Socialized!: How the Most Powerful Businesses Harness the Power of Social

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Engaging the Digital Network: External Social Business

Earlier in my career I launched and was involved in many marketing campaigns. Most of these campaigns were broadcast via traditional channels like direct mail, e-mail, radio, or television. If we received a 3 percent response rate we were ecstatic. We knew that if we only sent out more mail and e-mail and ran more ads we could expect a predictable return.

That worked until it didn’t. The digital age arrived and all of a sudden our old models didn’t work anymore. Increasingly, they were less predictable. The old guard still ran ads, still blasted their e-mail list with special offers, and still sent useless junk in the mail, even as most consumers ignored them. When they finally got wise ...