My Experience as a Marketing Intern at Noticestry

My internship with Noticestry has provided me with valuable experience within the marketing industry, allowing me to take my learning beyond what is available to me in the college classroom. As an intern, I was assigned many different tasks which offered me new opportunities and areas of growth within marketing. Some of the projects I worked alongside the Noticestry team were content creation, proofing copy for websites, content design, email campaigns, and business listing & review management. 

Content creation is my favorite as it allows me to use my creativity & knowledge of social media to create content for consumers to enjoy. This task helped me learn more about social media in the business realm and increased my comfort with Cloud Campaign as a marketing tool. I worked towards creating material that best suited the client’s needs, highlighting their competitive advantages on platforms such as Facebook, Google My Business, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Houzz. Alongside this project, I also made sure to keep these platforms accurate and up to date with each company’s business information. 

When I wasn’t busy working on content creation and keeping client’s digital presences up to date, I was working with Danielle Downey Classic, the LPGA golf event in Rochester, on their process of executing their event amidst Covid. I updated the website, keeping people informed on the status of the event, and helped set up and advertise registration for the events that were still happening. I really enjoyed the opportunities I had with this client as I was able to use my creativity, helping them design an invitation for their virtual Women’s Forum event and also helping brainstorm how to bring value to this event given the new circumstances. This invitation was sent out in an email campaign to thousands of people which was a great way to reach the client’s network in an effective way and was a proud accomplishment of mine to have my design used and distributed to so many people.

Overall, my internship with Noticestry has been extremely rewarding, as I have gained valuable tools and knowledge surrounding the digital marketing industry . Most importantly, I felt like I was able to contribute to the company and their clients in various ways.

What You Need to Know Before You Take Your Event Virtual

With COVID-19 changing the way we live our everyday lives, any physical gatherings seem like they are a distance away. As a result, many people have transitioned to the virtual way of business over the last few months. However, there is one realm of virtual business that has remained largely untouched: conferences. While many people attend conferences for the value provided, another major reason for conference attendance is networking. With the lack of face to face networking currently unavailable and the need for your business to still provide learning opportunities, a virtual event may be an amazing opportunity for your business.

Virtual interaction has become a major part of our lives. It’s best to adapt and be the one to take advantage of these digital business tools. As with most things, you either adapt or risk failure.

Jumping into this new digital way of business may be a bit daunting and overwhelming. To get started with confidence you need to consider the basics. In order to captivate the attention of viewers through a screen, it’s important for your event to be well executed, creative, and entertaining. Here are a few tips on how to take advantage of your digital interactions, and what is important to consider when designing, planning and executing your virtual event.

First and foremost it’s important to have a well thought out plan. This means that your event needs to be carefully prepared and structured in a way that is captivating to your specific audience. Think about your audience and what exactly they would be interested in hearing. This forces you to consider how to make your event have value and ensure that it is worth your time planning the rest of the details involved.

These details may include the logistical elements such as what platform is best for this event to run on and when you plan to schedule your event for. There are a large variety of softwares that support virtual events, and it is important to be well researched on the different capabilities of each. This information is key in determining what software will be best to support the needs and goals of your vision for the event. As with an in-person event, you also must keep in mind when exactly you are planning for this event to occur.  Depending on the scale of your event and the audience you are targeting, it is important to plan the event for a day that there aren’t major conflicts such as holidays or other major conferences and events. However, with virtual events there is the added consideration of potentially different time zones. This makes you responsible for ensuring that the timing is acceptable across these different time zones. One of the added benefits of running a virtual event is that it allows you to broaden your reach with your audience and have participation from people across the country, or even across the world.

Upon determining many of the logistical aspects, it is then essential to consider the overall message that you are trying to convey with this event and how this information can best be communicated. Whether it is you, or someone else, it’s important to have a host that is dynamic and engaging. Additionally, you will want to have keynote speakers that your audience will want to hear from, or present ideas that are unique and worthy of people’s time. The information provided by your event must be cohesive and focused, with quality content. The manner you choose to communicate this information, whether it be keynote speakers talking about certain topics, interviews or chats with industry experts or workshops- is important to consider too, based on your virtual event’s goals and focus.

Want a piece of advice? No passive audiences. You must engage with the audience. 

Why? Since people aren’t at this event in person it is extra important to keep their attention by actively engaging with them. Actively involve your attendees whether they are completing polls based on the topics of conversation, participating in a Q + A, or even being split into breakout rooms in which they can discuss the topics amongst other attendees, furthering their opportunity to network at this event.

Having this opportunity and integrating this time for people to network will be extremely valuable for the attendees. This will be one of their opportunities to network and will allow them to find value beyond the content of the speakers who are also working on building their own personal brand. Finding these ways for both you as a business to connect with your audience, and your audience to connect with each other, will be invaluable towards the overall success of your event. 

If you are looking for additional value to provide your attendees with the focus of increasing attendance and participation, consider incorporating incentives. These incentives could be far ranging such as bringing an additional guest for free, discounts, coupon vouchers, giveaways, or exclusive gifting from your business, the other speakers, or potential sponsors. While incentives aren’t necessary, they may be a fun addition for people to look forward to in regard to the event.

Finding the best ways to promote this event will also be very important to the success of your event. You need to build up excitement for your event, and focus on the unique selling points of your event versus other events that are happening. Then highlight these in all promotional materials. This is where you would mention your speakers, the unique topics or ideas that will be discussed, or the incentives you are offering. Then use other digital marketing techniques such as email blasts, SEO, and promoting on the right channels such as social media. One way to do this could be combining email lists with the other speakers at the event in order to reach all existing audiences.

While balancing promotion into your budget, you may want to include sponsors. Sponsors will help you with leveraging your event and reaching more people. Reach out to sponsors that will resonate with the messaging and overall goal of the event. Finding this similarity will encourage sponsors to become involved since they will be gaining exposure in front of an audience that is representative of their own target audience.

Lastly, it’s important to be sure that all of the finishing touches are complete before event day. This includes sending out instructions and links for your attendees to access the conference through. Make sure that when people are registering, they know that it is through their email that they need to look for instructions regarding the event. You may personally have a solid understanding of how virtual conferences work after setting everything up, but not all attendees will have this same understanding of virtual conferences and the technology involved. So it’s important for you to explain the process thoroughly to ensure that attendees are able to join the event with ease.

Speaking of the technology, it is crucial to test run the technology and do a dry run of the event prior. It is better to run into any problems and troubleshoot them prior to the event rather than during the event as this may lose viewers. This helps to ensure that your event runs smoothly and professionally.

Finally, as with any event, afterwards make sure that you measure the successfulness of your event using key performance indicators. Notice what worked well and what didn’t work as well. Ask for feedback. Make the proper adjustments and keep on finetuning your virtual events! hazlitt’s naples

Digital connection with others is the way of current times. Whether it is desirable or not, you must adjust to this and make the best of it. Our team hopes these tips will help you run a successful virtual event and help you to continue to connect with others!

Being Successful In The Age of Zoom

For many of us, partaking in virtual business meetings has been a major adjustment. Body language and self-presentation are now more important than ever. While technology enables continued connection during this time, in-person exchanges are irreplaceable. Many business professionals are having a hard time making an impact and finding success through virtual means. 

Whether you are interviewing, meeting with a client, or simply on a call with your team, here are some tips on how you can make an impression and find success in the virtual conference room.

First, it is important to be properly prepared when meeting via Zoom. Preparedness on Zoom is different than in person as you are no longer preparing your handshake or how to enter a conference room. Instead, being prepared for a Zoom meeting entails making sure your space is clear of distractions, and positioning yourself in a room that exhibits professionalism as to not distract your audience. For example, sitting in front of a solid wall, or in an office with minimal visual distractions in the background. It is also helpful to test Zoom before your meeting time to ensure that connectivity issues and any technical difficulties can be sorted out ahead of time.

It is also important to dress properly for Zoom meetings, meaning clothing with limited patterns. Patterns do not show up well on camera and can be very distracting. It is also worth noting that dressing for success is a real concept. Yes, this does mean changing out of your cozy pajama bottoms, and not trying to rock the business mullett (business on top, pajamas on bottom) and instead dressing as you normally would in the office. Research has proven that dressing professionally changes your mental state, increasing productivity and engagement.

In the same way that dressing for success can have a positive effect on your productivity and image on Zoom, proper posture has similar effects. Maintaining proper posture not only has psychological effects making you feel more confident, but it is the first impression that you are leaving with someone. Sitting up straight, facing the camera directly and not crossing your arms will help you look professional, confident, and open.

Another behavior that you may want to adjust for Zoom is refraining from using large and fast hand movements. On camera, these gestures can be very distracting. Hand movements are a great way to express yourself, just try to keep these movements small, slow, and within the camera’s view so that people can remain focused on the content of what you are saying.

When speaking it is important to be aware of the tempo in which you are speaking. While this is important in-person as well, it is especially important to speak slowly when meeting through Zoom. If you are wondering why, it has to do with a concept called “Zoom Fatigue”. Due to the lack of nonverbal cues that people generally rely on in person, people are forced to pay even more attention to any nonverbals they are receiving through Zoom. This is causing them to work harder and expend more energy in trying to discern the full meaning of what is being said. Therefore speaking slower and pausing more frequently between statements gives listeners the time to analyze, interpret, and understand the information being presented to them.

Lastly, eye contact plays a large role in connecting with those you are conversing with. In order to have proper eye contact through Zoom it is important to look directly at the camera on your device. While you may be tempted to look at the people on the screen to see their reactions as you normally would in a face to face conversation, this brings you to look down from the camera. Looking down from the camera can give those that you are speaking to the illusion that you are uncomfortable or lack confidence in what you are saying. It is important to try your best to look directly at the camera when speaking, checking only briefly on the expressions of those you are speaking with.

This eye contact with the camera also applies to those who are not actively speaking. Looking around the room, at messages appearing on your computer screen or at your phone is extremely evident to those you are meeting with. It is best to look directly at the camera so the speaker sees that you are also maintaining direct eye contact with them showing that you are engaged. Nodding along can also show that you are engaged and help the speaker easily identify that you are participating and understanding.

How you present yourself and communicate both verbally and nonverbally can be key to strengthening your virtual presence. Being mindful of your appearance and behaviors and consciously making these small, yet important changes can set you up for success in this new virtual environment. 

See it’s not all Zoom and doom!

Methods to Improve the Workflow of Your Office

Workflow is the silent hero of any professional environment, as it helps to cut out distractions and confusion. If you find that people are constantly having to ask for repeated instructions or deadlines aren’t being met, you might need to make a serious adjustment to your office’s workflow. These strategies can help you with this process.

Kaizen

Although it sounds like a fancy new task management software, Kaizen is not a software at all, and it’s a seriously effective way of improving workflow. Kaizen is a Japanese word that translates to continuous improvement. By implementing continuous improvement into your office, everyone will seek for ways they can improve the business. Through Kaizen, every department is seen as connected and having an impact on the success of every other one. This can help people to feel more motivated by helping them realize that they have an impact on the success of their business, whether or not it seems like they do. Reinforce how much you appreciate your employees and all they do by giving them specific recognition for their efforts.

Keep the Office Organized

How your office is set up could have a major impact on your workflow. If things are in constant disarray, you’ll waste untold amounts of time trying to track things down. Things need to be organized both physically and digitally, with papers and files available at a moment’s notice. You can have a day focused around employees getting things in order. When everything is where it needs to be, the overall efficiency of your workplace can be greatly increased. You should also be self-aware about how organized you aren’t, as this can affect everyone in your office.

Discourage Multi-Tasking

Multitasking never works out as well as we want it to. People try it and end up doing a few things mediocrely instead of one thing well. Tell your employees that you want them to work on things one at a time as much as possible. More pressing assignments can creep up and require more immediate focus, but they should still be concentrated on what needs to be done when, instead of just overloading themselves with all kinds of tasks. 

When the work flows smoothly, businesses are able to make goals and reach them on time — and sometimes sooner than anticipated! You don’t need to do too much different to optimize your business’s workflow, especially not if you already have a good team. Just stay focused on your objectives and make sure that everyone is working in harmony.

Simplify and amplify your marketing by bringing in the pros. Start working with us today!

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My Experience as a Summer Intern at Noticestry

In the past, I have only ever worked part-time summer jobs. My summer internship at Noticestry is the first full-time position I have had – and it has been well worth it to put in the extra hours. In my time here, I have gained knowledge and experience that no textbook could ever teach me.

I have been able to participate in a variety of company projects and tasks – including content creation for media outreach, SEO audits for client webpages, webpage formation and design, pricing and productivity analysis, sales proposals and more! My favorite thus far has been designing webpages for the 2019 Danielle Downey Classic women’s golf tournament in Rochester, New York. This particular project has been a creative outlet for me, as well as an excellent learning experience. As a result, I have become competent in building websites with WordPress, which adds significant value to my resume and my digital marketing skillsets.

I have also written and created content for social media campaigns on a variety of networks including Instagram, Facebook, Google My Business, LinkedIn and Twitter. This experience has been very rewarding for me as it has (again) allowed me to dip into my creative side and has given me good practice in marketing campaign writing.

In addition to web design and content creation, I have had the opportunity to work on analytical projects as well. One of the larger projects I worked on was a pricing and productivity analytics report based on client and company data. After completing the report, I can truly say I value the time spent on this project because it has given me a better understanding of managerial accounting and data-analytics. I have also had the opportunity to perform SEO audits on client webpages to improve webpage visibility and ranking. I’ve used analytical tools such as Moz and SEOptimer to make improvements on client sites.

For anyone looking to gain experience in the digital marketing industry, I would recommend an internship with Noticestry. The experience I’ve had here has been exceptional and I have learned quite a lot about the industry!

By: Greta Eby, Sales & Marketing Intern

Greta grew up not far from Noticestry but is currently a student at Liberty University in Virginia! She is a senior pursuing a degree in Digital Marketing and Advertising. We’re happy to have her as our summer intern this year!

How Can I Best Partner With My Marketing Agency?

Ever wonder how you can help the partnership with your marketing company and your business?  Many clients grow frustrated when they feel their marketing dollars are not getting them the results they were expecting (many times unrealistically). Sometimes, just a little more focus on this strategic partnership means you can maximize dollars spent and enjoy accelerated growth. So if you are wondering how you can best spend your time and improve your marketing agency relationship, we have prepared some answers.

1. Should I share my own posts?

Clients who Share or Like posts and engage in content their marketing company (Noticestry) distributes are more likely to see wins and ROI on their marketing dollars.  We find that clients who engage on their pages are more acutely aware how to best feed us information that will help them grow even more! That’s how the best partnerships are established.

2. What about post approvals?

Some of our clients avail themselves to an approval tool for their social media posts. While those clients who did not engage frequently find this a hassle, clients who like to keep their finger on the pulse login typically once a week and provide feedback on posts or send us more relevant pictures.  While frankly this slows us down and can create a little extra work, we do appreciate the heightened sense of awareness of how we can create even better posts.

3. What about consulting?

Larger clients with teams involved in multiple facets of the business often find it valuable to meet on a regularly scheduled basis. This dials in their teams to be thinking about the marketing, branding and image of the company as well as allows us the opportunity to layout plans for how to promote them even better.  These touchpoints—speaking for the clients we do them for—are invaluable in setting all of us up for wins in a consistent way, while breaking into the creativity and ideas of the multiple people involved.

Hopefully these points help to improve or understand your relationship with your marketing agency. If you have any questions or ideas about our partnership going forward, we’d love to hear them! Reach out any time—we’re here for you.

5 Ways a Marketing Agency Can Help Your Business

1. Take a look from the outside in.

Agencies take a look at your business from the outside in. They will ask many questions, to find areas of potential improvement that are hard to see when working from within the company. Agencies will use tactics to get perspective clients excited about a brand they love.

2. Ongoing learning and innovation.

Agencies are focused on always learning the best and latest practices so that you don’t have to! Social media and websites are always changing, and that is something that you shouldn’t have to focus on while you run your business. Another upside when working with an agency is access to their creative team, a group of creatives focused on helping you grow your business.

3. A reliable human, not a robot.

There are many ways to manage your social media, whether it’s having your in-house staff take care of it or setting up an automation tool. However, with either of these options it’s likely that there isn’t much consistency and lots of repeated content. With an agency, creatives are always working to share your story with others in a catchy and unique presentation so you can rest assured that your story will be shared without the effort of hounding your staff.

4. Not social? Not a problem!

Not knowing what to post, when to post and where to post it is a common problem among business owners, and often overwhelming. However, not doing anything isn’t the right solution, so an agency ensures that your story is always being told through your website, social media and blog 24/7, 365 days a year even if you don’t feel like talking.

5. Grow your business, not your stress level.

The more you are able to focus on what you are good at, the better you will be able to grow your business. If you can acquire two to three new clients each week instead of posting on social media yourself, we can help your business grow and thrive!

Interested in learning more about how an agency can help your business grow? Reach out to Noticestry today!

Why Your Business Needs an Instagram Account

There are so many social media platforms out there and it’s hard to decide which ones are necessary for your company and its growth. Instagram is a free, visual social media platform that helps you form a more personal connection with your current and potential customers. Here are 6 reasons why businesses need to be utilizing Instagram for growth.

1. More and more people are using Instagram daily

Instagram has more than 1 billion users worldwide, making it one of the most popular social networking sites for business promotion (source). These numbers continue to grow, too. With all of those people using the app, there is no limit to the success a business can have!

2. It offers many ways to get creative

Instagram is more creative than any other social site. You want to be posting new, engaging content to attract and draw attention to new followers and customers. Mix it up with videos, contests, Instagram stories and more! The more creative and personal your posts are, the more relatable your business becomes.

3. Hashtags increase your visibility

Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags in each post. By utilizing hashtags relative to your photo and industry, you become more searchable. The more relevant the hashtags, the more discoverable you become.

4. Photo and video advertisements

Boosting and advertising are easier than ever! You can run multiple promotions at once on any of your photo and video posts, reaching a whole different audience than any of your Facebook promotions.

5. Free analytic tools

Instagram business tools allow you to track your insights. You can easily see impression and engagement data, allowing you to further understand how users are interacting with your content. Knowing what works and what doesn’t can help your business create more tailored content, leading to more successful marketing techniques!

6. Make money directly from Instagram

If you are an online store, you can now add tags to the products in your photos. You can also include links that include the ability to “shop now” leading the user to your online store, making it even easier to attract sales!

Instagram is essential in helping your business with online branding.  By ignoring this platform, you are only ignoring millions of potential customers! The more consistently you post, the more engagement and success you will see (we suggest at least 2 posts a week). Noticestry’s social media services include Instagram, so we can help boost your company to the most popular social platform while giving you the time to concentrate on your business. Contact us today to incorporate Instagram into your marketing strategy!

Noticestry’s 2019 Resolutions

According to the Washington Post, three-quarters of people give up on their New Year’s resolutions after one week. We’re here to remind you that it’s not too late to set goals for 2019! The key is to set attainable ones, so you can stay encouraged throughout the year. If you’ve already “given up” on your resolution, all you have to do is change your mindset and remember: it’s not too late to try again. We set resolutions to make progress, which is far more attainable than perfection.

Now that the New Year’s hype has ended and we easily forget our resolutions, it’s time to rethink our goals for the year and reset our minds. Here are Noticestry’s 2019 resolutions to give you some ideas as you rethink your own, because it’s not too late to start your year off right—remember, it’s only the first month of a brand new year!

1. Meet New People

This year, I want to get out and network! Meeting new people can not only help grow self-awareness, but also your business life. I plan on going to just two new events each month, which could help to more than double my network of friends and professional connections. If you’re not sure how to get started, check out your local area for a chamber of commerce or networking group. Curious about what others around you do to meet new people? Check out www.meetup.com!

–Ryan Wilsey, President & CTO

2. Use Social Media to Attract New Clients

–Brandon King, CEO

3. Improve My Work/Life Balance

Though I firmly believe that you can only produce your best work when you’re at your best self, I struggle with making self-care a priority. I preach it constantly and encourage others to make time for themselves, but I rarely do it for myself even though I know how much better I feel when I put myself first! So this year, I will do something just for myself every day. I will learn how to relax without thinking that there’s work I “should” be doing at all times. I will focus my energy on my relationships with myself and others, rather than being productive constantly. In 2019, I will feel less guilty for giving myself the breaks I deserve!

–Abby Rose Esposito, Creative Director

4. Strive to Do New Things

As someone who loves a routine, it’s easy to get stuck doing the same things every day. In 2019, I’m going to branch out of my comfort zone and try new things—both personally and professionally—to spice up the year!

–Lindsy Foster, Media Specialist

5. Increase My Financial Stability

Focus on money management and how to have my money work for me. With the uncertainty in the market today, I have decided to educate myself further to help me and my family stabilize financially and purpose to save towards that goal.

–Arjan Lal, Senior Developer

6. Improve My Professional Skills

In 2019, I would like to improve my skills of delivering responsive, modern and user-friendly websites. My UI skills should be top notch to realize professional output. I would like to learn Laravel PHP framework and improve on SEO. The end product will be delivered on time and on budget!

–Felix Kipyego, Senior Developer