Destination marketing promotes a location – a city, an amusement park, even an entire country – with the goal of enticing people to visit that location. Now you might think trying to convince someone to go to Hawaii would be pretty easy. I mean, it’s almost assuredly better than wherever you are reading this (and it’s definitely better than where I am writing this!) But as is often the case, even marketing something popular can be complex and nuanced.

That’s where people like Stefan Pettersson, co-founder of Stockholm-based destination marketing company Gameng, come in. Stefan knows that it takes much more than warm temperatures and sandy beaches to draw tourism.

It’s not true, of course. Not in a literal sense anyway. No matter how much you love your job, it will definitely still require work. Emails, meetings, mundanity. But if you think about the phrase in a slightly different perspective, that “if you are passionate about what you do, you’ll find more satisfaction in the work,” you’ll find a lot more truth there. Even in the advertising industry.

It may be hard to believe, but at Elasticity, we don’t just take every dollar someone offers us. There are a number of factors in which clients we accept or pursue. Many of those reasons are business related – projections, opportunity costs, industry volatility, trustworthiness, etc. But our own team’s interest and passion does often enter the equation. Because the best work often starts with passion. 

Elasticity’s Director of Client Relations, Meg Ryan, outlined her thoughts on how to get the most for a client from our team on the newest episode of the Stretching Boundaries podcast

Omnichannel marketing is a coordinated and seamless integration of both branding and messaging touchpoints for your customer, both online and off. It’s meeting your customers where they’re at taken to its logical conclusion, allowing them to interact and engage with your brand no matter where they are in the sales funnel.

Sometimes, it’s just a simple numbers game. “The more platforms that you use, the higher your ROI (return on investment) actually is,” says Samir ElKamouny, Founder and CEO of Fetch & Funnel, on the latest episode of Elasticity’s Stretching Boundaries podcast.

Why aren’t Google ads and an Instagram account enough? Because in a traditional multichannel approach, you’re siloed. “You’re thinking of every channel as a separate channel. ‘I’m running some stuff over here on Instagram, running some stuff over here on TikTok.’ But it’s really important to be thinking about it in a way where you are getting your message in front of the right person at the right time,” implores ElKamouny.

More channels means more flexibility, especially when customers utilize different channels for different needs. Being everywhere means being able to handle anything. “Where I am in your funnel is so important to understand,” says ElKamouny. Whether that’s a customer bringing up a dispute, leaving a review or looking for more information to help them make a final decision, having a channel ready to further that conversation can make all the difference.

“That’s always what we’re trying to do – get someone across the finish line.”

Learn more about omnichannel marketing and how both Fetch & Funnel and Elasticity can help you succeed with it by listening to the full episode of the new Stretching Boundaries podcast.

That’s Jason Michael, Elasticity’s Senior VP of Public Relations talking on the newest episode of the Stretching Boundaries Podcast about the false expectations clients can have when it comes to the PR space.

“I love Mad Men, but I think it ruined a lot of people’s perception of what this job is.”

He’s right. Mad Men is a show set in a 1960s ad agency. Back then, they were advertising Kodak slide projectors and Western Union telegrams. So it’ll come as no surprise that the advertising industry itself, just like the brands it pushed, has evolved in the last 70 years. You can’t just put out a press release and expect it to be picked up anymore. There’s way more to it these days.

“A company will see a competitor on the front page of the New York Times, or quoted in CNN, or they’re on Squawk Box, and they wonder how they got on there,” says Michael. “That conversation may have started 18 months ago. They talked to that producer, they gave them a bit of insight, they laid the seeds. And when that story came up, they had a chance to jump on it.”

Relationships have always mattered in the PR space, but as time moves forward and the pace of news speeds up, finding ways to provide unique value is proving to be the real difference maker in getting your client’s name out there. And that means not just being reactive to the current environment, but being proactive as well.

“People think that all you have to do is know those reporters and know those producers and you’ll be able to jump in – they’ve already made their phone calls, they’ve already reached out and they’ve already got their guests booked. That’s why it’s so important to play that long game.”

So how do you play that game well?

“The priorities have changed,” Wheeler said. “Employee communications, internal communications is a lot more important to us now as a company — making sure the employee base understands the turnaround strategy, understands their role in making that happen and that the organization feels aligned.”

Communication has always been key, but with employees who are more disconnected from the office and its culture than ever, it’s critical for companies to find ways of instilling their core values in this new landscape. There may not be a single silver bullet answer, but there are things you can do.

“You don’t parachute in, do conservation and then fly out. It’s a part of the fabric of the community that you’re in – In a responsible, thoughtful and respectful way.”

When the Denver Zoo makes an effort toward conservation, they know it’s not just for a photo op and a PR headline – these are long campaigns that are part of a greater strategy. And we can learn from their tactics when thinking about our own outreach efforts.

Advantage Solutions is a Fortune 1000 company and leading provider of outsourced sales and marketing solutions to consumer goods companies and retailers, focusing on connecting manufacturers to retailers and helping brands and retailers get products into the hands of consumers.