Indiana State Police detectives and crime scene investigators at the request of Michigan City Police Chief Mark Swistek are investigating an off duty police shooting.  The shooting occurred at approximately 3:54 p.m., this Saturday, April 22, 2017, afternoon.Preliminary investigation revealed two Michigan City police officers who were off duty but working security at Franciscan Health in Michigan City were called to the hospital parking lot by family about a family member who refused to leave his vehicle and seek medical assistance.Both officers, fully uniformed, were able to make contact with this individual, a forty-six year old white male, who was later identified as Thomas J. Walsh III of Michigan City, sitting on the passenger side of an F-150 Ford pick-up.  At one point, during their interaction with him, Walsh, withdrew a handgun from within the pickup, pointed that weapon at one of the officers standing by the driver’s door. The officer standing on the passenger side for fear of injury/death to the other officer, pulled his weapon, and shot Walsh several times.Medical assistance was immediately given at the scene and Walsh was eventually flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend for treatment where he is in critical condition.  Family has been notified.This investigation is continuing and can take several weeks to complete.  No further information will be released at this time.  After the investigation is complete it will be turned over to the La Porte County Prosecutor for determination.The Michigan City Police Department will release the names of their officers at their discretion.All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. read more

Monday afternoon Haywood County Sheriff’s Deputies and several other emergency crews responded to a 9-1-1 call about an explosion on Zurich Lane in Waynesville.Officials learned a child had been in close proximity to the explosion and has since been transported to a regional hospital.As deputies secured the scene of the explosion that injured the child, a house located nearby became engulfed in flames and more fire departments were called to the scene to assist.The SBI’s EOD team was dispatched and it is believed that the explosive device that injured the child is commercial fireworks.It is not known if the two incidents are related. No one else is injured. The investigation is ongoing. read more

Share This!DVC 25th Anniversary Disney Dooney and BourkeI’m always looking for ways to incorporate the Disney magic in my everyday life, and what better way than through my personal style? Disney Dooney and Bourke bags have been incredibly popular since their parks debut years ago and have maintained popularity due to their vast variety of collections, designs, and sizes. However, Disney Dooney and Bourke bags can’t be found at every shop or kiosk. This is why, my fellow shoppers, I’m revealing where to find Disney Dooney and Bourke bags.The BasicsDooney and Bourke at Disney ranges from wallets and wristlets to large duffles. As its popularity has increased, Disney has been releasing patterns for all kinds of events, like RunDisney races, DVC, and Flower and Garden. Prices range from $100 for smaller items up to $400 for the largest pieces. If you have a Disney Visa or certain Annual Passes, you may qualify for a merchandise discount if you’re buying in Walt Disney World, so be sure to ask!Deluxe Resort Gift ShopsOn a quest for a particular Disney Dooney and Bourke bag? Don’t overlook the Deluxe Resort gift shops. The selection can be hit and miss, I admit. But since most guests shop at the parks, you may have more luck finding your perfect bag at a resort than among the masses.Uptown Jewelers at Magic KingdomUptown Jewelers on Main Street, U.S.A. is my favorite place to shop for Disney Dooney and Bourke bags and other Disney accessories! Uptown Jewelers always has a wide selection of Disney Dooneys, including many of the newest collections. The Uptown Jewelers Cast Members are also fantastic at helping shoppers pick out their perfect bag.Cherry Tree Lane at the Marketplace Co-OpCherry Tree Lane at the Marketplace Co-OpThe Marketplace Co-Op at Disney Springs is home to Cherry Tree Lane. Along with Uptown Jewelers, this boutique is one of the best places on property for Disney accessories!Cherry Tree Lane always has a number of different Disney Dooney and Bourke styles to browse. Tip: Shoppers can sometimes find Disney Cruise Line inspired Disney Dooney and Bourke bags at the Marketplace Co-Op!The DisneyStore.comFor those who can’t be at Walt Disney World, DisneyStore.com currently offers an impressive selection of Disney Dooney and Bourke bags online. The site has been known to release Disney Dooney and Bourke styles before they arrive in the parks and maintains certain collections after they have disappeared from store shelves. The downside of not buying in person? You can’t pick out the layout of your pattern.Marathon Dooney and Bourke CollectionMouseGear at EpcotMouseGear is one of my favorite shops in all of Walt Disney World. I always find something I haven’t seen before and their A/C is perfection after trekking around World Showcase. MouseGear also carries Disney Dooney and Bourke bags and restocks often. If you’re looking for a certain size or collection, don’t forget to check MouseGear.The Shop Disney Parks AppI’m a HUGE fan of the Shop Disney Parks App. While I love DisneyStore.com too, their selection is limited. The app, however, shows pretty much everything for sale at Walt Disney World. The app is also a handy shopping tool, showing me where I can find certain items, how to get to certain store, applies my Annual Passholder discount, and more.Like DisneyStore.com, the app has released certain Disney Dooney and Bourke collections before they appear at stores. The app may offer the Disney Dooney you’re looking for, or at least eliminate a lot of searching! But again, the downside to buying through the app is the inability to pick out the layout of your pattern.Are you looking to splurge on a Disney Dooney and Bourke bag on your next trip to Walt Disney World? What collection is your favorite? Where do you go to shop for Disney Dooneys? read more

Seth Godin’s blog Social media tool you actually use? Blog you read most frequently? Who was your best manager?  Why? Ok, so maybe Aaron doesn’t quite reveal I like because he reminds me that marketing need not be sleazy. I like Barry Ritholtz’s because he pulls no punches about business and investment strategies. My wife. have some surprising revelations. training for SEO . .  ,  gets it.  He’s on my short list of people that I trust to have a thoughtful opinion on the most nuanced and subtle aspects of SEO.  If you’re not reading his blog yet, you should be.  Aaron also offers premium Many of our SEOmoz Being driven and true to their word. Which business visionary would you most like interviewed next? does Hugh Macleod SEO  and Before that, when I was in the military a man by the name of Troy Meyers was top. He believed in hard work, and if there was a crappy job to be done he would be the type of guy to stand beside you and help out with the project. Conversely, if you screwed up he would let you know about it. Paul Kedrosky’s blog  is great too. Originally published Oct 6, 2008 11:34:00 AM, updated October 20 2016 really Your Favorite Software Application Favorite Newspapers? .  When I first got into the SEO game years ago, I quickly came across Aaron and his blog.  At the time, he was offering a great book on the topic of SEO (hence the website name, SEOBook.com).  I read it front-to-back in two days.  I was riveted.  Most of my early education in SEO came from Aaron’s book.  He’s one of those guys that Search Engine Land SEO Black Hat The Cluetrain Manifesto, The Purple Cow, Here Comes Everybody, Don’t Make Me Think. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Super Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, and iPod. SEO tools Probably nothing to do with what I am known for now. Probably something outside the field of marketing…I think in the next few years I will explore creative outlets outside of marketing and blogging. , is the only one I usually promote on my websites. Person that inspires you? all . Favorite business books? The Big Picture . Usually when reading a book and trying to relate it amongst the context of my current environment and knowledge. http://www.seobook.com Not sure when real starts. In junior high I had a paper route and shoveled snow. In high school I washed dishes, detasseled corn, and sold baseball cards. Jonh Andrews Stuntdubl were tools I had created because I wanted to use them. Beyond those I am a big fan of Topics: Microsoft Ad Intelligence What Do You Most Value In Employees/Colleagues? Del.icio.us Del.icio.us Within the SEO space there are a ton of great blogs: Your first “real” job? ,  and Probably one of my mentors when I was new to the web. It is easy to be small minded when you first get on the web, but he always had the ability to shift my thinking to bigger and broader things. Some of my sites get good traffic from StumbleUpon, but the only social tool I actively use much is First off, a quick introduction to Aaron Wall.  Aaron’s an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) black-belt.  He’s the guy behind the very popular SEO blog, What Would You Like To Be The World’s Best At? Google’s keyword tools in this Proust Questionnaire, but it’s rare that I get to make a title rhyme so easily so I couldn’t resist.  And, he Where do you do your best reading? . And ,  Device You Would Never Give Up? Wolf Howl Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack read more

. The answers to this question indicate that marketing agencies and their clients are generating the majority of new business (62%) from referrals from satisfied clients and from industry contacts. This result is not surprising in the traditional high touch, relationship-based marketing and PR business. inbound marketing success Question 2. How well do your/your clients’ websites convey their unique value? Clarity in messaging is deemed as very important to extremely important by the vast majority of respondents. However, 77% of respondents consider that their website messaging is less than effective. There is plenty of work to be done on creating clarity in messaging unique value. Clearly their client’s “messaging” is extremely important. Download the ebook now! Originally published Apr 28, 2010 11:00:00 AM, updated October 20 2016 Question 1. How Important is your/your clients’ message? In January this year, Mark Gibson from Advanced Marketing Conceptsand I ran a joint webinar entitled ” How Marketing Agencies Can Help Clients Align their Sales & Marketing Messaging, Processes and Goals”. More than 200 attendees answered a series of questions about critical sales and marketing alignment issues. If you work as an inhouse marketer, are a small businesss owner or work at an agency, and you’re trying to improve your sales and marketing performance, these poll results should help you. Free Download: Marketing Data: 50+ Marketing Charts and Graphs HubSpot has complied over 50 marketing charts and graphs on topics including Lead Generation, Blogging and Social Media, Marketing Budgets, Twitter and Facebook What was surprising to us is that inbound marketing and social networking account for such a small volume of leads. Assuming that these agencies are the companies that are most likely the ones who should be introducing inbound marketing to their clients, it seems we all still have a lot of work to do to help small and mid-sized businesses achieve to have access to these charts for use in your own presentations Question 3. What is your/your clients primary source of lead generation? Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack Marketing and Sales Alignment Topics: read more

Even though the two most popular social networks to emerge in the past few years (Instagram and Pinterest) revolve around visual content, there isn’t much data about what content performs best on these platforms.Because Instagram and Pinterest revolve around visual (not textual) content and their APIs are difficult to access, it can be challenging to research these networks.But just because something is challenging doesn’t mean it’s impossible. After diving into the data, I found eight actionable data points to help you use Instagram and Pinterest to their maximum in your inbound marketing efforts.Free Resource: 12 Pinterest Templates for BusinessIf you want to see more exclusive data about visual content on social media, join me and special guest Sarah Evans (@PRsarahEvans) today at 2:00 p.m. ET for this week’s #SciChat webinar and Twitter Chat. You can sign up here.Without any further ado, let’s get to the data.1) On Pinterest, experiment with tall, infographic-style pieces to get more engagement.On the web in general, tall images are easier to read than wide ones because it’s much easier to scroll vertically than horizontally. The same concept applies on Pinterest: Taller images — those containing more “content” — tend to get more repins than shorter images.2) Try to keep your descriptions between 100 and 200 characters.Both Instagram and Pinterest allow creators to provide textual content such as descriptions or captions alongside their visual content. Including text is helpful for both search engines and humans by giving context for what’s in the image.On Pinterest, the optimum description length is between 100 and 200 characters, around the same character count as a Tweet. Even though people use Pinterest to browse pictures, short captions and descriptions help increase engagement.3) Use hashtags when posting on Instagram.On Instagram, a key non-visual feature is the ability to use hashtags in the text accompanying a photo. In fact, when I analyzed data from the site, I found that posts that included hashtags had a far higher like-to-follower ratio than posts that did not use hashtags.4) Find a clever way to relate top-performing hashtags to your content.The list of most powerful hashtags on Instagram is led by reciprocal-behavior indicators: hashtags like “#FollowForFollow,” “#LikeForLike,” “#F4F,” and “#L4L.” These represent a symptom of the social aspect of the site, though it’s not clear whether they lead to high quality followers.The rest of the list of most liked hashtags show us that nature, and in particular sky-based nature photography does very well on the site, as evidenced by “#Sky,” #Clouds,” “#Sunset,” and “#Sun.” 5) Post images that appeal to everyone, strangers and friends alike.  On the flip side of the hashtags coin, I also examined the least-liked hashtags on Instagram. This list is full of tags that indicate that a photo is relevant only to the person who took it and his or her close friends: “#BestFriends,” “#LoveHer,” and “#Drunk.” Imagine viewing an image taken by a stranger tagged with something like this — chances are, it’s not going to be very interesting to you. On the other hand, a pretty sunset or interesting cloud can be attractive to anyone.6) Experiment with making images showing something people can aspire to do, be, or create. When we turn our attention back to Pinterest and look at the most pinned words, we find words like “love,” “favorite,” and “like” that indicate a positive emotional attachment from the poster to the image posted. The rest of the list is full of words that indicate aspirational imagery, such as “home,” “DIY,” “inspiration,” and “recipes.” These words signify something that the poster wants to buy, do, emulate or create.7) Think about the DIY activities that your audience may be interested in. The last list of words was the words that were pinned the most, but this list is the words that, once pinned, tend to get repinned by others most often. This list is dominated by cooking and food related words: “recipe,” “chicken,” “bake,” and “bottle.”If your goal is to produce viral visual content, experiment not only with food related images, but also with images that show and explain how to create things. For example, you could show visual instructions to make a recipe — cooking is a DIY activity that almost everyone can (or does) do.8) When creating visual content, think about which action you’d rather stimulate: discussion or sharing.When I compared like-rates to repin-rates, I found a strong, positive correlation. That means there is a powerful relationship between the “like” action and the repin action — people are more likely to repin content they like.On the other hand, when I compared comments and repins, I found a much less powerful relationship. There isn’t as strong a correlation between the kinds of content people want to comment on and the kind of content they want to share with their friends. Controversial or disagreeable content makes me want to comment on it, but I’d likely hesitate before sharing it with my friends. Originally published May 17, 2013 12:30:00 PM, updated July 28 2017 Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack Pinterest Marketing Topics: read more

Topics: Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack Now that you’re excited to get on the crowdfunding bandwagon, you need the tools that best fit your organization or school to execute a successful online campaign.There are several hundred crowdfunding platforms currently available to choose from with a variety of different features, focus, and pricing. If you’re looking to get started with crowdfunding for your fall event season, end of year giving, or year round campaigns, we’ve broken down 7 crowdfunding sites for your nonprofit or higher-ed institution that you can consider.Before evaluating these or any other platforms, remember these three things to look for:Who uses the platform? Whether it’s individuals, nonprofits, schools, or businesses, you want to use the platform that is going to fit your needs. Leading by example, most platforms highlight who is the best fit for their platform with featured stories and case studies. Be sure to review these in your evaluation process.What is the pricing structure? Make sure to evaluate each platform’s pricing or request more information if it’s not available online. Some platforms have monthly or annual fees, and additional payment processing fees. Be sure to do your due diligence to compare and contrast pricing packages and pick one that fits into your budget. What features are included? Whether it’s peer-to-peer fundraising pages, event ticketing and registration, or CRM integrations, make sure to review all features offered and find the platform that best fits your fundraising needs, not necessarily the one with the MOST features. Think less is more in this scenario if you’re just getting started with crowdfunding.IndiegogoIndiegogo is a crowdfunding site for a variety of businesses and individuals, but also with a dedicated category to verified nonprofits looking to fund their campaigns. These campaigns would be considered grassroots, including disaster relief campaigns like that for Hurricane Sandy or the Restore the Shore campaign, which raised $1.04 million.For those organizations that have a specific event or campaign they want to fund, but may not have the technology to maintain that fundraising in-house, Indiegogo is an out-of-the-box solution for organizations of all sizes to use to their advantage.Pricing: Indiegogo has specific pricing for 501(c)3 nonprofits, which is 25% less than the general platform pricing. To use the platform the fee is 6.75% of your campaign versus the 9% for for-profit campaigns and an additional 4% for payment processing fees. Bonus: If you reach your goal, Indiegogo will “reimburse 3.75% of funds raised as an additional discount, so that your net Indiegogo platform fee is only 3%”. This is a great incentive to promote your campaign and hit your goal.StayClassyFor organizations that do year round campaigns, event, and/or peer-to-peer fundraising (or are looking to do so) StayClassy offers just that. Included in its all-in-one fundraising management platform, StayClassy offers peer-to-peer fundraising pages, fundraising event ticket and registration, as well as fully customizable online donation forms. For those organizations using Salesforce as their CRM, they easily integrate to keep all your contacts in one place while adopting StayClassy into your online fundraising strategy.StayClassy also highlights who uses their platform, including Team Rubicon, an elite first responder force. They used StayClassy after a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Within hours, they raised $35,723. They also have a number of schools using their platform for fundraising campaigns, but they are specialized for nonprofits with a fundraising model.Pricing: StayClassy has a tiered pricing structure, including a 1-3% processing fee and a monthly platform fee ranging from $99-$199/month and customized pricing for their enterprise level package. They also offer a free trial so those that are interested in testing out the software can for 30 days.KickstarterKickstarter is project based crowdfunding site for nonprofits, businesses, and individuals. Each “project” is independently created, managed, and funded by the masses. Projects must reach their funding goal to receive the full amount of funds. Nonprofits use Kickstarter for projects like developing in-house software, event fundraising campaigns, and even funds to get started as a new organization. Growing Food to Grow the Local Food Network crowd funded their $9,000 project to get the organization off the ground.Pricing: Kickstarter charges a 5% fee from the project’s funding total if it is successful, as well as an additional 3-5% for payment processing. (Tip: set your project goal to include these additional costs).USEEDUSEED focuses on crowdfunding for higher-education institutions. They are tapping into “the power of social networks and the voice of your students to engage alumni and win new donors for your university.” USEED’s platform allows your school to use advocates — your students, faculty and alumni — and their stories to increase donations from your internal community as well as the community around your school. While other platforms are used by schools, this platform is specifically built for higher-ed institutions.ASU has entered USEED’s beta program to allow students to use crowdfunding to “raise extra funds they need to gain real-world experiences outside of the classroom, such as service abroad, starting a company, or creating a technology or work of art”. Much like Indiegogo and Kickstarter, USEED is putting crowdfunding in the hands of the next generation.Pricing: No pricing is listed on USEED’s website, but you are able to inquire to the team to find out more information.FirstGivingFirstGiving is a long standing — and some would argue the first — crowdfunding platform. With their focus on a platform tailored to the needs of the nonprofit, including customization and extensive reporting, they offer peer-to-peer fundraising pages, event fundraising and registration, and event ticketing with an integration with Eventbrite. They have features for team fundraising as well that’s important to bigger fundraising events. They also offer a direct donation button for your organization’s website.Along with the platform, FirstGiving offers a lot of educational material, including webinars, ebooks and a fundraising blog for those organizations who are new to peer-to-peer fundraising or who are looking for more advanced strategies. Pricing: FirstGiving charges $500 a year for nonprofits and an additional 7.5% payment processing fee. There is also an additional 4.5% for event registration.CrowdriseCrowdrise is a crowdfunding platform focused on empowering the fundraiser. They are going right to the source of the crowdfunding and empowering individuals that may or may not have ties to a nonprofit to start a campaign. They have a focus on endurance event fundraising, including a place to browse events, including the New York City Marathon and 2013 Spartan Races, and to fundraise for or give to those events.They offer peer-to-peer fundraising, event registration and fundraising, branding and customization, and reporting. Pricing: Crowdrise has a tiered pricing structure, with a free basic account and subsequent packages with monthly fees between $49-$199 per month and payment processing fees between 3-5% with additional credit card processing fees. RocketHubRocketHub’s project based platform is similar to Kickstarter. But what’s unique about RocketHub is that it not only provides you with the platform to crowdfund, but they also have a Success School to teach you the basics, prepare you for launching and running your project, as well as how to manage funders. They give you the tools and the knowledge to be a successful crowdfunder.Pricing: There is no pricing listed on the site (bummer!) but they encourage you to contact them directly.What other crowdfunding platforms do you recommend? Have you used crowdfunding for your nonprofit organization? Share your recommendations and tips with us.Image credit: Photos by Mavis Crowdfunding Originally published Sep 9, 2013 6:00:00 PM, updated July 28 2017 read more

Marketing Campaigns Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack Channel #2: Public RelationsIn the past, public relations has been synonymous with press releases. However, traditional press releases don’t cut it anymore. As you consider the role public relations will play in your campaign strategy, think about ways to modernize your PR strategy with content assets you can create in place of press releases.For example, you could create a SlideShare presentation as an asset to go along with your campaign and PR announcement. You could also ask guest bloggers to write about your campaign, or use social media to promote and monitor what people are saying about announcements. (This latter option provides you the chance to answer questions and make sure the announcement doesn’t lose steam.)A unique PR strategy was implemented recently by Zipcar, which moved its offices to Boston. When Zipcar moved, the business didn’t just send out a press release letting everyone know it was moving. Rather, it made a brief but intriguing media advisory declaring it was going to have a parade of cars that would bring it through the city from Cambridge (its old home) to Boston’s Innovation District (its new headquarters).This tactic was covered at great length by the media and mentioned quite a few times through various social channels.Channel #3: Targeted Landing PagesA routine part of setting up your next marketing campaign is creating landing pages. However, the more targeted you can get with your landing pages, the more effective they’ll be. Let’s say you have two segments: small businesses and enterprise businesses. Let’s also say you have an offer that would interest both audiences. What do you do? You should personalize the text on your landing pages! Small and enterprise businesses have completely different interests, and the landing page copy explaining the offer and its benefits should reflect that.Bonus: For HubSpot customers, you can create lists of your segments and use smart content to personalize the text based on who is viewing it while still using the same landing page.Let’s take a look at a targeted landing page that HubSpot uses. In this case, HubSpot customers are segmented into a different list than HubSpot prospects or leads. So HubSpot customers see the following landing page:While HubSpot prospects and leads see this landing page:As you can see, both landing pages have different text that is catered to the interests of the members of each list. The customer landing page had a 60.5% conversion rate, while the prospect/lead landing page had a 62.9% conversion rate. Both conversion rates are extremely high, due in part to their targeted lists.Channel #4: Co-marketingAnother channel you can considerably benefit from is co-marketing, which allows for two (or more) companies or brands to work together on content creation and the promotion of that content.Typically, companies will create partnerships like this to get in front of an entirely new audience or a part of their current audience they haven’t been able to reach. When you add co-marketing into the mix for your campaigns, chances are good you’ll get more exposure for your content than you would if you were just promoting them through your own channels. “Co-marketing can increase the results you see from your current marketing channels,” says Amanda Sibley, co-marketing manager at HubSpot. “Each tweet, post, offer, etc. will not only be seen by your audience, but also by the audience of your partner.”In our most recent co-marketing offer, for example, there were 38% more views, 27% more submissions, and 95% more leads as a result of partnering with another business. Not bad, right?Channel #5: BloggingYou should certainly use blogging to send traffic to your campaign assets by creating content that is similar, but not identical, to your campaign topic. There are other ways, though, that you can utilize this channel to generate great results.In another blog post, we covered how to repurpose your blog posts into an ebook. In this case, you may want to consider repurposing some of your other content to turn into blog posts. For example, let’s say you create an ebook about ways for businesses to use social media. You can take a portion of that content and turn it into a SlideShare that can be posted on your blog. Similar to social, you can repurpose your content on different platforms to see better results.HubSpot used this tactic with its recent ebook How to Get 1000+ Followers on Twitter. After the ebook was completed, the author took a section of the content, modified it slightly, and created the SlideShare below. Channel #6: PPCWhen you think of PPC, the first thing that comes to mind may be Google AdWords. However, there is a lot more that you can do with PPC, especially on social.Social media platforms have a variety of advertising options. You can run Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts on Twitter, ads and Sponsored Updates on LinkedIn, Facebook ads, and more. No matter what you choose, supplementing your organic social efforts with PPC could allow you to reach a larger group of your audience than you would have been able to reach otherwise.PPC also gives you tighter targeting options — for instance, it allows you to target audience segments by location, gender, keywords, and LinkedIn Groups, among other ways. We already talked about the importance of segmentation, and the same applies when you’re doing PPC. Consider the goals of your campaign as well as the information you already know about your leads and customers to create the most effective targeting.Don’t be afraid to try out a new form of PPC and fail. You can always run a test campaign with a small budget to see what your results will look like before launching a bigger campaign. It’s important to test new platforms and figure out which ones will generate the best results for your company.Sarah Goliger, head of paid marketing at HubSpot says, “PPC is a great way to supplement your marketing campaigns by expanding your reach and getting your brand and content in front of more people. Always focus on organic first, but if you have extra budget to put toward your campaigns, go ahead and experiment with a few different PPC platforms. Find the one or two that yield the best results for the metrics you’re solving for, and make sure you’re constantly optimizing for lower costs and greater efficiency.”Are you using these channels the best you can? What other channels do you think marketing campaigns should utilize? Unleash your inner graphic designer. http://t.co/TfA2GjNZi2 Create catchy #Facebook Cover Photos using this user-friendly tool.— IMPACT (@Impactbnd) January 4, 2014… and then on Facebook … Topics: You just finished creating your latest asset for your inbound marketing campaign. Great! But how do you plan on getting it into the hands of your audience?Email? Social? Landing pages? What will work best for you? Better yet: What channels have you not used (or taken advantage of as much as you’d like to)?Many companies make the mistake of only using one or two channels to market to their leads. What they should be doing to reach them is using several channels.Luckily, there are tons of channels out there that are untapped resources for you and your company — either because you never thought to use them or you never thought to use them in new and innovative ways.In that spirit, here are some optimal channels you can (and should) use for your next marketing campaign, including specific ways you can do so.Channel #1: Social MediaYou may be thinking, “Of course I use social media to promote my marketing campaign!” Well, we’re glad to hear it! But there may be other ways to strategically use social media to get more juice out of your marketing campaign.”The key to strategically using social channels is tailoring your content to what works in each channel,” says Shannon Johnson, content strategist at HubSpot. “No matter what your core piece of content is (ebook, templates, whitepaper, video, etc.), you have to create a lot of bite-sized visuals that call attention to key takeaways from that larger piece of content. Think of each social post as an advertisement for the core piece of lead gen content.”Many people are looking at your company from different social channels, so it’s important to avoid posting identical content on different social media platforms. One way you can leverage your content is to take the main piece of content from your campaign and only share parts of it in your social channels. Another option you have is to take portions of your content, modify them, and repurpose them on other platforms like SlideShare. You can pull from blog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, or videos to do this. Showing your content in different forms will appeal to a larger set of people.For instance, HubSpot partner IMPACT Branding & Design promotes its offers on different social media platforms. However, the company recognizes the different messaging and tone needed when taking advantage of different platforms. Here’s an example of IMPACT promoting the same offer on Twitter …  Originally published Jan 10, 2014 2:00:00 PM, updated February 01 2017 read more

Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack Originally published Jun 30, 2015 7:00:00 AM, updated October 30 2019 Instagram isn’t just for celebrities and teenagers anymore. In fact, it’s now the fastest expanding social network showing strong growth in nearly every demographic. Instagram’s population now encompasses 53% of all online adults between the ages of 18 and 29, and 25% of all online adults between the ages of 30 and 49. Even better, nearly half of Instagram’s users check it daily.That’s a lot of engagement going on. Yet many B2B publishers haven’t created a successful presence on the network (or even an account!) Fortunately, these trade publications are ahead of the curve, and offer some insight for other publishers to follow.B2B Publishers Who Aren’t Taking Instagram for Insta-granted1) John Deere (Manufacturing)This company may be 178-years old, but you wouldn’t know it by how well they use social media. In particular, their #DeereSighting user-generated content (UGC) campaign has been crushing it on Instagram, achiving engagement rates more than 40% the norm for the platform.According to a recent Forrester study, Instagram boasts engagement rates that trounce Twitter and Facebook: 4.21% on average for an Instagram post, while neither Twitter nor Facebook break 1%. John Deere? Regularly gets between 3,000-5,000 likes per post. With a follower total of 65,900, that translates to engagement rates between 4% and 7.5%.Nothing ‘grams like a Deere.2) Billboard Magazine (Entertainment)In a glamorous industry, Billboard has the luxury of drawing on its rich store of celebrity photos to get attention. Yet they don’t just rely on award shows and concerts to populate their page. Rather, they do a great job of integrating other mediums into their feed.Most notably, they promote their print magazine in a stylish and deliberate way. The process starts with posting the new edition’s cover. Roughly a week later, they publicize the print magazine again with a mocked-up image highlighting the cover story in a new way. In fact, Billboard was one of the few trade publications we found that edited its pics.They are also one of the few publications incorporating video to promote their digital content.3) Barista Magazine (Food)This trade magazine, “serving people serving coffee” offers a wide variety of content on their Instagram feed to forge a genuine connection with its followers.They posts pics reflecting their values, sharing what companies in their industry are doing, as well as their own promotional content. Barista Mag also remembers to include links back to specific articles on their site, or out to it’s community’s content.4) Pizza Today (Food)According to Simply Measured’s recent report on Instagram, posts tagged with a location result in 50% more engagement than those without. One reason why engagement may be higher with location-tagged images is because location is a popular search criterion.Pizza Today uses location tagging to enhance their promotion of pizza parlors—a big bonus for such a neighborhood-oriented industry. This not only helps their engagement, but also makes Pizza Today a great partner to restaurants.5) Automotive News (Transportation)We liked that Automotive News (AN) understands how to tailor their content to each social media platform. Businesses familiar Twitter best practices may hold on to the bias against using more than a couple of hashtags per post. And while the two-hashtag limit holds true for Twitter, it doesn’t for Instagram.AN alters their strategy by platform, and averages between seven to eight hashtags per post, increasing its chances of getting found. They also have a good mix of hashtags, including branded company names as well as more popular, generic terms.6) American Spa (Health)You have 2,200 characters available in an Instagram caption, plenty of room to include multiple hashtags and build a story behind your image. Here’s one publisher that uses their caption space well to provide context for the image, referrals to additional content, a mix of hashtags, and @mentions.7) Rangefinder and WPPI (Arts)Innovation? How about this: two organizations that noticed an overlap in audience created a joint Instagram account. Rangefinder, a magazine for photographers, teamed up with WPPI, a trade association for wedding and portrait photographers. This sort of partnership is a great example of an effective way to target one segment of a market.Rangefinder also uses this account to promote both the digital and print versions of their magazine with the visual creativity befitting of its market. Instead of using a digital image of its cover, they instead use a captivating photo of someone holding the issue. Nice touch.8) Architect (Construction)You would expect the Journal of the American Institutes of Architect to have gorgeous photos. Their feed doesn’t disappoint.However, that doesn’t mean the content isn’t focused on business. They use their profile bio to promote and link to specific content on their website. They were also the only publisher we saw that used Instagram as place to post infographics.<9) Artnet (Arts)Just as with the previous publisher, Artnet’s feed benefits from having an unending source of visually enticing content. But they don’t just assume pretty pictures will hold their audience’s attention.They use their captions to create meaningful context around an image, regularly tag specific people relevant to an image, and they also repost (or "regrams") from others, and links to other people's content.Lastly, they also promote their own and other businesses’ posts in unobtrusive ways.10) WWD (Fashion)Here's another publisher with an unfair wealth of stunning imagery that goes beyond the obvious to offer up a wide variety of substantive content. If you're looking for types of images for your Instagram account, WWD offers examples of behind-the-scenes, personal stories, and community interaction posts, all while including a call-to-action to read more on their website.Can you think of any other examples of great publisher Instagram accounts? Let us know in the comments below!  Instagram Marketing Topics: read more

Communication with Clients A firm handshake, a friendly tone of voice, a patient nod — all of these things can help make your client feel comfortable and understood in a face-to-face setting.But how do you nurture positive client relationships when face-to-face contact is more often than not replaced by inbox-to-inbox exchanges?When the emphasis is on plain text, the way you phrase your sentences and questions is more crucial than ever. These seven shifts in the way you communicate with clients may seem inconsequential, but they can have a massive impact on the way your clients perceive your agency’s value.1) Use “we” instead of “I” to position yourself as a member of the client’s team. Instead of: “I’ll get working on developing your buyer personas.” Say this: “We can get to work on developing our buyer personas.”At the end of the day, you and your client are both working towards the same thing: their success. When you use “I” to discuss a task or a goal, it subtly positions your agency as a third party. Using “we” fosters a collaborative discussion where you and your client are both on the home team. This creates an “all for one” mentality that can improve the bond between your agency and the client, minimize conflicts down the line, and keep everyone on the same page when it comes to project goals and expectations.2) Limit your use of “you,” especially in situations that have the potential to escalate into conflicts. Instead of: “You told me that those posts needed to be ready by Thursday.”Say this: “Based on our last email exchange, I was under the impression that those posts needed to be ready by Thursday. Let me know if anything has changed.”Nothing intensifies a simple misunderstanding into a full-blown conflict like firing off a “Well, you said…” in a client email. Using “you” in a tense interaction draws a clear line in the sand — you versus me — immediately unraveling any precious progress you made aligning yourself on the client’s team.When it comes to navigating points of friction with a client, the best thing to do is avoid pointing fingers at all costs. Assigning blame (even when you know you’re right) is just going to undo your careful team positioning and make it more difficult to see eye to eye with your client on future projects.Instead of using “you,” make a concerted effort to keep yourself on the client’s side of things. Emphasize that you’re all working towards the same goal, and you’re here to ensure that everything goes smoothly. At the end of the day, preserving the relationship trumps asserting your own correctness. Topics: Originally published Jul 14, 2016 5:00:00 AM, updated February 01 2017 3) Remember the names of your client’s staff, and use them often.Instead of: “I spoke with someone from your marketing department on Friday.”Say this: “I spoke with Jane from marketing on Friday.”Remembering names can seem trivial in the greater scheme of things, but it can show that your agency is both committed and truly engaged with a client’s business. Have you ever had a barista get your name horribly wrong on your morning latte? It’s not a huge deal, but it doesn’t make you feel like they were really listening or engaged with what you were trying to communicate.Learn the names of your client’s staff early on, and keep these handy in your notes whenever you draft up an email or shoot off a text. It’s more than a small personal touch — it’s a declaration that you’re actually paying attention and want to add value to the entire team.4) Be responsive, even when you’re unavailable. Instead of: *radio silence*Say this: “Hey Jane! I’m actually about to hop on a client call. Would you mind if I followed up this afternoon via email?”Balancing multiple clients (and a life) means that you’re not always available to chat, and that’s OK — most clients will understand that you can’t reasonably be on call 24-7. However, communicating about your absences and availability can assure clients that you aren’t avoiding them and you actually do care about addressing their concerns.Inform clients a few weeks in advance about any major vacations, and give them a contact they can use in the meantime if they encounter any emergencies. If a client reaches out when you’re not available, don’t put off returning her call for long; this can give the impression that you’re not fully committed to the business. Follow-up, explain that you’re busy, and give her some times when you’re available to touch base. Clients will appreciate the honesty and feel like they’re taken care of, even when you’re away from your desk.5) Set clear expectations without leading a client to a dead end.Instead of: “That isn’t something we can do.”Say this: “This isn’t within the scope of our current contract, but if it’s something you’d like to consider as a future project, we’d be happy to discuss.”Clients will often push the boundaries of their contracts to get the most value out of your agency, and it’s up to you to set respectful and firm expectations around what you were hired to do. When a client makes a request that’s simply out of scope, instead of just turning ther down, turn it into an opportunity for a new project. You should always avoid communication that feels like a concrete wall. Even when the answer is a firm “no,” lead the client to an alternative solution that benefits everyone.6) Instead of questioning a client’s choice, confirm that you’re on the same page.Instead of: “Are you sure that’s what you want?”Say this: “I just wanted to confirm these changes with you and offer some further suggestions about how we can meet your goals.”Picture this: You spent three days designing a minimal, clean infographic, and your client shoots back that she wants you to re-do the whole thing in 72 point, bright pink, Comic Sans font. Your design sense is viscerally offended, and you have the immediate, knee-jerk response to write back with an incredulous, “Are you sure that’s what you want?”.Questioning a client’s decision directly can come off as condescending and can make her feel as if you don’t fully value her vision (even if that vision is in pink Comic Sans). Everyone wants to feel like her opinion is respected, so it’s crucial that you avoid stepping on toes by immediately rejecting your client’s input on a project.Instead of recoiling in horror at what you perceive as a ludicrous suggestion, try to take a step back, and ensure that you and your client are working towards the same goals. She hired you as an expert, so if you see a project headed in the wrong direction, it’s your responsibility to suggest alternatives and identify points where you and your client can compromise to meet the goals. If her suggestions seem out of left field, maybe it’s a sign that you need to re-connect and evaluate where exactly the project is headed.7) When you’re unsure if you and the client are aligned on a project, don’t hesitate to check in.Instead of: “I don’t understand what you’re asking, could you clarify?”Say this: “I’m hearing that we need to re-evaluate our keywords for this post, is that correct?”One of the best qualities of a good listener is frequently checking in to make sure you’re absorbing the correct information. After a long conversation or email chain with a client, it’s easy to feel like you may not be fully aligned on all points, or you might have missed an important detail.Instead of merely expressing a lack of understanding, paraphrase what you got out of the exchange, and ask your client if it sounds correct. These mini pulse checks will ensure that you’re completely understanding what your client is trying to communicate and confirm that you are both on the same page.Don’t be afraid to dig deeper at points; it’s your agency’s responsibility to ask the right questions and keep the project moving in the right direction. Does the client just want to change up a deliverable? Or is there a greater shift in the big picture that needs to be addressed? Continue to confirm the end goals and how the success of these will be measured. If objectives begin to change throughout the course of a project, write out the re-aligned goals and send them to the entire client and agency team to keep everyone in the loop. Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack read more