By Josh Cline

One of the first things clients want when they hear “online” or “social media” is “viral.” But, the first thing I tell clients is that “viral is an outcome, not a strategy.” Online marketing – whether it is social media, e-mail, web, apps, or, ideally, an integrated marketing campaign – is a long-term effort filled with community and relationship building: not a campaign to start and stop at whim.

Unfortunately, there are too many out there selling ‘social media snake oil’ and promising to make your content go viral. “Viral” however is the direct outcome of creating quality relationships, having a worthwhile product/service, and being open and authentic – over time.  Read more...

As our president Josh Cline wrote, strategy is the most important component of any marketing endeavor. This is truer in the digital marketing arena. Inbound marketing and social media marketing are  strategic marketing tools. In order to succeed in your marketing efforts, marketing strategy is necessary.  Read more...

Google’s UK, Ireland, and Benelux Marketing Director Dan Cobley lectures at TED about the intersection between physics and marketing. Didn’t know they had something in common? Think again.

Here are Dan’s principles:

a) Newton’s Law: The more massive a brand, the more baggage it has and the more force it takes to change its position. The bigger a brand, the more difficult it is to reposition it.

b) Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: Observing consumers changes their behavior. For example, people aren’t honest in focus groups and surveys. However, with digital marketing, it’s much easier – we can measure what consumers actually do rather than what they say they do. This is why user testing is so important — we can measure actual behavior with digital marketing.  Read more...

Last month, I had the pleasure of seeing TBWA’s Chief Digital Officer, Colleen DeCourcey speak at Com.Vention, the largest Internet conference in Israel. Focusing primarily on digital marketing and digital innovation (as Israel is a known innovation hub), the conference featured innovators like Answers.com (based in Israel and the 55th most popular website in the world), Robert Scoble, face.com, Google, and technological innovation. Most people spoke about the sociological and marketing implications of social media, the radical implications of Facebook’s new Like feature, and how digital marketing is changing society. My favorite quote from Google EMEA head Meir Brand: “In the future, we won’t be talking about digital marketing, just marketing.” But, beyond speaking about technology, TBWA’s Chief Digital Officer, Colleen DeCourcey, spoke not about technology – but about art – and how technology can help us tell stories that weren’t possible before.  Read more...