BusinessCast Podcast » Online Marketing

Social Media Metrics

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:42:47 +0000

Social Media — it continues to be a hot topic because of its implications for how every entrepreneur approaches and leads their business. That’s why over the last few months we’ve been bringing the insights of many of the world’s experts in the field of social media to the BusinessCast (see below, “A Selection of BusinessCast Episodes Tackling Social Media”).

And, that’s why in BusinessCast #160, Robert and I sat down with the father of web metrics, Jim Sterne. For over a decade, Jim has been helping business leaders across the world better understand the complexities (and myths) of online measurement strategies, tactics and tools. Jim, who also is the entrepreneur behind the world-renowned Emetric Summits, has just authored a straight-forward book that is essential for business leaders/managers: “Social Media Metrics: How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investment“.

A Selection of BusinessCast Episodes Tackling Social Media

In episode #145 Fotobabble – A Social Media Innovation – we get the inside scoop from the mind behind what could be the next big social media business.

In episode #143 The Mitch Joel Interview – international author, successful entrepreneur and new media expert shares the secrets of his success and how to leverage social media.

In episode #136 Social Media – Part 5 – the co-founders of Biz Launch discuss findings from a study on how Canadian growth companies are using social media tools and technologies.

In episode #130 Choosing the Right Social Medial Tools – social media guru Michael Seaton shares with us the social media essentials for all entrepreneurs.

In episode #101 Leveraging the Groundswell – Going Social – Robert and I talk with Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell – – the book that has become the social media strategy bible — about how business leaders/managers can effectively leverage social media.

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LinkedIn: Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:49:50 +0000

Robert and I were recently asked by some of the organizers of Canada’s web conference – Mesh 2010 – to get involved in this exciting event . So, for BusinessCast #156 we sat down with one of the conference’s most anticipated keynote speakers, Arvind Rajan, Vice President, International at LinkedIn.

Of course LinkedIn is a tremendous business success story as well as a critical tool for all business managers and leaders. In BusinessCast #156 Arvind shares key business lessons that LinkedIn learned while managing its fantastic growth. At the same time, he shares insights about how entrepreneurs like you can leverage LinkedIn to build business, recruit key staff and stay ahead of the competition.

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A Notable Entrepreneur

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 16 May 2010 22:32:29 +0000

After gathering some key insights into today’s broad entrepreneur landscape from Intuit’s recent study in BusinessCast episode #151, Robert and I wanted to connect with a new and innovative entrepreneur to get a sense of their specific challenges. So, for BusinessCast #152, we connected with Julian Brass — the brains behind one of Canada’s fastest growing and most innovative digital businesses — Notable TV.

In BusinessCast #152 Julian shares his secrets to success and advice for budding new entrepreneurs.

**UPCOMING EVENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS**: While Julian has a handle on how to leverage online marketing to grow his business, many entrepreneurs still struggle with determining the best combination of online marketing tools for their business. To help, MarketingSherpa and Marketing Experiments are hosting a series of one-day seminars across North America. Check out the Online Marketing ROI conference (coming to Toronto in June).

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eMetrics for Entrepreneurs

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:18:48 +0000

As business complexity increases so do the tools for measuring business success. Nowhere is that more evident in marketing — the area that remains either a measurement mystery or nightmare for most entrepreneurs. That’s why in BusinessCast #148, we sat down with Jim Sterne.

Jim is a wildly successful entrepreneur and the brains behind the eMetrics Summit. This event, now hosted in nearly a dozen countries, is regarded as the event to help entrepreneurs get a handle on online metrics. Given the importance of every entrepreneur’s online marketing efforts (i.e. email, websites, landing pages, social media, blogs, banner ads, search engine marketing, etc.), entrepreneurs deserve a resource that provides practical insights. Jim shares with us his entrepreneurial story and why the eMetrics Summit can help every business person market smarter.

**Special for BusinessCast Listeners**: You can get 15% off the attendee cost if you use the following purchase code: BCAST15. See you at the event!

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PR For Entrepreneurs: Finding The Value

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:46:53 +0000

Many entrepreneurs struggle with knowing if, when and how to engage a Public Relations company. That’s why in BusinessCast #147, Robert and I sat down with Sylvain Perron, the General Manager of Edelman Digital Canada. With over 130 employees, Edelman has grown rapidly to be one of Canada’s most respected and innovative P.R. firms.

Sylvan shares with us some key tips and insights to help leaders of growing Canadian companies truly leverage one of their most important assets — their P.R. firm.

Of course, if you’re trying to get a handle on social media as a tool for P.R., you’ll need to measure its effectiveness. The eMetrics Summit is a world-class event to help you tackle this challenge. And, the event is coming to location near you. **Special for BusinessCast Listeners**: You can get 15% off the attendee cost if you use the following purchase code: BCAST15. See you there!

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Six Pixels of Separation, Groundswell & eMetrics

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:57:55 +0000

Mitch Joel has accomplished something that few others have: he has made the fundamentals of digital marketing and social media easily accessible. In his book, Six Pixels of Separation, Mitch makes the intersection between digital marketing, social media, personal branding and entrepreneurship digestible for nearly everyone. In BusinessCast #146, Robert sat down with Mitch to talk about this book — which is one of the few sources that we recommend for entrepreneurs getting a bearing on social media.

Once you’ve been inspired by Mitch’s book, the next step is developing the right social media strategy for you, your business and your audience. Without a doubt, Charlene Li’s Groundswell remains the most well-researched and practical book that we’ve found. Listen to the conversation that we recently had with Charlene, in BusinessCast #101, Leveraging the Groundswell.

Of course, if you’re trying to get a handle on social media, you’ll need to measure its effectiveness. The eMetrics Summit is a world-class event to help you tackle this challenge. And, the event is coming to location near you. **Special for BusinessCast Listeners**: You can get 15% off the attendee cost if you use the following purchase code: BCAST15. See you there!

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Fotobabble – A Social Media Innovation

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:55:39 +0000

We continue to talk with entrepreneurs and thought leaders about why, how and when to leverage social media. Now, we’ve got something special: In BusinessCast #145 — Fotobabble, we get the inside scoop from an entrepreneur who is actually launching what could be the next social media tool.

And, while there are several common themes whenever you’re developing/rolling-out a product or service, bringing a new social media tool to market has some unique business lessons and challenges. Listen to BusinessCast #145 and find out what you can take away from Fotobabble’s innovation in action.

Reminder: Next month, the world class event, eMetrics Summit, is coming to Toronto. If you’re a leader or manager looking to truly leverage your online presence, you ask yourself the following questions:

What online metrics should we collect?
When should we collect them?
Where should we collect them?
Who should collect/interpret them?
How much time/effort/resource should we spend on online metrics?
How should/can these metrics integrate with offline metrics?
What do these online metrics truly mean?
How can we apply the learnings from these online metrics?

The eMetrics Summit helps you get a handle on answering all of these critical issues.

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Seth Godin and the Art of Marketing

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:45:22 +0000

Seth Godin is probably best known for being the father of “permission marketing”. But, he’s also the World’s most renown marketing “thinker”. His books are international best sellers and senior marketers from across every industry flock to listen to his provocative analysis, insights and predictions. In BusinessCast episode #144, we caught up with Seth at the Art of Marketing conference in Toronto.

As the chosen podcast media guest and sponsor, we also gathered key insights from the event’s other leading speakers/authors, Max Lenderman and Frances Cole Jones.

If you missed out on the Art of Marketing event, watch out for the eMetrics Summit — touring the World’s major centers. The conference remains the gold standard for helping entrepreneurs get a handle on measuring the business value of the Internet’s many platforms (e.g. websites, email, social media and podcasts) and popular tools (e.g. Twitter, YouTube, etc.).

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Ensuring Client Retention

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:55:14 +0000

Customer acquisition — it’s often considered a strong indicator of a company’s growth and success. After all, securing new customers/clients gets considerable glamor and fanfare. However, while it is essential to initiate, plan for and track efforts targeted at bringing on new customers, it can’t be done without understanding the critical (and dependent) relationship it has with your efforts to retain your existing customers.

That’s why for BusinessCast #138 — Ensuring Client Retention — Robert and I sat down with Benjamin McAlister, Vice President of Account Management at Thindata 1:1. Benjamin shares with us the “nuts ‘n’ bolts” of keeping customers — and keeping them wanting more of your products/services. That means we cover topics including short- and long-term steps as well as key metrics — beyond customer turnover rates — that can help you quickly identify/reduce the risk of customers abandoning you for your competitors.

Another useful resource: A previous BusinessCast guest and leading entrepreneur, Thindata 1:1’s President, Chris Carder has a powerfully focused list, that works in tandem with Benjamin’s approach, to help ensure your customer retention is optimized.

If you are in a competitive industry, listen to BusinessCast #138 — Ensuring Client Retention and you’ll get some practical steps that will see your top line grow — even without acquiring new customers.

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Social Media – Part 5

Andrew - BusinessCast Co-Host — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:51:40 +0000

Social media remains an important topic for leaders/managers of growth companies. That’s what you, our listeners are telling us. And, that’s exactly what the research says too. While we’ve covered social media from several angles in previous episodes, in BusinessCast #136, we sit down with the founders of Biz Launch — known country-wide as the trainers for new businesses — who have recently conducted “state-of-the-nation” research on social media.

Listen to BusinessCast #136 and you’ll get some practical tips that you can use tomorrow to begin or hone your social media strategy. At the same time, you’ll also get a sense of where most companies like yours are today — as far as their social media plans, initiatives and successes.

Also check out the following BusinessCast episodes that focus on social media:

#130 – Choosing the Right Social Media Tools – Robert and I speak with social media guru Michael Seaton. He shares with us the social media essentials for all entrepreneurs.

#104 – Leveraging LinkedIn - Robert and I chat with Doyle Slayton on how to cost-effectively leverage the Internet’s most popular online social networking tool. See this episode’s blogpost for useful LinkedIn-related links.

#101 – Leveraging the Groundswell - Robert and I talk with Charlene Li, co-author of the Groundswell – which has become the ‘Bible’ for many social media marketers — about how entrepreneurs can effectively leverage social media.

#64 – Blogging for Business - Robert and I get practical advice for new and experienced bloggers from Matthew Vernhout — a digital media veteran and an up-and-coming social media maven.

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