7-Minute Read

The length of your content can make or break its success. Sometimes you need to get right to the point (think a social media post or promotional email). Other times it pays to go long (hello search-optimized blog posts).

THE IMPORTANT FIRST STEP

Time, resources and budget all go into your marketing plan and materials. The best way to optimize all that work you’ve put in is making sure they grab attention.

In one ear, out the other... Probably got lost among the unread emails in my inbox... Must have missed that one... These are all potential audience responses and actions to your marketing efforts that need to be addressed in the early stages of brainstorming and planning.

There are boatloads of ways (like dozens and dozens and dozens of cargo ships) to grab a viewer’s attention and this blog is a way to help you decide the right way to do that.

It happens every year at budget time. Our accountant hands me a list of software companies and asks, “Are we continuing all of these subscriptions next year?”

Let’s start by painting some pictures we’re all familiar with…

You’re excited about the quality service your organization can deliver. You can’t wait to send out an email or postcard letting customers know about a new offer. You’ve got room in the budget and it’s time to start a digital advertising campaign that will drive more traffic to your recently updated website.

Ready… Set... Hold on.

Excel spreadsheets, handwritten notes, emailing yourself details about a customer's preferences . . . all of these are ways that we input and track information about our leads, prospects and customers. Then there's the encyclopedic knowledge you or your team members have stored in your heads that no one else has access to. But what happens if you or a point of contact in your company gets hit by the proverbial bus?

This is the third time we've updated this post - it's one of those blogs that has evolved as our client base has over the years. This time our refresh incorporates more behavioral science tactics and focuses on two of the "Three B's" (no, we're not talking about your college roommates) in changing how people make a decision - Behaviors and Barriers. 

TL;DR: Make it as easy as possible for your audience to find and do business with you by understanding and ruthlessly removing friction.

Ah, 2020. Like the world’s longest game of blackjack—the hits just keep coming.

It’s funny (and also cruel) that when we need each other the most, it’s never been more important to keep our space.

To everyone who is sick of social distancing—but who cares enough about their fellow man to keep doing it anyway—the world owes you a debt of gratitude. And probably a drink.

(We can help with that last part.)

Have you ever sat through a boring focus group? How about a forced brainstorming session where everyone looks awkwardly at their hands, or where one person monopolizes the conversation?

No one likes receiving mixed messages. Especially not your customers. And especially not during a global pandemic.

In Iowa, where most COVID-related restrictions have already been lifted, a good chunk of stores, restaurants and service-oriented businesses have reopened in person. Some have reduced their hours or seating capacity. Some require face masks and have added hand sanitizing stations. While others seem—almost—like it’s back to business as usual.

It's hard to tell what's normal these days, and most of us aren't sure what to expect when we walk into a business we haven't been to in months. During the first stretch of scattered re-openings, consumer experiences were all over the board. And to a large extent—they still are. 

People have been flexible and forgiving as businesses work to wrap their heads around what works and what doesn't. But they’re eager for a sense of consistency. And they just want to know what’s happening.