Monday, December 1, 2014
6 Ways to Keep Sales High After the Holiday Spike
Selfless Selfies: How Nonprofits Are Using Them for Social Good
Despite distinct differences between nonprofits and traditional businesses, one thing remains the same: the desire to attract followers who are genuinely interested in a product or service. Much like global brands, many nonprofit organizations are turning to…
The post Selfless Selfies: How Nonprofits Are Using Them for Social Good appeared first on Sprout Social.
What I Learned from Fighting a 12-Month-Long Lawsuit
Learning from Elizabeth Lauten’s Facebook Rant
If ever there was a Gawker moment, it was the Obama girls smirking behind their father at the turkey pardon. In fact, Gawker covered the teenagers in true form. But that didn’t stop GOP staffer Elizabeth Lauten from taking to Facebook, berating the girls for not showing any “class” and just generally ranting, with a little latent racism thrown in.
If ever there was time for a social media scandal, it’s over a four-day holiday weekend. People immediately took to Twitter and Facebook to call for Lauten’s resignation, which has reportedly happened this morning. There are a few, rather amazing, things at play here:
1) Tell Us How You Really Feel: Social media has always been a place to rant. And Facebook makes the mistake of asking us how we feel when we update our status. If you feel racist, don’t type anything. If you feel a little misogynist, don’t do it. You need to address these issues and overcome them, but social media is not the place.
It’s not just about public figures making fools of themselves, it can happen to just regular people, too. You will lose your job, your friends, your reputation, and everyone will know how ridiculous you really are. You know Google was about not being evil? Your Internet motto should be “don’t be a jerk.”
Social Media stepped up & unseated a bully. #ElizabethLauten
— June Arbogast (@JuneArbogast) December 1, 2014
2) We Know Who You Are: The Internet and social media are all about communities and communities have each others’ back. Yet, we also segregate ourselves on social media, as this piece on Ferguson and social media points out. One of the first things that pops up when you search Lauten on Twitter is #blacktwitter.
Dear Sasha and Malia, Don’t worry #BlackTwitter has your back. #ElizabethLauten RT pic.twitter.com/m9J8lZdOH4
— Sojourner Marable (@sojournerruth) November 29, 2014
You can’t expect anyone to ignore ignorance on social media. Twitter hashtags and communities might not be able to change the world, but there’s power in having an outlet for a collective voice. If only we had a good way to make them show up in more newsfeeds and not stay in the silo.
3) And We Will Respond: There are a lot of social issues surrounding privacy and anonymity and how social media affects communication. But for every troll on the Internet, there is someone who calls out that troll. I won’t be so naive to suggest that the world is a better place because of social media, because the world is full of scumbags, let’s face it. But it is good news that those scumbags have social presences. Let them hide in the annals of the Internet, because if they come to the mainstream networks, as Lauten took to Facebook (of all places, really), you just can’t talk like that anymore. Maybe the less we accept that kind of talk, the less people will take to those opinions. Slowly, but surely.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Social Media Newsfeed: Reaction to Criticism of Obama Girls on Facebook |
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Twitter users have hit back at the GOP staffer who called Malia and Sasha Obama classless — by reminding her of Jenna Bush’s more unseemly moments while her father was in office. Elizabeth Lauten, communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher, issued a groveling apology on Friday after slamming the president’s girls, aged 16 and 13, for wearing casual clothing and looking sullen during the Thanksgiving address. The Washington Post “Try showing a little class,” Lauten wrote Friday in a Facebook post addressed to Sasha and Malia, chastising them for their comportment during last week’s annual turkey pardoning event at the White House. “Rise to the occasion. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at the bar,” Lauten wrote. “And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events. The Guardian The girls stood beside their father as he issued the annual Thanksgiving turkey “pardon,” saving two birds from the dinner table. The teenaged sisters’ underwhelmed expressions sparked mainly amused comment on social media. Lauten’s remarks were more caustic. ABC News She deleted her original post and wrote an apology on Facebook: “After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents, and re-reading my words online I can see more clearly just how hurtful my words were,” Lauten wrote. “I’d like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and I pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have)from this experience.” Business Insider Star Jones, a lawyer and television personality, was among those unimpressed. “I’ve seen tacky people…but rarely seen someone as tacky as # ElizabethLauten for slamming the children of the # POTUS,” she tweeted. Many directed their tweets to Lauten’s boss, as the hashtag #FireElizabethLauten went viral.
Flickr is Trying to Change its Image (CNET)
Flickr’s attempt at a rebirth underscores how much the world has changed in the last decade. Facebook is the world’s juggernaut social network, with more than a billion users.
Walmart Leads Social Media Engagement for Black Friday (SocialTimes)
Walmart is the top brand for content engagement surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to data from web-tracking company AddThis. The retailer led 48 percent of engagement for Black Friday and 40 percent of engagement for Cyber Monday.
The Art of Social Media: Guy Kawasaki Gives Advice on How to Sell Yourself (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Guy Kawasaki co-wrote his book, “The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users,” with Peg Fitzpatrick, a social media strategist. He compares the two of them to the heroes of his favorite show, 24: “Peg is Chloë: Jack’s trusted friend.” (Kawasaki, obviously, is Jack.)
Thanksgiving: What Are U.S. Facebook Users Thankful for? (AllFacebook)
The Facebook Data Science Team marked Thanksgiving by analyzing anonymized, aggregate data from English-speaking users in the U.S. to determine what they were most thankful for, and friends, family and health topped the list. Winter Mason, Funda Kivran-Swaine, Moira Burke, and Lada Adamic presented the results in a note on the Facebook Data Science page.
14 of the Best Live Music Performances on YouTube (The Daily Dot)
Yeah, it’s a lot of Grateful Dead, but with patience, one can find Bruce Springsteen doing “Born to Run” in 1978 or Prince in all his warped glory in Passaic, N.J., 1982. Still, it can be daunting to jump into the tide.
Getting Started on Twitter: How to Stand Out From the Crowd (AllTwitter)
Creating a strong presence online can help business owners find new clients and nurture existing relationships. Here are some beginner tips for getting started on Twitter, and standing out from the crowd.
Netflix CEO: Broadcast TV Will Be Dead By 2030 (BetaBeat)
The trouble is how Nielsen intends on reporting streaming ratings: Nielsen will capture audio from home televisions, which accounts for no traffic from people binge-watching on their phones or curled up in bed with a laptop. It’ll capture some of the traffic, sure, but Netflix will always be able to say, “that’s like, a fraction of the real viewership.” And they’d be right.
Kicking off the Holiday Season with Animal Planet L!VE’s ‘Reindeer Cam’ (LostRemote)
With Christmas approaching, Animal Planet has brought back its social “Animal Planet L!VE’s Reindeer Cam” for the second year. The live cam focuses on two reindeer at the Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minn., and their home is decorated with lights, pine branches, and a countdown to Christmas.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Responsive Design: How Fathead gets out of the way of its customers
4 (More) Attributes of Your Next Content Marketing Star
Editor's Note: Today's post comes courtesy of Michael Gerard, CMO of Curata. He is responsible for Curata's marketing strategy and all related activities. Michael has more than 25 years of marketing and sales experience, having successfully launched and sustained three start-up ventures, as well as driving innovative customer creation strategies for large technology organizations (IDC, Kenan Systems, Prospero (mZinga) and Millipore). Today's post is the second in a two-part series highlighting effective attributes of content marketers. You can read part one here.
Content marketing is becoming vitally important to every business as a means to engage buyers early on in the purchasing process. However, not just anyone can do content marketing - it takes someone who possesses a broad skillset to become a content marketing superstar. Here are 4 more important characteristics to look for in your next content marketing superstar - or, if you're lucky enough to have a team, these are the skills they should have.
1. Creative Writing Talent- Good spelling, punctuation and grammar can make or break your content marketing efforts. Attention-grabbing titles draw in your readers, enticing them to read content. Getting readers to view a post and click for more information is a valuable skill in the world of content marketing. A good storyteller doesn't just market. Anyone can say, "We give our customers personal attention", but it takes a special marketer to tell the story without saying that. Precision is key when it comes to online marketing, where every word and every sentence counts. It requires clear purpose to keep each aspect of the content precise.
2. Basic Coding & SEO Knowledge- Thanks to the evolution of technology, it's easier than ever to do more on the front end of websites. Having some basic HTML know-how can enhance your content tremendously. For example, basic HTML was used to develop this quiz as a blog post: What’s Your Content Marketing Animal Spirit? While content quality reigns supreme, SEO is a powerful tool and should be used to your advantage.
3. Industry, Product & Customer Knowledge- Marketers should work with other departments of the company to ensure they know what they're writing about. Interacting with other parts of the organization also opens up opportunities to source ideas and content from internal experts. (i.e., crowdsourcing) They should also attend industry events (online and in-person) and set up Google Alerts to stay up to speed on what's happening in their industry.
Probably the most valuable aspect of all is knowing your customer, and understanding how they think, feel and act. It starts with knowing what your audience wants to learn, what they already know, how they search for your content, and what places they most frequent online. Your content marketing efforts should be based on those questions.
4. Resourcefulness- Within content marketing, there is so much to do, and not enough money to do it all - never mind time. However, a resourceful marketer knows how to get around these issues. Superstar marketers know that there will be obstacles from time to time, but that never stops them from creating quality content. Instead, they are solution-minded individuals who keep looking for new and innovative solutions. For example, they tap into the power of curated content from independent sources to complement their own created content. This better leverages resources and adds value to the audience. The best marketers use a content marketing mix of 65% created and 25% curated content.
Learn more about content marketing traits that are crucial to the success of your next content marketing superstar from Curata’s infographic. You might also like the Oracle Marketing Cloud’s Modern Marketing Essentials Guide to Content Marketing.
