Value: [rating=5]
Commentary: Our post by Dan, the focus here is simply that word of mouth has always been of paramount importance to marketing success, here we summarise a post on Six Revisions were 5 expert share their insight.
Implication: Get started with building a community - a fan base of supporters who want to hear what you have to say. Inspire them and make it easy for them to talk about you, to find you and to refer you.
Value: [rating=5]
Commentary: Marketing guru Guy Kawasaki explains why the key to building your brand through social media is to establish yourself as a fascinating subject-matter expert. Only high level celebs can get away with tweeting that they're in Starbucks.
Implication: Guy explains the challenge is to achieve a consistent level of fascinating information about your area of expertise. First, it helps if you actually know what you're talking about, then it's all about finding good stories, videos and blog posts about your subject and providing links to these sources. A great post and well worth reading.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Many of us are still not committed to using Twitter as part of a digital marketing communication plan, Annmarie Hanlon give her 10 Steps to get moving quickly
Implication: Twitter is an important communication tool depending on your digital marketing objectives, and it's usually inertia that prevents us getting moving. Annmarie helps to eliminate that by giving an easy to follow checklist.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: The new(er) kid on the social media scene gathering increasing attention - what is it all about - is it worth getting involved?
Implication: Logically, given the power of social media is makes sense to take it seriously. Rather than waiting to tackle this trend reactively, it makes sense to get involved now, and take advantage of the opportunity to promote your business before Foursquare"€™s popularity explodes
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: So, you've published a Facebook fan page and now the fans will come, right? Err, no, not really! So what next?
Implication: Facebook marketing guru Mari Smith gives 21 sound, practical, non-fluffy ways to get stuck in to growing your traffic to and from Facebook. Time to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. Also - Mari has a new book out this week, check it out.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: An interesting post reminding that "social shopping" is not new, but simply the way we interact has changed. This is where the learning is. A few good links in this post too.
Implication: Customer reviews (or testimonials) are of extreme importance in modern e-tailing, both on your own site and also (ideally) on third party sites where they're more authentic.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: A new report from eMarketer shows how combining the strengths of email and social media can lead to better results. Common sense and worth reading.
Implication: Think about how two complementary marketing practices can be used more wisely to engage customers in less of a disjointed way. This makes complete sense, as consumers need consistency in their interactions with brands. Social media is a partner, not a threat, to e-mail marketing because it provides an alternative avenue for engaging customers and prospects.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Seasoned social media marketers from some of the biggest companies in the world share their tips for success based on their personal experiences.
Implication: With the pace of change in digital marketing it's hard to pin 'social media expert' on anybody, but we can learn from those on the bleeding edge to pass back their experiences to the rest of us. This post on Lee Odden's "Top Rank" blog is well worth reading if you want a range of strategic and immediately implementable ideas.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Social media pioneer Jay Baer, talks about the benefits and implications around how to generate social media content for your brand.
Implication: Social media takes time - here Jay Baer comments "Too many companies and organizations are reinventing the content wheel for every social outpost they maintain. A better approach is to create a content ecosystem that allows you to re-purpose and cascade your best information". Great advice and simple to start to implement - get on it!
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Our post - summary review from an excellent industry report by The Social Media Examiner.
Implication: Fear of the unknown can really hamper adoption of social media marketing as part of your strategy. Here we review a new report from Michael A. Stelnzer - he's interviewed 1,900 marketers using Social Media - lots of insight to give you confidence to build momentum in your social media plan.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Our post from Annmarie Hanlon - the power of LinkedIn to drive new business and build relationships - a big opportunity for companies small and large alike.
Implication: As LinkedIn grows it is the first place many larger businesses check out potential suppliers and new hires. Using LinkedIn makes you more visible to existing and potential clients as well as your peers.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: The first phase of Twitter's Promoted Tweets platform launches with a handful of initial partners including Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, and Virgin America. Promoted Tweets are to run on search results pages only - for now.
Implication: One to watch. Is this great new ad and branding platform, or possibly the beginning of the end of Twitter as we know it? The "first phase" comment is intriguing, clearly Twitter has to monetise its site yet Twitter is a great marketing and research tool as it is. Some interesting debate here as well.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: This 44 page PDF from the IAB, sponsored by Microsoft, is a nice production, but most experienced digital folk will want to skip straight to page 20 for the strategy piece.
Implication: Page 20 + helps you think through your strategy of 1. Using search to improve social media engagement. 2. Using social media to improve search performance and 3. How to act on Social Search = Real Time Search + Universal search featuring social comments.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: When I saw Antony Mayfield of iCrossing was publishing a book on reputation management with an intriguing title, I was keen to see his recommendations.
Implication: As the title shows, this book is mainly intended to help you manage your own online footprint which had become vital to an individual professional success "€“ particularly if you work "€œin digital media"€. Antony's book walks you through your "personal branding strategy" and then gives practical tools/ tips on how to setup a presence on the social networks that counts.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: The future for in-store augmented reality? One for the girls for the experience, and for the boys - for the technology and You Tube advertising. Or is that the other way around?
Implication: Is this what they call social shopping?
Value: [rating=5]
Commentary: Social CRM has been around as a concept for a couple of years now, but this is the best report I have seen which has a definition and outlines the strategy issues which need management.
Implication: Review your approach to social CRM strategy across the 18 business application areas described here
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: A bit of exclusive for Smart Insights, I was talking to a contact at Facebook on Wednesday, who tipped me off about this campaign.
Implication: This form of sampling engagement ads aren't available to all advertisers now, but watch out for them in future. Review the Facebook Advertising options for methods of targeting.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: In this useful interview by Michelle Goodhall, the Econsultancy trainer on their social media, online PR and SEO courses the main questions you need to ask about using an online press-release service are answered.
Implication: If you're not using these services, look into the options. If you are, we hope there are some useful tips here.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: My interview with Gray Dudek of Infegy gives their view on defining your requirements for a social media listening tool
Implication: Don't start with price, think carefully of what you are looking to achieve and other vendor characteristics.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: Quite diverse tools including search engine marketing tools.
Implication: Worth checking for some you may not be familiar with like Know 'Em, Social Mention (our recommendation) and How Sociable. Bear in mind that the best of these may not stay free.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: A summary of one of my main points from my Keynote last week at the Technology for Marketing and Advertising conference
Implication: To engage your audience in the short-term (to convert) and to engage in the longer term (to develop brand engagement) all organisations need to think like a publisher to create quality content to help them compete.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: A straightforward introduction of what you could or should be measuring through an analytics tool such as Google Analytics.
Implication: Although it's not explained in the article you need to setup a custom segment or filter in Google Analytics as explained in our post on how to setup Google Analytics for your business.
By Danyl Bosomworth
Dan helped to co-found Smart Insights in 2010 and acted as Marketing Director until leaving in November 2014 to focus on his other role as Managing Director of First 10 Digital. His experience spans brand development and digital marketing, with roles both agency and client side for nearly 20 years. Creative, passionate and focussed, his goal is on commercial success whilst increasing brand equity through effective integration and remembering that marketing is about real people. Dan's interests and recent experience span digital strategy, social media, and eCRM. You can learn more about Dan's background here Linked In.
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