B2B Insights Blog
B2B Insights Blog
communications
July 25, 2008 | 11:16am
Are you Twittering? (Stacy Whisel)
So what is Twitter? It is designed as a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent "updates". Text based posts or “tweets” are limited to 140 characters and can be sent to the Twitter web site, SMS, to your mobile phone, instant messaging or a third-party application such as Facebook. USA Today recently ran a good article summarizing the history and craze of Twitter. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-07-20-twitter-tweet-social-network_N.htm Sounds like another way to stay ---More--- |
July 23, 2008 | 8:54am
What is creativity? (Melissa Zane)
Wikipedia's definition: "Creativity (or "creativeness") is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts." I believe that what is highly creative starts with a big idea--which encompasses a simple powerful message, well written, a powerful image (if applicable), is memorable, has a strong call to action, and allows the end user to complete a thought effortlessly. The big idea -- when integrated across the traditional and 2.0 landscape, with the ability to attract attention, interact, and engage an audience where they live, in a program -- is so exciting. ---More--- |
June 27, 2008 | 9:48pm
Where ideas come from. (Melissa Zane)
Inspiration can come from anywhere, and the spark of an idea can come from anyone.
Not long ago, I was part of a team that needed to come up with a positioning ad campaign for one of our clients. Our account manager reviewed the situation with our creative team. Towards the end of his review, I remember him saying, "OK, and here are a few of my stupid thoughts and ideas...." Then he continued to rattle-off several things. One of his so-called "stupid ideas" really stuck in my head. So much so, I spent hours one weekend working on taking that idea—and several others—to the next level, showing how they could work in a series. During our next team meeting, the creative folks and I presented the ideas, and then built upon those ideas, making them stronger and stronger. There is nothing I find worse than a so-so idea that looks good. ---More--- |
April 11, 2008 | 1:29pm
Social media in b-to-b marketing -- business sense or nonsense? (J. Leigh Brown)
Maybe you aren’t sure how to integrate it. Or you’re afraid that your company might not buy into the idea. Perhaps you don’t yet understand why social media is important. Not only is it important, it’s an essential communication method that all b-to-b marketers need to be involved in. Those marketers who participate as early adopters in this new landscape will have the ability to lead—and succeed. Social media isn’t about technology. Or some new buzzword, popular web site, or new blogging tool. It’s about sociology—how people interact, gather, and share information. The tools and distribution methods will continue to evolve. The most popular social networks, bookmarking sites, news aggregators, and media communities will change, and the ways to distribute content ---More--- |
March 21, 2008 | 1:02pm
Think Like A Publisher (Russ Green)
Ziff Davis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing a decrease in revenue from print advertising and subscriptions. UBM announced that it had restructured CMP and eliminated the CMP name. And Reed Elsevier put its Reed Business Information unit on the block. While we are not happy to see reputable trade publishers suffering, the future belongs to those who leverage technology and find, or hold on to, the B-to-B audience. As we discuss in our white paper on this topic, trade magazine publishers once owned the franchise as aggregators of information. ---More--- |
March 18, 2008 | 9:38am
The top 10 questions that indicate you need to think beyond traditional marketing tactics (Jim Castanzo)
I’m looking at things from a slightly different perspective now – a perspective of someone with a lead “creative” title and responsibilities. As I remove my account manager hat, something strikes me. We creative folks have more tools at our disposal – blogs, podcasts, email marketing, and the list goes on. Our primary function has always been to think of new and unique ways to tell our client’s story, demonstrate a benefit and craft compelling ways to reach out to a marketer’s various constituents – engineers, channel partners, integrators, other influencers and ultimately, end-users. Sure, we still need to apply our traditional creative skills, but we now have these new, exciting tools at our disposal. ---More--- |
March 13, 2008 | 5:42pm
Competitive Analysis: Are You Seeing The Big Picture? (Curt Hitchcock)
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March 7, 2008 | 9:54am
Peanuts and PowerPoint - Part 1 (Lance Baird)
Have you ever attended a business conference where many of the presenters were qualified, yet when given the spotlight, their presentations were lacking? You know what I'm talking about. You're sitting with hundreds of other people in a large room. The presenter stands front-center, articulating what he or she believes to be an oratory masterpiece, when in actuality what occurs is similar to a classroom scene from the early Peanuts cartoon movies (muah muah, muah muah muah muah). The sound of people text messaging on their BlackBerrys increases at a steady pace. Papers begin to ruffle as attendants flip through the pages desperately trying to discover when the next coffee break begins. A few people are even sleeping, only to move when their heads nod so lowly, they wake themselves up, reset, then repeat the process ad nauseum. When did we get so poor at public communications? It all began in 1990, when Microsoft bundled PowerPoint in their Microsoft Office suite of |
March 3, 2008 | 8:57am
Advance Sales Via The Web Part 2 (Mike Wayde)
Once you get customers to your site, make sure it’s a site you’re proud of. Keep it clean and uncluttered. First impressions are important and provide opportunities to immediately engage visitors with information that meets their needs. Begin by providing a brief description of who you are, including the products and services that you offer, along with language that relates to the visitors need or problem. Don’t give people a reason to leave your site too early. Addressing their “pain issues” up front rather then burying them deeper in your site will encourage visitors to stay longer. Avoid industry speak, and keep your history and mission statement off the home page, reserving this valuable real estate to tell visitors how you can help them. Make the site easy to navigate and the source of relevant content that is short, simple and to the point. ---More--- |
February 20, 2008 | 11:09am
It's Hip to Be Social (Steve Graham)
For the past year, Godfrey has been educating and counseling clients about the “new wave” in public relations – Convergent PR. If you’re not familiar with the term, here’s a brief definition: It’s a blending, or convergence, of traditional PR tactics (e.g., press releases, press kits and trade show support) with new social media PR techniques (e.g., blogs, podcasts, videocasts and social media press releases). Some of our clients jumped on the Convergent PR bandwagon right away. (We’re thrilled.) Others are still trying to understand how Convergent PR works and how it can complement their “hyperintegrated” marketing communications programs. (In this respect, we see ourselves as educators and advisors.) Of course, Godfrey isn’t the only entity that sees a convergence of traditional (print) media and social (online) media. |
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