I’ve worked in marketing and public relations for nearly two decades now, and the only constant in this field throughout those two decades? Change. And while the speed with which this industry changes has greatly accelerated over the past few years, I’m still surprised at how slow many companies are in adapting their marketing and […]
In 1970, Citibank set in motion a series of events that eventually gave birth to a movement dedicated to simple, clear writing. Now called the plain language movement, Citibank’s efforts resulted in legislatures across the country passing laws requiring documents like insurance policies and consumer contracts to be written simply.
As website content writers and strategists, we’ve been involved in many projects that go like this: An information architecture (the organization or structure of the site) has already been developed, wireframes created, page layouts designed, colors chosen, photos taken and “lorem ipsum” (industry standard “dummy” text) placed throughout. And that’s when we get a call. […]
Native advertising is hot. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr are all monetizing their platforms with “in-feed ads,” and media stalwarts like Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today are all offering native advertising solutions. According to eMarketer’s report, “Native Advertising: An Emerging Consensus for a New Kind of Ad,” marketers […]
I’ve been doing PR for nearly two decades. DECADES. That’s a long time to be in an industry that’s somewhat young. And boy has it changed since I started out. My first job out of college was in London (long story), working for a tech PR firm during the early days of the dotcom boom. […]
Editorial boards are an age-old tradition at newspapers. Back when traditional media wielded more influence, these groups held enormous power, dictating the tone and direction of a publication’s editorial policy and its stand on various community issues and political races. In today’s digital world, with fractured media and citizen journalism, editorial boards aren’t quite as […]
At last week’s Legal Marketing Association annual conference in Orlando, three highly accomplished general counsel addressed more than 1,000 legal marketers on ways to better market to them. While they shared a wealth of insights, one common theme arose—personalization. While many marketers think about personalization in terms of advanced customer relationship management (CRM) tools, Amazon’s […]
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Legal Marketing Association’s national conference in Orlando. Kicking off the conference was keynote speaker Kat Cole, the president of Cinnabon. If you’ve never heard of Cole, you can read about her in Forbes (From Hooters To Hot Buns: How Kat Cole Turned Cinnabon Into A $1 […]
There’s a common misconception that business-to-business communications have to look and sound a certain way… the opposite of good. Do you check your personality at the door upon entering your office building? Neither does your reader. Remember we’re all humans (of varying degrees) and want to be approached in our native language. To ensure sure […]
We know now that content marketing isn’t a fad. In fact, it’s the hottest thing going right now in the marketing world. Companies and professional services firms are becoming content factories, churning out blog posts, articles, white papers and more in an effort to attract customers with their brilliance—but without the hard sell. Just take […]