Then the real challenges begin.

A consistent marketing strategy and coordinated service offering are critical when planning a launch in a new country. Your new (potential) clients need to know what they’re getting in to, and as globalization forces the world smaller and smaller, there are a number of strategies and pitfalls to be aware when you cross those borders.

It’s time to take over the world

Of course, the key is research. And then there’s the questions.

Are you confident in the strength of the brand? How about the product offering? Does your research show a specific need in the marketplace you’re going to fill?

Is everyone in the office hard at work customizing and tailoring everything to fit with current overseas marketing and partner enablement strategies? Does your product offering reflects the strength of the global brand and demonstrates the unity of the product to the brand?

When going global, there’s no shortage of detail-work.

Let’s take a closer look at a specific example – here at Canyon Communications we’re working with a client in the tech sector as they prepare to launch one of their most successful programs internationally. Bearing in mind the overall brand already has a worldwide presence (and has already been wildly successful stateside), we’re working to prepare for markets they haven’t entered yet – Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It’s been a great experience tailoring a marketing initiative to other countries, and as we get close to our launch here’s some of the great things (and tips) we’ve learned along the way:

1. Translation is key – be sure to translate anything you are communicating in the appropriate language by using a local translator (this includes date format – don’t ask why, just make sure you’re there August 1, 2011, not January 11, 2008).
2. Keep time zones in mind when launching e-mail marketing campaigns, programs, etc.
3. Keep in mind the appropriate website domain name for that country (i.e. France uses the “.fr” extension rather than .com traditional here in the U.S.).
4. Make sure your policies, disclaimers and incentives are legal in other countries. I can’t stress this enough.
5. Know the culture of a specific country to know what is business appropriate when meeting with clients and executing upon marketing initiatives.

Canyon Communications has the capabilities to help businesses build or grow their business from U.S. focus to an International focus via strategic marketing plans and programs. Give us a shout to see how we’ve have helped other clients grow their brands internationally.

It’s been a great 2011 so far at Canyon. Business is up 30% – 30%!! – this year over last and we’re continuing to add great Canyonites to our team left and right. In fact, we’re running out of room to put everyone, and we had to expand the lunchroom so everyone had a place to just to sit and relax. (editor’s note: it’s a great problem to have when your lunchroom is just too darn small for all of the great people on your team.)

Not like there’s any time to relax.

We’re bringing new and amazing clients on board while we’re building out with other clients. We’re winning awards – real, big, prestigious Business Marketing Association B2 awards and we’re continuing to do great work, moving the needle for our clients. It’s been a great year for Canyon, and the future keeps looking brighter and brighter.

Back to Awards Season

At Canyon we’ve been building an impressive list of awards for the past 12 years – we’ve been recognized by the IABC, PRSA, TOCA, BMA, AMA, The Business Journals (among others), but we don’t do this for the awards and the recognition. We’re the best at what we do because of the people we work with – the people we hire (our Canyonites), and the clients we work with. We’re all committed to success, and when everyone is on the same page achieving that success becomes a little easier.

It’s always nice to be nominated (and even nicer to win) for awards. And that brings me to my (rambling) point…

Ranking Arizona has released their annual The Best of Arizona voting list, and Canyon Communications has been nominated under 5 categories – Best Advertising Agency, Best Internet Marketing, Best SEO/Social Media Marketing, Best Graphic Design, and Best Public Relations Firm.

So again, while it’s an honor to be nominated, it’d be really cool to win. But we can’t win on our own. We need your help!

Vote for Canyon

If we’ve worked with you and you’re happy, vote for Canyon. If you like our brand strategies and B2B expertise, vote for Canyon. If you like our people (or if you’re married to or dating one of us), vote for Canyon!

You get the picture – vote for Canyon! And it’s really easy, too:

• Visit the Ranking Arizona site
• Select Browse by Category
• Select Advertising/Marketing
• Select Advertising Agencies
• Select “Canyon Communications” and vote
• Then, select Vote for another Company and repeat process for Canyon in the categories of Graphic Design, Internet Marketing, SEO/Social Media Marketing and Public Relations

We’ll keep everyone posted as to how we do, and if we win we’ll throw a big party and invite everyone who voted for us (no, really – we will!). You like parties, right? So a vote for Canyon is a vote for parties!

It’s an honor to be nominated, and we’re proud to be recognized with our fellow nominees on these great lists. But it’d be great to win!

Vote for parties! Vote for B2B expertise! Vote for Canyon!

Whether you know what a cobbler is  or even understand the reference, as a social marketer I am sure you’ve experienced times where you were not as connected or prolific as you ‘should be’. I am having one of those times. Canyon has been moving at an accelerated pace for all the right reasons – new clients, increased scopes, community engagement (BMA and Arizona Technology Council) –  yada, yada (now I am really giving away my age with a Seinfeld reference) – that we’ve neglected our blog.

So what is a digital marketer to do? 

1. Name it and claim it. Do not hide under the covers. Use the communications tools at your disposal. Respond and engage with authenticity and transparency – as you would in any face-to-face interaction when inadvertently putting your foot in your mouth. Affirming concerns, admitting uncertainties and promising to follow are better than deafening social media silence!
2. Rebuild the relationship. It may be appropriate to start with an apology. Then refocus on the values that built the (social media) relationship in the first place.
3. Get back on the horse and back to basics. Pay due attention to quality and consistency to reassure the relationship continues and prospers. 

It is comforting to know that we are not alone in our social media missteps. Kenneth Cole, the Red Cross and Southwest have all recently had some social media growing pains. Even savvy businesses and skilled b2b marketers -armed the best tools and social media playbooks- cannot 100% mitigate our collective humanity. And that’s ok.

The reality is that those embracing social media are going to make mistakes. And while it may be painful at times, the risk is worth the reward.

Since pleading mea culpa publically is our first step, I invite you to confess your social media gaffe –or call out someone else’s if you feel called. Come on…this is a community of peers, you are safe here. Besides, nobody can digitally hear you giggling (at our misstep).

But, finding the perfect balance of SEO strategies, keywords, key phrases and best practices can be a challenging exercise. SEO is a moving target, with the proprietary alogrithms each search engine uses changing constantly (even daily), and a mis-step resulting in the dreaded “blackhat” that could potentially move you to the bottom of the search rankings. Canyon Communications recognized this challenge and responded to it by adding a digital strategy manager to its team, and we were thrilled to have Dara Schulenberg fill this position this past November.

Some of you might have read Dara’s take on SEO in the December issue of In Business Magazine. The article titled, “Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Don’t be SOL (Sadly Outta Luck)” discusses SEO keyword and key phrase selection, myths and misconceptions regarding SEO as well as the ranking creditability. It also cautions readers against trying to outsmart search engines with tactics like word stuffing to appear higher in the ranks (again, the dreaded “blackhat”).

One of Dara’s key insights is that when it comes to SEO there really isn’t one, single best practice. Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, which means it’s more important than ever to have a partner dedicated to helping you stay on top of the ever-changing world of SEO.

Are you looking for a partner to help you analyze and modify your SEO strategy to help you get the most bang for your buck? Give Dara a call at Canyon – she’s the perfect person to help point you in the right direction, and help your customers find you sooner.

1. Chow Thanksgiving Dinner Coach
   You choose which dishes you want to make, and Chow gives you a step-by-step timeline that guides you through the entire Thanksgiving day (and the two days before, too).
2. Turkey Hunt
   Turkey Hunt is a point-and-shoot game akin to the NES classic “Duck Hunt.” The good news, of course, is that turkeys are generally fat, slow and can’t fly so anyone should be a master hunter.
3. Thanksgiving Dinner Maker
   This app gives you the option of choosing from several virtual foods and arranging them together on virtual plates and tables. Maybe this app can help you visualize the perfect Thanksgiving dinner arrangement so you don’t accidentally place the turkey directly on top of a mound of cranberry sauce.
4. Black Friday Survival Guide
   This app helps you keep track of all the Black Friday sales going on in your area and also lets you create shopping lists of all the things you want to buy.
5. Interesting Thanksgiving Facts
   This app contains a number of facts that you may or may not know about Thanksgiving. If nothing else, it will give you something to talk about during awkward lulls at the dinner table this year.

Want more applications to help you thrive (or just survive) the holiday? Click here.

Did you know Canyon does apps? We’d love to tell you about them.

Today is a day to honor and thank all of the men and women who’ve served our country in times of war and peace. There are numerous events happening all across the United States today, so check out your local community calendar to participate. Or, virtually get involved at Salute to Service (presented by Huffington Post Impact and Causecast).

Photo courtesy of United Stated Department of Veterans Affairs.

Remember, no matter what your cause, your individual or business’ support helps to make a difference. What causes do you or your organization support? Did you say thank you to a veteran today?

Our client, Agrium Advanced Technologies, showcased its newest high-efficiency, controlled-release fertilizer, Spread it & Forget it, as well as its polymer-coated, sulfur-coated urea fertilizer, XCU.

Tradeshows are a great way to build a presence in the select industries you serve. They are also a great way for marketing and sales to come together in a unified goal—to create awareness and capture qualified leads.

In the process of designing a tradeshow booth for a show, it’s important to tailor the marketing strategy to best support the staff that will be on-site at the booth. For Agrium Advanced Technologies, we wanted to create the best environment and presentation for its sales team to work in. These design elements included:

• Vibrant and clean graphics to easily communicate the brand positioning
• A semi-private conference space for meetings with customers/media
• High-tops for quick meet-ups
• Visuals to get the conversation started (like our 1 vs. 4 fertilizer application display, educational videos and fertilizer granule models)
• Literature for take-home value
• Lead gen giveaways to motivate future sales

Both marketing and sales made this event successful. Without the sales and marketing teams working together, the company wouldn’t have reached its anticipated ROI for the event. Marketing and sales, a duo ‘til the end!

We had a great Halloween ‘scare’ party during our lunch break. Many Canyonites brought in an innovative dish—we saw everything, including rat-quitos, freak-o de gallo salsa, toasted ghost cookies and bat juice. There was also a wide array of desserts. And, we had a competitive game of bingo and gave away prizes for the best costume (Savannah as a pregnancy test) and most creative food (freak-o de gallo salsa).

Be sure to visit our Facebook page to see more!

Have a happy Halloween!

I came across this interactive white paper from Level 3, a global telecommunications company. It provides clear and simple navigation, additional downloadable resources, links and video to not only keep prospects engaged, but to deliver content in a variety of ways for different consumption behaviors. For example, someone that has limited time can easily navigate to the executive summary and then flip directly to an area of interest. They can also listen to key findings through customer video testimonials which simultaneously provide Level 3 with third-party credibility.

A recent study released by Eccolo Media shows multimedia topping the list as one of the fastest growing mediums that decision makers are utilizing to make purchasing decisions.

To make your white paper most effective, make it easy for your audience to consume. If your company needs help putting your white paper to work for you, contact Canyon. We will develop a strategy that will engage all of your prospects.

My team’s having a great year and has given me a lot of media content to enjoy. But last weekend I read an interesting article about how my beloved Ducks might be missing out on a top 2 ranking—not because of their play but because of their…marketing, branding and external messaging?!

‘The cutesiness surrounding the Quack Attack, Team Nike, and The Duck’s hundreds of pushups might actually be holding back Chip Kelly’s team and could cost them a shot at the national championship.’

I’m here to argue that nice guys won’t finish last and marketing yourself as the ‘nice guys’ is a refreshing change. Who doesn’t want to work, interact and talk with nice, fun people? And when you have the excellent portfolio of skills and customer service to back you up, people will take notice that nice guys actually finish first. Do you want to work with nice people? Then you’ve found the right place because at Canyon we follow the ‘nice guy’ rule every day.

Because I’m so excited about Oregon’s game this weekend (and I love a NICE giveaway) I’ll send a Canyon/Starbucks ‘buzzcard’ to the first person who can tell me the Ducks opponent this week.