CTE Marketing

Twitter Inc. expects to generate at least $1 billion in sales in 2014, two people with knowledge of the matter said, indicating that the blogging service will grow about twice as fast as some analysts now predict.

A hacker says he's posted 6.5 million LinkedIn passwords on the Web -- hot on the heels of security researchers' warnings about privacy issues with LinkedIn's iOS app. Read this blog post by Lance Whitney on Security & Privacy.

For decades they were denied the top executive jobs in American corporations, but now women (as of mid-May 2012) run 18 of the Fortune 500 companies, among the nation's biggest. Twenty-one women CEOs also run companies...

A Trader Joe's recently opened in MarketingProfs blogger Daniele Hagen's neighborhood four years after a move meant leaving, among other things, her belvoed TJ's behind.  In a MarketingProfs' piece published today, she takes a look at Trader Joe's brand and comes away with lessons other companies can leverage to inspire brand loyalty.

The language of benefits is not perfect for every product sold online, and it never was. Here are some examples where features bring better results.

Note from Pat: As I mentioned in the Comments for this post, Karol raises a great point.  Sometimes, your audience doesn't need benefits - but that takes a strong, deep understanding of your audience before making the commitment to write without benefits.  (And for his t-shirt example, try to think of a benefit.  Soft is a feature.  Well made is a feature.)

Your aim should always be to make it go viral !

Great startup advice from the worlds top young millionaire & billionaire CEO's.

Marketers have been audience-centric since the dawn of their existence. And whereas companies have long thought about audiences and age groups, there is now a broader divide in how the generations think and view the world.

In order to attract Generation Y, some 60 million people, (whether to land them as a customer or as an employee) it is necessary to customize your appeals and communication style to fit their techno-oriented lifestyle. But it goes beyond merely adapting your content to changing the way you communicate in general.

Gen Y, sometimes referred to as the Echo Boomers because of their huge numbers (according to the US Census there are three times as many Gen Ys as there are Gen Xers), has a reputation for being peer-oriented due, in part, to its reliance on instant communication technologies and the Internet, including email, IMs, texting and social media components like YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

When recruiting Generation Y (exact pinpoints are not agreed upon but generally this term refers to individuals born between 1979-1994) you need to give some thought as to who they are and what motivates them. If Gen X is the MTV generation, you can think of Gen Y as the American Idol generation. They are a collective who have been awarded throughout school with everybody-wins trophies. You show up, you get a ribbon. (Alsop, Ron. The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace. Jossey-Bass).

This has translated into a group who believe they can all sing well enough to win a national competition. But they are also a very giving group. USA Today reports that they volunteer more than any previous generation and they are more socially conscious than any generation since World War II. They have been strictly scheduled throughout most of their lives in sports, dance, foreign language classes, etc. Gen Y is also dependent on peer-to-peer interaction and holds peer reviews in high esteem.

This can benefit your company in a very direct way if you tailor your offerings accordingly. Keep in mind

1. They are technology-savvy. It’s not enough for you to have a website. Gen Y’s online usage extends past such basics. You need to involve them. Interaction is key

2. They need to feel valued. Remember the everyone gets a ribbon idea? This group has plenty to offer and knows so. Their opinions are valuable.

3. They want to be friends. For this generation, it’s not the quality but the quantity. Number of friends, followers and fans are very important to their collective thinking. Connecting them with peers is essential to holding their interest.

4. They want to be a part of something big. This generation, more so than any before it, has giant dreams. They want to be the next biggest (fill in the blank) but most of it involves being affluent and lauded. Making them feel like a vital part of a lively, desirable community is imperative

5. They’ve gone green. While you may be weighing the costs and steps it takes to go green, the millennials are already there. They’ve grown up in a climate where global warming is on every blackboard and their teachers have educated them on concerns past generations just didn’t think about.

The economy has placed challenges on marketers but tailoring your product copy and offerings to appeal to the technology-savvy Gen Y will benefit you in the long run. This is a very different group you are targeting, so review your copy and your technology and see how you can rework them to be more appealing to this important generation.

Have you ever heard of Big Data?

Big Data is the concept that designs the whole amount of personal data that is being collected thanks to social media and other sources. The whole question about that is how to use it? How to make it speak for itself?

With 900 millions users Facebook is the biggest collector of data with maybe google.
Here is a way they use it to create world trends. It's amazing! 

Build the Brand Called You with my Personal Online Branding worksheet. Branding is probably one of the most important elements of your online business.