Think of a brand you love — one you’d trust with your personal information, recommend to your friends, and loyally choose over a similar brand. As an entrepreneur in a skeptical market, creating that sense of trust takes an ongoing commitment to integrity. “The biggest...

Trust is a critical element for consumers, without it you can’t enter a consumer’s product consideration set. As an integral part of content marketing and social media, trust is the filter through which consumers evaluate brand and product information. This is even more important in...

This is a great post from one of my favorite social media experts, Heidi Cohen.  Team work is key to creating and participating in any social media communication.  Take a moment and read Heidi’s tips… Social media must be integrated across your organization in order to...

Shouting buy, buy, buy will cause customers to go bye, bye. Don’t worry. When they’re ready to purchase, they’ll seek out your best price. But until they reach that point, they’re looking for other information and that’s where stories come in. So how do you find your organization’s...

In a lot of ways, people don’t buy products anymore — they buy your business’s story. That means companies must constantly refine their stories and present them in innovative ways. A brand story envelops your mission as a company, your culture and your history: How did you...

Creating events on Facebook can be an effective, low-cost way to market your business event. But business owners may not get the sales and new leads they’re hoping for if they overlook the many small details involved in event creation and promotion. Here’s how to set up an event...

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a company-wide business strategy designed to reduce costs and increase profitability by solidifying customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. True CRM brings together information from all data sources within an organization (and where...

On social media platforms, people expect businesses to acknowledge and respect them as human beings. Unfortunately, most brands just use social media to spray their promotional messages instead of connecting with their prospects, customers and the public. Businesses must treat followers like...

Think of a brand you love — one you’d trust with your personal information, recommend to your friends, and loyally choose over a similar brand. As an entrepreneur in a skeptical market, creating that sense of trust takes an ongoing commitment to integrity. “The biggest...

Building an effective promotional calendar is closely aligned with the budget process.   Determine appropriate calendar cycle. Your promotional offering may not be aligned with your accounting tracking. In the US, promotional calendars generally run from January through December while...