Tom Lindmeier’s Blog @ MarketPlanB

Linda Bustos of Get Elastic is the most prolific source of usable information for ecommerce marketers anywhere in the blogosphere. I have linked to her many times and I’m doing it again right now because she’ll answer the most frequently asked question I get from colleagues: Can you rank social media tactics so I have [...]

The world is observing with fascination how the Iranian people are revolting in response to the seemingly fraudulent elections. Social media has taken a new role in the Mideast as the rebellion has spread. The Iranian government has desperately attempted to shut down web communications by shutting down Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and any social media that can reveal the true extent of the oppression and censorship that is taking place. It’s also interesting that we are hearing news that developers are reaching out to the Iranian protesters by showing them how to redirect servers and avoid the censorship.

Tags: Blog, Facebook, Marketing, Marketing strategy, Politics of Iran, Social media, Twitter, YouTube

The use of video on ecommerce sites has moved from a trend to one of the most discussed tactics in 2009. My post on Video Product Demonstrations in March of 2008 resulted in many responses from entrepreneurs who had set up video production houses in anticipation of the trend. Most of these businesses are photographers who understand their client’s need to efficiently produce videos at a cost that is low enough to allow a return on investment. They are competing with resourceful managers who hire talented and enthusiastic interns to produce videos.

Your digital prowess does not impress. Your Blackberry does not contain the codes for an emergency nuclear missile response. It can wait; believe me, you’re not that important.

Expo TV is a site that aggregates user-generated product review videos. Its’ a great concept that moves beyond the traditional text-based product reviews. Judging by by the funding they have recently received, investors believe it is very promising.
I recently encountered ExpoTV videos posted on YouTube that caused me to pause and sniff. Although these are genuine user-generated reviews my impression was that they are somewhat disingenuous.

There haven’t been very many books published on ecommerce and social media for a very good reason. The landscape is changing so quickly that whatever is published is quickly out of date. (Blogs are the best source for emerging information and I’ll list a few at the bottom of this article). None-the-less, social media appears to be moving from bleeding edge to fast-follower territory. The risks of not entering the fray may be higher than standing on the sidelines.

Marketers have understood that it was only a matter of time before Facebook would make its user profiles available for data mining with the express purpose of behavioral targeting. But it also appears that they have will have difficulty with the implications of breaking their implied confidentiality contract with the millions of users.

When the technology for building a single profile that can be imported into social networking sites becomes available and a single app can be planted on the product pages and wish lists of any website, the true power of wish lists will be realized. The attempts I see now are nothing but noble attempts to work within existing technologies.

Once you made the decision to redesign your website, it seems that everybody in your organization wants to get involved and join the committee because this is fun stuff. So how we do we collaborate, create a great website and not miss our deadline by 6 months?

Yahoo has invested in new study that highlights what we already know. Recently released and titled Empowered “Passionistas” Influence can be Harnessed, it maintains that tapping into consumers passions gives advertisers powerful advocates.