For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Developing Social Marketing Skills

Draw On Existing Core Marketing Skills To Improve Social Marketing Efforts

by Sean Corcoran, October 21, 2009

With 82% of US online adults active with social technologies, social marketing has become an essential part of any marketing organization. Moreover, social marketing requires new skills from marketers and their organizations, placing pressure on managers . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Sidewiki: Dealing With Google's Land Grab

Your Best Defense Is To Build Your Own Social Site Features

by Josh Bernoff, Sean Corcoran, September 30, 2009

Google announced Sidewiki, a product that allows users of Google's Toolbar to share their comments on any Web site. Just as we predicted, this endows all Web sites with social features and commentary. Mass adoption will take years, and Google needs to . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Selecting An Agency For Social Marketing

The Basic Steps Interactive Marketers Should Follow For Picking The Right Agency In This New Space

by Sean Corcoran, September 30, 2009

Social marketing is a hot topic in the world today, and many interactive marketers have inherited this responsibility on top of existing roles. And while marketers often rely on their agencies for many aspects of their business, the role of agencies with . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Broad Reach Of Social Technologies

by Sean Corcoran, August 25, 2009

Social technologies continue to grow substantially in 2009. Now more than four in five US online adults use social media at least once a month, and half participate in social networks like Facebook. While young people continue to march toward almost universal . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: US Interactive Agencies — Strategy And Execution, Q3 2009

R/GA, VML, Sapient Interactive, And OgilvyInteractive Lead With Several Close Behind

by Sean Corcoran, August 7, 2009

Forrester's evaluation of the strategy and execution capabilities of interactive agencies across 39 criteria finds that the market has matured considerably in the past 18 months. The market is now ready to take a big step to join, and in some cases even . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Navigating The Agency Landscape

A Road Map For Selecting And Managing Interactive Agencies

by Sean Corcoran, May 21, 2009

The drastic changes in consumer behavior due to fragmented media and Social Computing have created a fragmentation of agency services that is a virtual minefield for marketers. Selecting and managing an interactive agency portfolio in this new world can . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Using Social Applications In Ad Campaigns

How Marketers Can Move From Broadcast To Dialogue

by Sean Corcoran, April 29, 2009

The majority of marketing budgets go to advertising, and there is a significant opportunity to enhance it with social tools. But social media marketing typically generates longer-term relationships, which means that it is out of sync with the quick-hit . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Add Sponsored Conversations To Your Toolbox

Why You Should Pay Bloggers To Talk About Your Brand

by Sean Corcoran, March 2, 2009

Kmart gave some bloggers a free shopping spree in exchange for a blog post about the experience — a practice we call sponsored conversation. With appropriate protections for disclosure and authenticity, this practice will take its place alongside public . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Top Social Computing Predictions For 2009

Experimentation Gives Way To Meeting Business Objectives As Social Computing Goes Mainstream

by Jeremiah K. Owyang, Josh Bernoff, Sean Corcoran, Steven Noble, January 27, 2009

With adoption of all Social Computing technologies increasing in 2008, brands will move beyond experimentation and focus on real business impact in 2009. New technologies will arise that allow platforms including email, the Web, and mobile devices to . . .