Marketers… You Need A Benchmark!

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Education and Training, Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  
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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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Content Marketing: 4 Simple Ways to Feed and Support Your Sales Team

By on   /   Blog, Education and Training, Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  
content marketing and sales strategies

More than blogging, more than newsletter fodder or search engine optimization (SEO) and keyword depth, the content you develop within a strategic content marketing program has the power to truly impact sales. The more you can tell the story of your company, the stronger your team can present itself to your customers. For your sales team, content marketing provides a voice beyond product specifications, statistics and pricing. It offers depth, knowledge and leverage. While many content marketing campaigns focus on external distribution in a public-facing approach, imagine the value of crafting these stories to empower your sales team. The information

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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  
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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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Better Security and WordPress Hosting

By on   /   Blog, Case Studies, Digital Marketing Case Study, Education and Training, Interactive Media, Strategy, Technology  
des moines wordpress host

We were notified shortly after 3AM that brute force attacks and complex access attacks were increasing exponentially on a few of our client sites. With properly protected sites, we only had to go in and block a few (dozen) IP addresses, but with attacks jumping by MILLIONS, we’re happy to have had the protections in place to begin with.  We were able to make quick work of locking down all of our sites and fending off the attacks.

What do YOU do when your WordPress Web site is attacked?

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Time Has Shrunk. Has Attention to Quality as Well?

By on   /   Blog, Design, Print Design, SPOKE News, Technology  
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We made a couple text edits and sent the client a new proof of the mailer. Through the beauty of technology, we watched as they opened the email, clicked on the proof, glanced over the last round of edit requests, and snap – off to press! But something was bothering me. It was negligible, almost like a shadow that I could see out of the corner of my eye but never quite catch. Deadlines. Because of deadlines, I sent the approved art off to press anyway. That was Friday. Today, only a few days later, we’re re-ordering the print run.

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Business Vampires… or “Fresh AB-Negative – FREE for the Taking?”

By on   /   Blog, Marketing  
business vampires

In a recent feature I saw on LinkedIn, the author talked about purging your life from those that make it miserable. “Buzzkills” she called them. Well, in the business world, I call them “Vampires.”  I wrote this feature about 12 years ago when I was pretty new at this blogging and social media thing, so I thought “What the hell, let’s see if I actually knew what I was talking about.”  Surprisingly, “Vampires” are always relevant. I hope you enjoy. 😉  (This post was originally published at TheBrandChef.com.) *** This morning, while still sound asleep (where I do my best

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Strategy Sparks Joy and So Much More

By on   /   Blog, Marketing, Strategy  
strategic communications

Sometimes I get so laser-focused on the “day-to-day” that I forget the joy in what I do. Outside graphic design, outside web development and maintenance, outside content writing, outside video, outside all of the “tasks,” I love (pronounced “luuuuuuuv”) strategy. As Marie Kondo says, “It sparks Joy.” I love the why. I especially love the how. There’s little more exciting to me than a blank slate laid out in front of me with a goal on one end and a deadline on the other. So, Andy, how do we make the two connect? Today I set aside the “day-to-day” and

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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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