Social Media Marketing Resources

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The first few months of 2009 have already been tumultuous for reputations. So what can be done? Below, some of the findings of that online-reputation study as they relate to seven realities of managing online reputation in today's world—and some solutions to strengthen your reputation in the months ahead.

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Today's buyer is in control. This transition means that our sales teams are no longer required as a conduit of information. Industry websites, vendor sites, blogs, social media, and search all make the required information readily available and, by doing so, leave the sales representative out of the room. As a result, it's impossible for the sales rep to read a buyer's physical body language to understand what aspects of a message are of interest and determine whether the prospect wants to move forward. Marketing teams must therefore instead read a buyer's digital body language—his or her Web activities, email responses, search activities, and engagements in events and demos—to understand what messages are working.

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Before you ask me to go to work for you, go to work for yourself. When you've implemented the suggestions above, I'm more receptive to helping you connect with your next job opportunity. But I don't have time or inclination to work with job-seeking networking spammers. Heed the lesson of the online social networkers: "It's the relationship, stupid." You won't stay unemployed forever. But the work you put into documenting your accomplishments online and taking an interest in others in your field is a long-term investment in yourself.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Social Media Marketing

If you are on Twitter to represent your company, your boss will probably soon ask you to prove the value that your tweets have to your business, if he or she hasn't already asked. So how do you know whether your followers are listening or whether you're just tweeting in the wind? How do you know whether tweets about topic X have more or less value than tweets about topic Y?

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When the going gets tough, the tough get... cheap. Today, a good marketing idea has to be as inexpensive as it is clever. In this first of a two-part series are five inexpensive suggestions that can lead to productive results.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Social Media Marketing

There's been a lot of brouhaha of late about Facebook's ill-fated attempt to change its terms of service to maintain licensing rights of terminated accounts—and understandably so. The issue of customer data ownership is an important one. However, many businesses with an active presence on the social site are now fearful of getting caught up in any ensuing consumer backlash, and they are wondering what to do—keep our Facebook pages or move on to someplace safer? The short answer is, Right now, just keep focusing on connecting with your customers wherever they are (and they are still, absolutely, on Facebook, in droves).

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Social Media Marketing

As part of the research I did in preparation for my recent book, BrandDigital, I interviewed some of the best and brightest people in the fields of marketing and digital technology, and they provided incredible insight on how digital tools and tactics can be used to not simply increase operating efficiency but also increase customer loyalty. Here I share some of those insights, with specific focus on my conversation with Bob Pearson, Vice-President of Communities and Conversations at Dell. Though Dell is a computer manufacturer, the ideas that Bob discussed can be adopted by any organization, no matter what size, industry, or level of technological acumen.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Social Media Marketing

As companies tighten their ad spending, inexpensive social media is clearly the next marketing frontier. As with any new craze, there are enormous opportunities. And with them come giant pitfalls that must be avoided.

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What's of greater value: the idea itself, the selling of the idea, or the production of the idea? While there seems to be a shift afoot, why does our industry continue to struggle to ascribe value to (and get paid for!) the core concepts that fuel everything else?

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Do you know what will ensure your web site's success in 2009? Here's the top 10 ideas for online marketing success this coming year... and beyond.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Social Media Marketing

What does "return on investment" really stand for? Roughly, it means the value we expect to get out of the effort we put into something—the output (return) resulting from an input (investment). But here's the trick: ignoring the input, or doing nothing in social media, will guarantee no return at all. So what is the "Return on Ignoring" social media? Here are some perspectives from the front lines.

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Gems of 2008: Online reputation management means tracking your brand and reacting when necessary. Brand monitoring can save you from a potential disaster when someone cites your name in an article that misrepresents you. What's more, it can help you proactively join conversations around your topic area, helping to get your brand name out there.