December 15, 2020 feels like a late date to be posting thoughts on how to create your marketing budget for 2021. But with the economists and numbers people projecting so many different models for economic recovery (like these), creating ODEA’s own marketing budget before now left me feeling like half fortune teller and half contortionist. So, if like me you’ve got planning and budgeting on the rinse-and-repeat cycle, here are three tips for your next round of updates. Highs and Lows ODEA’s 2021 marketing budget could legitimately be called bi-polar. When I’m feeling optimistic – let’s hear it for the READ MORE >>
It’s not uncommon for an ODEA-ite to spit out a random fun, weird, quirky, or technical fact at any given moment. Whether we’re chatting with friends, family, each other, or a random stranger in Walgreens (true story!), we often find ourselves throwing in a little-known fact or piece of “how in the world do you know that” knowledge. We owe all our thanks to clients, current and former, for allowing us to live our mission to “Be Curious. Be Inspired. Be BOLD.” It was on a Friday afternoon phone call that we decided it wasn’t fair for us to keep READ MORE >>
We got you sales pros! We know you’re killer at building rapport and gaining interest when you’re live and in person with a potential customer. But these days, you’re having to sharpen your online presentation skills to make those same connections while looking into a webcam instead of into the eyes of another human. That means we marketers need to step up our game, too. We need those decks and presentations you’re using to be BOLDer than ever – and optimized for the virtual sales world. And while we’re talking – let’s be real. We know you sales folks like READ MORE >>
A FREE fingers-on-the-keyboard session to tidy up your LinkedIn profile and get you connecting in all the right ways. As a biz owner or sales-type, having to socially distance (it’s vital so keep it up!) is hard, both personally and professionally. How do you keep marketing when it feels impossible to get in touch with prospects? You’ve heard social media is booming right now. In fact, LinkedIn announced on April 1 they have seen, “…a bump of 55% more conversational activity between existing connections in recent weeks.” But if you haven’t been using LinkedIn for marketing or lead generation – READ MORE >>
It’s Friday night and you’ve just nestled yourself into a cozy blanket for a relaxing evening of binge-watching your favorite series. You fire up the streaming service and a black background with a red “NETFLIX” logo appears on your television screen. The all-too familiar “bum, bum” intro sound plays. This is called a brand sound. If you think about it, you’re probably familiar with more of these then you realize. MGM’s lion roar, T-Mobile’s phone chime, Marvel’s page turning… all brand sounds! What does this mean for future branding? Tune into this week’s episode of Brain Lava to hear ODEA READ MORE >>
If we are connected on LinkedIn – and if not send me a connection request! – hopefully you’ve noticed I’ve been increasing my activity the last six months or so. I’ve made logging in part of my morning routine to comment, share and like posts from my connections – something our fellow marketer Sima Dahl calls “digital deposits”. I’m posting about three times a week, typically one original content piece from our team, a “curated” post from another source that I want to add my thoughts to, and a third lighter post such as a photo I’ve snapped during my READ MORE >>
Big River Steel is unlike any other steel company in the world. To help them prove that, they needed a website that BOLDLY captured their brand and dared to challenge the future of steel. Through stunning photography, video, and bold phrases, their website showcases Big River’s integration of steel and technology with a rebellious edge. Launched January of 2018, we are proud to have created a website that shows the world just how badass Big River Steel is: To see more of our work with Big River, click here. READ MORE >>
A major confirmation came last week for marketers when a Google senior strategist confirmed that content and links pointing to a site are two of the top three signals contributing to search rankings. The third is Google’s artificial intelligence system RankBrain that helps process its search results using machine learning. Machine learning is described as a form of AI where computer programs can teach themselves how to develop and change when exposed to different types of data, in this case, search queries. You can learn more about RankBrain in this article from Search Engine Watch. We’re believers of inbound marketing READ MORE >>
MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, a term coined by Eric Reis as part of The Lean Startup Methodology. Building an MVP means building the absolute simplest version of your idea in order to get customer feedback on the viability of your product. No need to overthink here. The MVP could be a landing page explaining your product and asking people to sign up if they’re interested. Or it could be a rudimentary working prototype that future customers can use and provide feedback on. The point is, it does not need to be perfect! It needs to be just good READ MORE >>