Some say the point to blogging is SEO; others say it's to create thought leadership. The best blogs do both. I'm continually asked by clients about the point to blogging. I also continue to hear excuses as to why they aren't blogging. 'I don't know how to write effectively.' 'How frequently should I blog?' 'I'm not that creative.' 'What if I write something and no one reads it?' ...and the list of excuses goes on and on. True, blogposts are original content pages that … [Read more...]
Social Media Certifications Seek To Legitimize the Profession
As a proud member of the social media industry, I often feel that, to borrow a phrase, 'I don't get no respect.' My social media brethren often feel the same. Many of us came from corporate communications or PR roles, where we didn't necessarily need a certain degree or professional designation in order to get or keep a job. As social has proliferated across industries and companies large and small -- and with it the ability to start a Facebook Page or Twitterfeed for free -- everyone … [Read more...]
Email Is Not Social Media
No doubt, you've spent a sizeable budget on your email marketing programs. You've hired a handful of email vendors over the years. You've bought lists. You've hired email experts. You may have even attended one or more email tradeshows. The days of batch and blast -- or spray and pray -- whichever you prefer to call it -- are thankfully behind us. Your email vendor has mostly likely morphed into a 'marketing automation' or 'demand generation' provider -- showing you ways to optimize … [Read more...]
It’s On: Oracle To Battle Salesforce for Ownership of the ‘Marketing Cloud’
Today's announcement of enterprise software maker and CRM provider Oracle buying marketing automation vendor Eloqua for $811 million has many people -- including this analyst -- blindsided. After all, Eloqua just went public in August, raising $92 million. And a little more than 4 months later, it gets acquired? It was unclear from the news announcements if it was an all-stock deal, but clearly, Oracle is trying to do battle with the other enterprise software maker and CRM provider … [Read more...]
Yammer on the ‘Consumerization’ of IT
Last month's Twitterchat on the consumerization of IT, moderated by enterprise social platform provider Yammer, turned out to be a vibrant, spirited discussion on the shifting roles, responsibilities and expectations of today's corporate IT departments -- and the employees that rely on them. [And I'm sure that this topic was further explored at Yammer's first-ever annual customer conference YamJam, held in San Francisco October 28-30, which I unfortunately could not attend.] Via the … [Read more...]
Experiencing Social at Eloqua Experience, Part 2
After attending the Eloqua Experience conference in Orlando last week, I got warm fuzzies that demand generation marketers are getting more social. After all, if the leader in the space is pushing social, then the rest of the industry will be soon to follow. Eloqua is a marketing automation and revenue performance management software provider. The main engine of the platform primarily performs outbound marketing that pushes emails offering webinar invitations or content pieces (whitepapers, … [Read more...]
With Scribe 4.0, Copyblogger Provides Social Tools for Marketers to Connect with Influential Publishers
Though most tools to create a website and social presence are free, we all know that for more customized and automated experiences, we need to pay. Earlier this year I caught up with Brian Clark, CEO, and others from content marketing software and education provider Copyblogger, who have been keeping me apprised of new products in their portfolio, which includes Studiopress WordPress themes, Synthesis hosting, Premise landing pages, and Scribe SEO content optimization software. (Disclaimer: … [Read more...]
Experiencing Social at Eloqua Experience
This week, I'll be in Orlando, Florida attending marketing software company Eloqua's annual conference, Eloqua Experience. Over 1,000 attendees are expected to attend. Though not traditionally known as a conference that attracts social media or social business types, I'm keen to see how things may have changed in the last year or so since everyone has been preaching a gospel of 'collaboration' and 'integration' of various marketing efforts that all seek to unlock that all-elusive … [Read more...]
Why Doesn’t Twitter Promote List Management?
The biggest complaint clients have with Twitter is that it's noisy, cluttered, and unfiltered. 'How do I find anything?' they ask. 'And how do people find my tweets?' They're right: discovery on Twitter -- in either direction -- is pitiful. However, the List tool -- which has been around almost since the founding of the microblogging platform -- could certainly make a difference. But the problem is that the average Twitter user doesn't use it. Other social networks purposely drive … [Read more...]
The Call Center Evolves into a Social CRM Powerhouse
This morning's news on TechCrunch that social software provider Lithium Technologies acquired customer care application Social Dynamx points not only to further consolidation, but also to the fact that customer service operations might be the quiet battle ax that is serving to reshape an industry reeling from mixed messages. Here, the video of Rob Tarkoff, President and CEO of Lithium, discussing the acquisition: Lithium Technologies is a provider of platforms and tools for companies … [Read more...]