Why You Need Marketing Help: It’s Helpful. And You Want More Customers.

Posted on June 26, 2012 by admin

Help Wanted:  Must be creative, savvy, affordable. Must have an intuitive sense of what works to generate leads and manage a lot of work in a little time. Must totally love seeing my brand grow.

Sound like a fit? It may be time to consider looking for marketing help for your organization. The marketing scene has changed in recent years with the incredible evolutions in social media, blogging, video and search engine optimization. More than that, your consumers have changed, too. They’re expecting not only to find immediate information about how you can help them, but they also expect to engage in a relationship with you across any number of online platforms. They expect you to answer when they ask, and to talk about you with their 702 online friends.

How does this relate to marketing efforts you may already be doing, in terms of looking for marketing help? You may have a strong sense of your brand identity, your history, and the excellence of your team. The next step may be to translate your current tools – like press releases, literature, newsletters or outreach events – into online message tools that increase the depth and reach of your content. This is where marketing help can really turn the tide.

When looking for marketing help, ask yourself if the organization has specific examples you can see and talk about regarding their successes. Don’t obsess over the size of the organization; what you’re after is outstanding knowledge of marketing tools paired with reliability. Talk to previous or current customers of the firm you’re considering, and physical locale doesn’t have to be an issue either – many successful agencies work very closely with clients from across the nation or the globe and may only rarely meet in person.

One of the biggest challenges in content marketing today is knowing what to do, and when to do it, when the list of possibilities seems so large. Look for marketing help that utilizes a clear editorial calendar so that it’s easy to see what the next steps are and when they’re happening. Marketing help should be seriously helpful in telling the story about your brand to a bigger, more strategic audience.

If you are ready to take the next step in telling your story, and need a little help marketing your brand, then let Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions be your storyteller.  Contact us today and we can tackle today’s marketing challenges together.

Posted in Brand, Content Marketing, Editorial Calendars, Marketing Strategy, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Video Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Monday Morning Coffee with the St. Joseph Convention & Visitors Bureau

Posted on June 25, 2012 by admin

Welcome back to our Monday Morning Coffee posts. Our recent efforts in this series have shifted away from our talented team to focus on innovators within our community. We look for companies or organizations making an impact in Northwest Missouri, as well as those who are effectively using the tools we promote to our clients.

Our focus this week is on the St. Joseph Convention & Visitors Bureau. This organization is leading the way in terms of the effective use of social media to drive traffic to their website and hopefully to our city. Not only is the CVB active on Twitter and Facebook, the organization has launched a Pinterest account, and shared videos and pictures on Flickr and YouTube.

When we talk about leveraging social media to control the message and engage your target audience in the conversation, this is exactly the effort to which we are referring. This organization understands the competition when it comes to summer plans. By launching active campaigns on each of these social media channels, those searching for fun ideas are more likely to find information about things to do in St. Joseph.

Taking it a step further, the CVB is also actively promoting St. Joseph events through collaborative Facebook pages, including Missouri Highway 36, Pony Express Sesquicentennial, Civil War Sesquicentennial and KC Chiefs Training Camp.

To ensure travelers relying on their smartphones for the latest information on their destination, the St. Joseph Convention & Visitors Bureau took the initiative to make its website completely mobile friendly and accessible.

So why take the time to launch social media profiles for an agency that’s already online? Like any brand, the CVB needs to leverage full capability on all platforms. Each of these channels is absolutely free, requiring only the application of a clear strategy and time to be effective.

By focusing on specific keywords in its posts on each of its social media channels, the St. Joseph CVB is able to attract potential tourists, giving them a taste of the rich history and innovative growth taking place in this exciting locale.

This is exactly the type of strategy we promote and execute for our client base. If you’re ready to leverage social media to its full potential, but need a clear strategy and help with execution, contact Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions today.

Posted in Brand, Marketing Strategy, Monday Morning Coffee, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Employer of Excellence: Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions

Posted on June 22, 2012 by admin

Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions is proud and honored to be named 2012 “Employer of Excellence” at the YWCA Women of Excellence luncheon. Thank you to every nominee, every nominator, and everyone in attendance, for making this community a wonderful place to grow a dream while balancing work, family and service. We are constantly inspired by the creativity and energy in St. Joseph and the surrounding community!

Posted in Teamwork | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Putting the Right Team in Place

Posted on June 21, 2012 by admin

What do you call a group of individuals who are described as communicators and collaborators? Women! When you throw that into the mix of marketing you have a group that can craft your message how you like and get it to the right audience.

According to a study featured in a recent article, “women are good marketers because they listen to consumers better and understand the emotional connection to brands.” This isn’t to say that men don’t bring good skills to the marketing arena. Diversity is a powerful thing to have on any team, but knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each gender can put the right people in the right position to be successful for you.

Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions is a company made up of almost entirely women. We are women who have similar thoughts and beliefs, but a variety of different perspectives to assist clients. We approach each client campaign from a fact-finding/feedback searching point of view. We want to gather as much information not only from the client, but other resources and our peers as well. We talk to each other in order to formulate the best strategy for each client.

Statistics say that women are known for their collaborative-style and thoughtfulness when it comes to decision making as well as a knack for building a team. Bringing the right people to any project is key. Assembling a team that will help the client reach his or her goal is imperative to the success of any marketing campaign.

In fact, the ability to tackle any challenge with the right combination of professionals is one of our competitive advantages. When a client needs to drive results through an innovative approach, we relish the opportunity to develop the right strategy and call on the right talents to get the job done with the expected results.

We’ll bring the right people to the table for you and we’ll take the time to learn what you really want to accomplish. Our success depends on your accomplishments, so in the collaborative spirit, let’s help one another. Contact us today to learn how you can get started.

Posted in Content Marketing, Teamwork | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

4 Considerations for Creating Quality Web Content

Posted on June 20, 2012 by admin

In this economy, now more than ever, it is important to stand out among your competition. Without a good website and quality Web content, many small businesses would have a hard time staying competitive and bringing in sufficient revenue. It’s the little fish, big pond syndrome – these businesses must find ways to make their presence known in the online community.

Having the proper content is certainly an important element, but it’s more complex than that. Developing quality Web content is as much a science as it is an art. To maintain high search engine rankings and maximize search engine optimization, there are a few factors, according to the My Business Tech Blog, that every small business should consider:

Be Original

Duplicating another’s work will not get you noticed – at least not for long. Quality Web content must be fresh and original to catch the eyes of giants like Google. In fact, in its recently revised guidelines used to differentiate junk content from the good stuff, Google specifies that to obtain a top spot in the ranking list, articles must be insightful and have something meaningful to offer.

Don’t Overuse or Misuse Keywords

The algorithms used by search engines today are smart enough to weed out content that has random, unrelated keywords sprinkled throughout it. Keywords must be relevant to content being presented and should flow naturally within the text for easy reading. Also, using the keyword in every sentence distracts from credibility and is generally not a good idea.

Get your Facts Straight

Another factor that will quickly diminish credibility is presenting incorrect or false information. Take the time to ensure that data presented is true and accurate.  A good question to ask yourself would be, is the information in question worthy of being printed?

No Substitute for Quality

As the pressure for high quality Web content increases, companies are increasing their use of subcontracted copywriting services. However, not all copywriting services are created equal, and this is not an area to scrimp, even if the budget is tight.

At Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions, we are committed to producing high-quality content that is sure to get noticed.  We have a solution for every budget, so give us a call today.

Posted in Content Marketing, Website | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Great Women, Great Stories, Great Content: It’s Celebration Time!

Posted on June 19, 2012 by admin

Great content marketing is still all about a great story.  And we’re so glad to be reminded of this truth.                          

In our community, the official first day of summer – June 21, 2012 – is an especially bright day as we honor more than 40 local women who have demonstrated courage, leadership and vision at the annual Women of Excellence luncheon, a premier event coordinated by the YWCA of St. Joseph.

Now in its eleventh year, the event recognizes women making an impact in the areas of volunteerism, the workplace, emerging leaders, and those in the category of Lifetime Achievement. It also recognizes young women who will carry these values forward into their post-high school careers as Future Leaders. Many women serve as exceptional role models as employers, and are recognized for creating an environment where other women can excel while balancing work and family. This year, Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions is proud and honored to be named an “Employer of Excellence” nominee.

We’re also honored at Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions to donate our time to write the stories of these amazing women who have overcome adversity and met our community’s needs with creativity and passion. These stories fill the pages of the YWCA Women of Excellence program booklet, a highlight of the event each year and a keepsake for many who attend.

To our team, the stories also serve as a reminder that great content writing and distribution – be it the newest social media tools, fresh website writing or a series of blogs – still starts and ends with ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

What stories of excellence within your team or your organization can you honor today?  Try putting these on a new Pinterest pinboard or sending them out as a blog series with photos. Certainly your employees and clients will appreciate the human side of your achievements.

Congratulations to all the nominees for the 2012 YWCA Women of Excellence event and their nominators … and a very special thank you to every woman in our community who continues to inspire us with their impacts as volunteers, coworkers, employers, mothers and mentors of excellence.

Posted in Content Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Monday Morning Coffee with United Way of Greater St. Joseph

Posted on June 18, 2012 by admin

Welcome to another Monday Morning Coffee. If you joined us last week for our foray into local business success, you had the privilege of exploring the social media success of Collision Repair Specialists. We are having a great time contacting the businesses we want to cover and then highlighting something they are doing right.

One local organization, the United Way of Greater St. Joseph, does a lot of things right. They work tirelessly to improve our local community, focusing on health, education and financial stability, supporting such agencies as Family Guidance Center, Boy Scouts of America, the YWCA and many others.
While the local efforts of this non-profit organization are worth mentioning on their own, it is the organization’s recently-launched Facebook campaign that caught our attention. The United Way wanted to start driving more traffic – and subsequently more Likes – to its Facebook page.

The organization’s Marketing Director, Tammy Bergland, knew that free give-aways were always a successful perk, but the United Way doesn’t have a large budget for freebies. Fortunately, Tammy and her Marketing Committee came up with a better idea – promote traffic to the United Way Facebook page and support literacy at the same time.

The United Way will explore a number of different opportunities as a means for distributing books to children that can benefit from book ownership. Dubbed the “Likes for Books Campaign”, this latest initiative is just one example of how the organization gets involved, both socially and with the community, to make a measureable difference.

United Way President Kylee Strough said it perfectly, “This promotion just made sense to us because helping our community and involving our community are always linked.”

The United Way has come up with the perfect mix of combining social media initiatives with its own mission to improve the lives of children in this community. And, it’s working. The organization’s Facebook page likes continue to grow and books continue to be donated.

If you’re ready to get involved and make a difference for your community, visit the United Way’s Facebook page and click the “Like” button. It’s that easy to ensure a great book gets into the hands of a child who will benefit from owning his or her own book.

Time is limited – this promotion ends June 24th. To get involved, visit http://www.facebook.com/UnitedWayofGreaterStJoseph

Posted in Consistent Customer Communications, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Social Media – The Engaging Experience

Posted on June 15, 2012 by admin

The buzz around a number of industries is the importance of social media as a tool to communicate with customers. But, how many of you are using it as an engaging experience? Are you truly seeking the opinions and feedback you want from your customers, or are you simply blasting them with information?

These questions are important to answer if you truly want to drive value with your social media strategy. Too many companies are using these platforms to simply push out information; they aren’t engaging with customers. Why does this matter? A platform finally exists where a customer can interact directly with a brand and the world can be privy to the conversation. Of course, the value in this scenario is fully dependent upon the method in which the company interacts with the customer.

For instance, if a customer posts to a company’s Twitter account seeking information to resolve a problem, it’s important that the company respond accordingly and quickly. Those watching the interaction – and the bigger the brand, the more consumers to consider – are looking for the company to respond quickly with a valid resolution to the problem. If not, the risk of customer churn increases the possibility of damaging the brand is heightened.

Likewise, companies have an opportunity to gain consumer insight on a product, either launched or proposed. How do customers like the way the product feels, performs, holds up under pressure, etc. The information captured in these interactions is valuable business intelligence, enabling the company to improve the product before the release or before the next upgrade.

Get into the conversation. Find out who is talking about your brand in their own streams and get involved in the conversation. You not only have the opportunity to make an impact, you can also gain significant value from the knowledge you gather in these conversations. Just be sure you’re not “selling” all the time. Make it an engaging experience and you’ll see the most benefit.

Finally, one of the most powerful things a company can do with social media is to actively engage consumers in the conversation. Make it an engaging experience for all those who follow your brand and do so while respecting the interactions. For instance, don’t post something for your customers every five minutes – no one has that much time. But, when you ask for feedback and engagement in conversations, use that information to propel the brand forward and drive more revenue.

If you are ready to get in the conversation, but don’t quite have the time or know where to get started, then let Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions help.  Our team specializes in creating a social media experience that can make your company shine.

Posted in Brand, Consistent Customer Communications, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Making the Most of Your Twitter Skills

Posted on June 14, 2012 by admin

What is it about that little blue bird that has everyone so chirpy? Like it or not, Twitter has become a powerful communication tool that marketers cannot afford to ignore. To fully leverage this platform, however, requires some planning and attention to detail. The following steps will help you get started.

Get your information into the right hands

The fact that you have 10,000 followers doesn’t mean much. It’s not about quantity here, it’s about quality. Taking on the identity of your target market will help attract the right followers who are more likely to retweet pertinent information and draw others to your website.

Define your Twitter strategy

Refining your strategy will allow for a more effective allocation of resources. Twitter can serve many functions, so you have to be clear how you want to focus your efforts. It can be useful for customer service purposes, connecting with others (including customers, PR specialists, or the media), driving sales, and promoting other communication links such as your website or Facebook page, etc. Adding these links can also help with search engine optimization.

Learn the Lingo

You must learn Twitter speak to get the most out of your marketing strategy. Here’s how:

  • Provide fresh links every morning to a few relevant sites and use #hashtags to call attention to your company
  • Host regular blog chats where team members relay helpful, interesting information for your customers (make sure these are hashtagged also so they come up in a search query). The goal is to draw influential people who will retweet your info and call attention back to your page.
  • Tie your Twitter handle (username) to your website –any opportunity to promote your website should be accompanied by links to your Twitter account and vice versa
  • Call attention to others who retweet and further your brand with the #Follow Fridays (#FF) designation. It’s a good way to reciprocate exposure.

Measure Results

A key part of any marketing strategy is measuring results. A few ways of measuring success are:

  • Exposure from tweets and retweets
  • New followers of the brand and new tweeters you are following
  • Click through rates from the Twitter account to the brand’s website
  • How often your brand is being mentioned or receiving recognition from others via lists, discussions, etc.

Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions understands how to maximize social media marketing. If you want to take advantage of this powerful tool but aren’t sure how, contact us today

Posted in Marketing Strategy, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

To Whom are You Speaking?

Posted on June 13, 2012 by admin

To get a message across you need to know to whom you are communicating. It makes the message clearer and understandable if you know your audience.

For instance, it wouldn’t make much sense for you to tell a group of surgeons how to do surgery, but it might be helpful for them to learn about new techniques. Knowing your target audience can make all the difference in how the message is interpreted.

There are a variety of different audiences that may receive your message. According to Colorado State University, in this online resource, there are three groups that can be coined an audience which are lay, managerial and experts. Understanding the makeup of each of these classifications can improve your writing and give you a direction as to what information to include.

The lay audience would need to have more background than the other two. In your message, you may want to give more detail to this type of audience. They may relate better to the human aspect, for instance, showing them how a person may or may not be affected by the topic in which you are writing.

The managerial audience would be described as a group of readers who need concrete information to make an informed decision. They may not need as much detail as the lay audience, but could use more hard numbers.

Those who would be called the “experts” will look for a targeted language. They are well-educated on the topic and expect to have information within the message that is detailed and specific to the theme. They have a certain expectation of the message and need the necessary information to back it up.

As you can see, writing for your target audience should not be a one size fits all approach. You need to take careful time in analyzing who your target is and learn about them. You may want to craft your message differently to a certain gender or demographic.

Assuming that everyone will understand what you are talking about shows some naivety by the writer. It may take some research to understand who will receive your communication, but taking the time to learn that may make all the difference in the impact of your message.

Posted in Consistent Customer Communications, Marketing Strategy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment