Marketing

We’re down to just two weeks left in 2014. Did your content help you hit goals this year? Raise brand awareness, start conversations with your audience, boost interest in your products or services? Based on a search of content marketing and 2015 and the plethora of trend prediction posts out there, everyone’s still expecting content to play a huge role next year. And it absolutely will. Content – your website content, your content marketing pieces, your social media posts – is a tremendous opportunity to not only raise awareness of your…

In light of the holiday season, we’re sharing some of the trends and tools that our team is thankful for. Whether they help us improve our skills or make us better marketers, more creative, more efficient or happier, we all rely on a few tools to propel us through our day and allow us to create really cool stuff for our company and clients. We asked members of our team to share what tools impact their work, with a few notable trends they’re thankful for as well. Account Management: Our…

There was some big marketing news in the Capital Region today, as grocery giant Price Chopper announced it is rebranding to Market32 (to many feelings in many press poll results). When any big brand chooses to change its name, logo or aesthetics (or all of the above) there’s bound to be plenty of reactions, good and bad. Change can make people uncomfortable! People like what they know! And while some brands have done it well, others… not so well. So it seems an appropriate time to cover the basics of rebranding in…

Most brands realize the importance of interacting with consumers online, but some may be surprised to discover the value of observing their audience in their natural (digital) environment. Remember when your parents taught you the importance of listening to others? The same ideology applies to brands. Sometimes, we get so wound up and excited about what we’re doing, that we forget to take time to listen to the surrounding conversations. In the digital landscape, one way to observe your audience is through online forums and chat rooms. The cool thing…

Nine years ago I begged for accepted my first position as a marketing copywriter. At the time, I was just happy to get paid to write help brands find a voice and connect with customers. What I didn’t know back then, and what I know now, is that my job would grow into not only writing content for brands, but selling content, as well. Through the years, I’ve sold content as: An agency-level copywriter An agency owner An executive to top-tier clients To my internal team over and over and over…

Look at me! Look at me! Actually, when it comes to marketing, that doesn’t work anymore. Read on. Sitting in Jay Baer’s keynote at Pubcon a few weeks ago, we were reminded that most TV shows today would have been cancelled 15 years ago based on their current ratings. There are so many TV shows today, you just can’t get the ratings that used to be the minimal standard for airing. Just like on TV, marketing efforts are competing for our increasingly fragmented attention, as well. And our competitors are…

Marketing experts around the world talk about the importance of good branding all the time. For valid reasons – you want to ensure your company, product or self is trustworthy, memorable and ready to provide the solution(s) your customers need. Good branding helps you stay top-of-mind. But it’s more than just “creating” the brand. It’s living it, too. You can’t define your brand one way if your audiences (customers, clients, employees, etc.) experience it differently. Think about how conversations about brands typically go. It’s not usually “I don’t like the…

Unless you’ve taken a serious hiatus from social media, you’ve heard about the Ice Bucket Challenge, and have possibly wondered if you’d be next. While there has been an outpouring of support and participation in the cause, there’s been a bit of backlash and criticism, too. I noticed both views in my own Facebook newsfeed. So, can dumping a bucket of ice over your head and posting the video on your Facebook or Twitter really make a difference in supporting the ALS community?  I’d argue a big, fat YES. The…

You might be thinking, “Marketers as farmers? What is this girl talking about?” But hear me out. As a born-and-raised farm girl who’s found herself immersed in the world of content marketing, there are parallels between the two that I haven’t been able to ignore. From building a healthy soil (your content), nurturing healthy leads, choosing the right tools, and cleaning up the BS, content marketers and strategists can take a few lessons from the field, if you will. John Deere: The Original Content Marketer While content marketing has gained…

At a recent Atlassian Developers conference held in Berlin, a developer inadvertently entered the debate that’s been raging around the world – the sexism that exists in our culture. He put up a slide, comparing an Atlassian plugin to his girlfriend – saying both were beautiful but both: Complain a lot Demand his attention Interrupt him when he’s working Don’t play well with his other friends His intentions were probably benign – to be funny. I’m sure he thought he was being clever and he probably didn’t even realize his…