Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 19, 2010

Do you ever stop and think about how much you’ve actually read and heard about social media? We talk or you hear all the time about C suite alignment in order to drive some type of momentum in rolling out social media, but has anyone ever explained or told you about the soft skills that are needed to get you over the top?

Skills 170

Skills Social Media Company Posterous 170

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 25, 2010

According to a May 2010 study by Digital Brand Expressions , 59% of social marketers are operating “without a game plan.” I’m not sure who is at more fault here, the marketer or the company they work for? No plan for HR and it’s social media recruitment and vetting of candidates. How is that possible?

Company 159

Company Social Media Study YouTube 159

Direct Marketing Observations

DECEMBER 1, 2011

Invariably what I see when I walk into the largest of the large or the smallest of small companies, are companies struggling with 2 schools of thought: (1) That they must corral the social employee and (2) How do they control the social customer. Companies fear what they can’t control. What’s the difference?

Organization 212

Organization Social Media Training Policies 212

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 28, 2010

I worry about the expectations that some people have for social media success versus the actual results. In some cases, we the consultants and champions of social media are just as bad and as guilty as the snake oil salesmen in pumping up and promising instant, magical results from social media.

Social Media 189

Social Media Consultant SEO Training 189

Direct Marketing Observations

JULY 20, 2010

For those of you that have been dialed into social media for awhile, this is significant for a number of reasons and you’ll know why. Can some of you even count the number of times you might have used ComcastCares as one of your social media “examples&# 2 years ago. What does the company do?

Company 187

Company Case Study Brands Posterous 187

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 12, 2010

I got a call yesterday from a vendor selling a social media solution. I was astounded by the person admitting that he really didn’t know enough about social media to answer the question. I was astounded by the person admitting that he really didn’t know enough about social media to answer the question.

Social Media 170

Social Media Web 2.0 Education Engineering 170

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

2 years ago, We stopped blowing on the reflection of our social media selves in the mirror and wanted to get serious about measuring social. Consider this blurb from 10 Ways Social Media Will Change In 2010. “Return on investment on social media activities has been challenging to most companies in 2009.

Data 197

Data Social Media Radian6 ROI 197

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 12, 2012

Recently, my work required that I evaluate some of the top global brands in a certain industry in regards to internal b2b social media usage. I’ve used upwards of 7-10 free and paid social media monitoring and measurement tools to do it. Executives need to take the time to be better at being social.

Social Media 187

Social Media Engagement B2B Small Business 187

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 22, 2012

The beauty of social media isn’t in the online connections. No the beauty of social media is in it’s potential. Taking social offline should be the goal of every online social media encounter worth its weight. It’s not about the numbers, never has been.

Social Media 178

Social Media Avatar Journal Conference 178

Direct Marketing Observations

AUGUST 13, 2010

That if they had their druthers, they would outsource their social media activities. Because what they won’t admit is that social media is a big time suck and furthermore, they might not even admit that they are tired of “engaging&# every day. To outsource your social media activities.

Social Media 180

Social Media Aggregator Activities Fashion 180

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 28, 2010

More importantly what struck me was that as much as I had done, in the grand scheme of things, a lot was predicated on how much the company I was working with embraced what I was doing. Increase awareness of and interaction with a company’s brand through brand mentions and participation in social networks. Create widgets.

Social Media 203

Social Media Marketing Social Bookmarking Widget 203

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 9, 2010

My last few posts have been about the darker side of social media and thus I wanted to clear something up. I am the biggest champion of social media that you will find and here’s why. The confluence of PR and social media ain’t no coincidence. 5) Need a good email marketing company ?

Social Media 196

Social Media Meeting Social Networking Conference 196

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

Social is enhancing personalized interactions. Social media is altering the how, the when, the why and the who in companies large and small. Shape your company’s influence and don’t be influenced by your company’s ignorance or naivete. They load up and they fire back with both barrels.

Social Media 168

Social Media Reputation Policies Influencer 168

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 26, 2010

I must admit that I was inspired to write this post based on the Social Media club of Orlando. They had tweeted me an invite to an event titled, “Mistakes and Lessons Learned in Social Media. 5) You Ignore The Rest of the Company. It’s a great topic and thus I was inspired. But what about you?

Social Media 221

Social Media Consultant MySpace Authentication 221

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 13, 2011

Social media platforms are owned by the companies that run them, and, as such, they are the only ones holding all the data on your customers and your interactions with them. We need to take our lips off of the baby bottle that is the big 3 of Social Media(Facebook, YouTube and Twitter) and own the data and own the channel.

Social Media 180

Social Media YouTube Data Platform 180

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 18, 2015

So much so, that it seems that not a year goes by now where I either hear or read about how social media doesn’t work or is useless or is dying. If anything, social media might be the Benjamin Button of digital these days. It’s tailored to your company and it speaks to your audience. But I digress.

Social Media 100

Social Media Marketing Discount Engagement 100

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 12, 2010

They decided to go from this… To this… Ouch… Without really knowing the full back story but having a good feel for when major retailers and companies crowdsource new ideas, I think it’s safe to say that Gap really didn’t reach out to its user base to find out what they might think. Gap sales were off 4%.

Social Media 209

Social Media Crowdsourcing Retail UGC 209

Direct Marketing Observations

AUGUST 17, 2011

If you talk at any length to any large corporations these days, they are all excited about the possibilities that social media might bring to their organizations, except that they are scared to death of the risks that social presents. Cisco is a good example of a company doing it the right way.

Social Media 159

Social Media Buy Handbook Policies 159

Direct Marketing Observations

AUGUST 24, 2011

If you’ve been in this business for any length of time, then its time to take your collective aggregate knowledge of social media and add it to the overall mix of what you know and do. We’re at least five years in and I want you to quit being a social media specialist, because you aren’t one any longer.

Social Media 199

Social Media Skills SEO Aggregator 199

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 23, 2011

Including corporate America, and yet that is their greatest fear with social media. They fear the new found empowerment of an existing employee and the new hires that have expectations around the company being truly social and digital. Of course some would say well social isn’t new anymore. Of becoming social.

Social Media 200

Social Media Posterous Collaboration Course 200

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 4, 2017

B2B Social media success is like the American ninja warrior TV show. B2B social media marketing can be brutal but it’s not a loser. Those challenges, metaphorically speaking, completely exist in B2B social media in 2017. Where does social media fit in the marketing mix?

B2B 100

B2B Conversation Social Media Strategy 100

Direct Marketing Observations

APRIL 19, 2010

How can you protect your children from social media? “I’m on top of it, I know what this social networking thing is all about&# , “My child doesn’t really use it&# , “Does it really matter? So how, as a parent, do we deal with the firehose that is electronic communication, that is social media?

Social Media 202

Social Media Social Networking Education Guidelines 202

Direct Marketing Observations

AUGUST 11, 2010

We love to talk and tell others about train wrecks for companies and people. Tags: social media influence blogs marc meyer social media Social Networks YouTube. We can be easily punked. We love watching video -and then sharing it-it takes no effort, none. zilch.zero. We are suckers for top ten lists.

Social Media 194

Social Media Social Networking Training YouTube 194

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 29, 2010

For the last few weeks I’ve started to compile a social media abilities list. Namely the skills and strengths that you would need in any high level position within an organization to carry out the social media duties and responsibilities required to be successful. Can you drive social media work for clients?

Questions 196

Questions Social Media RFP Collaboration 196

Direct Marketing Observations

JULY 2, 2010

The conversational divide… I have a couple of quick questions: Does social media allow customers to get their issues resolved quicker than if they were to use traditional means? Does whining via social media move you to the head of the line? Social media is my ally. What if I’m getting nowhere?

Social Media 159

Social Media Nielsen Company Issues 159

Direct Marketing Observations

MAY 20, 2011

It’s sexy to say that the recent valuations of social networking companies and platforms is very similar to the dot com bubble valuations. Except, it was easy to see back then ( or is that now?)

Social Media 176

Social Media Social Networking Buy Sites 176

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 24, 2010

What’s right in social media? As much as some people are apt to point out the #FAILS in social media, this was the big win of 2010. What’s wrong with social media? The semantics of social media education. The barriers in social media are not so high that it is an exclusive club.

Social Media 201

Social Media Mashup Yahoo Mobile 201

Direct Marketing Observations

MARCH 23, 2015

The world of the content marketer/social media marketer is changing. What that tells us and what a lot of old school social media marketers will tell you (old school being about eight years… ) is that the art of engagement has now become a science. I had mentioned in a previous post how it resets every day.

Activities 100

Activities Social Media Conversation Engagement 100

Direct Marketing Observations

FEBRUARY 5, 2010

To say that it was a successful tweetchat is an understatement, but what really pushed the chat over the top was the last question in which she asked for quick tactics to encourage corporate social media adoption. 1) Create a Social Media case study of who is talking about your company both in good & bad ways.

Social Media 177

Social Media Case Study Crowdsourcing Hashtag 177

Direct Marketing Observations

JULY 28, 2011

The emergence of transmedia storytelling over the past decade has lead to or created some unique opportunities in social media. Transmedia, according to Henry Jenkins a professor at USC is “the art of conveying messages themes or storylines to mass audiences through the artful and well planned use of multiple media platforms”.

Platform 190

Platform Social Media Drupal Open Source 190

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 17, 2010

That’s what a lot of companies and people do. According to ESPN the Indians have established a 10-seat section in left field for bloggers and social media users in an effort to engage fans and further the Indians’ brand in the social media space. It’s called the Tribe Social Deck.

Social Media 166

Social Media Sports Policies Press Release 166

Direct Marketing Observations

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

The music might be the trigger but the bullet nobody knows what that is… Apply that statement to all that’s happening in the world of social media and digital communications. Social media might be the trigger, but what is the bullet? What’s the trigger? What’s the bullet?

Social Media 170

Social Media Company 170

Direct Marketing Observations

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

About four years ago I wrote a post/checklist on what you should require when you hire your next social media rockstar. Do you understand how social media fits into the overall marketing plans and goals of any organization regardless of industry? Could you build a sound business strategy for a client around social media?

Social Media 100

Social Media Collaboration Team Resources 100

Direct Marketing Observations

JANUARY 21, 2011

If you’re new to social media marketing, you might feel like you’re a little late to the game. However, fear not, there are some who have actually been slogging through social media so long without any discernible results that they might as well have started yesterday. In a sense, if you are new , you are a little late.

Social Media 166

Social Media Social Networking Class Case Study 166

Direct Marketing Observations

JUNE 28, 2010

Below is an email response I gave to someone I did not know who is determined to reinvent themselves and reposition their very talented skills in the social media arena. But before you can start selling yourself as a social media consultant. Don’t do that. Be transparent. Be authentic. and try some different things.

Consultant 171

Consultant Social Media Posterous Authentication 171

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 5, 2011

I’m the biggest proponent of social media that you could possibly find but I am also the one that told my daughter that she doesn’t need Facebook. I also told a group of 400 parents and educators that anyone under the age of 16 doesn’t need to be on a social network. She’s 14. Why the flip-flop?

Social Media 152

Social Media Aggregator Loyalty Social Networking 152

Direct Marketing Observations

OCTOBER 13, 2010

But I also like to measure the collective efforts of both large companies and small when it comes to social media and social media marketing as well, and how it all plays out into today’s economy and how it utlimately affects you, the consumer. But some rules will still apply when the dust settles.

Social Media 159

Social Media ROI SEO Mobile 159