A client asked me the other day, because I work quite a bit in video, if I encouraged others to use video to generate stronger interest in their brand. Generally… YES. But why? At the time, I couldn’t give him a definitive answer. I use many sources to create interest in the brands I manage, so to single out video made it difficult to communicate the sole benefit to their brand. Eventually, the conversation diverted to other topics, but I just couldn’t forget the question. So, out of curiosity, I clicked on the YouTube link on one of that customer’s
More Marketing News →Yes. For those of you that might have been hiding under a rock on Monday, there was a HUGE disturbance in the force. It was like the voices of millions of websites cried out and were suddenly silenced all at once. Our King, our Mohamed atop the mountain was … down. For hours on Monday the King of all web domains, GoDaddy, was nowhere to be found, on the web or anywhere else for that matter. Well, at least it seemed like it. With that, millions of websites and interactive outposts such as email accounts, e-commerce sites and blogs were
More Marketing News →It seems you can’t swing a dead cat these days without hitting a “Brand” expert. No cats were harmed in the writing of this blog. Seriously – type “branding” into your search engine and see what pops up! More than 10 pages of branding blogs and websites. While there ARE companies who know branding and how it works, there are also companies who just use a lot of big words and involved formulas to make them sound like they know what they’re talking about. So, how do you weed out the experts from the snake-oil salesmen? Let TRUE Branding be
More Marketing News →HEY, social media marketers, are you doing your job? How do you measure the effectiveness of your services to your clients? Hours billed vs. profit gained? Sure, but measuring ROI is often a tricky game. Do you take the client’s sales reports and compare them to the activity you’ve (hopefully) documented for every campaign, or do you have a tracking mechanism that works within their e-commerce workflow? Measurement is Important All of the above questions are those that should be asked when embarking on a serious social media marketing campaign. Unfortunately, many clients have yet to understand how to ask
More Marketing News →When it comes to SOCIAL media, I’m often asked by customers and peers alike “What can I do to really manage my brand’s reputation through social media?” (Yes, somewhat a redundant question, but I’ll get to that in another post…) Well, a lot of that answer depends on the circumstances in which your “reputation” finds itself. In the case below, I had a conversation about a peer’s client wanting “Edit” reviews on FourSquare… Hmmmmm As always, I try to keep my advice “Above The Line” and beneficial to all parties, but the implications of what the client wanted to do
More Marketing News →Social Media. It’s everywhere – our computers, our phones, our video game consoles. We hear the phrase in television shows and commercials. You see the logos in shop windows encouraging you to “Like us on Facebook!” or “Follow us on Twitter!” Most of us DO, too. Just trying to keep a finger on the pulse of the world around us, afraid of missing out on something. How do YOU use your social media outlets? Is it for business and marketing? Do you strictly use Facebook and Twitter to connect with potential clients/customers? Is it a platform for your political/religious views
More Marketing News →I’m often asked by clients and peers, “How do I (we) increase my site traffic? How do I (we) get more people to read the blog?” Well, it’s a matter of targeted marketing, brand consistency and good writing. All of which even the BEST writers, marketers and bloggers struggle with on EVERY post. But once a successful post formula is found, it’s like crack. You want, no, NEED to do it over and over again until your eyeballs rollback in your head and you fall to the ground in crippling ecstasy… Okay, maybe not that far, but it’s close. 🙂
More Marketing News →We all want to be liked. We all want to be the coolest and we all care what others think of us. This is true in the corporate world, as well as in our personal lives. But how do you know when to take peers’ “advice” and when to ignore it? In a previous business life, I worked in retail. Fast-paced, exciting, challenging – and Brand centered. One day, a “Secret Shopper” came into our store, quietly sizing us up, checking our customer service skills and the overall shopping experience. His “findings” were then written into a not-so-nice blog post
More Marketing News →Trying to control social media is like trying to drink the ocean one cup at a time. For successful marketing and communications, companies need to TARGET their social media efforts to their local level to better engage with their audience. Using Twitter Hashtags, Facebook Groups and Events as well as some common sense, the following video explains how to create a more focused social media marketing approach. Focus Your Social Media Marketing Hat tip to our friends at The Des Moines Social Media Club, including Tom Brazelton (@TomBrazelton on twitter_ and the whole @SMCDSM crew as well as a BIG
More Marketing News →One must be mindful of company name when joining social media outlets. Facebook and Twitter have millions of users so one assumes this tool would be on the forefront of any business person’s mind before making a huge name announcement. Alas, last week Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that Netflix has transformed its DVD via mail side of the business into Qwikster. This change makes sense with streaming video gaining popularity while one-day Qwikster may go the way of cassette tapes. Although, that is neither here nor there. The real issue at hand is that the people at Netflix neglected
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