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• WOMMA Members in the Spotlight
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:10 am on February 22, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Member News (138)

  5 Years and Counting! HealthTalker Celebrates

  HealthTalker has remained focused on its original vision of providing consumer-to-consumer word of mouth marketing solutions in the prescription drug space based on the premise that life science companies can do more to shape the conversations that people have, and learn from them over time.

  Andrew Levitt, Founder and CEO of HealthTalker, hatched the idea five years ago and wrote the business plan at his dining room table. After fine-tuning his concept, he bought the URL ‘HealthTalker.com’ for $35 and began his entrepreneurial journey as a solo venture. Over the last five years, he has grown the business into a full service agency with a dozen employees. HealthTalker now operates out of a four thousand square foot loft space in the industrial section of West Newton, MA.

  More Here

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  San Diego Social Media Symposium Returns Next Thursday

  With a focus on the strategic approach behind social media platforms and digital technologies, the San Diego Social Media Symposium returns for its third year on Thursday, March 1, to help give attendees the tools needed to effectively engage in social media.

  Presented by Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, the one-day symposium will be held at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

  Keynote Speaker: Jason Falls, Founder of SocialMediaExplorer.com, ExploringSocialMedia.com, Author of “No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing”

  Thurs., March 1
  9:30 am – 4:30 pm

  Location:

  Hall of Champions
  3131 Pan American Plaza
  San Diego, CA 92101

  Register Here

  

  

   

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• Is Pinterest Right for Your Brand?
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:13 am on February 20, 2012 | 2 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Brands and WOM (501), Pinterest (3), WOM and Social Networks (689), WOM Trends (724)

  The last 6 months have been huge for Pinterest. Their growth has inspired over 100 brands to begin pinning. So is it right for you? Maybe…

  Retailers: Yes

  Brands that are really blowing up on Pinterest are retailers. Right now, Etsy dominates – a natural choice considering how visually focused they have always been. eCommerce has always been a visual experience. Now retailers have an opportunity to have their wares pinned all over the internet in non-ad form.

  Everyone else: Maybe (sorry!)

  In social media, there are a lot of bandwagons to jump on. Smart brands don’t want to invest time and resources into social media that is just a flash in the pan or too niche for their customer base. Yes, Pinterest is driving lots of traffic and very popular. But unless Pinterest provides a real solution to a problem that already exists, hold back.

  Key Takeaway: Pinterest, like other social media, is a tool that might help your brand. However, it might not. Keep your goals close.

  But hey, Mark Zuckerberg just joined.

  Read more about Pinterest at The Digital Influence Mapping Project and MarketingProfs

  

  

   

  • Dave Marcello 11:41 am on February 20, 2012 Permalink
    

    Agree with your take, for sure. They’ve done a great job with the site and I think it will be huge for a select few industries (such as retail, as you pointed out). I’m actually using it quite differently, more as a personal creative idea aggregator. Check it out: http://mydisruption.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/how-im-using-pinterest-plus-a-few-insights/

    Best,
    Dave

  • Pat McCarthy 9:08 am on February 21, 2012 Permalink
    

    Hi Dave,

    Great use for Pinterest! In addition to working at WOMMA, I’m also in ad school - so I spend about 30 hours a week brainstorming. A lot of my fellow students use Pinterest just like you.

    In this post, I was writing more about the marketing purposes of Pinterest. But indeed, there are any number of personal uses. Brainstorming is definitely one of them. It’s almost like a pre-made moodboarding tool.

    Thanks for the comment & keep pinning!

    Pat

• Conversations over a Cup of Coffee
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:10 am on February 20, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Infographic (13), Recommendations, Research (506)

  75% of U.S. adults drink coffee. We’re caffeinated and talking about it. Zocalo Group recently found that there are over one million conversations about coffee each month. And they found out who’s winning the conversation.

  Starbucks is winning the conversation volume (ahem, obviously). However, they don’t do as well as Caribou Coffee when it comes to positive recommendations. In fact, Starbucks has the lowest percentage of positive recommendations – 0.5%. Caribou Coffee draws 4.6%.

  

  Key Takeaway: Caribou’s doing something right. With only a regional fraction of the market, their talkablility keeps their brand growing with less resources put toward advertising.

  See the full infographic at Zocalo Group

  

  

   

• Research: Emails drive 1350% more traffic than social media
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:07 am on February 20, 2012 | 1 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Email Marketing (6), Research (506), WOM and Social Networks (689), WOM Trends (724)

  Eloqua analyzed traffic data from 392 of their clients and found that social media is not threatening email referrals, not by a long shot.

  

  The “Social media will kill email” argument has been around for a long time without proper back up. Indeed, the data showed that social media referrals have increased 331% Q4 2010 to Q4 2011. Email opens saw a solid 27% increase over the same period.

  Key Takeaway: The correct argument would sound more like this, “Social media is growing in influence but still dwarfed by email.” It won’t make for great headlines, but it is true and should be considered in your marketing plan.

  Read more about Eloqua’s data at It’s All About Revenue

  

  

   

  • Research: Emails drive 1350% more traffic than social media « The WOMMA Word « Office Chatter 11:40 am on February 20, 2012 Permalink
    

    [...] Research: Emails drive 1350% more traffic than social media « The WOMMA Word. Share this:FacebookTwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. « A Tale of Two Networks [...]

• Double your Content, not your Workload
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:27 am on February 17, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Creation (11), Content Marketing (41), Research (506), WOM How-to (577), WOM Trends (724), WOMM-U

  Even the best content strategy fights the most difficult restriction: staff time. Sure, you could estimate how long it takes to write a blog post or develop an eBook. But when trying something new, it will take longer than expected more often than not.

  Rachel Foster wrote a great post for the Content Marketing Institute detailing produce more with less. According to the B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report, 60% of marketers plan on increasing or significantly increasing content marketing budgets.

  

  So what’s a marketer with a tight budget to do? Rachel had some answers:

  Start Big and Break it Down

  Large pieces of content take lots of time and often large parts of the marketing budget. If they miss their mark, a lot has been lost. Think about how you can break it up into several content pieces. For instance, instead of a one-hour webinar, try three 20 minute ones. Afterward, put snippets on your site with access to the full file through a lead capturing function.

  Or Start Small and Go Big

  Got a year’s worth of blog posts? Find the top ten and make an eBook. Spoke at a conference? Put the video on Slideshare in a slidedeck. Be sure to use your content to its full extent.

  Read more at the Content Marketing Institute

  ———-

  Have you proved great ROI through Content Marketing? Submit the case study for a speaking opportunity at WOMM-U, May 7 – 9. Submission deadline: March 9.

  

  

   

• Tireless and Talkable Campaigns [Part 1]
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:19 am on February 17, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Advertising, Brands and WOM (501), Creative WOM Ideas (246), Storytelling (13)

  

  In this two-part series, PEMCO Insurance CMO Rod Brooks shares insights into how a regional insurance company sustains brand conversations with an unexpected strategy.

  In the Northwest, everyone knows the guy who sports a pair of sandals with a pair of wool socks.  Around here, there are certain quirks that set the people of this corner of the country apart from other regions.

  That’s the sentiment at the center of PEMCO Insurance’s award-winning “We’re A Lot Like You. A Little Different.” advertising campaign, which features more than 50 tongue-in-cheek descriptions of people frequently spotted around the Northwest, including the ever-popular Sandals and Socks Guy.

  Just last week, PEMCO added five new Northwest Profiles to the mix, which were welcomed with fanfare from across the region.  And despite its nearly five-year run, the campaign continues to ring true for many of our friends and neighbors.  In fact, in December 2011, Seattle Magazine named it the “Best Local Ad Campaign We Never Tire Of.”

  Continue Reading on All Things WOMM…

  

  

   

• SaaS Help: When to Pay for Social Media Software
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:16 am on February 17, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: WOM and Social Networks (689)

  Hootsuite and TweetDeck aren’t doing it for you or your clients anymore? Not sure? Vicki Blair at Visible wrote a helpful post on when to make the leap to paid social media SaaS.

  First off – Do you need it?

  The free tools are great to know retweets, clicks, and replies. But if you want to track sentiment, centralized publishing and deeper data, you should upgrade. The increased information will make your time more productive and your engagement more effective.

  So what do you need?

  Imagine buying a car without ever having driven one. Knowing what you need is critical to paying for the right service. First, do some free trials and get your footing. Find what you like and need. Consider their customer support, training, data history storage, engagement tools and hidden costs.

  Key Takeaway: Do your homework. The market is very new and leaders are still emerging. Know your needs and find a solution, not the other way around.

  Read more tips at Visible’s blog

  

  

   

• #1 Advocacy Goal: WOMM
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:55 am on February 15, 2012 | 1 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Brand Advocates (7), Infographic (13), WOM and Social Networks (689), WOM How-to (577)

  Brand advocates don’t simply appear. One becomes an advocate after a series of engagements and experiences that drive sharing.

  Mark Smiciklas created an infographic that visualizes the process, the people involved, and what it means for the brand.

  

  Key Takeaways: The bottom half closely resembles a sales funnel. But once the advocates are active and nurtured, the brand explodes in connections. After the development process, brand advocates become a very effective sales force.

  Read more of Mark’s insights at Social Media Explorer

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  Have you run an amazing advocate program? Submit the case study for a speaking opportunity at WOMM-U, May 7 – 9. Submission deadline: March 9.

  

  

   

  • Investasi Syariah 4:25 am on February 16, 2012 Permalink
    

    Keep up the good work , I read few content on this website and I think that your weblog is very interesting and holds lots of superb information.

• Text Marketing – A decade old and still underused
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:52 am on February 15, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: EU (23), International (108), Mobile Marketing (59), Research (506)

  Asian and European businesses have embraced text marketing much more than their U.S. counterparts. The Direct Marketing Association found that 38% of Britons, 58% of Germans, and 60%  of French people prefer text marketing over other channels.

  This is a rare occurrence. Both marketers and consumers found an effective and efficient marketing tactic.

  For Consumers…

  Great marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. Text marketing is almost exclusively opt-in, so it rarely feels like a message you didn’t ask for. Texts are short, relevant and clear by nature to boot!

  For Marketers…

  Again, the opt-in nature of text marketing helps. Because of the advanced targeting, conversions and response rates are very high. Even if the text itself is informational (think sports and news updates and alerts), the brand has executed a positive interaction with one of their consumers – further building brand affinity and advocacy.

  Read more about text marketing on MarketingProfs

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  Have you run a conversation inspiring mobile campaign? Submit the case study for a speaking opportunity at WOMM-U, May 7 – 9. Submission deadline: March 9.

  

  

   

• Content Marketing vs. Social Media
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:51 am on February 15, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (41), WOM and Social Networks (689), WOM Trends (724)

  A debate is brewing. Last week Michael Brenner, Senior Director at SAP and founder of Business2Community wrote a post “Will Content Marketing Kill Social Media?” Amanda Maksymiw, wrote a retort with a simple answer – No.

  Most social media work as very efficient content disseminators. The volume of content will not change that function. The quality, however, does affect the effectiveness of social media. One commenter, Ardath Albee, aptly asked:

  “Instead of ‘content marketing will destroy social media,’ how about ‘noise and selfishness will destroy social media?’”

  Key Takeaway: Social media are the cars and pieces of content are the drivers. If they’re bad drivers, there will be more congestion and frustration, but the road isn’t going anywhere.

  Read more about the debate at Influencer Marketing Review

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  Have you done great stuff with content? Submit the case study for a speaking opportunity at WOMM-U, May 7 – 9. Submission deadline: March 9.