How to create a brand story worth telling

April 9, 2014

How to write an interesting brand story

There’s a common misconception that business-to-business communications have to look and sound a certain way… the opposite of good. Do you check your personality at the door upon entering your office building? Neither does your reader. Remember we’re all humans (of varying degrees) and want to be approached in our native language.

To ensure sure your brand narrative isn’t an unintentional bedtime story, put your best FACES forward and create a story that’s:

Read more »

 
 

How to stand out in a sea of content

April 8, 2014

The key to standing out in a sea of content is quality

We know now that content marketing isn’t a fad. In fact, it’s the hottest thing going right now in the marketing world. Companies and professional services firms are becoming content factories, churning out blog posts, articles, white papers and more in an effort to attract customers with their brilliance—but without the hard sell. Just take a look at these findings from the “B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America” report by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs:

  • 93% of B2B marketers now say they use content marketing
  • 78% of the most effective B2B marketers are creating more content than they did one year ago, compared with 57% of their least effective peers
  • More B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budgets this year, compared with last year (54%)

Read more »

 
 

How not to make a public apology

April 1, 2014

In honor of April Fools’ Day, we recall some of the less-than-successful public apologies made by celebrities and other public figures. Believe it or not, these apologies weren’t meant as an April Fools’ joke – and their impact on the reputations of the individuals involved was anything but funny.

Elton John was right. Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

With celebrity scandals erupting on an almost daily basis, you’d think that actors, politicians and other public figures would eventually become adept at delivering public apologies. More often than not, however, at the first hint of a scandal celebrities immediately adopt one of the following apology personas:

Reputation Ink Inksights How not to make a public apology Paula Deen#1. The Victim

When celebrity chef Paula Deen was accused of making racist comments, her “apology” focused more on how the scandal had affected her instead of those who might have been offended by her remarks.

“The pain has been tremendous that I have caused to myself – and to others,” Deen said in an apparently homemade video. She later told Today’s Matt Lauer, “There’s been some very, very hurtful lies said about me….”

A public apology is no time for a self-pity party.

Read more »

 
 

Get INKsights in your inbox

Archives