COMING AT YOU WEEK OF 5.25.21
This weeks new’s = great conversation kindling
Google I/O, an annual developer’s conference, was held last week. We’ve picked three updates marketers might care about. (Don’t worry, most of this won’t be applied for quite a long while.)
- MUM (Multitask Unified Model) will allow Google to answer more nuanced and conversational queries, such as “I’ve hiked Mt. Adams and now want to hike Mt. Fuji next fall, what should I do differently to prepare?”.
- When you look at a screenshot in Google photos, their Lens feature could deliver organic search results for products featured in the image (or similar products).
- LaMDA (Language Model for Direct Applications). Google presented this conversational model by having it respond to questions as if it were a witty paper airplane. Potentially LaMDA could answer user queries in a new way, requiring us to optimize our content differently.
If you want to learn a bit more, here’s a 9-minute recap video of the conference.
Interview with Jon-Stephen Stansal
How to get your leaders to trust you as an expert, Part II
Last week we shared Jon-Stephen Stansel’s first two tips for positioning yourself as an expert at your organization.
- Set up regular, educational meetings with leaders and stakeholders.
- Find an advocate to help you grow professionally (and to help you earn those meetings with your organization’s head honchos).
Today, we’re sharing the next three and then that’s it. You’ll have to follow Jon-Stephen if you want more advice from him because no, we’re not about to reveal that there will be a part three next week.
3 WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS CAN PROVE THEY’RE EXPERTS
(But honestly, these tips are great ideas for any marketer.)
Host training sessions at your organization.
Each quarter Jon-Stephen hosts a training for anyone at the organization who wants to come. He’s found that this legitimizes your work and builds trust between you and the entire organization.
What you can do at these meetings:
- Explain the organization’s current and future social strategies
- Learn about attendees’ departments and responsibilities
- Find ways you can help other departments and vice versa
Keep screenshots of social media wins.
This technique prepares you for the moment a leader asks you to justify your approach. Jon-Stephen recommends creating a folder dedicated to screenshots of comments, shares, retweets, DMs, etc. that prove your audience appreciates your content. Constantly add to that folder, then reference its contents for presentations to your leaders (or to remind yourself that you don’t hate your job).
Publish, so you don’t perish.
Professors believe they need to share their insights with their professional community or they become irrelevant, a concept they refer to as “publish or perish.” Jon-Stephen recommends that you take a similar approach with your career by:
- Writing blog posts
- Giving presentations
- Speaking at conferences
- Talking about those opportunities on your social media
If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome, here’s Jon-Stephen’s advice: “Just go ahead and start. You have something to add to the discourse, no matter where you are in your career. And the sooner you can get out, start sharing, and be a good citizen of your professional community, the better.”
You can accomplish way more in your position once your leaders have confidence in you. So apply these tips, and then get working.
Some marketers forget to read the back of the bottle
