Social media will continue to be a prominent channel for marketing in 2013. It has forever changed the way brands interact with customers and prospects. While the majority of marketers are utilizing social media as a key communication channel, there are still a lot of question marks about the true value of marketing through social forums. Marketers need to change their mindset about how to use and derive value from these newer channels and eventually maximize the revenue potential of these captive audiences.
When marketers post a campaign to Facebook they may ask, how many likes will this drive or how many users will view this? Those aren’t necessarily the right questions as it relates to social media. These forums are different than other forms of communication and marketers need to start looking at the big picture. Social media is part of the consumers’ daily life, with over 1 billion Facebook users, reaching a vast amount of consumers through a forum they use nearly every day has a special value.
A recent survey found that 62 percent of marketers are leveraging social media profile data (e.g., profile ID, likes, and, interests). Yet, many marketers need to effectively leverage this profile data across... Read more
Archive for Kristin Hambelton 
Zero-Segment Marketing: Splitting hairs to deliver on 1-to-1 customer engagement
New channels and communication paradigms have stretched segmentation models to the breaking point. To drive customer engagement and business results, marketers must embrace Zero-Segment Marketing. Eliminating one of the last remaining obstacles to true 1-to-1 marketing, Zero-Segment Marketing discards traditional segments, creating an environment where offer targeting is defined by the individual.
Building Communities of Passionate Users: What I’ve Learned
In the words of American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez: “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”
Inspirational words in their own right, and applicable to Chavez’s cause, but I think there are also important takeaways when it comes to building and reinforcing a sense of community in business. It starts, and ends, with the customer. Organizations must ensure that customers’ aspirations and goals are at the center of their technology development and innovation ambitions. With a shared understanding of those goals, organizations can build the framework for a passionate, loyal community.
Within the B2C world, there are numerous brands that embody a sense of fervent community – Harley-Davidson and MINI are obvious examples. For B2B organizations – particularly those whose customers make long-term investments in technology and processes – building and sustaining a sense of community and instilling loyalty can be no less important.
In my experience at Neolane, it’s especially important for B2B organizations to reinforce that their long-term prosperity is directly... Read more
