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
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
When Tragedy Strikes, Tweet Responsibly
April 16, 2013 - Posted by Stephanie Graves
Many of us remember the morning of September 11, 2001 vividly. Depending on where you live, you may have been driving in to the office and hearing cryptic reports coming out of New York City about some kind of plane crash. But it didn’t take long for it to become clear that something really bad was happening as we all scrambled to get as much information as we could. News sites were overrun; many of them were simply crashing altogether. At times, several minutes went by with no new or updated information. So we waited. Fast forward to yesterday. Breaking news alerts start popping up: Explosions heard near the Boston Marathon finish line. But initially, there’s not much more information available. And much like during 9/11 several news sites weren’t loading including Bostonglobe.com. Next stop: Twitter — arguably the best source for breaking news. The dissemination of news through the… read more
Avoiding Bashtags and Other Twitter Disasters
April 12, 2013 - Posted by Shama Kabani
Early last year, McDonalds created the Twitter hashtag #McDStories. The restaurant chain wanted to introduce “some of the hard-working people dedicated to providing McDs with quality food every day.” What happened next was one of the biggest corporate blunders in social media (Twitter) history. Twitter users turned McDonald’s hashtag into a bashtag, using it to promote their own stories about the fast-food giant — and those stories weren’t exactly the happy, endearing tales that the company had hoped for. Here are a few selected by London’s Daily Mail as among the best that appeared on the first day of the campaign: @JohnGarrett tweeted: So PETA and McDonald’s got into it today. I was surprised. I didn’t know there was real meat at McDonald’s. #McDStories @JKingArt: Lost 50 pounds in 6 months after I stopped working & eating at McDonald’s. #McDStories @SkipSullivan: One time I walked into a McDonald’s and I… read more
5 Hidden Benefits of Social Media Marketing
April 11, 2013 - Posted by Shama Kabani
If you’re among the business owners or executives who got interested in social media marketing because of its potential to deliver new customers, you may be overlooking some important “hidden” benefits of social media marketing. Overlooking these benefits can be a problem, because it usually takes time to build your social media presence to the point that you can link it reliably to sales. These “hidden” benefits, however, often kick in before your numbers show a direct sales return on your social media marketing investment – and they can be valuable enough to offset the costs involved in growing your social media presence over the long term. For instance, have you thought about the power of getting instant feedback from your social media community? You can find out almost instantly what challenges they face in using your products, what they like and don’t like about your products, your policies,… read more
Calls to Action Now Allowed on Facebook Page Cover Images
March 21, 2013 - Posted by Shama Kabani
The 17th December version of Facebook’s Pages Terms previously prevented any kind of marketing in the cover image, and text was not allowed to comprise more than 20% of the image area. Page owners had to compromise by making sure that they advertised within the page and tried to creatively draw in consumers. However, it seems as though the Pages Terms Platforms changed overnight and simultaneously opened up a great method for marketing. Previously, or at least until March 20th, the Page Features determined under subsection B (Cover) that cover images may not include: images with more than 20% text; price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on socialmusic.com”; contact information such as a website address, email. mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s “About” section; references to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow point from the… read more