Is there a right way to network in social media? I don’t know if there is only one right way, but I’m pretty sure there is at least one wrong way. Let me explain. Over the last week or so I’ve been following a little dust up over in a LinkedIn group I joined. It …
If you’re spending time in the social media space strictly for the joy of conversation, you can skip the rest of this post. BUT if you’re spending time on social networks with the goal of building a tribe of Social Agents that you can activate to grow your business, help a cause you care deeply …
Is your social media program fully integrated with your traditional marketing program, or are you just bolting on “Follow me on Twitter/Facebook” to your ads and fooling yourself?The Integration QuestionIf you’re running a truly integrated program, congrats. You’re among the elite. Like the Marines, you’re part of the few, the proud, the enlightened. But for …
Hiding Some Sort of ‘Proprietary’ Trade Secret? You’re a Fool Do you have a proprietary approach to strategic planning, media planning, brand development or anything else at your agency? Or maybe you have a trademarked, super top-secret-can-only-show-you-during-our-new-business-pitch-meeting process that is proven to make bland brands grow? If you do, you’re not alone. I too remember …
As a 20-year vet of the advertising business and someone who successfully built a social media practice within a traditional ad agency, I often get emails, calls and DM’s from client side marketing folks that are trying to figure out of there agency really gets social media.
...It’s in vogue these days to make fun of how far behind ad agencies are in the understanding and adoption of social media. On Twitter, in blog posts and in the hallways at all the cool social-media conferences, the social-media agencies/consultants love to sell against the big, old, traditional ad agency. But should we be so quick to rule out agencies?
...What if by allowing you to experience something you “thought” you knew about, even virtually, I could change your mind about your perception of that thing/event/brand? Would that be a powerful marketing tool? Would you invest money, time and effort behind that sort of thing? I’m thinking most would but first, you’d need the case …
Is it possible to create a 52-week video blog social media campaign using nothing but an iPhone? Could you shoot, edit and publish entirely from a mobile platform? And would the content be interesting enough and of high enough quality to actually drive traffic to the blog site? That’s what we’re hoping to find out …
If you ask the folks over at New Patlz State University of New York they might say, Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook. According to this blog post about their social media ordeal … On the evening of Wednesday, September 30, the SUNY New Paltz Facebook Fan Page mysteriously disappeared. But they were not alone, …
Today I’m off to Curitiba, Brazil, a city I’d never heard of prior to being invited to come there and speak about using social media to alter brand perception for destinations and festivals. But what makes this even more interesting is what you find when you virtually visit Curitiba as I did with my kids …
Tweet Last week, we talked a bit about the difference between marketing with advertising and social media. I mentioned the idea of breadcrumb marketing as a construct for thinking about how you’d market via a social media strategy. Today I want to share a bit more about that with you because I’ve had a lot …
Have you ever worked on the blogger outreach component of a social media plan? If so, what’s the first question you get asked? For me it is usually, where do we find the Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). Brands that want to engage bloggers in social media platforms to help carry the message always want the …
A step by step guide from 20 year veteran of the advertising and marketing community, Tom Martin, on how to leverage social media tools to get a job.
...Yesterday I was having a really interesting conversation with a company that is new to social media. Like most smart companies, they are struggling to understand this new space and determine the ROI of their investment. And like most companies that are new here, they keep trying to move directly to sale even though they …
 So this Free Idea Day winner really got me excited because I can actually use their services. Meyer Real Estate is (in their words): We are a vacation rental and real estate company along the Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast. Our challenge is to participate in social media with a product that is not an everyday use …
I know it’s all PC and cool to say that numbers don’t matter. Number of fans, followers, readers of your blog — none of that matters. It’s all about just writing and sharing great content because that is the core of social media. [dramatic pause while I hug myself] Personally, I disagree. I think it’s …
Last night I had the pleasure of sharing my thoughts around how restaurants can use Social Media to grow their business. I didn’t have much time so the deck was short but the key idea was there. The most powerful marketing tool any restaurant owner has is table hopping — you know when the owner …
Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you probably have heard the #motrinmoms flap that started on Twitter and led to Motrin’s pulling of a nationwide ad campaign. I chose to focus my latest Ad Age post on the topic and think you might find my research interesting. I’ve reprinted the entire post below. Do …