Internal newsletters are a great way to keep employees engaged and let them know what’s going on with the company or their co-workers. But how do you craft a compelling newsletter that employees will actually want to read?
Here are a few easy tips.
1 | Ask Your Employees
The best source of information about content is always the audience for that content. So if you’re wondering what employees would like to see in a newsletter from their company — ask them. Send out an email encouraging feedback, launch a survey with perks for completion (e.g. a drawing for a gift card) or even ask people to volunteer for a brainstorming session that represents different departments and diverse viewpoints.
2 | Choose a ...
With the world adjusting to COVID as a fact of life, travel is making a roaring comeback in 2023. And that comeback entails several new consumer trends that visitor bureaus and hospitality businesses should be aware of.
1 | Vacationers are looking for ways to “travel light.”
More and more, travelers have been looking to slim down their luggage. Destinations that hope to lure the clutter-conscious should highlight hotels offering bulky items (such as exercise equipment) for rent, or introduce potential visitors to local businesses that can supply travel essentials.
2 | The off-season is becoming more popular.
One side-effect of a global pandemic: many people have become less comfortable with crowds. So if your area is a popular one with summer travelers, ...
If you’re anything like us, your resolution to hit the gym three times a week is going to fizzle out by mid-February. But when it comes to your business, there are a few resolutions you should work hard to keep.
1 | Take a fresh look at your brand.
What are the values and experiences that define your brand, and are they still relevant to the actual values and experiences you’re hoping to embody? Just as importantly, are they still relevant to what consumers want from a company in your space? If your most recent brand update happened a few years ago — or in reaction to a market trend that might no longer be current — the new year is ...
Consumers spend hours each week on social media. And so do brands — which means it’s increasingly challenging to rise to the top amid the constant onslaught of information we all experience on our favorite platforms.
What you need is a strategy to help you cut away the noise and make your social media presence work for you. Here are a few simple tips to help you make that happen:
1 | Tailor your approach to your audience.
What age group do you want to reach? What are their values and interests? What do they need from you? The answers to those questions will determine on which platforms you’re going to concentrate your branding efforts.
If you’re a visitor bureau and want ...
It’s every brand’s email nightmare: you work hard on crafting the perfect pitch, but when that email hits your prospects’ inbox, they hit the delete button without even opening the message.
How do you craft an email worth opening? And how do you close the sale once you have your prospects’ attention?
Step 1 | Choose a Catchy Subject Line
Good subject lines:
Are short. You want people to be able to read the whole thing, whether they’re on desktop or mobile! So keep your subject line to 40 characters or less.
Don’t contain “spammy” words. Avoid phrases like “buy now” or “free,” which could land you in spam filters.
Include a call to action. What is it you’re asking people ...
If we had a nickel for every time someone has declared print dead, only to eat their words later… well, we’d have quite a few nickels.
The point is this: print is more valuable and resilient than a lot of people give it credit for. Here are just a few of the reasons why.
Print makes people happy.
No, seriously. You’ve probably subscribed to at least one magazine over the course of your life. Do you remember that little burst of happiness when you check your mailbox and find the most recent issue in there? You just don’t get that from clicking on a digital edition. (You also don’t get to experience that nice new-ink-and-paper smell. What do you mean, you’ve never ...
It’s never been easier to get in touch with your audience. Gone are the days when you were limited to print ads or even email marketing blasts. Today, savvy brands choose to reach out to customers and prospects via content they’ve created themselves (or paid someone to create for them).
But it’s also never been more confusing to choose the right strategy for your brand. There are so many different kinds of content, and each of them serves a different purpose. Here is a short introduction to some of the most common terms, what they mean, and how they help your brand in different ways.
Thought Leadership
As a general rule, this kind of content comes from the top of your organization ...
Whether digital or in print, ads are one of the best ways to get your brand in front of consumers. But given the sheer amount of information competing for your targets’ attention every day, how can you stand out?
Here are ways not to do it:
Write a novel.
Ad space is pricey, so it’s tempting to fill that space with everything you want your target audience to know. Resist that temptation. People’s eyes will slide right over an ad that is too heavy on the text. Anything more than two sentences and a couple of bullet points is probably excessive.
Combine messages.
One of the fastest ways to lose someone’s attention is by throwing too many different pieces of information at them, so ...
Your brand is your most valuable asset.
So when you trust somebody to tell your brand story for you, you want to make sure it’s the right kind of person. Someone who can write copy that’s engaging and easy to process and, most importantly, get to the heart of what your brand is about.
In other words, a journalist.
Why a journalist, you say? Seems like a marketer or ad copywriter would be a better choice.
And sure, we get it. Marketers and salespeople know how to craft an appealing message and broadcast it. But so do journalists, and they have a few other skills in their repertoire too.
Here are five reasons why journalists make the best content marketers:
1 | They can distill ...
We’re living in uncertain times. It can be hard to decide
how your brand message should be adapted to acknowledge this and meet prospects
where they are, while also giving them hope for the future.
There have been missteps for some brands, of course, but
quite a few have launched well-received campaigns. Here are some things these
brands are doing right (and that you can do too):
1 | Remind customers you’re here for them.
Recent Ford commercials have included messages to let
customers know that “we’re here to help” anyone who is having trouble making
payments on a Ford auto loan. You can adapt that strategy to fit your own brand
by sending the message that you know your customers’ plans are changing, and
you’re here to help them ...
