Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Twitter, Instagram, and online shopping site Polyvore all succeeded by doing one thing extremely well, writes Daniel Roberts.

Zeroing in on one idea and executing it exceptionally is the key to entrepreneurial success, argues Roberts in "Zoom: Surprising Ways to Supercharge Your Career." You don't need a complex, multifaceted idea to succeed in today's market, Roberts argues. Just pick one thing, and do it better than everyone else....

Agencies and brands are having a great time signing huge deals with social media outlets hoping to cash in on social media activity. But they're doing it wrong. They're forcing old models on new channels. Here's what they should be doing.

...Today I’m officially publishing the 4th Edition of this report – The 2014 Non-Obvious Trend Report. Embedded below is a 139 page sneak peek of the full report with many of the insights, stories and descriptions of 15 trends that will matter in the coming year. The report shares my approach to “trend curation” versus trend spotting – and brings together nearly a year’s worth of research into a single book....

In recent times, I’ve noticed a rise in discussions around the “death of social business” and also an increase in alternative “fill in the blank but don’t use the word social” businesses. Some of those discussions have been hosted here recently. There’s strong merit to the discussions of course, especially those I’ve hosted (be sure to read the comments). But as an analyst tracking the evolution of social businesses and equally the cause and effect of digital transformation overall, I’m learning that the most advanced organizations see social not as a technology movement but instead one of culture and philosophy. Openness, collaboration, transparency, communication…these aren’t buzz words. Among those leading change, these words represent a way of business and it all starts with vision and the ability to see how relationships and experiences with customers and employees can improve or accomplish new and greater goals.

Along the way, I’ve also learned that pushing for social adoption because of technology misses the point of change. The true catalyst isn’t whatever the latest trend in social media is this week. That’s reactive and almost impossible to leapfrog. The truth is that change is fueled by the affect that social media, mobile, and other forms of disruptive technologies have on customer behavior. Whether it’s B2B, B2C, B2B2C, or whatever model you prefer, as long as we’re talking about connected human beings, you can bet that social and digital in general are influencing discovery, decision-making, and impressions in every moment of truth.