Should you write your blog or engineer it?
I think I figured out why nearly every social media blogger sounds exactly the same — commonly referred to as the “echo chamber.” I’m learning that copying and pasting can be profitable. To unpack my point, allow me a brief explanation of content marketing.** One hot concept is using statistical methods to determine optimal “keywords” that, when used strategically […]
The clash of the social media know-nothings
The know-nothings. You know who I’m talking about right? Social media “marketers” who have never practiced marketing. Maybe have never even had a sales job or a college-level marketing class. But they’ve created a Facebook page and have 500 followers on Twitter so somehow that makes them a guru. “You can’t walk out your house […]
An interesting interview with SAP’s social media director
I pleased to present today an interview with William Robb, Director, Social Media Marketing for SAP. SAP is the world’s largest provider of business software and the social media role is extremely complex. In addition to being a true B2B company, the many software users within these client companies act as consumers of the software […]
Twitter time-savers: Tweet success in just 20 minutes a day
“How much time should I spend on Twitter?” is a question I get asked repeatedly. And last week one person upped the game by asking, “But what if I only have 20 minutes a day?” OK, I accept the challenge! Here are my thoughts on being an effective Twitter-er in only 20 minutes a day. […]
This is what happens when Barbie joins Twitter
Mayhem ensues when Barbie joins Twitter
Can The Shirtless Old Spice Guy pull off a marketing miracle?
Unless you’ve been in a cave this week, it would have been hard to avoid the splendid, amazing and entertaining Old Spice media blitz, which includes brilliant ads and one of the best social media campaigns in the young history of the channel. “Hello Ladies,” says the oh-so-manly Old Spice guy. “Does your man look […]
Why your company may not need social media
Let’s have some fun with my buns. Cinnamon buns, that is. One of the myths we recently discussed on {grow} was the claim that every business needs to use social media in its marketing strategy. So what determines if the social web can be used effectively in any company? One key is industry structure. Marketers are […]
The 20 craziest things you can do on Twitter
OK, we’ve heard all the great business success stories about connecting and learning through Twitter. But the human race is made up of all kinds of people and some of them have more important things to do. Like hooking their toilet up to Twitter. I started collecting some of these random (and real) uses of […]
Creating a content marketing plan — without any content
When somebody talks about “content marketing,” they’re really talking about “content engineering” — scientifically optimizing documents such as blogs, case studies and white papers to create search engine results and sales leads. This can be an extremely complicated, time-consuming and expensive proposition! So I started thinking about this in the context of my friends and […]
Can the social web play a role in customer retention?
The recession has culled the weak from the pack but it’s likely that your competition is still fierce. Is there a way to attract and retain B2B customers without lowering your price? And is there a way to leverage the social web to keep your customers … even in the extreme case of a commodity […]