This Week’s Top Stories
Less Than 1/3 Of The World’s Top CMOs Are Active On Twitter
(Marketing Land, 6/4/15)
PNConnect Insight – There are two ways to look at this statistic. You could see it as a missed opportunity by more than 2/3 of the world’s top marketing executives to connect with their audiences and promote their thought leadership. Or, you could see it as a proper reflection of priorities by 2/3 of those same executives — they’re content to let their brand be the center of their Twitter efforts, and they’re focused on their jobs and haven’t gotten swallowed up in the pursuit of Twitter glory. There is no real right answer; Twitter success only comes if someone has the desire to lead there, and is willing to make the time to build a genuine presence. You can’t force someone to be on Twitter and to do it well if they don’t want to be there — and if your CMO doesn’t want to be there, they’re not going to succeed. On the other hand, a truly engaged CMO on Twitter can be a true asset to your brand — for example, Jon Iwata at IBM (@coastw).
Social Media
Why Social Media Insights Are A Gold Mine For Inbound Marketers
(Marketing Land, 6/9/15)
PNConnect Insight – It’s an established fact that in order to grab your target audience’s attention, you need to publish content that’s relevant to them rather than just repeating your key messages. But as the author points out, you can learn more about what’s relevant to your audience by listening to what they’re already saying on social media. This is a crucial element of brands’ social media strategy.
Twitter’s Latest Tweak Aims To Cut Out The Noise In Conversations
(ReadWrite, 6/10/15)
PNConnect Insight – Twitter is trying to get more control over what its users actually see. It’s looking for ways to help users get more value by sorting through the sea of noise. This will be a welcome development to everyone except long-time Twitter snobs who don’t like changes to “their” platform.
Publishing
Why The Funniest Site On The Internet Keeps A Serious Schedule
(Fast Company, 6/9/15)
PNConnect Insight – Timing is everything in comedy, content publishing and comedic content publishing. Clickhole knows the value of a clear editorial workflow and schedule.
Google Planning to Devalue Content Behind Interstitials
(The SEM Post, 6/4/15)
PNConnect Insight – While most brand publishers don’t do interstitial ads on their blogs or sites, those that do may soon find their content is being penalized. Meanwhile, those without interstitial ads could benefit as competitors take a hit.
Introducing Letters
(Medium, 6/10/14)
PNConnect Insight – Basically Medium just created its own version of email newsletters, though they make it sound much more innovative than that. Also, Feedburner used to have a “subscribe via email” option that turned the RSS feeds Medium mentions into email blasts.
Media/Journalism
We’re using hashtags less than ever. Here’s why.
(Poynter, 6/10/14)
PNConnect Insight – Get past the headline and look at the discussion about where and when to use a trending or otherwise popular hashtag, particularly one that’s tied to a current news event. What it boils down to is the question they ask: Is there an unintended editorial opinion that can or will be associated with that hashtag? Answer that and choose wisely.
Tools
You Can Now Search For GIFs While You Post In Tumblr
(Buzzfeed, 6/4/15)
PNConnect Insight – Considering GIFs are Tumblr’s native language, this functionality that simplifies GIF sharing makes a ton of sense.
Tumblr’s Answer Time takes on Reddit’s celebrity AMAs
(The Next Web, 6/5/15)
PNConnect Insight – In this new phase of the Web, networks and apps are competing on experience more than features. It’s kind of like how you can get the same toothpaste at Target and Walmart, but you decide where to shop based on price, experience and location. Networks are seeing growing overlap among their features and functionality, and what’s left to differentiate them from one another is the experience: where your friends are, what feels the most natural to you and so on.
Vine Updates Search Results To Include Actual Vines, Not Just Hashtags And People
(TechCrunch, 6/9/15)
PNConnect Insight – With other platforms (Snapchat, Periscope, Meerkat, even Instagram) getting all the attention lately, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t that long ago that Vine was the darling platform. But unlike the Chicago Cubs, Vine may still have more to offer than long-past glory and has-been status. Improving its search tool is a good step toward making this platform more user-friendly and returning it to relevance.
Advertising/Promotion
FTC Urges Publishers to Clearly Label Native Ads
(ClickZ, 6/8/15)
PNConnect Insight – While the FTC is putting the onus on publisher to provide adequate disclosure to readers, but advertisers themselves are not off the hook. Rather than pushing to keep disclosures hidden, advertisers need to make sure the disclosure is as prominent as it reasonably can be. After all, if the disclosure doesn’t meet FTC and reader standards, the advertiser will take just as much of a reputation hit as the publisher.