Social Media

Dopamine-driven marketing sounds scary, but it's more common than one might expect. Dopamine is a key element in the brain's reward system, and when marketers trigger that system they can reinforce behavior and create positive…

Something brand owners strive for is that elusive magic of being loved by consumers. Brands like Apple, Google, Southwest Airlines, and others have earned enduring positive regard among consumers, and those companies outdo their peers in…

Book Review: What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us by Guy Kawasaki Google+ seemed to get off to a running start, but more recently has been termed a "ghost town" by some pundits. Experience with the service suggests less than robust…

Three Ways to Avoid Creepiness Marketers are being offered unprecedented new capabilities to target consumers by interests and behavior. There's growing evidence, though, that consumers are finding these personalized pitches…

Are you overlooking a way to personalize your ads that goes far beyond the usual "Dear Roger" salutation? In my recent article, Put Your Customer in the Ad, I mentioned that LinkedIn was using profile pictures for targeted ads. Since…

Want your content to go viral, or at least get shared? Then don't overdo the adjectives. That's one of the interesting findings Dan Zarrella shares in his book, Zarrella's Hierarchy of Contagiousness.

Book Review: Zarrella's Hiearchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas by Dan Zarrella I like Dan Zarrella's approach to social media. Amidst a horde of social media gurus, experts, mavens, and…

Most businesses wouldn't question that it's a good idea to resolve problems quickly to prevent erosion of their reputaton, but many don't do a particularly good job of it. Even when it's too late to fix the actual problem, an apology…

Could having many connections on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook cause you to lose more weight than, say, running on a treadmill? The answer is... maybe. Research on mice showed that those individuals who socialized with…

Guy Kawasaki may be the Dale Carnegie of the technology age. While Enchantment is peppered with references to PowerPoint, Facebook, and other 21st century topics, much of the wisdom is as timeless as what you'll still find in How to Win…