Blog

In Customer Experience, Bigger isn’t Better; Better is Better

December 4th, 2017

by AMAWM

For far too long companies have focused on size. More profits. More subscribers. More customers. More leads in the funnel. Bigger, so the establishment believes, is better. I invite you to challenge that thinking for a moment. What if better were truly better? Charles Kuralt famously said, “Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.” He was right about Interstates, and if asked about business today, he might say, “Today, it is now possible to do business end-to-end without seeing or speaking to another human.” In many respects, technology has removed humanity from business and customer experience. I believe the most successful companies are those who embrace technology without losing humanity.... Read More

Marketing That Moves: AMAWM’s Mission for 2017 – 2018

September 7th, 2017

by AMAWM

Welcome back to another great year with the American Marketing Association of West Michigan. Over the summer, the AMAWM board got together, reflected on the previous year, and got to planning. Based on some surveys, general feedback, and conversations from members, it was clear what changes needed to be made and what our audience really wanted. This year, we have made it our mission to engage our audience in luncheons, workshops, networking events, and other resources that provide the education and take-aways they need to get their professional marketing efforts moving in the right direction. We want you to take what you learned and be able to apply it to real life marketing challenges. With that, AMAWM is proud to announce this year’s... Read More

Read and refresh! Good Reads for Marketers

August 7th, 2017

by AMAWM

Whether you’re reading beachside, poolside or inside somewhere air-conditioned this summer, soon to be fall – here are a few book ideas from some of our own AMA of West Michigan Board Members.   Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content, by Ann Handley Jason Dodge, Founder of BlackTruck Media + Marketing shares, “A little known secret at BlackTruck is that we have an expanding collection of business and marketing-related books on the shelf.” One of the books Jason recommends is Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley. He likes her fresh approach to online written content. “Ann’s insight on content is straight and to the point,” says Jason. Reading Everybody Writes is a great... Read More

B2B Marketing: Don’t Waste Time on Boring Hard to Find Content!

April 19th, 2017

by Dan Gibson

A recent post from our national AMA headquarters offered some statistics and explanation on content created by B2B marketers, and how often it isn’t being used by sales people in their organization, mainly because they don’t know it exists or even where to find it. The article cites various challenges with content and the audience it should reach, both internally and externally. Key Takeaways ​What? B-to-B marketers and sales teams often aren’t on the same page, as 52% of marketing managers say sales teams don’t know where to find content. So what? Wasted content is wasted money; 38% of marketers say they aren’t sure if the content is serving its purpose. Now what? A first step to closing this gap is for organizations to discreetly measure... 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

The Role of Typography in Marketing with Terrance Weinzierl

April 4th, 2017

by Dan Gibson

At our most recent luncheon event we were lucky to have Terrance Weinzierl join us to explain the vital role typography plays in marketing. Below are just a few of the top take aways from his insightful talk: Type is everywhere. Every sign, billboard, shirt label, smartphone app, website, restaurant menu. Any one room/location can easily have hundreds of types. Every individual letter was created by someone. There isn’t some magical program that generates the rest of the alphabet, numbers, and symbols after you create the first one or two. Fonts (especially for Terrance) are created using a combination of pen and paper, and electronic tools. Typically starts on paper or bar napkins. Then moves to the computer to elaborate on. Type is... 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

Luncheon Recap: Why the Mobile User Experience Matters

March 2nd, 2017

by Dan Gibson

At our most recent luncheon event, we welcomed Katie VanderPloeg of Kmotion Design Inc. who educated attendees on why the mobile user experience matters. It’s no secret that mobile devices are vital to an effective marketing strategy and considering the user experience is what could make or break a campaign, or even your company. Katie left the audience with strong data to support why the experience matters and how people across the globe are using mobile phones. She also explained how the idea of utilizing “micro moments” to capture customers has become a key strategy, and why your user experience should make it easy for users to find what they’re looking for at any given time. Katie was generous enough to share her... Read More

Luncheon Recap – Change & Opportunity in Modern Media with Emily Richett-Hughes

January 16th, 2017

by Dan Gibson

This past Tuesday Emily Richett-Hughes helped us discover how modern media continues to progress and how the changes are opening up exciting opportunities. If you’re feeling disappointed that you happened to miss out on our latest luncheon event, as always, we’ve got your back. Check out top take aways heard straight from attendees and connect with us to keep the conversation going. We’re experiencing a complete shift in the PR industry as social media allows everyone to be a “journalist” You don’t need to be an expert to have your voice heard, Simply contributing to the conversation is extremely powerful. Spend some extra time to know your story and come up with creative ways to share that with your audience. It’s easy to... Read More

2016 Marketing Year in Review

January 10th, 2017

by Dan Gibson

You’ve probably noticed the vast amount of discussion around how terrible 2016 was. We lost several renowned actors, musicians, entertainers, artists, leaders, and innovators in a year that was also filled with many tragic events, and an intense, closely covered controversial political race. Did someone say downer? While we agree 2016 was rough, we want to take a look back at the bright side of 2016 from a marketing perspective, and kick 2017 off on a high note by sharing some milestones and exciting happenings the AMA West Michigan Chapter experienced. We also want to mention several marketing headlines, hot topics, and trends from that past year that we envision will continue to strengthen in 2017. AMA West Michigan Chapter Headlines: Welcomed our... Read More