Social Media for B2B Discussion with @tateputnam of Catalyst Telecom
I sat down with Tate Putnam to hear how they incorporated social media into their B2B tech support strategy. If you have had any B2B success, please share it.
Read MoreLessons learned in corporate marketing: work smart, win small and fail fast.
On March 1, 2010 my career path changed. I left a 15-year chapter of my life as a designer, strategist, and small agency entrepreneur to give the corporate marketing life a shot. There were many reasons for this at the time but my primary motivator was having the chance to have a deeper focus in an organization, to not be spread across all aspects of the business, and to implement programs that impacted the bottom line of a large company.
It’s been five months – wow, time really does fly – and I have to admit I enjoy it more than I thought I would. I have a passion for marketing, often a spastic obsession, but a true passion for identifying opportunities, developing strategic solutions, implementing programs and measuring their impact. In the corporate environment I do believe that I will be able to see all of these steps through, but it takes a long-term objective and a core philosophy to balance the many roadblocks and pitfalls that may land in your way.
Read More35 Things I learned at #FireSessions 2010.
I was fortunate to get a chance to participate in Brains on Fire’s 2010 Fire Sessions today and, as usual, they put on an extraordinary event. I started my career with them almost 15 years ago and over the last 10 years have remained great friends with them all and enjoyed watching them spread their passion and find their voice.
Read MoreThis video was shot and edited entirely on an iPhone 4.
Wow, it is a great time to be a marketer. So, we may have missed Madison Avenue, Ogilvy and rubylith, but this could be one of the greatest times ever to be in advertising. Although the foundations of good marketing cross all mediums and are more important now than ever, the ability to deliver low-cost, high impact messaging has been revolutionized with youtube and handheld HD. This video is amazing and should inspire us with endless possibilities for video on the web. If you are not using video to promote your product or service yet, what are you waiting for?
Credits go to Michael Koerbel at http://www.majekpictures.com and can be seen here on vimeo.
Read MoreFour Key Attributes of All Successful Brands.
Branding is about differentiation. About standing out and being easily identifiable in a herd.
But brands are not things that companies and marketers create. Brands are built in the minds of consumers. And the art of “branding” is what allows you to plant that seed in the consumer’s mind.
Many think you have to have a sexy product or millions of dollars to build a brand. The reality is all products or services, B2B or B2C, can build strong brands in the minds of their customers.
How? By focusing on these four key attributes that all successful brands share.
The 1 Minute Whiteboard: Session 1, Social Media for Content Sharing
This is the first edition of my “One Minute Whiteboard Sessions” that I am cranking up. I already have a few more in the works and will post a new idea each week and feature guest vloggers regularly. Stay tuned, start your own white board session, and please share your thoughts.
Read More8.5 Elements for a Successful Social Media Strategy.
I was fortunate to hear @prsarahevans speak at Search Exchange Charlotte (#SearchEx) last week about elements of a successful social media strategy. She started by saying that she had made a commitment to herself to not share others’ case studies but to prove through her own client work that there is an ROI in social media. I appreciate that approach, as Dell, Zappos, and other large brands seem to be irrelevant examples for most small business or B2B marketers.
Read MorePardon the Interruption. Point The Finger at Godaddy.
Mullikin.net is in the middle of being reconstructed due to unexpected malicious attacks when hosted on Godaddy. On May 26, 2010 I decided to cut the ties with a 12 year hate-filled relationship with Godaddy, in exchange for greener pastures with JustHost.com. Mullikin.net will be the first migration and then my other many sites will follow. So far so good, as i made the decision 50 minutes ago, set up my new JustHost.com account, exported my old WordPress blog, imported it here, and BAM! Here it is. That was much easier than I ever imagined.
So, i will get the plugins, widgets, and imagery re-linked soon. So please come back by and snoop around when I have it fully running again.
Read MoreThe R of Social Media: Return on Effort.
What do Youtube, The Wall Street Journal and a sixth grader with a flip camera have to do with small business and B2B marketing?
Bare with me and let me explain.
The fundamental value of marketing is if you spend $1 to promote your product or service you get more than $1 back in sales. In B2B or small business, we often lose sight of this or assume that our investments pay off without much evidence to support our beliefs. For instance, you spend $400 a month on an ad in a local newspaper or a trade pub, you have sales that same month, so you assume that ad is working and you keep doing it. Or, you see your competitors or brands you admire running expensive campaigns, and you believe their business is great and you only wish you could afford that type of marketing.
Well, the truth is not everything has a justifiable ROI,
Read More10 Steps To Building a Targeted Twitter Network in One Hour Per Week.
I have to say that it took me a little while to really get a grip on twitter. At the core it is simple, share 140 characters or less. But to be strategic in your approach you need a relevant network to share and follow. Although there are numerous tools to help you gain numbers, quality far outweighs quantity in the twittersphere and the addition of Twitter Lists makes it very easy to do. I recommend a small invest in time, an hour or two per week minimum, to manually search for content relevant to you and your customers and custom build a highly targeted network. Statistically, about 35% of those that you follow will follow you back, an even higher percentage will return the favor if you re-tweet content that you believe your network would find relevant.
Here are 10 steps to help you find relevant follows/followers on Twitter using Twitter Search and Twitter Lists:
Read More
Jami Mullikin
Marketing + Creative
Greenville, South Carolina
An engaging Web experience? Relationship marketing? Social media dialogue with your audience in ways that are unimaginable in the mainstream? No matter how the conversation begins, it doesn’t end until your audience believes in who you are and why you are relevant.
