Mobile Groove

You should write a book. Yes, you!

In an age where every organization, brand, and product has a website, and many of your rivals churn out white papers like popcorn, having a book is one of the best ways to establish credibility and reinforce your company’s brand position as both an innovator and an industry leader. Your competitor has a business card. YOU have a book – that prospective customers (or employers) can purchase on Amazon, or even download for free from your website in exchange for …

Customers talking about you on social media can “make” your brand – and destroy it. People are by nature “social”, and regardless of their device (computer, mobile, tablet, TV) or location, people are connecting to online communities to share what they think about your brand, company, or organization. Fast fact: when customers complain about you, 70 percent of them do it first on a social network.

Social media is no longer “optional.” Marketers MUST not only listen, but also activ…

Is texting more important than chocolate?

Yes – it is! A survey looking at our mobile communications and social networking behavior —conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Tyntec, a global mobile interaction specialist  — shows that the vast majority of young adults would happily live without basic necessities than give up their texting habits.

• 71 percent said they would be willing to give up alcohol, chocolate, caffeine, exercise or even a toothbrush for a week

• Millennia…

[Spoiler alert: The answer is co-publishing!]

You’ve been invited to share your expertise and passion with a live audience. Congratulations! Every time you present — whether it’s to a dozen people, or a thousand — social media gives you the opportunity to better engage your in-person audience and effectively reach people around the world [beyond just your “live” audience] who are interested in your topic.

Thank you for your question. At the risk of hyperbole, it is impossible to overstate the importance of social media in magnifying both the reach and the impact of your content, regardless of whether it is a formal presentation or your regular blog post (like this one!).

Evolution, not revolution. That is what I witnessed first-hand as I walked around South By Southwest (SXSW) , the festival and conference hailed as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative technologies.

In 2010, the Next Big Thing was location-based social networking, a mobile-megatrend CNN reminds us was led by the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla. Last year it was all about group messaging services such as GroupMe or Beluga. And this year the excitement is all about “ambient location” and “social discovery” — a new category of interaction that brings together all the GPS-enabled mobile apps that run in the background on our devices and alert us when like-minded people are nearby.

On the heels of SXSW it’s clear that SoLoMo is a fact, not a fad. I catch up with BJ Emerson , VP of Technology at Tasti D-Lite, the frozen treat chain with a cult following among health-conscious consumers as well as celebrities. The company doesn’t just get So Lo Mo — it has literally written the book on it, and will be releasing The Tasti D-Lite Way :Social Media Lessons for Building Loyalty and a Brand Customers Crave a bit later this year — so watch this space.

BJ, a champion of SoLoMo and an authority on the ways companies can and should harness mobile and location to super-charge Social CRM, spoke at dozens of industry events in the last year, where he discussed the importance of moving beyond mobile integration of loyalty and rewards programs to really understanding the emotions consumers feel and want to express as they engage with brands on this deeply personal level.

The approach certainly delivers results. This last year went on record as the “greatest growth” year in the history of the 24-year old brand. The brand —whose popularity has grown largely by word of mouth — is a veteran when it comes to customer engagement and social media marketing. Beyond U.S. growth, Tasti D-Lite is also expanding internationally, opening locations in Mexico, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.