by Belinda Lui | Nov 20, 2013 | Latest, Management
I started at 3H not too long ago – and during my job interview with Miriam Hara (Partner, 3H Communications), I already got the sense that she was a force to be reckoned with. I’ve worked with quite a few female executives in leadership roles over the past decade and I always observe the types of people they are and how they achieved such success.
While I’m not an expert on how to be a leader (I’ll write another post when I become one), I’ve been given fine examples to aspire to. With a particular interest in influential women, I wanted to write this post on Miriam Hara and the specific qualities she possesses that, I believe, make her as successful as she is:
1. Client-Focused
Some people are solely business-focused (ROI, efficiencies, strategy), which are all good things, but what sets leaders apart from associate-level, is that the leader recognizes that the client IS the business – thus, everything should surround that.
2. Innovative
Knowing the best practices in your industry is important, but knowing how to stay ahead and be an expert at what you do, is what sets you apart. Know what’s trending in popular culture; what types of activations deliver the most engagement; what is visually appealing and makes the most sense.
3. Unrelenting
If Miriam gave up the first time something didn’t go her way, she wouldn’t be where she is today: Partner at 3H Communications, Author of 3 e-books (Marketing Understood, Branding Understood, and Social Media Understood), and a true expert of all things Marketing & Advertising.
4. Assertiveness
She doesn’t take no for an answer. She doesn’t give up when things get hard. She is right there in the trenches with her team when there is a deadline to be met. She will tell you exactly what is on her mind so that there is little left to confusion. Miriam knows what she wants and how to get it.
5. Fostering Growth
It isn’t enough to just be great if the people working under you aren’t learning from you. It’s important to lead by example but it’s also important to be the hand that guides your employees in the right direction. Having smart and effective thinkers working for you is an excellent ROI.
Of all these qualities, though, I think the most important one is the impression and legacy that you leave behind.
Like most things, it isn’t any good to be in leadership if it doesn’t improve the quality of work or life of those around you.
There are different personalities among the employees here at 3H, but what we all have in common is: dedication and commitment to excellence – something we’ve learned from Miriam. What are some examples you might have of leadership?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 18, 2013 | Interactive, Latest
I’ve always enjoyed analytics and learning about online behaviour; like what interests my readers and what type of content is most engaging. Analytic tools such as that provided by WordPress.org, Google Analytics, and Alexa.com are all great for understanding what works and what doesn’t so that you can find a way to make your site or blog better by implementing a concise SEO strategy.
So how do you design a website or blog that will be more optimized for search engines?
Before you hire a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company, here is an SEO strategy checklist that will increase web traffic on your own:
1. Keywords:
The basis of any SEO strategy starts with keywords. Ensure that you choose keywords that are relative to your website/blog post so that people who are searching for those topics can easily find you. You can use Google Adwords to learn of a keyword’s competition level and search volume. Aim to use words that have low competition and high search volume for optimal results.
2. Meta-description:
This is what shows up in search engines when you appear as a match. Type a sentence or two that describes your website/post. Be concise. Be interesting. There’s no point in giving it all up front – you want to leave the visitor wanting more so that they will click on your link. Part of any SEO strategy includes good “ad” copy.
3. H2 tags:
A solid SEO strategy includes the technicalities. Make sure that each post/page on your site has a sentence that captures the tone that you are trying to portray. Then make that your H2 tag. This is a technicality that makes your site/post more appealing and search-friendly for Google.
4. Image:
Be sure to provide an applicable image along with your site/post and write your keywords in the caption. This makes the image searchable as well as your site/post since they are linked.
5. Sharing:
After you’ve optimized your site/post, be sure to share it among all of your social media. This helps to increase traffic and engagement.
The difference between a site with SEO strategy and one without it could mean thousands of visitors, hundreds of thousands in website ranking (Alexa.com), and immeasurable exposure that your site/blog could really use.
There are far more tricks than the ones I’ve mentioned above, but this is a great way to get started. Search Engine Optimization can cost you thousands of dollars (and it really makes a difference), but hopefully you’ll see some increase in traffic from the pointers that I’ve provided above.
What are some SEO tips that you could share that would help increase site/post traffic?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 15, 2013 | Latest, Management
Project management is the ability to manage projects, and it is a true artform.
It seems like such an easy task to do, but it isn’t. In today’s fast paced environment, staying on top of the many demands, isn’t as easy at is sounds. True, some industries are more hectic than others, however, all industries have been impacted by the speed of business. We’ve all heard how “Time is Money” – and it doesn’t make it less true just because you’ve heard it a million times.
This is especially true in a billable hours setting when reporting time-spent on work is an integral part of your business. Clients trust that a business will not undercut them and lie about how much time it took to complete a task, but they also expect that the company they hire will manage projects in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.
This is where being organized comes in: you can be smart, fast, sales-focused and all that jazz – but none of it matters if you can’t stay organized. So before getting certified as a PMP, here are some tips on how to be an excellent Project Manager and manage projects effectively, effortlessly:
1. Understand The Project Intimately:
It is crucial to truly understand the task at hand before delivering any promises to your client. There are several elements that come into play when you are organizing a successful project: budget, logistics, time, labour, suppliers, vendors, revisions, etc. Ensure that you have a grasp of what is involved in order to execute a more seamless project.
2. Create A Workback Schedule:
Working backwards seems unnatural – but when you consider the only inflexible element, the deadline of the project, then you’ll understand why everything stems from there. It will also give you a better idea of how much time you actually have for every deliverable that needs to happen before the deadline.
3. Expect The Unexpected:
Murphy’s Law had it right – if something bad can happen, it will. When you are planning a project, expect that there will be several rounds of revisions; a supplier may not deliver on time; the printer will malfunction. My point is: give yourself some wiggle room in case something (and it probably will) bad happens.
Being proactive rather than reactive is a good skill set to have when you need to manage projects. Anticipate that things will go wrong and always stay on top of every task. Project management is an integral part of being successful, regardless of your position or industry. Manage projects or they’ll manage you.
What are some of the effective methods you have used to manage projects successfully?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 12, 2013 | Latest, Marketing
In the saturated world of retail marketing, how can you ensure that you will be seen and heard?
There has been a noticeable shift in Retail space over the past five years: a face-lift, if you will, on mass retailers such as Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), Holt Renfrew, and several other major brands. Along with the refresh in storefront appeal, a lot of these brands have also created Smartphone applications and social media fan pages to reinforce their image and sales strategies.
For these retailers, what does it mean to have new competition enter the arena? With emerging brand re-designs, it just takes that much more to stand out. This is where a succinct and detailed brand strategy and an effective social media plan can ensure a more fruitful ROI. Design an effective retail marketing strategy today:
Bonnie Brooks, President and CEO of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), has completely turned the department store into one that deserves an honorable mention. Adopting big name designers, gaining exclusivity to having Top Shop in a couple of HBC locations has already put them ahead of the game. In 5 short years, Brooks has managed to re-position the department store and make it a must-go destination when shopping.
Retail Marketing and more specifically, promotion doesn’t stop at POP banners and weekly flyers, however.
The Hudson’s Bay has a 6.5k following on Instagram. Holt Renfrew has 38k followers on Instagram.Retailers know that to expand their reach, they must turn to the Internet and create an online community to reinforce the offline one.
For a retail company, it’s arguably easier to gain a following on social media sites such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook – and a little more difficult for those who are marketing services (in some cases) to gain traction amongst followers. But in tandem with my previous post (communication in the social age), knowing your audience and understanding their interests and behaviour will give you a vantage point in marketing to them.
Even in social media, there must be consistency and a call-out to one’s brand image. It isn’t ever just posting for the sake of posting. Remember: everything that is viewed in the social media will lead to conclusions being drawn and will either reflect positively or negatively on your brand. Make sure you understand this before posting.
So how do smaller, specialty stores make an impact on the social community? Arguably, social media has afforded smaller brands to make a big impact simply by designing an effective communications strategy that reinforces their brand. I’m convinced that successful social media plans have less to do with the product/service they’re selling and more to do with the impression they leave with the community.
Consider for a moment Canadian fashionista Jaclyn Genovese (Owner, JacFlash, 1036 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J 1H7, jacflash.net). With a knack for all things fashion and trendy, she has managed to run a flagship store in Toronto as well as a successful e-commerce site. To reinforce her business, she has a substantial 7.2K following on Instagram (@jaclyngenovese) where she doesn’t only promote product but she also promotes herself as the face of JacFlash – and rightfully so, she’s gorgeous.
Running campaigns with hashtags: #fallcontest #HBCrewards, for example are effective ways to trend on sites like Twitter and Instagram. This has proven effective for more than just marketing campaigns; hashtags have been used to organize guest photos at events like weddings.
Although a lot of brands have caught on to this trend and manage excellent social media plans, there are still a lot of companies that need to get on board.
What are some of your favourite brands to follow?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 6, 2013 | Communications, Latest
Communication is key.
In all of our relationships, the ability to effectively communicate is crucial to the success of overcoming obstacles. So what do we do when the forms of communication have changed drastically over the past two decades: from conversations over the phone to text messaging; from physical photo albums to sharing images on Instagram; from scrapbooking to repinning on Pinterest; from breaking news at 6pm to getting information at rapid speeds on Twitter.
This shift in communication has changed the way that people communicate but also the way businesses reach their audience.
And in the same way we approach the improvement of our relationships, it is important to outline the key points to effectively communicating to our target audience:
1. Understand your audience:
Never begin a marketing project without first understanding who you’re marketing to. Learn their interests, purchasing behaviour, modes of communication, etc. It is a waste of time to develop any strategy based on assumptions. Knowing your audience gives you the advantage of effectively strategizing the optimal methods in which your audience will be most receptive to. There is never a one-size-fits-all method.
2. Communicate in a way that your audience is comfortable with – not in the way that you are:
There are a lot of companies that prefer the traditional ways of marketing without as much as a hint of interest in learning new methods. The reality is that the world keeps changing around us; and to keep up, we need to change with it. Hashtags, digital media, Smartphone applications – to name a few – are all new additions to the way we market. The Internet has provided businesses with limitless opportunities to reach almost anyone, anywhere, and at anytime. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of this marketing tool?
3. Content, content, content:
In real estate, it’s all about location. In marketing, it’s all about content. How relevant is the material you are using to the consumer in which you are targeting? The Internet serves as an excellent medium to connecting with your audience but with the over-saturation of available information, relevance is also key. The popularity of your posts and the virality of it depend heavily on how relatable they are and the stick factor. Create memorable content – but be sure to integrate relevance into your design.
4. Analysis:
You’ve posted a memorable and relevant message to your Facebook page – now what? It isn’t enough to just post riveting material: we must also gauge the way our audience responds to it. Which types of posts are generating the most buzz? What are the optimal times to post? Are your posts being liked and shared, or is it engaging your followers to comment? Ideally, you will design activations that connect with your audience in all ways (like, share, comment).
5. Follow-up:
Creating posts that allow your followers to create a community amongst themselves is beneficial to your brand – but it is equally important for you to be a part of that community. It is easy for things to slip through the cracks, so it is crucial that you’re paying attention to what your customers are saying (to you and to each other). All comments (good or bad) should be addressed within 24 hours.
In summation, a solid and effective communications strategy can benefit your brand in more ways than you can imagine: keep it simple, open, and relevant. Deliver on your brand promise and in a timely manner. These are just five ways to help improve your communications strategy. In the world of marketing and business development, the options are ever-changing; but the principles remain the same.
Which methods have you found to be effective?
