“‘To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.’ So shouldn’t the reactions to your marketing have something to do with your business proposition? 

If the response you’re driving for is a chuckle, or just a pass-along to another consumer, no wonder the gurus don’t want you to measure it.  Given a nanosecond of time to interact with people, the best most of us can do is waste it?”

Jonathan Salem Baskin
(via AdAge)

“As an avid Internet marketer, I continue to be amazed by the occurrence of discussions that focus more on how to boost Web analytic capabilities and less on figuring out what those numbers mean or, even worse, how to profit from them…

I propose that Internet marketing agencies and internal departments do away with the job title ‘Web analyst’ and instead take time to establish and conduct cross-training programs with all personnel to help them understand what the figures mean and how best to use them in order to meet or exceed a campaign’s stated objectives. In the end, marketing departments will have a much easier time showing a quantifiable return for the investments made.”

Charles Wiedenhoft
Red Door Interactive

“While we often first point the finger at the Chief Financial Officer as being disconnected from customers, the truly shocking part of the study is that it is the Chief Marketing Officer who fails to listen to, and learn from, the very people they are marketing to!”

Scott McKain
Author, Vice Chairman of Obsidian Enterprises
(via GrokdotCom)

“The financial crunch will accelerate social network adoption among those focused on substance rather than flash…

Social media can save money.. how much did it cost the Obama campaign in time and money to raise $500 million? Extremely little....

People like to get involved and contribute, when you can frame the activity as important and you provide the tools to facilitate meaningful action. Engagement raises profits and can decrease costs. Engaged customers, for example, tend to leave less often than apathetic customers…

Social media presents many new possibilities for revenue, but to see them, look outside existing product silos. Focus on customer experience by engaging customers, not with your organization, but with each other...”

Chris Rollyson
The Global Human Capital Journal

“At the end of the day, the objective of inbound marketing is not conversation for its own sake, as some social media evangelists suggest, but to use those conversations to learn as much as we can about what customers most want and need from us…

... and then create great customer experiences by meeting those wants and needs at the right time and the right place, which are when customers contact us and wherever they do so.”

Lewis Green
L and G Business Solutions

“... as retailers try to make up with sale items all the sales they were unable to realize with regular pricing, they’re daring consumers to revalue what they’re buying. The greater the pricing variability, the less qualities of brand have any inherent value. Something that costs less due to the exigencies of sellers can never fully be worth more when it comes to the needs of buyers.

Sales are a chronic affliction for businesses, and a constant reminder to consumers that all the imagined promises of branding don’t necessarily connect to the reality of prices.  This week’s sales aren’t price discounts; they’re proof that efforts to sell stuff the remainder of the year will be attempted at inflated prices.”

Jonathan Salem Baskin
Author
Branding Only Works on Cattle