Erna Alfred Liousas

Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before the U.S. Senate didn’t sway us from our previously posted perspective, at least in terms of what Facebook’s fiasco means for marketers.  If you are looking for more catastrophizing around the near-term death of social marketing, you’ve come to the wrong blog post. What did catch our attention: how poorly the […]

You may not be a stranger to March Madness, but I was. Well, until my colleagues Matthew Flug and Caitlin Wall shared something unique about this year’s NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Tournament. Pizza brand Little Caesars announced that if a 16 seed beat a 1 seed — which had never happened in the history […]

“Make experience your business,” Adobe’s rallying cry, is timely. Today, B2B and B2C customers observe a brand’s overall experience, not simply select products or touchpoints. As a former marketer now analyst covering social networks, online communities, user-generated content (UGC), and ratings and reviews, I encourage B2C marketers to create customer-driven experiences corresponding to specific audience […]

It’s painful to watch marketers struggle with social network updates. Despite the struggle, executing the latest Facebook or Instagram format seems to occupy more mind share than the due diligence of ascertaining whether consumers want the content in the first place. This is one of the reasons brand value and customer experience remain front and […]

Does technology buying ever get easier? With regards to social media management solution (SMMS) technology, the answer varies. This remains the case because of a sequence that often starts with algorithm changes. These changes cause, Algorithm Armageddon, my affectionate reference to the frenzied state of chaos marketers find themselves in when social networks change their […]

Have you taken note of the holiday emails frequenting your inbox? I have, and as much as I love a good deal, I’m starting to get a case of “oh boy the holidays are here.” My recognition of the upcoming holiday season usually produces feelings of joy, stress, frustration, and an obsession with order confirmations […]

Perhaps it’s curiosity that fuels my excitement when discussions about disruption surface. Add empathy into the mix, and you’ve got my attention. This year’s Spredfast Summit intertwined the themes of disruption and empathy across 1.5 days, and I’ve provided a few action-oriented nuggets below just for you. A brand’s age is just a number — […]

This is the first Inbound (in the three I’ve attended) that focuses overwhelmingly on the power of the individual. Every conference has the typical product and tactical sessions, but this year, the sessions fell into three categories: improvement of the self; organizational momentum; and tactics. Inbound 2017 made it sexy to embrace this concept: If […]

Headlines such as “Your Instagram Posts May Hold Clues to Your Mental Health” and “One Social Network Ranked Worst for Young People’s Mental Health and Well-being” appear across marketing publications and the mainstream news. What makes social media so addictive and occasionally problematic? I partnered with Anjali Lai to write “Mine The Emotions Behind Your […]

What comes to mind when you hear the word “compliance”? Do you shiver, sigh, break out into hives, or all three? Believe it or not, your compliance colleagues are crucial to your social marketing success. This is especially true for marketers in regulated spaces such as financial services, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. I can share from […]

Does our new 2017 SMMS Forrester Wave reveal one SMMS to rule them all? Unfortunately not. No one SMMS will meet everyone’s needs. But this report does provide a detailed analysis across 32 criteria for 10 vendors that you’ll want to include in your SMMS research: Facelift, Hootsuite, Lithium, Oracle, Percolate, Salesforce, Spredfast, Sprinklr, Sprout Social, […]

Well fellow marketers, the beginning of 2017 has been fast and furious! I’m sure I’m amongst friends when I share my year-end was a combination of: wrapping up projects, supporting last minute revenue efforts, reviewing predictions for 2017, and saying goodbye to 2016 actions that should never be repeated. I'm proud to say,  now that 2017 is […]

Marketers have more choices then they really need when it comes to social marketing tools. Market fragmentation and consolidation, along with the internal organizational struggles we all face, make it a challenging time to be a marketer. But don’t worry — we’re here to help! After analyzing the marketplace and interviewing 35 companies ranging from […]

Marketers face continuous uphill battles when it comes to social media. Whether it’s an emerging social network, an algorithm change within an existing social network, or the technology that enables social across an enterprise, change is constant. And these changes don’t even account for behavioral changes among our prospects and customers. The situation will only […]

If you’re unfamiliar with it, F8 is a two-day event focused on developers, a crucial part of Facebook’s ecosystem. I was fortunate enough to attend, and though I have many takeaways, which I'll discuss in upcoming posts, the one that surprises me most is Mark Zuckerberg himself. Zuckerberg’s rousing introductory keynote set the foundation for […]

Have you been so fed up with a company you've said, "That's it, I'm tweeting?" Contrast that with the times you've been so impressed with a company you've said, "That was so awesome, I'm going to tweet about it." Customers do use social to ask brands for help. In a recent New York Times article, Jonathan […]

This week Facebook released “Reactions” for two pilot markets: Ireland and Spain. The new reactions available for posts? Love, haha, yay, wow, sad, and angry. Myself and Forrester analysts Jennifer Wise, Samantha Ngo, Brigitte Majewski across mobile, social, and advertising pow-wowed on this new addition.  Here are our thoughts:    Facebook wins from this move. […]

For two days this week, I enjoyed Hubspot’s Inbound 2015 conference. Hubspot is an inbound marketing platform targeting small to medium-size businesses and each year the company holds a conference bringing together thought-leaders, customers, and partners. This 3.5-day event has over 250 sessions spanning a myriad of topics. Conferences provide different perspectives on the marketing […]

Change is constant, especially with Facebook. Not too long ago it changed its algorithm to allow users to see their favorite content within their New Feeds first. Then it introduced Instant Articles to help publishers create interactive articles on Facebook. This week, Facebook updated its logo and its algorithm again. This update helps users prioritize […]