Archive for August, 2009

Technology is Changing Our Businesses and Our World

Monday, August 24th, 2009

This video is from a presentation Sony played this at their executive meeting this year. It clearly shows the impact of technology on our lives and our world. It makes you think.

You can watch the entire video on YouTube by clicking here.

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Get off my lawn you Twittering punk!

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Another resume for a “Social Media Marketing Expert”  landed on my desk. Every month, I see several of these. But for some reason, this one grabbed my attention. I didn’t examine the curious sense of importance I subconsciously attached to this particular resume but I think I knew why–I’m looking for the moron who was Twittering at the movies the other night so I can waterboard him.

Okay, I can’t be sure he was Twittering. But despite 50 feet of Technicolor straight ahead of me, once the glare of his Blackberry seared my retina, this jerk became the focus of all my attention. Attempting to count his thumb strokes, I determined that his manic bursts never exceeded 140 characters. Aha! Must be Twitter. Besides, he reekked of self-involvement that seemed clearly at odds with his lack of self-consciousness. I bet those were his best sweatpants-nice choice.

Looking at the resume again, I decided to set up a phone appointment to see why the candidate so freely used the term “expert.” To me, that implies some track record of success and I wanted to find out more about how he defined a successful social media campaign. I suppose to protect his real world reputation we should give him a name. Let’s call him Earl. I made the call. (more…)

Tags: marketing ROI, measuring social media, Social Media, twitter
Posted in General, Social Media | 1 Comment »

So What’s Your Story?

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

Before joining the online conversation you and your staff better get your stories straight.

What’s your story? Can you tell a colorful story that paints, from a customer perspective, a vivid picture of what it’s like to do business with your company? Describe every interaction at each of your touch points. Before you can make the social web work for your business, be certain you and everyone in your company can tell the same story to every customer.

Your story may start with someone answering the phone. How many times does it ring? What does the person answering your phone to greet your customer say? Perhaps your typical customer experience starts with a physical visit to your store, office or practice. What does the customer see, smell, hear–what grabs his or her attention immediately. Be a fly on the wall and describe the conversation between the customer and the person representing your company. Let’s give him a name and job description. How about Beau? (Why not Beau–you have a problem with Beau?) (more…)

Posted in General, Restaurant Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »