Home Offices – The New Normal

There has been a lot of talk about Home Offices as a temporary solution to social distancing, but many businesses, including Media Link, have already successfully employed this strategy for years. Our Sr. Marketing Consultant, Adrian, has been living on the West Coast for over two years now, “Setting up a webinar to have a face-to-face conversation with people thousands of miles away only takes a minute. Because our team is so young and agile, texting and face time is second nature to all of us now.”

A benefit of using webinars is that you don’t need to spend time on organizing rooms, coffee and snacks. You won’t be late because of traffic and you have the opportunity to meet your colleagues in a place truly special to them (pro-tip: introduce you pets!!). Webinars though your home office makes printing copies of presentations redundant, because you can email the pdf in advance and simply share your screen during the conversation without losing eye contact. According to Entrepreneur and Forbes, there are plenty of other benefits to consider:

  • No commute saves employees money, time and lowers their carbon footprint.
  • Employers may be able to downsize office space, expand employment and save on office supply, snacks and other variable costs.
  • Since Millennials and GenZ value flexible work arrangements, home offices make you more competitive and may increase retention rates.
  • Home offices allow employers to access a larger labor pool. The perfect job candidate may not be able to move, but this won’t be necessary with a home office.
  • Working from home makes many people more productive, because they experience less interruptions and can truly shape their office to fit their needs.
  • The amount of sick days will likely decrease, because contamination risks are lower when anyone coming down with something switches to working remotely.
  • Employees may claim Home Offices on their tax returns.

Home Offices have never been this easy to implement. There are dozens of services to manage teams remotely and to make sure team members communicate efficiently. Meetings can simply be set up via Webex, Skype, Zoom or other services. Online meetings are often more productive, because you can easily share your screen to introduce documents and email them to other participants. You can also take advantage of personal chat windows to coordinate with others.

Organizations new to this model have a chance to evaluate the feasibility of having staff work remotely and to get their feedback. Some employers will make working from home a standard option or apply it to bridge days when productivity is low.

Rest assured; Home Offices don’t have to be solely functional. You may even consider permanently transforming a room into a working area you and other family members can use even after returning to regular work arrangements. A separate “office” room can help children focus on their homework. Your spouse may finally have a quiet place to write on their novel or engage in art projects. Here are a couple of home office ideas and tips as inspiration.

Always feel free to schedule a webinar with us to experience some of the benefits yourself! Right now, please contact Ben to see his Star Wars memorability, Adrian to see a painting from his favorite artist Franz Marc, and Natalie for her cats Olaf and Jackson.

Posted on: by Media Link

The Best a Man Can Get

Generation Z is the most diverse and egalitarian group of Americans we have ever seen. Many established marketing strategies will have to be adjusted accordingly. Companies need to decide whether they take a stand on social and environmental issues, because this generation has lost trust in the political process and is therefore eager to vote with their wallet.  

Donations do matter.  Sponsoring events for those who suffer is the social good people want to see. Corporate social responsibility is beneficial to your community, but how exactly does your business affect the wide range of stakeholders they serve? Providing value to your community beyond fantastic products and great service is how you can differentiate yourself from the competition. This may include social and environmental initiatives that go way beyond donations and sponsorships.

Storytelling is becoming an effective strategy to reach Gen Z, because they are often doubtful of abstract and vague messages like healthy or natural. They want to know where and how is your product made. Are you monitoring your supply chain for ethical wrongdoing and, if it exists, how do you react? Transparency will create trusted relationships with your consumers for years to come.

You may say Gillette using a controversial video is risky. They may have lost consumers, but they have also attracted new consumer segments who value their public stance against toxic masculinity – an issue bouncing around our education system and has been in politics for decades. This new generation wants to see change and since politics aren’t trusted to provide that change, they’re looking at the next most influential group in the Country: Corporate America.

Walking the talk is crucial, though. Figuring out whether your pledged support truly materialized is simple, so businesses engaging in white washing will be called out publicly. There are plenty of certifications and alternative business models to consider. Focus on the triple bottom line, become a certified B Corp or support one of hundreds of social and environmental initiatives.

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2020 Marketing Predictions

There are plenty of 2020 predictions for the marketing industry, so we took a moment to weed through industry insiders’ comments. Here are our top 3 picks:

Digital Marketer

Digital Marketer provides 17 predictions from 17 industry experts. Videos will remain crucial for any campaign, and businesses will focus more on LinkedIn and IGTV. “Woke Marketing”, the mixing of politics into marketing messages, rises due to the election year. Companies will need to decide whether they want to be part of a public conversation by taking a stance or remain neutral. Both strategies have pros and cons. TikTok emerges as a potential new platform to reach the younger generation organically and via paid ads. Read more here.

Think with Google

Google provides 10 high-level predictions. Privacy concerns, automatization, machine learning and individualization reach critical levels. Marketers have more customer information available than ever, but concerns about people’s privacy are at an all-time high. Automatization may help keep data anonymous, yet allow us to utilize sensitive customer information. Read more here.

Single Grain

Single Grain provides an extensive list of 42 digital marketing trends for 2020. Not only does Single Grain explain trends, it also uses quotes, infographics, videos and other visual aids. They also provide plenty of valuable follow-up sources, so this is a great source if you are interested in the details. They address topics like conversational marketing, visual search, smart speakers and browser push notifications. Read more here.

Posted on: by Media Link

Internships for GenZ

Millennials have outnumbered the Baby Boomer generation, and GenZ is entering the labor force. It is time to not only read about GenZ’s habits, but to get to know them personally via internships.

According to the Washington Post, “[GenZ is] known to value compromise […], a byproduct of their diversity and comfort with working with peers from different backgrounds. They are also in line to be an ‘adaptive’ generation. These cohorts tend to come right after disruptive generations that change society in significant ways, such as millennials. When adaptive groups come of age, they take the problems that were brought to light by their predecessors and try to work them out.”

What does this mean for businesses?

Attractive internships for the GenZ generation will have to provide a high level of autonomy. They want to learn about the big picture, but their attention span is historically short. Engage with them on a frequent basis and focus on where they feel most comfortable: the digital realm.

Providing meaningful work and engaged mentoring are necessary if you plan to hire interns. GenZ is a generation of doers. The more they get involved with the key operations of your business, and how they fit into their ideological world view, the more likely they are to stay.

There is even a new kind of mentoring you may want to consider: reverse mentoring. GenZ are digital natives who want to change the world. They have a unique way of looking at the world which is an asset for management and beyond. Confront your intern with a challenge the business is currently facing, and ask her to come up with a plan by doing research, interviewing employees, etc. Let them share new trends and innovative solutions. Let them mentor management whenever appropriate.

We at Media Link have been enjoying insights from our interns for many years. We take time getting to know our interns from the start, so we can create an individualized bundle of responsibilities and tasks to improve the skills necessary for their future careers. Some of our interns like to focus on creative tasks such as copy writing and social media; others prefer the data driven nature of market research and tracking campaign success – our goal is to create a good fit. Interns meet with our internship coordinator on a regular basis to talk about their progress and to adjust tasks where needed.

Around 10 students run though our internship program each year.  We are so proud to see their growth and see where their path after graduation takes them.  Over the last few years, we have extended our mentoring into a part-time position for those interns who have exhibited a special passion for our field. This ensures they can continue to grow both personally and professionally to help them better prepare to be our next generation of marketing professionals.

Posted on: by Media Link

Net(-)working

We all know it’s crucial to foster relationships in and out of the office. Reach out and make connections with people in different fields, so you can take advantage of anything that comes up.

But don’t forget the digital realm. Dig up old LinkedIn posts and polish them up before reposting them to be more relevant to today’s standards. This way, you are using content you are already know, which they may have missed when you posted it a couple years ago.

Live text chats have increased in popularity. Larger businesses profit from setting up a live chat option on their website, so customers can instantly get in touch.

Google your key words into a search engine and see the top results. If they aren’t competitors of yours, then reach out and try to strike a deal with them to put your information on their site. This way you are indirectly on the first page of search results, which will greatly increase your exposure.

Pay close attention to how users interact with your website and react to the results you find. Always keep updating your site and listen to what your users are asking, because they’re the ones you want to keep happy.

Hosting webinars is increasingly popular. The more focused a webinar, the more relevant it will be for your clients/customers to log in to listen and interact. Another video-based tactic is vlogging, or video blogging.

If you notice your customers showing an interest in your articles, then don’t ignore them. Respond to comments and thank them for contributing. Consider writing an e-book, if you have a good amount of complementary copy available.

Its common knowledge social media is one of the largest driving forces for companies, but don’t just use the most well-known sites. Consider expanding to sites like reddit and others with great online communities.

Last consider adding a “call to action” or CTA to your site.  This tool leaves spots all over your site to encourage users to act. You could offer your e-book as a download.  

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Introduction to Photography Marketing

There are endless steps you can take to improve your career in photography marketing. The first step you should consider is figuring out what kind of photography you lean towards. What kind of pictures do you enjoy taking and what kind of subjects do you think you are good at capturing? There are people who can capture a landscape photo, but don’t know how to take an appealing picture of food. It’s imperative to find your strengths and weaknesses.

In fact, it is usually easier to build a brand on a specific field of photography, so your clients also know your strengths and what kind of photography they will be see from your service.

It may be appealing to get as many clients as possible, but this instinct may be misleading. You want to get the right customers who are looking for what you have to offer. That way they are more likely to return for more, as well as refer you to friends and family, which is far more important than making $100 from one client and never seeing them again, or worse, getting negative public feedback.

Another helpful strategy is keeping track of customers. Not only is it convenient to be able to pull up records in case someone has a question or a comment about a past shoot, but it will allow you to contact previous clients to remind them of your abilities and your availability for another photo shoot.  It is also a good idea to make an email list of your clients and email them periodically to update them about your recent jobs, as well as any promotional offers or updates.

As with many fields, social media is a critical marketing platform for photographers too. Everyone knows Instagram, Facebook and the other top social media platforms, but many people don’t consider using Pinterest or blog posts. People can be reached on a variety of sites, so make sure you market yourself on all relevant options to increase your reach.

Also be sure to reach out to non-profits that coincide with your interests and your kind of photography.  You may not be able to be paid for this kind of service, but you will be able to build your portfolio and your exposure with these organizations will help to build your reputation and demonstrate your skills.

Our last tidbit of advice is to make connections with the people who hire you for shoots. Never be afraid to ask for a reference and/or a review.

With whatever field you decide to follow, there is a lot you can do to take your career to the next level, but with all of these steps listed above never forget to stay true to who you are and why you’ve chosen this career. Learn more here.

Posted on: by Media Link

Marketing Consultant Position

Mission of this Position: 

To recruit and manage long term relationships with organizations in need of detailed marketing and communications support either through the services of a full-service advertising agency or through the use of Media Link’s media planning/buying software.  As well as manage and maintain social media and public relations for a variety of clients.

The Marketing Consultant position consists of the following four elements:

Media Link Account Acquisition and Management

  • Generating leads/Cold-Calls/Intro appointments: you will be expected to analyze potential new accounts, come up with campaign proposals, and follow through with campaigns with the support of colleagues
  • Account Management: prepare proposals for broadcast, online and print buys in Media Link Software™

Media Link Software™ Account Acquisition and Management

  • Generating leads/Cold-Calls/Intro appointments: research and contact prospective accounts
  • Perform MLS demonstrations via webinars
  • Account Management: conduct trainings, customer support and maintain a positive relationship

Social Media Management

  • Manage accounts’ social media
  • Create content for social media campaigns, including occasional clients site visits
  • Create meaningful social media reports
  • Stay up to date on Social Media trends

Public Relations Management

  • Write and/or edit press releases and pitches for Media Link clients
  • Send out releases and follow up with media
  • Create meaningful reports
  • Maintain a positive relationship with local media and coach clients on public relations management

Requirements:

  • Excellent writing skills
  • Enthusiasm for the agency sales process
  • Knowledge of the media buying/marketing industry
  • Can demonstrate organizational/time management skills, a proactive nature and passion for a fast-paced and constantly changing industry
  • College degree in marketing, business, communications or related fields

Benefits with this Position:

  • Base salary, plus Commission
  • A seminar stipend
  • Health Insurance with HSA available after 6 months of employment
  • Simple IRA with matching available after 1 year of employment 
  • Vacation available after six months
  • 12 paid Holidays per year

Please email a resume and cover letter to natalie@medialinkinc.com.

Posted on: by Media Link

The Art of Sports Marketing

Marketing for a sports team is a very different animal than marketing many more conventional products. Sports marketers still use media like radio, TV and social media to reach their target audiences, but their goals and messaging is rarely what would be considered a direct sale or ‘buy it now’ approach. Instead, their focus is on building relationships to foster fan loyalty and manage different fan experiences. While there certainly is a degree of selling branded products and navigating sponsorships, for the purposes of this blog we will focus on the fan relationship.

  • It’s Not All About Product Sales

Of course sports marketers want to encourage more people to watch games and attend team related events, but most sports marketers aren’t focusing the bulk of their efforts promoting game night. A good example of this is the approach the Brewers took. They made a point of positioning themselves as the team of all Milwaukee residents and their fans are the exclusive reason they play. The “we are your team, we are you” approach was part of a larger push to build fan investment in the team to people who aren’t necessarily avid sports fans, but still want to be connected to their community.

  • Generational Connection Building

Another huge part of what sports marketers are doing is fostering connections with the new generation of fans. Younger fans are less likely to find the hometown connection compelling. Many people who feel they are sports fans grew up with a family connection to a particular sport or team. Tapping into that youthful “Wow” factor and creating an engaging experience for a younger fan is a sure-fire way to foster a life-long love of the team. Growth of long-term relationships and hero building within younger demographic groups is like banking positive social capital to build a community around the team.

  • The  Party Goers and Families

Along with younger fans and family groups who go to a game day for a fun outing, are the party goers. These folks are primarily looking to have a good time, often involving alcohol. Offering a combined experience for these two groups is a balancing act with thin margins as family groups are less likely to be tolerant of rowdy behavior. Family oriented experiences like mascot races are a great opportunity to cater specifically to younger fans interests while giving more excitable fans a chance to stretch and grab another beer.

  • Big Spenders

While most of us will be satisfied with some nice bowl seats, there are always the ever coveted box seats. This is an entirely different experience than the groups we have previously mentioned. While there are most certainly avid sports fans among the corporate seat and box seat owners, these VIP sections are geared towards those who want to see and be seen. These high end experiences are often carefully choreographed to ensure the best experience for the highest spenders. Much like first class on a plane, there are often exclusive perks related to having such seats like better food amenities and personalized service.

At its core, sports marketing is the business of relationship management and experience building. Unlike most product driven industries, sports marketers do not have direct control over their ‘products’ as injuries and play controversy can arise within a moment’s notice. Emotional and experiential memories last for a long time and can be difficult to reverse if negative. Mastering the promotion of ancillary experiences and community management creates and grows fan bases across generations.

Posted on: by Media Link

Happy 4th Anniversary, Adrian!

Our Senior Marketing Consultant, Adrian Vander Wille, is celebrating his 4th anniversary with Media Link! Much has happened since he started, so we wanted to look back at a couple of moments:

As a social person, Adrian enjoyed attending numerous networking, industry and philanthropic events across Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

  • NAACP
  • Greater Hispanic Chamber
  • YP QC

Even though he moved to Oregon, Adrian stays loyal to the Palomares Social Justice Center and the German American Heritage Center & Museum where he serves as an active Board Member to date.

  • German American Heritage Center & Museum
  • Palomares Social Justice Center

Living the American Dream, Adrian recently became a US citizen; proving hard work and dedication pays off.

Naturalization, Eugene, OR

But he didn’t just stop there! Adrian started pursuing his MBA at the University of Oregon this past year. He continues working full-time and plans to graduate with his third college degree in 2020.

University of Oregon

Congratulations, we can’t wait to see what the future brings!

Posted on: by Media Link

6 Tips to Marketing Musicians

Marketing musicians and their music can be tricky because the consumer decision making process tends to be inverted when looking for new music. Traditional decision making starts with a need and ends with a specific product being chosen. In music, most fans already have a specific band in mind and will be drawn to music that satisfies a similar need. Because of this structure and the intensely competitive nature of the music industry, it’s important to focus on the key elements that will make you succeed not trying to be everything to everyone.

Tip #1: Document Your Existence
This seems straightforward, and it is, but it’s very easily overlooked in the chaos of managing all of the other aspects of a band, your music and touring. The long and short of it is simple: get on social media and get posting! There are dozens of platforms to choose from like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram but musicians have a few more platforms available for them specifically like Reverb Nation. The best way to choose what makes sense for you is to see where your audience is. If you’re playing in a Jimmy Buffet cover band, you’re probably not going to need Twitter since your core audience’s age range shows they are more likely to use Facebook. Instagram tends to be a universally great platform because it is so visual and is specifically geared to show short clips of video, audio as well as snapshots of your gigs.

Tip #2: Engage! Engage! Engage!
There’s nothing worse than having someone talk at you without ever waiting to hear your input. Don’t let your social media and communication efforts do this either! Engage back with your audience and make them feel like their input in your growth is valued. This doesn’t mean you have to go out and like, follow, and comment on everyone of your fans’ profiles, you have bigger fish to fry. What this means is that you should post polls or open-ended questions asking you audience simple questions like “Where’s your favorite local venue” or “What do you use to stream music most” and then following up on those answers. If their favorite venue is Reggies Chicago, start making friends with their booking agents and get a show there. Likewise, if an audience member is asking you a question, reach out and answer them. Sometimes you have to have hard conversations too, not all communication is positive but finding a solution will always be better than letting something fester and grow out of proportion.

Tip #3: People Like Winning Stuff
Winning stuff is always a good time, what’s better than free? Promoting contests for a free pair of tickets to your next show or a free tee shirt and CD is a great way to get a lot of people excited about you and get them talking about your next gig. Band/artist meet and greets are a great giveaway prize as well and have the potential to turn into a great opportunity for future content. When planning out your promotions, be sure to look into your area’s rules as well as any platform specific rules since these can have a big impact on how you are able to structure your campaign.

Tip #4: Post Fan Content
Everyone is looking for their fifteen minutes of fame and the chance to get put in front of a lot of people is one most people won’t pass up, especially on social media. Ask your fans to take pictures or videos of themselves at your shows and then share it with you. Not only is this a great way to build up content to post on social media, it’s an ever better way to give back to your fans. As you post more fan content, your fan base will get more engaged with what you’re doing. It gives your music a sense of authenticity and shows you care about your fans just as much as they care about you.

Tip #5: Influencers are a Big Deal
Terms like ‘social media influencer’ or ‘content creator’ are thrown around much more frequently now than ever before, and with good reason. The internet has allowed people to connect with each other and share their opinions at an unprecedented scale, the best respected rise to the top as influencers. Music critics are among these individuals and can do wonders to help grow your fan base. Send your latest album or demo to prominent critics and social media influencers to be reviewed. If they like it, you’ve just reached all of their audience that trusts their opinion and are now interested in your music. If they don’t, take it as a learning experience and try again. The feedback from influencers can help guide your efforts and growth, an objective opinion is invaluable in the music industry.

Tip #6: Polished Websites Get More Traffic
If you don’t have a website, get one! Websites are your custom storefront and window into your band. You’ll want to be sure to have a place where your music can be purchased, show schedule, videos and pictures from past shows, and a place to contact you for booking. Your website should be your hub for all of your digital efforts. Physical press kits have fallen out of vogue, and in their place artist websites have risen to the top. A well-built and managed website will show up in more search results and offer fans a taste of your personality as a musical artist. If you’re not sure how to setup your own website there are dozens of free tools to get you started and web professionals that can take you to the next level.

Music Marketing
Music Marketing

Posted on: by Media Link