Jan 2009

Marketing in today's economy | Feb 2009 | Dec 2008

So what did Papa John's Facebook page, and connection with 200,000 people, do for the bottom line?

01/30/09 04:20 PM

It was an interesting read; 200,000 have connected on Papa John's page within Facebook and according to a company spokesperson "it exceeded all expectation for ROI" even though they gave away thousands of "virtual pizzas". What people want to know, however, is what did it do for sales and how did they measure the impact of a Facebook page on sales? If I went into my boss and told him we had 200,000 people on our Facebook page he would then ask me "and that translates into how many sales?" Marketers are being asked to communicate social media strategy in terms of sales impact not awareness. Read More...

A small change in the website = $300 million

01/29/09 11:00 AM

A user interface company studied people actually using an eCommerce site that required people to register to purchase items, and it turns out that the prospect of registering was enough to turn some users away; meanwhile, even return users had problems logging in because they didn't remember the email address or password they signed up with. (45% of users apparently had multiple registrations—a few had up to 10.) Granted, these represented a small portion of users. But for a retailer with $25 billion, even small portions signify huge lost profits. So they redesigned the site, replacing the "register" button with "continue." They also added a message, saying that registering wasn't required to checkout, but was optional and might be helpful if you returned. Sales went up 45%—$15 million in the first month, and $300 million in the first year.

NBC: PETA ad too sexy for prime time

01/28/09 04:05 PM

NBC pulled the plug on a PETA pro-veggie commercial planned for the Super Bowl because it "depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards," according to NBC Universal's advertising standards executive, Victoria Morgan. The ad, which carries the tagline, "Studies Show Vegetarians Have Bet ter Sex," shows lingerie-clad stunners getting "intimate" with vegetable

The new attributes of branding

01/28/09 01:39 PM

Government, business and media distrust by conumers at an all time high

01/28/09 01:24 PM

In no country is trust in a more dismal state than in the United States, where government, business, and media are all distrusted by respondents (ages 25 to 64) to do what is right, even with a new administration elected to power. Trust in U.S. business—at 38% down from 58% last year—is the lowest in the Barometer’s tracking history among informed publics ages 35 to 64—even lower than in the wake of Enron and the dot-com bust. The two industries leading the plummet in trust are those that sought government bailouts in 2008 banking and automotive.

Hard times means more people using social media

01/28/09 08:07 AM

The daily numbers of people being layed off is staggering, 50,000 here, 20,000 there and among the layoffs we here stories of Wall Street executives paying bonuses, buying $50 million jets and spending $1 million to redo their offices. As more and more people lose their jobs the level of frustration is going to rise and more and more people are going to turn to social media to vent. Why? Because they want to be heard in an era where they feel they don't have a voice and they want to put politicians and companies on notice that they are mad as hell and they are not going to take it anymore !
Read More...

Customer service is going to get worse, even with social media, because companies are laying off too many people

01/26/09 08:49 AM

John Paczkowski, a reporter for Digital WSJ, hit the nail right on the head this morning. "Labor reductions are always the most difficult action to take, but many companies are finding it necessary in this environment,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said in a statement announcing the layoffs. “We continue to improve the customer experience, and these improvements are reflected in much higher levels of satisfaction in customer surveys and in independent performance tests. Our commitment to quality will not change.” Yeah, well, your commitment to quality might not change, but quality itself certainly will. A 14.3 percent reduction in work force isn’t likely to improve Sprint’s customer experience, now is it?
Read More...

How to make Facebook profitable

01/24/09 10:02 AM

What do you do to make money if you have a Website with over 200 million unique users? Why not charge companies for Facebook pages and provide them with unique tools to monitor and drive traffic to their site? You can't charge people for using Facebook because they'll leave you in droves, especially in a down economy. You have built a unique Website that attracts a lot of people and have a lot of cool features & after all Facebook IS a business struggling to become profitable. This means tough decisions are going to have to be made but charging marketers to market on your site is the right thing to do.
Read More...

7 Ways to Increase Your Whuffie Factor

01/22/09 09:01 AM

Tara Hunt, co-founder of Citizen Agency and author of The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business, appears on Fast Company's, "The Most Influential Women in Technology: The Evangelists." Here she shares "7 Ways to Increase Your Whuffie Factor." Read More...

Identifying and responding to threats via social media

01/22/09 06:21 AM

As you start to listen with social media you will no doubt start to identify threats to you brand or product. How do you respond or more importantly which threats do you respond to? In order to determine that you either need a full time person who can quantify the threats for for you or you need to hire an agency to monitor the threats, quantify them so that you can determine your companies response. I have used Nielsen Buzz Metrics and can highly recommend their service. At about $15-$20K per year it's not inexpensive but they can provide you with a wealth of information on what people are saying about you and your competitors.
Read More...

Forget the 4P's it's now about the 4 T's

01/21/09 08:21 AM

While most marketers are looking at substantial budget cuts this year the smart ones are investing in technology and new marketing programs that get them closer to their customers. There is a shift in marketing today from the 4 P's to the 4 T's and marketers need to do everything they can to embrace the 4 T's as a way to increase sales but most of all getting closer to those people who are the influencers and could save our brand from obscurity. The brand today is everything in the company from products, customer service to HR and in order to enhance the brand you need to listen to what your customers want which could a lot more than an excellent product.

Reality is that sales drive the business

01/20/09 04:08 PM

I have to admit that I am sick and tired of agency people who fly around the country giving talks on social media while having no contact with the reality of business pressures today. The fact of the matter is that business is business to make money and in order to make money they need sales. Social media is a great way to increase brand awareness and get closer to your customers but the reality is that it's not going to add to the bottom line, at least not right away. Still these so called social media evangelists have no problem blowing their own horns and telling marketing people what they should be doing while marketing people are hearing "we need to make the numbers and make them now". The other laughable aspect is paying $295 for a 4-6 page report when there is a lot of free stuff out their to be had.

Yes I believe in social media but I am also a realist and see what my clients are going through when they try to ask for money to implement a program that may or may not add to the bottom line. These people are under pressure not only to increase sales and generate leads but for their jobs as well. A lot of companies are cutting marketing people and asking for a program that requires a lot of resources to run is not the way to secure the love of company executives. Read More...

Tags: Working in Internet marketing

So you had one million view your video or have 200,000 people on a Facebook page: now what?

01/20/09 10:13 AM

One of the reasons that so many social media strategies fail is that that the marketing people forget to tie back the program to the brand objectives or that they forget that maintaining a Facebook page or Twitter account requires resources everyday. Take for example the Burger King viral video campaign or the Facebook program. People within the ad industry are hailing these programs as successes but I would argue that unless BK sales are up as a direct result of these programs than they are a failure. To spend money on a branding campaign for a brand that already has high brand awareness is a waste of resources and is indicative of the problem of using old marketing for new channels.
Read More...

Tags: Measurement, Social Media

Why you need social media in 2009

01/19/09 04:04 PM

Forget the fact that most marketers say they are sick of hearing about social media. The fact of the matter is that you need to have a social media marketing strategy. You can't sit back and think that "it will pass", because that is a fatal mistake for you brand or company. Social media is growing because it is being fed by the strength of the collective (like the Borg) & the ability to be social and interact with others (how novel !) Here are some reasons why you can't ignore social media in 2009 and sit on the sideline; time to jump into the game ! Be prepared to be ruffed up a bit as you hear things about your brand that you don't want to hear and realize that a lot of the dollars you spent to develop great ads and messages may not be relevant today. Read More...

Tags: Social Media trends

Why marketing is going to feel more pressure to "produce"

01/19/09 10:28 AM

Like consumers and homeowners, America’s corporations binged on easy credit when times were flush, racking up huge debts. Now the bills are due, and paying them back will not be easy, or cheap. This year alone, more than $700 billion in corporate loans will come due, according to Standard & Poor’s. That is the size of the federal bailout of the financial sector. Many companies were counting on being able to borrow more money to meet those obligations and kick their debt farther down the road. But with the credit markets still tight, corporations are being forced to pay much higher interest rates than they did a few years ago, putting more strain on balance sheets already hammered by falling profits and a grinding recession. This means that more cuts are coming to corporate America and marketing is going to hit and hit hard. Read More...

Tags: Marketing budgets, Social Media

Marketers still upset with agencies

01/18/09 11:05 AM

I thought that the recent article that marketers still thought their agencies didn't get it was very interesting. For way too long most agencies have had one goal and that is to get the client to spend money. Now with marketers getting critiqued on every program and being held accountable they are turning to agencies and making them accountable for hard metrics as well. No we're not talking about how many people remember commercials or aware of the brand we're talking about basic core metrics like impact on sales. Here are some suggestions to ensure that working with your agency goes well and that you are happy with the results.
Read More...

Tags: Agencies

Stress? We don't need no stinkin' stress we're marketers !

01/17/09 10:27 AM

For most marketers these are stress filled days. You're budgets are being cut, you're being asked to do a lot more with less and consumers have stopped listening to your advertising and are laughing at you behind your back. Welcome to a new era of new media and marketing that we have never seen before ! Most of the stuff you learned getting your MBA is not applicable today and those textbooks on marketing and advertising are useless except for use as door stops. Read More...

Tags: Working in Internet marketing

Not using social media daily can lead to anxiety

01/16/09 01:17 PM

If you read about the 600% growth in TWITTER than you're alone. It seems that a lot of people are discovering Twitter and learning about the cool tools you can use to Tweet anywhere or anyplace. However be warned: not using social media daily can lead to social media guilt that has sever withdrawal symptoms. Read More...

Tags: Consumers

Will consumers continue to pay the price of cool?

01/16/09 08:08 AM

There was an interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal entitled "I was once Chic, but now I'm cheap". The author talks about how he switched his family to Mac's a couple of years ago and how they thought it was "cool" to be a Mac user. However, he realizes that in a couple of years he is going to need new computers for his family and rather than pay a high price to be cool and stay with Mac's he thinks that he will probably go to PC's because the prices of PC's are dropping and are less expensive than entry level Mac's. This is an interesting article because it may signal that some consumers are really willing to give up being cool and paying a price for some brands for less expensive brands that have the same utility. Should this scare marketers? You bet it should ! Read More...

Tags: Cool Brands

Money is shifting to online media

01/16/09 05:51 AM

There are major signs that the online market is doing very well thank you very much. Century 21 is taking all their ad dollars out of TV and putting them into the Web, President Obama is going to sign a $650 million bill that is for technology, including more high speed Internet access, and he wants to redo the whole White House Internet presence and spend more time online communicating with people. In addition to all this Edmunds is going to invest $10 million in an online ad campaign to drive and drive sales of new cars and several US car manufacturers have indicated a major increase in interactive spending. Now what do they know that your company doesn't? Read More...

Tags: Marketing budgets, Social Media

Adults and social media use

01/15/09 10:17 AM

One third (35%) of American adult internet users have a profile on an online social network site, four times as many as three years ago, but still much lower than the 65% of online American teens who use social networks. The share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now,1 according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s December 2008 tracking survey. Read More...

Tags: Internet facts, Internet marketing

Today 500,000 views of a viral video doesn't mean anything unless it drives sales

01/15/09 05:48 AM

I have engaged in a very lively debate online with my colleagues about buzz and viral videos. My thesis is that today marketers are being held accountable for everything we do and that marketing programs, such as viral videos, have to meet the business objective which today is to increase sales and impact the bottom line. The days of awareness translating into sales are coming to an end and I for one would not want to go into a meeting to report the success of a video that went viral only to learn that it did nothing to halt a sales decline or increase share. Read More...

Tags: Social Media trends

Media fragmentation as social media usage increases

01/14/09 02:32 PM

As Americans buy products, seek information, plan their social lives, and make personal and business decisions, the lines between media channels in the 21st century have become increasingly blurred, according to the third annual U.S. Media Myths & Realities survey. This melding of media means the content deliverables that were once owned by a specific medium are now found on nearly all platforms – a shift that has helped create an increasingly participatory and fragmented media landscape.

click to enlarge

Social media usage information

01/13/09 11:21 AM

netpop-social-networks-40-million-americans-contribute-december-2008

Netpop finds that 76% of US broadband users (105 million) are active contributors to the web via social media (including uploading photos, blogging, rating products and other Web 2.0 activities). Moreover, approximately 29%, or 40 million broadband users are regular contributors to the web specifically through social networking sites and are spending increasing amounts of their online time communicating with each other, both one-to-one and one-to-many.

What are metrics of success?

01/13/09 10:40 AM

Burger King's recent "Whopper Virgins" campaign is on track to replicate the online success of the fast feeder's earlier viral success "Whopper Freakout," but its impact on sales remains to be seen. This could be a classic example of implementing a great program but not meeting brand objectives. Let's face it, today awareness does not equal sales and marketers are being held accountable for everything we do. In the end this might win their agency an award but when sales are looked at it had better move the needle. Read More...

Tags: Video, You Tube

Women and the Internet (usage)

01/12/09 01:30 PM

While men may claim to be the masters of technology, it is the women who are embracing the new age of media and integrating their computers and the Internet into their television viewing. According to a new study by IMMI, usage of television and an Internet-connected computer at the same time averaged 17.5 minutes per day among females 15-48 and 15.7 minutes per day among males in the same age group.

The highest simultaneous television/Internet usage was among females 30-39, at 23.3 minutes per day, more than double that of males in the same age group at 10.6 minutes. The data also shows that simultaneous usage of men starts strong and decreases as they approach their 40s, with women showing the opposite profile. After 40, the level of simultaneous usage is quite similar between men and women.

Considering the amount of sports-related programming that connects the Web to television, it was surprising to see the highest simultaneous usage was among adult women. Women appear more inclined to multi-task than men, particularly when balancing their personal and professional lives during the heaviest child-rearing years. This is entirely consistent with studies of online television consumption previously conducted by IMM

Tags: Demographics, Social Media

Should marketers pull back ad budgets?

01/11/09 07:18 AM

More and more each day we are learning the true extent of just how bad the economy really is. The worst recession since WWII and the unemployment rate could go into double digits soon. What should marketers do? Should they pull back ad budgets or cancel marketing programs? The answer to that depends on where you're at in your product life-cycle but if you have a brand with a high level of awareness you should be rethinking your allocation of marketing dollars. Here are some suggestions on what marketers should be doing NOW to prepare for the coming months ahead. Read More...

Tags: Branding

Internet is by the far number one for product information and purchase decisions

01/09/09 08:21 AM

From today's WSJ: A special kind of consumer has taken a major role in the marketplace -- the new info shopper. These people just can't buy anything unless they first look it up online and get the lowdown.A whopping 92% of respondents said they had more confidence in information they seek out online than anything coming from a salesclerk or other source. They believe the information they find, not in the information that is spoon-fed to them, and the vast number of clicks today prove that they really are devoting time and energy to ferreting out detailed info before they buy.

Tags: Branding

Problems at Linked continue

01/08/09 08:05 AM

Not to long ago Linked In laid off some people as they continue to try and find ways to make money from social media but have these lay offs led to a deterioration of service? It has been my experience that Linked In continues to have a number of problems with apps that don't work and access problems. This clearly shows what can happen when you make a shortsighted mistake to satisfy the balance sheet at the expense of users.

This is what I found when I tried to go on Linked In this morning and it's not the first
time that I have experienced access issues.

Tags: LinkedIn

Marketers sick of social media (whatever that is!)

01/07/09 10:21 AM

Marketing executives are going back to basics this year, putting renewed focus on satisfying and retaining customers and investing in research and insights, but they are “sick” of hearing about Web 2.0, according to a survey from Anderson Analytics conducted for the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG). However what is really troubling that is that most marketers are sick and tired of hearing about "buzzwords" like Web 2.0 and social media. Another indication that there is indeed a need for a changing of the guard when it comes to current marketing talent. Marketers still admit they don’t know enough about social media. This was evident in results from a November 2008 MENG social media study showing 67% of executive marketers consider themselves beginners when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes. Read More...

Tags: Social Media marketing guidelines

Empower your brand lovers

01/07/09 08:14 AM

In the pharmaceutical industry they use physicians as "thought leaders". These physicians are brought into the loop on marketing, clinical studies and to give feedback on a pharma's company drugs. In short they are "influencers" who can spread the word about new products. If you look at some social media sites you will probably see some people who rave about brands or products because of a great experience. Unlike Apple, who tends to ignore these people, maybe consumer packaged companies and others should empower brand lovers and make them "thought leaders" for the brand. Read More...

Tags: Branding

As consumers save more marketers are going to have to realize the good days are over

01/06/09 11:39 AM

"The idea that the American family will quickly spend us out of this recession is a fantasy. It won't happen," said Elizabeth Warren, a professor of law at Harvard University who last month was named chair of the Congressional oversight panel tasked with overseeing the distribution of the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.

But given the rising value of their home and stock options, consumers debt didn't seem alarmingly high. As the resale value of their homes reached record prices in 2006 consumers were willing to spend money they didn't have.

That all changed quickly. The housing market started to turn downward at the end of 2006, followed by the stock market and the economy. Around the end of 2007, employers began laying off employees as customers put off spending. Now for the fist time consumers are putting more money away and some believe that the savings rate could go as high as 8-10%. Great news for consumers but bad news for marketers who may not yet be aware that the "good 'ol days are over".

Tags: Consumers

Americans using the Internet More

01/06/09 08:02 AM

Americans are using the Internet more frequently than ever. While the most educated, most affluent, and youngest Americans are those more likely to say they use the Internet more than one hour per day, the less affluent, non-working, and unmarried are increasing their usage at noteworthy rates. Overall, the shifts recorded over the past year suggest that some of the historical gaps in Internet use across demographic groups may be narrowing. If these changes continue, it would represent an important closing of the economic and educational Internet divides.

With the Internet still in its infancy according to most technology experts, it is reasonable to anticipate continued growth in use among all of these sectors in the years to come. At the same time, the fact that several groups show either stable or declining usage certainly gives rise to the question of whether some sort of plateau is possible. In either case, business leaders -- and advertisers in particular -- will be well-served to keep these burgeoning trends in mind. While targeting content toward the most educated, most affluent, and youngest Americans may be an effective strategy today, the growth evident among their counterparts at the other end of the spectrum suggests new strategies may be needed to cater to the frequent Internet users of tomorrow. Read More...

Tags: Consumers

Why consumers aren't spending

01/06/09 06:41 AM

Hyundai may embark on a program that allows consumers to return their cars if they lose their jobs. Will this work? Well maybe but I believe it's not going to be enough. Consumers had no problem splurging for things like new computers or smart phone but back then they had equity in their homes and a secure job. Take away both of those things and we find that consumers are saving more and not spending unless they have to. They have the money but they realize that their "nest eggs" maybe gone and the security of a good job is not so secure anymore. It comes down to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and right after the basics like food and water come the things that consumers are most worried about today.

Consumers do not have a good feeling about their safety today

Will those days ever return and can marketers get consumers to spend money? Well, for the first question I believe that eventually the housing market will come back but it will never come back to the levels that we saw preburst. This means that consumers will have some equity in their homes but not like it was before the bubble went boom. Can marketers get consumers to spend? That is the question and I believe that they can. It's going to require a detailed emphasis on one to one marketing and a level of customer service that has to be exceptional above consumer expectations.

American consumers tend to have short memories as the recent gas price fluctuations show. When gas was approaching $5.00 a gallon searches for hybrid vehicles on Google was over 200,000 a day now they are lucky to break 5,000 searches. Before all the auto makers were talking about the death of the SUV now Hummer commercials are back on the air. But this recession might stick in memory a lot more because consumers are down right afraid.

By losing the equity in their homes and facing the possibility of lay-offs some families are staring at the abyss. We see stories in the news of people who have lost homes and are struggling to put food on the table and this kind of fear cannot be overcome by cool new products or ads. Marketers are going to have to dig into the very core of their brand attributes to make consumers feel good about purchases. Products are going to have to have high utility, provide value and last a long time. Brands are going to have to over deliver on every brand touchpoint to be successful.

This recession will end but the real questions is how much damage was done to consumers buying behavior. If it's bad marketers had better brace for a whole lot mot bottom line programs and less dollars to spend on programs that don't deliver to the bottom line.

Tags: Branding

Comparative estimate US Media spending growth 2009

01/05/09 01:11 PM

Click to enlarge

Tags: Media

Social media relevance grid

01/05/09 11:20 AM

The higher the price or change in consumer behavior for a new product the higher the relevance of social media. Will people use social media for stuff like tissue or pasta sauces? It could be but where social media will really impact the purchase decision is on higher priced products or products that require consumers to change their behavior.

Tags: Shopping

Marketing executives clueless

01/05/09 05:49 AM

Marketing executives are tired of buzzwords such as Web 2.0, blogs and social networking. They're more concerned about credit availability, housing markets, alternative energy and the trade deficit, according to a new study of top-level marketers. Of course, it's no surprise that the economy is weighing heavily on marketers looking toward 2009. In a study by Anderson Analytics for the Marketing Executives Networking Group, more than half of the marketers surveyed said their budgets will be cut in the coming year, and another 44% said they'll cut or freeze hiring.

The overall trend result is a back-to-basics strategy by marketers. When asked what marketing concepts are "most important," they ranked as the top four customer satisfaction (79%), customer retention (76%), marketing ROI (65%) and brand loyalty (61%). And while those ideas were also deemed as "very important" in last year's study, each was boosted by anywhere from four to 12 percentage points this time. What we have here is "failure to communicate".
Read More...

Tags: Branding

Being absent on social media can increase mistrust

01/04/09 07:47 AM

Social media is everywhere on the Web and more and more people are discovering social media platforms. Some companies have a presence on the Web social media sites others have chosen to "watch and learn". Yet those companies who are sitting on the sideline during the social media explosion could be generating a lot of mistrust among consumers. People want to know "why you're not there" and at a time when billions of dollars are going to bail out companies bad decisions it's not good to employ a strategy of doing nothing. Read More...

Tags: Purchase

Before you advertise on TV you better make sure you can withstand consumer scrutiny via the Web

01/03/09 12:53 PM

If you've watched TV at all during the holidays you have probably seen the Vonage commercials. The offer looks pretty good: monthly phone service with a whole bunch of free services like caller ID for only $24.99. In the TV spot they even show how easy it is to hook up Vonage using your home Internet connection. However in an age of transparency and abundant information a campaign like this is a waste of money as consumers research Vonage, like I did, and realize that they have problems including poor customers service and poor quality of calls. Unless you can execute perfectly on all levels a major TV campaign like Vonage's is a waste of money and is old school marketing.

You had better make sure when you run a major ad campaign
that your customer service and reputation can withstand
scrutiny from consumers who will hunt information about your company online.

Tags: Google, Vonage, Branding

Why social media marketing is relevant

01/03/09 07:30 AM

A lot of marketing people are going to try and convince their managers that conversational marketing is important today. Yet there are some trends that make social media marketing essential in today's business environment. Consumers have less trust in companies and are still debating whether technology is a savior or too intrusive plus there is so much information out there that it's hard sometimes to make sense of so many choices. I mean whom do you believe? As more companies lay off people and stories continue about excessive executive compensation more people are going to get angry and corporate America which is bad for marketers. Read More...

Tags: Social Media marketing guidelines

Eight in 10 Online Holiday Shoppers Read Web Reviews

01/02/09 01:28 PM

Eight in ten online shoppers (81%) have read consumer-written product or retailer reviews when doing their holiday shopping this year, according to (pdf) a Nielsen Online holiday survey conducted in mid-December, reports Retailer Daily.
Customer reviews are an important research tool for online consumers, with 71% agreeing that consumer reviews make them more comfortable that they are buying the right product, Nielsen found.

When evaluating this customer feedback, 63% of online shoppers indicated that it was important to have multiple reviews for each product; 14% looked for reviews from an established source; and just 3% sought out reviews by people they knew personally.

“Consumer reviews are a must-have for online retailers, especially during the holiday season when shoppers are buying for others in categories they’re less familiar with,” said Ken Cassar, vice-president, industry insights, Nielsen Online. “Perhaps more than any other time of year, consumers are looking for outside feedback for guidance.”

Tags: Online shopping

A sense of urgency: we are all too complacent and we know it

01/02/09 08:46 AM

According to statistics 25% of the workweek is spent in meetings and the odds that a person in a meeting doesn't know why he's there is 1 in 3. Anyone who has works in marketing knows the frustration of doing, and redoing, Power Point presentations for endless meeting upon meeting. I have sat through endless meetings where slide upon slide of data is presented to the point it that you start falling asleep or multitask on your PDA. Here is an except from Mr Kotter's book "A sense of Urgency". If you want a summation click here for his very short video. A lack of a sense of urgency is probably the reason that most businesses have not embraced social media. Read More...

Tags: Working in Internet marketing

The BLOG is dead and other predictions for social media in 2009

01/02/09 08:01 AM

There have been a lot of speculation and predictions about social media for 2009 but a lot of what I have read is more of a wish list. Some of the predictions, for example, do not take into account the life cycle of new online apps. Remember when you first got broadband? Remember going everywhere to send eMails and watch videos? Now you are more selective about what you will watch because of broadband. I predict the same will happen with social media. People will sign up for everything they can and then when the coolness factor wears off they will start deleting friends and form a relationship with only one platform and they won't update what they are doing every day. For more predictions Read More...

Tags: Social Media, Internet social media

The truth about social media

01/01/09 07:30 AM

Marketers have a tough time of it today. Media has changed more in the last 5 years than in the previous 100 years. The Internet has become the anti-brand platform and advertising is nowhere as effective as it used to be. When sales take a downturn all too often the marketing plan goes out the window and marketers are asked to "so something" to increase sales or generate more leads. Read More...

Tags: Reality