The most important learning that we can take from the rise of social media is that we need to think in terms of a buying cycle not a selling cycle. We have to re-orient our thinking to a buying process, controlled by the prospect, guided by their social conversations, and on their timeframes. Okay, but what does that mean exactly: 1) The prospect knows what information they need: social media provides an excellent source of context, awareness, and discussion. Buyers obtain a variety of views and opinions through their exploration of social media resources. MORE >>

As I return to the world of work, now two weeks later, I realized that Sejal's surprising arrival gave me an accidental test-bed for one of the interesting aspects of social media, the fly-wheel effect. Normally, I've been very consistently active in social media, contributing two posts a week to the Digital Body Language blog, tweeting about each post, joining discussions on LinkedIn, and in general working to build awareness for the blog and its topics. Tags: blogs Social media search I'm back to blogging after a rather spontaneous, two-week hiatus. MORE >>

Here, the challenge is quite clearly defined; a buyer is actively seeking a piece of information, usually with search, although perhaps in community discussions or on social bookmarking sites. Tags: Social media search viral marketing Education Awareness In looking at the messaging architecture you put together for each buyer role and how they progress through their buying process , it’s important to think through how the message you need to get to the buyers will be discovered. Some will be "actively discovered", and some will be "passively discovered". MORE >>

Whether it is Google’s ability to make the information resources of the Internet searchable or social media’s ability to connect people with peers for credible opinions on products and services, the way in which we access information and search for products has fundamentally changed. Marketing is undergoing a major shift that has been brought on by the change in the way people find and consume information. As this transition happens, marketing and sales teams must react. MORE >>

Ever since Marshall McLuhan published his 1964 book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man , we have been familiar with the phrase "The medium is the message". 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. MORE >>