After eight great years I am re launching theMarketingblog late January / early February 2012

ü  *A digital presence is just a way of life / *If in the real world, actions speak louder than words, in the realm of digital influence, actions speak louder than scores
Brian Solis

Q. Do you want to encourage the right profile and have quality positioning with clarity, freshness and authority for your company in 2012?

A. Create a series of quality content ‘Lead Story' articles with the new ‘View from the Top’ plan from theMarketingblog. Check the details here... http://goo.gl/Zy9Uq

Remember Google's recent update indicates an increasing significance being placed on the freshness of the content on your site. TheMarketingblog's 'View from the Top' plan means you get that important 'freshness'. It'a a no brainer.

Find out what the NEW Marketingblog can do for your company over the next six months. Please call me Will Corry 01784 434 412 for a marketing and sales chinwag will@themarketingblog.co.uk.

Your Time will be well spent - call now!

Expect all things Twitter, Facebook, Groupon, Foursquare, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs and more

via oursocialtimes.com

Over 200 brands and agencies, bloggers and journalists attended this Social Media Marketing & Monitoring 2011 (London), so we expect a sell-out in 2011. This time around they will be pushing the boundaries further and exploring the latest in social media marketing innovation, as well as the tools and techniques that have proved their value in the past year. Expect all things Twitter, Facebook, Groupon, Foursquare, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs and more.
For more details contact Will Corry, the UK Content Curator 01784 434 412 will@themarketingblog.co.uk

So what are the best practices for creating an engaging social stream? / Brian Solis

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As a consumer, you are blasted with the same request over and over: “Follow Us on Twitter, Like Us on Facebook.” Why should I? What’s in it for me?

These are questions of which a significant number of businesses cannot genuinely answer

Today, a notable number of businesses are approaching branded social channels from a “ready, fire, aim” approach. This method conjures a facade of achievement when in fact, any progress, if at all recognized, is short term and shoddy at best. Many focus on numbers without first analyzing who they’re trying to reach and, more importantly, how engagement satisfies the needs of their customers. Without a mature content and engagement strategy, a great unfollow and unlike movement is inevitable.

Meltwater Buzz is an innovative social media monitoring tool that enables comprehensive tracking and analysis of user-generated content on the web

The Dawn of the Social Consumer | Fast Company

Tweet ... ReTweet
Like
Share
Check-in
Group buy
QR code scan
Augmented reality
RFID
What may sound like buzz words or mere hype, is actually the beginning of the end of business as usual. Welcome to the rise of the social consumer and a new era of social commerce. Look at the picture above and think about how physical and online stores can integrate the social graph into the shopping experience right now. The possibilities are limitless and we can introduce everything today.

From online to offline to online again, social consumers are checking into businesses, fusing online and offline engagement and influencing behavior and decisions in the process. These increasingly important acts of social exchanges are gaining in value and delivering benefits for both sides. As a result, social consumers now expect to be rewarded for their role in the socialization of your brand ... and rightly so.
Rumors are already swirling that the recently launched Facebook Places geo-location service will soon encourage businesses to offer deals in exchange for check-ins.