Has Black Friday Lost Some Of Its Retail Magic?

November 27, 2013December 20, 2014 by Steve Olenski

Ok raise your hand if you knew the term “Black Friday” was first coined in the City of Brotherly Love, my hometown, Philadelphia. It’s ok if you didn’t know that. I was born and raised here and I didn’t even know it.

According to Time Magazine, “The term Black Friday itself was originally used to describe something else entirely — the Sept. 24, 1864, stock-market panic set off by plunging gold prices. Newspapers in Philadelphia re-appropriated the phrase in the late 1960s, using it to describe the rush of crowds at stores.”

As Johnny Carson would say, ‘I did not know that.’

What I do know, however, is the cultural, societal and retail phenomenon Black Friday has become. It has become symbolic for marketers and advertisers across the land as it signals the start of what they hope will be a very fruitful and beneficial holiday shopping season.

4 Social Media Platforms to Empower Your Employees

November 11, 2013December 20, 2014 by Ted Rubin

Who knows your business as well (if not better) than you do? The people who work in your business, of course! And I’m not talking about a sales staff. I’m talking about your nuts-and-bolts employees who know the everyday ins and outs, whether they work with your customers, handle inventory or do the behind-the-scenes work that helps run your company. In today’s socially-connected world, employees are often an untapped resource that (with a little guidance) could exponentially expand your company’s word-of-mouth reach. Empower them so they can power your business.

Your employees can use these four social platforms to help spread the word about your company:

1. LinkedIn

Especially if your company is B2B, have a company profile on LinkedIn, and encourage all employees to have personal profiles that link them to your company. Each person has talents and skills they contribute to your business that could be highlighted with your company’s keywords in each employee’s summary and experience areas. LinkedIn Recommendations can also increase your company’s visibility in the channel.

Ask employees to join groups where they can share their insights and answer questions.

2. Facebook

If you have a business page on Facebook, have employees link to it in the “About” section of their profiles. Also, set up a private group where your employees can collaborate. Seek out groups that fit your company niche and encourage employees to join; not to SPAM others with your messaging, but to find ways to contribute, answer questions, share expertise, etc.

3. Twitter

Twitter is a great place to provide an extra level of customer service that goes beyond your own company brand on Twitter. People-to-people interaction gives your brand a more human touch. Each person can actively “listen” for company mentions, questions and conversation around keywords and jump into the conversation where appropriate—even if it’s just to thank someone for mentioning or Retweeting your brand. Encourage employees to share Tweets around your company’s activities and content. Come up with a company hashtag or a series of hashtags (e.g. #companyname, #companyevent) and pre-craft Tweets to make it easy. They can just cut and paste to share on their Twitter feed.

4. Instagram

Even if you don’t have a photogenic product, your employees with smartphones can still spread positive messaging about your company with Instagram. From photos of the lunchroom, to customer gatherings to company events, there are many ways your employees can pull in prospects with images.

Hashtags can now be used and tracked on all four of these platforms.

A little encouragement goes a long way!

Set some formal guidelines, keeping in mind that if you clamp down too hard, employees may back away from participating. Offer in-house social training, led by your best in-house and local experts. Provide incentive programs to reward the employees who provide the most relevant ideas and responses.

Remember that your employees are your company’s best resource—make the most of their passion and individuality. They’re already social, so start thinking of how you can empower your employees to have their own voice, and you will discover many can and will become your company’s most active and valuable social advocates.

Originally published October 2, 2013 at salesforce Blog

My Recent Abomni-Channel Retail Experiences

November 6, 2013November 6, 2013 by TheSocialCMO

The entire retail channel is ablaze these days with talk of Omni-channel retail. Who’s doing it right, what are the best logistics strategies to support and the like.

Well those of you who know me will agree that for a retail guy I’m really not that much of a shopper. And funnily enough on two recent store visits to different retailers in the Greater Toronto Area I experienced not one but two abomni-channel retail trainwrecks.

Recently I went to a store in Newmarket around 4 pm to get two products with my son. He had seen the products on the retailer’s website and site did not say it was only available online so we went to store to pick one up.

Brand Adoption Of Instagram Up 80% In One Year

November 5, 2013December 21, 2014 by Steve Olenski

A few weeks ago Jeff Bercovici of Forbes wrote a piece entitled Instagram Launches Ads, Promises, ‘We’ll Start Slow’ in which he told all us Instagram users that “the honeymoon’s over” and that the “long-promised introduction of advertising to the photo-based social network is upon us.”

In his piece Jeff made reference to a post from the official Instagram blog which says they (Instagram) will “focus on delivering a small number of beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community.”

Well based on the results of the recently released Instagram brand adoption study from Simply Measured,

Social Media Radio with @BeverlyMacy interviews Ted Rubin

October 31, 2013December 20, 2014 by Ted Rubin

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/beverlymacy/2013/10/29/the-worlds-most-followed-cmo–ted-rubin

The World’s Most Followed CMO – Ted Rubin

FEATURED

Tuesday 10/29 3:00 pm

Ted is the most followed CMO on Twitter according to Social Media Marketing Magazine; one of the most interesting CMOs on Twitter according to Say Media, #13 on Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers, 2013, and number #2 on the Leadtail August 2013 list of Top 25 People Most Mentioned by digital marketers.

Why Relationships & Advocacy Are Keys to Social Success (Webinar via @EngageSciences)

October 25, 2013December 20, 2014 by Ted Rubin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNsNdk1yOsE

October 23, 2013 by engagesciences

On Tuesday October 22 Richard Jones, the CEO of EngageSciences was joined by Ted Rubin, globally recognised as the most followed CMO on Twitter for a live webinar on “Why Relationships and Advocacy Are The Keys to Social Success”.

Understanding Luxury Goods

October 19, 2013 by TheSocialCMO

A luxury good gets its value from its lack of utility and value. A typical consumer would look at what it costs and what it does and say, “that’s ridiculous.”

When a good like this (and it might be a service as well) comes to market, it sometimes transcends the value equation and enters a new realm, one of scarcity and social proof. The value, ironically, comes from its lack of value.

Duane Reade Strategy Creates 1 Million+ Engaged Twitter Followers

October 11, 2013December 20, 2014 by Ted Rubin

~via Wired City… New York City drug store giant Duane Reade is connecting with more customers via social media.

Its Twitter fan base surpassed 1 million followers, a major milestone for the Walgreen-operated drug store chain among the drug, food and mass-arena segment. Duane Reade has raised its presence on Twitter more than 6,000 percent in the past year.

Customer Loyalty Management via the Customer Service Silo

October 11, 2013December 20, 2014 by Ted Rubin

All of your employees work in the marketing department, at least to some extent, and they need to understand the role they play. But to create a strong foundation for customer loyalty management, there are a few departments within your company that absolutely need to sync with marketing. Your customer service department is the most important.

Here are four ways you can leverage your customer service team to effectively manage customer loyalty, build relationships, and turn customers into fans. Think Return on Relationship… because there is no better time than when your customers reach out to you.

What Every Marketer Can Learn By Going Lean

October 8, 2013December 20, 2014 by Steve Olenski

I never thought I would be penning a piece using the word “lean” in the title. Being six-foot three and weighing 250 pounds the word “lean” and I are not always in the same neighborhood, or country for that matter. But when I heard about a different kind of lean, one that brands and marketers and business owner of all sizes can benefit greatly from – my naturally investigative mind took over and I knew I had to learn more.

What I found was Lean, with a capital L. Some refer to it as “Lean manufacturing”, “Lean enterprise”, or “Lean production” where others just refer to it as “Lean.” Whatever name you prefer it all essentially means the same thing: maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.