Ponderings from the Perch

Chaos isn’t a word that usually makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s a word that maybe you flinch when you hear, or your stomach does a little flip. Who wants life to be filled with chaos and uncertainty anyways?

Well, chaos is inevitable. It’s part of growth and change. Personally and professionally. CEO and Little Bird Momma, Priscilla McKinney, and Executive VP Ashley Le Blanc know a thing or two about navigating chaotic situations with grace and strategic planning. Join us on the Ponderings from the Perch podcast as we become your collaborator in turning marketing chaos into marketing organization. 

Does this sound familiar?

When strategic planning is at the forefront and there is a plan in place, marketing chaos evolves into marketing organization, which leads to *sigh* marketing clarity.

And the research backs that up. Research shows that marketers who proactively write a marketing plan are 356% more likely to report success. So let’s go over five tips to build an annual marketing plan. Strategize, organize, accountability, repeat, and execute. We’ll break these five strategic planning action items down more in-depth on the podcast.

If you have a hankering for more strategic planning in the name of marketing organization, don’t let the fun stop here. Download our free SMART Goals resource guide here.

Shoutout to our sponsors Fieldwork and Year of Joy!

Digital transformation is more than a buzzword. It’s a real, valid, and necessary concept and change necessary to be a part of the market today. Nobody uses a phonebook to find a business phone number, and your employees likely aren’t carrying around heavy three-ring binders anymore. To play ball— you’re going to have to step up to the plate: the digital transformation plate.

In this episode of the Ponderings from the Perch podcast, CEO and Little Bird Momma Priscilla McKinney pulls back the curtain on digital transformation and how your business and brand can utilize these tools and tips to supercharge your marketing efforts and engage your team at a whole new level!

4 Tips To Digitally Transform Your Team

Social selling, when done with genuine employee advocacy can engage your employees in exciting new ways, while also showcasing your brand’s culture to attract the best and brightest AND generating leads which, of course, leads to a boost in revenue. 

We did mention ditching the 3-ring binders right? Content management systems take the headache out of the social media schedule stress-fest, whereas streamlining your communication channels takes the running-around-like-a-chicken-with-it’s-head-cut-off feelings out of the office entirely. For the opportunity to go a little deeper and really change the game with your team, project management systems will level up your to-do lists, filing systems, and more.

Digital transformation is the name of the game. Tune in to get ready to step up to the plate and swing, batter, batter swing!

If you know that your business is in need of digital transformation but don’t know where or how to get started, we’d like to introduce you to our SOAR system— with do-it-yourself and done-for-you options you’ve got nothing to lose.

Shoutout to our sponsors: Multilingual Connections and Year of Joy!

Want a standing invitation to every party? Your wish is our command. Actually, it’s at the generous command of Paul Gaudette, CEO and co-founder of Dig Insights. Priscilla McKinney, CEO and Momma Bird, talks shop with Paul about tech-enabled consumer insights. As Dig Insights is one of the fastest growing consumer insights companies in Canada and is often listed as one of the most innovative research companies globally— Paul is definitely someone who talks the talk and walks the walk. He also, quite literally, has extended an invitation for you to attend any Dig Insights party he throws. Toss some confetti and pop that champagne!

While there was no imbibing on the podcast, Paul ceremoniously pulled back the curtain on tech-enabled consumer insights and about what innovation means to him and his company. Innovation isn’t one-sided. It’s two-sided. Consider the consumer experience and the client experience. Ask the right questions. Speak to people as if they are normal people. Using relevant language is key.

If you’re just beginning to dip your toes into the world of research or if you’re trying to find a way to get comfortable with tech platforms, Paul has amazing advice to offer you.

And it’s simple. Painfully simple.

Learn the fundamentals and remember that you yourself are a consumer! You don’t just have to put yourself into the shoes of the consumer, you are a consumer. Think about what you do, what challenges you face, and how you’d respond to questions when asked.

Are we right or are we right? Painfully simple.

For more tips, tricks, and downright great advice, make sure you subscribe to the Ponderings from the Perch podcast. And make sure to tune into the Dig Insights Podcast! 

Shoutout to our sponsors Cloud Research and AG Access! 

No one wants a bag of crap on their doorstep. If you’re thinking about email marketing in the wrong ways, you’re essentially delivering bags of crap to people’s virtual doorsteps. No bueno.

Luckily, we have the Senior Manager of Client Solutions at iContact, Hank Hoffmeier, on the podcast to talk shop with CEO and Little Bird Momma, Priscilla McKinney about the top things people are doing wrong with email marketing. Your hazard lights will be flashing. Your red flags will go up left and right. More than a few lightbulbs will go off. 

After all, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Do you have a thing or two to learn about:

If your answer was yes, yes, and more yes then you’re not alone. The world of email marketing is constantly shifting. We all have to keep our eyes and ears to the ground. Hank’s bottom line? Simplify everything. Don’t overthink it. There are certain things that need to be checked off your list, like email authentication, sender policy framework (SPF), and Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKim). But there are also important strategic elements to consider, like a cadence that works for your audience (not for you!), and providing value with each and every email.

As Hank says, “Stop thinking about it from a marketer's perspective.” You have to think about email marketing from your client’s point of view. 

For more from Hank, download his freemium 501 Examples of Good and Bad Subject Lines.

Shoutout to our sponsors Fieldwork and CloudResearch!

If you're ready to get your social media act together, you might consider our 12-week Social Influence course. We would be happy to discuss what digital transformation could look like for your team! 

On the hunt for powerful content marketing and strategy resources? Come under our wing.

With Esomar Council elections in full swing until October 25th, host Priscilla McKinney and Lisa Wilding-Brown meet to unpack all the reasons why leaders in the insights space would take this much time and effort to volunteer for this gig. While both our CEO and Momma Bird and InnovateMR CEO are on the ballot this episode is about pulling the curtain back and showing those curious about this effort what it really takes, how you can contribute and why it is important to get more people participating with different points of views, skills and passions.

Lisa opens up about her passions for data quality, DEI and mentorship through different Esomar steering committee. In the past year Lisa has contributed to each of these efforts in the global insights community. You’ll want to year more about YES (Young Esomar Society).

No matter who is elected by month’s end, the association is in good hands based on the highly-qualified candidates for the council seats:

Nikki Lavoie

Alain Mizrahi

Dharmendra Jain

Priscilla McKinney

Tom De Ruyck

Priya Lobo

Claudette Dearnaley

Vanessa Oshima 

Jean-Marc Leger

Seyi Adeoye

Martin Oxley

Manny Rodriguez

Michaela Gascon

Lisa Wilding-Brown

Mariela Mociulsky

Martha Llobet

Joy Uyanwune

Corrine Moy

Paul Hudson

Diana Mitkov

Shoutout to our sponsors CloudResearch and Fieldwork!

Work faster. Work smarter. Work harder. Work more. These things are no longer the answer.

Work has fundamentally changed, especially for knowledge workers, and the answer lies in working differently. Collaboration in the workplace is key. 

Are you the kind of person who needs some data? Employees working for companies with effective internal and external collaboration initiatives are about 22% more likely to believe that their employer cares about their morale, thus making collaborative employees more loyal to their organizations than their peers. And companies that promote collaborative working environments are 5x more likely to be high performers than companies with fewer employee collaboration initiatives. Data is power! Information is power! 

Collaboration is the new competition. That’s why it’s the title of CEO and Little Bird Momma, Priscilla McKinney’s forthcoming book. In this podcast episode, Priscilla chats with LBM Executive VP, Ashley Le Blanc, about elements of the collaboration process and what you can do to hone your collaboration skills.

You may have heard a thousand and one mental health professionals, yoga teachers, spiritual gurus and gangsters alike harp on the benefits of gratitude. They’re on to something, folks. It’s not Koolaid. 

The mindset shift of gratitude leads us toward offering shout-outs to the people who have helped us along the way. We all know that we didn’t get to where we are today alone. Shoutouts sets the ball rolling in the collaboration process. Go from the ABC to the ABH. Turn that ABC of sales phrase, “Always Be Closing,” and morph it into ABH - Always Be Helping. Shifting your mindset from "what is best for the company" to "what is best for the client" or "what is best for the industry," shines a new light on the value of collaboration. 

Ah, there’s so much more to share! Collaboration in the workplace is our jam. Strawberry, blueberry, apricot, you name it. The collaboration process is what we’re all about here at Little Bird Marketing. So flit on over to the podcast and spread the juicy jam of collaboration all over your warm buttered toast. Did we take that metaphor too far? Or just far enough?

Shoutout to our sponsors Fieldwork, CFR, and CloudResearch!

If you're ready to get your social media act together, you might consider our 12-week Social Influence course. We would be happy to discuss what digital transformation could look like for your team! 

On the hunt for powerful content marketing and strategy resources? Come under our wing.

Oh, Canada. Priscilla and Ashley are back from the 2022 ESOMAR Congress in Toronto. In between attending sessions and networking events, the duo connected with colleagues to record their takeaways from the conference. Tune in to the episode to hear from thought leaders in the market research industry.

This episode features:

Pravin Shekar of ESOMAR

Aryn O'Donnell of Fieldwork

Anne Stephenson of Explorer Research

Crispin Beale of Behaviorally, Insight250 and mTab

Horst Feldhaeuser of Infotools

Chris Martin of FlexMR

Michaela Gascon of KJT Group

SPONSOR:

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Join us in an Insights Association webinar that pulls back the curtain to reveal shocking, never-before-seen footage from actual fraudulent click farms. You’ll see fraud as it truly happens with your own eyes, and learn how Sentry stops fraudsters in their tracks.

Join us, November 3, 2022. Stay tuned for how to register.

When you think about leadership do you want to flop down on a therapist’s couch and begin rattling off a string of worries and woes? We’re not crying. You’re crying.

CEO and Little Bird Momma Priscilla McKinney and Ben Dueck, President/Founder of Cantera Leadership and a Gallup certified CliftonStrengths coach, join forces to talk about the principles of leadership, leadership qualities, and a laughably small step you can take in leadership. 

No pressure on leaders but 70% of the success of your teams rests on leadership. A huge factor in— get ready for the buzzword!—employee engagement rests on leaders in the organization. 

Employee engagement converts to:

The principles of leadership transform and translate into the metrics we, as business leaders, love to see. That’s why empowering leaders to know and identify their employee’s skills, knowledge, experience, and natural talents are vital for success. If you haven’t heard of CliftonStrengths, give it a whirl. It’s an incredible tool for understanding, empowering, and leveraging every individual’s talents in an organization. Little Bird Marketing’s resources are powerful tools too, and definitely whirl-worthy.

We’re sure you’re wondering, so what’s this laughably small step in leadership? 

Fill out this short statement for yourself:

When ___________ happens, instead of ___________ I will ___________. 

Building habits and changing habits don’t have to happen with big flourishes and grand gestures. How about if your goal is to work out in the mornings, your statement looked like this: When waking up happens, instead of showering I will put on my running shoes. That’s it. That’s the whole commitment you’re making. A commitment to shoes. As Dueck attests, “When that third blank is a laughably small step, our brains don't get in our way.”

This is applicable professionally and can be a game-changer for you and your team. When you’re building habits and we go too big— our brain will all too happily get in the way and then our habit will go out the window. And then we’ll be back on the therapy couch.

As Ben Dueck proclaims, “I'm not the savior. I'm not the only solution. But I want to help you succeed.” Here at Little Bird Marketing, we couldn’t agree more. We’re here to help you meet your goals, find clarity, spread your wings and… fly. We couldn’t resist! 

Shoutout to our sponsor Fieldwork!

Searching for a research partner to handle the details of your next qualitative project? When we say Fieldwork can handle it all – we mean it. From world-class facilities to low-incidence recruitment, their team of experts handles the details so you can stay focused on the research. Say goodbye to traditional focus group rooms and recruitment tactics. As market research has grown from the standard focus group to incorporate other innovative methodologies and technologies, Fieldwork has expanded right along with it. With facilities nationwide and sophisticated global recruitment services, their detail-oriented staff partners with you to achieve great insights. Focus on the research. Fieldwork will do the rest.

If you're ready to get your social media act together, you might consider our 12-week Social Influence course. We would be happy to discuss what digital transformation could look like for your team! 

On the hunt for powerful content marketing and strategy resources? Come under our wing.

What sets apart one research company from another? Each company will actually give you the same answer— quality. As Inigo Montoya says, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” We’re going to have to second that motion, Montoya. It’s inconceivable!

Join Little Bird Momma Priscilla McKinney and Tony Cheevers, the Customer Success Officer with Researchscape International, as they dive into current trends and pet peeves when it comes to the world of market research. 

One of the biggest trends Cheevers points out is that market research can have an accessibility gap where buyers feel like their requesting data from a black box that magically appears from behind a Wizard of Oz curtain. As he says, “It's not really a tool that's accessible. So I'd like to see some disruption in that area to make something that's more available, more accessible and more affordable across a broader spectrum.” And that’s what Researchscape International set out to do by creating a digital storefront where you can’t buy cereal and eggs, but you can buy ten thousand answers from a specific population about dog food. 

Don’t buy the dog food— be the dog food.

 This dynamic episode spurs a mindset shift. Now it the time to get curious. Approach everyone with empathy. The world will be a brighter place! As would the world of market research. This is something Priscilla McKinney draws to light, “we are interested in how other people are seeing things, and how we can be a part of understanding how someone perceives something.” At Little Bird Marketing, we are here to be curious, to listen, and to help find clarity.

Clients, big and small, come to market research companies because they have a problem they’re trying to solve. Consider how market research companies could be more in the “story business” instead of the “research business.” They are responsible for helping people “write stories that they're presenting to their owners, their constituents, their stakeholders, their members, and their prospects,” as Cheevers says. And these stories are backed by the cold-hard facts culled from the research, data, and statistics. 

There’s so much more to cover! Not tuning in would just be… inconceivable! 

Shoutout to our sponsor Multilingual Connections!

Ready to understand and engage your multilingual audience? With language services in over 75 languages, Multilingual Connections provides the linguistic accuracy you expect with the cultural nuance you need. Whether you need translation, transcription, subtitles or voiceovers, Multilingual Connections tailors their high-quality language services to fit your unique needs. Request a quote and mention “Little Bird Marketing” to get $100 off your first project at mlconnections.com

On the hunt for powerful content marketing and strategy resources? Come under our wing.

What do a Thanksgiving turkey and social media strategy have in common? If something is worth doing once in a big way, then you should pull it apart to use it again in different ways. Thanksgiving day turkey transforms into turkey sandwiches on Friday, and a turkey casserole on Saturday. A blog post becomes the script of a podcast episode, which turns into pull quotes for social media! Voila! 

CEO and Little Bird Momma, Priscilla McKinney, and Executive VP, Ashley Le Blanc, have prepared a feast for your social media strategy on the Ponderings from the Perch podcast. Even better? There are two downloadable free resources that make the perfect pairing on our website— the oh-so-delicious Top Tips to Crush it Social Media resource guide and the Social Media Content Calendar download.

Grab a plate because we’re dishing up all the juicy tips on how to build up your sphere of influence on social media.

Step one of social influence? Take the stress out of social media. Anxiety, stress, and not knowing what to post are common reasons why people and brands don’t post or don’t post enough. Go ahead and wash your stress down the kitchen sink. Use the garbage disposal if you need to! Batch processing is the solution. We mean it. 

Here at LBM if you were to look on the back end of our Hubspot you’ll see that there are over 900 social media posts scheduled to go out over the next year. We really do batch process our posts a year ahead. While that may sound intimidating, start with one month of batch processing then move to a quarter at a time. 

Wondering what to post? You don’t have to start from scratch. Think about all the content you have already accumulated and pull it apart grabbing all the best bits for social media pull quotes, micro-video content, and more. Get creative. You are the chef in the kitchen of social influence!

As mentioned on the podcast, here are Andy Crestodina’s research and statistics from Orbit Media’s blogging statistics and the results from the blogger survey.

Are you ready to crush it on social media? Our 12-week Social Influence course is for you! We would be happy to discuss what digital transformation could look like for your team! 

On the hunt for powerful content marketing and strategy resources? Come under our wing.

And a shoutout to our sponsor Gazelle Global!