marketing – Page 12 – THE SOCIAL CMO Blog

Establish a Good Content Foundation – Invest in Your Blog

May 7, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

According to a January article by eMarketer, research from the social marketing software firm Awareness, Inc. shows that businesses are thinking about getting back into blogging for 2012, and it’s about time. The survey also indicated that businesses are looking at expanding their social footprint to new platforms, but I think the “getting back to basics” with blogging is a particularly good strategy.

While I truly love the relationship-building of social media, it’s often a moving target responsible for a lot of “shiny new toy” syndrome. After a while, we begin to feel like jugglers spinning plates—sooner or later something’s got to give. However, that something shouldn’t be your blog. A blog is quite simply one of the best ways to enlighten prospects about why they should do business with you, and it should be at the core of your content marketing efforts.

Curiosity May Have Killed The Cat But Complacency Will Kill The Marketer

April 30, 2012April 30, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

Recently I told you of the One Quarter Of American Consumers (who) Are Brand Loyal. That indeed is a very telling statistic which came from a survey conducted by Ernst & Young. Today comes the results of another survey, this one done jointly by Acxiom and Loyalty360, which sheds some light on why so few consumers are brand loyal. And it all comes to down one word.

com·pla·cen·cy – a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger

I give you exhibit A:

That’s right boys and girls, 60% of all the respondents – who were comprised of executives in both B2B and B2C companies from a cross section of industries, dedicate less than 20% of their marketing budget to customer retention.

See where I’m going here with the whole “complacency” thing?

Measuring Social Engagement… my two cents

March 26, 2012March 26, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

I believe many are looking at this in too narrow a fashion. Everyone is trying to assign a dollar value to a Facebook fan or Twitter follower instead of addressing the fact that engagement and interaction that takes place in these mediums and are incredibly important to a brand. They build relationships, create an emotional connection and therefore lead to Return on Relationship™… simply put the value that is accrued by a person or brand due to nurturing a relationship. ROI is simple $’s and cents. ROR is the value (both perceived and real) that will accrue over time through connection, loyalty, recommendations and sharing.

The mistakes I see being made is trying to measure Social engagement with the same tools we measure every other digital touch point. In my view email, search, even banner ads, have spoiled marketers into thinking everything can be and must be measured with the same metrics used to gauge success in other mediums. Initially as you are building your Social Media audiences, and testing, I have three stages with which I measure… #1 is Audience growth, #2 is Reactivity… getting them to take an action, and #3 Stickiness… keeping them coming back, engaged and interacting.
In addition setting expectations is important for the future are critical. Setting goals for number of follows/fans and how you interact and engage with them and them with you, can be very useful. Growth of your audience is very important as clearly outlined in the study by research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey… Consumers Engaged Via Social Media Are More Likely To Buy, Recommend, and their follow-up report… 10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Consumer Behavior on Twitter.

Marketing, Digital & PR in the Social Media Blender

February 15, 2012February 16, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

These are exciting times, because Social Media takes “Will it Blend?” to a whole new level with marketers. And for those of us who’ve been in the business for a while—it’s about time!

For years, marketing people and PR folks wore separate hats—had different skill sets, different agendas—even though they share a common purpose. It’s like the FBI and the CIA not talking to each other and sharing information about terrorism—dumb.

Even the birth of digital communications didn’t turn on any light bulbs at first, even made it worse by adding another silo, but the power and exponential growth of social media shows us why it is vital to string it all together.

Permission Marketing: Why Brands Should Be(a)ware!

January 19, 2012January 19, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

Social Marketing is the ultimate in Permission Marketing, and therefore it carries the ultimate marketing danger with it: taking away the permission is totally in the consumers’ control. Brands be(a)ware!

Permission Marketing puts the power in the consumer’s hands, by requiring that the marketers send promotional messages only to consumers who have given marketers permission to do so, whether explicitly (opt-in email list, for example) or implicitly (internet search).

Do you call on those Raising their Hands?

January 7, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

Every Google search is a hand being raised. So is every tweet, blog post, and Facebook comment with a complaint or question. Do you call on those raising their hands?? If not, you are missing an incredible opportunity!

Every social complaint or question is the “low hanging fruit” of a brand’s chance to interact with consumers. But it’s not just ANY chance – it’s a chance to interact when you have the consumers full attention “and” PUBLICLY, to engage in a way that can, and often will, catch the attention of an entire audience. These kinds of comments are visible, relevant and actionable, and brands need to have a plan to engage.

Lessons from the Chapstick Social Media Fiasco

December 28, 2011 by TheSocialCMO

What do “butts,” “ChapStick,” and “social” have in common? They are all part of a recent huge—and very public – series of poor choices that have seriously impacted the reputation of a major brand. I actually pulled those three words from the categories assigned to Tim Nudd’s recent AdWeek article, ChapStick Gets Itself in A Social Media Death Spiral.

So what happened? Long story short (read the article for full details), ChapStick posted an ad that was offensive to some people, and when those people voiced their opinions on ChapStick’s Facebook Fan Page, ChapStick deleted those comments… and kept deleting them as they were posted.

What Blog World Expo Taught Me About the Future of Social Media

December 9, 2011December 9, 2011 by TheSocialCMO

I recently spent three days in LA at Blog World (Blog World and New Media Expo #bwela), with some of my favorite people (bloggers and those connected to them), saturating myself with information while starting new and building on old relationships. As you probably know by now, I love connecting with people online, but I love even more connecting the old-fashioned way – face-to-face!

Other than stronger connections and new relationships, the most important takeaway from the conference, IMHO, is that we all need to stop worrying about “where it’s going” in Social and start concentrating on “where it is.”

Read more

Make it a “Social Thanksgiving”

November 25, 2011 by TheSocialCMO

Thanksgiving, the time when we give thanks not just FOR, but TO those who have been an important part of our lives: our friends and family, our customers, shoppers, advocates, and critics. Yes, I give thanks for ALL of them because they all provide a possibility for a relationship, which is really what it is all about.

This year, I propose we all try a Social Thanksgiving – one where we focus on the true meaning and value of relationships, and take the time to pay attention to others first (and ourselves next).

Let’s make this Social Thanksgiving a time to make sure everyone remembers two of the most important rules of a relationship:

#1: More important than finding your own light, help others to find theirs.

When we help others find their lights, we enter into a relationship with them – collaborating with them, giving of ourselves, and experiencing the gift of seeing life for a while through their eyes. We can always use a chance to and a fresh perspective on our own lives (and who knows, that could be the way that we end up finding our own light!).

#2: Build people up, don’t tear them down.

This is one of my rules and it should be one of yours too… no matter who you are interacting with. When we tear others down, it is only because we feel small and inadequate and are taking it out on someone else. Take that energy and put it into BUILDING the relationship and supporting others instead of trying to make them small enough that you seem more powerful, wise, or successful.

All people deserve your respect and genuine caring, and what really makes you shine is when you accept them, and build them up so they can see their own light and shine it on the path for others.

Why not take this Social Thanksgiving idea one step further, and going forward, use those two rules of relationship to inspire campaigns and consumer outreach that leads to deeper emotional connections with customers/shoppers? I have tried it – it is the way I do business – and I can tell you, IT WORKS.

So this Thanksgiving, I thank each of you for building me up and helping me shine my light, and I hope I have the chance to do the same for you! May you and your loved ones have a Happy and Social Thanksgiving!

Ted Rubin

Originally posted at TedRubin.com

‘Rocket Fuel’ and Marketo’s $50M Funding News

November 18, 2011 by TheSocialCMO

This morning, we had some great news here at Marketo. We announced a large round of primary capital funding – $50 million – led by new investors Battery Ventures. We’re delighted to welcome Battery, and General Partner Neeraj Agrawal, to the Marketo journey.

The media have been enthusiastic about our news, but today’s announcement is just the tip of the iceberg of a truly breakout year for Marketo. The broader business economy is hungry for ways to grow, especially given the current economic climate (I recently wrote on Forbes about the ways turmoil breeds opportunity). Indeed, there’s a new class of cloud technology that is transforming the enterprise, and business overall. Marketo is right in the thick of that transformative shift.