The Internet is the most measurable medium ever invented, but the perception that returns on online social interactions can’t be quantified stubbornly persists. Like many former publicists, Paine has smoothly migrated her relationship-building skills into the social world, but unlike most of her peers she has chosen to specialize in numbers. That’s a good thing for the rest of us because social media marketing, like PR, has always been challenged by the lack of reliable success metrics. I’ll admit my biases up front. Volume 2. highly recommend it. MORE >>

My fourth book, Social Marketing to the Business Customer ,  came out this week. While the purpose of this e-mail is ultimately to convince you to buy it, I hope to also impart some insight I gained from immersing myself in business-to-business social marketing for six months. Co-author Eric Schwartzman and I wrote the book because we felt that B2B marketers were getting inadequate advice about how to apply social media constructs to their work. There are plenty of opportunities to apply social media tactics, but the context is different. Read it! MORE >>

advertising communities influence Social Media social networks business 2.0 Scott Wright is the general manager of the Wyndham Wingate Hotel in Erlanger, KY, and in a 15-minute ride to the airport yesterday morning he taught me something about the future of business. The fact that the manager of the hotel was driving me to the airport was unusual in the first place, but Wright makes it part of his routine. “I try to get out of the office at least a couple of times a week and connect with the customers,&# he said. Customer service is number two. MORE >>

This Is despite the fact that numerous surveys have shown that Facebook is one of the least effective social networks for B2B marketing. In a survey of marketers conducted by BtoB magazine last year , Facebook was ranked last in usefulness among the top five social networks, trailing blogs, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, in that order. Buddy Media uses it to capture leads , as does e-mail marketing provider Infusionsoft. EMC has several FBML pages, including a list of its other social media accounts and a game you can play only after liking the page. Respond. MORE >>

The authors argue that the influence of media in general, and social media in particular, is greatly overrated. In the mainstream media world, audience was associated with influence because we had few tools to understand the true dynamics of decision-making. The danger of this approach is that social media is more about quality than quantity. advertising influence mainstream media marketing PR Influencer Marketing Klout Radian6 Seth Godin Topaz PartnersSentiment analysis is devilishly difficult to get right, however. TopazPartners.com. MORE >>