The benefit from a firm grasp of social media for companies is impossible to ignore. Whether you work in marketing, advertising, public relations or interactive, there are distinct competitive advantages for both individuals and businesses from a better understanding of the social web.

This post provides specific advice from in-house social media marketers including: Dell, Comcast, HP, Wells Fargo, Intel, Best Buy, General Mills, Ford, UPS, Home Depot, Cirque du Soleil and a mix of SMM consultants/agencies: Altimeter Group, Crayon, Ogilvy 360, Future Works, Doe Anderson, New Marketing Labs and others. Advice includes justifying investment in social media, strategy, how to decide on tactics and measuring success.

Our 25 contributors include:  Charlene Li, Richard Binhammer, Chris Brogan, Katie Paine, Valeria Maltoni, Joseph Jaffe, Dave McClure, Tac Anderson, Brian Solis, Rohit Bhargava, Jim Cuene, Jason Falls, Michael Brito, Scott Monty, Gary Koelling, Jessica Berlin, Tim Collins, Dave Evans, Brian Clark, Debbie Curtis-Magley, Geoff Livingston, Frank Eliason, Lindsay LeBresco, Nick Ayres and Shonali Burke -  an impressive mix of social media tal... read more >>

Hiring an agency today can be a daunting task. There are so many out there - how do you know which one is a right fit for your needs?

This series was hatched when I wrote if I were an agency today. That's when I set out to discover notable agency blogs. Among the many practitioners I met in the last couple of years, a few stand out for their consistency, generosity, and good work.

I met Lee Odden when the PRSA conference was in Philadelphia a few years ago. We had a chance to get to know each other better when I was speaking at the MIMA 2008 Summit and, most recently, at SxSWi.

How did you come to the decision to start your own company?

Lee: In late 1996 I transitioned careers and started working for a web development company in Minneapolis where I had the opportunity to grow the custom web development and search engine optimization practice to a substantial share of overall revenue. In 2001 I decided to move on and became a partner in a Marketing/PR firm – Misukanis & Odden.  

Because I marketed, sold and often times made and supported the web development and marketing services we offered, I realized that I could be doing thos... read more >>

Failing Internet advertising

Eric Clemons - Professor of Operations and Information Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania - explains on TechCrunch a number of reasons why advertising is failing on the Internet:
- Consumers do not trust advertising
- Consumers do not want to view advertising
- Consumers do not need advertising

The same reasons should apply to businesses:
- Do businesses trust advertising?
- Do businesses want to view advertising on the Internet?
- Do businesses need online advertising?

Do you click on online advertising?
Probably not as you are reading this blog.

The Economist published similar remarks about the online advertising that was supporting the web 2.0 growth and predict the end of the free lunch (free online content)

Advertising and media

Traditional media was a one way communication: radio, movies and television.
This allowed:
- Pushing messages and content in one way.
- Preformatted sequential access to content.

The Internet has become a two way media:
Although the Internet website originally started out as just a display of content, changes have taken place over the years:
- Content with interaction from...