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There Are Too Many Apps For That

posted on September 26, 2011

This past weekend, I gave into temptation and bought myself an iPad2. I wasn’t as thrilled as I thought I’d be but that’s another story. This story is about apps, because one of the first things I did, when I took it out of the box, is look for apps to load.

I started with the ones I use most on my iPhone, like Skype, eBay and GetGlue. I also use a lot of shopping apps, but those didn’t make sense. I won’t be taking my iPad to the grocery store, but I do carry and use my iPhone there. Then I remembered the advice I’m always giving in this column — iPad apps shouldn’t simply be resized versions of iPhone apps or web pages, they should encompass the whole iPad experience. And therein lies the problem.

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Google+ Business Profiles Are On the Way

posted on September 26, 2011

Marketers, start your Google+ engines! Speaking at Ad Age’s Digital West conference last week, Google’s Christian Oestlien, said it’s “close to unveiling Google+ business profiles.”

Right now, only Ford and General Motors have official profiles, but since Google+ opened the gates to everyone and anyone, a few “unofficial” profiles have popped up for brands such as Snapple and Taco Bell. Most of these branded pages are blank which leads me to believe people are place holding in hopes of a coup. It’s not going to happen, though, because there’s no limit to how many times the same name can be used.

If a company wants to complain about misuse of their logo, Google+ will listen and possibly shut down the offending profile, but it doeesn’t sound like verification will be a priority at all.

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Local Information Sources Vary by Age

posted on September 26, 2011

In the “this is not a surprise but I still have to be reminded of it “ research category comes the latest findings by the Pew Research Center and the Knight Foundation called “How People Learn About Their Local Community“. In a nutshell, the study, which analyzes how people get their local information shows two rather distinct categories.

  • Young Internet consumers
  • Older “other media” consumers

While the lines blur in some areas it is pretty obvious that the digital divide is as much a function of age as it is economic. This first chart shows clearly the differences in how local information is taken in with regard to age group.

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B2B Researchers Prefer LinkedIn Over Facebook

posted on September 26, 2011

With all of the focus that has been placed on Facebook lately (and for good reason since they are changing the rules of the social media game) it’s important not to lose sight of the B2B segment of the social media marketplace.

It’s quite easy for social media pundits and the like to dismiss B2B uses of the Twitter, Facebook etc because it’s not the sexy side of social media. Well, like many things in this life, just because it’s not all shiny and pretty doesn’t mean it’s not effective. In fact, our obsession with all things glitzy and polished often blinds us to areas where things actually work. The B2B social media space is one of those.

A recent report shows just how one “unsexy” player, LinkedIn, stomps Facebook in its level of importance in the purchasing research process for B2B companies. Take a look from the data from TriComB2B and the University of Dayton’s School of Business Administration as reported by eMarketer.

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A Guide to Successful Event Marketing [Infographic]

posted on September 26, 2011

The folks over at HubSpot are usually talking about ways to generate leads online but it appears that they are well aware of other ways to generate leads.

One way is to put on an event. To be sure, this kind of activity is no simple matter and, in fact, many have gotten themselves into an event marketing situation where they realized that they have bitten off a bit more than they could chew.

So HubSpot, off the heels of their Inbound Marketing Summit, put together an infographic to help guide you through the process of event marketing.Enjoy.

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The Secrets to Successful Multilingual Social Media

posted on September 25, 2011

Love it or hate it, social media has changed the way we interact, advertise and engage with our target markets. Even the chances that you made it to this article through social media are high – a recent study found almost 9 in 10 businesses use social media for marketing purposes.

And why not? It’s free, it’s effective and you can reach people all over the world in a few simple clicks.

But to truly reach global markets, you need to speak their language, and there are a few essential tricks you need to know to make it in the heady world of multilingual social media.

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Cup of Joe: Content Marketing Is B#$*!t!

posted on September 24, 2011

So you hire an SEO, social media guru, business coach, and who ever else is willing to take your money, and they all tell you the same thing: You need better content. At this point there is a 50% chance that they are right. So let’s take a look at what you should do if they are wrong, and what you should do if they are right.

If they are wrong.

So your consultants have told you that you need better content. But, you know for a fact that you produce amazing products and services, and all the content in the world isn’t going to change that. Here’s what you do: Fire them. Don’t waste anytime, pick up the phone right now and fire them. Find a new marketing or PR person that understands your business and can see the real value in your products and services. Hire people that appreciate your work because those are the ones that understand that outstanding product sell themselves, not content. All they need to do is let others know that as well.