Question

Topic: Our Forum

Forum Topics - Suggestions For New Topics

Posted by Anonymous on 7/9/2009 at 12:11 PM ET 100 Points
Hi everyone,

In the recent discussion "How Can We Make Our Marketing Community Forum Better?" (https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=29467), SteveByrneBranding made the suggestion to add a Social Media topic to the fourm.

I thought perhaps there might also be other topics that you have an interest in that are currently not available...

If you could add additional topics or change/expand some of the exitising topics, would you? If so, what would you add/change?

Thanks in advance!

Beth
Community Manager, MarketingProfs
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 7/9/2009 at 12:25 PM Accepted
    Steve is a smart man ;) I vote for social media too, often I look for social media questions to answer and I have to check 3-4 different categories to find them. I think social media as a space and discipline has grown to the point where it deserves it's own space!

    BTW cool that you guys are asking for member feedback!
  • Posted by Ann H. on 7/9/2009 at 12:42 PM Accepted
    Some of the ideas I'm thinking about:

    * Changing "Book Club" to "Book Reviews," to give members a place to chat about recent titles they've read.

    * Separating Advertising and PR (because they seem to me two different things)

    * Retooling "E-marketing"

    * Adding Email, Mobile

    In part, I think it would help evolve and broaden this Forum as well as begin to create categories that synch up with other resources MarketingProfs has and what else we publish. But we're anxious to hear your thoughts... so suggest away!

    Ann
    twitter.com/marketingprofs
  • Posted on 7/9/2009 at 5:13 PM Accepted
    I suspect some folks are a little confused by the difference between "E-Marketing" and "SEO/SEM." Seems to me the latter is a subset of the former.

    Similarly, there seems to be a lot of overlap between "Strategy" and "Branding." (Isn't branding a strategy?)

    Ditto for "Advertising/PR" and "Copywriting."

    Of course we understand the differences literally, but frequently there are posts under one that could/should have been under the other. Might be nice if we could find a way to categorize a little more clearly. Not sure how much time/effort it's worth, but if we're looking at a restructuring, then it's probably worth going back to basics and reviewing the reasons for having multiple categories.

    Another possible new category: Marketing Services. We get several questions from new marketing service providers, and they don't seem to fit neatly under any of the existing categories. (Examples: How to get new clients, what kind of legal entity, how to bill for services, how much to give away and when to start charging, what format for proposals, etc.)
  • Posted on 7/9/2009 at 5:23 PM Accepted
    Another possible new category: New Products and Relaunches.

    It could include both product/service ideas that people ask about (and how to develop them, market them, etc.); and launch plans for line extensions or restaged products.

    Again, we get these kinds of questions, and they never seem to fit neatly into any of the existing categories.
  • Posted by jeff on 7/9/2009 at 6:34 PM Accepted
    Social Media category - how companies are using twitter, myspace, youtube, flickr, facebook etc

    BtoB - possibly the forum categories include BtoB in addition to BtoC but as Marketing Director with a software company there are so few places to get BtoB content it would be nice to have a specific location dedicated to this kind of content

    Direct Response - listing how companies are using direct response in advertising, print, web to generate leads

    Jeff Schaeffler
    Director of Marketing - Vision Critical
    https://twitter.com/JSchaeffler
  • Posted on 7/9/2009 at 10:14 PM Accepted
    I think advertising and PR should definitely be separated. But here's another question, if I want to search the forum for questions with the word 'Twitter' in the question, how do I do that? Can I?

    Also could there be subcategories under social media? Like I could see blogging and social networks have their own area. Or maybe watch volume and see if it warrants a nice subcategory?

    And Mobile sounds like a good idea as well.
  • Posted on 7/10/2009 at 7:49 AM Moderator
    Mack,

    In the column at the right side of the page there's an option to "Search Questions." You can search in a number of ways, including keywords or phrases. So all you have to do is enter "twitter" and you'll get a list of all the questions that have "twitter" either in the question or in one of the answers.

    It's actually pretty handy and very easy to use once you get into it.



  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/10/2009 at 2:15 PM Accepted
    Perhaps add a keyword cloud and/or keyword trends for the forum as well. Sometimes a question doesn't fit into a neat category, and the keywords may be another handle on the wealth of information in the forum.
  • Posted on 7/10/2009 at 2:27 PM Author
    Thanks everyone! These are great suggestions... I hope to leave this open for a bit more so everyone has time to provide their input.

    It seems that adding "launches" is on some of our minds, what about the topic of "Marketing Launches" to replace Taglines/Names?

    Marketing launches encompass a lot of topics: naming, taglines, branding, planning, etc. Perhaps having a Marketing Launches category (or whatever topic name works best) might provide an area for people with a more challenging marketing issue to find expert advice?

    Your thoughts?

    Thanks,
    Beth
    Community Manager
    MarketingProfs
  • Posted on 7/10/2009 at 2:53 PM Moderator
    "Marketing Launches" is a little redundant, since the whole site is about Marketing. "New Products/Launches" would probably be better.

    One thing I would NOT do is replace "Taglines/Names" at all. That's probably the most popular category on the list right now, and the source of more new members than anything else. And while "Launches" may include naming, often they don't (company is already named), and sometime "Naming" has nothing to do with a launch ... or the asker hasn't made that connection yet.

    The category names should be selected based on what will be immediately recognized by the people asking the questions, not for our convenience.
  • Posted on 7/10/2009 at 3:21 PM Author
    Great insights, thanks Michael.

    I suspect it's my background that made me suggest that...

    Through the years I've launched over 60 products/services and have worked with some of the best product marketers & managers around. It's been my experience that a new product/service launch often does include product/service naming and trademarking (and sometimes an advertising tagline) as part of the launch and it's often the product manager/marketer driving the name, but seeking help.

    New Products/Launches could be that place too (as well as names/taglines) because you just never know what a marketer might be thinking or where they might head to ask a question. ;-) To your point, options are always a good thing.

    As well, I wasn't suggesting convenience, I was just suggesting... I've learned through the years that marketers come from different backgrounds, experiences, exposures, so, personally, I like to keep an open mind and make/take all suggestions.

    Thanks for your feedback and keeping me on my toes, as always it's much appreciated.

  • Posted on 7/11/2009 at 11:38 AM Member
    Mgoodman, gotcha on the search. I guess I would like a clickable option to ONLY search titles or ONLY search the question itself for a term. Or to search both.
  • Posted on 7/11/2009 at 12:48 PM Moderator
    What is it you are trying to accomplish, Mack? Why are you searching? Maybe if we understand that, we can figure out a work-around or alternate solution.

    I think the current search searches titles, questions and responses (though I haven't specifically tried it recently). That would seem to let you do almost anything you need to do.

    Searching just titles, for example, could miss things you want because people don't always explain their questions in the title. Similarly, sometime the title IS the question, and the rest of the post is either explanation or useless. You really need both for most purposes.
  • Posted on 7/14/2009 at 6:27 PM Member
    Thanks Michael. Sometimes I just want to search the title, other times just the question. I'd like the option to choose. Try doing it yourself and you should see what I mean ;)
  • Posted on 11/22/2009 at 11:25 AM Member
    How about the addition of Website Marketing?

    Website Critique - Step 1
    (Good starting point, of course, good product or service has to be there first...)

    Website Marketing - Step 2
    (A convenient and low cost way to reach target market for many products and services)

    Or am I missing something?
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