Top 10 Marketing Predictions for 2009

Joe Pulizzi from Junta42 polled content marketers and social media marketers for their best single prediction for 2009 - see the full list of 42 predictions here.

Here is what I would consider the Top 10 predictions from that list David Letterman style.

The Top 10 Marketing Predictions for 2009

Number 10 - Smart brand marketers will reach out via text offers and Twitter offers to the college aged crowd, money saving offers that they can use repeatedly to build brand preferences for the future (by Scott Howard)

Number 9 - Brand marketers will continue to experiment with existing and emerging forms of social media, concentrating their efforts on substance and distribution and not frequency (by Brian Solis)

Number 8 - If you are thinking of increasing your content play in 2009, hire a journalist (by Ann Handley)

Number 7 - 2009 will see the beginnings of a new approach to corporate blogging that is more genuine and open (by Paul Gillin)

Number 6 - Execution will become the new strategy! (by Valerie Maltoni)

Number 5 - In 2009 there will be a backlash against company Twitter accounts and either the Twitter community will need to self-police or the good people who run Twitter will need to make rules (by David Meerman Scott)

Number 4 - Many [companies] will rush to ... leverage LinkedIn and Facebook groups to further interact with their clientele (by Michael Stelzner)

Number 3 - 2009 will see more brands providing opportunities, tools and experiences that allow or encourage others to create and distribute content on their behalf (by Mark Brownlow)

Number 2 - Large agencies will collapse as they try to drink from ever smaller (digital) pools and realize they have neither the skills nor nimble approach to survive (by Simon Kelly)

and the Number 1 Marketing Prediction for 2009 is - Healthcare will see major adoption of social media in 2009 (by Albert Maruggi)

 

Who is doing Major Corporate Events?

I had dinner the other night with a buddy of mine who runs a company that produces major corporate events. You know the kind with a stage, lighting, stadium seating and a day or two of PowerPoint presentations designed to pump up the troops.

Interestingly enough he reported their business was off dramatically in that area.

Why? Three letters - AIG …

No corporate events person in their right mind would want to do a major event right now in the wake of the AIG scandal. They are either canceling them outright, postponing them till next year or doing them virtually.

I have been looking into virtual events with several vendors: Inexpo, ON24 and Unisfair. I also blogged about my thoughts on virtual events. Bottom line is I think there is great value there for us at BearingPoint and have it my budget again for next year.

Why do I see value in Virtual Events? – I see the opportunity to invest in this technology and have it pay for itself in one year. I estimate, if you set up your own branded virtual event area and do at least 5 webinars in that area during the cost of a year, you should be able to pay for the service for the first year since the cost of a virtual webinar is about half that of the cost of a regular webinar with a media partner.

Then you can leverage the platform to hold a virtual event internally. You can have your CEO speak to the whole company live and in person, take questions real time from about 10,000 people. All this at a fraction of the cost of a major corporate event.

One word of advice you need a good front end presentation layer. Hire a good video crew that can work with the virtual platform (email me for a recommendation) and you are good to go.

While it may be out of fashion to do a major corporate event – communicating with large groups of people in a personable style is not.

 

Brands that Tweet

There has been a lot of discussion lately about whether or not brands should be on Twitter. Quite frankly I really enjoy and appreciate some of the brands that I follow on Twitter because they give me news about their brand without me having to go find it.

If you are thinking about whether your brand should be on Twitter - Here is just some of the discussions occurring about branding with Twitter

• BusinessWeek piece on Brands that Tweet
• Do brands belong on Twitter?
• Brands need to think before they tweet!
• Why Brands ABSOLUTELY DO Belong on Twitter

Either way you decide here is a list of Brands that Tweet and a link to my last list of C Suite Executives who are on Twitter

If you are aware of a brand that should be added to this list, please post them using the comments feature at the bottom of this post and I’ll get them included ASAP - please send me - brand name and Twitter URL.

312 Dining Diva - twitter.com/Audarshia
360Fashion Network - twitter.com/360fashion
Accenture - twitter.com/Accenture
AccuConference - twitter.com/accuconference
Active Network - twitter.com/activenetwork
adenin Tech - twitter.com/adenin
AideRSS - twitter.com/aiderss
AL.com - twitter.com/aldotcom
American Traveler - twitter.com/travelnursejobs
Angel.com - twitter.com/angeldotcom
Anglia Business Solutions - twitter.com/AngliaSolutions
Aplus.net - twitter.com/Aplus_net
AQA 63336 - twitter.com/AQA63336
Archerfish - twitter.com/myarcherfish
Arena Flowers - twitter.com/arenaflowers
ArmsVault - twitter.com/armsvault
ATT News - twitter.com/attnews
Australian ISP BigPond - twitter.com/bigpondteam
Avaya - twitter.com/Avaya
Avaya Devconnect- twitter.com/devconnect
Avaya Services - twitter.com/Avaya_Services
Avaya Support - twitter.com/Avaya_Support
Avaya SMB - twitter.com/avaya_smb
Avaya UC - twitter.com/avaya_uc
Avid Technology - twitter.com/AvidTechnology
AWeber - twitter.com/aweber
Baskin-Robbins - twitter.com/BaskinRobbins
BatteryFuel - twitter.com/batteryfuel
Bazaarvoice - twitter.com/bazaarvoice
BBC - twitter.com/bbcbreaking
BearingPoint - twitter.com/BearingPoint
Better World Books - twitter.com/BWBooks
Bigelow Tea - twitter.com/bigelowtea
Blinc Cosmetics - twitter.com/blinc
BodiBar - twitter.com/mybodibar
Bojangles - twitter.com/gottawannaneeda
Boloco - twitter.com/boloco
Bosco Chocolate Syrup - twitter.com/scott_so
bragster - twitter.com/bragster
Brazil Carnival - twitter.com/brazilcarnival
BT Tradespace - twitter.com/bttradespace
BuildDirect - twitter.com/builddirect
Business.com - twitter.com/whatworks
BusinessWeek - twitter.com/bwbx
BusinessWeek - twitter.com/JOHNABYRNE
Buzzillions: twitter.com/buzzillions
Cabot Cheese - twitter.com/cabotcoop
Canadian Tourism Commission - twitter.com/ctccct
CareerBuilder.com - twitter.com/thehiringsite
CenterNetworks - twitter.com/centernetworks
Charm City Burger - twitter.com/charmcityburger
Chicago Tribune - twitter.com/chicagotribune
ChoiceStream - twitter.com/ChoiceStream
Cincom - twitter.com/CincomSynchrony
CME Group- twitter.com/CMEGroup
CNN - twitter.com/cnn
CNN Breaking News - twitter.com/cnnbrk
Coast Hotels & Resorts - twitter.com/coasthotels
Comcast - twitter.com/comcastcares
ComputerGeeks - twitter.com/ComputerGeeks
Constant Contact - twitter.com/ctcthelp
ControlGuard - twitter.com/ControlGuard
Correlix - twitter.com/Correlix
Cristian Cafe - twitter.com/christiancafe
Cutter Consortium - twitter.com/cuttertweets
Delicious - twitter.com/Delicious
Dell - twitter.com/Direct2Dell
Dell on Twitter - www.dell.com/twitter
Dell Outlet - twitter.com/delloutlet
DeskAway - twitter.com/deskaway
Discovery Channel - twitter.com/DiscoveryChPR
dripit - twitter.com/dripit
DunkinDonuts - twitter.com/DunkinDonuts
Earth Institute at Columbia University - twitter.com/earthinstitute
Eastbay - twitter.com/Eastbay
eb-spain - twitter.com/ebspain
Eclipse Awards- twitter.com/eclipseawards
EcoSearch - twitter.com/EcoSearch
eGain - twitter.com/eGain
FAST - twitter.com/ffblog
Fast Company - twitter.com/fastcompany
Field Dress - twitter.com/FieldDress
Fingerhut - twitter.com/FingerhutTweets
First Federal - twitter.com/firstfederal
Flying Dog Beer - twitter.com/flyingdog
Foot Solutions - twitter.com/FootSolutions
FORA.tv - twitter.com/foratv
Ford Asia Pacific and Africa - twitter.com/FordAPA
Ford Customer Service - twitter.com/fordcustservice
Ford Drive Green - twitter.com/FordDriveGreen
Ford Drive One - twitter.com/FordDriveOne
Ford Mustang - twitter.com/fordmustang
Ford Trucks - twitter.com/fordtrucks
ForRent.com - twitter.com/AptsForRent
Forrester - twitter.com/forrester
Fox News - twitter.com/foxnews
FoxNews.com - twitter.com/foxnewspolitics
Frankentipps.de - twitter.com/Frankentipps
Freewheelin Bikesharing - twitter.com/bikesharing
Fundtech - twitter.com/Fundtech
FutureTap - twitter.com/futuretap
Gabbr - twitter.com/gabbrdotcom
GE Healthcare - twitter.com/GEhealthcare
GE Reports - twitter.com/GE_Reports
GM - twitter.com/GMblogs
GM Trucks - twitter.com/GMtruckclub
Goldensource - twitter.com/Goldensource
Graco - twitter.com/gracobaby
Grand Canyon University - twitter.com/gcu
Grant Thornton South Africa - twitter.com/grantthornton
Grant Thornton US - twitter.com/grantthorntonus
Greenling Organic - twitter.com/greenling_com
Growing Bolder - twitter.com/growingbolder
GU Energy - twitter.com/GUenergy
H&R Block - twitter.com/HRBlock
Habitatter.com - twitter.com/Habitatter_com
Harley Davidson – twitter.com/harleydavidson
Hello Direct - twitter.com/hellodirect
Henkel - twitter.com/Henkel_na
Hertz – twitter.com/connectbyhertz
HipHop.TV – twitter.com/hiphoptv
Home Depot – twitter.com/thehomedepot
HP Blades - twitter.com/bladenews
HP News - twitter.com/hpnews
HP Printing Group - twitter.com/hp_ipg
HP Snapfish - twitter.com/snapfishbyhp
HP Social Media - twitter.com/AngelaAtHP
HP Store - twitter.com/buyhp
Hubspot – twitter.com/grader
Huffington Post - twitter.com/huffpost
Humana's Innovation Center- twitter.com/crumpleitup
IBM - twitter.com/smartsoa
IBM developerWorks - twitter.com/developerworks
Ikea Fans - twitter.com/ikeafans
Infusionsoft - twitter.com/Infusionsoft
Inkfruit - twitter.com/inkfruit
International Blogging and New Media Association - twitter.com/ibnma
Intershop - twitter.com/intershop
Intuit - twitter.com/intuit
Ipevo - twitter.com/ipevo
iPhone - twitter.com/iphone
ITV - twitter.com/itvinsider
JASE Group - twitter.com/JASEgroup
JBoss - twitter.com/jbossnews
Jetblue - twitter.com/JetBlue
Jewelry Television - twitter.com/Jewelry
Joost - twitter.com/joost_com
Kidst - twitter.com/kidst
Kodak - twitter.com/kodakCB
Landor.com - twitter.com/landor_dot_com
Lands End - twitter.com/LandsEndChat
L'Express - twitter.com/LEXPRESS
LinkedIn - twitter.com/LinkedIn
Litmos.com - twitter.com/Litmos
Livescribe Pulse Smartpen - twitter.com/livescribe
LocationStore - twitter.com/locationstore
Loopt - twitter.com/loopt
Lumension Security - twitter.com/_Lumension
Luxor Hotel and Casino - twitter.com/LuxorLV
Lynda Learning - twitter.com/Lyndadotcom
Macmillan Cancer Support - twitter.com/macmillancancer
Magicomm - twitter.com/magicomm
Make magazine - twitter.com/make
MarketingProfs - twitter.com/marketingprofs
Marriott - twitter.com/MarriottIntl
MassLive.com - twitter.com/masslivenews
McMaster University Libraries - twitter.com/maclibraries
Medifast - twitter.com/medifastpr
MENG - twitter.com/MENGonline
Messless - twitter.com/immessless
Metro - twitter.com/MetroOnline
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino - twitter.com/mgmgrand
MGM Mirage - twitter.com/VegasConcierge
MicroStrategy - twitter.com/microstrategy
Mindjet - - twitter.com/Mindjet
MLive.com - twitter.com/mlive
MostComfortableShoes - twitter.com/comfyshoes
MpowerPlayer - twitter.com/mplayit
MSC mobile - twitter.com/mscmobile
Musicnotes.com - twitter.com/music_notes
MXTabs.net - twitter.com/mxtabs
National Association of Broadcasters/NAB Show - twitter.com/nabshow
National Association of Realtors - twitter.com/realtors
Natural User Interface - twitter.com/multitouch
Network Solutions - twitter.com/netsolcares
NewsChomper- twitter.com/newschomper
NJ.com - twitter.com/njdotcom
NOLA.com - twitter.com/nolanews
nopaper - twitter.com/nopaper
Nordstrom - twitter.com/nordstrom
North Face - twitter.com/thenorthface
Northern Light - twitter.com/northernlight
NPR News - twitter.com/nprnews
nuBound- twitter.com/nuBound
NY Times - twitter.com/nytimes
O2 - twitter.com/o2ukofficial
OHL - twitter.com/ohltweets
Oracle - twitter.com/oracle
O'Reilly Media - twitter.com/oreillymedia
Pancheros Mexican Grill - twitter.com/pancheros
Parts Express - twitter.com/Parts_Express
PBLoco - twitter.com/pbloco
Pepsi - twitter.com/pepsi
Pinstripe - - twitter.com/PinstripeTalent
PitchEngine - twitter.com/pitchengine
PlanetGreen - twitter.com/planetgreen
Playboy - twitter.com/Playboy
Pool Cue Guru - twitter.com/PoolCueGuru
Pop Syndicate - twitter.com/popsyndicate
popchips - twitter.com/popchips
Popeye's Chicken - twitter.com/PopeyesChicken
PR Newswire - twitter.com/prnewswire
Pragmatic Marketing - twitter.com/pragmaticmkting
ProfNet - twitter.com/profnet
Provident - twitter.com/provident
Proximic - twitter.com/proximic
QuickBase - twitter.com/IntuitQuickbase
Rachel Maddow - twitter.com/maddow
Rand McNally - twitter.com/RandMcNally
Realestate.com - twitter.com/realtweet
Real Time Celebrity Sightings - twitter.com/CelebSightings
Red Hat - twitter.com/redhatnews
Red Hat's Gov Team - twitter.com/redhatgov
RevZilla - twitter.com/RevZilla
Ripple 6 - twitter.com/Ripple6
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - twitter.com/rwjf
Ron's Home And Hardware - twitter.com/rons
Rubbermaid - twitter.com/Rubbermaid
Ruche Boutique - twitter.com/ShopRuche
Sacre Bleu Wine - twitter.com/sacrebleuwine
Salesforce.com - twitter.com/successforce
Sandler Training - twitter.com/sandlertraining
SAP - twitter.com/sapnetwork
SAP Listens - twitter.com/saplistens
Sarasota Ford - twitter.com/sarasotaford
SAS BI Consultant - twitter.com/sasbi
SAS Blog Author - twitter.com/sascomeditor
SAS Dummy Book Author - twitter.com/cjdinger
Sciencebase - twitter.com/sciencebase
Scuba Diver Girls - twitter.com/scubadivergirls
SEGA - twitter.com/segaamerica
SEGA Bayonetta - twitter.com/bayonettagame
SEGA Phantasy Star - twitter.com/phantasystar
SEGA Total War - twitter.com/totalwar
SEGA Valkyria Chronicles - twitter.com/valkyriatribune
Sel de la Terre Restaurant - twitter.com/SDLT774Boylston
Semper International - twitter.com/semperllc
Share Our Strength - twitter.com/sharestrength
Shoplet - twitter.com/shoplet
Sierra Trading Post - twitter.com/sierratp
Sightix - twitter.com/sightix
Six Apart - twitter.com/sixapart
SmartFinds Marketing - twitter.com/SmartFinds
SocialText- twitter.com/Socialtext
Sodexo - twitter.com/SodexoCareers
Southwest Airlines - twitter.com/southwestair
SpectorSoft- twitter.com/SpectorSoft
Spinnakerpro - twitter.com/spinnakerpro
Sprint News - twitter.com/sprintnews
STA Travel - twitter.com/statravelers
Starbucks - twitter.com/starbucks
StreamServe - twitter.com/streamserve
Sun Microsystems - twitter.com/sunmicrosystems
Surety - twitter.com/absoluteproof
Synergy Broadcast Systems - twitter.com/synergybcast
Syracuse.com - twitter.com/syracusedotcom
T Mobile - twitter.com/FlyWithTMobile
Taco Bell - twitter.com/TacoBellTruck
Taco Bell - twitter.com/FeedTheBeat
Tagzania - twitter.com/tagzania
TalkTalk - twitter.com/talktalktips
Teavana - twitter.com/teavana
Telstra - twitter.com/bigpondteam
TerraGo - twitter.com/terrago
The AppGap - twitter.com/theappgap
The Oregonian - twitter.com/oregonian
The Sims2 - twitter.com/thesims2
The Sims3 - twitter.com/thesims3
The Washington Times - twitter.com/washtimes
TheHandbagShop - twitter.com/thehandbagshop
Thomson Reuters - twitter.com/thomsonreuters
Thomson Reuters Careers - twitter.com/TRCareers
Tiara Hotels & Resorts - twitter.com/TiaraHotels
Times Online - twitter.com/timesonline
Tom Bihn Bags - twitter.com/tombihn
Tourism Queensland - twitter.com/whereelsebutqld
Trader Joe's - twitter.com/traderjoes
Travel Channel - twitter.com/travelchannel
Triathlete Magazine - twitter.com/TriathleteMag
Tourism Mauricie - twitter.com/mauricie
TurboTax - twitter.com/turbotax
TuVinhSoft - twitter.com/tuvinh
United Linen - twitter.com/UnitedLinen
University of Guelph - twitter.com/uofg
Ustream - twitter.com/ustreamtv
Uproar - twitter.com/uweareuproar
Valtira - - twitter.com/valtira
VerticalResponse - twitter.com/VR4SmallBiz
VIBE Magazine - twitter.com/VibeMagazine
Viewstream - twitter.com/viewstream
Vignette - twitter.com/vignettecorp
Viigo.com - twitter.com/RuddockMH
Virgin - twitter.com/virgindotcom
Viscape - twitter.com/viscape
Vornado - twitter.com/vornado
Wachovia - twitter.com/Wachovia
Wall Street Journal - twitter.com/wsj
Washington State DOT - twitter.com/wsdot
Web 2.0 Expo - twitter.com/w2e
Webartsense - twitter.com/webartsense
WebEx - twitter.com/WebEx
Webcredible - twitter.com/webcredible
Webmaster Radio - twitter.com/WebmasterRadio
West Jet - twitter.com/Westjet
West Virginia Blazers - twitter.com/wvblazers
WestJet - twitter.com/westjet
Westaflex - twitter.com/westaflex
Whole Foods - twitter.com/wholefoods
WikiWorldBook.com - twitter.com/WikiWorldBook
Windows Mobile - twitter.com/Windowsmobile
WOMMA - twitter.com/Womma
Wordia - twitter.com/Wordia
Wright Place TV - twitter.com/drwright1
XCOM Media - twitter.com/xcommedia
YesToCarrots - twitter.com/yestocarrots
Zappos - twitter.com/zappos
Zappos Customer Loyalty - twitter.com/Zappos_George


List of Irish Companies 'a Twittering' (special thanks to Damien Mulley)

 

How to create your own Personal Brand?

As the economy twists and turns with more layoffs mounting – having a strong personal brand is becoming ever more important from a career perspective.

But what does that mean? Do you launch a blog? Do you start a Twitter account? Do you launch your own Vlog? Or maybe some combination of all of the above.

To get some more clarity on this I interviewed Dan Schawbel the author of the Personal Branding blog. He will also be releasing a new book called Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (due out with Kaplan in April 09). In my opinion, Dan is also the hardest working guy in Social Media posting 10 times a week on his blog, publishing his own magazine and book as well as having a full time job as the social media expert for EMC!



Link to Original Audio Source

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About Dan

Dan Schawbel is the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He is the author of “Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 2009)."

Presently, Dan is a Social Media Specialist at EMC Corporation, which is one of the leading technology companies in the world. He has helped revolutionize the way EMC communicates and collaborates with all stakeholders. He has spearheaded the company’s Twitter, Facebook, social media press release/newsroom, social bookmarking and blogging strategy in the past year.

Dan has introduced a whole new generation to personal branding, as he opens up new opportunities and strives to elevate the practice. His Personal Branding Blog is consistently ranked in the top 70 marketing blogs in the world by AdAge, and has achieved syndication from Forbes, Reuters and Hoovers. Dan publishes Personal Branding Magazine, is the head judge for the Personal Brand Awards and directs Personal Branding TV.

He has written articles in major magazines and online resources such as BrandWeek Magazine, PRWeek, About.com, Web Worker Daily, T & D Magazine, Small Business Opportunities Magazine, MarketingProfs, Advertising Age, TheLadders.com and The American Marketing Association. He is a frequent media commentator, cited in such outlets as Fast Company, ABC News, Boston Globe, Monster.com, Young Money Magazine, BNET, ReadWriteWeb, Providence Business News, Marketing News, Brand Strategy Magazine (UK) and Yahoo! Finance.

 

CMO of the Future

The CMO title barely existed 15 years ago but it is already undergoing a significant transformation. There are some major shifts in landscape in which they operate: changes in Technology, Consumer Behavior and the Media Landscape. In a recent research report entitled Future Tense: the Global CMO published by the Economist Intelligence Unit I hope to recap some of the most salient points of this paper as I see them.

Marketing is moving from a pure brand image play to something much more interesting. “Now the ability to communicate the marketing message to consumers through interactive media is critical.” To me this means – marketing must be able to create and package great ideas for consumption of the right audience – think the spread of great ideas (credit Seth Godin - Idea Virus). If you have a story worth repeating, bloggers, podcasters, etc will repeat your story all over the world thereby building buzz and your brand at the same time. This is becoming an art in itself.

While print advertising is still plays a role, high level executives are using search, forums, blogs and even Twitter (see C Level Executives who use Twitter). So your information has to be out there in all formats which means you must be more integrated.

Jon Iwata, SVP of Marketing and Communications for IBM said “If you think backward from the audience you’re trying to reach and the channels and methods you’ve used to try to reach them, it all argues for taking a much more integrated approach to the work of marketing and communications.”

Add to this what I consider the secret sauce which is tracking and nurturing leads. A whopping 64% of survey respondents say that the global marketing head has served for less than three years. While this revolving door of marketing is alarming – the way to “break free of this relevancy crisis is to absolutely be accountable for the one and only metric that counts to a business and that’s growth [in sales].” (see Rethinking Metrics Again) This can only be accomplished with a strong lead management or lead nurturing process to graduate leads to sales and track ROI.

Taken together I think there is a prescription for the evolving CMO. Strong online acumen with all forms of new media and accountability through lead nurturing that proves the value of every dollar spend contributed to growth in sales!

 

C Level Tweeters

The following is a list of confirmed C Level Executives that are using Twitter.

If you have names that should be added to this list, please post them using the comments feature at the bottom of this post and I’ll get it included ASAP - please send me - full name, title, agency/firm, and Twitter URL.


CEOs

Richard Branson - CEO - Virgin
http://twitter.com/richardbranson

Tony Hsieh - CEO - Zappos
http://twitter.com/zappos

Brian Halligan - CEO - Hubspot
http://twitter.com/bhalligan

Dan Neely - CEO - Networked Insights
http://twitter.com/dneely40

Penelope Trunk - CEO - Brazen Careerist
http://twitter.com/penelopetrunk

Bernie Borges - CEO - Find and Convert
http://twitter.com/berniebay

Rob Howard - CEO - Telligent
http://twitter.com/robhoward

Lewis Green - CEO - LG Business Solutions
http://twitter.com/LewisG

Drew Neisser - CEO - Renegade
http://twitter.com/dneisser

Mukund Mohan - CEO - BuzzGain
http://twitter.com/mukund

Sam Flemming - CEO - CIC
http://twitter.com/samflemming

Marcel LeBrun - CEO - Radian6
http://twitter.com/lebrun

Arron Newman - CEO - Techrigy
http://twitter.com/aaronnewman

Jeff Dachis - CEO in Residence at Austin Ventures
http://twitter.com/jeffdachis

George Colony - CEO - Forrester Research
http://twitter.com/gcolony

Scot Wingo - CEO - ChannelAdvisor
http://twitter.com/scotwingo

Simon McDermott - CEO - Attentio
http://twitter.com/simonmc

Nilofer Merchant - CEO - Rubicon Consulting
http://twitter.com/nilofer

Robert Dempsey - CEO - ADS
http://twitter.com/rdempsey

Michael Hyatt - CEO – Thomas Nelson Publishers
http://twitter.com/michaelhyatt

Jonathan Schwartz - CEO - Sun Microsystems
http://twitter.com/SunCEOblog

Barry Libert - CEO - Mzinga
http://twitter.com/blibert

Eugene Lee - CEO - Socialtext
http://twitter.com/eugenelee

Evan Williams - CEO - Twitter
http://twitter.com/ev

Biz Stone - Co-Founder - Twitter
http://twitter.com/biz

Debbie Levitt - CEO - As Was
http://twitter.com/aswas

Steve Case, co-founder and Ex-CEO of AOL, now Chairman and CEO of Revolution
http://twitter.com/SteveCase

Rajiv Parikh - CEO - Position2
http://twitter.com/rajivparikh

Deva Hazarika - CEO - ClearContext
http://twitter.com/devahaz

Jason Calacanis - CEO - Mahalo
http://twitter.com/JasonCalacanis

Scott Rafer - CEO - Lookery
http://twitter.com/rafer

Tony Wright - CEO - RescueTime
http://twitter.com/webwright

Jeff Bonforte - CEO - Xobni
http://twitter.com/bonforte

T.A. McCann - CEO - Gist
http://twitter.com/tamccann

Tim Young - CEO - SocialCast
http://twitter.com/timyoung

Chris Alden - CEO - SixApart
http://twitter.com/calden

Paul Levy - CEO - Beth Israel Medical Center Boston
http://www.twitter.com/paulflevy

Thom Rainer - CEO - LifeWay
http://twitter.com/ThomRainer

Park Howell - CEO - Park&Co
http://twitter.com/parkhowell

Clate Mask - CEO - Infusionsoft
http://twitter.com/ClateMask

Steve Goldstein - CEO - Alacra
http://twitter.com/alacra1

Tim O'Reilly - CEO - O'Reilly Media
http://twitter.com/timoreilly

Tom Hood - CEO - MACPA & Business Learning Institute
http://twitter.com/tomhood

Shaun Daki - CEO - Citizens for Civil Discourse
http://twitter.com/EndTheRoboCalls

Joanna Pineda - CEO - Matrix Group International
http://www.twitter.com/jmpineda

Keith Parnell - CEO - JASE Group
http://twitter.com/parnellk63

Nick Gaskins - CEO/Founder - Bing Design
http://twitter.com/bingkahuna

Michael Ferrari - CEO - SmartyPig
http://twitter.com/mferrari

Wes Wilson - CEO - IncSpring
http://twitter.com/incspring

Russ Fradin - CEO - Adify
http://twitter.com/rfradin

Todd Vernon - CEO - Lijit Networks
http://twitter.com/toddvernon

Bill Pollak - CEO - North America, Incisive Media
http://twitter.com/wpollak

Ray O'Brien - CEO - Financial Instutution in Australia
http://twitter.com/razorCEO

D. Drazic - CEO - Securus Global
http://twitter.com/DDrazic

Larry Meador - CEO - evok
http://twitter.com/evoklarry

Jose del Moral - CEO - Alianzo
http://twitter.com/jamoral

Rob Lane - CEO - Overlay.TV
http://twitter.com/RobLane

Jeff Slobotski - CEO - Silicon Prairie News
http://twitter.com/jjsnyc

Axel Schultze - CEO - Xeequa Corp
http://twitter.com/AxelS

Jordan Ayan - CEO - SubscriberMail
http://twitter.com/jordanayan

Edmund Scanlan - CEO - Total Attorneys
http://twitter.com/edscanlan

Jill Adams - President/CEO - SuiteCommute, LLC
http://twitter.com/JillAdamsSC

Caroline Allison - President/CEO - Viscape
http://twitter.com/VacationHmQueen

Suni Munshani - CEO - Novitaz
http://twitter.com/sunimunshani

Bruce Turkel - CEO - Turkel
http://twitter.com/tootallturkel

Tony Uphoff - CEO - TechWeb
http://twitter.com/TonyUphoff

Rajesh Setty - CEO - Suggestica
http://twitter.com/UpbeatNow

Dieter Pauwels - CEO - CEC DPI Inc.
http://twitter.com/coachdieter

April Zangl - CEO - April Rain Skin Science
http://twitter.com/AprilRainSkin

Richard Daddi - CEO - New Planet Project
http://twitter.com/NPP_Rich

Anthony Power - CEO - Recipe 31
http://twitter.com/apowerpoint

CJ Romberger - CEO - Wildwood Interactive
http://twitter.com/cjromb

Chris Kauza - CEO - Soltus Group
http://twitter.com/ChrisKauza

Joseph Thornley - CEO - Thornley Fallis
http://twitter.com/thornley

Jeffrey Davis - President & COO - AGY
http://twitter.com/JeffreyJDavis

Diane Hessan - CEO - Communispace
http://twitter.com/CommunispaceCEO

Paul Allen - Chairman - Allen & Gerritsen
http://twitter.com/PaulSAllen

John Battelle - Chairman and CEO - Federated Media
http://twitter.com/johnbattelle

Francois Gossieaux - President - Corante
http://twitter.com/fgossieaux

Bob Chua - CEO - Pulse Group
http://twitter.com/BOBCHUA

David Marcus - CEO - Zong
http://twitter.com/davidmarcus

Loic le Meur - CEO - Seesmic
http://twitter.com/loiclemeur

Noah Glass - CEO - GoMobo
http://twitter.com/nnglass

Amol Sarva - CEO - Peek
http://twitter.com/amolsarva

Alex Iskold - CEO - AdaptiveBlue
http://twitter.com/alexiskold

Martin Tobias - CEO - Kashless
http://twitter.com/MinisterOfOrder

Jon Guttenberg - CEO - SymposiaGroup
http://twitter.com/jguttenberg

Charlie O'Donnell - CEO - Path101
http://twitter.com/ceonyc

Kim Patrick Kobza - CEO - Neighborhood America
http://twitter.com/kpkfusion

Sean Wood - CEO - Freeworld Media
http://twitter.com/seanwood

David Wolf - CEO - Wolf Group Asia
http://twitter.com/wolfgroupasia

Marc van der Chijs - CEO - Spil Games Asia
http://twitter.com/marcvanderchijs

Chris Noble - CEO - Kompolt
http://twitter.com/cfnoble

Diego Bartolome - CEO - Ta with you
http://twitter.com/diegobartolome

Sharlyn Ayotte - CEO - Blind Ambition
http://twitter.com/blindambition

Doug Ulman - CEO - Lance Armstrong Foundation
http://twitter.com/LIVESTRONGCEO

Dave Malby - President/CEO - TPS Products and Services
http://twitter.com/Dave_Malby

Frank Kenny - President/CEO - N. Mason Chamber of Commerce
http://twitter.com/frankkenny

Avi Savar - Founder & CCO - Big Fuel
http://twitter.com/bigfuel

Chaitanya Sagar - CEO - P2W2.com
http://twitter.com/Chaitanya

Colin Shaw - Founder & CEO - Beyond Philosophy
http://twitter.com/colinshawcustx

Jeff Booth - CEO - BuildDirect
http://twitter.com/jeffbooth

Chip Cummings - CEO - Northwind International Corp
http://twitter.com/chipcummings

Scott Sanders - Co-Owner - Bosco Chocolate Syrup
http://twitter.com/scott_so

Sue Marks - CEO - Pinstripe
http://twitter.com/SueMarks

Wendy Piersall - CEO - Sparkplugging
http://twitter.com/emom

Steve Cunningham - CEO - Polar Unlimited
http://twitter.com/stevecunningham

Oliver Noeltner - CEO - Medual GmbH
http://twitter.com/netzwahn

Melanie Notkin - CEO - Savvy Auntie
http://twitter.com/savvyauntie

Matthew Presley - CEO - Socially Digital Agency
http://twitter.com/mattypee

David Szetela - CEO - Clix Marketing
http://twitter.com/Szetela

Mark Connell - CEO - nuBound
http://twitter.com/nuBound

Jason Tryfon - President - Vital Insight Group
http://twitter.com/jasontryfon

Chris Proulx - CEO - eCornell
http://twitter.com/chrisproulx

Amos Winbush III - CEO - CyberSynchs, LLC
http://twitter.com/techceo

Simon Coles - CEO - Amphora Research Systems
http://twitter.com/simoncoles

Mark John - CEO - Loyalty 360
http://twitter.com/loyalty360

Urs E. Gattiker - founder - ComMetrics
http://twitter.com/ComMetrics

Urs E. Gattiker - founder - WEFdavos
http://twitter.com/WEFdavos

Dennis Ladd - Chairman & CEO - StreamServe
http://twitter.com/DennisLadd

Col Needham - CEO - IMDbm
http://twitter.com/colneedham

Samir Arora - CEO - Glam Media
http://twitter.com/samirarora

Scott Heiferman - CEO - Meetup
http://twitter.com/heif

Beth Lewis, President & CEO, Augsburg Fortress Publishers
http://twitter.com/bethalewis

Oded Sharon - CEO - Corbomite Games
http://twitter.com/soundguy

Richard Rosenblatt- CEO - Demand Media
http://twitter.com/demandrichard

Vijay Anand - Founder - Proto.in
http://twitter.com/vijayanands

Eugene Gregorio - Founder & CEO - MPLOYR
http://twitter.com/mployr

Saurabh Bhatia - CEO - Safew Labs
http://twitter.com/rootuser

Shayan Zadeh, co-CEO - Zoosk
http://twitter.com/shayang

Craig Schwartz - CEO - toonlet
http://twitter.com/toonlet

Jennifer L. Wojcik - Founder & CEO - YouGuru
http://twitter.com/JenWojcik

Laura Scott - President & co-founder - pingVision
http://twitter.com/lauras

Alex Doman - CEO & Founder - Advanced Brain Technologies
http://twitter.com/alexdoman

Brett Owens - CEO - Chrometa
http://twitter.com/brettowens

Dave Davis - CEO - RedFly
http://twitter.com/daveredfly

Karl Lingenfelder - CEO - viewr.com
http://twitter.com/viewrcorp

Vassil Mladjov - Founder and CEO - Blogtronix
http://twitter.com/vassko

Daniel Pasco - CEO - Black Pixel Luminance
http://twitter.com/dlpasco

Bryan Thatcher - CEO - Fusebox, CEO - Empressr
http://twitter.com/bryanthatcher

Mick Hagen - Founder - Zinch.com
http://twitter.com/mickhagen

Sachin Agarwal - CEO - Dawdle.com
http://twitter.com/sachinag

Aaron Roe Fulkerson - CEO - MindTouch
http://twitter.com/roebot

Jessica Faye Carter - CEO - Nette Media
http://twitter.com/womensuite

Jamie Gallo - CEO - RentWiki.com
http://twitter.com/jamiegallo

Jim Curtin - CEO - Virtual Bridges
http://twitter.com/jcurtin1960

Toffer Grant - CEO - PEX Visa Prepaid Cards
http://twitter.com/tgrantpexcard

Paul Walsh - CEO - Segala
http://twitter.com/paulwalsh

Felix Velarde - CEO - Underwired
http://twitter.com/felixvelarde

Aloke Bajpai - CEO - iXiGO.com
http://twitter.com/ixigoindia

Stephan Noller - CEO - nugg.ad
http://twitter.com/holadiho

Mark Cunningham - Founder & CEO - Indicee.com
http://twitter.com/markcunningham

Daniel Gergès - CEO - Weem.com
http://twitter.com/danielito

Jason Jones - CEO - Swarmforce
http://twitter.com/swarmforce

Stephen Terlizzi - CEO - WeArePhotographers.com
http://twitter.com/sterlizzi

Gil Friend - President & CEO - Natural Logic
http://twitter.com/gfriend

Will Tran - CEO - Leaf Medium
http://twitter.com/the_vinci

Nikhil Velpanur - CEO - letshead.to
http://twitter.com/nikhilv

Deepak Ravindran - CEO - Innoz Technologies
http://twitter.com/deepakravindrane

Steven Cox - CEO - TakeLessons.com
http://twitter.com/steven_cox

Christine Krzyzanowski - CEO - CK Strategies
http://twitter.com/ckstrategies

Wade Tinney - CEO - Large Animal Games
http://twitter.com/largeanimal

Mike Lanese - CEO - ClearSaleing
http://twitter.com/MikeLanese

Michael Lebowitz - Founder & CEO - Big Spaceship
http://twitter.com/bigspaceship

Michael Meehan - CEO - Carbonetworks Corporation
http://twitter.com/michaelmeehan

Simon Kelly - COO - Story Worldwide
http://twitter.com/kellbags

Ari Burton - CEO - Corporate Headquarters
http://twitter.com/AriBurton

Andreas Lorenz - Founder and CEO - dctrl
http://twitter.com/dctrl

Tom Duncan - CEO - Positec USA
http://twitter.com/positec

Jack Griffin - CEO - Bacula Systems
http://twitter.com/jjg72

James Eliason - Founder and CEO - Twittad.com
http://twitter.com/jameseliason

Ian Balina - CEO - Leximo
http://twitter.com/leximo

Sally Strebel - CEO - BestPartyEver.com
http://twitter.com/bizgirl

Kristie Wells - Founder - Social Media Club
http://twitter.com/kristiewells

Joshua Strebel - President - Obu Web Technologies
http://twitter.com/strebel

Margie Albert - President - Focus on Customer Success
http://twitter.com/maalbert

John Pepper - CEO & Co-Founder - Boloco
http://twitter.com/boloco

Guy Battle - CEO - Planet Positive
http://twitter.com/guybattle

Will Royall - Founder and CEO - Royall Media
http://twitter.com/RMI_AdAgency

Tim Laubacher - CEO - Laubacher Multimedia
http://twitter.com/MyWebDept_com

Patricia Seybold - CEO - Patricia Seybold Group
http://twitter.com/pattyinboothbay

Michael Diamant - CEO - Skip Hop
http://twitter.com/mdiamant

Chicken Shit - CEO - ChickenShitCEO
http://twitter.com/chickenshitceo

David Kiddler - CEO - ClickAble
http://twitter.com/davidkidder

Thomas Greanias - CEO - @lantisTV
http://twitter.com/thomasgreanias

Guy Kawasaki - CEO - Alltop
http://twitter.com/guykawasaki

Patrick Byers - CEO - Outsource Marketing
http://twitter.com/patrickbyers

Patrick Koppula - CEO - ffwd
http://twitter.com/patrick_koppula

Shaa Wasmund - CEO - Smarta.com
http://twitter.com/shaawasmund

Keith Richman - CEO - Break Media
http://twitter.com/keithrichman

Margaret Wallace - CEO - Rebel Monkey
http://twitter.com/RebelMonkeyCEO

Christopher Hytry Derrington - CEO - Rural America Onshore Sourcing
http://twitter.com/chrisruralamer

Anne P. Mitchell - CEO - Institute for Social Internet Public Policy
http://twitter.com/AnnePMitchell

Tamour Khan - CEO - Androidster.com
http://twitter.com/Androidster

Umberto Milletti, CEO InsideView
http://twitter.com/umbertom

Matt McDougall - Group CEO and Executive Chairman - SinoTech Group,
http://twitter.com/sinotechian

Robyn Feldberg - Founder - The Abundant Success Coach
http://twitter.com/RobynFeldberg

Glen Persson - Owner - Viral Clix
http://twitter.com/viralclix

Marco Loguercio - Founder & CEO - SEMS.it
http://twitter.com/marcologuercio

Ken Kelsey - Founder - CornPlasticStore.com
http://twitter.com/KelseyPromo

MF Chapman - CEO - Cubes&Crayons
http://twitter.com/cubesandcrayons

Steve Tingiris - CEO - enthusem.com
http://twitter.com/enthusem

John Foley, Jr. - President/CEO - interlinkONE
http://twitter.com/johnfoleyjr

David Anderson - CEO - MyWay Interactive
http://twitter.com/deanderson

Glenn Gow - CEO - Crimson Consulting Group
http://twitter.com/CrimsonCEO

Tim Eades - CEO - Everyone.net
http://twitter.com/eades50

Rob Ryan - CEO - Pupify.com
http://twitter.com/pupify

Richard Jalichandra - CEO - Technorati
http://twitter.com/jalichandra

Jon Gauder - President/CEO - Phoynx Corp.
http://twitter.com/jgauder

Liz Atherton - President - The Atherton Group
http://twitter.com/TAGTalent

Kim Shand - CEO - Vega Consulting Solutions
http://twitter.com/kimshand

Venkatarangan TNC - CEO - Vishwak Solutions
http://twitter.com/venkatarangan

Ian McKee - CEO - Vocanic
http://twitter.com/ian_mckee

Rex A. Pontius - CEO & Founder - Direct Connect
http://twitter.com/RexandCarolyn

Chris Parsons - CEO - Eden Development
http://twitter.com/chrismdp

Elie Auvray - CEO - Jahia
http://twitter.com/elieauvray

Gris Materia - CEO - Brainiac Beats
http://twitter.com/brainiacbeats

Rob Meadows - CEO - Thrive (Fashion) and Originate Labs (Venture)
http://twitter.com/robthrive

Sailesh Shah - CEO - News Technology
http://twitter.com/saileshshah

Daniel Kam - CEO - Wet Ink Printing
http://twitter.com/wetinkprinting

Mark Oakes - CEO Concentric Security
http://twitter.com/MarkOOakes

Manuel Delgado - CEO - Agua
http://twitter.com/delgadoman

Charlotte Capan CEO Conti USA
http://twitter.com/tuscanyflavors

Thomas Huckabee - CEO - TexLa Software.
http://twitter.com/thuckabee

Jonathan Stanley - CEO - AudioConexus
http://twitter.com/audioconexus

Jeremy Brandt - CEO - 1-800-CashOffer
http://twitter.com/JeremyBrandt

Gian Fulgoni - Chairman - comScore
http://twitter.com/gfulgoni

Ashli Norton - CEO - SimpleLeap Software
http://twitter.com/simpleleap

Tierra Filhiol - CEO - ImageLift Marketing Communications
http://twitter.com/TierraFilhiol

John Assalian - CEO - Viewstream
http://twitter.com/john_assalian

Witold Stawarz - CEO - OpenTravel.com
http://twitter.com/worldisopen

Patricia Bragg - CEO - Bragg.com & Bragg Live Foods
http://twitter.com/patriciabragg

Darren Lancaster - President & Founder - The groupery
http://twitter.com/thecommunityguy

Ben Yoskovitz - CEO - Standout Jobs
http://twitter.com/byosko

Matt Johnson - CEO - HealthBridge
http://twitter.com/matthewbjohnson

Bob Reynolds - CEO - Putnam Investments
http://twitter.com/robertlreynolds

Anders Indset - CEO - evoworkx media
http://twitter.com/andersindset

Terry Hildebrandt - CEO - Terry Hildebrandt and Associates
http://twitter.com/thhildebrandt

Brian DeLaet - CEO - EduCyber
http://twitter.com/edubrian

Andre Skowronski - CEO - Brazil Carnival Ooah!
http://twitter.com/brazilcarnival

Carlos Casanova - President - K2 Solutions Group
http://twitter.com/CarlosCasanova

James Knowles - Owner - Roger Smith Hotel
http://twitter.com/RSHotel



CMOs

Jeff Hayzlett - CMO - Kodak
http://twitter.com/JeffreyHayzlett

João Ciaco - CMO - Fiat Brazil
http://twitter.com/jciaco

Jarvis Cromwell - CMO - StormExchange
http://twitter.com/JarvisCromwell

Tom O'Brien - CMO - MotiveQuest
http://twitter.com/tomob

Barry Judge - CMO - BestBuy
http://twitter.com/BestBuyCMO

David Harkleroad - CMO - Hay Group
http://twitter.com/davidharkleroad

Patrick Moran - CMO - Mzinga
http://twitter.com/patrickmoran

Aaron Strout - CMO - Powered
http://twitter.com/astrout

Alex Romanovich - CMO - XpertUniverse
http://twitter.com/corpcross

Jon Gaskell - CMO - SmartyPig
http://twitter.com/SmartyPig

Jay Gaines - CMO - Environmental Data Resources
http://twitter.com/izjay

Mike Sheridan- CMO - Aspect
http://twitter.com/thetravelingCMO

Sam Decker - CMO - Bazaarvoice
http://twitter.com/samdecker

John Rueter - CMO - StreamServe
http://twitter.com/jrueter

Sam Lawrence - CMO - Jive Software
http://twitter.com/samlawrence

Brandon Geiger - CMO - Swarmforce
http://twitter.com/brandongeiger

Nigel Dessau - CMO - AMD
http://twitter.com/nigeldessau

Stephanie Fierman - CMO - Revolution Money
http://twitter.com/stephfierman

Rod W. Brooks - VP & CMO - PEMCO Insurance
http://twitter.com/NW_MKTG_GUY

Kent Huffman - CMO - BearCom Wireless
http://twitter.com/kenthuffman

Jane Rodmyre Payfer - CMO - Ergotron
http://twitter.com/pay4this

Jeff Hennion - EVP & CMO - Dick's Sporting Goods
http://twitter.com/dickssportcmo


CTOs/CIOs

Padmasree Warrior - CTO - Cisco
http://twitter.com/padmasree

Leo Reiter - CTO - Virtual Bridges, Inc.
http://www.twitter.com/VirtualLeo

Jason Howard - CTO - Telligent
http://www.twitter.com/jasona

David Fletcher - CTO - UT-State of Utah
http://twitter.com/dfletcher

Steve Newman - CTO - Gist
http://twitter.com/stevepnewman

John Newton - CTO - Alfresco Software
http://twitter.com/johnnewton

Jack Repenning - CTO - CollabNet
http://twitter.com/jrep

H.B. Siegel - CTO - IMDb
http://twitter.com/twhb

Werner Vogels - CTO - Amazon
http://twitter.com/werner

Court Simas - CTO - Swarmforce, Inc.
http://twitter.com/courtsimas

Kapil Karekar - CTO - letshead.to
http://twitter.com/kapilk

Bjorg - CTO - MindTouch
http://twitter.com/bjorg

Serge Huber - CTO - Jahia
http://twitter.com/bhillou

Wayne Bogan - CTO - Spirit Telecom
http://twitter.com/wbogan

Steven Woods - CTO - Eloqua
http://twitter.com/stevewoods

Ryan Mannion - CTO - Politico
http://twitter.com/rpmannion

Ronn Reeger - CFO/CTO - Promising Projects
http://twitter.com/promising

Chris Latko - CTO - PropertyMaps.com
http://twitter.com/clatko


Charlie Catlett - CIO - Argonne National Laboratory
http://twitter.com/CeC

John D. McMillen - CIO - KY - Graves County Public School District
http://twitter.com/ujdmc

Janet Claggett - CIO - SC- City of Richland
http://twitter.com/cio007

Bill Schrier - CIO - WA - City of Seattle
http://twitter.com/billschrier

Cam Forbes - CIO - Channell
http://twitter.com/cam_forbes

Linda Cureton - CIO - NASA/Goddard Space Center
http://twitter.com/curetonl

Bruce Maas - CIO - University of Wisconsin, Madison
http://twitter.com/bmaas71

Dr. Phil Windley - CIO - Kynetx
http://twitter.com/windley

Dmitry Shapiro - CIO and Founder - Veoh.com
http://twitter.com/dmitry

 

How to develop Thought Leaders

These days many professional services and technology firms looking to differentiate themselves lean on an age old technique of creating thought leadership. But truly differentiated and provocative thought leadership is actually hard to come by. Most of the time, it is just interesting theory without any proof. Moreover, does the thought leadership actually drive the business and create sales or is it just content for content sake.

To get a better understanding of this space I decided to interview Bob Buday the co-founder of The Bloom Group whose firm specializes in the creation of cogent and well differentiated thought leadership. Bob is also the co-author of a new book Thoughts on Thought Leadership which is a great resource for anyone working to create thought leaders in their organizations.



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About Bob

Bob Buday is a co-founder of The Bloom Group and has been a researcher, marketing strategist, and writer for consulting and IT companies for 15 years. Prior to launching The Bloom Group, Bob for 10 years was director of marketing communications at CSC Index. He played a leading role in making the consulting concept of “business reengineering” a household word, directing Index’s extensive publications, PR, and survey research activities.

From the development and marketing of reengineering, Index’s revenues grew from $30 million to $250 million in less than a decade. Bob was instrumental in the development and placement of two Harvard Business Review articles. He launched and directed the firm’s popular Insights Quarterly management publication, its annual study of information systems management issues, and its 1994 study of reengineering initiatives, which The Economist said was the most extensive study of reengineering to date. He also played a key role in promoting three best-selling books.

Transferring the lessons learned from marketing consulting concepts to the marketing of other complex products (particularly IT), Bob co-authored “Marketing Breakthrough Products,” published in the Harvard Business Review in 1999. His most recent Harvard Business Review piece, "A Consultant's Comeuppance," was published in the February 2003 issue.

Bob’s passion for research and writing about the business implications and applications of IT began in 1985, when he joined InformationWeek magazine as a senior editor. At InformationWeek, the No. 1 magazine on information technology for senior IT and business executives, he led coverage of the strategic use of IT and the software industry. Before joining InformationWeek, he was a business writer at The Orange County (Calif.) Register, where he wrote news and feature stories on companies in the real estate, consumer products, health care, IT, retailing and other industries. He has a B.A. in communications studies from Penn State University and did graduate work in an MBA program at California State University, Fullerton.

 

Social Media Budget Ratio

After my last post on the Media Budget Ratio I got a question out on the Marketing 2.0 community by Scott Zosel about how much should you allocate for Social Media in your budget?

Great question Scott and you inspired me to write this post. So here it goes.

The cost of the technology used for social media is rather low. Take for example - a blog - costs next to nothing, a podcast can cost btw $0 and $2000 on the high end, a video can cost btw $0 and $10,000 - $15,000, a wiki can cost about $6500 a year, a community can cost btw $0 (Ning) up to $100,000 a year for a private branded community.

So unlike traditional media – Print, TV and Radio - which can cost big money. Social media’s upfront costs very little and we actually use money within my team to experiment with so we A) get a better understanding of the technology and B) start to understand how we can use it and measure the results along with all the other media we have.

Ok but the real cost (again unlike the traditional media stuff) is in Content Creation to fill up those social media / new media channels - here is where the cost can get large. I happen to think I am very fortunate since I work at a consulting firm where many people are thought leaders - so we have no shortage of opinions ;-)

So to recap - I would say (as I did in my post on the Media Budget Ratio) that traditional media should run you now 2/10s of 1% of revenues and your Social Media Budget Ratio should be at least 25% of your Traditional Media Budget (including content!)