Corporate Eye

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Bridget Wright

Bridget Wright

Is Your Media Relations Campaigns Making Mass Appeal? Rethink and Retool Your Plan

A thriving corporate entity online should have an effective media relations presence in place in order to stand out and get traffic. If they have to click around or dig too long, they will invariably click away, thus a potential lost sale.

Often what will happen when a corporation is compiling their media kit or media relations pages, they will fail to consider the average, everyday “Joe” who will be visiting their site and not have any technical inclinations at all. Since highly technical gurus typically design and write site outlines, they write the site based on what works (for them) or what they feel is currently necessary. All that’s fine too…just make sure the audience understands it as well.

When I visit sites looking for their media relations efforts, I click on the links as if I know NOTHING about their custom deep links, SEO strategy or popular keywords. As a blogger, I know about these things of course, but I want to see what approach the company offers to the person who doesn’t have the benefit of this experience. And this would be accurate since the typical online trafficker really doesn’t concern themselves with these things. It’s important to have these things in place and available, but often companies will put too much time and focus on one area and neglect another component that is equally important.

For instance, I may perhaps as a blogger seek the link to their media press releases to get information about the company’s activities and future goals. But as a manager or administrator, I technically may not be familiar with where to find press cuttings, releases or news about the company. Should I be?

Does the responsibility fall on the company to provide a more clear cut direction to these things (in terms of very, very basic navigation), or does the responsibility fall on the person who is perusing the site, demanding that they hone their online technical skills, web grammar and understanding and be able to navigate the site without aid because they “understand it.”

Which do you think should prevail and why?

No matter how many people and businesses come online every day and no matter how “common” online communications, presence and activities may become, there will always, always be newbies to your site. Whether they are experienced or novices is not so important as how well they can navigate and maneuver themselves around your website. Therefore, it would stand that your site should be easy to read, easy to navigate, have common sense links and leave the reader with a feeling that he’d like to visit your site again. But by the same token…

Online businesses are changing daily at phenomenal rates. In order for corporate businesses to remain competitive and cutting-edge, they must change as the times change. This means new developments, new software

How to Use Podcasting for Client Communications and Sales

The new media of blogging, social media and podcasting are swiftly and thoroughly taking over the Internet as the dominant lead in marketing, sales and communication. Now, instead of assembling a packet of sales letters, samples and brochures, all one must do is to provide their prospect with the appropriate URL and let their content do the rest.

Client Marketing

Client communications and marketing is the lifeblood of any company, big or small. If you don’t know what your customers want, how are you going to provide it to them? You also have to stay in communication to ensure that the happy client stays that way: happy.

Client marketing is also another area that requires a corporation’s full concentration and best concerted efforts to be successful. There must be careful and methodical approaches to securing new clients and maintaining the existing ones. Yes, clients will come and clients will go, but corporations must ensure that they are not losing clients for the wrong reasons. Are your communications effective? Are you visible enough for them to remember you or for you to establish yourself enough so as to become a household name?

New Media

There are many, many venues that companies can successfully use to address their clients; websites, blogs, emails, social sites, etc. Podcasting is one such method that works wonderfully well for some companies who have a product and an effective employee base who can maximize the potential that podcasting can offer.

A podcast consists of a series of digital media files that are available as downloads and go directly to the user’s computer, provided that the correct software is being used to capture the podcast. The podcast has the ability to be downloaded or retrieved and enjoyed at the user’s convenience, which makes it more inviting and exciting to utilize.

With a podcast marketing system, your company has the ability to generate multiple podcast presentations at any designated number of times they choose. In other words, you can publish a podcast once or twice a week if you prefer. The listener has the convenience of going back to listen to previous downloads, listening to a series of downloads or selecting only certain dates or times of the downloads that interest them. But, for the corporation, the podcast equips them with phenomenal marketing power.

Whenever your company publishes a podcast, they are essentially making a “mini” television commercial each time. They have the space and time to introduce a new product, a new marketing concept, teach a series of lessons or strategies, or to even have one of the top executives present a weekly address. The ideas are limitless!

Communications is key. Marketing is key. Start by doing the following:

1. Identify those internal employees who have the necessary skill set and technical abilities to publish the podcast. Make sure that they have a desire for this new media and not just doing “their job.” Their enthusiasm (or lack thereof) will certainly show through on the podcasts.

2. Invest in the necessary software equipment that it will take to implement this new media. Shop online at various software dealers that have software that is specifically for the podcasting audience.

3. Connect your company with the major social networking site(s). Let everyone know that you have a podcast available. Tweak, adjust, post, comment and interact on these networking sites constantly.

4. Advertise the podcast on everything from your email signatures to sales letters to brochures. The more exposure your efforts have, the more traffic you will receive.

5. Be consistent with your podcast presentations so as to establish trust with your followers. Consistency is the key. Customers may not remember everything you said, but they will not forget the one week that you missed publishing a podcast presentation.

These are a few steps that will help get your company aligned with the podcasting idea and position you as a forward-thinking business.

Podcast Then?

Absolutely!

But wait…should your corporation or business start podcasting? Is podcasting going to really make that much of a difference in the way you do business? Will customers respond better? Differently? Be non-responsive?

Of course, no one can give you definitive answers to any of those questions because the use of various media processes all depend on several external factors, i.e., the nature of the business, the technical skills of the employees, the company’s ability to hold their own against their competition, etc.

But, podcasting, if done correctly and strategized correctly, can have a significant impact on your company’s interaction with customers and clients, which could essentially result in higher sales and an increase in your client base. Who would object to that?!

Google Cards for Your Business

Another social media platform? Yes, I’m afraid so. It’s such an appealing way for businesses to connect that Google wants to join in on the fun too. Now, your company’s executives and officers can establish themselves with a new social networking platform and position themselves to be found in the wonderful community of the World Wide Web.

I’m thinking that perhaps there may be an over-saturation of social media sites, so many that I can’t keep track of them all! I certainly have my favorites, but then again so does everyone else. Each of the sites serve a different and diverse audience and also serve different purposes. And, if many users are like me, they have accounts with more than one of them and utilize them for the some of the same functions on each of them.

While it may be just as effective to work two or three social networking platforms to get the desired results, users generally want to find that “one” site that serves most of their major goals.

Want to share music and the latest releases? Try MySpace.

Want to share what you did five minutes, ten minutes ago? Try Twitter.

What about photos, links and meatier posts? Facebook should do it.

The new social platform by Google should serve an even bigger, more diverse audience with their business card presentation and professional appearance. There really isn’t any new information shared there that you cannot find on any of the other sites. Perhaps only in layout and design will you find differences and nuances.

As for company executives and officers, I think the platform is going to really be an added bonus for company’s who are looking to gain more exposure. Perhaps when customers or clients can’t find a specific company, they will have more luck finding the people who work for the company. Therefore, instead of one shot at one hit in a search engine, there are chances of 10-15 shots in a search engine for one company. Sound plausible?

So, how do you think the new Google platform will measure up with the other heavy-hitters? Do you think it’s different or unique enough to last a while? I actually set up my page here and started playing around with it. One thing that I found that was really likable about it was the instant gratification of typing my name into the Google search engine and watching my information populate instantly. If nothing else, it certainly does wonders for the ego.

What do you think?

Eliminate Reasons for Consumers to Shop Elsewhere: Homebase Diversifies and Appeals to Many (Including Me!)

Alright, I love it! I love the idea and new market segment that Home Retail Group is carving out for themselves. Based in the UK, they are certainly onto something that hopefully will catch on quickly in the UK and find its way fast to the U.S. Although there are many companies here in the U.S. who offer pet insurance coverage, I don’t find many that are affordable and marketed very much. Do you?

Pet insurance, although not a novel idea, but a very needed one for families who love their animals and feel that they are just as much a part of their families as each other. But, I think often many people are somewhat embarrassed by the idea of having pet insurance and placing high esteem of their pets as a family priority. I say to each his/her own and priorities are personal.

My husband and I are still contemplating getting the children a pet. He leans towards no, I towards yes. I don’t really know why we can’t agree to either do it or not do it. Although we lean heavily towards no, there are some days we look at them (the children) and think about how nice and cute it would be to see them with a little pet.

We are primarily “no” about it because we are wondering if they are mature enough and responsible enough to handle a pet. When my siblings and I were their age, my folks did the same thing. They waited and waited and waited until what they thought was the “right” age and then got us not only one, not two, but three dogs; two toy poodles and one mixed breed. We were in hog’s heaven, to say the least.

But is my family ready for a new addition to an already busy and crowded lifestyle? I also worry about the maintenance and expense that it takes to keep a pet and to properly take care of it. When something went wrong with a pet of ours when we were little, my parents would just take it to the vet, get it taken care of with medications, shots, etc., and then sit and dread the bill. We didn’t have the luxury or the peace of mind in knowing that we didn’t have to angst over a sick pet or almost go bankrupt to take care of it. Pet insurance? I say go for it!!

Corporate entities like Homebase offer several strategic points of sale that work well with their business premise. If you will notice on their site, they also offer multiple other services for the consumer that appeal to the masses. Simply offering one service like pet insurance will invariably lock them into a market and create a situation that makes it hard for them to make a profit. Diversity is the key for any corporation who is trying to make a profit and make a name.

What other kinds of services does your corporation offer? How can you diversify your offerings and still appeal to the masses as much as possible?

Thanks Homebase for giving me (or rather, eliminating) reasons why I should just go ahead, bite the bullet and get the children a pet. I’m sure they will be happy!

Can They DO That? Tehran Blocks Access to Facebook

When I initially read this article, I had to do a double-take, just to make sure I wasn’t mis-reading it or reading it too fast. So, I read it again and again. Yes, I was reading it right and yes, it said what it said. Access to the Facebook social networking site was being blocked by political figures in Tehran. They blocked visitors access to the site from being able to look at, participate in or read anything that would give the supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi any advantage in the political decisions that will be made soon. But, can they do that? Really?

First off, to me that screams against the First Amendment, but then again I do live in the United States, so I am taken aback by this action. I mean, if someone tried something like that here in the states, there would be absolute mayhem. But, just because we live in different places, does that make the citizens of Tehran any different from me? I think not!

Facebook is a platform for everyone to voice their opinions (their opinions), share their views, and talk about anything they fancy. Stifling the platform seems to me to be a bit domineering if not just plain wrong, I think. Whether or not the citizens of Tehran agree or disagree with Mir Hossein Mousavi’s point of view, he does reserve the right to not only express them but to have others join in, doesn’t he?

Now, I like the fact that the folks at Facebook aren’t too happy about this either, and neither should they be. I respect the right’s that others have and think too, that people should also enjoy the freedom to express themselves, whether I agree with that expression or not. Do you agree?

And, what is also interestingly peculiar is that this action is only for right now, while elections are going on. Things should be back to normal afterwards. Right now, visitors who try to access his page will get a message that says, “Access Denied.” And people should be alright with that? What do you think? Is it fair or unfair, a matter worth debating or not? I for one would be a very, very unhappy customer if my Facebook whims were blocked or inhibited because of someone else’s issues. Would you? Tell me what you think.


British Petroleum Oil (BP Oil) Gets it Right

Having vision when it comes to foresight in economics is very important, whether you’re in politics, business or even religion. It’s not always about who’s right, but more often about what’s right. And when you get it right…

I frequently get those annoying emails from well-meaning friends and peers, giving digs on Obama and politics. They generally poke fun at what he’s doing or how he’s doing and why he’s doing it. I usually don’t even read them or if I do, I don’t take them seriously. After all, politics is a sensitive subject for many, and discussing it can open a heated and never-ending discussion.

But, what is interesting to me is one of the political views that President Obama had about clean, sustainable energy and how it can affect our future. Most of our energy sources as a nation and around the world is transported in and often directly linked to questionable agencies or organizations with ulterior motives. While the consumer is screaming for better, more cost effective ways of attaining resourceful energy, businesses that deal in this industry are also calling for more cost effective ways of handling it. Of course, this is ultimately important in the corporate sector as well, and I found that BP Oil is one of the responsible corporations and is doing their part to ensure clean energy.

Recently, they’ve constructed a wind farm in the Midwest for gathering and producing clean energy. Criticize them? Forbid! Now while I respect other’s political opinions, I can’t help but laud companies like BP Oil who are doing their part to make sure that we enjoy clean energy. BP’s efforts will do several things:

  • create more jobs
  • increase positive communications between business to business and to consumers
  • provide clean, sustainable energy

No, everything is not great and wonderful when it comes to issues like these, but I think too often we concentrate on the wrong thing or are focused wrong and place too much emphasis on what doesn’t count. What do you think?