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- This focus on "The What" is exacerbated by some search engine optimization techniques intended to drive traffic rather than to brand product, sell services, or convert traffic into customers. Traffic is important, but converting that traffic into paying customers is more important. Even the best and brightest search engine optimizers ... more
- These days many professional services and technology firms looking to differentiate themselves lean on an age old technique of creating thought leadership. But truly differentiated and provocative thought leadership is actually hard to come by. Most of the time, it is just interesting theory without any proof. Moreover, does the ... more
- It's fantastic that interest in social media is so high, but I'm alarmed at the number of brands and agencies that are ready to jump into social media to take "advantage" of audience concentration in Facebook, Twitter, and other fast-growth outposts. What's lacking in most social media programs is an ... more
- Some marketers are responding to the current economic downturn and consumer fear, by softening their marketing This isn't anything new, of course. Whenever we've had tough times in the past, marketers have instinctively turned to reviving nostalgic advertising to reconnect consumers with happier days and associations. Or they've sought to ... more
- What if this economic downturn is the time to give up on new thinking, but really provides the opportunity to more freely explore some fresh ideas? Since stressing out does nothing toward increasing, or even maintaining, your numbers... why not use that worry-filled brainwave space, instead, to identify and integrate ... more
- This is an important question. A tribe is a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea (Godin). I opened a conversation with direct response professionals in Philadelphia last week by summarizing three timeless imperatives for 1. Cash flow is a 2. Customers 3. ... more
- While reading an article about Rupert Murdoch's take on the failure of traditional publishing to connect with their readers, my social media furnace almost blew a gasket. (Do furnaces even have gaskets? Probably not. I guess I should stick to social Anyway, I'm reading this article and I start to ... more
- Marketing is the interface a company builds to interact with the marketplace and the customer base. The marketing group, combined with the sales force, is the point in the company where the market understanding resides. This should be the group that drives the company, that sells the marketing vision and ... more
- The markets have crashed. Credit is scarce. Consumers are scared. Everywhere, there is fear, uncertainty and doubt. There's a new kind of media that's taking the world by storm, but investments are shrinking And marketers? Their heads are on the chopping Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But I'm not talking about ... more
- Will tomorrow be like today? In planning assumptions for budgeting and forecasting, most marketers believe that events of tomorrow, next week and next year will be much like this year, or years past with just slight deviation. However a review of the global and economic landscape (in a wild 2008) ... more
- We all know that in challenging economic times, consumers are less brand loyal than ever. They'll drop their favorite brands and seek out lower priced alternatives. But what happens when consumer trust is violated due to safety concerns? Or when expectations are not met due to a real or perceived ... more
- I recently began to wonder how many of the airlines and hotel chains have really considered "Customer Lifetime Value" in the creation of today's largely calendar-driven loyalty programs. Beyond the motivation to examine year-over-year performance, how was it decided that one year is an adequate period over which to "judge" ... more
- Stop everything you are doing and listen to this podcast! Seriously, if you have never met or had the opportunity to listen to Avinash , you must hear this podcast .... I guarantee you will learn Sometimes you meet someone so passionate about something that it's contagious and if you ... more
- White socks are great. They go with everything, wear forever, and are excellent value for the price. And for those who love this argument, you can't measure On the downside, white socks are vanilla to the bosses and not always welcome in the Board Room. Furthermore, they represent discretionary spending ... more
- This is a sequel to my most recent post dealing with company Today, I answer the question, "Should a company have one person as its 'voice' in the market via various social media The simple Companies should have at least one person participating in the ongoing conversation that's taking place ... more
- An interesting new concept is cropping up these days, according the Wall Street . In a large consumer product companies are looking for the inventive ideas many small business owners and entrepreneurs have–in order to gain an edge. Let's face in increasingly competitive, slowing markets where a continual pipeline of ... more