Tangyslice

How much work would we all save if we took the time to run the numbers first?
You marketers out there know what I am talking about.  You would have avoided the breakfast seminar that generated a bunch of $1,000 leads or that banner campaign that never got any clicks.  And who likes sheepishly admitting failure [...]

Pretty much all marketers do it.  We spend money on programs that we “know in our our heart” are the right thing but are extremely difficult to track.  What am I talking about?  For me it has been PR.  PR has always been a no brainer as a cost effective way to tell your story [...]

One of my lasting recollections from yesterday’s elections was how effectively the Obama campaign used its database.  I never made a donation.  I never attended an event. I never even talked with a chugger.  All I did was forward a laugh-out-loud viral video to my wife and I was hooked.
Early yesterday morning I received an [...]

A couple of weeks ago I poked fun at the array of numbers that frequently masquerade as metrics.  As a follow-up to that post, here are some additional thoughts about the attributes of meaningful marketing measures:

Connected - The best metrics are related to your overall business goals. This means things like program revenue or cost [...]

Here are a couple of things that stuck in my head a day after the event.

It seems like mainstream corporate types (ie enterprise customers like EMC) are taking it slow with social media.  Like other new technologies, they are carefully evaluating it (in this case inside the firewall first) as another tool to help them [...]

The issue of trust seems to be everywhere today.

Can we trust our politicians when they say we need a massive bank bailout?
Can I trust that this charity will spend my money wisely?
Can I trust this online business is not some elaborate phishing scheme to clean out my bank account?

Over the years, some of the brightest [...]

1. I found this interesting post last week by Peter Kim about a framework to measure social media.  It is a step in the right direction but it still makes we wonder about when we will see industry standard metrics emerge for social media (ie cost per action, cost per click, etc).
2. I’ve seen a [...]

I have a CEO friend who uses the expression the “anxious parade of activity” to describe the way marketing people often present results to him.  I’m sure you have seen this before.  “First we did this tradeshow, then the agency made this pretty brochure, then we ran this ad in Magazine x….”  The entire thread [...]

Here are a couple of things that are on my mind this brisk Monday morning.
1. It is interesting to see Kel Kelly asking about partners and spouses who Twitter together.  Personally, I spare my friends and family members from my microdrivel unless they are already a Twitterati or connected via Facebook or Linkedin.
2. I agree [...]

A number of years ago I started a new job as the CMO of a fast-growing software company.  As I was rummaging through my new desk and the charred remains of my predecessor, I discover something something shocking that explained his untimely demise - his 54 page marketing plan.  I’ve never been one to create [...]