I should know, for years I was the in-house marketing department for a hospital. It didn’t matter how clever the tagline, how heartwarming the ad campaign or how many wonderful, feel good stories appeared in the press. If the patients, visitors, families, employees or volunteers weren’t treated right the image of the hospital was toast in their minds and the minds of everyone they told.
 
Everyone markets you. Your employees, customers, volunteers, donors, vendors . . . . even your children!. Anyone who talks about you is marketing you. From the way you answer the phone to what your office looks like to how it feels when someone walks through the door to the way you make everyone feel, you leave an impression that impacts your brand.
 
Make sure you make a good impression.
Building a brand takes time.
Ruining one only takes a minute.
 
Give people something good to say about your business or charity.
 
For more insights, ideas and inspirations to help you share your story and build your brand, visit http://www.1bluecube.com.

​​In stories we trust.
​
People believe people, not ads.
 
Every time someone tells a story about an experience with a product, service or organization it’s called word-of-mouth.
 
Word-of-mouth remains the best form of advertising.
 
Testimonials are one of the best forms of word-of-mouth because they showcase your organization’s products, services and solutions through stories. These stories help build your brand by providing new perspectives in the minds of customers, employees, volunteers, donors and the community.

Testimonials go beyond recommendations to tell a story about an experience. The best testimonials:
 
            • highlight how you met specific needs
            • showcase how you made someone feel
            • share stories that showcase all the products and services your organization provides
            • include employee, volunteer and board member stories about their experience:
                        - why they like working with your organization
                        - their favorite story about helping a client
                        - how they make a difference and contribute
 
Testimonials, like stories, are made for sharing.
Post them on your web site, as social media posts, video stories on appropriate channels and case studies for blogs and reports.
 
Testimonials are powerful stories to help:
            • build your brand
            • establish your expertise
            • communicate your value through memorable, relatable and repeatable stories
 
For more insights, ideas and inspirations to help you share your story, build your brand and connect with the hearts and minds of  your customers, employees, volunteers, donors and the community, visit http://www.1bluecube.com.