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May 28, 2014
in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association
by Erin Neal

Business to Business is not Boring to Boring #BMA14

Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago   When I was in college, all of the advertising classes were focused on the sex appeal of consumer marketing.  There wasn’t a focus on business-to-business marketing; I didn’t even know it existed.  Fast forward a certain number of years, and here I sit, attending a global business-marketing event – BMA14. BMA14 kicked off today with a huge statement – there are almost 1,000 attendees, making this the largest Business-to-Business marketing conference in the globe!   The presenters have been fantastic.  I’ve seen a variety of companies present, from USG to Airbus to Facebook.  I have learned so much, and one of the biggest things that I was reminded of was summarized by a quote from Beth Comstock, CMO of GE: “BtoB does not stand for Boring to Boring.” How right she is.   A few highlights that piqued my...

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May 28, 2014
in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association
by Amanda Pollard

Mobile Marketing Lessons from Facebook at #BMA14

Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago If there’s any company to take mobile marketing advice from, it’s Facebook. As of last month, Facebook surpassed 1 billion active users on mobile— way more than their desktop version will ever get. CMO of Facebook Gary Briggs gave an awesome presentation at BMA14 demonstrating just how important mobile should be in our overall marketing strategy.   When Facebook first launched its mobile app it was fraught with problems. It was too slow, had poor quality (and low ratings and reviews) and it was unprofitable. Then they completely changed the way they did business.   Here are a few of the lessons Gary shared with us:   Make it Fast First, Facebook completely re-built their apps. Gary said speed was the most important thing to think of when building an app. Now the Facebook app is updated every four weeks, if...

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May 28, 2014
in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association
by George Rafeedie

You Should Be Proud of Your BMA Chapter Leaders

Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago     On the eve of #BMA14, we had the opportunity to attend BMA Chapter Leader Day in Chicago as a pre-conference event. There must have been nearly 75 chapter leaders in attendance from cities across North America. Some were there to figure out how to start a BMA chapter in their city. Others were there to share their knowledge on what has worked and what hasn’t. Everyone was there to learn to make their chapter better and more valuable for their members.   Bottom line is that we should all be proud of our chapter leaders. Long time national board members Elton Mayfield (Kansas City) and Greg Olson (Colorado) stressed time and time again throughout the day (and at previous chapter leader days) that the chapter is the heart beat of BMA. Without strong chapters, the national...

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April 22, 2014
in Blog, Interesting Things
by Ellen DePodesta

April 27 is National “Tell a Story Day”

[caption id="attachment_633" align="alignright" width="114"] George and Amanda at a trade show doing what they do best - telling the client story.[/caption] April 27 is National Tell a Story Day, which to us ranks above National Take Your Dog to Work Day and maybe even National Coffee Day in terms of magnitude. It’s a day to celebrate the art of storytelling and is designed to get people telling, sharing, and listening to stories. We develop and tell our great stories through fun and compelling marketing communications and what we call Social PR.   We celebrate “Tell a Story Day” every day. We know that storytelling is a powerful way to motivate, involve and connect with others. Everybody, and every business, has a great story, and by uncovering and telling those stories, we can connect with people, motivate and persuade people, and ultimately change behavior.   The story is what’s memorable. The story is what resonates with...

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March 25, 2014
in Interesting Things, Career Thoughts, Tell Your Story News
by George Rafeedie

Visiting Professional for the Week

    [caption id="attachment_1843" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Jerry Sloan & George Rafeedie[/caption]   This week I am the Jerry Sloan Visiting Professional of Public Relations at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. What an honor – and incredibly surreal. He was my advisor and professor when I attended OU in the early 1990s. I've loved keeping in touch with him since and am proud to serve in a teaching capacity this week in his name. Not only is Jerry Sloan a mentor to me professionally, but personally, since the day I met him, he has been a role model. He cares about his students, alum, his former colleagues and especially his family in a way that has been inspiring to me.   Also inspiring, even to this day, are memories of lectures that made vivid imprints on our brains that helped us visualize what we could achieve in this great world of public relations and marketing...

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February 19, 2014
in Blog, Career Thoughts
by Angi Day

Forget Relying on Tools. Focus on Developing Your Skills Instead

  If social media is constantly evolving, do social media experts really exist? Good question. Google changes its algorithm. Facebook changes its news feed. How do you adapt when the tools you use for marketing keep changing? The answer is simple: the tools don’t matter. Your foundation does. This article points out that the real value lies in your ability to communicate, and that’s where you should strive for expertise. We couldn’t agree more.   Read the source article at entrepreneur.com...

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November 7, 2013
in Blog, Social PR News, Interesting Things
by Angi Day

What does #Twitter’s IPO mean for marketers?

[caption id="attachment_1684" align="aligncenter" width="288"] Source: Link[/caption] Since Twitter announced that it filed for IPO in early October, the interwebs have been buzzing with excitement and curiosity.  What will the final share price be? Can Twitter generate revenues and profits from its business? Hello, anyone remember Facebook’s IPO? And most importantly, what does this mean for “my” industry?   With over 200 million users Twitter is hardly an underground experience, but people are speculating whether this IPO will finally push Twitter mainstream.  With “TWTR” flashing across the ticker, we think that those not currently engaging with this platform might be intrigued enough to sign up. Especially since the share price was announced at $26 and is now trading at $45 per share (as of 10:30 a.m. CST, 11/7/2013.) A whole new generation of consumers is paying attention to Twitter now and no doubt brands and marketers are strategizing on how best to connect and...

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June 14, 2013
in Blog, Social PR News, Tell Your Story News
by Angi Day

Tell Your Story Shares Rebranding Advice with NBC Chicago’s Inc. Well

Tell Your Story founder George Rafeedie took a turn as guest blogger for Inc.Well, a Chicago how-to business blog, giving some good rebranding advice.   When faced with revamping brand identity, businesses large and small will find these tips valuable. At the core, it is knowing your message and purpose – your story – that will keep your brand successful, and your customers happy.   Read what George had to say here: How to Revamp Your Brand without Losing (and Confusing) Customers...

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February 4, 2013
in Blog, Brand Communications, Social PR News, Events
by Amanda Pollard

5 Ways to Maximize Trade Shows with PR and Social Media

Let’s face it. Trade shows are expensive. Between renting the booth space, paying for your team’s travel expenses, creating an attractive booth, printing literature, and purchasing giveaway items, trade shows can be a major investment and eat up a large portion of your overall marketing budget. So why not maximize your spend by using public relations and social media at the show? Here are 5 of the ways that we support our clients at tradeshows— before, during and after—with “SocialPR.”     [caption id="attachment_1370" align="alignright" width="200"] Amanda facilitating media interview atGreat American Truck Show for clientOnRamp Transportation Services.[/caption] 1) Meet the press. Journalists in your industry are attending your trade shows and looking for new content to write about. Ask the show organizers for an attending press list and reach out to those journalists to set up appointments in your booth. Designate a subject matter expert to tell journalists about everything new happening with your company and...

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