• How a Scripted 911 Call Underscored Urgency for Domestic Violence Support

    How a Scripted 911 Call Underscored Urgency for Domestic Violence Support

    In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we’re reflecting on our recent partnership with Geiger Institute, an organization with a proven track record of helping domestic violence survivors. Matter has been privileged to partner with Geiger Institute on several initiatives over the years, helping elevate the critical work they do. Recently, they asked us to create a video that would get the attention of large donors. They needed a gripping and urgent call-to-action that would inspire donors to give towards the cause of ending domestic violence homicide. We were incredibly motivated to get this right, knowing that a well-crafted video could help inspire donors to rally behind this life-saving work, but the request came with a unique set of challenges.

    Challenge #1 – Underscoring importance of domestic violence issues

    Our first challenge was coming up with an opening scene that would immediately capture our audience’s attention. We knew we had to strike a careful balance between illustrating the extreme urgency of preventing domestic violence homicides without triggering the audience to withdraw in distress.

    Solution – Create a scripted 911 call

    As the late Fred Rogers once said, “You will always find people who are helping.” Brainstorming and collaborating with Geiger Institute led us to the decision to confront our audience with the voice of someone in the middle of a domestic violence crisis, asking for help. That’s how we landed on the idea to start this fundraising video with an audiogram of a 911 call. This approach would demand our audience’s attention, tapping into their instinctual draw to help someone in need, without introducing potential visual triggers. It spoke to the real danger that domestic violence homicide poses every day, to thousands of people around the United States — inviting the audience not to just to witness and feel distress at someone else’s emergency, but to be part of the solution.

    Challenge #2 – How to portray a 911 call

    With our 911 call idea in place, we had two options: use a real 911 call or create our own in the studio. We wanted to open this video with strong emotion – anything reminiscent of a hokey reenactment was definitely out. Still, using audio from a real 911 call presented its own ethical issues.

    Solution – Stage the 911 call with professional actors and tasteful sound design

    We ultimately decided that using someone’s most vulnerable moment as a tool for gain, even in the name of authenticity, was not in the spirit of putting survivors’ safety first. Instead, we held a studio recording session with professional voice actors, making sure to include members of the Geiger Institute team to ensure authenticity, accuracy and sensitivity.

    Challenge #3 – What does the audience need to know?

    While many of the facts and statistics about domestic violence homicide are staggering and carry a heavy emotional weight, we knew that to make our audience care deeply about the issue, we needed to find the right balance between informing and storytelling.

    Solution – Combine our expertise with the expertise of our client

    As a longtime client, we’ve had the privilege of developing a significant level of trust with Geiger Institute. That’s what made it particularly easy to collaborate successfully. We were able to recommend limits to the number of statistics to include in the video as well as the optimal duration of time to spend on this section, while the Geiger Institute team contributed their deep, contextual knowledge to assist us in choosing the most crucial information to include.

    “We were thrilled to partner with Matter for a video project to support fundraising efforts with our national domestic violence homicide prevention work. Matter has been a wonderful community partner for many years to Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, and now Geiger Institute, a division of the Center that we launched in 2022. They patiently worked with us through the storyboarding process to find the right visuals to bring to life a complex, nuanced issue. The process for each step of video creation was collaborative and exciting. We are so pleased with the result, and now have a powerful tool to continue to grow Geiger Institute and move forward our work to end domestic violence homicides across the country.” 

    – Alicia Peet, Communications Manager for the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center

    For us, this project was more than just another video—it was an opportunity to contribute to an essential cause. We’re proud to have been part of creating a tool that will help Geiger Institute not only raise funds but also continue their mission to save lives.

    To learn more about Geiger Institute’s work to end domestic violence homicide, check out https://geigerinstitute.org.

    Sarah Delahunty

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  • Organic vs. Paid Social Media: Differences and Benefits

    Organic vs. Paid Social Media: Differences and Benefits

    Social Media usage is continuing to grow exponentially, with no signs of stopping. With 4.8 billion social media users worldwide, representing nearly 60% of the global population, it’s no surprise that brands are increasingly prioritizing social media to stay top-of-mind with consumers. Brands can – and should – use both, but what’s the difference between organic vs. paid social media?

    Understanding the Basics of Organic vs. Paid Social Media

    Organic social media is content shared on a brand’s page without any sort of paid advertising behind it. For example, in-feed posts, stories, and videos on a brand’s social platform would all fall under organic social. On the other hand, paid social is content that is promoted or boosted with a budget behind it. Examples include sponsored posts, display ads, and banner ads on social. 

    Key differences include: cost (organic social does not require additional budget to advertise), reach (paid social allows more control over reach), targeting (paid social allows you to set specific parameters to build a custom audience), and control over content (paid social often has greater creative limitations).

    Advantages of Organic Social Media

    • Building relationships/Community Building: Organic allows you to build relationships and a sense of community with your target audience through repeated interaction. 
    • Cost-Effectiveness: Organic social has limited barriers to entry and no additional budget required to boost posts. 
    • Long-term benefits: Organic also has long-term benefits including the potential for sustained growth and brand loyalty.

    Disadvantages of Organic Social Media

    • Limited reach: A “good” reach is never guaranteed with organic social.
    • Time-consuming: Creating and maintaining high-quality content requires a time investment. Additionally, staying on top of trends and platform updates also requires constant attention.
    • Algorithm changes: Platform updates can require a shift in social strategy.
    • Slow growth: It can take months of consistent posting and optimization to see positive results with organic social. Paid social results are nearly instant.

    Advantages of Paid Social Media

    • Targeted reach: With paid social, you can precisely target specific demographics and interests.
    • Quick results: Paid social allows for rapid growth and visibility. 
    • Measurable ROI: Tracking and optimizing campaign performance, including cost, is simple with paid social.
    • Flexibility: Paid social campaigns can be adapted in real time based on performance data
    • Case studies: Real-world examples of successful paid social media campaigns.

    Disadvantages of Paid Social Media

    • Cost: The financial investment required for advertising.
    • Short-term benefits: The need for ongoing investment to maintain results. No budget = no results.
    • Lack of authenticity: The potential for perceived inauthenticity compared to organic content. Promoted posts on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are often ignored or receive negative feedback.
    • Algorithm changes: Similar to organic, platform updates can impact paid ad performance.

    When to Choose Organic vs. Paid Social Media

    • Business goals: You should align your choice with your specific objectives. Are you looking to sell tickets to an event that starts in a week, or are you looking to expand your brand presence over the next year? Different objectives have different considerations.
    • Target audience: Understand your audience’s preferences and behaviors.
    • Budget: Consider your financial resources and ROI expectations.
    • Resources: Assess your team’s capabilities and time constraints. What is the best use of time and budget?
    • Hybrid approach: Exploring the benefits of combining organic and paid strategies.

    Best Practices for Both Organic and Paid Social Media

    • Content quality: Create engaging and valuable content that resonates with your audience.
    • Consistency: Maintain a regular posting schedule and consistent brand messaging.
    • Engagement: Actively respond to comments, messages, and mentions. Community management cannot be overlooked.
    • Analytics: Track key metrics and use data to optimize your strategy.
    • Platform-specific best practices: Understand the unique features and algorithms of each platform.

    Although organic and paid social differ in their unique benefits, both services are important tools for brands to leverage when optimizing their marketing strategy. Interested in learning more about how we help Elevate our clients’ social channels? Check out Matter’s social media marketing services!

    Ethan Lyons

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  • Matter Elevates Crisis Communications Response Capabilities with Appointment of Julianna Sheridan as VP

    Matter Elevates Crisis Communications Response Capabilities with Appointment of Julianna Sheridan as VP

    Agency’s crisis communications team brings decades of experience in proactively and reactively supporting clients through critical events

    BOSTON, Oct. 16, 2024 – Matter Communications – a Brand Elevation Agency integrating PR, marketing and creative services – is excited to announce the continued growth of its dedicated crisis communications and reputation management unit, led by Julianna Sheridan, VP, Matter Precision and crisis communications. Since stepping into her role earlier this year, Sheridan has spearheaded Matter’s crisis and reputation management efforts.

    Throughout its history, Matter has remained committed to guiding clients through critical events. This marks the first time the agency has formalized a crisis communications unit, reflecting its continued dedication to safeguarding client reputations.

    The crisis team brings together decades of expertise in delivering comprehensive planning, including drills, workshops and protocol development. In addition, the team has supported numerous real-time crisis responses through strategic counsel, content creation, media monitoring and media relations.

    “In the last year alone, Matter’s crisis team has successfully guided clients through diverse challenges, such as active shooter situations, deepfake technology misuse, legal disputes, federal investigations, and cyber breaches,” said Mandy Mladenoff, president, Matter. “Under Julianna’s leadership, Matter will continue to support our clients through the unexpected and help them navigate the complex, high-stakes moments that shape reputations.”

    Sheridan, alongside crisis co-lead and account director Kat Aronofsky, has also been instrumental in training Matter’s internal teams, ensuring every staff member is prepared to support client crises seamlessly.

    Sheridan brings nearly 10 years of experience leading strategic communications programs for clients in B2B technology, manufacturing, consumer goods and professional services sectors under Matter’s Precision group,

    To learn more about Matter’s crisis communications, reputation management and strategic communications offerings, click here.

    About Matter Communications

    Matter is an agency delivering proven PR, marketing and creative solutions that drive results. Founded in 2003, with offices spanning North America, Matter works with the world’s most innovative companies across high-technology, healthcare, consumer technology and consumer markets. For more information, visit https://www.matternow.com.

    Contact

    Matter Communications
    Greg Amaral
    [email protected]
    www.matternow.com

    Matter

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  • The Complete Guide on iOS 18 & Effective Email Marketing (with HubSpot)

    The Complete Guide on iOS 18 & Effective Email Marketing (with HubSpot)

    AI has significantly transformed marketing over the past year, and email marketing is no exception. Apple is one of the latest companies to introduce new AI features through Apple Intelligence, introduced this past June and set to roll out with an iOS 18 update as soon as this month. The Mail app specifically is set to undergo a series of updates using AI that will greatly affect the way users engage with their inboxes. Email marketers should pay special attention to these changes and start rethinking their strategies to align with these updates. Fortunately, email platforms like HubSpot offer their own AI email builder tools to help marketers stand out in crowded inboxes and maintain high-quality email content.

    Matter’s Marketing Automation and CRM team has researched these important changes and their implications for email marketing. Check out our findings below and how your email marketing team should react before the updates take place!

    Key Updates to iOS 18- An Enhanced User Experience

    One of the most notable features in iOS 18 is Inbox Categorization, which will be available on every iPhone. Apple’s Mail app will now utilize AI and machine learning to sort emails into four main categories automatically:

    1. Primary: Your main inbox for messages from friends, family, colleagues, and time-sensitive emails.
    2. Transactions: Receipts and invoices will be neatly organized here.
    3. Promotions: This category will collect deals, sales notifications, and various marketing materials.
    4. Updates: Newsletters and other informative content will be housed in this tab.

    Additionally, All Mail view will allow users to see all emails chronologically, making it easy to catch up on correspondence. Apple is currently the number one most used email client in the world, with over 57% of emails being viewed on the Mail app, so these changes are likely to affect a large percentage of your user base.

    Inbox Summarization (available for only iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max through Apple Intelligence) will be AI-generated highlights and key takeaways from your email visible at the top, giving users a recap of their email without them having to open it. The introduction of Digest View will group messages from the same sender, helping users find related emails without sifting through their entire inbox.

    Also available through Apple Intelligence will be Priority Messages, in which those emails deemed time-sensitive will be highlighted at the top of the inbox regardless of send time, so users can quickly identify what needs their immediate attention. Unread emails will remain at the top, while read ones will gradually float down, streamlining inbox management.

    Implications for Email Marketing

    With these updates, email marketers must adapt their strategies to ensure their emails are not only opened but also categorized favorably by Apple’s system. Here are some essential tips, including ways to utilize HubSpot’s world-class email builder:

    1. Target the Right Categories

    Knowing that Apple will prioritize emails in the Primary and Updates categories in the inbox, it is essential to try to craft messages that will slate your emails into these buckets. To do this, focus on creating content that communicates timely updates and important information from your company. Consider avoiding typical sales language that might trigger the Promotions or Transactions filter.

    Pro Tip: Consider using a personal name in the sender field rather than just your company’s name. Emails that appear to come from a real person may have a better chance of landing in the Primary category.

    2. Optimize Subject Lines and Preview Text

    Both the subject line and preview text play a pivotal role in capturing attention—not just from human readers but also from the AI. Ensure they are engaging and accurately reflect the content of your email, which can help your email avoid the Promotions category that may hinder visibility.

    Pro Tip: HubSpot offers its own AI feature to help generate sample subject lines based on your email’s copy. These can be a great starting point to add a human flair and get your contacts interested in opening the email!

    3. Craft Compelling Copy

    Your email’s copy will be crucial in determining its success in iOS 18. Making sure your message is clear and descriptive is essential in ensuring an accurate summary of your email will be generated that gets contacts interested in clicking into your email to learn more. AI will also be scanning your text to determine which emails deem priority, so don’t be afraid to use time-sensitive language.

    Pro Tip: Avoid sending emails that rely solely on images, as AI may struggle to interpret them without accompanying text. Be sure to include alt-text for all images, increasing the likelihood that the AI will associate your content correctly.

    4. Prioritize Testing

    Lastly, always test your emails before sending them out. This will be especially important with this new update, as email layouts may change between devices. HubSpot’s email preview feature allows users to view the email in platform across more than eighty different email clients and across a number of different browsers, an incredibly useful feature to make sure emails are rendering appropriately.

    Pro Tip: Pay particular attention to how your emails appear in both light and dark modes on iOS devices and viewing your email in different environments (like mobile vs. desktop) can prevent potential formatting issues.

    Working With AI— Not Against

    As Apple Intelligence launches soon with iOS 18, it’s essential to adapt your email marketing strategy to take full advantage of its new features. By implementing the tips we’ve shared above, you can elevate your email marketing efforts and strengthen your connection with your audience.

    Is your email strategy ready for the next wave of changes? Reach out to Matter’s Marketing Automation team to request an evaluation today!

    Lauren Fedor

  • Denver Startup Week, DenAI Summit Highlight Mountain West’s Vibrant Digital Ecosystem

    Denver Startup Week, DenAI Summit Highlight Mountain West’s Vibrant Digital Ecosystem

    Colorado’s tech scene has experienced exponential growth over the past decade. Contributing $1.8 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, the Colorado tech sector has emerged as a definitive digital hub between America’s east and west coasts. With major tech players present in Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs, the Centennial State is on the forefront of digital innovation today. 

    Denver, ranking 19th in PitchBook’s Global VC Rankings, serves as a key host city for industry meetings that facilitate valuable networking and information sharing opportunities for tech professionals. In fact, this year’s annual Denver Startup Week (September 17-19) and inaugural DenAI Summit (September 19) gathered approximately 12,000 attendees from the Colorado tech scene — an indicator of the city’s rich entrepreneurial spirit.

    Our tech PR team attended both events to learn about the latest tech trends happening in the Mountain West. With an established presence in the Front Range, including a localized office in Denver’s vibrant River North Arts District, Matter has helped elevate some of Colorado’s most innovative tech brands with integrated PR, marketing, and creative programs (learn more about our robust B2B tech portfolio here).  

    Amongst a variety of insights, the week’s top takeaway was clear: Colorado will continue serving as a critical hub of global tech advancement for years to come. Below is a rundown of some of our favorite panels.

    DenAI Summit: Leveraging AI as a Force for Good

    The inaugural DenAI Summit, labeled as the country’s first major city-led AI conference, focused on utilizing AI technologies to solve societal challenges. It provided an opportunity to learn how governments, technology innovators, and academia can lay a responsible path forward to use AI technology as a force for good. Keynote speakers included Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn Co-founder), Eric Schmidt (Former Google CEO), and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins (Promise CEO). The underlying theme across discussions was the importance of incorporating human insight into all processes that might leverage emerging technologies.

    The State of Generative AI: Where Are We Heading? In this fireside chat, Schmidt and Denver mayor Mike Johnston discussed the transformative impact of AI on scientific research and discovery — zooming in on how AI is accelerating drug discovery, enhancing genomic sequencing, advancing climate modeling, and driving space exploration.

    AI for Everyday Empowerment: Enhancing Affordability, Access, and Wellbeing. This panel, with speakers from Virta Health, Ibotta and Google, analyzed how AI is making healthcare more accessible and goods/services more affordable. In addition, it highlighted how the public sector is leveraging technology to foster economic empowerment.

    Colorado and the AI Frontier – Innovations Shaping Our Future. This discussion, with panelists representing CO-based companies such as Vantage Data Centers, Crusoe Energy Systems and Stackhawk, shared insights on how to effectively leverage Colorado’s existing digital infrastructure and the momentum on the jobs front (ADP Research named Denver the hottest job market in the country) to advance the implementation of AI into existing offerings and be able to stay ahead of the curve.

    Above all, the DenAI Summit showcased why Colorado’s flourishing tech scene is a result of its dynamic entrepreneurial culture, growing community of investors, and steady cadence of innovation summits and initiatives. Coupled with leading education and research institutions and an increasing talent base, the state offers an ideal setting for both established brands and new startups to thrive.  

    Denver Startup Week: Quantum and AI Take Center Stage

    Denver Startup Week 2024 featured several panels gathering founders from across fintech, healthcare, cybersecurity, cleantech, and space economy. Discussions revolved around how companies are investing in, building, and applying AI to further their mission and goals, as well as how the state of Colorado is fueling the quantum revolution.   

    How Quantum Technology is Changing the World from the Mountain West. This panel resonated with attendees after the White House’s recent recognition of Colorado as the nation’s top quantum computing hub. With panelists representing Maybell Quantum Industries and Buff Gold Ventures, attendees had an opportunity to learn how quantum computing is already driving innovation across telecom, finance, industrial settings, and supply chains. The discussion highlighted a critical partnership between CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to accelerate quantum technology development via their state-of-the-art Quantum Engineering Initiative Lab. It also analyzed the economic opportunities associated with quantum computing, with McKinsey projections forecasting the technology could be worth trillions of dollars within the next decade.

    Investing & Building in Generative AI. This panel featured Colorado founders and VCs, such as Liminal (a security platform for GenAI use), Freeplay (a platform for AI product development) and Next Frontier Capital, to analyze how AI technologies are being developed, commercialized, and invested in across the Front Range.

    Navigating the Future with Responsible AI Usage

    The responsible AI usage theme at this year’s DenAI Summit and Denver Startup Week aligned with our own approach to AI implementation across our agency. We continue to keep a pulse on the latest AI trends across the strategic communications landscape via our annual Marketing/Communications Outlook Survey. In addition, we’ve published a collection of informative blogs that share AI-related insights and analysis:

    Chris Mueller

  • Explaining the Unexplained with Video

    Explaining the Unexplained with Video

    Let’s say you have a product to sell (Or a service. Something your business offers that is absolutely amazing).

    You want to tell the world about this incredible thing (because everyone and their mother should know about it), but there is so much information. Just look at your website! You have 10 pages detailing one aspect alone. And let’s be honest, most people aren’t going to make it that far down the rabbit hole.

    Remember, the window of opportunity you have to grab someone’s attention is ever shrinking, and no one is immune. (Apparently, my attention will drift from anything that isn’t ruthlessly captivating in less than 10 seconds these days. What am I, a goldfish!?) Gen Z generally loses interest in advertisements after just 1.3 seconds. That completely changes the landscape of advertising.

    So how can you ensure your target audience can absorb all they need to so they can learn about your amazing offering?

    That is where the Explainer Video comes in.

    Why Explainer Videos?

    An Explainer’s whole purpose is to hook your audience (like the goldfish we are) and succinctly go through the most important aspects of what makes your product or service special. Lucky for us, video also helps your audience retain information a whole lot better than those mountains of text on your website.

    A typical explainer video follows the following formula:

    1. Identify the problem that your audience is facing
    2. Demonstrate how your offering solves said problem
    3. Tell them why you are the best choice

    To tell this story, an Explainer Video generally runs from 60 to 90 seconds.

    And keeping your Explainer close to that length is important, because if you’re not careful, your video can start to veer off into the mysterious and encyclopedic territory of… a Product Demo. Don’t get me wrong, product demos are great. They just serve a different marketing purpose than an Explainer.

    • A Product Demo’s purpose is to give an in-depth overview of the inner workings of a product or service. After someone watches a Product Demo, they should have a pretty good idea of exactly how to use a product, step-by-step, and potentially learn some tips to get even more out of your offering.
    • An Explainer’s purpose, on the other hand, is to show your audience why your product exists – to solve the exact problem they’re dealing with!

    An Explainer is a premiere piece of marketing material that can be repurposed across many platforms:

    • A full Explainer lives comfortably on a homepage where it can receive the highest amount of traffic and is a great introduction for anyone to your site. Hi, hello, how are you? Were you, by chance, looking for a solution to all your problems?
    • Remember that study we linked to before that found Gen Z to be super goldfish-y? They also found that advertisements on social media sites generally max out around 15 seconds. So, let’s cut your Explainer video into bite-sized social cuts for your grandma on Facebook sharing AI generated memes, your nephew on TikTok who’s current obsession is Dress to Impress, and your lifestyle-guru cousin on Instagram (we all have problems to solve, after all).
    • Explainer videos fit perfectly into any sales deck or PowerPoint presentation. Is Jerry a little nervous about presenting? Not anymore! All he has to do is get to slide three and hit that play button on his embedded Explainer Video. Then he can be sure that every touchpoint gets covered.
    • Spice up an email by sending along an Explainer for the recipient to watch! They make the perfect partner to any newsletter or sales outreach you plan on doing. 

    Explainers are perfect for prospects in the middle of the funnel who are hungry for more information about your product. But, they don’t have an endless attention span. Instead of sharing every detail about how your product or service works and what goes into making it work, make sure to focus on what your audience needs to know to continue to build interest: details that give them a reason to choose you over the competition. After all, you offer something absolutely amazing – so amazing that people are going to ant to know about it. So, give them something they can sink their teeth into with an Explainer Video. And make it snappy (you don’t want to lose their attention, do you?)!

    Joe Skoniecki

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