Russell Herder

Learn the Secrets of a Great Corporate Blog

"If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Such were the words of the wise Isaac Newton. Even if it doesn't result in the development of natural physical laws, Newton's wisdom applies to many endeavors, including your corporate blog!

In an article for Mashable, 15 Excellent Corporate Blogs to Learn From, Erica Swallow chronicles what she considers to be the best corporate blogs and what makes them so. Citing Dell, Zillow and Marriott as examples, Swallow identifies the factors that help distinguish these corporate blogs from the pack, including:

• Using a landing page to curate content from multiple blogs.
• Strong content that acts as a useful resource for the target audience.
• Incorporating multimedia into blog posts.
• Executive participation.

What factors do you think make a good corporate blog? Tell us what you think!

@NeilAndrewJames

5 Ways to Overcome Consumer Resistance When Marketing Sensitive Products

There are certain products and services that, while their existence is necessary, have sensitive nature that provokes embarrassment and sensitivity. If you're charged with marketing these products, how do you deal with the resistance incurred by their taboo nature? Marketing Sherpa author Adam T. Sutton deals with this topic in his newest article, Tackling 'Taboo' Subjects: 5 Tactics From Kotex's New Marketing Strategy. Sutton analyzes the recently successful campaign for Kotex feminine products, a taboo product if there ever was one, and identifies five of the tactics that resulted in a four percent market share boost during the month of May.

@NeilAndrewJames

Image Credit - Telegraph UK

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Employers May Share Blame For Employee Social-Media Misconduct

A disgruntled salesman lambasts his employer on Twitter and is summarily relieved of his duties. Pretty black and white, right? So what if an employee, through sanctioned participation in social media, organizes a town hall where customers could come in and offer feedback to management? Should this employee be disciplined? If so, does the employer share culpability for failing to definitively establish boundaries of empowerment?

Augie Ray discusses this topic in an article for Forrester, Personal and Company Brands - The Story Not Told of Empowered Employees. Ray criticizes an article in Fortune Magazine that holds employees entirely responsible for corporate social-media mishaps. Ray argues that employers, in many cases, fail to understand how their corporate culture translates with respect to social media. Subsequently, they share in the blame when an employee's social-media participation goes awry.

Does your company have a social-media policy that clearly defines the boundaries for employee participation? What is and is not off-limits? Tell us your thoughts!

@NeilAndrewJames

Image Credit - greggmorris.com

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Has the Female Role Kept Pace With Digital Marketing's Evolution?

Despite society's increased enlightenment, many women in marketing fields realize we may not be as far removed from the Sterling-Cooper boys club as we'd like to believe. As marketing itself has changed and evolved, particularly with respect to digital, has the female role in developing marketing communications kept pace?

Linda Abraham explores this topic in depth in a recent blog for Comscore, The Time is Now For Women to Stand Up and Start Up. Abraham argues that digital marketers are leaving money on the table when women are the target audience despite their growing online influence, noting the following:

• Female Internet users spend eight percent more time online than men.
• Women account for twice the share of online spending at multi-channel retailers like Best Buy.
• Women generate 58 percent of all dollars spent online despite comprising half of the Internet population.

@NeilAndrewJames

One in Four Mobile Internet Users Now Search For Local Business Info

Regular readers of our blog know that the Yellow Pages is somewhat of a frequent target. To be fair, we have no qualms with this venerated institution. However, just as happened in the music and entertainment industries, it is clear that the ways in which people seek business information are evolving with changing technology.

Another sign of this collective shift: According to the eMarketer article, Double-Digit Growth for Local Mobile Audience, the mobile web is the contact point where, increasingly, consumers are connecting with local businesses. The audience of local mobile users is now 17.3 million, up 14 percent from 2009. Usage of mobile apps with local directory functionality increased 42 percent over the same period. One in four mobile subscribers who browse the web on their mobile phone monthly use their device to search for local business information.

Does your business leverage the mobile web to promote localized services? Tell us your experience!

@NeilAndrewJames

Sending Products to a Blogger? Read This First

Sending products for a review. A tried and tested ceremony of the product launch cycle. But whereas in decades past brands could send their new widgets to the relevant magazines and call it a day, the proliferation of bloggers and social media has forced marketers to shift their attentions to the growing world of digital influentials.

No big deal, right? As a marketer, you're just changing the ship-to address at the UPS Store, right?

Not entirely. As testimonials and reviews from bloggers have become more and more credible, the FTC is stepping in. As chronicled by Meghan Keane in an article for Econsultancy, FTC: Brands Are On the Hook For Blogger Endorsements, the FTC will hold brands responsible for a blogger's failure to disclose their postings as a paid endorsement.

Unfortunately, according to Keane, what constitutes disclosure across varying digital mediums is highly ambiguous. For marketers (and bloggers) who are legitimately concerned, the FTC senior attorney Stacey Ferguson offers a simple litmus test:

"If the audience understands that it's an endorsement, then that's enough."

@NeilAndrewJames

Image Credit - The Scrumptious Anime Blog

The Marketers Guide to Leveraging Groupon and Other Social Buying Sites

Have you heard of Groupon? If not, pay attention. Debuting in November 2008, Groupon is a localized website that promotes daily deals. Groupon offers one coupon per day (today's deal, $5 for $10 worth of items at Ax-Man Surplus), which only becomes valid once a minimum number of consumers take advantage of the offer. Groupon subsequently takes a cut from the retailers it promotes.

Sound gimmicky? Think again. According to Techcrunch, Groupon's estimated 2010 revenue is $350 million. 

So how should you, the marketer, leverage Groupon and its increasing pool of clones to further your business objectives. MarketingVox tackles this subject in its latest article, 5 Tips for Marketers as Groupon Clones Proliferate. MarketingVox's tips include:

• Personalize deals as much as possible
• Shop around and negotiate for the lowest commission rate and maximum reach
• Plan ahead for the surge in volume and back-ended expenses

Has your business used Groupon successfully? Tell us what you think!

@NeilAndrewJames

Image Credit - Transcapitalist

The Statistics You Don't Know About B2B Social Media

"We don't need to include social media in our marketing mix. We're a B2B company."

Just because your target audience is businesses rather than end consumers, that doesn't necessarily preclude you from successful social marketing. After all, it's not a logo that buys your company's products and services - it's a person. 

Getting the facts about B2B social media can be daunting. Luckily, Adam Holden-Bache compiled a host of facts and figures from across the web in his article, 28 Awesome B2B Social Media Statistics.Some of the more notable observations from his article include:

• 86 percent of B2B firms use social media compared to 82 percent of B2C. (Bizreport)
• Only 50 percent of B2B marketers use metrics to analyze ROI, but those that do find online marketing more effective. (AMR International)
• The top applications for B2B social media are thought leadership (59.8%), lead generation (48.9%), customer feedback (45.7%) and advertising on sites (34.7%). (BtoB)

@NeilAndrewJames

Image Credit - Econsultancy

Study Shows Viewers Tune Away From Commercials During Low-Rated Shows

Do you get up to get a snack once your favorite show goes to commercials? If yes, you are unwittingly a pivotal player in an age-old conflict between media buyers and network salesmen. Media buyers want to ensure that your eyeballs aren't fleeing the scene during their placements. Yet, network executives evoke images of the Maxell man when describing how viewers consume commercials during their programming. Who's right?

A very unique study by Havas' MPG Unit, as chronicled in the Media Post article, Digital Data Reveal Higher Commercial Tune-Away For Low-Rated Shows, compares Nielsen's rating estimates to actual TV tuning behavior using digital TV set-top devices. Interestingly, the MPG analysis found that viewers tune away from commercials in low-rated shows twice as often than they do during high-rated shows. In addition, high-definition (HD) TV programs retain commercial viewership better than standard definition.

@NeilAndrewJames

The E-Mail Marketers How-to Guide to Cattle Rustling

Cattle rustling? Why would an e-mail marketer, or frankly anyone who doesn't own a cowboy hat, care about cattle rustling? Given the choice between laboring in our cozy, air-conditioned offices and the dusty, windswept plains, we'll generally opt for the climate less sweltering every day of the week.

But think about it. When you're an e-mail marketer, every month, prospects are wandering away from the herd via the unsubscribe button. So are you going to sit there and let those prized steers shuttle off into the sunset or are you going to get on your horse and do everything you can to protect your investment?

E-mail marketers with an interest in corralling their wayward flock would do well to check out the series of articles from Marketing Vox on salvaging unsubcribes, including Tips to Salvage an Unsubscribe, Read Digital Body Language to Stop an Unsubscribe and One Final Attempt to Get Them to Re-engage. Included among their helpful tips on reintroducing wandering prospects to the fold is a study on how a more targeted e-mail increased click-to-open rate from 13 to 60 percent and reduced bounce back rates 50 percent!

@NeilAndrewJames

Image Credit - SF Gate