Ponderings from the Perch

Originally broadcast on the Intellicast Podcast:

On today’s episode – the last one of this year – Brian Lamar and Producer Brian give a recap of Insights Marketing Day.

It kicks off with a review of the Podcast panel, featuring Z Johnson, Jeffrey Hayzlett, Producer Brian, and Adam Jolley. Producer Brian talks about the focus of the discussion, the tips each of the panelists gave, and the different perspective each panelist provided to the attendees.

Next Producer Brian gives some of his key takeaways from Insights Marketing Day, along with some of his favorite sessions. 

If you missed Insights Marketing Day, you’ll want to tune in!

Calling all market research lovers! In this episode, Little Bird Executive Director and co-host Ashley Le Blanc and Insights Association CEO Melanie Courtright discuss why the industry needs you to be a part of the movement. After a momentous year of changes, Melanie breaks downs the lessons they’ve learned from 2020 and turns her eyes to the future of insights, research, and data analytics.

As 2021 continues the trend of change Melanie and her team are taking on legislation, shaking it up with new events, and navigating the evolving language of the industry. With so much on the horizon, there’s never been a better time to be a part of the Insights Association family.

The Insights Association helps its members create competitive advantage. Their revenue is invested in quality standards, legal and business advocacy, education, certification and direct support to enable members to thrive in an evolving industry and drive business impact.

In this episode, Little Bird Executive Director and co-host Ashley Le Blanc talks with Juliana Wood, Director of Certifications at the Certification Institute for Research Quality (CIRQ). Juliana’s diverse background includes marketing and PR in the publishing industry, Educational Program Management at the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. In her current role, she oversees the certifications for CIRQ, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Insights Association that serves the insights and data analytics industry across 75 countries. 

Her work at NISO allowed her a full view of the process at the heart of standards creation, and her work with CIRQ allows her to act as a guide for businesses interested in fostering more reliable results and less rework - a blueprint of requirements for best practices in the industry. Juliana describes the training and certification process as a good marathon that results in adherence to standards that are globally recognized. 

SPONSORS:

Looking for a research partner to handle the details of your next project? In person, or virtual, Fieldwork has been a leader in world-class marketing research services and facilities since 1980. As market research has expanded from the standard focus group to incorporate other methodologies and technologies, Fieldwork has expanded right along with it. With 15 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. 

In this episode of Dear Priscilla, Momma Bird/CEO Priscilla McKinney answers not one, but two questions about networking during remote events.

Question 1:

Dear Priscilla,

From years of going to industry conferences I have a lot of colleagues to draw from and interact with on LinkedIn. This helps me start great conversations, which in turn increases the reach of my posts. But, I feel I'm just talking to colleagues and these efforts don't seem to make their way into the view of the prospects I'm trying to reach.

How can I get better engagement on my posts from those I would consider to be prospects - who I would like to do business with?

Question 2:

Dear Priscilla,

I am listening to your conference fatigue episode and I was hoping you could answer that same questions about how to use conferences to your best advantage specifically for people who are starting NEW in their position.

Whether they are starting their first job, or transitioning - at this time in-person meetings are not possible, so how can we form new relationships remotely and how does that figure into the conference fatigue conundrum?

Check out the full episode to learn more!

In this episode, host Priscilla McKinney talks with Tiama Hanson-Drury, Executive Vice President of Product and EVP Partner for Diversity and Inclusion at Dynata. They discuss the creation of customer-centric products and solutions, including a mindset shift that Tiama utilizes to create products that walk the line between being bespoke and being reusable. Priscilla and Tiama discuss their involvement with and appreciation for Women In Research, and Tiama tells about her work with diversity and inclusion with Dynata:

“Diversity and inclusion drives better ideas in the room. It drives better voices at the table. It drives better ways of looking at a way to solve a problem, or even saying, ‘Hey guys, you’re focusing on the wrong problem. The real issue is over here.’”

SPONSORS

Insights Marketing Day is back! This 1-day virtual event features must-have marketing expertise for market research companies. Get tips and tools from industry leaders, and leave informed and inspired! Visit insights-marketing.org and use the code PERCH for 20% off your ticket price. 

All car enthusiasts know the name Meguiars! From soap to wax, they’ve been polishing the world’s planes, trains and automobiles for more than 110 years. As one of the world’s leading surface care product companies, Meguiars provides car-crazy enthusiasts an opportunity to express their utmost pride with their vehicle and overall passion for the car hobby. Check them out at meguiars.com.

Bigfoot. Nessie. The Squonk. Some myths persist because they’re too compelling to let go. Other myths, on the other hand, are dumb and should vanish completely (like any concrete evidence of those first three.) It’s time to debunk three email marketing myths. 

In this episode, semi-pro myth busters Priscilla McKinney and Ashley Le Blanc tackle three persistent yet misguided beliefs about email marketing. Preview time!

Email marketing is dying

Email is still one of the most trusted forms of communication, and one of the strongest performing media buys.

Open rate is the most important metric

While open rates are a valuable metric, they are not the only defining factor of an email’s success. 

Unsubscribes are a cause for concern

Unsubscribes in mass quantities might warrant further investigation, but generally having a user unsubscribe has saved you time in list cleaning - which you should be doing!

Listen to the full episode to get facts, stats, and way more information about these common email misperceptions. What else? Oh yeah, Ashley needs a podcasting nickname. It needs to be bird themed. It can’t be Little Bird (taken), Momma Bird (taken) or Big Bird (not taken, but seriously wtf.) Anything else is up for consideration. Hit her up on Twitter @ashleyleblancc

Also check out Val Geisler's Twitter feed for some amazing email wizardry! Val will be a speaker at Insights Marketing Day 2020.

Also also check out Little Bird's 9 Reasons People are Ignoring your Emails!

SPONSORS

Insights Marketing Day is back! This 1-day virtual event features must-have marketing expertise for market research companies. Get tips and tools from industry leaders, and leave informed and inspired! Visit insights-marketing.org and use the code PERCH for 20% off your ticket price. 

Looking for a research partner to handle the details of your next project? In person, or virtual, Fieldwork has been a leader in world-class marketing research services and facilities since 1980. As market research has expanded from the standard focus group to incorporate other methodologies and technologies, Fieldwork has expanded right along with it. With 15 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. 

As Will Rogers famously said, “The farmer has to be an optimist, or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” 

In this episode, host and Momma Bird Priscilla McKinney talks with Colson Steber, Co-CEO at both Communications for Research, Inc (CFR) and Ag Access. They talk about agricultural research and how Ag Access has created an insights community specifically centered around a highly specialized sector that includes crop growers, livestock producers, feed mills, veterinarians, and more. 

“I joke that I spent the first eight years of my time at CFR convincing people that we could do more than ag. And now we’re leaning back into our niche, we can definitely be the experts on how to accelerate access to market,” Steber says, adding, “Everything from ingredient companies that sell back into large chemical companies, as well as user experience designers doing ag and precision ag tech all need research now, and that has widened the base of people that can draw on our services.”

Additionally, Priscilla and Colson discuss remote work, content creation, priority development and continual self-improvement. 

SPONSORS

Insights Marketing Day is back! This 1-day virtual event features must-have marketing expertise for market research companies. Get tips and tools from industry leaders, and leave informed and inspired! Visit insights-marketing.org and use the code PERCH for 20% off your ticket price. 

Multilingual Connections Are you conducting global research or marketing your brand to a multilingual audience? Reach out to Multilingual Connections for translation, transcription, voiceover and subtitling services in over 75 languages. Linguistic accuracy meets cultural nuance meets friendly and responsive service. Request a quote and mention “Little Bird Marketing” to get $100 off your first project at mlconnections.com. 

All car enthusiasts know the name Meguiars! From soap to wax, they’ve been polishing the world’s planes, trains and automobiles for more than 110 years. As one of the world’s leading surface care product companies, Meguiars provides car-crazy enthusiasts an opportunity to express their utmost pride with their vehicle and overall passion for the car hobby. Check them out at meguiars.com.

Simply put: Your website matters. Like really matters. In a digital world, it’s where people meet you - it’s your first impression to your future customers. But before you type in your URL and start auditing your website’s appearance, let’s talk about the metrics you should be tracking to evaluate performance. 

In digital marketing, data is how we track progress and make informed decisions. From determining your marketing budget to the details of your next campaign, your marketing metrics guide the way to success. Having a deep understanding of where you truly are and where you want to be will dictate how you get there. Looking at your metrics and insights provides deep insights into what is working and what isn’t. 

Why is tracking numbers important? Here’s a truth bomb: Numbers don’t lie. It’s actually the opposite – they uncover truth. We don’t track numbers for the sake of numbers. Metrics are valuable, but only as valuable as the action they inspire. Often organizations blindly measure industry-recognized metrics and then become paralyzed on what should happen next and how to turn those metrics into trackable KPIs.

In this episode, Momma Bird/CEO Priscilla McKinney and Executive Director Ashley Le Blanc share their top 3 picks for WHICH metrics you should be focused on.

SPONSORS:

Global sampling, field management, data collection and more - Gazelle Global’s ad hoc services give you access to global experts as an extension of your team, without the extra overhead. Our team is ready to lend our expertise to complete projects to your specifications today. Visit our website to learn more!

Insights Marketing Day is back! This 1-day virtual event features must-have marketing expertise for market research companies. Get tips and tools from industry leaders, and leave informed and inspired! Visit insights-marketing.org and use the code PERCH for 20% off your ticket price. 

Goodbye competition…Hello collaboration! 2020 has been full of learnings, but if we’ve benefited anything from this year, it’s this new mantra - “the only way forward is together.” 

In this video podcast, Momma Bird and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, Priscilla McKinney, is joined by Sarah Kotva of Fieldwork, Melanie Courtright of Insights Association and Lisa Wilding-Brown of InnovateMR. The group talks about leaving behind the mentality of scarcity and how doing good for more people - even your competitors - can work in your favor strategically. 

This special video podcast is available to view here!

Each one of these insights powerhouses shares how they collaborate with colleagues outside their companies - sharing the pitfalls and benefits. 

Want to take part in moving your industry forward? Tune-in for collaboration tips. 

A bit about our guests:

Sarah Kotva, Vice President at Fieldwork

Sarah is a proud Fieldworker. Her day-to-day includes connecting the dots for clients and ensuring site visits and projects run smoothly across their 15-locations across the nation. Fieldwork is a company created by researchers for researchers with state-of-the-art focus group facilities, qualitative respondent recruitment, online qualitative platform for remote research and global project management services. 

Melanie Courtright, Chief Executive Officer at Insights Association

As CEO, Melanie leads the Insights Association, the leading voice, resource and network of the marketing research and data analytics community. The Insights Association helps its members create competitive advantage by investing in quality standards, legal and business advocacy, education, certification and direct support that enables its members to thrive in an evolving industry and drive business impact.

Lisa Wilding-Brown, Chief Research Officer at InnovateMR

Lisa is a motivated and personal business professional with 2 decades of experience developing research communities and panels. She has a talent for quickly mastering technology and innovative approaches which foster customer loyalty and retention. She routinely collaborates with industry organizations, competitors, and clients alike - all in pursuit to improve the industry and accelerate innovation for mutual benefit. 

Sponsors:

Multilingual Connections

Are you conducting global research or marketing your brand to a multilingual audience? Reach out to Multilingual Connections for translation, transcription, voiceover and subtitling services in over 75 languages. Linguistic accuracy meets cultural nuance meets friendly and responsive service. Request a quote and mention “Little Bird Marketing” to get $100 off your first project at mlconnections.com. 

Gazelle Global 

Global sampling, field management, data collection and more - Gazelle Global’s ad hoc services give you access to global experts as an extension of your team, without the extra overhead. Their team is ready to lend their expertise to complete projects to your specifications today. Visit their website to learn more!

Over the past couple weeks, a whole bunch of people have thought they accidentally opened the wrong app when they noticed a “Stories” button at the top of their LinkedIn feed. “Ope, accidentally got Instagram, dang thumbs,” they muttered and then headed over toward LinkedIn ONLY TO REALIZE THAT THEY WERE IN LINKEDIN ALREADY! As with any new feature, LinkedIn Stories opens a lot of questions for users. Both pros and noobs have asked, “Should I upload a photo of these pancakes I made?” or Should I post a video of myself lip syncing to my Jock Jams playlist now?” << That never happened, and the answer is no. 

In this episode of Dear Priscilla, Momma Bird/CEO Priscilla McKinney and Executive Director Ashley Le Blanc discuss LinkedIn’s new Stories feature, and what it actually means for the average LinkedIn professional. According to LinkedIn’s documentation, stories are “an easy way to share your experience and insights, and to build meaningful relationships with your professional community.” That sounds like something LinkedIn would say, but what does it really mean? 

Priscilla and Ashley give a more tangible description and extrapolate a number of scenarios for which this feature is ideal. They discuss how stories traditionally operate in apps - to bolster engagement and help provide a more customized experience for the user. They concur that the feature adds tremendous opportunities to genuinely showcase expertise, to add depth to interaction during events, facilitate a more robust dialog with your professional network. 

Check out the full episode to learn more about how to embrace and become an early adopter of this new feature!

Sponsors:

Are you conducting global research or marketing your brand to a multilingual audience? Reach out to Multilingual Connections for translation, transcription, voiceover and subtitling services in over 75 languages. Linguistic accuracy meets cultural nuance meets friendly and responsive service. Request a quote and mention “Little Bird Marketing” to get $100 off your first project at mlconnections.com. 

Global sampling, field management, data collection and more - Gazelle Global’s ad hoc services give you access to global experts as an extension of your team, without the extra overhead. Our team is ready to lend our expertise to complete projects to your specifications today. Visit our website to learn more!