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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 23, 2017 11:04 AM
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As I reported in the villages of rural Nepal after the earthquake, I posted iPhone photographs with short dispatches on my Instagram account (@sonianarang). I suddenly found my Instagram feed full of questions about the situation in Nepal, so I kept posting more and more. In my Instagram photos, I tried to showcase the life of regular people I was meeting everyday – women who had built makeshift shelters, young mothers in a tent with their babies, and schoolchildren trying to study despite the disastrous earthquake. For me, Instagram was the perfect tool to get real-time photographs out into the world about how the earthquake had changed people’s lives. Everyday Instagram Feeds With more than 700 million people on Instagram as of April 2017, this popular photo-sharing platform has become a powerful tool for journalists globally. The rise of fascinating, region-specific Instagram feeds curated by a wide range of photographers offer an insider’s look into the “everyday” lives of people around the world. Some of my favorite feeds allow me to discover stories, people, and photographers in the Middle East (@everydaymiddleeast), Latin America (@everydaylatinamerica) and Africa (@everydayafrica), right from the palm of my hands....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 23, 2017 10:45 AM
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The consistent refrain for publishers in the digital age is that everyone is still trying to figure out what can work, from platforms to advertising to workable, sustainable models. But as the path to enlightenment remains covered in fog, possibly smog, the effects of the digital era’s inscrutable disruption are being felt. The clearest recent illustration was last week’s crop of layoffs from outlets new and old: HuffPost, Vocativ, Time, the Los Angeles Times. The Reuters Digital News Report for 2017 reifies some of the trends good and bad cropping up in various organizations’ earnings reports and elsewhere, offering glimpses of what to try next, where to double down and what to avoid. One of the more obvious findings, and one we’ve all likely memorized by now, is that the growth of digital revenue has not been enough to offset the loss of print revenue. Subscriptions have been picking up some of that slack....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 23, 2017 10:29 AM
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After much anticipation, Google Posts is finally available to all small businesses. The content will appear in both Google search and maps results. Google Posts is now rolling out to all small businesses that use the Google My Business (GMB) platform. Google just announced the rollout late this afternoon. A couple of weeks ago, the company moved Google Posts into GMB, and that is where you can access it now — on both the desktop and the Google My Business Android and iOS apps. Go to your GMB account and click on “Posts” on the left-side menu when you are in your Google business listing....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 22, 2017 11:04 AM
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When you think about improving your SEO, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe you think of rewriting your web copy to rank better for certain keywords, churning out new posts for your blog, or making sure your website is structured in a logical way. All of these are important aspects of ranking well in search engines, but they aren’t the only ways you can optimize your web presence. If you want to rank better and get more traffic, you need to improve your off-page SEO, too. This guide will help you get started....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 22, 2017 10:43 AM
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The publication of the annual Digital News Report, from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, is eagerly awaited by news execs around the world. So much so, that the 2017 study is being accompanied by major presentations on June 22 at the GEN Summit in Vienna, and at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University in New York. Clocking in at 133 pages, this sixth annual study, has been expanded to cover 36 different markets around the world (the first, in 2012 examined just five countries), shedding light on many countries – including nations featured for the first time such as Mexico, Malaysia, Croatia and Romania – which are seldom reported in English-language media. Against this backdrop it’s fascinating to determine some of the similarities – and differences – between digital news habits in the U.S. and the rest of the world. With that question in mind, here are seven important developments worth highlighting....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 21, 2017 11:45 PM
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When it comes to email marketing, Chris Brogan literally owns a day of the week.
The New York Times bestselling author, keynote speaker and marketing consultant for worldwide brands including Coca Cola, IBM, Google, Disney and countless others has a Sunday email newsletter that is the stuff of digital legend.
And what's most fascinating is that Brogan's approach to email marketing isn't one many would consider emulating, let alone on the scale he does each week. Also, his views on the size of one's email list seem to go against what many consider the Holy Grail of email marketing - the bigger the list, the better the results.
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 20, 2017 11:40 AM
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Amazon’s $13.7 billion proposed acquisition of Whole Foods rocked the grocery industry last week. We’ve got a wide range of Industry opinion, expert analysis and perspectives on the deal and what it means for the US grocery trade. CNBC reported that shares of Whole Foods jumped 28% on news of the proposed Amazon acquisition. Cowen and Company reports 12% of US consumers bought groceries online in 2016. CNBC also called Amazon’s plan “a brilliant acquisition” and “a slam dunk.” The acquisition news had a big impact on retail and grocery stocks, causing a huge drop in share value of tens of billions of dollars. Kroger shares dropped 11% and Walmart was down 5% while Costco and Target each slipped 6%....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 20, 2017 11:24 AM
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In this post – 5 Steps to Restart, Recharge and Revive Your Marketing Right Now! – I introduced an aggressive initiative to help any business owner struggling to stay on plan with their marketing for the year. The idea is to take the mid-point of the year and get a fresh restart. While the previous post kicked off the idea today’s post 1 of 5 Summer Restart is meant to get us down to business. Ready to cover the five steps to restart your marketing plan for the year? QOh, side note – I love summer – I embrace the heat and here in the Midwest the humidity – so since we are talking about restarting your plan as Summer kicks in I thought I would give this entire series a Summer motif. Thus the watermelon in the image above....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 20, 2017 10:53 AM
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I recently interviewed Cision global CEO Kevin Akeroyd. We rarely interview vendor CEOs, but Cision is an interesting case. Why? Very simple – Cision, or rather GTCR, the private equity fund backing it, has spent $2 billion dollars on buying PR/communications point solutions across data, content and measurement. Yes that’s right, that’s not a typo, I did say two billion dollars. That’s massively more than anyone else has ever spent on PR/comms tools – ever. By a huge margin. I’ve worked around the PR vendor market for about 10 years, I don’t pretend to be the world’s leading expert on it, but I get, I understand it. And what I’ve never quite got my head around is why Cision spent quite so much money in this market; in the end presumably GTCR will want to make a profit on any exit. So I was looking forward to catching up with Kevin. It’s a long read but it’s an interesting perspective on: -Why Cision has spent so much - The role cloud technology has played in changing the advertising, paid content and marketing sectors - The simple reason why PR budgets have not increased at the same rate as paid media budgets, despite the depreciating returns in the advertising sector
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 19, 2017 11:15 AM
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Facebook ads aren’t only useful for bringing highly targeted customers to your site — they can be used at every stage of the e-commerce sales funnel:With the Facebook Pixel, you can track the ways people engage with your brand, and send them unique ads based on which stage of your funnel they’re currently in.First-time visitor conversion rates are tiny – 2 percent or less. If you aren’t re-marketing to people who engage with your brand, then you’re leaving money on the table.Here are some of the ways you can use Facebook ads to supercharge your sales....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 19, 2017 10:44 AM
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78% of social sellers outsell peers who don’t use social media. Go to where the buyers are. Build a strong network with prospects and customers by offering value. It’s simple. It makes sense. For speaker, advisor and sales leader, Jill Rowley, social selling is one of the most important tactics a salesperson can employ. It also happens to be one of the most haphazardly applied and misunderstood concepts in the industry today. Building a strong network by listening to individual’s needs and providing solutions means they will turn to you when they are ready to buy. They will also be more willing to spread your message. As it turns out, your best salespeople aren’t always on your payroll. LeadGenius sat down with Jill Rowley, to discuss how social selling is effectively applied at leading companies such as GE and Affinio.
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 19, 2017 10:11 AM
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Cause baby she’s a firework: Katy Perry Friday became the first person on Twitter to top 100 million followers.Perry joined Twitter in 2009, and this was her first of more than 8,000 tweets....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 19, 2017 9:46 AM
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Content marketers seek to answer peoples’ questions. And when people have questions, they turn to Google. Which means that our content must appear prominently in search. As an Account Manager at NewsCred, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most innovative and advanced content marketers in the business. Despite them leading the content marketing space, many still struggle to get their content in the top spaces of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs), unless they invest in paid search. The good news is that there’s a fairly untapped opportunity to rank even higher than the first result on the page: Google answer boxes....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 23, 2017 10:53 AM
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This year at VidCon, YouTube shared some new metrics that really drive home how much it’s dominating mobile video usage and how quickly its service is gaining viewers on TVs. The highlight was the fact that there are now 1.5 billion logged-in users visiting the site every month. The distinction is important as there are undoubtedly still quite a few folks hopping on YouTube that aren’t necessarily using Google Accounts to do so. The site announced it hit 1 billion monthly active users in 2013, though that number assumedly related to all visitors, logged-in and not. Logged-in users spend an average of more than one hour per day watching YouTube just on mobile devices, a pretty daunting number that showcases just how pervasive video has gotten on the mobile web....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 23, 2017 10:35 AM
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More marketers currently invest in video advertising on Facebook and YouTube than on Twitter and Instagram. But they’re increasing how much they spend on all four social media platforms. More than two-thirds (67%) of US marketers run video ads on Facebook, while more than half (51%) do so on YouTube, according to an April 2017 survey from cloud-based video creation company Animoto. By comparison, only 25% of marketers surveyed are spending on video for Twitter, with the same percentage buying video ads for Instagram. But that doesn’t mean Twitter and Instagram are falling completely by the wayside. In fact, half of marketers said they plan to increase their investment in social video advertising on Instagram in the next 12 months, and 52% plan to do the same on Twitter....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 22, 2017 11:15 AM
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In their book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, authors Chip and Dan Heath argue that stories are powerful persuaders because of their ability to simulate and inspire. When writing that book, they read hundreds of stories to search for templates of stories that would motivate, energize, and drive productive action. The Heath brothers identified three basic story templates: the challenge plot, the connection plot, and the creativity plot. Those plots are based on Chip Heath's research at Stanford University. I've added a fourth, called the cautionary plot. Each of these four approaches can, depending on the specific circumstances, convince the buyer to accept change—i.e., be come amenable to buying the seller's product or service....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 22, 2017 10:48 AM
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Whether you're setting up a brand new Facebook Page for your brand, or you just want to make the most of your existing one, it’s probably a smart move -- Facebook is home to nearly 2 billion monthly active users. It should be easy enough, right? Just slap together a photo, a couple of posts, and expect the leads and customers to roll on in, right? Wrong. If you're not creating a Facebook Page with a comprehensive strategy to get noticed, Liked, and engaged with, the chances of actually generating leads and customers from it are pretty slim. For example, you can’t just choose any picture -- you have to choose one that’s the right dimensions, high-resolution, and properly represents your brand. But it doesn’t end there -- so we compiled the tips below to make sure you're creating an engaging page that takes full advantage of everything Facebook marketing has to offer..
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 21, 2017 11:54 PM
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Management consultancies are taking their tussle with agencies for marketing budgets to the Croisette in Cannes.
Accenture Interactive, Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young and McKinsey will all be out in force at the festival. Purists might argue their presence is indicative of how industrialized advertising has become, but few can deny the influence these companies could wield in the broader marketing landscape.
“It’s natural for consultancies to be in Cannes because they’re doing a lot of the work that digital agencies do when it comes to connecting brands,” said Joydeep Bhattacharya, managing director of Accenture Interactive. “Most of the clients we will have out here will be CEOs and chief digital officers and getting them into this [festival] and showing them that we are relevant here [in Cannes] will be key.”
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 21, 2017 11:37 PM
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Instagram recently passed 700 million monthly active users and is currently the most popular social media platform for Generation Z with over 59% of the cohort using it. With such massive growth, this platform is hard for any brand to ignore its power. But as people and companies launch their brands on Instagram, many are struggling with getting their following established. A key tool to create your brand: Instagram If you want to achieve a massive following on Instagram, take note of Derrick Thompson (@throne) and his work building a following of over 5 million users across all of his accounts, including large some of the largest Instagram pages such as @abs. His work as a content creator has allowed him to reach massive fame and own a number of successful e-commerce businesses. After taking a moment to sit down and talk to him about his story and how he became so successful, this was his take on how to use Instagram to build a brand.
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 20, 2017 11:31 AM
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Quaker State and digital media company, Onion, Inc. are continuing their partnership and launching a new video series. The brand first started working with The Onion in 2016 with the launch of six satirical videos poking fun at marketing fads such as commercial jingles and VR technology. The new series of videos focus on two pseudo Quaker State marketing interns trying to come up with the next big idea for the brand. It was developed by Onion Inc.’s creative services division, Onion Labs. “The Interns” will roll out beginning today featuring hidden camera-style footage, says Nancy Salazar, Quaker State brand manager. The series’ eight installments and accompanying social content will run throughout the rest of 2017. ...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 20, 2017 11:07 AM
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Quick question…What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “Rankings”...? Most people only think of Google… But that’s a HUGE MISTAKE... You see it’s not just about Google anymore... YouTube is now the second biggest search engine in the world in its own right, not to mention YouTube videos now receive PRIORITY RANKINGS IN GOOGLE...These days many people are choosing YouTube as the FIRST place they look for a solution to their problem... So I wanted to make a super quick video for you (only 4 min) revealing how to boost your rankings in YouTube and Google:...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 20, 2017 10:31 AM
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The Body Shop’s content strives to inform current customers about its history and raise awareness for the work they do. The majority of its global content marketing focuses on its corporate social responsibility programs and social good messaging. Social media is key for the company, and YouTube is as an especially strong channel. One ongoing video series is tutorials for upcycling Body Shop packaging into creative, new items. Another series details from where The Body Shop sources ingredients and packaging, like paper from the Himalayan Bansbari community, and tea tree oil from the foothills of Mount Kenya....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 19, 2017 10:59 AM
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It was winter in New York City and Asaf Jacobi’s Harley-Davidson dealership was selling one or two motorcycles a week. It wasn’t enough. Jacobi went for a long walk in Riverside Park and happened to bump into Or Shani, CEO of an AI firm, Adgorithms. After discussing Jacobi’s sales woes, Shani, suggested he try out Albert, Adgorithm’s AI-driven marketing platform. It works across digital channels, like Facebook and Google, to measure, and then autonomously optimize, the outcomes of marketing campaigns. Jacobi decided he’d give Albert a one-weekend audition.That weekend Jacobi sold 15 motorcycles. It was almost twice his all-time summer weekend sales record of eight....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 19, 2017 10:29 AM
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Regardless of your industry, audiences love curation. On a personal level, 50 percent of audiences consume news online and 30 percent read news on social media daily. Furthermore, 41 percent of internet users actively share the content of others. The internet is meant to be a hub for sharing ideas and engaging in discussions for growth. It's more than a billboard for broadcasting your ideas. With this knowledge in mind, you can take strategic steps to increase your brand awareness through curation. Check out the infographic below to learn how to do curation from a brand's point of view. It starts with the basics of why curation is important, and then takes a deep dive into the strategic process. Regardless of your company's size or resources, it's possible to implement a curation plan that makes a difference. All it takes is a little creativity and a commitment to improvement....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
June 19, 2017 9:57 AM
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I first drew a version of this cartoon years ago sitting behind the focus group one-way mirror while working at General Mills. We held a lot of focus groups, many of them in a Minneapolis suburb called Eden Prairie. We used to jokingly refer to those focus group respondents as “The Oracles of Eden Prairie.” We seemingly brought just about every marketing idea to the Oracles of Eden Prairie for inspiration and direction. But what frequently happened is that we would listen for statements that confirmed what we already believed and then disregard the rest. I learned that focus groups can be a great tool for confirmation bias. The Wall Street Journal recently wrote about how focus groups are gradually being displaced by technology-driven tools like social listening. As Seventh Generation’s Maureen Wolpert put it: “It’s very expensive to find that progressive-leaning, millennial new mom who has the time to attend a focus group. This is a way to listen in on the conversation moms are having and to really see their problems.”...
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Visuals matter- journalism via Instagram.