Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Ads are changing. Nearly every message we see online today comes with some solicitation behind it, whether upfront or buried. This evolution of media puts brands directly at the forefront of communication.

They’re no longer ads in between content people seek, but increasingly the providers of that content.

Is your Facebook content worth seeking out?

Last week we looked at a number of brands doing a great job to break through the noise on Facebook, and this week we have three more posts to examine....

[Lots to learn. Really good examples of creative Facebook marketing: Nordstrom's, Red Bull and Philadelphia cream cheese ~ Jeff]

This infographic shows how smart devices and social media impact your shopping habits.

Pre-Internet, the motto for shopping could’ve been “try and buy.” Nowadays, social media and mobile devices add a new dimension to the retail experience.

Online tools such as review sites, social networks and smartphones produce data for merchants that, if analyzed properly “in real time,” can transform the way consumers shop, according to a new infographic by custom development firm Symphony Teleca. This, in turn, can equal big bucks for business owners.

“By mining the mountain of internal and external data they’re compiling, retailers can provide targeted, relevant and timely offers to their customers, simultaneously improving the customer shopping experience and the company’s bottom-line,” says spokeswoman Brittany Klontz.

Entitled “The Meaning of Like,” the infographic shows just how much consumers are connected to the web. A staggering 167 million people will shop online this year, spending an average of $1,800 per person, it reveals. Unsurprisingly, shoppers are using their smartphones to look for sales and special deals, as well as read product reviews and ratings....

[Valuable trends and insight for retailers and marketers ~ Jeff]

Check out these 13 marketing musts and get your business ready for the New Year!

...There is clear evidence that we are still watching TV, reading magazines and newspapers (more online) and listening to the radio. Add to that, the parallel world of content marketing with blogs, podcasts, e-marketing, mobile, text and social media platforms and we can and do get overwhelmed with all the choices.

Here’s what’s most important to figure out:

*  The marketing vehicles that are best for you and your customers.
*  A clear brand and marketing message about you, what you offer, why you.

*  Being consistent, looking professional and staying fresh....

While more and more consumers make the move from the real world to online retail and e-commerce, we have a look at five examples of where the world is going...

The high street has been under threat for many years from the emergence of the Internet, but although many have predicted doom, people have continued to shop in the real world in surprising numbers. Roughly two decades after the Internet first starting gaining traction, a cruel combination of factors are emerging that will pretty much disrupt every retailer that lives on the high street.

Technology is at the heart of these changes, mainly a mixture of mobile, social media and cloud technologies are coming together to cause what I predict will be a year of huge turmoil for shops, brands and retailers that have been around for as far back as our memories stretch. Here is why the high street is about to change in front of our eyes over the next couple of years....

Social media and mobile are two top technology trends and as a business and brand learning to use them well is becoming vital.

If you want to connect with your target market in a digital economy you need to be relevant and use the modern cool tools and they don’t come any cooler than social and mobile.

Owning and using an iPad is almost like driving and parking a BMW in your driveway. Being able to talk intelligently about Facebook and Twitter now means you are invited to cocktail parties.

Print media is dying, direct mail goes into the circular file (also known as the rubbish bin) and the “Yellow Pages” is so uncool that no self respecting marketer wants to be seen with it near his desk or in his possession. So how do you move from uncool to cool?….. but before we do that we need to understand what “football” is!...

[Don't "get" rugby (Aussie football)? You'll get the results of this case study from a social marketing strategy by the Eeels rugby FC ~ Jeff ]

In our social media-infused world, traditional marketing logic just doesn't work.

Traditional marketing — including advertising, public relations, branding and corporate communications — is dead. Many people in traditional marketing roles and organizations may not realize they're operating within a dead paradigm. But they are. The evidence is clear.

First, buyers are no longer paying much attention. Several studies have confirmed that in the "buyer's decision journey," traditional marketing communications just aren't relevant. Buyers are checking out product and service information in their own way, often through the Internet, and often from sources outside the firm such as word-of-mouth or customer reviews.

Second, CEOs have lost all patience. In a devastating 2011 study of 600 CEOs and decision makers by the London-based Fournaise Marketing Group, 73% of them said that CMOs lack business credibility and the ability to generate sufficient business growth, 72% are tired of being asked for money without explaining how it will generate increased business, and 77% have had it with all the talk about brand equity that can't be linked to actual firm equity or any other recognized financial metric.

Third, in today's increasingly social media-infused environment, traditional marketing and sales not only doesn't work so well, it doesn't make sense....

[Traditional marketing isn't really working anywhere says Bill Lee in HBR - JD]