It’s fair to say that few, if any, companies—or their communication staff—were prepared to respond quickly and appropriately to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As millions of employees suddenly found themselves working remotely from their homes and millions of customers found themselves suddenly shut off from the companies and brands they typically engaged with, communication professionals began grappling with important questions, including the following: (more…)
Archive for the ‘Business Development’ Category
Communication Lessons From COVID That Will Last Long Past the Pandemic
Saturday, December 19th, 2020Content IS King – Regardless of Who Said It!
Tuesday, November 24th, 2020
While there’s a debate about where the phrase “content is king” originally emerged, Bill Gates is widely given credit for the phrase and wrote what Fox Business calls a “remarkably prescient piece” back in 1996 in which he “accurately foresaw the content boom years before Google, WordPress, Facebook and YouTube even existed.” The rest, of course, is history.
Organizations of all kinds have jumped on the content bandwagon, recognizing that the trusted relationships they have with patients puts them in a prime position to share content on a wide range of topics of interest to, and representing value for, their audiences. (more…)
Communication Best Practices Learned From COVID-19
Wednesday, November 11th, 2020It’s fair to say that few, if any companies—or their communication staff—were prepared to respond quickly and appropriately to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a pandemic that has swept the world and decimated lives and economies.
As millions of employees suddenly found themselves working remotely from their homes and millions of customers found themselves suddenly shut off from the companies and brands they typically engaged with, communication professionals found themselves grappling with important questions:
- How do we continue to communicate with a suddenly dispersed audience?
- How do we find the right balance between standard key messages and the need to address the ravages of the virus for employees, customers and the community at large?
- How do we strike the tone—certainly not too flippant, but also not too alarmist?
There have been some important communication lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked content marketers to share their key takeaways—what has worked well for them, what hasn’t, and how the experience will shape their communications for months, maybe years, to come. (more…)
The 3 C’s of Marketing and STP: How they Align
Thursday, October 29th, 2020
The 3 C’s of Marketing (company, customers and competitors) is a popular model used to help businesses and marketers develop marketing strategies by encouraging them to think about their customers and what they value, what they have to offer that address what customers value/need, and what others (competitors) are offering. It’s a model that also aligns very well with another three-pronged marketing approach: segmenting, targeting, and positioning.Email Subject Lines: It’s Not Rocket Science, But It Is Important
Monday, October 26th, 2020
Like many things we see all of the time, email subject lines are easy to overlook, especially when drafting them. Too often, though, copywriters, content marketers, and others fail to give enough thought to their email subject lines. They’re an afterthought. Something quickly thrown together and easily overlooked, not only by those writing them but those seeing them in their email inboxes! And that’s the problem.
Fail to pay enough attention to your email subject lines and your audience will too. (more…)
Should Brands Be Political Online?
Wednesday, September 30th, 2020
With the election cycle in full swing and plenty of polarizing issues being talked about in both traditional and social media circles, many brands are wondering whether they should weigh in on these discussions, or remain silent. It’s a legitimate, relevant, and important question. As with many important questions, though, there is no easy answer. (more…)
Creating Customer Journey Maps
Saturday, August 29th, 2020
Marketers often speak of the “customer journey.” It’s a concept that describes the various decisions customer make and the interactions they have with a company from the point where they’ve identified a need until the point when they make a purchase—and beyond. A customer journey map is important because it helps marketers visually depict the customer journey and identify areas that may represent barriers or risks of loss. It provides a documented, explicit vision of how customers will interact with your company and is a good tool for sharing with employees to help them understand the journey and the role that they play in engaging and retaining customers. (more…)
6 Tips for Using Social Media as a Lead Generation Tool
Tuesday, August 4th, 2020
We launched Strategic Communications in 2008, at a time when the country was plunging into a deep recession. It wasn’t a great time to land new clients. But it was a great time to take a deep dive into something that was relatively new at the time, at least from a business perspective–social media. At the time there was an interesting talent gap that represented an opportunity for us. Most businesspeople didn’t have experience in using social media channels for marketing purposes and colleges weren’t yet educating students about these new marketing tools. So we were early adopters and spent quite a bit of time learning about and experimenting with the tools that were best positioned in the business-to-business (B2B) space: LinkedIn and Twitter.
Since that time we’ve built our social channels organically and have helped a number of clients do the same. There’s no real magic to this. In fact, the basic tenets of effective marketing via social channels are really the same as they are for using any marketing tools. We recently responded to a reporter’s inquiry about our top tips for marketers using social media as a lead generation tool. We pointed to six:
Some Tips For Getting Traction on LinkedIn
Friday, July 17th, 2020
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I’m often asked by colleagues—and sometimes even competitors—where I find my clients. There are probably three primary channels that work best for me: referrals, speaking engagements, and LinkedIn.
I have used LinkedIn myself for a number of years to establish myself as a thought leader in the marketing/digital marketing space and to generate leads and new clients. Many of my clients come through connections I’ve made on LinkedIn, or by showing up in search results from people/companies looking for marketing assistance. I also help various clients use LinkedIn for their own lead generation or thought leadership efforts. For those in the business-to-business (B2B) space, it truly is a valuable tool—if it’s used effectively.
What Channels are Included in Digital Marketing and How Do You Measure Digital Marketing Success?
Friday, July 3rd, 2020by Linda Pophal
My first job out of college was working in traditional direct mail marketing and I spent ten years with that company. I loved the work because it was so measurable so you could tell what worked, what didn’t and continually make improvements to boost response. Digital marketing, of course, offers even greater opportunities to measure the effectiveness of content in a variety of ways so it’s a field I really enjoy.
Literally any content that is accessible online–e.g. via the internet–is considered to be digital marketing. (more…)
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