I had an opportunity at a recent online marketing conference in Minneapolis to spend a few minutes with Steve Woods, CTO of marketing automation vendor Eloqua. Steve is a very interesting and smart guy, author of a couple of books, Digital Body Language and Revenue Engine. We got to talking about the role of the corporate social media strategist , a relatively new position in large enterprises. At which point, Steve said something very interesting: “The role of social media strategists should be to put themselves out of their jobs. Technology handles that. MORE >>

Social media and networks have been part of many internet users’s life for the last six to seven years, with services popping up and falling down at an astonishing pace. And, yet,  social media marketing is still a very “hot&# topic. From forums to blogs: online conversations are happening since years and the success of [.]. Blog Connected marketing Social media marketing social media marketing MORE >>

by Joe Chernov | Tweet this You may have noticed that over the past month or so, several influential social media professionals changed their profile pictures to funky avatars of themselves.  Edelman’s David Armano went so far as to name his digital persona Vector David (I didn’t have the heart to point out his digital doppelganger’s unfortunate initials). Specifics around the who and what of the avatar project were purposefully lacking. That project goes live now. Right now. But I urge you to read on to discover a bit more about the book itself, which is current right through Google+. Reddit. MORE >>

People have no patience for things that don’t impact their right-now reality. If a flood is happening across the world, they may spare a compassionate moment, but are soon refocused on their daily priorities. If that flood is 2 miles away—and closing—they're riveted, intent on learning more about how their reality may change. bit dramatic, perhaps, but very true. The biggest challenge for marketers today is determining how to create relevant, fresh content that catches and keeps potential buyers’ attention as well as that impending flood. Often, it’s a matter of focus. Related articles. MORE >>

Facebook is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re going to get.  And sometimes, it’s not even sweet. While most social media advisers are bullish on Facebook as a marketing channel — and certainly there are some amazing success stories — in my classes I teach a more holistic view of the opportunities and the PERILS of what you might get into. use the screen shot above as a way to illustrate the dark side of exposing your brand on the social web. Let’s take a look at what’s going on here. This little boy is thanking Budweiser for supporting LGBT issues. MORE >>