Pinterest, the incredibly popular online bulletin board/scrapbook/inspiration organizer now has more than 11 million unique monthly users. And according to recent numbers from Internet-monitoring firm comScore, it has more than doubled its audience over the past six months. So, who’s using it? You guessed it. WOMEN. Eighty percent of Pinterest users are female and they are spending more time on there than Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ combined. The rapid growth can certainly be attributed somewhat to a higher acceptance of social networks now. But keep in mind, there are thousands of new startups in the social arena. What makes Pinterest different?

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Filed under: Advertising during recession, Advertising to Women During Recession, Effects of recession, Female Business Owners, Marketing 2.0, Marketing to Boomer Women, Marketing to Women, Marketing-to-Moms, Targeting Women, Viral marketing, Women and Customer Service | 13 Comments »

As social networks continue to grow on a daily basis, one thing remains constant: Expectations for transparency and honesty are on the rise. Marketers, please keep in mind: Apologies and/or explanations are more forgiving than cover-ups. Auburn University and Gus Malzahn, Auburn’s Offensive Coordinator are likely going to find this out – the hard way.  Kristi Malzahn, wife of Gus Malzahn, is the subject of a video that went viral a few days ago. Kristi Malzahn spoke at the Summit, a Christian conference, on Oct. 6. and was promoted to speak about “her passion for Christ, through authentic and intentional

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Filed under: Connecting with Women, Social Media, Viral marketing, Web 2.0, Women and the Internet | 1 Comment »

I am honored to have been asked to be a featured speaker at the 2011 Annual MIMA Summit. The theme is Celebrating the Digital Decade with a focus on consumer insights. Keynote speakers are Avinash Kaushik, the analytics evangelist for Google and Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. A complete line up of speakers can be found here. I will be presenting on the power of the female consumer in a session titled: Why and How to Effectively Market to Women in Today’s Economic Climate. Are there any topics or questions you feel should be addressed? Also, I would love

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Marketing to "Green" Women, Marketing to Boomer Women, Marketing to Single Women, Marketing to Women, Marketing to Women Myths, Social Media, Targeting Women, Viral marketing, Web 2.0, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | No Comments »

Ashton Kutcher beats CNN to reach 1,000,000 followers first Oprah has over 367,000 followers after just 3 days of Tweeting Domino’s learns the power of social media with a PR crisis Doctors begin tweeting during surgery Twitter users up 131% in March As Social Media and Twitter, specifically, become mainstream, one thing is certain— people are on the Internet, and Social Networking tools like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or the next big thing are how they connect. Twitter started three years ago, and it has taken @aplsuk (AshtonKutcher) about a year to accumulate 1,000,000 followers. Oprah started tweeting last Friday and

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Filed under: Marketing 2.0, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Viral marketing, Web 2.0, Women and the Internet | 4 Comments »

Excerpts From Lunch with Social Media Guru, Peter Shankman Yesterday, PRSA’s Birmingham chapter hosted Peter Shankman, social media marketing guru, founder of HARO and Twitter’s @skydiver. I was up front with pen to paper and I’m posting today to share a few nuggets I took away. Enjoy! LESSONS LEARNED: If you’re using social media correctly, other people should be doing your p.r. for you. Reach out to people when you don’t need anything. That way you’ll always be top-of-mind—the person who gets called when your contacts need something. Four things make online marketing successful: Transparency: Be straightforward. If you avoid

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Filed under: Marketing 2.0, Social Media, Viral marketing, Web 2.0 | 8 Comments »

I have read and heard many comments and opinions over the past week about Skittles’ edgy move with its new Web site that launched last Monday, but I have been most drawn to the debates from traditional marketers. Some still assume that Skittles plans to unveil its “real” site later. They think that this is merely a teaser campaign. But the reality is, these marketers simply don’t get it. This is not using Social Media as a precursor to unveil a traditional marketing campaign. This IS the campaign. And while time will tell exactly how effective Skittles’ site will prove

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Filed under: Examples of Bad/Good Advertising, Marketing 2.0, Social Media, Viral marketing, Web 2.0 | 4 Comments »

As they say, the early bird gets the worm. So, if any of you male advertisers are serious about the female market finding you on the Internet, Twitter should be among your  goals as you build an online footprint. The Twitter nation, already made up of nearly 6 million users, is growing exponentially on a daily basis. We have talked about it a good bit here, but as celebrities jump on women will be right behind. I began following Shaquil O’Neal a couple of months ago. I’m a huge NBA fan, love Phil Jackson and hence watched Shaq for years.

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Filed under: Marketing 2.0, Social Media, Viral marketing, Web 2.0 | 1 Comment »

I, like most everyone on the Internet the last couple of days, as well as traditional media, seem to feel the need to rant about PETA’s most recent media blitz. You may or may not be aware that their ad for the Super Bowl has been banned. NBC’s explanation: NBC Universal vice president of advertising standards Victoria Morgan wrote that the “PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards,” describing one actor as “screwing herself with broccoli.” PETA’s response: “PETA’s veggie ads are locked out while ads for fried chicken and burgers are allowed,

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Examples of Bad/Good Advertising, Marketing 2.0, Marketing to Single Women, Marketing to Women, Targeting Women, Viral marketing, Web 2.0 | 4 Comments »

Online video has revolutionized the way businesses use the internet to advertise, educate and inform their prospects, customers and investors. And delivered properly with the correct message adds up to effective Web 2.0 marketing. I received this  J. C. Penny online video via email and Twitter several times before the holidays and sent it out several times as well. This video is a great example of “successful” viral and video online marketing as well as marketing to women. And much like the Motrin video was trying to accomplish, this video was being passed around because everyone thought it was funny

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Marketing 2.0, Marketing to Women, Viral marketing | 4 Comments »

Tamar Weinberg, a social media enthusiast with a passion for all things tech, has painstakingly put together a collection of posts that started in January 2008 and been collected for the past 12 months. This collection deserves to be bookmarked. The list will provide a great resource for your 2009 online promotional efforts. Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2008 The list categories include: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Social Media Strategy Twitter Sphinn LinkedIn Digg Wikipedia StumbleUpon Fark Facebook delicious Flickr FriendFeed Blogging Viral Marketing Link Building Reputation Management Analytics Branding Local Search Content Development Web Development Affiliate Marketing Domains and

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Filed under: Blogging, Marketing 2.0, Viral marketing | No Comments »