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An Employee Licks a Stack of Tacos – How Should Taco Bell Respond?

You do what you can to make sure your brand is portrayed in a positive light. But when an employee photographs himself doing something he shouldn’t while on the job—and then shares via social media—there’s no “undo” button.

The latest Taco Bell controversy has raised flags and made most of us think twice before eating at the fast food restaurant chain. If you haven’t heard about it yet, this photo of a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of taco shells has gone viral:

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Teens Starting Mass Exodus from Facebook, What this Means for Your Business

I recently read an article about how teens are increasingly leaving Facebook. Aside from the un-cool factor of their parents (and even grandparents) being on it, teens have also stated that it is becoming too much of a popularity contest and taking up too much time.

Explains 14-year-old Casey Schwartz in the article: “I’ll wake up in the morning and go on Facebook just … because. It’s not like I want to or I don’t. I just go on it. I’m, like, forced to. I don’t know why. I need to. Facebook takes up my whole life.”

Is it just a matter of time before Facebook becomes the new MySpace and begins to quickly plummet, or can Facebook regain its cool-factor?

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Are You Encouraging a Two-Way Dialogue with Your Stakeholders?

Have you visited SocialMedia Examiner yet? If you are in the digital marketing space and have not yet done so, do yourself a favor and pay the site a visit. The “guide to the social media jungle” covers a variety of pertinent topics for marketers, from Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest to LinkedIn to the more broad-speaking “How on Earth do I weave social media into my content marketing strategy?”

Today’s top post, titled “26 Ways to Create Engaging Content” by Debbie Hemley could not be more dead on. Hemley explores the chief strategies for getting readers to engage with your copy—from injecting timely data to identifying keywords for optimization purposes to honing content objectives. My personal favorite? Encouraging a two-way conversation.

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Kitchen Nightmares Restaurant’s Colossal Meltdown – How NOT to Do Social

Everything you shouldn’t do when executing your social media strategy can be exemplified in one not-so-pretty package: Amy’s Baking Company.

Capture9In case you missed it, Amy’s Baking Company made quite the impression on viewers when the restaurant appeared on Gordon Ramsay’s reality TV show Kitchen Nightmares. The husband- wife duo, Samy and Amy tell Ramsay—no more than five minutes after arriving—that “There are a lot of online bullies and haters and bloggers. We stand up to them and I think we are the only ones that ever have as restaurant owners. They come and try to attack us and say horrible things that are not true because they are used to eating processed wood chips.” A baffled Ramsey later learns there is much more to the story. This was the first restaurant he has given up on before the “rehabilitation” phase which includes suggestions on how to improve the restaurant’s food, wait staff and bottom line.

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The Imminent Ubiquity of Content Marketing: What Happens Next?

Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi explores a really interesting question in one of his more recent blog posts: Once all brands have started embracing content marketing, what happens next?

Ah, the great old question of what comes next.

We certainly all asked it a few decades ago when the world was first introduced to the mobile phone. And while bulky and hefty, we quickly watched as it paved the way for the dominance of smartphones, apps and the BYOD revolution. Fast forward to today and the competition for your consumer-ready hands is fierce.

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The Seven Deadly Social Media Sins of Content Marketing

If you’ve just joined the content marketing club, you’ll soon be flying high in the social media stratosphere. Social media is world full of unlimited content marketing possibilities. In fact, the networking strategy produces almost double the marketing leads compared to trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail or pay-per-click (PPC), according to research this year from HubSpot.

But before you get ready to take off, you must first beware of the seven deadly sins of using social media when it comes to marketing your content.  

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Facebook vs. Twitter: Who Can Deliver the Content Marketing Punch?

Rivalries…we all love them. Coke vs. Pepsi, Leno vs. Letterman, Droid vs. iPhone, Eagles vs. Giants; we all have our favorites. Personally, I’m a coke guzzling-Letterman/ iPhone/Giants-kind-of-girl, but we won’t get into that. Oftentimes, rivalries make for some extra funny family dinners or corporate atmospheres (March Madness anyone?).

But friendly enemies aren’t just made on the field or on late night TV. In fact, a battle has ensued in the social media world and there is no shortage of opinions on whose packing the biggest punch. In corner one coming in at 1 billion users we have Facebook. And in corner two coming in at 500 million users we have Twitter.  

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Martha Stewart Joins Match.com – And How It Can Help Your Business

After plugging her new book, Living the Good Long Life last week, Martha Stewart revealed to NBC’s Matt Lauer that she was looking for love on Match.com.  “I’ve always been a big believer that technology, if used well, can enhance one’s life. So here I am, looking to enhance my dating life,” she writes in her online profile.

MarthaStewart

Rumors have swirled that the domestic diva is not actually looking to find her match, but rather seeking publicity to sell more copies of her newly penned book. After all, her Match.com username also happens to also be “thegoodlonglife.” Whether or not the rumors are true, she has been successful in creating a buzz.

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What Happens When Marketers Rebuff Social Media…

I love when I am in the presence of a business executive who scoffs at the notion of incorporating social media into his/her corporate strategy.

“Social media is for teenagers,” they often say, convinced that the social networking world is full of narcissistic Generation Y-ers and Z-ers tweeting, Facebooking, pinning and Instagramming every inane sentiment, picture and fad.

You can imagine how their jaws drop when we at Content Boost inform these social media naysayers that in 2012, the average Facebook user was 41 years old, up from 38 years old in 2010. Moreover, in 2012, more than 65 percent of Facebook users were 35 plus years old.

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Don’t be Afraid of the Digital Marketing Monster

I’ve never known a child who did not have at least one kind of irrational fear, perhaps one of the biggest being nighttime monsters in the closet.  This very common fear has cracked open the bedroom door for many children, but as adults, we know these once terrifying tales are just age-old myths.  So…why do we have similar content marketing fears?

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Perhaps the biggest reason seems to be from marketers’ collective fear – or general uncertainty – of taking their campaigns to the digital realm. A quick scan on the Web reveals that many individuals are searching for countless articles ranging from “fears that keep digital marketers up at night” to “why marketers should fear digital marketing.” It cannot be disputed that we are indeed amidst a great marketing revolution. In fact, 22 percent of online adults in the U.S. are connecting everywhere, and frequently, according to Research Director and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, Melissa Parrish. This is a huge need that marketers should be aiming to meet, yet some are not.

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