Jessica Swesey

💡 B2B Newsletter Tip: You don’t need lengthy, formal emails to engage your audience. In fact, short, creative formats can work wonders in B2B marketing! Here are a few simple ideas: 3-Bullet Update: Quick, impactful points—an industry insight, a company update, and a practical tip. 5-Minute Interview: A quick Q&A with an expert, delivering valuable insights. Content Roundup: Curate high-value articles, saving readers time with key takeaways. Customer Spotlight: Share a brief success story showcasing your solution's impact. One Thing to Try: A quick actionable tip with a clear call to action. Keep it simple. Keep it valuable. Less really can be more!

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This column is for my strategic and crisis communication peers. "Inreach" is a real word. And a solid Inreach strategy can enhance a meaningful Outreach Strategy. #internalcommunications #strategiccommunications #outreach #engagement

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Good episode of 'Search Off The Record' covering a confusing topic for site owners and SEOs -- hreflang and internationalization. Includes... LDCP - 'Language demotion, country promotion', the lang attribute in html (and if Google cares about it), when and how to use x-default, the 'hreflang magic trick' (which I have written about several times), how only canonicals are reported in GSC (and why that can be frustrating for site owners/SEOs), why hreflang can work faster when provided via html (versus sitemaps), learn if hreflang used for discovery, and more. #google #seo

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As someone with nearly 40 years of professional writing and editing experience, including launching six business magazines like Internet Retailer, I can confidently say that the written word still matters. Tossing a few general thoughts into an AI chat box or document won't cut it if you aim for impactful communication. Great writing is simple, clear, and direct. Think back to those essays we all wrote in high school. Business writing, whether short or long, follows the same principles: State your theme: Start with a clear thesis or main idea. Make your points and back them up: Provide evidence or examples to support your argument. Summarize and close: Wrap it up neatly to leave a lasting impression. For those seeking guidance, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White remains as relevant today as it was decades ago. It’s a timeless guide to effective writing. Class dismissed!

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Check out how I approach editing human-written content vs AI-generated content. (Secret: There's always a human in the loop!)

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If you thought you could do away with all your content and SEO people now that Google is offering AI generated responses, think again. Unless you're ok with AI telling people to "jump off the Golden Gate Bridge" if they're depressed, "add non toxic glue" to their cooking, "run with scissors" for cardio exercise, and "smoke 3-4 cigarettes a day when pregnant" - I'm not kidding, check out other examples in this article: https://lnkd.in/gWT_vw6T I've spent almost 15 years working in content in some form. It's much more complex than many people think. But I don't need AI to create content, I need it to help solve critical, complex world issues, and I need it to replace the mundane manual labour that humans don't want to do. Leave art to the humans. Art is human connection. And, content is human connection at the core.

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How do you feel about press releases? I'm still a fan, even if they simply serve as an official catalog of an organization's news. What you do with that information in your PR program is what's really meaningful though. Use the data for social posts and infographics, and pitches to media. Extract the quotes for your website. Find contributed content opportunities to share the news from the release in a more robust way. Develop creative graphics to support and enhance your news. Create video to share the news in a more personal way. Finally, don't expect your press release to reach the press. Those days are long gone. The release is just another content tool.

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The October monthly episode of our For Immediate Release podcast explores critical communication trends. Shel Holtz, SCMP, and I discuss six compelling topics, including Reddit's potential for crisis comms, the state of blogging in 2024, ethical concerns in celebrity news coverage, workplace connection challenges, and AI's impact across industries. In a blog post, I've set out some key takeaways that present opportunities for communicators, including leveraging Reddit for stakeholder engagement and preparing to guide organisations through AI adoption. Read more and listen now for valuable perspectives and insights on navigating today's complex communication landscape. https://lnkd.in/e5_CcMR2

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At the core of your digital strategy is your website. Creating the right mix of #marketing strategies to help find new customers and get your website the attention it deserves is crucial to #business #success.

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Heads-up, not sure if this is related to the spam policy documentation update yesterday (and possible manual actions coming), or if it's tied to the algorithmic tremors we have seen since the August core update completed, but Forbes Advisor is dropping heavily as of yesterday. 1.7M queries have dropped in rank (or are lost). Again, I have no idea if this is a manual action or algorithmic, but very interesting to see timing-wise. #google #seo

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While reading GrowthZone AMS’s 2024 association survey report, I noted a few common issues. One is the difficulty of proving the value of membership to members and prospects. Another is persuading members to make time for association engagement. I also noticed a lack of intention in solving these issues: most associations admit to not having member engagement, young professional recruitment and lapsed member reengagement plans. Seems like a good place to start. https://buff.ly/49ndwVe #associations #associationmanagement #membership

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While reading GrowthZone AMS’s 2024 association survey report, I noted a few common issues. One is the difficulty of proving the value of membership to members and prospects. Another is persuading members to make time for association engagement. I also noticed a lack of intention in solving these issues: most associations admit to not having member engagement, young professional recruitment and lapsed member reengagement plans. Seems like a good place to start. https://buff.ly/49ndwVe #membership #associations #associationmanagement

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Glen Taylor shares insights into his acquisition of the Star Tribune and how he guided it through a challenging era. Learn how his strategic thinking boosted digital subscriptions while honoring the print legacy. Check out the full episode! 🎥

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More love for Erin Weigel's new book, "Design for Impact:  Your Guide to Designing Effective Product Experiments". It's the #1 new release in Amazon's Marketing & Consumer Behavior category. And lovely to see its first review--5 stars! If you've read Erin's book, please post a review or rating to Amazon, even if it's not 5 stars. For better or worse, posting an Amazon review is the best way to support an author (aside from buying the book). #ABtesting #ProductExperimentation

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My most recent consulting gig was kind of a full-circle moment. I helped a large company with two internal comms newsletters and occasional posting to their intranet homepage. It felt a little like one of my first jobs anywhere near journalism: working in a modular building on a tree lot. See, the (very) small exurb of L.A. where I grew up was a cluster of cities, some of them rural. I landed a job managing three weekly "newspapers" run by the same tiny media company. They were an amalgamation of ads, business names, articles written by locals, and coverage of who yelled at who during the latest town council meeting. My "office" was a decades-old construction trailer on a dirt lot filled with trees that the same media company sold as a side hustle. Most of the time, I was alone, the trailer was old and dusty and probably violated multiple safety codes, and my job description was a word salad. But it did give me valuable experience. I put together the newsletters every week. I managed the email lists. I sent the email blasts out. I chose content to run, wrote some of the stories myself, and managed a couple of other people at the company. I also occasionally sold trees. It remains the most random job I've ever had to this day. At the time, I couldn't wait to land a "real" gig. I was considering a freelance career but hadn't made the leap. This latest gig didn't have me hawking plants, but I did find myself using some of the skills I'd learned at that strange job in my hometown. I prioritized by importance, made judgment calls, compiled stories each week, and even tweaked the design just a tad to improve visual flow. It made me think that while I'm still not where I'd like to be in my career, I've come a long way from that tree lot. Something to go back to when the impostor syndrome strikes.

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I've had some time to reflect on my time at #IFDASolutions and one of the most prevalent themes I found was the intersection of people and AI. Most companies noted they weren't trying replace human labor; rather, they were working to boost productivity while making the working environment safer. Read below to learn more!

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"Millennials and Gen Z buyers rarely utilize traditional brick-and-mortar retail for personal purchases—so why would they choose traditional salesperson-led experiences when they have company dollars to spend? Most business buyers now actually prefer to transact digitally, even for purchases of $500K and beyond." Some really interesting insights on B2B marketing from Toptal's growth marketing practice lead. Great piece Jeffrey Gangemi!

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Visual communications is the future and we all need to get on board. This quote in particular from Luciana Paulise, MBA, PCC, CQE in her Forbes article makes me think of how my 5th grade son will influence and lead when he enters the workforce in 2035. He's already a Canva power user -- just think of what he'll create by the time he's in high school, and how he'll put this skill to use in the workforce. "Visual communication enhances the clarity and impact of a leader's message, making sure that key points are easily understood and remembered by the audience. This synergy allows assertive leaders to effectively convey their vision, motivate their team, and drive engagement, which is particularly important in today's fast-paced environment where attention spans are shorter and clear, impactful communication is essential."

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