Creating a website tailored to the needs of your association’s audience? It can be tricky. There are dueling priorities, laundry lists of competing Needs and Wants, and limited resources to contend with. But even with all that – you still must get it done. You still need a website that stands out, conveys your message, and successfully engages and retains your audience. As you are thinking of, or even building out, your new site, you may have questions like: Where should you focus your resources? What site elements are critical…

Yesterday, Facebook announced a new update that includes features like a new in-app camera, a new feed of ephemeral stories at the top of users’ News Feeds and a private messaging feature called “Direct.” Since I previously lambasted Facebook’s Instagram for copying Snapchat with Stories, the feature has grown to reach 150 million daily users (source). By comparison, Snapchat has 100 million daily users (source). The quick popularity of Instagram Stories can be tied to the fact that it had an existing user base before launching ephemeral messaging, the ease-of-use…

For a platform that we interact with daily in print, through TV, radio and online, a majority of people don’t know the process of how news is produced and what’s truly ailing newsrooms. With a better understanding of the current state of media, though, publicists can better work with press, and clients can better work with their publicists. Here are some things that you should know about the media today, from the perspective of a publicist. 1. How people consume news is changing This probably won’t come as a surprise,…

“Personas, is that Spanish?” The short answer – yes, “persona” is Spanish for “person.” In marketing terminology, personas mean people identification – to put it simply. You’ve probably heard the term by now, but what exactly is a persona and how does it fit into your marketing strategy? Marketing definition: A persona is an aggregated collection of data, segmented into a target audience group – represented by a single individual profile. Confused? That’s okay, keep reading… Personas are all about client identification. As marketers, we think we have a pretty…

You work for an association. You have members, followers or, at minimum, people who look to you to provide them with the information, tools, resources and likeminded connections they need to make them better, faster and/or stronger. The more engaged this audience is kept, the more successful your association will become. You know this. That’s why 68% of associations say engaging members is one of their top priorities. One way many associations look to do this is via email marketing. Our question is, how’s it working? For those looking to…

Last summer, Overit founder and principal Dan Dinsmore asked me into his office looking to talk. Freshly back from a generous maternity leave, I knew the context – we needed to catch up on The State Of Things. During this meeting, Dan updated me on what I had missed over the last four months, including company successes, struggles we had overcome, the status of key accounts, new opportunities, and, planned organizational changes to move the agency forward. Most notably, I learned of his plans to bring on a Chief Operating…

There are three things we are told never to speak about at the dinner table: religion, politics, and the consistency of Grandma Jean’s meatloaf. Last night, during Super Bowl LI, at least one of those commandments was broken when brands took the field to get political on America’s biggest stage. It’s Monday afternoon; you’re already familiar with the commercials by now. You watched the spot Airbnb bought on Thursday (!) and just “threw together.” The one that showed people from different backgrounds (all Airbnb employees, BTW), of different shades, spreading a…

The calendar tells me that it’s been almost three months since I joined Team Overit as Chief Operating Officer. After a career spent helping businesses create smarter, faster, leaner systems, the transition to Overit has been a natural one. Overit and I share many of the same passions, interests and beliefs about what not only what makes a leading creative agency, but how to evolve the mid-size agency model to provide greater value to our clients and employees. As we head into 2017, our team has spent a lot of…

You’re late. We are rounding out January and you are waiting to start still putting the finishing touches on that integrated, comprehensive, all-encompassing 2017 marketing plan you promised your boss back when your Halloween candy was still fresh. Your good intentions of having it done before the holidays were foiled because you got busy/ it wasn’t billable/ you didn’t know where to start. Hey, we’re not here to point fingers. (That’s what your boss is for.) We want to help. We’d like to see you create that marketing plan by months…

The day in December when we release the official Overit holiday card is one of my most favorite days of the year. It’s a time when our misfits get to wish yours a very happy and healthy holiday season. When creativity and passion win out over billable hours and when everything comes up magic. This year, our holiday card is a play on the conversation we imagine many of our agency brothers and sisters have during this time of year (it’s not just us, right?); we hope you can relate and…