What is 'Social Good' And How Can Brands Benefit?

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What do we mean and understand by the term "social good"? This is the first question brands must ask themselves before incorporating social good into their business model. It is not a homogenous and neatly defined entity. Rather, social good is an umbrella term that incorporates many business practices, effects and outcomes.

Because social good is a fluid and evolving concept, it is up to each startup to set their own definition of "social" and "good." If you don't have parameters for social good, you can't thoughtfully incorporate it into your business model.

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by Steve Hall    Sep-10-13    
Topic: Cause, Opinion, Social



Kenneth Cole Doesn't Want Our Marketing Advice

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It's clear Kenneth Cole doesn't give a crap about what pundits, the media or his customers think about his attempts to leverage major news events to his brand's advantage. Just today, after having been lambasted for a tweet about Cairo (and plenty of other similarly stupid tweets), Cole, who runs his own Twitter account, tweeted, "Boots on the ground" or not. Let's not forget sandals, pumps and loafers. #Footwear"

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by Steve Hall    Sep- 5-13    
Topic: Brands, Social, Worst



Man Who Bought Promoted Tweet to Shame British Airways Spent $1,000

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You've got to be pretty pissed off to spend $1,000 on a Promoted Tweet just because an airline lost your bags for a couple of days. But that's exactly what Husan Syed did when British Airways lost his father's bags on a recent flight.

Syed went on a Twitter rant earlier this week after the airline lost his father's bags. In addition, Syed purchased promoted tweets to the tune of $1,000.

But, late yesterday, as promised, Syed revealed his spend of $1,000 and metrics which show the spend garnered 76,800 impressions and 14,600 engagements.

One of his tweets, "I Can Haz My Baggage," garnered 45 retweets and 37 replies with an engagement rate of 18.7%

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by Steve Hall    Sep- 4-13    
Topic: Social



Son Buys Promoted Tweet to Complain About British Airways After Airline Lost His Father's Luggage

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This, quite possibly, might be a first. We're all used to brand after brand after brand mucking up our Twitter feed with promoted tweets. But have you ever seen an individual purchase a promoted tweet to better guarantee his complaint won't go unnoticed?

After British Airways lost his father's luggage, Husan Syed took to Twitter to complain. But rather than simply tweet a rant as most do, Syed bought a promoted tweet in New York and UK markets Monday night which aviation marketing consultancy SimplyFlying said garnered 25,000 tweets in the first six hours.

The tweet read, "Don't fly @BritishAirways. Their customer service is horrendous."

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by Steve Hall    Sep- 3-13    
Topic: Brands, Social, Worst



How to Use Social Media to Get Your Customers to Buy

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It's pretty much a forgone conclusion that nowadays people just don't want (or need) advertising when making a purchase. Nope. They want valuable content. Content that helps them make a purchase decision. Content that answers their immediate questions. Content that is right there when they come looking.

Through social media, that content can provide real-time consumer experiences that attract more people to your brand, link directly to product pages, and convert shoppers to buyers.

Mass Relevance has put together a report, part of the Adrants whitepaper series, that will show you how you can:

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by Steve Hall    Aug-27-13    
Topic: Research, Social



NEWSFLASH! Study Says Social Media is A Waste of Time! (At Least For Hospitals)

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While some camps can't tout the benefits of social media enough, others question the extent to which they should actively guide, promote and shape online conversations about their organizations. A new research study by MIT Sloan School of Management Prof. Catherine Tucker and Prof. Amalia Miller of the University of Virginia suggests that when organizations actively manage their social media presence, the main result is an increase in user-generated content from employees, not increased engagement from customers or clients. So companies that invest marketing dollars in social media hoping to engage customers may be missing their mark.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-22-13    
Topic: Research, Social



Why Content Marketing is Just One Small Part of Inbound Marketing

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As HubSpot hosts its INBOUND conference this week, inbound marketing is taking center stage. Though as big and as popular as this conference -- and its focus, inbound marketing -- has become, there still seems to be a debate over whether or not the term inbound marketing is the same as another term used to describe a similar process, content marketing.

Writing on the Covario blog, Russ Mann argues content marketing is the more encompassing term of the two. He suggests inbound marketing is limited to earned (we would argue owned) media strategies that are designed to drive traffic and conversions to a marketer's website whereas content marketing places its emphasis on content creation, spreading that content far and wide without necessarily focusing on traffic and leads.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-21-13    
Topic: Opinion, Social



Domino's Apologizes to Customer Who Praised Product in Yet Another Social Media Screw Up

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It was quite hilarious (though completely expected if you are a customer and have ever dealt with them through any communications medium) when Bank of America's Twitter bot (or idiot who runs the account) had multiple brain farts when assuming non-customers where customers.

It's entirely another thing when a brand is so stupid that it actually apologizes to a customer who just heaped praise on the brand. On Wednesday, a Domino's customer posted a picture of a Domino's pizza on the brand's Facebook page along with the statement, "Best Pizza Ever! Keep up the good work guys!"

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by Steve Hall    Aug- 9-13    
Topic: Brands, Social, Worst



Study Says Quality (Thank God) Will Overtake Quantity in Content Marketing

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Today, Expion announced the results of its first FAVE 50 Social Retail Report which revealed the first half of 2013 to be the slowest growth period for retailers on Facebook since 2011, marked by a decline in fan engagement and volume despite an increase in the number of brand posts published.

The report analyzed the top 50 retail brands' performance in H1 2013, identifying two luxury brands, Tiffany & Co. and Victoria's Secret (natch), as leaders in Facebook engagement across the retail industry.

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by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-13    
Topic: Research, Social



This MINI Countryman Will Display Your Vine Videos

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As part of its Not Normal campaign, MINI has launched MINI Art Beat, a "synthesized digital design, music and interactive social media" effort that has resulted in a MINI Countryman custom-fitted with high-resolution LEDs. MINI Art Beat gives fans a chance to stream a live animation directly onto the MINI as it takes its night cruises - so both urban passers-by and online viewers can watch.

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by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-13    
Topic: Social, Video