Why Telephone Polling 'Used' to be the Best. #marketresearch #methods

Interesting article about polling. I've long suspected that landline surveys don't work as well as they used to. Not only are they expensive (keeping call centres staffed, etc.), but "with response rates having dropped so low in general, there are some doubts about whether these samples can truly be considered random anymore."

And, "In some segments – especially young voters – land lines are as archaic as the rotary dial to an earlier generation." We saw this happen with the polling numbers for the 2010 Calgary municipal election - Nenshi was a 'surprise'...Only because the pollsters weren't talking to his constituents and either weren't looking or underestimated his Social media push.

Check Tumblr

I'm posting most of my quick thoughts and visualizations over on my Tumblr site these days.
I'll reserve this site for longer thought pieces.

Social Media and Big Pharma.

"Aside from broad budget concerns and the changing business environment, pharma marketers are not unlike marketers at large—they worry about how to measure social media marketing efforts, especially tying the investment in social media directly to brand objectives.”

—
I disagree. They are not like marketers at large. They are very, very risk averse. The reason  I got out of big pharma marketing (other than the ethical dilemma of selling inferior or equally efficacious drugs as *new* or better) was the fact that it wasn’t any fun. Even more so in Canada where we don’t have the same Direct To Consumer freedom that they have in the US.

Any websites I that I built had to follow very strict rules and were governed by a regulatory body. Yes, sure the execs and marketers wanted to see some kind of quantifiable ROI. But, the biggest obstacles to any marketing, Social or not, are regulatory and legal. All it takes is one person to report an Adverse Drug Event (something bad happens while they are taking the drug) via a drug company controlled social channel that goes without follow up and all hell would break loose.

So, Social in Pharma will continue to be a slow go. And, even with US spillover a  ’no go’ here in Canada.

What If You Were to Add Up Every Song Ever Played on Every Platform? #infographic

Link.

Influence and #Social Media #infoposter

Some good recent stats here.

#UX, Content, #SEO: What Does It All Mean And Where Does It All Come Together? #visual

Link.

The Psychology of Social Commerce #infoposter

Very interesting. Link.