Toluu

Convince and Convert Blog: Digital Marketing for Advertising Agencies and PR Firms

Social Media Strategy Blog Social Media Consulting

Crowdsourcing Your Dog FoodJuly 2

One of the most overlooked benefits of building or facilitating an online community around your brand is the market research opportunities. Your brand community – even if nascent and emerging – consists of hundreds or thousands of customers that are familiar enough with your company (and care enough about it) to self-identify as a fan/friend/member. What better laboratory are you going to find?

A primary element of your social media activation strategy should be at least quarterly surveys of your fans. That should just be routine. But sometimes, you can use your brand community for specific, targeted research and product development efforts.

As I describe in the video post below, Del Monte developed a successful new product (Snausages Bacon and Eggs dog snacks) based almost entirely on feedback from their brand community. (NOTE: I eat snausages in this video. Not a great idea, as it turns out.)

(Video got messed up on this, but for obvious reasons, this was a one take situation)

Valeria Maltoni – The Twitter 20 Interview on Conversation and CommunityJuly 1

Valeria Maltoni is one of the most widely respected marketing voices in the world. And for good reason. Her extensive background spans marketing, public relations, and social media. If it exists in the realm of communications, she’s done it.

Valeria was also an integral nucleus of the Fast Company Company of Friends, a business intelligence and relationship development organization that in many ways presaged today’s social networking craze.

Her blog, Conversation Agent, is an absolute must-read. (Seriously, I read a ton of blogs, and hers is top 5 on the planet, in my estimation). She’s not afraid to go in-depth, challenge your thinking, and strike the match of true conversation – as you’ll see in this eye-popping, live Twitter 20 interview from July 1, 2009.

(Valeria asked in the interview for reader feedback on how blogging has changed – question 17. What do you think?)

1. @jaybaer: Your umb

Build Thought Leadership Through Social NetworkingJune 30

Remember, social media is about people, not logos. That’s why the most powerful form of social capital is personal, not corporate.

That was the theme of my day-long workshop for the Association of Management Consulting Firms last week in New York. My friend and client Elizabeth Sosnow of BlissPR co-presented with me.

Titled “You’re a Rock Star: Building Thought Leadership Through Social Networking” the seminar covered the business case for building your social graph, how to build thought leadership through content, blogging and blog commenting advice, Linkedin and Twitter tips, and more.

Key social media thought leadership takeaways:

• IBM has quantified the value of social relationships at $948 in annualized new revenue for EVERY new contact.
• Buyers of B2B products and services are twice as involved in social media as the overall US online population.
• Inbound marketing is more efficient and effective than traditional targeting and interruption-based tactics, because inbound focuses on hand raisers, and solves their problems.
• You have to set social media limits, or you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to be everywhere at once.
• The most sure-fire way to be a

Let’s Stop Swooning Over Social MediaJune 25

Are you overdoing it on social media? Just a little?

I’m a proponent of social media. In fact, I’m a proponent that gets paid to convince others that social media is valuable. But, like in the early days of Web design, SEO, PPC, email, and banners before it, there’s too much swooning and not enough thinking about social media right now.

The good news is that social media is something special. It’s not just a marketing tactic (although social media marketing can be effective). It’s more of a movement. A philosophy that brings brands and customers closer together through humanization of the brand and mutual respect.

The subsidiary good news is that many companies and their agencies have changed the question in 2009 to “how do we incorporate social media?” rather than “why should we incorporate social media

Delegation Equals Death in Social MediaJune 24

Are you just a social media cheerleader?

Almost every time I work with a public relations firm or corporation on social media, I hear a version of this statement:

“Us old dogs don’t really understand all this new social media stuff, but we’ve got this brilliant young guy right out of school, and he’s getting us all up to speed.”

Bang Bang. You’re Dead.

If you truly believe that social media can transform brands by flipping the script on the age-old master and servant relationship of companies and their customers, then how do you delegate that assignment?

If you truly believe that social media is more than just a tarted-up version of SEO combined with YouTube videos, how can the most senior people in your agency (or company) decide that they cannot get involved personally?

When TV broke on the scene, did agencies say “I don’t really understand that radio with pictures stuff, but we’ve got this kid who watches it all day. He’ll tell us what to do.”? If you watch and believe Mad Men, I think the ans