7 Things Content Marketers Can Learn From Fiction Writers
Content marketing is storytelling, so it’s not all that bizarre to think that fiction writers might actually have some advice for us. Can we borrow narrative devices and writing tips from fiction? I certainly believe we can. These seven skills, devices, and tactics come straight from the art of fiction, but they’re remarkable tools for […]
The No Hype Guide To Video Marketing on YouTube
Let’s get one thing straight, if you want to use video as a way to market your business, you’re going to have to learn about production. This whole idea behind “all you need is a webcam” is pretty much garbage. Don’t believe me, when was the last time you watched someone’s webcam video for extended […]
[infographic] Industrialized vs Humanized Companies
“Life finds a way.” Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic Park leveled this caution to the scientists resurrecting the dinosaurs about their inability to control organic evolution. That line struck me as I read Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant. Their book explores how corporations and large […]
5 Brands Successfully Using Education to Engage
The psychology behind what causes people to purchase, and the impact of social and content on that dynamic, is a massive research project (and one we’ll be tackling with The Social Habit project). But one thing we know can be effective are companies that wrap the pitch in information. It’s the spoonful of sugar that […]
Why Stronger Visuals Help You Sell More Stuff
Dial Corporation this week announced a new campaign that integrates its long-standing Facebook Page with its new-ish Pinterest page, giving its Facebook community a challenge to create cause-related boards on Pinterest. The top organizations featured on those user-generated boards will compete to win a $5,000 prize. This isn’t an entirely new type of campaign, of […]
5 Content Marketing Assets You Forgot You Had
Stanford Smith obsesses about how to get small business blogs noticed and promoted at Pushing Social, except when he’s chasing large mouth bass! It’s usually a look of pure terror. I’m sitting across the desk from a professional and confident marketing executive. We’ve discussed the benefits of social business. He is on board with making […]
Is This The Greatest About Us Page Ever Written?
This is an era without information gatekeepers, and every company needs to think of itself as its own TV station, magazine, and newspaper. This puts a spotlight on businesses’ ability to tell their own stories with nuance and impact. Those stories don’t have to be solely contained on your blog, or your YouTube videos, or […]
How to Humanize a Sketchy Industry
Social media is about people, not logos. I saw a presentation at the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Forum in Austin a few ago from Eric Granof, CMO of ExpertBail, which seeks to become the country’s first branded network of bail bonds companies. Like video stores before Blockbuster, and ice cream parlors before Dairy Queen, Expert Bail […]
Why Should Old Spice Get to Have All the Fun?
Guest post by Clinton Bonner, President of NoSox Productions; a character based brand story-telling firm out of Westbrook, CT. It was 2010… The Toyota Sienna Family somehow made mini-vans cool and the Old Spice Guy literally rode-in on a white horse and into our social lives. The emergence of amazing character-based brand storytelling on the […]
What I Learned About Humanity From a Steakhouse
Last week, in the post “Why Your Special Offer Isn’t” we talked about the importance of humanization. Faced with an invitation avalanche, consumers will respond to the stories that resonate with them on a personal level. And those stories don’t just have to live in social media. Myril Arch’s Story — Humanizing a T-Bone Recently, […]
Humanizing a Critically Important Industry, From the Ground Up
The public dialog about agriculture in California and beyond is largely negative, with tales of agribusiness nefariousness commonplace. This is despite the fact that 98% of America’s farms are still owned by families. Farmers are literally feeding us every day, but are routinely pilloried in social media and elsewhere by a very vocal minority. This […]
5 Step Process for Social Media Success
Social media makes big companies feel small again, and gives small companies a natural advantage because they are closer to their customers. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, you have interesting stories to tell. Finding and sharing them is the first step toward social media success. What is your process for harvesting stories within […]
Trey Pennington – The Twitter 20 Interview About Social Media and Humanity
Dr. Trey Pennington has a full plate. He has an active consulting practice, a forthcoming book called “Spitball Marketing”, a blog, an online radio show (the must-listen “Social Media Professor“), and a Facebook page. He’s also founded several Social Media Clubs world-wide, and is active in a bunch of local and South Carolina organizations. (He’s […]
Audit Your Intellectual Capital – 7 Ways to Find Your Stories
Guest post by Elizabeth Sosnow (@elizabethsosnow), Managing Director of BlissPR, a New York City based public relations firm. She develops and supervises strategic communications programs for major companies in professional and financial services, with a particular emphasis on the legal, consulting and insurance industries. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy slips on banana peel, […]