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"Social media, like any new marketing channel, is a sticky slope for B2B marketers," says Justin Hitt in a recent blog. "I personally prefer keeping social media 'business social' rather than polluting it with advertisements." But, wait a minute: if ads are out, what else can B2B marketers do to ... more
In a guest post at the HubSpot blog, Paul Gillin argues that women's interest magazines like Redbook face the same basic challenge as your online properties: grabbing a distracted person's attention and convincing her to become a regular reader. As he analyzes a sample issue swiped from his gym, he ... more
Ah, the mobile phone: we know it well as consumers, and as such are in a perfect position to approach it from a direct marketer's POV. Here are a few ground rules for truly covetable mobile marketing: Bait your line. A useful iPhone app could do you right, as could ... more
"I've often written about 'NASCAR Blindness,'" says Alan Wolk in an intelligent post at MarketingProfs' Daily Fix blog, "the strongly held belief that if no one in your little bubble of upscale artsy BoBo friends is into something, then clearly no one else could be either—and how it afflicts the ... more
Last year, Google and MediaVest reported on a brainwave-tracking study about banner ads. According to the ad giants, banner ads rated a 6.3 in effectiveness—which was said to be a "very encouraging score." But combined with overlays, the effectiveness of banner ads increases to 6.6. This is because users find ... more
In a post at her Conversation Agent blog, Valeria Maltoni recounts how a Skype call to her family in Italy went horribly wrong on Christmas day. "My account is set up to auto-recharge when it dips below a certain amount so that I do not need to worry about interrupting ... more
If you read blogs on a regular basis, you've seen comment spam. There are the obvious offenders (those people, for instance, who work their way around the blogosphere leaving generic cut-and-paste lines like, "I love your blog, check mine out"). Then there are those who rub other readers the wrong ... more
On the weekend it launched, Apple sold one million iPhone 3Gs—and not just to early adopters and hipsters: stats from ChangeWave suggest iPhone's moving in on the smartphone (read: ENTERPRISE!) market, currently dominated by BlackBerry. Already, iPhone's a fertile ad medium. From MySpace to Stella McCartney to the Associated Press, ... more
What's of greater value: the idea itself, the selling of the idea, or the production of the idea? While there seems to be a shift afoot, why does our industry continue to struggle to ascribe value to (and get paid for!) the core concepts that fuel everything else? more
Do you know what will ensure your web site's success in 2009? Here's the top 10 ideas for online marketing success this coming year... and beyond. more
When it comes to your company's reputation, what the Internet giveth, it can also taketh away. The benefits of good online buzz can diminish in the space of hours or days if a harsh critic or unhappy customer decides to make their complaints public. Since you can't formulate a plan ... more
You already know why you need to be on Twitter. And if you've taken the leap into the great microblogging beyond, it's likely you've come across some issues: It takes so much time to produce the number of Tweets necessary to convince Twitter users there's a HUMAN BEING back here! It's ... more
What does "return on investment" really stand for? Roughly, it means the value we expect to get out of the effort we put into something—the output (return) resulting from an input (investment). But here's the trick: ignoring the input, or doing nothing in social media, will guarantee no return at ... more
Sony Electronics rolled out a series of online, community-focused features aimed at providing value for (and connecting with) personal electronics users. The effort is paying off with high usage, increased customer insight, loyalty... and sales growth. more
In a post at his Be the Brand blog, Dave Saunders links to a YouTube video by Perry Belcher that takes some Twitter users to task for their seeming lack of interest in the people who follow them. (NB: The video contains some four-letter words.) Belcher illustrates his point with ... more
Gems of 2008: Online reputation management means tracking your brand and reacting when necessary. Brand monitoring can save you from a potential disaster when someone cites your name in an article that misrepresents you. What's more, it can help you proactively join conversations around your topic area, helping to get ... more
Gems of 2008: People have not stopped buying things, so how are they researching and purchasing products since they have made themselves immune to old marketing techniques like banner ads and direct mail? The answer is with search engines and Google. According to comScore, Americans conducted 11.5 billion searches in June ... more
You know its time for your company to enter the realm of social media, but perhaps you're unsure of how to get started, or where to concentrate your efforts. You probably require outside help. And in a Pro article at MarketingProfs, Mack Collier provides an in-depth primer on hiring a ... more
If you were to talk to a sixth grader about blogs or social networks or streaming video, you'd be having a conversation with a first-generation "digital native." While the rest of us learn new media as a second language—with varying levels of skill and comprehension—this emerging segment speaks Web 2.0 ... more
"While US consumers are fully embracing text messaging," says Alan Berrey in an article at MarketingProfs, "very few enterprises have followed suit." And when you consider that 80 percent of Americans own mobile phones, and send over one billion test messages each day, it makes sense to develop a strategy ... more
We're suckers for any video series that takes an entertaining approach to informative content like the weekly podcasts from HubSpot TV, hosted by the extremely likeable duo of Karen Rubin and Mike Volpe. This episode opens with viewer mail. The first question asks whether a company should add a Twitter ... more
You learned in school that there's no such thing as a free lunch. But as cable TV's popularity wanes against the force of the almighty Internet, it looks like "free lunch" has become stat quo: nobody wants to pay for TV shows, movies or SNL video clips anymore. They want ... more
Motrin recently created an online hulabaloo when a video intended for laughs instead raised the ire of its target audience: Mothers. "Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion," begins the female narrator of a 47-second spot. "I mean, in theory it's a great idea." And with a whiff of ... more
You want to explore uncharted territory, but you're also worried about sowing cash on unproven social media ground. Well, here's a way to play it safe: ease, ever so slowly, into Facebook. The facts: It's the largest social networking site in the world. In August '08, users spent an average ... more
If you use Twitter the way Mack Collier does, you might feel overwhelmed as you try to keep up with the constant stream of conversation, and stay connected with actual friends and colleagues. In an attempt to get a handle on his situation, Collier decided to cut back on the number ... more
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