I was in a unique position this weekend as I attended my oldest son’s high school graduation. Not that I am the first mom to have this experience or the last, but as a person who works in communications I was pleasantly surprised at how well the student speeches were at the ceremony. The four seniors each had their own personal touch on the message they wanted to share, but you could tell they had prepared. This got me thinking about my participation in high school speech. Speech class was one of the best activities I participated in to prepare me for college and the “real” world. I believe everyone should participate in such a class, because I learned:

- How to enunciate

- Pentameter for speaking

- Eye contact

- Looking up and around the room, not just at the paper

- Emphasis to make a point or draw an emotion

- Practice makes perfect

- Telling a story and tying it all together

- Facial expressions matter

- Breathe (sounds silly, but nerves can take away your breath making the delivery off)

I was fortunate to participate in State Speech for prose and have taken that experience with me throughout my career. However, I learned that at Benton Community it is not just speech class that gives you these skills. My son has never taken speech due to class and other activity conflicts. However, he has been very active in FFA. In Ag Sciences, speeches are a large part of the program. That came in handy during his college communications class. During parent-teacher conferences his instructor shared that he was an excellent speaker.

So the point I am trying to make is that confident speaking is very important in all aspects of adult life (however you learn it). If you weren’t fortunate enough to participate learn these skills and feel nervous about presentations, find professional help, practice in mirrors, go online and read more about techniques and find your Sandpiper to Bring You Joy.

Since the ads only run for 15 seconds, advertisers must decide whether they want to develop new content or edit longer ads into the ad spot. Still, the new in-stream video ads are an opportunity for brands to share content that is more engaging.

If your company hasn’t started advertising on Facebook yet, then let HRB help spread your message across one of the biggest social media sites. Facebook allows you to target users in a very granular way, and our digital marketing team can develop a strategic advertising campaign that’ll reach your target audience, build your social media presence and drive traffic to your website.
Contact us for more information.

This is not a hypothetical situation. Companies see this all the time. No matter what you are selling, no product can be perfect nor can every customer experience always be ideal. (Okay, so Apple may be an exception). But what can help save the day is good customer service. In my work experience handling social media, I’ve listened to big company CEOs and small business entrepreneurs talk about providing good customer service.

Social media has shifted how we use the internet. It continues to innovate the way we communicate with each other. Whether it’s pinning, liking, retweeting, snapchatting, sharing, blogging or checking in, the social media world is all about staying connected and communicating on multiple devices and multiple platforms. Here is how HRB can help your company stay fresh.

Staleness: “My company doesn’t need social media because our customers aren’t on Facebook….”

Oh, the misconceptions about social media. Even though Facebook and Twitter are among the biggest social media sites in the market, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best for your company.

HRB’s Social Media Analysis can provide you the best insights on which social sites would best suit your company’s needs. We look for conversations about your brand and find correlations with your competition. We look for potential customer engagements, whether you’re looking for new online shoppers or new business relationships. And, we can execute a three-month strategy that’ll leave a positive social footprint to follow. If you’d like us to review your social media potential or execute a strategy, contact us.

Staleness: “We know we need it, but we don’t know what to post and we don’t have time for it…”

HRB knows interacting once a day or posting once a week is not enough to engage with your consumers. We also know it might be difficult for your company to devote resources to social media. We’re here to help. HRB’s social media specialists can monitor, engage and grow your audience on your company social media sites. We provide content calendars, real-time engagements, contests and promotions and measurable results. Contact us to learn more about our Social Media services.

Learn more about adding social media to your marketing mix, then contact us to learn how we can develop and implement a social media plan. It’s working for our other clients. Why not you?

This Screenshot is only a Simulation.

The first website URL is back at its original location for all to see: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.

This site, describing the “World Wide Web,” was restored using a 1992 backup of the website so it isn’t the earliest state of it, but it seems to be the earliest that has been recovered. It really is amazing to look back & see how the Web has evolved over the years. If you need me, I’ll be exploring the Wayback Machine.

Via Restoring the First Website (CERN)

We all know that “cattle calls,” getting multiple agencies to respond to a request for a proposal, are not going away. When an agency feels it has the opportunity to show what it’s capable of creatively and also sees the potential for some kind of financial gain, you can pretty much count on their engagement. They get a team together to do the needed research, develop a traditional and/or social media strategy, and probably at least a couple of creative executions.

It can be hard work, and it takes time … above and beyond the time it takes to service existing accounts. And whether they realize they’re up against two other agencies, or six, it’s what professionals in this business know that have to do to win the business. They also understand the math. Four agencies presenting means a 25% shot at winning. Six agencies, about 17%. The numbers don’t lie.

So, what’s my point? It’s this. Every new business prospect knows the agencies they’ve invited to make a proposal have invested hours and hours of time and effort to prepare, with a fractional shot at winning and (usually) no compensation for their work. As part of every RFP, I believe the “losing” agencies should at the very least be “compensated” by a candid conversation with the (now ex) prospect as to why they were not awarded the business.

I said “conversation” not a boilerplate email something to the effect of “Thank you for your participation … the committee has decided to go another direction … we will keep you on our list for any possible future projects … etc.” That’s a total cop out. Hey, if our work totally sucked or if you hated how our team dressed, we’d like to know. We’re professionals, we can take it.

Even worse, and this seems to be happening more often, is the total lack of response from the prospect after the presentation. Phone calls and emails go totally unanswered. In a matter of just days, the agency has gone from an anticipated presenter to persona non grata.

The agency may have had only a 10% or 50% chance of getting the business … but ignoring them afterwards, that’s 100% unprofessional.

The miniaturized crew of the Proteus work to remove a blood clot from the brain of a scientist in the 1966 classic, “Fantastic Voyage”. IMDb | Copyright 20th Century Fox Films

What makes a consumer click that “buy” button? Is it a compelling offer, a FB friend’s recommendation or an intuitively designed website?  More importantly, what makes a consumer bounce away without doing anything?  Let’s suit up with the crew of the Proteus and see what those pulsating neurons tell us.

What leads to a consumer buying decision?

Before we can influence the buying decision, we have to understand how it’s made. Here’s some of the research.

How Consumers Decide to Buy Our Products – Sometimes consumers buy in response to problems they face. Sometimes they buy because they want more stuff. They can be rational about their choices or be influenced by promotions, opinions or pure product appeal. They are loyal to brands but unforgiving to brands they reject.

Today’s Shopper is “Always On”  –  Indeed. It’s pretty obvious technology plays a huge role in today’s shopping experience. When it’s not a brick-and-mortar impulse buy, consumers use their favorite devices to gather information about a product, ramping up that research the closer they get to a purchase. The “always on” consumer is also very vocal about the brands he/she chooses.

Social Media influences purchasing decisions – Let’s say that again: social media influences purchasing decisions. In fact, research shows Social Media has fundamentally changed the consumer decision process. This 2012 Social Media report shows 14% of people bought a product after seeing a social ad (15% shared those ads). More persuasively, this study says 65% of social media users learn about brands, products, services via social media; 53% use social media to compliment brands, 50% share concerns about brands and 47% share monetary incentives they hear about.

When in Doubt…Just Ask – If you really want to get inside the mind of your consumer, just ask.  User testing is one of the best tools for that. In fact, we recently ran some e-commerce user testing for one of our integrated marketing clients with good results. If you ask the right questions, the feedback can be very useful. User testing can tell you about SEO/SEM, first impressions, paths to purchase, perceptions of trust and the impact of your website’s design, content, functionality and navigation…all which play a part in a good e-commerce experience.

Data-driven marketing can help

Data-driven marketing can help inform your e-commerce strategy. Here are a few of the basic tools we use to gain insight into our customer’s e-commerce tactics.

Google Analytics – Installed on every site (or should be), this basic data collection tool can tell you who’s coming to your site, what visitors do on your site, how they found your site…and whether visitors took the action (or “conversion”) you wanted them to such as buying a product, filling out a contact form, downloading a white paper, etc. To dive deep into e-commerce conversions, we use this and other tracking tools.

Crazy Egg – One of our lead programmer’s favorite tools, Crazy Egg’s heat map and scroll map reports can help you understand the “hot spots” of your web page, visually compiling data to identify popular (and not-so-popular) click zones.

Hootsuite – A great basic dashboard for tracking and engaging in multiple social media campaigns. HRB’s social media manager uses this along with more intricate engagement tools to grow our customers’ e-commerce in the social space.

Those are some obvious ones. There are several other cool tools we use to understand consumer buying habits, gauge consumer actions and monitor intent to purchase.

What does the future hold?

Neuromarketers are buzzing about the Brain Activity Map project announced early this year.  Will researchers find triggers for a hidden “buy” button? Whatever the outcome, the results are sure to be fascinating.

In the meantime, harness the brain power of HRB. We’ll take an integrated approach to your marketing, offering you traditional ad agency services as well as web design, programming, mobile app development, search engine optimization, competitive analysis, keyword research, pay-per-click campaigns, email marketing and social media marketing. Contact us for help with your own Fantastic Voyage.

Download our whitepaper to learn more about branding strategies >> Branding: How to Brand Your Company for Growth

Here are attributes from a positive brand:

Honesty is the Best Policy

One of the most important things you can do for your brand is to be honest. Communicate your service expectations, as well as your abilities to your customers clearly and honestly. Don’t make commitments or promises that you cannot keep. That can lead to a disappointed customer and that could cost you. Be realistic on target, activity or delivery dates and let the customer know why. Of course, today customer turn times are getting shorter and shorter so you can’t disappoint by missing the customer’s stated deadlines.

Photo credit: Flickr user Metro Transportation Library and Archive

Great Customer Service

Business is and always has been a relationship business. Most customers are lost through the actions, words and attitudes of company employees. The experts say that’s how 68 percent of customers are lost.  Allowing employees to go the extra mile for your customers could make all the difference for your business. Have you established customer service boundaries or expectations for your employees? Do they know how far they can go to fix a customer problem or resolve an issue? If they do, they are more likely to do the right thing. Provide customer service training to protect your brand.
[Click here to learn more about turning your employees into brand ambassadors]

Reliability

Customers want consistency out of their brands. They want to know what experience to expect each time they interact with a brand – just like you do. Basically, it’s about your product or service doing what you say it will do, doing it right the first time and doing it on time. Customers will accept the occasional mistake. But if you make too many or don’t do anything to correct the mistake, you’ve had it. Simply put, providing caring and consistent support are the keys to customer retention and a reliable brand.
[Click here to find more important branding attributes] 

Font Awesome is a great free icon font. It isn’t new (even TurboTax uses it), but it’s definitely worth sharing for those who have yet to check it out. It comes packed with a ton of icons, and it seems to have most use-cases covered as it’s open to contribution & is in active development (version 3.1 is on its way).

It looks great on retina & other high-resolution displays since it uses scalable vector graphics, and it’s easy to integrate & use (it was created for Twitter’s Bootstrap, but it can be used on any site).

Check out Font Awesome. It’s free for commercial use.

People are drawn to companies with integrity. Be clear about what your company values and what is important, and make sure your customers are clear about this, too. Communicate your values through your website, employees and products. Commit to adhering to your values in everything your business does – every communication with your customer, every interaction with the public.

Photo credit: Flickr user Jeni Rodger

#2: Use Your Employees as Brand Ambassadors.

Insist that your employees provide a positive experience with every customer interaction. Don’t wait for negative feedback or a customer complaint to address how your employees work with your customers or how they represent your brand. Be proactive. Your employees are your Brand Ambassadors. They are the link between your customer and your product or service. If they aren’t representing your brand and your values properly, you are missing a major opportunity and selling your business short. Provide training in proper customer service and make sure they understand how important they are to the growth of the company. It’s not always easy to get a second chance with a customer.

#3: Communicate With Your Customer.

With all the communications channels available today, there is no excuse for not connecting with your customers. They need to feel as though you value them, not just for their money but as people. Make sure you are going out of your way to communicate your thanks to them and ask for their input or ideas. Create a proper email program for customer communication that is consistent and permission-based. Another approach is to pick up the phone and make a personal call to them.

Photo credit: Flickr user Kristina B

In  2004, the traditional definition of journalism was tested by the sprouting popularity of the online Fourth Estate, or “blogosphere.” The voice of the common man (or woman) and the candor of that voice has attracted online audiences to blog posts on a variety of topics. An estimated 31 million people blog in the United States and 77% of Internet users read blogs.

With those statistics, it’s no wonder marketing strategists and public relations experts have tapped this new breed of journalists in their “blogger relations.”  PR representatives know many blogger opinions and product reviews are structured with honesty and integrity. The niches they cover help consumers decide on a product before purchasing. The popularity of these online writers offers potential for engagement and successful client product marketing, if done carefully.

There is protocol when it comes to pitching product reviews. Before pushing the “send” button to a blogger, here are some steps to consider:

Photo credit: Flickr user Marco Cesar Saenz

Number 1: Do Your Research

Decide the key demographic of your audience. Then find the bloggers who would best suit as reviewers for the product you want to pitch. Is it something a techno whiz would love to take apart and investigate? Will it save a mommy blogger money and help her achieve a frugal lifestyle? Is this merchandise best for outdoor bloggers who regularly go and write about camping?

Number 2: Frame Your Product to Reach as Many People as Possible

Identify your primary audience and the bloggers who would best speak to them. Then modify your pitch for your secondary audiences and the bloggers who would reach them. For example, when you are pitching a high-tech gadget and focus your efforts initially on technology folks, think about who else might be interested…can it help a family save money? The mommy bloggers might be interested. Marketing your product to different audiences will ensure greater expansion and reach.

Number 3: Identify Blog Activity and Social Media Stats

It’s true. People listen to the popular kids, so check the activity and participation going on in a blogger’s site. How often do they post articles? Do they respond to reader comments and questions? The same follows for social media statistics. How many Twitter followers do they have? How about Facebook likes? Do they even have a Twitter or Facebook account? These stats are gold stars indicating the influence of a particular blogger.

Number 4: Get to Know Your Blogger

People want to feel special. If they get an automated message to try out a product, there’s a good chance they’ll ignore it and throw it in the trash folder. Take time to look at the blogger’s site, focus on one post and frame your pitch to match the tone of that post and what it is advocating. Personalizing the beginning of your pitch will show bloggers you care about what they write, and this will entice them to continue reading your offer.

Sarah Pettit is a public relations intern with HRB and a senior at the University of Iowa.