Have you ever been in a situation where you were asked to give your opinion about a marketing piece of some kind: an advertisement, brochure, website, etc.? This is a relatively common question when interviewing for a marketing position or when pitching your services to a potential business client, so chances are you have. What has your response been? Continue reading “Critiquing Marketing Pieces in Context “
Tag: content marketing
Managing the Noise on Twitter
When Twitter first hit the social media scene, it seemed implausible or even inconceivable to many that 140 characters could provide any real value to social media marketing efforts, yet this application has emerged as one of the giants in the field. So popular, in fact, that it’s a daunting task to keep track of all of the activity on Twitter. There’s almost too much information. Some organizations Continue reading “Managing the Noise on Twitter “
The Role of Contributed Content in Your Marketing Mix
by Linda Pophal
As more and more businesses engage in content marketing, studies show that implied endorsements from third-party experts hold more weight with buyers than what companies say about themselves. That makes logical sense. Think about how you are influenced to buy new products, try a new restaurant, etc. Will you be most influenced by their advertisements, social media posts and other self-promotions, or by what others say about them? The latter is likely to be true. Continue reading “The Role of Contributed Content in Your Marketing Mix”
To Engage Your Audience, Provide Real Value
Savvy business owners and marketing professionals are always looking for ways to deepen their connection with existing customers and attract new clientele. In the age of content, newsletters and e-letters are great ways to connect with an audience and good tools for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to use for customer engagement.
The key—as with any kind of online communication—is to Continue reading “To Engage Your Audience, Provide Real Value”
Thanks Google! Content Really is King Once Again.
by Linda Pophal
The world suddenly seems to have a voracious appetite for content as online marketers compete with each other in an attempt to capture the eyeballs and eardrums of current and potential customers. Not just any content, but high-quality, unique and relevant content.
It wasn’t always this way. The bottom kind of fell out of the writing industry back in 2008 as the recession hit full force. Media outlets were laying people off in droves, or closing entirely, and the demand for freelancers was rapidly diminishing. I know because I had been a freelancer for a number of years. Even while employed full-time, I made a very nice “extra income” from writing for a variety of trade and professional publications.
It was this extra income that I felt would help provide me with a cushion when I launched Strategic Communications in 2008. But I was wrong.
Continue reading “Thanks Google! Content Really is King Once Again.”
An “Inside Out” Approach to Engaging Your Audience
We work with companies and individuals in the business-to-business (B2B) space on content marketing planning and implementation, including the use of social media. The greatest challenge—and opportunity—for companies of any kind is generating content that is going to be valued by their audience. That often means thinking, as we like to say, “from the outside in.”
Continue reading “An “Inside Out” Approach to Engaging Your Audience”
Best Blogging Practices
By Linda Pophal
Blogging can seem like a big commitment and, to a certain degree, it is. After all, you don’t want to start a blog without committing to posting to it regularly. But the time and effort don’t have to be overwhelming. I started this blog in February 2009 and have been posting to it regularly ever since. Over the past few years, I’ve been posting a couple of times a week.
I have five tips for those wanting to start a blog, or do a better job of managing an existing blog: Continue reading “Best Blogging Practices”
The Biggest Mistake You May Be Making With Your Blog
A client contact asked me recently what I consider to be the “biggest mistake” bloggers make as they attempt to connect with their audiences. I’m sure there are many! I have been publishing this blog for several years now, and we also work with various clients to create and manage their blogs. There are a variety of mistakes that I have made (and, hopefully, learned from!) and many missteps that I see others make as well. Continue reading “The Biggest Mistake You May Be Making With Your Blog”
How Are Marketers Remaining Relevant in the 21st Century?
MadMen is a popular television program, now in its final season. It’s served to highlight one of our favorite professions—advertising. The program is instructive, both from a societal standpoint (the 50’s and 60’s are, thankfully, behind us…) and from a marketing standpoint. Despite the fact that we now have a wide range of new communication options to choose from as we attempt to connect with our audiences, the fact of the matter is that Continue reading “How Are Marketers Remaining Relevant in the 21st Century?”
Facebook for Local Businesses
Small businesses, I think, have an edge when it comes to social media engagement, and Facebook is a very good example of this. Effective social media requires a relationship between the business/business owner and their followers. This is much easier for small businesses to attain than it is for large businesses, particularly because small businesses tend to be closer to their customers offline–the online environment simply becomes another forum for engagement.
Despite the fact that social media channels like Facebook can provide a global audience, small businesses don’t need to extend their reach globally–in fact, they can (and should) focus on their local markets.
In attempting to do this, we believe there are some important keys to effective engagement: Continue reading “Facebook for Local Businesses”