I can almost hear the comments already - shouldn't Marketing be "doing" social media, not "helping" with social media? The problem is that in many marketing teams, there's "marketing" and then there's "social media". The "marketing" group believes strongly in social media, and agree that it's crucial, but what they "do" is run events, launch promotions, spend ad budgets, and optimize keywords. The "social media" person manages the Twitter handle, the Facebook page, and the blog. Sort of. But there's more to it than that. So what can be done? MORE >>

Today's world of social media needs to be viewed in a similar light. As today's marketing organizations consider how to engage in social media forums, not considering the context of the medium being used can lead to a significant change in the overall effect on the message being received. Social media sites are best compared to social functions in order to understand this effect of context. Like social functions, each social media context has a certain "vibe", which guides the conversation that is accepted. It is the same in social media. MORE >>

On this application platform, a variety of other communication mechanisms, like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare continue to evolve. MySpace demonstrated a new cultural norm in how we communicate and keep in touch with friends, but the underlying technology quickly lost ground to Facebook. In all likelihood, the best and most effective technology a person will used to respond to the offer will be a shortened URL, Facebook fan page, or a technology yet to be popularized. Tags: Social media Mobile SMS Is Text Messaging Relevant for B2B Marketers? Why Text Message? MORE >>

(note, this post was cross-posted on It's All About Revenue last week) I've long been a bit skeptical about the use of Facebook for sharing business content. I'm currently running an experiment to see if B2B content is "likeable" on Facebook , and while I have not compiled the data yet, the answers are looking bleak. By doubling their investment in the status update as a communication metaphor that Twitter and Facebook have leveraged with great success, LinkedIn seems to be attempting to become a similar communications hub for the business world. MORE >>

The excitement and interest in social media, and all it can do, is palpable. However, the number of companies that are making significant hard dollar investments in social media as a marketing initiative is not as large as one might expect. Sure, they have a Twitter account, and may have put up a blog and even a Facebook fan page, but the level of investment falls far shy of the amounts we invest in Google search campaigns, trade shows or sponsorships. However, with social media, investments follow a “flywheel” pattern. Why is this? MORE >>