No one is arguing against the benefits of customer loyalty communities. In fact, most Fortune 500 brands are working hard to cultivate a network of loyal customers online. Mostly, this community-building happens on social media when brands build pages and platforms to attract and retain those loyal customers. However, many brands develop myopic views around their […]

Storytelling, as explained by Douwe Bergsma, is indeed a different way of looking at marketing communications, one that requires new processes, metrics and staff. Bergsma, CMO of Georgia-Pacific—the paper goods giant behind the Brawny, Quilted Northern and Dixie brands—offers some fascinating details that often separate a good story from a great one, including three secrets […]

We know there’s no such thing as a linear path to purchase anymore. Even as early as 2012, Time Inc. found that digital natives—described as adults under 30—are switching platforms every other minute. They can literally be influenced at any time by any particular medium that triggers something in their psyche. So, it’s not just […]

We launched Coca-Cola Journey on Nov. 12, 2012, as a meaningful way to connect with our consumers and fans. Brand journalism was still in its infancy at that time. We wanted to make a bold statement by turning our corporate website into a digital magazine, so we did just that. My challenge was to make […]

The internet gives but it can also take away. The good news in today’s digital world is that companies are now in the content driver’s seat. Organizations have become their own mini media conglomerates, able to message, provide commentary and launch content at a moment’s notice and without traditional media gatekeepers as a governor. That’s […]

A Personal Blog Network (PBN) is a network of sites that you control which are designed to direct links to a site that you’re monetizing. If you have an existing PBN, or are building one up, you’re going to need to take steps to ensure your digital presence is effective, safe and secure. But first, you […]

Influencer marketing is typically available only to brands with huge budgets to spend on big-name celebrities and well-connected media publishers, so smaller firms often assume they can’t afford it. Despite the volume of coverage around micro-influencers (who cost far less than standard influencers), there have not been many resources explaining how those with smaller budgets […]

How many times have you received a text message you didn’t look at? The answer is most likely “almost never.” Text messages receive a 98% open rate and mobile messaging is the No. 1 most frequently used feature on our phones, according to Snaps, which powers chatbots, iMessage apps and emoji keyboards for clients such […]

It’s not that your content sucks…in fact, it might even be pretty darn good. It’s just that every minute of every day, there are 1,300 more blog posts, 360,000 more tweets, 1.7 million more Facebook posts and 2 million more videos uploaded to YouTube. And that only accounts for a few channels. Which means your […]

As we reach the two-year anniversaries of live-streaming mobile apps Meerkat and Periscope, it’s a good opportunity to remember that even if your business hasn’t yet broadcast its first live video, we’re still very much in the early adoption phase. While the moniker “live-streaming professional” is thrown around a lot, some in the community are […]