Identifying the key benefits that answer the question of WIIFM (“What’s in it for me?”) for your customers and prospects, the first step in writing compelling copy. The second is positioning what you have to offer relative to what your competition has to offer.
In considering your competition you need to (more…)
Over the years I’ve noticed a dangerous tendency—among myself and others—to assume that we “know” our customers, or target customers. Because we think or believe something, we assume that—of course!—others think or believe as we do. They don’t.
This was driven home to me a while ago as my husband was watching the MLB All-Star Game.
“Great!” I said—”this must mean the baseball season is over!” No, he assured me — only halfway over; still about 80 games to go. “Good grief! Who in the world wants to watch that much baseball?!! How can the networks possibly afford to keep broadcasting these things?!?!?!”
And then it hit me. (more…)
One of the most common mistakes I see many businesses fall prey to, and especially small businesses, is focusing too much on getting in new customers/clients and not enough on nurturing the customers they already have. I think most businesspeople are widely familiar with data that indicates that existing customers represent more value in terms of repeat business, at less investment of time and money, than seeking new clients/customers. Yet far too many small businesses, perhaps because they’re worried about keeping the customer pipeline full, neglect the customers they already have.
Blindspots are something we all have based on our past experiences, interactions with others, and the opinions and values we’ve formed over time. I remember learning early in my career about the Johari Window in a leadership seminar I attended. It’s a model designed to help us understand and improve communications through the recognition that we all are impacted by the things we don’t know. Human nature is such that each of us has biases and blind spots that we’re generally not aware of.
I saw a very interesting question in an online group I monitor recently: “Is it ever a good idea to give your work away?”
In this case, the question was related to consulting services but the question could just as easily apply to companies selling tangible products. And, perhaps, it is in comparing the two ─ services and tangible products ─ that this answer can make the most sense: “Yes, there are definitely times when giving your work─or your products─away can be a good idea!”
But when?
Video continues to be a popular and effective way to boost marketing efforts, especially with the emergence of video-first platforms such as TikTok. And, with the proliferation of do-it-yourself (DIY) video options, the demand for professionally produced, high-production-value video content no longer looms as the must-do priority it used to be. Today, marketers of all types and sizes—even those with very small budgets—can successfully use video to augment their marketing communication efforts. (more…)
COVID-19 has upended a number of industries and jobs. Among the professions that have been hardest hit are sales and business development, which have traditionally relied on face-to-face interactions to build networks and relationships. People who ply those trades have had to pivot to remote selling with mixed success. (more…)
There is no such thing as “the best” communication channel whether considering internal channels for employee communications or external channels to connect with customers and potential customers. All organizations can benefit from having a wide variety of communication channels (both synchronous and asynchronous) to ensure that employees throughout the organization, regardless of role or communication channel preference, are receiving key messages.
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…)
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…)
Subcribe to This Blog
Brand Evaluation
We’ll help you assess the gaps between how you’d like to be perceived and how you are perceived. More
CONTENT CREATION
Whether you need web copy, blog posts, whitepapers, ghostwriting--or RFP or report creation, we can help. More
PR/MEDIA RELATIONS
We can provide you with media training and coaching, help you identify relevant media and help you generate media coverage locally, nationally and online. More
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media isn’t for everyone, but if it’s right for you we’ll help you identify, implement and assess the impact of your online communications. More
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Our name says it all! We’re passionate about strategic planning and work with clients to develop marketing and communication plans, as well as broader business plans designed to provide actionable--and measurable--direction. More
We invite you to republish our posts. Click here for details.
