James Patterson Publishes on Facebook Messenger, Short & Sweet Wins on Twitter, & Google's Discover Feed Needs Some Work ... This Is The Latest!

There's that old saying, "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter."

As someone who writes for a living, I feel a close kinship with that quote. There are times when I find myself writing 17-paragraph answers to questions where a simple "yes" or "no" would have sufficed. Don't believe me? Ask my husband. (Sorry, honey.)

Apparently, I need to solve this problem fast if I want any hope of making it on Twitter.🙄

Here's The Latest...

James Patterson Has Published a Facebook Messenger-Only Novel

Patterson says the publishing industry's lack of innovation in the modern era is what prompted his social media experiment. For a story I considered an easily forgettable publicity stunt at first -- especially in the context of marketing -- Patterson's move opens up a larger discussion about the way brands and marketers can chart a similar digital path to reach consumers. I talk about it at length in this article.

According to Twitter, You Should Still Keep It Short & Sweet 😘

It feels like only yesterday that Twitter users were convinced the masterminds behind the conversation-based social networking platform were trying to ruin everything by doubling the character limit from 140 to 280. One year later, it would appear that while we now have the ability to tell longer stories on Twitter, the data shows that few people rarely need to, to get the engagement they're looking for. Kate Fodera does a fantastic job here unpacking the data for us Twitter-loving marketers.

Google's New Discover Feed Holds Promise, But Needs Work

Google has added a 'Discover Feed,' with a stated goal of delivering more relevant and noteworthy news or articles that you'll care about -- without you having to proactively search for them. At the moment, however, Google still has a few kinks to work out with this new offering, although it does still hold a lot of potential. In this article, Katie Pritchard breaks it down on what you need to know right now as a consumer and a marketer.

Save the Date 📅

3-Day Virtual Video for Marketing & Sales Summit. Join 2,000+ marketing and sales professionals to discover how to stay ahead of the pack using video at Fast Forward, presented by Vidyard, on Nov. 6-8, 2018. IMPACT's Director of Video Training & Strategy Zach Basner and Client Success Specialist Myriah Anderson will be presenting together on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. Eastern about how to use video successfully in the sales process -- because we all know video is here to stay, but do you know where to start? Registration for this event is 100% FREE!
Any MarTech Fans in Chicago? If so, IMPACT Director of Audience Engagement & Community Stephanie Baiocchi will be presenting at the ANA Business Marketing Chicago Associate Board's Marketing Tech Tools Throwdown on Nov. 7. Get your tickets now.
IMPACT Elite Live Conversation with Tammy Duggan-Herd, Ph.D. Mark your calendars for another engaging and insightful IMPACT Elite Live Conversation -- this time with Campaign Creators Marketing Strategist Tammy Duggan-Herd, Ph.D. on Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. Eastern. This is the third of a four-part Live Conversations series, but you can also go ahead and add the event series to your calendar now.

Weekend Nonsense

People sending letters is a thing of the past -- or so I thought! The other day, while I was looking through the 18,000 bills and catalogues jammed in our mailbox, I found an envelope addressed to me.

I tore open the envelope to find a "just because" greeting card from my friend, Lydia, that I can't stop laughing at ...