Case studies are powerful marketing tools. They are also some of the most difficult pieces to produce, owing to the difficulties of getting your customers to a) agree to them, b) give you the time you need to get good interviews and c) approve them once they’re written.

At Greenleaf, we’re masters of the process, working with you and your customers to overcome the hurdles and get great material that zings your marketing messages. With hundreds of cases under our writing belt, you can trust us to interview your customers in ways that enhance your relationship while overcoming objections and keeping the process from stalling out.

Guess what? The click took me to the home page of the company’s site. No mention of the e-book. No mention, even, of the new product. Anywhere.

What the…?

At the risk of treating all of you like the dummies I know you’re not, let’s review Rule #1 of content marketing: IF THEY CLICK ON YOUR LINK, YOU’D BETTER GIVE THEM THE GIMME.

Yep, I know, you’re smarter than that. But you’d be amazed how often in the maelstrom of everyone’s workday, the links don’t get checked and the landing page doesn’t get loaded.

Easy lesson here, my friends: Check the link. Every. Single. Dang. Time.

We do. And we check it every day during its run, just to make sure.

I’ll give you one guess what happened next. After being shunted through three back-office people and doing everything short of waterboarding them to get an answer, I finally received a flat: “I’m sorry, but we just can’t tell you how much it will cost.”

Ridiculous.

Is there another product or service in the world that you have to buy without even a rough estimate of how much you’ll pay for it?

Not only is this making it terribly hard for individuals and small businesses to budget healthcare costs, it’s a huge factor in why we can’t get healthcare costs down to levels that resemble sanity. How can you price shop if no one will tell you the price?

So big kudos to Aetna for its new Expense Management tool that helps individual insureds plan and manage their healthcare expenses. Their online payment estimator uses the individual’s plan details and deductible to give a real-time estimate for costs of medical tests and procedures. And it allows the individual to compare prices at various medical facilities in the area.

This tool is so long overdue it’s almost staggering to think it’s not universal. We don’t currently have Greenleaf’s plan with Aetna, but when we come up for renewal next year — assuming our current provider doesn’t launch a similar estimator — you can bet I’m going to get a quote from them.

(Full disclosure, I used to work for Aetna, but they are not currently a client of ours.)

• Ham Sandwich. When the majority of your posts say things like “I’m eating some yogurt.” or “I’m clipping my dog’s toenails.”  Trust us, hardly anyone wants to know that level of detail about your life. Instead , try “Eating yogurt and wondering how many dairy cows you could fit into a phone booth. Any guesses anyone?
• Intentionally Obscure. “I could just cry.”  ”Fits.”  ”Bewildered.” We don’t have time (or the desire) to ask or guess. Clue us in and remember always that Facebook is a public conversation.
• Buy This. This is the most common mistake that businesses make on Facebook. If 80% of your posts are blatant or thinly disguised sales pitches, you’re gonna get hidden. Social media is NOT advertising. Delight, entrance, inform, enrage all you want, but keep the selling to a bare minimum.

And if you aren’t in a hiding mood today, be sure to LIKE our Facebook page.
Greenleaf on Facebook 

Greenleaf Associates is now Greenleaf Group. We have a new name, a new look and a new site, too. Everything else — our industry focus, our deep expertise and our creative approaches  – are all the same. 

Why the new? Look to our three rules of inspired storytelling:

Rule #1 — Shake it up. Don’t tell the same story over and over. Don’t EVER get comfortable. Keep your audience turning the pages and make your story so compelling they can’t make themselves look away.

Rule #2 — Listen to the music. Never forget the attraction of the human brain to interesting sounds. We like the way the double “Gr” in “Greenleaf Group” reverberates off the palate. (There’s a reason why Lady Gaga isn’t Lady Fafa.) Greenleaf Group is more fun to say out loud. Go ahead. Try it. And know that we craft every sentence for you with the same finely-tuned ear.

Rule #3 — Embrace chaos. Social media is obliterating the old ways of doing PR and we love it. The opportunities for strategic storytelling in this roiling, accelerating, hot new environment are infinite.

So check out our new site, and don’t forget to sign up to receive our blog updates to your email inbox so you don’t miss any of the good stuff. Stay tuned for marketing tips and tricks, industry insider news and the occasional rant when we put the “GRR” in Greenleaf.

And, as always, if you’d like to talk with us about how we can help you tell your inspired story, just give us a shout.

~ Tamara Greenleaf, Director

Infographics are the hot new communications tool. Because they are visual, they attract more reads and force you to boil your key message down to very short copy blurbs, which increases both readership and retention. They give a lot of bang for your marketing buck.

What makes a good infographic

•  Interesting facts, the more surprising they are, the more cognitively dissonant, the better.
•  Diagrams and drawings. Make the visual graphic carries the bulk of the message. The words should play a supporting role.
•  As few words as possible. Aim for punch, not thoroughness.
•  And, as with any communication, have one clear, key message you’re trying to get across.

What to do with your infographic: 

• Email it to customers and prospects.
• Include it in an eblast.
• Post it to a blog.
• Create a page on the website for it or place it on an existing page.
• Send it to the media.
• Use it in a presentation.
• Upload to social media sites such as visual.ly.
• Place on iPad to use in sales presentation.
• Print on postcard as pre-conference mailer and at-conference hand-out.

Here are some examples: 

Workplace incentives

14 Most Common Medical Procedures  

Disease case fatality rates 

What an Infographic Can Do For You

Infographics are powerful tools. They can build your cred as a thought leader, drive traffic to your website, boost your SEO and get your call to action out where people can see it.

And speaking of calls to action, if you’d like us to help you develop your infographics, Contact Us