Chris Rauschnot is a digital influencer, content producer and marketing consultant from Las Vegas, Nevada. I interviewed Chris at the Bellagio Hotel on The Strip, where he revealed the marketing secrets big brands can learn from Las Vegas. We also talked about influencer marketing, social media marketing, Pokémon GO, and why Chris decided to base his business in Sin City.
Topics and links:
- Christopher Rauschnot describes himself as a digital influencer, brand advocate, writer, blogger and traveller. He works as a digital consultant in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Chris’s writing includes: blogging; reviewing products, services and travel experiences; covering celebrity appearances; and has recently been writing copy for products being launched on crowdfunding sites.
- We recorded this episode of MATE at the Bellagio Hotel, with a beautiful view of the famous Bellagio Fountains.
- Chris initially moved to Las Vegas for CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show). Then, he wanted something to do in between the conventions, so he focused on entertainment, food, travel, celebrities and excitement.
- Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (the TV series), which was hosted by Robin Leach.
- How Chris wrote an article for the Huffington Post which was featured next to one by Steve Ballmer (the CEO of Microsoft at the time). And a screenshot of the article which Chris has kept:
- Chris helped in the beta testing of RebelMouse, a social media and content distribution platform.
- What’s the difference between a brand advocate and a brand influencer?
- Why marketers get stuck focusing on ‘vanity metrics’.
- Sweden lets citizens take over its official @sweden Twitter account. This initially seemed like a great strategy, until eventually things ended up going awry.
- Is it ethically okay for a brand to #regram user photos?
- What is a public Snapchat Story?
- How Chris got 2 million views on his Snapchat Story in just 24 hours
- What are the main mistakes you see brands making on social media? Using social as another broadcast platform (rather than engaging with customers).
- How the ‘pay to play’ environment of social media is impacting brands
- Why Las Vegas hired DJ Khaled for a Snapchat campaign and gave him the keys to the city
- How DJ Khaled unintentionally rose to fame on Snapchat, and the ongoing impact it’s had on his career.
- How DJ Khaled branded an emoji to his brand #majorkey 🔑
- Does good content marketing work without a good distribution strategy?
- How does content marketing generate business results? Well, it needs a good strategy behind it.
- ‘Chewbacca Mom’ is the most popular Facebook Live video ever:
- The cruise company who hires their most loyal customers to run their live chat
- What is the future of digital marketing?
- Video is the fastest growing area of social media
- The challenging part about video is to be able to create compelling video that actually moves people
- Pokémon GO wasn’t the first mass-market implementation of augmented reality (see Yelp’s Monocle from 2009, or these other AR executions). In fact, some have argued that Pokémon GO isn’t even augmented reality!
- How Microsoft surreptitiously taught users drag/drop, double-click and other UI functionality through games like Solitaire and Minesweeper.
- We now know that Pokémon GO made $950 million USD in 2016!
- Pokémon GO is actually a reskinned version of Ingress (made by Niantic).
- What’s exciting you right now? Experience marketing and brand influencing (i.e. travelling with brands and reviewing brand products).
- Huawei is the #3 top selling smartphone manufacturer
- Is Apple actually innovative?
- If you could give one piece of digital marketing advice to any brand, what would it be? Engage with your current audience.
- FordPass is Ford’s foray into mobile, with a comprehensive digital concierge service predicted to trounce GM’s OnStar. The app’s FordGuides will answer travel questions regardless of whether you own a Ford vehicle. This is part of Ford’s mobility strategy of, ‘How do we get people from point A to point B with our brand involved?’
Special thanks:
- The guest on this episode: Chris Rauschnot, from 24k Media.
- Editing by Josh Armour, from ArmourPod Productions.
- Podcast logo cover artwork by Courtney Carman
- Music from “Ghosts I–IV” by Nine Inch Nails, used under a Creative Commons licence.
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MATE podcast is a show about Marketing, Advertising, Technology and Entrepreneurship. Hosted by Adam Jaffrey: Digital Strategist and Entrepreneur. Made with ❤ in Melbourne, Australia.
MATE podcast is a production by branded podcast agency Wavelength Creative.