A Long Line2Wait In

Let me start by writing that “I do not drink coffee!”  

We enjoy giving it as a gift to our clients at the holidays.  I also love to meet with clients, and prospects, and potential employees as they drink it.  While I feel like I should enjoy a cuppa joe, the reality is: “I do not drink coffee!”

Keeping in mind my aversion to coffee, you’ll appreciate my amazement when one recent morning, I witnessed an unending line of vehicles at one of our local Starbucks. I’m talking about a line that went out of the parking lot and down the street. Like I mean way down the street on the shoulder. There had to have been at least fifteen or twenty cars lined up for their “Americana with room.” It was a bit mind stretching, to say the least.

Now, on the other hand, I love ice cream. I love chocolate chip cookies. I love live music. And I love the hapless Detroit Lions football team. But, I’m not sure I’d wait in a line like that for any of those things – let alone each morning. So why was there such a long line at Starbucks?

How to Make It Work4Your Business

Whether the coffee is superior or the marketing amazing is not for me to decide – especially since “I do not drink coffee!”  

What I can say is, almost universally among coffee-drinking-people, Starbucks is the first choice.  Before pulling up at a McDonalds, one of our local Mill Mountain Coffee joints, or someplace else, the average drinker of that caffeinated hot beverage must consciously decide not to stop at Starbucks.  Let’s face it, they’ve captured the mind of the coffee-drinking consumer. Why else would people sit in a long line of cars and trucks on the road’s shoulder at 7:45 am every morning?  

Like Starbucks, you need to decide how you want to be known and then do whatever is necessary to capture that same loyalty. You don’t have to do it with millions of people like the green-branding beverage giant, but it is important you carve out that space with your key stakeholders.  Know them. Know why they’re buying from you and get them to make it a pattern, then a habit.  Intentionally make your product (or service) the very first (and maybe only) consideration for your customers or clients. Start small, but with purpose. Then grow and expand.

Before you know it, people will be standing (or driving) in line to do business with you.  

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The way we work has changed dramatically in the last few decades. Advancements in technology allow us to work from anywhere, anytime, and collaborate with colleagues from all over the globe. This change in accessibility can make it hard to find time for life outside of the office. If you’re feeling like your job is taking over your life, it may be time to take some steps toward creating a healthy work/life balance that works best for you. Here are some helpful ways to do just that:

Create Workload Boundaries

Email, text messages, social media feeds, and other virtual communicative means allow us to constantly stay connected. While these advances make our lives easier to stay in touch, it can also become much harder to disconnect after a hard day’s work. Establishing clear workload boundaries in your daily routine will go a long way toward alleviating stress-related issues.  

Begin with out-of-office communication. Healthily communicating contact boundaries with your team will help you both in managing your time during work hours. For example, if a co-worker is messaging you on social media about work-related concerns late in the evening, you can politely suggest continuing the conversation in person the following day in the office. The same can apply for out-of-office text messages, phone calls, and emails. If they’re a good co-worker, they’ll kindly oblige.

Workload boundaries don’t only apply to communication. If you are in a remote or hybrid work environment, create office hours for yourself when you are home. Start by assigning a space at home, like an office or desk in the corner, that's specifically designated for work. When you're there, it's focus time. When you're not, it's time to disconnect. By intentionally setting aside blocks of time to focus on yourself without distraction from work or home responsibilities, you can help relieve some of life’s most common stressors and keep a healthy balance between life and work.

Prioritize Your Needs

We all have areas in our lives that deserve attention. Prioritizing those needs is important to staying healthy, both mentally and physically. Is it sleep, exercise, or nutrition? Figure out what you need to stay healthy and book time for it.  

Lists aren’t just helpful for buying groceries – If you’re feeling overwhelmed with work and homelife responsibilities, organize your thoughts on paper or online with prioritized lists. You can create multiple metaphorical buckets for your tasks to fall under, such as “Appointments To Schedule”, “Workout Routines”, and “Urgent Tasks For Today”. This way you can cross off each action step as you go without forgetting anything important.

Once you’ve figured out your priorities, schedule them into your calendar just like an appointment with a client. You’ll find yourself keeping up without even thinking about it—and before long, you’ll be feeling healthier than ever.  

Start Small

If you feel like your life is being consumed by work, start small to keep yourself on track. Maybe it’s going for a walk every day at lunch or cutting back on late-night emails. If you stay focused on one positive change at a time, it becomes easier to add more healthy habits over time. And don’t worry about perfection—even if you slip up occasionally, it’s okay! The most important thing is that you keep trying.

Summary

When it comes to work/life balance, a good place to start is to take time off. Use your paid vacation time (PTO) and create a plan to unplug while you're away from work. Stepping away from work (and what may also be stress and pressure) is important for not only our mental health but for personal relationships in our lives.  

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Feeling anxious about taking a vacation this year? We're here to help. Learn how we elevate your business at 5PointsCreative.com/services.  

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It's important to take time off from work in order to relax and clear your mind. It's equally important to unplug while you're on vacation in order to maintain healthy relationships with your friends and family, as well as ensure that you'll enjoy your time away from work as much as possible. With these simple tips on how to unplug from work when you're on vacation, you'll be ready to enjoy the full benefits of time away from work.

What does it mean to “unplug” from work?

There are different ways you can unplug from work, both literally and figuratively. Our recommendation is to start (literally) with technology.

While it may be tempting to peek at your computer on vacation, or comb through work emails (even when they aren't urgent), resist those urges! Leave your laptop in a safe place at home before you hit the highways on holiday. Ditching the computer at home will remove your direct line to work responsibilities and clear your attention span for new experiences. Plus – it'll help lighten your suitcase, too.

Although unplugging could be extended to ALL technology, we understand the necessity of bringing your cell phone on vacation for emergencies and convenience. However, you can still unplug from the work and personal social media platforms that you use on a daily basis. Challenge yourself this vacation — no Facebooking, no Tweeting, no Instagramming — and especially no endless scrolling on TikTok! What interesting things can you find around you? If you’re tempted to take a photo, try to save it on your camera or cell phone to post later. There’s no rush to share your daily adventures online!

Why should I do this?

Did you know that 21% of adults felt stressed during their time off, and 28% worked more than they thought they would on vacation (American Psychological Association)? Constantly being on work mode can leave a harmful impact on your creativity and productivity. The additional time you dedicate to work outside of rest hours can lead to prolonged exhaustion and create burnout – and nobody enjoys this experience!

There’s a reason your brain feels so different during and after a vacation. A change in your daily environment stimulates the senses with new smells, feelings, sights, sounds, and tastes. When you unplug from work mentally, your brain can rest from its usual routine and accelerate from sponging up all of the new experiences. But even if your job doesn’t require much mental strain or creativity (like an assembly line), your mind can still benefit from the change in the long run.

What are some examples of what I can do?

What concerns or worries enter your thoughts when you think about disconnecting from work while on vacation?

Many people worry about not being able to disconnect from their colleagues or clients when they go on vacation. Our suggestion is to start with writing out solutions and a plan to address your concerns with your team before you go. This way, you’re leaving your teammates with an action plan to pick up the ongoing tasks that you’re leaving behind.

This may require training employees or colleagues on certain aspects of your job, communicating your vacation plan in advance to colleagues and clients, working ahead on certain projects, and creating temporary processes while you're away.

While this may seem like a lot of work up front, the idea is to create plans that help your team, your clients, and yourself so everyone can succeed.

Do these things before you leave:

1. Write down your list of concerns about what it means to disconnect from work.

2. Create a plan of solutions for each concern.

3. Bring in team members, employees, colleagues, and external resources to help with action steps on executing the plan.

4. Work ahead on projects or requests so that you return from vacation to a milder workload.

5. Create temporary processes and communicate the processes to those who could be impacted by your time away.

6. Set your out-of-office message, turn off email notifications, step back from your desk, and breathe. It will all be ok.

Do these things while you're gone:

Breathe. Sit back in your comfy chair. That's it! Feel your feet connected to the ground. Hear that? It's vacation. This is your time to step away from work and give yourself some space to be present and in the moment. However, if you’re in a position where your team may need to reach out to you with questions, here are some helpful ways to handle incoming notifications while you’re away (if you absolutely positively must answer):

· If you are in a position where you must receive some work emails, set vacation alerts on your email so that even if you don't check it every day, you can still stay aware of urgent issues.

· Put your phone on airplane mode when you're away from work, so it won't distract you with unexpected calls or notifications.

· Set recurring time blocks throughout your trip for digital detox time—after all, relaxing is part of what makes a vacation so valuable! Be sure to stick to these time blocks. Don't make exceptions for things like checking in with family or friends via video chat.

Try something new while you're on vacation: food, activity, location, music, etc. Experience something a little different than what you're used to and open up a new world to yourself.

Do these things when you get back:

Coming back from vacation can be the hard part, but it doesn't have to be.

If possible, schedule an additional day off between traveling home and returning to work. This can be a day when you are home to unpack, catch up on laundry, or just take an extra 24 hours to rest. Jet-lag can be a knock-out, after all.

Make a plan on what is realistic to achieve the first day and first week back from vacation. Perhaps include reading and responding to X number of emails or calls each day, setting up meetings to touch base with your team or clients, or assessing how things went while you were gone and the next steps needed.

While it's crucial to success to take time away for yourself, it's just as important to plan how you will step back into work when you return. After all, you don't want to reverse the good things your vacation brought you by trying to do too much when you come back to work!

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Thinking about going on vacation this summer? We’ll handle your business’s marketing while you’re away. 5Points Creative is a full-service firm specializing in marketing, advertising, digital, communications, and branding. Visit 5PointsCreative.com/services for more information on how we can elevate your business!

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Wind4Lift

So many of our clients are using marketing and advertising to support their sales process.  Marketing and sales typically go hand in hand and, in fact, many companies have combined those departments.  When we engage our clients in an advertising program, it is often to help them with “direct response” results.

You know the kind of ads – call now, buy now, operators are standing by.

Even in those situations, we encourage our clients to see the deeper power of an ongoing outreach campaign.  There is a lot more behind advertising than simply delivering messages to the “now-buyers.” A critical objective in strong campaigns is the top of mind awareness created when a company consistently schedules their advertising over a longer period of time.

Those same companies who may be looking for instant gratification learn something else.

How2Leverage Your Advertising

Scheduled appointments with their prospects suddenly get a lot easier.  Their salespeople find the people they are meeting with are aware of their company or product and therefore are more interested, believe more of what they are saying, and are more agreeable.  Why is that?

Typically, the buyer has a greater awareness of the company, understands what is driving their success, and recognizes they are established and solid.  In other words, there is credibility. That credibility is a result of the ongoing advertising campaigns we are running on their behalf.

So, while the short-term benefit of the advertising is capturing that ready-to-buy viewer or listener, the exposure that comes from an ongoing advertising or marketing campaign generally provides that extra benefit.  

Advertising naturally builds trust with people.  As a business leader, with a strong program in place, you’ll have more time and energy to focus on the sales process with interested and excited prospects.  

That’s why sales and marketing really do belong together.

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Google Analytics has been giving companies and organizations vital information about their website users since 2005. While the world was listening to music on Apple's colorful iPod nano, Google released an innovative new tool online. It allowed marketers and business owners to see who went to their website and what they did once they got there. This tool provided insight on page views, sessions, and bounce rates. Now known as Universal Google Analytics, this powerful database gave viewers valuable information and reporting capabilities to make strategic marketing decisions. 

As technology is forever evolving, Google is now rolling out Google Analytics 4 (GA4)—a new platform that offers more tools than the already feature-packed Universal Google Analytics. In this article, we will cover what GA4 has to offer and what it can do for you and your business.

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Meticulous Viewer Reporting 

GA4 has changed the way Google structures and collects its data.  Previously, sessions (a group of user interactions that take place within a given period) and page views (the number of people viewing a webpage) were some of the key metrics used. Now the company has built everything around events (user interactions on your website that cannot be tracked as page views within a session) and users. This model processes each user interaction as a standalone event. The benefit of storing users’ interactions as separate events is to give you a more in-depth look at what your users are doing on your site. For example, as a business, you can track things like clicks, add to cart, file downloads, generate leads, page views, scrolls, video plays, and much more. You can still look at things on a broader session level, but also have the ability to see specific aspects of your user interactions on your website. The GA4 dashboard is now customizable and allows you to add or remove different metrics and graphs to create custom reporting.  

Cross-Platform Tracking 

GA4 also allows you to track your users across platforms using a unique ID code. This lets you follow your user from your website or application and store all the data in one place. Another major benefit, predictive metrics, enables you to use historical data to foresee user actions such as purchase probability or revenue prediction. This will help with retargeting your audience and understanding which users are more likely to make a purchase. These changes will allow you to better track your customers’ journey and ultimately predict their future actions. Business owners will find this particularly useful as they plan and target new users. 

Should your company or organization set up Google Analytics 4? 

Yes! 

Using the latest and greatest technology always has its pros and cons. Luckily, Google allows you to run both Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 side by side. Your company can still use the older version while you learn and get comfortable with GA4. It is important to have GA4 set up and to collect data as soon as possible because it will not pull preexisting data to populate. GA4 is not the industry standard (yet), but using it sooner rather than later will benefit your business’s marketers as they continue to collect data. This tool will be a valuable asset in the future and provide your business a competitive advantage. Google will be sunsetting Universal Analytics starting July 1, 2023. While that may seem a ways off, making the switch now to GA4 would certainly put you and your team ahead of the process.

Have questions about GA4 or getting the most information out of your website analytics? We’re here to help.

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St. Patrick's Day observes the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Today, the holiday is celebrated with parades, special foods, music, dancing, drinking, and a whole lot of green. While many brands take advantage of holidays to create special promotions or campaigns, here are some ways to make your own luck with marketing!

Start Early

The best part about holidays, large or small, is that they are already scheduled for us on our calendars. Don’t get pinched for forgetting to wear green. Expert schedulers suggest planning your holiday marketing up to six months in advance to cover the messaging development, task delegation, and expenses for your campaign.

Do Your Homework

Do you know the difference between a shamrock and a four-leaf clover? The answer may surprise you. Research is the support that undergirds any marketing strategy. If your content is centered around a holiday you are not familiar with, don’t make assumptions – research all that you can to avoid sharing misinformation. Being sensitive to diverse cultures will help make sure your marketing isn't tone deaf or fails to resonate.

Limited Edition Products

It is likely that your products are already pure gold. But limited edition merchandise has the potential to increase your brand's awareness along with what you already have. It can provide sufficient value, improve connection, and increase demand. Commemorating dedicated events and holidays with limited edition memorabilia can leave a lasting impact.

Consider Interactive Content

As opposed to passive viewing, interactive content marketing engages users by requiring them to participate in the process. Eighty-eight percent of marketers credited interactive content for differentiating their brand from their competitors. Whether you are sharing digital surveys and quizzes, or mailing care-packages with branded games, you will want to leave your clients greening ear to ear!

Connect With Your Community

City-wide promotions are a terrific way to expand your brand’s visibility. Sponsorships and providing branded merchandise at events, like St. Patrick’s Day parades, festivals, and 5Ks, can be a fun way to get your business’s name out there. Research the events going on in your community and connect with local organizers to join the celebration!

And there you have it: 5 ways to start making your own luck with marketing. You don’t have to do this alone - 5Points Creative is a full-service creative agency based in Roanoke, Virginia, specializing in marketing, advertising, digital, branding, and communications for mission-driven organizations. For more information, contact us here.

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