BI Revolution

Many professionals are turning to social media as a place of trust for their purchasing decisions and it’s no different for the IT industry. IT decision makers have a highly-regarded task of ensuring they recommend the best products and services for their organizations.

LinkedIn, Forrester Consulting, and Research Now zeroed in on these professionals to see how they utilize social media, including its effects on their purchasing decisions and how they engage with social.

According to Michael Weir, Head of Category Development for the Technology Industry at LinkedIn, “It’s no surprise that [IT decision makers] are heavy users of social networks. In fact, 85% have used at least one social network for business purposes.

What’s surprising is that 73% have engaged with an IT vendor on a social network – underscoring the value of the channel for IT marketers. Even more revealing is the fact that social media is now a critical source of influence across the entire decision making process, not just during the initial research phase.”

Marty Note
This is an imporant infographic because it move social into the find, herd and close aspect of business development where the ROI is substantial and undeniable. 

 

Via Lauren Moss, John van den Brink, Gladys Pintado

Boot Camp Digital prese ts this infographic on the importance of Pinterest to online sales- for example, Pinterest is the #1 referral of traffic to marthastewart.com. That and the rest of the statistics might be surprising to some.

 

Learn more about the importance of Pinterest when it comes to marketing a business online, and take a look at this infographic on the Purchasing Power of Pinterest...

Marty Note
Doesn't surprise me that Pinterest is #1 referral source to Martha Stewart. Day it is #1 to Manny, Moe and Jack (car parts) will be when the power is undeniable. It will get there because visuals are crushing textuals.

Via Lauren Moss, roberto toppi, Gladys Pintado

This piece was posted by Loren Sorenson for Hubspot, I selected it because as she says "If you aren’t prepared for the visual content revolution, you may be left in the dust.

Not convinced? Let's take a look at exactly how visual contentis positively contributing to marketing strategies -- it may just give you the push you need

"Learn why visual content is a critical part of your content creation strategy.

Here are some highlights:

**People remember only 20% of what they read

**83% of learning is visual

Condenses and Explains Large Amounts of Information

**Today, there is too much information on the Internet you have about 3 seconds to catch someone’s eyes so they'll consume your information.

Gives Your Brand an Identity

**Visual content draws people in, letting viewers better understand your brand's identity

Drives User Engagement

**If you've ever read a book with a child, you probably know they find pictures more interesting than words; but are adults really that different?

Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/Ifujbp]

Via janlgordon, Beth Kanter

**** Maslow's archetypes are key to personas and hierarchy of needs is key to archetypes. This infographic from Susan shows which social nets fit needs by Maslow's hierarchy. Critical tool to create brand strategies since I am always trying to figure out what kind of information to put where and at what cadence. Marty

Via Dr. Susan Bainbridge

Social Media Marketing Takes Flight in 2013 Marketing turns upside down. As you are planning for 2013, your business will find itself facing questions concerning the social impact of your business and brand.

Via chezmadeline

 

Excerpted from article:

 

The “secret” to more sales is as simple as understanding just what your buyer wants (and expects) from your business.

 

We are all different, but in many instances our brains are prone to react in a similar manner.

 

Understanding these subtleties in the human mind can help your business find creative ways to ethically move more buyers towards saying “Yes!” to your products or services.

 

In this Infographic are 10 studies that reveal such insights into the minds of your customers.

 

1. Setting Minimums Helps Customers Break Through Action

2. Create Better Brand Engagement by Labeling Customers

3. Learn How to Sell to Your 3 Types of Buyers
4. Admit to Shortcomings in Order to Highlight Your Strengths
5. Implement Urgency… the Smart Way!
6. Appeal to the Need for Immediate Satisfaction
7. Don’t Be Afraid to Make an Enemy
8. Stand for Something that Customers Support
9. Create Persuasive Arguments by Playing Devil’s Advocate 

10. Keep Customers on Their Toes

 

 

Curated by Agostino Caniato:
http://bit.ly/Landing-Page-World

 

To deepen the points just mentioned read the full article here:http://bit.ly/UbnfAU

Marty Note [great tips and write up by Agostino. Kudos to @GregoryCiotti for some great conversion work. He has a free ebook on the link too. Going to download his book and report back.)

Via Agostino Caniato, SwipeZoom

Marty Note
I wish consistent greatness was as easy to follow as this or any blueprint. I like every idea expressed here, but there is a certain serendipity to greatness that is hard to capture. I do believe practicing like you want to play increases your chances of discovering the magic serendipity, which I realize makes it sound less like serendipity :), but there you have it :).M 

Note:
This Infographic is one of the top Scoops from Curation Revolution (http://www.scoop.it/t/curation-revolution ).

 

A new infographic detailing the differences between the Google Panda and Penguin updates and how you can optimise your website to avoid being penalized by any of the two.

 

Sometimes eye candy explains things so much better, don't you think? How'd they do on this one I wonder...

Via Robin Good, Level343, Guglielmo Cornelli, thinksmart.it