Now, think harder. Are you going to remember this video you just watched a week from now. It’s likely a one-hit wonder, clustered in the mind field of dozens upon dozens of videos that we watch every week.

There are billions of videos uploaded to Youtube every single day. That’s just on Youtube. Factor in all the videos uploaded to news sites, Daily Motion, Vimeo, CollegeHumor, Funny or Die, Ebaumsworld, etc. You have way more videos uploaded in a single day than one can watch in their entire lifetime.

So, how is your brand’s video going to stand out from the other billion or so videos created that day? Contrary to what many brand marketers will tell you. The answer isn’t to “go viral.” For starters, you can’t make a video go viral. A viral video is a byproduct of creating an awesome video. You can’t control it. There’s no secret formula. Or magic algorithm. Anybody who tells you that they can make your video go viral is full of crap. Don’t buy what they are selling. (Sidenote: What they are selling is just called paid advertising. Effective in some cases, but not viral in any meaning.)

Perhaps you are still uncertain. Let’s analyze a few viral videos. Oh for this post, let’s examine the David After The Dentist and the Evolution of Dance videos from several years back. What do these videos have in common. They both have millions of views. They are both humorous. They are made by real people in their element- just doing their thing. Oh, they are funny without trying too hard.

Now, that last point is key. A lot of times when brands want to “go viral,” they try really hard to be witty or funny. Way, way way too hard to be funny. That’s where they can fall flat. 9/10 times they miss the boat. You can’t predict or force funny. It just sort of happens. That’s why brands should think longer term.

Brands need to create value, and seek a longer term POV. Whether its a series of how-to videos, educational videos into how the brand operates, interviews or even funny videos, that’s entirely up to the content marketing strategy you create. For the love of God, posting all your TV commercials on Youtube is NOT a content strategy in itself. Also praying to all that is holy, that posting just one video a year on Youtube and hoping that it sticks isn’t a solid content strategy either.

For instance, the most successful brands on Youtube are the ones that have created a unique POV on their channel and have invested in building a community there. The key word being invested. Even though it’s cheaper than ever to create a video, it still requires a lot of time and hard work to get it right and build an audience. Two companies that come to mind are The Home Depot and IKEA. Their videos are more informational “how-to based”  videos. They fulfill a specific need with each video, like how to install a kitchen sink or unclog a toilet. Now, each of these videos may only get a few thousand views. But over time, you create a wealth of how-to videos and become a go-to resource to your target consumers. They remember it and come back to you because of your expertise.

Now, how many people come back to a channel a month after their one-hit wonder? Likely not many. That cat video may be so hilarious. You may share it with all your friends on Facebook, Twitter and the latest social media darling, Pinterest. But, it’s just LOL funny. It doesn’t entice you to take any call to action. Or learn more about the company or video producers behind it. Plus, you are likely going to forget about it in a few days.

That’s the problem that many brands run into with these viral videos. They realize they attracted all this attention in the short term. But, it all just drops off. Nothing happens. There’s no ROI from it. . . . other than awareness of that one video.

In order to create a lasting staying power and a definite ROI, brands need to invest in a long term content marketing strategy. Marketers should think beyond the one hit wonder, and move into how they can create lasting value.

I know you are probably thinking this is a strange post for a 20-something, like myself, to read. After all, I’m still supposedly young enough where it’s okay to still be finding myself and testing my newly independent wings. I’m not expected to completely settle down, get married and start popping out kids. Thankfully!

But all the while, I keep reflecting back on my own choices and progression. And, that of my friends and acquaintances. I realize while most of us aren’t married with kids, we’re starting to think differently and dare I say grow up. For the most part, that’s a fantastic thing. We need to work. We have to pay bills. Like it or not, we should be paying taxes. We shouldn’t be black-out drunk 4 nights a week. We should be more responsible.

I’m very proud of how much I’ve grown up in the last few years. It’s an amazing feeling to be independent, take on new responsibilities and challenges, and surround myself and learn from dozens of people, who are tens times smarter than me.

But, I also know as a whole that we Gen Y’ers tend to be a pretty competitive bunch. I can speak for myself, and say I’m very competitive and hate to lose. Probably because of this, it makes me want to succeed earlier, grow up faster and be better than my parents were at my age.  Based on conversations I’ve had, I’m assuming this is probably a pretty true statement for  Gen Y as a whole. Being the first generation to grow up with the Internet, it makes it way too easy for all of us to compare ourselves to everyone else.

“We live in a world now where we can see our generation’s successes and failures in real time. We know what every friend and acquaintance is doing, we know where they live, we know how things are working out for them. And though we no longer have the intense societal pressure to marry and spawn, as well as have a good job and own a house all by your late twenties, we have an enormous amount of pressure we put on ourselves.” (Source: Thought Catalog) 

This pressure to one-up each other,  that we are putting in large part on ourselves, may not be healthy. Competition can do different things for each of us. But, it may be robbing some of us of the time where we can take the most risks (albeit carefully), experiment and have some adventures. No matter how few or how many risks you take, every single person fails from time to time, even if you don’t want to admit it. But, it’s a helluva lot easier to rebound from mistakes when you’re 20-something and single than as a 45-year-old with 4 kids, who all need to go to college.

To be clear, I’m not advocating for every GenYer to be irresponsible and make rash decisions. That’s just flat-out dumb. However, playing it safe to the point where you are paralyzed of experimenting and failing isn’t smart either. Experimenting is important. It’s absolutely vital to learning and maturing at any age, whether your 21 or 101.

What’s your take? Is Gen Y trying to grow up too fast? Leave your comments in the comment section below. 

1-2. Heather Whaling(@prtini) and Justin Goldsborough (@jgoldsborough)

I couldn’t do this list and not include Heather. I first “met” her through the #pr20chat that she runs with Justin (Another must-follow). Besides running a totally amazing PR/marketing chat every Tuesday night, both Heather and Justin also have high-level, insightful PR/communications blogs.

3. Mitch Joel (@MitchJoel)

Ever heard of Six Pixels of Separation? Probably most of you. It’s the name of Mitch’s kickass podcast and blog as well as the name of his first book. He has a second book (CTRL ALT DELETE) in the works. You better believe, I’ll be reading it. Mitch is a content machine. He publishes a podcast once a week, and posts much more frequently on his blog. And, I’ve yet to read a post that was anything less than brilliant.

4. David Armano (@Armano)

He consistently tweets out interesting articles from around the web. It’s not just Edelman Digital stuff- where he works- either. He truly has a knack for curating great content. Then when he does write a post on his blog, which is a bit less frequent, it’s usually spot on.

5. Jay Baer (@jaybaer)

Convince and Convert is one of the first marketing and social media blogs I started reading about three years ago. There’s a reason I keep reading it almost daily. It’s that good.

6. Amber Naslund (@ambercadabra)

Brass Tack Thinking is another blog I can’t get enough. It’s not your traditional “business-y” blog. It’s highly personal filled with Amber’s own experiences. Yet it’s well-written and chocked full of great career and life lessons. An absolute must-read.

7. Arik Hanson (@arikhanson) 

This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Communications Conversations, Arik’s blog. Along with Amber and Jay’s blogs, this was one of the first blogs I started reading routinely. There’s a reason his content is that insightful. I especially like that he isn’t afraid of writing bold predictions and posts. And, the fact that he’s a fellow Instagram addict doesn’t hurt either.

What are your must-read bloggers? Share them in the comment section below.

I’m introducing a new weekly series on my blog- highlighting my favorite four blog posts, news articles and/or videos from across the web. But instead of sharing my finds only here on my blog, I wanted to change it up a bit and share them on Pinterest.

Why Pinterest, you ask? It’s part of an experiment that I’ll be doing. In it’s visually appealing nature, I will be examining just effective Pinterest can be as a content discovery engine. I’m eager to see if content discovery on Pinterest can go beyond recipes, wedding dresses, motivational quotes and infographics.

So without further ado, subscribe to my Four Fave Finds Pinterest board here. I’ll post my favorite four finds every Saturday.

(*Yes, I will accept your favorite reads. If you read or watched something truly great, please email the links to me at jmalnik@gmail.com. But please, no infographics!) 

I’m excited to have Erica Moss, a super smart community manager, guest post on my blog today. Erica Moss is the community manager for the online Masters in Nursing program at Georgetown University, with one of the nation’s leading nurse practitioner programs. Outside of work, Erica is passionate about Instagram, Taylor Swift and her English bulldog, Mona. Follow her on Twitter (@ericajmoss). 

Yeah, yeah — we’ve heard it all before, right? It’s an oft-touted message, but one that bears repeating: Every employee in your company — from the customer service rep to the CEO — impacts your brand and, ultimately, your bottom line.

This was apparent most recently when I encountered a less-than-friendly MTA employee (the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is responsible for public transportation in New York, specifically, the Subway system I use every day). I guess she was holding the train for me as I approached the turnstile, but as I got closer, she started to taunt me.

Perhaps she was having a bad day. Perhaps she didn’t think I could hear her because I had my headphones in. Whatever the reasoning, it wasn’t professional, and it certainly didn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy about riding in her train for the next 80 blocks.

Unfortunately, in this particular situation, I can’t take my business elsewhere. I don’t think anyone else is going to tackle building a new Subway system anytime soon, so I’m forced to simply grin and bear it. But if the circumstances were different, if I had had the same encounter at, say, a restaurant or retailer, you better believe it would be a different story.

A few takeaways:

People are finicky. With most products and services just a click away, competition is fierce and customer retention is — or should be — a top priority for businesses big and small. Word-of-mouth is even more powerful than it was even 10 years ago with tools like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and more at a customer’s disposal. They expect to talk to a human being, and they expect
to have their concerns or issues resolved quickly and efficiently. As a customer, I know I want to have the same experience at every touchpoint, whether I’m talking to you on the phone or tweeting a question at you on Twitter from 1,000 miles away. Having an impeccable product or service is key, but be willing to back it up with an equally awesome experience.

Fostering a culture of employees who want to do right by customers is paramount in the long-term growth of your business. As a business owner, it’s important to go out of your way to demonstrate that you appreciate your team’s extra efforts, whether that’s a monetary incentive or otherwise. Companies like Zappos serve as important reminders of how great customer service can translate into happy customers who sing your praises. And in 2009, Amazon.com acquired Zappos in a deal worth about $1.2 billion.

Warby Parker also does a great job of this through their social presence — I get the impression that the people behind the scenes love what they do and truly care about my experience with the brand because they continuously engage before, during and after the purchase. Business Insider just named the company one of “10 start-ups to bet your career on,” and Yelp users have collectively given their experience a 4.5 out of 5 stars. These are just two examples of great products and great service yielding positive results.

Continue to empower and educate well beyond the initial training process. If you want every employee in your company to take ownership of your brand, throwing an employee handbook at them when they’re first hired probably isn’t going to leave a lasting impression. From the onset, create an atmosphere in which they feel comfortable asking questions from the very basic to the strategic, and present them with opportunities for professional development, whether that’s a local conference, a Dale Carnegie sales training course, or simply a book like “Linchpin” by Seth Godin.

It isn’t rocket science to deduce that a more invested, more engaged employee will better represent your company when he or she is in a public-facing capacity, thereby improving interactions with those who keep you in business. The worst thing you can do is assume that everyone understands the company’s protocols and expectations, and simply coast through that aspect of your business. The trickle-down impact of that could, ultimately, negatively impact your bottom line.

Don’t leave your brand identity up to chance — and don’t let someone tarnish a reputation you’ve worked so hard to establish. Be proactive in your quest to create a company that people want to work for, and that consumers want to buy from.

What are some ways you’ve succeeded in empowering employees who take ownership over your brand?

“Success is getting up one more time than you fall down.”

This is the quote that drives a 65-year-old female hockey player to set foot on the ice and play hockey every week. Now, Diane Pieknik is a badass, and quite possibly the most inspirational and coolest senior citizen around. If I can just be half as cool as she is when I’m 65, I’d be happy. She shows how success and a need for adventure doesn’t come with an age limit. All you need is a little persistence and a can-do attitude.

Watch this short video of the most badass and inspirational female hockey player. Best three minutes you will spend all day.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are well aware that Facebook just bought Instagram for a whooping $1 billion. Let’s just say Facebook made a very smart move. This recent acquisition signifies the rise of the two biggest trends of this year: The convergence of mobile and the shift to an image-powered Web.

Instagram is arguably the very first mobile social network. With more than 30 million users, it’s a photo creating/sharing app, which up until last week was only available to iOS users. Now, it’s also available to Android users. What makes Instagram so appealing is that you can take a photo, apply a neat vintage filter, and share it on Instagram and on various other social media sites all within the app in a matter of seconds. Factor in a system of “likes,” comments, and a way to filter/group photos (via hashtags) and you have built the beginning of a social community. Incredibly, this is all done through your smartphone. There’s no need to find USB cords, memory cards and a clunky desktop computer to share photos anymore. All you need is a smartphone with one app and you can share anywhere with anyone over a 3G, 4G or wifi connection.

Besides it being mobile, Instagram is truly addictive because it’s so visually appealing. People generally like to take and look at photos. With more and more content and less and less time throughout the day, people want easier, faster and better ways to consume content. As fellow blogger Adam Vincenzini smartly points out, Facebook buying Instagram signifies the shift to an “image-powered Web.” 

The marketers, PRos, journalists, advertisers, and of course, brands that find ways to tell their story in captivating images with short and sweet captions are going to have an enormous advantage.  It’s no longer necessary to write a 1,000 word blog post or press release when you can likely tell the same message with a carefully crafted image and caption. Short, sweet and to the point.

Instagram is definitely the biggest indicator of this converging trend of mobile and images. But, this shift to an “image-powered Web” has been emerging gradually over the last couple of years. For instance, the emergence and popularity of Pinterest- which is all about visually compelling images. The creation of  Facebook timeline- first for profile pages and most recently with brand pages. The design alone makes it clear what Facebook’s intentions are compelling photos and Sponsored stories (the second one is about Facebook ads, which is another post altogether).

So, what should brands take away from all this?

It’s simple. With the emergence of more and more people owning smartphones and tablets, we are becoming an increasingly mobile society. Your target consumers are likely on the go and multitasking more than ever before. In order to hook them in, it’s got to be mobile-friendly, short, sweet and visually compelling.

1. You pin at least a half dozen recipes everyday. But you can’t remember the last time you cooked yourself and/or your significant other or kids a real meal.

2. You’re single. But, you have at least 100 wedding-related pins.

3. You look aimlessly for the “scroll to top” bottom on Facebook.

4. You have pinned or re-pinned at least a half dozen photos of Ryan Gosling. (Sidenote: He’s not that cute people.)

5. You are so obsessed with creating the “picture-perfect house” on Pinterest. That you can’t remember the last time you cleaned your own home.

6. Two words: Electronic Hoarder

7. You spend more time pinning to your weight loss inspiration board(s) than actually you know working out.

8. Every time you see a cool photo anywhere, you think, “To pin or not to pin.”

9. You can recite at least 50 different memes and SomeECards without hesitation.

10. You have an entire board or boards for exotic/tropical drinks recipes. But the most creative drink you have ever made was pouring a glass of wine.

11. Your perfect Friday night: A bottle of your favorite wine and hours upon hours to get lost on Pinterest.

12. When anyone asks what to get you for your birthday, anniversary or just a special occasion, you direct them to your Pinterest board (with no less than 20 items) without hesitation.

13. Pinterest=your happy place. You flee there to escape reality, responsibilities and all that pesky drama on Facebook.

What are some additional signs you could be spending too much time on Pinterest? Please leave them in the comment section below.  

I never thought I would write a post about everyone’s favorite (okay, my favorite) furry red loveable monster, Elmo. But, I recently watched the documentary, “On Being Elmo.” While the production quality was topnotch, it was the quality of storytelling and the carefully crafted and thorough interviews that truly made the doc something extraordinary. The film documents puppeteer Kevin Clash’s rise to fame, and how he became the “voice and embodiment of Elmo.” From a marketer’s perspective, there’s a lot we can learn about branding from Kevin’s creative genius and puppetry.

Elmo’s humble beginnings
What most people don’t realize is that Elmo started out as a fairly small character on the show Sesame Street with minimal speaking parts. The character was pretty much cast aside and given to Kevin as a last ditch effort in 1984. (Sidenote: Sesame Street was created in 1969.) Kevin took it and ran with it. His puppet portrayal turned Elmo from a minimal character in 1984 to an international icon recognized and loved by children everywhere by the early 90s. How he did this is lesson in storytelling, character development, channeling inspiration, the power of persistence and pure hard work and sweat equity.

Character development is key.
Whether you are creating a print ad, TV commercial or a large scale production like Sesame Street, the importance of character development is key to a high quality engaging story. It’s the single biggest thing that drives the story forward and makes it memorable. With Elmo, Kevin was able to develop and hone him into a complex, almost human-like muppet which little kids could love and relate to. With Elmo, he is known internationally as a furry red loveable monster with a high-pitched voice and a contagious laugh. That contagious laugh and unmistakable voice was the “hook” needed to draw kids in.

Channeling inspiration
Just like the best stories and ad campaigns, Elmo wasn’t created out of thin air. It was inspired from events in Kevin’s own life. Often times, our own experiences and observations can spark the best creatives. One of the most fascinating parts of the documentary was when Kevin revealed where he got his inspiration for Elmo. That inspiration came from his own childhood. Elmo was in large part dedicated and inspired by Kevin’s parents. The spitfire, fireball bubbly personality was his mom and the laughter came from his dad. He channeled these fond memories of his childhood everyday that he was being Elmo.

Persistence pays off
In many ways, the fact that Elmo was a minimal character in the beginning of Sesame Street mimics Kevin’s own background and rise to fame. Kevin had a humble upbringing in Baltimore. He was fascinated by Disney, the muppets and Captain Kangaroo. He watched them, and started mimicing and making his own puppets as a preteen. He went from doing small puppet shows for his mom’s daycare kids to being on a puppet show for the local Baltimore TV station to working as a puppeteer on Captain Kangaroo to years later working with Jim Henson.

On Creating An International Icon And Brand
By the mid 90s, Elmo was a household name. Kids loved Elmo. They loved the relatability of his character and his loveable nature. Elmo’s “brand” skyrocketed. Remember the “Tickle Me Elmo” craze of the early-mid 90s? Parents lined up for hours- sometimes days- to get their hands on a Tickle Me Elmo doll for their little ones. That’s when you know that your brand has hit it big and will forever be cemented in popular culture.

Puppy dog faces in G+ hangouts? Yes please. My friend taught me how to make puppy dog faces, angel halos and devil horns in G+ hangouts!

While I was at SXSW last week, I listened in on a panel about Google Plus for brands at Google Village. (For those unfamiliar, Google rented out a bunch of houses near the Austin Convention Center. They hosted their own panels and events during SXSW interactive). This panel consisted of several G+ community managers pointing out G+ features, and then a Q&A with panelists from Samsung, The Muppets/Disney,a musician, etc.)  A couple of examples included the Muppets guy describing their partnership with G+ to launch the movie to the musician, who grew her presence organically in large part by hosting live concerts on G+ hangout.

Hangouts are by far G+ standout success. It’s an amazing video chat & group collaboration tool, with built-in exclusivity features (10 person max). Yet, I would argue that Google is completely missing the mark with its marketing. Hangouts are a separate product and not just a tag-along neat feature of G+. 

There’s no real incentive for people to be on G+. Yes, you could make a small case for SEO benefits. But as a social network, most people aren’t on G+ yet. They are on Facebook. Maybe, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram etc. So why spend a lot of time on a social site where your friends aren’t even there?

On the other hand, a lot more people have been in a Hangout and even more so, know of the feature. It’s more like a more advanced version of Skype- in the sense where it’s planned and less spur of the moment. It may be a catch up chat with a few friends or family members, working on a project or discussing a news story. The only real thing tying it to G+ is the share functionality and that it shows up on the person’s G+ profile. Yes, you can request to join a live hangout, but I’ll venture off and say that most people don’t unless it’s a live concert.

Lastly, Google is so focused on trying to make G+ a “success” (since they have had two buzzkills- with Google Wave and Buzz) that they are losing sight of their roots. They are fundamentally a search company, and have spent years trying to make the Web better. But now, they seem to be throwing tons of money at a wall hoping it sticks and people magically flock to G+. All the advertising dollars in the world can raise awareness about G+. Sure, they can even find ways to get people to create an account. But, no amount of money can force people to maintain an active presence there.

And, I’ll leave you with my favorite ad. The Muppets rocking out in a G+ Hangout. What’s not to love?