Insights — dansalva

Read this before your business posts another thing to the social channels

There is a place for your business in your connections’ social channels. But it requires sensitivity and a relentless focus on your prospect’s needs.

Content MarketingDan SalvaApril 16, 2015content marketing, social media marketing

The “American Owned” porn shop: brilliant branding or cognitive bias running amuck?

Maybe labeling your porn shop as "American Owned" is a brilliant branding move. Or maybe it's cognitive bias running amuck.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaApril 10, 2015Branding, Cognitive bias

Getting the tools out of the way of the storytelling

I’m excited about the possibilities. Because now we can spend less time trying to hack a platform, and more time on compelling storytelling.

Brand storytellingDan SalvaApril 2, 2015brand storytelling, storytelling

Your app needs Less Design!

We need great designers to help us create something that’s beautiful in its simplicity and efficiency. Something I'm characterizing as "Less Design".

Strategic innovationDan SalvaMarch 27, 2015app design, simple

Your brand story is so much more than just what you do

We need to tell prospects more than what we are. We need to tell them why we matter in their lives. That is at the heart of your brand story.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaMarch 20, 2015Brand Story, Branding

Has creativity lost its value?

Combine creativity with the technology and you have the opportunity to create something exponentially more powerful.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaMarch 12, 2015Creativity, customer experience

Customer experience planning fights your worst enemy: you.

Customer experience is about understanding what the customer wants throughout their journey and iterating to continuously improve what you're delivering.

Mobile content - or is your storytelling smartphone ready?

Mobile usage continues to expand making it more important than ever to understand how to optimize the experience around for mobile content.

User ExperienceDan SalvaFebruary 26, 2015Mobile content, user experience

Use customer experience mapping to find your organization’s “magic moments”

Customer experience mapping uncovers opportunities to offer your prospect great information, tools, and stories that draw them closer to your brand.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaFebruary 19, 2015customer experience, Customer journey mapping

Want to create something exceptional? Start with an exceptional creative strategy.

So before we design something. Before we put witty words to paper. Let’s put our creative strategy to the test. Let’s ask these four questions.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaFebruary 12, 2015Strategic innovation, strategy

The tricky balance of evidence gathering in customer experience design

The evidence gathering effort should match the project parameters (budget, timeline, etc). So how do you decide what the customer experience deserves?

Strategic innovationDan SalvaFebruary 4, 2015customer experience, Strategic innovation

Optimize for aspirations and inspiration

Unless we want to compete solely on price, we need to optimize for more than search. We need to optimize for the things that our prospects really want.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaJanuary 29, 2015Aspirations, Inspiration, Optimize

Disruptors can’t match the power of the Beautiful Question

Asking a Beautiful Question feels positive while being a disruptor feels negative. Being negative is easy. Being engaging and inclusive takes work.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaJanuary 20, 2015Strategic planning, Strategic thinking

2 things every marketing student should study

Understand the numbers and the humans who generate those numbers. In the future, it will become the price to play in marketing.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaJanuary 13, 2015Data analysis, Human behavior

Headline writing that overpromises: the super critical facts you absolutely must know or risk abject failure

It takes more over-hyped headline writing. Your audience knows what you're up to and they will treat you according to the route you take.

Content MarketingDan SalvaJanuary 6, 2015content marketing, Headline

Understanding customer behavior to power your marketing

Behavioral study can unlock some valuable strategic direction. There are some simple ways to get started. See what it can do for your efforts

Strategic innovationDan SalvaDecember 31, 2014customer behavior, Strategic innovation

Add a little joy to your storytelling

It’s nice to step back and think about how our storytelling could have a positive effect on our readers’ lives.

Brand storytellingDan SalvaDecember 24, 2014brand storytelling

Want better customers? Start with better storytelling.

Cultivating better customers starts with storytelling. Because it allows us to tap into our most powerful marketing tool – our prospects' imagination.

Brand storytellingDan SalvaDecember 17, 2014brand storytelling, storytelling

Taking the mystery out of easily generating quality leads

Generating quality leads takes focus and strategy. Here are four steps that can help add that to your efforts to connect with those quality leads.

Strategic innovationDan SalvaDecember 10, 2014Lead generation, Strategic marketing

Want better storytelling? Go old school.

Going old school means thinking about your storytelling as a campaign. It's an old term from the world of advertising. But it's worth rediscovering.

Brand storytellingDan SalvaDecember 3, 2014brand storytelling, campaign