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Kat French

Social Media Pros: Where Do We Go from Here?

by Kat French · July 15, 2009

Kat French

Kat French

I called Chris Brogan a dirty word a while back.

Yup–Mr. Helpful Nice Guy himself, who along with Jason, is probably one of the most universally well-liked people in social media.   And  I was genuinely, really mad.

So what provoked my unladylike display of Brogan-aimed profanity?  While it was a good indicator that my vacation last week was way overdue, mostly it was a sign that he hit a nerve.   I had posted A Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager, a humorous rundown of my routine that included a lot of the actual tasks that make up my workday as an agency social media specialist. Later that day, Chris wrote a post that included the following:

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135 comments

Is Corporate Social Media Poisoning the Well?

by Kat French · June 24, 2009

Kat French

Kat French

Geoff Livingston’s controversial “Social Media Is Dead” post has had me thinking a lot lately about the future of social media and my personal place there.

Unlike a lot of social media professionals, I’m not taking offense at the thrust of Geoff’s post, which as I understand it was not about whether or not social media is going to continue to be a communications channel.  It was about whether or not it was still in the “lifecycle of adoption” phase that’s his vocational sweet spot.

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40 comments

Some (More) Thoughts on Content Marketing Strategy

by Kat French · June 17, 2009

Kat French

Kat French

A while back, I offered up the Ten Commandments of Content Marketing here, and the always-smart Beth Harte posed a really good question:

“Can agencies participate in content marketing without crossing that ghost line (and helping companies to continue to be non-authentic)? Would the content fall more to the traditional side (while still be shareable/social?)”

Companies are always going to need content. As “the irrelevant corporate website” continues to become more irrelevant, the need for fresh, timely, engaging, useful content resources is only going to increase.

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28 comments

A Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager

by Kat French · May 27, 2009

Kat French

Kat French

You know, if there’s one thing I get asked more than anything else about my job, it’s “What do you actually do all day?”

Because apparently, people think social media managers spend all day on Twitter/Facebook collecting followers and congratulating each other on getting paid to spend all day on Twitter/Facebook.

Well, Bub, I’ll tell you what I actually do all day. Behold, a look behind the velvet curtain at a Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager:

5:30 AM – Alarm goes off. I crush the snooze button because who the heck actually gets up at 5:30? Not me, clearly.

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367 comments

Ask SME: How do I start a blog if I’m not a computer nerd?

by Kat French · May 19, 2009

mail_boxToday, we’re going to dip into the old Social Media Explorer mailbag, and answer a reader question.  

(Actually, we don’t have a mail bag.  We never get physical mail from readers, except the one time I got a box of Ginsu knives.  And the time someone mailed Jason a bunch of pedometers for starting Twit2Fit.  But mostly we never get real mail.  
A reader emailed this question to us, and we like throwing out Old West metaphors.  It makes this crazy mixed up digital world seem a little more human.  So try picturing us  with a big, heavy canvas mail bag that we pick up from the local train station and lug back to the office about once a week. See, isn’t that more fun?)  

From our friend T.W., Louisville, KY:  

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18 comments

Keeping safe in social media

by Kat French · May 13, 2009

Kat French

Kat French

Last week, David and I got the opportunity to hear Geno Church of Brains on Fire speak about word of mouth marketing and social media, courtesy the Louisville AMA and Social Media Club Louisville. He ended the presentation with the story of the role social media played in a pivotal, scary event in his own life as a parent. It got the gears turning in my head.

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72 comments

Five Social Media Topics I’d Love to Read About

by Kat French · May 6, 2009

Kat French Kat French

A couple weeks ago, I posted a little rant on Five Social Media Topics I Could Do Without.  It was a fun post written with tongue firmly in cheek, but one commentor posed the excellent question “What are some topics you would like to read about?”  

So here are five topics that I would find interesting and useful.  If you choose to write on one of these topics, feel free to drop a comment with a link and I’ll check it out.  If I like it, I’ll add a link to the bottom of this post.

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205 comments

Comment Tracking Smackdown! Disqus versus Backtype

by Kat French · April 29, 2009

 

Kat French

Kat French

Over the last year, I’ve been pleased with how the social media diaspora has begun to return home to the humble blog.  As social media marketing has become more and more about “presence management” (hat tip to Chris Brogan), pulling all the divergent strands of discussion across the social internet into a coherent conversation stream has to be a priority for people who are serious about using the web as a communications channel.  

 

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440 comments

The Ten Commandments of Content Marketing

by Kat French · April 22, 2009

Kat French

Kat French

Confession time?  I hate the term “social media marketing.”  It’s one of those phrases that could mean nearly anything.  Depending on the context, it might mean spamming Digg or creating a blog or building up a Facebook fan page or a hundred other things.  By contrast, if I say “social media monitoring” or “traffic generation” or “conversation marketing,” you have a much firmer fix on what we’re actually trying to accomplish.   

Right now, I find myself talking a lot about content marketing, because content marketing is the most natural fit for an advertising agency’s existing abilities. Content marketing requires creative talent, good process and organization skills, and strategic thinking.  

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238 comments

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