Cause Marketing: It’s All About Planning & Relationships ~via @Champions4Kids

Originally posted at Champions for Kids Blog: August 22nd, 2013 

Last week when we called out for guest posters on our blog Ted Rubin quickly stood up.  He is one of the great Champions for Kids that works at Collective Bias.  I was delighted to scheduled his post. He believes in cause marketing and was eager to share his thoughts on the topic.

 

 

Cause marketing in the digital age has never been easier (or harder). In one sense, there are a plethora of social platforms that offer a seemingly endless audience. On the other hand, managing campaigns across social can seem like herding cats; there’s so much to do, and so much noise that the process can seem overwhelming.

However, just like any other marketing (digital or otherwise), success always boils down to relationships. Developing relationships with partner businesses… developing relationships with donors… and keeping those relationships going beyond the campaign.

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The Voice of the Customer… Are You Listening?

 

 

With all the noise online today, people are tuning out things like advertisements and promotions from brands. When considering a product or service, what’s more important to them are the thoughts and opinions of their friends—especially in social media.  Reviews have become the first go-to resource for most people searching for something online these days, so brands need to pay attention to this trend.

For instance, when you’re looking at books to read on Amazon, don’t you check out the reviews to see what others thought about the book before you hit the “Add to Cart” button? It’s human nature to seek out the opinions of others who have tried something—from the books we read to the music we listen to—and especially big-ticket purchases.

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When A Brand Promise Backfires

Like every other marketing-related word or phrase, the term “brand promise” has its fair share of definitions. The one I like best is one that I think captures the essence perfectly for it speaks to the relationship marketing aspect.

It was written by Jean Wilcox, one of the authors of the book AbuLLard’s ABC’s of Branding: “A brand promise is the statement that you make to customers that identifies what they should expect for all interactions with your people, products, services and company. It is often associated with the company name and/or logo.”

Wilcox also believes a brand promise is also the tagline for a given brand – and she’s right.

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MY TOP TEN REALIZED BENEFITS OF TWITTER ~via @Sbarro CMO @SarahMcAloon

Guest post by Sarah McAloon… originally published at Full Impact Marketing

 

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about Twitter recently, both my personal use of it and for the brand I work on @sbarro.  For the last year I’ve been on a Twitter deep-dive and I’d say I’m an intermediate with ~900 followers.

I wanted to write this blog to help other executives realize the opportunities that I have found in Twitter, for themselves and for their brands.  If you know anyone who can benefit from Twitter please feel free to forward.

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Ted Rubin shares, with @newscomauHQ’s @ClaireRPorter, the top 10 things businesses are getting wrong on social media

Using social media to broadcast a campaign or initiative isn’t social media, says Ted Rubin.

BUSINESSES should stop tweeting so much and shut up and listen to what their followers are saying about their brands on social media, according to Ted Rubin, Chief Marketing Officer of social media company Collective Bias.

And he would know. Of all the CMOs in the world, Ted has the most Twitter followers.

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The Accidental Narcissist And The Future Of [Connected] Customer Engagement

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Have you ever noticed that your Facebook News Feed is the digital equivalent to “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Perhaps you’ve likened your Instagram stream to that of  “Lifestyles of the Digital Rich and Internet Famous.”

In each network, and across multiple social streams, you’re fed a visual buffet of seflies, travel, food, fashion, and celebrations. In assemblage, they tell the story of life well lived, or at least a life well curated. At the center of each of these experiences is the person living and sharing them in real time.  Every day that passes, it seems that a growing network of our friends, family, and colleagues are charmed with this picturesque life.

Some may see this behavior as self-centered, self-promotional, or view it as a form of attention seeking, but at a human level, it’s simply a new form of self-expression and an open invitation to interact.

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How NASCAR Uses Relationship Marketing

Nascar

I am the first to admit I am not the biggest NASCAR fan – by a long shot. I am however, a huge fan of any brand that uses relationship marketing to better engage with its fans.

Such is the case with NASCAR, who recently re-launched their digital platform. Seeing the need to engage and relate to their very large and impressive list of fans, they entered into an agreement with Livefyre, the leading provider of real-time social software which allows fans to have conversations in real-time across NASCAR.com, whether it be on a PC, tablet or mobile device, to discuss everything NASCAR from the latest in-depth news to live action on the race track.

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