Sunni Goodman

Texas Roadhouse is a masterclass in understanding and catering to its audience. By targeting the 55+ generation, especially in the Midwest, and appealing to households without a college education, Texas Roadhouse has carved out a loyal customer base. Their strategy focuses on what matters most to their patrons: location, service, and unique menu items. Key factors driving their success include: - Demographic Targeting - Lively Atmosphere - Prime Locations - Service Excellence - Signature Items (aka their bread rolls) Texas Roadhouse’s success story demonstrates the power of knowing your audience and delivering on what they value most. The formula for brand success? know your audience, serve them well, and offer unforgettable bread rolls. 🙌 #MSWResearch #MarketResearch #BrandGrowth #ConsumerInsights #TexasRoadhouse

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There is all guts and very little glory in corporate communications. My biggest career wins are efforts no one will ever see. Or I can’t speak of them. They don’t have metrics and weren’t celebrated. That’s because some of the most important efforts led by communications leaders are: --> Killing or mitigating a negative story through work with journalists --> Mitigating a crisis or issue with scenario planning and seeing around the corner --> Orchestrating leadership change communications to make as seamless and painless as possible --> Leading organizational narratives or purpose/mission/vision changes that guides everyone within organization --> Jumping into HR-related needs, from reduction-in-force (RIFs, aka layoffs) to renewal of benefits, so the organization has a as clear of communication as possible --> Guiding decision-making through stakeholder analysis, audience research and having a pulse of an organization. It may just be a simple comment in a leadership meeting that changes the course of decisions. --> Influencing partners teams, such as marketing, on direction to take with content, social, etc. --> Syncing with legal on … well, everything … so that the brand/company is protected --> Creating alignment amongst leaders so everyone is rowing in the same direction --> Connecting dots and facilitating to consensus with teams --> Engaging all the relevant stakeholders to assure understanding, participation and support --> Making executives look good in front of the board, employees, investors, partners and media And that’s on a Monday. What else, communications friends? #corporatecommunications #strategiccommunications

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The tension needs your attention. A lot of times in the PR world companies choose to ignore problems. Don’t we all do it? When we ignore the reality, we let it take control of the narrative. But when we choose to look at the ugly things, we get the power to control the narrative. We’re in charge.   It’s never easy to face challenges, resistance, pain, but you can’t run away forever. At some point it will catch up with you. The result? What you’ve been avoiding and could’ve addressed early on is so much heavier … it’s hard to carry.   Have authority over your life. Engage with the mess. #mindset #motivation #personaldevelopment #new

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Thinking about what I love most about my industry. Depends on what/who/where but usually it’s Integrated Strategy Corporate Communications. Creating a unified voice and consistent brand message across all channels. Especially when it comes with a compelling story driven from what’s happening within an organization, and it’s all linked together…totally my jam!!! Such an opportunity for growth, stakeholder relationship building, and brand reputation. What’s your biggest #corporatecommunications love? #IntegratedStrategicCorporateCommunications #BusinessCommunication #BrandConsistency

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Today I witnessed a business nail public relations, advertising, content marketing, current events, logic (logos), emotion (pathos), authority (ethos) and call to action … all in about a one-minute, casual, in-person announcement. The woman at Miller Swim School in Tulsa, OK, gets it. She introduced herself to parents and went through what to expect during our kids’ two-week swim camp. And then she made a clear ask and a clear reason that positions the audience as “the hero.” “I’m asking each of you to purchase one of our towels that says Miller Swim School on it, and I want you to use it every time you go out. This is why … .” She made the ask personal. I wanted to help HER. Then, she connected current events to the branded towel using emotion, logic and authority. — She said five Oklahomans drowned over the Fourth of July weekend. (One was just in the next cove over from us at the lake!) — She said all children and adults need to know how to swim because we are surrounded by water. — She said it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent drowning deaths. — She said the more people who see “Miller Swim School” on a towel, the more likely they are to enroll in swimming lessons. — She said by purchasing this towel and using it, I can save lives of Oklahomans. Guess who bought a towel? #PublicRelations #Marketing #ContentMarketing #Advertising #CurrentEvents #AudienceAsHero #PublicSpeaking #CallToAction #Logos #Pathos #Ethos

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There are so many "awareness" days, weeks and months. You can post on something nearly every day. I wonder, though, how helpful this kind of post is and would love to hear from marketers about it. #awarenessdays #publicrelations #socialmedia #marketing

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Stop wringing your hands over journalists’ individual preferences for pitching! (𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥) PR pros keep asking: >Should we paste releases in the email or include as an attachment? >Should we deliver photos via third-party link or embedded in the email? >What day is best for pitching? And on and on and on… 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻, and you won’t learn many individual likes and dislikes until you’ve worked with the reporter several times. The truth is, you aren’t going to lose or land a story simply because you attached your CEO’s bio as a PDF instead of a Word doc. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁: 1️⃣ The quality of your story (is it unique, timely, and interesting?) 2️⃣ Its relevance to the outlet, the journalist, and their audience (do your research!) 3️⃣ The availability of and access to time, assets, and resources (interview time with the CEO, proprietary data, high-quality photos and videos, etc.) to support the reporting #publicrelations #mediarelations #communications

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Does your PR team know how to explain the work we do? In too many instances, asking different members of your team how to explain public relations may bring many different answers. The obvious problem with that is that it creates confusion. As we all already know, too many people already don't get what we do. It is less about saying the exact words but more about general cohesion of the story. If your agency hasn't gone through this exercise with your team, it is something to think about.

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PRWeek’s Agency Business Report rankings dropped yesterday. It’s the publication’s annual breakdown + analysis of PR firms based on self-reported numbers. A few themes emerged in Diana Bradley’s deep dive from the client POV that mirror what I’m seeing brands prioritize in their agency partners: ✅ BROAD PERSPECTIVE: How much should an agency niche when it comes to industry expertise? Is it better to have a partner that serves multiple industries? There’s nuance to this debate, but at the very least, agencies need to bring to the table cross-industry visibility, insights, and best practices. ✅ WILLINGNESS TO PUSH BACK: This comes up a LOT in my searches. Yes, clients are busy and want their agencies to be an extra set of arms and legs. But what they’re really looking for is a partner who pushes them to deliver more impactful results. Sometimes, that means engaging in a little healthy debate. ✅ TEAM ALIGNMENT: I could go on ad nauseum about how the most successful client-agency partnerships boil down to great relationships. But it’s no longer enough to have a strong “core team.” As brands’ needs evolve, agencies need to be open to dynamic team structures, bringing in the right external experts or partner agencies to support their core expertise. ✅ ABILITY TO PIVOT: Being accountable when things don’t go as planned is crucial. Equally important is an agency’s ability to listen to the client and to be flexible and responsive to the needs of the business. ✅ EXPERT AT NAVIGATING ISSUES: Businesses are facing potential reputational risks from all sides. That’s why companies of all sizes and industries are increasingly looking for partners who understand the regulatory and political environments in which they operate and who can provide counsel at the drop of a hat. Would love to hear your thoughts... Clients: What qualities do you value most in an agency partner? Agencies: Where are you seeing potential clients dig in most?

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For more than 15 years, I’ve worked agency-side serving large, international brands to up-and-coming start-ups. I’ve had the pleasure of working with clients who were wicked smart and fun to work with, as well as some not-so-pleasant clients who saw me as a vendor, not a partner. Recently, one of our clients asked me: “How can I be a better client for you?” (green flag!). After giving it some thought, I boiled it down to a few key points. Here they are: Make time and space for onboarding and discovery. At Slide Nine, we always build in time for onboarding and discovery so we can ensure the team has a full understanding of the company’s complexities and the broader market context in which it operates. This usually involves conversations with key executives/spokespeople, competitor analysis, market research, etc. If you are looking to bring on a new agency, investing that time and brainpower at the beginning will help your agency team understand your company’s business objectives and devise a communications strategy that will truly move the needle. ‍Be transparent about budget. Every corporate communications and marketing team has a set annual budget. It’s understandable that a client may not want to share the exact amount with their agency because they think the agency will attempt to line their pockets. Here’s the truth: a good agency partner will manage your budget as if it were their own. Without any sense of what budget constraints may exist, you could put your agency in a position of over or under-estimating what’s financially possible and delivering a proposed communications plan that misses the mark. Financial transparency will allow you and your agency to align on a strategic creative approach more efficiently. ‍Give specific, direct, and constructive feedback. I’m a big fan of the book Radical Candor by Kim Scott. She talks about the importance of giving feedback that’s kind and clear, specific and sincere. There have been many times when I wanted to give a copy of this book to a client after a particularly brutal “feedback” session where phrases like, “I don’t like it,” “I’m just not feeling it,” and “This isn’t what I’m looking for” were thrown around. At the end of the day, we want to deliver exceptional work that you are excited about. Just remember, we can’t read your mind. Help us help you. Provide your agency team with all the necessary information needed to do our jobs (and keep us informed when things shift). Join our scheduled meetings so we can have open dialogue and share timely updates to move things forward. Provide reasonably quick feedback and approvals on content our team develops. It’s our job to make you look like a rock star within your organization. Help us do that effectively and efficiently. Agency friends, what did I miss? #Communications #Agency #PR #ClientEngagement

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Revamp Your Email Marketing Approach! Are you aware that email marketing is among the most impactful digital marketing techniques for businesses in Texas? At Social Ivy Media, we excel in designing email campaigns that produce outstanding results. Discover how our expert team can assist you in: • Cultivating strong connections with your audience • Boosting engagement and conversions • Driving sales and revenue • And much more! Eager to elevate your email marketing? Book your FREE consultation with us today! https://bit.ly/4ckgqfw #EmailMarketing #DigitalMarketing #TexasBusiness #MarketingStrategy #AudienceEngagement #EmailCampaigns #BoostConversions #DriveSales #RevenueGrowth #StrongConnections #MarketingExperts #SocialIvyMedia #MarketingSuccess #EngageYourAudience #EffectiveMarketing #DigitalStrategy #MarketingConsultation #FreeConsultation #ExpertMarketing #EmailSuccess #BusinessGrowth #EmailEngagement #MarketingImpact #TargetAudience #MarketingInnovation #EmailRevenue #CampaignResults #MarketingSpecialists

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Individuals want more than to be talked at; they want an authentic connection and two-way conversation with brands, businesses, and organizations that they support. The days of broadcasting one message to a general audience are coming to an end. Individual and authentic messaging segmented by audience is what will set brands apart from their competitors.

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As a communications professional, I cannot agree more. CEOs must recognize that effective (internal and external) communication is as critical as any other business function such as HR or finance. By hiring, trusting and empowering experienced communication leaders to carry out their roles diligently, and not undermine their existence and ability, CEOs ensure they have advisors who protect and advance their reputation, brand and business goals.

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Refreshing your old articles can be pretty cringey -- Why’d I write that? Choose that word? Say that thing? 🙈 🙈 🙈 But it’s worth it when you see results like: 3xs total page views in the 7 weeks post refresh vs. ALL 2023 PVs One of my early articles for the Carve Communications, Inc. website was Does Writing This Article Make Me a Thought Leader? It explored what makes a thought leader, elements of thought leadership, the steps it takes to achieve it, etc. It was a mid performer. I knew it had potential but I also knew it wasn’t really set up for success. Here’s what we did in April of this year to change that trajectory: 1. REFRESHED THE CONTENT – Doubled the size of the article based on learnings since the first publish date. I added a bunch of useful content like how to nurture your “earned secrets,” what metrics to track to understand if ideas are finding an audience, and updated examples of thought leadership work. 2. OPTIMIZED FOR SEO LEARNINGS – We leaned into what we'd learned over the 2 years since the article was published and into what we call “editorial SEO” – address an issue/solve a problem for your target audience or share a strong POV in writing first, and then see how you can organically weave in keywords. Versus the typical method of writing to pre-chosen keywords and fading into the sea of sameness. 3. ADDED INTERNAL LINKING – We have much more quality and interconnected content on the site now than we did then and could use this article to drive to others and vice versa (and signal to Google that this was a living, breathing site). 4. ADDED VISUAL ASSETS – We updated the hero image to match our new style since using Canva’s AI tool, and added memes, screenshots of charts and graphs, and infographics. 5. PROMOTED ACROSS OUR MEDIA ECOSYSTEM – We only had a semi-regularly updated website and Carve LinkedIn feed back then. Today, we are able to promote across well-developed brand and personal LinkedIn feeds, two newsletters, a much better performing site, and more. I got over the cringe pretty quickly. Refreshing old content is an always-on strategy. Nothing these days should be write once and move on. Read the updated article here https://lnkd.in/dfE55q3B SEO SIDE NOTE: We opted NOT to change the title even thought all SEO “rules” say we should have our primary keyword in there. The alternative was too boring. Looks like we made the right call. 💪🏽 💪🏽 💪🏽 #writing #content #contentmarketing #seo #strategy #thoughtleadership

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Great experiences are the building blocks of great brands. The best marketers understand the importance of little details in key customer touch points. Capturing attention and creating demand follows naturally.

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“I just need a few key messages that I should hit.” It’s a common request that every communications pro has encountered many times ahead of a media interview. And if you’re anything like me, you roll your eyes. Why? Because key messages are fine and good, but only if they are used to form a broader narrative. More often than not, they’re seen as a license to be repetitive, robotic and focused only on your own outcome. Brute-forcing key messages down a reporter’s throat doesn’t help them do their job. Media opportunities are a two way street - you give value, share expertise and contextualize whatever you’re talking about in exchange for the profile the media outlet can give you and your business. The best and only way to respect this duality is to shape a simple and memorable story which contains the messages you want to hit, and which shows instead of telling why what you’re discussing is important and meaningful. I used to keep a folder of video clips that could’ve been titled “when key messages go wrong” - often depicting some hapless executive or politician stumbling through a repeated response straight from the message sheet he or she was handed. They universally looked silly and unprepared, and the interview did nothing but undermine trust and damage the speaker’s reputation. Next time, before the camera starts rolling, think about a story instead of a key message. Your brand will thank you.

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I discuss storytelling, and its value when pitching a media angle about your company or organization. The dog example is for fun, and is light in tone, but consider special stories that likely exist within your organization. They help to bring data, concepts, and other angles, to life. #PR #communications #Vancouver #storytelling

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