Blog

Which is more influential, the message or the messenger? Salespeople have long understood that the likelihood of a proposal being accepted is largely dependent on factors such as the relationship between the salesperson and the buyer. This is such a universal truth that many sales executives refuse to respond to open Request for Proposals ifRead more

“We have very loyal customers; we don’t need a customer advocacy campaign.” I’ve been in a senior sales and/or marketing position for more than 20 years and the one constant mistake I still see and hear is a lack of understanding in the difference between customer loyalty and customer advocacy. Making the distinction is notRead more

How many of your customers are using their mobile device appendages to capture photos? A study conducted by Edelman and Shutterfly this year reports that 81% of US photo-takers (people who have taken at least 10 digital photos in the three months prior to polling) have done so using their smart phones. Consider the factRead more

Since Danny Brown and I published Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing,  the practice of influence marketing has continued to expand beyond simple social scoring. In fact, social ranking/scoring is all but dead (save for the popular “top XX marketer” link-bait blog posts that continue to addRead more

Marketers have long accepted the fact that successful content is that which is helpful to the business’s audience and not overt brand advertising. We know that if the content we produce is to be consumed and shared, it must entertain and inform our audience, instead of simply selling to them. As more and more businessesRead more

 A New York City restaurant is learning a valuable lesson in social media marketing and community management this week. Feast, a relatively new, yet popular, East village restaurant, finds itself at the center of brewing debate across social channels because of its reaction to a patron wearing Google Glass. In reality, the kerfuffle can beRead more

Influence and advocate marketing, a popular and often contentious topic today, have been around since we first coined word-of-mouth marketing. When social media began to capture significant market share of the consumers’ voice, these strategies became more critical. As a result, new social media software evolved to identify, engage, and encourage those with a largeRead more

Starbucks enters same-sex marriage boycott wars.  The mega coffee chain has once again inserted its brand into the social and political arena. This time, its CEO Howard Schultz has taken a public stand on same sex marriage by telling an anti-gay investor (and those like him) that he’s not welcomed. Starbucks, already known for itsRead more

According to a report by Small Business Trends this week, a group of SEO companies and small businesses in New York State were caught in a sting operation called “Operation Clean Turf.” Spearheaded by Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, the operation uncovered unethical pay-for-review programs. Un der the guise of “reputation management services,” SEO firmsRead more