Filed under: General business, b2b online marketing
A Japanese proverb says that a vision without action is a daydream, and action without vision is a nightmare. The same holds true in business – you cannot achieve business goals without setting them, developing a sound plan for reaching them and taking action to get there.
At Burk Advertising & Marketing, we are continually improving our STREAMING™ process, a proprietary, strategy-development tool that is designed to help clients do just that. Through the STREAMING process, we custom-design communications plans that integrate the best mix of traditional and digital tactics for each unique situation.
Since we recently made improvements to the STREAMING process, we wanted to share a brief summary with you in our blog. If you want more detailed information, contact Bailey Burk at 214-953-0494, ext. 2.
The basics: STREAMING happens in nine interconnected steps, which can be revisited anytime throughout the process, as needed, to maximize effectiveness:
Business goals: Helps your marketing/management team(s) reach a consensus on goals and agree on the best way to measure results.
Product/service market analysis: Provides a comprehensive look into your product or service, its benefits, the need it meets, its business segments and its target audiences. Also explores purchase process to pinpoint buyer perceptions.
Research: Creates a solid portrait of your competitive business landscape. Takes into account factors such as comparative Web sites, social media, advertising and published papers.
Brand Qi: Provides a framework for an effective communications strategy. Helps define points of differentiation and core benefits, establish value propositions and develop key messages.
Strategy development offline/online: Solidifies the game plan. Includes exploring various combinations of traditional and digital tactics and devising a corresponding strategy.
Integration: Maximizes resources. Together, we review traditional and digital strategies, technological and financial requirements and key performance index (KPI) metrics to make sure the communications plan lines up with your business goals.
Tactical execution offline/online: Kicks off the creative process. Once a strategic framework is established, we can begin creative development. Generally integrates traditional and digital tactics to improve results.
Measurement offline/online: Quantifies progress using a key performance index (KPI). Analyzes offline and online indicators.
Rethink/adjust: Allows us to review and fix any part of the plan that doesn’t measure up. No matter where we are in the STREAMING process, we can adjust strategy and execution to reflect changing market conditions, target audience perceptions and financial considerations.
Filed under: General business
It seems like business productivity goes way down around the holidays and this year, for whatever reason – be it the economy, the weather or a combination of factors – the drop feels even more pronounced than usual. To combat procrastination, we’ve tried some relatively simple solutions that have had noticeable results. If you’re looking for ways to be more productive, consider:
Prioritizing your to-do list: At the end of every workweek, make a master to-do list for the next week and a shorter list with just the priority jobs that need to be completed on Monday. This will help you stay focused and enables you to get started on your priorities as soon as you arrive on Monday morning. Continue to make daily priority lists throughout the week as needed.
Setting a deadline: If an item on your list doesn’t have a specific deadline, create one. Setting a personal completion date will help ensure list items don’t slip through the cracks.
Making a game of it: Sometimes people can get more things done on their list if they make a game of it. Try to see how many list items you can cross off in a day. This can provide good motivation without a lot of effort.
Starting a project, any project: As many writers suffering from writer’s block will tell you, sometimes just doing something will spur more productivity – so pick an item from your list and get going!
Finishing the thing you dread most, first: Although it’s human nature to push activities we dislike to the bottom of the list, resist the urge. If you put it off, chances are that it will stay at the bottom and may never get done. But if you tackle the hardest items first, not only will they be finished, but also, other list items will seem easier to complete by comparison.
A word of caution: To-do lists can be extremely helpful in combating procrastination, but be careful not to spend too much time on them. If the majority of your day is spent making lists as opposed to crossing-off completed activities, then you may be using your to-do list as another procrastination tool!
Filed under: public relations
In part one of our series on building more efficient public relations programs, we talked about the importance of setting PR goals and an achievement strategy. In this blog, we will talk about two other important factors that help shape effective PR campaigns: workforce talent and measurement.
Workforce talent
Essentially, this boils down to how well your staff and/or your PR agency develops and/or executes the PR strategy in order to reach your goals. If your strategy is weak, the workforce talent is a moot point. Even the best of us will have trouble reaching company goals without proper planning.
If your strategy is sound, then make sure you have the right team to implement it. If your PR strategy utilizes a combination of traditional and digital tactics, then your workforce should reflect this. You will need team members with experience in these areas. If your staff has all but one of the components you need, like a social media expert, and you cannot afford to take on another full-time employee or wait for current employees to gain the expertise needed, then consider collaborating with a qualified consultant or agency to help fill-in-the-gaps.
PR measurement
One of the most important and overlooked factors in building an effective PR program is measurement. Determine how to qualify your PR success before you begin implementing PR tactics. This will save you time and frustration both during and after the campaign.
Develop your PR measurement plan while setting your goals. This will help you focus your PR efforts, which improves your ability to succeed. It can also help you spot problem areas early on, enabling you to adjust your PR plan accordingly.
A Japanese proverb says that a vision without action is a daydream, and action without vision is a nightmare. The same holds true in business – you cannot achieve business goals without setting them, developing a sound plan for reaching them and taking action to get there.
Posted on January 13th, 2010 by wambam
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