The Galvanizing Blog: Most Recent Posts
10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Content Marketing Firm
Thanks to rapidly evolving technologies and new content marketing outlets, anyone can produce their own content without relying on traditional media to get the word out. Of course, therein lies the opportunity and the problem. Barraged with data, consumers are showing...
Simplify the Brand Experience to Boost Loyalty, Referrals and Sales
A simple brand experience pays off. That’s the conclusion of the 2014 Siegel+Gale Global Brand Simplicity Index, an annual global study of more than 12,000 consumers in eight countries around the world. Simpler Brand Experiences Wanted Highlights from the report,...
Use Brand Touchpoints to Stay on Course
Only a very small fraction of what is said about a brand comes from the brand itself. The rest comes via word of mouth from customers, prospects and the world at large—i.e., anyone who has ever interacted with one of the brand’s many touchpoints. If you haven't...
Why Brand Name Takes a Backseat to Brand Experience
In graduate school, I took a series of marketing and branding classes and learned that a strong brand name serves as a shortcut to decision making. In other words, without adequate information or the time to conduct exhaustive research, consumers rely on strong brand...
A Content Marketing Strategy to Maximize Your Company’s Time and Resources
Creating and producing high quality content are essential tasks for any marketing department seeking to build brand visibility and drive consumer engagement. Yet the time and resources required to produce great content and to build a strong social brand are why many...
Even Unsexy Brands Can Hit Pay Dirt on Pinterest
If you’ve thought of Pinterest as a platform for food and fashion brands, type in the word “fungicide” and see what pops up. Granted, fungicide doesn’t automatically come to mind when most people think about the popular picture-sharing site. But when you need to...
Rebranding Your Association? What to Look for in a Brand Strategy Firm
An association’s brand is more than just a logo, tagline or brochure—it’s an emotional connection that members, donors, staff and the community form with an association and the stories that they tell about the work that it does. Whether you are rebranding your...
Branding Your Business: Lessons from a NYC Dog Walker
I’m crazy about dogs, which explains why a New York Times article about a brand-savvy dog walker named Precious Costello Caldwell has been bookmarked on my computer (and stuck in my mind) since it was published earlier this year. Here are my thoughts on what Caldwell...
Why a Solid Brand Strategy is Your Company’s Best Recruiting Tool
One of the most tangible—yet most often overlooked—benefits to a company of having a solid brand strategy is that it facilitates the recruitment of qualified employees. Running a purposefully small brand strategy firm in Portland, Oregon, I admit that employee...
Holy Cow! Does Brand Content Have to be Stylish to Stand Out?
On my desk is a full-color food magazine filled with gorgeous images, engaging stories and mouth-watering recipes that rival those in Martha Stewart Living. Unlike Martha’s eponymous magazine, however, this publication doesn’t sell advertising space or charge...
Brand Strategy and Business Strategy Go Hand-In-Hand
Your brand. It’s your company’s most valuable asset. Do you have a strategic plan for it? A plan for developing, nurturing and growing your brand is a brand strategy. And like any strategic planning exercise, it is an organized process that is repeated throughout the...
Not Just for the Birds: Newsletters as Part of Your Company’s Content Strategy Plan
I’m a little obsessed with birdwatching, or birding, which Wikipedia describes as the recreational observation of birds. It’s a favorite hobby of senior citizens, but I prefer to think of it as something I can do with my daughter to keep her connected to nature (and...