a statistical measure of your blogging progress, adding content to your blog on a regular basis can be an incredibly lonely proposition. Is anyone out there? Does anyone […]
4 Reasons the Social Business Evolution Starts Now
Is today the day we start thinking about social media as part of an integrated program? My friends at ExactTarget announced a moment ago that they have acquired CoTweet, the leader in enterprise Twitter management, and will be building a social products lab to add tie-ins for Facebook, YouTube, and other elements of the social […]
Social Media and Email – More Alike than Different
From a business objectives standpoint, isn’t uni-directional social media more similar to email than it is different? Social network connectivity is becoming the post-modern email newsletter. A way for consumers to stay up-to-date with the brand, hear about special offers, and occasionally advocate to their friends. This puts significant pressure on email to be more […]
Integrating Email and Social Media with Flowtown
Aren’t social media and email more alike than they are different? Both seek to keep your brand top-of-mind with customers and prospects, communicating in a relevant, timely way that ideally is measurable and testable. But the problem with email and social media is that too many people are positioning it as an either/or scenario. Several […]
The Social Impact of Friendships and Lies
Do you trust me? Social media relies on the premise that we’ll believe what people tell us more readily than if we were told the same thing by a nameless, faceless company. That’s why brands go to great lengths to humanize themselves on the social Web. But, a new study by Edelman (whose digital arm […]
The Chicken and the Egg Social Media Conundrum
There are many ways social media differs from traditional marketing. It’s approachable and human. It’s a two-way dialog, rather than unilateral declarations. It treats the customer as a teammate, rather than a target. But there’s another big difference. In social media, the audience comes after the message, not before. Remember that when you buy a […]
Should a Blog be Your Social Media Hub?
The divine corporate blogging expert Debbie Weil recently asked this question on her blog, as part of a Kindle version refresh of her excellent book “The Corporate Blogging Book.” Debbie asked me to think about whether a blog should be the social media hub – your epicenter, the place where you’re trying to bring your […]