Comments on: Take the Marketing 2.0 Challenge

By: Greta Steinz

Greta Steinz — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:36:47 +0000

re Q10. That really hits home for my online dog collar business. I have been so successful selling at various bulldog shows and events, than I do online. However, I am trying to bridge that gap by using your 3 E strategy technique. And bridging that gap becomes alot easier when you establish a personal relationship with your clients. Once that relationship is met, it becomes viral. Thank you so much for posting this! Its a great referral to come back to and keep ourselves refreshed and to continue to keep me in the right mindset of…FOCUS!

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:37:10 +0000

My marketing strategy is to spread the word about my site using 2.0 sites, such as squidoo. Inbound marketing does require some work, its not something that you can afford not to do either. Consistency is a must for any online marketing.

By: FindandConvert

FindandConvert — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:59:14 +0000

Re Q1. Communication and "being human" are 90% of it. The fact you're doing that is more than some marketers do. The other key factor is consistency. Inbound marketing requires a commitment. It's not a one shot or a little here and a little there thing. if you're going to blog, it should be consistent. If you're going to Tweet, it should be consistent. Whatever your content strategy is, it should be consistent.

Oh, yes and there's that other element – a content strategy. Successful inbound marketers have a focused content strategy, which makes consistency easier to implement because the strategy exists.

By: -brent

-brent — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:50:07 +0000

Q1. What is inbound marketing? I am serious. How many people out there are doing it without knowing they're doing it? I don't know much about the science of marketing or the processes that expert marketers use or would expect me to use; I just communicate with people.I wonder if knowing more about marketing techniques would make me better at it or worse…

By: Andy Apple

Andy Apple — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:38:02 +0000

Marketing 2.0 is a great book that is very well written and offers no nonsense, straight talk about social media and other things new to the 2.0 era. Bernie Borges has the ability to tell you in plain english all the benefits and cautions about marketing 2.0 tactics. I would reccommend this as a must read as part of your arsenal for anyone interested in dipping their toes into the next generation of marketing and communications.

By: Tom Howard

Tom Howard — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:08:26 +0000

Question 1 Response

Our inbound marketing strategy is to establish our company as a resource and "thought leader" within our vertical market niche. By becoming the recognized experts and developing our audience by delivering quality content, we will "attract" leads naturally. Most, but not all, of our strategy does not involve trying to directly solicit sales leads.

We are utilizing a combination of online and offline tactics to achieve our strategy. Online strategies include developing a strong network of industry professionals and potential referral sources on LinkedIn, hosting an LinkedIn Group for industry professionals, monthly educational e-newsletter, an educational blog with flexibility to include some interesting content not directly related to our product offering but interesting to our target market, a Face book Fan page (focused on connecting with our client base), SEO work and coming soon – Twitter and podcasts.

Our offline approach includes trade shows and presenting at educational seminars offered through established industry associations. We cross pollinate by utilizing our offline efforts to drive our audience to our online efforts.

By: @chuckpalm

@chuckpalm — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:11:44 +0000

I'd have to preface this with "listen to the latest Find and Convert Podcast for the answers!" Bernie has become a great interviewer, and managed to get me to answer most all of these in the interview he did with me! As I go over each question, I realize that many of these relate directly to our podcast strategy, and the same that we recommend to our clients. We INSIST that if a client is going to engage us, which means they want to start podcasting, that they discuss their strategy in such a way that they understand all the things that this will impact. If we can't get them to commit to a strategy, we can't give them the results that they want, period. This is a whole new way of engaging their audience, and building a fan base, which should be the first result they see from their efforts. Way to go Bernie, convert more of your followers, and let's get many of them to become podcasters!

By: @arvidka

@arvidka — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:56:32 +0000

This comment is a result of a discussion I had with @Chari_s on Twitter on article about the Atlanta Aquarium offering discounts for connecting with it on Twitter or being a fan on Facebook and Myspace (http://shar.es/1pSuo).

I believe social media is about increased market shares and brand expansion through differentiation and positioning. Every company should have a staff member in chrarge of social media communication, with a mandate to create content valuable for the market. That mandate should be limited according to policies, and anchored in toplevel management.

The main goal for that mandate is to differentiate and position the company's brands so that the buyers choose this brand for another. The staff member creates such content and comments, and the market repond according to goals (hopefully). This is an investment for that company and the result will indirectly be an increase in sales.

I believe that the example of Atlanta Aquarium is not according to this theory. They increased sales by offering discounts on admission fees, but I think this is a short term benefit that won't pay off in the long term perspective. The risk of such strategy is that the public expects, and perhaps, demands a discount for every online activity they parttake in. In this example the reward is the value, not the online content.

It's difficult to come up with an alternative strategy for Atlanta Aquarium. But I think that posting videos of the animals, and have the videos circulate among the student could be just as effective. Of course among other content-creating activities.

I will recommend @SteinarJOlsen on Twitter. He is founder and CEO of Stormberg.no a outdoor manufacturing company. SteinarJOlsens tweets and blogs about environmentalism, hiking and outdoor activities. You can see how he differentiate his brands?

I asked about Stormbergs ROI. His replay was that he didn't measure ROI and effects of his and the companys communication. The main goal was market awareness…