Here are links to my book, my blog, my company.” I take a perverse pleasure in reading my Twitter DMs, 99% of which are of the automated variety, looking for the heartfelt sentiment that goes out to me and thousands of other close personal friends every day from people I’ve started following. try to imagine the impulses that motivate the writers behind these parsimonious hanging chads of fake individualized attention. Technology is wonderful isn’t it? Automated DMs are like giving a new acquaintance a sliced off sliver of a single piece of mini- Chiclets gum and saying, “There you go. MORE >>

See what you think of my answers: How did thought leadership initiatives in companies begin? Other companies have adopted pieces of the academic research publishing model for their own thought leadership marketing. For example, many companies carry out primary and secondary research and publish it; they may also use that research as the basis for an opinion piece that speculates, based on the research and the experience of subject matter experts, on trends in a market vertical. Why did companies start focusing on it? Posted in Uncategorized MORE >>

Most of ITSMA’s clients are B2B marketers from big technology companies that sell big, complex products, services, and solutions. This year, our research showed that most buyers go to colleagues inside their own companies for referrals of people to talk to about a purchase. No doubt, they would like to expand that circle beyond the company—30% say they rely on peers from councils and communities they belong to, and 29% say they speak to colleagues at other companies for referrals. There are two rivers of content at conferences. What do you think? Tweet This Post. MORE >>

The marketer in charge of the company’s social media effort gave me a clear edict: “Look, I don’t want you focusing on Facebook, okay? m not saying that B2B companies shouldn’t be on Facebook. think every company should be on Facebook. So I think B2B businesses should have a Facebook page that shares whatever content the company is already producing. But click on that like button and X,Y,Z Company is in your Facebook stream forever (with no clear way to get rid of it) along with the stuff you really want to read from your BFFs. Why not? Relationships, right? MORE >>

Companies have a long and pointless history of resisting new forms of communication. From Facebook to email to putting telephones on employees’ desks (remember, the telephone started as a “consumer” communication technology, too), companies think that every new wave is going to lead to gajillions in lost productivity. Guess what companies, people wasted time at work long before Facebook came along. If the company is well managed, people who waste time will get fired. Most companies still try to sell what they have rather than figuring out what customers need. MORE >>