SM

“You say you want to get closer to customers, but your actions are different than your words.

You say you want to “surprise and delight” customers, but your product development teams are too busy building against a roadmap without consideration of the 5th P of marketing…people.”

If we are to truly change, we must find purpose. We must uncover the essence of our business and the value it delivers to traditional and connected consumers. We must rethink the spirit of today’s embrace and clearly articulate how transformation is going to improve customer and employee experiences and relationships now and over time.

What’s Your Promise? Your promise to me as your consumer, stakeholder, and partner. 

A promise is meant to inspire

For without it, we cannot genuinely voice what it is we stand for or stand behind.

It serves as the foundation for your vision, mission, and all business strategies and it must come from the top to mean anything. For without it, we cannot genuinely voice what it is we stand for or stand behind.

A promise is the ink that inscribes the spirit of the relationship between you and me. A promise serves as the words that influence change from within and change beyond the halls of our business.

Organizations that strive for innovation, imagination, and relevance will outperform those that do not.

Change will only happen because you and other internal champions see what others can’t and will do what other won’t. It takes resolve. It takes the ability to translate new opportunities into business value. And, it takes courage.

Remember To Aim For A Higher Purpose!

An Inspirational Post by Brian Solis - http://bit.ly/w1AGy8 , Read Entire Article Here:  http://bit.ly/LxjGnM

There are just so many social sharing buttons these days, and content marketing is more important than ever.

**As a user, it has created a moment of decision of choosing which channel to share a particular news story, or cute video.

**The goal is to have as many network peers see the content, enjoy it, and re-share.

**There’s no shame in admitting gratification in people liking something you share.

**As a Marketer, its important to help users make this decision easily, and also ensure that your content is shared with the appropriate audience on the right channels.

**Your mileage may vary, but this is a very useful one-stop resource for brands looking to get the biggest bang from their social sharing buttons.

**Just remember: when it comes to user options, less is always more.

**Pick the best three or four buttons for your site and leave it at that.

This Infographic by The Search Agents - http://bit.ly/KBCg9O , takes a closer look at the different social sharing buttons, how they work, who their target audience is and the kinds of content that will be most effective when shared via these tools.

Download / Embed: http://bit.ly/KBCs9j ;

Selected by maxOz and Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

Does social media marketing really work? This infographic shows just how much faith marketers put in platforms like Twitter and Facebook. (RT @ab2bc: Does Social Media Marketing Really Work?

This piece, originally curated by maxOz applies to your overall content marketing strategy whether you're creating or curating content.

Excerpt:

The ‘if you build it, they will come’ approach to online content creation is no longer enough when it comes to developing a truly engaged audience online [Simon Edelstyn - http://bit.ly/LolvDj , European managing director at Outbrain] and content amplification has a key role to play.

For marketers, as the online environment continues to grow, it is no longer a case of simply creating content and hoping for the best. It has become increasingly important to ensure the right audience is discovering this content.

How to amplify the value of this content and get it seen by the right audience, amidst a sea of irrelevant content: http://bit.ly/LokPOl ;

Here are some takeaways:

1. Produce more engaging content

Develop educational or entertaining content in several different formats

2. Earned media is content

3. Amplify your efforts

In the B2B arena, content discovery is emerging as a new way to help the right people find the right content for them, while allowing marketers to amplify and build relevant communities around these assets.

Because of the nature of the majority of B2B content, its audience is targeted, and content discovery can help reach targeted relevant and interested users.

Content marketing and engagement doesn’t necessarily translate directly into immediate ROI or sales conversions, online or offline.

However, it is a way to make customers aware of your existence, demonstrate credibility and build brand loyalty via deeper engagement.

Content marketing is not a sprint, it’s a marathon – you need to be patient before your audience will be ready to move to consideration or purchase.

With so much content already out there, you need to make yours relevant and engaging, to help the right eyes reach it.

Source: http://bit.ly/LokPOl ;

Read 20 of the most telling inbound marketing statistics and data points that will help position your progress against other Marketers.

This post by Magdalena Georgieva - http://bit.ly/KYw6CM - highlights the 20 most interesting data points from Hubspot's latest edition of "120 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts & Graphs" - http://bit.ly/KYwp0l [PDF]

1) Research is a vital part of online shopping

2) 89% of marketers are maintaining or increasing their inbound marketing budgets

3) Inbound remains more cost-effective than outbound marketing

4) Search engines are often a starting point for product research

5) More web pages mean more leads

6) 80% of email marketers send the same content to all subscribers

7) B2B marketers use email segmentation heavily

8) More and more people report reading email on mobile devices

9) Social media & blogging generate real customers

10) Social media adoption has grown drastically in the U.S.

11) Social media conversations influence purchases

12) LinkedIn drives the most customers for B2B organizations

13) Facebook drives the most conversions for B2C organizations

14) Pinterest is popular mainly in the U.S.

15) Most marketers recognize the value of blogging

16) Blog reading peaks around 10am

17) Facebook grows in importance to Marketers

18) Most Twitter users are 25-34 years old

19) Twitter drives more customers for B2C companies

20) Mobile users rarely reopen emails on computers

How are you going to use this knowledge in your day-to-day marketing life?

Read more: http://bit.ly/KYxHZr ;

In today’s competitive environment, with numerous social applications and ways to engage clients, retailers must utilize metrics to stay in the race.

While each retailer may have a unique strategy to analyze their success with metrics, the new Metrics Therapy — Details, Dashboards and Diligence Whitepaper - http://bit.ly/LigJEC [PDF] by the e-tailing group Baynote - http://bit.ly/Lih0r1 ; - reveals just how successfully companies are integrating these finds into their marketing strategies.

Overall, the Report revealed that while the overwhelming majority of retailers view analytics evaluation as the number one factor in customer retention and loyalty [93%], their use of metrics is still a big work in progress. 

Download/Embed: http://bit.ly/LihkG8 ;