Trends

The answer is not yet, but the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies arguably now more than ever.  With smart phone adoption allowing consumers to document their lives visually (according to Nielsen, 44% of US consumers own smartphones, extending to 64% of 25-34 year olds) and social platforms fostering the sharing of pictures and videos, communication is increasingly becoming more visual.  As evidence of this growing trend, we’re getting more pickup and commentary in our influencer outreach efforts, and higher engagement rates on Facebook and Twitter when we include pictures or video.

The future of social media marketing is in digital storytelling; the ability to humanize a brand in ways with which people identify and are closely engaged, thus feeling invested in its future. The brand becomes an extension of the fan and they are its most compelling ambassador. Social media is more than water cooler chat and exceeds the benefits of traditional word of mouth marketing. While it provides immensely useful data about our habits in real-time, the new frontier of social media is chronicling lifestyle. When viewed not at the scale of minute by minute updates, social media provides a holistic picture of who we are and how we live. It begins to speak to customers as whole people.

Always the bridesmaid? If you're trapped between fittings, party planning and bridal bazaars, checking out these tips for using the power of social media to bring your bridezilla back down to wedded bliss.

In late 2010, rumors started to emerge that popular ESPN.com sports columnist Bill Simmons was planning a “top secret editorial project.” The initiative, shrouded in secrecy, was limited to rumors for several months, until talented writers suddenly started disappearing from popular blogs and websites.  Star writers at Vulture, Deadspin, and This Recording wrote goodbyes to their established readerships, claiming they were leaving to work for The Sports Guy. The sports and pop culture-focused site, to be named Grantland (after legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice), would be backed by ESPN, and attracted top sponsors in Subway, Lexus and Klondike. The site’s central concept would be to produce intelligent, entertaining takes on sports and pop-culture. It would do so by publishing almost exclusively long-form content, come to be known as “longreads.”