Spike Jones – The Twitter 20 Interview on Word of Mouth Marketing

Marketing is about campaigns. Word of Mouth is about movements. So says Spike Jones, Firestarter at Brains on Fire, the Greenville, South Carolina agency that has been lauded in a shopping cart full of articles and books. A director of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), Spike has an incredibly clear picture of how […]
It’s Who You Know – Maximizing Your Company’s Social Reach

Put down your guard. It’s about people, not logos. These are the two primary tenets of effective social media. In practice, executing on them requires that you communicate with your customers and prospects across a variety of social media outposts, with significant frequency. (I tell my clients that if you can’t add at least 7-9 […]
Danny Brown – The Twitter 20 Interview on Social Media Authenticity

Social media is a means to an end, it’s not the end. That’s the philosophy of Danny Brown, the Scotland-born social media and PR consultant living in Canada. His blog, http://www.dannybrown.me is a must-read, full of timely, practical advice for marketers looking to successfully incorporate social media into the communications mix. Danny is one of […]
Get Shorty – The Elevator Pitch is Dead

For all the talk about Moore’s Law and the notion that computing power increases unabated, there’s not enough talk about another law that has equal importance in marketing and public relations. I’m going to call it the Law of Boundless Brevity. It dictates that over time, all communication becomes steadily truncated. We’ve gone from looong […]
Just Being There Isn’t Enough

Guest post by Adam Pierno (@apierno). Adam is Creative Director at Santy Integrated, working with diverse clients like Phoenix Children’s Hospital and The Counter across all media. He splits his time between Art Direction and figuring out what makes people tick. You’ve put your brand on social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Congratulations. You’re part […]
Can Spam Survive in a Social Media World?

Guest post by Indra Gardiner (@bgindra), President of Bailey Gardiner in San Diego. An award-winning PR and marketing pro, she leads BG’s social media efforts and writes on their Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid Blog. There’s always someone who wants to ruin it for everyone else. Know what I mean? And in the world of social […]
Is Social Media Now Anti-Social?

Guest post by Andrew Freeman (@andrewfreeman), an online Campaign Manager and Media Planner for Sitewire, where he is also a regular blog contributor. Andrew loves marketing, psychology and all things digital, his musings can be read at www.strategicality.com. I am going to go out on a limb and say that I think social media is […]
Beth Kanter – The Twitter 20 Interview on Social Media and Social Change

Beth Kanter is perhaps the best-known, most-respected voice in the world on the subject of using technology in a non-profit setting. A consultant to non-profits since 1993, her blog is consistently ranked as one of the best in marketing – and for good reason. It’s full of the kind of practical, tangible, viable advice that […]
Valeria Maltoni – The Twitter 20 Interview on Conversation and Community

Valeria Maltoni is one of the most widely respected marketing voices in the world. And for good reason. Her extensive background spans marketing, public relations, and social media. If it exists in the realm of communications, she’s done it. Valeria was also an integral nucleus of the Fast Company Company of Friends, a business intelligence […]
Build Thought Leadership Through Social Networking

Remember, social media is about people, not logos. That’s why the most powerful form of social capital is personal, not corporate. That was the theme of my day-long workshop for the Association of Management Consulting Firms last week in New York. My friend and client Elizabeth Sosnow of BlissPR co-presented with me. Titled “You’re a […]
Let’s Stop Swooning Over Social Media
Are you overdoing it on social media? Just a little? I’m a proponent of social media. In fact, I’m a proponent that gets paid to convince others that social media is valuable. But, like in the early days of Web design, SEO, PPC, email, and banners before it, there’s too much swooning and not enough […]
Why Twitter Needs Its Bottom Spanked

I see Twitter being in real danger of becoming MySpace and SecondLife. Do you? If Twitter doesn’t get it’s act together and improve customer experience for the masses of new users signing on, it’s going to end up as an irrelevant, niche community for a self-referential subculture. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that […]
19 Top Takeaways from B2B Forum

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum in Boston. As usual for MarketingProfs‘ events, it was a superlative, intimate mixture of excellent speakers and smart, eager attendees. For me, the highlights were the presentation by Sandy Carter of IBM on their use of social media, […]
Twitterati Says Email Isn’t Dead Yet – 6 Findings

Every conference I’ve been at, and at least 10 blog posts I’ve read this year have proclaimed the death of email. Social network messaging, and its 1:1 relevancy and real-time immediacy will inexorably make email the Edsel of digital communication, goes the theory. It’s not true. Firstly, this isn’t a zero sum game. The notion […]
CC Chapman – The Twitter 20 Interview on Telling Stories and Humanizing Brands

CC Chapman is a lot of desirable things. A legendary podcaster that embraced that medium from its very earliest days. A grizzled blogger, with entries dating back to 2001. A co-founder of the buzzlicious non-traditional marketing agency The Advance Guard. A devoted father that doesn’t let the digital tsunami swamp his boat. Between conference speaking […]
5 Steps to Setting Social Media Limits

Feeling overwhelmed by social media and social networks? Does it occasionally seem that all this connectivity comes at the expense of your free time? Struggling to decide whether to follow back or friend up that guy you met at the local Chamber of Commerce event whom you don’t really know, but might be a useful […]