Category: Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips Work Life & Culture

8 Benefits of Working from Home That Can Help Make the World Better

In early 2021, 32% of working-age Canadian employees worked mostly from home, compared to only 4% in 2016. As we enter a post-lockdown reality, many employees are considering working remotely on a permanent basis.

But is remote work worth it for the long haul? Surely employees will miss their water cooler buddies, cubicles, and ergonomic office chairs, right? Well, turns out, this may not always be the case. In fact, working from home can positively impact the environment, both inside and outside your home. 

At Sparx, we’ve embraced remote work, a decision that aligns with our mission to make the world better. Here’s our list of 8 benefits of working from home.

Benefits of Remote Work for the Environment

1. Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contribute to climate change through a warming effect in the Earth’s atmosphere. In a 29-year time span from 1990-2019, this warming effect from GHG added by humans increased by 45%. 

While GHG can be emitted from a variety of sources, transportation accounts for a significant portion. In Canada alone, GHG emissions from passenger vehicles increased 21% from 2000 to 2018. By working from home, you’ll cut out your drive or transit ride to work, which helps to reduce GHG emissions.  

2. Improved Air Quality

While there are many factors that affect air quality, the two most common sources are ground-level ozone and particulate matter (i.e. smoke, soot, dust, etc.). Gasoline vehicles are guilty of contributing to both of these sources, as they burn fuel, which creates nitrous oxides and volatile organic compounds that combine to create ground-level ozone. Industrial sources are bigger culprits of pollution, but any way to decrease your individual impact helps. 

3. Decreased Carbon Footprint 

Did you know that buildings generate nearly 40% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions? Bigger office buildings require more energy to heat and cool, which means they have a higher carbon footprint. 

Whether or not a building implements greener practices, such as renewable energy, is often left up to the building management and not you as an employee. However, when you work from home, you’re able to better control your carbon footprint by turning off lights, minimizing your water usage, and controlling your heating and cooling. 

4. Reduced Waste

The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper and 156 plastic water bottles annually.  On top of that, there are often huge amounts of food waste from unfinished lunches and expired items in the office fridge. Of course, some waste is unavoidable in certain workplaces, and some workplaces do a better job than others at waste reduction overall. 

However, by working from home, you not only save paper by shifting to online documents, but you can better control your overall waste by recycling, composting, and using your own kitchenware instead of coffee cups and takeout containers.

5. Decreased Water Waste and Microplastics

Did you know that ditching the office dress code can have a positive impact on the environment? The fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global water waste, and is a major source of microplastics in the world’s oceans.
Typically, remote workers have more leeway when it comes to apparel. As long as you look professional from the waist up for video calls, you’re fine! By not needing to purchase an additional work wardrobe to conform to a specific dress code, you can help reduce the consumption and waste associated with “fast fashion.”

Benefits of Remote Work for Your Personal Environment

6. Improved Work-Life Balance

You can’t make the world better if you’re not taking care of yourself. Remote work allows for a better work-life balance because you can spend more time with loved ones and enjoy more time for rest and relaxation that may otherwise have been spent commuting. 

Your employer may also offer the flexibility to schedule appointments, provide caregiving, and complete courses during the typical 9-5 that you would not otherwise be able to do. Just look at Finland; it’s no coincidence the happiest country in the world also leads the way in flexible work.

7. Increased Range of Job Opportunities

Working from home lets you spread your skills and expertise around the globe by providing a broader range of jobs that aren’t limited to your geographic location. 

Remote work also promotes inclusivity, as jobs aren’t filtering out prospective employees based on socioeconomic status, especially if an office is located in an expensive area that’s hard to find accommodation in. As well, it allows for greater accessibility and job opportunities for individuals with disabilities and the aging population.  

8. Decreased Commute-Related Stress

According to Stats Canada, over 12 million Canadians commuted by car in 2016, with an average commute time of 24 minutes. Those commuting by car, especially with long commutes, are at a greater risk for a variety of health problems. Studies have found that people who commute by car, especially those with long commutes, are at greater risk of health problems, including increased blood sugar, higher cholesterol, blood pressure spikes, back aches, and stress and anxiety that can lead to long-term health problems. 

By working from home, not only do you eliminate the pesky commute, you can prioritize your mental and physical health by getting more sleep, spending time with family, working out, and cooking healthier foods at home.  

Whether you’ve been working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, reevaluating your career path, or re-entering the workforce, you may want to consider embracing remote work. Not only can it improve your environmental impact, it can make you happier and healthier. Plus, you may even save money while you’re at it!

Work with Sparx

Sparx Publishing Group is a digital marketing agency that creates content to make the world better. We’ve embraced remote work, and we’re always looking for enthusiastic, ambitious, and value-driven people to work (virtually) with us. Our roles cover publishing, marketing, design, copywriting, project management, and coding. If this sounds like you, keep an eye on our Careers page for the latest job openings. 

If you’re an organization seeking marketing support, you can reach out to us via our Contact page. 

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

How to Avoid “Rainbow-Washing” during Pride Month

June is Pride month, which celebrates members of the LGBTQIA+ community, supports their rights, and honours their resilient past. Pride month is more than just a rainbow-coloured party; it began with protests like the Stonewall Riots in the US, and the Operation Soap riot in Canada. 

Whether or not your organization employs members of the LGBTQIA+ community or has clients who identify as LGBTQIA+, you should consider participating in Pride month to show your support and solidarity. 

However, there is a right and a wrong way to do Pride. The phenomenon of brands embracing the rainbow during Pride but avoiding actionable or tangible support to the LGBTQIA+ community is known as “rainbow-washing.” 

Rainbow-washing can be considered as virtue-signalling, which often leaves a poor impression of a brand. As an organization who wants to live your values, it’s important to walk the talk. Here’s our guide on how to avoid rainbow-washing and be a true ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Do Your Research 

The landscape of the LGBTQIA+ community is vast and complex. 

There are unique identities, intersections, and struggles within the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, which makes it important to do your research before your organization jumps into Pride promotion. 

Dive into the history and important figures of the gay liberation movement, issues that affect the LGBTQIA+ community, politically-correct terms to use, groups that fall under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, and what the various Pride flags mean. 

Include LGBTQIA+ Folks in the Conversation

It’s important to involve people in the LGBTQIA+ community in your Pride month efforts to ensure you’re being truly authentic and supportive. Do you currently employ “out” members of the LGBTQIA+ community? See if they’d be interested to help with the ideation and decision-making process. If not, respect their wishes. When asking advice from your LGBTQIA+ staff that goes above and beyond their normal duties, they should be compensated for their time and work.

You can also hire a LGBTQIA+ consulting organization to help get your Pride and LGBTQIA+ allyship efforts right, including within your workplace. Some great resources include Qmunity, Pride at Work Canada, TransFocus, and The 519. 

Amplify LGBTQIA+ Voices 

As with other social causes, it’s a good idea to amplify voices within the community instead of trying to dominate the space. Not only does doing the latter potentially hurt the livelihood of LGBTQIA+ members by increasing the chance they’ll get drowned out in the noise, your audience may view it as disingenuous or performative. 

Plus, by elevating LGBTQIA+ people and their stories, you can align your company’s efforts, show you’re knowledgeable and active in the LGBTQIA+ community, and shine a light on issues that are important to your organization.  

Donate to LGBTQIA+ Causes 

If you have the resources, it’s a good idea to put your money where your mouth is. Expensive  healthcare (such as gender affirming surgery for trans folks), lack of mental health services, and homelessness are all issues that affect the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Luckily, there are organizations that deal directly with these issues (and more) that your company can donate to, And of course, you can show your audience that you’re supporting these organizations. While it’s important to find non-profits that resonate and align with your brand, some to check out are The 519, Rainbow Railroad, and Pflag.  

Post More Than a Rainbow Flag

By this point, you’ve probably taken the hint to not just “rainbow-ify” your organization’s profile photo logo or chuck a Pride flag on your Instagram feed and call it a day. Ensure you bring value and awareness to your social media posts. 

Hopefully, you have a wider Pride campaign that you can push through your social media channels (i.e. new partnership, product, or donation plans). Otherwise, why not post about the history of Pride month, important LGBTQIA+ figures, or your favourite LGBTQIA+ activists?

Make it a Year-Round Commitment

Pride may be just one month for your organization, but it’s a lifetime for individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community. Consider making your efforts an always-on commitment. One way to ensure you incorporate inclusive content regularly is to work backwards from Pride the following year. If you were looking back over an entire year, what would you want to see in terms of LGBTQIA+ positive initiatives or content from your organization? Once you’ve determined that, you can schedule these efforts in your content planning strategy.

You can also ensure your organization is an inclusive workplace (there are even certificates for this), become an “equal opportunity employer” to attract new LGBTQIA+ hires, ask your current LGBTQIA+ employees how to better support them, evaluate your marketing efforts, and continue to donate and partner with LGBTQIA+ organizations. 

Important note: LGBTQIA+ conversations often centre white cis gay men, so it’s important to acknowledge diversity and intersections of privilege (i.e. gender, race, religion, ability, etc.) in your efforts. For example, showcase LGBTQIA+ persons of colour in a marketing ad.

Three Examples of Organizations Doing Pride Right

1. Kiehl’s

Kiehl’s is an American skincare retailer headquartered in New York. Not only have they sponsored NYC Pride since 2010, in 2020 they announced a partnership with LGBTQIA+ youth suicide prevention non-profit The Trevor Project with plans to “make a positive impact through funding, awareness and resources that can help change [LGBTQIA+ youth’s] lives for the better.”

2. IKEA Canada

Have you ever gone to IKEA and needed one of those giant blue shopping bags for all your candles, pillows, or Swedish meatballs? Well, the beloved furniture company made these shopping bags rainbow for 2019’s Pride month and donated all profits to Pflag, “Canada’s only national organization that offers peer-to-peer support striving to help all Canadians with issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.”

3. Lyft Toronto

While Pride has been affected by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, rideshare platform Lyft was an active participant in Pride Toronto in 2019, including being their official rideshare platform. They had a parade float, offered discount codes, and donated $1 to HIV/AIDS hospital Casey House for every ride taken during Pride Toronto using their code. What’s more, Lyft didn’t just show their “pride” during June, they also became the first rideshare app to let passengers choose from a wide range of pronouns, as launched with their #TwoIsTooFew campaign. 

What Sparx is Doing 

In addition to embracing the rainbow flag on our website and our social media profile pictures, this Pride month, we will be:

  • Rolling out pronoun transparency with the internal team, so Sparx employees can disclose their pronouns on all communication channels (this includes a discussion about the importance of disclosing pronouns),
  • Highlighting on our social media channels mission-aligned organizations in the LGBTQIA+ community that are working to make the world better,
  • Amplifying Pride by posting on our social media channels, including a post about the history and facts about the Pride flag,
  • And of course, posting this blog!

Get in Touch

At Sparx, our mission is to create content to make the world better.
If you need help securing your website, creating great content, building experiences to delight your customers, marketing your business, or you simply have questions, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. You can reach us here.

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips Sustainability Tips

Sustainable Business Practices

Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword these days. Especially when it comes to business. That’s because business practices, whether sustainable or not, have far-reaching consequences. And this can have a profound impact when it comes to making the world a better place, something that Sparx is passionate about.

Investing in sustainability drives innovation. Redesigning a product so it meets new sustainability standards, reduces waste, or repurposes materials presents new opportunities for those willing to rise to the challenge. Even during the creation or design phase, it’s important to consider where a product will end up. A landfill? Or can it be repurposed or recycled? In short: what impact will it have on the Earth?

The cherry on top: according to this article in the Harvard Business Review, “80% [of the studies analyzed] show that stock price performance is positively correlated with good sustainability practices.” So you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Sparx’s 3Ps of Sustainability Practice

So how can a business be sustainable? At Sparx, here’s how we approach the business of sustainability:

Philosophy: It all begins with the simple belief that it’s the right thing to do. As stewards of the earth for future generations, we recognize not only the environmental and social issues that threaten our planet. We also believe it is our responsibility to leave the world in better shape than how we found it.

Possibility: Altering business practices so they meet sustainability goals requires innovation and creativity – and sometimes a reminder that it is possible. Having examples of organizations or individuals doing seemingly impossible things is the best catalyst for others to follow suit. Just think: there was a time people thought running the four-minute mile was impossible!

Profitability: Operating a business sustainably is undeniably the right thing to do, but unless it improves the bottom line, many companies won’t be on board There’s good news on this front, too. According to a recent survey, “more than 50% of Gen Z shoppers… are willing to pay more for a sustainable product.” And sustainability is one of the top drivers of repeat customers. Win-win.

Making the World Better One (Sustainable) Step at a Time

So what does sustainability look like in action? Here are a few examples of businesses that are working to make the world better and who can demonstrate that doing the right thing is possible and profitable.

Phool: Based in India, this enterprising business helps upcycle some of the over 8 million tonnes of floral offerings thrown into the country’s waterways each year. Phool (which means “flower”) concentrates its efforts on one of the most polluted stretches of India’s holiest river: the Ganges. The company turns the floral waste into incense sticks, paper, and coloured powders used for holy festivals. Other ideas are in the works too, such as a biodegradable alternative to styrofoam and a form of leather, or “fleather.” Not only is entrepreneur Ankit Agarwal keeping pesticides out of waterways, but he also employs more than 100 women, many of whom previously worked unsafe jobs or scavenged to survive.

The Soular Backpack to SAMARA: In 2015, entrepreneur Salima Visram launched Soular Backpack. Designed with Kenyan schoolchildren in mind, these backpacks come equipped with a solar panel that charges a battery pack. Once home, the children can use the battery pack to power an LED lamp to do homework by – a safer, less expensive alternative to kerosene. Initially, the business had a one-to-one model: for every backpack bought, one would be donated to a child in Kenya. But the backpack was a hard sell in North America: “Ultimately, people want a product they will use,” she realized. So she pivoted, and SAMARA – a line of elegant, vegan handbags – was born. The new line now funnels funds to Soular.

Stella McCartney: The luxury fashion designer recently debuted the “world’s first-ever garments made from vegan, lab-grown Mylo™ mushroom leather.” The sustainable alternative to leather uses renewable mushroom root systems to create the fabric, and is not petroleum-based like many other leather alternatives. The two pieces – pants and a bustier – are not currently for sale, but do “pave the way for future commercial offerings.” A campaign featuring model Paris Jackson modeling the pieces is generating buzz around this new, innovative fabric.

Handmade and Sustainable: Marketplaces like Etsy are filled with eco-conscious makers who often handmake their sustainable wares. There, shoppers can find online shops like Vita Beata Boutique, which specializes in post-consumer, biodegradable greeting cards. Plus, all the hand-drawn cards are made with paper embedded with seeds, to “create a lasting keepsake.” Compared to the boxes of cookie-cutter greeting cards found on online sites like Amazon, it’s easy to see why a customer might pay more for an innovative product made with such consideration and care.

Get In Touch

Make no mistake about it: sustainable business practices have a profound impact on the world around us. At Sparx, we know the profound impact words can have, which is why it’s our mission is to make the world better, one sentence at a time.

If you need help crafting content or marketing your business – whether your focus is on sustainability or other pursuits – or you simply have questions, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. You can reach us here.

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

World of Online Advertising: How It Works

Online advertising is not one-size-fits-all – and that may be one of its greatest strengths. 

Compared to traditional print ads, online ads can be very precisely targeted based on the audience’s age, location, or other demographics. These days, blogs, email newsletters, online articles, and social media are changing the advertising game, with ads often becoming an extension of the content the audience has navigated there to see.  

Types of Online Advertising

To get started, here’s a breakdown of some of the different types of online ads:

Digital Display Advertising: These graphic ads are found on third-party sites and use images, text, audio, video, and flash to catch the eye of their target audience. They can be found on websites, social media, and apps.

Search Engine Advertising: Also known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM). These paid ads appear alongside other search engine results pages (SERPs) and are tailored to a consumer’s immediate interests. After all, they did just type it into their search bar.

Text Ads: Making the leap from print to online, text ads now usually refer to text-based hyperlinks that promote a brand or product and often use a pay-per-click (PPC) model.

Social Media Marketing: Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are popular options thanks to robust analytics tools, which help marketers closely track the success of their ads.

How Online Advertising Is Done

So now that we know a little more about the world of online advertising, how does it actually work?

According to the “Father of Advertising,” David Ogilvy, “A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.” At Sparx, we agree. 

The best advertising not only complements its surroundings, it just feels like it belongs. When done right, a well-placed ad can enhance a user’s experience. Which is why where your ad is placed is just as important as what it says. 

On our own Sparx Trading website, for example, we only accept ads that speak to our specific audience.

How you place your ad brings into play direct versus programmatic media buying. Programmatic media buying is, well…programmed. 

Basically, you set up an account on an automated ad-buying platform and purchase your ads through that. Social media ads are a good example of programmatic buying – once you have an account, you can buy ads to your heart’s content, day or night.

In contrast, direct media buying brings more of a human touch – and expertise – to the whole process. It’s a little like the bricks-and-mortar version of shopping. 

Sure, you can buy almost anything online, but if you have questions or prefer more personalized service, you want to talk to a real human with expertise in the product being offered. 

Is Online Advertising Dead?

The rapidly shifting market of online advertising seems to bring up a common question: Is display advertising dead? 

The answer is no, with a caveat: as long as your advertising content is good. Ad blockers stop aggressive pop-up ads and auto-play content – basically the worst of the worst of interruption marketing. 

Some believe that newer players to the market, like TikTok and Instagram Reels, will eventually replace advertising as we know it. But it’s not an issue of replacement, otherwise television, radio, and newspaper ads would have disappeared long ago. Instead, it’s a matter of adapting and shifting gears. 

The name of the game? Capturing the audience’s attention. 

At Sparx, constant testing – and ad updates whenever needed – help ensure our clients’ messages never get boring or repetitive. 

Communicating value is the bottom line and leads to questions like: What does the audience want to buy? What’s in it for them? Or, as entrepreneur Seth Godin put it, “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”

At the end of the day, advertising is still big business, and it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. 

In 2020, Google’s advertising products created more than $426 billion of economic activity for two million businesses – in the US alone. And, on average, businesses pull in $2 for every $1 spent on ads on Google’s platform. Definitely nothing to sneeze at.

Want Help Creating Your Online Ad?

When it comes to growing your business, online advertising has an important role to play. If you need help getting started, or have questions, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. You can reach us here. 

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips Work Life & Culture

What We Learned From Working at Home

One of the side effects of living through a global pandemic has been the movement away from working together in offices and toward working remotely from home. For many, this has been a temporary move, in anticipation of an eventual return to physical offices. 

At Sparx, we were ideally positioned to go remote. But although we had a robust project management system already in place, moving to fully remote work was a full-scale stress test of our processes. We encountered our fair share of pitfalls doing marketing work from home. 

In the world of Sparx, marketing consists of Creative (Design and Copy), Technology, Management/Operational, and Data. Each of the spokes of our “marketing wheel” is essential to a project’s success, but the challenges of remote work manifest differently for each segment. Working from home has meant that communication is increasingly important for all of us. With all that in mind, here are some tips for working from home effectively from each segment of the Sparx Publishing team.

Creative Communication: Design

When working together in a physical office, it can be easy to rely on whiteboards and paper sketches to quickly exchange ideas with coworkers. Large amounts of information can be distilled into a loose sketch or a one-minute conversation. Working from home requires more of an investment in communication.

Headshot of Nicole

“When working in a physical office, it can be easy to rely on whiteboards and paper sketches to quickly exchange ideas with coworkers.”

Nicole Yeh, Graphic Designer

Getting Out of the House: Copy

Paying attention to what other companies or brands are doing to help employees maintain connection during this time is key. The world of remote work is new to many people and is in a period of rapid evolution. Keeping tabs on the conversation around communication outside your walls can help you stay up to speed while staying at home. 

Just as important as keeping tabs on what others are writing is keeping tabs on yourself. Take breaks to stretch or move around so that you’re not sitting and staring at a screen for hours at a time. Tired eyes lead to typos, and sitting in one place without breaks can kill your posture.

Headshot of Christine

“Take breaks to stretch or move around so that you’re not sitting and staring at a screen for hours at a time. Tired eyes lead to typos.”

Christine Nguyen, Copywriter

Creating compelling copy requires a writer to consume more information than they put out in their work. One of the risks of writing from home is a lack of outside stimulus. Part of this problem can be solved with more time for research – making sure your work is connected to and references the larger world – but you also need stimulation from outside. 

In practical terms, go for walks, talk to your friends on the phone, listen to music, and get out of the house whenever you can safely do so. The more you encounter the world outside your home, the more life you will inject into your writing.

Embracing Distractions: Tech

You can’t entirely separate work life from home life when you work from home. While it’s necessary to create some division, working from home means that in reality you will have to embrace, or find a way to cope with, some of the distractions that home life brings.

Family or roommates (or pets) might need your attention throughout the day, and it isn’t always healthy to ignore them in favour of productivity. If you have a crucial train of thought that can’t be interrupted, communicate a time when you can address their concerns. Put the conversation on hold for 10 or 15 minutes, and make sure that you follow up.

Headshot of Pedram

“If you feel blocked on a task, you can get up and give your dog some pets, be loud if you want, watch TV while you work if you can multitask, or listen to music.”

Pedram Milani, Web Developer

The distractions inherent in working from home can also be helpful. If you feel blocked on a task, you can get up and pet your dog, be loud if you want, listen to music, or watch a “background noise” TV show while you work if you need it to focus. 

Although the lack of structure when working from home can leave you feeling unmoored, embracing it allows you to adapt quickly and move between tasks to take advantage of the ebb and flow of productive energy. Working from home means you have perks such as being able to move your “office” around easily and also access your pantry full of snacks at any time, which you don’t necessarily have in a traditional office setting. Take advantage of these perks.

Having said that, some boundaries are essential. 

Make sure you clock out when you’re done work each day. Create some kind of physical separation between you and your workspace. Eat meals with your family, for both the health of your relationships and your own physical health. It’s a mixed blessing that it’s much easier to snack throughout the day when working from home. 

It can also be more difficult to be physically active if, for instance, you used to commute by bicycle or stop at a gym on the way to or from the office. To stay active, you have to be intentional about making it a priority, whether that means planning a bike ride first thing in the morning, a run after work, or a midday calisthenics break.

Engaging the Team: Data

Working remotely doesn’t really change day-to-day reporting and analytics-related activities, but it does change the way that information is communicated to others. With a shared physical office, information can be presented in person, making it collaborative and interactive, which in turn makes it easier for an audience to understand.

Headshot of Anikita

“Working remotely hasn’t really changed my day-to-day reporting and analytics-related activities, but the way I communicate with people has really changed.”

Ankita Goyal, Marketing Analyst

When presenting data and analytics in a remote-work environment, it’s important to engage with the audience during a presentation. Ask for feedback and questions to make it more collaborative. As much as possible, tailor your presentation to everyone on the call. If people feel like they are getting some value out of a presentation, they will be more focused, making your job easier. 

This is important in generating data as well. Engage with your team proactively, and chat with anyone who can help with the project. It makes your reporting more relevant if you know your team and their needs better. To that end, make sure to clarify the scope of projects with as much fidelity as possible. Employ video calls for briefings to make sure that expectations and scope are clear for everyone involved.

Cutting Through the Chatter: Operations

Communication is key when working from home, but it can be easy to get sucked into a never-ending stream of instant messages, emails, and job ticket comments. If you notice that people are going back and forth endlessly in messages or emails, schedule a quick conference call to get everyone on the same page. It’s better to take some time to talk things through than to have a dozen text-based conversations going at once.

Headshot of Alex

“After six hours of video calls in a day, your productivity will drop to zero. Try to space out meetings if you can, to allow for some quiet work throughout the day.”

Alexandra Nikitina, Marketing Manager

While meetings are an essential tool for cutting through the chatter, remember that Zoom fatigue is a real issue. After six hours of video calls in a day, your productivity will drop to zero. Try to space out meetings if you can, to allow for some quiet work throughout the day.

Finally, information is key when working from home. Producing and sharing information online – whether through words, graphics, charts, or analytics – continues to be important and powerful, keeping us all aware, informed, and connected regarding everything happening at work and in the broader marketing world.

Bringing It All Back Home

Doing marketing work from home has its own set of challenges, but leaning into effective communication can make your team just as agile as when working in the office together. Working from home can boost creativity and productivity, and teams that lean into their strengths will continue to produce high-quality results.

If you need help marketing your business, whether your company works from physical offices or from home, or if you have any other content marketing inquiries, contact Sparx Publishing Group today – we’d be more than happy to help! You can reach us here. 

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Impact Inspiration & Initiatives Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

3 TED Talks to Inspire You to Make the World Better

Here at Sparx Publishing Group, we enjoy hearing and sharing great stories.   

But what makes a story stand out? A good story captures the audience’s attention with content that is interesting. An even better story, we think, leaves a lasting impact and inspires you to change the world.

Sparx is always on the lookout for interesting content to share with our readers, so we have compiled a list of three must-see TED Talks that we believe encapsulate the essence of our motto of “content to make the world better.” 

Telling a Great Story

How do you tell a good, or even great, story? Sparx shares a TED Talk that focuses on how you can effectively share your message with others and get people to listen.

Seth Godin: How to get your ideas to spread

“The thing that’s going to decide what gets talked about, what gets done, what gets changed, what gets purchased, what gets built, is: ‘Is it remarkable?’”

In this presentation from a TED conference in 2003, marketing entrepreneur and blogger Seth Godin discusses his popular “purple cow” marketing concept. Organizations must stand out in a world that is already bombarded with too much “ordinary” content. To get noticed, you must be “remarkable,” like a purple cow.

Godin states, “‘Remarkable’ is a really cool word because we think it just means ‘neat,’ but it also means ‘worth making a remark about.’” He adds that in order to capture the attention of others and get ideas to spread, thought leaders must appeal to a defined audience that cares. How do you get them to care? It starts with finding like-minded people who share your business’s common interests. 

These pointers are important for companies, such as Sparx, that strive to share and create interesting content that makes the world better and to spark positive change in the world around them. 

Expanding Your Mission

Sparx believes it is important to highlight the positive outcomes of sharing a compelling story – or, in this case, hundreds of thousands of stories. In the next TED Talk, you’ll learn how an experiment by one radio producer blossomed into the “largest single collection of human voices ever gathered.”  

Dave Isay: Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear

“[The] simple act of being interviewed could mean so much to people, particularly those who had been told that their stories didn’t matter.”

In 2003, Dave Isay had the “crazy idea” of setting up a booth in New York’s Grand Central Terminal where individuals could bring someone to share a personal story in 40 minutes. This experiment quickly gained momentum and StoryCorps – an ongoing oral history project – was born.

In his 2015 TED Talk, Isay shares how having a meaningful discussion with someone can become an important moment in the lives of everyone involved. Through StoryCorps, Isay has shared an array of stories from a diverse group of individuals who range in age, race, and socioeconomic background. On why he feels so many individuals are impacted by these conversations, Isay says, “You’re hearing something authentic and pure at this moment.” He adds, “So many of these are just everyday people talking about lives lived with kindness, courage, decency, and dignity.”

Following his TED Talk, Isay was named the winner of the 2015 TED Prize and awarded $1 million to expand his storytelling platform. Today, more than half a million Americans have recorded their conversations for StoryCorp’s archive at the Library of Congress, and the project has garnered widespread attention.

Spreading Good in the Community

Finally, Sparx wants to share a presentation that showcases a thought leader whose innovative ideas led to bold actions that are making the world better today.

Ron Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA

“Food affects the mind and the body.”

In this TED Talk from 2013, Ron Finley – also known as the “Gangsta Gardener” – shines a light on the rising obesity rate in South Central LA, an impoverished area that has an overabundance of fast-food restaurants and minimal access to fresh produce and healthy foods.

As a result, Finley, along with a group of volunteer gardeners from LA Green Grounds, started planting communal vegetable gardens in unconventional areas, such as abandoned lots and along curbs. His initiative was met with challenges when the city issued a citation and demanded that he remove the gardens. However, the Los Angeles Times shared his story, and people who shared his vision circulated a petition that helped him get permission for the curbside community gardens.

Finley’s actions highlight how a spark of an idea and a commitment to change, no matter how small, can make a lasting impact on the world. In addition to feeding residents, he is using his gardens as an opportunity to train youths to become more involved in the community and to lead sustainable lives. Finley states, “I have witnessed my garden become a tool for education, a tool for the transformation of my neighbourhood.” 

Let Sparx Help You Make the World Better

If you have an idea that you would love to see come to life, or if you have any marketing-related inquiries, don’t hesitate to reach out to Sparx! We’d love to work with you and help your vision come to fruition. Feel free to contact us here.  

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

How to Create a Successful Business Blog

What does a successful corporate blog entail? In the first and second installments of our three-part series on blogging, we analyzed the potential benefits and challenges of starting and maintaining a business blog.

If, after reading the two previous blog posts, you believe that the pros of content marketing outweigh the cons and are leaning toward a corporate blog as the right choice for your business, then read on for tips and examples of putting together a successful blog.

A Successful Business Blog Starts With a Clear Purpose

As mentioned in the first installment, 4 Benefits of Having a Business Blog, the core advantages of having a corporate blog are flexibility, connection, ownership, and authority. To reap these benefits, it is critical for your company to develop a corporate blog that provides consistent content that readers find interesting and that aligns with your company’s objectives.

How can you do this? The first step is to determine your blog’s core purpose.

A corporate blog can help you promote and fulfill your company’s mission, such as increasing brand awareness, generating sales and revenue, or sharing knowledge on a matter that your business is passionate about. It can help you solidify your brand and demonstrate your expertise. 

Once your blog’s primary purpose is established, you can more easily determine your target audience and create content that provides value for that audience. In doing so, your corporate blog will help you cut through the noise in a world overloaded with marketing content. You will be able to nurture and build lasting relationships with your readers, and if done correctly, your audience will be more likely to think of your brand and promote it via word-of-mouth marketing. 

At Sparx Publishing Group, for example, we generate content that not only brings value to our audiences but also stays true to our mission of creating “content to make the world better.” 

Our blog’s core purpose is to “amplify better” by using our platform to showcase stories of individuals and organizations (including ourselves) working to make the world better. 

Sparx provides tips for fellow marketers, raises awareness for important causes, and brings interesting topics of discussion to light. The content on our blog is an important vehicle for connecting to our readers and making a positive impact on the world.

Three Examples of Successful Business Blogs 

Today, there are many great examples of successful blogs to emulate. Three examples that Sparx finds particularly interesting are from IBM, Seth Godin, and Garth Turner – all of which help make the world better by providing readers with valuable information that they can use to improve both their professional and personal lives. 

IBM, also known as the International Business Machines Corporation, is a multinational technology and management consulting company that is committed to “creating innovations that matter for the world.” IBM highlights their thought leadership with a catalogue of blogs on various topics catering to a wide range of clients from different communities, including software, social, cloud, business, and more. The depth and variety of blogs showcase the breadth of their technology expertise, and cements their reputation as a trusted thought leader in the consulting space. One great example, the Watson Blog, demonstrates their proprietary, cutting-edge AI platform and the ways IBM’s innovations are shaping the current business landscape. By sharing knowledge through their blogs, IBM is also able to encourage forward-thinking change in society, which helps meet their mission of creating a “smarter planet.”

Seth Godin is an American best-selling author, entrepreneur, and speaker who has launched “one of the most popular blogs in the world.” His blog, seths.blog, shares his wealth of knowledge from the worlds of marketing and business, providing helpful insights and tips for his readers. 

What makes this blog stand out? Godin brings value to his audiences by sharing content that is unconventional, or even weird. His blog is a “purple cow,” which is “a term he popularized that describes ‘something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable.’” Importantly, Godin is able to consistently create and share posts every day, which provides readers with a reason to come back regularly to stay connected to Godin’s content and business endeavours.

Another successful business blog example is GreaterFool.ca, a blog by the Honourable J. Garth Turner. A former member of the Canadian House of Commons, Turner is a Canadian business journalist, best-selling author, entrepreneur, financial advisor, and speaker. The Greater Fool blog shares Turner’s wisdom on economics, real estate, and finance, as well as his perspectives on current events. Like Godin’s blog, Turner’s captures attention from a well-established niche audience with a consistent schedule (he posts almost daily) and content that is of great value and interest to his readers. The success of this blog has in turn helped generate exposure, revenue and new clients for Turner’s investment business, Turner Investments.

Other Ways to Elevate Your Business  

While business blogs are a great way to enhance most businesses, maintaining a blog might not be the right choice for every company. As outlined in the second installment of this series, 4 Reasons a Company Blog Might Be Wrong for Your Business, the drawbacks of maintaining a corporate blog are commitment, continuity, competition, and cost.

If your company does not have the resources to start and maintain a consistent blog, you can allocate your resources toward alternative strategies and tools for sustaining your business. 

For instance, you can focus your efforts on sharing content through social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Pinterest. By using social media, your brand can capture readers’ attention without exerting the same time and energy that is needed to research and write longer blog articles. Social media provides quick snippets of quality content that are easily digestible for readers – in fact, “Twitter originally billed itself as a ‘microblogging service’” – and is also an efficient way to engage with your audience.

Other ways you can elevate your business without a blog include email newsletters and paid Google advertisements. Newsletters provide your stakeholders with up-to-date announcements without the pressure of a high publishing cadence, while paid media ads on Google can help you attract new potential clients and customers.   

Sparx Publishing Group Can Help With Your Business Blog

No matter which digital communication tool you choose for connecting with your audience – whether it be a business blog or otherwise – these tools are important for the success of your brand and are invaluable to helping you promote your company’s purpose.

If you need help starting, planning or managing an effective corporate blog, or if you have any other content marketing inquiries, contact Sparx Publishing Group today – we’d be more than happy to help! You can reach us here. 

Categories
Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

3 Marketing Thought Leaders You Need to Know

Whether you’re thriving in your career or feeling a little stuck, it helps to look to those who have forged their own path in new and innovative ways. These three marketing thought leaders are sure to spark inspiration.

Seth Godin

To see marketing through a new lens, seek out the work of Seth Godin. The entrepreneur and author has a unique perspective on marketing and its purpose. And he shares that information through 20 best-selling books and a widely read blog that has been updated daily for over a decade (that’s more than 7,000 posts, for those keeping count). He’s known for pioneering ideas such as permission marketing, which directly challenges the more common interruption marketing that overloads consumers with ads.

To Godin, marketing often boils down to a story to tell or problem to be solved. He uses as an example a problem he encountered during a trip to India with VisionSpring, which sells affordable glasses in developing countries. He noticed that only a third of those who tried on glasses proceeded to buy them. Why was that? Those trying on glasses needed them, and the price was within reach. So he reframed (no pun intended) the challenge and instead handed people their new glasses and said, “If they work and you like them, please pay us three dollars. If you don’t, give them back.” The result? Sales doubled, simply by changing the scenario from paying to have something to paying to keep it. And in doing so, they helped twice as many people see clearly.

Another Way Seth Godin Is Making the World Better

Godin believes in working to fix systemic problems, not just to address emergencies. He’s written and spoken about the need for nonprofits to challenge the status quo and to embrace failure as an unavoidable part of innovation.

Simon Sinek

If you want to be inspired, look no further than author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek. He describes himself as an “unshakable optimist” and has made a career of motivating both leaders and organizations. Sinek may be best known for his 2009 TEDx talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action. It’s the second-most-watched TED talk of all time (no big deal), with over 53 million views. During his talk, he explains how the best leaders are able to articulate the “why” of what they do.

Interestingly, that talk led him to new ideas on trust – ideas that became more concrete following a trip to a military base in Afghanistan, where he was bumped from his flight and had no idea when he might get home. At first he panicked, but then he realized his reaction was like a selfish boss, more concerned with himself than others. When he finally was able to fly home, in the belly of a cargo plane, he shared the trip with the flag-draped casket of a fallen soldier. He called that experience an honour, and it solidified his thoughts on trust – not just through actions, but through environment, too – which eventually became a book, Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, and another TED talk that, you guessed it, has been viewed millions of times.

In short, Sinek wants us to find our dream job – one that inspires us, makes us feel safe, and has incredible leadership at its core. 

Another Way Simon Sinek Is Making the World Better

An eternal optimist who has helped the leaders of countless companies to be better at leading, Sinek is also active in the nonprofit world, which he prefers to call the for-impact world.

Marie Forleo

When Oprah herself dubs someone a thought leader, we sit up and take notice. That’s why we can’t help but pay attention to best-selling author and entrepreneur Marie Forleo. Her goal is to inspire others to find fulfillment through her books such as Everything is Figureoutable, YouTube web series MarieTV, podcast, and online business school.

Her trajectory was an indirect route: She waited tables, cleaned toilets, worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and was even one of the world’s first Nike Elite Dance Athletes before she discovered her niche. So how did she end up founding one of Inc.’s 500 fastest-growing companies? Well, if you asked her, she’d tell you this: optimism. It’s an outlook that helped lift the self-made millionaire out of debt and turned her into a global brand that inspires many. Oh, and earned her a nod of approval from none other than Oprah Winfrey.

For Forleo, optimism isn’t about sugar-coating, it’s about asking, “What’s next?” That’s what makes the obstacles we face “figureoutable.”

Another Way Marie Forleo Is Making the World Better

Forleo is actively involved with an array of nonprofit organizations, including Charity: Water, Malala Fund, and Kiva.

Find More Inspiration

If you have any inquiries about content marketing, or you would like to discuss how your company can inspire others through your own marketing efforts, feel free to reach out to Sparx Publishing Group here.

Categories
Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

4 Reasons a Company Blog Might Be Wrong for Your Business

While it’s important to have a strong digital presence, starting a corporate blog might not be the right strategy for every business. The digital landscape is already crowded with content, and creating a blog puts your company in competition with many other content producers.

It’s important to take a big picture approach to your business objectives when it comes to communications and marketing. Analyze the time and effort that your business will need to invest to make your corporate blog successful. If you’re already stretched for time, a blog might not be right for your business and you may want to consider alternatives, such as paid advertising, to getting your company noticed by digital audiences.

A Business Blog Requires Commitment

For a company blog to be successful, it needs to become part of your business processes.

Some successful bloggers, such as marketing expert Seth Godin, strongly recommend posting every single day. Hubspot, a leading content marketing firm, recommends three to four new posts every week for a smaller blog, and four to five posts per week for a larger blog, in order to drive organic traffic. For purposes of brand awareness, they recommend one to two times a week for small blogs and three to four times for large blogs.

These numbers aren’t a hard-and-fast rule, so it is important to learn what your desired audience is interested in tuning into. If your business publishes too many posts for the type or size of your brand, it can lead to a diluted audience and burnout for your team.

However many posts you intend to publish, it’s important to integrate content creation into your business practices. If the time commitment isn’t accounted for and scheduled, then a company blog is often the first project to get pushed back, leaving your audience wondering what happened.

Maintaining Continuity Is Difficult

For any type of media, from magazines to TV shows, audiences have a set of expectations for consistent content. If a reader picks up an issue of Forbes magazine and finds articles about plumbing instead of business or entrepreneurship, they likely won’t read the magazine again.

The same is true for blogs. Readers expect thematic and narrative continuity, and they won’t become return visitors if you don’t provide that.

Depending on your business, having enough variation in your content to keep it interesting, while still maintaining thematic continuity, requires investing the time in planning.

If your business addresses a niche market, your corporate blog might struggle to find enough new or interesting things to talk about. Conversely, if your business addresses too broad a range of topics, your blog might risk alienating your desired audience.

Your business blog also needs to be published consistently. If you set a schedule for posting but start missing weeks or months, your readership will drop off considerably. Audiences have short attention spans, and if you don’t stick to your schedule, they will move on quickly.

Audiences also look for narrative continuity. A series of posts on a particular issue keep readers engaged and coming back for the next installment. If you want to court return readership, you have to plan your content calendar strategically, which requires, you guessed it, time and attention.

If time is something your organization can’t spare, you won’t be able to maximize the return readership of your corporate blog and might be better off scaling back or going without one – at least until you have time or resources.

Competition in the Blogging Space Is Fierce

It’s tempting to think about the internet as a space with infinite capacity for more business blogs. And while that may be true in theory, in reality your audience does not have infinite capacity.

Each reader can follow only so many sources of content, and your company’s blog is simply one node in a vast digital ecosystem of content. To put it simply: You are competing for the attention of your audience against a whole world of digital content – more content than anyone could possibly consume in a lifetime.

Adding to that, the world of blogging constantly changes and evolves, requiring you to learn new tools, new rules for SEO, and new best practices for web development. If your company already struggles to stay on the cutting edge of technology or digital change, your corporate blog will quickly get left behind.

To make sure people read your company’s blog, you may need to promote your posts. It’s not enough to simply publish on your website. You may need to push out notifications to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites meaning that your small blog project scope will be larger and more costly.

You might want to consider promoting your corporate blog with paid advertisements. It might sound counterintuitive, but acquiring ongoing readers who will expand your reach by sharing your content on social media often requires an initial monetary investment in ads.

Beware of the Hidden Costs of Blogging

Even if you do everything right, plan your content months in advance, post regularly with interesting content, and promote your corporate blog appropriately, it still might never generate interest or become “popular.” It might fail.

Internet audiences can be fickle, and they may simply not resonate with your work. If this happens, you will have invested a lot of time and money, with little to no upside.

At the end of the day, your corporate blog will take time and effort to cultivate. If your company doesn’t have the time to build it up slowly, you’ll be disappointed by early failures and potentially pull the plug on the project before it has a proper chance to take off.

Being aware of the challenges your business blog might face and the costs it might incur, will help you maintain hope if success doesn’t come quickly.

Learn More About Business Blogs

Be sure to read our next installment in this three-part series, where we will compare the pros and cons of having a business blog and ultimately help you decide if starting a blog is right for your company.

If you have questions about getting the most out of your corporate blog, or any other content marketing inquiries, feel free to reach out to Sparx Publishing Group here.

Categories
Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

Marketing Terms You Need to Know

Sparx Publishing Group has compiled a list of the key marketing terms that every successful businessperson should know.

Note: We will frequently update this blog and add more key terms down the road, so check back regularly.

What You Need to Know

Blog

A blog is a regularly updated website that provides readers with viewpoints on a variety of topics. There are two main types of blogs: a business blog, which is run by a company, or a personal blog, which is updated by an individual person.

Business Blog

Often referred to as a corporate blog or professional blog, a business blog shares updates and perspectives on a range of topics related to a company. This type of blog releases professional content with the needs of its core audience and stakeholders in mind.

See also: Personal Blog

Call to Action (CTA)

A call to action (CTA) is a marketing term that refers to the next step a company wants a potential customer to take. A business may use a corporate blog to entice readers to sign up for a particular service or to make a purchase. For example, a brand may end a piece of marketing material with a catchy CTA such as “Subscribe to Our Newsletter!” or “Download Your Free Ebook Now!”

Content

Content refers to any marketing material that is created and distributed to a company’s target audience. In order to attract readers to their brand, a company must publish content that is valuable, relevant, and consistent with their audience’s needs and interests. Content can include articles, ebooks, social media posts, videos, podcasts, or webinars, to name a few.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a marketing strategy used to help a business garner the attention of a defined target audience. A business can appeal to their target audience by strategically distributing relevant and consistent content that caters to the audience’s needs and wants. This marketing approach helps a business reach their goals, such as increased sales or email registrations, for example.

Earned Media

Earned media is any content that has been published or broadcast about a business that has not been written or paid for by that company. This type of media is produced by a third party and can include news coverage, an article, or a social media post. Earned media helps a business build brand awareness and publicity in an organic manner. One form of earned media is word-of-mouth marketing.

See also: Paid Media

Interruption Marketing

Interruption marketing interrupts the customer’s experience to show them promotional messages. The audience does not have to give their consent to receive such messages. Interruption marketing is often characterized in negative terms, such as annoying and disrupting. An example of interruption marketing is telemarketing phone calls. Other terms for interruption marketing include interruptive marketing, interrupt marketing, traditional marketing, direct marketing, and outbound marketing. The opposite of interruption marketing is permission marketing.

See also: Permission Marketing

Lead

In the world of marketing, a lead refers to a potential customer and client. Marketing efforts aim to generate new leads and then convert them – or, in other words, acquire new customers and get them to respond to a call to action, such as visiting a website or making a purchase.

Similar to earned media, paid media helps a business garner attention and awareness. Unlike earned media, however, paid media involves marketing efforts that a company has purchased. It includes traditional advertisements and commercials.

See also: Earned Media

Permission Marketing

With permission marketing, the audience is given the choice to opt in to receive promotional messages. The audience must consent to receive such messages. Permission marketing is often characterized in positive terms, such as personal and relevant. An example of permission marketing is opt-in email newsletters. The opposite of permission marketing is interruption marketing.

See also: Interruption Marketing

Personal Blog

A personal blog is usually written by one person who shares their viewpoints on a wide range of topics. Unlike a professional blog, the writer can write and release content as they see fit, without a focus on the audience’s specific needs.

See also: Business Blog

Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing is a form of earned media. If a business releases something buzzworthy, then organic discussions about that particular brand, product, or service occur. These discussions can influence others to look into the brand, product, or service, thereby building awareness for the company. Word-of-mouth marketing is a cost-effective way to generate buzz.

Ask Us Anything

If you have any additional questions, or if you require any marketing-related assistance, feel free to reach the qualified marketing experts at Sparx Publishing Group.

You can contact us here, email us at [email protected], or call us at (604) 488-1097. We’d love to hear from you!