by Chloe Jeffreys on July 11, 2013 in Coffee with Chloe, GenFabTV, Social Media – VIDEO interview below
Last year at BlogHer I had the chance to meet Ted Rubin, co-author of Return on Relationship
MLB And Free Credit Score Team Up For This Year’s All-Star Game
I don’t know about you but I happen to love the MLB All-Star Game. I can remember as a kid watching and listening to the likes of Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek call the game.
Nowadays I am as much interested for what happens on the field as I am off. Much like the Super Bowl I watch to see what the marketing and advertising folks have in store for the viewing public. Always fascinating to me to see which brands will try and take advantage of what is normally a very captive audience.
But there’s also a very fond memory I have as a kid that deals with the All-Star ballot. Who else can remember trying to poke the little holes next to your favorite player on the rectangular-shaped ballot? Of course that was then and this is now, AKA the digital marketing age and while paper ballots are still being used, one would suspect most fans would cast their votes via the Internet.
How Johnson & Johnson Is Using Social Media To Save Lives
Those who know me know that I am passionate about a lot of things when it comes to the world of marketing, advertising, branding and social media. From the latest campaign for Brand X to the latest techno-advance, I want to know about it, learn about it and in some 
But perhaps what truly gets my passion meter on the rise is when I hear of a brand doing something for the betterment of all of us; to truly have a profound and positive impact on we humans.
That is why I am here today. To tell you of a phenomenal campaign that seeks to do good for the world – in a big way.
Give your Brand a “Personality Test”
Have you given your brand a “personality test” lately? When you think of big brands that stand out, what comes to mind—just their product, or how their communications make you feel about them? It used to be that mass advertising was the way brands developed a personality, but that’s no longer the case. With today’s social communications being so important to a brand’s reputation and perception in the marketplace, finding a way to involve your friends and followers in building that personality is essential.
I’ll give you a few good big-brand examples (personal disclaimer… Duane Reade and Mastercard are Collective Bias clients).
New York Times Bestseller On The Perils Of Social Media
Back in April I wrote an article about the ill-timed and extremely insensitive Tweets put forth by a brand: Epicurious Uses The Boston Marathon Tragedy To Cross That Line. It was of course not the first nor the last example of social media gone bad in the context of a brand and those entrusted with the marketing of it.
Today, however, I want to talk about when social media goes bad from a human perspective. You do remember humans, right? Oh sure, there’s autobots and other techno-related gizmos that will Tweet, post and Like on we humans’ behalf – at least I think there is?
But at the end of the day it is we humans who are traveling the highways and biways of social media on an ever-increasing pace.
The Content “IS” the Ad
There’s a lot of angst in marketing land right now. With Google’s Panda and Penguin changes and social algorithms that favor engagement, it may look as though SEO is dead, or that traditional ads will soon be going the way of the dodo. What’s a marketer to think? Are we supposed to throw out everything we learned about marketing and advertising to date and learn to ride a new horse? How the heck are we supposed to get in front of customers now?
Well, things ARE changing. Traditional advertising isn’t yet extinct, but there is simply too much noise out there, and people are sick of it. They’re shutting out the blast advertising that has crept into every aspect of their lives and centering in on the things they truly care about—friends, family, and social connections. You need to take a step back and study this shift in order to take advantage of it.
I spread your idea because…
Ideas spread when people choose to spread them. Here are some reasons why:
- I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous.
- …because I feel smart alerting others to what I discovered.
- …because I care about the outcome and want you (the creator of the idea) to succeed.
- …because I have no choice. Every time I use your product, I spread the idea (Hotmail, iPad, a tattoo).
- …because there’s a financial benefit directly to me (Amazon affiliates, mlm).
- …because it’s funny and laughing alone is no fun.
Blogging Strategy as it Relates to Building Relationships
Your personal and/or company blog, to me, should be at the heart of your social presence and be a driver for valuable content that can be used in so many places.
Here are a few things to consider in addition to just posting articles and working the SEO angle… four places to concentrate to enhance engagement:
1. User-Friendly Navigation: Keeping your blog easy to navigate with intuitive category labels will help people find the information they seek much faster. Here again, doing your research on what your customers are looking for is essential. Also, make it easy for readers to leave comments and share your posts on various channels.
Irrefutable Proof That Inbound Marketers Need A Major Reality Check
Now I don’t know about you but being the sports fanatic I am, I am often in need of a “reality check” for sure. I think most sports fans need this from time to time as too often we get caught up in the hype or hyperbole of a given athlete or team.
It would appear that those who live, play and dwell in the inbound marketing world need to be “reminded of the state of things in the real world.” At least that’s the conclusion I drew from reading the findings of a study conducted by InsideSales.com which revealed that one sale lead after another is essentially being wasted as far too many in the position to respond to those leads – AKA sales folks, simply are out of tuch when it comes to reality.
Vonage Takes Generosity To A Whole New Level
No matter where we come from or where we’re headed or who we are, we could all use a little more generosity in our lives, right? Wouldn’t the world be a better place if more people had “a quality that’s a lot like unselfishness — someone showing generosity is happy to give to or share time, money, food, or whatever with others?”
Those of us who live, work and play in the marketing, advertising and branding world would love to have consumers look at us and our clients as being generous, yes? How priceless would that be? In today’s relationship marketing world, especially.
Well one national brand is doing something that they hope will convey their message of generosity in a somewhat “crazy” way.