Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

1. People Love Content!

In case you ever needed proof that content is king, look no further than 2008 in America. Anything that remotely interested more than 10 people found a way to bubble up...be it forwarded emails about Sen. Obama's sinister plans for (insert something you care about here) or Gov. Palin's SNL send ups -- it all found a way to a hungry pair of eyes waiting to consume, judge and (likely) pass it on to someone.

For every source of content, there are now an equal number of methods of passing it on. Facebook link, status updates, Twitter, email, YouTube, blog, forum, phone, text, direct mail, rally sign, speech, Google Ad, TV spot, viral TV spot never meant for TV, radio, op-ed, response to an op-ed, response to an op-ed 6 months after the op-ed ran, The Daily Show, Letterman joke, crawl on a cable network, microsite... I'm feeling faint just thinking about it.

These days, being a company with hot content and a Web site is like being a kid with a BB gun in an abandoned glass factory. You really can't miss.

2. Bias is cool! Kinda...

With 100 million options as to where you can get content, users are beginning to flock toward sources that tickle their particular point of view. But interestingly, users still seem to enjoy some sense of fairness in their content... like a pollster who personally likes Obama. Or a rogue Internet journalist who links to the hot story, but seems to favor the political right.

FiveThirtyEight.com's Nate Silver has catapulted to prominence getting interviewed everywhere (see point #3) and seeing his blog about polling -- which is pretty galldarned impressive for a statistics fan, I might add -- rack up eye-popping traffic numbers based purely on buzz. Drudge Report has its best month ever in October 2008, as Matt Drudge -- of leaking exit-polls, leaking Monica Lewinsky, leaking (any big story) fame -- took to linking not just to stories from around the Web, but straight to YouTube videos and private blogs in some cases.

People love an expert, especially if they back up their particular world view with some weight and an air of authority. So if you have experts in your field sitting around the office...get them out their and talking with opinions on where their field of expertise is going (witness ThreeMinds here...but being biased about digital marketing isn't quite as controversial). Anyone, anywhere can become a useful source of insight if they are viewed as an authority in some way. And this has massive implications for corporations as they plunge forward in social media endeavors.

3. Mainstream News (Journalism Driven) sources are relying on this growing world of experts, promoting a sense of "bias" in virtually all content

One of the big criticisms made of journalists when I was one was that we went to "experts" too often. Look at me here...I'm calling myself an expert and you're (hopefully) listening. But experts are not all created equal... they have biases, they are sometimes unqualified, they could well be drunk and angry at the time you interview them, etc. It's up to the media outlet or journo to pick a good expert before presenting them to the viewership.

In the rush to insta-punditry, CNN/MSNBC/Fox/CBS/ABC/NYT/WSJ and the like have signed up everyone who has ever had any connection to a campaign and opened the mic. CNN might have a bigger roster of top-notch political hacks than either of the campaigns. The advantage to "expert panels" is that they can just give their opinions without any delay. And since they have experience, the opinions themselves are some level of news.

As such, the product of the TV networks has become a mish-mash of useful insight and bizarre party-driven talking points (as political experts make their money consulting for parties and would be stupid to trash their paycheck). This makes the impression of "media bias" completely indefensible for a network or outlet... they've actively invited bias into the coverage and made it the product they are selling. And BTW, having two obviously biased sources -- one from either side of the issue -- does not constitute a journalistic exploration of an issue. Barf.

This is fine if you expect traffic only once every four years. But not if you'd like more than 50 percent of users to trust you come Nov. 5. It will be very interesting seeing who these outlets choose to keep around AFTER the election to bolster their connection to whatever side won.

More to come! Oh man, today is gonna rock.

Mike Hudson