Source: Shutterstock (edited) As some social media experts are now starting to realize, businesses need a little bit more than relationships to justify their spend in conversational marketing. Relationships are difficult to forge and even more burdensome to measure. And while participation and engagement are part of a more effective interactive business communications program now, we can not neglect our responsibilities to the bottom line as well as our dedication to existing customers and prospects. Socialized media affects an organization…
The Evolution of A New Trust Economy
Source: Shutterstock (edited) Social Media is rooted in relationships, the dynamic interaction and collaboration between real people. We learned and continue to learn how to communicate in public forums, evolving our personal views on privacy and uncertainty as we transform from digital introverts to social extroverts. This is our industrial revolution and its reward for participation is relevance. The socialization of online societies democratized the publishing industry and equalized influence. The Social Economy Socialnomics is the study of what I…
There’s an App for That: Mobile is the Next Frontier for Brand Engagement
Source Mobile phones are rapidly emulating the capabilities of desktop and notebook PCs, serving as one of the three screens of the Golden Triangle that captures a bulk of our attention and interaction. As the social web evolves, attention is shifting away from destinations and migrating towards packaging and engendering micro experiences. These self-contained environments are delivered directly to individuals where their attention is focused, catering to their appetite for consumption. Whereas Websites served this function from the 90s until…
Some Things are Worth Repeating: The Greatest Hits of 2009 Part I
Source: Shutterstock In the world of reruns, there’s a saying, if you’ve never seen it, then it’s new to you. As we near the end of 2009, I wanted to share with you some of the posts that I believe will help you as you tackle challenges, opportunities, and set the stage for innovation and growth in 2010. Even if you read the original posts when they initially hit the Web, chances are that their lessons, experiences, and insights still…
Is Facebook Losing its Coveted Demographic?
comScore recently released a report that triggered nothing short of a “sky is falling” media panic. Led by Adweek asking if Facebook is getting uncool for the 18-24 year olds, the media is speculating as to whether or not a mass exodus is underway with much of the blame focusing on parents “ruining the party” for younger demographics. Here’s what we do know… comScore is reporting that time spent on Facebook by 18-24 year olds is waning. In July 2009,…
Socialized Media: The Powerful Effects of Online Brand Interaction
Shutterstock As we’re learning, many updates on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks are actually invitations for answers regarding brands. We’ve also discovered that 44% of users readily share brand-related information with others. And, as action speaks louder than words, 48% of those who came into contact with a brand name on Twitter and 34% on other social networks went on to search for additional information on search engines. Does this information in and of itself serve as an invitation…
Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs
Inbound Marketing is a new book written by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah of HubSpot. This book is an exceptional guide to understanding the landscape of creating and maximizing presence. Inbound Marketing refers to the act of consumers discovering your brand through various forms of online media, without your direct engagement necessarily. In the interactive Web, I refer to this practice as SMO or Social Media Optimization – the art and science of escalating the findability of social objects within…
On PR, Social Media and the Evolution of the Web with Robert Scoble
I recently visited good friend Robert Scoble, his lovely wife Maryam and their family in Half Moon Bay. It was an overdue trip, one without an agenda. It was a fleeting opportunity to catch up, talk a bit about the latest book, and also an excuse to have a fireside chat, literally, on the grounds of the Ritz Carlton (overlooking the 18th green and the Pacific Ocean.) Before we could walk over to the Ritz however, Scoble sat me down,…
PBS MediaShift: Social Media Marketing
Mark Glaser (@mediatwit) is the executive editor of PBS MediaShift and also the host of 5Across. MediaShift serves as the guide to the future of the digital media revolution. Over the years, I’ve followed Glaser’s work closely. His astute observation and poignant sense of distillation and direction help his readers and viewers understand change and evolution to make more informed decisions. Recently, we discussed the landscape, market, opportunity and pitfalls, and psychology associated with sponsored tweets, paid posts, disclosure and…
Finding Influencers in Social Media
Source: Shutterstock Guest post by Dan Zarella, author of “The Social Media Marketing Book,” published by O’Reilly. When you’re trying to find targets for a social media marketing campaign, you should be looking for two types of people, influencers and audience. Your audience is the people you’re trying to sell to, this is a wide swath of potential users, clients or customers. They may or may not be heavily involved in social media and they may or may not have…
