Conversational Media Marketing

A newly released survey done by Marketing Executives Networking Group of top marketing trends of 2009 indicates that "twice as many marketers are 'sick' of hearing about Web 2.0 and related buzzwords such as 'blogs' and 'social networking' compared to last year’s survey."

The survey goes on to say that "marketers still admit they don’t know enough about it" and that " 67% of executive marketers consider themselves beginners when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes."

This represents real opportunity for true social media marketing consultants, so long as they can make this stuff palatable and speak in layman's terms.

One person who does this very, very well is , a veteran marketer who recently started her own agency, Harte Marketing and Communications. Beth has the good sense to see where social media fits into the overall marketing spectrum, and I believe her's is a well-reasoned, studied approach. (Doesn't hurt she's an adjunct professor at a local university.)

In a recent post, Beth asks, "Is social media the same as marketing?" To which she answers...

As you can tell, Beth has some strong opinions on the subject and I highly recommend you read the post referenced above. Whether you agree with Beth or not, it will spur some critical thinking.

Another thing you should consider doing is joining us tomorrow, Friday, January 9, for User Friendly Thinking Radio, where Beth will be our guest. We're going to discuss this and other issues of importance to marketers today. The show airs at noon central and lasts for 30-45 minutes.

Which is true?

Consumers trust company blogs less than any other channel.

or

Blogs have long had an avid following, but corporations are finding that blogs can be a secret sauce to building solid relationships with their customers.

Depends on who you ask, Forrester or eMarketer.

The first statement comes from a hotly-contested Forrester survey on corporate blogging. The other from an eMarketer article which based its conclusion on studies done by BuzzLogic and Jupiter Research.

The Forrester survey goes on to say that, "Not only do blogs rank below newspapers and portals, they rank below wikis, direct mail, company email, and message board posts" and "only 16% of online consumers who read corporate blogs say they trust them."

Conversely, eMarketer states "[B]logs have more impact on purchasing decisions than social networks. One-quarter of readers said they trust ads on a blog, as opposed to 19% who trust ads on social networks."

Chris Brogan has a practice he's used since 2006, that of distilling his goals for the new year into three or four words. Seems like a good one to follow, so I'm giving it a try this year. 

There is a phishing scheme propogating through Twitter now. It works in this way: 

Yesterday, I read that December marks five years that Top Rank Marketing's Lee Odden has been at the business of blogging. (Congrats Lee!)

That post jogged my memory and caused me to realize that this month marks my fifth year as well. I started in December 2003 using a Typepad blog for the Internet marketing consultancy I owned at the time, Radiant Marketing Group.

Blogging has not only been a game-changer for me, but a life-changer as well. It's led to a career in Internet marketing, blog and social media consulting, a book (and another to be published in 2009) and the opportunity to serve as president of IBNMA.

More importantly, it's led to the development of a network of friends and connections that literally spans the globe. For a country boy who grew up at Rural Route 1, Hickory, Mississippi, that ain't too bad. Not bad at all.

Unlike Lee and many other veteran bloggers from the class of 2003 and 2004, my blogging path has been a bit eclectic (shall we say even "schizophrenic") While Lee, Toby Bloomberg, Yvonne DiVita, Denise Wakeman, Wayne Hurlbert and many others have "plowed the same field" on one blog for years, I've had the privilege to ply my trade at quite a number:

• Radiant Marketing Group (no longer live)
• Weblogs Inc
• Creative Weblogging
• Allbusiness.com
• Blogging Systems (now Respond Media)
• Active Rain
• Strategic Business Blogging (no longer live)
• Bizzuka
• MarketingProfs Daily Fix
• and this blog, Conversational Media Marketing

IOWs, just about everyone but b5media. Like I said, a bit schizo! :-) (Chalk it up to a short attention span.)

If I had more time today, I'd create a list of favorite posts, events, etc. Unfortunately, my day job won't allow and, besides, we're about to close shop for the day and my wife and I are headed to celebrate the holiday with relatives.

To my fellow veteran business bloggers who have persevered over the years, here's to you. May blogging be very good to us in 2009 and bring us all continued business and personal success.

I was apprised of the latest episode of "As the Web Turns" today by my boss who , "I can't believe you're not weighing in on this."  

If you've yet to read Joe Pulizzi's you should because it contains some eye-opening predictions from leading marketing professionals.

While, as you might expect, there is a wide range and divergence of opinion, some themes emerge.

1. Advertising will gradually be replaced by information.
2. Content and conversational marketing strategies will converge.
3. Social media marketing will continue to gain acceptance

Let's take these one at a time.

Recently, a co-worker's husband opened a new franchise restaurant and she asked me about ways to use social media to help build awareness. Literally, the first thought that came to mind was to go to Twitter and crowdsource the answer. So I did, asking fellow twits to finish this sentence, "If I were a restaurant, I would use Twitter to...."

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," said Francis Church, and I know of at least two of his elves: Frances Flynn Thorsen, Community Manager at Trulia, Lee Odden, CEO of Top Rank Online Marketing.and the Blog Squad's .

Fran surprised me (pleasantly) by inclusion as one of the Top Ten Real Estate Speakers of 2009 which, considering that I'm not a Realtor, is a pretty phenomenal thing if you think about it. I join the likes of Bernice Ross, Ilyce Glink and Jeff Turner. It's an esteemed group to be sure.

Here is Fran's rationale...

A second present, one received by not only myself, but Bizzuka CEO John Munsell, is inclusion by Top Rank Marketing's Lee Odden on a list called Best Podcasts on Social Media for Bizzuka's User Friendly Thinking Radio show which airs every Friday at noon central on Blog Talk Radio. (BTW, though I'd never come right out and ask you to do it, there is the option to vote for your favorite, uh-hum.)

Last but not least, Denise nominated me for a Shorty Award. (And I think she meant the one for micro-content, not actual height. Considering I'm only 5'8" and that's on a good day, I suppose it's reasonable to think she could have meant it either way. :->)

Though there's a good likelyhood I'll see coal in my stocking come Christmas morning, these are serendipities I didn't expect. On that other hand, maybe I've been better this year than I thought. If that's not the case, don't tell Fran, Lee or Denise please.

A recent post by my good friend *John Jantsch asserts that "social media is a tool, it's not a religion, there are no real rules and we are experimenting every day."