Ever wanted to create an ad campaign that disappears? No, this isn’t James Bond and your message won’t self-destruct, but with the roll out of Snapchat’s new self-serve ad buying platform, brands of all sizes can create an ad campaign almost as quickly as the campaign’s video or photo will disappear. This blog post isn’t here to help you to decide whether or not your brand/organization should be on Snapchat, or whether you should be dedicating some of your budget to this new tactic (more…
Read MoreHas the Capital of the South become the Capital of the Suds? With more than 30 breweries (and counting!) now open in Richmond, it would sure seem so. And just like rebels of old, breweries are marching to their own drum throughout the Old Dominion. The latest outpost is in Bedford where Beale’s has staked a local claim to the craft beer market. We were proud to be on hand to help Beale’s kickoff its new venture, devising a sort of concentric circle marketing strategy…
Read MoreLinkedIn’s self-serve ad platform has been going through a few recent changes in the last six months. Earlier this year, company page managers and advertisers should have noticed design changes and even new tools such as conversion tracking and the ability to save target audiences. Just recently, three additional changes should have advertisers (that aren’t spending $25,000 a month) jumping for joy! Retargeting website traffic If you have a decent amount of quality traffic to your website, retargeting can be an expensive way to remind…
Read MoreI have a love/hate relationship with social advertising. On the one hand, there’s always something new to learn, meaning my work helping clients develop social advertising strategies is never boring. I’m always feeling like there’s something new to understand/master. On the other hand, there’s always something new to learn, meaning once I feel like I’ve finally cracked the code, something changes, and I feel like in many ways I’m back to square one. Over the past couple of months, I’ve noticed a few changes to…
Read MoreAccording to LiveStream, a video live stream platform, 80 percent of users would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, and 82 percent prefer live video from a brand to social posts. If those numbers don’t convince you that your organization needs to be considering live video as a part of your marketing strategy, I’m not sure what will. If you haven’t read up on live streaming lately, you may be missing opportunities to engage with your online community, not to mention the chance…
Read MoreIf you already subscribe to our monthly newsletter, aptly named the Press Box, you might’ve noticed we’re doing things a little differently this year. Don’t worry, we’re still sharing some of our latest client news and celebrating our office culture, but we’ve added a section we’re calling “The Rundown” which will keep you informed of the latest media relations, content marketing and social media trends we’re seeing. We like to think of it as the Skimm or NextDraft for PR (and marketing) folks (or at…
Read MoreOur work for Hilldrup has transformed over the years, and recently we’ve been able to fully implement an Earned, Owned, Paid strategy which includes pitching local and trade media, writing web content, managing social media profiles (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) and promoting content using social advertising. Gathering content for clients with operations in multiple cities often can be a challenge, and today, users on social media expect to see engaging content (video/photos) all the time. So when the opportunity to visit Charlottesville and Chapel Hill…
Read MoreIs your organization on social media? Great! Now let me share some unfortunate news with you: Just being on social media isn’t enough anymore. Your strategy needs to contain a social media advertising budget if you want to reach new (and even existing) audiences. But the good news is, you can reach the right audience at the right time, with the right message if you set aside money in your marketing budget for social media advertising. Here’s how we advise clients to determine a social…
Read MoreIf you work in marketing, public relations or social media, you know that the social media landscape is in a constant state of flux. With changes happening at what seems like a daily rate, staying on top of these trends can be a daunting task, and sifting through the clutter can be time consuming. To help you stay up to date, we’ve sifted through the news ourselves and compiled a list of recent changes, and rumors of possible changes to come that are worth paying…
Read MoreIf a marketing automation system has made its way onto your company’s marketing wish list, bear in mind that, like most things in life, there are some pros and cons to incorporating these systems into your workflow. Here are some things to consider before spending your money on a new system: The Pros Many of the potential positives are pretty obvious — you’ll have the opportunity to achieve better ROI and track your leads and conversion rates. This can make your overall marketing efforts much…
Read MorePhotos and graphics are important elements that can make your posts and pages stand out and break up copy, making it easier to read. Unless you create your own images, however, you’ll need to make sure that you’re legally entitled to use what you download. Why you can’t just look for a copyright symbol? You might assume that if an image doesn’t have the word “copyright” or letter C in a circle (©), you can freely use it. This isn’t necessarily the case. Images first…
Read MoreIf you know anything about the culture here at Hodges, you’re probably aware of our mild addiction to sweets. We’ve celebrated birthdays with cakes, cookies, pies and even ice cream from local Richmond businesses. Today we celebrated the opening of a new neighborhood bakery, Whisk, by stopping in for a quick treat. The work they’ve done to the inside of the old Globehopper café has made the space bright and inviting, creating it a great place to grab a quick afternoon coffee (supplied by Lamplighter). I…
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