Listening

Wendy Lea, CEO of Get Satisfaction

I had a chance to sit down with Wendy Lea, CEO of Get Satisfaction to discuss how some of the topics that you will see at the Social Shake-Up Conference created the need for companies like hers. The following is a transcript of our conversation.[read more]

Social Survival Manifesto

The third Principle of the #Social Survival Manifesto: The irksome fact that corporate messaging online is always subject to public alteration. This third Principle bothers the heck out of folks in Marketing and Corporate Communications, because the multitudes online control the conversation.[read more]

For a company that spends gazillions of dollars on market research, P&G’s Rosie the Riveter concept test for the steam mop campaign seems to have been “Swiffered” under the floor, literally. Angry and immediate reprisal from women bloggers might have been averted had P&G and its ad team also run a social media concept test prior to campaign launch.[read more]

Ignore social media at your own risk; you can be quite certain that your top competitors have thrown their hats into the social media arena. Elevate your content and social media marketing to a higher level. Social media success is realized, when highly shareable content creation converges with active social listening and genuine engagement.[read more]

Kevin Espinosa, Social Media Manager at Caterpillar 

I had a chance to sit down with Kevin Espinosa, Social Media Manager at Caterpillar to discuss some of the topics that you will see at the Social Shake-Up Conference. The following is a transcript of our conversation.[read more]

A new movement is being spawned by a kinship of people across the world, unified by a nonpartisan and unbiased social media ecosphere. Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people concerned about Monsanto’s unbridled insinuation of dangerous or questionable substances into the food chain joined in 400 cities to March Against Monsanto. The global protest called for stricter governmental GMO and GE controls and full disclosure of risk.[read more]

sermon on the blog?

When we are teaching our clients in our blog posts, we have to be genuine and helpful. We have to provide the kind of information that our readers are asking for, and at the same time, we have to be clear about what it is we want.[read more]

social media customer service

Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, you can no longer run away from social media. Don’t know how to use social media effectively for customer service? Here are 5 great examples for you to follow.[read more]

Social media "Giants"

The Giants not only lead the pack when it comes to social innovation and engagement, but they’re the OG’s when it comes to implementing it – they were among the first teams to adopt Instagram and Google+, quickly recognizing the wide demographic of their quirky, rabid fan-base.[read more]

Socially Stephanie to the rescue!

This week, Socially Stephanie helps out a real estate agent in Atlanta whose real-life social shyness extends into the online world: "You'd think the social media revolution would have been the answer: fewer face-to-face meetings, just dash off an email and hit send! But it hasn't gotten easier."[read more]

Last week we spoke with Andrew Bowins, Marcy Cohen, and Jennifer Stalzer, Senior Vice President, External Communications and Senior Business Leaders of MasterCard Worldwide, who showed us how the Conversation Suite is helping inform businesses and enabling them to create more meaningful conversations with their customers.[read more]

customer service/shutterstock

In today’s age of constant connectivity and instant solutions, customers demand to be assisted immediately at any hour. Call centers and live-chat applications can be beneficial for ensuring that your clients can always contact someone about an issue with your business, but social media may be the best asset for bolstering customer service.[read more]

how not to market to women

Jane Cunningham and Philippa Roberts founded Pretty Little Head in 2007. Their second book, "The Daring Book for Boys in Business," has just been published, and is aimed at companies that struggle to engage with female customers.[read more]

Terrible sales pitch

Your sales pitch sucks. It does. Just the fact that you have a pitch sucks. Before you get all defensive, let me explain. In a typical sales process a sales rep finds a lead, they ask a few qualifying questions and they start the pitch. But the sales rep does not know what the prospect actually cares about yet.[read more]

A customer shares an insight within your company’s online community. She somehow found the time in between meetings, phone calls and lunch to share a suggestion, idea or complaint in a discussion thread. “It would be great if the XYZ product would …” she writes. What does your company do with that customer input?[read more]

Adam Naide, Social Media & Digital Marketing Lead at Cox Communications

I had a chance to sit down with Adam Naide, Social Media & Digital Marketing Lead at Cox Communications to discuss some of the topics that you will see at the Social Shake-Up Conference where Adam will be speaking. The following is a transcript of that conversation.[read more]

The most important thing you can do to better delight everyone who comes in contact with your brand is to listen to them. Listen with a goal to understand, not just think about the next thing you can shout back at them. Bottom line, listen more than you talk.[read more]

Your goal each day should be to inspire your audiences to connect with you with a goal of helping them achieve their goals. When you help them achieve their goals, you achieve yours by default. Inspire – Connect Achieve! Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be. Got it?[read more]

Nata Sha / Shutterstock.com

Even with the projected 80% increase in online investment by luxury brands in 2013, fashion brands small and large also are significantly recognizing that the silver lining lies in the adoption of a reliable listening strategy. As transient as fashion is, it appears that Geek Chic is here to stay. Of course, Oscar Wilde knew that over a century or two before Geek Chic became the rage, noting way back then that “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”[read more]

Why would I care? Why would I share? These are two key questions that Droga5’s chief creative officer, Ted Royer, says his agency considers when creating social content for brands on Facebook. Create a content calendar that has different types of content offerings every day. Try to diversify as much as possible.[read more]