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There's nothing we love more than solutions—top-notch insights from top-of-the-line experts that help solve common marketing problems. Once a week, this column will pose a problem, and invite a MarketingProfs speaker—past, present, or future—to help solve it for you. more
"The rise of blogs and social networks has fueled a bull market in personal opinion: reviews, ratings, recommendations and other forms of online expression," writes Alex Wright in a recent New York Times article. "For computer scientists, this fast-growing mountain of data is opening a tantalizing window onto the collective ... more
What do you do when potentially devastating information about your company goes hyper-viral online, reaching millions of people essentially overnight? more
Consumer trends come and go. What else is new? Plenty. We're living in an unprecedented era when several critical elements—consumers' rising debt, higher costs for basic necessities, low savings rates, shrinking assets, and a growing awareness of environmental issues—have gradually come together in a perfect storm. How can marketers respond? more
When it comes to webinar campaigns, less is usually more. Relying on a "spray and pray" approach may drive attendance numbers initially—but often leads to higher drop-off rates and fewer qualified leads. In a whitepaper titled "Top 10 Tips for Webinar Invitation Success," Connect Direct Inc. (CDI) offers advice for ... more
Who's that bleary-eyed chap in the corner? Why, he's the CMO who stayed up all weekend conducting WOM (word-of-mouth) damage-control—after one bad Saturday-morning customer tweet. Welcome to the new downside of 24/7. "Buzz isn't scheduled, especially bad buzz," says Jackie Huba in a Church of the Customer blog post. "Thanks to ... more
Social media measurement is top of mind among marketers surveyed in an informal poll by MarketingProfs: 47% of respondents say social media measurement is important to them. more
As environmental awareness continues to rise, the average consumer has become more conscious of the need to make greener choices. A post at the Osocio blog highlights a satirical cartoon from Lunchbreath that skewers marketers who respond to the trend with disingenuous, "greenwashed" packaging that relies on elements like this: ... more
In a move you wouldn't expect from a restaurant chain, Chipotle recently announced it would sponsor free screenings of the documentary Food Inc., an exposé of the American food industry. Chipotle appears to have progressive bona fides: The Mexican grill claims to serve more naturally raised meat than any other ... more
In a post at the Marketing Interactions blog, Ardath Albee tells the story of a phone call from a favorite charity, and an inarticulate young man who explained that he wasn't calling to ask for a donation. His purpose, though, was not immediately clear. "He launched into reading a script ... more
Total communications spending will decline 1% in 2009, to $882.6 billion—its first spending decline since the 2001 recession—according to the latest Communications Industry Forecast (CIF) from private-equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS). more
Let's say you visit a site like Yelp.com and discover scathingly negative reviews of your product or service. Making matters worse, only a few of your happy customers have balanced the harsh criticism with their praise. In such a scenario, you might be tempted to pose as a customer and ... more
Becoming a source for journalists has gotten a little easier thanks to Peter Shankman's site Help a Reporter Out. "I built this list because a lot of my friends are reporters, and they call me all the time for sources," he explains. "Rather than go through my contact lists each ... more
It seems almost inevitable these days: You run a search on your company's name or product and a negative review, remark or blog post appears in the top listings. What do you do? "Don't ... lose your cool and try to retaliate," says Internet Marketing Consultant Jeremy Martin in a recent ... more
You don't get to be a social-networking superstar without paying your dues. "The way I look at it," says Jay Baer in a video at his blog, "you ought to try to maximize the value of the time spent." His tips for reaching that goal include: Remembering the Eight-to-One ... more
Lots of companies are scrambling to see how they can use Twitter to promote their products and services. But a few good tweets can also provide great customer service. Glenn Ross, in a post at All Business, recently looked at the spectrum of possibilities. He offered a few ways that ... more
As it files for bankruptcy, the once-mighty General Motors faces a public-relations crisis of tremendous proportion: How does it convince customers, employees, suppliers and the American public that it not only deserves to survive, but can? "Let's be completely honest," says the narrator of the "Reinvention" video GM posted to ... more
Imagine this scenario: Your engineering team is about to close out a flawlessly executed systems job, and your customer is thrilled because the solution is already performing beyond expectations. You might have just discovered the ingredients of a great customer relationship—and a powerful case study. But how do you ... more
"As many of you know," begins an article in a recent edition of the Editorial Emergency newsletter, "[cofounder Julia Rubiner has] been cranking out publicity communications—bios, press releases, one-sheets, corporate missives, you name it—for a good decade and a half." The article then lays out a series of Rubiner's PR ... more
As communications experts, we should find it easy to convey the value of our services to the business managers in our organizations. Yet many public relations professionals struggle with expressing results in a way that allows senior executives to easily recognize the impact that PR has on the success of ... more
Valeria Maltoni receives four or five press releases on a typical day—and most leave her singularly unimpressed. "'I think you're fabulous' may seem like a good idea for a subject line," she explains at the Conversation Agent blog, "but if you cannot tell me why, as in what about my ... more
Entrepreneurs, by definition, don't play it too safe. So for a company that serves startups and small businesses, what better way to launch a rebranding campaign and generate buzz than doing something novel and risky—but being wicked smart about it. Which is where the bugs come in. more
It's safe to say the first batch of post-dot-com-bubble brands have come into their own. Brands like Google, eBay, and Amazon. The one thing that sets them apart? They became successful without the support of television advertising to help launch them. more
Holly Buchanan opens a post at the FutureNow blog with a pair of seemingly contradictory ideas: that testimonials work very well and that they don't work at all. Both are true, she argues, because customer praise can be a two-edged sword: If it appears inauthentic or doesn't offer true insight, ... more
With millions of customers in more than 90 countries, Microsoft has its hands full keeping customers satisfied and loyal. But it has found a way to do so—by using Web-monitoring tools, social-media analytics, and the energy of influencers. Read on for valuable insights. more
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