Straight Talk Blog
Ted RubinThink before you discount
Until recently, “social media fatigue” has been the most dangerous “condition” that we social media marketers have had to combat. Now, however, with the recent trend toward frequent deep discounts and coupon offers, we are risking an even more serious condition of...
Are You Laying the Groundwork Your Brand’s “Infinite Moments of Truth”?
Moments of Truth are well-known concepts in the marketing world, from research (Zero Moment of Truth)… to shopping (First Moment of Truth) … to owning/using a product (Second Moment of Truth). Now, in a recent blog post, David Berkowitz introduces one more: the...
Title: Google+: A Platform, Not the Message
Google+ is here — what do you need to change about your brand message to leverage this new tool? Nothing! Now more than ever, your brand message needs to remain strong and consistent, and your focus needs to stay on building relationships. Don’t let new tools (like...
Is your brand relevant to your social media audience?
Since social media makes it so simple (quick and easy) to post your message (content) in numerous social networks, it can be tempting to spray your message around the cybersphere as far and wide as possible. However, that method keeps you at a surface level of...
The science of social media marketing: experiment, experiment, experiment!
There are no true experts or gurus in this social media space – we are ALL still trying to figure this out. When I said that at the 140 Character’s Conference: New York City (#140conf) the audience applauded… because we all assume that someone else has all the...
12 Most Important Ways to Build Relationships and Get ROR (Twitter Hashtag #RonR)
If you want to continue to reach your market in this social media age, the marketing focus needs to be on building relationships, and metrics need to expand beyond ROI (Return on Investment) to include ROR: Return on Relationship™… simply put the value that is accrued...
The 4th of July – “INDEPENDENCE DAY” – Declare Yours!
The thought of Independence Day brings to mind the current economic environment as well as personal family challenges for me. Many of us go through our lives, day to day, thinking that our only recourse is to put our heads down, one foot in front of the other, and...
Don’t overlook the Baby Boomers!
If you think that the place to reach Baby Boomers (born between 1946 – 1964) is anywhere that does not include technology, think again! Boomers in the U.S. are technology-savvy enough to comprise 1/3 of all TV viewers, online users, social media users and...
Have you heard about cb.Socially?
If you haven’t heard, Collective Bias is expanding! Social Fabric is at an all time high, the CB team is growing monthly, and now we have a new division! cb.Socially, a services division of Collective Bias, will provide turn-key conversational media management,...
Collective Bias Opens New Division, cb.Socially, and Signs Webtrends as First Client
06.14.2011– June 14, 2011, Bentonville, Ark. – Collective Bias, LLC, a leading shopper media company, has opened a new services division called cb.socially. The division is devoted to conversational media management, engagement, interaction and relationship building...
My father taught me the value of friendship…
12 Most Important Lessons We Learned from Dad via 12most.com #10. Ted Rubin My father taught me the value of friendship, at all levels, and how important it is for you to be a friend first without expectation. He was always doing things for our neighbors… cleaning up,...
It’s Time to Give Your Brand Advocates a Promotion
Marketers are starting to realize that Brand Advocates are important enough to be part of our marketing strategies… but in my view, we need to take this beyond our Advocates just being “a part” of what we do. We need to value our Advocates enough...
The importance of brand “appeal”
More and more, I like the word “appeal” and its implications for marketing and facilitating the building of relationships. The definition of “appeal” (according to the World English Dictionary) is “the power to attract, please, stimulate, or interest.” So, if we apply...
Ted Rubin, Return on Relationship at the Smart CMO Forum
#140conf: ROR… Return on Relationships
Ted Rubin – Social Media and Return on Relationship Pt 1
Ted Rubin – Social Media and Return on Relationship Pt 2
Authenticity increases ROR (Return on Relationship™)
“It’s not authentic if everyone loves you.” – Stephen Strong (Alberto Culver) at theChicago Brand Advocacy Series. That is a message that every marketer needs to hear loud and clear, especially as the focus on social media gets stronger and recommendations carry more...
What is Your Social ID?
Brand identification is changing right along with the other shifts social media has brought about. It is no longer as much about the company logo, the colors or whether we use our middle initial in visual materials or not; it is now about “Social I.D.” – our voice...
The Importance of Brand Humility
Even if you are absolutely certain that your product/service is one of the best on the market, what you think of your brand is not nearly as important as what your consumers think of it and say about it. They are, after all, the market! “Brand humility is the only...
Recommendations Are the New Advertising
Visa gets it – that the marketing world has changed significantly, and even the big players need to change along with it. In fact, Visa’s head of marketing, Antonio Lucia, reported that Visa has increased their digital media investment from about 11% to at...
Joining Collective Bias as Chief Social Marketing Officer…
I’ve been working in digital marketing since 1997, and each year I believe more strongly in the power of relationships for effectively connecting brands with consumers. Back then, I never could have imagined the incredible connection-building possibilities provided...
The Gift Mom Really Wants – A Better World For Moms
Last year, $14.6 billion was spent on Mother's Day presents. Just think what 1% of that could do if given to a charity Moms (and Dads) love! Thanks to Holly Pavlika’s Moms4Moms initiative fueled by the incredible support of the online and offline Moms community,...
The Social Media budget is there…so now what?!?
In the past three years, social media has gone from being a novelty, to test and try out, to being serious business. Companies are now coming on board and showing their new opinion of the true business value of social media by opening their budgets and allocating...
New York and Chicago Social Media Panels featuring JetBlue, Microsoft, CDW, and Alberto Culver
Zuberance’s Brand Advocacy Series is coming to Chicago on May 11 and New York on May 17 for social media panel discussions on “How to Turn Word of Mouth and Social Media into Sales.” The event series brings together leading brands, marketers, and influencers to...
Transparency is not optional
We want to believe that with a careful multi-faceted marketing strategy, we can protect our brand message and keep it from getting diluted or changed as it gets further from our reach. The truth is, there are many things you cannot control about your brand…...
Moms4Moms… and the kick-off for Moms4Moms Day
What I love most about the Moms community, online and off, is the natural tendency toward helping others... not "what can this do for me" and more like "how can I give of myself to others. More than any other community the "brand" message that has organically...
Spending time with my girls is…
something I put before all else. They are teenagers now and being a divorced Dad it can be challenging to continue to reach out, put them first, and maintain this in the face of their occasional lack of interest and the roadblocks so easily put in place by their Mom...
Face-to-face Customer Service Still Matters
I recently wrote about the dangers of disparity between the customer experience in the social media channel and the customer experience in the traditional channel … and the importance of INTEGRATING your brand messages across all channels. We also need to make sure...
Being a Dad
What inspires me to move beyond the limitations and obstacles of being a divorced parent in a culture traditionally designed for shared parenthood is the love of my children and a desire to not only be a part of their lives, but to have influence on how they think,...