The KISS Acronymn & Your SMART Marketing

By Chad Alexander
on February 07, 2016

Let me start by saying that I tried to fit three acronyms into this blog, but just couldn't make it happen. As you likely know, SMART is an acronym for defining how to create rock solid objectives, goals, targets, etc. So, how do we get SMART marketing? Getting SMART about your next big marketing push can help you out tremendously.

Nine ways to get a return on your email investment.

By David Mills
on October 08, 2015

THE LONG STORY, SHORT

Email is not dead. It may not be as cool, trendy, or techy as the latest social network. But, it has higher click-through rates. And, companies that use it can generate twice the number of quality leads at one-third of the cost. As a way to tell your story and empower customers to share your message, email is hard to beat.

Mentoring: Pass It On.

By David Mills
on September 28, 2015

THE LONG STORY, SHORT

Mentorship is about lending your story to help write a new one. Whether it's the smooth on-boarding of a millennial, or the strengthening of your overall employee base, mentorship fosters powerful stories. Organizations are given incredible depth as a result of mentoring.

Better Marketing - Who is Your Brand Storyteller?

By David Mills
on September 15, 2015

No matter how much effort or money we invest in building our brand, there are two groups of people who ultimately decide how a brand story is shared. Employees and customers are the real brand storytellers. They define the value, reach, and impact of a brand. Success is achieved when we understand the role they play in our company narrative.

The Internet called your website. But, no one answered.

By David Mills
on July 15, 2015

Yes, the Internet called. And it got smarter.

It wasn't really the internet, as a whole. It was web browsers -- namely Google, Bing, and Yahoo -- that were looking for real content on your website.  As you know, these powerful search engines "crawl" your website on a regular basis. They are constantly indexing its content and structure. Since the end of 2013 search engines have learned something new, they want content that looks a lot more like a real conversation (its called "semantic search").

The Brand Story Your Website Is Telling

By David Mills
on May 15, 2015

Your website is telling stories about you.

Digital storytelling reaches beyond the news and content that you post, to the web technology that delivers your brand.  A web or social encounter is often the first experience your customer has with your business or nonprofit.   Visitors to your digital properties are not just reading or seeing your story, they are experiencing it through the medium of your web properties.

One Step at a Time: Agile Web Development

One Size Does Not Fit All

When you purchase a new car, with the exception of the color and available options, you get something almost identical to the one in the showroom.  Effective websites should never be like that; a "one-size fits all approach" in websites usually means that it won't really serve any of your needs. Your brand, your logo and graphic elements, photography, videos and content along with the unique needs and preferences of your customers should shape the way your website works and feels. So while we benefit from the use of large scale open source software, what a customer finds on your website should be unique to your business.  Their web experience is often the first impression of your company, and for most businesses, you need that impression to lead to customer action that results in an appointment, sale or visit.

How to Make Your Brand a Story

By David Mills
on March 05, 2015

Culture Shift

You don't have to look far to see the shift toward story-based marketing. A quick glance through a magazine, prime-time television, even the latest Super Bowl ads makes it clear – stories are working as a way to tell brand stories. This is an important change in marketing trends, part of it due to the power of social marketing.  Significant industry experts report that multiple corporate brands – ExxonMobil, Dow, Google, and IBM to name a few – have all upped the messaging related to their corporate story.

Why Social Media Matters

By David Mills
on March 02, 2015

Social Media. It Matters.

The average person will tell forty-two people about a great social media experience (1). Forty-two. And yet, only 36% of people report their problems being solved when they inquire via social media (2). Most marketing and sales specialists understand the power of a conversation. From the first time a customer encounters your brand -- maybe it's a billboard, an article in a magazine, or a post on Twitter -- your brand is beginning a conversation with that customer. So, where is the disconnect?

Facebook, Thanks for Reminding Me to Be Human

By David Mills
on January 05, 2015

The coming Facebook changes

If you are a small business or a nonprofit, you may be aware of the changes that Facebook is making to the way it distributes posts into our follower's news feeds. If your posts have been promotional in nature, even those that were intentional and creative, Facebook changes will result in "organic distribution" that will "fall significantly over time," starting in mid-January. That means that business and nonprofit pages will reach fewer and fewer of those who follow us if we are using language that looks or smells like advertising. Facebook's solution for that is simple, if it is advertising, then they want you to pay them for it.  Some painfully respond that they already "paid" with significant effort to build the "likes" on their pages, but those complaints aren't getting much response.