Does your PR Agency Know How to Connect?
May 15, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
“We need more people talking about us!” As a CMO, or PR director, how many times has someone at the top come to you and said those exact words? Did you immediately start to feel the heat? When an organization decides it needs PR representation or that their current PR strategy needs an overhaul, it usually starts with a desire to create more buzz. And many times, this desire is motivated by a positive article in the local news about a competitor, or a look at another company’s thousands of seemingly engaged Twitter followers eagerly and happily interacting with their brand online. THE GOAL Simply creating buzz should not be the end goal for ramping up PR efforts. In the past, the end goal of public relations for brands may have been limited to raising brand awareness, but as the digital age has caused a major shift in how we… read more
Marketing Zen is looking for super awesome interns
May 11, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
The Marketing Zen Group, an award-winning digital marketing and PR company based in Dallas, is looking for talented go-getters interested in gaining valuable, first-hand experience working with a top digital agency. Check out our full list of available internships below to learn more. And if you’re not sure which one would be a fit, send us your resume along with a cover letter telling us why you’d be a great addition to our team. Our internships are unpaid, but highly-competitive and can be used for college credit. And we’re more than happy to provide letters of recommendations for your good work upon completion. And did we mention our internships are virtual? You’ll work from home….in your PJs if you’d like! Content Writer & Community Engagement Intern (SEO Dept.) Are you a creative, resourceful, error-free writer? Are you able to work with a steep learning curve and take independent initiative? Are… read more
What you need to know now about the future of digital marketing
May 7, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
A recent industry forecast by global management consulting firm McKinsey and Company aptly points out that “Digital marketing is about to reach more challenging territory”. The basis for this assertion is not surprising. Consumers are in power. Our current digital age places them squarely in the driver’s seat when it comes to how they receive marketing messages. Taking that a step further, we are barreling toward a place where consumers are not only determining “how” messages are received, but “what” messages they’ll receive. We’re talking about on-demand marketing that in the words of McKinsey and Company’s London director, Peter Dahlström, “cuts through the noise with pinpoint delivery.” As digital technology advances, and smarter, more sophisticated devices are at the finger tips of the average consumer, McKinsey and Company predicts four areas of demand that marketers will need to satisfy: Now: Consumers will want to interact anywhere at any time. Can… read more
The Bottom Line on What Facebook Partner Categories Mean for the Little Guys
May 4, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
When Facebook launched its new ad-targeting solution Facebook Partner Categories a few weeks ago, we’re pretty sure we heard a loud, collective, “Wooooohoooo” from every small business owner using Facebook ads to market their business. And they have every right to be happy beyond measure because Partner Categories, for small fries, are the great equalizer. In case you missed the announcement, Facebook Partner Categories allow brands on the social network to get ads in front of targeted users based on their activity across the Web, through desktop and/or mobile, plus their offline purchases and tendencies. Previously, targeting was based on users’ Facebook activity. Moreover, all of this is powered by data provided by market research heavyweights Datalogix, Epsilon, Acxiom and Blue Kai. Partner Categories are a gold mine for advertisers because it provides significantly more detail about where to place ads and the users they should target. Advertisers who target… read more
Creating “Share-alicious” Content to Build Your Online Community
April 30, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
Ever wonder why some organizations seem to have no problem at all building and engaging their online communities when your company spends a great deal of time working to get more fans, to no avail? Does it seem like no matter what you post, tumbleweeds blow across your page. Very few, if any “likes” or comments are happening, with the exception of the one super fan you can always count on (read: your mom) who “likes” everything you post (because she loves you). You’re not alone. Many companies struggle to find the sweet spot in content creation. But if you listen closely, your audience is telling you what they want to hear. Deliver it, and you’ll see your online community start to take shape. First understand what moves your audience If you don’t have a deep understanding of who your audience is then you’ll have a difficult time figuring out… read more
Six Surprising Facts About Inbound Marketing
April 24, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
Each year, HubSpot releases an annual report on the state of inbound marketing. Their findings are widely used by marketers around the world to set strategy, tweak methodologies and create new tactics. HubSpot enlists the help of a broad marketing community to help gather insights and share the lessons they’ve learned. The research they have compiled in this year’s report — their 5th annual — uncovered several interesting and surprising facts about inbound marketing. Here are excerpts highlighting the ones we found most interesting: Inbound marketing has achieved a majority market share The majority of marketers have embraced inbound strategies. In 2013, 60% of companies have adopted some element of the inbound methodology into their overall strategy. Amid rapid growth, some marketers still struggle to define “inbound marketing” According to our survey results, the industry still suffers from some educational gaps. While the rapid growth we have witnessed to date… read more
Inside the mind of a rock star content marketer
April 18, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
As content marketing continues on its meteoric rise as the go-to audience building strategy for top brands, companies and other business organizations, leaders in the field are highly sought after additions to business entities looking to connect with their targets in a meaningful, non-sales-y way. So what is it that great content marketers possess that traditional marketers may lack? Here’s a glimpse into the mind of a content marketer — the differences may astound you. Rock star content marketers are sponges Content marketing is part science and part art. Crafting compelling marketing messages may be something we can learn in a classroom or on the job, but drawing from a number of sources, using varying mediums and curating that information so that it tells one compelling story requires an “eyes-wide-open” personality type. Great content marketers are constantly soaking in information that impacts their story no matter the source. It could… read more
Is it Time to Update Your Digital Marketing Strategy?
February 28, 2013 - Posted by Amanda Norris
It seems like just yesterday when the goal of a social media marketing campaign was simple: to find a new way to get a client’s message in front of potential customers. Now, social media is interwoven with the fabric of our daily lives in ways that seemed far-fetched just a few years ago. And marketers have to offer much more than novelty to get and keep customers’ attention. If you haven’t taken a close look at how the digital world has changed in the past few years, it’s definitely time to update your digital marketing strategy. The reason is simple: what worked last year probably won’t be enough this year. The Four-Screen Generation Moira Davis, Vice President of Marketing at ESPN, describes the four-screen generation this way in an informative video that is part of Google’s “Think with Google” series: “Google research shows that the average consumer spends about 4.4… read more
How SoLoMo Is Revolutionizing Digital Marketing
January 15, 2013 - Posted by Amanda Norris
Have you heard the term “SoLoMo” yet? If you’re a marketer who hasn’t, you soon will, because SoLoMo – Social, Local, Mobile – is fundamentally changing the way marketing, public relations, and social media work. It’s not that social media, local targeting, or mobile communications are brand new, of course. But when you put all three together, it’s a combination that’s revolutionizing digital marketing. For the first time, you can target and communicate with your target audience in new ways because technology has caught up with the way people behave when they’re ready to make buying decisions. Marketers have always known that the proverbial Holy Grail of small and mid-size business marketing was to identify consumers who are (a) close to the business, (b) in a narrowly defined demographic group most likely to buy from the business, and (c) ready to make a buying decision. For generations, that meant direct… read more
Starting the New Year Off Right: 5 New Strategies for 2013
January 1, 2013 - Posted by Amanda Norris
Happy New Year! Now that the holidays are mostly behind us, it’s time to take a close look at what’s new on the social media horizon for 2013. Make Your Website Easy to Browse on Any Device It all starts with the basic social media marketing tool that every business must have: a well converting website. We’ve been talking about it for some time, but 2013 is the year that it finally happens – web browsing from mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) is poised to overtake PC-based browsing. It’s already happened in some parts of the world, and North America is about to catch up. So a mobile-friendly website is essential for 2013. For some companies who rely on web-based ordering and sales, this means launching a separate mobile website via a dedicated mobile app – think eBay Mobile. For most companies, however, it means making the company website mobile… read more