Social Marketing Strategy

As the sun rises across each time zone, where do consumers start their online day? Your customers' activities first thing in the morning can reveal their priorities and motivations (whether those are business-, social-, or news-oriented), and also provide an indication of how and when to engage with them.

In our 2013 Global Executive Summary, we compare and contrast the findings of our award-winning SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS research series to bring you insight into what consumers worldwide are doing in the morning, as well as how they spend their time on multiple digital marketing...

Marketing is a contstantly challenging space, especially in the digital world where new channels continue to spring up without warning. Whether navigating social channels like Facebook and Twitter, or attempting to understand how mobile should be a part of 2013 strategies, connecting with the target audience is no easy task.

One company, however, has found great success in involving their young audience in the conversation. To learn more about how Cache was able to connect social and mobile at a key time in the year, check out the video below!

Let's face it--we all need a little inspiration sometimes! With so many approaches to execute a solid B2B strategy--from demand generation and social media to mobile marketing, lead nurturing, and lead scoring--it's easy to get overwhelmed. What better way to be inspired than to network, brainstorm, and collaborate with your B2B marketing peers and industry experts on all things B2B?

At the B2B Inspiration Tour, you'll hear from leading experts in the space, like Lori Wizdo, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research. In her inspirational talk at the San Francisco tour stop, Lori will explore the...

One of the more eye-opening and surreal experiences of my life came in 2007 when I sat in a pit road tower during a NASCAR event. The thunder of the stock cars as they rambled down the front stretch to start the race is a sound and a physical rattling you'll never forget.

Seeing the crews operate behind the scenes was also something to behold. Like the car they each worked on, the crew focused on optimal performance based on speed and precision. Each pit stop had to be prepared for: tires stacked and ready, the drill gun oiled with no kinks in the compression hose (or battery full with cordless...

Are you a digital marketer? Do you work for a travel brand? If you answered yes, then this blog post is for you!

ExactTarget recently released Reaching Today’s Digital Traveler, a compilation of tips and tactics that are critical for digital marketers in the travel and hospitality industry. Here’s the list of tactics, plus the questions you should ask yourself to keep your digital communication strategy on track.

1. Grow Your Subscriber list

To determine why your brand might be missing out on conversations with interested and ready-to-purchase travelers, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you...

When it comes to the marketing industry, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve. Not long ago, digital marketing was only a whisper within corporate marketing teams – now it’s here, it’s as competitive as ever and it’s completely changing the way we do business. Here are my predictions for what’s to come over the next year.

Smart, personalised content
It’s time to stop being oh-so-frightened of data capture and start taking advantage of the fact that personalised content makes browsing the web an absolute pleasure! Take Linkedin, for example – simply log in and you’re presented with the...

When the quirky and soulful independent hit Garden State was released in 2004, it captured the hearts of audiences around the world and helped creator and star Zach Braff gather a social following any marketer would salivate over. 

However, it is the way that Braff is utilizing this audience for his follow-up project "Wish I Was Here" that is really capturing the attention of marketers.

Braff took the unusual step of funding his new project through crowd-funding platform Kickstarter two weeks ago. The project has over 37,000 backers at the time of writing and over $2.5 million pledged already...

Hello fellow marketers,

I’m so excited to invite you to Connections 2013—the premier digital marketing event of the year. Registration is now open, so check out all the details and reserve your spot at exacttarget.com/connections2013.

In case you haven’t heard the buzz, here are the top five reasons you should attend Connections 2013:

1. The Theme: Lead From Within
   Whether at home, at work, or throughout the community, we all play a role in leading others. And no matter who or how you lead, the power to influence change starts from within. During Connections 2013, we’ll explore ways to discover your...

It should come as no surprise that traditional advertising is no longer as trusted by consumers as it was in the Mad Men era. Today’s consumers are more skeptical than ever. Less than 50% of consumers worldwide trust TV advertising. So what do people trust? 92% of consumers around the world say they trust word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family over all other forms of advertising.

Brands are embracing new strategies and technologies, which allow them to connect and engage with customers in social channels. The most innovative brands are shifting their strategies from traditional...

It's almost summer and, aside from school vacations and a turn in the weather, the prime indicator of this change in seasons can be found in the barrage of blockbuster films hitting the theaters. It's standard industry practice for major studios to save the most anticipated titles for the summer lineup, in the hopes that they'll break the bank with audiences eager to spend their well earned time and money in the cool, dark movie houses. But with the birth of social marketing came new tactics to build communities of eager fans long before a film releases. Success typically does hinge on opening...

If you’ve mastered marketing automation 101, and even tackled our 9 steps to go beyond the marketing automation basics, then you’re ready for a few of our expert tips. At this point, you should be delivering highly relevant and dynamic email content, sending out drip emails to nurture prospects over time, and managing your social profiles using real-time and scheduled posts.

Sound about right? If so, then read on to find out how you can continue to improve your marketing automation efforts with these 8 steps, inspired by the Mastering the Art of Marketing Automation eBook:

1. Don’t get lazy. At...

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing guest articles from experts in the realm of content marketing. This week, Josh Miles writes.

Josh Miles is principal and founder of Miles Design, a branding firm specializing in branding and website design for professional services and software firms. Josh is the author of the new Content Marketing Institute book Bold Brand: The New Rules for Differentiating, Branding, and Marketing Your Professional Services Firm.

“It will look like you guys are on everywhere, even if you’re not.”

Our media buyer always had a way of helping our clients make the...

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing guest articles from experts in the realm of content marketing. This week, Steven Shattuck writes.

Steven is VP of Marketing at Bloomerang. He is a featured contributor to Social Media Today, and has been published in Search Engine Journal, Business2Community and the Content Marketing Institute. Steven has spoken at national and local conferences, and is frequently interviewed by traditional media outlets in Indianapolis for his expertise in social media marketing.

There's no shortage of content marketing advice out there. Now that most marketers...

Mastered the basics of marketing automation? If the answer is yes, I'm guessing you've already begun reaping the rewards of your initial automation efforts. I'm also surmising that your CRM system is busy collecting plenty of customer and prospect data, and you're actively engaged on multiple social channels. At this point, you might even have a little extra time in your schedule to dive into your RSS feed, or take a longer smoothie break.

You're off to a good start.

That being said, there's always more to learn about the complex clockwork of marketing automation. Take your knowledge to the...

ExactTarget partnered with Social Media Explorer's Jason Falls and Nichole Kelly to deliver a hands-on, full-day workshop that will leave you with a fully executable and measureable social media strategy by the end of the day! We couldn't be more excited about the content and format of the Social Media Domination Road Tour. You'll walk away with a strong foundation in the most important strategies to be successful in social media, including:

Social Media Strategy: You'll particiapte in hands-on exercises that guide you on the creation and evaluation of a successful social media strategy that is...

The first thing most aspiring marketers learn is the importance of identifying and subsequently engaging those beautiful people called “the audience” no matter where they live online. This lesson gains wholehearted acceptance from everyone in the marketing world. However, the execution becomes complicated, and soon we all learn that feeding something like a blog everyday just simply isn’t enough.

We must put ourselves on the customer's online path.

Think goals first, campaigns second and tactics third.

What’s the goal? Always start there. That’s what the university lecturer taught you a long time...

Email list growth is a concern for many organizations--so you're definitely not alone if it's one of your concerns! In order to succeed in your email marketing efforts, you want your subscriber base to grow, not stay static. Fortunately there are numerous ways to build your email list.   

Depending on your industry, a web form may be the most effective way to capture more subscribers. Other options include social media tactics, mobile strategies, or even an offline approach. The possibilities are limitless.

Since this is such a popular topic and concern for marketers, there is plenty of informati...