Content Catchup: February’s Best Branded Content, The Ultimate Strategy Playbook, and More Must-Reads

Here’s what you missed while plotting how to steal Brad the Social Media Manager’s spot at SXSW…

The Best Branded Content of February

The return of Bill Lumberg. Incredible reporting. The first margarita ever mixed in space. This month’s best branded content had a little bit of everything. And by analyzing what worked, we can start to see—and reverse engineer—what it takes to succeed on the viral web. Read it.

The Ultimate Content Strategist Playbook No. 1: Evangelizing a Content Marketing Program

Content marketing isn’t easy. In fact, it’s incredibly difficult, and while there are thousands of bits of advice out there about how to “do content marketing” effectively, there’s no comprehensive guide for getting started. That’s why we’ve decided to create The Ultimate Content Strategist Playbook. Dig in as we reveal our own secrets, as well as the favored tactics of the most successful content marketers on earth. Read it.

Yes, Facebook’s Organic Reach Is Terrible, but You’re Crazy if You Delete Your Page

For most brands, Facebook is pretty much useless as a platform for organically reaching an audience; anyone who would rather have 100,000 Facebook fans than 10,000 email subscribers is insane. The paltry organic reach and engagement of some of our own Facebook posts have made me want to either punch the Hootsuite owl right in its beak. But I’d be insane to delete our page; Facebook Sponsored Posts are an incredibly powerful growth hack for The Content Strategist’s audience. Learn how. Read it.

Meet the Ad-Tech Company That Brings a Full-Blown NYC Newsstand With Them to Conferences

Let’s be honest: Marketing trade shows make C-SPAN look interesting. An alien visiting visiting one for the first time might think that it’s a giant competition to see who can be the most boring, or create the cheesiest infomercial-style product video. The one exception? Chango, a content-obsessed ad-tech company that takes their own NYC-style newsstand and magazines to trade shows. Read it.

‘Brand Voice’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means… But You Still Need One

Brand voice is like irony; everyone talks about it but few really know what it means. Melissa Lafsky Wall dishes on the brand voice exercise that will make you see the light. Read it.

Enjoy the weekend. Blackmail your local SXSW bro and find your way to Austin. Get your groove on.