I’ve been seeing a lot of folks asking for help, statistics, or strategies to help them convince their boss or their new boss or their company that social media marketing efforts have value and should be invested in going forward. Far too often those questions are met with a familiar people lamenting the need “in …
Want to know the one thing you can do right now to improve your marketing – especially the integration of your digital and traditional marketing? I bet you would. But before I tell you, consider this. What is your biggest challenge when you’re crafting your digital marketing strategy? I’ll tell you the one I’ve been …
Have you noticed an uptick in the number of social media consultants and social brands launching Podcasts? I have… which got me to thinking, are we seeing a resurgence in Podcasting? Will 2013 be the year of the Podcast? Should your company be considering a podcast as part of your overall digital marketing strategy? That’s …
While social media platforms are great for connecting, I’d argue they’re even more powerful and valuable as consumer marketing research tools. In fact, a few years ago, we actually uncovered a potential client’s #3 hurdle to purchase with a simple Twitter survey. Oh, and until we showed them our informal Twitter survey, they had NEVER …
Seduction isn’t about what you say, it’s about how you say it — and yes, that goes for B2B Sales Prospecting as well. Anyone can belly up to the bar and ask someone for their phone number just as any sales person can hand you a business card and suggest they have the perfect solution …
Should we be on [insert name of new or hot social network here]? This is easily the most common question our digital strategy clients pose to us. Unfortunately, the answer is always the same — it depends. In the case of popular photo sites Instagram versus Pinterest, the data is pretty clear around which social …
Are you struggling with developing your mobile marketing strategy? If you are, you’re not alone. Mobile Strategy Keynote presentations are probably one of the most requested topics I’m receiving lately. Just as marketers have begun to really feel comfortable with their Social Media Strategies, mobile has burst on the scene and once again has a …
If your business to business strategy is based on positioning your product or service as best in class then I’ll bet you’re targeting the wrong audience with your marketing. That’s right, I’d like to make a little wager with you. I bet by the end of this post I can convince you that your current …
There is a perfect storm brewing in the journalism and advertising world. A storm that is fundamentally altering how and where consumers interact with information and news. On Wednesday, December 5th, we’re going to talk about it in a FREE LIVE WEBINAR and you’re invited to register! This storm is driven by four key media, …
Quick – which did you see — a duck or a rabbit? What you just experienced was a gestalt system in action or more specifically the principal of Multistability. However, what should really have your attention is this: if a simple black & white line drawing can represent two entirely different meanings without so much …
How often do you make presentations? Maybe they’re sales presentations, or maybe you speak at conferences, or maybe you create training courses for your company or clients. How much time do you spend creating those presentations? I’m guessing that if you added up all the time you spend writing, designing, practicing and then delivering a …
So you just returned from a big trade-show or conference and now you’re wondering what to do with all of those business cards you collected. Start an email list. That’s right, before you connect with them on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter or attempt to friend them on Facebook, send them an email. It’s the …
Converse Digital’s EXCLUSIVE Mobile Benchmarking Report for Destination Marketing Organizations of all sizes is now available for FREE. This report reviews the Top 200 US Markets and answers key questions DMO’s and CVB’s are asking today. We analyzed the Top 200 markets to help Destination Marketing Organizations benchmark their mobile readiness against the industry as …
Somewhere in heaven there is a magical phone. Each time a salesperson picks it up to dial a prospect, the person on the other end answers and is actually highly qualified. In fact, she wants to talk about buying what the sales person is selling. What if that phone existed? What if instead of …
The law of propinquity states that the greater physical (or psychological) proximity between people, the greater the chance that they will form friendships or romantic relationships. It was first theorized by psychologists Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, and Kurt Back in what came to be called the Westgate studies conducted at MIT (1950). There are …
Have you ever wished someone would just give you directions for how to go from wanting to leverage social media for your business-to-consumer (B2C) brand to actually leveraging social media for your brand? Do you feel like you know what you hope to accomplish but just don’t know how to begin a social media strategy …
Earlier this week I had a chance to talk with a bunch of Realtors about how they might consider using Social Media and digital tools to sell more houses by leveraging social selling techniques. During the course of the talk I mentioned how social media helps them to painlessly prospect. A few seemed to take …
A few years ago I participated in a panel at BlogWorld Expo in Vegas. I had the pleasure of serving on a panel with a few outstanding travel marketers, Doug Anweiler, Leanne Jakubowski and Mike Taylor where we tried to help travel bloggers understand how to better work with brands and the agencies that represent brands. As part of …
Persuasion is an art and a science. This post shares the five key characteristics of persuasive blogs and a persuasive writing template.
...Is mobile a 1st screen, 2nd screen or 3rd screen in your marketing strategy? What should it be? If you agree with author Chuck Martin, it’s the Third Screen — also the title of his book. If you favor my friend Tom Webster’s view it’s the First Screen and another well thought of thinker, Chris …
I’m learning to love LinkedIn more and more as a B2B sales prospecting tool. But the more I use it, the more I wish someone at LinkedIn would get off their ass and make the platform what it could be versus what it is. Right now LinkedIn is a great tool for networking but leaves …
Last week I received an @reply message on Twitter from a local Dairy Queen. It was pretty obvious they were just randomly reaching out in hopes of breaking through the social media noise and maybe get a follow back. Once I clicked through to see their account, my hunch was confirmed. As you can see …
Is the tablet a better form factor for consuming all kinds of information on a single device? Is it going to become the dominant long-form information consumption entry point? I think it is…. and here’s why. I think within the next five years you’re going to see tablets fuel an information convergence that will give …
During the 2011 Christmas season, Sears ran an interesting digital outdoor-mobile campaign. Taking a cue from Tesco’s incredible QR code campaign, Sears built and deployed a number of outdoor executions to test whether consumers would scan QR codes to learn more about and ultimately purchase the some of the hottest toys of the season. But …
Digital continues to prove a disruptive force in marketing and continues to force marketers to look around the corner to stay ahead of their competition. Unfortunately, for many their looking glasses (as far as social media strategy is concerned) were a little foggy. Instead of finding digital strategy advisors with strong analytical and marketing (traditional) …
Wanna know the biggest mistake companies make with their social media and content marketing efforts? Promise you won’t tell or think less of them for this obvious oversight? Ok… come closer…shhhhhh, don’t tell but here it is….. If no one finds your content, it doesn’t matter if it is interesting. Confused? Let me clarify. There …
It’s fairly easy to create compelling content marketing if you’re a major liquor brand or a popular destination or any host of other brands. But what if you’re marketing to a niche audience or your product isn’t sexy? Then what do you do? What if you were a travel brand whose target was long-term corporate …
When companies first contact me about launching a social media campaign, they usually have three big questions. First, how much will it cost. Second, how long will it take. And third, how to approach the building of a blueprint for launching the effort. A few weeks ago my friend Mack Collier posted his second annual …
Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at the SoMeT — Tourism Symposium in Loudoun, VA. I’m really excited about this presentation because I’ll largely be addressing client side tourism marketers. I’m looking forward to hearing their thoughts on my hypothesis that their content calendars might actually be hampering the effectiveness of their social media and content marketing efforts. I’m …
Last night I received an email from a hotel chain asking me to review a recent stay. I’m a fan of this particular chain, like their properties, and the one I stayed at wasn’t one of their best, so I thought I’d be helpful and answer this survey. Problem is, I never finished. Like to …