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    • Steve Woodruff: Disperse the Jargon Cloud
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Jan 07, 2010
      An executive in a technology/marketing company recently asked me to review some copy for new marketing pieces that are supposed to explain the company's offerings to prospective customers. It's a good thing I had sat down for a couple hours with this individual first and gotten a solid overview. Because based on the words I was seeing, had I not known all about the offering already, I would have never found the value proposition. "...develop engagement solutions that create behavior change...educate and engage audiences with meaningful information...conceive new integrated marketing strategies and create closed loop measurement opportunities...unique thought leadership..." You know the drill. Clouds of jargon words. Now the offering is actually quite interesting, but the key message was obscured by all the officious tech terms. When writing marketing copy, it's always a temptation to assume that the target audience: 1) knows everything you know; and 2) can absorb a whole bunch more. That's not the case. Make it your goal to express one critical point very well, within the first 10 seconds. Because nobody is going to want to work hard to figure out what you do. How to accomplish this? Simple - run your preliminary copy and messages by an "unbaptized" set of reviewers. Have some smart unofficial advisors look things over who are not in your company, maybe not even in the field - just to see if your message comes through. Your spouse. Your mother. A trusted friend from college. If you've distilled your message down to simple clarity, even the uninitiated will grasp the key point. You only have a few seconds to earn attention. Don't waste that precious time sending up fog and leaving people wondering what you're talking about!
    • 2010 In Social Media
      MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog | Jan 06, 2010
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    • How To:: Email and Social Media Integration: 5 Strategies to Grow Audiences and Design Campaigns
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Jan 06, 2010
      Email subscribers and social media followers are among a marketer's best assets -- they represent consumers who want to communicate with your brand. But they don't necessarily want the same types of information. See how a consumer marketing team supplemented a strong email marketing program with social media tactics that grew audiences in both channels and delivered triple-digit traffic increases to specific Web content. Includes strategies for: o Surveying audiences o Tailoring messages for each group o Designing multi-channel campaigns
    • Using White Papers to Attract Customers
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Jan 06, 2010
      Did you know that one of the best ways to generate leads today is by leveraging white papers? If you're not currently using this strategy, check out the upcoming White Paper Success Summit - a virtual online learning event that kicks off in February. (If you register by Thursday, Jan. 7th, you get 50% off.) I'm giving a session called...
    • Six Pixels with Mitch Joel
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Jan 06, 2010
      Six Pixels with Mitch JoelThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Six Pixels with Mitch JoelThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Mitch Joel (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes In this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast I visited with Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image and Author of Six Pixels of Separation Given the [...]
    • 7 Keys To Improving The Customer Experience
      CRM Mastery Blog | Jan 06, 2010
      Here’s some sound advice from Bruce Temkin for improving the experience of your customers over the next year, 7 Keys to Customer Experience: Despite the economic difficulties in 2009, we’ve seen a significant uptick in real customer experience efforts. What do I mean by real? Efforts that address systemic issues such as poorly designed interactions, [...]
    • Starting a New Book Project. Will it Become a Book Deal?
      Better Closer | Jan 06, 2010
      I am cutting an outline of my first book. There’s no book deal, but I haven’t pitched it either. I will probably self-publish the first one. Any experienced authors in the crowd? What would you suggest? It’s focused on Internet marketing, but my hope is that it will depart from the feel good how-to and recipe [...]
    • Mike O'Toole: 2010 In Social Media
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Jan 06, 2010
      I covered my five highlights from 2009 earlier in this space, and am following with my top social media predictions for 2010. First, my overall prediction: in 2010, we’ll officially leave behind the era of faith-based social media (words like gurus and followers will lose their currency) and will enter the era of getting things done with social media. Here are my top five: 1. No more free ride, the Facebook edition Facebook has more members than the United States has people, and it owns an increasing percentage of our time and our data. In exchange, Facebook gives back little insight into what they actually know about us. They tell us almost nothing about what data they are capturing and keeping, and what conclusions they are drawing. And they give us surprisingly little say when they optimize their business model by compromising our privacy. 2010 will be the year of increased scrutiny for Facebook. I’m not talking about the Feds (though the FTC is watching), but market pressure. Look for competitive social networks to experiment with more privacy-conscious models, and more user pressure (we will spend less time if we lose trust in Facebook’s stewardship of our online selves) to keep Facebook honest. 2. No more free ride, the content and applications edition. Content has been under siege for a long time, and in 2010 content will start winning. A small but important minority of media companies will begin to figure out how to successfully charge for content, and we’ll all be the better for it. People accept the notion that content wants to be free as if it’s a natural law. Rubbish! 2010 will be the year that content wants to be good. And good content will get rewarded. The Wall Street Journal and the Economist are showing us the way, and they will have plenty of company in the year ahead. On the application side, we should be prepared for the gravy train to end. This morning. I did a cross-country video call on Skype, read part of the New York Times on my iPhone, and opened up a DropBox account (which gives me 2 GBs of my own personal storage in the cloud)—all for free. This has to end. There is no sustainable business model in this, and we’ll all find ourselves having to pay our way more often in 2010. 3. Google vs. Facebook Facebook was the Number One Web destination on Christmas Day, which I’m sure caused a bit of a stir at the GooglePlex. In response, look for search to become more realtime, while our Facebook data becomes more visible as Facebook and Google jockey for dominance. This battle will get very loud and more than a little ugly in the year ahead. And an if-you-can’t beat-them-buy-them side prediction: Microsoft or Google will tender a serious offer to acquire Facebook in 2010. 4. Terrorism goes social I hate to explore the dark side, but I predict that a major use of social networks by terrorists will be uncovered in 2010. John Robb makes the point in his chilling book Brave New War that the tools and platforms that are changing our lives for good are equally accessible to people who wish us ill. Al Qaeda is already an astute user of social video. Does anyone really think they are not using Facebook and Twitter? 5. The year of the Chinese social network We talk about Facebook’s China strategy, but what about QZone’s American strategy? The Chinese social network QZone is by some counts (though the data is a mess) larger than Facebook. They are more innovative about monetizing traffic. It is not far-fetched to imagine QZone launching a play in the U.S. And you can bet you’d be reading a flood of articles and blog posts imploring you to open your QZone accounts. There are 112 million Chinese who manage an active social profile, vs. under 60 million Americans. At some point, we may well be taking our social networking cues from Shanghai, not Silicon Valley. It is always hard to stick to five. I left out a bunch, and I’m sure you have plenty that didn’t make my list. I’d love to hear your comments, or let me know on Twitter @motoole1.
    • How To:: Banner Ad Test Drives Site Redesign: 4 Steps to 18% More Traffic
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Jan 05, 2010
      Finding the right message for your website can be difficult when you're trying to appeal to multiple audiences, such as consumers, businesses and investors. This is when a good test can help. Read how a coffee company tested consumer messages in display ads and videos before incorporating them into a new website, resulting in an 18.5% lift in traffic.
    • Case Study:: Generate Leads with Social Media Strategy: 6 Steps to Fill Up Sales Funnel
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Jan 05, 2010
      Just over a year ago, Pam O'Neal, VP Marketing, BreakingPoint, shared her team's success using a wide-ranging social media strategy to generate leads. We've asked her to present an update on their tactics -- with a focus on integrating email and social media -- at our upcoming Email Summit. In advance of this session, we're highlighting the original case study that first demonstrated how the team tested and measured activity from several social media channels. The results included 55% of all leads coming from inbound Web visits, and 75% of marketing-influenced pipeline coming from inbound Web leads.
    • Ted Mininni: Stick With Store Brands Or Go Back to National Brands? That Is The Question.
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Jan 05, 2010
      A recent Brandweek article titled: “Consumers Have Appetite for Unbranded Pizza, Snacks” raised some intriguing questions about the direction in which consumer products are headed. While the article focused on specific categories where private label brands have made inroads in this tough economy, there was a more important, secondary storyline here.The core of the well-written article discussed the huge inroads made by private label brands during 2009. Not surprising, given consumers’ belt tightening over the past year. Consumer product categories where national brands were most vulnerable, and store brands picked up the most share include baby food, frozen pizza, snacks, salad dressings/mayonnaise, detergents, candles/incense, cheese, fresh meat, detergents, to name a few. According to Nielsen Co., private label sales units rose by 5.3% during the 52 week period which ended on October 3rd. During the same period, branded packaged consumer product unit sales fell by 2.3%. The article focuses on the hot debate in consumer product marketing circles about whether consumers are discovering or rediscovering store brands. On whether private label sales are moderating. On how consumers are being impacted by national brand advertising that appeals to their emotions, great value and brand heritage. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese anyone? Retailers have learned quickly. Major players like Wal-Mart, Target, 7-Eleven and myriad others have ramped up their private label brand offerings, as well as marketing support for those brands. But here’s the most important development in my view. “The Hartman Group’s research showed that the majority of the 43 percent of Americans who tried private label products in the last year plan to continue purchasing store brands". Michelle Barry, senior vp at the Hartman Group, commented that shoppers “aren’t just leaving the general brands; they’re leaving their favorite brands as well.” This turn of events prompted by the fact many consumers have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of private labels. In fact, many have said store brands exceeded their expectations. This turn of events necessitates new strategy on the part of well-established national brands. None are immune. While it is acknowledged that “Well-positioned brands that cover the category well in terms of benefits and expectations will be far less vulnerable to private label,” as Eric Schwartz, vp at Henkel, which produces value detergent Purex; there is still cause for concern. Even the mighty Procter & Gamble, whose Tide detergent brand continues to own over 50% of the laundry detergent category, trotted out “a basic version of its premium-priced Tide detergent brand.” I think this should give us some pretty strong indications about current consumer product trends. Questions: Have you, as a consumer, been experimenting with store brands versus national brands you’ve always used and favored? As the economy improves, do you plan on switching back to national brands or will you stick with the store brands you’ve been using? In which product categories are you more likely to experiment and switch to store brands? How do you think national brands should counter their sales erosion, or potential sales losses, in response to the growth of private label brands? I’d love to hear from you.
    • Small Business Speaker Series at CES
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Jan 05, 2010
      Small Business Speaker Series at CESThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Small Business Speaker Series at CESThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing If you are planning to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES ) in Las Vegas Jan 7-10 make sure you check out the American Express OPEN Booth in the South Hall. They are sponsoring a central hang out hub for small business folks to network, [...]
    • Customer Analytics, Focus on What Truly Adds Value
      CRM Mastery Blog | Jan 05, 2010
      Here are several excerpts from an interesting article by David Loshin, President of Knowledge Integrity, Inc., Customer Analytics, Focus on What Truly Adds Value: The perceived appeal of customer analytics is the potential to garner such specific information about your customer constituency that you can accurately predict all customer behaviors and actions with enough advanced [...]
    • 2010 – Welcome to the Age of Customer Service
      Buzz Marketing for Technology | Jan 05, 2010
      At the end of the last decade we saw Amazon snap up Zappos for $928 Million. Combining two of the most customer focused organizations I am aware of on the web and making one of the most powerful customer centric companies out there. Social media has forever changed the balance of nature in favor of the [...] Related posts:
        Hey Marketer – When was the last time you talked with a customer?? It’s an odd dynamic I see in play today –... Using Social Media to Deepen Customer Relations An obvious win for companies looking to jump into Social... 10 BtoB Marketers Predictions for 2010 Around this time last year I wrote about some Predictions...
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    • I need you to ask me a question or two
      The Marketing Minute | Jan 05, 2010
      I really want to know what you want to know. In other words, I need your help. I'd like to know what sort of marketing topics and questions you want to see tackled on this blog. What marketing questions do you have burning in your belly? So I have created a very simple and very quick survey that I would like you to answer. It won't take you more than 3 minutes, tops. I promise. The big query is this: If we were hanging out, grabbing some coffee or lunch...
    • How To:: Create Text-Alert Programs that Connect with College Students: 4 Strategies
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Jan 04, 2010
      College-age mobile users are among the most likely to sign up for SMS alerts. And an SMS subscriber base can be a valuable audience when approached wisely. Read how a restaurant chain used SMS alerts to drive store traffic and saw mobile-coupon redemption rates of 30% in college areas, compared to a 10% redemption rate for non-college areas.
    • FREE eBook to Increase Your Sales Productivity
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Jan 04, 2010
      Make more calls. Set up more appointments. Do more demos. Write more proposals. There's only so much MORE you can do before you collapse under the sheer weight of it all. That's why you need to get Increase Sales Productivity in 2010, a comprehensive new ebook by Nancy Nardin of Smart Selling Tools. You'll discover tools to help you: Manage...
    • 7 Reasons Why Small Businesses Should Take a Look at Foursquare
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Jan 04, 2010
      7 Reasons Why Small Businesses Should Take a Look at FoursquareThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing 7 Reasons Why Small Businesses Should Take a Look at FoursquareThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing In an end of the year prediction post I wrote for OPEN Forum, I listed location aware social media tools as something that would get big time attention in 2010. (See: 5 Trends that Will Shape Small Business in 2010) The [...]
    • Join Me for the White Paper Success Summit
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Jan 04, 2010
      Join Me for the White Paper Success SummitThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Join Me for the White Paper Success SummitThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I am very excited to be a part of the White Paper Success Summit 2010: This live online event is packed with speaker after speaker focused on showing you the best ways to attract quality leads and grow your business with educational white [...]
    • The Next Wave of Technology-Driven Marketing
      CRM Mastery Blog | Jan 04, 2010
      Here are several excerpts from an excellent article, Not your typical marketing campaign: the next wave of technology-driven marketing: In a world overrun with marketing messages, the next wave of marketing technology will cut through the clutter, building automated marketing campaigns that address customers’ wants and needs individually. The result: greater customer intimacy, improved loyalty, [...]
    • Ann Handley: Guest Post: How One Savvy Nonprofit Is Leveraging Social Media (Even During the Great Recession)
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Jan 04, 2010
      by Adam Boyden According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, donations are down 9% this year, causing non-profit organizations to cut critical programs; some organizations are even in jeopardy of closure. However, as a new year approaches, the outlook doesn’t have to be so grim. With the right marketing mix, savvy non-profits are able to leverage social media marketing to their benefit to reach and engage donors and offset declines. Here are some of the ways one particular non-profit, The Staley Foundation, is succeeding. Alicia Staley, a three-time cancer survivor, has embraced social media and has reaped solid returns as a result. She uses her personal brand as a tool for increasing attention for the Foundation. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the Conduit platform have all given her the opportunity to forge better connections with key stakeholders. Here are some examples: Facebook: Staley uses Facebook to proactively communicate with her fans and donors. She posts messages about Foundation meetings, news and events. She is also planning to use the new Cause application on Facebook to run a fundraiser this summer. Her page offers an opportunity to connect with supporters, donors and would be donors en masse with time as her only investment. Twitter: Staley is the brand on Twitter. Many business organizations have corporate handles. However, in the world of non-profits, a more personal and direct presence is required. As the director of The Staley Foundation, Staley (@stales) has a personal story that resonates with donors and potential donors. As a result, her Twitter handle supports relationships with key constituents. Staley is committed to keeping her Twitter presence personal and engaging, especially since it has been so fruitful. She hosted two major fundraising efforts on Twitter, raising $2,000 with the first, and $3,400 during the second. Both of those efforts were promoted purely through Twitter. Linkedin: Linkedin offers a wealth of information on fund-raising topics. Staley leverages Linkedin Answers to ask questions about by-laws, creating effective boards, managing committees for all aspects of non-profit management. Peers answer the questions, offering valuable insight that can be implemented for the Foundation. This virtual peer group keeps Staley connected to other leaders in the non-profit world. Staley’s profile and activity on Linkedin also allow others to find her and the Foundation and help her spread the word to potential donors. The Staley Foundation has the same problems many non-profits have encountered: retaining first-time visitors and one-time donors. To combat this, Staley uses a browser-based add-on called a conduit, which provides a persistent, constant interface with her community in the browser window. Staley is hopeful that the conduit will help to keep the Foundation top of mind with donors so she can further ignite fundraising efforts. Moreover, she is enrolled in the Conduit Gives program, which presents an entirely new fundraising channel. As part of the Conduit Gives program, non-profits, such as The Staley Foundation, that leverage the Conduit Platform can now also offer their members the official Conduit Gives button. Every time a user clicks the button, Conduit will make a donation to the non-profit. Users may participate up to once a day, every day throughout 2010. Just by being involved and thinking about their organization each day, every person can make a big difference without making a donation. In total, the Conduit Gives program will provide 100 non-profit organizations the opportunity to earn more than $300,000 a month and $3.6 million in funds in 2010. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adam Boyden is President of Conduit, which operates the Conduit Gives program.
    • Could you become a category of one?
      The Marketing Minute | Jan 03, 2010
      As many of you know, there are two books I wish I had written. Steve Farber's Radical Leap and Joe Calloway's Becoming a Category of One. Joe's book originally came out in 2003 and when I read it...I was astonished at how brilliantly he laid out the rationale for branding. So when he put out a 2nd edition in 2009 I knew it was going to be worth the re-read. I was right. I highly recommend this book. (You can buy it by clicking here) Recently, I had a chance...
    • Terrorist customers: How should we react?
      B2Blog | Jan 02, 2010
      It happened again. Some nutty passenger attempts blowing up a plane, and suddenly other fliers have to endure stricter screening and flying rules. And as news of the revised policy spread, the jokes about Homeland Security followed. It happened again. Some nutty customer attempts to rip the company off, and suddenly other customers have endure stricter [...]
    • Inspiration for 2010: 12 Videos That Set the Right Tone for the Year Ahead
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Jan 01, 2010
      If you need a break from football today, I encourage you to take a look at these 12 inspirational, motivational and moving videos that were compiled by Ed Gandia on The Wealthy Freelancer. I know at least ONE of them is just what you need to get yourself off to a great start in the upcoming year. Entrepreneurs Can Change...
    • 10 Simple Steps to Create "Ready to Buy" Customers ... Especially in a Recession
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Dec 31, 2009
      B2B Marketer Shares How These Steps Brought Him 80,000 Leads, Millions in Revenue & Much More Finding quality customers during tough times really is achievable. Here are some repression-proven steps any business can take to attract great customers--directly from a leading marketer whose business was nearly crushed by the economy. I can attest to all of this, because he's a...
    • Paul Chaney: Restaurants Are Obvious Choice To Engage In Social Media
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 31, 2009
      Lately, it seems much of my attention has been turned toward restaurants and their use of social media for marketing. Just the other day, my friend Mary McKnight and I were discussing the matter and both agreed restaurants, bars and such other consumer-centric local businesses are obvious choices for use of the medium. (From our joint perspective as marketing consultants, we also agreed they were "low hanging fruit" too -- obvious prospects for our services.)Take, for example, what's happened with Naked Pizza down in New Orleans. Their entire approach to marketing has been revamped to include social media, especially Twitter. So novel was it, the restaurant garnered coverage in the New York Times as well as investment from Mark Cuban. The same can be said for Ramon DeLeon, owner of several Domino's Pizza restaurants in Chicago. He has mastered the art of using social media to sell his products and created a very loyal following in the process. In fact, his popularity has taken on almost Gary Vaynerchukesque proportions. Recently, I noticed a number of articles and blog posts on the topic of restaurants using social media. Here are a few:Where fine dining and social media meet - SmartBrief on Social MediaTake a Tip from Restaurants on Email Marketing & Social Media - Vertical Response blogAtlanta Restaurants Band Together on Niche Social Media Site - 11Alive.comA year ago I asked the question on Twitter, "If I were a restaurant, I'd use Twitter to..." and received a number of responses ranging from, "I would tweet my lunch specials at lunch time; tweet whether there's a wait; tweet my best desert of the day" to "ask customers to submit their best homemade recipes and hold a contest, the winner gets dish on the menu 4 a yr & named after them." Truly, Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts were made in the shade for restaurants. I can't think of one good reason why every such establishment shouldn't have both. In fact, even though I work as Internet marketing director for a Web design and development company, I once told a client who came to us for consulting on social media marketing that they didn't need a Web site, and that a Facebook Page would suffice. (And, no, that advise didn't get me fired.) In this particular case, the restaurant in question was a lunch counter in an office building, not a full-service establishment. A Web site would have been overkill. (For the record, I do believe every full-service restaurant should have a Web site.) I'd really like to hear from restaurant owners and patrons alike. If you're a restaurateur, how are you currently using social media? If a patron (and aren't we all), how do you see social media being a good fit, and in what ways would you encourage its use? Also, please feel free to share links to any restaurant, bar, etc., that's using social media for marketing purposes and tell me what you think of their use of it. (NOTE: This is the latest in a series I started last year entitled Social Media Works for Small Business. I Have Proof. See previous entries here, here and here.)
    • Is Social Media Killing Your Business?
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 30, 2009
      Is Social Media Killing Your Business?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Is Social Media Killing Your Business?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing I know today’s short post might come as a surprise to regular readers of this blog, but even though I promote the heck out of social media use for small business, I see a dangerous side as well. Some small business folks equate busy with business. [...]
    • Mike O'Toole: Social Media Dreamin’: The 2009 Edition
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 30, 2009
      I host an internet radio show/podcast called This Week in Social Media . We start each week by looking at trending stories that highlight the best (dreams) or worst (nightmares) of social media. My look back is inspired by the stories that got under my skin, made me smile or cringe, or that seemed to come back time and time again. So here is my totally unscientific top-5 list of social media dreams from 2009, each tinged by at least a touch of nightmare. 5. Social Media as a tool for social good. In a year full of bad news, social media provided some rare smiles. Social networks, most notably Twitter, brought protests in Iran to a global audience. Twitter and Facebook became a first responder network in natural disasters. Worthy non-profits, (think Charity: Water raising $250,000 during Twestival), mined the power of social networks to tell their stories, connect with constituents, and raise money. The nightmare? There was more hype than reality. Donations through social media are a rounding error, and the Twitter Revolution in Iran was more Twitter than revolution. But the philanthropic power of social networks--to respond quickly, to connect, to catalyze a larger response--is the beginning of an undeniable trend. 4. Social media, the True Crime edition. It is usually the porn industry that figures out how to make the most out of media innovations. In social media, the criminals and the crime fighters showed us the way. Social media aided-and-abetted robberies (careful what you reveal in your status updates), just as it undid hapless crooks (my favorite was the Pennsylvania man who checked his Facebook status--and forgot to log off--during a home break-in). The police got into the act as well, notably the La Crosse, Wisconsin PD that used fake Facebook profiles to lure and arrest underage drinkers. 3. 15 minutes in 140 characters; or the celebrity culture in social media. Twitter deserves a special mention here. Its combination of being wide open (you can follow anyone) and real-time means that we get the celebrity unfiltered. No governor on Twitter means we all got to hear what Chad Ochocinco really thinks about the New York Jets, or why Miley Cyrus is so over Twitter. And social media in general created a huge aftershock that amplified both good and bad behavior. The huge “Imma let you finish” Kanye West stream of tweets, Web site takeovers, and video replays, or the non-stop conversation about Tiger Woods and his dalliances are two great examples. So where is the dream in all of this? We got to see the rise of the celebrity native-borne from social media. My two favorites are Susan Boyle, who would have never got her record deal without YouTube, or the Sh*t My Dad Says guy, who parlayed a cranky father and a Twitter account into a book and sitcom deal. 2. Twitter’s rise (and stall). Twitter went from almost nowhere to true global phenomenom. The network showed us a new side of Oprah and Shaq. It pitted Ashton vs. CNN. It amplified heroism, from Iranian protestors to Capt. Sullenberger. It brought us tweet-ups, twestivals, and twitterati. Twitter beat out “Obama,” “Stimulus,” and “Vampire,’ as the most popular word 0f 2009. It also brought us the Twitter quitters, which are the seed of Twitter’s own nightmare. More than 60% of Twitter users failed to return the following month. No surprise: more than any other social network, Twitter rewards constant, active participation, and punishes inactivity. The network with the unprecedented growth curve (from 1 million monthly visitors in January to over 30 million in July) ends the year in a bit of a funk, with four months of flat-to-declining activity in the U.S. 1. All Hail Facebook. We should all have a year like Facebook. It started the year at 140 million members and ends at over 350 million. And people who join stick around. More than 5.5% of all time spent online is spent on Facebook, this for a site that wasn’t even around a few years ago. Thanks to Facebook, most of us have felt the initial exuberance of exchanging notes with that long-lost kid we went to grade school with. Let’s face it, most of us would have gone to our grave never having reconnected with a subset of our Facebook friends, and there is something profoundly important in that. To cap off its banner year, Facebook reported that it was the #1 most visited site on Christmas day. The brewing Facebook nightmare is that the bigger something gets, the more the dark side emerges. Most of the concerns with Facebook have been privacy-related, and there will be plenty more reasons to question Facebook’s smiling benevolence in 2010 as they own an increasing percentage of our time, attention, and data. There are lots of great stories that could have but didn’t make the list: social media goes local…The corporatization of social networks…Here come the Feds (social media gets regulated)…What else did I miss?
    • Article:: B2B Recap for 2009: Lead Nurturing Overhaul, Social Media Strategy, SEO, and More
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Dec 29, 2009
      We continue our look back at 2009. Despite the challenges brought about by the recession, marketers managed to do more with less, demonstrating resolve and creative thinking through revealing case studies, best practices and new insights. Below, you'll find links to five B2B articles from 2009 that show how marketers tackled their top challenges and pursued their priorities for the year, including: o Optimizing lead nurturing campaigns to deal with a long sales cycle o Adding social media to the marketing mix o Improving SEO through corporate blogging
    • Article:: B2C Year-in-Review: Social Media Success, Creative Promotions, Mobile Tests, and More
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Dec 29, 2009
      We continue our look back at 2009, with a focus on how B2C marketers adapted to the challenges of the recession and gained new insights into emerging channels, such as social media and mobile marketing. Here are links to five B2C articles from 2009 that show how marketers can boost conversions even when consumer spending is down, and can optimize existing tactics while testing new campaign strategies.
    • Article:: EmailSherpa 2009 in Review: Social Sharing, Segmentation, Optimizing Autoresponders, and More
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Dec 29, 2009
      We continue our review of 2009 newsletters, with a look at how email marketers adapted to economic conditions and optimized their tactics. Here are links to five EmailSherpa articles from 2009 that reflect the most significant trends in email marketing. Topics include: o Integrating email with social media o Optimizing autoresponders and transactional email programs o Database segmentation strategies o Attracting high-quality subscribers from list-growth campaigns
    • Small Businesses Will Simply Become More Naturally Social
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 29, 2009
      Small Businesses Will Simply Become More Naturally SocialThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Small Businesses Will Simply Become More Naturally SocialThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing This past year brands large and small rushed head on into social media marketing. They had to learn about all things Twitter, hire social media consultants and create special social media metrics and budgets. Now that hype surrounding the next new thing has [...]
    • Tim Ferriss on the New 4-Hour Workweek
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 29, 2009
      Tim Ferriss on the New 4-Hour WorkweekThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Tim Ferriss on the New 4-Hour WorkweekThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Tim Ferriss (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes For this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast, I grabbed a few minutes with Tim Ferriss, author of the newly released – The 4-Hour [...]
    • Drew McLellan: Marketing Starts At Home
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 29, 2009
      I know, I know....2009 stunk. Sales were lagging. Customer loyalty flagged and you’re tired. You cut expenses down to the bone last year but you’re hoping that 2010 will be different. So you are actually thinking marketing. Great first step. But my guess is, you’re going to aim your marketing spend in the wrong direction. Don’t point your initial tactics at prospects or customers. Your first target is closer to home. Do you want to talk to an audience that has a vested interest in your company and is motivated to see that you’re successful? Look no further than your own employees. It is one of the most powerful and most overlooked marketing truths out there. Employees that feel appreciated will do the same for your clients. Think of it this way. For every dollar you spend on an employee, you get double your money. You make that employee feel special and appreciated and you fire them up to take even better care of your customers. Marketing to your employees is a blend of gratitude and creating an insider’s mentality. Let them be part of the dream...and thank them for sharing it with you. Here are some ideas to get you going: Let them in on the secrets: Share the vision. Share the numbers. Paint a picture of where you want to take the company and how they can help you get the team there. Let it be about them: The CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK asks his employees for 101 life goals. When someone exceeds his expectations and he wants to reward them, he looks for ways to help them get closer to one of those life goals. Don’t forget their families: When one of your team has been putting in a lot of extra hours and effort, or been on the road for a while, why not send a thank you note or gift to their family? Let them be your customers: The best way they can advocate for your products/services is to use them. If you’re an accountant—do their taxes for free. If you sell phones, be sure they always have the latest and greatest. Make them your walking, talking billboards: T-shirts, ball caps, letterman jackets, cool messenger bags — whatever it takes. Make them awesome and plentiful so they’ll want to wear them out and often. Keep the conversation going: This isn’t a one-time marketing tactic. This needs to be part of your culture. Just like external marketing...it takes time, consistency and a commitment. Are you thinking it’s crazy to spend your marketing efforts on an internal audience? When you hear stories about Apple, Starbucks or Zappos—aren’t you really hearing stories about their employees who went out of their way to create a remarkable customer experience? Do you really think that was just a lucky accident?
    • Article:: Great Minds 2009 in Review: New FTC Rules, Surviving the Recession and More
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Dec 28, 2009
      As 2009 winds down, we are reflecting on one of the most turbulent economic years in recent memory. Despite the challenges brought about by the recession, marketers managed to do more with less, demonstrating resolve and creative thinking through revealing case studies, best practices and new insights. Below, you'll find links to five Great Minds articles from 2009 that show how marketers continued to adapt to new challenges, finding inventive ways to achieve perennial goals, such as: o Linking PPC campaigns to offline conversions o Negotiating with vendors o Forging stronger relationships with their IT departments
    • Paul Barsch: Should Online Companies Be Forced To Forget?
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 28, 2009
      Online companies have raised the eyebrows of privacy advocates who think web generated data should only be archived for a specified period of time. And while some companies have bowed to public pressure and only keep data on customer searches for a maximum of three months, others have not acquiesced. When it comes to privacy concerns, should Internet based companies be required “to forget?”Neuroscientists have long claimed the act of forgetting is important to the processes of the human mind. Humans have a need to forget especially because each day our brains deal with tons of trivial information and clutter, not to mention hundreds if not thousands of marketing messages. Therefore, our mental processes must prioritize which facts should have more importance than others—such as ‘where are my car keys?’ versus ‘what did I eat for lunch last Thursday?’ We must forget, because according to neuroscientists, our brains would overload if we captured every detail of our lives. Yet, unlike the human mind which has a fixed capacity, computer data stores (i.e. disk, tape etc) are getting larger and cheaper to manufacture thereby allowing companies to keep more transactional details very inexpensively. In fact, thanks to accelerating technological change, companies can now take advantage of less expensive data storage to keep transactional data for longer periods of time—with the ultimate goal of mining data for insights to improve the customer experience. However, data retention policies of considerable length run head first into concerns from privacy advocates. For example, according to a Washington Post article, online search companies have policies in which they actively keep query data from 3-18 months, and in some instances longer. Their rationale? Online search companies say query data is used to improve their algorithms, optimize search results, and provide advertisers better targeting. Privacy advocates, however, argue that search queries often contain personal details, and taken collectively can reveal a complete picture of the person using the search engine. Ultimately they say, too much power in the hands of a few key search engines is a privacy nightmare. To effectively meet customer needs in a very complex and fluid economic environment, companies must be able to collect and analyze data to understand customer behavior, drive better communications and respond to changing customer needs. That said, the benefits of data collection and analysis must coincide with responsible behavior. Questions: Should online companies be required to “forget” what they know about their customers and transactions? If so, what is the cut-off point? Should corporations advertise that they quickly “forget”—much as Ask.com has? Are consumer privacy concerns regarding data collection policies more bark than bite?
    • Best Books of the Decade: Marketing & Selling Professional Services
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Dec 28, 2009
      Rain Today, a top online source for people who sell services, just selected their Best Books of the Decade for marketing and selling professional services. I'm excited that Selling to Big Companies was included in their Best of 2000-2009 list. Here's what they say about it: "This book, named one of eight sales must-reads by Fortune, will help you target...
    • What Small Business Needs to Do to Get Ready for Mobile Marketing Now
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 28, 2009
      What Small Business Needs to Do to Get Ready for Mobile Marketing NowThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing What Small Business Needs to Do to Get Ready for Mobile Marketing NowThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing We’ve been talking about the coming of mobile marketing for a long time now. I remember talking about it when I was doing work for one of first PCS carriers, Aerial Communications (now owned by T-Mobile), back in [...]
    • What's your marketing lagniappe?
      The Marketing Minute | Dec 28, 2009
      My blogging buddy Stan Phelps has always preached the word of having a "marketing lagniappe." He wrote about it in a guest post back in April and now he's decided to write a book on the topic. In short, lagniappe (pronounced lan-yap) is a creole word, originating in Louisiana and literally translated means 'the gift.'' It refers to a small unexpected extra gift or benefit presented by a store owner to a customer at the time of purchase. The people of Louisiana have embraced the term and have broadened the...
    • Ann Handley: Guest Post: The Nights Before 2010
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 24, 2009
      by Kelly Abner Marketo'Twas right before 2010 and all through the day, the marketers were working through the year-end disarray. Analyzing the '09 plans and the resulting sales, what worked, what didn't, what should've, what failed. The sales team was nestled all snug in their slumber, assured that their quotas they'll soon meet in number. So here at Marketo we did a quick list, of our views and misses and targets and hits. We've gathered together the 5 Golden Rules, of trends and tactics, of strategies and tools. Where your tactics this year become strategies next, so your company will grow and your career will be blessed. 1 For social media, in 2009, you learned how to tweet, in 2010 integrated social marketing makes you hard to beat. 2 Drip campaigns in 2009 were all the rage, but in 2010 lead lifecycle management will make you a sage. 3 Aligning marketing and sales was your best bet, but collaboration between departments is your next step. 4 While demographic scoring is a good place to start, behavioral and social scoring you should take to heart. 5 On LinkedIn, on Facebook, on blogs, on Twitter, Your prospects finding you is all the sweeter. And finally, here's wishing you peace, joy and sales, and everything else that success entails. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kelly Abner is Director of Marketing at Marketo.
    • Conversion Diagnosis: I’d love to see a click map on this page…
      MarketingExperiments Blog: Research-driven optimization, testing, and marketing ideas | Dec 23, 2009
      One Twitter follower wanted our feedback on her new web page. Dr. Optimize got out his scalpel and went to work. See what lessons you can learn for your own pages from the latest conversion diagnosis...

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