The Sum of Averages: Become the Best Professional Version of Yourself

“You are the average of the top 5 people you spend time with”

-Jim Rohn

We’ve all heard this quote from motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, but how true is it really? We were curious about this so we did a dive into the research and this is what we found. As it turns out your social circle does directly affect you and the kind of life you have, professional and personally. However, it is not limited to the top five people that you spend the most time with. It extends further than that.

Mental Health Awareness Month 2023

Did you know that 21% of U.S. adults experienced a mental health condition in 2020? (Forbes) May is Mental Health Awareness Month so we thought it appropriate to support through writing on some ways to support mental health. First, and most importantly, talk openly about mental health issues. People who are suffering should not be afraid of speaking up or hiding their conditions. Make sure to educate yourself and your staff on mental health conditions that are common and the warning signs. You want to create an inclusive work culture that promotes openness about mental health. This is why empathy in the workplace is crucial. You do not know what someone may be going through behind the scenes. Creating an environment that does not support your employees will only hurt the success of your business in the long run anyway. Don’t wait for trouble to act against mental health issues at work either. Here are some other ways you can create a better work culture that supports mental health.

Occam’s Razor of Advertising

We often tend to overcomplicate things. But, usually the best answer to anything is the simplest one. This is the principle behind Occam’s Razor. The idea is that the answer to any problem is usually the simplest solution possible.

Direct Mail Marketing

We’ve become so accustomed to email marketing that we sometimes forget that the postal service is still running. Direct mail marketing can be just as effective as email if done correctly. Actually, studies show that it can be more effective and you will probably have less competition. It can help improve brand awareness and memorability, boost engagement and inspire people to act. The ROI is also trackable. Who doesn’t like to see how their marketing efforts are doing? So, how does one go about direct mail marketing? Here are a few tips to get your brand started.

Digital Age: Effects on Creativity

 We heard someone say the other day that their friends’ children were told to go play outside. They then saw the kids have absolutely no idea what to do when technology wasn’t present. They sat there. Doing nothing. Kicking rocks around. This made us start to think about what it was like for our generation growing up without IT. We had to get creative and think of things to do. We made up games, we hunted for critters, we rode bikes or other fun things with wheels. We then started to think, “what if this digital age is going to negatively affect creativity for that younger generation when they enter the work force.”

Communication Breakdown: Talk is Cheap but Not Talking is Expensive

Did you know that according to research, “the average loss from inadequate communication is $62.4 billion annually for companies with 100K employees?” (David Grossman) The most important thing in a business or anything for matter is good communication! There are many ways for management or upper teams to convey messages and contact others within a company. Texts, emails, calls, weekly meetings in person or via zoom, etc. Being in a top role in a company also means that communication is an essential skill to possess in order to keep your company running smoothly.

Jewish Heritage Month

May is known for a few different things and one of them is celebrating Jewish Heritage month. We’ve actually worked on some cool projects in the past for antisemitism that we are very proud of. That aside, there are some other ways that we can all help support Jewish heritage month.

Customer Relationship Management: Three’s Company

Yesterday we wrote about Increasing Customer Lifetime Value and customer relationship management goes hand in hand with this topic. The goal here is to improve customer service and in turn, improve relationships with the brand audience.  CMR uses technology, practices and strategies to manage and analyze customer interaction as well as their data throughout their lifetime as your customer. It allows insights into past purchases, customer data and interaction history to deeper understand your audience. There are three main types of CMR: operational, analytical and collaborative.

BFF’s Forever: Increasing Customer Lifetime Value

What is customer lifetime value anyway? It’s how much net profit one customer can generate for your brand over time. it’s common sense that a brand wants to keep their customers for a long time. Customer loyalty plays an important role in revenue and word of mouth marketing. So, how do you keep your customers for the long haul? Here are some of our tips to improve your customer lifetime value.

1.     Feature your customers in your content: this will keep your audience engaged and let them know that you appreciate them!

Competitive Positioning Strategy

In what ways does your brand stand out from all the others? What’s the value of choosing your brand over your competitors? Competitive positioning is a marketing strategy the refers to how the brand will do just that. The goal of the competitive positioning strategy is not only to increase sales but can guide your brand with purpose. So, in what ways can your brand make itself stand out?

Billboard Advertising

Sometimes it seems like our devices can actually read our minds instead of just hear us and send us targeted ads. The other day I was thinking about how much it would cost to advertise on a billboard and if it would even be worth it, as I drove from New Jersey on the Walt Whitman bridge back to Philly. There are tons of billboards as you drive across and I’ll be honest, they do catch my eye. They’re creative and attention grabbing. Not to mention, absolutely massive in size. Shortly after this thought crossed my mind, I got an email from my daily HubSpot with their weekly blogs. Low and behold, there was an article there all about billboard advertising. The web strikes again to read my thoughts and slightly terrify me.

Stress Awareness Month: Managing Stress at Work

April is national stress awareness month. We wanted to support that through our blog this week. Stress has many negative impacts on the human body, such as headaches, high blood pressure, skin conditions, anxiety, depression, and many more. These are just a few of a long list. Chronic stress can have impactful conditions that last a lifetime. It’s very important to know how to deal with stress properly to avoid chronic conditions caused from stress in your life. There are many reasons why stress can arise at work including low pay, work that’s not engaging, excessive overloads and overall lack of support to name a few. It’s crucial to understand ways to manage this properly.

Tips for Teamwork

While some groups put in teams may just hit it off and have a smooth work flow, others may not. While we wish the first scenario for you, it’s important to have ways to help your company teams be successful if they are having difficulties. Research shows that having a collaborative team leads to better outcomes, the team members are more likely to take calculated risks leading to innovative ideas, and finally, increased job satisfaction with reduced work stress. Teamwork really does make the dream work!

Marketing to Older Populations

Did you know that older generations 50-years and above make up 51% of consumer spending? They also spend more time online than most people think. They are not much different than other groups to market to honestly, but they do have some qualities that differ and it will require some adjustments on the brands marketing strategy. Since they take up half of the consumer spending it’s important you get it right or you’re losing out on some big moola. Here are some ways to ensure that your senior marketing strategy will not be lost.

Objectives & Goals

What is the difference between a goal and an objective and how can the two work together? Well, let’s start by defining each one. A goal is long-term and typically a broader outcome whereas an objective is short-term and more specific. An objective can help a brand achieve a goal. They are different but can objectives can assist goals if used correctly. So, what are the main differences between goals and objectives? Well, let’s take a quick look.

Expanding Creativity Through UGC

Advertising is creativity at its core. Those who think otherwise probably shouldn’t be in this business. Think about it, ads are a creation of creativity that extract an emotional response from the viewers. It’s that emotional response that makes UGC ads stand out from the rest. Their authenticity has the power to provoke stronger emotional connections to the content that real people made that is now being shown in the ad. We are here to argue that using UGC in your campaigns can actually increase your creative power.

LOV Movement Fundraiser 2023

Today we’re taking a different take on our blog article in order to promote a good cause. The LOV Movement is a non-profit organization that focus on love, oneness, and virtue to help real people in underdeveloped communities all over the world. Last year they held their first fundraising event that helped to build a school in the Giotto slum of Kenya for the local children.

Salience Effect: Beyond Brand Salience

Salience is something that has been used for years in marketing techniques. The salience bias is when people tend to focus on items or information that is more noteworthy or unique than those that don’t grab attention. This makes sense if you think about it. With bottles on the shelf that all look the same, your attention will immediately go to the bottle that stands out like a sore thumb.

Know Your Worth: Value Propositions

We’ve all heard the saying, “Know your worth,” but how can you actually apply this in the business world? Well, one answer could be creating a solid value proposition. A value proposition summarizes why customers should choose your product or service. It will highlight the ways that you stand out from your competition and how that can benefit your customer. A great value proposition is specific, focuses on the problem(s) it solves for the customers and should be front and center on your site. Here are some of our tips to writing a good value proposition.

Anchoring Heuristic in Marketing

As we know by now, psychology plays a critical role in marketing and advertising. Anchoring bias or anchoring heuristic is one of these cognitive characteristics that can be applied to marketing strategies. The anchoring bias describes our human tendency to favor the first piece of information offered about something when making decisions. It is then difficult to part from this once you’ve made up your mind, despite the fact that other options may be more beneficial. Let’s look at an example to further explain how this works. Let’s say that you just went shopping and the first car was a set price.