marketing communications des moines iowa

Here, you’re going to find a large collection of industry news, updates and information on marketing communications. You’ll be able to find everything from Web video insights and marketing tips and tricks to some of our past rants, raves and reviews on the marketing industry.

This information is accumulated from our past CreateWOWmarketing blog as well as current posts from the Spoke Communications team. Categories and post dates can be found to he right.

If you have questions or need to contact us, please feel free to reach out to us using the contact page within this website.  OR feel free to comment on the blogs here! No one seems to do that these days, so it would be a great surprise and pleasure to welcome you to the wheelhouse!

Can Peer Pressure Harm Your TRUE Brand?

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Social Media Marketing  

We all want to be liked.  We all want to be the coolest and we all care what others think of us.  This is true in the corporate world, as well as in our personal lives.  But how do you know when to take peers’ “advice” and when to ignore it? In a previous business life, I worked in retail.  Fast-paced, exciting, challenging – and Brand centered.  One day, a “Secret Shopper” came into our store, quietly sizing us up, checking our customer service skills and the overall shopping experience.  His “findings” were then written into a not-so-nice blog post

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VIDEO: Focus Your Social Media Marketing

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Interactive Media, Social Media Marketing  

Trying to control social media is like trying to drink the ocean one cup at a time. For successful marketing and communications, companies need to TARGET their social media efforts to their local level to better engage with their audience. Using Twitter Hashtags, Facebook Groups and Events as well as some common sense, the following video explains how to create a more focused social media marketing approach. Focus Your Social Media Marketing Hat tip to our friends at The Des Moines Social Media Club, including Tom Brazelton (@TomBrazelton on twitter_ and the whole @SMCDSM crew as well as a BIG

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What’s In A Social Media Name?

By on   /   Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing  

One must be mindful of company name when joining social media outlets. Facebook and Twitter have millions of users so one assumes this tool would be on the forefront of any business person’s mind before making a huge name announcement. Alas, last week Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that Netflix has transformed its DVD via mail side of the business into Qwikster. This change makes sense with streaming video gaining popularity while one-day Qwikster may go the way of cassette tapes. Although, that is neither here nor there. The real issue at hand is that the people at Netflix neglected

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Social Media = ENGAGEMENT Not Numbers!

By on   /   Blog, Social Media Marketing  

Most of us realize by now that a big number of followers doesn’t immediately equal ENGAGED, RELEVANT or INFLUENTIAL followers, but after a recent conversation, I found this bared repeating. “A big number of followers doesn’t immediately equal ENGAGED, RELEVANT or INFLUENTIAL followers…” We had a client mention wanting to have many more Twitter followers and Facebook fans then they do presently. When pressed as to why, there wasn’t a clear answer. Social media can’t be thought of as a way to create “instant sales” but, instead, as a communication tool to truly build your brand. Companies and businesses never

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Common Sense Web Video Solutions

By on   /   Blog, Social Media Marketing  

While doing a little marketing business in South Carolina, I had the opportunity to compare three variations on web video solutions. We shot this video using a Sony AVCHD camera, an iPad as well as a DroidX. You can see the differences in quality, but when it comes to web video, getting the message out is more important. These are just some common sense web video solutions that YOU can try out. Take a look and see how easy it is to create WOW in your own web video!

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VIDEO: “Are You Too Big To SMILE?”

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing  

CreateWOWmarketing travels through rural Iowa asking the simple question, “Is your brand too big to smile?” Finding that small town courtesy and respect seems to reflect in a size of company brand as well, Andrew B. Clark (The Brand Chef) questions why and how your brand could benefit from just a simple smile. 🙂

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There IS No FREE Lunch!

By on   /   Blog, Education and Training  

The marketing communications business is often misunderstood in terms of value, benefit, and, unfortunately, getting paid. As a creative services firm, prospects often ask communications professionals (us) to do work for free – also known as “speculative creative” or “pitching” in order for the client to determine whether or not they will hire us. It’s the old “try the milk before you buy the cow” scenario and it happens in the marketing communications profession on a daily basis. While some marketing professionals succumb to this dog and pony show in the hopes of getting paid if their results are satisfactory

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Focus: A Small Business Owner Stumbling Block?

By on   /   Blog, SPOKE News  

As small business owners, sometimes we get so focused on the “tasks at hand” we forget the “bigger picture.” Unfortunately, that happened to me last week. CreateWOW had a couple of projects “Pop Up” that HAD TO get done before the week was out. So, being the eternal “people-pleaser” I am, I did my very best to deliver. (Sound familiar?) In a caffeine induced, gel-crackling, bearded blur, I dug in and wrote scripts, created and produced radio and webinar spots, coded, designed and delivered as quickly as I possibly could. Logos. Creative outlines. Proposals. You name it, I was a

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Finding The Face Of Ag Marketing

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, SPOKE News  

If you didn’t realize it, AGRICULTURE is big business – not just the growing of plants and livestock production aspects, which luckily has seen an uptick even in the struggling financial economy as of late.  We’re talking the business of being involved in the “Ag” world. Agritourism, Ag education, Ag sciences and others have all seen a huge surge of interest and involvement in the past decade. No longer do we drive through the green fields of Iowa, Nebraska and other Midwest states and just see corn, beans, pigs, cows, more corn, more beans, more pigs…  well, you get our

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