Archive for the ‘social media’ Category
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
As a marketing consultant, I attend a lot of marketing seminars and marketing conferences to stay current with my craft. Today, the buzz there is all about online marketing.
Typical topics include content strategy, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, inbound marketing, marketing automation, and of course email marketing. Spending in all of these areas is up–often at the expense of conventional advertising and PR.
There are several trends driving this transition. One is that prospects are moving online so the marketers that wish to reach them must also move online. Another is that advances in marketing technology have made it relatively easy for non-professionals to produce content that attracts and engages their audiences.
This is a preview of
Will marketing consultants and agencies switch places with in-house staff in a digital world?
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Read the full post (317 words, 2 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
Tags: analytics, branding, content, content strategy, demand generation, email marketing, inbound marketing, marketing automation, Marketing consultant, marketing strategies, marketing techology, measurable, online marketing, search engine optimization, SEO, social media
Posted in Internet marketing, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 6 Comments »
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
So much to learn, so little time–which is why I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet and learn from hundreds of other marketing professionals this week at Marketing Profs B2B forum. What’s more we had a lot of fun and left with a lot of ideas that many of us are already putting into action.
B2B digital marketing best practices
Over two jam-packed days, we heard about best practices in areas like search engine optimization (SEO), content strategy, lead generation and lead nurturing, and social media. We learned about what’s worked, what hasn’t, and why from Marketing VPs that have been there, tried that.
This is a preview of
B2B marketing insights and tips compliments of MarketingProfs
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Read the full post (1256 words, 2 images, estimated 5:01 mins reading time)
Tags: B2B, B2B mobile, best practices, blogging for business, call for action, campaign ROI, content strategy, conversion, digital marketing, Google URL Builder, Google's webmaster tools, landing pages, lead generation, lead nurturing, Marketing VPs, qualified leads, recommended WordPress plugins, search engine optimization, SEO, Sepaton, site maps, social media, target market, URL Shortening tools
Posted in How to, Internet marketing, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
A lot of what we read and hear about social media focuses on how businesses can use it to market to consumers (B2C). Yet, as a business-to-business marketing consultant, I’m far more interested in its B2B applications.
This is perhaps the main reason I was looking forward to Paul Gillin’s breakfast seminar at the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council last week. The other reason is that Paul has an uncanny ability to connect the dots in ways that add new meaning to any topic that he addresses.
B2B Marketing differs from B2C marketing
Tags: B2B marketers, B2B marketing, business-to-business marketing consultant, Facebook Like, Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, Paul Gillin, sales cycle, social influence, social media, social media tactics, value
Posted in social media, social media marketing | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
I was just reading Mashable’s post on Google Buzz. What struck me most is the potential social media has for empowering users to affect product development.
Google Buzz users “organize” to advocate for new features within days of product launch
Google announced Google Buzz earlier this week. Today, Mashable reported that it had received “just shy of 500 responses” within several hours of asking followers: “What features would you like to see in Google Buzz?”.
Just think about it. This is an incredibly inexpensive way to capture market reaction and present supporting evidence to a vendor you’re trying to influence. Let’s look at two alternatives.
This is a preview of
Will social media increase users’ influence over product development?
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Read the full post (377 words, 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)
Tags: Google Buzz, market reaction, market response, product development, product launch, social media
Posted in market intelligence, social media, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Most B2B companies are just beginning to dip their toe in the social media marketing waters. Consequently, I was delighted when Alan Belniak, the newly appointed Director of Social Media Marketing at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) agreed to an interview about how his company is approaching social media and why.
My questions appear in bold followed by his answers. Here’s what he had to say:
Why did PTC create your position?
Tags: B2B, brand, content, conversation, engagement, listening tools, measures, metrics, online social networking, research, ROI, social media, social media marketing, strategy
Posted in Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
A quick search on Google indicates that surveys about business-to-business (B2B) marketing priorities tend to concentrate on tactics–rather than strategy. They also tend to focus on investments in various types of promotional activities, rather than the greater marketing picture. As for strategy, at least one survey seems to indicate that in a tight economy, B2B companies rank demand generation first and then raising awareness.
What happened to the focus on the customer?
The irony is that gaining deeper insights into customer, or prospect needs, rarely shows up as a priority, let alone a high priority. Why not?
Tags: B2B marketing, customer case studies, customer intimacy, demand generation, lead gen, listening tools, marketing priorities, marketing research, sales, sales enablement, social communities, social media, surveys, usability testing, win/loss
Posted in Buying process model, Internet marketing, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Last summer, Robert DeSimone of MediComm Consultants, Inc., a colleague from the Medical Development Group, mentioned that several of his clients had inquired about social media. Recognizing that medical device companies face special marketing challenges because they are regulated by the FDA, we decided to go right to the source. Here’s what we learned:
Is social media part of the medical device marketing mix?
Our primary objective was to learn whether and how medical device companies are using social media to communicate with prospects and customers, and the effect that FDA regulation or the lack thereof, is having on these activities.
Tags: marketing communications, marketing mix, measurement, medical development, medical device, press releases, qualitative research, social communities, social media, survey
Posted in health care, Marketing communications programs, social media, social media marketing | 5 Comments »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
More often than not, when I’m invited to speak it’s about marketing strategies that businesses can use to attract and capture businesses from other businesses. Typical topics include “Getting into Your Buyers’ Mind”, “Developing Compelling Value Propositions”, “Systematically Creating Referrals”, “Online Marketing”, and lately “Social Media Marketing”.
This month, however, I had the pleasure of speaking with Tufts alumni on how to use social media marketing techniques to land their next position. I don’t know which was more exciting doing the actual presentation–or preparing for it.
Tags: job search, LinkedIn, social media, social media marketing, Tweetdeck, Twitter
Posted in Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 5 Comments »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
One of my clients, a membership organization, is facing a challenging problem. The Board would like to recruit younger members to ensure that the organization continues.
One of the issues our team has been trying to address is, “How do you attract and retain new community members—when these prospective members start out with little in common with current members?”
Luckily for me, I attended a social media breakfast in Boston(#15) this morning. There, Communispace CEO, Diane Hessan, was the last speaker at an event entitled “SMB15: The Power and Peril of Online Communities.
This is a preview of
Social Media Breakfast (SMB15) serves up great insights and recommendations
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Read the full post (1334 words, 7 images, estimated 5:20 mins reading time)
Tags: campaign, Communispace, community manager, community members, Community Roundtable, health care, health care providers, healthcare, listening strategy, LiveWorld, Marketing strategy, marketing tactic, medical device companies, membership organizations, on-line communities, online communities, online community, SMB15, social community, social media, social media breakfast, social media communications, Twitter
Posted in Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 2 Comments »
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
By Barbara Bix -
Last night, I presented “Personal Branding: The Social Media Way” at a local job seekers’ group. Here are my answers to questions posed in a follow up email from one of the participants.
Why didn’t I discuss the one-to-one connections one can make on LinkedIn?
The talk focused on branding–which is generally accomplished using one-to-many (broadcast) communications. Nevertheless, as the questioner correctly points out everything you say or do affects your brand. Therefore, one-to-one communications are also fair game.
Tags: branding, connection, how to use linked in, job seeker, linked in, LinkedIn, media, network, Personal branding, social, social network
Posted in social media | 1 Comment »
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