Rich Fleck's blog

I must confess – I do more looking than contributing when it comes to Twitter.  And when you have tweeting machines like #mashable – it’s easy for us to stand on the sidelines and watch the steady stream of interesting facts, latest trends, hot topics.  (A great example of weaving dialog into the fabric of your business and marketing strategy.)  So as marketers and business leaders, if we want to truly integrate social into our marketing strategy, it’s time to become part of the Twitter dialog. Read more about Confessions of a Twitter Voyeur: Becoming Part of the Conversation

It feels like everyone has caught a little Facebook app fever.  Apps are sprouting up all over the place – and have become a de facto standard as part of a social strategy.  But in the rush to launch, it’s often easy to make mistakes and design an app that might look good but doesn’t engage the audience.  Read the Top 5 ways to design an app that acquires and engages your audience. Read more about Prevent Facebook App Failure: Top 5 Ways to Build a Better App Experience

With Facebook reaching 800 million users, consumer adoption of social media has grabbed the attention of most marketers.  It’s hard to read a marketing article today that doesn’t mention social media – it’s the topic of most conversations.  It’s no longer an emerging media – it’s an established presence in the minds of consumers (46% of people globally log in to a social network daily.)  In our rush to establish a social presence, marketers built Facebook pages, created apps, and started Tweeting;  however, consumers now expect more. To move to the next level, marketers should apply true CRM tactics to drive measurable results and sustain long-term consumer engagement. Read more about It’s Time to Stop Treating Social Like Mass Media

Our goal is to help educate and encourage marketers to integrate social as a key component of their overall marketing strategy.  No silos, no vacuums, no isolation.  Consumers are inherently social so we believe there should be a social component to everything we do as marketers. 

Consumer connections and social behaviors are here to stay.  We’re at a point now for social to drive results, it’s now about moving from “what” to do to “how” to do it.     Read more about Our Blogging Mission @ Merkle Connect: We’re Not Here to Push a Social Agenda