Lately Blog Platform

Okay. It’s a little bit magic. But it only happens when you tell us what you want. Here’s what’s new at Lately this week:

1. Automatically Generate Social Posts

Automatically create dozens of social posts out of any longform content – like a blog, a newsletter, a press release or even an article someone else wrote about your business – and publish them across multiple social channels, in just a few clicks.

2. Customize Your Marketing Calendar View

Adjust the view of your marketing calendar to “Day,” “Week” or “Month” for whole-picture visibility that works best for you, in one click.

3. Sort Your Content Library by New Drafts

Quickly access newly drafted content awaiting approval, now automatically positioned at the top of each section in your Content Library.

Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

It might seem like magic but really, it’s our spreadsheet-hating elves, working ‘round the clock to make your marketing wishlist come true. Here’s what’s new at Lately this week:

1. Approve Content In Real Time

Collaborate with team members as they draft social posts, blogs, press releases, white papers or newsletter copy. Make edits and give the thumbs up or thumbs down, individually or in bulk.

2. Create New Campaign Tags From Anywhere

Create new campaign tags even after you’ve begun drafting content, without having to leave the page you’re on – because sometimes, a better tag occurs to you after the fact.

3. Update Social Profile Pages From Lately

Instantly edit text or images on your connected social profile pages – directly from Lately, in one click.

The more you love us, the more we love you. And the more our spreadsheet-hating elves crank it into overtime to deliver more of the features you’ve asked for. Here’s (surprise!) more of what’s new at Lately this week:

1. Clone Social Posts

Clone any of your social posts to be republished on another social channel and stagger scheduling so timing feels more organic.

2. Organize Event Planning

Coordinate events like conferences, workshops or webinars in your marketing calendar, alongside social, email, PR and more.

3. Adjust Team Member Access

Invite team members to collaborate and specify roles and dashboard permissions for creating and posting content and inviting additional collaborators. Did we mention there’s more?

Our spreadsheet-hating elves have been working their pointy ears off, improving Lately with your requests. Here’s the long and, ehem, short of what’s new at Lately this week:

1. Post to LinkedIn

Create, schedule and post content to your LinkedIn company page and organize profile messaging and images alongside other channels.

2. View Photos in the Calendar

See the photos attached to your social posts on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in the daily view of your marketing calendar.

3. Schedule in Bulk

Bulk schedule multiple posts down to the minute and publish over time, i.e., once a day, twice a week or once every three weeks.

Hold onto your candy corn!

Just before the election, we had a garage sale. As anyone who’s ever had a garage sale knows, the point isn’t wholly selling one’s crap (and the relief therein) but also to abandon oneself to all manner of requisite chit chat. And when you live in the lower Hudson Valley, the chit chat runs the gamut, as do the people. We met all kinds:

• The impeccably dressed Korean couple that chose the Herman Miller knock-off over the real thing (we were selling both).
• The Vermont lady with her tiny car and enormous dog who bought all the cracked garden planters, except one.
• The farmer who knew the family who’d previously owned our house and bought the broken lawn mower for his daughter.
• The girl (and her boyfriend who stood vaping near the mailbox) who went for the full-length mirror with the broken frame.
• The woman who tried on the green coat (too small) and asked if my trainer at the local gym was worth thirty bucks a session (totally).

We liked them all. And we didn’t just take their money – we shook their hands, we learned their names. We got to know them, not as just tourists or hipsters or townies or neighbors. But as humans. And they got to know us. And they bought our crap. Ehem, I mean, treasure.

Because, as genuinely interesting, enlightening and sometimes sobering as the chit chat was, I confess to having an ulterior motive: sell, sell, sell! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that exchanging pleasantries, finding common ground, connecting emotionally, tossing in a story about whatever they’re eyeballing… All stuff that makes the sale. And since the invention of marketing, this basic recipe hasn’t changed: Human Interaction + Emotional Value = Sale. It’s that simple.

Segue to the state of modern marketing: an overwhelming mess of tech, tools, psychographics, profiles, journeys, data (good Lord, SO much data) and, frankly, overkill. Paralyzingly so. Relatability, emotional connectivity, togetherness? Unmeasurable and therefore, back-seat.

So while many 2017 MarTech predictions call for more data, better data and still bigger data, we predict 2017 will bring a new emphasis on the opposite of data: shared, imperfect, human experience. Think snail mail. Phone calls. In-store communities. Dining out. Rock concerts. Peaceful protests. Less “together, alone” and more togetherness. Less calculation, more genuine, more off-the-cuff. Amplified humanness. A vibe, not a bot. A feeling.

Yes, a feeling is the trend for 2017. And you can bet we’ll be leveraging the crap out of it.

 

– Kate Bradley Chernis
Lately Co-founder & CEO