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How do startups actually get their content marketing to work?
[Editor’s note: this is a free example of a series of articles we’re publishing by top experts who have cutting-edge startup advice to offer, over on Extra Crunch. Get in touch at ec_columns@techcrunch.com if you have ideas to share Even the best growth marketers fail to get content marketing to work. Many are unwittingly using tactics from 4 years ago that no longer work today. This post cuts through... -
User-generated content marketing platform Yotpo closes $51M Series D round
Yotpo, a platform that lets companies gather content from their customers in the form of reviews, Q&As, photos and videos, mainly for use in marketing, has closed $51 million in Series D funding. The round is led by Access Industries (ClalTech), with participation from existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Marker, Vintage Partners, Blumberg Capital, Rhodium, and 2B Angels, in addition to new investor Vertex Ventures. It brings total funding... -
‘Star Trek’ icon LeVar Burton isn’t done with podcasting just yet
The LeVar Burton Reads podcast will get second season, and perhaps many more.Image: John Salangsang/Variety/REX/Shutterstock LeVar Burton just can’t stop reading. The former Star Trek and Roots star just wrapped the first season of his weekly podcast, LeVar Burton Reads, where Burton lends his reassuring, emotive voice to various works of short-form fiction. The term “season” is a loose one — the books are a grab bag of authors... -
Art19 gets $7.5 million in funding to build out its podcasting platform
Even in many podcasting circles, Art19 isn’t exactly a household name. The startup has largely operated behind the scenes, without much in the way of active promotion. Even so, the companies that have enlisted its hosting and ad technologies are among some of media’s largest. The New York Times, Vox and iHeartMedia all take advantage of its services, which are akin to something like Podbean, but positioned more directly... -
Personal Audio loses its appeal for podcasting patent
A year after taking up the case, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled in favor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in its challenge against podcasting patent troll, Personal Audio. The decision is a massive relief for the vibrant and ever-growing medium, which has been operated under the threat of lawsuit for a number of years. Its also part of the EFFs larger on-going fight... -
Ladies who podcast: Meet the new crop of podcasting hosts
If youre a fan of socially minded, funny, female-helmed podcasting, your late 2015 is about to pop off in a major way. Tuesday morning, Lena Dunham announced on Instagramthat shell be launching a podcast about gender, sexuality and feminism for BuzzFeed. Itll be called Women of the Hour, and theres a five-minute preview of the first season on iTunes now. Season 1 will have five episodes on five different... -
Welcome to Night Vale to launch new sci-fi series and podcasting network
The creators of Alice Isn’t Dead Alice Isn’t Deadhails fromNight ValecreatorsJoseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor and features music byNight Valecomposer Disparition. The podcast willairan initial season of 10 bi-weekly episodes written byFink, running March 8July 5. In a statement, Nicole said she was drawn to Fink’s creepy writing, which blends homespun Americana with plenty of horror and supernatural elements. When I first read through the scripts, said Nicole, it... -
Ambitious 5-year-old divides his time between podcasting and kindergarten
If The Show about Science is not already on your podcast subscription list, it absolutely should be. Big-name guests like Anna Rothschild and Joe Hanson of PBS Digital Studios are outshined by the host, Nate Butkus, who at the tender age of 5 is already doing more with his life than most people do by age 25. Nates dad, Eric Butkus, produces podcasts and videos for the Journal of... -
How a pair of San Francisco Giants fans found love through podcasting and Twitter
June 1, 2012: A Giants game of historic proportion. Image: Daniel zarchy Not long after graduating from UC Santa Cruz in 2009, Daniel Zarchy found himself talking frequently with a friend about baseball. San Francisco Giants baseball, to be precise. “We would just talk about the Giants constantly,” Zarchy recalls. “In what, in hindsight, seems like a shocking act of arrogance on our part, we decided that maybe other... -
Founders of podcasting platform Acast share what should change about podcasts
In the United States, 57 million people listen to podcasts regularly. Image: Getty Images Are podcasts just having a moment? Almost two years ago, the true crime podcast Serial enthralled people worldwide with downloads hitting more than 1 million week by week. In its second season, Serial failed to capture as much buzz. But podcasting hasn’t faded as an industry. In fact, podcasts were already on the rise well...
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