Speaking at a MediaPost Content Marketing Insider Summit, panelists in session on the intersection of content and social agreed it can be difficult in getting content marketing its own budget.Ellen Sirull, senior marketing manager of content at Experian Consumer Services says: “We have actually never had a budget. I’m hoping this year we get one. We have gotten good at spending other people’s money.”Morgan Chemij, senior director of SEO, PPC, social, feeds, affiliates, group buying of Provide Commerce, says getting $500,000 a brand might need 12 months when coming from one specific budget can be difficult. “But …

There is far too much content regurgitation in marketplace and not enough original content, Chad Warren, senior strategist, social media and content marketing, Adobe Systems, told Content Marketing Insider Summit attendees this morning during a panel discussion on the intersection of content, content marketing and social. Devising a coherent content marketing strategy is hard enough in and of itself for many marketers to wrap their minds around, but what about stringing together the loose confederation of listening tools, engagement platforms, curation models, distribution options, and measurement, analytics and reporting tools? That’s another story altogether. “Informed content” is key, says Ellen …

A prominent authority on advertising law doesn't believe the Federal Trade Commission will weigh in anytime soon on new regulatory policies governing native advertising, but now is a good time to get out in front of it by self-regulating around industry best practices that at least adhere to the FTC's current endorsement policies. "Consider whether church and state are really dead and what the regulatory polices are going forward," Vejay G. Lalla, Partner, Entertainment, Advertising, and Promotions Group, Davis & Gilbert LLP, told Content Marketing Insider Summit attendees this morning, recommending several steps brands and their partners can take ahead …

FleishmanHillard Senior Vice President and Senior Partner Ephraim Cohen got the "Content Distribution" panel at the Content Marketing Insider Summit off by going right to the bottom line question: Facebook's shift to a "paid" vs. "organic" strategy for brand content. Moderator Cohen began not by asking his panel, but by asking the summit audience for a show of hands to see how many people in the room understood that Facebook made that shift on Jan. 1, segregating and explicit brand campaign content into a paid bucket -- meaning it would no organic distribution on the social network.

Want a cool job where you get paid to have a lot of fun? Get one creating content for a giant industrial marketer. That's more or less how Colin Nagy, Executive Director, Media and Distribution, The Barbarian Group, described the role his team has had developing content for GE. A lot of it is fun and games, literally. One of his first examples was a game Barbarian created to help GE market its hospital management systems. "You have to manage a hospital," Nagy said of the iPad and Web-based game platform, adding, "You realize you actually have to manage the …

"Doing cool things on the Internet that inspire people." That's how Colin Nagy, Executive Director of Media and Distribution at The Barbarian Group, describes the agency's work for GE. It's about filling people who love technology with "delight," he told attendees of MediaPost's Content Marketing Insider Summit, on Thursday. Among other efforts since it teamed up with GE five years ago, Barbarian enlisted top photographers with big Instagram followings to capture the sexier side of science. More recently, the agency got GE to underwrite a techno track, which Nagy called "kind of subversive" and "cool." More broadly, Nagy says it's …

"There is a great danger in overpromising at this point," stressed Janice Finkel-Greene, EVP of buying analytics at Magna Global. What does she fear some in the industry are overpromising on? The current state of data-driven, or "programmatic," TV ad-buying.

Like it or not, tomorrow's TV ad buyers are being imbued with a programmatic mindset, according to Janice Finkel-Greene, EVP of Buying Analytics at Magna Global. "It's a new breed of buyer [who has] a whole new way of thinking," Finkel-Greene told attendees of MediaPost's Programmatic & RTB Insider Summit, on Wednesday. At Magna, they've been nurturing this new generation by bringing together programmatic buyers with local spot buyers, and letting each learn from the other. "Together, they're developing a whole new and inspiring skill set," Finkel-Greene said. Amid this convergence of cultures, however, it's more important than ever to …

How do you get the geeks (the analytics people) and cool kids (the creatives) to talk to one another at the agency level?

In their pursuit of the best sources of consumer data, brands and agencies should be very cautious about using the P-word: partner. Otherwise, they run the risk of getting stuck with data suppliers that aren't actually delivering the best data available, according to Bret Leece, Global Chief Analytics Officer at Initiative. "Reframe how you think of partners," Leece told attendees of MediaPost's Programmatic & RTB Insider Summit, on Wednesday. "Raise the bar on that." To put suppliers to the test, make sure that you win (i.e., get the best data around) when they win (i.e., get your business), Leece stressed. …