Walking into a crowded room, how do you stand out?
As we launch our Public Relations and Marketing business, we ask ourselves a similar question. How do we set ourselves apart from the other hundreds, if not thousands, of brand agencies and freelancers in the region?
Here’s how we do it:
- Educate yourself. Learn about your client and their industry. Indulge yourself into their world. Read their industry news. Identify and follow industry influencers. Sign up for industry newsletters. Attend webinars and conferences. Sit in on major strategy and planning meetings. Become an industry leader with your client.
- Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of them! Go through the list – Who, What, When, Where, Why? That is how you learn. This allows you to cover your bases when you are preparing the strategic plan and defining the appropriate marketing tactics to achieve the client’s needs.
- Understand the client’s goals. Determining the overall business and marketing goals and objectives leads you down the road to success. Fully engaging with the client and determining their short-term and long-term goals will play a vital role when planning the tactics that will result in the best outcomes.
- Be strategic. Think through the big picture. Start at the beginning and decide where your marketing adventure wants to go. Do the research. Check out competitors. Create a thorough marketing plan with all possible recommendations, and then narrow it down to what is achievable. Create a detailed timeline. Add to the plan when necessary, but for the most part, stay on track. Keep note of what is working and what isn’t to assist in future strategic planning.
- Pay attention to the details. Details are everything — from the spelling and grammar to the branding style, color, and tone. Check for inconsistencies in your documents – for instance, if you’re bolding the header for each section, carry it through; including the company logo and page numbers on each page, keep it uniformed. Preparing special holiday menus? Utilize the full proper names of the menu items as they appear on your original menu. Review images from a photo shoot while on location to be sure there are no background distractions/deviations from the main image. Keep track of your brand colors and font styles and incorporate them into everything.
- Meet and exceed deadlines. Staying true to deadlines sustain the momentum to complete tasks and achievements. Keep the master timeline updated. Put deadline dates onto your calendar. If your old school like us, add those dates to your daily planner. Yes, we do both – digital calendar and planner book. Give yourself some wiggle room. We like to add a few buffer days to make sure we have the sufficient time to complete and thoroughly review projects before sharing them with the client.
- Communicate. Over communicate. Be available for your clients. Take the initiative and call and talk with them. Yes, pick up your cell and dial their number. Don’t hide behind email and text. Our best results come from a face-to-face meetings (or Zoom – these days) and conference calls. And even when a topic may be difficult or there is an uncomfortable situation, it’s best to clear the air in person or by a call. Tone in texts and emails can be misconstrued. Go back to the basics and talk!
Come back and visit us as we dive deeper into each of our differentiators, and key steps to our clients’ success.