The Pivot Conference is designed for brands and their agencies and will take place October 17th and 18th in New York. This year’s theme focuses on an important shift in marketing as brands respond to “The Rise of the Social Consumer.” As the host and editorial director for the event, I asked early registrants what it was that they wanted to know as they prepare for the event this Fall. I took some time to answer their questions and will…
Is Your Business Antisocial?
I ask with sincerity, is your business antisocial? Take a moment before you respond. I understand you may have Facebook and Twitter presences. Your business may broadcast on YouTube. Perhaps your executives are blogging. If you’re among the more sophisticated organizations, the team is probably subscribing to elaborate monitoring services to listen more effectively. And, with all of the social objects produced inside the organization, it’s come to the point where a content management system or social media management system…
Cisco’s Foray into Brand Journalism
This guest post is by John Earhardt, Director of Social Media Communications at Cisco on the important of brand journalism. You can follow him on Twitter @urnhart. Why My Mom Invented Social Media As Brian Solis stated in a recent blog entry, “social media has never been about the technology as much as it has been governed by social science.” There you have it! Brian Solis has just confirmed that my mom invented social media. No, my mom’s last name…
The Hashtag Economy
Hashtags are to the social web what emoticons were to Web 1.0 and TXTing. While both are forms of expression and sentiment, there is one subtle, but vital difference. Hashtags are not only part of online culture, they are defining a new era of communication on the Web and IRL (in real life). With over 140 million Tweets flying across Twitter every day, hashtags surface a method to the madness – the ability to group conversations into an organized timeline….
A Social Democracy: The White House learns to listen
We are now entering an era of sociopolitical influence, a framework for governments that influences and is influenced by its constituencies through real life interaction and now, new media. Some may say that this isn’t anything new. Certain governments over the years embraced the aspects of digital community in Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. Many also believe that President Obama is the first “Social Media” President. I, however, am a far more pragmatic optimist. While many governments and also President…
The Twitter Paradox
There’s an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Twitter is a paradox that redefines that old saying to, “If it’s broke, don’t fix it, because it works.” For all intents and purposes, Twitter shouldn’t work, yet 200 million people (and bots) have created accounts in this thriving information egosystem. Now, news no longer breaks, it Tweets. Celebrities use it daily to connect directly with fans and also augment their income streams. Politicians and governments use Twitter to…
Rest In Peace Marketing: I Never Really Liked You Anyway
This guest post is by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner and author of the new book Launch. Social and selling just don’t mix. Have you ever been to a wedding sponsored by Nike? Does a future where restaurant tables display infomercials sound appealing? The last thing anyone wants in a social context is a commercial. If you’re responsible for marketing your business, the time for change is now. It’s time to pack away the marketing messages. If…
This is a Time for Leaders to Lead not React
If you’re reacting, someone else defines what you’re going to do, rather than defining what people need to do. Your businesses faces great change. This statement is true about customers, competitors, and everyone else affecting market behavior. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Customer engagement, and specifically customer engagement in social media offers many benefits that businesses are starting to uncover, most of it unintentionally. While many champions knew in their gut that social media…
In Social Media, Your Return Represents Your Investment
Sometimes the path of least resistance unwinds into a far more complicated and arduous journey than we anticipated. In times of change, taking the path less traveled, although initially daunting, proves easier and far more rewarding in the long run. Such is true for social media. I read a review about Engage once that read, “Brian Solis takes the fun out of social media.” The author’s point was that the book took an academic approach when the industry could benefit…
Power to the People: A New Mantra of Business
Exhibitor Magazine ran a feature story on new media and how it is changing the world of event marketing. In our discussion, we expanded the scope beyond events to discuss how people were forcing the evolution of business overall. The result is something quite profound. People are now taking control of their online experiences driven by how they connect and to whom in the social web. This shift changes how people find, share and discover information within their networks of…
