Experience Matters 28 Years of Solving Nearly Every Kind of Communications Challenge
I read a solid post from the folks at Impact titled, What is Quality Content? It was predicated on the idea, “Quality content is evergreen; it stands the test of time and keeps people coming back for more.” The post provides a useful set of rules, that when followed, enable one to fulfill this description of “quality content.”
I’ve spent considerable time as an agency owner putting myself in the shoes of our clients and prospects to better understand when an agency like ours, or any agency — creative, brand, web, inbound marketing, etc.— is the right investment and when it isn’t; here are my insights.
My mother taught me how to write. My father taught me how to defend myself (verbally). Art Center College of Design taught me how to present my ideas. But none of these venerable resources taught me how to read minds. What does mind reading have to do with marketing or design: practically everything.
The other day, I saw a website for an agency that uses the tagline, “We Work on Your Business, Not Just Your Website.” I related to the line’s strategic positioning and have to admit to being disappointed that I hadn’t come up with it myself.
Inbound marketing is sometimes passed over in favor of traditional marketing because it seems too complex or too time consuming. But in most cases it’s more cost-effective, measurable, and successful… when done correctly.
If we concur that in today’s business climate, change is the only constant, then we can understand why, to some degree, branding & marketing need to become fluid practices. For product companies, this is not as amorphous as it sounds, because a product is something tangible and even as the world changes, these companies always have the product to anchor and focus their branding and marketing efforts.
But for consultants and, in general, Professional Services organizations, which don’t have products, how do you incorporate change and a flexible approach in your own branding and marketing efforts, in order to stand apart?
Are you struggling with your company’s content strategy and social media strategy? Video is an effective way to elevate your social media plan and hook your viewers. Several of our clients are asking us to integrate video into their websites and social media and here’s why we recommend doing it.
A short video (up to two minutes) is an opportunity to tell your company’s story. We recently updated our website and by embedding a video on the “About RainCastle” page, we were able to tell our story in a new way. Within seconds, prospective clients and employees gain insight into our culture and team, even some of our technologists who often work behind the scene.
Video shows how your product or service works. In less than a minute, by showing a demo, a video can explain how a new technology or product works. Our client, AirStrip Technologies, creates medical software that allows healthcare providers to monitor patient data on their mobile devices. They use video to demo and promote the exciting new technology they’ve developed – technology that enables clinicians to interact with and respond rapidly to clinically relevant patient health information.
Entering the social media world without a clearly defined strategy is full of perils. Clients who come to us for branding or a website or marketing programs sometimes want to throw in a little social media, lest they be left behind or miss out on an important channel.
Branding is Lead Generation’s best-kept secret. And what is “Messaging” if not the public face of your brand?
When clients and prospects approach us about a lead generation campaign or website, they’re seeking a way to cut through the clutter of similar sounding competitors or the perception of market monotony. Sometimes, they have a target number of leads in mind, or some idea of a marketing campaign to achieve goals, and usually a tight time frame for achieving results.
In these situations, the success or failure of marketing campaigns and websites often comes down to one thing — Messaging —finding the right concept and meaning that will authentically express the value of their brand and engage with customers to make a lead convert.
Here are some compelling reasons for you to focus on your brand messaging before launching a marketing campaign or website:
Businesspeople understand the need for a market strategy, some understand the need for a brand strategy but relatively new on the marketing landscape is the need for a “content strategy.” So, what is a content strategy, why do you need it and how do you create one?
Having a content strategy is at the heart of what makes a website a lead generation tool vs. a static brochure-ware experience. Initially, the driving force behind corporate websites was that the technology existed to create them and that all of one’s competitors had one. The recipe for creating a website became standardized: Read more
