By Kurt Rathmann, CEO of Shride Ventures I have a ritual I perform every month or two. Some find it a little strange. Others find it helpful and have even adopted it themselves. For several years, I have maintained a spreadsheet of information on those I consider mentors. It includes things like when we last […]
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Posted in Brainstorming, Kurt Rathmann, LinkedIn, Listening, Relationships, Transparency | Comments Off on Let Social Media Help You Identify New Mentors and Expand Your Business Network
By John Foley, Jr., Chief Executive/Marketing Officer at Grow Socially Much like any other marketing campaign, Twitter shares one critical ideology—maximum exposure. When you tweet, are as many people seeing it as possible? If we put in the effort to carefully craft influential and noticeable tweets, we certainly would want to make sure they are […]
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Posted in Engagement, Guy Kawasaki, Influence, John Foley Jr., Marketing, Twitter | Comments Off on When is the Best Time to Tweet?
By Jeff Schick, Vice President, Social Software at IBM Investments in IT have long been the domain of the CIO, but all of that is changing as CMOs increasingly impact IT investments in today’s social and digital world. Given the business realignment between marketing and technology, the CMO and CIO can no longer afford to operate […]
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Posted in Alignment, CIOs, CMOs, Collaboration, Community, Competitors, Customer Experience, Customer Retention, Customers, Employees, IBM, Innovation, Jeff Schick, Loyalty, Marketing | Comments Off on Blending the Art of Marketing with the Science of Technology
By Eric Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer at McGlinchey Stafford All listening is not created equal. Consider how a physician uses the stethoscope in order to measure the activity of the human heart, or how a mother calibrates her ear to detect the faintest whimper of a newborn, or how a conductor trains the ear to pinpoint […]
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Posted in Customers, Eric Fletcher, Kent Huffman, Listening, Marketing, Messaging, Relationships | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#8: Continue Listening
By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success “What’s the ROI from all that social media stuff you’ve been doing?” your boss asks. One of his favorite questions, right? Or if you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably heard that same question from your partner or CPA. Generating reliable performance metrics for […]
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Posted in Analytics, Community, Competitors, Kent Huffman, Lead Generation, Measurement, Metrics, Monitoring, Relationships, ROI, Value | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#7: Ensure Value
By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success Building a loyal community of fans and followers is not a snap-your-finger deal. You have to put the “right stuff” out there to attract and grow an audience, and you’ll have to continually nurture the crop before it bears any fruit. But the payoff […]
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Posted in Community, Content, Influence, Kent Huffman, Marketing, Relationships, Strategy | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#6: Build Community
By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success Social media leaders—as is the case with their offline counterparts—are most often valued and respected for their knowledge, experience, passion, and vision. The most effective social media leaders also demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility, serve as standard bearers, have a relatively high tolerance […]
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Posted in Community, Influence, Innovation, Inspiration, Integrity, Kent Huffman, Leadership, Loyalty, Strategy, Value | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#5: Demonstrate Leadership
By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success The success of virtually every brand relies largely on the bond of trust generated between customer and company. That same bond can obviously be created between individuals as well. But as is the case with Mandate #3 (develop relationships), trust also has to be […]
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Posted in Authenticity, Branding, Commitment, Community, Honesty, Kent Huffman, Messaging, Personality, Transparency, Trust | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#4: Establish Trust
By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success A true relationship has to be earned. It’s about respect and trust. And a balanced relationship is reciprocal. You do something for somebody else, and they do something for you. You exchange ideas. You use each other as a sounding board. For a relationship […]
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Posted in Blogs, Community, Engagement, Facebook, Kent Huffman, Loyalty, Relationships, Trust, Twitter | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#3: Develop Relationships
By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success Too many marketers jump right in and start using various social media tools and technologies—such as Twitter, Google+, and blogs—before they’ve even developed a strategic plan or thought about how those activities might impact the rest of their marketing initiatives. Don’t make that mistake! […]
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Posted in Blogs, Google Plus, Kent Huffman, Marketing, Measurement, Monitoring, Small Businesses, Strategy, Twitter | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#2: Plan Carefully
By Kent Huffman, Author of 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success I believe that listening is the single most important key for marketers who want to be successful in social media. Although the average person spends about 45% of his or her waking hours listening, most of us are simply not very good at […]
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Posted in Competitors, Eric Fletcher, Kent Huffman, Listening, Marketing, Messaging, Relationships | Comments Off on 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success—#1: Start Listening
By John Foley, Jr., Chief Executive/Marketing Officer at Grow Socially Twitter can be a mighty tool in your social media arsenal. You can reach a specialized audience with carefully constructed tweets, relevant links, and engaging material. Of course, you can maximize the effect of those efforts by having a solid number of followers. Here are […]
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Posted in Awareness, Content, Conversations, Engagement, Events, Hashtags, John Foley Jr., Marketing, Personality, Photos, Relationships, Twitter, Video | Comments Off on 5 Ways to Legitimately Increase Your Twitter Followers
By Wayne Breitbarth, CEO of Power Formula and author of The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success: Kick-Start Your Business, Brand, and Job Search You’ve polished your LinkedIn profile, developed a large network of valuable contacts, and joined the most advantageous LinkedIn groups. From a professional standpoint, you should now be reaping the benefits—growing your client/customer […]
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Posted in Altruism, Blogs, Cause Marketing, Charities, Community, Employees, Events, LinkedIn, Local, Networking, Relationships, SlideShare, Thought Leadership, Wayne Breitbarth | Comments Off on LinkedIn Helps You Pay It Forward to Nonprofits
By Kent Huffman, Chief Marketing Officer at BearCom Wireless and Co-Publisher of Social Media Marketing Magazine It seems that everyone claims to be a Twitter expert these days. Of course, most are not. But several of the real Twitter pros I know—including those who have written books about using Twitter as an effective marketing and […]
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Posted in Blogs, Branding, Channels, Content, Customers, Demand Generation, Engagement, Google, HARO, Integrated Marketing, Interaction, Journalism, Kent Huffman, Lead Generation, Listening, Marketing, Promotions, Public Relations, Relationship Marketing, Relationships, ROI, Sales, Strategy, Twitter | Comments Off on Using Twitter for Marketing and PR: Do the Pros Practice What They Preach?
By Kelly Loubet, Social Media Consultant Everyone knows that clicking the “like” button on a company’s Facebook page shows that company is increasing its fan base. But what happens after the click? For me, it’s often just that. A click. I’m sure I’m not alone. So how do brands turn a simple click into loyal […]
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Posted in Blogs, Branding, Cause Marketing, Charities, Community, Content, Contests, Customers, Engagement, Facebook, Kelly Loubet, Opinions, Polls, Promotions, Relationships | Comments Off on Turning Facebook “Likes” into More than Just Clicks
By Michelle Manafy, Director of Content at FreePint Between all generations lie gaps. Yet in the course of some generations, major events occur that cause tectonic shifts. The fact is that many individuals and businesses today face a massive and growing generation gap. As this digital native generation—which has grown up immersed in digital technologies […]
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Posted in Branding, Collaboration, Content, CRM, Culture, Customers, Digital Natives, Employees, Engagement, Facebook, Interaction, Listening, Marketing, Michelle Manafy, Networking, Privacy, Relationships, Social Currency, Transparency, Trust, TV, Twitter | Comments Off on The Digital Native: 5 Things You Need to Know
By Jeffrey Hayzlett, author of Running the Gauntlet: Essential Business Lessons to Lead, Drive Change, and Grow Profits If you are a marketer, I can almost guarantee that one of your goals for 2012 is to figure out your mobile strategy. You’re not alone. Everyone is talking mobile, but very few have figured out how […]
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Posted in Apps, Customer Experience, Customers, Engagement, Facebook, Jeffrey Hayzlett, Lead Generation, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, Promotions, QR Codes, Retail, Sales, Smartphones, SnapTags, Strategy, Twitter, Video | Comments Off on Bridging the Digital Gap with SnapTags
By Emily Johnson, Media Relations Specialist at Walker Sands Communications The photo-sharing site Flickr is a valuable but often overlooked social media platform. Here are six reasons why marketers and communications professionals should add Flickr to their campaigns: People are visual. With Flickr, you’re able to tell a story in a way you can’t through […]
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Posted in Emily Johnson, Flickr, Interaction, Marketing, Photos, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Video | Comments Off on 6 Reasons Social Media Campaigns Should Include Flickr
By David Bell, Lawyer and Chair of Social Media Practice at Haynes and Boone, LLP Perhaps you’ve heard about Chick-fil-A’s recent “oops” moment. The company fired off a cease and desist letter to a Vermont artist over his use of and trademark application for EAT MORE KALE. The chicken eatery sent the letter in an […]
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Posted in Blogs, Branding, Buzz, Chick-fil-A, David Bell, Disaster Management, Facebook, Marketing, News, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media Law, Twitter | Comments Off on Tips for Addressing Brand Misuse While Mitigating PR Backlash
By Debi Kleiman, President of MITX (Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange, creators of FutureM) The very foundation of marketing is transforming before our eyes, and social media is playing a bigger and bigger role in the way marketers communicate. MITX’s FutureM offers the community a week of events exploring the future of marketing and media, […]
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Posted in Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Branding, Community, Debi Kleiman, E-Commerce, Facebook, Google Plus, Innovation, Interaction, Marketing, Networking, Public Relations, Relationships, Strategy, Sustainability, Twitter | Comments Off on Will Social Media Change the Face of Modern Marketing?
By Berenice Ring, Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas There are now 2.1 billion Internet users on planet Earth—30 percent of the world’s population! And to access the Internet, we now have countless models of cell phones, laptops, tablets, and every other wonder technology has provided us with. We can no longer live without them! Visiting […]
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Posted in Berenice Ring, Community, Competitors, Engagement, Facebook, Foursquare, Generation Y, Global, iPad, LinkedIn, Local, Orkut, Relationships, Strategy, Twitter, Web 2.0, Wikipedia, Wikis | Comments Off on The Trend: “Alone Together.” The Trigger? Web 2.0
By John Foley, Jr., Chief Executive/Marketing Officer at Grow Socially Google+ has taken the social media world by storm. The search engine mammoth has finally created a social network with some traction, and everyone is taking notice, including Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team. At this point, businesses should be sitting up and paying attention. […]
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Posted in Content, Customers, Engagement, Facebook, Google, Google Plus, Interaction, John Foley Jr., Networking, Strategy, Twitter | Comments Off on Google+: Where Do You Fit In?
By Amy Howell, CEO of Howell Marketing Strategies Social media has been a game changer for PR folks across the board. No matter what type of business, industry, or organization you are in, social media means you can run for a minute, but you sure cannot hide. I have been in PR and marketing for […]
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Posted in Amy Howell, Authenticity, B2B, Confidentiality, Crisis Management, Honesty, Marketing, Messaging, Mobile Marketing, Monitoring, News, News Releases, Public Relations, Smartphones, Stories, Transparency | Comments Off on When Crisis Knocks: Being PR Savvy through Social Media
By Phyllis Zimbler Miller, co-founder of Miller Mosaic Have you recently found yourself standing in the checkout line at a chain drugstore hearing an ad for a product that includes a reference to social media? For example, you may hear, “Follow us on Twitter or ‘like’ us on Facebook to learn about our new products.” […]
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Posted in Advertising, Competitors, Customers, Facebook, Marketing, Phyllis Zimbler Miller, Twitter, YouTube | Comments Off on How to Overcome Your Own Fear of Social Media
By Amy Howell, CEO of Howell Marketing Strategies Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask me about social media for business. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are all new media tools that can help bolster your Internet or digital “footprint.” You can read all about how social media is ramping up the conversation by […]
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Posted in Amy Howell, Blogs, Commitment, Competitors, Customers, Engagement, Facebook, Finance, Google, iPad, iPhone, Lead Generation, LinkedIn, Marketing, Prospecting, Public Relations, Retail, Revenue, Sales, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Small Businesses, Social Media Policy, Strategy, Tools, Twitter | Comments Off on Social Media: Still a Mystery to Most Small Businesses
By Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media and author of Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) You wake up one morning and your back really hurts. You’ve been putting off finding a new doctor ever since you moved to […]
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Posted in Advertising, Conversations, Customers, Dave Kerpen, Engagement, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Listening, Marketing, Relationships, Search Engine Results Pages, Smartphones, Social Search, Social Shopping, Twitter | Comments Off on “Like” is the New Link: How Facebook is Reorganizing Google’s Web
By Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media and author of Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) I was standing in line to check in at Las Vegas’ then-trendiest hotel in town, the Aria Resort & Casino, for nearly an […]
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Posted in Advertising, BlackBerry, Customer Experience, Customers, Dave Kerpen, Facebook, Listening, ROI, Twitter | Comments Off on The Power of “Likes”
By Adam Karwoski, Founder of Social Brand U Isn’t social media cool? Since I graduated college in 1992, I’ve been involved with two of the biggest fundamental shifts in communications in our history: mobile phones and social media. I started selling cellular phones in 1994 for BellSouth Mobility and just left that industry last summer. […]
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Posted in Adam Karwoski, Authenticity, Blogs, Conversations, Customers, Facebook, Inspiration, Listening, Networking, Photos, Relationships, Small Businesses, Smartphones, Stories, Transparency, Trust, Video | Comments Off on Wow, What a Story!
By Jeffrey Hayzlett, author of The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing? Traditionally, ROI means “return on investment.” And that’s a very important component to consider in any marketing strategy. However, it can be difficult to track when it comes to zeroes. In the absence of hard numbers, ROI becomes something I call, “return […]
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Posted in Authenticity, Brand Champions, Branding, Customers, Engagement, Facebook, Jeffrey Hayzlett, Listening, Marketing, Messaging, Osama bin Laden, ROI, Small Businesses, Strategy, Super Bowl, Twitter | Comments Off on Five Tips to Leverage Your Social Media Strategy
By Nina Buik, Chief Marketing Officer at HP Connect I admit that I’m a fan of Lady Gaga’s music, but even more a fan of her marketing strategy: Creates a globally recognizable brand image Creates edgy, compelling headlines Is “virtually” ubiquitous Fearless of putting herself “out there” Has built an incredibly loyal following You don’t […]
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Posted in Analytics, Blogs, Branding, CRM, Lady Gaga, Marketing, Measurement, Messaging, Nina Buik, Strategy, Twitter | Comments Off on Going Gaga!
