Hanson & Hunt

Get relevant news and advice about public relations, corporate communications, social media and marketing each month from Arik Hanson and Kevin Hunt. Arik is a solo marketing and communications consultant in Minneapolis/St. Paul and Kevin leads corporate communications content, channels and analytics at General Mills.

191: Our last episode

After 10 years, we’re ending our podcast. We are both incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have you as a listener. So in this final episode of Hanson & Hunt, we’ll tell you about our decision, reflect on producing 190 episodes of the show, share some podcasting advice, and give thanks to all who helped…

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190: AI’s impact on search, woke brands, Facebook woos Gen Z

Anyone who oversees a website needs to pay attention to the impact of Google’s new “AI Overview” on referral traffic. We’ll discuss that. Also, do brands care anymore about appearing ‘woke’? Plus, the U.S. surgeon general wants a warning label for social media, a project that might inspire your brand to pick up a camera,…

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189: “Bring ya a**”, marketing spend study, death of the follower

What’s behind the drop in average marketing budgets and martech spend? We’ll discuss that. Also, strategies to address the shift in how people find and consume news, why corporate social media continues to be the most misunderstood job in comms, and what do do about the death of the social media follower. Plus, an unlikely…

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188: Refreshed PESO Model, AI Facebook ad fail, social media job study

Gini Dietrich has made some interesting new additions to her popular PESO Model, we’ll discuss that. Also, a new report on social media jobs, the latest numbers on podcasting’s popularity, and the anti-AI backlash in imagery. Plus, why you should never assume the story a journalist is working on will be as bad as you…

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187: Web traffic from links, thought leadership, internal comms report

There’s new evidence that you should reconsider sharing links in your social media posts. Also, why your thought leadership approach might be stuck in “mutually assured irrelevance.” Plus, a new report on challenges in internal communications, the increase in distractions at work, and more! WHAT DO YOU THINK? We want to hear from you! Contact…

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186: Maximizing LinkedIn, new Pew data, collaborative articles

What kind of posts perform best on LinkedIn? We’ll dive into an overwhelming new analysis of user activity on the platform. Also, Pew recently released its latest data on the usage of all major social media channels. Plus, LinkedIn collaborative articles, the art of commenting to gain favor with your company’s stakeholders, and more! WHAT…

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185: 2024 trends, Solo Stove, career contentment

From the rise of social search to AI’s use in content creation there are many trends identified for the new year. We’ll talk about a few that are getting attention. Plus, Solo Stove’s use of Snoop Dogg, a new free training resource for media measurement, a growing push against career ambition and promotions, and more!…

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184: AI content, crappy photos, comms priorities

The quality and trust of AI-powered content vs. human-powered content is a hot topic right now. We’ll look at two new studies that get into that. We also chat about the priorities for comms leaders in 2024. Plus, the viral marketing stunt from The North Face that seems too far-fetched to be true, the continued…

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183: Creator report, social subscriptions, kids and influencer careers

There’s some great insight about creators and their fans in the “Creator Connections” report from Teachable. We also chat about the outlook for social media platforms charging for subscriptions. Plus, a post on the impatience so many organizations have right now with their social media strategy. Also, should you help your kid be an influencer?…

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182: Corp Comm study, LinkedIn is weird now, NPR doesn’t miss X

Was it ever worth it to share a link to a blog or website on Twitter? We talk about some data from NPR after they left the platform. We also chat about the type of stories that could drive meaningful thought leadership, how LinkedIn turned personal, Edelman’s 2023 Future of Corporate Communications study, and more!…

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