The Extraordinary Revolution of Media Choice

In the traditional model, you can only play one program at a time. One radio show or one movie or one show…

Scarcity of spectrum has changed just about every element of our culture. Scarcity of shelf space as well.

There are just a few radio stations in each market, and each station gets precisely one hour to broadcast each hour. Scarcity of spectrum, inflexible consumption (listen now or it’s gone forever).

There are only a hundred or so channels on most cable systems. Each viewer is precious and you can only program one show at a time. So program for the largest audience you can find, because that’s how you get paid. Share of viewership is everything.

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Marketers And Advertisers: Women Are Driving The Purchasing Bus, Get Used To It

“Women control the majority of purchasing decisions in a household and their influence is growing.” That’s just one of the many key findings from a Nielsen Study which showed that women the world over are in control of purchasing decisions which should serve as a wake up call to business to consumer (B2C) marketers and advertisers across the globe. 

The study, titled Women of Tomorrow: A Study of Women Around the World, provides insight into how current and future generations of female consumers shop and use media differently and presents many cases where marketers have a “massive opportunity to better connect women with the products they buy and the media technologies they use to make a positive impact both in their lives and in the bottom line.” The study also provides even more proof as to the importance of creating and integrated marketing and advertising message.

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To Link or Not to Link Social Media Accounts?

One of my LinkedIn connections (Phil Masiello) recently asked me an important question – one that, in my opinion, everyone should be asking themselves if they haven’t already.  Following is his question, with my response and a few additional thoughts:

Phil: Ted, 
I have my Twitter linked to my LinkedIn account. One of my contacts is complaining to me that I shouldn’t do that. Linked in is for business and Facebook is for other. My twitter is mostly related to business, business travel, etc. What is your thought? Should I take twitter off LinkedIn?

My response went something like this:

I connect my Twitter activity to my Linkedin account because I do very little daily LinkedIn interaction and this way my LinkedIn presence still has a life. I DO NOT connect Twitter to Facebook since those posts  do fill up peoples pages and cause issues, and the language I use for Twitter and Facebook differs so greatly.

I have had a few LinkedIn complaints as well (about showing my Twitter activity there), but those complaints are HUGELY outweighed by the positive feedback and interaction it creates for me in a medium that lacks that easy functionality. I explain this to those who complain, and they all understand my reasoning. That being said, if they are unhappy, they can simply unlink from me, with no harm done.

I DO pay attention to these things and if the negative begins to outweigh the positive, I will change my practice.  

The key things to ask before linking any social media streams are:

  1. Is the information relevant to more than one network?  If not, don’t link.
  2. Is the language (tone, formal vs. informal, etc) appropriate for more than one network?  If not, don’t link.
  3. Is the content valuable to more than one network?  If not, don’t link.
  4. Is the content appropriate for the purpose of more than one network/tool?  If not, don’t link.
  5. Is the link (and resulting automatic feed) likely to get in the way of other people’s online experience?  If so, don’t link.

Although each social media tool has several shared attributes, each tool also has different functionality and different purpose – which draws a different audience and content for each. 

Bottom line?  Pay attention to your audience and make sure your links between tools are of value to each audience involved, and not just an easy (but useless) way for you to spray your content far and wide.  Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD. 

On the other hand, when done intentionally and appropriately, linking content feeds from one social media tool to another can be a highly effective and valuable way to extend your online presence to more than one relevant audience in more than one way. 

Bottom line?  It’s your choice… just choose wisely, for the sake of all involved. 

Ted Rubin 

PS. Notice how Phil used social media to request information from a trusted source.  LOVE it!

Originally posted at Zemoga’s FromBogotaWithLove.com

CMOs Must Adapt or be Left Behind

Guest post from Courtney Sato, Community and Brand Director at the Constellation Research Group.

On September 20, 2011, Constellation Research analyst, Jeff Ashcroft published “The Four Hats of the Social CMO”—a best practice guide that identifies four roles of CMOs that have emerged as a result new technologies. Jeff utilized survey data from 126 CMO respondents to compile this report. I sat down with him to discuss his findings.

In what ways has technology disrupted the CMO space such that you felt it was necessary to author this report?

JA: It became clear from the results of The Social CMO Survey that a significant shift has begun within the marketing function in response to the rapid and continuing emergence of social networking. From these results we were able to crystallize the findings to determine four specific roles “The Four Hats” CMOs will need to wear to succeed in these times of change.

Can you explain some of the issues and realities facing CMOs today that are driving the need for CMOs to change?

JA: Many CMOs today are stuck in an isolation loop with many only surviving in the role an average of 24 months. Many are no longer members of the senior management teams as a key member with the same respect as other officers. And some marketing functions are now embedded in other departments that frequently manage a hodge-podge of marketing functions (e.g. pricing and customer care).

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The State of Social Media 2011: Social is the new normal

The state of social media is no insignificant affair. Nor is it a conversation relegated to a niche contingent of experts and gurus. Social media is pervasive and it is transforming how people find and share information and how they connect and collaborate with one another. I say that as if I’m removed from the media and cultural (r)evolution that is digital socioeconomics. But in reality, I’m part of it just like everyone else. You and I both know however, that’ I’m not saying anything you don’t already know.

Social media is clearly becoming the new normal. For the last several years, simply adding the word “social” in front of anything and everything from media and gaming to commerce and CRM to business and consumerism, it’s clear that we are finally approaching the end of the hype curve to start making sense of what it all means and just how far it applies to the future of business and media.

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Brand Immersion with Contests… Don’t Forget About the Relationship!

A well-structured contest — wisely integrated in social media, encouraging participation of groups, and easily enabling the sharing and including of the social graph of participants — will bring consumers into your brand experience.  Savvy marketers can leverage contests to increase both short- and long-term return.

As with any marketing campaign using social media, a contest needs to be part of an integrated media strategy, using a blend of social and traditional media as appropriate for your brand’s consumers. And as always, remember to keep your message consistent.  A great contest that does not match your brand message is a waste of your resources and does little to add long-term value. Many are using strictly social contests to grow Facebook “likes” and Twitter “followers,” and this is ok if that is your objective, but keep in mind those are very targeted initiatives and offer little value to the brand experience.

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13 Ways to Reach Your Audience on Social Media

Thanks to Dan Christ, Director of Audience Engagement for The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., I was invited to speak to newspaper executives attending the 2011 Inter-State Circulation Managers’ Association (I-SCMA), in State College.

Connecting with Customers in Social Media might seem an ironic topic to share with a room full of newspaper circulation managers, but they earnestly desired to know how to engage and leverage interaction on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

In front of 50 representative newspaper organizations, I began by holding up The New York Times photo of “The Occupied Wall Street Journal.” An outgrowth from the grassroots anti-Wall Street-and-corporate-America protests is the production of a newspaper. Amidst chants from protestors and tweets on iPhones andiPads, it appears the protestors crave ink on their hands.

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Penton Marketing Services Delivers Largest Marketing Business-to-Business Study

Penton Marketing Services, a division of Penton Media, announced today the release of “Truth from the Trenches,” the largest marketing business-to-business survey conducted this year.  The study was designed to explore the pain points marketers are experiencing as they develop their online marketing strategies.

Respondents spanned a broad base of industry sectors and represented 15 distinct vertical markets that Penton Media serves.  From developing websites, search marketing, social media and lead optimization strategies, the survey reveals that many marketers are less than satisfied with their current digital marketing efforts.  Findings include:

  • 81% of marketers find online marketing moderately to extremely challenging
  • 77% of marketers say their site is not that effective in generating sales leads
  • 74% of markets have not implemented a social media strategy
  • 80% of companies have no resources and no budget devoted to Website analytics

“What we wanted to explore were the real pain points, expectations gone unfulfilled, frustrations and realities marketers struggle with on a daily basis,” said Kim Paulsen, SVP and executive committee member for Penton Marketing Services.  “This study reveals both the gaps we uncovered and the strategies you can use to gain ground and turn marketing buzzwords into real tools for success. We are confident that this study will be a great tool in your quest for successful marketing implementation.”

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12 Most Important Things We All Can Control

There are so many things in life that we simply cannot control (as is especially clear right now, around the 10 year anniversary of 9/11), but what about the things we CAN control?  As human beings, we have the power of reasoning and choice, both of which give us substantial control over our own life situations… we just need to be reminded of this from time to time.  Following is my reminder list of the 12 Most Important Things We All Control:

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‘Maturity Curve’ Shows Strong Revenue Gains for Companies Deploying Revenue Performance Management

Earlier this year, Marketo conducted a global study of customers that reported some pretty astonishing findings. The study calculated that by using Revenue Performance Management (RPM), our customers had the potential of generating more than $2.53 trillion in incremental revenues over the next five years.

That huge number reflected a 40 percent increase in revenues that Marketo’s customers could deliver as a consequence of deploying RPM. Talk about a data-point that focuses one’s mind (and hopefully actions)!

The study assessed how over 250 Marketo customers (nearly 19 percent of our current customer base) are faring by using the company’s full range of revenue-building solutions. According to the survey, Marketo’s customers are registering tangible business results across the revenue cycle, including:

  • 22 percent increase in qualified leads generated by marketing
  • 21 percent increase in qualified leads converting to sales-accepted opportunities
  • 17 percent increase in sales win-rate
  • 12 percent increase in average contract value
  • 7 percent improvement in length of sales cycle

The study also found a sharp increase in marketing productivity as a result of deploying our RPM-related solutions.  On average, Marketo customers ran over 46 percent more programs and campaigns after a year of using Marketo. The top 20 percent of customers had doubled their programs, and 49 percent of customers had increased programs by 75 percent.

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