Buy them. Now, that doesn’t mean that you don’t use paid advertising on platforms that make sense for your brand. But it does mean that you shouldn’t rely solely on paid advertising to cultivate an audience for your brand when, with a little elbow grease, you can do some of the work and see a…
When one thinks of storytelling, it’s hard not to be swept away by nostalgic memories of poison apples and pixie dust.  With the promise of true love’s kiss dripping from the mouth of a handsome prince, every girl has wanted to be cursed to sleep forever or better yet, trade mortality for a lifetime of…
We’re all desperate for them. Likes, retweets, or shares. Comments, reposts, or pins. Audience engagement. That tiny yet impactful gesture that signifies that something we did was right (or wrong) and that there’s life out there beyond the publish button. So how do some brands do it? How do they cultivate a committed fandom who…
If you have ever sat in front of a blank screen drumming your fingers to find something new to say, you’re not alone. Creating compelling content on a regular basis is a challenge for anyone, no matter how experienced they are. Even professional writers call it the fear of the blank page. The hard part…
“Buy Now!” “Subscribe today.” “Sign Up!” Each of these little gems is examples of what is commonly known as a “call to action,” or CTA. When clicked, they invite the reader to exchange a little more information for access to things like special offers, event registration, or newsletters. Hands down, when crafted just right, they…
It’s the start of a brand new year. And already, it’s chock full of resolutions and do-overs, fresh starts and new days. And that’s good because today starts a new day for marketing your business. Or your non-profit. Or, perhaps for marketing yourself, in hopes of establishing a dynamic personal brand. And we’ll get into…
This year on the Crayons & Marketers blog, we answered some questions our small business clients have asked us and covered best practices that we follow ourselves. Where we started We began the year with a conversation about the power of keeping it real over the next twelve months, letting authenticity give our marketing a…
The last couple months of the year aren’t just for stuffing turkeys and pitching a tent outside your local big box retailer. Retail businesses are engrossed in the holiday marketing mashup while service providers are picking over low hanging fruit, trying to book as much revenue as possible before year end. Tis the season to…
By now, you have a pretty good idea of how your marketing fared this year. You either pulled off a total win, came in about average, or completely lost the battle. And if the latter is you, don’t be too tough on yourself. Finding your way around the marketing landscape can be a little like…
The only way you can gain an appreciation for or dislike of social media is to be on it. And regardless of which side of the coin you land on, social media is here to stay. Sure, the popularity of certain platforms will change, and new ones will emerge. But the force that is social…
Posting to social media has never been easier. Social media management tools like Hootsuite and Buffer make it almost inexcusable not to post updates routinely to your social media networks. And the benefits! Once you link up all your accounts, you can schedule posts to publish when and where you want them to, all from…
What does your brand stand for? Before you compose a Facebook message or send an email, defining why people should care about your brand is a question that can’t go unanswered. Because good marketing messages aren’t composed of a laundry list of features. Convincing marketing messages derive from a brand that knows their worth and…