social media marketing

Whether you attended or if you didn’t get the chance, the notes will be worth gold. Take a peek at the top takeaways from the three keynote presentations at the 2011 emfluence Marketing Platform User Conference.

Helzberg Diamonds offered a deal last week that seemed too good to be true… and turned out it was. Their online system had a glitch and their advertised “surprise savings” were a surprise even to them! These are the moments that define a company’s reputation. There are a lot of lessons to be taken from how Helzberg handled the potential catastrophe.

What counts as oversharing information in a world where people tweet their breakfast? What is TMI (too much info) about a person or company you follow? Some might argue that it would depend on if it’s content from a personal account or on behalf of a brand (comma?) but I have a rule of thumb that I think you can apply to either situation: Act as if the online world were one big cocktail party.

My first South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) experience definitely lived up to the affectionate moniker “geek spring break” From social media to widgets to guerrilla marketing, I had plenty to learn from. But as a marketer, my heart was captured by some of the best non-traditional promotions I’ve seen by an industry bursting with new ideas every day. Here’s my “Top 8” list of the best promos at SXSWi 2011 (and the brands behind them):

What email marketing’s popular younger brother, social media marketing, can learn from its elder.

Email marketing and social media are both about connecting with an audience that said they want to hear from you. Better yet, that like you. So why wouldn’t they work best together? Social media has a natural sharing effect (buzz word alert: virality) that can carry your content across digital media. Here are a few ways to let your social channels boost your email marketing campaigns.

In the spirit of giving this season, we thought we’d share a few bonus How-To Holiday tips:

The holidays are in full swing, at least according to the retailers filling our inboxes and mailboxes and news feeds. And it’s no wonder: some retailers make 25% to 40% of annual sales during the holidays, and 2010 holiday sales are expected to be up 2.3% to $447.1 billion this year. How do you keep up the energy for an eight-week holiday season? It’s all about timing. From when you send your offers to how many days between reminders to which offers work best at which times of the season… Here’s a suggestion on a holiday calendar with timely offers.

More and more, email is being described as one of the social channels. It’s still the number one way people share pictures, articles, links and more with their friends, family and co-workers. So when people ask if social media has endangered email, we know better. (Hint: no.) Marketing has always been about being everywhere your prospects are and that usually means more than one medium.

Email marketing and social media can be valuable comrades in growing your audience online. So are you taking advantage of their friendship? Specifically, are you working social into your email sign up and growing your email list through social media?

Take a look at weaving social and email together for list growth and new customer acquisition.

Social Fresh’s fifth social media conference was hosted April 19th just across the state in St. Louis. We sent Jessica Best to soak up some knowledge about emerging media from some heavy hitters. Here’s what she gleaned:

In addition to beautiful 80 degree weather in January, Marketing Sherpa’s 2010 Email Summit once again proved to be a fact-packed conference about our beloved email marketing. Here are some of our favorite take aways:

Top Quotes at Marketing Sherpa’s Email Summit 2010:

The swirling world of social media produces new platforms every day. Even “old” standards – facebook, twitter – are getting facelifts and making changes in user experience that effect the way marketers use social media to connect with interested prospects. On one hand, that means no matter when you decide to take the plunge into social marketing, you’re not that far behind: it all changes so fast, we’re all running just to keep up.

On the other hand, it makes social media look like a marathon you’re not sure how to jump in on. How do you start in something you don’t even understand? We’ve all heard a friend or colleague say “I just don’t get the point of Twitter.”

When you’re not sure where to start in a new platform, lurk to learn…

Let’s take Twitter as an example.