Social media isn’t everyone’s best friend, contrary to popular belief. It’s regarded as surprisingly ‘Marmite’ and is arguably both the biggest opportunity and the most troubling threat for marketers and publishers since the birth of the internet - perhaps even since the birth of the telephone.

Living so much of our lives online, we regular folk can now watch ads, enjoy editorial and comment on just about anything, all in real time. Once, we were blissfully passive consumers, willingly receiving a stream of messages brought to us via mass media; now, we have the power to make or break ads or content, simply by hitting a ‘like’ or ‘share’ button.

Anyone who doubts the power of social media to deliver a body blow to a brand only need look at some of the biggest marketing own goals of 2014 – like US pizza company DiGiorno, which contributed the comment “You had pizza” to #WhyIStayed, without stopping to think that the discussion was all about why women remained in abusive relationships.

“So you see, the story is not quite as you were told.” – Maleficent

Every day thousands upon thousands of new articles, slides, infographics, opinion pieces, engagement pieces, and micro-blogs are published by countless publications, corporations, startups and small businesses. The Huffington Post produces at least 1,200 pieces of content a day, and Forbes produces 400 (with 1,000 contributors). Although completely accurate counts are hard to come by, around 92,000 articles are published daily. That’s roughly 64 articles a minute!

Content has truly become the fuel by which the business of the Internet runs.

But simply posting new, unique content regularly on your site is not enough. Content, by itself, can’t lead an organization to success. There is simply too much of it available. Moreover, more posts doesn’t necessarily equate to creating more value for your readers. In fact, and more often than not, it proves to be less valuable in the long run.

The Sainsburys Christmas advert was unveiled last week but people are still reeling from John Lewis' festive instalment. The latest Christmas ad from John Lewis was an instant sensation; here Anton Dominique from London School of Marketing (LSM) looks at how the department store has made the festive season its own.

Within hours of its release online last Thursday, millions watched John Lewis’ latest Christmas commercial and fell under the marketing spell cast by a CGI penguin.

In recent years, the retailer’s Christmas advert has been such an anticipated event in the UK that some argue it marks the new start of the festive season - a torch that in previous years has been held by soft drinks giant Coca-Cola.

But how have John Lewis come to dominate this hugely competitive time in advertising?

There’s a chill in the air, the days are getting shorter and John Lewis has just released its 2014 Christmas campaign, which can only mean one thing: Christmas is well and truly coming…

That’s right, the eagerly-awaited John Lewis ad hit the internet yesterday and while it had a lot to live up to following last year’s Bear & Hare animated campaign, I think we can safely say it didn’t fail to deliver. Hats off to Adam&Eve/DDB, once again.

The heart-warming tale follows the story of a young boy and his penguin friend Monty. Set to the track ‘Real Love’ performed by Tom Odell, it shows the friends playing happily throughout the year until Monty becomes sad and realises he wants a companion. So, on Christmas Day, Sam gives his friend a female penguin called Mabel and the ad concludes with the strapline ‘Give someone the Christmas they’ve been dreaming of’.

Smart brands are turning consumers into evangelists - and publishers.

Storytelling is a verb, and many brands believe that means they should be telling stories about their brand, which was just another method of spinning one-way advertising. True, a brand’s origin story (think of Apple, HP) can be useful, but the true power in storytelling is when brands create products and content that motivates audiences to talk about the brand and keep them top of mind in ways far less intrusive than traditional advertising.

So if there’s enough confusion about the definition of storytelling, then maybe we need a new word. David Berkowitz recently wrote in AdAge about something called storymaking—where the brand facilitates and taps into the stories people are creating and sharing with each other. You could call it the next evolution in storytelling, or maybe just a proper redefinition of the way brands should be marketing to their audiences. Regardless, storymaking is how brands today are activating their customers and turning them into not only evangelists but also publishers, and it can provide real results.

Content marketing is one of the industry’s hottest topics right now. There’s no doubt that content powers online marketing success. Good content has for years been the cornerstone of the internet and it’s clear that the most successful portals are those that produce good content.

For those who haven’t already got content marketing sussed out, how exactly does it work and why do we need it? Is there a road map that we can all follow? Well, according to an infographic from Fisher Vista and Social Ears, they have the answers. Just think of it like a board game… 

Five questions to keep in mind for your next content marketing initiative.

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet.” - Bill Gates, 1996

It’s hard to believe Bill Gates coined the phrase “Content is king” only 18 years ago in a 1996 essay about the Internet - at a time when most people weren’t even online yet. The phrase is such a familiar saw now that marketers are starting to argue for other heirs to the throne including “context” and “distribution.” While it’s unlikely anything will unseat content, it’s an interesting discussion to have. At a recent Cynopsis Digital Monetization Summit, Steve Bradbury, COO of Zazoom conducted a panel discussion that included audience members in an exercise to fill in the blank, “Content and _________ are King.” If we concede that content is king, then what is the next most important element that helps content rule the marketing kingdom?

I once asked my Facebook friends for some advice: “Looking for a higher-end digital camera to buy that will make my pictures look nearly professional with minimal-to-no effort.” The question was tongue-in-cheek, since I know that the tool doesn’t make a craftsman, and my photographer friends replied in kind. “Make sure you buy one that’s bundled with a box of photography knowledge,” quipped one of them.

He was right. Whether I spent $2,000 or $20,000, simply owning a camera doesn’t mean I am a photographer, just like owning golf clubs doesn’t mean I am teeing off first at the next PGA Championship. The same is true of brand storytellers.