Tim Peterson says, “Some publishers and creators are already making money from using Facebook Live. Facebook pays them. But Facebook isn’t going to pay everyone. So if Facebook wants everyone — especially digital celebrities and publishers that are used to making money from their YouTube videos — to be using Facebook Live, then at some point, Facebook will need to find a way to help them generate their own revenue. And it’s getting closer to that point. On Thursday, at VidCon, the digital video industry’s version of Comic-Con, Ana Kasparian from digital video news network The Young... [...]

Jessica Liu says, “Bloomberg recently reported that Snapchat surpassed Twitter in daily active users. Kudos to Snapchat, which is only half as old as Twitter, but why do we keep comparing Snapchat to Twitter? Or to Instagram? The industry is desperate to neatly categorize Snapchat under social media, but I would argue that Snapchat is equal parts messaging app and social network, putting it in a class of its own. Let’s break it down: * Messaging apps are built on the premise of private conversation: 1 to 1 (yes, group chat exists, but it’s contained). You send specific messages... [...]

Amber Callan says, “Whether your ads are dominating paid search or need a little boost, ad extensions help in a variety of ways: 1) Better Click-Through-Rates AdWords Extensions provide additional ways for searchers to learn more about your business and to interact with your ad. Searchers can make a phone call or go directly to the service page that they’re looking for from your ad/ 2) Increased Visibility Using Ad Extensions lets your ad take up more PPC real estate, making your ads stand out from the others. Just compare the ads with and without extensions above and you’ll see that... [...]

For a few more days, Precious Ngwu is offering a “lite” version of his upcoming product, Origin Builder. It comes with 5 professional high-performance themes with over 26 niche variations with populated contents ready for you to just edit and publish immediately. You can see how easy it is to create your own professional website, and it’s all “on the house.” In a day of practice (or less), you can see how powerful and how easy this new tool is. Then, if you want more of the power, when Ngwu releases the full-function Origin Builder, you may choose to upgrade. Get... [...]

Nikki Gilliland says, “Whether you’re hooked on ‘House of Cards’ or addicted to ‘Orange is the New Black’, I’m sure you can relate to that insatiable need to find out what happens next. As brands cotton on to this common phenomenon, many are using episodic content as a key part of their overall marketing strategy. Here are just four examples of brands who have used this technique to keep consumers coming back for more. Kate Spade Kate Spade is a brand that has truly mastered the world of video advertising. Originally starring Anna Kendrick as a hapless yet... [...]

Jo Cameron says, “One of the biggest obstacles to driving forward your business online is being able to rank well for keywords that people are searching for. Getting your lovely URLs to show up in those precious top positions — and gaining a good portion of the visitors behind the searches — can feel like an impossible dream. Particularly if you’re working on a newish site on a modest budget within a competitive niche. Well, strap yourself in, because today we’re going to live that dream. I’ll take you through the bronze, silver, and gold levels of finding, assessing, and targeting... [...]

Ross Simmonds says, “Have you ever struggled coming up with ideas for your next blog post? You look at your canvas, blank page, or Word document and just stare. I’ve been there. You’ve been there. Unfortunately, coming up with ideas for content is an industry-wide challenge that can only be solved with persistence.1 (highlight to tweet) To create a blog post that people will love as much as Kanye loves Kanye, you need have a great idea for the topic and the story you’re going to share. I’m going to share four resources I use for finding inspiration when I’m in a rut. You can start... [...]

Dan Bieler says, “Bloomberg recently reported that Snapchat surpassed Twitter in daily active users. Kudos to Snapchat, which is only half as old as Twitter, but why do we keep comparing Snapchat to Twitter? Or to Instagram? The industry is desperate to neatly categorize Snapchat under social media, but I would argue that Snapchat is equal parts messaging app and social network, putting it in a class of its own. Let’s break it down: * Messaging apps are built on the premise of private conversation: 1 to 1 (yes, group chat exists, but it’s contained). You send specific messages... [...]

Emma Brudner says, “In Jill Konrath’s opinion, the salesperson is the primary differentiator in B2B purchases today. As products and services become increasingly commoditized, buyers are aware they can get a similar offering from another company. But what they can’t get from just any vendor is the same sales experience, which is created by the sales rep. This means salespeople have almost complete control of their own destinies. Instead of blaming poor numbers on a crummy product line, a bad month, or less-than-stellar leads, failing reps might consider analyzing their processes... [...]

Stefan Tornquist says, “We’ve just published our latest best practice guide, entitled ‘The Role of the Agency in Data Management.’ The report looks at the challenges and opportunities for agencies that want to become trusted stewards of their clients’ data. I sat down with the author, Chris O’Hara, to find out more. Q. It seems like the industry press is continually heralding the decline of media agencies, but they seem to be very much alive. What’s your take on the current landscape? For a very long time, agencies have been dependent upon using low-cost labor for media planning... [...]