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Samantha Wright | MyBiz Profile | Bizcommunity

Samantha Wright currently manages the marketing portfolio of an international engineering firm while also consulting and freelancing for niche market SMEs in the brand journalism and content marketing fields. Her passion lies in giving people the tools to "do it themselves". Before she fell into marketing she dabbled in media - from PR to sub-editing the news bulletins at YFM. Contact details: cell +27 (0)82 554 9681 | email | Twitter @IAmSamW
All | Articles | Comments
How to avoid social media management pitfalls

[Samantha Wright] It's been harped on enough and smart SMEs have come to the social media party. It's a fantastic marketing tool to add to your brand building arsenal.

Posted 1 month ago | Like (1)
Five laws in content marketing

[Samantha Wright] It'll likely upset a host of marketing folk who feel like they've discovered the next big thing, but let's be honest, content marketing isn't anything new.

Posted 2 months ago | Like (6)
Samantha Wright commented on The buzz around brand journalism
Pasau, I don't disagree with your point entirely. But, I do disagree on the "nothing more than PR".

PR pieces have a distinctly different tone to a brand journalism piece.

Many articles that you could classify as brand journalism do not even mention the brand or company behind the brand.

The lines are blurry though, no doubt.
Posted 6 months ago | Like
The buzz around brand journalism

[Samantha Wright] Brand journalism has become the buzzword in the marketing and PR profession. As the digital space takes over and marketing and PR campaigns gear themselves towards "engaging" with their customers, brand journalism is two words on everyone's lips. But what is it?

Posted 6 months ago | Like
Samantha Wright
Please fill in the attached survey. Currently being used to collect SA Social Media stats - definitely needed!
http://tinyurl.com/bvnx4vl
Posted 8 months ago | Like
Samantha Wright commented on Social media 'experts'... copy that!
Sally,

Not a personal gripe at all. I handle the marketing for an engineering firm. In my inbox currently sits 22 emails from various companies (primarily social media and SEO) all of which read almost identical.

Fine, so be it.

What irked me though is when you visit their websites or own social platforms they have copied and pasted content. They have directed people to blog posts where they claim to have "written some tips on..." or "I suggest you do this.." and then have plagiarised another company's original post. The few clients they do have - their social media platforms all read identical. There is no brand management but rather a formula being applied throughout no matter industry or the target market. That is not a young entrepeneur starting out nor is that good business practice.

In the piece I did not say DO NOT USE SMALL BUSINESS or STAY AWAY FROM YOUNG ENTREPENEURS. I gave suggestions as to how to spot the charlatans.

Feedback from the industry suggests I'm not the only one who has begun to notice how many of them have popped up.

Saying that, there are a few really GREAT young marketing entrepeneurs who do social media right! The likes of Cerebra, @spillly (who I think may be a private consultant over actual company) are just some off the top of my head.
Posted 9 months ago | Like
Samantha Wright commented on Social media 'experts'... copy that!
Richard I think I've answered the questions posed.

I'm not against social media nor am I against young professionals gaining experience and being given a chance.

I'm against people claiming to have the answer when the answer was simply copied and pasted from another forum/blog/site etc.

I also wrote the piece as I was tired of people laying claim and making money off other people's innovation and creation. Changing the sentence construction of a blog post or article does not then make it original or allow you to lay claim to it.

Credit the people with the great ideas, learn from them, suggest them but in order to ever be successful you will need a few of your own. In my opinion anyway.
Posted 9 months ago | Like
Samantha Wright commented on Social media 'experts'... copy that!
Arthur, I actually agree with you completely and am in no way saying young professionals shouldn't be allowed time to feel their way around.

Hell, I studied journalism and was thrown into a marketing position, I bumped my head a few times but I found my way eventually.

The point of the article, which I think you may be missing, is that businesses need to be careful of WHO they hire. There are marketing firms copying and pasting content from others and plagiarising work. They're throwing the title "expert" and "guru" onto their personal descriptions - but really are simply stealing content.

That, in my opinion, is not finding your feet. It's theft and lying - businesses have had their fingers burnt and it is negatively influencing the industry.
Posted 9 months ago | Like
Samantha Wright commented on Social media 'experts'... copy that!
Have to pay the bills Arthur! Thus my lack of peeping on the topic.

My argument in this regard was that there are social media experts. No doubt. There are also social media charlatans simply copying and pasting ideas and selling them as their own. How do we draw the line? How do we stop it?

I’m not against social media, but I do believe for most SMEs it is not something that needs to be outsourced and can be done in-house for a much smaller cost. What is needed is a consultant to guide and educate. Why would the local three man accounting firm with an annual profit of less than R1 million need to pay someone a 5k retainer to manage their social media? They’re being told they do and because they believe these companies to be “experts” they believe them. They’re being bombarded with marketing terms and being told about the intricacies of social media. Really, it’s not rocket science.

I’m simply saying – before you believe the hype, make sure you really are speaking to someone who understands your business and the market rather than someone peddling a standard formula they read about on a forum such as this.

Kagiso and Neil – I am in no way against young entrepreneurs. I am against young guys simply touting the same strategy to a multitude of businesses because they read an article or a blog from a big firm. There are a large number of very successful “young” marketers out there who are original and innovative. I’ve also noticed that there are a large number of “young” guys charging a small fortune to SMEs and not providing bang for their buck. Within 3 months the SMEs notice and end the contracts but it puts them off social media and that is what I hoped the piece would get across:

Do not be wary of social media; be wary of the person attempting to sell it to you.

Smith – Please visit my twitter account @IAmSamW – there has been a huge response from 20 something marketers who read the article and thanked me for finally saying what most of us young guys were thinking. We’re losing business because other people are attempting to take the quick route and ultimately “rip off” businesses.

This piece was never hitting out at Social media – it was hitting out at the “gurus” who are abusing the medium, plagiarising work and ultimately giving the marketing fraternity a bad name.
Posted 9 months ago | Like

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