Category: Blog

At DCC Marketing, we aren’t afraid to tell the stories that truly matter. That’s where our passion lies—with messaging that changes behavior, raises awareness, and inspires people to take action. Our belief is that while marketing raises brand awareness and encompasses the promotion of a program, product, or service, it also involves consumer education and an innovative approach to creating campaigns that truly resonate.

Meaningful marketing yields tangible results. Let’s give you an example.

The EAT.SAVE.MOVE. campaign is a multi-year initiative aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle choices and reducing chronic disease by encouraging behavioral changes, improving diet quality, and increasing physical activity among SNAP-eligible families. DCC Marketing worked with the University of Illinois Extension SNAP-Ed to develop messaging, outreach, and promotion for those receiving SNAP benefits throughout Illinois. In addition to promoting a healthy body weight and overall well-being, we seek to boost engagement and awareness of the SNAP-Ed programming by expanding the audience and participant database through social media, APP users, a texting club, newsletter, and loyalty/rewards program. Materials for the campaign are offered in culturally accessible languages including English and Spanish.

One year after the campaign launch, a baseline study revealed that 66% of low-income Illinois residents who were exposed to the EAT.MOVE.SAVE. messaging took steps towards healthier habits, such as increasing their fruit and vegetable intake, meal planning, and accessing the EAT.MOVE.SAVE. website. The result of the finding proved our diverse marketing strategy featuring a targeted multicultural and multilingual approach resonated with the targeted audience.

Marketing positively impacts the lives of consumers.

Through our work with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Office of Firearm Violence Prevention, we developed a multi-media strategy to raise awareness about the state’s comprehensive approach to reducing firearm violence through targeted community investments. We created messaging surrounding youth intervention, violence interruption, and trauma services, and we currently use this messaging to target organizations who are eligible to receive grant funding through the Reimagine Public Safety Act. By identifying areas and communities with concentrated firearm violence, we are able to successfully notify non-profit organizations of available opportunities and resources.  Already, The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention has made 184 grants with an average of $300,000 per grant through 19 Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) with the aim to expand to 200+ grantees by July 1, 2023.

In addition to the Reimagine Public Safety Illinois campaign, DCC partnered with IDHS for the Safe Sleep campaign, an initiative focused on infant mortality rates and safe sleep practices. According to the CDC, Illinois was ranked 28^th in infant mortality in 2020. Although the standard of healthcare has progressed in Illinois, racial inequities in infant mortality persist.

After identifying risk factors and markers such as maternal age, prenatal care, race/ethnicity, and geographic locations, we were able to serve targeted messaging to bring awareness to subjects such as best safe sleep practices and habits. Our digital analytics showed that Google search impressions increased nearly 50% through our campaign, showing optimizations ensured the ads successfully reached people searching for safe sleep practices and ways to get their infant to sleep.

Marketing Raises Awareness.

According to the CDC, there were nearly 48,000 suicides and 1.7 million suicide attempts in 2021 alone.

Mental health crisis support systems are lifesaving resources, but their usefulness relies on people being aware of their existence in order to access them. In conjunction with the Illinois Department of Human Services, DCC Marketing developed messaging, a multimedia strategy for both the 988 Crisis and Suicide Line and the Governor’s Challenge 988 +1 Veterans Crisis Line, an initiative established to prevent suicide among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families.

Our goal with this campaign is to bring awareness to these numbers and reach individuals who are potentially suffering from a mental health crisis, substance abuse crisis, emotional crisis, or concerned family, friends, and caregivers seeking information or support. Part of our Governor’s Challenge Messaging is also targeted to community members interested in free training courses on military culture awareness and mental health.

Real issues call for real dialogue, and at DCC Marketing, we strive to always contribute to the conversation. We’re confident that our work can impact lives, influence perspectives, and affect behaviors, so we’re determined to focus on causes that drive transformative change.

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI. It is a variant of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) model, which was trained on a massive dataset of internet text to generate human-like text.

ChatGPT is specifically designed for conversational AI applications, such as chatbots and virtual assistants. They demonstrate the capability of AI to understand and generate human language in a way that is increasingly indistinguishable from that of a real person. It is able to generate coherent and contextually appropriate responses to a wide range of prompts, making it an effective tool for natural language processing tasks.

In the field of marketing and advertising, ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the way businesses interact with their customers. With the ability to understand and respond to natural language prompts, chatbots powered by ChatGPT can provide personalized and efficient customer service, quickly answering common questions and concerns.

Another significant implication of ChatGPT for marketing and advertising is the ability to generate high-quality, engaging content quickly and efficiently. The model can be fine-tuned to understand the tone and style of a specific brand, and then used to generate product descriptions, social media posts, and other marketing materials. This can save businesses a significant amount of time and resources, allowing them to focus on other important aspects of their operations.

In addition, ChatGPT can also be used for A/B testing and data analysis. By generating multiple versions of ad copies, headlines and product descriptions, businesses can get a better understanding of what resonates with their target audience and optimize their campaigns accordingly.

Language models like ChatGPT can also be used for other NLP tasks such as language translation, summarization, question answering, and text-to-speech synthesis.

However, it’s important to note that these models are still in the early stages of development, and there are still many challenges to be addressed, including bias, privacy and ethical issues. As the technology continues to evolve, it will be important to address these concerns to ensure that the benefits of AI are realized while minimizing potential negative impacts.

In conclusion, ChatGPT is a powerful language model that has the potential to revolutionize natural language processing and conversational AI. It can revolutionize the way businesses interact with their customers and create high-quality, engaging content. With its ability to understand and respond to natural language, it can help businesses improve their customer service, generate efficient and personalized content, and optimize their marketing campaigns. Its implications for artificial intelligence technology are significant, and it will be interesting to see how it develops and is applied in the future.

A note from DCC:

This is now a real human typing, in case you couldn’t tell the difference. We have to say we were impressed with ChatGPT’s blog-writing skills and even learned a few application tips we’re excited to implement.

Overall, we see ChatGPT being extremely beneficial in a few areas of marketing:

1. General content marketing
2. Generating copy for digital and traditional advertisements, as well as organic social media posts
3. A/B testing
4. Getting more informative content on your website to increase your SEO
5. Chatbots and virtual assistance to improve customer engagement when staff is limited

We can’t wait to start testing how ChatGPT can improve our copywriting efficiency and messaging testing!

Social Media Marketing | Part 1

Like the proverbial tree in the forest, if someone posts on social media and no one is around to like/share/retweet it, does it even make a sound?

DCC is here to make sure your business has an audible voice in the era of social media, and as a marketing agency, we know the importance of evolving with the times. Social media is here to stay, and that means targeted digital campaigns with measurable goals and tangible results.

So, what platform should you use? Some of them? All of them? The ones with the coolest cat filters? With over 2.89 million monthly active users (source), Facebook is undoubtedly the largest tree in our digital forest, but we must ask ourselves if it caters to our client’s target audience since social media preferences vary by age, race, ethnicity, and location. Marketing on any social media platform must be strategic and deliberate.

Let’s start with the most obvious marketing tactic on Facebook: posts. Why? Because they’re free. Posts are an easy and cost-effective way to advertise and update your audience on services, announcements, holiday hours, industry news, etc., but they aren’t necessarily a great way to reach a target audience. You don’t simply send a post into the Metaverse and BOOM, your intended audience is there. There’s a more effective way to advertise, but of course, it will cost you. After all, is anything really free?

Paid advertising on Facebook offers different bidding models based on your campaign goals. Essentially, you decide the key characteristics of your target audience to narrow in on and the advertisements stay within those parameters. Not only is it a highly targeted form of advertising, but it provides beneficial analytics to help the client understand how people are engaging with their posts.

If Facebook is the Sequoia, then Instagram is a Redwood, with slightly less reach but still very powerful (and with cool cat filters). Not all content on Facebook translates well on Instagram, although both share the same ad platform which presents many cross-promotional opportunities for brands. As the second most-accessed social media platform behind Facebook, the ‘Gram succeeds with its visual appeal.

When choosing an advertising platform, demographics are key to building your brand’s strategy. Although Facebook succeeds in its sheer number of users, Instagram is home to a more-engaged, younger demographic.  In September 2022, 27.5 percent of Instagram users in the United States were between ages 25 and 34 years, and 25.5 percent of users were aged 18 to 24 years (source).

Thanks to its youthful following, Instagram is also home to the “influencer” trend, and according to a Statista 2021 survey, 93 percent of responding marketers and agencies from the US stated that they planned to use Instagram for influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is a collaboration of product placement or messaging with people or organizations of wide social influence. Simply put, more followers=more visibility. Influencer audiences are some of the most engaged, and an endorsement or product placement from an influencer can truly affect buying behavior.

Instagram stories and Instagram reels are another great way for advertisers to connect with audiences. In the same way that pay-per-click advertisements target users, stories and reels can make “impressions” by simply being seen. Also, clickable hashtags are a great way to build a community around your brand, and with community comes engagement. The aesthetics of Instagram make it a great advertising platform, and whereas Facebook is a great place for information, Instagram may be the preferred way to build your brand.

What’s a digital forest without a little blue bird? Twitter is the last of the “big three” social media platforms we will be discussing today—we covered TikTok and Snapchat in a previous DCC Blog, and we’ll talk YouTube in a future post.

With more than 330 monthly active users (source), Twitter is a platform with Elon-gated reach (see what we did right there?) Its user base is very similar to that of Instagram, although Twitter’s is slightly male dominant. The original “home of the hashtag” could be a crucial part of your marketing strategy, and here’s why: it’s the fastest way to get your message across. With a 280-character limit, Twitter posts are concise and to the point, often linking to industry news or websites. Branded hashtags, poll/questions, and retweets are another easy, organic way to create user engagement. Twitter uses its own algorithm for engagement and click-through rates, and by purchasing promoted accounts and promoted tweets, your message can reach its targeted audience much in the same way Meta advertising works.

Twitter is a real-time, fast moving content distributor, and with the right approach, it can be instrumental in your marketing campaign. With its recent change of ownership, however, some advertisers are pausing or proceeding with caution until the platform reaches a more stable state. We’ll save all of that information for another rainy, musky day.

With so many platforms from which to choose, always ask yourself these questions and then decide accordingly. What is your message? Who is your target audience? What are you wanting to achieve? Hopefully by now you have a bit better understanding of how social media advertising works, so that the next time your Instagram reel is posted or your Facebook advertisement is clicked, you can rest assured it’s most definitely making a sound.

Account Management | Manufacturing Industry

Managing a global manufacturing company requires an experienced team and a keen focus on understanding the global landscape and technology infrastructure.

The manufacturing industry is a key focus of ours here at DCC & it is far from an easy one. This industry is a fast-paced environment with several moving parts (literally and figuratively). Thus, having a strong account management team that becomes an extension to the client’s team is imperative. Connectivity and communication across departments including sales, engineering, finance, environmental, safety, and HR are critical touchpoints in developing a comprehensive, data-driven results-based marketing strategy.

Here are just a few keys to success for managing a global manufacturing client:

• Key stakeholder and internal departmental database across global locations
• A structured internal communication process that is recognized and utilized globally
• Robust timelines, budgets, and weekly cadence meetings—on-going communication and project advancement is imperative
• Prioritize initiatives annually and develop integrated marketing plans with on-going optimization, monthly presentations & reporting, quarterly analysis against sales, and comprehensive annual reviews
• Ensuring a cohesive brand and messaging strategy that is localized across the globe, across media and communication initiatives
• Industry trend analysis, by sector, by market
• Global communications, portal system(s) for consistency and cohesiveness
• Customer and prospect database with audience and geographic segmentation, continual updating and integration with sales teams and with connectivity across social following strategies
• Identified communication platforms for sharing and content development (for various manufacturing clients we use Facebook Workplace, WhatsApp, WeChat, Google Docs, 3Dx etc.)
• B2B Media channel strategies that integrate messaging and content strategy by overall brand, product, and department (lately, HR recruitment and culture have been a critical focus area). We see notable results with LinkedIn, Facebook / IG, Twitter, HubSpot with email journey mapping, tradeshows, webinars, podcasts, presentations, video production (various formats, styles and usage), PR, HR / recruitment strategies, sales support materials, website & landing pages

If we take for example our clients in the automotive and commercial vehicle market, we know the transportation eco-system is changing rapidly with a focus on electrification and sustainability and they are navigating today’s challenges with workforce recruitment, retention, logistics and supply chain barriers, and public policy laws. Keeping up with these industry trends is extremely important to ensure we are leveraging their opportunities as thought leaders in the industry & ensuring they are viewed as relevant to customers. As we develop comprehensive marketing and communications strategies, these insights can drive our decisions on voice, content, and channel approach. Building brands and delivering content that is targeted, relevant, and results-driven in a B2B global environment can take on a complex, layered approach. Being in-tune with global restrictions in media delivery, cultural adaptation, and communication preferences can be a challenging particularly because customers and conditions differ across countries. As much as we want to be centralized we have to integrate a localized marketing, communication and engagement plan into our global marketing strategy. What does that mean? It means working with our clients to develop and streamline a planning matrix where we evaluate across department, product segmentation, geographic segmentation, and marketing mix. We ensure we have champions at each location that can help us execute on global goal. This will help ensure brand cohesiveness with a results-driven strategy. It requires a dedicated and experienced team to work as an extension to the company—it’s a partnership that we value and an industry we are passionate about!

We hope this provides key insights into the marketing in manufacturing. Give it a go! And, let us know your thoughts, we are always here if you need help or have questions!

Finding Your Own Balance

It seems more and more people are searching for that work life balance. What does that really mean? Is there even such a thing? Are the pressures in life so strong that it becomes virtually impossible to gain? Does the pervasiveness of social media impact how we see ourselves?

Are we afraid to ask others for help and put undue pressure on ourselves to “do it all?” These questions have been on my mind for some time and I am frequently asked how I achieve work life balance. For me, about five years ago I really sat down with myself and thought about all this. What I kept going back to is that work-life-balance is a personal endeavor and that I needed to find my own inner peace. I believe balance is different for everyone—I believe that we each hold our answer to this question, but what is most important is that we find happiness and acceptance within ourselves. 

I thought I would share a few things that helped me personally achieve this internal state. For starters—I quit comparing myself to others. This was key. I cannot stress enough. To people who ask me I always say, “who you are and what you do is unique to you.” Get comfortable with that! Balance is a state of mind—and remember, don’t strive for perfection, strive for progress. Learn to set parameters and schedules. Communicating early and often with those around me is a must. My family has a group text and I am not sure what I did without it. 

Creating a positive internal state started from within. The very first “think” I did was set time in my schedule for myself and my health and I made it a priority. It wasn’t easy, but boy was it the key. I focused on making sure my personal health was in order because I realized a few years ago that my health was getting out of control and it was impacting my mood, my confidence, and my productivity. I needed to make my own self-care a priority. Think of it kind of like being on an airplane when they say, “put your mask on first and then your child.” In fact, I was overwhelmed with happiness when I started taking 30 minutes for myself in the morning to work out. It was amazing how it bred independence in my kids. They saw how important that was to me and how much it positively impacted everyone around me that they started taking accountability for their tasks in the morning to get out the door on time. In fact, today they even take on some additional tasks for me when they notice I am running late—without even being asked they start helping get my lunch and coffee ready. They do their own laundry, they keep their rooms in order, they do their dishes, they help with dinner. They are an important part of the team and I appreciate them every step of the way.

Oh, and by the way, this didn’t happen overnight. It took consistency, communication and effort. It was six straight months of focused attention on myself before it became a habit and it has had a dramatic impact on my perspective on life. It’s more than a lifestyle change—it’s a mindset change. Once I got that figured out, I set out to other parts of my life. First off, schedule, schedule, schedule. Think ahead, plan ahead and work ahead. Prioritize and don’t be afraid to use your resources, ask for help and coordinate with others. Surround yourself with good people, who truly care because toxic relationships can derail your happiness. Communicate early and often. I think I have said that more than once here so hopefully you are picking up on that J! I am very open with my family and my staff. My personal and professional commitments are all wide open on my calendar. If I cannot be at something or get to something I make sure I communicate. And if I miss something, which happens (a lot) I acknowledge that and make sure others know I welcome and appreciate the reminder. There are plenty of events I cannot make and plenty that I can make—to me that is just life not balance. I also think it is important to cheer on others, be supportive, and make a point to ask others if they need help.

I think seeing life from multiple perspectives and other vantage points helps you live your own life better. That has really been important to me, especially as I have grown older. Listening, not judging, and truly caring about other people’s views is so important. And honestly, it just makes you a kind and thoughtful person. We need more of that! Like everyone, there are days that do not go as planned or there are major bumps in the road. I stop and take 10 minutes, a few deep breaths, smile, think about the bigger picture and look for something positive from another viewpoint. Not everything always gets done, but if you surround yourself with good people and you focus on doing things for the right reason, you will find that inner peace and your own personal balance. Most importantly, I don’t let others influence my balance—I took the time to find my inner peace in life, love myself and I am incredibly grateful for the support from those around me!

Why Content Marketing Matters

In 1996, Bill Gates published an essay titled, “Content is King” to the Microsoft website. In it, Gates states, “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on theInternet.” He was right. And he is right, because over two decades later, content is still the key to the consumer. Content marketing lays the foundation for every other online strategy. Here’s how:

+Content helps build SEO by providing more keywords that are used in search.

+Content attracts new traffic. SEO and interlinking strategies bring in new visitors.

+Content enhances the value and credibility of your landing page, increasing your search ranks.

+Credibility isn’t just for search engines. The more users that see your content, the more brand equity you will earn. 

+Content allows you to build relationships with other brands and industries and creates earned links.

+Content provides valuable material for digital and social media marketing.

+Content establishes your website as a source for information consumers need. Consumers will be more likely to return to your website, sign up for newsletters or share with their network. 

+Content encourages conversions. Well written, relative content with a well-placed call-to-action will result in conversions.

+Last but not least, content sticks. Unlike a paid digital ad or social post with a short lifespan, you will continue to reap benefits from quality content for the life of the post.

A few things we at DCC love. Celebrate Valentine’s Day by doing something you love!

Kara Demirjian-Huss loves family time, Peloton, espresso and ILLINI!

Lacey loves her dog, Fig.

Evelyn loves her cat, Ember, and ordering in dinner and watching a movie. AJ loves cats too!

Jennifer loves being able to read a book uninterrupted.

Brandy loves thrifting.

Pam loves a good nap.

Erasmo loves listening to and playing music.

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Sales needs marketing and marketing needs sales. So what can we do to ensure sales and marketing teams collaborate effectively? Here are three top tips:

Identify the Target

Streamlining the target demographic for your brand is imperative. Marketers have data and metrics to identify and target your brand’s demographic, which generates valuable leads that are likely to advance through the consumer continuum. That’s when sales comes in to cultivate the relationship and drive conversions. By isolating the target audience, it makes less work more effective for the sales team. Work smarter, not harder.

What’s the #GOAL?

Marketers think long term, whereas sales is more concerned about meeting this month’s quota. Setting common goals between both teams will get everyone on the same page. Today’s consumers tend to educate themselves before they shop, making campaigns with strong branding and content marketing necessary. Marketers generate, nurture and grow leads so that sales can seal the deal, up-sell or cross-sell to reach the identified KPIs.

Communicate

Both teams could learn a lot from each other—and should—regularly. Keeping an open dialogue helps optimize strategies for conversions. Sales can look at web data to offer insights and provide customer feedback while marketers can look at completed sales to calculate ROI. Finding and fixing bottlenecks in the consumer continuum requires both parties working together in harmony.

At the heart of every successful messaging strategy is a differentiated, motivational and sustainable brand story—from which all brand messaging originates. Brand stories are not just who you are by definition or how you express yourselves through tone or voice, but it serves as the conceptual core for all you say and do as a brand.

1. Storytelling is a universal language that transcends social and cultural differences.

Even the most diverse groups of people can find commonalities through storytelling, because they follow a defined arc and appeal to emotions and experiences that are innately human. Because stories are so connected to human experience, it is also important to consider the mediums in which you are communicating. Don’t subscribe to the notion that a story is limited to written or spoken word. With a well-defined messaging strategy, you are not bound by traditional definitions of storytelling. Engage other senses to relate to your audience.

2. Stories help us actualize abstract concepts and simplify complex messaging.

When learning new concepts or information, analogies, personal anecdotes or real-life examples can help us better understand that knowledge in the context of our own lives. It is not easy to distill multiple large, amorphous ideas into an effective messaging strategy—so, consider the brand story as a vehicle for your brand values. Through storytelling, a multitude of talking points can coalesce into one, compelling narrative that is easy for your audience to understand.

3. Stories are scientifically proven to increase attention and comprehension.

Neuroscience proves that storytelling is the most effective way to capture attention, increase comprehension, and forge brand loyalty through connection. Pathos-driven marketing influences intent and drives action—meaning consumers rely on emotions, rather than information, to make decisions. When our brains process information from stories rather than facts, the neural activity increases fivefold. Subsequently, the chances that your brain will recall the information increases exponentially.  

It can be challenging to make sure your content is reaching and engaging your intended audience. In the era of scrolling, users spend just three seconds viewing ads on desktop and even less on mobile. Research studies provided by Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)* state that while static ads and video ads have the same likelihood of being seen, video ads are twice as likely to create an emotional response with less exposure. This means that video is one of the most effective ways to get the attention of your target. Because of this, it is more important than ever to have a solid strategy that integrates videos into your campaigns—here are some things to keep in mind in order to increase efficacy and engagement.

Strategy

Before you begin creating any video content it is vital to clearly understand your objectives. What action do you want the user to make? Are you looking to increase traffic to your website, increase overall brand awareness, attract new followers, create conversation starters or maybe you want them to purchase a product? Moving forward with a clear understanding of your business goals will increase the effectiveness of your video campaign and create more engagement with the audience.

Content Types

What type of video content will work best for your campaign? Viewers are looking for authenticity through relatable content and personalization. Quality content comes from understanding your audience’s interests and reaching them on multiple channels. Content topics can range from discussions on the latest issues, industry insights, learning opportunities, product reviews and giveaways. Video offers various delivery channels and can be in the form of tutorials, interviews, vlogs, demonstrations, live videos, webinars, testimonials, brand storytelling and influencer user-generated content. Integrating a multi-channel approach in your video content strategy is a crucial step to reaching your audience and goals.

Best Practices

On average, your video should be two minutes or less. Rather than making one long, complex video that covers multiple topics, you can create multiple short videos in a series to expand over the length of your campaign. This form of micro-content is easy to consume and keeps your message concise while also giving your viewers additional opportunities to engage with your business. Adding motion into your content doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple animations and gifs create dynamic video content that are timely and budget friendly to produce.

Accessibility of your videos is important particularly when reaching a large audience. Videos often preview or begin playing without the sound on most platforms, so it is important to make sure that a video transcript is added to allow the viewer to receive your message even with the sound off. Multicultural marketing is a great way for your content to remain relevant and connective to your audiences. Crafting your campaign messages to the native language of your various audiences adds authenticity and adding subtitles allows non-native speaking audiences to clearly understand the content.

Just like any digital content, your videos should be search engine optimized. Video SEO will allow your video content to be indexed and ranked based on relevant keyword searches. Having a good optimization strategy gives your videos a higher likelihood of registering during searches. Adding tags to your videos and crafting compelling headlines and descriptions will help increase your search results.

Understanding the differences between each of the social platforms will help you adjust your video for optimal performance. Each platform has different requirements for video dimensions, video length and viewing orientation. These requirements are constantly being updated and improved upon, so it is essential to be aware of these changes to keep your content optimized to the platform.

Creating authentic and compelling video content against a solid marketing strategy will add value to your viewers and drive engagement with your business. Take advantage of the growing demand for video content and find out how DCC can help you craft your next video campaign and social marketing efforts.

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https://www.mmaglobal.com/news/mobile-marketing-association-reveal-brands-need-first-second-strategy