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Increase ROI through more effective brand marketing
According to CMO.com, we are exposed to more than 5,000 brand messages each day. Marketers call this "creating engagement," and each comment, share, or re-tweet is supposed to be a win. But is this deluge of content really working to shift perception, change behavior, or sell products? The truth is, only 5% of people say that social media has a profound effect on their purchasing decisions. Moreover, only 2.7% of people are willing to stick their neck out on the line to recommend your brand via social media, a factor known as "social risk."
In SPIKE Your Brand ROI, public relations maven Adele Cehrs shares her strategy for effective engagement: it's all about timing. This book will teach you how to recognize, anticipate, or even create a SPIKE - a Sudden Point of Interest that Kick-starts Exposure. This is your opportunity to reach people when they are primed to hear your message, and your brand is most relevant to their lives.
Based on the author's actual engagements with clients like Yum Brands, Lockheed Martin, DuPont, and more, this practical guide outlines a new, pragmatic approach that will enable you to:
* Learn to recognize brand patterns that are driven by audience interests and outside events
* Focus your energy, resources, and money when your brand is top-of-mind
* Decrease your marketing spend while increasing your bottom-line benefits
* Maximize benefits or mitigate damage by anticipating when your company, association, or nonprofit is going to be in the spotlight
* Retool traditional word-of-mouth initiatives for optimum results
With Adele Cehrs' proven methodology, you can turn a SPIKE into a strategic platform from which to improve results, build respect, and boost your ROI.
List of contents
Foreword by Sam Horn vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
About the Author xiii
1 What's Real Brand Engagement? 1
2 Why Your Brand Doesn't Stand Out 7
3 Brand Narcissism 13
4 SPIKE Assessment 21
5 Be Nimble, Assemble the Right Team, and Get Buy-In for the SPIKE Method 25
6 Picking the Perfect Audiences and Crafting Compelling Messages 33
7 Manufacturing a SPIKE: Provide First-of-Their-Kind Pitches, Stories, and Messages 41
8 When Is Your Brand Truly Relevant? Turn Your Editorial Calendar into a Relevance Calendar 51
9 Brand Patience: Why You Need It 61
10 SPIKE Spotting 69
11 The Upshot of a Positive SPIKE 79
12 Finding the Lost Principle of Influence 87
13 Create a Contrarian Brand Platform to Stand Out 97
14 The Fairness Fallacy and How to Call a Time-Out When Things Go Bad 105
15 Have a Crisis Plan in Place to Handle Negative SPIKEs 115
16 The Real Benefits of Responding to or Ignoring Negative SPIKEs 119
17 Maximize (or Minimize) 15 Minutes (or Days) of Fame or Shame 125
18 Why Wait? Anticipate Negative SPIKEs 133
19 Don't Spin Out of Control, Manage the Viral Spiral 141
20 Dark Websites See the Light of Day 151
21 The Underdog versus Top Dog Effect: How Some Brands Pick Themselves Up and Come Back Stronger 161
22 The Pedestal Principle 169
23 Internal SPIKEs 177
24 Measuring the ROI of a SPIKE 185
SPIKE Spotting: Worksheets 193
Bibliography 207
Index 217
About the author
ADELE CEHRS, the owner of Epic PR Group, has served as PR strategist for clients like DirectTV, Johnson and Johnson, DuPont, Lockheed Martin, and Verizon. She frequently serves as a media expert for
Forbes and the
Wall Street Journal, and has trained numerous CEOs in the art of media management. Using her SPIKE method, Adele has transformed virtually unknown businesses, including 1-800-Flowers.com and Georgetown Cupcake, into multimillion-dollar household names.
Summary
Increase ROI through more effective brand marketing According to CMO. com, we are exposed to more than 5,000 brand messages each day. Marketers call this creating engagement," and each comment, share, or re-tweet is supposed to be a win.
