Creative Communication Requires New Ways of Thinking About Client and Agency Collaboration

Times have changed, folks, and that means the ways creative agencies and their clients collaborate are changing too.

The real question: how to adjust our collaboration efforts in order to get the best results?

Now, I would argue the new face of marketing, and inbound marketing in particular, is actually a bonus for companies as it actually REQUIRES more communication and collaboration between companies and their agencies, but the trick is in doing it well and doing it efficiently.

Inbound marketing as a whole is a more organic process. Today, instead of us spending all our time making a big racket about how awesome your business is, we’re spending  time trying to get into the minds of your (very valuable) customers to see just what is important FOR them. How will they find you? What kind of information are they looking for when they do? And how can we make their lives easier once they get there?

While a lot of this information can come from customer surveys or other helpful user data, some of the most important data available is found in the brains of those who are living it every day: the company founders; the sales team who are on the front lines engaging with customers; in short, the very people who serve them throughout the entire customer journey. That’s a lot of valuable info in there, and we want it.

At Outlier, our process begins with these types of conversations, as these will help guide our initial strategy sessions. Marketing strategy sessions between an organization and its agency are crucial. During these high-level meetings, collaborative input gives the agency, and company, an opportunity to define the brand, as well as helping to identify the competitive environment and how to position the business within that environment.

Once these meetings are complete, these are the strategies that will define our entire efforts on our clients’ behalf. What that means is simply that every tactic we employ following this will be guided by the answer to the question, “is this in line with our overall marketing strategy?”

What does the agency need from the client? An inside look—at business objectives, customer knowledge and the business environment. What agencies bring to the table are fresh ideas, insight into how the many moving parts of effective strategy work together, and guidance on how to get the most out of marketing dollars.

-Written by Kathleen Martin

Effective Marketing and Creative Communications Are A Team Effort

Yes, Outlier is a full-service creative communications agency. And, by reading Outlier's Philosophy page you may have learned that we see our graphic design, web development, content marketing and Search Engine Optimization services simply as pieces of what's known around these parts as Marketing. But what exactly does that mean for Outlier clients?

It's a good question, and one that's stuck in the Outliers' collective conscienceness. Everything we do at Outlier is done to create powerful results for our clients--whether that consists of inspired graphic design or the highly technical tasks needed to create a new web application or Drupal website. The point is, keeping our final goal in mind (Do! Better! Marketing!) helps keep us in line with what's in the best interest of our clients, and the truth is, making you all look good requires a team effort.

I took some time to check in with members of the Outlier agency to get an inside look at how they perceive their roles. One of Outlier's key selling points is that clients get the combined know-how of a hand-picked group of individuals who are each passionate about two things: the success of our clients, and the drive to push ourselves to do more.

So here you go - a peek at what makes the Outlier agency tick!

Ben Friedle, Outlier Co-Founder & Licensed Vision-Quest Guide

"It is my largest responsibility to provide a vision for marketing strategy, and to help weave a line of communication throughout the creative process. I want to hear all about our clients' customers and competitors, so that I can put myself in their shoes and check off goals week by week, project by project. I also help define what Outlier's product offering is, and push the team to constantly improve it."

"When it comes to video I am fueled by sheer passion for the medium - I love making videos and pushing clients to be creative and open-minded about using video to communicate. In the SEO world, I make sure each individual activity weaves together to drive more traffic and conversions. Nothing makes me happier than a high ranking landing page, written for humans, that provides useful information and looks like it was designed by a pro."

Jed Herzog, Outlier Co-Founder & Official Leader of the Outlier Nerds

"A big part of my responsibilities is to oversee the web development at Outlier. A key differentiator that I continue to instill in my team is that we do what we do because we love building web sites. Our customers may have purchased a website from Outlier, but that website isn't the end goal. We are a creative agency backed by strategic insight, and the goal for our clients is to help them meet new customers and provide better service for their current customers."

"The website itself is simply the tool we are leveraging on behalf of our clients to create stronger brand awareness and support lead generation. This belief needs to stay with us every step of the way. It's our "big picture" and everything we do is focused on that."

Diana Lien, Lead Graphic Designer and Chosen Guardian of the Brand

"A company's brand conveys quality, credibility, and experience. It's a combination of values, promise, and strong ideas. The presentation, or visuals, and communication or voice of a company is essential in creating a unified, and well established brand. This is where design comes in -- visual design, as well as the design and execution of voice."

"Almost always, first impressions happen visually. And good--or bad--impressions only take a moment."

Here are some of the things Diana asks our clients to seriously consider:

• Are your web presence and the images you use consistent with your voice and messaging?
• Is there an aesthetic that is carried and shown throughout all your marketing collateral?
• What does your logo look like and does it represent your vision and purpose?

"Just like showing up to an interview, you want to look your best. At Outlier, we work to identify your brand values and create design assets to help you showcase your knowledge and skills. You can think of us as your personal shopper, filling up your walk-in closet with all the outfits, accessories (and shoes) to prepare you for that perfect interview."

Kathleen Martin, Marketing and Communications and Resident Logophile

"I see my role in two ways. First and foremost, I am here to guide the voice and messaging of our clients. Their vision is what started this journey; I am here to help turn that into communications that stay true to that vision and ultimately will prove most effective for speaking to their customers."

"The second part of my role is to maintain cohesion between the sometimes impressive collection of moving parts of a marketing campaign. This means I am watchful of our projects and always aware of the direction we're moving in, as well as how it will be experienced by the chosen audience. Does this stay in line with our messaging? How do all of these pieces turn into the big picture we're aiming for?"

The end result? A group that combines big thinking with attention to detail. A fully realized strategy that brings together technical knowledge and heart-felt design. A host of services that can all be coined Marketing.

-Written by Kathleen Martin

Facebook Graph Search Makes its Debut to Mixed Reviews

Searching for content across the web has become an essential part of daily online activity, taking its biggest leap to date back when Google entered the scene. Now of course, Google maintains the #1 position as the largest search engine across the web (with Microsoft bringing up a distant second place).

Today, with rising interest in a more social and open web, Facebook has released what they are calling Facebook Graph Search.

"Find people who share your interests."

The concept of the Facebook Graph Search is to help users connect like they’ve never been able to before. For instance, you could type the phrase "Friends who like to bike" and instead of results based on web crawlers and paid advertising, the query will return results that include all of your friends who like to bike. There are many other phrases that you can currently search and return results.

The majority of people have written, well, either extravagant reviews or reviews that suggest Facebook might have a long way to go.

When it comes to the idea of social search, this pillar of functionality is the first of its kind (in my humble opinion). Now, before anyone blows our comments section up, let me explain why.

Google tried to use search mixed with its Google+ social network and was torn apart by users who said their personal data shouldn’t be accessed by anyone other than those they choose to share with. Now,  Facebook has done that exact thing--by maintaining its privacy settings across users and allowing their search to connect and describe existing relationships across existing friendships—as well as allowing people to find and make new friends who have similar interests.

For now, Graph Search has launched for those who joined the waiting list, albeit in a very basic form of what I have a feeling the engineers at Facebook will eventually create for users.

-Written by Tory Adams

Holy Smokes! Facebook Brings Big Changes to Facebook Feed

Just when everyone finally got used to that pesky Timeline, Facebook is gearing up to announce possibly the biggest change since its inception.

Folks, your News Feed is about to change forever. Facebook plans to announce the entire list of changes at a press conference Thursday, March 7.

The changes to Facebook will add a much richer experience for Facebook users. Bigger (and more) photos, way more rich media, and some major additions to your stream customization options. You will now be able to filter your stream based on music, articles your friends are reading, the list goes on.

The flip side? These customization features give Facebook a lot more insight into how users are digesting content and what they are interested in. Good news for advertisers who will now have much more focused targeting possibilities for ad placement.

What do you think? Will Facebook customization benefits be outweighed by the increase in advertising? Or can we all meet in the middle?

-Kathleen Martin

Out of the Box and Away from Print: Content Marketing for Manufacturers

Many of you may have seen our link to a recent article published in Content Marketing World that offered some compelling statistics about the state of content marketing for the manufacturing industry (in light of other B2B sectors).

The results of the study were both surprising and, well, not surprising. Some of the key takeaways:

1. Manufacturing B2B has the same content marketing goals as other segments, including brand awareness, lead generation and customer acquisition.
2. While some manufacturers are buying into the digital content shift, many still choose print advertising over other choices (even though only 11% find this effective).
3. Only 54% have a blog. Thought leadership or increasing web traffic are not often considered as reasons to start one.

Anyone see room for opportunity here? With minimal effort, manufacturers can take some major strides to beat the competition when it comes to content marketing. A few thoughts:

• Many manufacturers aren't looking at blogging as a way to increase web traffic, yet many of those same respondents claimed that increased web traffic was a key factor in deciding the efficacy of content marketing efforts. As early as 2009, blogging was found to be an effective SEO tactic that could increase website traffic by up to 55%.
• Starting a blog can put you ahead of up to 46% of your peers now. Today. Over 50% of manufacturing marketers plan on increasing their content marketing efforts (and budgets) in the next year. This means a huge opportunity today could be somewhat inconsequential within one year.
• You could be sitting on a mountain of keyword-rich, optimized content that's busy bringing you plenty of website traffic in one year's time by starting now.

Let's not forget print. It still gets an oversized chunk of marketing budgets. But... it isn't being perceived as effective as it once was. So why is it still getting more attention than, say, a helpful white paper or a blog series that can actually help your customers out and provide them with information that supports sales efforts while providing useful product information?

It is time for a new approach, one that fits the changing ecosystem in which today's marketers function. 

Not sure how to jump start your content marketing to provide sales leads, build brand awareness and get new customers? Learn how you can build your own content strategy and find out which content type is right for your organization.

Written by Kathleen Martin

5 Social Media Tips From the Social Team at Outlier (Admitting You've Got a Problem isn't Step 1)

We admit it. We spend a serious amount of time on social media here at Outlier. And while it's true, the occasional cute yet impractical animal friends video gets in there, the majority of that time is spent on behalf of our clients and the Outlier interactive agency itself.

We're fully bought into the idea that social media can be an asset for your organization - not only does it give you and your brand a big opportunity to speak directly to your audience, it also gives you greater search engine visibility and allows you to be hands-on when it comes to customer service and support. Pretty fun, right?

We are happy to report we've managed to glean some important, and (good news alert!) easy to implement things to use when planning for your own social media strategy. Don't worry, we promise this will just take a second and you will hopefully learn something that you can put to good use in your own planning.

Our Top 5 Easy to Implement and Crucial to Consider Social Media Tips:

1. People are ok with words (word lovers insert big deep sigh here) but they like images even more. Combine the two for maximum effect. The great news? This can be done in LOTS of ways that your audience will find interesting, if not downright compelling.
2. Pick your battles and know your audiences. They're different. Posting on Twitter? The types of interactions you will have here are different than what people will expect on Facebook. Pay attention to the various ways people engage with different social media. Tailor your messaging around this.
3. The 80/20 rule. We didn't want to like it, but... we do. Simply put, the 80/20 rule states that 80% of the content you publish on social media should be about things other than promoting your business/service/products. Sound strange? It's not. Remember, no one wants to feel like they're being sold to all the time. Publish content that is interesting to your followers and increase your audience engagement.
4. Get personal. No, that doesn't mean tell them about what you got into last weekend. It means remember what social media is for (to be social!). Real interactions. Real people. Feel free to pull back that curtain and let your audience see some of that personality that embodies your company culture.
5. In all seriousness, have a little fun. Social media can be a great bonding tool for your organization, take advantage of the resource to build rapport with your internal team as well as your external audience. Encourage people to get involved and to have some fun with it!

Hopefully this will help some of you as you start building your own social media strategy - whether you want to engage with audiences using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest or any of the host of social media outlets available to you today. Time to get started!

Written by Kathleen Martin

Sing it From the Rafters! (Using the Top 5 Social Media Sites for Business)

Great news! There are approximately 1,234 social media sites to help you get your brand's message out, to help promote your products, and to communicate with your customers (What's that you say? An exaggeration? Perhaps, but not by much we don't think.) Bad news! With an endless parade of social media sites cropping up every day, you have some tough decisions ahead to make regarding your company's social media strategy. 

We're sympathetic. Understanding which sites can offer you the most benefit for your business can be incredibly challenging. Finding the resources, both financial and time based, can be a big problem for a lot of businesses. 

That's why we've put together a handy list for you to help you as you plan your social media marketing efforts this year. Welcome to the Top 5 Social Media Sites for Business list. We understand this is not an exhaustive list. And, depending on what your end goals are, there may be other sites that suit your needs as well or perhaps even better than these five will. But for most businesses, maintaining a presence on these five will garner real results and make the most of limited resources. So here's the lowdown:

1. LinkedIn: Bet you thought we would say Facebook first, didn't you? Nope! Here at Outlier, we believe firmly in the power of LinkedIn to help B2B marketers. LinkedIn gives professional networking a boost and can be a great resource for businesses. Connect professionally with other individuals and companies that share interests, professional experience, and ideas. LinkedIn also gets excellent SEO attention.
2. YouTube: YouTube is still the 2nd largest search engine, and can be used to promote products, offer training, give presentations, post interviews, strengthen your brand and engage with your audiences. Now you can link your YouTube and Google+ accounts as well. Or, take advantage of advertising options with video ads.
3. Google+: Not everyone loves this one just yet, but it's promoted heavily by Google and should not be ignored. Some key benefits? Targeted messaging that can be offered to various "circles", local search page results are now integrated with Google+, and search factors like Google's +1 affect both social and regular Google search results. 
4. Facebook: No social media conversation would be complete without Facebook. At more than 1 billion users, Facebook is still the world's largest social media site. Enough reason for many to join in. If that's not enough, Facebook's excellent targeting capabilities and fully customizable pages might be. Facebook is being used by many to help amplify and strengthen their brands, as well as to show the more people-oriented side of corporate culture. Facebook ads are also getting a lot of attention lately. 
5. Twitter:Twitter boasts a worldwide user base and is being used by many companies to speed up access to customer service resources and to promote news about the company. This site is a good place to work at building thought leadership as well as for marketing purposes.

There you have it. Our Top 5 Social Media Sites for businesses. How will you use them for your company this year?

-Written by Kathleen Martin

So Much Content, So Little Time: Mix and Match for Maximum Results

Last month I got the opportunity to attend the annual Inbound Marketing Summit held in Boston, MA. It was a whirlwind of a trip during which I was able to catch two full days of expert speakers, chat with other inbound marketing professionals, and see all that the lovely city of Boston had to offer during my downtime (ha).

But who do I think I am, keeping all this great stuff to myself? 

Here's a topic that is near and dear to us at Outlier and one that we KNOW our clients care about, too. In a world where content rules (some might argue with an iron fist) how do you know which content is right for your company? How do you balance content you create yourself and content that is created by others? Is curation cheating? Great news, all. Turns out, curation is an important part of any good content strategy.

Wha-wha-whaaaaat?! You say curation is legit? What about re-using content? Surely that can't be right.

At the Inbound Marketing Summit, I caught an excellent session led by Allen Bonde from the Pulse Network that proved an excellent review for those wondering just what all this content is about, and how we can all use it to our benefit. And it's got me thinking...

But First: What types of content are out there?

1. Expert: This is content created by the experts, i.e. you and me, in our respective fields. This type of content can be used to build credibility with our audiences. Expert content should be helpful for our readers, but try to stay away from being overly "salesy".
2. Curated: This is content created by others. This can include other industry experts content, articles, videos and in general anything that your readers will find helpful. This type of content is used in order to engage with your audience, to keep the conversation an ongoing one (and of use to your audience).
3. User-generated: This is content created by the audience. It can include reviews, testimonials, questions or rants. User-generated content can translate into word of mouth advertising, a major boon for  both B2C and B2B marketers.

The types of content you choose to invest in may be different depending on your market and your product. User generated content may be less helpful for a B2B company selling large capital equipment than, say, a company selling a consumer product that costs less than $100. In this case, it may be wiser to invest more heavily in "expert" content created and/or curated by yourself. The opinion of the Everyman may not be what buyers are looking for to help them make a decision.

So once you understand who you are selling to,  you can more easily decide on which type of content will work best for you. But how can you make the most out of the available content? Does it mean you have to create it yourself?

Good news. There is plenty of content you can create that can be incorporated into a greater content strategy with the use of other tools. Like corporate video. Or infographics. In fact, one white paper created by you and your team can easily be turned into blog posts, a new instructional video, or a helpful infographic. It's important to remember that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. You have the tools, or access to the tools, that can help you overcome the feeling of frustration that comes from believing you can't possibly keep up with the demand for new content. The key here is to find a blend--both how it's created and what type--that will help you build credibility and engage with your audiences.

-Written by Kathleen Martin

Outlier Heads to Boston for the Inbound Marketing Summit

Man, I'm getting excited.

Not only do I get to head to Boston (a city I've thus far not had the pleasure of being introduced to) next week, but I'm going to attend the annual Inbound Marketing Summit taking place October 23-24. This, my friends, is going to be an awesome event. 

60 speakers. 1000 attendees from around the globe. Two full days of thought provoking keynotes and workshops plus real, actionable strategies to bring back home to Portland to gleefully share with the Outlier team and our clients. 

Inbound marketing is something companies ask us about more as they begin to see what kind of benefits can come out of producing worthwhile content for potential customers and by making themselves easier to find for those seeking more information about products and services offered.

Inbound marketing says goodbye to many of the traditional marketing techniques people are used to.

Inbound marketing can add real value to the marketing efforts of small to medium sized businesses with long research and purchasing cycles. But how does it work?

The main idea behind inbound marketing is to earn the attention of your potential customers, rather than exhausting yourself pushing your message out to join the millions of other messages they are bombarded with on a daily basis. Let them find you. Give them helpful information they need to make the best purchase decisions. Done correctly, your business can reap the benefits when the time comes to take the plunge. 

Inbound marketing includes:

• Blogging
• Video marketing
• eBooks
• eNewsletters
• Whitepapers
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media

Some of the benefits we can help extend to our clients include:

• Generating new leads and increasing sales
• Inbound leads create lower cost leads--as much as 60% less according to a recent report from Inbound Marketing trailblazer HubSpot
• Inbound marketing can help unify and integrate marketing efforts across many platforms, reaching potential customers at several touchpoints
• Added ability to react more quickly and directly to customer needs

More information to come! I'll be sure to check in after I get back next week.

-Written by Kathleen Martin

Three Reasons to Steer Clear of the Fake Review Trap

A new report published by Gartner Research this week has reignited the conversation around social media reviews. With numbers as large as 10-15 percent of all reviews predicted to be fake by 2014, how can your business make sure it stays competitive without succumbing to the pressure for paid or made up reviews?

Word of mouth has been around since the first prehistoric Advertosaurus Rex asked a recent Mammoth transplant to share his experience buying a new home in the La Brea Tar Pits. Ok, maybe not that long (and please, be kind and ignore all my mixed up references in that last sentence). The term itself didn't actually exist until somewhere in the 1970s. Nevertheless, the rise of Web 2.0 and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp, etc. etc. etc. have seen this hallowed form of promotion skyrocket in importance.

In this increasingly digital, social age, businesses are under increasing pressure to get more Likes, more Follows, more Thumbs up or Thumbs down, more anything that signalled approval to other potential buyers and users. Is it really any surprise the number of fake reviews is predicted to rise so high so quickly?

Written by Kathleen Martin

But here's the sticking point. Building up a stockpile of fake reviews doesn't just feel unsavory, it actually breaks down word-of-mouth marketing as we know it. The biggest selling point for word of mouth in the first place lies in its believability--the idea that you're being sold not by advertisements, but by the product or service itself. So what happens when these sources of knowledge from "users like us" fail to give a realistic view of products and services on the market?

And what can you do to counter-attack the Rise of the Fake Review??

Luckily, the answer is simple. Keep doing what you've been doing, and your honest efforts will not go unnoticed. The good news is the spirit of authenticity that makes word of mouth advertising so effective is still alive and well. And the businesses and websites that can build a reputation for creating these honest reviews will, I'd wager, start seeing an upswing in their favorability. Trust still translates to good business. It is the breaking of that trust that turns off potential customers. 

This doesn't mean reviews don't matter. On the contrary, real reviews--testimonials, case studies, social media reviews and the like--will matter even more when the user knows they are coming from an actual reliable source. 

Why test the waters, and the patience of the good folks at the FTC, by paying for reviews when you could be pulling real clout with honest, actual feedback from your customers. The trick becomes, are you asking for it? Are you letting your customers know you value their input by giving them a chance to have a voice in your business?

Three things you should be doing to avoid the Fake Review Trap:

• Ask your current clients for reviews, or get permission to interview them for a customer testimonial or case study.
• Follow your customers on social media and ask them to follow you back. INTERACT with your audience on a regular basis.
• Take pains to ensure people can trust the reviews they do see. Tie reviews back to social media account profiles so people know where the reviews are coming from and know they can trust them.

And if you start to doubt this tactic, if you start feeling the pull of the Fake Review? Just remember: long-term success beats short-term gratification approximately 100% of the time.