WE’RE EM.
There are hundreds of niche marketing agencies in the greater Pittsburgh area. We are not one of them.
There’s a much shorter list of larger marketing and advertising agencies around Pittsburgh that employ hundreds of marketing professionals. We are not one of those either.
We are an agency that combines the specialists and forward thinking that are the hallmark of niche agencies partnered that with the experience, stability, and integrated approach often sought when signing on with one of the big boys that grace our three rivers.
We are one of the top Pittsburgh marketing agencies at what we do. We bring IT.
YOU’RE IT
We get a lot of odd looks when people first see our tagline. No, we’re not playing the popular childhood game, and we’re certainly not passing the buck.
“You’re IT.” is our promise. We want to give our clients the IT factor–that sometimes intangible stamp of excellence that is ethereal in description but vital for sustained success.
IT means that we take your success, goals, and growth personally.
IT means that you are listened to.
IT means that your growth strategies are unique to your needs, situation, and budget.
IT means that we will feel more like an extension of your team than an agency of hired guns.
IT means that we will make sure that you grow in two areas: brand awareness and revenue.
It isn’t Status Quo. IT is Remarkable Growth
Seth Godin, the godfather of 21st Century marketing, says that being good is no longer good enough. You have to be remarkable. When you tell us that you need to advertise and market yourself better, what we hear, and you probably mean, is that you want more attention. You want to be more fascinating. You want your story to move people to action.
There are right ways and wrong ways to get that attention. Here are some of the philosophies, strategies, and tools that we use to get the attention that leads to growth.
INTEGRATED MARKETING STRATEGY
Ideas and suggestions are not a strategy.
EM approaches the initial strategy process by listening and working with you to establish SMART goals that are based on who you are, where you want to go, and identifying the best vehicles to deliver that growth.
Each department develops a niche marketing strategy that fits within the larger integrated marketing plan.
There is a lot of back and forth, whiteboard mapping, collaboration between departments, and brainstorming concepts during this stage. In the end we have a cohesive, singular strategy that is executed across multiple mediums that maximizes your impressions and engagement.
INBOUND MARKETING PHILOSOPHY
All of EM’s focus on your strategic marketing is zeroed in on one metric. Are you growing?
Ultimately, we want you to see growth in your revenue column, but before we’re able to see an increase in revenue, we start by tracking metrics and patterns in audience growth on social media, subscriber growth in email lists, growth in video views and digital engagement, and finally the growth of the number of qualified leads you are bringing in.
Qualified leads are the true measure of success, but in our experience, there is a lot of work in other areas necessary before the leads arrive. This can be frustrating, but skipping any of these steps and expecting results rarely works out and ends up leading to strained relationships and blind spots in your brand experience.
The Map to Sustainable Marketing
- Grow the audience.
- Grow the assets.
- Grow the engagement.
- Grow the leads.
This growth doesn’t happen overnight, but by working closely with our clients, we are able to set reasonable expectations. Growth in these areas leads to growth in the areas that really count–new business, revenue, and profit.
CONTENT MARKETING
Most of us are getting tired of hearing people say that, “Content is king.” But, in truth, it probably hasn’t been said enough.
We still find that more people are willing to cut their content budget than their television budget. That’s like letting the bank foreclose on your house so that you can keep your timeshare in Myrtle Beach.
Content lets you make smart moves based on data. It continues to give you web traffic, lead generation, and search engine optimization (SEO) benefits, in some cases, long after you’ve forgotten that it even exists. Most importantly, it adds value without necessarily asking for anything in return.
You own your content. It lives on your property. You can control it. You can change it. You can repurpose it. Its value appreciates over time just like real estate. It’s the smart move.
The real-talk-reason it’s the first marketing effort cut is that it doesn’t give you the feels. It’s not sexy. It doesn’t give you the short-term burst of dopamine that seeing your logo and face on a billboard or commercial gives, and we all desperately chase dopamine. Saavy business men and women are not exempt.
Content is the marketing equivalent of investing in real estate. Media buys are purchasing a new Camero. There’s nothing wrong with either, it’s just that one holds its value longer.
Your digital content is no longer a “nice-to-have” that supplements your traditional advertising. Instead, you master your digital marketing and use your traditional advertising to drive people to your website where your content is waiting.
VIDEO PRODUCTION
If content is king, video is the crown.
There is nothing as powerful as video assets to make a grab at SEO, to have a fighting chance at virility, and to give people the feels that compel them to action.
Our award winning video department works with our digital marketing team to deliver video assets that fit the visual style, messaging, and audience expectations across multiple platforms and media to grab the attention of the audience that we’re trying to reach.
Make no mistake, our economy is now firmly rooted in the soil of attention. Attention is what we’re fighting for. Grab it, and you grow. Fail, and you’re just another voice in the indistinguishable noise. Nothing maintains established attention and buys new attention like video.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Graphic design is your first date marketing. If you’re going to make a good first impression, it’ll be the part of your marketing strategy to bring the flowers and open the car door.
It encompasses all of the visual aspects of your brand and messaging and serves as the guide through all of your revenue funnels, touchpoints, and media to provide a clear, consistent, and compelling experience.
When most people think of graphic design they automatically think of visual branding like logos, identity systems, and icons, but it also encompasses things like front end web design, marketing material layout, ad design, infographics, social graphics, and other visual elements associated with your integrated marketing strategy.
Our graphic design team works seamlessly with our other departments and clients to communicate messages, values, and visions through visual elements that draw attention and demand action.
WEB DESIGN and DEVELOPMENT
An integrated marketing strategy in 2017 starts with a dynamic website. We’re not talking about a brochure website that is there just to say you have one.
You want a website that earns its keep just like any other team member. Once you get to a point where you have a steady stream of traffic coming to your website, it should be your top salesperson.
At EM, we are steadily moving to a growth-driven design model that emphasizes ongoing web development rather than complete website overhauls every 3 to 5 years.
It is less expensive in the long run, and you are able to implement new funnels, strategies, and tactics as your audience and business experiences growth.
The goal of our web development team is to constantly provide your community with a better brand experience and to funnel more qualified leads to your sales team.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
If your business or organization is not beginning to think about itself as its own media company, you’re dangerously at risk of being irrelevant in the next 5-10 years.
If you had told a CEO 15 years ago that he could have put out his own content on his own dedicated channel for pennies on the dollar of what he was being charged by network or cable television while reaching a more targeted audience, he would have immediately pulled all of his advertising dollars and put them into creative and infrastructure.
You might ask, “Well, if that’s true, why aren’t people doing that today?”
It’s funny you should ask that, because we ask it every single day.
EM works with you to develop content that resonates with your clients, and we even push it out for you. Your brand will be recongized wherever you go. You will have a personality, and you will have trust equity with your customers long before they need your product or service.
We take care of the creative production. We take care of the targeting. We take care of the push. We can even take care of monitoring if you need us to, but once we show you how easy it is to engage with current or potential clients, you’ll want to take over the conversation. No worries, we’ll be there every step of the way to offer advice and guidance whenever you want it.
Whether you are looking for training for your team, full social media management, or simply for a resource that is available for consultations, we have the experience and tools to increase your engagement with your ideal customers and use that engagement to drive traffic back to your website where you can really do some work.
ADVERTISING and MEDIA BUYING
EM had it’s start strictly as an advertising agency. Over the years, we’ve added services, but we still believe that we’re the best marketing agency in Pittsburgh at media strategy and managing media budgets.
Over the past couple of years, we have moved a lot of our advertising to digital media.
Digital advertising offers superb reporting and better integrates with an inbound marketing philosophy because we are able to control who sees the ads, where they see the ad, when they see the ad, and why they see the ad, as well as the ability to give them something to do if they’re interested.
Advertising is no longer about vague impression numbers and feeling good when you see your commercial on television or billboard. Your advertising dollars are now measured by engagement and leads which makes proving the ROI and effectiveness much easier for us and for our clients.
WE ARE YOUR MARKETING AGENCY
We’ve been around for a long time, but we’re a new marketing agency in Pittsburgh. We’re okay with that because we won’t be the new kid for very long. We are in an industry where the barrier to entry is very low but the mortality rate is very high. Very few marketing agencies are around five to ten years after they launch.
We have a track record that spans over 20 years proving our longevity and ability to adapt as the marketing and advertising needs of our clients evolve to change with the time. We don’t chase fads, but we do monitor patterns.
And that’s what you get when you work with EM. We aren’t a team that forces you to adapt to us. We aren’t going to try to fit you into a prescribed, templated strategy because that’s what we know.
We aren’t in the business of selling products. We’re in the business of selling IT.
We are able to offer our clients every service the larger agencies bring to the table, but we execute them with a certain level of heart. We truly care about our clients and their success, and we believe that quality shines through from the very first meeting all the way through the execution and reporting.
ARE YOU READY TO MAKE YOUR GROWTH A PRIORITY?
If you’re ready to put the time and resources toward your organization’s growth, click below and take a couple minutes to let us know you’d like to talk. We can make that happen and see if we’re a good fit for what you’d like to do.
Either way, let’s learn about each other’s mission and process and maybe we make a new friend.
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