BI Revolution

We're very excited to share this new blog interview with you featuring direct marketing strategist Ted Grigg from DMCG. Ted shares an enormous wealth of knowledge.

Marty Note
Pay particular attention to how Ted Helps define FOCUS as MONEY. That strategic alignment is a strength of Direct Marketers (DMers). The highest converting blog online is Schwan's at 46%. Creative isn't bad,but it is clearly not their focus. Ringing the register...is clearly their focus :).  Marty  

Why Facebook Sucks For Internet Marketers
* The minute you figure something out they eliminate or change it.
* They HATE marketers and think we are all spammers.

* There is no "mutual benefit" since minute you figure something that works out they take it away. 
* Facebook is always about the PROMISE of ROI never actual ROI!

I was excited and ready to give Facebook another chance. I'm reading Gary Vanderchuk's Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook and he makes a compelling case for Facebook Sponsored stories. Put the book down and am about to tweet how interesting sponsored stories sounds and I get a Mashable alert that sponsored stories will be eliminated on April 9. 

Boy have I been to this rodeo before. As a Director of Ecommerce we spent thousands trying to solve the riddle that is Facebook marketing (we never did preferring to give up instead). Why any IMer would spend time and energy on a platform that clearly HATES US is a strange mystery. 

They hate us because we are spammers, stupid or don't get how to be "native' on their platform. The only reason Facebook gets any time or budget is the promise of a billion connected users with an amazing BI overlay. Problem is if the minute you finally find something that works they eliminate then Facebook wins again and we marketers are stupid indeed. 

As I point out in this post on GPlus, we are doing our bit. We want to tell great stories, we want to learn how to tell great stories on Facebook and other social platforms. Marketers ARE NOT THE ENEMEY, so please stop treating us as if we are or shame on us for continuing to fund such bad treatment. 

With the growth of "niche, targeted and closed" social nets most are prediciting for 2014 maybe we will have new ways so share our stories, new ways to learn from our customers and Facebook can do what it does best - let you share pictures of your children with your parents.  

Created a defined team is one of my favorite social media tactics. By creating a team with a name there is a brand, an identity, that forms the team. This post discusses one of my favorite ways to include customer advocates in your social media marketing by creating a "buzz team".

Internet marketing's "perpetual motion" machine is based on content creating community and, after winning hearts and minds, community becomes conversion.

Human history is littered with examples of how rebuilding is so much swifter and more complete if whatever preceded it was wiped out.  Of course, that has typically come after something very bad has happened.