Category Archives: Conversation Economy
Social Media Monitoring Might Finally Grow Up
Here it is. We all knew that they can not last for long on their own. Radian 6 has been sold off to the CRM giant Salesforce. With everyone from OpinionLab on the research side to Omniture on the analytics side trying to grab a piece of the social media monitoring business, it was a matter of time. But this is not just a case of a big company eating up small growing firms for the sake of their current and future profits. There is a much bigger opportunity just below the surface and I am willing to bet Salesforce knows[.....]
Is Influence Overrated in Your Word of Mouth Campaigns?
With SXSW just having finished in Austin, TX now is a great time to see what kinds of trends might be emerging from this uber cool conference that has launched the likes of Twitter and Foursquare in the past few years. While there are lots of new shiny things to get excited about, one that caught my eye this past week was the growth and maturity of platforms designed to allow consumers to trade in their value as word of mouth agents for products or brands they purchase and enjoy. Leading the way in this category is a start-up called[.....]
Can We Rethink the Title “Social Media Strategist” Yet?
What’s behind the shine? It took a while. A lot of soapbox discussions and rants on the part of many in the digital and integrated marketing community. But finally the industry is seeing the light. As slowly as it frequently does when shiny new objects are blinding our vision. The chrome finish of social media is starting to rub off and as the actual tool itself emerges, it is becoming obvious how ridiculous the obsession with social media as a strategy was becoming. Does your car have a “Chief Bumper Strategist”? Just as your neighborhood car shop doesn’t have a “chief wheel mechanic”[.....]
Without Passion, Social Media is just Noise.
What connects us? Social networking is taking over the world. I keep track of my kids who are scattered around the world on Facebook; the same with my brother and sisters and their kids; with old friends, too. Why are these people in my network? Because I have an emotional connection with them. We have shared experiences and, while our politics and walk of life may vary, we are emotionally attached. When one does something special, it gets passed around to all their friends and family. Recently one of my daughters participated in a protest in our state capitol. She[.....]
Marketing doesn’t end at the purchase
This is the season for long-term thinking. Finalizing marketing plans, getting budgets squared away, and looking at new strategic plans. Everybody is looking forward to moving ahead, increasing sales, improving on last year’s numbers as markets continue to improve. Odds are that most marketers are doing a great job of mapping out the strategy to get more people to consider a purchase. This recent study/article in the Harvard Business Review points out a major area of marketing strategy that is getting left out of the discussion: Post-purchase marketing. We talked a little about having a back-up plan for success and[.....]
Why body language matters-especially for brands.
What we learned from Simon Uwins at Brandworks University Walking into a store you may think that you’re not noticing the way products are lined on the shelves, the layout of the aisles or the employees greeting you at the door; but, in the right stores these aspects often are telling a strong, unified and compelling story. In fact, during Lindsay, Stone & Briggs’ Brandworks University 2010 Simon Uwins, CMO of Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, pointed out that the way we communicate as human beings is actually quite similar to the way brands communicate with consumers. “Just think[.....]
What marketers can learn from urban myths.
Did you hear the story about the guy who woke up in a bathtub of ice after taking a sip from a drink from a stranger, or the one about the businessman who found a disturbing note scrawled in lipstick on his hotel room’s bathroom mirror? Urban myths might not be the first place you look for insights to your brand’s success, but can you think of another example of stories that have a better ROI formula? What other storytelling vehicle can spread a message so widely, so quickly, and with such an impressive viral effect? We can gain incredible[.....]
Mapping the virtual space to enrich conversations
What we learned from Anssi Vanjoki at Brandworks 2010 At Brandworks 2010, we had the distinct pleasure to hear from Anssi Vanjoki, EVP of Mobile Solutions from Nokia about how his company was seizing mobile technology’s amazing advantages to help people “live in the media.” Living in the media is not a buzzword; it is an accurate description for what is happening right now and what will continue to happen. Two facts that Anssi shared with us stand out: Over 5 Billion people worldwide are using cell phones today. Telecommunications companies have access to increased bandwidth that was not available[.....]
How to Communicate in a Conversation Economy
The following article was originally published on AdAge.com on October 27, 2009. MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY FOR A CONVERSATION ECONOMY By Marsha Lindsay, CEO, Lindsay, Stone & Briggs What does the worldwide, technologically enabled drive for conversations mean for marketers? It means you’re no longer marketing products or services; you’re marketing conversations. It means marketing communication planning should be driven by a conversation strategy. The right conversation strategy answers two big questions: What meaningful content will attract sufficient conversations with the right people? And, how will you jumpstart conversations and keep them alive? When people are starved for time and already[.....]
Tips for Conversational Success
Brandworks University® 2009 In this 4th installment of summaries of LSB’s Brandworks University 2009, we introduce Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell, formerly of Forrester Research. Li offers tips and strategies for leveraging and measuring the conversation economy to jumpstart results in your organization. AR Profile of the Conversationalists Success Strategies for Tapping into Conversations and Transforming Your Company’s Marketing Charlene Li, Co-author, Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies If you think social networking media like Twitter, Facebook or YouTube are all about the technology, you’re asking the wrong kind of question, says Charlene Li who co-authored of the best[.....]
