Let’s face it, marketing can be hard! In each marketing blog post, we hope you’ll find the information you need for your business marketing success.
About Paradux Media Group
We’re a creative marketing agency that believes in doing things the human way.
From our office on Main Street in Eagle Point, Oregon, we’ve spent over 16 years helping real businesses connect with real people—through smart strategy, compelling design, and campaigns built on trust, not templates.
We don’t do cookie-cutter.
Every brand we work with is different, and we like it that way. Whether you need a website, a campaign, or just a clearer path forward, we’re here to help—with honest insight and hands-on support.
Book a complimentary consultation → or just give us a quack—we’d love to hear your story.
Branding a Local vs National Company
I had the opportunity the other day to chat with a friend who is a national brand marketer. During our conversation, I was struck (again) by the sameness and, simultaneously, the differentness of branding a national vs. local brand. At its core, branding is about developing a message and sticking to it. That is the…
Are You a Pioneer or a Settler?
All sorts of numbers are being thrown out there regarding how many companies have implemented social media plans and strategies. Most numbers are probably a little inflated. It’s going to come down to region and category. Some categories are more suited to social media right now; similar to when the dot com boom was happening,…
Where is Your Audience?
As a small business owner, one of the most critical questions you must ask is: Where is my audience today? Years ago, reaching customers was more straightforward. Placing an ad in the local Saturday newspaper could bring a decent return on investment (ROI). Radio was another effective tool for building Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA)…
Tweeting is Word of Mouth
We were recently out of state attending a client’s strategic planning session. We didn’t know much about the area and had been very busy in the weeks leading up to that, so we didn’t do much investigating on the Internet. It wasn’t a vacation to pull up all the to-do’s of the place you’ll be…
Social Media-Build Your Own Audience
Traditional Media has been doing it for years, building an audience through programming and marketing and then turning around and selling your business the opportunity to talk to its audience. Social Media is an opportunity for YOU, the local business owner, to create your own audience to communicate to and through. Building an audience in…
Online Advertising in the Age of Adwords
With the advent of our new economy, we’re seeing a significant shift from traditional media spending to online advertising. This transformation has been driven by the evolving landscape of how consumers interact with brands and the need for businesses—small businesses—to maximize the impact of their limited marketing budgets. If you’re a small business owner, understanding…
Using and Buying Media Wisely
Before we get into planning season, this seems like a good time to discuss the best ways to think about buying media. I touched on this briefly in my recent post, The Intersection of Planning and Improvisation. But this topic deserves an entire post before annual plans are laid for 2011. The first thing you…
Traditional Media Created Social Media
Before conglomeration, there was a time when radio, television, and print were local community outlets. The big three were locally owned and focused on the local community. Most decisions for communities regarding their major media are made thousands of miles away. What music to play, what programming to air, and cuts made in print to…
5 Reasons Social Media Should be in the 2011 Marketing Plan
Social media certainly is all the rage right now – but will it be in your 2011 Strategic Marketing Plan? If not, here are five reasons it should be: Your customers are on social media. They have Facebook accounts, Twitter profiles, and Foursquare check-ins and are on Linkedin. If your business isn’t on them, you’re…
What’s Next For Social Media?
While the big brands and big boxes have taken early advantage of social media, if social media continues to grow, it will be because of the smaller local businesses. Big brands are paving the way, which makes sense since social media is more popular in larger markets. The next phase will take place in the…
Marketing Plan: Intersection of Planning and Improvisation
Before the frenzy of annual strategic planning begins, I thought I’d take a moment to discuss some strategies you might want to consider as you build your strategic yearly marketing plan. Naturally, your strategic marketing plan should contain your best guess on how you will advance your brand and product positions throughout the upcoming year: where…
Grassroots Marketing: Where Social Media Makes Perfect Sense
We belong to a local Chamber of Commerce that represents many small communities where we live. It means small communities with populations as high as 8,000, but most closer to 1,000. Like many small communities, the summers are filled with unique and creative weekend events. The events have no accurate media budgets; they are all…
Mainstream Social Media: Is That What Users Want?
Every day, we further mainstream social media. It’s hard to watch a news program that isn’t talking about what’s going on in tweet-land or what’s being posted on Facebook. How many TV and radio commercials now ask you to follow, like, and print ads with Twitter and Facebook logos? My perception of social media’s growth…
Social Media and Brand Strategy
Social media is a scorching topic right now, and rightfully so. I’ve heard more than one company wonder if it is, longs I,n the Brand Strategy. In my opinion, the answer is a resounding YES. If it’s not part of your integrated Brand Strategy, you’re missing a vital channel for furthering your brand position. As…
Practice Patience
For local business owners worldwide and in Southern Oregon, the three keywords for opening or running a business are location, location, and location. In today’s economic and marketing environment, the new three keys to success are patience, patience, and patience. From a financial standpoint, disposable income doesn’t exist like it did a few years ago.…
Reputation Management: Your Brand on the Web
The Web. Twitter. Facebook. Biznik. Foursquare. Merchant Circle. Blogs and Comments. If you’re not at least aware of how these websites are already affecting your Brand – it’s time to figure out online reputation management, NOW. Whether or not you intentionally maintain a presence on social media, your business, your Brand, your customers, and your…
5 Reasons a Local Business Owner Should be Involved in Social Media
There are many reasons that every local business should be involved in local social media. I’ve found that if it takes more than five reasons, they are afraid of what they don’t understand or of change. To go beyond five, you are just reaffirming to someone who believes in what you are talking about, and…
Using Social Media Apps with Promotions
We’re rolling out social media promotions for a local client of ours. The business will be giving away a pair of season tickets to the Oregon Ducks 2010 Football season. A hot ticket! The Ducks went to the Rose Bowl last year and had been picked to win the Pac-10 again. The Ducks have sold…
Media Fragmentation, It Always Seems To Happen
How much has social media fragmentation affected your audience, and at what cost? Traditional media tries to entertain an audience and keep it so they can then sell advertising within that form of entertainment. While the programming and editorial content have become corporate blah, for the most part, audiences have rushed over to other venues…
Thoughts on Traditional Media Meeting Social Media
I saw a commercial the other night from Coleman, the lantern and overnight camp gear company. They claimed they were the original social network, pretty clever, I thought, and pretty much on target. While brands that target a younger and more geeky (for lack of a better word) consumer with social media never get a…
