Social Media Content Marketing

When you're paid to communicate, keeping silent can be difficult - but sometimes it's the best decision. Did you read what happened in the news today ? Actually, it doesn't really matter what day you're reading this because this has been a year of one outrageous news story after another. And I'm sure you've got something to say about it. In fact, I'd bet it's a viewpoint that they're not covering on your favorite news station. Or it's a comment so insightful, that it needs to be said to set the world straight. Don't say it. Facebook seems to the choice to voice unwanted opinions and pontificating. So much so, that I think they need to rework the logo to include a soap box and mic. Instant freedom of speech. So if you want to debate the guy in your 10th grade social studies class about the political climate, by all means enjoy. I shall choose to mute you both until you post photos of your dog or a yummy dessert I may want to try. B...

Segmenting your digital marketing department into buckets? Careful... As reliance upon digital marketing continues to grow, some corporate budgets have completely displaced (rather than supplemented) traditional marketing. The new normal sees companies with separate departments for email, SEO, PPC, display, social media, content creation, branding, and so on. However left unattended, this can create a marketing army of islands. The classic "left hand not knowing what the right is doing" - just with many more hands. I'm not against the trend of marketing function specialization, in fact the larger the organization, the more sense it makes in my eyes. The danger for companies is the often complete lack of communication - or better - coordination of efforts of these departments. And that seems exactly what's happening. So many companies I meet with have hyper-segmented to the point that campaigns across channels look like they've been designed by differen...

Otto the Texas Dog seen rescuing his kibble after Hurricane Harvey.  No shame here. If you've lived in South Florida for any given time, you've endured flooded streets, downed palms, broken roof tiles, and power outages for hours. But this week was gravely different. For many, Hurricanes Irma and Harvey lived up to their devastating hype. Towns were decimated and lives tragically lost. And now, oppressive Florida heat continue to claim victims . Facebook provides a helpful "mark yourself safe" feature for those in affected disaster areas to let loved ones know they're OK with just one click. But what about  businesses? Many of the South Florida and Houston-area companies who endured the recent hurricanes and came out virtually unscathed, have been oddly silent. And not because they're without power. Many corporations are trained to highlight only positive news, and bury the negative in fear of losing business. Human life is irreplaceable; so no compa...

Let's all give Senator Ted Cruz a collective "thank you" for what happened on his Twitter account today . Reportedly, someone was signed into the senator’s official Twitter account and clicked the heart symbol below an adult video creating a "@tedcruz liked this." It was taken down less than an hour later. “It was a staffing issue and it was inadvertent,” the senator said. “It was a mistake.” But Cruz's mistake hopefully got your attention and perhaps may just save your company from experiencing a similar public relations nightmare. Apparently, multiple staff members have access to the account and post on his behalf. Redundancy is not a bad thing when it comes to social media access. But who has access and where they access from is . And that lesson is an invaluable one. When you're in technology marketing, you tend to be on the forefront of new media. Being an early adopter goes with the territory, and social media was no diffe...

It's not always easy to trust someone; trust, like respect, is often earned. In business that trust often comes with great responsibility and at a price. When you assign a task to a subordinate, you expect it to get done. If it doesn't, there will likely be consequences. But what about when it's a co-worker or your superior? Be honest: are you just as confident it will get done? Some companies like to tout their benefits package as reason to join them, but its often the intangibles that attract the best people. A healthy working environment, one that fosters communication, encourages input from all employees, is much more inviting than discount park tickets and casual Fridays. I've found that the best companies tend to trust their employees. Not blindly of course, but give them the benefit of the doubt that they can and will do their job to the best of their abilities. I'm not talking about those first jobs you had as a teenager busing tables, stoc...

Web Retailers would love to somehow tell buyers from shoppers. With predictive analytics, they can. Depending upon the site and the products and services offered, some website visitors will purchase a product, fill out a form for more info, or schedule a demo.   Most however, will take no action.  Conventional website analytics can tell you where those visitors are coming from, what browser they’re using and other well, useless information for a digital marketer. Other software will tell you which Calls To Actions (CTAs) performed best, while some others (like heat maps) will tell you where their eyes focus when they peruse your site. All valuable information but still no way of telling buyers from the window shoppers. Leave your tarot cards and crystal ball at home, predictive analytics uses data mining, statistics, modeling, machine learning, and/or artificial intelligence to analyze historical data to make calculated predictions about the...