How Inbound Marketing Is The Future

Photo by Pixabay

By: Noah Andrews

Outbound marketing or interruption marketing has long been the method of choice for companies who look to promote their products. And in theory, it makes sense. Promoting one’s product through continuous advertising, promotion and public relations initiatives seem like a sure-fire way to cut through the noise of the modern-day lifestyle. But in reality, more often than not you are simply adding to it. The answer to combating all the noise created by modern-day marketing, is simply to change the “out” in your outbound marketing strategy, to “in.” Inbound marketing is a technique that draws customers to products and services via content marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization and branding.

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PR and Marketing in Chico

When thinking about public relations and marketing, most people relate these types of businesses to big cities such as San Francisco, Seattle or New York. When in reality, public relations and marketing firms exist in smaller towns all across the US, in cities such as Chico as well. Many graduating seniors will be looking for jobs in this field all over the US, forgetting that there are places of employment right here in town.

The world is packed with public relations and marketing opportunities for graduating seniors, here are a few available in Chico for those who don’t want to leave:

Social High Rise LogoSocial High Rise is a local marketing and public relations firm that focusses on restaurant social media management. They take on all aspects of social media for these restaurants including Yelp, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Trip Advisor and Linkedin. With a generally young staff, Social High Rise stays up to date with current social trends to ensure the clients’ needs are met.

half-a-bubble-out

With the quirky name locked down, Half a BubbleOut has been providing public relations and marketing services to the Chico area since they opened shop in their guest bedroom back in 2002. Founded by Michael Redman and his wife Kathryn, Half a Bubble Out focuses on business consulting, web design, internet marketing, traditional marketing and advertising. They refer to themselves as a one stop shop for your small business needs.

Burghardt + Dore Logo

Burghardt+Dore is an award winning marketing, advertising and design firm who impacts multiple brands throughout California. Based in Chico and with over 40 years of combined experience, Burghardt+Dore is a key player in the resort niche of the business. Some of their clients include The Downtown Chico Business Association, Visit Napa Valley and the Seascape Beach Resort.

Some students fall in love with Chico and never want to leave after graduation, others can’t wait to move away. If you’re one of those graduating seniors who loves Chico and can’t imagine leaving, take a look at these companies and see if they would be a good match for you!

Written by Nick Bragg, Public Relations Director Assistant

5 common misconceptions about PR

As an aspiring public relations professional working in a student-owned PR agency for a year, I have received several questions from people such as “Is PR like advertising? Marketing?” or “So, do you meet celebrities a lot?” I don’t know where people get these ideas, but I am here to set the record straight. In reality, I spend most of my time at the office writing, pitching, managing social media, building websites, and editing photos behind the computer.

According to PR Daily, there are 10 common misconceptions about PR. The following are my top five myths about public relations.

  1. PR and advertising are identical.

While there are definitely crossovers between PR and advertising, they are not the same thing. Advertising is focused on consumers while public relations focuses on building relationships with publics. Take a look at the following infographic or read this article for more differences between PR and advertising.

blogInfographicJihyun

  1. PR pros distort the truth.

People often think PR pros spin information toward the sunny side of things. However, I’ve learned that one of the most important things to remember while working in the PR field is “Don’t lie and be honest.” PR crises happen when a company starts to lie and to cover up the truth.PR pros are dedicated to telling the truth and building trust with clients and their publics.

  1. PR pros only care about media placement.

People often say PR is all about writing press releases. While writing and media coverage are still a huge part of public relations, PR pros nowadays use plenty of platforms such as social media, blogging, content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) for storytelling.

  1. PR pros work 9-to-5 and spend most of that time at parties.

When you see PR pros on TV shows or movies, they spend quite a lot of time partying, shopping and drinking. But in reality most practitioners go in early and go home late at the end of day in order to complete tons of deadlines and meetings. PR is a lot of hard work that can’t be done at parties.

  1. PR pros get a lot of attention

I think this misconception is related to budding PR practitioners. Don’t get too excited about media coverage. What is being covered by the media is not you, but your clients. If you like the idea of helping your clients’ message be heard,which will get your clients paid and continue the working relationship you have with them, you’re fit to be in PR. It’s not about being seen; it’s about getting others seen.

by Jihyun Shin, online communications director