Back to school. It’s a “season” typically greeted with dread and anxiety by students; joy and pride by parents.  But if you’re a marketer, the dawning of a new semester is the perfect time to think about how your products and services can benefit college and university students.

Tap Into a Lucrative Market

The college population offers marketers a wealth of opportunities, especially because this year, student discretionary purchasing power is on the rise. The college years are also a great time to gain trust, because choices made during this stage of life tend to influence purchasing decisions for years to come. Continue reading September already? Think back-to-school »

You might know Marketwire as an all-inclusive communications tool for public relations, investor relations and marketing communications professionals. But, what you don’t know might surprise you. Below are a few facts — some more serious than others — about the company and the individuals who make up the company: Continue reading 25 Random Things About Marketwire »

In the last few weeks, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the phrase “net neutrality.” If you haven’t heard, there has been a heated debate on the true intentions of a recent joint proposal by Google and Verizon about how net neutrality should be enforced. So much has been said and written canvassing this issue that maybe it is a good idea to provide a crash course on net neutrality so you can form your own opinion about this multifaceted debate. Continue reading Media Relations Minute: A crash course in net neutrality »

While Nick Shin takes the week off, Sheldon Levine, community manager at Sysomos, compiled the weekly #smmeasure chat recap.

It was another great week for our #smmeasure chat. We’re always blown away by the number of people and level of participation we see each week. I just want to start by thanking everyone who joins in and everyone who has passed along the word of our chat. Each week we’re growing and it’s all thanks to you!

A special thanks this week to Garry Przyklenk who was filling in for Nick Shin. Garry was a little nervous and felt like a n00b, but he did a great job.

#smmeasure chat #5 recap Continue reading Important first-glance metrics, rules of engagement, privacy and disclosure »

This article originally appeared in the Wednesday, August 25th edition of the Asian American Journalists Association’s newsletter.

At the recent AAJA conference in Los Angeles, a few members of Google’s communications team held impromptu presentations on how Google can help journalists, beyond the basic searches, email and directions we all use it for. Here are a few lesser-known tools that might make your information-gathering and research easier, faster and more targeted. Continue reading Resources for Journalists: Tips from Google »

He hasn’t been with us for over a decade, but Frank Sinatra left behind his legendary music and a timeless set of oh-so-smooth rules to live by.  The icon had many mantras, and a handful of them are most apropos for those of us who make marketing our profession.  Yep, you read that right:  Ol’ Blue Eyes can teach us a lot about image management, audience engagement and brand longevity.  Before you dismiss the idea, remember that Sinatra’s success spanned 60 years, despite ever-changing cultural trends and musical tastes, so he must have done something right.  Here are five great lessons. Continue reading What Frank Sinatra teaches us about marketing »

The show was immense and the experts were out in full force, so I’m going to go out on a limb to state that the best, most informative session at Search Engine Strategies San Francisco 2010 was “News Search Optimization.”  Moderated by Newsforce CMO Dana Todd, the panel included Brent Payne, SEO director at Tribune; Topher Kohan, SEO manager at CNN; Eleanor Hong, lead editor, SEO at ABCNews.com; and Allison Fabella, SEO and social media manager at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  News, as we know, is changing and agile communications companies are recognizing the need to optimize their content for search and social, local reach and mobile platforms. Continue reading The future of news from experts in the industry »

According to a recent report, investments made in media and communications, especially pertaining to mobile devices and the Internet, will increase faster than the US economy through 2014.

The report, compiled by media-focused private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, indicates that the media and communications industries are expected to grow to $1.42 trillion by 2014 at an average annual increase of 6.1 percent. This is a 0.3 percent difference from the estimated 5.8 percent increase in US gross domestic product during that same time frame. In 2010 alone, US media and communications are expected to gain 3.5 percent and bounce back from the “recession-induced advertising dip.” Continue reading Media Relations Minute: Media industry expected to outgrow the US economy through 2014 »

There was a lot of anticipation building up to this week’s #smmeasure chat on Facebook measurement and your collective minds did not disappoint in providing tips and advice.  I want to thank everyone who participated and helped spread the word.  A big thanks to Sysomos’ Community Manager Sheldon Levine @sysomos for co-hosting the chat.

#smmeasure chat #4 recap

Last week, we discussed the value of a Twitter retweet (RT) and how to measure its value.  This week, we focus on Facebook measurement.  Below is just a small taste of the great conversation we had.  There were so many golden nuggets to take away from the chat that this recap will not do it justice.  I recommend that you take a look at the full transcript. Continue reading How to measure Facebook engagement while gaining fans and likes »

Our own CEO, Michael Nowlan, took part in a radio interview last week with long-time Marketwire partner and national broadcast personality Allyn Mark of WVSN Industry Visions.  The pair chatted about Marketwire’s people, the company’s evolution into much more than just a press release distribution company, and what the recent acquisition of Sysomos means to our clients; today and in the not-too-distant future. [Hint:  Our News Dashboard reports and solutions for stakeholder engagement will get better and better -- stay tuned!]

You can listen to the complete interview (4.0MB, MP3), and here is a terrific sound byte on the intelligence available to Marketwire clients via Sysomos:  Continue reading WVSN radio interview: Michael Nowlan talks Sysomos, social media and stellar customer service »