Category: Business Advice

Top Ten Blog Posts Cover PR, Social Media, Innovation, Ecommerce, Marketing

Posted by Cheryl Smithem

Marketing and PR Tactics and Helps for Small Business Owners

We’ve been blogging for a long time. We’ve focused on creating content that resonates, answers questions and helps you with your public relations. It’s our sincere goal to give back to the very types of businesses who help support us.

What do we write about?

We share tips, strategies and how-to articles that help owners of small businesses compete with large businesses. Through our content, we help you achieve your goals and become a more informed business manager.

If you want to up your game and improve your skills, master the tactics and strategies in each of these articles.

Our top ten most frequently read blog posts are:

  1. When to Send a Media Alert Rather Than a Press Release: A media alert or advisory is a critical component of your public relations strategy. Learn more about when to send one and what they contain.
  2. A Rant: Why I May Ignore Your Social Media Invitation: Don’t ignore a basic rule of social media etiquette. How often have you invited someone to Link, Follow or Friend without reminding the person how you are connected?
  3. New Hire Announcements and Press Releases: Your public relations strategy should include regular new hire press releases for media outlets in your industry, community and association. Learn how to write one.
  4. Blue Sky Thinking and Innovation: Blue sky thinking is more than just pie in the sky. It’s critical to innovation. Read our insights about how to cultivate it in your firm.
  5. Pros and Cons of Using a PayPal Button: What are the pros and cons of using a PayPal button rather than a full e-commerce solution? Our post helps you comprehend when a simple button works better.
  6. Ten low cost marketing and PR tactics that work: What low cost marketing tactics have small business owners used to gain new business? Here is a list of 10 tested tactics.
  7. Marketing and Public Relations Recommendations for Every Business: Learn which six marketing and public relations activities will be critical to your business success. Master the 6 tactics that will make a difference.
  8. Cognitive and gender bias in advertising: images are powerful, to be used with care: Images in advertising can sustain a bias or confirm a stereotype. Using images to tell a story, and avoid bias can forge new ways of acting and thinking.
  9. What Does it Mean to Take Your Business to the Next Level?: Want to take your biz to the next level? Use these insights to identify what the next level is, and what it is going to take to get there. Strategy matters.
  10. PR Important Dates and Holidays: Planning your PR and marketing around national holidays, wacky holidays and observances gives you an opportunity use creativity in your promotions and events.

 
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

What should you know about working with a PR and marketing communications firm?

Posted by Cheryl Smithem

What does a marketing communications / PR firm do?

A marketing and PR firm helps you define and refine your brand presentation to align with your company DNA and position in the marketplace. We work with you to ensure that your marketing aligns with and supports your business goals.

From there, we help you refine your key messages and presentation of them so that they help increase awareness, pull your ideal customers to you and support every aspect of your brand.

We design marketing materials such as flyers, brochures, social media messaging materials, blog content, website content). We also recommend appropriate channels in which to communicate. These channels can be Owned (your website, your social media channels and blog); Earned (media mentions, earned media, shared and comments on posts on social and on your website); Paid (paid social media advertising, print advertising, digital advertising such as pay per click, etc.) 

When should I work with a marketing communications / PR firm?

You should work with a marketing communications and PR firm when your efforts to market your company, services and present yourself to the world are not achieving the goals you expect. 

If your business is growing and your time is limited or you know that your marketing is not hitting the mark, it’s time to consult a professional. 

If you feel you do not know what to do to market your company, you may wish to consider working with a marketing consultant. 

Many entrepreneurs can work on their own to promote their businesses. In fact, many entrepreneurs enjoy the challenges of marketing their services. However, even these very involved individuals may need some mentoring and support to be certain their marketing goals align with their wishes. In such cases, a professional may be the perfect individual to guide you, allowing you to do the actual implementation.

What are the best ways to increase awareness of my business?

There is no one best way to increase awareness of your business. Methods used to promote it are determined based on your customers and their needs. 

When working with a professional to figure out the best ways to market your business, you can expect to answer a lot of questions to help us understand your product, services and when and how people need and use them. Only after we have these insights can we properly provide guidance.

Amanda Milligan of Fractl, authored a blog post for MOZ on the topic of marketing tactics and wrote,

“It’s critical to analyze the attitudes and behaviors of your current and potential clients/customers in order to best communicate with them in the methods they prefer.”

Fractl’s survey, which is cited in her article, notes that for most business leaders, being found in search results is critical to success.

Graph from Fractl on the most effective way to attract business
Image Credit: Fractl graph from MOZ blog post.

She also noted that very few tactics die out. We’re always hearing about the end of some (formerly highly utilized) ad type which is at risk for imminent death. The truth is that there are fads and phases in advertising, marketing and PR. 

Today’s influencers are yesterday’s local celebs. Instagram TV is today’s version of local access TV. 

However, with this being true, there are some ways of getting out in front of your potential customers that are better received than others. One of these which showed up as better liked is blogging.

Sentiment around Marketing tactics
Image Credit: Fractl via Moz blog post

We also learned from the Fractl survey that most people who seek new products or services utilize the Internet to find or identify what they need.

Given these findings, making certain that your company ranks well and shows up is critical. In order to make this happen, a carefully crafted content plan and tactical strategy is required as is ongoing commitment to publicizing your existing content.

If you need assistance identifying your potential customers, or how to gain awareness or increase your potential customers, get a complimentary marketing analysis. We would be pleased to offer you an initial conversation at no cost.

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash

Are you text ready?

Posted by Cheryl Smithem

Rushing never yields the same result as planning

One of my colleagues and I were recently discussing creating websites for our clients. She related the first question she usually asks her clients, “Are you text ready?” With her question she shows that she expects the clients to have done much of their planning when they come to her.

As a first step, we often focus on the client’s expectations for the site; customer experience, business and sales goals for the site and who will update the content. My colleague’s focus on “Do you have content?” is also one of our primary questions.

Planning pays off

Many of our clients want a website and they want it fast. We hope to have them hit the pause button for a bit so that they follow a careful, thoughtful planning process. Part of the planning process is understanding what you want to communicate and why. Ask yourself, “Who will be reading this copy?”  The next question you should ask yourself is, “Who will be writing our website’s copy?”

Many of our clients feel they are so familiar with their products and services that they can write their own copy. Some do an excellent job of writing their own copy, but many have difficulties.

If you are planning to write your own copy, here are a few things to consider:

  1. In the past, how successful have you been writing copy for your company newsletter or advertising? If you’ve struggled in the past, you may continue to struggle when taking on developing website content.
  2. Do you have the time? Time spent writing is time spent away from management, sales or doing the work you are most frequently paid to do.
  3. Do you know the core points you wish to make?
  4. Will your team members or staff help you write the copy?
  5. Do you have insights from your sales team to inform you of what customers are looking for?
  6. Have you researched your competitors to understand how to differentiate your company?
  7. Do you know what keywords are important to include so that you build in SEO from the start?

Some customers may balk at paying a professional copywriter for their services, but a professional is held accountable for their abilities and time. Instead of thinking you can just write something during your weekends, then struggling to write and ending up mad with yourself, use a professional copywriter. The expense is worth every penny.