Posts

10 Things I’ve Learned from Steve Jobs

in /by

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve likely heard the news that Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple yesterday. I’ll leave the detailed reporting to the journalists, but as a fan girl of Mr. Jobs and the products developed while under his reign, I thought it would be fun to share 10 things I have learned from following his career so far:

  1. Innovate, innovate, innovate – but only if it’s useful
  2. Stay hungry – don’t give up
  3. Listen to yourself – trust your gut
  4. Thing big, talk big
  5. Stick with what works – like a nice OS
  6. Be cool – be colorful
  7. Say what you think. (Wired gathered some of the greatest Jobs’ quotes.)
  8. Don’t settle – say no if it’s not right
  9. Keep going – as long as you can, but be honest with yourself and others when it’s over
  10. Go out on top – but stick around to see what happens, if you can

“The end of an extraordinary era,” indeed. (As Walt Mossberg reports on Jobs’s legacy of “Changing How we Live,” in the Wall Street Journal.)

Persuasive Picks for the week of 12/13/10

1 Comment/in /by

Top 10 PR blunders of 2010
Is there anything more satisfying than reading about the PR trials and tribulations of others to reassure you that you’re doing everything correctly? Read on to find out – unless you’re on the list… in which case, move on to the next pick. 🙂

Finding the Sweet Spot for Journalism and Social Media
There’s no doubt that mainstream print media entities are still trying to figure out who should be running social media within their respective organizations. This AdvertisingAge post from Thomas Pardee explores how the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today are handling the task.

One-third of Brands Converting via Social Media
Stats abound in this MarketingProfs recap of a recent R2integrated survey that found over one-third of participating companies have been able to make cold hard cash through their social media efforts. That number is projected to increase throughout 2011, as over 60% of marketers surveyed will be increasing their budgets for social.

Leaked Slide Shows Yahoo Is Killing Delicious & Other Web Apps
As an avid user of Delicious, I was saddened to hear that Yahoo will be pulling the plug on the well known bookmarking service in addition to several other acquired services. Luckily, there’s an export feature in the Delicious settings section to download and save your links. Mashable’s Jolie O’Dell gives the rundown on the story, via this post.

6 Social Media Success Metrics You Need to Track
Social Stratagist Jay Baer shares several “undervalued” sources of social metrics that you should consider adding to your measurement routine.

Kia Connects and Wins – An Advertising Lesson… for Marketers

4 Comments/in , /by

Today the Wall Street Journal ran an article highlighting the fact that the Kia Soul hatchback won the Automotive Ad of the Year from Nielsen Automotive. In the article, the reporter states, “Compared with typical auto ads, the quirky  Kia spot focuses less on the car’s technical details and more on the freedom that driving brings” and that “Kia ad’s success is indicative of a trend toward smaller, often obscure brands taking more chances and getting more recognition from consumers with edgy, unusual advertising.”

 

Consumers are doing much  more than recognizing – they’re expecting to be listened to, and not just in advertising. One of the elements that we talk about a lot with clients today is the customer’s influence on marketing and involvement in PR. Marketers traditionally think that they’re the only ones doing the influencing, but in reality, today’s consumer holds a great deal of influence, as evidenced by debacles such as the “Motrin Moms” issue and more recently, Nestle’s social media mess.

So what do a cute hamster ad, angry mommy bloggers and social-media savvy protesters have in common? A theme not only of engagement but of encouraging involvement. Especially with B2C companies, consumers want to be heard not just after your ad airs or marketing campaign is launched, but before. They want to see their influence reflected in your ad spots, your marketing materials, your messaging and your promotions. Truly connecting with customers means understanding them – you can “engage” with them on Facebook but if you’re not really listening, and assessing their feedback, you won’t understand them. If you don’t understand them, it’s difficult to connect in a way that will inspire desired actions.

Kia recognized what their customers care about and let it influence their messaging –  creating an ad that touched them emotionally (freedom) vs. intellectually (the product specs). Advertisers are no strangers to using both sentiments in their campaigns, while  marketers often assume that the technical details will elicit the desired emotional response. Marketers could have greater success if they learn to open up a bit and allow customers to participate in the direction of messaging and marketing –  even product marketing and development, as Hallmark recently did with their “Birthday Your Way” Greeting Card Contest – not just a contest for promotional purposes, but really, truly allowing consumers to influence and create products.

Marketers who recognize today’s unprecedented opportunity to easily integrate customers’ opinions and desires into the overall marketing strategy – not just a feedback loop – will see greater success. Social media tools make this particularly easy to do, although it’s not just about gathering information, but rather understanding how to use that information to make an emotional connection with your brand and create an ongoing, solid relationship with your customer.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/25/10

1 Comment/in /by

foursquare_logo_girl6 marketing opportunities on Foursquare
Many are predicting that 2010 will be the year of mobile marketing. If thats the case, then iPhone and Blackberry app Foursquare is on its way to being a leading platform in that space. Tony Felice from iMediaConnection shares 6 ways marketers can take advantage of this increasingly popular mobile app.

Facebook Marketing Tips: Make the Most of Your Fan Page
Online Marketing Blog Copywriter, Michelle Bowles shares a few great tips on making the most of your Facebook Fan Page and provides examples of real pages that are inline with her advice.

Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl Ad Plans Include Social Media
Stuart Elliot from the WSJ’s Media Decoder blog provides a run-down of Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl campaign that includes a combination of traditional tv ads and online focused social media efforts

50% of Marketers Shifting Funds From Traditional to Online; Social “Top Priority”
Marketing Pilgrim’s Andy Beal shares the results from a recent report from the Society of Digital Agencies that indicates marketers are continuing to put more time and effort in the online social space.

Social Media As Customer Service
Lauren Fischer from SimplyZesty explores the trend of businesses adding social media platforms to their customer service workflows. A link to a Forrester presentation is also provided.

 

Persuasive Picks for the week of 07/27/09

in /by

Three Instantly Effective Social Media Strategies
Alexandra Samuel, CEO of Social Signal, outlines three great options for building a robust social media presence, regardless of budget. Her article in BusinessWeek suggest companies use simple and quick innovations, building on existing tools and established best practices.

Facebook and MySpace: Beware Of The Mommy Bloggers
Mediapost’s Catharine. P Taylor reviews how mommy bloggers inadvertently, perhaps, uncovered a central truth about social media marketing: it isn’t at all about carefully targeted display ads, or search ads, but about relationship-building.

Who is responsible for your social media strategy? This article by Wayne Kurtzman on Media Bullseye debates whether or not you should hire an entry-level person to manage your “dances with the public” and reminds us that “They are speaking for your company on the world wide stage.” Other important caveats: “One: These are not small companies. Two: Nothing personal, but these companies do not understand social media. Three: as a good friend reminded me, this is all too new – there are no experts.”

As a remote workforce, we’re more than familiar with the importance of self-discipline and internal motivation as critical success factors. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at these and other crucial elements of success for future workers facing the disappearance of traditional office environments. Alexandra Levit asks, “What’s in Your Future?”

If you still aren’t convinced that social media is a strategy you should add to your marketing, customer service and sales mix, read “Managing an Online Reputation” from Kermit Pattison in The New York Times. “Your customers are talking about you — and the whole world is listening.”


Business Social Networking Simply Makes Sense

in , /by

Our client Sermo was featured in a Wall Street Journal article this week on the business of social networking. Social networking is an interesting phenomenon that surprisingly has taken a while to catch on in business and with professionals across multiple industries. Business was born on networking – that’s an age-old lesson that anyone knows. It’s the formerly “impersonal” way of communicating via the Internet that caused the delay of networking online for business purposes. However, with everything from meeting your future spouse to running your business taking place on the Internet, networking online for business and professional growth – or even as a business model – is a no-brainer.

 

 

 

Sermo_logo

 


Think about your neighborhood and how you find who to use for items such as a pediatrician, a hairdresser, a great accountant, a good dog walker. You ask your friends or neighbors. You get their opinions, ask about their experience with different vendors and listen to recommendations. Social networking allows this exchange to go beyond your physical location and even your initial network for even greater insight. It also allows us to pool our collecitve intelligence and experiences for greater insights, such as the 25,000 doctors sharing information on Sermo. Social networking for business just makes sense.

 

 

 

 

The advent of social networking for business professionals, such as LinkedIn, is not that far from a very general, basic idea. Years ago, before “Web 2.0” or “social networking” or even “MySpace” were media darlings, the Internet was used for listings provided by local area businesses. Patrons of such businesses would leave comments or recommendations based on their experiences on the site’s forums or message boards. It was a bit clumsy and not very interactive but it worked. Social networking for business simply elevates and expands upon this very basic idea. Not only can you promote your thoughts, opinions and recommendations (including your own company’s products or services) but you can easily view and connect with 2nd and 3rd tier contacts – friends of friends, if you will – for business exchanges such as recruiting, choosing a service vendor, trying a product, etc. Social networking enables you to quickly and easily expand your network, which can be utilized in many ways – not the least of which is marketing and PR purposes. PR is influence by word of mouth, essentially, so social networking is a must for any promotional campaign today.

 

 

 

 

Social networking in general started as a form of self expression. Teenagers and college students flocked to it as a way to connect with others like them outside of the usually small social circle in the “real” world. Today, it is helping to shape businesses of all types and is still based on that basic premise of expression. If I have a bad – or good – experience at a retail store, online shopping or at a restaurant, my complaints go well beyond my intimate social circle and have much greater power than a letter to the Better Business Bureau. A few posts on a Facebook wall, a blog comment or a Q/A on LinkedIn ensures the word spreads like wildfire to people who matter. And, as the WSJ article today states, social networking is “moving more into the mainstream” – ensuring anyone’s “self expression” today has a very meaningful – and profound – impact. Now, it’s a matter of how to ensure that expression is a positive reflection of your company or products and services.