ELI5, TIL, /s— don’t worry, these aren’t new slang terms teens are using to communicate with friends about how unfair their parents are being about a 10 p.m. curfew. IIRC they’re common abbreviations used on the social media platform Reddit. More to come on them in a minute… For the unfamiliar, Reddit is a social platform that refers to itself as the “front page of the internet,” a “community of millions of users engaging in the creation of content and the sharing of conversation across…
Ever feel like as soon as you finally get a handle on the latest and greatest in the social media world, one (or more) of the platforms just straight up laughs in your face? Same. Instagram just rolled out two new stickers for its Stories feature, and I’m not going to lie, for once I’m actually very excited about these new offerings. Instagram donation sticker for nonprofits If you work in the marketing department of a nonprofit that uses Instagram, your world is about to…
We’re rolling out a new series on the Gong Blog, and we couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the series than with an introduction to our newest Hodger, Evans Mandes. He joined the team at the end of 2018 and has hit the ground running. Chances are you haven’t met Evans yet, so to give you a head start, here’s a chance to get to know a little more about him. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I was born and…
Earlier this week, LinkedIn announced a few significant changes to Company Pages on its platform — which caused our ears to perk up a little bit. We’ve been using LinkedIn as a communications channel to tell our clients’ stories since Company Pages launched in 2010. Now, with big changes afoot, here’s the 30,000-foot view of the features that will be rolling out over the next few months and the impact they might have on your organization’s social strategy. User-friendly mobile experience for admins Admins can…
Last night was a whirlwind to say the least. Whoever decided that the announcement of the Rising Star award should be the final one of the night is a sadist. The introvert inside of me was dying up on stage, looking at hundreds of people I respect and admire. But I am overjoyed – and extremely overwhelmed – by what an honor it is to be named this year’s Rising Star by PRSA Richmond. Some very impressive people have been recognized with this award, and…
What happened? Cambridge Analytica (CA) obtained personal data of about 87 million Facebook users without their consent with the hopes that they could use this data to develop psychographic profiles of those users. The data was collected a few years ago through a third-party app that had to be downloaded by a user, and the app was approved by Facebook (it was created by a university researcher who claimed it was for academic purposes). Those who downloaded the app unknowingly gave CA access to their…
Every year, for as long as I can remember (since 2005), Pew Research Center has released its annual report on social media usage. The organization recently released its report for 2018. No shock here, Facebook and YouTube are the juggernauts in the social media landscape with 68 percent of U.S. adults saying they use Facebook, and 73 percent using YouTube. One key question moving forward: how will the Cambridge Analytica scandal impact American’s use of Facebook if at all, or is the social network too…
If you were on Twitter last night, two news stories likely took over your feed — (1) terribly insensitive (and racist remarks) made by some dude with a whole lotta power, and (2) collective panic from publishers and brands over an announcement by Facebook that changes to the algorithm are afoot. This blog post will focus on the latter. Facebook making changes to its algorithm is nothing new, but this announcement has many marketers up in arms in part because of how reliant many organizations…
Say what you will about 2017, but on the business front, it was full steam ahead on all fronts. Across the board — in content marketing, media relations, social programs, even communications audits — we were busier than Hollywood publicists apologizing for their clients. For many of our clients, we are the champions of content — encouraging them to share their expertise with potential and existing customers. And we couldn’t do that (be those champions) if we didn’t practice what we preach. In 2017 we…
Gone are the days where customer questions, complaints and commentary reach businesses via phone, email or even Twitter. Facebook Messenger for business has been around since 2015, but this year, both customers and brands have really started adopting the service in a big way. And who can blame them? We all have these little devices in our pockets that keep us connected 24/7. We might as well use them to make our lives a little easier, right? Messaging with businesses is not a passing trend…
Ever wanted to create an ad campaign that disappears? No, this isn’t James Bond and your message won’t self-destruct, but with the roll out of Snapchat’s new self-serve ad buying platform, brands of all sizes can create an ad campaign almost as quickly as the campaign’s video or photo will disappear. This blog post isn’t here to help you to decide whether or not your brand/organization should be on Snapchat, or whether you should be dedicating some of your budget to this new tactic (more…
Has the Capital of the South become the Capital of the Suds? With more than 30 breweries (and counting!) now open in Richmond, it would sure seem so. And just like rebels of old, breweries are marching to their own drum throughout the Old Dominion. The latest outpost is in Bedford where Beale’s has staked a local claim to the craft beer market. We were proud to be on hand to help Beale’s kickoff its new venture, devising a sort of concentric circle marketing strategy…
