Presidential Campaign Email War, Social Complaints, Rise of Photos

The Content Strategist picks the day’s most relevant and interesting stories about the world of content from around the web. Here’s what you should be reading today, in case you missed it:

Obama and Romney’s Email Strategy Exposed 

Why are these campaigns sending more emails than a worried mother?

Both campaigns send out dozens of email a month.

Mashable.com explains it all with the help of Silverpop’s handy infographic.

Companies Struggle with Social Complaints

While most companies provide a method for customers to comment on and complain about their products and services, most don’t have a plan for what to do after this happens.

“Research collected by eMarketer found only half of companies use social media to track and follow up on customer feedback, while 44 percent had a formal social media escalation plan in place,” Adweek reports.

The Revolution will Be Instagrammed

Adage’s Steve Rubel writes that today’s up-and-coming social networking stars are photo-driven. That’s also true for B2B interaction.

“The new players are all visually oriented. Dribbble, for example, is a popular hub for sharing in-progress design work,” he says. “Its traffic has doubled over the last year, according to Doubleclick’s Ad Planner.”

Creative, and Strange, Facebook-Inspired Products

Facebook may not sell products, but that’s not stopping other companies and fans from trying to make a buck off the mega-brand.

Wired.com put together a list of some knock-off products, including Facebook-branded sneakers and a Zuckerberg bobblehead.

Real -Time vs. Right-Time Content

Is real-time the future of commerce? Maybe not.

“While real-time theoretically leads to quicker information and faster response times, the reality requires closer examination,” Forbes.com reports.

OS X Mountain Lion: The Quick and Dirty

Lifehacker.com has a five-minute video outlining the things you need to know about the new system without having to actually use it, or read anything lengthy.

If you are looking for a deeper dive, the site has several other tutorials including, How to Prepare Your Mac for Mountain Lion.

Shoppers Love Their iPads Almost as Much as Shopping

Are tablets the future of online buying? If New York, Chicago and Houston are any kind of example, it certainly seems that way.

Foursquare Takes a Page from Twitter, Offers Promoted Content

Merchants now have the option of paying to feature their stores when a user is in the area. Each time a user engages with the featured content, the merchant pays a fee.

“And to keep it all feeling spam-free, Promoted Updates will only show up on your screen if you’re nearby and they’re relevant businesses, based on your previous check-ins, unlocked specials, and even the time of day,” according to Fastcompany.