This insight by Don Schultz, the “father of integrated marketing,” highlights an aspect of modern marketing that many of us fail to realize; using social media as a marketing ground is in opposition to the very nature of social media. Don argues that businesses need to start using “socially minded” content to build trust and community rather than laser-focusing on the hard sell and hopeful conversion.
Lee Odden, the founder of TopRank Online Marketing, has pointed out something we seem to have forgotten as marketing professionals. We are so involved in “feeding the great engine” with content that we often lose sight of what made search so powerful in the first place? Maybe if we all step back and make the decision to choose quality over quantity, we can make the eCommerce environment a better experience for customers and visitors alike.
Pam Didner is a foremost expert in the technology and marketing strategy worlds. She speaks with immense knowledge about information and technology on a global scale. Although it may seem like a slightly depressing thought, this particular insight about the eternal struggle with data could be interpreted in a positive way. Maybe we should start thinking about data in terms of a “journey” that leads us to a specific destination rather than a road to nowhere!
Read more about this particular insight by Lance Jones, who is the co-founder of Copy Hackers – a site that specializes in conversion marketing advice for startups and professionals.
This statement sums up a big quandary that all marketers find themselves in at one time or another. But as Lance suggests, it’s always better to be transparent and upfront about your products and services, rather than promising the world and not delivering on that promise.
Jonathan Mildenhall is an advertising strategy genius from the UK. His advice about listening to the customer voice more and reacting creatively to that information is a vital lesson for any business.
Gary Vaynerchuk is a social media expert who believes in the power of stories and the power of organic and useful content. The idea of just being yourself and telling a story that people want to hear is far more powerful than engineering content as “social media.”
We couldn’t help but laugh at this one! Unfortunately, Jennifer Mesenbrink, who is a superstar in the blog world, has hit upon something that we all know is true in the world of Internet marketing; our reliance as an industry on PPC (pay per click) is an inescapable truth. Although not exactly “inspiring” as a quote, we can take solace in the fact that we are all in the same boat (maybe those of us that work harder on PPC strategy and application are able to swim to the top!).
Andrew Davis is a marketing innovator that has marketed for tiny startups as well as Fortune 500 brands. He believes in the power of content to build customer interaction and trust that ultimately makes a sale. He argues that only quality, insightful content is capable of doing this and that friendships start from interesting conversations. I think this this is true in both life and marketing.
Peep Laja is founder of Markitekt and writes popular blogs such as The 10 Ways You’re Screwing Up Your Landing Page (And What To Do About It). When talking about landing page conversion, he has highlighted something that not only makes no sense, but drives designers, creatives, and true marketing experts out of their minds! The assumption that all customers have bad taste levels is ridiculous and completely counterproductive for your brand and image.
Seth Godin is the godfather of marketing and has written over 17 books about marketing and best practices. This particular quote about A/B testing could be applied to both a testing philosophy and your whole marketing attitude in general. Seth would argue that it is important to understand that trial, error, and getting things wrong is how we develop as professionals; an environment where one is not allowed to be bold, make mistakes, and learn from them is not a progressive or successful one.
This second quote from Andrew Davis is a pearl of wisdom about focusing on a vertical that makes the most sense for your business rather than trying to chase EVERYBODY. The catch-all strategy is something that can only work for the biggest and most powerful eCommerce companies, who have the audience and resources to do it.
Second quote from Jonathan Mildenhall that speaks to all of us about the importance of making mistakes and using that experience and data to make more successful decisions.
Patrick McKenzie, explains conversion rate in the simplest, but most adorable, terms (too many people over-complicate the process of tracking and studying the success of campaigns.).
Randall Lane has edited such behemoth publications as Newsweek, Daily Beast, and Forbes. He is a consummate expert in the art of telling a story and getting it heard. His personal insights into the world of business and marketing are inspirational to a generation of marketers. He strongly urges his readership to create advertising and marketing that understands its audience and has a clear point.
Jay Baer is an American marketing consultant, speaker, and the author of the New York Times bestselling book Youtility. He is a big believer in being as helpful as possible to customers in order to create a customer for life. He also believes that usefulness is not in the things you say in meetings and boardrooms, it’s in your personal abilities and in the skill to get things done (too many administrators and talkers and not enough doers in the marketing world!).
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