1147 - A Holistic Approach to Communications and Marketing with Demonstrate's Joey Hodges

Mar 30, 2022

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In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the CEO of Demonstrate, Joey Hodges.

Demonstrate is a full service marketing and communications firm. They specialize in outsized ideas and amplifying those ideas. They work in PR, social media, influencer marketing, and paid media services. They were founded under the premise of brand storytelling and so Demonstrate approaches communication and marketing holistically.

Joey shares that it’s more important now than ever to have the foundation of your communication in place. If you find yourself with deteriorating revenue because you’re struggling to reach your B2B audience in a meaningful way, you need to return to basics and restructure messaging. Demonstrate’s strategy is to build brand belief and purpose to communicate effectively with the end user.

Josh and Joey explore how PR has evolved, especially since COVID began. Joey explains that having stories to tell is an important key element. The first thing they do with new clients is to dive into the brand, its identity, and its mission. This first step gets Demonstrate to the root of a company’s messaging. This 4-6 week period helps Joey and his team discover the core audience they need to reach for a company and what their story is. From there, they use a bespoke approach to firmly address and solve the weaker points of a company’s existing marketing strategy.

According to their website, Demonstrate believes that influence is earned, and that brand communications have evolved. Forget about “brand building,” it’s time to focus on growing your influence — brands need to play a role within culture to be successful. Joey shares that Demonstrate had to pivot how they talked about their branding clients online – they had to go cutting edge and digital when it comes to connecting with their core audiences. At this point, real physical events and experiences aren’t the standard anymore. This pivot to creating an excellent digital strategy is key when it comes to adapting to the new normal of the post-COVID world.

Joey’s goal in founding Demonstrate was to provide a solution that wasn’t siloed or broken apart – he brought each communication work stream together to create a holistic approach. Marketing and communications should always be operated closely as they go hand in hand. If one team doesn’t know what the other is doing, how can messaging create an effective impact? You need a holistic approach to make your marketing, messaging, and communications effective and impactful.

Want to learn more? Check out Demonstrate’s website at https://www.wearedemonstrate.com/.

Check out Demonstrate on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearedemonstrate/.

Check out Joey Hodges on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joehodges/.

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