In this Marketing Over Coffee we discuss Research with Twitter, Social Media and Healthcare, and Webinar Providers..... all that and more in this Marketing Over Coffee, a weekly audio program sponsored by MarketingProfs that covers classic marketing tactics and what's new on the technology Direct Link to Show length Using ... more

We live in an age of skepticism about all forms of consumption. The diffusion of our skepticism is accelerated by the Internet and makes the sincerity even more So it's no surprise that the world of business -- specifically in the realms of advertising, branding, and marketing -- has to ... more

Registration is now open for this spring's free virtual event, MarketingProfs Digital Marketing . Taking place online, the full-day event is totally free to attend .... and the program (if I do say so) is stellar. So why miss This spring's theme is "Winning Against the Odds," which we think ... more

Customers are quick learners. We've learned, for example, to ignore subscription renewal letters that come months in advance of our actual expiration date; from experience, we know that there's no urgency – plenty of other letters will come in the next few months reminding us to That's why I'm concerned ... more

Maybe it is because I just saw South Pacific at Lincoln Center a couple of weeks ago, but when Anne , Chairman and CEO of told 800 marketers at the American Marketing Association's in Orlando that she was not "a wild eyed optimist," I perked up and listened. You just ... more

A well-researched article in Adweek, Noreen O'Leary's Boomers Caught in Squeeze ," ought to make marketers everywhere sit up and take The Consumer reaction to the painful reversals in the economy... particularly that of baby boomers, "who account for more than half of U.S. spending and who traditionally have grown ... more

Having taken on this new role of blogging on the Personal Branding , I naturally have been looking at many of the other personal brands that are out there. A few names come to mind very quickly when you think about strong personal Robert Scoble, Guy Kawasaki, Steve Jobs (the ... more

"Inventory is bad, inventory is evil," finance and operations professors intone across business schools worldwide. And every B-school graduate knows companies should balance enough inventory to meet customer needs while accommodating shifting preferences. That said, companies face a paradox; holding too much inventory ties up valuable cash, but too little ... more

Marketing's mission is to somehow change a customer's behavior. We try many things to affect that advertising, email, search, events, webinars... and the list goes on and And in tough economic times the opportunity to affect customer behavior is exceptionally acute, especially when it comes to existing loyal So check ... more

A recent Brandweek article, Concentrating on , piqued my interest. In the article, we learn that Clorox has launched a new campaign to show consumers the many uses for bleach, besides using it to whiten their laundry. New ad spots show that bleach can be used to disinfect cutting boards, ... more

I'm back from the Fulbright in Yerevan, Armenia. And while most of my current thoughts seem to be on the increasingly intimidating task of finding a new position in the marketing world, I have also spent time contemplating what my family and I just It was the adventure of a ... more

As a copywriter, I'm particularly interested in names. Some I love, such as "Amazon" or "Starbucks," for their evocative quality. Some I hate (imagine what you will here) and some leave me just plain puzzled. Why is it, for example, that hair salons are especially prone to bad puns such ... more

It helps to have been around business blogging and social media for a while. It gives one historical Case in point, the almost perennial debate over whether it's okay to mix advertorial content in with editorial. That argument has been bandied about ever since the days of Marqui's Blogosphere in ... more

Why do you use Twitter? A week or so ago MarketingProfs CEO Allen Weiss on Twitter, "Sitting here with my wife trying to figure out what motivates people to use twitter....any ideas?" Allen had just returned from a few days of meetings with me and the rest of the MarketingProfs ... more

Dwindling budgets suddenly make low-cost social media look like the pretty girl at the " - Ann I love Ann's optimistic take on social media in the downturn. And I fundamentally agree. Big promotional budgets are hard to find, but you still need to get your message out there. And ... more

Think about None of these cool new social media tools were developed with "us" (marketers) in mind. Blogs, social networks, YouTube, etc. were created for people to keep in touch with their family and friends. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that the majority of people who first embraced ... more

In the last couple of years, as companies have become more interested in social media, they have tried to find ways to use these tools to reach "influencers." Sometimes these initiatives are referred to as 'blogger outreach' programs. But there is a much more influential and important group that most ... more

I work in a professional services firm and in order for firms like ours to differentiate themselves, they have to create perhaps hundreds of personal brands around individuals who understand niche topics extremely well. And since buyers have transparency through the use of search engines they can really get a ... more

A few weeks back, Geoff and I wrote an off-the-cuff, tongue-in-cheek "Top 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert Is a Carpetbagger" and it drew the most interesting conversation around ghostwriting (#7 was "Will ghostwrite blog posts and other social content for There are lots of writers, agencies ... more

Not all leads should be treated equally. In our business, for example, the sales cycle can be upwards of 9 months .... so lead nurturing it critical to stay in front of your prospect during their journey from awareness to consideration to Furthermore, you are never quite sure when that ... more

Social media has long been lauded as a wonderful way to connect with customers and to build excitement for your But social media can also be an amazingly effective crisis management tool. That is, if the tools are in the hands of someone that knows how to utilize them properly, ... more

Deloitte LLP issued a very important report this fall, based on a survey the company commissioned. "Food and Product Safety and its Effect on Consumer Buying Habits" put hard numbers to what marketers have long Pat Conroy, Deloitte LLP's vice chairman and consumer products practice "Our research shows that consumers ... more

Alan and Paul recently wrote posts here that tackled the questions of credibility and trust. Those of us who are consultants understand well that to get work, we must project both Businesses won't hire us unless we appear credible and trustworthy. The questions come down 1) How do we project ... more

Come from myriad sources such as friends, family, co-workers, online reviews and even e-commerce algorithms. have shown that recommendations are trusted more than information proffered by media sources or corporate advertising. However, with daily reports of fraud and deception in political and financial spheres, a tide is building that threatens ... more

On the face of it, it seemed like a good idea – work with an existing and well-known meme to promote the Age of Conversation why don't they get in the lead-up to the new year. It would give the contributing authors some content to blog about, hopefully create some ... more