Digital marketing: A discussion on three touchy subjects

BY MARK SCHAEFER

On the new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I open up a discussion on three touchy issues in the digital realm.

YouTube’s deplorable algorithm: The New York Times reported that evil people have been slipping violent cartoon knock-offs into the YouTube Kids channel. In this case, relying on an algorithm to vet children’s programming is unacceptable. This is a problem that is not difficult to solve but it appears to us like greed and laziness is driving the wrong behaviors. We make a case that YouTube should be held to the same standard as traditional television networks. Is regulation in the cards? We say yes.

Social sharing in decline — Steve Rayson of Buzz Sumo published research that shows an apparent correlation between the amount of content that is published on a subject and the amount the content is shared. In other words, as a topic grows saturated with content, people become weary of the content and engage less. We discuss how Content Shock isn’t a trend, it’s a wave. One touchy implication for marketers: A very common strategy of “piling on” to popular content topics doesn’t work.

Outing people on social media — We discuss the recent sexual harassment episodes involving Weinstein, Spacey and Scoble and how social media has become the engine for “outing.” What are the implications for business, for marketing, for working with influencers? And what is the psychology behind accepting or rejecting these claims? Are we in a world where accusations become facts?

We also introduce Nipsey: The new Marketing Companion smart speaker system. Let’s just say it still has some development work ahead!

This is a very provocative and interesting show. You won’t want to miss it …

Click on this link to listen to Episode 117

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Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com.

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