No doubt you’ve got questions about using content marketing to generate income for your business – as efficiently as possible. That’s what it’s all about, especially right now when marketing budgets are tight. READ MORE
In today’s fast-paced digital world, the question, “Is it worth it to hire a digital marketing agency?” often comes up. Whether you’re a Marketing Director, Business Owner, or CEO, this decision can significantly impact your business’s growth and success. Let’s explore why partnering with a digital marketing agency might be the game-changer you need.READ MORE
Brand marketing partnerships are starting to become more common between up-and-coming brands and media publishers or more established brands.
The more established brands get to look younger and trendier and the up-and-coming brands get good support from established brands with more marketing clout. It’s a win-win. Especially when a new kid on the block gets the benefit of the marketing savvy and deep pockets of an establishment brand.READ MORE
A lot of businesses small and large have become known for their unique tone in communication, whether it’s through social media or their website content or something else altogether. For instance, Wendy’s has made a name for itself through its Twitter account, which is constantly active and usually features a humorous tweet about their own food or their biggest competitors. Wendy’s has done this so well that it has not only become their voice, but is now the expectation for all of their content. So how do you find your company’s voice? We can help – read on for some expert tips.READ MORE
Marketing can be tricky for businesses who aren’t familiar with the industry. In fact, marketing can be tricky for those who are familiar with the industry, because the concepts and trends in marketing are always evolving. However, in spite of the many changes you may find in your marketing journey, there are a few consistent mistakes that you will want to make sure your business avoids. Read on to learn more about four of the most common marketing mistakes:READ MORE
Some social media landing pages are a visual treat. They grab your attention. Others stab your brain with powerful headlines.
Every day, something on social media is likely to capture your attention — for awhile. And that’s nice and all, but if you can’t remember what the brand or the offer was a few hours later – it didn’t do much to really compel you, did it?READ MORE
When a cultural moment pivots as dramatically as it has in the last few months of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s imperative that your company reacts with tact and empathy – as you position your brand to help.
Needless to say, that’s going to require a lot of poise and nuanced communication. So how to begin? What should you do?READ MORE
You can probably name a luxury brand. Tiffany comes to mind. Or an active brand, such as Nike or Patagonia. Or a traditional brand, such as General Motors. There are brands that own product names, such as Scotch (brand) tape or Band Aid bandages.
Have you noticed all the new logos recently? Logos are definitely evolving. They are getting less intricate, using very easy to read fonts, and any imagery or design is much simpler than earlier versions of the same logo.
Logo redesign isn’t new. Just about every organization revitalizes their logo every so often. But why – suddenly – are so many logos getting a make-over?
The answer is simple. Smaller screens.
Well, Fall is officially upon us and Winter is fast approaching. You know what this means – the holidays are quickly approaching as is the end of the year. Yep, I said it; 2016 is coming to a close and 2017 will be here before we know it. It seems like October is that magical month when businesses take a long hard look at what they’ve accomplished throughout the year, what they can wrap up in the last few months and begin planning for the new year. So today I wanted to follow that up by sharing with you some of the questions that every business should be considering this year as it relates to a marketing strategy.
Think about the first 9 months. What are the 3-4 big wins that stand out to you? Maybe it’s a big deal that you closed or a social media marketing campaign that was very well received. What did you accomplish that helped you or your business move closer to where you want to be? Whatever it was, take a moment to think about why it was successful. All too often, we get caught up in the day-to-day stuff and forget to take a step back to evaluate things. And I’ve got news for you, if you don’t get this done in October there’s no way it’s happening in November or December. We all know how crazy that time of the year can get, so take the time to search for those golden nuggets NOW and learn from them.
No doubt, there will be some areas over your overall marketing plan or business strategy where you’ve fallen a bit short. It’s much easier and more beneficial to identify those things now rather than at the end of the year. Let me cover that again, think about and begin dealing with your shortcomings NOW rather than at the end of the year. Sometimes we get too caught up in moving forward forward forward, that we forget to look back at things we might be able to easily fix now. Maybe earlier in the year you were working on a website redesign and rushed things a bit when it came to the content development convincing yourself you’d come back to it later in the year. Well, now’s that time. Or perhaps you were thinking about getting some commercial photography work done for your new product line to update your online catalog, but just didn’t get around to it. It’s important to identify these things now, and I will tell you why on my next point.
After taking a step back to look at your big wins and places where you fell short, think about how these things fit in with what’s left of your 2016 marketing plan. What can you learn from these successes and setbacks so far to make the most of where you’re going next? Your answers to these questions my change the plan moving forward. Perhaps your original marketing budget didn’t have enough built in for social media marketing or hadn’t taken into consideration the benefits you might get from producing an online video to follow up with the one you rolled out in quarter 2 that was so successful. While it’s always important to stay on budget, where you allocate that budget needs to always be open for review and discussion especially this late into the year. And I’ll tell you one thing – doing things the same way you have always done them in the past is a recipe for getting left in the dust of your competition. In other words, just because you spent X on a TV commercial or radio ad last year around the holidays and included that same budget this year doesn’t mean it’s in your best interest.
Now that you’ve taken some time to look at the first 3/4 of the year and make sure you’re on the right track for the last quarter, it’s time to turn your attention to next year. The good news is that by answering the first 3 questions, it will make building out your 2017 marketing strategy much easier. Start by visualizing where you want your business to be at the beginning of the new year. Let’s say the New Year starts off with a bang and everything is going great – what does that picture look like for your company? Now, ask yourself that same thing about the end of the year next year. Next it’s time to work backwards – what do you need to do to connect the dots from the most successful year beginning to the most successful year end? Identify the mini-goals that need to be achieved along the way so you have nice, bite-sized chunks to tackle one at a time. If you’re in the right business, answering these questions is sure to get you excited for new year. After all, there’s no reason why it can’t be your best yet.
I am going to wrap things up by echoing what I said earlier. NOW is the time to answer these questions. I say this for 3 simple reasons:
1. It’s not too late to get back on track even if 2016 isn’t finishing the way you had hoped.
2. It’s never too early to start planning for the new year.
3. End of year/holiday craziness will soon ensue.