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Who sells your products or services? This may seem like a silly question, the answer being of course, the sales & marketing team. But increasingly, the most important person selling what you're offering is — your customer. More specifically, your customer advocates. And, as buyers increasingly expect to learn about... read more →

I had a blast keynoting at the 2013 International Advertising Association's Global Summit in NYC last week. The IAA invited me to kick things off based on my Marketing is Dead piece on HBR from last August (we called it "Is Marketing Dead?") I can't imagine a better way to start... read more →

Caution: lengthy post! 'How do we keep our customer reference and advocacy pipeline full?" and "How do we avoid reference burnout?" are two of the most common questions I hear. The short answer to these is to make it worthwhile, even compelling, for customers to engage in reference activities. But... read more →

Lisa Weber is an Emmy nominatd broadcast producer and writer with over 13 years experience in reality/documentary programming, broadcast news (former television reporter), writing, corporate video work, theater, blogging, and public relations  Her work has appeared on HGTV, the Food Network, DIY, Travel Channel, Dish, CMT, CNN, Britain's ITN, and... read more →

Following is a conversation I had with Katharyn White, VP of Marketing for IBM"s Global Business Services group. Katharyn is presenting at the 2013 Summit on Customer Engagement on March 5, in Redwood City, CA. Here are some money quotes. Below that is the full conversation. Money Quotes (some quotes... read more →

Content is critical in today's marketing. And everyone up to the C-suite recognizes that customer content is the most critical of all. We've got this topic covered in the following deep-dive workshop (just announced) at the upcoming Summit on Customer Engagement, March 5-6, Redwood City, CA. More information

First of a two-part series (stay tuned for Part 2) Evidence is growing—and drawing more and more attention from the C-suite—that marketing is dramatically changing. It's critical for customer reference programs to keep up with this.  We're assembling a battery of initiatives this year and next to make sure you do... read more →

Second of a two-part series (Click here for the first part) Last month's issue provided a battery of evidence and resources you can use to build the case for the critical importance of your customer references and advocates in 2013. Use these in your communications with stakeholders and senior management at... read more →

Customer reference programs can play a critical role in customer advocacy marketing. That’s because reference managers are most skilled at 1) building relationships with customer advocates, 2) understanding and communicating the value such customers receive from your firm, and 3) cultivating the very best, or ‘rock star,’ customer advocates. Our... read more →

We've just added three new breakout presentations at the 2013 Summit on Customer Engagement (March 5-6, Redwood City, CA). Pretty exciting stuff. Notive the level of executives who are participating. Participants who register now can ensure a spot with a limited-time $200 discount.  The new presentations include:  Creating Apple-Like Customer... read more →