Social networking as an online marketing tool

There was a time when many believed that social networking was just a fad that would only be used by the young, but as its popularity continues to grow it is becoming a major part of many companies’ online marketing campaign.
Social networking growing as an online marketing tool

Does cause marketing work?

A Michigan School of Business article discusses a Management Science study that reviews the business impact of cause marketing, with some interesting findings.
It’s this spillover effect to a company’s other products that can make cause marketing worthwhile, the researchers say. In fact, even if a firm is unable to increase the price of a cause-related [...]

Brand Leaders in YouTube Marketing

Catherine-Gail Reinhard of Videasa has an excellent write-up on Mashable.com in regards to the leaders in YouTube Marketing
As YouTube has grown into the preeminent video sharing service online, marketers have tried, with limited success, to broadcast themselves and to reach audiences with their messaging. And while individuals have used YouTube as a platform to step [...]

Marketing & Sales Integration – Go forth and prosper!

Marketing And Sales: Integrate And Prosper
Forbes, NY

Forbes

Sales and marketing should be playing the same score, even if marketing plays the trumpet and sales plays the baritone saxophone. But too often, this level of cross-department collaboration is a holy grail that few companies achieve.

Forbes

Need a Productivity Boost?

We weren’t crazy when we were touting Inbox Zero!
Almost 30,000 advertising jobs have been lost since the start of this recession. With fewer people, agencies desperately need increased productivity. But how can they increase productivity in the midst of layoffs? One answer comes from a surprisingly obvious place: e-mail.
Advertising Age

WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury set to rock sponsored jerseys. Awesome.

It looks like sponsored jerseys have made their their way into the American professional sports scene. And the Cubs home jerseys looked so clean! Dang you, WNBA!

Seattle Post Intelligencer

Mercury enter into marketing partnership with LifeLock
Examiner.com
In a move that will surely change the face of women’s professional sports, the Phoenix Mercury announced today that [...]

Product vs. Commodity: NBC’s “Wide World of Sports”?

Which brings us to NBC. Any great marketing campaign triggers a user experience that engages the user within the product. NBC is looking to move their sports broadcast business from commodities to products in an effort to become the new “Wide World of Sports” from ABC’s glory days.

Managing the New Millenial Generation

Ron Brunson writes on what it takes to motivate the new generation of workers, and his take is well worth the read should be faced with the younger generation of workers.

Think Outside the Box to Grow Profit

If you were not aware, Best Buy has their own lines of private label merchandise, which they sell alongside the Sony’s and Samsung’s of the world. In an effort to grow this business to keep their company afloat, the Wall Street Journal reports that Best Buy is leveraging their general customer feedback to “make simple innovations to established electronic gadgetry.”

Get Your Read On with BookSwim

bookswimIf you’ve ever been told to “Read a book!”, as I often was by my high school football coach (thanks, Coach Curry), but don’t have a monster budget to drop $100/month on reading material, give BookSwim a look. Considered the Netflix for books, BookSwim features multiple check-out plans and free shipping. After your first three months, plans start at $19.95/month for three books out at a time.

Ford Embraces Bloggers to Launch New “Fiesta”

In an attempt to embrace the changes in how people communicate, Ford will leverage bloggers to launch their new car, the Fiesta, early next year.

AdvertisingAge: How marketers can tap social media.

Covering widets, apps, twitter, and facebook, this article serves as a good reference for anyone starting to jump into social media as a marketing channel.

SEOrush Helps Determine SEO Effectiveness

If you are maintaining a website, or are in competition with one, fine tuning SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is a must. We’ve provided some resources to help you optimize your site, but sometimes it can be difficult to determine how effective of a job you are doing. Let SEOrush help. Plugging a URL into SEOrush provides a one-page snapshop of that site’s search engine ranking, basic metadata analysis, site traffic ranks, and social resources.

The Best of Slideshare: “Career Advice ‘08″

Volume I, Issue 5: Career Advice ‘08 Why you care? For a lot of people, right now is a pretty tough time in terms of professional development. Some rules have changed, and this particular presentation, put together by Garr Reynolds, outlines the key points of Dan H. Pink’s new book to help steer you along your path, or lackthereof.

Fired Over Facebook

If you don’t think you can get reprimanded or worse for comments made on social networking sites about your workplace or boss, think again.

Building Customer Loyalty

Back on February 12, we wrote about timing your email campaigns to be in front of your readers when your readers are ready to hear your message. Timing is crucial, and on of the long term effects of doing so is customer loyalty.

Being Indispensable

Alex Kniess posted today at Advertising Age about becoming indispensable during these trying times. While I would argue these are good directives under any circumstance, recession or not, they are worth the quick read for anyone in the workplace.

Making the Old New – Starbucks Instant Coffee

You read the headline right, Starbucks is entering the Instant Coffee market. An interesting case of reinventing a product to meet the demands of the times. How did they reach that decision, and how might you apply their strategy?

Target Twitter Users with TwitterHawk

Now that have determined businesses are able to use Twitter free of charge, we felt it appropriate to begin providing tools for you to take advantage of the medium. Thus, we present TwitterHawk – a service-based website that auto-contacts twitter users based on their message content and location.

Timing Your Email Campaigns Will Determine Success

Email is an interesting thing. It’s cost-effective and quick, incredibly efficient when executed correctly, and allows for mobility previously unseen in business. While the benefits can be extraordinary, one factor that is typically overlooked is the timing of your message. Get your offer or opportunity in front of your guest when they’re not ready, and you’ll see your return drop. Hit that sweet spot, and you’ll begin to see much more profitable results.