Online videos are a great marketing tool for all businesses because they are engaging and easy to share. If you have been avoiding making videos due to inexperience – fear not – people don’t expect Hollywood quality videos. Audiences simply want quality content and every business has plenty of that to offer. The following are […]
Get control of your social media through relevancy and participation
The recurring theme among small and mid-sized business owners is that they can’t keep up with social media. The platforms change often. They’re short on time. Consistency? What consistency? Social media doesn’t have to be a headache for your business. Utilize the following three concepts to get a handle on your social media and expand […]
Stand out from the crowd: 5 strategies in content marketing
In some ways, you could say I’ve been working the principles of content marketing before it was a buzzword. As a managing editor and marketing manager in previous positions, I was always looking for ways to tell stories and engage an audience. It was always more about establishing relationships than it was about selling something. […]
Responsive web design: a future that is now
What’s the latest buzz for online digital marketing? Responsive design, a web design approach that mirrors the same website for all viewing experiences: handheld, tablet, laptop, desktop. In short, it’s all about the design and how it works on all devices – seamlessly and at minimum cost. What to consider for responsive web design When considering […]
The 5 “Cs” of business partnerships
As business professionals, we’re always trying to think of ways to enhance what we deliver to our customers. However, because of the overachiever in us, we tend think we have to make these enhancements ourselves. Fortunately, this isn’t always the case. If we’d just take a minute to look around, we’d find companies that are […]
What Olympian bodies can teach us about communications
Remember the guys in high school who wore letter jackets – the “jocks?” They typically played one of two sports: football or basketball. In that world, to be viewed as an athlete you had to be 1) male 2) 6 feet tall or more 3) heavy 4) strong and 5) fast – pretty much in […]
4 easy steps to launch a website
Building a new website or revamping an existing website is exciting! It’s a presence – and definitely a process. Design, content, optimization, interactions, calls to action… there’s so much to consider. In the end, it’s really about reaching your audience and making sure they can find you. Here’s some key steps to keep in mind before […]
Build trust and relationships with great content
Put away the old thinking about marketing and communications; clients and customers are no longer looking to be sold something – they are looking to be engaged. Consumers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages a day and they will ignore an attempt to simply sell them something. The idea of putting content on the […]
3 key components to successful branding
Last week, I presented at the AICPA (American Institute of CPAs) and AAM (Association for Accounting Marketing) Summit. The session, titled “Brand is not a Logo: How to Communicate Your True Brand,” focused on developing brand strategies, establishing a brand voice or brand statement, consistent messaging and brand measurement. Through all of these steps in […]
What you may not realize about Facebook page admin levels
Facebook has been making a lot of changes lately, and I’m sure we can agree that most of them are great. I love how I can schedule future posts right in Facebook now without logging in to another third-party platform to do it. Facebook recently launched admin permission levels for pages defined (by Facebook) as […]
Managing social media: Create artisan accounts in 5 minutes a day
If you haven’t gotten your company into social media yet, no doubt part of the reasons is time. Infographics like this may intimidate you, and reasonably so. But, you do have time. I didn’t think I had time to make home made bread, but I recently received an incredible gift, a cookbook: “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a […]
When social media engagement causes us to disengage
Brian Solis’ post “Music, Film, TV: How social media changed the entertainment experience” couldn’t have appeared in my inbox at a better time. And to be frank, I didn’t even read it before I set out to write this post. The mere title of his latest piece was just what I needed to self analyze: […]
Graphic design: When to splurge and when to save
A graphic design project can be exciting and daunting at the same time. You love the idea of a new, fresh look, but you’re not entirely sure if it will fit with your company’s budget. Here’s the secret: Not all graphic design work needs to cost you an arm and a leg. There are certain […]
Social media and PR: New State of the Media affects your brand
The State of the News Media 2012 was released this week by Pew Research Center and the findings prove a needed change in the way most companies communicate. And although you may not be in the business of generating news in the traditional sense, as a business, it’s imperative to keep tabs on the pulse […]
Can market segmentation go too far?
As a marketing professional, you’ll often hear me talk about segmenting your market and drilling down to figure out who it really is you’re trying to reach. Recently, Dr. Pepper took their target market research to the extreme and, after finding that men were not keen on diet drinks (the drinks were not “manly” enough), […]
Marketing: Hire it out or do it yourself?
I often work with many organizations that don’t always have marketing departments (or may have one person on staff wearing multiple hats, marketing included). So when is it appropriate to keep your marketing in-house and when should you hire out your marketing? Here are five suggestions: 1. Leave design work to professionals Microsoft Word is […]
Facebook statistics for retail brands: An infographic on customer engagement
Some of the most useful statistics regarding social media use and online consumer trends came from the Nielsen State of the Media: Social Media Report Q3 (2011). In America, more time is spent on Facebook than on any other website. Likewise, Hitwise found that for every one Facebook “like,” a consumer will visit a retailer’s […]
How much influence does the media have?
PR professionals use social media every day to promote clients, to communicate and engage with audiences and to respond to questions or issues. It’s no secret that Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites have become important tools in a PR pro’s comprehensive tool box. I like to call this new tool box, PR 2.0. […]
