Advertising – Spoke Communications, LLC

4.5 Tools To Get Digital Marketing Right

By abclark on March 24, 2017 / Blog, Industry News, Interactive Media, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy, Technology

This is the industrial age of digital marketing. What’s hot today will soon be yesterday’s cold fish. It seems like just a short 12 months ago, we were working on Vimeo engagement strategies and backing off email campaigns. And now, well, email is back on the table and Vimeo is no more than a greasy skid mark on your iPhone. Digital is fickle at best. But as new tools and new technologies are developed, the opportunities to build customer connections are better than ever. Digital marketing is still marketing. It’s just a variety of new tools that make it different

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3 Easy Steps to Better Marketing Communications

By abclark on May 28, 2015 / Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Marketing, Strategy

Listen, marketing communications isn’t rocket science. While I’ve seen CMOs and and entire Marketing departments wringing their hands over the most inane of situations, I try to explain, “If we do a bit of strategic thinking to create a program that uses dollars efficiently and produces quality leads, we’ll be well on our way to being a marketing communications stud-bolts.” So below are three easy steps to building confidence in your marketing communications efforts as well as your team, your company, and your customers. 1) Define the Players The primary step in shaping a successful marketing communications plan is to

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The Entrepreneur Brand

By abclark on April 24, 2015 / Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Education and Training, Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, SPOKE News

branding entrepreneur des moines iowa marketing communications

I had the honor of heading down to southern Iowa last night to talk to the Entrepreneurship students at South West Iowa Community College (SWiCC). My charge was easy enough; explain the steps I’d taken through entrepreneurship and how branding affected my decisions and the development of my business. But then I thought a bright-eyed group of burgeoning entrepreneurs deserved more than my typical “TRUE Branding 101” spiel. This presentation required a little “from the heart?” A little “I’ve been in your shoes?” Maybe this needed to be a little more personal. Of course, branding for entrepreneurs is paramount. “Without

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Interview: Our Communications Future

By abclark on October 17, 2013 / Blog, Education and Training, Technology

Interview: Our Communications Future I’m at “that age” now. I can see into the Communications Future! (for what it’s worth) Yep. My eldest daughter is in college, and I’m THAT parent. The parent that the Coe College freshman communications class turns to for “Industry Insight.” While I’m somewhat honored, It’s really making me feel my age. I’ve spent 25 years in the communications industry, 25 years as a communications “Professional.” HA… While I would never consider myself an “Expert,” I s’pose I could call myself “Professional” at this stage in the game. 🙂 When I started, back in the early

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Midwest Marketer’s Birthday – With Cattle?

By abclark on September 3, 2013 / Blog, SPOKE News, Web Video / Leave a comment

Midwest Marketer or not, what do most of you do for your birthday? Party? Sure. Gather with friends and celebrate another successful year of living? Of course! But how many of you get to walk the beautiful fields of Iowa shooting video of Corriente cattle? Just us select few Midwest marketers, that’s who! Birthday’s aside, I was so impressed with the Yoke S Ranch’s facilities and their cattle, I wanted to make a quick video about it. If you’re looking for outstanding flavor and nutrition in your beef as well having the advantage of being grass fed and antibiotic-free; the

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The 8 D’s Of Successful Marketing

By abclark on November 22, 2011 / Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training / Leave a comment

If I include my college internship, this September {was} my 21st year working in, on and around marketing. I’ve seen some successful campaigns. I’ve seen some pitiful campaigns. Fortunately, I’ve learned something from them all, but the most important thing I’ve learned is how to tell them apart. (Trust me, some can’t…) So what IS the difference between a successful and a pitiful marketing campaign? STRATEGY. All Marketing Strategy Is Not The Same If you walk through any marketing department or advertising agency, without a doubt, you’ll see computers, printers, scanners, cameras and all of the nifty tools that go

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Leadership – 4 Ways to Battle “That’s Not My Job”

By abclark on October 17, 2011 / Blog, Education and Training / Leave a comment

Whatever happened to the “One for all, and all for one!” mentality of yester-year? Is this a by-product of downsizing? Corporate America has lost its sense of loyalty to its employees, forcing a loss of loyalty and pride of job from its employees. Workers are carried along on the wave of “each man for himself”, afraid to extend a hand for fear of having it bitten. In catching up with a previous coworker about her new supervisory position, she was filling me in on the ups and downs of coming into a position with a lot of workers who were

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Today: One Year On A Marketing Mission

By abclark on August 5, 2011 / Blog, SPOKE News / Leave a comment

Today, we celebrate one full year as CreateWOWmarketing, LLC. It’s a major milestone and the mission we set out on has yet to be realized, but I can honestly tell you, it’s been one exciting, educational journey. This is the second company I’ve run in 10 years. The first one, a design company called Studio 24, was little more than a freelancer in his basement. The kind of “company” that there seems to be a lot of in this economy. Entrepreneur, sole proprietor, freelancer, whatever you call it, it’s a far cry from actually “running a business.” And I did

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Create WOW Marketing Welcomes Anastasia Taber

By abclark on June 7, 2011 / Blog, SPOKE News / Leave a comment

A rising junior at Georgetown University majoring in English and minoring in Chinese & Women’s Gender Studies, Anastasia is back from Washington D.C. to work this summer at CreateWOWmarketing, LLC, before heading to Beijing, China in the fall to study Chinese language and literature. Anastasia was one of those sickening overachievers in high school, and continues to be one in college, though the intensity of university life forces her to pick and choose which few activities will fill her time. She writes a column for Georgetown’s oldest student newspaper, The Hoya, offering bi-weekly dating advice to readers as the Dating

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WOW Seminar – Put a Face on Your Farm: March 25th

By abclark on March 17, 2011 / Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, SPOKE News / Leave a comment

CreateWOWmarketing, LLC has been honored with the opportunity to put on a branding seminar for Practical Farmers of Iowa on March 25th. The seminar will consist of a full day of events, starting with a keynote from Andrew B. Clark, The Brand Chef about TRUE Branding and how a TRUE brand can affect the marketing and sales in an Ag-Business environment. The participants will then break out into sessions based on the TRUE branding model and work together to discover the TRUTH, RELEVANCE, UNIQUENESS and ENGAGING aspects of their own agriculture-based businesses. On March 18th, Andrew had the privilege to

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