Archive for the ‘Strategic Communications’ Category
Monday, July 22nd, 2024
Popular wisdom has it that people like to read stories and that storytelling is a very important skill for content marketers to have—even if they work in the B2B realm. But what if your content team is hesitant about storytelling? How can you convince them of its importance?
This is a question I responded to recently on LinkedIn.
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Tags: Aristotle and rhetoric, content marketing, ethos, influence, influencing audiences, logos, pathos, persuasive copy, persuasive speaking, storytelling
Posted in Content Marketing, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
Thursday, September 8th, 2022
In interviewing for a job several years ago, I went through a round of interviews with various members of the organization. When meeting with the Chief Administrative Office (CAO), he handed me a brochure and said: “What do you think about this brochure?” My immediate thought was: “In what regard?,” but I resisted the urge to say that and, instead, said:
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Tags: audience analysis, competitive analysis, marketing goals and objectives, marketing research, marketing strategy, Strategic Planning
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Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
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…)
Tags: customer analysis, Customer Communication, market analysis, marketing and promotion, marketing research, strategic communications
Posted in Content Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
Friday, May 13th, 2022
A prospective client contacted us recently wanting to produce a white paper to serve as a promotional tool. The white paper needed to include: a focus on the new national campaign theme, a focus on the new local campaign theme, a focus on the areas served, a focus on the organization’s new direction for the coming year, a focus on…OK, hopefully, you get the point.
If you focus on everything, you’re focused on nothing!
It’s tough to focus. Any organization has multiple objectives and messages that need to be conveyed and there can be a tendency to try to “do it all” in one message. The trouble with that, though, is (more…)
Tags: areas of focus, content pillars, effective advertising, effective marketing, finding focus, focus areas, marketing strategy, Strategy
Posted in Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, Strategic Communications, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 5th, 2021
Effective corporate communication has always been important. Now, though, in a hybrid and continuing uncertain corporate environment, it’s more important than ever for organizations to determine how effective their corporate communications efforts are, and what adjustments or improvements need to be made to keep employees engaged, productive, and employed!
What worked pre-pandemic almost certainly doesn’t work anymore. It’s critical that corporate communications and HR staff work together to create a strategy and plan for moving forward.
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Tags: communicating with employees, communication strategy, corporate communications, employee brand ambassadors, Employee Communication, internal communications, Strategy
Posted in Career Advice, Internal Communication, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
Monday, March 29th, 2021
When pandemic restrictions around the country started occurring in March 2020, few imagined that many would still be in place—or starting up again—as the year drew to an end. As I write this, in mid-November, cases are rising across the country, and new restrictions are emerging. Through it all, organizations of various kinds have had to adjust and adapt to the new normal—whatever that is. As businesses plan for 2021, none can ignore the potential for COVID-19 to continue disrupting their operations and impacting consumer decisions. (more…)
Tags: B2B content marketing, content calendar, content marketing, content marketing effectiveness, effective marketing, internet marketing, marketing during COVID, marketing in 2021, marketing strategy
Posted in Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
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.
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Tags: attracting and retaining customers, Customer Communication, customer segmentation, customer targeting, effective targeting, Marketing, segmentation, STP, Strategy, targeting customers
Posted in Competition, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
Friday, June 19th, 2020
As businesses slowly begin to open back up, many find themselves doing business far differently than they may have before the pandemic. Safety is top of mind. Not all customers feel comfortable at this point, interacting in person with the businesses they may have frequented without fear in the past. That means for many companies, a combination of in-store/in-person and online or socially distanced interactions. Many are operating on the fly, figuring things out as they go. But now may be an excellent time to take a step back and update, or create, a marketing plan to help you move forward more strategically.
Here’s some advice for doing just that: (more…)
Tags: Customer Communication, Marketing, marketing during the pandemic, marketing plan, marketing planning, marketing strategy, Strategy
Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding, Strategic Communications | No Comments »