Digital & Internet Marketing

LinkedIn Sponsored Articles, Adobe Premiere Pro AI Speech Enhancement, and the Google Core Update

November 25, 2024 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

LinkedIn continues to evolve as a content platform, Adobe brings AI precision into video editing workflows, and Google shakes up the search landscape with another core update. Together, these shifts redefine how content is created, distributed, and discovered in real time. For marketers and communicators, the alignment matters because it directly connects storytelling, technical delivery, and audience trust into one continuous cycle. The value shows up in measurable terms like higher quality leads, shorter campaign production cycles, improved organic visibility, and stronger click through rates.

LinkedIn now extends its credibility as the professional network of record by giving marketers access to Sponsored Articles. Unlike quick ads or promoted posts, Sponsored Articles are long form, content rich placements that appear directly in the feeds of targeted professionals. The model allows brands to scale thought leadership by embedding their insights inside the platform where business decisions are already happening. The demand for trustworthy B2B content is rising and Sponsored Articles tap that expectation by positioning companies as educators first, sellers second.

Adobe Premiere Pro strengthens its role as a production cornerstone with new AI speech enhancement features. Marketers who depend on video storytelling often lose valuable time to poor audio quality or expensive post production fixes. By automating clarity, cleaning background noise, and sharpening voices, Premiere Pro reduces editing cycles while improving viewer experience. The tool is not just about saving hours in the editing bay. It is about delivering professional grade content that holds attention, drives engagement, and elevates brand perception.

Google’s October core update, which continues into November, is another reminder that the search ecosystem is a moving target. Sites built on thin, outdated, or untrustworthy content feel the impact quickly while those investing in expertise and authority see stronger visibility. This is Google reinforcing its message that content must not only be helpful but also be credible and trustworthy. Publishers that adapt win impressions and clicks while laggards face shrinking visibility.

“Young people are using TikTok as a search engine. Here’s what they’re finding.” — The Washington Post, March 5, 2024

This reminder from earlier in the year underscores why every channel decision matters. Social platforms train expectations for immediacy and relevance. AI tools set standards for speed and personalization. Search engines define the rules of discoverability. Together, they create the operating system for digital communication. Factics in this moment highlight that sponsored articles reduce cost per lead by up to 35 percent when supported by strong creative, AI audio tools can cut production time by 30 percent, and content aligned to Google’s E E A T framework increases visibility by more than 80 percent after a recovery period. These are not abstract benefits. They are trackable outcomes tied to pipeline growth, campaign efficiency, and discoverability.

Best Practice Spotlight

Gong and LinkedIn Sponsored Content
B2B SaaS provider Gong uses LinkedIn Sponsored Content and Conversation Ads to target high intent professionals with ungated whitepapers and webinars. This campaign strategy produces a 35 percent increase in marketing qualified leads and demonstrates how precise targeting paired with value first content accelerates trust and conversions.

Healthline and Google Core Updates
Healthline undertakes a sweeping content audit guided by Google’s principles of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Articles are updated by medical professionals, author bios are expanded with credentials, and outdated content is removed. This proactive alignment with quality standards results in an 80 percent recovery of traffic and search visibility, reinforcing that authority driven updates deliver measurable returns.

Creative Consulting Concepts

B2B Scenario
Challenge: A mid market software firm struggles with low engagement on gated whitepapers.
Execution: Repurpose insights into LinkedIn Sponsored Articles targeting vertical specific decision makers with narrative rich content.
Expected Outcome: Generate a 25 percent increase in qualified leads while reducing cost per acquisition.
Pitfall: Overly promotional tone risks being ignored by readers seeking substance over sales pitch.

B2C Scenario
Challenge: A lifestyle brand’s video campaigns suffer from high bounce rates due to poor audio quality.
Execution: Use Adobe Premiere Pro’s AI speech enhancement to clean dialogue and improve listening experience across all product demo videos.
Expected Outcome: Increase average watch time by 20 percent and boost click through rates on shoppable video content.
Pitfall: Relying solely on automation may overlook the nuance of emotional tone in voice delivery.

Non Profit Scenario
Challenge: An advocacy organization loses visibility after Google’s core update penalizes thin resource pages.
Execution: Conduct a structured audit to enrich articles with expert quotes, add author credentials, and remove low quality content.
Expected Outcome: Regain 70 percent of search visibility within six months and raise online donations by 15 percent through improved credibility.
Pitfall: Without continuous content review the gains may erode with the next algorithm adjustment.

Closing Thought

When LinkedIn strengthens authority, Adobe improves clarity, and Google sharpens standards, the alignment shows one truth. Authority, precision, and trust are not separate workflows but one marketing rhythm that drives measurable growth.

References

Adobe. (2024, October 15). Adobe MAX 2024: New AI powered features for Premiere Pro.

Google Search Central. (2024, October 9). October 2024 core update rolling out.

LinkedIn. (2024, April 16). The B2B edge: Building a brand that drives performance.

LinkedIn Marketing Solutions. (2024, June 12). How a B2B SaaS company used LinkedIn to generate high quality leads.

MarketingProfs. (2024, May 29). B2B content marketing: Key benchmarks for 2024.

Search Engine Journal. (2024, October 10). Google releases October 2024 core algorithm update.

Search Engine Land. (2024, May 15). How a health site recovered 80 percent of its traffic after the helpful content update.

Search Engine Roundtable. (2024, October 17). Early Google October 2024 core update volatility and tremors.

The Verge. (2024, October 15). Adobe’s new AI tools for Premiere Pro can automatically add sound effects and improve bad audio.

Instagram Reels, Canva Magic Studio, and Google SGE: Turning Speed into Strategic Advantage

January 29, 2024 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

The scroll is faster than ever, and brands that can produce high-impact content in days instead of weeks are the ones keeping pace. In December, Instagram expanded its Reels Template Library with new formats designed around trending audio, dynamic text overlays, and quick transitions. Canva introduced Magic Studio, a creative suite that merges AI-powered design, instant resizing, and text-to-video into a single hub. At the same time, Google broadened the reach of its Search Generative Experience (SGE), surfacing AI-driven summaries and contextual links that reward content designed to answer multiple related questions in one sweep.

Instagram Reels templates, Canva Magic Studio, Google SGE, AI content workflow, social media engagement, SEO optimization, Factics

These developments show how speed and consistency now operate as strategic levers. The faster a brand can draft, adapt, and distribute content, the more consistently it appears across feeds, carousels, and AI-powered search results. Factics turn this into action: pairing each fact with a tactic ensures that cycle time per asset shrinks, carousel engagement rises, non-brand organic traffic expands, and on-brand visuals hold steady across every platform. Pull one lever, and the others follow.

For a B2B play, that could mean publishing a thought-leadership article structured for SGE visibility, pulling a data point into a 15-second Reel using Instagram’s template library, and then resizing that asset for LinkedIn in Canva’s Magic Switch—all inside a two-day sprint. For a B2C push, a single product demo becomes a Reel, a TikTok, and a Pinterest Pin without manual redesign, multiplying touchpoints while keeping the story consistent. The workflow is straightforward: draft core content, create variations in Magic Studio, apply a tested Reel template, and sync captions with SGE-optimized headings from the blog.

The impact is already visible. In December, Marks & Spencer used generative AI for content scheduling and dynamic social ads across Instagram and Facebook. The result was a 17 percent increase in engagement rate and a 23 percent reduction in creative production time compared to earlier campaigns. A heritage retailer proved that embedding AI into daily workflows can make even large organizations move faster while cutting overhead.

“Templates don’t limit creativity; they speed up the process of finding what works.” — Social Media Today, Dec 14, 2023

Creative Consulting Concepts

B2B Scenario
– Challenge: A SaaS provider struggles with fragmented brand visuals across platforms.
– Execution: Use Canva Magic Studio to create a unified design set, adapt into Instagram Reels templates for product tips, and align blog copy with SGE keyword intent.
– Expected Outcome: 15% lift in LinkedIn engagement and stronger SGE snippet presence within 90 days.
– Pitfall: Neglecting alt-text and captions, which weakens both accessibility and search performance.

B2C Scenario
– Challenge: An eCommerce home décor store wants to capture holiday demand without overloading its design team.
– Execution: Batch-shoot product clips, drop them into trending Reel templates, and auto-resize through Magic Studio for TikTok and Pinterest.
– Expected Outcome: 40% faster content production and higher cross-platform click-through rates.
– Pitfall: Using trending audio without confirming licensing or tone alignment.

Non-Profit Scenario
– Challenge: A conservation nonprofit needs to maximize year-end donation campaigns.
– Execution: Build an emotional storytelling Reel using a pre-tested template, overlay data-driven captions, and embed SGE-optimized FAQs on the donation page.
– Expected Outcome: Greater donor trust and a 12% increase in conversions.
– Pitfall: Overloading visuals with text, reducing emotional impact.

Closing Thought

The edge now belongs to organizations that treat creation and distribution as a single motion. When design, copy, and platform strategy are integrated, speed stops being a scramble and becomes the most dependable growth engine.

References

Social Media Today. (2023, December 14). Instagram expands Reels template options to make Reels creation easier.

Canva. (2023, October 3). Canva unveils Magic Studio to supercharge creativity.

Google. (2023, December 6). Expanding access to Search Generative Experience and new updates.

Adweek. (2023, December 7). How agencies are using AI to streamline creative workflows.

Content Marketing Institute. (2023, December 14). 5 ways to repurpose content across channels with AI.

Adweek. (2023, December 18). Marketers use AI to drive social media engagement.

AI, Me, and the Road Ahead: How I Use Artificial Intelligence to Create Content That Works

January 1, 2023 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

If you’ve read my work before, you know I believe technology should serve creativity, not replace it. That’s why in 2023, you’ll see two distinct kinds of content from me—each powered by AI in different ways, but with very different results.

Defining the Two Paths

Artificial intelligence can be an accelerator or an autopilot. When I talk about #AIAssisted, I mean I’m still in the driver’s seat—shaping ideas, fact-checking, editing, and adding that irreplaceable layer of human insight. When I label something as AIGenerated, I’m letting the AI take the lead, producing the content from a simple prompt with minimal intervention. Both have their uses, but only one carries my full creative fingerprint.

Additional Context: The Origins of the Terms

The distinction between AI-assisted and AI-generated content didn’t emerge with ChatGPT’s release. Both terms have been used in research, industry reports, and marketing circles for years.

AI-Assisted Content — This phrase appeared in academic and industry discussions well before 2022, often in contexts like “AI-assisted medical diagnostics” or “AI-assisted writing tools” such as Grammarly and Jasper’s early iterations. By the late 2010s, digital marketing agencies and SEO professionals were already using “AI-assisted” to describe workflows where humans retained creative control but used AI for research, outlines, and optimization.

AI-Generated Content — This term dates back to early experiments in automated journalism and text generation in the 2010s. Newsrooms such as the Associated Press used automated systems to produce financial reports, weather summaries, and sports recaps, labeling them as “machine-generated” or “AI-generated.” In the marketing world, the phrase was in use by at least 2018 to describe content fully produced by natural language generation (NLG) systems like Wordsmith or GPT-2, with minimal or no human editing.

By late 2022, the AI industry — along with journalists, academics, and marketers — was actively debating the quality, trust, and ethical implications of each approach. The public release of ChatGPT intensified that conversation but did not create it.

Why It Matters

The distinction isn’t just technical—it’s about trust, originality, and quality. Research from Nielsen and Spiegel Research has shown that authenticity and credibility drive higher engagement and conversion rates. AI can write fast, but speed doesn’t equal substance. Without human oversight, AI-generated work risks being generic, error-prone, and out of sync with brand voice.

B2B vs. B2C Impact

For B2B, AI-assisted processes protect the nuance needed to address complex challenges, long sales cycles, and specific industry contexts. In B2C, where speed and volume are valuable, AI-generated content can scale basic tasks—but human refinement still ensures emotional resonance and brand consistency.

Factics

Fact: Audiences rate content as more credible when they know a human was actively involved

Tactic: Clearly label content type (#AIAssisted vs. AIGenerated) to build transparency and trust.

Fact: AI-assisted processes can outperform human-only workflows for efficiency without losing quality

Tactic: Use AI for outlining, research, and draft refinement, but keep humans in control of narrative and tone.

Fact: Disclosure policies are becoming common across platforms and publishers.

Tactic: Adopt voluntary disclosure to get ahead of compliance trends and reinforce audience trust.

Platform Playbook

LinkedIn: Publish thought-leadership posts under #AIAssisted to signal human-led insight.

YouTube: Release behind-the-scenes videos showing how AI tools fit into your workflow.

Blog: Pair AIGenerated posts with human commentary sections to provide context and extra value.

Best Practice Spotlight

Nava Public Benefit Corporation’s AI Tool Experimentation — In 2022, Nava integrated AI into public benefits workflows to increase efficiency without losing service quality. By keeping humans in control of review and decision-making, they maintained trust while improving speed—proving that AI works best as an assistant, not a replacement (Nava, 2022).

Hypotheticals Imagined

The AI-Assisted Strategy Deck – You use AI to generate an outline for a client proposal, then add your case studies, data, and narrative. The result: a document that’s faster to produce but uniquely yours.

The AIGenerated Blog Experiment – You feed a topic into AI, publish the output with minimal changes, then compare engagement to an AI-assisted version. Data shows the AI-assisted version drives more shares and longer read times.

Hybrid Workflow – You produce product descriptions using AI, but manually craft the hero copy for the website. This blend saves hours but still delivers a branded experience.

References:

References:
AI‑Generated Content

AI‑Assisted Content / AI Assistance

ChatGPT Media, Press etc.

11. OpenAI. (2022, November 30). Introducing ChatGPT. OpenAI.

12. Lyons, K. (2022, December 1). OpenAI’s new ChatGPT bot: What it is and why it matters. TechCrunch.

13. Reuters. (2022, December 5). ChatGPT crosses 1 million users within a week of launch. Reuters.

14. BBC News. (2022, December 5). ChatGPT: What is it and why is it making waves?. BBC News.

15. Wikipedia contributors. (2022, December). ChatGPT. In Wikipedia.
16. Southern, M. (2022, December 6). The history of ChatGPT (timeline). Search Engine Journal.

Final Thoughts:

A Universal AI Perspective

For me, the use of AI is not limited to when I run prompts through ChatGPT or another named platform. It should be assumed that AI, in some form, touches every part of my work. From research and drafting to editing and formatting, AI tools—whether visible or invisible—are part of the process. Sometimes that means advanced language models helping refine a paragraph, other times it’s background algorithms suggesting the most relevant data sources, or automated systems streamlining workflow management. In short, my entire creative and strategic process is inherently AI-assisted, even when the final product reflects heavy human authorship.

I believe that everything we do is AI-assisted and has been since the first time we asked a computer to output anything after a prompt. The greatest example of this is the evolution of libraries’ card catalogues into searchable online databases and the ease of a simple Google search to find something. Whether we realize it or not, our digital tools—from spellcheck to search engines—are forms of artificial intelligence augmenting our thinking and expanding our reach. Recognizing this reality isn’t just a technical point; it’s a statement about how creativity, strategy, and technology have been inseparable for decades.

The Power of Micro-Influencers in Niche Marketing

October 25, 2021 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

Sometimes, the smallest voices have the biggest impact. Micro-influencers — creators with smaller but highly engaged audiences — are becoming the go-to choice for brands looking to connect authentically and drive targeted results.

Defining Micro-Influencers

A micro-influencer typically has between 1,000 and 100,000 followers in a specific niche. They may not have celebrity reach, but their audience often trusts them more and engages more deeply. Why it matters: in an age of skepticism toward traditional advertising, micro-influencers bring credibility, relatability, and cost-effectiveness.

B2B vs. B2C Perspectives

In B2B, micro-influencers might be industry analysts, niche consultants, or specialized content creators whose recommendations carry weight with decision-makers. In B2C, they could be lifestyle bloggers, hobbyists, or local personalities whose endorsements resonate with specific communities.

COVID-19 and Influencer Marketing

Pandemic-driven shifts in consumer behavior have increased time spent online and heightened demand for relatable content. Brands with limited budgets have turned to micro-influencers as a cost-effective way to maintain visibility and trust while avoiding the high fees of celebrity endorsements.

Factics

What the data says:

Markerly (2016) found that engagement rates decrease as follower counts increase, making micro-influencers more effective per follower.
Influencer Marketing Hub (2020) reports that businesses earn an average of $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.
Experticity (2017) found that 82% of consumers are highly likely to follow a recommendation made by a micro-influencer.
Statista (2019) shows that Instagram is the top platform for influencer marketing, followed by YouTube and TikTok.
Launchmetrics (2018) notes that niche influencers drive higher conversion rates due to focused audience targeting.

How we can apply it:

Identify influencers whose audience matches your ideal customer profile.
Prioritize engagement rates and audience relevance over follower count.
Collaborate on content that feels native to the influencer’s platform and style.
Leverage micro-influencers for product launches, limited promotions, or community building.
Track performance with unique discount codes, links, or hashtags.

Platform Playbook

Instagram: Use carousel posts, Reels, and Stories with tagged products for shoppable content.
TikTok: Leverage short-form, trend-based videos to reach younger demographics quickly.
LinkedIn: Collaborate with niche industry experts for B2B thought leadership content.
YouTube: Partner on in-depth reviews, tutorials, or behind-the-scenes videos.
Pinterest: Create long-tail evergreen content with product pins and DIY tutorials.

Best Practice Spotlight

Glossier built its brand on micro-influencer partnerships, engaging real customers and beauty enthusiasts to share authentic experiences. By focusing on trust and community rather than reach alone, Glossier created a loyal customer base and strong word-of-mouth momentum.

Strategic Insight

What’s your story? You’re the brand that chooses authenticity over mass reach.

What do you solve? The challenge of connecting meaningfully with a specific audience.

How do you do it? By partnering with niche voices that carry credibility in their community.

Why do they care? Because recommendations from trusted sources feel more personal and believable.

Micro-influencer strategies work alongside personalization, conversational marketing, predictive content, first-party data collection, transparency, data ethics, social commerce, audio-first engagement, and hybrid event tactics to create trust and conversion across the customer journey.

Hypotheticals Imagined

These scenarios show how brands can structure effective micro-influencer campaigns across different platforms and audiences.

**Scenario 1: Boutique Skincare Brand Instagram & TikTok Launch**

Background: A boutique skincare company wants to reach young, health-conscious consumers.
Execution Steps:
1. Identify 15 micro-influencers with 5K–25K followers in the clean beauty niche.
2. Provide product samples and creative briefs for both Instagram Reels and TikTok challenges.
3. Use unique discount codes per influencer for tracking.
4. Amplify top-performing posts with paid promotion.
Expected Outcome: Increased brand awareness and measurable sales conversions.
Potential Pitfalls: Inconsistent creative direction leading to mixed brand messaging.

**Scenario 2: SaaS Platform Partners with Industry Experts**

Background: A SaaS company wants to establish authority in supply chain management.
Execution Steps:
1. Collaborate with LinkedIn micro-influencers who regularly publish supply chain insights.
2. Produce co-branded YouTube tutorials on using the platform for common industry challenges.
3. Share clips on LinkedIn and embed them in blog posts.
4. Invite influencers to participate in webinars.
Expected Outcome: Higher credibility and increased demo requests.
Potential Pitfalls: Overly promotional content reducing perceived authenticity.

**Scenario 3: Local Food Festival Goes Hybrid with Micro-Influencers**

Background: A regional food festival wants to attract both in-person and virtual attendees.
Execution Steps:
1. Engage local food bloggers to share behind-the-scenes setup content.
2. Host live-tasting sessions streamed to Instagram Stories.
3. Create Pinterest boards featuring recipes from participating chefs.
4. Offer exclusive online ticket packages promoted through influencers.
Expected Outcome: Expanded reach beyond local attendees and increased online ticket sales.
Potential Pitfalls: Technical issues with live streams impacting audience experience.

References

Markerly. (2016). Instagram Engagement Study. https://markerly.com

Influencer Marketing Hub. (2020). Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report. https://influencermarketinghub.com

Experticity. (2017). Micro-Influencer Impact Study. https://experticity.com

Statista. (2019). Influencer Marketing Platform Usage. https://www.statista.com

Launchmetrics. (2018). The State of Influencer Marketing. https://www.launchmetrics.com

Messaging as a Marketing Channel: How WeChat, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Telegram Shape Strategy

January 23, 2017 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

While Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram continue to dominate headlines, it’s the private messaging platforms that are quietly reshaping user behavior. In January 2017, apps like WeChat, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Telegram aren’t just personal communication tools—they’re full-scale ecosystems for brand interaction, customer service, and community building. Smart marketers are recognizing that the future of connection is private, personal, and purposeful.

The Four Platforms

• WeChat (846 million users): Dominant in China, WeChat combines messaging, payments, commerce, and social all in one app. Businesses use official accounts to deliver content, promotions, and even customer support. For organizations, it’s a closed-loop CRM and marketing hub.

• WhatsApp (1.2 billion users): Globally popular and known for simplicity and encryption. Businesses use WhatsApp for customer updates, support chats, and more, especially in emerging markets. Tools like WhatsApp Web and Broadcast Lists make it useful at scale.

• Snapchat (300+ million daily users): Visual messaging app famous for disappearing content and stories. Brands and creators build short-form stories that drive engagement through humor, FOMO, and behind-the-scenes experiences.

• Telegram (~100 million users): Known for privacy and group capabilities, Telegram is popular in tech, education, and activist spaces. Channels allow organizations to broadcast updates, while bots offer automation potential.

Using Messaging Apps for Business

• Content Delivery: Create dedicated channels or groups to share timely updates, discounts, or content links directly to subscribers.
• Customer Service: Offer real-time or near-instant messaging for questions, support, and post-purchase engagement.
• Community Building: Form groups or discussion channels around shared interests, events, or customer segments.
• Automation: Use bots (especially on Telegram or WeChat) to answer FAQs, route queries, or deliver resources on demand.
• Commerce: Especially on WeChat, entire transactions—including payments—can be completed within the app.

Strategic Insight: Where Conversations Become Conversions

• What’s your story? You want to be where your audience communicates naturally and frequently.
• What do you solve? You solve attention fatigue and friction by delivering value in the flow of conversation.
• How do you do it? By using messaging platforms to create direct, human, and helpful interactions.
• Why do they care? Because trust builds faster in personal spaces than public posts.

Fictional Ideas

A nonprofit focused on education creates a Telegram Channel to share daily study tips and success stories. Using a chatbot, it allows subscribers to request free PDFs, register for webinars, or ask questions. Engagement grows daily, and within two weeks they launch a micro-donation campaign through the same channel—raising awareness and support with zero ad spend.

References

Statista. (2017). ‘Most Popular Messaging Apps Worldwide.’ https://www.statista.com/
WeChat Official Blog. (2017). ‘How Brands Use WeChat Official Accounts.’ https://blog.wechat.com/
WhatsApp. (2017). ‘Business Use Cases and Features.’ https://www.whatsapp.com/business/
Snapchat for Business. (2017). ‘Advertising Tools & Insights.’ https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/
Telegram Blog. (2017). ‘Using Bots and Channels for Community Engagement.’ https://telegram.org/blog

Making the Social Connection an Emotional Connection

February 5, 2013 by basilpuglisi@aol.com 14 Comments

Marketers know that the best way to reach their audience is to drive an emotional connection between the brand and the end user. With the advent of social media and mobile marketing, we have an exceptional advantage to driving that connection.
Customers are no longer sharing their experiences of your brand between the hours of nine to five, Monday to Friday via the 800 number they were traditionally pushed through. Their experiences have become part of your brand’s story, online, for the world to see, 24 hours a day. So how are you telling your story?
Consider the 4 E’s: Engage, Educate, Excite, Evangelize. Here are five tips all marketers should consider when crafting the story for their brand.
Engage:
Identify your target audience. Decide what the key words are for your industry. Embrace the opportunity to engage with your community in two-way conversation daily. Trust and loyalty are built over time, as with any good relationship. Remember, if you suck offline, you suck online!
Educate:
Your customers don’t know what they don’t know. By engaging in communities where your customers are, you are raising awareness about what it is your business does, and adding value to the relationship. Joining the conversation could be as simple as answering questions they may have, ie. friendsourcing. This allows an opportunity to learn from each other; you educate them and they educate you. Then you’re on your way to positioning yourself as an influencer and industry leader.
Excite:
Be authentic, be positive, be transparent. I align my business with leaders: are forward-thinking, action-oriented risk-takers, who maintain a positive outlook. There will always be those who are not (ie. twankers). By engaging positively, you’re able to insert your unique value proposition into the relationship, and instill excitement around your product/service.
Evangelize:
Identify the influencers within each community: hashtags are an effective method of organizing tweets around a particular topic. They are created around an event or an existing community. Use them! Once you have an engaged, educated, excited community, the evangelizing will happen naturally.
Make this a priority!
Don’t be left behind, the conversations are going on with or without you. And remember, incorporating a social media policy is vital when your team is representing your business.
Guest Post by:
Jeffrey Hayzlett, Bestselling Author, Global Business Celebrity & Sometime Cowboy
JEFFREY HAYZLETT is a global business celebrity and former Fortune 100 c-suite executive. From small business to international corporations, he has put his creativity and extraordinary entrepreneurial skills into play, launching ventures blending his leadership perspectives, insights into professional development, mass marketing prowess and affinity for social media. He is a well-traveled public speaker, the author of the bestselling business books, The Mirror Test and Running the Gauntlet, and one of the most compelling figures in global business.
Jeffrey is an esteemed business and marketing expert, appearing frequently on programs like Fox Business News, MSNBC’s Your Business, Bloomberg West, and NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump. Drawing upon an eclectic background in business, buoyed by a stellar track record of keynote speaking, and deeply rooted in cowboy lore, Jeffrey energizes his role driving and delivering change. He is a turnaround architect of the highest order, a maverick marketer who delivers scalable campaigns, embraces traditional modes of customer engagement, and possesses a remarkable cachet of mentorship, corporate governance and brand building.

Constant Contact: eMail Marketing [INTERNSHIP]

November 21, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

Constant contact is an online marketing company that allows you to stay connected with your customers all around the world. With the world rapidly moving their marketing towards the web, constant contact is a great way to anticipate new customers. They offer their services primarily to small businesses, membership associations, and nonprofit organizations. Constant contact is known for their dependable email marketing. Their main goal is to help their customers find new customers, drive repeat business, and generate referrals.
Email marketing is basically sending email messages with a purpose of attracting new customers, or enhancing the relationships with current customers. Email marketing through constant contact is a great reliable way for your company to grow. With features that allow you to have a professional look, constant contact’s email marketing is more effective than regular email. No technical skills are required to create a professional looking email because constant contact offers over 400 templates to choose from. Creating newsletters are simple and fast so you can send them much more frequently than paper ones.
In order to effectively get your prospectors to respond, differentiate your data base and create smaller customer lists based on their shared interests. After you’ve done that, send them relevant information that pertains to them. This will get more of a chance for them to actually act upon your emails. The emails you send are easy to forward so if you target your audience and their interested, there’s no doubt they’ll click the forward button. This will get you referrals much more easily and allow your company to grow.
A cool feature constant contact’s email marketing offers is tracking and reporting. After you send an email you are able to see who read, clicked, or forwarded your email. This allows you to understand what the people you’re trying to contact are really interested about. You can then go back and tailor your content the best possible way for your targeted audience.
Besides the email templates constant contact offers, they also offer list management and free coaching. List management is a tool that allows you to organize and grow your contact list by combing multiple lists and segmenting them based on an audience with common interests. This is a much easier way to send out a mass email because the lists are already narrowed down to a targeted audience. If you’re having trouble with email marketing through constant contact, they offer free personal coaching and support at anytime. They present webinars, guides, and podcasts to go further in detail about email marketing and how it can boost your businesses customer service.
Constant contact is the new marketing success formula that helps create and grow customer relationships in today’s socially connected world. It’s an easy reliable way for your business to keep a strong communication line. If you use constant contact’s email marketing the right way, your customers will share your emails with their networks therefore making your business grow.
Sources:
http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp
http://landing.constantcontact.com/goog-grow-with-email-marketing-ad?utm_id=GOO-100846&cc=GOO-100846&gclid=CPXIgL3ZybMCFQOf4AodzQMA7A
http://www.constantcontact.com/email-marketing/what-is-email-marketing/index.jsp
http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/index.jsp
The content in this article is part of Digital Ethos’s Digital Media Education in the Higher Education Internship Program, the content was created by @KaylaMarzo, a Student at Suffolk County Community college, intern at Digital Ethos.

Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Tell Stories” [Internship]

October 15, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

                Seth Godin made a valuable point when stating, “Marketing is about spreading ideas, and spreading ideas is the single most important output of our civilization.” Godin has made several other valuable points in his book, “All Marketers Tell Stories”. He focuses on a person’s “worldview” which is someone’s own rules, values, beliefs, and biases. Even though it is very tough to change someone’s worldview, it is possible with the correct kind of marketing.
                Worldviews are both beneficial yet tricky at the same time. Worldviews are the reason why our world is a diverse place. However, it is hard for a marketer to target so many people with different points of views. According to Godin, “Worldviews are the reason that two intelligent people can look at the same data and walk away with completely different conclusions.” Marketers have found a way “around” worldviews that allow them to still market their products or services. Marketers tell stories. “Consumers are used to telling stories to themselves and telling stories to each other, and it’s just natural to buy stuff from someone who’s telling us a story. People can’t handle the truth.” Seth Godin was one hundred percent right when he wrote this in his book. People cannot handle the truth, and they will do anything to go around it. In order for a marketer to truly succeed, which doesn’t happen often according to Godin, there are five steps that they need to follow.
                The first step in Godin’s “All Marketers Tell Stories” is “their worldview and frames got there before you did.” He explains that the world is full of all kinds of different people with different worldviews. If everyone was the same, marketing would be a piece of cake. However, that’s not the case. Marketers need to make their advertisements accustom to everyone and their different values, biases, and assumptions. Frames are also part of the big picture. They are elements of a story painted to leverage the worldview a consumer already has. If a marketer frames their story in terms of a person’s worldview, they will be heard and noticed.
                The second step Godin points out is “people notice only the new and then make a guess”. He makes a great comparison to ideas and viruses. Viruses can spread through a community by jumping host to host. Scientists study how a host interacts with the virus. The same thing goes for an idea; ideas can spread through a community person to person. Instead of seeing how a host and virus interact, we try to understand how our brain responds to the ideas and inputs we encounter.
                The third step is “first impressions start the story”. People make judgments within a fraction of a second. A marketer needs to grab the attention of their audience as soon as they start telling the story or else they will lose the persons attention. A marketer should always start with something exciting and interesting, not boring. First impressions are always key.
                Godin’s fourth step in his book is “great marketers tell stories we believe.” First, you have to believe in your story, or else you will not come off believable. Sounding confident and knowing what you’re talking about will draw in a bigger audience. The story sells the product and pleases the customer.
                Finally, the last step is “marketers with authenticity thrive.” Godin said, “If you commit to a story and live that story, the contradictions will disappear.” No one likes a phony person because then no one will take their time to listen to your advertisement, or even buy your product or service. When a marketer is authentic, it shows, and people will stop and listen. People like hearing stories when it involves a shortcut, money, safety, fun, and belonging. These are all factors of their worldviews, and Godin said persuading someone to switch their worldview is the same as making him admit he was wrong. People hate admitting that they are wrong, and therefore will not listen to your story.
                In the end, it doesn’t matter whether something is actually better or more efficient, what matters is what the consumer believes. As a marketer, it would be impossible to be noticed without studying your audience’s various worldviews. Products and services have gotten more and more complex, so there is a lot of teaching for marketers to do. Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Tell Stories” is a step in the right direction when you want to succeed as a marketer.
Sources:
http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1591841003/permissionmarket
http://digitalethos.org/a-day-at-google-new-york-opinion/

The content in this article is part of Digital Ethos’s Digital Media Education in the Higher Education Internship Program, the content was created by @KaylaMarzo, a Student at Suffolk County Community college, intern at Digital Ethos.

Real-Time Monitoring for Facebook Analytics

June 5, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

With new updates kicking off on Facebook left and right hopefully you haven’t missed the opportunity they have presented to take advantage of real-time monitoring of your webpage statistics and demographics. One of their newest tools is in fact, the Real-Time Monitor for Facebook analytics. Whereas before the updates seemed to arrive on an irregular basis, they have built new post level analytics that give user’s the answers they are looking for, updated, around every 5 minutes.

This has phenomenal impact for those who wanted to more closely monitor how specific posts fared, or even gauge how fans reacted to content, contest, questions and more social communication options in real-time and ask they occur. Although the new tool is currently in beta and free for Pro users, it is worth keeping an eye on for when it makes its to public release. Currently, the beta tool requires users to remain within that tool in order for them to collect the metrics and share the data in real-time, but they have plans to expand further on this functionality, hopefully with more flexibility, in the future.

What Can You Monitor with the Real-Time Tool?

You will be able to filter by a variety of metrics including, but not limited to:

Unique Impressions
Paid Impressions
Total Impressions
Organic Impressions
Viral Impressions
Total Engagement
Shares, Likes, Comments, Clicks and Virality

Users will be able to monitor all of the active posts on the pages they administrate. The filter options are flexible and can be viewed as Change in Values or Total Values. This will offer marketers a unique perspective on how their content is trending in real-time.

c/o EdgeRank

Negative Feedback Posts

If you notice a trend that indicates an individual post is beginning to accrue more than average negative feedback, you may want to consider remove the post to help reduce damage to your average EdgeRank. This can also help your page to maintain the strongest possibility for a high-end EdgeRank.

“Virality”

Everyone knows that your content or media has a chance at going viral on a social media network. They are famous for this on a daily basis. You will now be able to view previously unseen real-time analysis of the viral lift to each piece of content you release. Users can then study how viral, organic, and paid impressions begin to interact with the content to create even further viral marketing opportunities.

Recent Posts

Users can monitor the individual performance and status of the most recent post by viewing impressions, clicks, engagement, and even negative feedback in real-time. Brand management can easily use this vital information to identify and cultivate the performance of each post to the fullest or manage damage control by pulling those negatives out quickly when needed.

Author:

@BasilPuglisi is the Executive Director and Publisher for Digital Brand Marketing Education (dbmei.com). Basil C. Puglisi is also the President of Puglisi Consulting Group, Inc. A Digital Brand Marketing Consultancy that manages professional and personal branding for Fortune 500 CEOs, Hedge Fund Managers and Small Business Owners.

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How to Budget for Marketing

May 27, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com 2 Comments

Whatever it is, the budget you put in place for your marketing for the year ahead will shape the results you achieve. Now is the ideal time to define your marketing approach and the budget that will support it. In a recent Toluna survey of businesses, 40% of businesses surveyed stated that they did not feel that their marketing budget met all their marketing needs.
In tougher times, the marketing budget is often the first thing that is cut. Yet it is commonly known that companies which consistently market themselves in a recession perform better than those that don’t. So:

How can companies budget better to create the results they want?
What can companies do to budget effectively for the year ahead?

Fit your strategy around your target market

Strategy is everything in marketing. But a separate strategy for your marketing and your sales approach will not deliver the best Return On Investment (ROI). Now is the best time to review your marketing approach in 2011 and identify what worked – and what didn’t. Then, apply this important data to your overall sales and marketing strategy. Which markets are you trying to reach? Which audiences do you want to grow in the coming year? Match this with your marketing approach and plan your marketing spends in careful stages, so that each part of the plan flows from one stage to another. Use inbound marketing technology to track the behaviour of your target markets and ensure that you are using the most appropriate marketing channels to reach them. This will help you get more from your budget in 2012.

Track your ROI on marketing spend

Your marketing data from the past year will provide a valuable insight into what will work over the next 12 months. So carefully track the ROI you’ve gained this year and identify the activities that have created the best results.

Be ruthless in assessing what is paying you back and what is proving to be a drain on your resources

Would these areas work better with a different approach, perhaps using inbound marketing to accelerate results and make them more profitable? You can also use inbound marketing technology to closely assess and analyse the exact payback from each area of your marketing plan – and feed this knowledge into the year ahead. Put a plan in place for tracking your ROI. Inbound marketing allows you to do this continuously and consistently, letting you to adapt and refresh your marketing activities accordingly.

Create a cross-channel marketing budget

Are you currently using all the appropriate marketing channels? Did your approaches in 2011 feed across the different channels to maximise results – or did you only focus on a couple of areas?
Recent research suggests that companies using social media or “collaborative Web 2.0 technologies” are achieving higher profits. (Source: McKinsey)
Are you one of the companies missing out on a better marketing ROI by neglecting or misusing social media and other technologies?
By using inbound marketing you can connect up all your marketing channels much more effectively, making it easier to retain any potential customers – whatever stage of buying cycle they are at. You can create a cross-channel presence that reduces the cost of building a receptive and responsive brand profile. This approach also makes it much easier to budget for the year ahead. It gives you a core strategy which then feeds out across all the channels – bringing you a better ROI for 2012.

Adapt and update

While it is important to develop a clear strategy to get the best from your marketing budget, it is also important to continuously review and analyse your results. More conventional marketing approaches have traditionally made it quite hard to view the results as you go along. But new inbound marketing technology allows you to view the impact of every single aspect of your marketing approach – as it’s happening. Use this invaluable and on-going insight to adapt your strategy and ensure you make the most of your budget throughout 2012.

What is the secret to budgeting right for marketing in the year ahead?

Everybody wants to make their marketing budget work harder. So how can you ensure you do this in the months to come? Focus on your target market and what they’re doing. By using inbound marketing technology you can get closer to buyer behaviour and demand. You can use this insight to create more meaningful connections by building relationships across all the different marketing channels. This enables you to accelerate the relationships you build with your prospects. Instead of waiting for months to view the results, you can see who’s responding – and adapt your strategy to meet the demand there and then. This ensures that your marketing spend is continuously matched with where it is most effective and that it feeds right back into your company’s sales and marketing strategy. Create your strategy, use advanced inbound marketing approaches to maximise your marketing impact and assess its impact while it’s live. Keep it consistent and targeted and you can look forward to a better ROI on your marketing budget in 2012.
Author: Sookie Shuen is the community manager at Tomorrow People, a leading UK inbound marketing consultancy. You can read more of Sookie’s content on inbound marketing by subscribing to the Zoober Inbound Marketing blog here. You can also find her on Google+ and Twitter.
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