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Micro Persuasion

A curated stream of consciousness, observations and insights on emerging technologies.

Presentation: Six Digital Trends to WatchJuly 20

One of the best aspects of my job is that I get to learn from incredibly smart people. Working for Edelman is like playing for the Yankees. Richard Edelman has an approach to talent that in some ways resembles the late George Steinbrenner (not the Howie Spira side of George, but the good side). The firm consistently attracts all-stars to the team and puts them in a great position to succeed. The result is that every day I get to hit the field with pros like Mike Slaby or Richard Sambrook or Carol Cone - it's all very inspiring. 

One of these people is David Armano - who I work very closely with - and we recently tag-teamed on this presentation on six trends to watch. For more head over to David's blog. As always, we're eager to hear your thoughts.

Tip: Tweetify the Lead of Your EmailsJuly 20

In this age of information abundance, we all get a little too much email. It's highly likely that - thanks to the message preview function - your recipient will make a decision about what to do with that message before he/she even opens it. This means that the first few characters of your note are essential. You got to hook 'em or they be gone.

Here's a little tip I am going to try - don't bury the lead. Instead, Tweetify it! Here's why...

Most email systems preview the first 50-75 characters of an email. Therefore, to be heard, you increasingly need to write your first sentence like a tweet - or more like half a tweet. Skip openers that start with "my name is" and get some of the meat in your first sentence. It will increase the likelihood that your reader will get further into your note.

Here's a good example. Brett Kelly, whom I have never corresponded with before, sent me a brief note about his new eBook on Evernote called Evernote Essentials.

It's the End of the Web as We Know ItJuly 12

The following essay is also my AdAge column this week.

Wither the web? It's hard to believe but soon, if not already, the web is going to become a lot less interesting to consumers -- and just as it approaches its 20th birthday.

 

According to Morgan Stanley, within five years global internet consumption on mobile devices will surpass the same activity on PCs. This sounds like good news. It's natural to think that browsers on the third screen (phones) and the fourth screen (tablets) will simply replace time spent in front of the same on a PC. That's not the case.

 

Mobile devices, by their nature, force users to become more mission-oriented. As more internet consumption shifts to gadgets, it's increasingly becoming an app world and we just live in it. Innovation, fun, simplicity and single-purpose utility will rule while grandiose design and complexity will fall by the wayside.

 

It won't be enough just to build branded mobile applications that repurpose content across all of the different platforms. That's like newspapers taking the print experience and replic

Study: 43% of Online Americans Addicted to Social NetworkingJune 25

Experian Simmons is out with a new package of stats that document the incredible growth of social networking in the US. (Experian is an Edelman client.) Here are some of the notable highlights...

First, some 66% of online Americans use social networking sites today, up from just 20% in 2007. This has been covered a lot before. However, what's notable is that it's an increasingly additive activity - 43% visit multiple times each day.

Second, social networking is largely synonymous with Facebook. This doesn't bode well for others that are positioning themselves as a social network since it could confuse consumers. (Since it does not require mutual friending, Twitter to me really isn't a social network but a continuous public communications channel.)

Essay: The Apple Threat to Online AdvertisingJune 23

The following essay is also my column this month on Forbes.com.

Caption: Safari's new Reader view could rob publishers of page views especially if it finds its way into iOS devices

Watch Out: Apple May Aim To Reshape Online Advertising

Apple, without a doubt, is creating a massive sea change in how we interact with digital content. Note that I didn’t say “the Web.” This is because the millions of iPad and iPhone users spend more time within Apple’s walled garden of apps rather than in a browser. However, there’s a potential dark side to the millions of Apple devices being sold and it should give every marketer pause.

If you look just below the surface of all the hype around the iOS devices (the iPads, iPod Touches and iPhones), there’s a dirty little secret. Apple might be positioning the platform as a Trojan Horse that reshapes digital advertising as one man—Apple CEO Steve Jobs—thinks it should work. While this