Most small business owners are heavily focused on their core skillset. They are bakers, event planners, lawyers – insert job – first, and accountants and marketers second. As Pamela Slim writes for Entrepreneur, “Most small business owners aren’t marketers by trade, but almost all (95 percent) do some form of marketing for themselves, and many need to master what can feel like a very steep learning curve quickly. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners (64 percent) are self-taught and less than half (46 percent) consider themselves ‘marketing savvy.’” (more…)
Archive for the ‘Strategic Communications’ Category
Thought Leadership Through Content Marketing for Business Professionals
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018
Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should!
Tuesday, May 8th, 2018
There’s an old saying that has been used to describe exceptional salespeople: “They’re so good that they could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.” The point being that Eskimos, living in a cold climate, really don’t need ice cubes, and are likely an audience that is going to be tough to crack. But, great salespeople could crack them.
Our perspective: Why? (more…)
Content Marketing: A Wide Range of Options
Thursday, January 18th, 2018
At Strategic Communications, we are big advocates of content marketing. It’s crucial to offer something of value to your potential customers rather than simply advertising to them. Blogs and whitepapers can be great vehicles for this type of marketing, but there are many, many forms of content marketing, and some might not seem to fit that label at first glance. (more…)
Best Practices in Defining Your Value Proposition
Tuesday, November 7th, 2017
The value proposition for a product or service is a foundational element in any sales and marketing activity. The value proposition responds to consumers’ question of “why” related to your products and services. “Why should I buy your product?” “Why should I subscribe to this service?”
A value proposition isn’t an off-the-top-of-your-head pitch to potential customers. It has to be carefully crafted, based on a solid understanding of your audience’s needs and values. Writing for Forbes, Rebecca O. Bagley recommends a three-step process for developing a value proposition: (more…)
How Often, and When, Should You Post on Social Media?
Wednesday, February 15th, 2017
At Strategic Communications, we are strong advocates for social media marketing. The challenge faced by many businesses — particularly smaller organizations without a sophisticated marketing department with the ability to conduct focused market research — is that it’s not always easy to tell how those efforts contribute to growing revenue. Consequently, it’s hard to know just how much social media marketing to do.
We feel strongly that some presence is generally better than no presence. However, what is the marginal benefit of posting five tweets per day instead of four? (more…)
Why It Pays to Be “You,” Rather Than “Me,” Focused
Thursday, January 19th, 2017
By now, most business owners and business professionals have accepted the value that social media can have in helping to raise awareness, create preference and drive traffic to websites and to brick-and-mortar establishments. But, unfortunately, not all are communicating effectively through these channels.
We often see two common missteps, which we try to advise clients against doing: (more…)
6 Steps and 6 Days to an Effective Content Strategy: Day 2
Thursday, July 14th, 2016
Jazz Jones is hoping to build business for her leadership development coaching for healthcare professionals. She’s clarified her goals and objectives and is ready for Step 2: (more…)
Driving Valuable Backlinks Through Exceptional Contributed Content
Tuesday, June 21st, 2016As a strategic marketing company, we have promoted the importance of marketing for any business loudly and often. At the same time, we understand that small businesses are often operating on razor-thin margins (if they’re even in the black at all) and may not have substantial cash reserves on hand to fund an aggressive marketing campaign. Fortunately, a large war chest is by no means a necessity in successful marketing. (more…)
In Marketing—Of Any Kind—It Pays to Be Consistent!
Saturday, June 18th, 2016
What do your Facebook page, your primary business website, your Twitter feed and your direct mailing materials have in common? Hopefully it’s a lot of things, and not just the fact that they are part of your content marketing and branding strategies. Although these are all different media, it’s important to make sure that your branding standards are both consistent across all social channels, and in alignment with your corporate website and overall branding guidelines. (more…)
Subcribe to This Blog
Brand Evaluation
CONTENT CREATION
PR/MEDIA RELATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA
STRATEGIC PLANNING
How to Respond Effectively to Negative Advertising
Tuesday, October 31st, 2017For many businesses, connecting with and selling to a target market can be challenging enough on its own. But, when a competitor jumps into the mix and badmouths your product, service or entire company, an entirely new front opens up. Consider a local grocer watching TV when an ad comes on from a competitor discussing how the local grocer’s produce is not as fresh as the competitor’s and that its product selection is less expansive. Many marketers and business owners struggle with how to respond. Do you ignore the attack? Do you hit back? (more…)
Tags: competitive environment, competitive threats, handling negative online comments, negative advertising, social media and crisis management
Posted in Competition, Customer Service, PR and Media Relations, Strategic Communications | No Comments »