Thursday, December 16, 2010

Does online WOM mirror offline WOM

Thanks to Emanuel Rosen for posting the link to this interesting post on Facebook. The research the article talks about asks whether online and offline WOM mirror one another.
http://www.mediabizbloggers.com/media-biz-bloggers/111949889.html

Monday, December 6, 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Replacing the "marketing funnel" with the "consumer decision journey"

Replacing the "marketing funnel" with the "consumer decision journey," courtesy of David Edelman of McKinsey & Company and his article in Harvard Business Review.
http://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age/ar/1
http://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age/sb1

Friday, November 12, 2010

Amazon leverages customer reviews

This Bloomberg Businessweek story talks about how Amazon.com leverages customer reviews.
http://teachthe4ps.com/ZG

Recommendations from people you know still rule the day

Recommendations from friends and acquaintances still rule the day in terms of driving sales.
http://teachthe4ps.com/2t

Companies are leveraging online reviews

This Wall Street Journal article provides some good insights about how companies are leveraging the online reviews.
http://teachthe4ps.com/Xl

Nice excerpt from Basic Marketing by Perreault, Cannon & McCarthy

This is a nice excerpt from the latest edition of Basic Marketing by Perreault, Cannon & McCarthy. It is taken from the blog that accompanies the book.
http://teachthe4ps.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Publicity-Section-Sample-Pages-Basic-Marketing-18e2.pdf

adding Google Analytics to your Facebook page

According to this blog post, Google Analytics can be added to your Facebook page, but it is a little complicated.
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-add-google-analytics-to-your-facebook-fan-page/

Social media and b2b

These articles talk about how b2b companies are using social media.
http://teachthe4ps.com/aQQ
http://teachthe4ps.com/t0u
http://teachthe4ps.com/cIz

factors that motivate people to seek and share information

This study identifies factors that motivate people, women in this case, to seek and share information via word-of-mouth or word-of-keyboard.
http://teachthe4ps.com/aQQ

Friday, October 22, 2010

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Clorox's Social Media Strategy

Thanks to Edie Busija for calling this to my attention. It is a great overview of Clorox's social media strategy.
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-clorox-engages-customers-with-its-social-media-community/

Monday, June 14, 2010

Local search optimization

Thanks to Fred Miller for forwarding this great primer on local search optimization!
http://www.wilsonweb.com/local/basu-local-seo-intro.htm

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Free social media resources

Thanks to Edie Busija for forwarding these links to free social media resources. They are quite good!
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/20-free-ebooks-about-social-media/

Legal ramifications of online venting

Venting online about companies you don't like can result in a lawsuit. Lots of 1st amendment issues here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/us/01slapp.html?src=tptw

Friday, May 21, 2010

Social media and privacy

Thanks to Gill Welsch for forwarding this post about potential privacy violations committed by Facebook and other social media venues.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704513104575256701215465596.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Social media tools for college students

Thanks to LaDonna Mccuan for sharing this link about social media tools for college students. Identifies social media tools for sharing notes developing presentations, etc. Good information!
http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2010/05/12/5-social-media-tools-for-college-students.html

Friday, May 7, 2010

Word-of-mouth in China

According to this Harvard Business Review blog, word-of-mouth seems to be particularly important to the Chinese market:
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/04/the_power_of_word-of-mouth_in.html
Thanks to Emanuel Rosen for posting this to Facebook.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

How Companies are Using Social Media to Make Money

This is an excellent video on how companies are using social media to make money. Thanks to Ryan Schuler for posting this to the MSU Marketing Majors & Alumni Facebook group's wall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMcnDfp_SJg
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=2264824661

Pew Report on use of the Internet to access govt information & services

This is an interesting study by Pew Internet on how Americans use the Internet to access government information and services. Thanks to Linda Bartnik for forwarding it.
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Government-Online.aspx?r=1

Urbane Apartments case study

This is an excellent case study about how Urbane Apartments in Royal Oak, Michigan uses social media to build its brand. Thanks to LaDonna McCuan for forwarding it to me.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/may/205992.html

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Peer Influence Analysis

This Forrester Research influenced post talks about Peer Influence Analysis - how a relatively small proportion of the social media people create a disproportionate number of product and brand impressions. Thanks to Emanuel Rosen for calling this to my attention through a Facebook status update.

http://blogs.forrester.com/augie_ray/10-04-20-peer_influence_analysis_what_it_how_marketers_use_it

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Interesting post on word-of-mouth

This is an interesting post on word-of-mouth communication. It goes along nicely with the McKinsey article posted below.
http://miroslodki.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/the-measurement-of-whispers/

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Social Media Coordinator position with Southwest Airlines

Social Media's role in marketing is growing very rapidly and more and more of these positions are opening up. Thanks to Stephanie Elder, Bob Lochte, and Celia Wall for calling this position to my attention. There seems to be more and more of these positions out... there.

https://www.swajobs.com/ci20/index.jsp?locale=en_US&applicationName=swaExtCI&POSTING_ID=28072562&SEQ=jobDetails

McKinsey article on word-of-mouth

This is an excellent article from the McKinsey Quarterly on word-of-mouth. You have to register to get the article, but it's worth the effort.
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Strategy/A_new_way_to_measure_word-of-mouth_marketing_2567

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Finish Line - Social Media Coordinator position

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR


JOB ID: CH20100902-10893

DESCRIPTION:
This purpose of this position is to coordinate Finish Line’s presence in social media/Internet communities, including blogs, message boards, email discussion groups, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and other Finish Line-branded communities to generate awareness, opportunities, and more effectively connect with customers. It will also be responsible for on site presentation of community.

Duties:
• Assists in the development of Finish Line’s social media strategy, including audience, objectives, and strategy.
• Monitors external blogs, social networking sites and forums and participates in the conversation as needed.
• Manages social media tools, and remains current on the use of emerging tools and their applicability to Finish Line.
• Identification of 3rd party vendors to facilitate objectives.
• Identifies evangelists and actively suggests content derived from unique stores and interesting people that could be used for marketing content assets.
• Traffics communication in order to respond on a timely basis to visitor questions.
• Uses social media tools to reach new audiences across various platforms to increase product and brand awareness.
• Plans, writes, and edits web content for social media and other communication tools.
• Tracks and analyzes the effectiveness of Finish Line’s social media communications initiatives.
• Works flexible hours to assist in achieving efficient coverage monitoring various sites.

Qualifications

This position requires a Bachelor’s degree from a 4-year college or university or its equivalent. A major in Communications, Marketing, or a related field is preferred. Must be well-versed in various social spaces/communities, including their purpose, business objectives, demographics, growth capabilities and functionality. Experience with Web 2.0 and social media networking tools, including developing and executing a social media strategy, and knowledge of leveraging blog planning and posting, and community development and management. Must be an effective communicator with internal and external individuals at all levels. This includes spoken, written, electronic, and presentation skills. Communication should be consistently constructive and professional.

Computer Skills:

Should have intermediate knowledge and abilities with Microsoft Office products; strong knowledge of computer and web/digital technologies, software, and applications; and strong understanding of file management.

REQUIREMENTS:
Area(s) of Interest Marketing
Education Bachelors Degree
Job Type Full Time
Location Indiana (IN)
Job Level Experienced (Non-Manager)

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Insurance agents are using social media

Insurance agents working for State Farm and other companies are using social media to network with clients and potential clients.

http://tinyurl.com/ybwyrhz

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Reuters' social media guidelines

Reuters social media guidelines came to my attention in a GasPedal [news@gaspedal.com] posting.

http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/03/10/social-media-some-principles-and-guidelines/
http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php/Reporting_from_the_internet#Social_media_guidelines

Some entrepreneurs are questioning the value of social media

According to this Wall Street Journal article, some entrepreneurs are questioning the value of social media. Some of their concerns are probably justified. However, I strongly suspect that many of them are not getting the results they want because they don't know how to use social media appropriately. There are certainly lots of examples of poorly done social media out there.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575123691040422082.html

Monday, March 1, 2010

B2B guidelines from Marketo

These are excellent guidelines for using social media in a B2B context, courtesy of Marketo:
http://blog.marketo.com/

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Facebook Groups vs. Facebook Fan Pages

This is a good post that compares Facebook Groups with Facebook Fan Pages and provides insight into which might be best for your specific needs:
http://mashable.com/2009/05/27/facebook-page-vs-group/

Social Media Monitoring

This site contains great information on the monitoring of social media results:
http://www.socialmediamonitoring.ca/

B2B social media blog

This multi-author blog does a good job of addressing social media in a B2B environment:
http://socialmediab2b.com/

Graco uses social media to recall a product

Check out this Christian Science Monitor article to see how Graco used social media to help recall its strollers:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/2010/0121/Moms-a-Twitter-over-Graco-s-stroller-recall-response

Facebook's guidelines for sweepstakes, contests, competitions, etc.

Facebook has developed a set of guidelines that address the area of "promotions," which focus primarily on such things as sweepstakes, contests, and competitions.
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/02/23/6-tips-for-running-promotions-within-facebooks-guidelines/
http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Monday, February 8, 2010

Friday, February 5, 2010

A "Tweet" plan?

Here's an interesting idea ... a "Tweet" plan:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/8-simply-steps-to-growing-a-quality-twitter-following/

How Dunkin' Donuts uses fan photos

This is an interesting post about Dunkin' Donuts' use of fan photos:
http://www.clickz.com/3636383

Bloggng trends

Interesting post on trends in blogging:
http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/02/04/are-you-going-overboard-with-social-studies/

How to listen with Twitter

This is a good overview of how to follow comments about your product, service, or company on Tiwtter:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/5_simple_twitter_listening_tips_every_marketer.php

Social media & story telling

This is an interesting post on using social media to tell customers' stories:
http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/02/04/live-from-social-media-week-3-secrets-to-social-storytelling/

IBM's social media guidelines

IBM's social media guidelines:
http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html

"Millenials" use of social media

Here is some interesting data on "millenials" use of various forms of social media:
http://pewresearch.org/millennials/

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Company social media policies

According to this post, most companies don't have a social media policy ... perhaps they need one?
http://mashable.com/2010/02/03/social-networking-policy/

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Facebook conversion tracking tool

Facebook is experimenting with a tool that will track clicks from Facebook advertisements all the way through to purchase. Thus, it will answer the question, "How much revenue are we getting out of this advertising?"

Thanks to Theresa Flaherty for posting this link to LinkedIn!

http://www.mediapost.com/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=121357

Friday, January 22, 2010

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Thursday, January 14, 2010