When the Wu-Tang Clan released their new album in 2015, ‘Once Upon A Time in Shaolin,’ it was met with an immense amount of hype. The year prior, a double CD of the album was stored in a vault at a hotel in Morocco, you know, as one does with a new album. But this wasn’t any album drop – they only released one copy. ONE. And that single double-disc sat inside of a vault in northern Africa until a rich kid bought it at an auction for $2 Million. It was unattainable to the nth degree. It was as much an innovative music launch strategy as it was a wild PR and marketing stunt. And it got people to notice, with social chatter skyrocketing for several months after the album’s initial announcement.
marketing
build that marketing strategy. the right way…led by the brand
Over the last decade I’ve seen a range of different “strategies”… from sales and business development plans, to media buying tactics, to advertising models, and brand strategies. And I’ve seen these all from a range of different managers, directors, vice presidents, and executives. And the ways in which they all built given strategies were always quite different, but nonetheless always fascinating. I’ve taken these years of learning which have given me the ability to combine elements and go forth with confidence in my own approach to crafting something I’m quite passionate about – a marketing strategy.
the importance of mobile SMS marketing – what I’ve learned
A year ago I had very limited experience with mobile marketing in general, let alone SMS (text messaging) on behalf of a brand. The far and away priority in my world when I started the new job was the social media program and strategy, content marketing, and building a new model in that realm that better connects the brand to consumers and gives them more of what they want to engage with. It’s not something that happens overnight so it took the majority of my time for a long while. But along with the social and content side, I also had the responsibility to oversee the mobile SMS program – something I needed to learn quickly and get rolling. It soon became much more of a priority for me and my team.
why i (typically) hate social media sweepstakes
We’ve all seen them. They’re still everywhere. As consumers, you’re either intrigued by them or they completely annoy you, depending on your own personal goals. I’m talking about social media sweepstakes, giveaways, and sometimes (but not always) contests. And I hate them, well, most of the time.
let’s stop calling all of it social media
There are three quite different areas that fall into what we once knew as “social media”: content marketing, social advertising (paid social display) and community engagement.
Let me break these down for you…and hopefully add a little clarity to the mysterious world of “social media” for businesses as it sits in 2015.
assumptions about social media managers
This is a fun article for me to write; I’m making fun of not only myself and what I’ve mainly been doing for the last half-decade, but also of the people that regularly work with social business folk. There are a lot of different titles that involve social media for a job, and none is more vague than “social media manager.” This could mean so many different things: community manager, social strategist, content marketing, social advertising, analytics and insights, creative services, media marketing, channel discovery, campaign development, and many, many more things.
JEFF WERKHEISER 