Happy Independence Day!
To all our neighbours down south, happy Independence Day. Regular posting will resume tomorrow.
The top 10 truths of social media
By Caroline Kealey
There’s no question that social media is the darling of communications tactics at the moment, and with good reason. Social media gives communicators a direct, immediate and highly targeted way of engaging with our audiences. It’s a profound and permanent game changer.
The thing I find fascinating about social media is that getting in the game is simple. Log-in and you’re off to the races. While the ease of entry is one of the advantages of social media and a great equalizer among communicators, it also has some very real risks that are worth highlighting.
The first is that social media often leads to a sort of tactical tunnel vision on the part of both communicators and organizational leaders. It tends to produce a “shoot first, aim later” mentality that’s more about doing something, anything, with social media rather than focusing on a target outcome.
Ten years ago communicators complained that all they heard was “I need a brochure,” combined with an expectation that the task would be completed even if the request lacked strategic context, purpose or outcome. What worries me is that social media now seems to be the brochure of the 21st century, with “get me a blog” the new order of the day.
That’s why the sound principles and practices of strategic communications are particularly important when embarking on social media initiatives. Here are some insights to guide your communications tactical planning:
Happy Canada Day long weekend!
From all of us at Francis Moran and Associates, we hope you have a happy and safe Canada Day long weekend. Regular posting will resume tomorrow.
June roundup: What does it take to bring technology to market?
By Alexandra Reid
We are bringing you our roundup a little earlier than usual this month because we will be celebrating Canada Day early next week when this post would otherwise be published.
We covered a lot of ground this month on our blog, from RIM to training your boss, tribal marketing to productivity tips. We even launched content marketing as a new service offering.
In case you missed any of our posts, here’s a handy roundup:
June 6: Getting the marketing right at an event product launch by Francis Moran and Alexandra Reid
June 14: Putting Ottawa’s puzzle together by Leo Valiquette
June 18: Balancing investment, Minimum Viable Product, and time to market by Peter Hanschke
June 20: Training your new boss by Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
And on a related note…
In addition to our series, our associates and guest bloggers were also busy writing on a great range of topics. Here are our other posts from June, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
June 4: Why RIM could and should bounce back: Mobile needs to innovate by Jesse Rodgers
June 5: Levering the power of teamwork to drive a successful content marketing program by Alexandra Reid
June 11: The evolution of branding and advertising by Rob Woyzbun
June 26: Ottawa entrepreneur Scott Annan comments on the relaunch of Mercury Grove by Alexandra Reid
June 12: Content marketing tips: SEO implications for rebroadcast articles by Alexandra Reid
June 7: We launch new content marketing service offering by Alexandra Reid
June 19: 10 questions B2B companies should ask before selecting a content marketing service provider by Alexandra Reid
June 27: 7 ways to stay sane and productive by Leo Valiquette
June 21: PR people really are dead and mindless sheep by Francis Moran
June 8: Is it spring time for venture capital in Canada? by Francis Moran
June 13: Product marketing vs. brand marketing: Separate your product or separate your users? by Ken Rosen
June 25: Tribal marketing for ‘Generation Me’ by Bob Bailly
June 28: Why is there a lighthouse on your brochure? by Francis Moran
June 22: Social Media Breakfast Ottawa: Digital measurement and consumer understanding by Alexandra Reid
Image: Michel Z Binden
Great articles roundup: Webinars, storytelling, cognitive overload, business mistakes, government funding, and Khan Academy
By Alexandra Reid
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are MarketingSherpa, MarketingProfs, Business2Community, Entrepreneur Stories, PC Advisor, and Wired.
Content marketing: 21 ideas for planning, creating, and leveraging content from your webinars
Webinars can help your content marketing and audience-building efforts. They are great tools to use in the complex sales cycle, including nurturing and generating leads. In a recent webinar with ReadyTalk, MECLABS’ presenters Todd Lebo and Daniel Burstein shared 21 ideas with the audience to plan, create and leverage webinars, including segmentation, repurposing content and multichannel marketing.
Previous Posts:
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Why is there a lighthouse on your brochure?
June 28, 2012 by Francis Moran
Many years ago, our PR agency had a client for which we did media and analyst relations across North America and in Europe. This matched the market footprint of this rather successful company that was in the document-management space. One day, they sent […]
Read more... -7 ways to stay sane and productive
June 27, 2012 by Leo Valiquette
There’s an old joke about the easy-going work-life balance that results from being an entrepreneur. “I can work for only half the day,” says the entrepreneur. “And I get to decide which 12 hours that will be.” […]
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Ottawa entrepreneur Scott Annan comments on the relaunch of Mercury Grove
June 26, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
Scott Annan is widely known in Ottawa for being a startup champion. He’s an entrepreneur who has strong opinions about the local startup ecosystem and what needs to change to increase our competitiveness on the global stage […]
Read more... -Tribal marketing for ‘Generation Me’
June 25, 2012 by Bob Bailly
Prior to leaving on a holiday to Europe at the beginning of May, I was preparing an article that was going to look at how tribal behaviour has been shaped by our expanded use of technology. Scotland, Southern Spain, and London didn’t change my topic, but the […]
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Social Media Breakfast Ottawa: Digital measurement and consumer understanding
June 22, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
The digital marketing space is becoming increasingly more complex as consumers find more ways to uncover information about brands. They are looking at websites and social media through their desktops, laptops, and mobile devices but haven’t left behind more […]
Read more... -PR people really are dead and mindless sheep
June 21, 2012 by Francis Moran
Notwithstanding that I have an undergraduate degree in public relations, have worked in the industry for a good chunk of my adult life, and for nearly 14 years have operated a PR agency, I have never held the public relations business in terribly high regard […]
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Training your new boss
June 20, 2012 by Francis Moran
When last we spoke with Vice-President and General Manager Kyle Knappenberger, NanoScale Corporation was gearing up to make the most of a busy event season that included important showings at industry tradeshows as well as its own training and education […]
Read more... -10 questions B2B companies should ask before selecting a content marketing service provider
June 19, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
It’s all over the headlines: B2B businesses are investigating and investing in content marketing en masse […]
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