In the mad scramble to create a content strategy and prove ROI, marketers often forget something very important—craft matters. A lot. In this podcast, Jay Acunzo, creator of the Unthinkable Podcast, joins us to talk about why brands need to hire editors obsessed with creating great content.

Joe and Shane dig into how SXSW has changed (2:30), what Instagram's move to adopt a Facebook-esque feed means for marketers (7:30), the ramifications of having all our content filtered through a feed could have on the media and politics (14:00), and what will happen when Facebook opens Instant Articles to all publishers and brands in April (28:00).

Legendary content strategist Michael Brenner discusses how content marketing has evolved during his decade in the business, and his favorite examples of brand storytelling today. (1:50) Then, we dive into "marketing's marketing problem," and how to fight against the plague of self-promotional content and the secret to content marketing ROI. (17:10) Then, we play a lightning round of a new game, asking Michael to name the brand that he most associates with each political candidate. (34:10)

At Contently, we talk a lot about the power of storytelling to build relationships, but what about the dark side of storytelling? Author Maria Konnikova comes on the podcast to talk about her new book on con men, The Confidence Game. We discuss: What kind of con men are you vulnerable to? (5:00) Are advertisers con artists? (10:00) And what does this all mean for political campaigns and Super Bowl ads? (25:00)

Shane and Joe tackle the big questions facing the media and marketing industries this year. Are brands about to invest a bunch in content without a real plan? (1:58) Is the new media industry in trouble? (11:38) Will more journalists take content marketing jobs? (19:30) And to wrap things up (24:45), they play “Buy, Sell, Hold” on the stock of the 8 biggest players in social media. (Plus Peach.)

Contently

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Last spring, entrepreneur and beloved blogger James Altucher decided to launch a paid-subscription newsletter. Nine months later, he has tens of thousands of subscribers, over $10 million in revenue, and over a million dollars in profit.

How did he become an email millionaire? That's the subject of this week's podcast.

Dillon Baker interviews Glenn Greenwald (33:35), the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for his series of reports on global surveillance programs by the US and UK based on classified information disclosed by Edward Snowden. But first, ​Shane and Joe are joined by Sam Slaughter and Brad Hamilton from the award-winning Contently foundation to discuss the future of investigative journalism, and whether brands should spend their CSR dollars to fund the fourth estate.

Joe and Shane are joined by Thought Catalog CRO Alex Magnin to discuss the future of ad-supported media and play buy, sell, hold on your favorite publishers.

Contently co-founder Shane Snow, EIC Joe Lazauskas, and Editor Dillon Baker break down Facebook’s rising dominance over the media, marketing, and political worlds. Also discussed: Should Mark Zuckerberg switch to flip flops? What’s Elon Musk’s super villain potential? And can Kik be the David to Facebook’s Goliath?