'Ben Thinking' for the week of 10.23

Happy National iPod day! On this date (10.23), in 2001, the iPod debuted for the low low price of $400. Do you remember the first song you listened to on your iPod? I do. It was Kenny Roger's The Gambler.

On to what I’ve ‘ben thinking’ about:

1. Teens spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media.

Are we sure they aren’t playing fantasy football? Because that sure feels like it takes up a lot of time per day.

2. Poll: Waning support for corporate social, political advocacy.

Less than 30% of consumers think companies should take a stance. (Sadly a far cry from stories I was sharing only a year ago.)

3. Budget planning alert!

Two great reads from Chief Executive that I’m bundling here…both provide some interesting perspective as you tackle budget planning.

Time to reimagine the workforce of tomorrow.

This article suggests the new ecosystem is people, machines and external contributors.

This planning season be sure to invest in your people.

Seems like the basics…but don’t forget that people matter!

4. 5 marketing principles to maximize SEO effectiveness.

Ben, why do you keep talking about SEO? Because SEO is going to look a lot different in the coming months. Now is the time to focus on the principles you know work. If we aren’t talking about this, we need to be.

5. Google rolls out ‘demand gen’ campaigns.

Is there nothing they can’t do?

6. The moment you’ve all been waiting for: you can be an influencer!

(Financial Times subscription required) Influencers and senior leaders take their brand and POV to LinkedIn…to be an influencer. There are great ways to do this. One who I think does a tremendous job with their personal brand (and not just because we partnered with her on it) is Ramona Hood, CEO and president at FedEx Custom Critical.

7. For the pod squad:

Did you happen to see HBR’s article on best practices for engaging a multigenerational workforce? It’s a good read. But it’s clear they’re copying us. And by us, I mean the ‘communication essentials’ podcast. We tackled that very topic…except we had every generation represented.

It’s worth a listen. Do you agree with your generation’s takes?

Thanks for reading!