Communications, Marketing

Articles of Interest: Marketing and Firm Culture

Marketing Strategy
Marketers have a lot on their plate: campaigns, eblasts, social media, websites, and more. These are all pivotal duties for our firms, but unfortunately some of the less-tangible aspects of our jobs fall to wayside for the more tangible tasks.
Company culture is often hard to define. Some might even think their company (or for most of us, firm) doesn’t have a culture at all! If you’re having trouble nailing down your company culture or integrating it into your current marketing plan, these articles are for you.

What Does Company Culture Have to do With Me?

You may be asking “Is company culture even a part of marketing?” It should be! Company culture is a great way to communicate your brand. Sharing your culture introduces the people behind your firm and shares your values.
If your marketing strategy doesn’t include culture, you’re missing out on attracting clients with similar values and preventing meaningful contact with your audience. Here’s a great article on the basics of company culture. You have to know what culture is before capitalizing on it.

How do I use Company Culture in Marketing?

Now that you know what company culture is, you have to know how to use it in marketing. Nowadays, more and more people won’t do business with companies they don’t trust or relate to. They have a sea of options offering similar – if not the exact same – services. The deciding factor between equally competent companies often comes down to culture.
The main way to utilize your firm’s culture is to share it. You first need to share it with the employees you hire and then share it to your audience. Communicate your culture through all of your public-facing campaigns including social media and videos on your website. Check out this article from Shift to learn how to utilize your company culture as a marketing tool and how to do it properly.

What is my Company’s Culture?

Now that you understand what company culture is and how to communicate it, you may be wondering what YOUR firm’s culture is. As stated above, culture isn’t exactly a tangible thing. Fortunately, there are some basic categories to get you started down the right path.
Every company culture is unique, but they seem to fall under 4 main pillars:
  • Clan Culture
  • Adhocracy Culture
  • Market Culture
  • Hierarchy Culture
Once you understand what type of category your firm falls under, you can capitalize on your company’s unique values within that frame.
Take a look at this article about the 4 distinct types of company culture to narrow down what type of culture your company has and execute on it.

How do I Utilize my Company’s Culture?

Once you’ve narrowed down your culture, what do you do now? The short answer is that it’s up to you. Your company culture is unique, and only you can capitalize on it. There’s going to be some trial and error in implementation, but as marketers we’re all used to a little bit of A/B testing, right?
You’re not totally in the dark though. While every culture is different from the next, a lot of businesses and firms may hold similar values. Doing some competitor research or culture research in businesses outside of accounting can lend insight into how you may want to share your culture with your audience.
Let’s get that research started with this article that shares 10 unique culture examples to help you begin your culture marketing today.

About Jake Fugett


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