InDesign for Charts and Graphs

In Case You Missed It!

As A/E/C marketers, we all come across a large amount of technical information to use on proposals or collateral. How do we explain this information in a small amount of space? During this sunny side up webinar, we’ve explored infographic tips and tricks from Roxanne Marquez, a senior marketing coordinator who brings a visual consideration to all her projects.

So what’s the key to creating successful graphs?

Tell Your Story

What is the point of your story? Think about your purpose and create focal points for your message and audience.

Make It Relevant

Understand your audience and use infographics to get them to understand you.

DO IT QUICKLY

You don’t need to be an artist to create visuals. There are basic techniques to help visually order information.

Towards the end of the webinar, we learned how to manipulate basic shapes in InDesign. Roxanne provided a quick guide on how to create circle, line and bar graphs, which could then be used as templates for the future. Overall, adding these simple design concepts will wow your audience while visually conveying information.

Generation Z Recap

In Case You Missed It!

Our Generation Z speaker, Eric Wilson, shared how we as marketers, communicators, and recruiters can prepare for Gen Z (those age 7-22 in 2019) in the workplace. Great insight was shared by attendees through observations of company interns, new employees, or even children at home! Some take-aways to discuss among your company include:

  • Gen Z values authentic communication and they want to be change agents that make a difference
  • You can connect with them through “snackable content” – small visual chunks of information that can be consumed piece-by-piece on the go (think 30 second video clips)
  • They value a memorable experience where they feel they matter coupled with old-fashioned interpersonal communication

To learn more about Gen Z, Eric suggests tapping into these resources such as this one from Forbes, GenHQ, or AdWeek.

Sponsor Spotlight: nu marketing llc

nu marketing

Please help us in thanking nu marketing as a Silver sponsor! nu marketing specializes in business development and marketing for architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors and manufacturing firms. They take your strategic marketing plans to a new and unique level. With their strategy it involves your entire business plan from operations to accounting to sales and marketing to human resources to help guide business owners to make the best decisions. SMPS Wichita thanks nu marketing for their sponsorship!

Align Your Marketing Plans with Your Strategic Plans

A strategic marketing plan is only as effective as a strategic business plan. As a marketer, you can write your marketing plan without having a strategic business plan to reference, but it will not be as effective. Leadership in your company should have a strategic plan to maintain or grow their business — along with providing you the foundation upon which to build your marketing plan.

A strategic plan gives everyone in the company direction on where it’s headed in the future (six, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, thirty-six, and forty-eight months). Both short- and long-term goals must be included. The strategic plan committee should consist of five to twelve people, but everyone in the company must have a general knowledge of the plan. Each employee should understand how they fit into the strategic plan of the company and how they are participating in achieving the goals. This is instrumental to the success of the plan.

Once this strategic business plan has been assembled, communicated, and implemented, a strategic marketing plan must be created. By knowing the overall direction of the company, you will better be able to write and implement an effective marketing strategy. This ensures you, as the marketer or business developer, are spending your time in the right places according to the company’s strategy.

For example, if your firm decides to grow its healthcare studio, then part of your strategic marketing plan would be increasing your firm’s visibility to this market. This could be done in several ways:

  • Presentations at healthcare industry trade shows
  • Sponsoring healthcare conferences
  • Writing and getting published in healthcare newsletters/magazines/blogs
  • Creating a checklist for hospital administrators on selecting a design firm

These strategies would help reach your firm’s goals of gaining additional healthcare market share. Being as specific and focused as possible in both the strategic business plan and marketing plan will lead to much better results. You will also see these results more quickly when you’re focused and targeted with your plan.

In the event that your leadership doesn’t have a strategic plan, encourage them to write and implement one. Not only will it help you as the marketer/business developer, but it will also help everyone understand the overall direction and goals. By involving the employees in the process, results will also be better. Employee engagement is a big piece of any firm’s strategic plan. The leadership team, as well as others who are going to be challenged to grow the firm, need to be involved in the strategic planning process. You can ask all employees for ideas and feedback, but the strategic planning team will be ultimately responsible for writing and implementing the plan. The plan will then be communicated to all employees along with how they’ll play a part in the implementation.

If your leadership is not interested in writing and implementing a strategic business plan, you have two choices. You can leave the firm and find another firm that believes in the value of a strategic plan, or you can write your own marketing and business development plan without the strategic plan. As I mentioned earlier, this is more challenging but it can be done. After writing the strategic marketing plan, share this with your firm’s leadership. Hopefully, this will motivate them to get started on a business strategic plan! By showing them your written marketing plan, you’ve demonstrated the importance of setting future goals along with giving them the opportunity to change or give input on the marketing plan.

When I took a position with a previous employer, I stressed the importance of writing and implementing a strategic business plan. Within the first six months of my employment, I was given the authority to hire an outside consultant to help our team with developing a strategic business plan. Once this was done, I knew where I needed to focus our time and money for the marketing plan. This made my job and goal-setting much easier, because I aligned the marketing department with the overall business strategy. It was cohesive and consistent.

Regardless of where your firm stands with its business strategic plan, a marketing plan should be written and implemented. Having direction and goals provides  a road map to know where you are going and how you are going to get there. A marketing plan shouldn’t be independent from your firm but  rather a component of your overall strategic business plan. Conveying the value and importance of a marketing plan shows you are thinking about the future of the firm. This displays your dedication, your leadership skills, and your willingness to think about the growth of the firm. Write your strategic marketing plan and then produce results. Your leadership will be impressed by your commitment!

Lindsay Young, MBA, CPSM
nu marketing, llc
 

 

Sponsor Spotlight: Hutton Construction

SMPS Wichita loves our sponsors and Hutton Construction is no exception. Founded in 1992 Hutton Construction’s projects are located throughout the region representing every major type of building for virtually every industry. Today their team approach with clients and designers continues to evolve into an integrated collaborative process unlike any other in the business. As a Silver sponsor again this year please be sure to thank Hutton Construction for their support of SMPS!

A Member Minute with Catherine Rocky

 

Our member spotlight this month is Catherine Rocky with Terracon Consultants, Inc.,  www.terracon.com. We asked Catherine to answer a few questions for us to help us get to know her.

When did you join SMPS?
I joined SMPS in April 2009 and earned the CPSM certification in December 2010

Are you a Wichita native? If not, where did you grow up?
I hail from and grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Where did you go to college? Degree? 
After three years at the University of South Dakota, I completed my B.S. in geological engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Hobbies?
In my spare time I love to travel,  enjoy watermedia and oil painting and pastel drawing, writing articles for SWE Magazine, astronomy, and stress-relieving e-jigsaw puzzles

Favorite kind of music?
Classical but especially smooth jazz, catching the jazz series at Bradley Fair and making trips in the past couple of years to see favorite artists George Benson, Earl Klugh, The Rippingtons, and Acoustic Alchemy.

Favorite meal?
German or Japanese

What do you like about living in Wichita? 
Easy to get around and a short drive to major metropolitan areas

Married, kids, pets?
Married to college sweetheart and fellow engineer Bryan. No kids, no pets

Tell us a little bit about your position at Terracon?
Clients who have projects nationwide are given extra personal attention in my role as a Corporate National Accounts Manager.

Connect with Catherine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-rocky-89972116/

 

Eby Construction Continues Gold Sponsorship

SMPS is excited to announce that Eby Construction is a Gold Sponsor again this year!  From their home office in Wichita, Eby serves many construction markets, including general building, manufacturing and industrial, higher education, and medical.  Eby’s high-quality performance is achieved through trustworthy, value-based service from leaders who empower and support their dedicated, creative team members. Their expertise lies in offering flexible full-service construction solutions that allow clients to focus on what is most important to them.

A big thanks to Eby for their generous support of our organization and for over 75 years “Building a Better Tomorrow” in our community.

To learn more about Eby, please visit: http://www.ebycorp.com/