Reece Jacobsen
Blog posts
The story behind the Brand Convection Model
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Thu, 2013-11-07 19:29
That awkward moment when you ask your boss what your job actually is.
That’s actually how it all started, a conversation between and myself about what my job entails, after nearly four years as a Community Manager. When he asked what I meant, I simply stated, “Is my job to make the community care about the brand, or to make the brand care about the community?”
It was a tough question; we hadn’t considered that it could be both.
Confessions of a Content and Community Manager – 3 tips to help you steal content.
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Wed, 2013-01-30 14:51
There is a difference between being influenced by content and stealing content. T.S. Eliot summed this up when he wrote, “The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that from which it was torn.”
As a content manager, I relish the creative process behind developing unique ideas for content. I don’t steal content, but this does not mean I am not influenced by other content that I see. Here are three quick tips to help you steal content and keep your dignity.
1) Forget Originality
Once you realise that nothing is original, you alleviate the pressure of having to come up with something completely new.
Confessions of a Content and Community Manager – More than words
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Mon, 2013-01-28 13:27
“Why do Content and Community Managers have their own appreciation day? All they ever do is write status updates and tweets and respond to queries.”
Well, you see, that’s where you are wrong already. Community managers need a repertoire of skills beyond an impressive vocabulary. Let’s take a quick look at the clubs a Community Manager needs to have in the bag, if they are going to successfully finish level par or better.
Linguists:
Confessions of a Content & Community Manager: The truth about Facebook Reach
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Fri, 2012-11-09 17:29
In an attempt to show solidarity to the nation’s youth currently toiling away with exams and studying sessions, I have decided to join them. The question I posed to myself is this:
Question
True or false: Facebook is limiting my brand page’s reach in order to force my client into spending on advertising (Discuss for 50 marks)
False. People are correct in saying they’ve seen a decrease in the number of unique views on (most) of their content, I too have experienced this first-hand. Not so long ago I was one of the people on the frontlines with my big “Zuck you, Facebook” sign and pitchfork, until I realised that they might not be the bad guys after all.
Confessions of a Content and Community Manager: Method in the madness.
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Tue, 2012-08-28 09:03
So there I was, chatting to a high school buddy and catching up on the past 6 years when he turned and said, “So you just update a status, send a tweet and get paid! Hook me up with a job.”
His sarcasm wasn’t appreciated. If it weren’t for him putting on 20 odd kilograms and living with his mother, I would probably have felt the need to defend myself. Instead, I let the heathen have his small victory while I quietly contemplated all it is that I do.
Here’s a day in the life of a content manager:
Confessions of a Content and Community Manager: Whose side are we on?
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Mon, 2012-07-30 10:44
Lately I’ve been involved in some pretty intense arguments about what exactly social media can offer. My generic response regarding the benefits of two-way engagement and making the effort to meet your customers on an open playing field is becoming less and less effective. So what now?
The problem is that we’re no longer the new kid on the block. People are becoming more social-savvy and as a result we’ve got to step up our game. As social business matures, our outlook has to change as well. We should forget about the ePeen-measuring contest of who has more fans, the wider reach, or even greater engagement. I think it’s time we shift our focus to how effective social channels are at driving change within businesses as a result of the online community’s conversation.
Confessions of a Content and Community Manager: The Content Recipe
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Tue, 2012-07-17 13:25
Welcome, Chef. I’m guessing the reason you are here, reading this piece is because you’re hungry for some cool, creative content.
Before we start, I’d like you to wash your hands… Yup, that’s right, wash your hands clean of all the generic brand bollocks. Get right in there, scrub under your fingernails and make sure you get all the ‘sales’ out from under there. That’s better.
Ingredients:
- Strategy
- Personality
- 3 to 5 hypothetical customers
- Content streams (with sources)
- Rich media
- Calls to action
- Time relevant content
Method:
Crowd-sourced justice
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Thu, 2012-05-10 12:28
Social networks have been making the news lately, unfortunately though, it has been for all the wrong reasons. Both in my job and personal life, I am a massive advocate of social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, although after the news in recent weeks, I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to justify this support.
Two stories stand out for me. The first being the news of the so-called ‘Facebook rapist’ who lured two young models into his trap using the popular social network, and the second being and ’s ridiculous antics on Twitter, sending South Africa into a nationwide racism row.
Y U NOOOO... SELL MY STUFF ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Fri, 2012-04-13 14:40
So your company or client is looking to get the most out of the social media budget that was so generously handed over by the marketing department and immediately you start hearing the words “Brand Awareness” and “Sales” fly around the room at 100 mph. Sound familiar?
“What can social media ACTUALLY do for your brand?”, I’ve learnt that answering this question is vital in managing the client’s expectation and is the key to creating something special. Here’s a suggestion on how you can do it.
The Role of Social Media in Slacktivism
Submitted by Reece Jacobsen on Wed, 2012-02-29 10:19
I am not an activist. I’m not the kind of person that will quit my job and fly to the other side of the world to help people in need. I am also not a person that pretends to be an activist.
I admire the people out there that are making a difference; getting their hands dirty to improve the world we live in. I appreciate the hard yards made by special people throughout history that have made it possible to live in a world with human rights. I value animal activists that have given a voice to the voiceless. All these people are better than I am and they deserve (and have) my respect.