Ponderings from the Perch

We’ve had DEI 101, can we advance? It’s time for 201.

Our CEO and Momma Bird, Priscilla McKinney loves advocating for women in business, and brought Kim “Kimfer” Flanery-Rye Founder & DEI and Culture Practitioner for Inclusion Equals to open the conversation for change.

Inclusion Equals is a social enterprise focused on the IDEA: Inclusion = Diversity + Equity + Accessibility to build culture from the inside out. Entrepreneurial in spirit, creatively minded, and service at heart, Kimfer is a seasoned professional with 20+ years of experience with a diverse background in design, digital marketing, and organizational and leadership development, just to name a few. She is also an Adjunct Professor teaching Creativity and Innovation for MBA students and has her MBA in Executive Leadership. She speaks locally, nationally, and globally and has most recently spoken at the 2022 and 2023 World Economic Forum regarding the importance of women on boards and what it means for women to have power, authority, and agency.

As a spokesperson, Kim has recognized the emotional tension that arises when the topic of DEI is brought up. She notes, if we can tone down the emotional response when DEI is brought up, we can begin to approach the change just like we would an SEO strategy update. An emotional response does no good. Instead, she talks in this podcast about her approach and it’s making a difference! 

Change is not going to happen overnight. Just like an SEO friendly content plan doesn’t happen overnight, diversity, equity, and inclusion require WORK and CONSISTENCY. If you’re ready to make an impact for real change in the workplace listen to the full conversation and learn how diversity, equity, inclusion, AND accessibility go hand in hand.

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Don’t let the learning stop here. Little Bird Marketing’s 12-week social selling course is a practical hands-on experience designed specifically to help you network effectively and at scale, build rapport with targeted audiences, expand your influence, and become the go-to authority in your area of expertise. So this is not a quick “tips and tricks” for LinkedIn’s success flash in the pan. It’s a commitment to changing the way you show up online and experience career-shifting breakthroughs. This is expert instruction in small cohorts with personalized one-on-one coaching. If you’re interested, learn more at https://littlebirdmarketing.com/social-influence-course/ 

Are you looking for experts and tools to collect research data worldwide? Global sampling, field management and data collection are just some of the services that Gazelle Global provides. Visit gazelleglobal.com to learn more about how our expertise can help you unearth quality data that drives meaningful insights. Get your research done anywhere around the world quickly and efficiently. Visit gazelleglobal.com today.

In a world where survey respondents are basically sick and tired of doing all the work to TELL as screener about their behaviors, qualifications, demographics, and more just for the chance at participating in a survey, along comes Qrious Insight with their “always on” approach to passive data collection.

In this episode, Priscilla McKinney, CEO and Momma Bird of Little Bird Marketing is joined by Andrew Moffatt, CEO and Co-Founder of Qrious Insight to discuss the future of dynamic brand tracking instead of static brand trackers.

In their work with marketing and ad effectiveness, brands benefit from the aggregation of data they passively collect from panel members who opt in for continual tracking. This provides rich information about who they are, what they do, and how long they do it on their digital device in a wholly less intrusive manner than traditional survey models allow. Now, instead of searching for the potential respondent and asking them if they have, for example, seen a Domino’s ad in the last 30 days, that data is already available for automatic screening with no bothersome screener question to complete. Winning brands can immediately target the right group of people to not only understand their online journeys but then create powerfully focused surveys to further understand the WHY behind the behavior already verified.

They discuss the future of market research and a potential mass move away from expensive prescriptive survey writing to a more integrated approach. In this experience, the problematic cleaning of the data is now a moot issue. In the past, cleaning the data meant possibly misidentifying an anomaly, dismissing an emerging trend or missing the fact that the data was provided by a bot. Instead, this future of survey work is integrated into actual observed and recorded behaviors for richer insights in record time.

SPONSORS

Are you looking for experts and tools to collect research data worldwide? Global sampling, field management and data collection are just some of the services that Gazelle Global provides. Visit gazelleglobal.com to learn more about how our expertise can help you unearth quality data that drives meaningful insights. Get your research done anywhere around the world quickly and efficiently. Visit gazelleglobal.com today.

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is excited to announce the release of her much-anticipated book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

So, you want to write a book? Is the idea becoming a burden because you can just see a way forward to getting it done?

In the true spirit of “always be helping” (ABH), our Momma Bird and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, Priscilla McKinney pulls the curtain back and talks about her experience hiring a scribe to complete her book.

The most important first step is to get clarity about WHY you MUST write your book. Are you looking for new clients? Want opportunities for public speaking? Want some street cred to increase your speaking fees? No matter what the goal is, it’s important to understand how a book can support broader professional and personal goals.

She gives great advice about how to take book ideas and make them a reality by looking clearly at book title ideas, evaluating the topics, goals for writing a book, the need for considering the audience and getting the right structure in place to turn that book idea into a published book.

You may have a lot of great book ideas floating around in your head, but getting those out into the world could be the most important thing you do. Instead of going it alone, you might have heard of people hiring a ghostwriter. That can be an expensive proposition and it also may take some of the joy away if you’re a person who wants to take part in the process in a more dynamic way. Instead, she suggests finding a scribe to provide the structure, transcription, feedback, technical editing, and full accountability for the project.

Are you ready to chat with someone who has been through the experience? Click here to get on Priscilla’s calendar and chat through the idea first. Maybe hiring a scribe is the right way to go to help you refine your idea and get the ball rolling!

SPONSORS

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is excited to announce the release of her much-anticipated book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Are you looking for experts and tools to collect research data worldwide? Global sampling, field management and data collection are just some of the services that Gazelle Global provides. Visit gazelleglobal.com to learn more about how our expertise can help you unearth quality data that drives meaningful insights. Get your research done anywhere around the world quickly and efficiently. Visit gazelleglobal.com today.

A few questions from the CEO of Little Bird Marketing, Priscilla McKinney about your current marketing plan template:

– When you think about your marketing efforts, is it strategic?

– Have you defined and written down your goals and objectives?

– How are you holding your marketing efforts accountable?

– Are your marketing efforts repeatable?

When we sit down to do something, it’s easy to have the mindset of just getting it done. We get hung up on the daily hustle and bustle of marketing efforts. But marketing goals are not achieved with random busy work. Getting the RIGHT work done is the key to success.

Leaders should ask themselves if they have been clear about the goals and objectives of their work. Tasks need to have alignment with the overall campaign and inbound marketing strategy. If a junior staff member can’t explain the goals of the work in alignment with the strategy, there needs to be a shift in connecting tasks with desired outcomes.

Also, you can’t get where you’re going if you aren’t clear about your starting point. To help you, we’ve created a custom Marketing Assessment to determine the status of your current marketing efforts: https://littlebirdmarketing.com/marketing-assessment/

Crib our SOAR system with tips from Priscilla in this episode. If you’re overwhelmed, overworked, or just would prefer professional help, let us help you with a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy. Our digital marketing services are strategic, organized, accountable, and repeatable. Learn more about our lead-generation services for predictable revenue growth: https://littlebirdmarketing.com/work/

SPONSORS

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is excited to announce the release of her much-anticipated book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Q: How did Microsoft Office get so famous?

A: Word of mouth.

Now, how did Microsoft Office improve its products using user experience research to satisfy customers and improve retention? No more dad jokes here. That’s a serious question for Joanna Jones with InterQ Research.

CEO of Little Bird Marketing, Priscilla McKinney, welcomes Joanna to this podcast episode on Ponderings from the Perch. Joanna founded InterQ Research, a full-service qualitative and quantitative research firm headquartered in San Francisco. InterQ specializes in the tech industry. She has used user experience research, in-depth interviews, ethnographies, biometrics, Jobs To Be Done, social listening, and quantitative surveys to help clients like Delta Air Lines, Audi, Microsoft, Disney, Google, and Salesforce. When tech companies need to understand what’s next in B2B lead generation, product and innovation and so much more, they have tapped into this female-founded and run company.

Joana shares that finding quality respondents is the key to B2B market research success and that companies must be willing to spend the majority of their research budget on recruiting alone. Equally as important as finding the best-suited respondents is creating a simulated environment for those participating to answer honestly. What good are the answers if they are not truthful and honest? Joana shares the effective strategies used by her team to create an environment for respondents that will produce the most natural feedback.

Listen in to learn how you can improve your digital marketing plan with knowledge from this tech industry research expert.

SPONSORS

Are you an aspiring author looking to transform your ideas into a compelling book that elevates your brand and establishes your authority in your industry? If you can’t seem to get that idea inside of you into book form, maybe it’s time you consider hiring a professional scribe. Don’t let your story remain untold. Take the first step towards becoming a published author by booking a consultation. Visit https://info.littlebirdmarketing.com/meetings/priscilla18/become-a-published-author now and book a time to chat about how you can unlock the power of your words and stories.

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is excited to announce the release of her much-anticipated book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

It’s here! Get ready for tidings and good cheer…it’s the 8th Annual Holiday Spectacular! Spectacular! The Peeps won’t be baking any treats this year, but we do have quite a few treats (and tricks) up our sleeve for you. Which holiday are we celebrating again? 

Little Bird Marketing is – as you may know – a marketing company. This year we’re covering something near and dear to our hearts…holiday marketing! While we don’t really do holiday marketing we can all appreciate a good holiday commercial.

Walk down nostalgia boulevard as the Peeps spill on the best gift they’ve ever received and whether or not marketing influenced it. Play along with us on not one, but TWO holiday marketing trivia quizzes! 

We close out the episode with a fireside chat you won’t want to miss. Who doesn’t love a little Mad Men-esque holiday marketing ploy? 

This time of year is plenty busy, so take a brain break with the Peeps. Reminisce on your favorite childhood toys and let nostalgia take hold as we discuss the best holiday marketing of yesteryear.

Happy holidays from the Peeps!

Roll out the red carpet and act as paparazzi for those you admire in the business world; It’s time to start collaborating!

CEO of Little Bird Marketing, Priscilla McKinney, is joined by content strategy expert, and good friend, Andy Crestodina to discuss the power behind collaboration. If you know Andy, you know he is helpfulness incarnate! In this episode, he’s doling out secrets to driving growth in content creation by finding ways to help others.

Andy has been in the web design and interactive marketing space for more than two decades.  He has helped thousands of people get results online. He’s a true evangelist for content marketing and ethical digital marketing. Together with the team at Orbit Media, Andy has put out some of the best digital marketing advice available in hundreds of practical articles, including posts on virtually all of the top marketing websites. 

Andy finds success when focusing on the success of others. While business leaders must find new growth strategies, there is plenty of room for collaboration. They recently discussed their mutual agreement on the collaboration principles featured in Priscilla’s new book, Collaboration is the New Competition.

Want the secrets to successful content strategy? Get ready for an inspiring episode! 

SPONSORS

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is excited to announce the release of her much-anticipated book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Are you an aspiring author looking to transform your ideas into a compelling book that elevates your brand and establishes your authority in your industry? If you can’t seem to get that idea inside of you into book form, maybe it’s time you consider hiring a professional scribe. Don’t let your story remain untold. Take the first step towards becoming a published author by booking a consultation. Visit https://info.littlebirdmarketing.com/meetings/priscilla18/become-a-published-author now and book a time to chat about how you can unlock the power of your words and stories.

Don’t get caught sending an email to Gen Z expecting them to take your survey. They won’t see it in their inbox of 5,735 unread messages.

CEO of Little Bird Marketing, Priscilla McKinney, welcomes Jennifer Reid, Co-CEO and Chief Methodologist at Rival Group, to discuss how to best engage with Generation Z for market research. Jennifer is an expert in Gen Z engagement, specifically the ability to connect with younger generations for the purpose of consumer understanding and insights that move brands forward.

As with any generation, trust and transparency are important frameworks from which to operate to get dynamic insights, but with this generation, they are paramount. Jennifer works with teams to help them successfully engage with this important pool of respondents. Her advice? When trying to reach GenZ to participate in market research, we should ask ourselves if we’re using the wrong channel, have the wrong tone of voice, are using the wrong format or are asking the wrong question.

According to Jennifer, when you’re doing it right, you’re letting the individual know whose research it is you’re doing and what they intend to use it for. They know how to be properly suspicious about online connections, but once they have things verified and clear, they can engage beautifully. As this generation says, “TLDR (too long; didn’t read) and this is what we should lean into. This is the generation of summaries and skimmable copy. But she warns against some efforts that try too hard (“try hards”) to be “one of them.” Instead, she suggests a strong commitment to staying transparent about who you are and what you’re trying to do.

The upside? For the Rival companies, they have done the work and find this generation to be thoughtful and passionate about the brands they use. They are native to the mobile environment and are happy to record a video about their feelings and thoughts. If you want to engage well with them, expanding your digital marketing tools is the way to go.

Want to know what young people are thinking of?

Wondering what lead generation strategies work with this generation? 

Cut through the noise and let them know how important their voice is. They are willing to give their feedback, and that is a great way forward for better business impact!

Helpful resources from Jennifer:

Webinar on Gen Z communities: https://www.rivaltech.com/gen-z-communities-webinar

Gen Z Brand Power Index: https://www.reach3insightstop3.com/top_brands_list/

A study from The Wharton School about why consumers are more willing to open up when using their smartphones: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-consumers-share-more-personal-information-on-smartphones/

SPONSORS

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is thrilled to announce the release of her book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Are you an aspiring author looking to transform your ideas into a compelling book that elevates your brand and establishes your authority in your industry? If you can’t seem to get that idea inside of you into book form, maybe it’s time you consider hiring a professional scribe. Don’t let your story remain untold. Take the first step towards becoming a published author by booking a consultation. Visit https://info.littlebirdmarketing.com/meetings/priscilla18/become-a-published-author now to unlock the power of your words and stories.

What do the greatest research minds share when brought together? If you’re experiencing a serious case of FOMO because you didn’t make it or are just wondering what everyone else was talking about while you were there, we bring you the Insights Association Corporate Researcher’s Conference in a nutshell. When it comes to market research, consumer insights, shopper insights, survey sample fraud, focus groups, UX and CX, mock juries, what AI can do in the industry, and what the heck a synthetic respondent is, we have you covered. 

Hear it all right from these research pros:

Melanie Courtright – Chief Executive Officer at Insights Association. Listen to our episode with Melanie, MRX Mavericks: Protecting and Serving the Industry with Melanie Courtright

Andrew Cannon – Co-Founder of EQJOY, and Executive Director at GRBN. Listen to our episode with Andrew, Fostering a Life of Joy with Debby Schlesinger-Hellman and Andrew Cannon

Andrew Seinfeld – Innovation Ambassador at Appinio.

Carlos Hevia – Business Development Director at Multilingual Connections. Listen to our episode with Carlos, The Art and Science of Language Translation for Market Research.

Carrie Angiolet – Principal & President at Illuminas.

Danny Farkas – Director, Business Development at Virtual Incentives.

Jim Kershaw – VP/Senior Consultant of Burke, Inc.

John Sadler – Vice President of Client Solutions at RIWI.

Julia Eisenberg – EVP, Strategy & Insights at Sago.

Karen Krishfield – Previously Principal, Research Enablement at Hulu, now Free Agent.

Kelli Hammock – Strategic Communications Director at L&E Research.

Mark Resnick – Vice President of Sales at Zappi.

Pierson Wofford – Executive Recruiter at Smith Hanley Associates.

Sasha McCune – VP – Practice Leader – Media, Entertainment & Culture at CMB. Listen to our episode with Sasha, What’s up with Analysis Paralysis, Corporate America? With Sasha McCune

Scott Johnson – Strategic Account Executive at L&E Research.

Feel like you’re becoming irrelevant and lost in the industry?

In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing, Priscilla McKinney, is joined by Nancie McDonnell Ruder, an experienced marketing strategist, branding consultant and consumer researcher. As Founder and CEO of Noetic, a Marketing and Leadership Consulting Firm, Nancie shares the issues marketers face and the steps to move past old thinking and onto new strategies.

Marketers today are confronted with challenges that demand constant vigilance. The fear of losing resonance with target audiences due to evolving trends and dynamic consumer behavior is a perpetual concern. 

It’s easy to go at these new problems with old solutions. People get comfortable with what they are confident in and don’t want things to change. We all have feelings about what we are and aren’t good at. Even when we should find new digital marketing tools, reconsider our content strategy or rethink our media planning, we stay with the known processes. Repeating phrases like “jack of all trades, master of none” will do no good. Specialization is not the replacement for learning new ideas and methodologies.

Striking a balance between innovative content strategy and data analytics remains a constant battle. The marketer’s hope lies in decoding these challenges, seeking methods that yield genuine connections with the audience, and achieving a sustainable marketing strategy template.

Learn how to leverage your strengths for innovation, seek learning opportunities, and address identified gaps in your marketing plan template.

SPONSORS

Are you looking for experts and tools to collect research data worldwide? Global sampling, field management and data collection are just some of the services that Gazelle Global provides. Visit gazelleglobal.com to learn more about how our expertise can help you unearth quality data that drives meaningful insights. Get your research done anywhere around the world quickly and efficiently. Visit gazelleglobal.com today.

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is thrilled to announce the release of her book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.