Your Product Photography Deserves More Than The Instagram Treatment

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Education and Training, Social Media, Spoke Portfolio, Strategy  
photographer in des moines

We get it. An iPhone and Instagram is a heck of a lot quicker and cheaper than hiring a professional photographer and studio to handle your product shots. With today’s digital devices, resolutions are reaching and, in some cases, surpassing traditional print demands. On more advanced devices, internal photo settings can simulate depth of field effects or even stacked focus. Heck, pop a shot, open Instagram, and add a funky frame or over saturate it a bit and “Voila!” ART! Why pay for “professional” photography when the intern or office manager can zip out 20 to 30 new product shots

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

Content Marketing Drives More Than Your Blog

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Branding, Education and Training, Marketing, Strategy  
content marketing drives more than your blog

Content Marketing? Blogging? Digital PR? Journaling? E-News? We’ve heard a number of terms for it, but whatever you call it, it’s important. Content Marketing (what we call it here at SPOKE) is a strategy that should be present in every aspect of your marketing plan. It builds brand narrative and reinforces market knowledge and authority all while being infinitely packageable and a valuable source of sales support. Bring Clients Closer By Building Your Brand Narrative: Brands need to communicate. It should be core to their nature. By telling stories (Content Marketing) Brands increase the ability to connect to their target audience

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

Do You Have Clear Video Marketing Strategies?

By on   /   Blog, Education and Training, Interactive Media, Marketing, Strategy, Video Marketing  
video marketing company des moines iowa

Video Marketing is becoming more prevalent every day. Whether it’s streaming Facebook live videos or higher-end produced pieces, it’s become such a valuable tool that companies looking for better engagement, better brand representation and clear, concise messaging are jumping into the video marketing game. For over a decade, the SPOKE team has been producing videos for our clients. Added to an effective content marketing plan, video offers the end users, the client’s target audience, a strong connection with imagery, messaging, and branding in a sweet, entertaining, encapsulated package. Here are a couple samples from recent projects SPOKE produced for client video

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

How Leaders Can Mitigate “That’s Not My Job”

By on   /   Blog, Brand Marketing, Marketing  
thats not my job service industry management

“That’s not my job” Where did that phrase even come from? Now, I may be a “man of a certain age,” but when a company is building a customer-centric workforce, the words “That’s not my job” should NEVER cross a team member’s lips. 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. Whatever happened to the “One

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

Diving Into SEO – A Visual Guide

By on   /   Blog, Education and Training, Marketing, SEO, Strategy  
SEO guide

Our clients love this SEO visual guide. We think you will too! SEO guides are abundant and ever-changing.  Some are useful while others tend to create more confusion than help. With our clients, we’ve created a simple SEO visual guide to help them in Web site development and management. The guide offers a unique perspective to working with your Website as a “Landing Zone” for those jumping into Google (or other search engines) to search for your products or services. At the 10,000 foot view, you have the basics: Do your keyword research Creating a sitemap.xml for your site Submit

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

VIDEO: Local Search Optimization and What to Do About “Hawk”

By on   /   Blog, Education and Training, Industry News, SEO, Strategy  
local search listings google

The recent release of Google’s Algorithm update, “Hawk,” has raised some questions about the best practices for local search optimization. Businesses need to make sure they are properly optimizing their web sites for local search. With Hawk, a basic correction for 2016’s Possum changes, business can take advantage of local search optimization strategies. The video below goes through some of the high-points of the recent update as well as offers a handful of local search optimization and organic search optimization tips and best practices. If you’re properly maintaining your Web site with good, on-site content, utilization of best practices for

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

Good SEO and Our Godly Misconception of “Time”

By on   /   Blog, Education and Training, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  

You want what? In less than a week? Give me a break!” — God. Alternate title: “An Act of God Can’t Get You To The 1st Page of Google Any Quicker.” Okay, duck and watch out for stray lightening bolts…  Here we go. I blame God… yes, GOD for the misconceptions of time so prevalent in the business word today. Seriously, stay with me here… If God can create the Earth, the wind and sun, the plants and animals, and all we see, feel, and touch in 6 short days, why can’t your marketing team do something about getting you

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

4.5 Tools To Get Digital Marketing Right

By on   /   Blog, Industry News, Interactive Media, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy, Technology  
des moines digital marketing tools

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

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

Facebook’s Little Advertising Shell Game: Why You Should Do More Than Boost Post

By on   /   Blog, Education and Training, Industry News, Interactive Media, Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  
facebook advertising tips

It’s tempting. There it is, click it. “Boost Post.” – C’mon, BOOOOOOOST IT…  Everyone is doing it. I triple-dog dare you! Or… should you take the leap with bigger Facebook Advertising strategies? Yes, it’s the Facebook Advertising one-click answer – like peer-pressure. In one simple click, you purportedly get a “boost” to your business post; promising more eyes, more action, and more customers.  But if you’d paid attention to recent changes on Facebook, you would have witnessed the “Business Management” interface updates as well as the focus put on actual Facebook Advertising through the platform. Considering the abundance of recent

More Marketing News →
Back to Top

Finding The Right Digital Marketing Agency Partner

By on   /   Blog, Interactive Media, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy  

Is partnering with a digital marketing agency the right choice for you? Call it what you will, Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Marketing; unless you have experience in marketing and specifically navigating the digital landscape, do you have the time to do your job AND build / manage an acceptable digital footprint? With the ever-evolving nature of digital marketing, as a partner the right digital marketing agency (web agency, social media marketing company, search engine marketing company, etc.) can focus on emerging trends and technologies where your brand can best be presented and engage the customers you want

More Marketing News →
Back to Top