You are currently browsing the archives for the Public Relations category

Want the Best Website?

May 14, 2013 Advertising / Business / Communication / ecommerce / Marketing / Online Marketing / Public Relations / Social Media / Technology / Web / Websites
No comments

Start With the Answer!

It’s not about you. People are so busy today, they’re either surfing the net or have landed on your site via Search Engines or connection recommendations because they’re looking for answers to their questions or problems.

It may be to learn, for entertainment, to connect, to increase their business or to find help for themselves, family or friends, but basically they’re looking for answers. They’re looking for content that provides VALUE, solving their needs, essentially answering the question:

‘What’s in it for me?’
People are too busy today, have too many choices and things to do. You have 3-5 seconds for users to decide if they are in fact on the right website, the best solution that answers their quest. So, your site better give them what they want, NOW.

Who Are They?
When you start with the answer, make sure you’re addressing the right people. No matter how big or small your business or organization is, the truth of the matter is that you are ‘speaking’ with ONE person when they’re on your website. It’s just one person and their computer or other electronic device.

That one person may indeed be and likely is, part of a larger group, whether it’s business or personal connections. The one thing you can be sure of, is, when you’ve answered their questions properly, they will let others know.

Who might they be?
This is where you must know the answer to ‘Who is my target market and demographic anyway?’.  Knowing who you’re ‘talking to’, helps you to make sure you answer the right questions, for the right people.

How?
Content, design, navigation and functionality. A website strategist plans what your website will DO for users, long before the pretty colours and pictures are in place.

When we know what your website will DO for people, the answers come, in turn, answering the ‘What’s in it for me? question. This in then translated into the website structure for navigation, functionality and ultimately, the look and feel of the design.

Yikes!

One of the biggest mistakes made on websites is the failure to tell people what you want them to do with the information that you are providing. Tell them with  ‘Call to Action’ text, images, navigation and buttons.

Think About It
Here’s some questions to help you to get started with the answers:

1. What makes me so great?
This is where you turn your features and benefits into the answer to their problems. What’s your USP (unique selling point)?

2. What are my readers really looking for?
Solve their problems. Know your target market, learn their needs and give them what they want.

3. What action do I want users to take?
Do you want them to sign up, buy now, read on, learn more, contact someone, share with friends or comment? Tell them!

4. Do they need the whole enchilada?
You’ve heard the saying less is more? Way to often, websites have so much text, content, generally speaking, that it actually drives people away from websites. How much ‘So, who cares?’ info do you have on your site?

Grab users with content that matters to them. Show them you ARE the answer. You will be rewarded in spades.
Discover Engine Communications online and offline marketing solutions here. 

Win an iPad Mini!

January 22, 2013 Advertising / Branding / Communication / Marketing / Non-Profit / Online Marketing / Public Relations / Social Media
No comments

Hi – would you mind filling out this 2 min survey for us?

We’re working on a marketing research and strategy project to improve Mental Health & Addictions Services in the Quinte, Prince Edward County, Hastings County including Bancroft regions. Psst you can win an iPad Mini!
 

Fill Out the Online Survey here>

Thanks so much!

Another Marketing Strategy Project by www.enginecommunications.com

 

 

 

Engine Communications Knows Schools

November 1, 2012 Advertising / Communication / Design / Marketing / Online Marketing / Print Advertising / Public Relations / School Marketing / Social Media / Uncategorized / Web / Websites
No comments

It’s a numbers game these days. Let us help you get your numbers up with fresh, new and exciting marketing tools to help your school get noticed!

See our newsletter for schools.

5 Marketing Questions to Ask Yourself:

March 29, 2012 Advertising / Business / Communication / Design / ecommerce / Marketing / Non-Profit / Online Marketing / Print Advertising / Public Relations / Social Media / Technology / USP / Web / Websites
No comments

What are you saying? After branding, a user-friendly interactive website is likely one of the most important tools that you need for your business or organization. Your online messages, along with cohesive marketing collateral, make a big difference for increasing your business. To help you get started in the thought process, here are 5 Marketing Questions you should ask yourself:

1. If I’ve never heard of my business, is it absolutely clear ‘WHAT IT IS?’ that I do?
2. Do my messages immediately identify the ‘WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?’ question?
3. Am I consistent in my branding across ALL print, logo, tagline, ad, POP item, website and Social Media?
4. Do I have a UNIQUE printed piece that I could give to my clients that encourage repeat business?
5. Does everything I do include my website ADDRESS?

Yippee for SPRING!

We thought we would take a moment to show our appreciation to you, our clients. To us, it’s all about relationships. Thank you for including Engine Communications in your marketing success. As a little thank you, we’ll be posting marketing tips on our Blog, FaceBook,  Twitter and Google+ pages. Stay Tuned!

Here’s to a great spring season! Need Help? We’re here for you. Let’s Chat!

~ The Engine Communications Team

Your Project?

March 21, 2012 Design / Marketing / Public Relations / Social Media / Web
No comments

Only Engine Has the 7 Point Rule

We have a rule here at Engine Communications when we tackle projects. We really take our time to consider every aspect of your business or organization from a sales and marketing point of view. To make sure the magic really happens, we’ve created and follow 7 rules for every single client and every single task.

Size doesn’t matter!

Small business, large organization and everything in-between, we follow the 7 point rule. A tagline, ad copy, poster, website, multi-media or an entire campaign, the size of the project doesn’t matter. We follow our 7 point rule.

Rules. ONLY at ENGINE:

  1. Listen and understand the client’s needs.
  2. Learn about the products and/or services.
  3. Find out past and current marketing initiatives.
  4. Research competition and trends. Locally and Internationally.
  5. Be unique. Find the USP (unique selling point)
  6. Cross-connect online and offline projects.
  7. Always power the brand, empowering the client’s goals.

WHY?

Because to us, it’s about relationships and we care about your success. Your job is challenging enough. We’re here to make your life easier.

7 Rules ~ Only at Engine Communications.

April showers bring PR Disasters?

May 12, 2011 Marketing / Public Relations / Social Media / Web
No comments

Spring is a time of birth, renewal and PR crises it seems. Sony, Facebook, and a NHL player, agents and broadcaster are in the midst of protecting their image.

First up: Sony Debacle (here too)
Sony has been dealing with hackers stealing their users’ information. Sony has terribly managed the situation. It took them a week to notify their customers of a breach (7 days too late) and two weeks for the CEO to apologize (13 days too late).

Second:
Aside from debacles, a great article on how to use social media within your corporation: Implementing Social Media in Business

Thirdly:
Sean Avery, his agent, and an NHL sportscaster (now fired) get embroiled in the same-sex marriage debate. Twitter can cause controversy quickly, and lose you your job. Always think before you Tweet!

And to round things up:
Facebook pays a PR company to send bad news and reports about Google to bloggers. Too bad the agencies forgot to tell the bloggers that they were working for Google… oops!

Great Campaigns Produce Great Results

April 26, 2011 Advertising / Marketing / Public Relations / Social Media / Television
No comments

As a fan of the Song of Ice and Fire series of books by George R. R. Martin, I have been watching the development and promotion of the new TV series: Game of Thrones, with a keen eye.

HBO’s promotional campaign is great example of a successful integrated marketing campaign. From seizing the throne, to free bicycle throne rides events and then integrating it with a Facebook, blog and Twitter campaign, HBO had a great promotional campaign.

 

They placed giant throne replicas around major cities like New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Then, people got their picture taken which were then posted on Facebook and Twitter as “seizing the throne.”

This strategy is great for many reasons. First, giant thrones in a major public area will create attention and buzz from traditional media and word-of-mouth. Second, posting the pictures on Facebook gets people to spread the word to family and friends which further promotes the new TV show. Third, people will then post and talk about these events occurring (such as this blog!)

These promotions were highly successful judging by the 4.2 million viewers who tuned into the first episode.

Although HBO had a large budget, they used it efficiently. By showing these events across all possible mediums, they used their dollars wisely. Make sure you do the same when planning and promoting your events.

Tumblr: The next Star?

April 13, 2011 Advertising / Marketing / Public Relations / Social Media / Web
No comments

Recently I have begun to experiment with a new (2008+) and growing media tool: Tumblr. The tool combines Twitter and Blogging to create a “micro-blog.” Instead of short posts on your WordPress or Blogger account, you post small updates on your Tumblr page. These updates can be larger than Twitter’s 140 character limit, but users are encouraged to keep updates small. Multimedia can be uploaded to a page directly, much like a blog or a Twitter pic link.

Tumblr wants you to Save Twitter for short links and updates, blogs for longer discussions and Tumblr for longer than Twitter updates but not long enough to merit a new blog post.

On one extreme there are blogs (long, in-depth) and the other extreme is Twitter (short and shallow). Tumblr strives to hit the golden mean and let users post medium posts, enhanced with embedded multimedia.

My favourite feature is the news feed, which standard blogs do not have and acts just like the Twitter feed. Users can “reblog” their favourite posts directly from the news feed.

Does it work? From what I have seen so far, Tumblr is easy to use and is quite unique. If it was not for their technical instability I think Tumblr would be the next big social media platform.

The instability means that users can never know whether their posts will be posted or lost. They won’t know if people will even be able to access their page when Tumblr servers go down. Tumblr will not continue to grow if users become frustrated with technical glitches.

Tumblr is a neat tool and has a vibrant community if they can fix their issues I can see it becoming quite popular. I definitely recommend checking it out and see if it is useful for you and your organization.

Is Tumblr the way of the future, or is there some other site out there that is thriving and growing? Let us know what you think. You can check out my work-in-progress Tumblr at: troyvstew.tumblr.com

Physically Represent your Brand

April 7, 2011 Marketing / Public Relations / Web
No comments

As we say on our website “a brand is a powerful collection of perceptions in the mind of a consumer.” Although your brand image depends on what your consumer thinks, you can do many things to help foster a positive brand image.

A relatively easy way is to start from where you do business. Whether you are a manufacturer, small business, multinational or creative business, your location can make a lasting impression. A great location will convince people of your mission and your passion.

A great example is the BMW headquarters (seen in the YouTube video). The tower was designed in the shape of four-cylinders, which alludes to a four-cylinder car engine.

Also, as I begin interning here at Engine, the first thing I noticed is that they take their mission to heart. Positioned at a railway station, the constant rumbling, horn-blasting and bell-ringing remind me that we are here to drive businesses toward success.

It really makes a lasting and great first impression on both consumers and employees. Take a look at your business, or your place of employment. Does the location reflect your mission?

Troy is currently interning at Engine Communications as part of his Loyalist Post-Grad PR Program.  He likes anything to do with PR, social media and technology.  A UWO graduate, he is always looking at new ways of doing things. His blog can be found at: troyvstew.wordpress.com

Hire a Blind Person

February 3, 2011 Advertising / Design / Marketing / Public Relations / Television
5 comments

I’ve recently come across what may be some of the most controversial television advertisements I’ve seen in a while. They are from the Norwegian Association of the Blind, and while I can appreciate humour in advertising, I find this brand of self-deprecating humour to be in poor taste. Sure, they accomplish their goal of making the viewer consider the advantages of hiring a blind person, but it almost feels like they’re encouraging the exploiting of handicapped people.

What are your thoughts; are these ads in good taste – or do you think the only reason they get away with showing these ads on the television is because the blind people they are talking about can’t see them? Comment below…

← Older Entries