by Mike Bawden, President & CEO

It’s the Tuesday before a national holiday – have you come to the realization that no one may be in the office next Monday? Oh, wait, no one’s been in the office since 2020.

Granted, a lot of people are recovering from the NCAA Football National Championship game (congrats to the Bulldogs), but for those of us not interested so much in the gridiron, I’ve been watching the marketing trades and see a few interesting trends developing.

Chief among them is the rise of Influencer Marketing which appears to be the next big “shiny object” to distract and bamboozle more than its fair share of brands and the advertisers that promote them. The growth of platforms like TikTok and the rebirth of others like Pinterest is certain to make this entire environment even more confusing.

So, where do you start?

Here’s a list of four things you can expect to see from the world of Influencer Marketing this year.

I do quite a bit of work with “Influencers” in the world of entertainment and I can tell you, there’s a lot of diversity of opinion and ignorance of how the commercial world of communications (i.e. marketing and advertising) really works. It’s going to be interesting to see how things shake out.

I’ll be reporting on it here with some frequency. I’d love to hear what you think.

Here’s what else I’ll be following today.

• As Twitter seems to continue to struggle for relevance, will they find a purpose by bringing value to B2B marketers?  Watch out, LinkedIn!

• Nikola Tesla proved you could transmit power wirelessly over a distance nearly a 100 years ago. At this month’s CES show, that future looks like it may have finally arrived. Wired Magazine has the details – but just think what this could mean in terms of break-out products over the next decade!

• Isn’t the world full of dissatisfied customers, already? What’s the use of complaining? According to author Whitney Goodman, there can be tremendous benefit if you know how to complain effectively.

Ford Motor Company is re-defining the way it thinks
of customers when came to rolling out its EV pickup, The Lightning.

• Think you know your customer? Are they a tech-obsessed early adopter or a crunchy tree-hugger or a gate-keeping middle-aged mom? Maybe it’s time to stop painting with the broad brush and find new ways to define your audience. See how brands are figuring out new ways to align their purpose with their audience by re-thinking the relationship.

• What are the warning signs that the agency you’re considering hiring might not actually know what they’re doing? Check out these four warning signs … and if you see any of them, drop the chalupa and back away!

• Is social media bad? No, not naturally. But social media companies have sure made a mess of things from time to time – as explained in this think piece from Jon Gingerich in O’Dwyer’s.

• Getting a little anxious? It’s still January … there’s a lot more ahead for 2022. You better learn how (and why) to relax.

And finally …

• Cybercrime is expected to rise this year and that means you need to be on the lookout around the office – not for phishy e-mails but for fake deliveries via USPS that appear to come from Amazon or the  Department of Health and Human Services. The Record has more information on how USB thumb drives are the new media of preference for these attacks.

Helpful Website of the Day …

• Not sure which band to binge next? Check out this site where all you have to do is enter the name of the band you’re currently listening to find names of other bands that are similar (and worth a listen).