We see a lot of companies placing video on their websites and YouTube channels without much thought being given to whether the content will be of any real value to the audience or much benefit to the organization. Dave Chase recently wrote a great article showcasing 10 wonderful examples from several different industries that offer fodder for those looking to hone their online video marketing approach. The basic principle is to create content that is valuable and interesting, but how have others met that challenge and won?

Google recently introduced their new tool, Google SideWiki to create an annotated web browsing experience for any user willing to install the Google toolbar in their browser. Operators of brand websites are no doubt going to be frustrated by the idea of user-generated content outside their control surrounding the user experience of their website. However, there could be interesting opportunities here for marketers and tremendous advances for the consumer if the SideWiki adoption rate takes off.

All too often, marketers place videos on YouTube or even build channels and then walk away from them to view from afar the viewership they generate. I read this interesting study that confirms what we have learned from YouTube marketing in recent years- that using the community building tools of YouTube plays a significant role in the ranking your video receives and in its ability to be found by your audiences on YouTube. If you don’t engage, your YouTube success will certainly be more limited.

I love this article by Mark Collier that describes the groundswell caused by a simple Tweet by an independant musician with a loyal following. The is such a great example of simple principles of social media communications.

• It’s not about “me” but about “we”
• Embrace participation
• Be willing to be spontaneous

The term “inbound marketing” tends to bring together the tactics of search and social media under one umbrella.  To me the theme that binds them all together is that they reach people during the natural course of whatever they may be doing online rather than interrupting that process with “Hey pay attention to me now” [...]

Social media marketing requires a shift from typical marketing mindsets and this can oftentimes be the most crucial step in being able to develop and commit to social media success. The typical marketing mindsets are all about treating consumers as targets to be interrupted and messaged at. Some people have referred to this as the megaphone approach but you could also look at it as shooting at your audience even though you know most of them are wearing bullet-proof vests. The social media marketing mindset has to be about creating magnetism and attraction around your communications. There are 5 essential pillars to this mindset that will support you in this effort.

The Email Experience Council recently released a report with several eye-opening email marketing statistics that remind us how dangerous it can be ot get complacent with your email marketing.   Here you go but be prepared to be either highly motivated or completely depressed.

Every year an average of 30 percent of the people who signed up [...]

A recent study by Pear Analytics sought to determine the content of what is being posted to Twitter. They took 2,000 tweets in English from the public timeline over a time span of two weeks, with 200 tweets captured each half-hour from 11am – 5pm CST daily. They then categorized tweets into six different types: news, spam, self-promotion, pointless babble, conversation, and pass-along value. Pointless babble won with 40.55% of the sample.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a survey that indicates that the share of online adults who watch videos on video-sharing sites has nearly doubled since 2006. In addition television and movie watching are now an online experience for a third of internet users.

I read an interesting article on HotelNewsNow.com about whether and how hotel owners and operators should respond to reviews of their facility on sites like TripAdvisor.  The article was interesting for two reasons:

It provides clear direction on what is usually a vexing question for the hotel
The information came from a discussion amongst the members of [...]