by Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald

In the real estate world, there is a saying: “The three considerations that most impact value are location, location, and location.”  In the world of social media, they are purpose, purpose, and purpose.

Nothing impacts the success of a social media effort more than the choice of its purpose. Because purpose becomes the (more…)

by R “Ray” Wang

Mobile enterprise, social business, cloud computing, advanced analytics, and unified communications are converging. Armed with the art of the possible, innovators are seeking to apply disruptive consumer technologies to (more…)

By Ian Schafer

The media is already dissecting yesterday’s Facebook event, where the company unveiled major new changes to their platform. Par for the course, really. Drama always accompanies any change to the Facebook site or platform.

But I see drama brewing in a place unaccustomed to it, and involving a different kind of (more…)

Social media is all around us.

Whether you’re a small company or a large corporation, there is a good chance you are partaking in the social media phenomena that has gripped the world in recent years.

That being said, companies cannot just wing it when it comes to social media. By doing just that, they risk (more…)

This post is part of the HBR Insight Center Marketing That Works.

A powerful confluence of challenging economic conditions and emerging digital platforms is driving a substantial shift in the marketing world. While the economic environment is forcing marketing decision makers to focus more on ROI, digital platforms from social media to mobile are enabling more personalized and trackable marketing communications.

To adapt to the changing landscape, what’s needed is a shift from building brands to (more…)

by David Armano

For a clue to social media’s future, we need not look much further than Washington. On the one hand, you have “Weinergate,” former NY Senator Anthony Weiner’s Twitter fiasco, which was essentially user error. He failed to negotiate the thin line between digital communication and social communication, between private and public.

On the other hand you have President Obama‘s announcement that he will (more…)

Written By: Nilofer Merchant

Human stuff — the soft stuff — is rarely valued. We talk about it, sure. But we don’t change it. We don’t reinvent it. We give lip service to it but, when times are tough, we focus on the hard stuff.

We manage numbers because it’s easier. We say we value people but we focus on (more…)

Written By:  Umair Haque

It’s the burning question many of you have been hurling at me recently: “So instead of idly waiting around for the so-called mysteriously reluctant non-recovering recovery, what should we do to survive this never-ending raging crisis?”

Here’s a tiny suggestion. The “best” investment you can make isn’t gold. It’s the people you love, the dreams you have, and living a life that matters.

Now, some among you will probably roll your eyes and snicker: “Hey, bro, want fries with that hopelessly naive idealism?”

But you’re probably willing to entertain the idea that maybe the great systems of (more…)

by David Aaker

Almost 50 years ago Ernest Dichter, the father of motivation research, did a large study of word of mouth persuasion that revealed secrets of how to use social media to build brands and businesses. The study was reported in a 1966 article in HBR.

A major Dichter finding, very relevant today, was the identification of four motivations for a person to communicate about brands. The first (more…)

Managing Social Technology By Stages

by Josh Bernoff

The questions I get from management about social applications are varied. Are we the only company that hasn’t gotten started with social? These social applications are springing up all over the company. How do you manage (more…)