Hip hop mogul Flavor Flav of the legendary rap group Public Enemy once said, “One thing you can’t do with babies, you can’t give them steak.” This is sage advice as babies do not have teeth and teeth are requisite for chewing. More importantly, it’s helpful to the aspiring copywriter who aims to successfully serve up award-winning content and mouthwatering brand messages for their clients.

Hitherto, scientists have identified five basic flavors that the human tongue is able to detect: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory (aka umami).

We each have personal preferences and our tastes may evolve over time. Whereas your mother may have a sweet tooth, your mother’s mother may crave more salty vittles. As a young lad, you may have eaten Sour Patch Kids by the fistful. But now, fully grown, find yourself to be more of a savory man.

But just because you prefer savory burgers and burritos, doesn’t mean you can’t occasionally enjoy a sweet slice of apple pie.

Your marketing audience is no different when it comes to the marketing messages they prefer to consume. The seasoned copywriter – much like the skilled chef – can adjust flavor profiles to match the mood.

Let’s explore the 5 flavors of content messaging…

Flavor #1: Sweet

Award-winning content flavor number one: sweet

At first blush, you may assume sweet messaging only appeals to select audiences — like grandmothers. Perhaps you’re right. Conversely, consider this: More rugged and dare we say, masculine, audiences are not entirely immune to having their heartstrings pulled. Particularly, if you appeal to their sense of pride.

For many in the agriculture community, the most memorable commercial of the last 20 years was “So God Made a Farmer” from RAM Trucks.

It’s an inspired ode to farmers. Once upon a time, Mr. Paul Harvey delivered this powerful message with a subtle hint of sweetness and adoration in his cadence. Now imagine how different this spot would be if Harvey had used a more chest-thumping tone. Or if the commercial had been set to hearty rock music.

Indeed, here sweetness hits the spot.

Flavor #2: Sour

Something that is sour has a sharp, unpleasant taste like that of a melon. This doesn’t appeal to most, but it can be absolutely critical in your marketing messaging during tough times.

For instance, when a brand has difficult news to share, it’s best that they don’t sugarcoat it. Be honest and transparent — even if it’s a sour message that will be tough to swallow.

Award-winning content flavor number two: sour

To be sure, that initial shock of sourness will soon fade. But disguising it with fluff or untruths will almost certainly backfire in the end, causing brand damage that can linger for years. It’s better to be sour for a day, then to be deemed untrustworthy for a decade.

Need proof?

In 2015, an E. coli outbreak hit Chipotle, lasting nearly six months and resulting in an 82% decrease in profits and a 15% loss in the stock market. Company leadership could have delivered a sour message and assured customers and employees that it was working diligently to resolve the outbreak. Most would have forgiven and forgotten.

Instead, leaders like co-CEO Monty Moran made light of the issue and placed some of the blame on sensationalist news media. Consumers received this content messaging dish and sent it back.

Flavor #3: Salty

Award-winning content flavor number three: salty

Salty messaging is bold. Used properly, it can be quite powerful. Use too much, however, or in the wrong dish, and it quickly overwhelms. Whether in cooking or copywriting, a pinch of salt can do wonders. Needs salt or too salty are missed opportunities.

The purpose of salty content messaging is to take a stand. Let the world know what your brand is all about. Like salt, some will love it, others can do without.

In 2018, Nike created cultural shockwaves when it aligned with Colin Kaepernick, telling the world to “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

The public reaction was exactly what you’d hope for when deploying salty messaging: Many loved it, many hated it, just about everyone agreed it was worth talking about.

Whether you personally loved or hated it, there is no denying that it was well worth the risk, given the amount of earned media Nike received from the Colin Kaepernick campaign.

The numbers tell the story: Nike added just enough salt.

Flavor #4: BitterAward-winning content flavor number four: bitter

Bitter messaging almost never works and likely won’t produce award-winning content. It’s typically childish and reactionary content. A brand throwing a public tantrum of sorts. Imagine a scenario where McDonald’s or Walmart took to Twitter to denounce a raise to the federal minimum wage. That scenario would not end well. Avoid bitter content messaging at all costs as it doesn’t align with ethical advertising.

Flavor #5: Savory (umami)

The protein of messaging. Even vegans and vegetarians crave it. Because this type of messaging cuts to the chase. It’s the facts and the figures. Where transparency meets truth. Taking a stand and holding your ground.

Award-winning content flavor number five: umami

Recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many brands have sent messages to customers saying, “We’re here for you and happy to help.” This is sweet messaging. Then consider Google offering $340 million in ad credits to small and mid-sized companies whose business has been disrupted by the coronavirus. Or, back in 2018, when Starbucks responded to a clear-cut case of racial discrimination at one of its stores by closing all 8,000 stores to provide racial-bias training to its nearly 175,000 employees. These are just two examples of brands walking the walk and talking the talk with savory messaging.

Award-winning content and switching up the flavors

In conclusion, we in the marketing and advertising community preach the value of a consistent brand voice — it’s the essential flavor to award-winning content. But, consistency doesn’t mean you can’t switch up the flavor profile when the occasion calls for it. After all, the sign of a great chef is one who can serve up a masterful appetizer, entrée or dessert in a moment’s notice.

In kindergarten, we learned our numbers, colors, shapes, and letters through visual learning. Visual learning isn’t something that is new, but it is something that is becoming popular online and in print. Why? We are inundated with content every day, we are busy, and we need a way to digest all of the data we take in. Not to mention that some industry jargon isn’t the most accessible. As marketers, we should want our work to be understood by most anyone. Enter: infographics.

An infographic is a graphic that presents complex data in a visually appealing and easily digestible manner. Typically, infographics include text, images, icons and data. And above all, they deserve a place in your company’s marketing materials. Of course, we can’t talk the talk without walking the walk. Here are five of our best reasons to include infographics along with some of our most recent creations.

5 Reasons to Include Infographics in Marketing Materials

1. Everyone is busy.

Do people have time to read your entire annual report? Probably not. Create an infographic to showcase the same information, like we did with IMT Insurance! Visuals tell the consumer what they need to know in a clean, efficient manner before sending them on their way.

Commercial Highlights infographics: Underwriting — 7.4% growth, revved up implementation of a new commercial auto system, 87.8% retention of business, umbrella policies up 17.5%, 60.8% loss ratio – storm accounted for 15%, Home run! Increased hit ratio to 38%, Agent trust continues with IMT equals increased number of large accounts, footprint of written premium a a percent of total premium grew in Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Premium audit: Department history of completing nine out of ten audits in house by department staff. IMT Premium Audit staff helps maintain policyholder engagement, relationships and trust. Farm: Production held steady and reaped another profitable harvest with a thirty four point three five percent loss ratio for 2018.

Annual reports — they’re mandatory, but they don’t have to be text-heavy. This collection of infographics comes straight from IMT’s annual report. Fun, right? This is just one component of the rebranding work executed with LF.

2. Visual learning is key.

Seeing is believing —  and let’s face it, sometimes data or processes can just be too darn complex. Infographics simplify data while still conveying what’s important and engage visual learners. 

Sage process infographic. Before Sage: 165 minutes, After Sage: 65 minutes

If you have ever wondered if we could condense an hour-long fuel exchange process into one image, fear not! We can and we did! Check out more Sage Oil Vac projects for inspiration.

3. Infographics can be displayed in various ways. 

Infographics can be elevated in many ways — as in-article graphics on your blog or even as an animated video on a landing page or on owned social channels. The opportunity to bring inforgraphics to life is limitless and creativity is encouraged!

To showcase their Commitment to Safety, Okahoma’s Electric Cooperatives used existing infographics and repurposed into video content. 

4. You can position yourself as an expert.

Infographics are a brand’s best friend when it comes to self-promotion. Once you slap your logo on that sucker and share it on social media, then voila! People will attribute their newfound knowledge to your brand and tell their friends how smart you are. Can’t beat word-of-mouth.

LF has used infographics to share the importance of SEO through video.

5. Hello, ROI! Track your data.

Once you’ve created your infographic, share a snippet of the data and link back to the original infographic on your website or blog. Use Google Analytics to track the traffic flow on these pages. Now look what you’ve done….you’ve driven traffic to your website!

6. Creatives are crazy talented.

Where would any of us be without our graphic designers? They have the ability to enhance any blog post, brochure, etc. with just a couple of infographics. We know our own creatives are something special and bring data to life like they were born to do, dang it.

OAEC infographic: Reliable power

When electricity works, it lights up our life — literally. OAEC has an ultra-impressive performance rate that we couldn’t wait to show off! And yes, we’ve got a full case study about them.

Reach out and see how LF can bring your infographics to life for your brand.

This was originally written August 7, 2013, but updated for 2020 because not only are infographics still relevant — they’re also so much fun!

Ag equipment dealers and home-based Pampered Chef consultants could not be more different on paper, but their common goal of achieving more sales makes them kindred marketing spirits. As allies of the agriculture equipment industry, we’re here to tell you there are several valuable insights and social media tactics that equipment dealers could implement to boost brand awareness — and profits — based on Pampered Chef’s success.

P.S. Never heard of Pampered Chef? Jump to the bottom of this article for get a quick snapshot of their business model.

4 Ideas Ag Equipment Dealers Can Steal

As a Pampered Chef party participant and a marketer, I quickly noticed there were several methods agriculture equipment marketers could benefit from. The kitchen company’s focus on strong relationships, social media and content planning and consistency, provides an approach worth looking at.

 

1. Leverage social media to build potential sales relationships.

This is not a new tactic, but a lot of channel marketers tend to discount the power a good social media presence can provide as a sales tool. According to the shopper-first retailing report by Salesforce and Publicis. Sapient, 87% of shoppers begin product searches online before they even visit a brick and mortar store or make a purchase.

Pampered Chef consultants are taught to create social media pages to boost their personal sales, and your dealership should do the same. Local customers can and will follow along for news, promotions and announcements, but there’s a caveat. Local agriculture equipment marketers must keep content current and provide relative images of interest. There are other lead generating opportunities as well — check out this article: “Rev up your digital marketing with these 3 lead generation strategies.”

I suggest starting with one platform, like a Facebook Page, to test the waters — then expanding from there.

 

2. Define a pre-planned content calendar.

We hear the same concern from many ag equipment dealers that we work with every day: Social media takes too much time. While it’s true it can, but if you pre-plan your content or “posts” you’d be surprised how hands-off it can be.

One Pampered Chef consultant I observed, used a rinse-and-repeat social media blueprint with evergreen content for all of their online streaming parties. This consultant had 60 pre-written posts that deployed via a social media scheduler tool (e.g., Hootsuite, Sprout, Sendible, etc.). The quantity was certainly too much, especially for agriculture equipment marketers, but the idea of scheduling and consistency were on point.

Dealers can start small with 1-3 social media posts per week, per channel (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and scale from there. Pre-schedule everything using a scheduler tool and then monitor your accounts for questions/comments daily to ensure you are addressing questions when needed.

 

3. Social media content shouldn’t always be about the next sale.

After I signed up to host an online Pampered Chef party, the consultant was sending 8-10 pre-scheduled posts per day, checking in nightly to engage and answer questions. Her posts were overwhelming and excessive, but the thing she got right was making sure her topics and posts were constantly changing and it wasn’t all self-serving topics.

She would include engagement style posts asking party-goers questions, how-to-style product videos or provide recipes she liked to use.  Engagement is key, and something agriculture equipment marketers need to focus on. Plus, the mixture of topics, style, and use of images, articles and videos really kept things interesting.

Don’t simply discuss your own products or features. Post photos or videos of customers with their newly purchased equipment, ask your followers what they think about timely agriculture industry trends or share newsworthy articles or information that impact their operation. Customers want to hear about your deals and products for sure, but being constantly “sold to” can get old.

 

4. Ag equipment dealers should be consistent (not annoying) online.

One pattern you may have already picked up on, is excess. While my Pampered Chef consultant did a great job of keeping her network engaged, she also smothered us to death with content. Sending 10 posts a day is insane — do not do that.

In the social media world, moderation is just as important as consistency. Give your followers a chance to miss you without bombarding their feeds. I would strongly advise just a few posts per week to start.

Posts should be spread out and sent at varied times. Using a pre-schedule tool will make this much easier to track and many times these tools (see point 2) will suggest the optimum post times based on your followers’ preferences.

For eager agriculture equipment marketers and their customers, a great social media strategy is truly a win-win. Getting started is the hardest part! If you are overwhelmed or have questions, reach out to the team at Lessing-Flynn to develop a strong, consistent and impactful social media plan to grow your audience.

 

What is Pampered Chef?

Pampered Chef is often thought of as the cooking tool brand of suburbia. If you’ve never heard of it—ask the cook of the household. The company is a direct seller of kitchen tools and employs a 40,000+ salesforce of Independent consultants that sell their products. Just like Tupperware and Mary Kay, the company is a love-em-or-hate-em multi-level marketing company.

They’ve nailed down a successful, basic selling formula:

  1. Secure a party host who invites a number of friends to their home.
  2. The consultant performs a cooking demo using Pampered Chef products.
  3. Everyone eats the free food made before their eyes and orders items from the catalog.

It’s the app known for sparking a congressional inquiry regarding national security or more importantly for “exposing” Panera Bread’s mac and cheese. As irritating or odd as you may find TikTok, brands should give it a chance. The time is now to pull your best TikTok marketing ideas together and form a plan, before dismissing the app as a fading trend.

Created in 2017, TikTok is a video-sharing app and social platform that allows users to share videos up-to-a minute long. The format has been around for a few years; the app is an offspring of musical.ly but often emulates the humor of Vine. And in the last year, it has exploded in popularity.

Some would say that it’s the next big platform for advertisers to watch, but we disagree. Brands should actively jump in and join. Here’s how to do just that and some great brands that are already doing it right.

 

TikTok for Marketers

Why get on the bandwagon? Because the best TikTok marketing ideas are still waiting to be discovered. Here’s what you should know:

 

1. How Popular Is TikTok?

TikTok boasts over 500 million downloads from the Google Play Store and sits above YouTube in the Apple App Store charts. Additionally, 1-in-8 U.S. adults have already joined the platform.

 

2. TikTok is like Vine, but it can last.

In many ways, TikTok is the next Vine, Twitter’s former-yet-infamous 6-second video platform. The platform demonstrates similarities in terms of its ability to create cultural moments and memes, as well as continues to shift the dynamic of how young people communicate online. Unlike Vine, it will most likely not feel like a flash in the pan. This means there’s a better likelihood your TikTok marketing ideas will have better staying power.

 

3. TikTok Demographics.

Like most social networks, especially in their early stages, TikTok’s demographics skew toward the younger crowd.  It’s estimated that around 50% of users are under the age of 34. Building brand awareness in this demographic right now is a huge opportunity.

If your brand is going after this demographic for the first time, jumping on the TikTok platform now may increase awareness within your customer targets. Less competition means future customers will be aware of (and talking about!) your brand in the long term.

 

4. TikTok Ads Aren’t Pervasive (yet…)

Because TikTok is still relatively shiny and new, users aren’t being bombarded by ads and branded content yet like they are on Facebook-owned platforms. Native TikTok content can be legitimately entertaining and also influence consumer behavior. Advertising inventory is available, and TikTok has been actively coming up with new ways to get ads in front of their users, but the best way to get started with the platform is just to start posting.

 

Clever TikTok Marketing Ideas

So, what brands are already on TikTok performing well? The best TikTok marketing ideas, methods and execution we’re currently tracking are coming from a brand you may not expect — a legacy newspaper.

The Washington Post posts every day and has amassed 300,000 followers and nearly 16 million likes on their posts.

 

@washingtonpostGasp!!!!!! #newsroom #eviltwin #somosWaPo #telenovela♬ original sound – washingtonpost

@washingtonpostThe news tried really hard to write wesleylowery #newspaper♬ Illumin – jvantheman

And of course, even the beloved burrito chain, Chipotle, has done well on the app, too. Their account has surpassed 250k followers.

@chipotleSmh #foryou #foryoupage #college101 #chipotle♬ Fire Burning – Sean Kingston
@chipotleDaily affirmations #peptalk #fyp #chipotle♬ original sound – rhysy_w

 

Why do Chipotle & The Washington Post have a large TikTok following?

The best TikTok marketing ideas seem to be built from a similar foundation. Both brands have actively acknowledged and embraced that they are in fact a brand on TikTok and use humor to their advantage. And both brands’ genuine presence and honesty with their audiences has shown to draw new awareness and positive feelings towards a brand. They’re also capturing the positive aspects of the ‘Wendy’s on Twitter’ energy, effectively convincing users they deserve to stay via an entertaining presentation.***Falling into the “TikTok is just another app ‘for the kids’ trap” dismisses the great potential to reach new and existing audiences. Choosing to wait to get involved, may very well void a major opportunity to get people talking. The app isn’t going anywhere, and the best way to learn is by doing. The best TikTok marketing ideas have yet to be created. (need help?)

You’ve probably never heard of Ludwig von Mises, an Austrian economist who immigrated to the United States in 1940 to escape the Germans in WWII. Or George Stratton, the American psychologist who pioneered studies on human perception. Or, our own Paul Lessing, founder of Lessing-Flynn 110+ years ago (and Iowa’s Godfather of Advertising).

The following is a discussion about consumer behavior that may (or may not) have actually happened when they each may (or may not) have randomly run across each other at a speakeasy in downtown Des Moines 90-ish years ago. This may (or may not) have been the most important meeting between the famous economist, the renowned psychologist and one of the ad industry’s true original mavericks.

AND, ACTION

 

Lessing:

Hello old friends. It’s with great honor that I share this opportunity and a cold brew with two of the finest minds in their respective fields of psychology and economics. Let’s raise a glass and toast to our common understanding of human behavior …but not too high, as we are still in prohibition and we wouldn’t want to get caught consuming a wicked concoction such as this. What have each of you been doing to further the study of man and his behavior? I am looking to leverage your wisdom.

 

Stratton:

Well, Paul, I’m not certain that you’ve heard of the soon-to-be famous experiment that I have been conducting to test the adaptability of the human brain. I just so happen to have brought these special goggles. If you try them on, you’ll see that the mirrors inside them invert the perspective of your view. Instead of seeing things upright, you see them completely inverted — up/down or left/right.

 

Lessing:

Oh, George, I don’t need special goggles to invert my perspective. Just order me one more of this fine brew and it will do the same thing, albeit only temporarily. But please, do tell more!

 

Stratton:

Well, for my experiment, I donned these goggles for twenty-four hours a day for the better part of a week. Imagine walking through your own house with everything inverted. It was dizzying and laborious to say the least. But by the 5th day, I was able to start getting around a bit more comfortably. And by the 8th day, it almost felt, shall I say, normal. My brain had adapted and un-inverted my perspective.

 

Lessing:

Oh George, un-inverted is not correct diction. But I digress.

 

Stratton:

Ah, Paul, you always were the wordsmith. But the point is, my research shows how the human mind adapts quickly and becomes a very efficient filter of information. I thought this may be applicable to your line of business as an advertising pitchman.

 

Lessing:

Yes. Yes! This will come in very handy as my analytics have shown people spend less time reading circular ads and pamphlets delivered by mail. I can only imagine how difficult it will be to capture the attention of customers bombarded by advertisements delivered by radio and other technological devices. Human minds will quickly learn to filter out ads out much like they do the Burma-Shave ads alongside the country roads today and it will be incumbent on those in my line of work to continue to effectively develop new strategies to deliver messages that are not caught in these filters. Content marketing. Influencer marketing. Experiential marketing. Even just more creative, entertaining ways of presenting a brand will be important.

 

Stratton:

Ah, now you have lost me. The science of advertising is far too difficult for my simple mind to grasp. But alas, it sounds as though understanding how the human brain effectively filters out common advertising will be helpful as you determine new ways to create effective marketing strategies. Ludwig? You’ve been relatively quiet? What have you to contribute?

 

Von Mises:

Yes, Stratton, I too am intrigued by your discovery. While yours touches on the mastery of effectively delivering a message via a medium that doesn’t get filtered by the consumer’s mind, mine touches on the importance of the message itself. Have you read my magnum opus, Human Action? It’s in all of the prestigious book shops in the East.

 

Lessing:

Ludwig, I’m afraid you stumped us at magnum opus. English, my friend.

 

Von Mises:

Haha! I’m afraid I’ve overestimated my esteemed colleagues this evening. You can read my full doctrine, but it was written in a vernacular that may be foreign to you, so I will just give you the Cliff Notes version:

  1. People are motivated to improve their own situation. All people act this way. The difference is in how they value things, and this is determined by their unique personal experience, knowledge and access to information.
  2. For a person to act, they must:
    • Become dissatisfied with their current condition
    • See a viable solution
    • Feel they can achieve that solution.

 

Lessing:

Very compelling. Do let me know when you’ve released the “voicecast” because I would love to hear more. From a marketing standpoint, I see where this is highly applicable in terms of consumer behavior. Essentially, what you are saying is that we must sell the problem before we can sell the solution. If people don’t know there is a problem, they won’t seek a new product or service that will solve it for them. This, my friend, is pure genius and directly applicable to some new clients challenged with selling farm boots and lightning rods.

 

Well gentlemen, I must go. Thank you for your enlightening discussion. We must do this again soon. It has been far too long. I assume one of you will close out the tab. I’ll get the round next time. Be safe.

 

*Fade to black*

Marketing trends are always changing — that’s what makes our jobs exciting! We asked a few of our in-house marketing experts what they’re currently excited about, and we got a lot of different answers.

 

QUESTION: WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT IN MARKETING RIGHT NOW?

 

Laura Plumb, digital strategist

“Seeing how digital/social advertising is affected by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that limit our targeting capabilities — how can we still be effective in reaching our target audiences?”

 

GDPR is a collection of European Union (EU) laws that — you guessed it — protect the personal data of EU citizens. And yes, U.S. companies are subject to these laws if they are “processing or are a controller of” EU citizens’ personal data. This makes targeted advertising a little more difficult because certain info we base our campaigns off of is less available than before. In fact, 60% say that new GDPR has “significantly” affected workflow when it comes to dealing with private data. But Laura likes the challenge!

 

April Pearson, senior copywriter

“Getting away from ‘sales-y’ language and using more natural word selections for search engine optimization (SEO).”

 

It can be hard to put yourself in the mind of a consumer when brainstorming keywords! But April is a word whiz and is constantly working with our in-house SEO experts to choose relevant keywords that will boost content search rankings. Check out one of our past blog posts about effective key word strategy in the meantime!

 

Angela Johnston, art director

“Using new Adobe tools and extensions/capabilities.”

 

Adobe does a pretty good job of publishing articles that showcase their program updates, such as Photoshop. If you’re a creative, these updates can cut the time it takes to finish a job in half. Did you know that Adobe is releasing a new drawing app for the iPad called Fresco? Now you do.

 

Rachel Wallace, content marketing specialist

“Finding new ways to create and use content for our clients. It’s a fun storytelling challenge that never ends.”

 

Content marketing is all about using content pieces to attract and retain visitors, and eventually turn them into customers. From blogs to social media to video and beyond, creating content is essential to building trust with new and old customers. If you don’t have a content marketing strategy in place, you’re probably constantly scrambling to come up with things to talk about, and that’s no way to live (let alone, market yourself). We can help *insert eyebrow wiggle*.

 

Paris Solsma, account manager

Trying new digital capabilities and optimizing new content — YouTube in-stream bumper ads, responsive text ads and new website layouts.”

 

Digital advertising will only continue to blow up, and that means that we have to stay innovative in the way we present ourselves and how our presentation reflects the consumer. Read up on bumper ads here to learn how they can work for you, too!

 

Jordan Beynon, account director

“Building influencer programs for clients!”

 

Testimonials from someone that’s tried a product can turn a tough sell into a piece of cake, especially on a platform as personal as Instagram or Twitter. Nothing influences public opinion quite like a real customer. Never tried influencer marketing before? Look into it if you’re wondering how to add some authenticity to your strategy.

 

Shannon Hughes, media strategist

“Using our reporting platform and custom URLs to track the buyer journey after the click.”

 

Everyone in the biz wants to get inside the mind of the consumer/potential client. That all starts with attempting to understand their browsing habits and observing what parts of your webpage need work in order to increase internal click-through rates (CTR). The average click-through rate is around 2%. Where do your CTRs fall?

 

Emily Nichols, account director

“Tracking the right data and making the data work hard. It’s easy to track a lot of information and data points, but it’s hard to hone in on why you are tracking and what you’re going to do now that you have the results.”

 

Exactly. You may be rushing toward finding an answer among the masses of data but don’t have a clue what that answer means in the grand scheme of things. Putting some purpose and direction behind tracking and research will have much more visible payoff. Boom. Velocity. Start with “why” and go from there, making sure to check in with your results and tweak your strategy periodically.

 

Jeremy Jones, art director

“Tradeshows and the opportunities we have to market our clients in a way that will bring traffic and qualified leads to their booth.”

 

Brand awareness and getting attendees to your booth are just two pieces of the pie at tradeshows. Once you get them to your booth, what’s your plan? And how do you figure out which are real potential customers? The old practice of collecting names and business cards is often a big waste of time. We’re always testing new tactics and designs to earn our clients qualified leads and intentional foot traffic.

 

 

Tom Flynn, president

“Pushing clients to think outside of traditional ways they can demonstrate their brand and start thinking about how they can own not just the content, but the way it is delivered, as well. There are so many ways clients can have a bigger impact by owning the experience themselves — with websites, podcasts, videos, emails and events. Owned content and owned delivery.”

 

Yes! Own it all! Being a trendsetter with groundbreaking content is one thing, but innovation and personalization via your media vehicle? Give yourself a pat on the back, friend. That’s a winner, for sure.

 

AND FINALLY…

 

Jeff Caldwell, content marketing manager

“New business opportunities!”

 

*pointed look*

 

But seriously, we’d love to have you, so why don’t you “drop us a line,” as the kids say.

 

We asked our in-house experts at Lessing-Flynn to part with a few marketing tips — consider it a free (mini) crash course in marketing strategy. You’re welcome.

 

Start with identifying your audience.

As much as we want every single person that happens upon our ad campaign to fall in love with it, that’s just not realistic. Identify a target audience to start with and, you may notice emerging audiences that you can cater to in the future. So how do we do that? First, look at your current customer base and ask yourself why they buy or use your services then look for common characteristics (age, location, gender, personal values, lifestyles etc.) and interests and cater your messages to those individuals.

 

“A lot of marketers like to create ‘personas’ for their target audiences and that’s great, just don’t use them for every tactic — they are best suited for individual campaign goals. I’d suggest starting with outlining a few of these general characteristics and speaking to your audience based on those findings.” — Rachel Wallace, Content Marketing Specialist

 

Take inspiration from anywhere.

Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb. Seriously — hundreds of other prototypes were available at the time, his was just the best. And sorry Apple fans, but Steve Jobs didn’t invent the mp3 player, tablet or smartphone. These were all things. But again, Apple simply built the best versions of these products — making them iconic and 100% Apple in doing so.

 

“Don’t obsess over coming up with truly original ideas. Such things hardly exist these days. It’s okay to be inspired by the ideas of others. Like the font treatment you saw on a billboard or a certain video style that pops up on YouTube. Just don’t copy it. Make it 100% your own.” — Chris Hanson, Creative Director

 

Less is more when it comes to design and copy.

Both of these tricks stress the importance of simplicity. Sometimes we can overwhelm ourselves and try to force something that is too elaborate but doesn’t best suit the piece we’re working on. It’s good to take a step back and ask yourself if your key message is still the shining star. Consider your goals and the results you want to achieve. Don’t get distracted by a flashy new marketing trend that isn’t going to benefit your business.

 

>>> Read “3 Steps to Using Better Graphic Designs in Social Media” by Graphic Designer Kara Hoegh.

 

Identify short-term objectives for a long-term strategy.

From the client to the account team to the video team, everyone is operating on a time frame, and some are more grueling than others. That’s why it’s best to hash out short-term objectives that are part of a long-term plan. Not only can these appear more manageable to accomplish, but accomplishing short-term objectives can act as extrinsic motivation that will help fuel endurance to see the plan until the end.

 

“Let’s say we want to hit a certain number of new followers on a client social channel by the end of the year — that number may sound daunting at first but when you divide it up into a quarterly time frame and then create targeted campaigns and promotions it will be easier to achieve and work towards.” — Emily Nichols, Account Director

 

Stand out by being traditional.

We are in the digital age, and more and more businesses are making an impact using the internet as a marketing tool. That means overcrowding and burnout are not far behind. Stand out from the crowd by rolling out a physical magazine instead of an email blast, or run a unique print campaign in a popular magazine that shares part of your target audience as opposed to bothersome YouTube ads and pop-ups.

 

>>> Read “How to Make Print Ads Powerful on a Tight Budget” by Media Strategist Shannon Hughes.

 

BUT, don’t underestimate digital marketing.

Whether you find a certain comfort in traditional marketing techniques or you’re still in denial about the power of the internet, you need to recognize that the popularity of digital marketing is not unwarranted. Advertisers have the capability to place a link right to their product or service within the ad itself, boosting immediate engagement rate, an advantage over traditional marketing. That’s why research is such an important part of the process. Again, what is going to work best for you?

 

>>> Read “Making the Move to Digital Advertising” also by Shannon… she’s super insightful.

 

Collaboration makes everything better.

Whether you have too much on your plate or have reached a creative fork in the road, having team members to delegate to or bounce ideas off of is incredibly useful, even if your inner introvert protests. Don’t forget: Teamwork makes the dream work!

 

“Sometimes you’re your own worst enemy when it comes to creativity. Group brainstorms bring diverse thoughts and ‘idea nuggets’ to the table — one person might say something weird and it will send us all down a rabbit hole that eventually spawns a huge campaign.” — April Pearson, Senior Copywriter

Video Strategy 

I love a good steak — thick with a good sear, a little bit of sea salt and some fresh cracked black pepper. There are few things more mouth-watering than a properly-cooked dry-aged steak. In fact I’ve yet to have a bit of beef that I’ve not enjoyed. But I’m not here to wax poetically about the flat iron or share my favorite recipes. Maybe later.  Instead, I want to share how my love of beef serves as good inspiration for my second passion in life: producing great video content.

 

Beef isn’t cheap. Raising a steer to maturity, transporting and preparation are expensive.  Only eating steaks and rib-eye would cost hundreds of dollars per pound. Luckily, we’ve found ways over the course of time to make use of nearly every part of the animal. In doing so, we’ve stretched our food supply and used our resources to the best of their abilities.

 

Video production can also be expensive. Between paying our highly-skilled media professionals, buying or renting precision equipment, travel expenses and most of all the time it takes to produce great content, the costs can add up quickly. Yet, in the same way that we wouldn’t raise a steer just for one steak dinner, we use all the assets of video production to create a variety of effective and interesting content pieces for our clients.

 

By going into the production process with this mindset, we can better plan on creating and using our content. This is important. We should be asking ourselves what other resources we could generate for our client, what other messages we could be communicating and how. This may include asking our interviewees additional questions, filming additional b-roll and in general, thinking beyond the immediate task at hand. This way of thinking builds versatile tools and assets for clients to use.

 

One 90-second testimonial can be recut into a 30-second or even a 15-second spot. Photos and audio sound bites can be combined with animation to create short GIFs or Animatics. Again, striving to use every part of raw content can lower the cost per individual piece but increase ROI. So while one steak may sound expensive, if we’re using the rest of the cow as efficiently as we can it will be one of many meals.

 

In fact we recently applied this production philosophy to a two-day shooting event held by our client Equipment Technologies. We had five team members shooting video on-site with multiple cameras.

 

While the primary focus was to capture longer 2- to 3-minute Apache Sprayer testimonials, our team is now able to re-cut hours of footage into an additional dozen short 15- to 30-second videos. We also took stills and quotes from our video production and created static display ads and social media graphics — all from one scheduled video shoot that needed to happen anyways. We’ll be using all of these stored assets for future content needs.

 

So whether it’s an excellent steak dinner (primary video production) or a set of skirt steak tacos (re-cuts), it’s all a part of our process of getting as much content for our client’s dollars as we possibly can and leave them hungry for more. Bon apetit.

Mercy College of Health Sciences prepares students for a career in the healthcare industry by providing a unique education experience — unlike anything found at larger, more traditional four-year institutions — focusing on smaller class sizes, industry-experienced faculty, flexible scheduling, the latest techniques and technologies, and affiliations with hospitals and clinics. Located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, Mercy College has built an entire legacy around its specialized healthcare education programs.

 

THE SITUATION

 

The Mercy College team came to Lessing-Flynn (LF) ready to make a big impact with their marketing efforts. While their experienced faculty work tirelessly to provide the latest in healthcare curriculum — Mercy College felt their previous viewbooks were not communicating the right message or resonating with prospective students.

 

If you’re not familiar with college viewbooks, think of it as brochure that lays out all the reasons why someone should attend. It’s considered part of the gold-standard in college marketing — it’s used for various recruitment efforts like college fairs, high school visits, direct mail and more. So, because a college viewbook is such big piece used within the prospective student’s search process, it was important to ensure the 2018-2019 piece made the right statement.

 

THE SOLUTION

 

The traditional viewbook — you know the old 30+ page book including anything and everything about a college — well, it’s gone. That’s right, it’s completely dead. Prospective students used to get copious amounts of these hefty (and costly) print pieces, but since the dawn of the internet the needs of the prospective student audience have changed. Most potential students spend more time skimming and searching college websites for their questions rather than reading a lengthy glossy publication.

 

Today’s version of the viewbook has become a tool to grab attention, answer the quick questions and convey an attitude. It doesn’t give every single detail and historical reference, instead, it contains strong calls to action to the website where they can get all the extra details they want and begin the admissions process.

 

After reviewing past Mercy College viewbooks, LF decided to reduce and streamline the copy using a strategic content outline and design layout while incorporating a more relatable (and fun!) tone. Plus, with Mercy College’s recent brand update we made sure to use their new logo, designated colors, fonts and overall style. We also reduced the college’s “about” section and turned the focus to questions that a prospective student might have and addressed them right away. Questions such as: What majors and programs are offered at Mercy College? How do I get financial aid? What is the transfer process? How do I apply?…and many more!

 

THE RESULTS

 

The completed project provides a cohesive and concise literature piece using the updated Mercy College brand style. Both teams were able to work together to communicate the college’s story and values to any prospective student.

 

Recently, Mercy College of Health Sciences celebrated a record number of students who applied for admittance for the fall 2018 semester. Applications totaled 1,054 — an 8.5 percent increase over 2017. Of those applicants, 252 enrolled at Mercy College resulting in the second largest new student enrollment for any term in the college’s history.

 

 

A few years ago, Microsoft came out with a study that unfavorably compared a human’s attention span to that of a goldfish. According to the study, the goldfish’s nine-second attention span outlasted the human’s by a full second. The study, designed to help marketers understand changes in how content and information is consumed, was picked up by respected media everywhere. And really, why wouldn’t it be? It came from a large, respectable company. I was packaged up in an intriguing man vs. fish headline. And, it had direct implications for marketers promoting their products and services to consumers.

 

Since then, thanks to skeptics with better-than-average attention spans, the research has been largely disproved. Much of the faulty information came from sources referenced outside of the actual research conducted by Microsoft. But that didn’t stop the information from making it into marketing presentations everywhere, altering marketing strategies everywhere. We now have one-second radio spots, six-second videos, digital billboards that change ads displayed every six seconds and infographics instead of articles.

 

How did we get to a point in the marketing world where holding the audience’s attention for LESS time was the solution to NOT gaining their attention at all?

 

There is no doubt that there are more “things” than ever before vying for consumers’ attention. Podcasts, streaming video, new social media apps, video content, virtual reality and video games are all competing for our attention. But maybe it’s not the length of the content, but rather the quality, that is impacting the amount of time people spend with it. If people’s attention spans were shrinking so drastically, you’d expect people to be buying fewer books, spending less time listening to audio content and not able to sit for hours at a time watching t.v. episodes. That’s just not the case:

 

In the rush by marketers to get their share of attention by pushing out an endless supply of content, there is now a tremendous amount of mediocre content for people to filter through. Consumers have gotten good at sorting out the good from the bad. Bad content? Move on. Good content? People will spend the time.

 

Want a simple example? Take the typical training video — usually one of the most boring, lifeless communication tools in the company arsenal. But critical information that needs to be communicated. Maybe it’s sales training? Maybe it’s safety training. Picture a post-lunch powerpoint presentation to a classroom of sleepy employees? Slide after slide of best practices and processes. Total snoozer, right? If you’re lucky, maybe it’s a video with a spokesperson who can’t watch you nod off.

 

What if something as simple as safety training, critically important to the safety of a company’s employees, was done in a form of a Hollywood movie instead of a dull powerpoint presentation — with an introductory trailer that looked like this? Would it cost more than a powerpoint? Yes. Would it have more impact? Be more memorable? Be talked about more by those who saw it? Yes.

 

Marketers today are competing with more content and more channels for that content to be delivered than ever before. If you want to gain people’s attention in this attention-seeking marketing world, you’ll be more effective by developing content that is interesting, compelling and plays to people’s needs and emotions than by developing content that plays to shorter attention spans that people have to invest in mediocre content. Are you up for the challenge?

 

Back in the early 1990s, a time before people knew how much technology would change their lives, a young engineer tinkered in his garage with a vision.

 

Al Myers worked on prototype after prototype until he designed the first commercially-successful yield monitor, an invention that would jump start the era of precision agriculture and improve the lives of farmers around the world. That’s how Ag Leader began.

 

Now more than 25 years later, the company continues to be a leader in the precision ag industry with a team of employees who are continually working to innovate, create and solve farmers’ problems with new products and technologies.

 

The Situation

 

We’re lucky to work with this brand — Lessing-Flynn is proud to be an Ag Leader partner going on more than a decade. In the beginning, ag tech was new, and our challenge was to market their products to an audience of early adopters on the farm. Back then, we knew that most farmers read agricultural magazines as their primary source for industry information (this is still accurate today), but no matter the coverage opportunities, Ag Leader continued to see miscommunication of their precision tech benefits.

 

Through targeted research, Lessing-Flynn discovered most agriculture publications didn’t have devoted technology editors on full-time staff. Ag tech was evolving so quickly, and there was a gap in providing farmers with up-to-date, practical information on the benefits of precision technology products. As a solution, Ag Leader Insights magazine was launched in 2012 to educate all audiences — growers, dealers, industry editors and more.

 

Fast forward six years to 2018, precision ag has become more widespread, and more folks are up to speed and paying attention to the evolution of technology on the farm. We decided it was time to revisit the goal of the publication and redefine the strategy.

 

The Solution

 

Each audience that we previously targeted has evolved and now has different needs. One publication doesn’t speak to all of them. Our first step was to work with Ag Leader on an audience identification exercise to narrow our target.

 

When we met, we filled a conference room with white boards, our creative team and snacks (our first winning strategy). We started by dividing our audience list into primary, secondary and tertiary groups. Using research to guide our discussion, we landed on a primary audience and key demographics. Next up, we developed a persona by talking through each stage of the buyer’s journey considering their thoughts, concerns, problems and feelings along the way.

 

By the end of the exercise, each of us could clearly envision our target. We decided to call him “Todd,” and that made him tangible. Then we connected Todd to Ag Leader’s goal – to improve the lives of farmers around the world – and answered the following questions from a marketing and communications perspective.

 

Q: How can we improve Todd’s life on the farm?
A: Fuel ideas that empower him to improve efficiencies and increase revenue.

Q: How do we do that?
A: Tell the story of what life on the farm looks like when growers incrementally add new technologies, analyze data and make informed decisions that change how they manage their operation.

 

With our audience defined and strategy outlined, our incredible creative team refreshed the design of the publication and identified department sections with dedicated topics for each edition. We now kick off each edition with a brainstorm about stories we should tell Todd to help him through the upcoming season on the farm.

 

New Ag Leader Insights magazine objectives:

 

The Results

 

Ag Leader Insights magazine is a successful, industry-exclusive precision farming publication. Its print audience has grown to more than 28,000 since the initial launch and the digital publications received more than 2,000 views in 2017. Using a strategic editorial calendar, smart copywriting and unique design, this publication allows Ag Leader to reach “Todd” and similar growers in a way that has not been done before. Today, Ag Leader deems this publication one of their most powerful and effective marketing tools and attributes the feature article copywriting by Lessing-Flynn to much of its success.

 

>> View the most recent issue of Ag Leader Insights!

 

Equipment Technologies, the parent company of the Apache Sprayer brand, is the largest manufacturer of self-propelled sprayers in North America. They focus exclusively on building the best possible sprayer and boy does it show. Apache Sprayers are thousands of pounds lighter, cost tens of thousands of dollars less and deliver more power to the ground than the competition. That’s what makes Apache the best pound-for-pound sprayer on the planet.

 

The Situation

Equipment Technologies manufactures Apache Sprayers — the lineup offers economical, efficient machines that offer high ROI for customers. As part of the brand position for Apache, we were tasked with developing an overarching content marketing strategy encompassing the themes of ROI, efficiency and other value propositions of the brand.

 

The Solution

As a part of our content strategy we worked to create the “Applying Trends” email newsletter to help amplify the brand’s cornerstone content and grow a list of potential new customers. The newsletter was also meant to showcase Apache Sprayers as a thought leader in themes key to the purchase decision-making process for primary customers.

 

Though the Equipment Technologies situation called for content revolving around Apache Sprayers specifically, a broader thought leadership campaign focusing on general ROI helped establish the brand as a leader in that critical theme in its industry. Applying Trends helped distribute that content to key stakeholders, customers and potential customers.

 

With an initial goal of directing 1,500 new interested customers to apachesprayers.com and grow the list to 3,000 qualified sales leads, the monthly send uses an eye-catching design from comprehensive A/B testing.

 

The Results

Applying Trends saw results above and beyond initial goals. It has received an average open rate of almost 27 percent (which peaked at just over 41 percent for one specific mailing) — more than 8 percent above the industry average. Calls to action – an area thoroughly researched for optimal placement and design – saw engagement numbers well above initial expectations, with more than 2,000 recipients seeking more information or otherwise navigating to apachesprayers.com. On the flip side, subscriber complaints and unsubscribe requests were minimal.

 

To date the 7,600-person Applying Trends subscriber list has garnered more than 24,700 opens and 4,900 total clicks from its monthly sends. It also won a 2017 PRSA Prime Award in the email newsletter category. Applying Trends continues to demonstrate the increasing value of thoughtful content marketing to support sales efforts, educate customers and more.

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