From the monthly archives:

October 2008

The 5 Critical, Current Responsibilities of a Social Media Expert

by Kat French · October 31, 2008

Jason got an excellent response (and rightly so) to last week’s post on the ROI of Social Media.  Both the post itself, and the comments, provided a lot of insight into appropriate valuation of social media services.  

In particular, I was captured by Dan Thornton’s comment, which mentioned three different perspectives: the social perspective, the old school perspective, and the transitional perspective.  

I love reading the perspective of the thought leaders who are trying to establish standards and practices for the future of the social media space.  I think it’s also important to remember that we’re not quite there yet.

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77 comments

Calgoo Brings Permission-Based Advertising To Your Calendar

by Jason Falls · October 30, 2008

As if consumers need another place to see ads, a tool called Calgoo is now offering the world’s first in-calendar marketing platform that will essentially put advertiser’s messages for events, sales and so on right there on your calendar. But hold on! While the tone of that sentence might lead you to believe it’s just another spammy thing, look a little farther. The platform is a permission-based, opt-in only program that enables consumers to have better notifications of time-sensitive products or services. While it’s like email marketing, the notices appear on your calendar, so you get notifications like you would appointments.

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8 comments

What Is The ROI For Social Media?

by Jason Falls · October 28, 2008

I spent a good portion of Sunday and Monday thinking about social media measurement and proving return on investment or ROI. Many of the sessions at PRSA International in Detroit were about social media, web-based communications strategies and the requisite question of how do we report success. Fortunately for PRSA (Public Relations Society of America), Katie Delahaye Paine was on hand to present and share her considerable expertise in the subject.

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2,229 comments

Social Media For Small Business: Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse

by Jason Falls · October 27, 2008

A continual frustration many business owners and brand managers have when investigating social media is that most of the case studies continue to come from the tech industry. While it would be easy to flip their ears for not being the forward-thinking innovators who take those learnings to their own category, translating a tech company or software platform’s marketing approach into the real world of business can be complicated and frustrating. Not only is the world of the web all Greek to them, but many Tech successes have come from organic growth fueled by all-night traffic-seeking binges from 20-something start-up junkies on speed rather than strategic marketing plans.

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99 comments

Weekend Fun From M&Ms

by Jason Falls · October 25, 2008

If I’m not mistaken, M&Ms has offered the ability to put your own face or customized message on a bag of those delicious little chocolate treats for a while now. But the folks there wanted me to let you know it doesn’t stop there. Now, you can put your face on a virtual M&M and animate it.

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5 comments

Research Shows Brands Should Focus On Trust, Conversation

by Jason Falls · October 24, 2008

Brand managers and marketers everywhere are trying to get a grasp on social media, social networking and the social revolution. In the survival of the fittest world of advertising, “fit” now means connected, and not as in, “having an online presence,” but as in, “with consumers in their social world on-line and off-.”

But because the social web is so new, very little qualitative and quantitative research exists that give marketers and brand managers the numeric back-up they need to make decisions. Sure, eMarketer.com kicks ass, and several other companies do good work with small samples and good publicity, but the simple fact remains that because the landscape is new and changes so rapidly, we haven’t quite solved the puzzle of the social web and what it means, or costs, to be involved here.

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6 comments

Solutions Stars Video Conference Helps Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs

by Jason Falls · October 23, 2008

Next Wednesday, I’ll participate in a video conference from Network Solutions called the Solution Stars Video Conference. From 1 p.m. ET until about 3:30 p.m. ET, users can log in and watch videos and live discussions featuring 32 people Network Solutions calls, “the world’s leading business and marketing experts.”

They forgot the tagline … “and Jason Falls.” Heh.

The point of the conference is to help coach small business owners and entrepreneurs on how the Internet can benefit their business. Nine content areas will be highlighted with video vignettes, including:

  • Building Web Presence
  • The Social Opportunity
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7 comments

Simple Efficiency Tweaks to Get More Done in Social Media

by Kat French · October 22, 2008

Okay, confession time:  I’m secretly a David Allen/GTD groupie.

I discovered Allen’s stuff several years ago, when I was the in-house marketing person at a large regional commercial construction company.  As basically a one-person marketing department, I had to juggle a lot of different priorities and tasks, and my workday was really unpredictable.  One day I might be editing video for the annual Christmas party, the next I might be writing radio copy or designing a print advertisement, and later that afternoon I’d be wrestling with nailing down invitations, RSVPs and other details for a customer appreciation golf outing (or acting as the “drink cart girl” at the same).

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32 comments

Social Media For Small Business: Martell Home Builders

by Jason Falls · October 20, 2008

As promised last week, we’re going to start taking a deeper look into some small business case studies of social media to illustrate how sound strategy, an understanding of the social web and not a whole lot of investment can make measurable differences for regular, old brick and mortar places down the block. This week, we head north of the border to learn more about Martell Home Builders in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

The first thing that hits you about Martell is their URL — http://www.themartellexperience.com. And, that, in essence, captures what Martell is about. Hiring them to build your house gives you an experience. Watch this:

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64 comments

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