Twitter Gets into Publishing, Facebook Ad Creep, YouTube Fashion Advice

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:

Twitter Delves Into Publishing

Biz Stone and Evan Williams, two of the founders of Twitter, announced on Tuesday, Aug. 14, that they were launching Medium, a content curation site similar to that of Pinterest.

Users will be able to collaborate and produce their own collections, and how the collections are shown on the front page will be based upon ratings. The company running it, called The Obvious Corporation, has already put out collections such as “Look What I Made” and “The Writer’s Room.”

“As it stands, the platform would seem to initially appeal more to individuals rather than major publishers, yet one could imagine a few forward-thinking media companies latching onto Medium (which requires — big surprise — a Twitter account to sign up) and looking to tap into its inherent social nature,” writes AdWeek’s Charlie Warzel.

Is That a Facebook Ad in My Newsfeed?

Facebook isn’t doing so hot lately: Business Insider’s Jim Edwards looks at the company’s decreasing stock value after it hired more employees and bought property and equipment.

To counter this, Facebook will be testing out ads in newsfeeds, even if a user isn’t a fan of a certain page. Expect rollouts if the test goes well.

Shoppers Turning to YouTube Videos for Fashion Opinions

A new study by Google has found that 31 percent of shoppers are using YouTube when shopping for clothing — clicking on videos from vloggers and the brands themselves to do research before deciding to make a purchase.

This is good news for clothing companies, writes ClickZ’s Melanie White: “Thirty-four percent of apparel shoppers are more likely to purchase an item after viewing an online video ad, compared to 16 percent who did so after watching an ad on television.”

Why the New York Times Chose the BBC’s Mark Thompson as CEO

It was announced this week that Mark Thompson, who was the director-general at BBC, would be taking over the role of president and CEO of The New York Times Company.

Paid Content’s Robert Andrews points out that Thompson is an excellent curator of digital innovators — although he’s not the “digital guru” that people have called him.

In addition, he can deal with downsizing, and he’s passionate about bringing the news to Americans, as proven by his BBC America efforts.

The Value of a Silicon Valley VC State of Mind for CMOs

At the 11th Founder Showcase in Mountain View, Calif. in July, Steven Cook, the global CMO for FanKix.com, heard from venture capitalists in Silicon Valley how CMOs should think more like them.

Some of the key points he highlighted in his Forbes’ article are that CMOs should use metrics to guide their companies, learn that the consumer is the boss, and hire people who believe they are lucky.

Why? “‘Lucky’ people tend to see and seize on opportunity more than people who think they are “unlucky.””

The Natural Approach to Content

Lyndsey of NewsCred profiles four green companies, Method, Whole Foods, Kashi, and Tom’s of Maine, and their content tactics on NewsCred.

While Whole Foods is using its company blog to supply “recipes, health news, human interest vignettes, and other interesting facts about food, health, and wellness,” Kashi has a whole array of video content on their site.

 One video, called “Let’s talk texture,” highlights the brand’s cereals, along with surveys, recipes, and a handbook to the natural things in a user’s neighborhood.

In Light of Declining Ad Sales, Magazines Should Think Like Brands

Brands these days are creating branded content instead of spending money on advertising, which has negatively affected media outlets. First, newspapers were hit hard, and now magazines are feeling it as well.

In a new column on AdAge, Todd Pruzan argues that magazines need to act more like brands, since they are creating branded content themselves that is geared towards a demographic. His piece concludes that if magazines take initiative and figure out ways to brand themselves, they might be able to stay afloat.

“Look at The New Yorker, spinning off its columnists and cartoons into marketable contests, podcasts, apps and other extensions,” he says. “Its single-issue sales may be worrying, but not its ethics: no New Yorker writers have been harmed in the making of this branded content.”