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Ilana Rabinowitz

Technology Is A Canvas, Not A Platform

by Ilana Rabinowitz · May 1, 2013

This statement, spoken by David Droga, founder of the creative agency Droga5 at the Innovation Uncensored Conference,  best captured the truth about digital marketing today.  It points to the shift in marketing that’s occurred since the advent of social media and explains the surge in popularity of conferences and books about creativity and innovation.

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Why You Are Ignoring The Most Important Data

by Ilana Rabinowitz · April 11, 2013

Business is having a love affair with big data. In the last few months it seems that every conference and webinar I come across has “big data” on the agenda.

Big data is the allure of more. More information. More access to behavior. Opportunities for more sophisticated analysis.  The thinking goes likes this: If we know every move people make then we not only know everything,  but we can predict everything.  As business people we love it because the information is finite, scalable and measurable.

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Will Social Media As We Know It Be Enough?

by Ilana Rabinowitz · March 21, 2013

I had the misfortune of being home sick last week and watched daytime T.V.  for the first time in years.  Barely able to change the channel, I watched a lot of commercials. What I noticed was a trend in focusing on personal service and hand-crafted products.

The Personal Touch Is More Important Than Ever

Commercials for the Discover Card had the message that when you call, a human being will answer the phone.  And that person will talk to you in a way that feels like you are being talked to by someone who is like you.  Over several different Discover ads, the main character was a completely different demographic, and in each one, the customer service rep on the other end of the line at Discover spoke in his or her accent, looked like the caller and completely understood the caller’s needs.

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A Conference That Can Help You Reinvent Your Business

by Ilana Rabinowitz · February 28, 2013

Why do you go to a conference? Perhaps to learn more about tactics that have worked well for others. Or to network with people in your field. Often, it’s to educate yourself on cutting edge techniques or tools.

But can a conference help you become more innovative? Can a conference help you think beyond the scope of best practices and industry trends? Is it possible to return from a conference inspired and equipped to do the creative work that will help you reinvent your business?

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In Marketing, Motives Matter

by Ilana Rabinowitz · February 7, 2013

Marketing is becoming a very different business. I’m not talking about the new tools and platforms. I’m talking about how marketers themselves have to change the way they think about the people they reach.  That change is going to be counterintuitive and uncomfortable for business people. It requires that we look at the ultimate goal as the relationship.

Now, I can hear you saying “we’re in business to make a profit.  That has to be our goal.” And I promise you, behaving in a more human way won’t hurt you there.

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The Secret Sauce Of A Great Blog Post

by Ilana Rabinowitz · January 17, 2013

People are wired to connect.  Neuroscientists have discovered that there is a part of our brains in the prefrontal cortex that helps us tune into other people, making the connections that are necessary to create relationships that help us survive.

How does this little bit of neuroscience have anything to do with blogging?  Because the most successful blog posts are those where the writer has tuned into something that the reader is experiencing.  This affects that part of the brain, generating an emotional connection with the reader.

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The Most Important Marketing Tool You Probably Aren’t Using

by Ilana Rabinowitz · December 20, 2012

Before social media taught us we had to sound human, we could talk to everyone in the same generic business-speak to everyone. Now, people have come to expect businesses to speak to them in a more personal way and to be more relevant.  Personas allow you to do that.

Personas will determine the content, tone and language that you use when communicating. To better understand how important this is, imagine yourself at a family holiday party.  You would not discuss the same topics or use the same kind of language with your grandmother who loves to garden, your college-age nephew who is fascinated with politics, or your sister, who’s an executive at a software company.

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Want Your Digital Marketing To Win? Choose Your Words Carefully.

by Ilana Rabinowitz · November 28, 2012

The simplest and  most important thing to know in being a good digital communicator is this:  Talk to people as if you are both human beings.

You wouldn’t think people need lessons in acting human.  But many of us assume a business façade at work. We put on our work attire, go to an office, sit in meetings and write memos or emails to customers, forgetting that we are human beings talking to other human beings.  We speak a language filled with buzzwords, clichés and acronyms that we would never use with friends.  Imagine inviting your guests to the dinner table with a statement like “please be advised that dinner is served.”

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Becoming A Social Business Isn’t Just For Social Media

by Ilana Rabinowitz · October 26, 2012

Social media has evolved so quickly and engaged so many people — a billion of us on Facebook — that it has actually changed the nature of our culture.  It has changed our expectations about how quickly we will receive responses from people. It has also changed our expectations of shared knowledge within our personal and professional “tribes.”

We have come to expect the same kind of communication in all areas of our lives that we have on Facebook. The new openness has most significantly affected the way businesses need to operate.

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About Ilana Rabinowitz

Ilana Rabinowitz

Ilana Rabinowitz is the vice-president for marketing for Lion Brand Yarn and blogs about social media at Marketing Without A Net. Rabinowitz approaches marketing with an uncompromising focus on the customer and a grounding in psychology and neuroscience to understand what motivates people to make buying decisions.  She believes that businesses need to develop their own media as a means of creating a branded experience for customers.  She has spoken at digital marketing conferences including Web 2.0, Blogher Business and Internet Retailer. She is the author of a book about psychology, a book about mindfulness and co-author of a book about the culture of knitting. Follow her on Twitter at @ilana221.

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