You need to know about influencer marketing

In a few recent campaigns we’ve run for clients at SE2, we have employed influencers to amplify the campaigns beyond traditional owned and paid media and to reach very targeted audiences in an authentic way. The practice has worked very well for us thus far because we worked with influencers who are very thoughtful about their content and who make sure not to water down their channels with promotions. The other upside for us is that we were promoting positive public health messages that would be hard for someone not to get behind – from smoking prevention and cessation to helping Colorado kids get more active and healthy.

With the skyrocketing use of ad blockers and diminishing clickthrough rates on display advertising, influencer marketing will likely not only increase in popularity with marketers but may become the most effective and essential part of any campaign. Read more about what successful influencer marketing looks like.

Will Instagram save you from Snapchat? (Because let’s be honest, if you’re older than 22, Snapchat makes you feel old)

Even as a person who does digital strategy for a living, I will admit that I struggled at first to grasp why the hell I would ever use Snapchat personally. Then when I decided to, the interface was incredibly counterintuitive to me. I’ve since gotten slightly better at it, but there’s some good news: Instagram may save you and me and all of us who aren’t in our early 20s from having to use Snapchat. Find out more about Instagram’s alternative to Snapchat.

The Creative Imperative

The poet Mary Oliver wrote, “The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”

These powerful words are especially stirring to me right now as I’m diving back into blogging, writing new music for my band and starting some fun new digital marketing projects. The description of creative power as an uprising is especially on point as it’s like something almost subconscious, something primal in those who have it that insists on getting out – like a genie out of a bottle.

I know I’ve been suppressing that uprising in myself for a few months now because creativity isn’t a joyride. If you’re truly creating something, then you’re pulling from a depth of you where, well, to put it like they used to on old maps, “There be dragons.” It’s unsettling what you find, but going to those places allows you to uncover the wisdom there too. And then there’s the self-doubt and self-criticism that comes along with every single thing you create, but that’s another topic for another post. For now, check out more of what Mary Oliver has to say on the central commitment of the creative life.

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