Archive for June, 2015
Tuesday, June 30th, 2015
by Linda Pophal
I wrote a post recently about the value of positive public relations compared to other ways of generating awareness and preference for organizations. I made the point that what others say about us (e.g. positive word-of-mouth) is always more impactful than what we say about ourselves. One reader followed up with a question: “So how do we get our satisfied customers/alumni to talk about us more?”
This was my response: (more…)
Tags: brand advocates, Brand Management, customer advocates, Customer Communication, Customer Service, pr, public relations, word of mouth
Posted in Business Development, Client Relations, Marketing and Branding, PR and Media Relations | No Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2015
by Linda Pophal
A journalist asked me recently, “What is the one biggest PR myth that you hear over and over?” Here’s my answer:
I think the biggest myth about public relations that I continue to hear is that PR is becoming less valuable, or valued, in this social media era, and that social media will eventually take the place of PR. That sentiment, I believe, is patently untrue. In fact, I think the situation is exactly the opposite. (more…)
Tags: integrated marketing communications, media relations, online communication, pr, public relations
Posted in Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Media Relations/PR, PR and Media Relations | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015
“Does social media really work?” I get this question a lot and, as for most marketing communication-related questions, my answer is generally, “It depends.” It depends on what is being offered, who the audience is and what the goals/objectives are. Social media can certainly work to drive business results, but it is still not the answer in all cases.
Tags: Brand Management, customer engagement, marketing and branding, marketing communications, Social Media
Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Thursday, June 18th, 2015
The most important element in brand building is that small business owners take the time to determine what they want their brand (or identity or reputation) to be and then take steps to ensure that all elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) are aligned consistently to convey that desired brand image. Branding is not about a logo or a tagline—although those are important communication elements that help remind consumers about the company and its products. Brand, though, really is driven by (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, branding, integrated marketing, integrated marketing communications, multichannel marketing, omnichannel marketing
Posted in Business Development, Content Marketing, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 16th, 2015
by Linda Pophal
For me, the summer months represent a relatively quiet time to catch up on some professional development activities that tend to be at the bottom of my list during busier times of the year. This summer, I’ve signed up for a few Coursera courses, including one called “Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals.” One of the reading assignments led me, as is often the case, down a rabbit hole to more and more intriguing topics until I found myself looking at (more…)
Tags: analytics, analyzing web traffic, blogging, Google Analytics, home page, homepage, web site analysis, web site navigation
Posted in Analytics, Blogging, Content Marketing, Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Saturday, June 13th, 2015
By Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
A few weeks ago, we looked at an article in Harvard Business Review written by Gary A. Williams and Robert B. Miller titled “Change the Way You Persuade.” In the article, Williams and Miller discuss what they found after spending two years studying over 1,600 executives. The authors discovered that the executives could be categorized into five different decision-making types: thinkers, charismatics, controllers, followers and skeptics. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at thinkers , charismatics, skeptics and followers. This week we’re going to look at the final group: controllers. (more…)
Tags: are you a controller?, charismatic, Customer Communication, Customer Service, leadership style, Marketing, marketing style, marketing to controllers, marketing to followers, personality, style
Posted in Business Development, Career Advice, Client Relations, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 9th, 2015
It’s graduation time, and many are thinking about landing their first job. Even those entrenched in a career may be prompted by graduation season to think about their career paths and whether it’s time to consider a job switch.
We responded recently to a reporter’s query about creating “elevator pitches.” It’s an important concept for graduates, for those 30 years into their careers, and for any company or organization that has a key message to convey to a target audience. (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, career advice, career development, elevator pitch, landing a job, Marketing, personal branding
Posted in Career Advice, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Saturday, June 6th, 2015
By Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
A few weeks ago, we looked at an article in Harvard Business Review written by Gary A. Williams and Robert B. Miller titled “Change the Way You Persuade.” In the article, Williams and Miller discuss what they found after spending two years studying over 1,600 executives. The authors discovered that the executives could be categorized into five different decision-making types: thinkers, charismatics, controllers, followers and skeptics. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at thinkers, charismatics and skeptics. This week we’re going to look at the followers. (more…)
Tags: are you a follower?, Customer Communication, do you work with followers?, marketing personalities, marketing to followers, personality types
Posted in Business Development, Career Advice, Client Relations, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Thursday, June 4th, 2015
By Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
A few weeks ago, we looked at an article in Harvard Business Review written by Gary A. Williams and Robert B. Miller titled “Change the Way You Persuade.”In the article, Williams and Miller analyze the results of a survey in which they surveyed over 1,600 executives over a period of two years and categorized them into five different decision-making types: Thinkers, Charismatics, Controllers, Followers and Skeptics. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at thinkers and charismatics. This week we’re going to look at the Skeptics. (more…)
Tags: charismatic, Customer Communication, marketing personalities, personality types, skeptic, skeptical personalities, thinker, thinking personalities
Posted in Business Development, Career Advice, Client Relations, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015
I responded to a reporter’s query recently wondering about whether companies in industries with historically “poor” reputations (e.g. airlines, cable companies, telephone providers, etc.) are hindered because they serve as a “middleman” for consumers to access their services and that they may purposefully decide to just suck it up, accept the fact that they will never be able to satisfy their customers and, therefore, cut back on the costs of providing exceptional service. My short answer: “No.”
Here’s why, and what I think is really at play here. (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, branding, customer satisfaction, Customer Service
Posted in Marketing and Branding | No Comments »