Tag Archives: Internet Marketing

blog, digital media, social media, twitter

Why Klout (aka influence) is Important

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Like it or not influence matters.  And chances are you’re not sitting on the fence on this one.  Especially when it comes to online influence. You either love Klout or you hate Klout.  

You love Klout because you either understand what they are trying to achieve.  Or if you’ve received a free bag of chips.

You hate Klout because you’ve never “won” anything in your life or your score is lower than 50. Or you don’t believe in what Klout is attempting to build.

But if I asked you if influence matters you would have to agree with me.  Think about it for a moment:

  1. have you “liked” something on Facebook?
  2. ever “retweet” something on Twitter?
  3. have you ever forwarded an email or online article?
  4. do you refer products or services you enjoy to your friends?

You answered yes to at least one question above.  And by doing so you’ve exerted your influence over someone else.  And I believe this is what Klout wants to capture:  The influence you, others and myself have in comparison to others.

Is Klout perfect just yet?  Of course not.  And it may never be.  But here’s the question you should ask yourself:

Will you stop forwarding good content to your sphere of influence?  Of course not.  And that’s why Klout is important.

What say you?

digital media, social media, twitter

5 Questions with Mitch Joel

Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” and called him, “one of North America’s leading digital visionaries.” In 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media, one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and was awarded the highly prestigious Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. Most recently, Mitch was named one of iMedia’s 25 Internet Marketing Leaders and Innovators in the world.

Joel is frequently called upon to be a subject matter expert for Huffington Post, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Marketing Magazine, Profit, Strategy, Money, The Globe & Mail and many other media outlets. His newspaper business column, New Business – Six Pixels of Separation, runs bi-monthly in both The Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation (published by Grand Central Publishing – Hachette Book Group), named after his successful Blog and Podcast is a business and marketing bestseller.

You can hear him speak tomorrow in Toronto at the Science and Art of Social Business conference.

What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis?

A love and a passion for marketing, communications and new media. While others watch dance competitions on TV, I love to read the Blogs, tweet the tweets and fumble around on Facebook. Some call it work… I call it love. I also wake up every morning and I’m thrilled that I’m back

If you had 30 seconds to impart your wisdom on a classroom of soon-to-be graduates, what would you say?

I would tell them to read this:

http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/what-advice-would-you-give-yourself-as-an-industry-rookie-given-what-you-know-today/

In your opinion, what has been one of the most important technological developments over the past 12 months?

The growth of tablets and iPad in particular. Now, we just need the usability and new marketing excitement to catch up!

If you had a crystal ball, what would you say will be the most important technological development over the next 12 months?

The continued growth of touch and I’m hopeful we move toward complete connectivity (a hybrid of wi-fi and an even faster LTE network).

Who is one of Canada’s tech stars and why?

I think the folks at Radian6 deserve a big standing ovation.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zQnfnKBZLg]
digital media, social media

President and CEO of L’Oreal Canada provides some ‘Food For Thought’

Yesterday I had the good fortune of being invited by Aditya Shah of Loose Button to their Food For Thought series at the La Maquette Italian restaurant in downtown Toronto.

This particular series featured guests from companies such as Syncapse, AshCity, TIFF, LinkedIn Canada, Guardly, Rogers, and Environics.  Representing thirdocean and XConnect at this luncheon with these other companies was exciting and humbling to say the least.

This month’s featured speaker was Javier San Juan, President and CEO of L’Oreal Canada.  To give you an idea of how large L’Oreal Canada is, they have sales of over $1 billion in Canada with a market share of over 30% which leads the entire beauty market in Canada.

The talk of the afternoon, however, was not on the state of the beauty and cosmetics industry in Canada.  The discussion was on the reason L’Oreal has pursued a digital and social strategy.

Javier discussed 5 points on L’Oreal and social media:

  1. Internal Culture and Communications.  Previously, communications was a top-down activity.  With the integration of internal social tools, however, employees are now obligated to voice their views.  Said Javier, “We listen to our customers and our employees.”
  2. Brand Ownership. “We don’t own our brands anymore.  But we can shape the discussion and conversation that is taking place about our brands.”
  3. Relevancy.  Unlike traditional push-marketing social media marketing is more about discussion.  As a result, messaging has become more relevant and more about conversations.
  4. Content Revolution.  Today when you watch or listen to a commercial, or drive by a billboard there is almost zero chance of that content spreading.  The very definition of social media includes the ability to share and discuss this content with friends, family and acquaintances.
  5. Connect.  L’Oreal decided to become involved in social media not because it was sexy but because it allowed L’Oreal to connect, communicate and share with their employees and consumers.
Why does your company use social media and how does it approach a social strategy?