The Competitive Advantage

May 24, 2016

Don’t like social media? Too bad… get over it!

I was meeting with a group of senior leaders at one of my clients last month, talking about various marketing strategies and tactics. One of the items we discussed was the use of social media marketing… specifically that these key leaders be active on LinkedIn and Twitter.

One of my contacts (by the way, not a technology luddite) literally rolled his eyes at the prospect of actively using social media.

My response to him… “I understand your hesitation… but GET OVER IT! It doesn’t really matter want you want… it only matters what your clients and prospects want.”

June 9, 2015

8 ‘Lazy’ LinkedIn Mistakes Too Many Users Make

We all know about LinkedIn – THE social network for businesspeople. Rarely do I come across a client, prospect or vendor who is not on it. I am not a ‘power user’ (I still take advantage of a free account), but I am an active user – connecting often, posting frequently and participating in online conversations.

And as an active user, I see way too many mistakes made by way too many users – all of which happen simply because they are too lazy to take a few minutes to “do it right.” Here are the most egregious of the LinkedIn mistakes (in no particular order)…

January 6, 2015

Stop it already with the bad marketing! Part 4: LinkedIn

In the first three parts of this series, we’ve delved into…

• Bad websites
• Bad advertising
• Bad email marketing

This week, our focus is on the bad use of LINKEDIN. Note: while this post focuses on LinkedIn, most of the comments below also apply to other social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, etc.

For professionals in B2B firms, LinkedIn should be your #1 choice for social media marketing. I’ve seen some recent stats stating that LinkedIn has more than 330 million users worldwide, with over 107 million of them in the U.S.

July 3, 2013

If your summer is slow, focus on marketing & sales for a competitive advantage; part 3 – spruce up your online presence

OK, we’re now three weeks into this series of working “on” your business during the summer slowdown that many of us face.  Based on my earlier posts, have you done some planning for the fall conference season?  Or spent any time improving your use of LinkedIn?  I hope so.

Here’s the suggestion for this week…

Summer tip #3: Spruce up your online presence

June 25, 2013

If your summer is slow, focus on marketing & sales for a competitive advantage; part 2 – get active on LinkedIn

This is the second in our series of blog posts outlining some ideas for taking advantage of the summer slowdown to work “on” your business.

Last week’s post was on planning for the fall conference season.  This week…

Summer tip #2: Spend some time on LinkedIn

From my perspective, LinkedIn should be the #1 social media site for firms in the MR industry… it’s ideal for connecting, promoting and engaging.  This summer, while you’re lounging by the pool, consider the following:

August 22, 2012

Don’t Kid Yourself… Social Media is NOT Free

Almost all businesses have embraced social media – at least at some level. Blogging, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the others all represent potential weapons in your marketing arsenal.  And we love them for two primary reasons:

• Reach!  900,000,000 FaceBook users, 550,000,000 Twitter users and so on… the numbers are staggering!
• Cost!  It’s $0.  That’s right… you can jump into social media in a pretty big way and not have to pay anything.

Well… that’s not entirely true.  While there may not be any out-of-pocket expenses, they do require and can take up a lot of your time.  And for very busy or smaller market research firms, time may be even more precious than money.

May 21, 2012

Social Media Marketing Lessons Learned from an Engagement

My daughter, Laura, got engaged a few weeks ago… it was great news!  Her fiancé, Wade, is a terrific young man and my wife and I couldn’t be happier for them.   And what was really interesting about the announcement was how Laura did it (like a real marketing pro!)…

May 11, 2012

The Best Promotional Video I’ve Ever Seen

Most promotional videos I come across are far too salesy… no depth, all glitz!

But I came across the video below that I HAD to watch all the way through – it drew me in a wouldn’t let go. It’s promoting a new business book. The video is informational, entertaining and very compelling. Watch and learn…