Next to Now: December 2

These are dark days in America—yet there remain sources of light. You might wonder if that’s a comment on the state of our polarized political discourse and the role books can play in revitalizing our national conversation. Maybe. Maybe not. But it is definitely a comment on the days getting shorter as we approach the first day […]

Next to Now for October 28

YOUTUBE VIEWING HABITS YouTube is getting longer term views. The average viewing session on YouTube is now 40 minutes. That data point comes from a Google post about winning the customer over before s/he enters the store. While it’s written for larger brand advertisers—make-up, CPG, and cars—there are good takeaways for book advertising from the […]

Next to Now for September 23

THE FT: “HOW THE MAD MEN LOST THE PLOT” In the FT, ad strategist Ian Leslie goes to battle with the notion that legacy media is dead and digital hypertargeting is the savior. Leslie cites the study that showed Pepsi’s decision to forego traditional advertising for a social media campaign delivered a large number of clicks […]

Next to Now: The future is always unfinished

THE RISE OF THE MICROINFLUENCERS Bigger is not always better when it comes to influencer marketing: “For unpaid posts, Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers have a like rate of about 8 percent, while those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have a like rate of 4 percent.” That’s good news for book publishers and […]

Next to Now: The Road Ahead Edition

Does the road ahead look clear or is that just snow blindness from last weekend’s blizzard? This week we read about Facebook’s entry into live streaming, strategic shifts at Quartz, and new ways to target sports and gaming enthusiasts.   FACEBOOK JUMPS IN & PERISCOPE BETTER WATCH OUT Facebook enters the live stream business: “The […]