SmartBrief on Social Media - the backstory - SmartBrief

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SmartBrief on Social Media – the backstory

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Brands & Campaigns

Before last week’s launch of SmartBrief on Social Media, we beta tested a prototype of the brief with a group of 200 SmartBrief readers. About 1/3 of them have been following social media for some time, 1/2 understand the basics but want to get smarter on how social media might help their business, and the remainder are getting up to speed as quickly as possible.

The five most-clicked stories during the beta test were:

  1. Twitter backlash sinks Motrin ad
  2. Who’s on LinkedIn?
  3. The Internet’s next 6,500 days
  4. Social marketing pitfalls
  5. Finding success amid an “ocean of blog mediocrity”

The general feedback we received is that SmartBrief on Social Media provides “a thorough feel for the subject matter” and is “a valuable source of new ideas and concepts.” But still, our test group told us, “primers on social media would be hugely helpful…although most people who get this probably won’t admit it.”

We’ve turned to our friends at the Interactive Advertising Bureau for help. The IAB is comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. They’re pros who think about all things interactive all the time, and they partner with us to produce IAB SmartBrief.

Starting Monday, in this space we will serialize the IAB’s outstanding Platform Status Report on User Generated Content, Social Media and Advertising. Our goal is to demystify – and SmartBrief — these new and expanding interactive technologies.

So stay tuned – social media primers are coming your way.

Photo credit, Ky Olsen