Blog

Recap: Empathy as a Competitive Advantage for Corporate Growth, featuring Martha Pease

October 21st, 2015

by Marjorie Steele

Last week, corporate consultant and CEO of DEMANDWERKS Martha Pease shared with audiences her tools for leveraging empathy to boost bottom lines with the AMA and ACG West Michigan. In our first event partnership, both our local AMA and ACG chapters brought attendees to a new venue: New Vintage Place, on the West Side. As an experienced consultant who’s worked with many Fortune 500 companies, Martha outlined some of her insights and strategies for leveraging customer empathy to quantitatively impact return on investment. As technologies move us toward less and less customer interaction, Martha pointed out, consumer demand is moving towards more hands-on customer service. This presents companies with a challenge to develop a company culture that can meet that demand, or become... Read More

Getting more out of Google Analytics with Adam Henige – April Luncheon Recap

May 4th, 2015

by Marjorie Steele

Our April luncheon, featuring Adam Henige of Netvantage Marketing, was a roaring success! Adam discussed how to get more out of Google Analytics, providing a good mix of high level insights and actionable steps virtually any marketer can take to step up their digital marketing game. You can view the slides for Adam’s presentation here. In the slides, Adam provides step-by-step instructions for implementing some of the tracking that’s summarized and mentioned below, so be sure to check the slides out to dig deeper. Set your goals Whether you’re tightening the bolts or setting up website tracking from scratch, the first step is the same: establish your goals. Examples Adam provided include: sales goals signing visitors up for an emailing list having visitors fill... Read More

SEO Smackdown Panel – March Luncheon Recap

March 19th, 2015

by Marjorie Steele

During last week’s monthly luncheon, we were joined by four experts in the SEO community for our SEO Smackdown Panel Discussion. Mike Wolf (The Stow Company), Sarah Mackenzie (FINE Design), Mike Buczek (Summit Sports) and the AMA’s own Jason Dodge (Black Truck Media) took the stage to field questions about the marketing industry’s great unknown: search engine optimization. Industry Basics On managing SEO for a local business with multiple locations: Make sure all your local listings and citations are consistent. Really leverage Google+ by using custom images, making sure all fields are completed and get as many reviews as possible. It’s also important to make sure all your location details are included on-page as well, in page titles, etc. – Sarah On how... Read More

Moving Donors Up the Giving Pyramid with Angel Aloma – February Luncheon Recap

March 2nd, 2015

by Marjorie Steele

Last week, we had the distinct pleasure of learning from Angel Aloma, Executive Director for the international Christian aid organization, Food for the Poor (FFTP). With 96% of donations going directly to services, FFTP is both highly efficient and effective at cultivating its donor base. In his engaging, energetic manner, Aloma walked us through a complete journey of how FFTP cultivates its donors up the giving pyramid. Read our quick recap below and download the presentation slides here. Here are few great quotes from the presentation: People don’t give to organizations, they give to people. Let your copy and conversation be truly donor centric. Talk about THEM, not your organization. You have to treat each donor as if they are million dollar givers. See you... Read More

Print & Everything Else with Daniel Dejan – January Luncheon Recap

January 26th, 2015

by Marjorie Steele

Last Tuesday over 100 local marketing professionals listened to Daniel Dejan, print and creative manager for Sappi Fine Paper, present compelling data supporting strong demand for print and direct mail media. Titled “Print & Everything Else,” Dejan’s over ninety minute presentation looks at the neuroscientific research and series of national studies Sappi invested in to better understand the future of print. From a preference among Millennials for brands to communicate via print to a 400% increase among high end lifestyle magazines, Dejan made a strong case for the future of print—as long as it’s part of an integrated strategy. Watch Mr. Dejan’s entire presentation here on his website, or read highlights of the ideas behind “Print & Everything Else” on the Grand Rapids Business... Read More