The Latest Digital Marketing News by IMPACT

November 12, 2019

3 keys for leading a tribe, FTC clarifies endorsement guidelines, and the best email newsletters ...this is THE LATEST!

💯 Jump Right into the good stuff!

TED Talk: how to create a community of unstoppable force (Seth Godin)

FTC Disclosure Update: endorsement guidelines that actually make sense

Email Newsletter Examples: (we're so meta) here are 12 other great email newsletters

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I'm a Leaf Raker. 🍁

It's a tad ironic that I'm talking about raking leaves on a cold Chicago morning where at least 4 inches of snow have already blanketed the city. But here we are.

You're probably thinking to yourself wait, Stephanie, what the heck is a Leaf Raker? Fair question.

If you've never heard of the Leaf Rakers Society, it's a sort-of-secret community created by Starbucks for people who are obsessed with fall (and coffee).

If your eyes light up at the sight of a Starbucks in the distance or if your heart races when you step on that first crunchy leaf of autumn, you are probably a Leaf Raker.

What started as a #PSL-lovers group has since transformed into a wonderfully festive online community of people who wanted a safe place to express their scarf-wearing, holiday-loving, coffee-drinking, decoration-hanging thoughts all 👏 year 👏long 👏.

And yes, I am a bonafide Leaf Raker. I've got the pin to prove it:

The highly coveted, Starbucks-official Leaf Raker pin.

Which is why, when I woke up this morning to a fresh dusting of white powder, I couldn't wait to post a pic of my new #redcup in Leaf Rakers where no one would tell me "it's too early to listen to Christmas music!"

red cup post in leaf rakers
What's most amazing to me about Leaf Rakers is that, despite our many differences, we are a positive and supportive group. People come to this group to share updates about their cancer treatments (and what latte got them through their last round of chemo). They share engagements and wedding day updates. It's one of the most heart-warming parts of my Facebook feed.

Starbucks has created something truly unique on the internet - a place of compassion and joy unencumbered by the typical negativity on social media. They've created a tribe.

🔑 Seth Godin's 3 keys for leading a tribe [TED Talk]

People don’t want to just buy a product anymore, they want to buy into something they believe in. They want to connect and feel like they’re a part of something greater than just a transaction. Just like Leaf Rakers.

IMPACT Video Editor Megan Lang shared her takeaways from Seth Godin's TED Talk on tribes and the steps your business can take to create a community.

🔎 Related articles and resources

💁 FTC clarifies guidelines for how influencers must disclose endorsements

If you can't tell already, I love talking about the things I love. I'm certainly not an #Influencer, but I do, from time to time, get rewarded for talking about these things. I always make it obvious in my posts when this is the case so I don't deceive anyone. It's not just a best practice, though, it's also legally required. IMPACT Editorial Content Manager John Becker outlined the FTC's endorsement guidelines and how they've recently been clarified.

🔎 Related articles and resources

📌 Proving their worth is one of the top 5 fears marketers face

Why? For most marketers, their success depends upon cooperation and collaboration with other key leaders inside the organization. And, for most people, getting that isn’t easy. That's why we created the inbound culture workshop.

📩 7 best email newsletter examples for digital marketers (B2B and B2C)

Look at me talking about newsletters right in the middle of a newsletter. How meta. Your usual author of THE LATEST, Liz Murphy, is here with a roundup of the 7 best email newsletter examples for digital marketers.

🔎 Related articles and resources

🎧 Latest shows and podcasts

📆 Upcoming events

Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Chicago HubSpot User Group's most popular event of the year is back! Get ready for eight short, motivational, industry-related talks from fellow HUG members at the HUG chiX event on November 20. Save your seat now now as space is limited and 125 people have already signed up!
Lookin' at you, Connecticut. Video expert Zachary Basner will be teaching us how to harness the power of video to generate revenue in this one-day workshop at IMPACT HQ in New Haven. Join us on Thursday, November 21 from 9:00 AM to noon (lunch is included!) to learn how to create effective one-to-one and one-to-many video that can be used throughout the sales process. Learn more and get your ticket today.

🌎 IMPACTers on the move

Vidyard's Fast Forward: The Video Marketing Virtual Summit returns on November 14! Our very own Myriah Anderson is part of the lineup with a can't-miss session on using video for sales

🗞️ What I'm reading

Here are the long reads, articles, and news items that have caught my eye:

While I usually focus on community and events, I freaking love email. It absolutely fascinates me. This oldie but goodie came up in my "to read later" folder with a nifty little preview text hack. (LOL @ "published in 2018" but I just now read it.)
Have you been to our site lately? This morning I was reading this article from our CEO about why IMPACT's site is always evolving. (Yes, I read stuff on our own site.)

💡 One last thing

Katie Haller, copywriter at VaynerMedia (and comedian), has tweets worth push notifications. I saw this gem over the weekend and about spit out my coffee.

katie haller tweet