Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 10, 2012

I coach. I’ve coached for a number of years spanning every sport from basketball to baseball and I have to say with utmost confidence that most of my teams have had winning records and most of my players have learned something and have had fun along the way. But…There are always those teams and those players that either don’t get it, didn’t get it, or don’t want to get it. “It” being the magic that is winning, learning, growing and having fun.

Organization 185

Organization Sports Team Marketing 185

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Don’t let the title scare you. it’s really a simple notion actually. It goes something like this. You’re a marketer, you’re tasked to sell something online. You know about Google’s algorithm, you understand how to optimize for search, you know that you will be using WordPress because of it’s ability to add plugins and content on the fly.

Price 182

Price Buy WordPress Meeting 182

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Let’s do a hypothetical. You like western saddles. You search for them every day on Google. Google gives you relevant results from a) your Google Plus peeps and then b) the most relevant, most SEO’d results. Let’s assume that your peeps straddle the lines of friends, family and business contacts, so the results or likelihood that there will be content from these people about western saddles may be 50/50.

SEO 182

SEO Hashtag Sites Social Networking 182

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

In the New York Times recently there was an article titled, My Dinner With Clay Shirky, and What I Learned About Friendship which I highly recommend. The piece was essentially about an authors dinner experience with noted writer, speaker, and internet ethnographer Clay Shirky. If you don’t know who Clay Shirky is, go to Amazon and read some excerpts from his two books Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organization and Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in

Hosting 181

Hosting Organization Groups Groups 181

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 29, 2012

According to Pew Internet Research which has been tracking Twitter use, there is a general upward trend in adopting Twitter for daily use. The bottom line? Don’t look now but Twitter might be the Facebook killer for the 18-24 demographic. With over 500 million registered users and 140 million daily users, it doesn’t seem like Twitter will be slowing down anytime soon.

Twitter 179

Twitter Trends Research Facebook 179

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 22, 2012

The beauty of social media isn’t in the online connections. It’s not about the numbers, never has been. OK, maybe it is to marketers, but that’s because they operate from a different perspective. No the beauty of social media is in it’s potential. It’s potential to connect people from divergent backgrounds or in the same city or that have the same common interests.

Social Media 178

Social Media Avatar Journal Conference 178

Direct Marketing Observations

JULY 19, 2012

I just came across a great study co-produced by FedEx and Ketchum, titled The 2012 FedEx/Ketchum Social Business Study. This study, updates and expands upon research first undertaken in 2010 and analyzes the changing impact of social media on business today. To quote, “Organizations are leveraging social media tools to evolve into social businesses – creating communities and relationships with external and internal stakeholders that are transforming the way they do business.

Study 176

Study Research Organization Communities 176

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 19, 2012

I was watching highlights of a Miami Heat game the other night and after every major replay of the game you could hear the shrill cackle of a woman cheering in the background. You know how some things can gnaw at you pretty quickly for no apparent reason? Well, her cackle got to me pretty quick. Other things that gnaw at me but at a more “come to a boil type” nature, are the current and future states of social media.

Mashup 176

Mashup Mobile Consultant Microsoft 176

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 3, 2012

I was reading an article today titled, Behind the Wheels: An all-too-real Cinderella story it had 12 comments. The piece was beautifully written and it was interesting to see what those 12 people had to say. Which got me to wondering: How come useless throw away blog posts and articles have tons and tons of comments and the good stuff gets next to nothing?

Comments 176

Comments Education SEO Blogger 176

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 17, 2012

The tug-o-war for your time when you participate on multiple social networks can be difficult. Who get’s it and who doesn’t? Who get’s the honor of your participation can also affect your impact because THAT will be where you spend the bulk of your time. Where should you spend your time? On the networks that matter to you or on the networks where you HAVE to participate?

Social Networking 170

Social Networking Exercises Influencer Issues 170

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 19, 2012

Should we be amazed anymore at how fast digital is moving? Honestly no. But what should we be thinking about as we watch it go by? When I was a kid and I would see a train go by, I always wanted to be on that train. I didn’t really care where it was going, I just wanted to be on it. With a little foresight and hindsight you can be on that train that we’re calling digital right now-and know where it came from and where it’s going.

comScore 166

comScore Microblogging Posterous Marketing 166

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 9, 2012

“The goal was not to sell units, but to increase favorability about the two brands among younger consumers,”? What do you think? The visual imagery, the soundtrack, it’s just done right and yet, where is the product? Created for Intel, does this have to make sense to be good or effective? Do you think the 55 million people who viewed it felt that they have been marketed to?

Video 164

Video Products Brands Marketing 164

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Chances are, you have given away more than you have charged for…. For a lot of people, what they expect and get from their digital experiences isn’t even close to being reality. Want a few easy examples? OK. One of the most prevalent business models in the online world is to build a product or service and then give it away for free. Another prevalent business model in the online world is to build a product or service, give it away for free while trying to make money on people buying “other” thin

Posterous 162

Posterous Tumblr Flickr WordPress 162

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 30, 2012

“Social” claims or has been claimed to do everything and it really has become quite the game changer. Did you know that it can boil the ocean? OK, so I’m kidding, but the point is this: One thing that social media does and has done is that it has spurred relevance in everything that online and offline touch now. Even if you were not relevant before, now you have a chance to be.

Conversation 162

Conversation Buy Social Media Tips 162

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 2, 2012

Let me give you a few real world examples that happen every day. You’re at a stop light for all of 30 seconds and you start to get antsy because the light hasn’t changed. You are going to make a right on red and there is someone in front of you who does not turn right away, and you lay on the horn. You’re in line at the store waiting to check out and it’s taking forever.

Mobile 156

Mobile Buy Examples Products 156

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 8, 2012

Hey Google, you know me, but do you really know me? I know, I know, you have all that customer data and you’ve just changed, refined your privacy policy so I know you really know me but… we’ve known each other for at least 10 years and we’ve grown on each other but…I have a beef. Just because I have people in my Google Plus Circles doesn’t mean that what they “might know” or talk about is necessarily the search result information that I was looki

Organization 156

Organization Policies Privacy Google 156

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 30, 2012

The static website is dead long live the static website. According to a study from Accenture , comScore , and dunnhumbyUSA aimed at helping consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers, visitors to CPG brand websites buy 37% more in retail stores than non-visitors to the brand site. The study also concluded, that to maximize impact, website content needs to be updated regularly and contain brand value messaging that both engages visitors while also providing compelling reasons for them to purchase th

Retail 152

Retail comScore Loyalty Study 152

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 12, 2012

I was driving through the Florida Everglades last week when I thought, “How in the hell does someone survive and get around out here in this vast expanse of nothingness?” Which made me immediately draw a relation to the water that surrounds the glades being the internet so to speak, and the wispy reeds of sea grass or whatever the hell it is, being your customers or users of the internet.

Social Media 143

Social Media Tools Engineering Platform 143

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 17, 2012

Brian Solis from Altimeter Group used the term empathetic business models in a recent blog post titled, A Critical Path for Customer Relevance, Part 1 , and though it sounds good and I would like for all businesses to “be” that in the end. I prefer not to use it to describe an ideal business model, as much as I think it’s more of an idealistic business model, and I think he knows this.

Buy 143

Buy Education Activities Groups 143

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 1, 2012

A lot of companies are going to transition to becoming a social business and fail horribly at it. It’s not entirely their fault. You might be sitting there and asking why not. Look no further than their website. It starts there. Here’s a real world example. 3 days ago I was on the phone with a prospective client, before I got on the phone I did a little research.

Adwords 138

Adwords Tumblr Reputation YouTube 138

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 5, 2012

How important is content to marketing professionals? Back in October, Coca-Cola’s Jonathan Mildenhall, The VP of Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence, was speaking at the Guardian Changing Advertising Summit when he stated: “All advertisers need a lot more content so that they can keep the engagement with consumers fresh and relevant, because of the 24/7 connectivity.

Advertising 138

Advertising Strategy Content Questions 138

Direct Marketing Observations

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Thanks to the folks at MDG.

Social Media 221

Social Media Marketing ROI 221

Direct Marketing Observations

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Courtesy of the folks from Protect Your Bubble.

Mobile 185

Mobile Marketing 185

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 9, 2012

Just watch the video…and then jump on over to Invisible Children.

Video 138

Video SEO 138

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 13, 2012

According to a recent survey published by eMarketer , four in five North American brand marketers considered brand lift to be the most important metric for evaluating the success of their online branding efforts. But is brand lift the right metric at all? Vizu which partnered with DIGIDAY on the survey defines brand lift as the following: Brand Lift is defined as the percentage increase in the primary marketing objective of a brand advertising campaign.

Brands 166

Brands Metrics Survey Advertising 166

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 27, 2012

Looking back on the year, it’s easy to see what was big when we have the benefit of an infographic. At the least, there’s no doubt that social adds a layer and an element to our memories. Big shoutout to Mashable and The SEO Company.

Social Media 240

Social Media SEO Company 240

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 6, 2012

There’s no doubt any longer about social media permeating every aspect of our daily live’s. Here’s a great infographic on the true ubiquity of social. Thanks to the folks from Socially Aware Blog.

Social Media 232

Social Media Social Networking 232

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

You don’t know this but you are really driving the train. By your actions of buying smart phones at an alarming rate, by snapping up tablets like they’re going out of style, you have made it known to retailers that these are the new weapons of not only commerce, but online commerce as well. Retailers and advertisers and marketers used to be able to dictate and call the shots and we as consumers responded like we were pavlov’s favorite dogs.

Mobile 237

Mobile Retail Smart Phone Training 237

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

As I’ve said many times, I love a good infograph, thus, let’s introduce the Onward Search Social Media Jobs Salary Guide. Some interesting things to note here. One, there are a lot of good paying jobs out there in the social media space. Two, I’m surprised that some of the positions and locations are not paying more. Given what is on the line for some companies, I would have expected more from some of the locations for the strategist and marketing manager positions.

Social Media 187

Social Media Company Marketing 187

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 1, 2012

Since it was a short week, we’re going to go with an infogrpahic from Patricia Redsicker.

Social Media 247

Social Media Marketing 247

Direct Marketing Observations

AUGUST 28, 2012

I’m doing some work in the retail sector right now and thought I would share this great Infographic from Campalyst. Though it’s from May of 2012, and we know how quickly things change in the space, it’s still a pretty bangin visual. Infographic by Campalyst.

Retail 190

Retail Social Media 190

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 14, 2012

It all starts with a title. The better the title, the stickier the title, the more likely you’ll suck us in.

SEO 171

SEO Engineering 171

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 20, 2012

Two things for you to check out. First check out the infographic below and second, check out this link: [link].

Social Media 177

Social Media 177

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 23, 2012

© WordStream , a Google AdWords partner company.

Adwords 195

Adwords Google Company Adsense 195

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 6, 2012

If You have not visited the blog site for the agency, We are Social, make sure you do. It’s a great resource of information. In particular, I was struck by an infograph that was up recently titled, Social Business-Social Media Integration. Within that infograph, I found this: Which one do you think is the hardest? Which is the easiest? Which takes the least amount of time?

Social Media 159

Social Media Resources Sites 159

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

Infographic by – Conversion Rate Optimization Company Invesp.

Social Networking 176

Social Networking Statistics Trends Conversation 176

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 3, 2012

Infographic presented by 2D barcode service Microsoft Tag.

Mobile 166

Mobile Microsoft Advertising Marketing 166