4.5 Tools To Get Digital Marketing Right

By on   /   Blog, Industry News, Interactive Media, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy, Technology  
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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 on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Marketing, Strategy  
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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 on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Education and Training, Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, SPOKE News  
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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

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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?

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spoke communications des moines marketing company

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

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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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Tis The Season For Cause Marketing

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, SPOKE News  

At CreateWOWmarketing, it’s no secret that cause marketing is close to our hearts and always something we’re looking out for – for ourselves and for our clients.  It’s a fantastic way to give back to a specific movement, cause, foundation or charity while raising the awareness of your brand.  CreateWOW has a done a lot of marketing for non-profits and foundations since its inception, and it never seems to get any less rewarding. With that, our friends over at Boesen the Florist have decided to show us exactly how it’s done! As one of the biggest privately owned florists in

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Hear That? It’s Your Imagination Calling.

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When we were kids, seeing a Formula 1 race screaming past or a 20′ Ape walking with us as we stroll down the street wasn’t completely out of the question.  We simply closed our eyes and the world around us turned into our own fantastic playground. Whatever we wanted we had.  Whatever we imagined was fact. Easy-peasy… So what happened? What happened to the race cars zipping down main street?  What happened to the lasers beams from your finger tips or the super powers stored in a beach towel tied around our necks? Were we SO wrong? Or was life

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Just A Reminder… GET TO WORK!

By on   /   Blog, Social Media Marketing  

In a conversation with one of my Des Moines social media buddies this morning, I was reminded that with the onset of CreateWOWmarketing, I’ve (As CreateWOW AND TheBrandChef) fell off a bit on my posting regularity.  Sure, it’s one of those “The cobbler’s kids have no shoes” situations.  How can I create content and meaningful posts when I’m spending 12 hours or more a day doing it for my clients? Then I remembered a post I’d written over at The Brand Chef.  It kinda shook me from my “production-boy” slumber… the contents of THAT post are below. Let me know

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You Can’t Rely on Gimmick Branding

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing  

Differentiation. It’s one of the keys to good branding. Branding and marketing professionals have been beating that drum since the dawn of communication. But being “Different” in simple separation from the competition isn’t enough. Differentiation needs to add value. Otherwise what good does it do for the consumer? Take for instance the recent “change” MillerCoors Brewing has made to their packaging. We’ve all seen the “Vortex Bottles” and the new big-mouth aluminum bottles. Sure that’s different, but the product is the same, watered down, tasteless swill. There hasn’t been any value proposition or improvement in the actual product. So unless

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