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Digital tools bring sales success in new reality

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It seems we are working our way out of the introduction phase of life during a pandemic and entering the phase where we start to adapt. The past few months have brought some sales challenges to light based on how customers want to do business moving forward: digitally. It is important to remember that your website is your digital storefront and you need to invest in the customer experience. It can feel like a lot is changing very quickly, but there are tools to help you work efficiently and effectively online. Below you will find recommendations on how to utilize some of these fundamental tools to align with your businesses needs.

Safety

The biggest concern we are hearing right now is about safety. Shoppers need to feel secure if they are going to be in a public place and need options to make a purchase if they can’t be.

Tool: Website/Facebook/Google My Business (GMB)

Application: Create a small display banner with messaging that confirms you are practicing safety and sanitation measures in stores and with all employees. Make sure people are aware before they even start shopping. Canva is a great free place to create images if you do not have someone to help you with that.

Cost: Free

Tool: Facebook Appointment Scheduler

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Application: Some shoppers may request to come in during off-hours or at a time dedicated to having fewer customers in the store. Use the Facebook Appointment Scheduler to allow shoppers to set up a time they feel safe to shop. You can advertise the availability of this on Facebook and your website.

Cost: Free

Tool: Google Merchant Center

Application: Make it easier for customers to view in-stock inventory online. You can connect inventory feeds to Google Merchant Center and have products available for shopping ads in your PPC campaign. This will allow actual inventory to show on Google when shoppers are looking for a particular item.

Cost: Free with use of PPC campaign

Tool: e-Commerce Shopping Cart

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Application: Now more than ever, people want to shop online rather than coming into the store. Make it simple. We don’t want to lose customers to a store that offers this!

Cost: Varies. Check with your website provider first for options.

Inventory

An unforeseen obstacle at the beginning of COVID is the impact on inventory. It can be difficult to deliver custom furniture, and we really want to focus on what is available on the showroom floor.

Tool: Social media

Application: Create photos and videos and post them frequently! Facebook, Instagram and even GMB allow ease for sharing. All you need is a smart phone; professional content is not necessary here. Invite people to engage with your posts and encourage setting appointments to view the inventory.

Cost: Free. Boosted posts for small budgets also available.

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Tool: Email

Application: Managing back orders has moved up on the priority list and communication to customers about order status is key in satisfaction. Create templates in your email to quickly pull content. Updates should be as simple as customer name, product name and expected ship date. You can also track this information in a spreadsheet and upload once a week to tools like Mail Chimp or Constant Contact to create all emails at once to save you a lot of time. Your POS may also have an email feature you can utilize in the same way.

Cost: Free. Additional tools vary depending on size of contact list.

Communication

With fewer people coming into the stores, it can be hard to have a conversation. This makes it difficult to help people find exactly what they are looking for, answer questions and address any concerns that may help you close a sale. It can also be difficult for shoppers to make decisions if they can’t see inventory in person.

Tool: Chat

Application: Install a chat service on your website to allow your sales team to engage directly with your client base. Podium is a very popular choice in this space. These tools are simple to use and provide analytics feedback to help improve levels of service.

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Cost: Varies

Tool: Video conferencing

Application: Take the conversation one step further and go live with your customers! Not only can a face-to-face conversation be more productive, but it allows you to show customers inventory to give them a better idea of what they want to purchase. This is a great option for both sales and design consultations. There are a lot of options, including Zoom, Google Meet and Join.me. Don’t be afraid to invest in a couple of tablets to make this easier on your sales team. All you need is an internet connection to make these tools work.

Cost: Many free options

Marketing

There are a lot of tools that can require an array of investment for digital marketing. Online shopping has increased more than 40 percent since the start of the year and it’s important that you have a strong presence and show in searches. Platforms include Google Ads, Facebook Ads and YouTube Ads. There are some low-to-no- cost ways you can get started to make sure you are not missing the boat completely.

Tool: Facebook Marketplace and Chat

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Application: Share your inventory directly to FB. Shoppers with intent will look here and not realize there are a lot of new options within their price range. You can engage directly with your client base as well through Chat and encourage them to set an appointment.

Cost: Free. There may be a small fee if you choose to connect an inventory feed.

Tool: GMB

Application: Did you know you can post photos of your inventory directly to the products section in GMB? You can link those photos directly to the inventory page on your website as well. These photos get a lot of views (some stores see more than 500 one just one photo in a month) and increase your SEO as well!

Cost: Free

Tool: Display

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Application: Sometimes the cost of a PPC campaign can seem overwhelming, but you can utilize the Display Networks and get in front of shoppers for a much lower cost. You can target new shoppers based on their online behavior, as well as re-target shoppers who have been to your website. This should be managed by an SEM provider.

Cost: Varies depending on campaign, but you can get started for as little as $200 a month.

There are countless tools available to help you connect with your customers online. The ones listed above are a great place to start. These will help build a foundation, and from there you have the opportunity to really expand your reach and utilization. The online optimization process is ongoing, complex and ever-changing. Phelps Digital is here to help you better understand and implement these tools, so please reach out if you have questions!

[HFA Webinar: The game has changed for in-store sales]

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MARKETING

How To Combine PR and Content Marketing Superpowers To Achieve Business Goals

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A figure pulls open a dress shirt to reveal the term PR on a Superman-like costume, reflecting the superpower resulting from combining content and PR.

A transformative shift is happening, and it’s not AI.

The aisle between public relations and content marketing is rapidly narrowing. If you’re smart about the convergence, you can forever enhance your brand’s storytelling.

The goals and roles of content marketing and PR overlap more and more. The job descriptions look awfully similar. Shrinking budgets and a shrewd eye for efficiency mean you and your PR pals could face the chopping block if you don’t streamline operations and deliver on the company’s goals (because marketing communications is always first to be axed, right?).

Yikes. Let’s take a big, deep breath. This is not a threat. It’s an opportunity.

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Reach across the aisle to PR and streamline content creation, improve distribution strategies, and get back to the heart of what you both are meant to do: Build strong relationships and tell impactful stories.

So, before you panic-post that open-to-work banner on LinkedIn, consider these tips from content marketing, PR, and journalism pros who’ve figured out how to thrive in an increasingly narrowing content ecosystem.

1. See journalists as your audience

Savvy pros know the ability to tell an impactful story — and support it with publish-ready collateral — grounds successful media relationships. And as a content marketer, your skills in storytelling and connecting with audiences, including journalists, naturally support your PR pals’ media outreach.

Strategic storytelling creates content focused on what the audience needs and wants. Sharing content on your blog or social media builds relationships with journalists who source those channels for story ideas, event updates, and subject matter experts.

“Embedding PR strategies in your content marketing pieces informs your audience and can easily be picked up by media,” says Alex Sanchez, chief experience officer at BeWell, New Mexico’s Health Insurance Marketplace. “We have seen reporters do this many times, pulling stories from our blogs and putting them in the nightly news — most of the time without even reaching out to us.”

Acacia James, weekend producer/morning associate producer at WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., says blogs and social media posts are helpful to her work. “If I see a story idea, and I see that they’re willing to share information, it’s easier to contact them — and we can also backlink their content. It’s huge for us to be able to use every avenue.” 

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Kirby Winn, manager of PR at ImpactLife, says reporters and assignment editors are key consumers of their content. “And I don’t mean a news release that just hit their inbox. They’re going to our blog and consuming our stories, just like any other audience member,” he says. “Our organization has put more focus into content marketing in the past few years — it supports a media pitch so well and highlights the stories we have to tell.”

Storytelling attracts earned media that might not pick up the generic news topic. “It’s one thing to pitch a general story about how we help consumers sign up for low-cost health insurance,” Alex says. “Now, imagine a single mom who just got a plan after years of thinking it was too expensive. She had a terrible car accident, and the $60,000 ER bill that would have ruined her financially was covered. Now that’s a story journalists will want to cover, and that will be relatable to their audience and ours.” 

2. Learn the media outlet’s audience

Seventy-three percent of reporters say one-fourth or less of the stories pitched are relevant to their audiences, according to Cision’s 2023 State of the Media Report (registration required).

PR pros are known for building relationships with journalists, while content marketers thrive in building communities around content. Merge these best practices to build desirable content that works for your target audience and the media’s audiences simultaneously.

WTOP’s Acacia James says sources who show they’re ready to share helpful, relevant content often win pitches for coverage. “In radio, we do a lot of research on who is listening to us, and we’re focused on a prototype called ‘Mike and Jen’ — normal, everyday people in Generation X … So when we get press releases and pitches, we ask, ‘How interested will Mike and Jen be in this story?’” 

3. Deliver the full content package (and make journalists’ jobs easier)

Cranking out content to their media outlet’s standards has never been tougher for journalists. Newsrooms are significantly understaffed, and anything you can do to make their lives easier will be appreciated and potentially rewarded with coverage. Content marketers are built to think about all the elements to tell the story through multiple mediums and channels.

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“Today’s content marketing pretty much provides a package to the media outlet,” says So Young Pak, director of media relations at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “PR is doing a lot of storytelling work in advance of media publication. We (and content marketing) work together to provide the elements to go with each story — photos, subject matter experts, patients, videos, and data points, if needed.”   

At WTOP, the successful content package includes audio. “As a radio station, we are focused on high-quality sound,” Acacia James says. “Savvy sources know to record and send us voice memos, and then we pull cuts from the audio … You will naturally want to do someone a favor if they did you one — like providing helpful soundbites, audio, and newsworthy stories.”  

While production value matters to some media, you shouldn’t stress about it. “In the past decade, how we work with reporters has changed. Back in the day, if they couldn’t be there in person, they weren’t going to interview your expert,” says Jason Carlton, an accredited PR professional and manager of marketing and communications at Intermountain Health. “During COVID, we had to switch to virtual interviewing. Now, many journalists are OK with running a Teams or Zoom interview they’ve done with an expert on the news.”

BeWell’s Alex Sanchez agrees. “I’ve heard old school PR folks cringe at the idea of putting up a Zoom video instead of getting traditional video interviews. It doesn’t really matter to consumers. Focus on the story, on the timeliness, and the relevance. Consumers want authenticity, not super stylized, stiff content.”

4. Unite great minds to maximize efficiency

Everyone needs to set aside the debate about which team — PR or content marketing — gets credit for the resulting media coverage.

At MedStar Washington Hospital Center, So Young and colleagues adopt a collaborative mindset on multichannel stories. “We can get the interview and gather information for all the different pieces — blog, audio, video, press release, internal newsletter, or magazine. That way, we’re not trying to figure things out individually, and the subject matter experts only have to have that conversation once,” she says.

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Regular, cross-team meetings are essential to understand the best channels for reaching key audiences, including the media. A story that began life as a press release might reap SEO and earned media gold if it’s strategized as a blog, video, and media pitch.

“At Intermountain Health, we have individual teams for media relations, marketing, social media, and hospital communications. That setup works well because it allows us to bring in the people who are the given experts in those areas,” says Intermountain’s Jason Carlton. “Together, we decide if a story is best for the blog, a media pitch, or a mix of channels — that way, we avoid duplicating work and the risk of diluting the story’s impact.”

5. Measure what matters

Cutting through the noise to earn media mentions requires keen attention to metrics. Since content marketing and PR metrics overlap, synthesizing the data in your team meetings can save time while streamlining your storytelling efforts.

“For content marketers, using analytical tools such as GA4 can help measure the effectiveness of their content campaigns and landing pages to determine meaningful KPIs such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, lead generation, and conversion rates,” says John Martino, director of digital marketing for Visiting Angels. “PR teams can use media coverage and social interactions to assess user engagement and brand awareness. A unified and omnichannel approach can help both teams demonstrate their value in enhancing brand visibility, engagement, and overall business success.”

To track your shared goals, launch a shared dashboard that helps tell the combined “story of your stories” to internal and executive teams. Among the metrics to monitor:

  • Page views: Obviously, this queen of metrics continues to be important across PR and content marketing. Take your analysis to the next level by evaluating which niche audiences are contributing to these views to further hone your storytelling targets, including media outlets.
  • Earned media mentions: Through a media tracker service or good old Google Alerts, you can tally the echo of your content marketing and PR. Look at your site’s referral traffic report to identify media outlets that send traffic to your blog or other web pages.
  • Organic search queries: Dive into your analytics platform to surface organic search queries that lead to visitors. Build from those questions to develop stories that further resonate with your audience and your targeted media.
  • On-page actions: When visitors show up on your content, what are they doing? What do they click? Where do they go next? Building next-step pathways is your bread and butter in content marketing — and PR can use them as a natural pipeline for media to pick up more stories, angles, and quotes.

But perhaps the biggest metric to track is team satisfaction. Who on the collaborative team had the most fun writing blogs, producing videos, or calling the news stations? Lean into the natural skills and passions of your team members to distribute work properly, maximize the team output, and improve relationships with the media, your audience, and internal teams.

“It’s really trying to understand the problem to solve — the needle to move — and determining a plan that will help them achieve their goal,” Jason says. “If you don’t have those measurable objectives, you’re not going to know whether you made a difference.”

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Don’t fear the merger

Whether you deliberately work together or not, content marketing and public relations are tied together. ImpactLife’s Kirby Winn explains, “As soon as we begin to talk about (ourselves) to a reporter who doesn’t know us, they are certainly going to check out our stories.”

But consciously uniting PR and content marketing will ease the challenges you both face. Working together allows you to save time, eliminate duplicate work, and gain free time to tell more stories and drive them into impactful media placements.

Register to attend Content Marketing World in San Diego. Use the code BLOG100 to save $100. Can’t attend in person this year? Check out the Digital Pass for access to on-demand session recordings from the live event through the end of the year.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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Trends in Content Localization – Moz

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Trends in Content Localization - Moz

Multinational fast food chains are one of the best-known examples of recognizing that product menus may sometimes have to change significantly to serve distinct audiences. The above video is just a short run-through of the same business selling smokehouse burgers, kofta, paneer, and rice bowls in an effort to appeal to people in a variety of places. I can’t personally judge the validity of these representations, but what I can see is that, in such cases, you don’t merely localize your content but the products on which your content is founded.

Sometimes, even the branding of businesses is different around the world; what we call Burger King in America is Hungry Jack’s in Australia, Lays potato chips here are Sabritas in Mexico, and DiGiorno frozen pizza is familiar in the US, but Canada knows it as Delissio.

Tales of product tailoring failures often become famous, likely because some of them may seem humorous from a distance, but cultural sensitivity should always be taken seriously. If a brand you are marketing is on its way to becoming a large global seller, the best insurance against reputation damage and revenue loss as a result of cultural insensitivity is to employ regional and cultural experts whose first-hand and lived experiences can steward the organization in acting with awareness and respect.

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

AI and startups? It just makes sense.

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