Arc 3 Communications

The 2 Most Popular Article Types for Association Content Marketers

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In a digital age, content marketing is one of the best marketing strategies that can be used by associations’ large and small. There is a wide variety of options in the world of content marketing and choosing the best types of content for your association can be challenging. Of course, you do not have to use just one type of content, in fact using a variety of different content formats is good for keeping your membership and stakeholder audiences interested. These different types of content can be tailored to fit your association and reach your target audiences. This guide will identify two of the most popular forms of content out there right now and explain what each of these can accomplish for your association.

  1. Listicle Articles

We have all read listicle articles in magazines or on social media, even if we didn’t know that is what they were called. In fact, the article you are reading right now is a listicle. Listicles are highly popular due to their ability to be very informative while being easy-to-read and aesthetically pleasing. Arranging information in a list format and including numbers in the title and body of the article has been proven to be psychologically attractive and draws in readers. People like having their information in list form; and with a catchy title, this form of content can greatly increase page views, shares and likes.  Listicles will usually have a numerically based title, for example: “Top 10,” “6 Ways to,” “5 best,” etc. These numbers can either be a ranking system or simply organize information into the list. Unlike How-To articles (which we will discuss next) listicles do not necessarily have to show someone how to do something or teach a skill; it can simply be used for informing readers or for entertainment purposes. The items in a listicle will usually be related to an overall theme such as “10 Things to Consider When Writing Captivating Content for Members”. This theme will be something related to your association that will attract your membership and stakeholders. Listicles are immensely popular and can be tailored to any policy or content bucket.

  1. How-To Articles

How-to articles are another extremely popular form of content. The how-to article is written in a sequence of steps and shows the reader how to perform a skill or complete a task. In the past it was enough to use a title like “How to do…” but now, with social media and endless online articles for your members and stakeholders to choose from, you have to be creative with your titles and content in order to catch the attention of readers. How-to articles are much more specific than listicles, usually explaining a specific task or skill. Often, listicles and how-to articles can cross paths with steps and guides written in a numbered list format like “10 Easy Steps to Building a Remarkably Popular Website.” This translates roughly to “How to Build a Website” but uses much more exciting and interesting language. Like listicle articles, how-to articles increase traffic, shares, and likes and can benefit your SEO and keyword placement. Writing how-to articles that take a unique approach to a topic and take a new angle on what might be a well-known subject to your members is the key to leveraging this content format.

In the End, Quality Content Works

Ultimately, the most important thing about creating content is making sure that it is of high quality.  You can pump out countless content pieces, fast and furious; and have them all fall flat because there is no value to them. Quality over quantity is the golden rule when it comes to creating new content for your marketing campaigns. Well-crafted content will boost the visibility of your website and ultimately increase your audience numbers. Interesting and readable content will go far in engaging your membership and keep them coming back for more. Strong content is also more likely to be shared on social media, thus acting as free advertising and driving traffic to your website and generating membership leads for your association. While the two content types discussed in this article are the most popular and effective, they certainly are in no way the only types you can use to be effective. In the end, if you create quality content, your membership and stakeholder audiences will rely on you time and again as a trusted and valuable resource.

For more information or help with your association’s content marketing visit us at www.arc3communications.com or contact Patrick Burns at pburns@arc3communications.com. We look forward to working with you to achieve your goals and develop successful content marketing strategies to help your association grow.

How to Run a Lucrative Email Marketing Campaign

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What is the difference between an email newsletter and an email marketing campaign? This is a good question and one that a lot of companies and organizations may have when designing their marketing strategies. This article will help distinguish between these two tools as well as help you create and implement an email marketing campaign that is successful.

E-Newsletter vs. Email Marketing Campaign

First things first, let’s take a look at the difference between an E-newsletter and an email marketing campaign.

An e-newsletter is a regularly occurring email that contains strong informational content that relates to your readers and their lifestyle or interests. Newsletters are not advertisements and do not push products or services. Instead, these emails develop and build relationships with your audience by relating to them on a personal level. This content will be related to your business or market and drives website traffic which can lead to conversions.

An email marketing campaign consists of many different types of emails used together in a strategy to persuade the recipient to take an action such as making a donation or purchasing a service or product. An e-newsletter is considered a part of an email marketing campaign, in addition to other email types such as welcome emails, promotional emails, retention emails, and nurture emails. We will discuss these different email types further, but for now, just think of an e-newsletter as one tool in an email marketing campaign.

Now that you know the difference between e-newsletters and email marketing campaigns, we can discuss how to develop and implement a successful email marketing campaign.

Running a Successful Email Marketing Campaign

Email is still one of the largest communication tools used today, with 90 percent of adults and 74 percent of teenagers using email regularly according to the company OptinMonster. This makes email one of the most efficient ways to reach your customer base. Here are the steps you can take to create a lucrative email marketing campaign. 

  1. Set Your Goals

Before beginning to design your emails, it is important to set goals you want to achieve with your campaign. These goals will vary depending on your business but some of the common goals are:

  • Welcoming new subscribers to your campaign which involves informing them about who you are and what you do. This begins the relationship building process.
  • Strengthening existing relationships with current subscribers by providing them with useful information and incentives.
  • Touching base with inactive or less active subscribers to try to get them to reengage with your business or organization.
  • Encourage engagement with strong content and calls to action to drive conversions.
  • Target your subscribers by segmenting them based on data you collect to deliver relevant content to the right people.

Keep in mind your conversion goals when developing your email marketing campaign goals so one can help the other.

  1. Create Strong Opt-ins

Opt-ins are how you will initially get and grow your audience. These are forms strategically located on your website where visitors can sign up to receive your emails. It is important that these are eye-catching, well designed and prominent without being annoying or overpowering. Having a pop-up when people navigate to your site, a visible form that stands out on your homepage, or an exit pop-up when people are leaving your site are good ways to catch the attention and drive your call to action(CTA) for subscribers.

  1. Use Different Email Types

As we discussed earlier, there are different types of emails that can be used as a part of your campaign. These email types will work together to help you reach the goals you have set.

  • Promotional Emails are offers and sale information that promote your business and can include coupons or special events.
  • Transaction Emails include welcome messages and confirmations for sign-ups, orders/purchases or information changes.
  • Relational Emails are where your E-newsletter come into play. These emails deliver relationship building content and appreciation to your subscribers (free gifts, thank you notes, etc.).
  • Follow-up Emails are emails that can be scheduled to follow promotions or newsletters to keep your subscribers active.

  1. Crafting Your Email Designs

 Content and design are very important aspects of a good email marketing campaign. Without strong content, catchy subject lines, and professional, clean design; your emails will be overlooked, go unread, or you could even lose subscribers. Strategies such as personalization, valuable information, polls and surveys, and incentives can be used to help drive open and click-through rates. It is also very important to include a call to action in your emails that encourages your readers to take an action like making a purchase, partaking in an event, or becoming a paying member. These are best when short, clear, and to the point and will work for you if your content and design are strong and relevant.

  1. Use Tools, Tech, and Software

There are many programs and services available to help create email templates, automate email scheduling delivery, track success and goal completions, and help to segment your audience. Services like Mailchimp provide all of these aspects in one place and can help you make sure your campaign runs smoothly. Tools like these are necessary to keep track of where you stand with your goal completions. This can also allow you to test new ideas and gauge the success rate of these ideas, giving you much control over your own success.

  1. Test Runs and Tracking

Anytime you are sending a mass email it is always smart to do a test run. This can involve sending your email to people designated as test readers, such as an inside marketing team; to check for errors, broken links, and to see what your audience will see. You can also do test runs with your audience to test things such as send times, calls to action, and subject lines. You will always want to track email activity with your subscribers so you can see what works and what doesn’t. This way you can keep doing things that are working with your subscribers and change and test things that might work better. This will be key to helping you reach your set goals and drive conversion goals as well.

For more information or help with your email marketing campaign visit us at www.arc3communications.com or contact Patrick Burns at pburns@arc3communications.com. We look forward to working with you to achieve your goals and develop successful e-mail marketing strategies to help you grow.

 

Welcome New Account Executive Paul McNally!

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Arc 3 Communications welcomes Paul McNally as Account Executive. McNally is a recent graduate of Kennesaw State University with a bachelor’s degree in Communication & Media Studies. With a strong passion and skill for writing, research, content creation, marketing and media, he is the perfect addition to Arc 3 Communications.

During his career, McNally has worked on many impressive projects. His proudest work was teaming up with the non-profit Sober Living America in creating a media kit and campus event at Kennesaw State University which raised awareness of addiction among young adults and students. He wrote multiple articles that were published in the 2018 edition of KSU’s communication magazine, Pipeline including alumni stories; coverage of the dedication ceremony of the new radio lab named for the late Rhubarb Jones, a beloved Atlanta country music radio host; and a story on a new study abroad program in Milan, Italy. Prior to attending Kennesaw State University, Paul attended the Art Institute of Atlanta where he studied graphic design and animation. While a senior at KSU, he interned for an entire year at Arc 3 Communications with company president Patrick L. Burns. 

In his free time, he likes to read, write, draw, and spend time with his wife, Cobb County school teacher Trish McNally and their lovely black Labrador, Malcolm. Together the couple loves traveling, hiking, and enjoying nature. They just recently returned from traveling abroad with the Workaway program, a service program that allows people to work a variety of jobs in return for food and board, in which they volunteered all around Europe. During their three-and-a-half-month trip they worked on farms in Sweden, art festivals and foster animal care in Wales, a tango event in Germany, gardening in London, as well as visiting Amsterdam and Denmark.

“I am really excited to work with Arc 3 Communications to bring clients quality content and account service,” McNally said, “It is an innovative company doing amazing work with the top associations and companies from across the country right in the heart of downtown Marietta.”

Overview Video Development Case Study: Telesis

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Telesis is the global leader in product ID technology. They sell permanent marking equipment including laser marking, dot peen marking, and software that works with the equipment to produce permanent marking on product. Everything from automotive parts to important medical devices, to plastic bottles; they supply industries with the appropriate marking equipment.

The leaders at Telesis were looking to have an overview video made that would highlight their company and products while showing that they were the leaders in their industry. They wanted the video to automatically play on their homepage when someone came to the site and act as a montage of the capabilities of their equipment. Arc 3 Communications worked with Telesis to form a plan and to learn of Telesis’ goals and objectives that they had for the overview video.

Arc 3 Communications worked to create shot lists, storyboards, and prepare a shooting schedule. Filming was carried out at Telesis Technologies Inc. Corporate Headquarters in Pickaway County, Ohio where they were able to showcase the various machines and equipment allowing for successful footage to be taken of the marking process. They also conducted interviews with the company’s executives in the areas of global sales, operations and engineering.

With this new overview video, Telesis was able to present their brand to their customers and potential customers in a way that helped them better understand Telesis and the complex and comprehensive services they offer. The video has since gained thousands of views on the company’s social media channels and has led to increased traffic to the company’s website and increased new business leads for the company. Video is quickly becoming the most effective way to reach audiences, and many companies and trade associations are jumping on board with creating video to help their brands.

Need help with your content strategies, messaging and content development for your company or association? Contact us at https://arc3communications.com/contact-us/.

Content Marketing and Social Media Training for Georgia Movers Association

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Content Marketing and Social Media Training Georgia Movers AssociationArc 3 Communications recently conducted a content marketing and social media training program for the Georgia Movers Association as a part of their annual conference. The program was attended by hundreds of moving company executives from across the state of Georgia. The annual conference was held at the Idle Hour Country Club in Macon.

Arc 3 Founder Patrick Burns provided insights on what is content marketing and why it is important for a moving company’s marketing efforts. Participants were provided insights into how to incorporate a content marketing process inside their business and the fundamental elements for developing and implementing a content marketing program.

The Arc 3 Communications team also provided insights regarding the major platforms in digital marketing today – Facebook and Google. Session included strategies on how moving companies can utilize Facebook advertising to market their  business using tools like the Power Editor for targeting and Facebook Pixel for re-targeting. Tips for sharing timely and informative posts and how to leverage Facebook’s live video feature were also provided.

Session attendees were also provided tips for “Keeping Google Happy”. Practical and helpful website tips in the areas of security, page speed, local SEO, caching, optimizing images, accelerated mobile pages (AMP), and inbound links were shared. Finally, insights into Instagram Stories and Snapchat and trends that may lie ahead in marketing were presented.

The training session on content marketing and social media stimulated conversation among the moving company executive attendees on the types of content and marketing tactics members were using to help them to achieve their business goals.

Arc 3’s  content marketing and social media training seminars are customized for trade associations and have been very valuable to their members. Content marketing and social media are changing everyday with new platform updates, tools, shifting audiences and techniques. Through our research, lab work and networking we keep up with the latest trends in content marketing and social media.

Want to talk about a customized content marketing and social media training program for your association? Contact us here or via Facebook Messenger. Or sign up for our newsletter to get the latest tips here. 

Happy Anniversary Arc 3 Communications!

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Happy Anniversary Arc 3 Communications Arc 3 Communications Celebrates Its Sixth Year in Business!

Happy Anniversary Arc 3 Communications! As we celebrate the 6th year of our agency, I wanted to stop and reflect on those things that I’m grateful for as its founder. My entrepreneurial journey has been an amazing ride of ups and downs, but I have so many things to be grateful for. Here are some of those things that I’m most thankful for:

1. I am grateful for our clients in the public affairs space that have entrusted us over the years to help with their content, digital and analytics needs. We have worked with clients ranging from government agencies to trade associations to political campaigns at the local, state and national levels. We have developed new websites, social media campaigns and all types of amazing content to help them accomplish their legislative, policy, electoral and civic engagement goals.

2.  I am grateful for the talented team of designers, developers, social media, technical and public affairs experts at Arc 3. I am also thankful for our interns that breathe life into our agency with their new ideas and energy. Our current interns from Kennesaw State University, Paul McNally and Kirbe Bostick are doing an awesome job for us.

3.  I am grateful to our trusted partners in helping us to carry out our mission. These knowledgeable experts in accounting, law, finance, human resources and technology are invaluable.

4. I am grateful to the great team at Ignite HQ who provide us with an affordable and innovative office space to work in that is filled with other startups. The shared learning from other entrepreneurs has been immeasurable. I’m especially grateful that its located off of historic Marietta Square and close to home.

5. I am grateful to the many innovators in digital, social media and technology that have transformed media and marketing to a world driven by content and sharing. This includes not only the creators of well-known platforms such as WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn; but the countless other innovators who developed lesser known platforms that have helped to create a competitive marketplace that produces amazing channels for communication and sharing. Most noteworthy of late are those who have made website hosting extraordinarily better such as Flywheel.

6. I am grateful to our agency competitors, who by their efforts in the marketplace, push us to do better and strive to be our best.

7. I am grateful for the digital, social media, creative and tech start-up community of Atlanta in which we are constantly learning new tools and tactics through shared knowledge and learning. I am most grateful to the WordPress community.

8. As Founder of an agency focused on the civic space, I am grateful for the many long-standing institutions in government, politics and civic life and the people and ideas that sustain them. While its been under siege by a time of technological transformation, the great civic life of our country depends upon engaged citizens, media, candidates, elected officials, association executives and government public servants at all levels.

9. I am grateful for mentors, friends and colleagues throughout my career in government, politics, academia and the agency world who have offered sound advice and encouragement. Many have also referred business our way and I’m thankful.

10. I am most grateful to my family for their constant love, patience, prayers and support throughout my entrepreneurial journey. My wife Mary and our four children have shared this experience with me every step of the way. Mary has been a sounding board, critic, and cheerleader. Her kindness, patience and love has been the rock upon which my successful agency has been built.

Most of all, I am grateful to God for these last six years and the opportunity to embark on my entrepreneurial journey. Without his love and my faith in him, nothing is possible.

Announcing Free Marketing Help to Metro Atlanta Non-profits

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Attention Non-profit Organizations in Metro Atlanta:

You spend all of your time doing good for others! But, with all you do for others, it’s hard to find the time (or the money) to get your  digital marketing efforts – your website, social media and e-newsletters – into the optimal condition to deliver on your goals.

Online marketing is one of the most important ways to help you reach your goals for your organization. How helpful would it be to meet with highly skilled professionals (web designers, developers, social media experts, email pros) and use their talents to help you grow your mission?

At no cost to you, the team of Arc 3 Communications will be available from 2 to 4 p.m. on June 22nd at our offices at Ignite HQ to provide insights and strategy for your digital marketing efforts.

Sound appealing? Then mark your calendar and come by and chat with us! Its free.

Questions or want to RSVP? Email us at pburns@arc3communications.com or send us a message on Facebook Messenger.

 

Why Content Marketing Matters for Your Trade Association’s Future

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content-marketingEvery industry is facing the digital disruption of their traditional marketing and communications. Trade Associations are no different and not immune to the winds of change that have occurred in consumer and business to business marketing. Trade associations’ marketing and communications efforts to membership, stakeholders, alliance groups and government audiences is changing and aligning with big brands’ transition to a content marketing model. The largest and most effective brands in the world such as Coca-Cola and IBM, use content marketing to build relationships and brand loyalty and make future sales.

Developing a content marketing program for your trade association is important to achieving your organization’s goals and objectives in the digital age of communications. What is content marketing? It is the creating and sharing of valuable, relevant and consistent content in order to build relationships with an audience to achieve an objective such as a membership sale. It is owning media, not renting it. By sharing your best ideas and experience, good content builds trust and relationships with people and encourages them to come back to you when they need your services or product.

The most popular forms of content marketing are articles, social media content, blog posts and e-newsletters. But case studies, white papers, e-books and webinars have also proven to be effective in reaching audiences. Although social media and digital formats have made content marketing affordable and effective for big and small organizations, it is not strictly confined to online. Print publications such as John Deere’s The Furrow Magazine and Lego’s Lego Club Magazine have been around for decades and are remarkably successful in building long lasting relationships for these respective brands.

Like the big brands, trade associations must come to the realization that traditional marketing with its heavy reliance on television, direct mail and print media is a losing strategy in retaining and growing membership and promoting advocacy and policy goals, especially among millennials. With the rapid decline in cable television subscribers, newspaper readers and the increase in junk mail into mailboxes, producing compelling content that engages your members and reaches them on the digital continent is vital. The most popular television channel for millenials isn’t even on TV; it is YouTube.

The future of trade associations and all those organizations that are engaged in civic life depends upon the sharing of content online that engages and forms relationships with audiences. In order to have millenials active in your association, you must reach them on the digital continent in which they live. Support for your association’s membership, legislative and advocacy efforts depend upon this large group upon which future board members and leadership will come.

Want to learn more about the principles and fundamentals of content marketing and how you can update your trade association’s communications and marketing efforts? Contact Patrick Burns at pburns@arc3communications.com. We can work with you on content marketing fundamentals such as a content audit, the creation of a content marketing plan, content calendars, a content management system and analytics. Arc 3 can reboot your trade association’s marketing efforts and implement a content marketing process in your organization that helps you achieve success.

Content Marketing Case Study: The Grady Health Foundation

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The Grady Health Foundation works with philanthropists, corporate leaders and civic activists to raise critical dollars and secure in-kind donations to benefit the Grady Health System. The Grady Health Foundation is a 501(c) 3 that directly supports metro-Atlanta and Georgia’s largest safety net hospital – Grady Memorial Hospital.

In an effort to increase public awareness about Grady’s unique role in the health of the city and state, the Foundation hired Arc 3 Communications to remodel its traditional marketing program into a content marketing program that utilized its website, social media, email marketing and digital advertising programs in a way that created a donor content journey that resulted in more subscribers, donors and advocates for Grady. Grady’s leadership sought to transform an essential Atlanta institution into the leading public academic health center in the U.S., and have patients and their families rave about their experience at Grady regarding the quality of care they received.

Working with the Grady Health Foundation staff and the Grady Health System public affairs team, a content audit was made of all content online; and a strategy session was conducted to identify audiences of current and potential donors, stakeholders and advocates. Audience personas were created and a content marketing program was developed that included the messages and content strategies that resonated with different donor audiences via the Foundation website, social media, email marketing and digital advertising via Facebook and Google. Content strategies included having a good balance of content in a variety of specialty areas that pertained to the capital campaigns underway, and having content with both broad donor appeal and geared towards more elite audiences such as major gifts and foundational grants. Seasonal trends – such as end of year giving – were also considered and out of the park content was planned each quarter and repurposed. Reused content such as photos and stories from the remarkable history of a 120 year old Atlanta institution was also incorporated into social media strategies. Video content for the Foundation’s annual White Coat Grady Gala honoring Grady’s top physicians and their lifesaving work was also created and repurposed throughout the year leveraging healthcare observances in specialty areas. Analytics and testing tools were utilized to analyze content before and after publishing on the website, social media, email marketing and digital ad platforms. Headlines, images and text were tested and reworked for improvement. As content was readied for distribution, channels were carefully selected and optimal times for publishing on them were chosen. Data and traffic were looked at every day for success or failure and improvement.

Today, Grady Health Foundation’s website is one of the most visited online health care foundation destinations. Its social media following is also impressive, with more than 8k  Facebook fans and 5k Twitter followers. The Grady Health Foundation has seen a dramatic increase in donations made over its website and seen an increase in major gifts to its capital campaigns and grants from national foundations from across the country. Within the last year, Grady raised a record $1.8 million at the annual White Coat Grady Gala and saw the official dedication of the Marcus Trauma and Emergency Center at Grady, funded through a contribution made by philanthropist Bernie Marcus and the Marcus Foundation.

This Week in Digital & Public Affairs: Facebook Video Ads and Data Driven Campaigns

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Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

In an effort to give advertisers more control over their video ad buys, Facebook is allowing the media industry’s independent measurement monitor, Media Rating Council (MRC) to audit the measurements it provides advertisers. Facebook will sell video ads based on the MRC’s viewability standard, allow more granularity in performance measurement and introduce an option for paying for ads only when users watch the video with the sound on.

With the release of Chrome 56, Google has started tagging http payment and login pages as “not secure”. HTTP Pages that collect login details or credit card numbers will be marked as non-secure pages, and the warning will eventually be used for all http pages. With over 1 billion users of Chrome, Google’s efforts will pressure website operators to at least consider enabling site-wide HTTPS.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

On Hootsuite’s blog, Jylian Russell offers the benefits that social media in government can achieve such as its role in raising awareness, citizen engagement and crisis communications. Russell also weighs some of the challenges of using social media in government and offers some solutions for mitigating those risks.

CNN reports on the decision by the White House to expand its social media team with several new hires to assist current White House social media director Dan Scavino. Since the Inaguration, President Trump and Scavino have primarily handled social media communications, posting on President Trump’s personal and official White House social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

In Associations Now, social media journalist Ernie Smith offers suggestions to associations for improving their email marketing in 2017. Smith recommends new tools for consideration for sending emails on the cheap, making design less painful, and acquiring better data.

Campaigns and Elections

In Politico Magazine, Democratic direct mail consultant Dave Gold laments how data driven campaigns by Democrats have resulted in 4 straight election cycle losses for his party. Gold argues that Democrats should pay less attention to quantitative political science and focus more on creating message driven campaigns that utilize storytelling that connects with voters’ emotions.

These are some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. Want to get in depth analysis, news, and how to tips in digital and public affairs? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.

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