by Michael Kling | Dec 2, 2020 | Marketing
Marketers clearly face unprecedented challenges this holiday season. The Covid-19 crisis has prompted fundamental changes in consumer behaviors. The epidemic boosted digital and contactless services and shattered brand loyalty. More than half of consumers plan to shop...
by William Comcowich | Dec 1, 2020 | Marketing
Don’t bother trying to reason with people. To persuade consumers, reach their emotions. An array of research concludes that emotions are paramount in forming opinions and making purchase decisions. “Contrary to what many of us may believe, buying decisions are 80...
by William Comcowich | Nov 30, 2020 | Public Relations
Pharmaceutical companies hope to introduce Covid-19 vaccines to the public by year end and then rapidly ramp up production. If most people receive vaccinations by next fall, life may regain a large degree of normalcy. That may be more difficult than thought....
by Frank Hamilton | Nov 30, 2020 | Video
Promoting your brand through videos is a strategy every business should pursue. The confidence in video marketing comes from some recent stats: More than 70% of YouTube users would rather watch a video than read a blog post. By 2022, online vides will make up more...
by William Comcowich | Nov 25, 2020 | Public Relations
Facing budgetary pressures caused by Covid-19 shut-downs, chief marketing officers (CMOs) are moving more PR and marketing functions in-house. One-third of marketing work shifted from agencies to in-house personnel this year, reveals the 2020 Gartner Marketing Data...
by Michael Kling | Nov 24, 2020 | SEO
Google’s featured snippets at the top of many search results increase website traffic – a lot. Placed in an attention-grabbing box, featured snippets are located in what SEO pros call “position zero,” the highest possible position on page one of search...
by Michael Kling | Nov 23, 2020 | Blogging
Fortune 500 companies dramatically increased blogging this year and significantly decreased social media posting. This year, 387 (77%) of Fortune 500 companies published new content on their corporate blogs, up from 45% last year, according to new research from...
by William Comcowich | Nov 20, 2020 | Public Relations
While writing and relationship-building remain the foundations for work in public relations, PR pros have assumed new responsibilities in SEO, social media and other tasks once considered outside the domain of PR. The fast-changing digital landscape makes it...
by William Comcowich | Nov 19, 2020 | Marketing
Marketing leaders remain optimistic about the potential for marketing analytics, despite its inability so far to live up to expectations. Although chief marketing officers (CMOs) have increased spending on marketing data and analytics in recent years, many feel...
by William Comcowich | Nov 18, 2020 | Media Relations
Despite the disastrous demise of newspapers, PR pros can still achieve stellar media placements by offering multimedia content. Infographics, audio clips, photos and especially videos grab and hold attention and tell stories that people tend to remember. Understanding...
by William Comcowich | Nov 17, 2020 | Marketing
As election officials counted votes from the 2020 election, political pundits analyzed mistakes and successful tactics of opposing political campaigns. PR and marketing experts meanwhile analyzed the election for lessons that can be applied to PR and marketing. Here...
by William Comcowich | Nov 16, 2020 | Media Relations
The U.S. Hispanic population reached a record 60.6 million in 2019, up from 50.7 million in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanics now represent 18% of the nation’s population and are the second largest ethnic or racial group after white...
by Michael Kling | Nov 16, 2020 | Marketing
After months of prohibitions against large in-person gatherings, event organizers hope to move to the next level of virtual events. Communications professionals believe virtual events will continue to dominate industry gatherings well into next year and will likely...
by William Comcowich | Nov 13, 2020 | Public Relations
Thought leadership is a widespread and often very effective PR strategy. When done well, thought leadership content establishes corporate executives as experts in their industries and as sources of worthy ideas. By establishing reputations for thought...
by William Comcowich | Nov 12, 2020 | Public Relations
This year’s divided electorate and disputed election results present a PR dilemma to brands over what’s usually a routine affair. Should companies and corporate leadership congratulate Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris for their election victory?...
by Michael Kling | Nov 11, 2020 | Public Relations
PR pros may increasingly encounter pay-to-play offers: A publication offers a favorable media mention in return for payment. In the past, a wall divided editorial and advertising departments, much like the church vs. state division. Not so much anymore. The media...
by William Comcowich | Nov 10, 2020 | Pinterest
Most people probably associate Pinterest with 40-year-old mothers seeking home decorating ideas and cooking recipes. Brands believe that Pinterest is best for marketing visually appealing products desired mostly by women in their 30s and 40s. But public relations and...
by William Comcowich | Nov 9, 2020 | PR Measurement
A large budget makes it easier to obtain substantial media exposure and measure the results of PR and marketing. But most organizations don’t have millions (or even thousands) to spend on media measurement. Most nonprofit organizations, start-ups and small businesses...
by Michael Kling | Nov 9, 2020 | PR Measurement
Economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic increases the importance of PR measurement and evaluation. With corporate revenues down across the board and budgets under scrutiny, PR must prove its value to company management to defend its budgets, according to new...
by William Comcowich | Nov 6, 2020 | Social Media Marketing
You may have seen them before. Probably on your LinkedIn feed. Each sentence is its own paragraph. Each paragraph is one sentence. They’re filled with personal stories. People call these things broetry. This is an example of a broem. While single-sentence...