In the “old days” finding experts was largely limited to identifying them through academic circles or highly regarded trade and professional publications. Experts were, in essence, “vetted” and those seeking their input could rely upon their veracity, authority and credentials. But, things have changed. Today, quite literally, anyone can be positioned as an “expert”–whether they really are or not. This has become possible because of the World Wide Web and a plethora of online communication channels, including web sites, social media, blogs, etc. This is both a good and a bad thing. Interestingly, it is both good and bad for experts and non-experts. Here’s why: (more…)
Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category
The Yin and Yang of Finding–or Being–an Online Expert. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors.
Wednesday, November 27th, 2013Tags: consultants, credible sources, expertise, media relations, online experts, pr, sources
Posted in Brand management, Business Development, Competition, Internet marketing, Journalism, Marketing and Branding, Media relations/PR, PR and Media Relations, Social Media | No Comments »
Let Your Knowledge Be Your Promotion!
Monday, October 28th, 2013We recently launched a new LinkedIn group — Let’s Get Strategic About Communications! – that we’re hoping will generate some good discussion and sharing of best practice insights among communication professionals. It’s a closed group, meaning that we are carefully monitoring participation and limiting it to those who are committed to openly sharing information in a non-promotional manner. The trouble, we think, with so many LinkedIn groups is that they quickly devolve into blatant self-promotion and become nothing more than individual members saying “look at me!,” “look what I’ve done!,” “come to my webinar!,” “read my whitepaper!,” etc. Now, there is certainly (more…)
Tags: LinkedIn groups, networking, professional networking, strategic communications
Posted in Business Development, Social Media, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
Should You Have a Blog?
Tuesday, October 15th, 2013A business colleague of mine recently asked me what I thought about the value of a blog. Seems a vendor she was working with was recommending a blog and she really didn’t see the value. There are, though, two very important reasons that those wishing to build an online presence should consider managing a blog (and a few other, secondary, reasons). (more…)
Tags: blog, blogging, online communication, search engine optimization, SEO
Posted in Brand management, Internet marketing, Marketing communication, Marketing measurement, Publishing, SEO, Social Media | 2 Comments »
What NOT to do on LinkedIn—or other social media sites!
Thursday, October 10th, 2013We’ve been fairly active in social media for quite some time and manage several accounts for our own marketing efforts and to experiment with techniques that we can use to help boost clients’ awareness levels and levels of engagement online. We’ve reached that point where it is more common for people to reach out to us to connect than it is for us to be actively seeking new connections. To manage our connections, we have some guidelines in place to determine whose invitations to connect we accept and whose we ignore. (more…)
Tags: facebook, linkedin, Marketing, online advertising, online promotion, self-promotion, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Business Development, Internet marketing, Social Media | 4 Comments »
Top Social Media Missteps: Are You Making These Mistakes?
Thursday, September 26th, 2013There is no doubt that the rapid introduction of various social media platforms has dramatically changed the communication climate for businesses of all kinds. Whether you’re an independent consultant or author, work in a small “mom and pop” retail outlet, or a large multi-national conglomerate, social media is likely to play a part in communicating with key audiences. Unfortunately, sometimes the role of social media isn’t carefully considered. Messages are shared, but is anyone listening? Most importantly, are the right people listening? (more…)
Tags: facebook, Google+, linkedin, online advertising, Pinterest, SEO, Social Media, social media marketing, twitter
Posted in Marketing and Branding, Social Media | 2 Comments »
Tweet, Tweet and Retweet — Your Audience is Fleeting so Hit Them Multiple Times!
Tuesday, August 20th, 2013I’ve long had the feeling that much of what I (and others) tweet about is like the old saw about a tree falling in the forest. Is anybody there when I tweet and, even if they are, are they paying attention? Well, research done by Sysomos indicates that 71 percent of the 1.2 billion tweets they reviewed over a two-month period produced no replies or re-tweets. Further, the study indicated that when a retweet does occur, it’s most likely to occur in the first hour after someone initially published the tweet.
Tags: email marketing, online marketing, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Internet marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Which Drives Better Response? Email marketing or social media?
Tuesday, August 6th, 2013Here’s a comment I read recently in an online forum:
“Other marketing channels, such as email, still prove to be better at driving conversions than social. Despite this, companies are still spending a lot of time and effort on their social campaigns – why?”
My first reaction was: (more…)
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Is Social Media a Job, or Part of a Bigger Picture?
Thursday, July 18th, 2013I found a recent reporter’s question intriguing: “Is social media a field of expertise in and of itself? Or will it eventually become subsumed into pretty much everything?”
My belief: ultimately, social media expertise will relate to the field of communications in the same way that graphic design, video, media relations, etc., currently fit under that umbrella.
Social media represents opportunities for communicating with an audience, but that communication does not occur in a vacuum – to be effective it needs to be part of a coordinated communication approach designed to reach some specific target audience with some specific objective. Expertise in using these tools will be important for communicators and there will likely always be a need for tactically oriented roles that focus on this area (just as, particularly in larger organizations or agencies, there continues to be the need for those who specialize in print, broadcast, web development, etc.). (more…)
Tags: internet marketing, marketing communication, Social Media
Posted in Internet marketing, Social Media, Strategic Communications | 2 Comments »
Want to Excel at Generating Response From Your Market? Focus!
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013Client question: “What’s the best way to communicate with the under-35 market?”
It’s a legitimate question and certainly marketers need to think carefully about how they will communicate with their market, recognizing that markets are different. The only problem with this question (and it’s one that most marketers ask in one form or another) is that it doesn’t go far enough to identify a specific market focus. The group of individuals who are under 35 is a very, very broad group, after all. What is the likelihood that there would be a single, “best” communication strategy for them?
When it comes to targeting marketing messages, the advice I offer, regardless of what you are attempting to sell or what response you are attempting to attain, is to (more…)
Tags: communication tools, Marketing, positioning, segments, Social Media, targeting, Technology
Posted in Customer communication, Marketing and Branding, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Narrowing Your Audience: Be Clear to Connect
Tuesday, June 25th, 2013One of the key decisions that communicators must make is how to segment their audience. Segmenting is basically dividing the overall audience into groups–or segments–that share commonalities so that they can be targeted more specifically. For instance, if you’re a health care organization, you could segment your audience into: women and men. You might further segment the women into audiences of: women of child-bearing age, pre-menopausal women, menopausal women, elderly women. Even among these audiences there might be some need to further segment.
There are (at least) two key points to consider about segmentation: (more…)
Tags: communication, customer segmentation, facebook, Google+, linkedin, market segments, marketing communication, segmentation, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Healthcare Communication and Marketing, Internet marketing, Marketing communication, Social Media, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
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