(MANCHESTER, NH | BOSTON, MA) – Millennium Integrated Marketing (Millennium) is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of two 2017 Communicator Awards and a 2017 Aster Award in recognition of the agency’s accomplishments in website design and development. Specifically, these website awards recognized the work Millennium completed for Franklin Savings Bank, Microcatheter Components, and Sheehan Phinney.
About the Communicator Awards
The 23rd Annual Communicator Awards, an annual awards program presented by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA), honors creative excellence in advertising, communications, public relations, and identity work in print, video, and interactive media. Among 6,000+ entries, Millennium won the competition’s top honor, a Communicator Award of Excellence, for the redesign of the Sheehan Phinney website in the General-Law and Legal Services category, as well as a Communicator Award of Distinction for the redesign of the Franklin Savings Bank website in the General-Banking/Bill Paying category.
In order to earn the distinction of Excellence Winner, Millennium’s Sheehan Phinney website had to receive a score of at least 90 on the judges’ 100-point scale. Other notable 2017 Communicator Award of Excellence winners included: The Eisner Foundation website, the Tulane University website redesign, and the eCommerce site for the discount retailer, Big Lots. To learn more about the Communicator Awards and to view a full list of winners, visit: www.communicatorawards.com.
About the Aster Awards
Since 2002, The Aster Awards hosted by Marketing Healthcare Today magazine and Creative Images, Inc have recognized marketing professionals and businesses for exemplifying outstanding excellence in healthcare advertising, marketing, and communications. The 2017 Aster Awards received nearly 3,000 entries from across the United States, and Millennium was selected among those entrants as a Bronze Award winner in the Medical Devices/Equipment Company – Websites category for the design and development of the Microcatheter Components website.
Judged on creativity, layout and design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality, and overall appeal, Millennium had to earn a score of 85 to 89 out of 100 possible points to receive the 2017 Bronze Award. To learn more about The Aster Awards and see all the 2017 award winners, visit: www.asterawards.com.
“It is an honor to be recognized for our for digital technology and website design efforts,” states Linda A. Fanaras, President of Millennium. “We pride ourselves in building clean, modern websites that create an intuitive user experience across devices, and place information at the forefront of design.”
About Millennium Integrated Marketing
Millennium is an award-winning boutique digital marketing agency helping clients build powerful digital marketing, content/social and public relations strategies that capture market share and accelerate growth. Nationally recognized as a women-owned business (WBE and WOSB certified) and certified Google AdWords, Bing, SharpSpring, and HubSpot Agency Partner, the firm works with consumer, technology, healthcare, higher education and non-profits. With offices in Manchester, NH and Boston, visit the firm on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. For more information, call Linda Fanaras at 877-873-7445 or visit www.mill-im.com.
While many of us would probably rather go to the dentist than face a room full of people and give a presentation, the ability to an engage an audience and motivate action is an essential part of any professional’s tool belt. In fact, 70% of working professionals cite presentation skills as critical to career success. Mastering the art of the presentation or pitch, takes time and practice.
Here are five general commandments to live by when trying to win over an audience and deliver a killer presentation.
1. Command Attention (from the very beginning)
First impressions are often everything, it’s up to you to make them count. The second you walk into the room, you set the tone for the entire presentation. Non-verbal cues, from tone of voice to body language, influence the impact of your words. By projecting confidence with the tenor of your voice and your gestures, you encourage confidence – trust – in your message.
2. Establish a Connection
“The goal of effective communication should be for listeners to say ‘Me too!’ versus ‘So what?’”
– Jim Rohn
Truly powerful presentations evoke emotions and engage the audience by demonstrating that even apparently different people share common experiences. Interacting with your audience and telling your own story – these are the kinds of things that lend authenticity to your message and provide a reason for the audience to listen.
3. Know Your Stuff
The ultimate downfall of many presentations, more often than not, is a lack of clarity. A confused message always translates to a confused audience. Effective presenters are prepared, trust their knowledge on the topic, and can focus on being responsive to the audience rather than just the communication or delivery information. It’s also important to actual believe what you’re saying. If you’ve dismissed the message, so too will your audience.
4. Provide Proof
Support what you say with statistics and provide evidence of your credibility. Data when used in the proper context, strengthens your message by validating your claims and establishing your expertise in the subject matter.
5.Create ‘Flow’
A good presenter drives the conversation, leading the audience towards an intuitive, logical conclusion – the presentation’s purpose. Design all presentations with an end in mind. By defining a concrete outcome, you can organize information to build a roadmap to the desired result.
The Takeaway
“Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it: To Whom It May Concern.”
– Ken Haemer
In the end, everything essentially boils down to the value you can offer your audience, and that starts with knowing them, what they want, and yes, sometimes what they need. When you take the time to understand your audience, impactful presentations and all that they entail will naturally follow.
View the published article in Prime Women here.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a national, award-winning, digital, creative, content/PR, and video marketing firm. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, our team unites creative branding and data analytics to accelerate our clients’ growth, while combining our clients’ vision with our marketing expertise to increase sales opportunities and drive brand success. From video advertising and web design to social media and PR, Millennium can guide your marketing efforts every step of the way. Contact the professionals at Millennium Agency to learn more!
Linda Fanaras is the President and Founder of Millennium Agency (www.mill.agency) located in Manchester, NH, and Boston. She can be reached at 877-873-7445 or [email protected].
Today’s PR professionals can no longer avoid the impact social media has on the industry. Here’s why:
- 58% of millennials purchasing decisions being influenced by ads on social media in the United States as of June 2021
- 76% of journalists say they think about their story’s social media sharing ability
Now more than ever, an effective social media PR strategy is so important, especially when running marketing for a small business.
Take advantage of these five ways to use social media to advance your public relations campaign.
1. Develop Relationships with the Media and Influencers
Public relations professionals and social media marketers understand the role of relationships in the media industry. By interacting with journalists, media outlets, and influencers on social media, you extend the professional relationship beyond the press release pitch. This increases the chances of gaining media coverage with the right outlets.
When developing these pertinent relationships, use social media to share relevant information, provide value, and extend the conversation. Do not bombard media contacts with pitches, requests, or press releases via social media as this is seen as spammy and a waste of their time. Ensure the nature of your public relationship is professional and good for both parties at all times.
2. Facilitate the Brand Message through Content Distribution
Distributing original and branded content to a targeted audience is a tried-and-true social media tactic. In addition, it allows public relations teams to strategically facilitate the brand message online. By having control of the type of content shared, and the copywriting within the post, PR pros ensure the proper brand message is sent each time.
If you are curating content to distribute on your brand’s social media accounts, make sure the content is aligned with brand values and the public relations campaign objectives. Otherwise, you will share irrelevant content with your audience.
If you are hesitant to take on managing your own content distribution channel, seeking a marketing agency for social media could be a good option. A marketing agency or social media agency will use the best analytics for social media and trusted industry data available to manage your social media posts, implement a posting schedule for your social media as often as you prefer, and improve your overall social media marketing and advertising strategy using the best social media management tools on the market.
3. Incorporate Social Sharing into Press Releases
A simple, yet effective way to integrate social media into a public relations campaign is by adding social sharing capabilities to press releases. This allows readers and media outlets to distribute your intended message online in seconds.
Embedding relevant social media links and posts into your press releases also promotes social sharing and engagement among readers.
4. Create and Leverage Campaign Hashtags
Hashtags, while initially used to follow conversations online, can be a strategic tool for public relations objectives. By creating and leveraging specific campaign hashtags on social media platforms, PR teams can accomplish the following:
- Monitor customer conversations centered around the particular campaign
- Understand how the campaign is performing among intended audiences
- Engage in user/customer conversations online
- Ensure campaign and brand content is easily searchable
When using hashtags, make sure they are appropriate, easily recognized, and contribute to the brand message.
5. Real-Time Crisis Management
Public relations professionals are responsible for extinguishing all online crises that may lead to a negative brand reputation. Social media platforms allow brands, and PR teams alike, to respond in real-time to situations and/or customer conversations. With the growing ability for customers to interact directly with brands online, PR teams must take advantage of the “instant” nature of social media to tackle crises and maintain a positive online reputation for the brand.
Pair Social Media and Public Relations for Ongoing Success
Social media is more crucial than ever in the public relations industry—elevate your brand equity with an effective social media strategy.
What would you do with more time to strategize and grow your business?
We are passionate about providing business owners and marketing departments with more time to grow while generating creatively brilliant results using digital, PR, web design, branding, and marketing strategies. Send us a message telling us your pain points on social media or any other aspect of your business marketing. We will schedule a free 30-minute consultation to get to know you and discuss your growth goals.