Red Branch has existed since 2008 and has served clients in many industries including financial, design, software and technology. Until late 2011, it was used mostly in between “day jobs” and as a place to do consulting if needed. It’s now a niche agency devoted to marketing for the workplace, which is a catchy way of saying that I work primarily within the Human Resources and Recruiting space.

While I am the principal of Red Branch, I work with a whole lot of talented people in the world of work and I have a social implementation team to helps with day-to-day tactical stuff. If you want to learn more about me, you can check out my blog Marenated.

Bio: Maren Hogan is a marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting space. Most recently the Head of Marketing, US for BraveNewTalent, she’s recently resumed her consultancy at Red Branch Media, handling marketing strategy and content developments for HR and Recruiting vendors. A seasoned advocate in the areas of social media, recruitment and HR marketing, she previously held the position of Chief Marketing Officer for RecruitingBlogs.com and was among the first contributors to Fistful of Talent. Hogan has built three successful communities and built brand strategies for over 70 companies in various sectors (both B2C and B2B). You can connect with Maren on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, as well as read her latest posts on Marenated and RedBranchMedia.com

 Marketing Strategy: Generally this is how the relationship starts. We take 1-3 full day sessions going over your existing material and goals we set during our talk, messaging, target market, events strategy and all your corporate communications. We then turn all that into a deliverable that outlines:

Marketing Plan (will include events, social media, email marketing if applicable)

Editorial or Content Calendar

Buyer Personas

Messaging

PR/Communications

Internal and External Resources

Accountability and Effectiveness Checks

That generally concludes the marketing strategy part of the relationship for about 3-6 months, when we revisit. After this, you decide if you hate me or love me and we move on to Content Development.

 I get asked about the Red Branch a lot. So here’s the story:

When I was very pregnant with my third child, I decided that our new living room need a little more pizazz. We had this large space and not enough good artwork to cover the bare walls. So while I drove to pick up my other two children from school, I spotted a branch blown on the side of the road. I immediately pulled over to grab it.

Did you know that branches on the side of the road might be larger than they appeared from your car? Well, it’s true, they are. As I huffed and puffed to get that branch in the back of my car, I’m sure I was a bit of a sight to the other mothers waiting to pick up their own children. But I was “all in” at this point, having lost my place in line, not to mention a bit of my dignity (a woman in her final trimester lugging what looks to be a small tree isn’t pretty).

I finally wedged the branch inside and my poor children had to duck most of the way home to avoid it (beauty is pain!). Then came the real test of my “pitching” ability. Convincing my husband that it made perfect sense to bring the branch in, cut it down to size, and allow me to SPRAY PAINT IT RED.

Which I did. We then hung it up in a corner where it spans two walls, and it remains there today. And while it’s since been surrounded by other pieces of artwork (and jabbed more than one guest in the back of the head if they don’t respect the branch), it is always the first thing people see when they come into my home.

The Red Branch makes an impact. And that’s what I want your brand to do. Whether it’s a tiny implementation project or a large branding and strategy overhaul, I want your message to come through loud and clear and make a difference.

 Content Development: All the content we said we needed in the plan? Now it’s time to write, create and distribute all of it. Every clients’ needs are different.  Content development includes:

email copy

website copy

articles

e-books

blog posts

brochure or printed material copy

powerpoints/webinar decks

press release writing/distribution

media list creation

internal and external facing documents of any nature.

You get it. If it’s written down and polished, it’s in the content development category. I usually take this time to set up templates for the firm’s further use upon my departure. The goal is to make marketing/comms/pr run seamlessly, whether I am there or not. If you’ll recall, all this content is yours to keep and white papers are NOT included in the rate (which is hourly BTW). We’ll talk about those later.

Once we’ve tangled via content development, we move to the world of email marketing!

 You probably have a ton of names and emails you aren’t using, but even if you don’t, I can help. In Phase 2, we crystallized your message and killed it in development, now you need to get processes in place to optimize your spiffy new marketing materials and optimize the sales funnel for your team. My goal with email marketing is to make it “set it and forget it” for your firm. Again, all leads are yours to keep and any and all of your team has access to your email program, with a fully transparent login.

 Social Media Implementation. There are a lot of firms that will tell you social media implementation by an outsourced firm is WRONG. They’re wrong. I know the industry, the market, YOUR market and (unless you’re brand new to the space) YOU. I consistently build and target the right followers and feed them great, personal and interesting content. But it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing game. I also offer social media training and support for your team.

 Other services include:

Event Management

Project Campaigns

White Papers

Social Media Audit and Cleanup

Project Management

PR Strategy

There’s a pretty nifty contact form over there on the right hand side of your screen but if forms aren’t your thing, here’s how you can get in touch with me:

Email me: maren@redbranchmedia.com

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Call me at (402) 577-0760

Find me on Twitter

Find me on Facebook

Skype me