Marketers… You Need A Benchmark!

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  
research and marjketing strategy des moines iowa

The late, great Yankee, Yogi Berra was a prophetic quote machine. One of my favorites has always been, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” As silly as it sounds, it’s powerful advice. When it comes to measuring marketing performance, it’s imperative to plan your path to success. With that, until you know where you’re starting (setting the benchmark), how do you know where that path will go? Setting the benchmark is important in data-driven marketing campaigns. If you have a program that measures against specific KPI (Key Performance Indicators), but have no benchmark

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Marketing Communications & Recruiting / Retaining Employees in a Competitive Market

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Case Studies, Education and Training, Marketing, Strategy  
emplyee recruting marketing communications

In a recent conversation with a client, we discussed their struggles recruiting and retaining quality employees. While this is not an uncommon issue these days, we’re seeing companies turn to the marketing communications side to support and augment HR efforts in these matters. Some items we discussed to help gaining traction and retention with new employee recruitment: DEFINE YOUR PRODUCT (Is this the job for them?): Start with the job description. Be upfront with the need each applicant will fulfill as well as the value the hire will provide to the company. The job description and subsequent posting (on your

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The BIG 3 of BIG DESIGN: Graphic Design Tips for Vehicles and More

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Case Studies, Design, Education and Training, Spoke Portfolio  
graphic design for vehicle graphics

There’s a certain level of excitement when we get to design vehicle graphics for clients. I mean, who doesn’t love to see their work THAT BIG!?! But every time we’re asked to scale graphics to these extremes, we stop and consider the BIG 3 challenges of BIG DESIGN. Design for resolution Design for movement Design for brand consistency So, when Capital City Fruit out of Norwalk, Iowa brought their latest delivery van concept to us for a brand wrap, before we even opened the vehicle CAD schematics and our design software, we started thinking. What could trip us up on

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Good Social Media Engagement While Social Distancing

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Interactive Media, Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  
social media distancing des moines iowa

Engaging brands on Twitter and Facebook and other various social media channels have a unique challenge when it comes to truly building community and support behind their brands.  Do brand managers monitoring their social media experience engage every tweet and post that mentions their name, product, service or industry? How appropriate is it to “chime in” on conversation streams with advice and “promotions?” And when is the line crossed from Good Social Media Practice to Something Dangerous? Below, we’ve put together four helpful tips to remember when it comes to being a good steward of your social media brand. While

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300 Stories – A New Year, A New Milestone

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Case Studies, Education and Training, SEO, SPOKE News  
des moines communications agency

Today, I hit 300 stories… This is a special milestone for me and SPOKE Communications. Not only from a content marketing and P.R. aspect, but because from the day I started this career I wanted to do nothing but help people tell their stories. Whatever the application – graphic design, photography, videography, copywriting, illustration, public relations, education and training, I live to tell stories. Today, I hit 300 stories (for one client).

Can I help you tell your story?

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Video Marketing and Digital Marketing Go Hand in Hand

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Interactive Media, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Video Marketing  
digital video marketing company des moines iowa

Many marketing companies specialize in services. We get it. Video marketing companies steer their clients to channels like YouTube and Vimeo where views and shares can be measured and tracked. Digital or social media marketing companies focus on creating content that garners search engine love as well as likes and shares through similar channels like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, email programs, and more. But why do the two have to be siloed? Technology is no longer a barrier to good marketing and storytelling. Mobile devices now have photo and video capabilities that rival many prosumer model cameras. With a little forethought

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7 Ways to Stay Top-Of-Mind and Make Marketing Connections

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Education and Training, Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  
top of mind marketing connections

What is your brand doing to maintain relevance to its audience?  If your / your company’s brand is dependent on continued exposure in a specific market, what are the steps you’re taking to maintain that contact and staying “top-of-mind?” Back in “the day” it was a combination of marketing, advertising, public relations and good ol’ fortitude and gumption.  But today, that model has been twisted a bit. The average consumer doesn’t have a lot of faith in “traditional” advertising (check out this Nielsen study – PDF Download: 4MB).  Even online advertising has fallen to the wayside as far as credibility

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TRUE Branding and Building a Stronger Association

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Case Studies, Education and Training, Marketing, SPOKE News, Strategy  
public speaking branding andrew b clark

We had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with the members of the Iowa Society of Association Executives (ISAE) this week, discussing branding and building a stronger association community through our TRUE Branding process. The afternoon breakout session covered the concepts of brand and branding as it applies to marketing communications as well as how the TRUE Branding process can facilitate stronger, more targeted brand marketing and communications for associations, their boards, and the members they serve. The group was highly motivated to take in the action items provided in the presentation. With little encouragement (some strategically timed bribes –

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