friend who runs an auto dealership tells me that customers today typically know more about the cars they want to buy than his own salespeople do. Businesses will need to empower all their employees with much more information and education because customer will no longer tolerate “I’ll have to speak to my supervisor.” This is the time of year when a lot of people make predictions. ll resist that urge, though, and instead present a plea: Let’s make 2011 the year we stop talking about “social media.”. It’s not that social media is no longer important. Stunning. Barnum, BTW). MORE >>

When I see hash tags in a headline, it tells me one thing: This person was too lazy to customize the message for me. I spend a lot of time in LinkedIn groups and have learned a bit about maximizing their potential as conversation-starters. Here are 15 of my favorite tips. Please add your own as comments. Ask Questions. The best way to provoke discussion on LinkedIn is to ask questions. Rather than sharing a link to an article, use it to kick off a discussion. Do you agree?”. link]. Make it Personal. Only people can post content. hope you’ll join me there.”. Follow Up. Use Them All. MORE >>

Cisco has long done a good job of leveraging video in almost every kind of communications, from product announcements to contests to customer testimonials. Here’s one: I like IBM’s customer videos a lot ( example ). I spent some time with comic video whiz Tim Washer  (also @timwasher ) at B2B Forum last week, and he followed up with a few questions about how B2B companies are using online video as part of their content marketing programs. shared some opinions with him, but why not share them with everybody else as well? would add Cisco to that list. Keep it brief. MORE >>

Great example of customer-driven storytelling. Great example of customer-driven storytelling. A list of tips for building a quality business Twitter following that I recently contributed to The CMO Site mentioned the value of being the eyes and ears of your followers. When you attend a conference, play reporter and tell your followers what you’re witnessing,” I advised. An experience from this morning demonstrates the value of what amounts to sharing notes you would probably take anyway. Within an hour after the event had ended I had 26 new followers. It’s an awesome day. MORE >>

This morning’s audience of about 100 social media practitioners truly believe in the value of new platforms to reach their customers, although they have understandable concerns about the many regulations that govern what they can say. This was a theme that was borne out in every presentation: It’s not about the company but about what motivates customers. “We had a meeting of our advisers and brought them into a room one by one to talk about how they delight their customers.” Farmers Insurance for example, hasn’t accumulated 2.3 I couldn’t drink it.” MORE >>