Paul Dunay is an award-winning B2B marketing expert with more than 20 years’ success in generating demand and creating awareness for leading technology, consumer products, financial services and professional services organizations.
Paul is the global vice president of marketing for Maxymiser a leading web optimization firm, and author of four “Dummies” books: Facebook Marketing for Dummies (Wiley 2009), Social Media and the Contact Center for Dummies (Wiley Custom Publishing 2010), Facebook Advertising for Dummies (Wiley 2010) and Facebook Marketing for Dummies 2nd Edition (Wiley 2011).
His unique approach to marketing has led to recognition of Paul as a BtoB Magazine Top 25 B2B Marketer of the Year for 2010 and 2009 and winner of the DemandGen Award for Utilizing Marketing Automation to Fuel Corporate Growth in 2008. He is also a finalist for the last six years in a row in the Marketing Excellence Awards competition of the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), and is a 2010 and 2005 gold award winner in Driving Demand.
Buzz Marketing for Technology, Paul’s blog, has been recognized as a Top 20 Marketing Blog for 2009 and 2008, a Top Blog to Watch for 2009 and 2008, and an Advertising Age Power 150 blog in the “Daily Ranking of Marketing Blogs.”
Paul has shared his marketing thought leadership as a featured speaker for the American Marketing Association, BtoB Magazine, CMO Club, MarketingProfs, Marketing Sherpa, Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), and ITSMA. He has appeared on Fox News, and his articles have been featured in BusinessWeek, The New York Times, BtoB Magazine, MarketingProfs and MarketingSherpa.
Paul holds an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Computer Science from Ithaca College.
Sorry to come in a few days late..
That's an interesting idea but being a consumer has taught me that calling an 800 number almost NEVER results in something good happening, hence I'd rather go without a particular fishing rod than call that number (nor would take the time to look up my Facebook id, but that's a different issue)
I'd much rather optionally sign into the site using something like Facebook connect, and after browsing aimlessly around for a bit be prompted to have a support agent contact me via chat (or phone, should I desire), enabling the site to datamine my social network that way.
But that brings me to what may be the problem – at least from my perspective – Facebook (and other social media sites) are actively subverting the notion of "friendship", I regularly get friend requests from people I happen to meet at an industry event, or are clients, or are coworkers, etc. It's very unlikely that many (or any) of these people are my friends but it seems rude to not agree to be their "friend", particularly when you have a business relationship with them. So now I have (lets say) a couple hundred "friends", only 16 of which are people that I actually want to spend time with and share some aspects of life with, and I find it unlikely that an algorithm could figure out who's who so I could get a support agent who I can better connect with.
@ Brent – you raise a number of really interesting issues – so thanks for reaching out
I REALLY like the idea of chat thru Facebook as opposed to the 800 number plus your Facebook id (which is the vanity URL land grab that everyone was doing a week ago – so not that hard to look up – mine is http://www.facebook.com/pauldunay)
as far as the "Friends" issue – that is actually the purpose of Facebook right – to keep connection to folks who you don't necessarily want to have over for dinner but don't mind hearing about their new baby or that they went to Def Lepard last night (sorry Sandra 😉
but I hear you – I think the value is also in the agent seeing good data on who you are, as well as your friends, but also what you have been posting and talking about too
To loosely paraphrase the great American historian and former Librarian of Congress, Daniel J. Boorstin, “Every advancement in technology brings us closer to those whom we are distant, but distances those with whom we are close.”
While I embrace new technology and the web 2.0/social media phenomenon, I can’t help but notice what a huge personal time commitment it represents. Authoring and commenting on my blog, maintaining one’s profile in LinkedIn and Facebook, and Tweeting on Twitter (something I have yet to realize the value)—to name just a few—consumes an enormous amount of personal time. As a family man, I have to say my family life and close personal friends have taken a hit with my social media involvement.
If I’m interesting in buying the latest fishing rod (not a stretch for me—I love fly fishing) and can’t find what I want online, I’d rather pick up the phone and speak to a live human being. Companies that still champion the concept of Outstanding Customer Service (like Columbia Sportswear and the HP Store) don’t sell-out to quasi-support tools like Live Chat, FAQ knowledgebases, and Facebook profiles.
Brent—you’re right, we have come to dread call an 800 number, knowing the person on the other end probably knows less about the product in question than you do, but isn’t it refreshing when you do get resolution with a live human that truly takes an interest in your needs? These are the companies and brands that earn my business.