On Thursday, I attended the Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference. I was disappointed about the sparse crowd, especially after keynote speaker Andrew Taylor, Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the Wisconsin School of Business, shared his views about the concept of place in the Internet era. (more…)
I’ve used this blog to talk (repeatedly) about the importance of listening in order to learn who your audience really is and what motivates them to interact with your product or service. I still believe that is the crucial first step to any good communications campaign. The step that comes in a close second is to understand who else competes for your audiences’ attention. (more…)
Are you giving your social media/communications/marketing campaign the breathing room it needs to succeed? Consider this: (more…)
I have been reading a lot about patience lately. In this hyper-connected, 24-hour news cycle world, it seems patience is becoming a virtue rarely practiced. Yet countless business coaches continue to emphasize the importance of time and perseverance. I couldn’t agree more. (more…)
This Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent is a period of 40 days that some Christians say represents the time Jesus spent wandering the desert, enduring temptations and reflecting on his life’s purpose. In modern times, it has become a time for Catholics and others to give up their own temptations or, better yet, add good habits to fulfill their own personal goals and purpose.
Most of my friends, when polled, have decided to give up their bad habits – everything from too much meat and Diet Coke to chocolate and alcohol. Two of my friends are giving up Facebook. More on that in a minute…
This got me to thinking. What if we communications professionals gave up our bad habits for as well? (more…)
At Gracie Communications, we spend a lot of time on defining and understanding audiences. Part of our marketing planning process is to create a profile of the ideal target audience: who they are, where they live, what they buy, what they are passionate about, what motivates them and where they go for fun. Knowing the audience results in marketing strategies that act more like an arrow hitting the bull’s-eye than a shotgun spraying pellets.
Sometimes we’ll create a picture or collage of pictures illustration of the ideal audience to help our clients visualize who they need to reach. Lately though, I think this approach creates more problems than clarity. (more…)
Girl Scouts of the USA know a thing or two about cookies. They also know how to create a successful communications campaign. Here are the 8 things I’ve learned about marketing and PR from helping my daughters sell Girl Scout cookies: (more…)