In my latest Adweek column I offered a few reasons why I felt there were ethical lines being crossed when companies choose to use earned media stories in paid media ads. Over the course of a couple conversations it’s become clear I’ve touched a nerve and so I wanted to offer some expanded thoughts on … Continue reading More on the Paid Promotion of Earned Media
“Someone Else Wrote My Tweets”
That’s more or less the logic and argument being put forth by the president over the last few days in response to one update that seemed to acknowledge he intentionally engaged in obstruction of justice. It’s a common excuse, one that’s given by any company or brand when a Twitter or Facebook or Instagram post … Continue reading “Someone Else Wrote My Tweets”
Study: Social Media and Life Milestones
A new report from Sprout Social provides an interesting insight for brand social media managers: Pay attention to the milestones and other life moments people are posting about on social networks. The gist of the report is that people are not only sharing those moments on social media but that they’re using social to research … Continue reading Study: Social Media and Life Milestones
Study: Fortune 500 Gets Blogging Again
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research has released its latest analysis of social media usage in the marketing efforts of companies on the Fortune 500 list. As always, the study has a number of interesting insights into how corporations view different online platforms and how they can contribute to their marketing efforts. … Continue reading Study: Fortune 500 Gets Blogging Again
Owning Your Social Media Missteps
There’s a scene from the 1994 Tom Clancy novel adaptation Clear and Present Danger I think about a lot. The president has just learned a longtime friend of his was just killed by members of a drug cartel he appears to have been involved with and is receiving advice from staff on how to handle … Continue reading Owning Your Social Media Missteps
How Social Networks Cater to Influencers and Creators
When Vine was shuttered last year, a large portion of the blame was assigned to the company’s inability or unwillingness to listen to the community of creators and foster their loyalty. Stories surfaced soon after it was shut down that a number of the top creators on the app reached out to Twitter to talk … Continue reading How Social Networks Cater to Influencers and Creators
What Content Expertise Do I Possess?
(Note: This is based on one of the questions asked in Ron Elsdon’s book How to Build a Nontraditional Career Path: Embracing Economic Disruption.) If there’s one thing the last year and a half has been good for, it’s taking stock of my abilities. At this point I have a pretty good idea of what … Continue reading What Content Expertise Do I Possess?
Demand For Longer Content Should Fuel On-Domain Publishing
Nieman Lab summarizes two different studies that come to roughly the same conclusion: People want longer, weightier content. In particular, a study from Parse.ly has found roughly half of website visitors stick around for between one and five minutes. Though much of the rest of the traffic lasts less than a minute, it excludes the … Continue reading Demand For Longer Content Should Fuel On-Domain Publishing
It’s Essential To Find Brand Voice
Here’s the key graf in this story (via FashionRedef) about how fashion brands have begun addressing their customers as peers instead of experts or cold, soulless corporations. For sustainable direct-to-consumer brand Reformation, “hyper-growth” was also kick-started with a pithy newsletter in March 2013, says the company’s founder, Yael Aflalo. “We wrote about Coachella and the … Continue reading It’s Essential To Find Brand Voice
It’s About More Than Just Podcasts
Record labels, according to this story at Billboard, have discovered that podcasts are an effective way to market and promote the artists they’ve signed. Those labels have realized they have access to scads of talent and don’t have to worry about copyright claims over music usage and so are hoping to tap into the substantial … Continue reading It’s About More Than Just Podcasts
