Traditional CRM vs social CRM (Infographic)
Over the past two years Our Social Times has hosted social CRM conferences in London, New York and Paris.
It's a fast-growing industry with many specialist themes, but the first question the speakers always get asked is: "How does social CRM differ from traditional CRM?"
The mainstreaming of content marketing: ten implications
Let's face it, content marketing has gone mainstream. That kind of sucks, really, because it used to be a hugely powerful differentiator in most markets.
Soon it will just be the price of entry. Everyone will have a rich content library, so a new eBook or video won't be enough to make you jump out from that pack of pesky competitors.
So how will the world of digital marketing change when content marketing becomes the norm for everyone?
Here are ten predicions and what you can do about them...
Google’s semantic search set to revolutionise SEO
Well co-ordinated press releases over the past couple of weeks provide a hint at what Google has up its sleeve.
We believe it will mark one of the most significant changes to search engine marketing since AdWords was launched.
In fact, this could be the beginning of the end of search results as we know them...
B2B content marketing: finding your sweet spot
In B2B content marketing, what you write about can be as important as what you write.
But there's a hell of a lot of so-called 'thought leadership' out there that isn't leading anyone's thought at all. That's because it isn't written from the company's true sphere of authority -- from the 'sweet spot'.
If you're committed to content marketing (as I'm sure you are) it's incredibly important to think about your sweet spot and keep your content inside it.
17 tips for choosing a B2B content marketing agency
As content marketing leaps 'the chasm' and lands in Geoffrey Moore's back garden, more and more marketers are on the lookout for a B2B content marketing agency that can make them famous.
That's a good thing. But almost every B2B agency out there is hurriedly carving a new 'Content Marketing' sign for their front door.
So it pays to have a think before you get yourself committed.
B2B Content marketing is about you AND your customers
As content marketing goes mainstream in B2B, it's becoming something of a religion. And like all religions, a lot of it is based on articles of faith that are handed down, tweet by tweet, until they're considered gospel.
To question them is to risk being denounced as a heretic and made to do any of those horrible things religions do to their heretics (many involving fire or flaying or feathers).
I'm not in the market for a flaying or a feathering but there's one article of faith that I'd like to challenge here.
The one that says, "Content marketing is not about you, it's about your customers. Great content marketing is as far from old-school, interruption-based, broadcast-style marketing as Jamon Iberico is to Pepperami".
Let's pick that one apart...
Four proven steps to boost your online testing
Many businesses have dipped their toes into the world of online testing, and sometimes expectations of high returns from simple tests can outweigh reality.
The truth is that there are genuine and continuous benefits to be had, but you should think outside the box to drive real change.
Branded content strategies in 2012: from predictions to reality
Over the past month I’ve read a great deal of trend forecasts and predictions for 2012.
They range from a renewed interest in advertising on mobiles to connected TVs, more creative thinking from marketers to the resurgence of email marketing.
But overall it seems the industry is in agreement over one key trend: online video.
Managing expectations in B2B content marketing
Your audience's opinions abut your content depends largely on their expectations, but few B2B marketers think about managing expectations around their content marketing.
DIY usability assessments for expert users
I firmly believe that observing real users doing real tasks is the 'gold standard' for usability testing, particularly when the designers observe it themselves and see the problems only real users can find.
However, sometimes full user testing falls outside the budget and the project manager will decide to use an expert usability assessment instead.
This works well for websites where an expert usability consultant can put themselves in the shoes of the user and work through typical tasks identifying critical usability issues.
But what if the system supports far more complex tasks, which users take years to learn?
