We’re hard at work on The Porch — even though its summer — and we wanted to share some of our proven digital strategies so far this year. The summer has flown by, and our team, business and clients have enjoyed many successes balanced with time with family and friends. As we roll into back to school whether it is elementary school, first year of college or next term of an MBA program, we have big goals on our mind at home and work.

With that being said, we are sharing digital strategies and tactics resulting in business success. Here’s what is working for our clients.

We Use These Proven Digital Strategies and Tactics for Our Clients

There are a handful of proven digital strategies that we are using to help build our clients’ brands. Often these strategies work together, and build upon each other. Sometimes they even share assets, which helps marketing budgets go further.

Email Marketing

Consistent communication whether it be weekly or monthly is paramount. Open and click rates for our clients’ email marketing exceed their peers’ average performance. And, their unsubscribe rates are lower than benchmark.

Keys to email marketing success include consistent communication, compelling content and professional creative and visuals.

The results include business growth by referral from existing clients and customers as well as inquiries from prospects and connections.

Digital Advertising

Our clients are spending their ad dollars on digital advertising strategies and tactics this year. The results continue to exceed the norm. LinkedIn and Google ads, geotargeting and retargeting continue to result in business growth.

Social Media

Content calendars are king. Client connections and reach on social media for the companies we work with have been strong — above industry averages. Social continues to be a proven digital strategy YoY.

LinkedIn continues to lead on the business-to-business front. Our clients’ senior leadership are embracing the power of LinkedIn. They are consistently active. This is resulting in broader brand awareness and increased employee engagement among other things.

Hashtag strategies continue to evolve. Less is more is proving successful for our clients. Protip: Utilize free tools to evaluate the relevance of the hashtags you use. We are happy to share our go-to tools. Email us!

Blogging

At least two blog posts per month continue to engage our Clients’ key audiences, their existing customers and new prospects. Google Analytics confirms this on the monthly reports we provide to clients. In addition to this, our clients’ websites’ SEO is benefiting from this proven digital strategy.

Video

Short and long form video marketing is increasing our clients’ SEO. Videos are a proven digital marketing tactic that also provides compelling, engaging content for social media. Repurposing these videos for digital advertising has also been a hit.

Website Refresh

Continuing to add content whether it be through blogging or keeping the look and feel of your company’s website updated has been a win this year as a proven digital strategy in 2024. Have you looked at your website lately? Is it working hard for your business? If not, we can help. If you don’t know how to figure out if it is effective, we can help with that too.

Implement These Proven Digital Strategies and Tactics for Success in 2024 and Beyond

The fall time period is the perfect time to re-assess your marketing plan and add some of these proven digital strategies to your brand mix. Reach new customers. Broaden your brand’s horizons. Share new products. Build loyalty. It’s all possible by starting now, and sticking with it.

In today’s interconnected world, the boundaries between PR and Digital Marketing are increasingly blurred. Both disciplines play a crucial role in shaping a brand’s image, reaching target audiences, and driving engagement. When blended effectively, these two disciplines can create a powerful force that amplifies brand messages and achieves strategic objectives. In best practices terms, that means integrating them to maximize their combined impact.

Align the Goals and Strategies of PR and Digital Marketing

Successful integration of PR and digital marketing begins with aligning goals and strategies. Ensure that both teams or functions are working towards common objectives, whether it’s enhancing brand visibility, generating leads, or driving website traffic. Establish a unified strategy that leverages the strengths of both PR and digital marketing.

For instance, if a PR campaign is focused on increasing media coverage, digital marketing efforts can complement this by amplifying the coverage through social media channels and paid promotions.

Create Consistent Messaging

Consistency in messaging is crucial for maintaining a coherent brand voice across all platforms. Ensure that the messaging in your public relations materials — such as press releases and media pitches — aligns with the content shared through other marketing channels, including social media posts, email campaigns, and website content.

This consistency helps reinforce your brand’s key messages and creates a unified narrative that resonates with your audience. Regularly review and update messaging guidelines to ensure alignment across all communication efforts.

Leverage PR and Digital Marketing Data and Analytics

Data and analytics are invaluable tools for optimizing both of these efforts. Use insights from digital marketing analytics — such as website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates — to inform PR strategies.

Conversely, PR metrics, such as media coverage and sentiment analysis, can provide valuable context for digital marketing campaigns. By integrating data from both camps, you can make informed decisions, track performance, and adjust strategies to achieve better results.

Enhance Content Distribution

Content distribution is a key area where these two team players can intersect. PR efforts, such as media placements and influencer partnerships, can drive traffic to digital assets, such as blog posts, landing pages, or social media profiles.

Further, digital marketing trends can help amplify public relations content by sharing it across social media platforms, using SEO tactics to improve its visibility, and leveraging paid media to reach a broader audience. Develop a content distribution plan that outlines how these marketing efforts will work together to maximize reach and engagement.

Collaboration on Campaigns

Collaborative campaigns that integrate can lead to greater success than isolated efforts. For example, if you’re launching a new product, a coordinated campaign that includes a press release, social media announcements, influencer endorsements, and targeted digital ads can create a comprehensive promotional strategy.

Foster communication and collaboration between teams to ensure that campaigns are well-coordinated, messages are consistent, and resources are used efficiently.

Engage with Your Audience

Engagement is a critical component of both PR and digital marketing. Use PR efforts to build relationships with media, influencers, and industry thought leaders, while leveraging digital marketing channels to interact directly with your target audience. Encourage two-way communication by responding to comments, participating in conversations, and addressing feedback. Engaging with your audience in a meaningful way helps build trust, strengthen relationships, and enhance your brand’s reputation.

Harnessing the Power of PR and Digital Marketing Integration

The intersection of PR and digital marketing offers a wealth of opportunities for brands to amplify their messages and achieve strategic goals. In today’s digital age, it’s not just a best practice — it’s a strategic imperative for achieving holistic and impactful communication. As you navigate the complexities of modern marketing, remember that the partnerships in marketing can be a powerful tool for your brand’s growth and success.

In its simplest form, communication is the act of transferring information from one person or group to another. Whether personally or professionally, through talk or text, we typically spend much of our day communicating with other people.

It sounds simple, right? As someone whose job in account services relies heavily on communication with both team members and clients, I can assure you this isn’t always the case. Remember playing the telephone game as a kid? I do, and I can assure you the message that started the circle wasn’t always the message that ended the circle. Confusion ensued!

Improving Your Communication Skills

Undoubtedly our communication skills have improved since our days playing the telephone game, but we all still fall short in communicating effectively at times. So, how do we get better? Let’s first take a look at a few of the main ways we communicate.

1. Verbal Communication
   Whether we communicate through face-to-face meetings, a phone call or video chat, all of these are categorized as verbal communication. Using our voice to deliver the message to our audience.
   
2. Nonverbal Communication
   Nonverbal communication accompanies verbal communication. When we speak, we give off different signals without using spoken words, and sometimes without even realizing we are doing it. This can include facial expressions, posture, eye contact, tone of voice, gestures, how we dress, etc.
   
3. Written Communication
   There are many ways we can deliver our message through the written word. And, often this is considered the most common and effective way to communicate. It can be through emails, letters, social media, articles, text messages, etc.
   
4. Visual Communication
   When we communicate visually it is done through a means that can be read or viewed by the recipient and has become more prevalent because of social media platforms. Such as infographics, graphs, videos, slides, etc.

Barriers to Being Effective

There are many barriers that can impede effective communication. Let’s explore a few of them.

• Inattentive
  In other words, we simply aren’t paying attention. This can lead to missing important details and misunderstanding or misinterpreting what we do hear.
  
  
• Mismatched Communications Styles
  Does how you prefer to communicate differ from that of the intended recipient? If so, there’s most likely a greater chance of miscommunications.
  
  
• Poor Timing
  No matter how well thought out and prepared your communication might be, your message will fall short if it isn’t delivered at an appropriate time.
  
  
• Too Much Jargon
  Although at times jargon can make your communication more efficient, often, your intended audience will not understand it and will be left in a state of confusion.

Troubleshooting Your Communication Gaps

Now that we have outlined both some of the common forms of communication and barriers to communication, let’s talk about how we can overcome them.

• Active Listening
  If you find yourself struggling to absorb the communication, you might want to read up on active listening. It involves digesting the information, and then responding back through paraphrasing, asking questions and body language cues.
  
  
• Identify Communication Styles
  You need to understand not only if your audience prefers to communicate face-to-face vs. emails, etc., but also if they prefer straightforward and to the point messages vs. being inundated with all the details. The answer may vary based on what is being discussed and you need to adjust your communication style accordingly.
  
  
•  Think Before You Communicate
  Timing is everything when it comes to communicating to your audience. Are you sending your message right before a big event, a planned vacation or late at night? Always make sure you take these things into consideration if you want to be heard.
  
  
• Use Plain and Simple Language
  Shorthand and acronyms can save you time, but often it leads to your recipient feeling frustrated and confused because the language isn’t understood by all. Make sure you tailor your message to your audience, and only use jargon if you know it will be understood by all.

Regardless of how you communicate to your audience, there are going to be instances when it is ineffective. But, if you keep in mind some simple obstacles to avoid, you’ll find these instances will be few and far between.

As I was pondering what to share in this month’s newsletter, an email about books hit my inbox. It was my daily New York Times digest. And, one of the stories featured was the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. To be honest, I only scrolled through the first 50. And, gosh, I haven’t read any of them. But, of course, now I am excited to have a new “to read” list.

How to Vacation: Read Books

On our annual July Fourth vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama, not only do I cherish time with my kiddos, and the family tradition we have built. I enjoy reading, as I don’t have the opportunity to do it enough during the work week. On this vacation, I have a goal of reading a book a day. I know that sounds impossible, right? But I am a speedy reader when I’m engaged in a good book.

Reading to me is relaxation. It is an escape. Also, reading fills my head with new perspectives and ideas — even if I am reading romance or mystery novels. I do try to sharpen my parenting skills and throw in a parenting book now and then as well. In addition, adding business or professional development books to my library is important to me.

Books I’ve Been Reading This Summer

This year’s Fourth of July consumption, “dearest gentle reader,” did not disappoint. Highlights included:

James Patterson by James Patterson — My first audio book ever. Yes, stating this makes me feel like a dinosaur. I had no idea Patterson worked at J Walter Thompson. And was an executive there. He also produced some of the most iconic tag lines and creative concepts of all time! From this, I took away much. In addition to this one, I am adding two other books to my reading list: One by him and a book he gifts to others.

Five Principles of Parenting by Dr. Aliza Pressman — I have a 23-year-old son. Yet, parenting today and all the wise people and new learnings out there are still a benefit to me when I’m parenting my 11-year-old daughter. This book is a true treasure trove of wisdom.

Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson — Wowsa. There were many unexpected turns and twists. Also, mind blown regarding new learnings on the science of volcanoes and other things. A must read y’all.

This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune — This is one of the top easy-to-read and escape-into books of the summer.

Need More Insights on These Books?

Want to share why you read and what your favorites are? I’m happy to have a call or Teams chat. Or leave a comment here. Summer reading and time away from work are so important for the soul, don’t you think?

Of course, if we can help you with your marketing and branding needs, book discussion or not, email, call or text us.

With the rise of social media platforms, influencer marketing has gone through a significant transformation. Influencers have come to be key players in the marketing scene, appearing on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and more. To build more genuine and meaningful connections with their target audience, brands take advantage of the reach and power of these digital personalities. 

Evolution of Influencer Marketing 

Influencer marketing was simple in the early days of social media. Companies partnered with well-known bloggers and YouTubers to market products using endorsements and reviews. Influencer marketing became much broader as sites like Instagram and TikTok became popular.  

Influencers in today’s world can range in size from small influencers with fewer but very engaged audiences to large influencers with millions of followers. With this diversity, marketers can tailor their campaigns to appeal to certain groups and demographics. Influencers are becoming more than just brand ambassadors; they are content creators that include brand messaging into their own personalities and styles to relate to and de-commercialize marketing.  

The Challenges Going Forward

Influencer marketing presents challenges even with its benefits. Keeping authenticity is important because audiences can recognize fake endorsements, leading to openness on sponsored collaborations. Since influencers’ behavior might affect related brands, proper screening is important. Return-on-investment tracking can be difficult, requiring companies to use tools and set exact key performance indicators. A brand’s values consistency, popularity, and follower demographics are all important factors to consider when choosing a good influencer.  

To sum up, influencer marketing is an effective tool that helps businesses engage with their target audience by providing real and interesting content. Despite the challenges, it can still be an exciting and significant part of current marketing campaigns with proper preparation and successful execution. 

Brand storytelling has become a popular marketing strategy in recent years as companies face greater competition in the marketplace. This strategy consists of sharing personal stories and experiences to stimulate an emotional reaction from your consumers. When done thoughtfully and honestly, telling your stories can greatly benefit your brand. 

Storytelling Makes Your Brand Feel Approachable and Personable 

Whether you are just starting your company or have been established for years, your team has worked hard to develop a strong brand identity. So, you should want to capitalize off your company values and the personal values of the people that make up your team. Incorporating team testimonials and bios as part of your company presence adds life to the brand. It can make customers feel more familiar with the company when they choose to interact with and support you. 

Unique, Relevant Stories are Key to Differentiating Your Brand 

Your company should continually develop new ways to distinguish itself from competitors. Sharing anecdotes from your business and its members offers unique perspectives that consumers can benefit from. Sometimes, stories are much easier to remember then lists of facts or statistics – finding a good balance is important.  

Utilize Various Media Platforms to Attract New Audiences 

Practicing brand storytelling across media platforms is a great way to increase your company’s brand awareness. By posting on and monitoring different outlets, such as social media, newsletters, and company websites, you can expand your reach and gain insights into the customers who engage with your posts. Be sure to promote your different accounts across platforms and encourage viewers to share your content with others. Developing this relationship with consumers can build trust and loyalty, which encouraging customers to want to share your company with their friends. 

Be Sure to Include Customer Experiences 

Brand storytelling should not only include the stories of your company and its employees. You want your customers to also feel like a part of your business. By providing space for customers to share their experiences with your services, you can strengthen their loyalty to your brand and hear how your work is perceived. Effective communication between business and consumer is crucial to appearing transparent and ready to help. 

We are welcoming intern Michael Panikkacherry, our newest rocker from Texas Tech, to the team this summer. We wanted to get to know him better, so we asked him a few questions! He’s an advertising student and eager to learn more about this industry this summer at Front Porch Marketing. Give him a big howdy!

What is the biggest misconception about marketing today?

The biggest misconception about marketing today is that it’s primarily about advertising and selling products, when in fact, effective marketing is more about building relationships and  understanding customer needs. 

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I would advise myself to embrace failure as a teaching opportunity and to concentrate on developing resilience and flexibility since these traits will help you navigate the ups and downs of life.

What is one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned so far at school?

A good routine is key to success, especially in college when you’re living on your own. 

What does good brand strategy look like?

A good brand strategy clearly defines the brand’s purpose and values while also building a strong emotional connection to the target audience. 

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?

I would like to go to Iceland because I feel like it is a very unique travel destination and the land and scenery is beautiful. 

If you could go to dinner with one person living or dead, who would it be?

I would want to go to dinner with Michael Jackson because I have always loved his music since I could remember and he was such an icon for me. 

If you could describe yourself in three words what would they be?

Sociable, dedicated, adaptable

Tell me about a major milestone in your life?

A major milestone in my life would have to be when I was elected leader for our community service project. I realized then that I was seen as a reliable person to the group that can help us get things done in a timely manner. 

From your perspective, how does Front Porch Marketing differentiate itself from other marketing companies?

Front Porch Marketing differentiates itself from other marketing companies because of its close knit team. 

What is a fun fact about you?

A fun fact about me is that I love to travel outside of the country. 

This summer, we welcome Natalie Johnson, our newest intern rocker, to the team. So we asked her a few questions to get to know her better! She’s a student at The University of Arkansas studying advertising and public relations. Natalie is excited to learn more about marketing, strategic writing, and client relations on the Porch.

What is the biggest misconception about marketing today?

That good marketing has to achieve widespread attention to be effective. It is so much more important that a campaign reaches its target audience, no matter its size, and is able to impact those who can directly benefit from what is being offered.

What advice would Natalie Johnson give to her younger self?

Everything happens for a reason! Even if you are confused in the moment, life always brings you exactly what you need.

What is one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned so far at school?

College has taught me the importance of scheduling. Finding a healthy balance between schoolwork and social life is key to getting a good education while making memories.

What does good brand strategy look like?

A good brand strategy starts with building a strong brand identity. Once you know what you value as a brand and establish why consumers can trust you, content production can feel much more cohesive and authentic.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would it be?

The Amalfi Coast! I visited when I was younger and would love to go back.

If you could go to dinner with one person living or dead who would it be?

My grandpa on my mom’s side of the family. He passed away right around my high school graduation, so I would love to tell him about where I am now and hear some more of his awesome life advice!

If you could describe Natalie Johnson in three words what would they be?

I would describe myself as dedicated, empathetic, and optimistic.

Tell us about a major milestone in your life?

One of my major milestones is transferring schools and going to college out of Texas! It has been my first time living in a new state, and I’m so grateful for the experiences I’ve had in Arkansas so far!

From your perspective, how does Front Porch Marketing differentiate itself from other marketing companies?

Front Porch builds such personable, caring relationships both internally and externally. Everyone in the company truly cares about the well-being of its clients and its team members, celebrating every success and always available to answer questions.

What is a fun fact about you?

I played volleyball for 11 years!

Summertime is replete with outdoor events and reporters are covering stories in person. The summer can also be a slow time for businesses. Plus, organizations also may be in a planning period in the summertime before events intensify during the autumn/winter months.

So How Can You Make the Best Use of This Summertime Season?

This can be an optimal time to strategize pitches and story angles for the upcoming fall and holiday season. If your clients have Fall/Winter events or announcements, media pitching should start now to ensure long lead story inclusions. Here is a selection of ideas for summertime pitches that will position your clients’ events for success in autumn/winter:

• Share the event’s history and purpose.
• Include testimonials or previous pieces to illustrate the event’s community impact.
• Submit B-Roll from past events to educate the media on attendance levels and a visual of community involvement.
• Invite reporters to attend the event for on-site coverage opportunities.
• Offer exclusive interviews with speakers and notable attendees.

Other Summertime Media Opportunities

If you do not have any specific media planning to do for the fall, use the summertime to dig into what is currently trendingin the newsto promote your client’s brand. This can be done by pitching your client as an expert source to speak on a topic and be quoted in a story after news breaks. Or you can focus on your client’s brand ethics, products, or backstory and how it aligns with what is happening in the news cycle.

When pitching the media in summertime, it is also a great practice to limit email subject lines between one and five words. Further, limit the media pitch to 50–79 words. Overall, the entire body of your pitch should not exceed 149 words. Applying these best practices on your PR pitches will help you and your clients grow your media opportunities this summer!

Here on the Porch, we create a lot of specialized content for our clients. Websites, social media, newsletters, videos and the like. As their marketing partner, we operate as an extension of their marketing department. We think through their branding, their voice, their business goals and more to make sure that their content is right — every single day. In other words, we work hard to make it rock! And we love what we do.

Our clients trust us to use our expertise to help them grow their businesses. They know that a smart business owner doesn’t try to do everything themselves — instead they surround themselves with other experts who can help them achieve their goals.

How Can You Best Utilize Your Marketing Partner to Make Your Content Rock?

Say you’re a business owner who doesn’t know how to — and honestly doesn’t have the time to — create your own marketing. So you do the smart thing and hire a marketing partner to help grow your business. First, realize that your marketing partner is an expert at creating smart, on-target content for your business and is also in it for the long haul like you are. They want you to succeed.

Helpful Tips for Businesses Utilizing a Marketing Partner

1. Remember: You are not your audience. What is spoken and written internally in your company, doesn’t necessarily make sense to your client or customer. Trust your marketing partner’s recommendations on brand voice, relevancy of message and content
2. Your time is a valuable asset so use it wisely. Provide big-picture counsel. Spending your valuable time giving big picture direction up front on content initiatives vs. spending your time editing every post, is time well-spent. Let your marketing partner help you focus on other important parts of running your business by taking the daily detail of marketing content off your plate.
3. Digital content lasts nanoseconds. Today’s post is forgotten by tomorrow and replaced with another one. This process builds your brand’s personality over time. Each social media post is not precious, it is simply the next stepping stone on your brand’s path.
4. Trust your content creators. The copywriters and designers on your marketing partner’s team do this day-in and day-out for multiple clients. They are experts. They know your channels better than you do and are creating content using best practices for their industry. Just like you use best practices in your industry.
5. Work ON your business, not IN your business. You can’t be everywhere at once. Surrounding yourself with experts who know how to do things that you don’t know how to do is the smart move. Marketing, copywriting, and design professionals on your marketing partner team all have expertise and knowledge that can help you grow your business in ways you couldn’t have imagined. Let them do their job, so that you can do yours better.

Our Overall Advice? Trust Your Partners.

Digital content creation is a marathon with no finish line. It is a day-in and day-out process that builds your brand, and your audience, over time. Digital content like social media, blog posts, newsletters, and websites are crafted with your audience in mind. And they’re crafted to build your brand long-term. So don’t over-think every single post. Don’t over-edit every single piece of content. Whether it’s social media, blogging, email marketing, video scripting or any piece of your digital content universe, it all works together to build your brand and make your business a success in the eyes of your audience and potential customers.