Blog

Market Responsibly: Your Content Needs an Editor

March 19th, 2018

by Becky McKendry, Senior Editor, Public Sector Consultants

You eat, sleep, and breathe your brand; you can recite your elevator pitch backwards; and no one knows your customers like you do—not even your customers themselves. From defining personas to mapping journeys, you and your team have painstakingly crafted a strong strategy and the perfect content to inspire your audience to engage with your company. But guess what? You’re still not done. You need an editor. To some, editing may seem like a luxury or, at a minimum, a relic reserved for scholarly and literary applications. But in an increasingly digital world, speed and quantity don’t set your content apart anymore. Everyone’s got something to say, and they’re saying it quickly. In this race to produce more content faster, quality is falling... Read More

Selling your Brand Experience, Not Features

February 14th, 2018

by Meagan Williams, Stevens Advertising, Production Lead/Account Executive

Think about your favorite brand. What draws you to them? Why is that brand top of mind? One of my favorite companies is Campbell’s. Now, while one of the reasons I buy Campbell’s soups is for their delicious flavor, that isn’t why they’re one of my favorite brands. I love Campbell’s, and many other brands, because of the emotional connections I have with them. Campbell’s commercials intentionally tug at the heartstrings. They incorporate every sense in their commercials; delicious looking soup, warm steam coming off of the bowl, calm music, and an “mmm” at the taste of it. Campbell’s is a Lovemark brand; it’s irreplaceable, their packaging is an icon of art, and people are loyal beyond reason. Because of this, when I... Read More

3 Ways Avoiding Video Marketing Is Hurting Your Strategy

April 10th, 2017

by Megan Prangley

Are you one of the businesses who still isn’t producing video content for your website or social media channels? You’re not alone; some organizations worry that video marketing is just a passing trend, that it’s too expensive to keep up with, or that their target audience isn’t even watching them. These common misconceptions could do you and your organization a huge disservice. Any sized company across all verticals, even manufacturing, can benefit from even a few simple, thirty-second videos. If you’re afraid to take the leap into video, you’re missing out on the many intrinsic rewards. Keep reading for some of the ways your business is suffering due to a lack of video content. SEO Opportunities Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is an... Read More

What 12,480 Hours Taught Me About Digital and Social Media Marketing

April 3rd, 2017

by Clayton Carroll

When I started a sales job in 2011, someone shared with me Alec Baldwin’s “Always be closing” scene from the movie Glengarry Glenn Ross.  12,480 hours worth of sales and marketing experience later, I read that quote now as “Digital marketing leads to always be closing”. Let’s Start at the Beginning I spent the first part of my career in more traditional sales and marketing.  Since I worked at a fast growing small manufacturing company, any day could see me to fill one of 10 different roles but I mainly focused on sales and marketing. Every day I would hustle, make deals and move onto the next one.  The formula was make it and sell it.  I was the “sell it” part of... Read More

How the Digital Age has Changed the HR Marketing & PR Game

May 19th, 2016

by Hannah Morgan

The definition behind recruitment is to enlist people to join your organization or business. Many years ago, recruiters did this by picking up a physical phone book and calling candidates by going down the list of names. Today, the resources to aid us in recruiting are unlimited. The digital age has transformed the world of recruiting. We have LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Job boards, and the list goes on… However, in West Michigan we have a very unique community where perhaps solely utilizing technology isn’t the answer. Earlier this week I attended a luncheon event co-sponsored by the AMA West Michigan Chapter and the PRSA West Michigan Chapter, where a panel of local marketing professionals came together to share with us some of... Read More

CRM: Demand Through Delivery

December 8th, 2015

by Rebecca Dutcher

Managing the Customer Experience with CRM This guest blog is from one of our AMA West Michigan Sponsors, DPT. Henry Morley, founder and Managing Partner at DPT, has provided insight in CRM solutions and touches on information from recent presentations from Martha Pease, Empathy in Marketing and Jay Hidalgo, Developing You Demand Generation Processes.  Henry is a proven project leader and business strategist with more than 20 years experience helping companies grow and become more efficient. Demand Generation and lead management were primary topics at the November AMA luncheon. Jay Hidalgo’s message centered around defining six key ingredients to manage and generate demand to get prospects into your sales funnel. Aligning with that message, generating and managing leads needs to be included with... Read More