It’s a dreaded question. It makes any communications professional shout UGH! (silently, of course!).
Here’s the question: “Do I work for free?”
Here’s my answer: “Sure, I can do communications work for your business for free, as along as I can come to your business and get all kinds of stuff for free too.”
When was the last time you did an audit of the communications effectiveness of your Facebook fan page? Organizations and businesses often go to great lengths to create and maintain a fan page. Yet most overlook one important aspect: Can your fans, non-fans or potential supporters/donors/customers easily reach you?
The answer is often no. Sure, your fans can post on your wall and comment. And you’ll get a notification. If they dig around your fan page under your Info tab, they may even find contact information. But seriously, this all adds up to far too much clicking and too much searching.
There is a better way.
Here’s a little humour for all of you the next time you deal with a professional photographer. Chances are, you’ve probably asked one of these questions (or several). One thing I can tell you, from personal experience, a lot of people try to tell professional photographers what to do. Try to let photographers do their job.
A marketing or communications plan can be like an octopus. There can be lots of tentacles going in many different directions. You jot down notes. You hash out ideas. And you go around and around in meetings that never seem to end.
Almost everyone talks about the first necessary component of marketing anything, be it a product, service or event. That component, of course, would be: Who is the intended target audience?
But here’s the question that is often forgotten when developing any marketing or communication plan: “For us to call this a success, what results are needed?”
If you are an organization or small business based in a rural area here’s a dose of reality: some of your audience may be on dialup Internet. Yes, as prehistoric as that may seem, dialup still exists today. Just take a drive out into the country and ask. There’s a lot of pain out there when a big file takes forever to download on someone’s email.
Giving back is something that many of us hold in high regard today. In the communications business, especially when you’re based in a rural community, you hear many stories from small businesses. Many of these stories are the same: the same old traditional marketing approaches aren’t working any more. The other dilemma? Marketing budgets are limited. So, what do you do?
The other day I decided to surf the web and call around to inquire about dinner reservations for New Year’s Eve. A few things immediately stood out. Some restaurants have let their communications efforts fall way, way by the wayside.
I promise. I promise. No ‘Tis the season headlines here. That’s one headline in particular that makes me cringe. Yet, it is used over and over again in traditional media news headlines, and in marketing promotions at this time of year.
Something else happens with ridiculous headlines at Christmastime among many communications bloggers. Call it the dreaded ho ho horrible run on headlines that are designed to capitalize on the festive season. Maybe you read the articles beneath the headlines. I rarely do.
Here’s a top-10 list of potential headlines that will make me race for the bowl of spiked eggnog this Christmas:
(If you search hard enough, you will find headlines like these by public relations bloggers and communications pros this season!)
If you’re ever in a rut about creating messaging, head to the greeting card aisle in your favourite pharmacy or department store. There’s inspiration galore. And plenty of humour too.
Here are five communications lessons to be learned from greeting cards:
Many businesses today continue to let newspapers handle the design of their ads. It’s seen as the easy way. Buy ad space. Have the newspaper design the ad.
But the results often speak for themselves today, especially in small to medium markets.
You can easily tell which businesses and organizations have put their ad design in the hands of professional designers, rather than letting a newspaper take care of the design. The difference in quality is noticeable.
