Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Check out these 13 marketing musts and get your business ready for the New Year!

...There is clear evidence that we are still watching TV, reading magazines and newspapers (more online) and listening to the radio. Add to that, the parallel world of content marketing with blogs, podcasts, e-marketing, mobile, text and social media platforms and we can and do get overwhelmed with all the choices.

Here’s what’s most important to figure out:

*  The marketing vehicles that are best for you and your customers.
*  A clear brand and marketing message about you, what you offer, why you.

*  Being consistent, looking professional and staying fresh....

In our social media-infused world, traditional marketing logic just doesn't work.

Traditional marketing — including advertising, public relations, branding and corporate communications — is dead. Many people in traditional marketing roles and organizations may not realize they're operating within a dead paradigm. But they are. The evidence is clear.

First, buyers are no longer paying much attention. Several studies have confirmed that in the "buyer's decision journey," traditional marketing communications just aren't relevant. Buyers are checking out product and service information in their own way, often through the Internet, and often from sources outside the firm such as word-of-mouth or customer reviews.

Second, CEOs have lost all patience. In a devastating 2011 study of 600 CEOs and decision makers by the London-based Fournaise Marketing Group, 73% of them said that CMOs lack business credibility and the ability to generate sufficient business growth, 72% are tired of being asked for money without explaining how it will generate increased business, and 77% have had it with all the talk about brand equity that can't be linked to actual firm equity or any other recognized financial metric.

Third, in today's increasingly social media-infused environment, traditional marketing and sales not only doesn't work so well, it doesn't make sense....

[Traditional marketing isn't really working anywhere says Bill Lee in HBR - JD]

This infographic shows how smart devices and social media impact your shopping habits.

Pre-Internet, the motto for shopping could’ve been “try and buy.” Nowadays, social media and mobile devices add a new dimension to the retail experience.

Online tools such as review sites, social networks and smartphones produce data for merchants that, if analyzed properly “in real time,” can transform the way consumers shop, according to a new infographic by custom development firm Symphony Teleca. This, in turn, can equal big bucks for business owners.

“By mining the mountain of internal and external data they’re compiling, retailers can provide targeted, relevant and timely offers to their customers, simultaneously improving the customer shopping experience and the company’s bottom-line,” says spokeswoman Brittany Klontz.

Entitled “The Meaning of Like,” the infographic shows just how much consumers are connected to the web. A staggering 167 million people will shop online this year, spending an average of $1,800 per person, it reveals. Unsurprisingly, shoppers are using their smartphones to look for sales and special deals, as well as read product reviews and ratings....

[Valuable trends and insight for retailers and marketers ~ Jeff]