Rachel Huff’s Post

Confessions of a Communication Consultant: Playbook Rule #8 "You're a non-income generating department—why do we need you? Tell us what value you provide." If you've been asked this question at your work- write YEP! in the comments! If I had a dime for every time I’ve been asked this question, I'd be income generating by now. 😂 Here’s the thing—good communication may not show up on the balance sheet, but it’s invaluable. Let me break it down for you: 1. Prevent Costly Image Damage:   “Why spend on PR?” Well, good PR stops your organization from crashing and burning in a PR nightmare. Fixing a ruined reputation costs a fortune, so it’s better to play defense with consistent communication strategies. 2. Organic Media Coverage > Paid Ads:   “Just buy an ad, right?” Nah. An organic media feature is worth its weight in gold compared to a flashy paid ad. Authentic, unbiased coverage boosts credibility and builds loyal customer bases. Trust trumps visibility any day. 3. Build Trust Through Consistency:   Strong image, consistent messaging, and a trustworthy brand. Without these, generating revenue becomes an uphill battle. People buy from brands they trust—plain and simple. So yeah, we may not print money, but we make sure your organization doesn’t hemorrhage it. In the end, it's all about trust, isn't it? #CommunicationMatters #PRStrategy #BrandBuilding #marketing #Communicationcoaching #confessions #communicationconsultants

7 reasons why clients fire their agency: 1. Bad communication 2. Poor value 3. Poor delivery 4. Change in team 5. Lack of strategic approach 6. Lack of understanding of the business 7. The agency did not challenge the client enough But don’t stress… → Here are 7 ways to keep clients: 1. Ask your clients at the beginning what their communication preferences are (eg: how often, what channels, etc…). 2. To create value, make promises you can keep → review continuously. 3. To remove delivery roadblocks → create implementation guides, regular progress reports, and checklists. 4. When there’s a change in your team → communicate a transition plan to the client → give enough time for them to build trust with the new team member. 5. Designing a strategic approach is a must. Do not skip this step → Spend time getting this right. 6. Listening will counteract any lack of understanding → Create in-person sessions to deep dive into your client’s world. 7. Don’t just agree to agree → Most clients want to be challenged → to see if their agency has a better way — so speak up! In today’s world, there’s such a revolving door. We learn from our best agency clients, who have had relationships with their clients over decades. Winning a new client is only half the battle Keeping them takes just as much work. P.S. I deliberately left out clients who feel they're being overcharged. That's likely to be the most common - but charging more for better service is always a win! If you want more info on pricing strategies, reach out to me.

The goal of any good marketer is to deliver exceptional value, both to the customer as well as to the company. Making the most of every minute of your schedule with better time management will help you achieve that goal consistently. However, it's easier said than done. Here's some of our experiences & discoveries: ❌𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. It's not quite good to mix the tasks (even when 3 different clients ask you 3 different things at the same time). Prioritizing and organizing everything is the key, especially because otherwise you may risk forgetting some important stuff along the way. 📵𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. When it comes to concentrating to deliver super good work, we try staying away from phones, food, nice movies, cute pets or anything which might distract us. However, it's pretty hard. 🍅𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬. We love taking breaks, but sometimes, when we're in the middle of something, we forget about breaks and realize there's been a long time since we haven't had one. We're currently working on this by using the Pomodoro Technique - we're still not championing it, but we really do see relevant improvements in our efficiency and creativity. ⏳𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥. Maybe it doesn't sound very important or useful at the beginning, but actually having this kind of tool and being able to visualize your time & tasks helps you be more efficient and organized. It's extremely useful for marketers as we all struggle sometimes with multiple small tasks and it's also an amazing reminder (having something scheduled, having promised to call someone back or reply to a lost e-mail in the inbox and forgetting about that - we've all been there). If you'd like us to share some more tips from our experience or tools which might help improving your overall journey as a marketing & communications person, let us know below!

Great messaging isn’t made inside an agency—it's created in the minds of your clients. True messaging happens when your AUDIENCE believes it. Here’s what can ruin your messaging and how to fix it: 1. Lack of client-centricity ↳ Ditch the jargon and fluff. Each word must fight for its presence. ↳ Focus on what resonates with your clients, not on what you think sounds good. ↳ Your clients should see themselves in your messaging, and feel that you’re speaking directly to them. 2. Not demonstrating benefits ↳ Saying you’re innovative isn’t enough. Show what ACTIONS you do. ↳ Use actionable language, not a descriptive one. ↳ Collect MEANINGFUL testimonials and use them. 3. Not testing messaging. ↳ Messaging is MEASURABLE. Analyse how your communications work and what resonates with your clients. Then scale it. ↳ “Test, iterate, repeat” is your best friend till you find the message-market fit. When something is off, change and test again. ↳ Change one element at the time, don’t pivot 180 cold turkey. Ask yourself: - Is your messaging using your clients’ language? - Are you showing, not just telling, your value? - Are you testing your messaging? Gab Bujold 💀 what did I miss here? 👀 — ♻️ If you found this valuable, share it with your network 🏎️ Follow me Fedor I. for more insights on positioning and messaging strategies.

Think beyond emails; transactional communication alone falls short. Treat your agency as your marketing BFFs. Chat, brainstorm, bounce ideas off each other — it strengthens the bond and will be reflected in the work. Head to our #MerryMusings blog to read the latest article by Jeff Speer on how to build a successful #client #agency partnership. #healthcaremarketing #healthcarecomms #healthcarecommunications #MerryMusings 

When it comes to determining marketing strategies and implementing significant investments in your product or service offering, sometimes the client is not always right… that doesn’t mean the agency is always right either, but the conversation matters. In our blog, CVR President Kevin Flynn explains the importance of trust in the client/agency relationship and how a “no” can lead to incredible client outcomes.

Just say no to RAM. No, not random-Access memory. I’m talking about what I call “Random Acts of Marketing”. What are Random Acts of Marketing (RAM)? Random acts of marketing are tactics that are either outside of a proper marketing/communications strategy or that fly in the face of that strategy. It can also be a tactic that doesn’t map to a communications or business objective. It’s throwing spaghetti on the wall to see if it sticks. 🍝 It is the non sequitur of marketing. Here are some examples of RAM in the world of B2B technology communications: 🤔 Pitching stories on the CEO’s personal pursuits that have no relation to the company, its mission, messaging, etc. If the CEO hires you as a personal publicist, well that’s different. ❓ Stunts. Pretty much any stunt. While a stunt might get attention and work for a B2C brand (and is even questionable in some cases), it really doesn’t serve tech companies well. Enterprise buyers in charge of millions of dollars in tech spend aren’t going to be impressed or swayed by some stunt in the middle of Times Square. 😑 “Newsjacking” a story that is trending even though your company or client really has nothing of consequence to say nor do they have a position of authority to speak on the topic. Also: remove “newsjacking” from the industry vernacular. It’s right up there with “ambulance-chasing”. Not a good look. Here’s how to say no to RAM: ▶ Define a relevant narrative and market positioning for your company. ▶ Develop a focused communication strategy and plan to support the narrative, and more importantly, the company’s business objectives. ▶ Make sure all tactics, from content to press releases to pitches to podcasts, map back to that strategy and incorporate the narrative and messaging. ▶ Establish checkpoints across the plan timeline to measure results to ensure you are adhering to the plan and have successfully avoided RAM. ▶ Generally push back on your internal clients (e.g. CEOs, sales and marketing leaders, etc.) who suggest RAM. It’s okay, they mean well. And lastly, hire good communications leaders and an agency that can partner together to build a focused, strategic and RAM-free communications plan for success. 🚫 #publicrelations #communications #marketing #randomactsofmarketing #clientservice #clientsuccess

Tell your marketing/communications agency what you love, what needs tweaking, what you disagree with and what makes you pump your fist in excitement. Lay your cards on the table so you and your agency partner can work together to develop the right program. Read this insightful blog by Jeff Speer on how to cultivate a successful agency partnership.   #MerryMusings #WednesdayWisdom #healthcaremarketing #healthcarecomms #healthcarecommunications #agency #client

7 things I’d tell my younger self if I were to start building a marketing agency in 2024: 1. Don’t try to do everything yourself. ↳ Hire people to do the things you suck at. 2. Go small to go big. ↳ Focus on a niche and build out your resources/experience before trying to take over the world. 3. Put a lot of effort into good client communications. ↳ It’s easier to retain clients than it is to get new ones. 4. Build systems and processes for everything. ↳ Knowing how to do things in your head isn’t good enough. 5. Hire for cultural fit and attitude. ↳ Skills can be learned but character traits rarely change. 6. Don’t go too deep with reporting. ↳ Over-reporting is bad client communication (see point 3). 7. Most meetings aren’t necessary. ↳ Tailor your approach to each client, but chances are you don’t NEED to meet every single week. PS. I’d love to hear what tips you’d give your younger self in the comments below.

Sign of a good marketing manager? You’ve moved past ‘are the tasks done?’. There is no growth in staying on top of the workload. In a busy environment, you can fall behind quickly. It’s not only the fact you fall behind, but you then need to fight the uphill battle of getting back on top AND getting ahead. Not to mention accurately reflecting on whether what you’re doing is working. This is, quite simply, a morale-killer. The more often you’re in a position of forward-planning and forward-thinking; the more competent you’re going to feel. And when you feel competent, you act more competent: - Drawing actual insights about the campaign - Adjusting the strategy and tasks based on those insights - Leading the team proactively instead of reactively, and with calm And, most importantly, heading into client meetings more confidently. If you’re spending everyday asking yourself and the team “where are we at with [this task]” - you’re not managing the accounts nor the team. The only thing you’re managing to do is to not drown. I don’t think you or I took this role because we wanted to settle for not drowning. Don’t let the team be your anchor. Be theirs. #marketingmanagement