Published on: 2012-05-22 19:22:58

IBM sat down to talk one-on-one with 1,700 CEO’s in 64 countries to discuss changes in how they do business. First, let’s marvel at the logistics behind that. All those busy people. All those languages. All that data. Seriously, I don’t think we appreciate the effort that goes into these things. Now, let’s move on to the results. To the right you see a chart with a surprising message. The CEO’s were asked how they engage with their customers. The top line represents where they are today, the bottom line where they expect to be in 3 to 5 years. Right now, social media came in dead last but it’s expected to climb to the second spot in the coming years. At a glance, I would say that these results relate to B2B companies, but the report doesn’t say one way or the other. I understand B2B being heavily face-to-face. I don’t see it in business to consumer. But again, the study doesn’t specify one or the other so I have to assume it’s a mix. Technology in general came up as the aspect most likely to impact business in the coming year. Their second choice was “People Skills.” It’s not well defined in the report, but I’m sure old school CEO’s are worried that technology is erasing our ability to connect one-on-one. Looking internally, the top CEO’s agreed that the old corporate structure doesn’t work anymore. They said they were working toward an open and honest environment where collaboration and new ideas are encouraged at every level. They also stressed the importance of values and making sure that everyone in the company is on board and working toward the same goal. But even with social media chipping away at face-to-face, the CEO’s said that personalization was still important. They believe that technology is giving us new ways to collect that data we need to listen and respond to our customers. IBM calls data a “critical new natural resource” that can be harnessed to propel a company to new heights. What do you think? Has technology made it easier to listen and respond to our customers? Or are we moving farther and farther away from personalized, customer service? Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

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Study Shows Social Media Slowly Replacing Face-to-Face Customer Interaction

Published on: 2012-05-21 14:13:05

Hey did you hear? There’s this social media thing and some company got like really, really rich from an IPO last week. Did ya hear? Of course you did but hopefully you are now moving on with your regularly scheduled life and looking for the things that will help you do business online that may even include something other than Facebook. Our Inbound Marketing Channel sponsor, HubSpot, has put together a new (and free) learning resource that does just that. It’s about the ins and outs of LinkedIn. Learn from social media experts how to get the most from LinkedIn . Get tips and insights from experts who will help you get the most from one of the most important channels for your business’ marketing message! GET YOUR FREE COPY RIGHT NOW! Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

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Learning LinkedIn from the Experts [Sponsor]

Check out this informative article written by Marketing Pilgrim – Internet News and Opinion. It provides interesting digital marketing information. To see all new blog posts featuring great marketing info, click here

Published on: 2012-05-18 11:46:34

If you have ever signed up for a new Twitter account you have been ‘offered’ a list of suggested people to follow. Let’s just say that unless you intend to use Twitter for the most shallow and useless reasons (which, let’s face it, most do but I digress) that suggestion list is awful. Well, six long years into this Twitter has admitted as much. As a result they are introducing tailored suggestions. The Twitter blog explains Currently, when new users come to Twitter, we show them all almost the same suggestions for what or who to follow. That isn’t ideal. Since you have individual interests, you should get individual suggestions. After all, even though millions of people love Justin Bieber, FC Barcelona or Kim Kardashian, not everyone using Twitter may want to follow them. To make it easier and faster for everyone to get started on Twitter, we’re beginning some experiments with tailored suggestions in a number of countries around the world. The first experiment will show new users a list of accounts that we recommend you follow, alongside a timeline filled with Tweets from those accounts. This kind of personalization along with yesterday’s Do Not Track announcement shows that Twitter is working to make it more useful and efficient for users and marketers alike. In a world where most social media news is about how someone or something has either gotten worse or is further abusing your privacy maybe Twitter is paying attention and figuring they can look different by doing something useful. Wow, now there is a novel concept in today’s business world. Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

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Twitter Admits Not Everyone Likes the Bieb and Offers Tailored Suggestions

Published on: 2012-05-17 14:42:02

I think you should check out this post I found for this blog. Read it here – Do Interactive Agencies Have A Bloated View of Their Capabilities?

Is anyone really willing to admit that in the Internet marketing space the hype from agencies is far exceeding the reality at this point? I know it may be heretical to even imply this but I prefer to dabble in the truth rather than BS. In the Internet marketing space that point of view earns me the title of ‘contrarian’. Well, I accept that title and look to results like those found by PulsePoint (reported by eMarketer ) to further make the point. It appears that the agency side of the ledger sees their delivery capabilities in the three major areas of marketing as either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ effective. Confidence is good I suppose but only if it’s based in reality. Otherwise it can be little more than salesmanship. Why do I see things this way? It is just that SO many people I run into have major gripes about the ‘help’ they receive from agency providers, regardless the size of the business. The get sold a bill of goods (the same bill of goods that was drilled into a salesperson’s head as gospel) then when it comes to delivery there is a serious disconnect. Unfortunately, the way many agencies handle client engagements is in a ‘fake it ’til you make it’ mode. Delivery is done by underpaid and relatively inexperienced folks and, well, you can guess where it goes from there. The next chart made me chuckle a bit. It shows just how confident agencies REALLY are. This chart shows the marketing priorities of these three groups. If agencies were truly as good as they claim don’t you think they would be more willing to measure results better? The revolt by marketers and others seeking agency level help has been a long time coming and really it can’t come too soon. How many monthly retainers will it take for clients to finally yell “No mas!” and simply do the best they can in house since their results were not that much better after paying someone else? Now, don’t think this is a blanket statement or indictment against the agency model. There are great providers out there. It’s usually the ones, however, that aren’t out there saying how good they but rather doing good work and living off referral business, that steer clear of this mess. How do you feel about the agency side of the interactive space? What has been your experience? Are you an agency provider who disagrees with me? Then please let us know your thoughts in the comments. We can’t know unless you make yourself be heard.

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Do Interactive Agencies Have A Bloated View of Their Capabilities?

Published on: 2012-05-17 04:00:00

I thought you would like this post I found for this blog. Read it here – Affiliate Ball New York ASE signs a Beastie Boy, Ice-T & Coco

There is big news and a lot of hype swirling around the Affiliate Ball. Neverblue stepped up their marketing game by securing the “title” sponsorship for this event and will now have the appropriate nomenclature of “Neverblue Presents The Affiliate Ball”.

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Affiliate Ball New York ASE signs a Beastie Boy, Ice-T & Coco

Check out this informative article written by DMConfidential – Internet Marketing Newsletter. It provides great digital marketing information. To see all new blog posts featuring great marketing info, click here

Published on: 2012-05-17 04:00:00

Two separate infographics from Nielsen and OnlineSchools.com offer insights into the different ways moms and dads use the Internet, mobile devices and social networks. Moms, for instance, are more likely than the average American to visit Pinterest, while dads have more online friends than moms.

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Read more: Digital Moms vs. Digital Dads: Online, Mobile and Social Behaviors

Published on: 2012-05-16 18:36:54

How do you really feel about Facebook? Do you trust it? Would you give it your money? Is it fun? Is it safe? These are just a few of the questions asked in a recent AP-CNBC poll and the answers they got. . . well. . . they weren’t exactly surprising. But hey, we love data here so let’s take a look! Who is on Facebook? Facebook is a keeper for most of the US. 56% of all Americans have a Facebook page. 3 in 10 use it everyday with younger users visiting more often. Those who don’t have a page, 35% say they have no interest or they have better things to do with their time. 22% stay away because they think it’s bad or not right for their age group. Advertising: About 8 in 10 Facebook users surveyed say they hardly ever (26%) or never (57%) click on online advertising or sponsored content when using the site. Most (54%) say they would not feel safe purchasing goods and services on Facebook. Among the site’s most frequent users, half say they would not feel safe making purchases through the site. Trust: 59% of Facebook users do not trust the site with their personal information and have little or no faith in the company to protect their privacy. A slight minority (13%) trust the company completely or a lot. Just 18% of Americans have deep confidence in Zuckerberg’s ability to run a large publicly traded company like Facebook, another 40% say they are “somewhat confident.” About a third of the public (36%) has a favorable impression of the Facebook founder, while 14 percent hold an unfavorable opinion and 20 percent say they’ve never heard of him or don’t know how they feel. The Social Network filmgoers have a more favorable impression of Zuckerberg than others (51% favorable compared to 31% among those who have not seen it). Facebook vs The World Facebook as a whole scores a net positive favorability rating, with 51% holding favorable impressions of the company compared to 23% who have an unfavorable impression. 27% of those surveyed have a favorable impression of Twitter. 4% said they never heard of it. 71% favor Google 17% of those polled have a neutral opinion of Facebook And my favorite stat: 2% have never heard of Facebook. Need more information? CNBC has put together a whole Facebook-lolapalooza site with everything you ever wanted to know about the social media giant, its founder and its prospects for the future. Let’s just say that as of right now, everything’s coming up dollar signs for Zuckerberg and the gang. Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

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CNBC Details How Americans Really Feel About Facebook

Published on: 2012-05-16 16:00:59

Path co-founder and CEO Dave Morin is joining the board of the event ticketing startup Eventbrite , the company is announcing today. The news of the appointment follows what has been, so far, quite a busy year for the startup, which has now sold 60 million tickets, and is expanding globally with websites in eight different languages. Morin, whose background includes time as the former head of the Facebook Platform and several years at Apple, will bring his knowledge of social to the ticketing company, says Eventbrite. Morin joins Barry McCarthy, former CFO of Netflix, Sean Moriarty, former CEO of Ticketmaster, Roelof Botha, former CFO of PayPal and Partner at Sequoia Capital, among others serving on Eventbrite’s Board of Directors. “Eventbrite has long been a believer in the impact of the social graph, and the work that Dave did while at Facebook has had a profound impact on our business,” Kevin Hartz, CEO of Eventbrite says. “Our integration with Facebook Connect in 2008 predicated an exponential increase in traffic and engagement among event attendees,” he added. Eventbrite is heavily benefitting from Facebook integration. In 2011, the company reported that every time an event was shared on Facebook, it generated an additional $2.52 on average in ticket sales for event organizers and 11 clicks back to the Eventbrite page. And this was before the launch of Facebook’s Open Graph in early 2012, and the introduction of “actions” like “bought,” or “want” or “watch,” etc. Notably, Eventbrite was one of the Facebook Open Graph launch partners, but it’s not yet using “actions.” According to Tamara Mendelsohn, VP of Marketing at Eventbrite, however, they’re “working on something now” on that front, and we should see the results of that soon. Facebook is also the number one driver of Eventbrite’s traffic, says Mendelsohn, but the company won’t share how much. As for engagement levels, you can see in the chart below what the impact of Facebook integrations have already had on the company’s business. With Morin’s guidance on deeper integrations, those numbers should jump yet again. Outside of social integrations and global expansion, the company has also been pushing itself forward in the mobile payments space. In March, Eventbrite launched a complimentary credit card reader to go along with its iPad ticketing app “Eventbrite at the Door,” which attaches to the iPad’s dock connector, allowing users to swipe credit cards. Just prior to this, the company had announced a product called “Endurance,” specifically for selling tickets to races and walks, like marathons and fundraising events. And only last week, Eventbrite announced integrations with   SponsorHub  for connecting event organizers with sponsors. “Eventbrite is fundamentally changing the way people create, promote and find events and gatherings in their local communities,” said Morin in a statement. “I’ve been more than impressed by their level of innovation, their commitment to their users, and by their long term focus. The decision to join the board as they forge into making event discovery more mobile and social was an easy one. At the end of the day, we all live for great events.” Eventbrite has been making a huge push towards reaching $1 billion in gross ticket sales this year, about doubling the number of events on the platform in 2011 (458,207 events in 2011) and tickets sold (20,798,509 tickets in 2011). In 2011, Eventbrite sold $400 million worth of tickets, up from $207 million in 2010.

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Path CEO Dave Morin Joins Eventbrite Board

This is a new article called I’ve Been Hooked By Shoes Of Prey:

Published on: 2012-05-16 00:38:41

Editor’s Note:   Sales Marketing Manager Leslie Hitchcock is a non-editorial TechCrunch employee. In addition to working at TechCrunch and being super fashionable, she reviews startups and tech products occasionally on her personal blog, Leslie Just Joined . Two of my favorite things are shoes and tech. That a site exists which combines both…well, where do I sign up! Shoes of Prey is an Australian headquartered startup where women (sorry, fellas!) can create shoes of their own design, which are then custom-made to order and delivered within five weeks of conceptualization. Shoes of Prey came to fruition out of the premise that somehow women compromise when searching for the perfect shoe out in the wild; that our ultimate dream shoe lives somewhere inside of us, just waiting to come out. I can get on board with this! Until recently I hadn’t heard of Shoes Of Prey – most of their business still comes from outside the U.S. But I was given a gift certificate by a friend for a free pair of shoes, and that’s not something I’m going to pass up. My experience with Shoes of Prey was incredibly positive. While it was slightly overwhelming to begin designing (so many options !), once I settled down and carefully considered the type of footwear I’d want to add to my collection (and it is a collection ) the process became easier. What was missing among the shoes I have in rotation was a bright color in a shorter heel than I typically wear. With this in mind, I set about designing. On Shoes Of Prey, the shoe style possibilities are endless: sandals, pumps, flats, skimmers, brogues (added as an option recently), booties, wedges, platforms. After you decide on the style of shoe, then the true customization begins. Shoes of Prey invites you to consider the details: peep toe, spectator heel, D’Orsay pump, slingback. And more. Heel type and height: stiletto, wedge, block heel. And more. Decorations: bows, trimming, Mary Janes. And more. The fabric: patent leather, soft leather, cotton blend, animal hair (sorry I’m not sorry, PETA), snakeskin. And more. See what I mean by “slightly overwhelmed” and “endless possibilities”? There are lots and lots and lots of choices. Shoes of Prey doesn’t scrimp on options for one’s perfect bespoke shoe. And yet, where there is room for improvement is actually in the details. You might think that’s not possible based on the previous paragraph, but details like grommets, studs, bows, stitching, and different placement of shoe accoutrements are what give non-Shoes of Prey footwear an advantage over these custom-made kicks. Back to my shoes. After I submitted the order in early April, the reality of bespoke footwear sunk in: “Your shoes will be delivered by May 8, 2012.” For someone significantly lacking in patience, like me, this was depressing news. However! It went really quickly and by the time they were delivered, I had almost forgotten about them. They were even early! But I won’t forget about these shoes any time soon. They are amazing . When paying between $180-$300 for custom shoes from the site, attention to detail is significantly more important. Where Shoes of Prey excelled was in attentive customer service. I received notice from the site that my “beautiful shoes” (their words) were being delivered and surprisingly the next day DHL waltzed them into my office. (I may or may not have squealed and texted someone that they’d arrived. I get excited about these sorts of things). I’m a discriminating footwear customer and as such I was immediately charmed by the packaging and inclusion of an array of comfort enhancing accessories like cushions for the ball and heel of one’s foot. That Shoes of Prey supplies these items and don’t force me to buy them myself was a really thoughtful move. Perfectly timed, my order arrived on the day I was leaving for a vacation. Not one to shy away from a challenge, I immediately put them on and walked them through two airports with nary a blister. For the uninitiated, this is the highest form of a shoe compliment, typically reserved for high-end footwear like Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin. My new shoes also received tons of passing comments on how fabulous they are, naturally. Revisiting my above disclaimer: a gift certificate may have alerted me to the Shoes of Prey, but I have at least three pairs that I’ve been customizing for my imminent forthcoming order. The only trouble is narrowing down which pair to pull the trigger on. But then again, when have I ever shown restraint in the shoe department? I think I’ll take all three!

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Continued here: I’ve Been Hooked By Shoes Of Prey

This is an interesting post called New Study Shows Google+ Engagement is on the Rocks:

Published on: 2012-05-15 20:29:50

It’s like a story from a Hollywood gossip magazine. The son of a rich and powerful man comes to town, he chats up everyone girl he meets. They’re not sure about him but he comes from a good family, so why not? First date, second date, he’s ready to ask her to go steady and bam – he never hears from her again. Poor Google+, he tries and tries but in the end, they always leave him. RJMetrics has detailed Google+’s relationship troubles and it’s bleaker than bleak. Check out this over the rainbow scenario. Each line represents the average person posting over and over on Google+ until they stopped. The blue line is the oldest, red next, then green, then pink. As you can see, every couple of months, the average user posted less and less over time. Those who do post regularly have an average of 12 days between them. And how about this: 30% of users who make a public post never make a second one. Even after making five public posts, there is a 15% chance that a user will not post publicly again. Oh Google+, why do people run from you? Is it your geeky personality? Is it that you don’t hang with the popular crowd? Is it your general appearance? What? And for those who do stick around, it’s as if they don’t want anyone to know because the average post has “less one +1, less than one reply, and less than one re-share.” It’s like they’re embarrassed to be seen with you. I’m not sure what’s causing the problem, but I have a solution. We get ABC to run a reality show called The Lonely Social Network. Then we invite 10,000 people to compete for your affection. You can “hangout” with your favorites and +1 the keepers. At the end of each episode, those without a +1 are sent packing on the little Facebook bus. After 13 episodes, you’ll have a band of loyal users who are proud to wear you button. It could work because everyone loves an underdog, so in that sense, Google+ has got it made.