Guest post by Brenna McCormick, Director of Operations and Client Strategy at mediaman; Adjunct Professor, Emerson College, teaching Creative Thinking and Problem Solving in the graduate Integrated Marketing Program 

Guest post by Karl Wirth. Karl Wirth is the co-founder and CEO of Apptegic, a customer intelligence and marketing automation solution that enables online businesses to understand each customer and respond in real-time on-website and in-context based on the customer’s behavior and business characteristics.

Ten years ago, Seth Godin wrote that effective communication with customers must be “anticipated, personal, and relevant.”  I’ve always liked this.

But I think another word must be added: “in-context.”  Effective communication with customers must be in-context.

Let’s imagine a scenario. I have visited a company’s website and given them permission to contact me about a solution I want to buy for my work. I anticipate that they will do so. I am looking forward to the conversation. They prepare a great personally targeted, relevant response to me. This has all the makings of effective communication.  
 

But then they call me at 6:30pm during dinner to deliver their response, or at 11pm when I’m in bed. This won’t be effective communication.
 
Few people outside of telemarketers will make this mistake with a phone call, but everybody makes it with email. You don’t know when I will be checking my inbox, so it's likely I will get even your anticipated, personal, and relevant pitch out of context.

By Hannah Fleishman. Hannah is an intern at MITX. She is a rising senior at Emerson College and grew up in Italy, Germany, and Egypt. Hannah is passionate about traveling, writing, marketing, and smiling.

Emerson College hosted a social media panel last year. I arrived excited and left with mild anxiety. One of the panelists suggested that everyone have a blog to show potential employers that you’re passionate about something. I didn’t have a blog, so naturally I just heard “you will never be successful.” I needed to start blogging. I didn’t know what I was going to blog about but I had to think of something, otherwise I was a passionless pit (is that copyright infringement or is it word play?).

My friends all use Tumblr so I created an account, spent too much time picking out a free layout that someone else had designed to express my creativity, and decided this would be a travel blog. Original, I know, just like my layout. But hear me out. I spent 15 years growing up overseas. I travel back to Egypt twice a year and figured I could blog about life as an expat, or post anecdotes on being a third culture kid. Now I could say I dabble in blogging while shamelessly showcasing how worldly I am. I couldn’t believe how easy it all was.

This week, Dave sits down with Matt Hooper. Matt is CEO of Smak - a startup that seeks to help organize & filter your online conversations. Check out the interview below, and don't miss out on the 2nd video where Matt talks about his experience here at MassChallenge.

This guest blog post is by Alison Savery, an inbound marketing manager at HubSpot. HubSpot is an inbound marketing software company based in Cambridge, MA.

Smarketing, or closed-loop marketing, is the alignment and integration of Sales and Marketing. Since there’s a lot of overlap between these two revenue generating powerhouses, it’s critical to be sure they are aligned and agree on common goals. When this is not the case and goals are missed, it’s typical for these two groups to battle it out and point blame at one another. Marketing will accuse Sales of not working their leads deeply enough, and Sales will complain that Marketing is generating low-quality leads. By improving Smarketing and solidifying common goals between the two groups, you’ll spend less time bickering and more time closing business.

   Guest post by Brian Tilzer, VP, Staples.com, E-commerce and   
   Business Development

I work in e-commerce for Staples, the second largest e-tailer in the world, so it may not come as a surprise to you that I’m crazy about technology. I love reading up on (and usually buying) the latest in personal tech.

Mobile technology has a very special place in my heart. I’m always on a mobile device of some sort, whether it’s my iPhone or a tablet. It’s my constant companion piece. As a huge New York Giants fan (I know that’s heresy here in New England but it’s the truth), I love that I can still keep up with the game or listen to New York sports radio, all through my mobile phone. When I am at home, I can turn to my tablet to get the latest stats from the game whenever I want.

In essence, the things that I love about my mobile devices (the ability to do research, access to news and info on the go) are the same things that make mobile so important to businesses in today’s society. Mobile is an inherently cross-channel tool that can provide value to your customers. Even though we’re not necessarily seeing mobile users purchasing as much on the go, we’re definitely seeing them using mobile as a research tool. It really is a cross-channel enhancer. Many of the e-mails that we send to our Staples customers are opened on a mobile device.

Dianne Durkin, President of Loyalty Factor, led an engaging panel this morning on the generational differences in communication and work style that affect employees in offices across the globe. The speakers included Mary Truslow, Recruiting Manager, Creative Services & Marketing Division, Hollister; Kate Forrestall, Manager, Global Recruitment, TripAdvisor; Healy Jones, Vice President of Marketing, OfficeDrop; and Dan Lyons, SVP HR, Allen & Gerritsen. The presenters shared personal stories and insights, and audience participation was encouraged. Special thanks to Hollister for hosting this great event!

The goal of this event was to determine the specific characteristics of each generation in order to develop methods to promote healthy and effective communication at work. Each of the four generations making up today’s workforce can be characterized by a set of values stemming from family belief systems, and the defining events of the time period.

The Generations: Quick Facts