Thanks to New York Times   writer Jane Levere, I was pointed to this print ad campaign from Action Against Hunger (AAH). The first ad features a line-up of paper dolls, with one figure much thinner than the others — but no clear call to action. Readers are asked to visit AAH’s website (for what?) or text in a small donation. MORE >>

Flickr/Irish Typepad. Reminder: If you don’t have a great website and email strategy, you probably shouldn’t be focusing on social media yet. Those have to be your first priorities. It’s predicted that by the end of 2014, mobile (smart phone and tablet) access to the web will have outstripped desktop access. Real-time stories rock. MORE >>

Kate Antoniades. In today’s guest post, Kate Antoniades shows how planning ahead and paying attention to what your fans, friends, and followers react to can make all the difference in your social media marketing. She also proves that social media can work at the local level. MORE >>

There, I said it. Social media in and of itself is not a strategy (gasp). It does not replace a solid marketing approach or even a communications plan. To be successful, it must be integrated into a larger strategic framework. This applies to organizations as well as programs, initiatives and (my dreaded word) campaigns. You start to be strategic. MORE >>

If you add a QR-code to a paper icon campaign, just how many code scans can you expect? Chili’s, the restaurant chain, added a QR code to its Create-A-Pepper paper icon which engendered 291,000 scans in September 2011. As of this writing, the Create-A-Pepper campaign generated $3,013,735 in donations to St. Jude patient. But wait, there’s more. MORE >>