Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Debbie Laskey has 15 years of marketing experience and an MBA Degree. She developed her marketing expertise while working in the high-tech industry, the Consumer Marketing Department at Disneyland Paris in France, the non-profit arena, and the insurance industry.  Her expertise includes brand marketing , social media , employee engagement , leadership development , and customer experience marketing . This week, Debbie was kind enough to answer the following three questions about social media and marketing : Question 1 . What are the biggest mistakes business leaders make when it comes to social media for their company? Laskey :  There are three key mistakes business leaders make regarding social media. First, there is the "what's social media" mistake. Some leaders think it's something their kids do or Mark Zuckerberg did when he dropped out of college. However, social media can be an effective marketing tool when it is designed and implemented...

Incredibly relevant.  Highly visual.  Timely.  Enlightening.  Instructive.  Scary. These are all words I use to describe Brian Solis' new book, What's The Future (WTF) Of Business -- Changing The Way Businesses Create Experiences . You can likely already imagine that I consider this a must-read book for any business owner and any leader -- even leaders who manage businesses that don't directly connect with consumers. WTF is incredibly relevant and timely because Solis explores the non-stop transformation happening in business today, driven by new social and mobile technologies. The book is highly visual because it's the quality of a coffee-table style book, packed with compelling graphics, bright colors and a design that makes for easy reading -- all delivered on top-notch paper. And, it's enlightening and instructive , because the book delivers real-world examples that can guide you as you shape your business. Plus, WTF is scary .  ...

When it comes to a crisis management plan, unfortunately most businesses don't have a plan. Or, don't have a plan that is up-to-date, comprehensive and/or flexible. With a crisis management plan, you : •  Forecast potential and most likely/probable crises •  Plan in advance for how to deal with them •  Document your sequential, step-by-step action plan, including having a timeline •  Share your written plan with all the appropriate players on your team A crisis can be any event or series of events that threatens your financial results, brand and reputation, and your relations with employees, customers and vendors. Most important, be sure you have a plan in place for a crisis that negatively impacts the general public. The first step in developing your plan is to gather your team and identify your likely crisis situations. As you establish your action plan, be sure to think about: •  Who will be on your crisis management team? •  Who will do ...

Increasingly, more companies are forming teams of employees to oversee their social media responsibilities. In his book, Social Marketology , Rick Dragon, shows business leaders how to choose the best tools for your needs and how to develop a strategy tailored to your goals. He also suggests various roles that you may want to learn more about and then ultimately fill as you create your social media team : Director of social media (DSM) Community manager Blog editor Blogger(s) Channel specialist Channel monitor Search engine optimization specialist Photographer/videographer Web producer Web analytics specialist And, as you grow your social media outreach, consider establishing one policy that covers the following areas, or create stand-alone policies for these areas: Overall philosophy Employee access and acceptable behavior Account management Employee conduct Content Security Legal Brand

If you lead a business, nonprofit, or any entity that interacts with customers and consumers and this infographic surprises you: ...then you'll want to read Anna Ritchie's recent blog post , full of eye-opening infographics about how people are constantly distracted by TV, social media, online content, and more, often all at once.  And, how 90% of all media interactions are now screen-based . Ritchie recaps the findings a new research report that are must-reads for leaders and for all content marketers who are continuously looking for new ways to “break through the clutter” and grab the attention of their target customers, members and constituents.

In his new book, Social Marketology , Ric Dragon , CEO of DragonSearch , recommends business leaders and marketing team leaders follow these eight tips to avoid making social media mistakes: Avoid mixing the technologies used for the organization's social media with individuals' personal accounts. Ensure that employees both on and off the social media team receive training. Think before deleting or editing users' comments or posts.  While making your decision, ask if your action might cause a backlash. Respond quickly. When a mistake is made, sincerely apologize. When appropriate, use humor. Have a policy in place. Have a top-responses document prepared to be used. Ric Dragon on developing a brand voice and market segmentation strategy:

Here are some key questions to ask yourself about how to connect with your customers in today's digital age: Are we making it easy for customers to find us in their digital lives? Do we offer services and content to customers on their schedule, not ours? Do our Web services run well on any browser, smartphone, or digital interface? Can our customers use their phones and mobile devices to find us, learn about us and pay us? Are we responding to customers online in a timely manner? Are we giving our biggest supporters the opportunity to connect with us and champion our business online? Has the conversation among our customers become a vital part of our business? Depending on how you answer these questions, you may need to also ask yourself these questions as well: What assumptions about our business do we need to reconsider? How does our culture need to change? What new skills and capacities do we need to foster? According to author David L. Rogers , "to thrive in o...

As you watch Super Bowl XLV today, watch particularly for how advertisers integrate their social media with their TV commercials. Mixing traditional media with new media will be unprecedented this year. One reason is that nearly two-thirds of 18- to 34-year-olds planning to watch the Super Bowl have smartphones and intend to use them while watching the game , according to Lightspeed Research . Of those, 59% will be sending emails or text messages about the game while 18% will be checking out the ads online from their phones . Some advertisers have already started their pre-game, social media play to build brand buzz and attract viewers to watch their Super Bowl commercials. Watch for advertisers that will : ask viewers to post pictures on special advertiser websites and then share them via Facebook and Twitter post outtakes and/or exclusive content after the game on their websites and social media pages invite (or already have invited) people to submit consumer-made-ad...

If you lead a business and aren’t part of the 34% of U.S. companies using a blog for marketing purposes, your business likely will within the next year. According to Emarketer, the proportion of companies using dedicated blogs as a marketing channel—excluding blogs on social networks and microblogs such as Twitter—will rise to 39% in 2011 and to 43% by 2012. Emarketer reports that businesses are launching their own blogs for communications, lead generation, customer service and branding primarily for these reasons: • corporate control of the tool • its integration with company web properties • no limits on post lengths • the ability to maintain a full, searchable repository of information Successful blogs generally follow these tips and guidelines: 1. Make your blog as non-promotional as possible. 2. Keep it relevant to the reader. 3. Answer your customers’ questions or address their pain points. 4. Be sure it’s well-written. 5. Make it relevant to your company or produc...

You can now find local volunteer opportunities on VolunteerMatch.org's new free mobile app for iPhones. Download the app, type in your zip code, and you will be presented a host of nonprofit organizations with volunteer opportunities in your area. And, if you are a leader in the workforce, take note of the recently completed research that VolunteerMatch.org and United Healthcare recently completed. They found compelling evidence that volunteering not only enhances volunteers' physical and mental health, but also strengthens relationships between employers and employees. So, encourage employees to volunteer. Organize groups of employees to volunteer after work or on the weekends. Consider rewarding employees with incentives or extra vacation time in exchange for their volunteer hours. Some highlights of the findings from the VolunteerMatch.org and United Healthcare research show that: 68% of those who volunteer in the past year report that volunteering made them fe...

Charlene Li, the author of the best-seller book, Groundswell , was kind enough to send me an advance copy of her newest book, Open Leadership , which she released for sale on May 24. Li explains in her new book what it means to be an open leader and why having those skills and behaviors are vital for effectively communicating with customers and employees in today's social media landscape. My complete book review is on my Kansas City Leadership Examiner.com page. But, here are some of the more compelling statements Li makes in her book, that I believe is a must read for leaders in large and small businesses and organizations: • "Open leadership is about how leaders must let go to gain more." • "The more power you give away, the more power you ultimately have." • "Being open requires more -- not less -- rigor and effort than being in control." • "You need to seek out opportunities to be humbled each and every day -- to be touched as ...

Everyone is still figuring it all out. And, there's much to learn about Return On Investment (ROI). But, if you lead a nonprofit, small business or large business, or if you're a budding entrepreneur, you need to understand just how important the social media landscape is going to be to your business -- particularly to your marketing. Social media is changing how businesses need to interact with their customers. Two-way communication and transparency are the future. Equally important, your brand is now being influenced and shaped by your customers (those who like you and those who don't) via social media. If you're not yet convinced of the power of social media, check out this video: Social Media Revolution Then, take a look at this video, which humorously depicts how social media has changed advertising forever: Advertising-Customer Break Up You can find many resources online to help you better understand social media. A good book to read is " Social...