From the monthly archives:

September 2010

Online Customer Engagement is a Myth

by Eric Brown · September 10, 2010

The Social Media Echo Chamber clamors that as business owners, we need to embrace the new media, be transparent, join the conversation and engage with our customers. That sure does have a smooth and flowery pitch. Accordingly, that is how it works for your business. Launch a Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter account, a blog and let the customer engagement begin. Your over-satisfied and happy customers will flock to your digital pasture with stimulating and fulfilling “engagement.”

Not So Fast With That Advice

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23 comments

The Three Dimensions of Internal Branding

by Heather Rast · September 9, 2010

When you’re trying to build your company’s brand, one clear focal point is the marketplace and another is the target consumer.  An often overlooked (or under considered) leg of the stool is your work force, and subsequently, everyone those people know. Internal branding. Do your plans for steadily building a sustainable brand place enough weight on those internal audiences so crucial to your success?

One of my favorite quotes related to branding is from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com.  When speaking of a company’s reputation, the legacy under recursive construction, Bezos said something like “Your brand is what they say about you when you’ve left the room.”  The “they” in that sentence being any audience or segment and the “you” being the company, the brand.  The guys in charge.

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5 comments

The ROI of Rotary

by Ike Pigott · September 8, 2010

DISCLAIMER: The following conversation is did not really happen, at least in the form presented. It is an amalgam of conversational snippets I have overheard from people in Corporate America. Many have probably happened somewhere near you.

“Peterson, come here for a moment. We need to have a talk.”

Getting called into the boss’s office is never fun.

“Peterson, I’ve been looking at your proposal. I’m afraid I’m going to have to turn you down.”

We all live with disappointment.

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21 comments

Online Marketing Tips from the Farmer’s Market

by Adam Helweh · September 7, 2010

My wife and I have been attempting to hit the local farmer’s market every Sunday. Our intention is to eat healthier and support some local businesses. This last Sunday marked our second trip and being quite the “people watcher” I had a few observations that struck me as having similarities to how marketing on the web works. For instance, compare the throngs of people browsing the stands of fresh produce to the eb and flow of the world wide web. Many of the stands sold the same items as their competitors who were only feet (read: clicks) away. Vendors with more easily accessible product layouts, a wider variety of items and better prices were seconds away from any of the patrons.

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25 comments

Starting Fires

by Jason Falls · September 6, 2010

Two weeks ago, I posted a call to arms for anyone who wanted to be a regular blogger here at Social Media Explorer. It was a call-to-arms for, “smart thinkers, status-quo challengers, tool reviewers and people who understand social media marketing better be about business or you’ll be flipping burgers soon.” I put an exclamation point on the post by saying, “I want to share this platform with thought fire-starters.”

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23 comments

Social Media:  What To Share and How To Share

by Mark Dykeman · September 3, 2010

Rule #1 of Twitter use – be helpful – right?  Does that make sense to you?  Absolutely.  Can you screw up your implementation of Rule #1 and ruin your Twitter presence?  Absolutely.    By the way, this rule applies to all forms of social media.

Let’s look at the idea of sharing in the context of two questions:

  • What to share
  • How to share

Automated social media – efficiency versus effectiveness

Megaphone by Kimba Howard on FlickrYou can automate parts of your social media presence.  ReTweet buttons are a simple example:  two clicks and you’ve Tweeted a useful link instead of typing it all out.  You can even set up automated Tweets, similar to E-Mail autoresponders.  Similar examples apply to other social media tools.

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26 comments

How Mobile Apps Can Inspire Website Design

by Jason Falls · September 1, 2010

There’s a really good reason people love apps, and in particular applications from brands. They are often streamlined and simple versions of a company’s website or serve a specific purpose. There’s no annoying copy in marketing speak, no flash banners slowing down the page load, no pop-ups and, often, no confusion on where to go to get what you want. Why? Because mobile or tablet/iPad apps are supposed to be simple, serve 1-2 purposes and get out of the way.

Which is precisely what most users want from a corporate website.

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6 comments

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