Do advertising agencies and social media represent a culture clash? Are these mutually exclusive entities that are best confined to their own worlds? Is it possible to use the combo in a manner which offers the best of both worlds? What is social marketing to an advertising agency? How can an advertising agency leverage the best of social media while …

There’s little doubt that tweets are the lifeline of Twitter. When Twitter was launched, critics were quick to point out that there’s not much you can do with 140 characters. However, I’ve always believed that the character limit has been a blessing in disguise for Twitter as it encourages users to write meaningful and to the point tweets. When Osama …

With the news, that Apple’s next generation iPhone 5 would offer users a system-wide integration of Twitter, but not of Facebook, the ongoing narrative of a war between the two social networking giants began to dominate the headlines once again. Why did Apple snub Facebook and its growing legion of nearly 700 million users? Will the partnership with Apple, propel …

Facebook marketing is considered the modern-age marketer’s paradise and there’s a good reason to that. Businesses of all sizes – whether it’s Small and Medium-size Business (SMB), Small Office Home Offices (SOHO) or large enterprises have tasted phenomenal success with their Facebook marketing campaigns. What is it that makes Facebook an effective marketing media – is it the sheer volume …

It’s often said that simplicity is the best sophistication and I reckon Facebook login is a perfect testimony to that statement. Several social networks existed before Facebook was launched but none of them managed to make a significant impact. Facebook changed the rules of the game and has proven to be a model success story for how you can leverage …

A lot has been said and talked about social media in the business world. Several recent surveys and research reports have indicated that social media is firmly on its way to becoming a norm rather than an exception amongst businesses. Whether its large multi-national enterprises or SMBs, everybody seems to be in a mood to cash in on the social …

Till a couple of years back, traditional direct marketing vehicles, such as direct mail and email marketing were considered a marketer’s best friends. However, the explosive growth of social media has changed the direct marketing landscape for good. When marketers started using Facebook and Twitter as direct marketing tools, critics were quick to ask how direct is social media marketing …

We live in a plugged-in frenetic smartphones society. We “Check-in” on Facebook, to announce to the world that we have arrived at our destinations, be it the barbershop or a concert. And while we are there we are never really in the moment. Every new experience must be immediately recorded and shared with the world using the technology on our …

Venmo’s markets pitch: “It’s like your phone and your wallet had a beautiful baby.” The Philadelphia-based startup makes it easy to send money to friends using text messages from your mobile phone and easier still, by using an app designed for your smartphone. Unlike other mobile phone payment apps, such as Google Wallet, Venmo is limiting its service, for now, …

Twitter, the wildly popular micro-blogging service, announced this week it’s acquiring the start-up keyword bidding company AdGrok for under $10 million. That’s not bad for a young company that just transitioned out of beta not too long ago. The AdGrok founders will immediately shut up shop and join Twitter in developing its fledgling “revenue engineering team.” That is, except AdGrok’s …

In this virtual, crowd sourcing community we all live in now, with “like” buttons and “share” buttons and hundreds of new best friends, news travels fast with Yelp. Bad news travels even faster. A 140-character tweet can destroy a career or decimate a business. And as businesses operating in the 21st century are learning, a negative review on a user …

Having a marketing strategy is good, but having a marketing strategy that works is great! Last year, I wrote several posts to uncover why businesses must formulate and practice a social media marketing strategy that works. Whether it’s measuring the ROI on your social media efforts or saving a dying business with social media, building a social media marketing strategy …

The retail landscape with mobile payments, both virtual and in-person at brick and mortar establishments, is about to change in a big way. An actual wallet may soon become obsolete, as well as plastic credit cards, cash registers and paper money. As mobile payment services, such as PayPal become ubiquitous in the way we are paid and make purchases, companies …

Last year, several social media critics predicted 2011 would be the definitive year when the social media bubble will eventually burst. On the contrary, I strongly put forward my opinion that businesses will get more social in 2011. Subsequently, I provided several insights such as the 5 biggest challenges for social media this year and how you can benefit from …

How do you identify the best social network for you? Does the one size fits all rule apply? Unfortunate as it is, the above rule doesn’t apply to the world of social networks. A social network that may sound perfect for business may indeed be a recipe for disaster for another business. Your competitors are all over the place so …