What Is Content Marketing?

Let’s start at the beginning. What is content marketing?  The phrase has achieved buzzword status. Yet, despite its popularity, confusion abounds.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

What isn’t content marketing? That, too, is of equal importance. For example, ad campaigns, native advertising, and automated algorithms are not content marketing.

Develop a Content Strategy

An effective content marketing program begins by developing a content marketing strategy, which yields an opportunity to control your message, share your point of view and expand brand awareness.

It’s important to consider these vital questions: What are the possible pathways to raise visibility, generate leads and improve your website traffic? Where can your content assets intersect with potential customers? Your website? Certain media outlets or blogs? Social media channels? Physical locations? Do your research. Answering these questions will tell you where to place your content.

After all, content marketing is evolving as consumer habits change.

While the first inclination may be to rush out and generate a mix of content aligned to your business objectives to reach prospective new customers — if this content doesn’t command their attention and recollection of your brand and what it represents, the program will miss its mark. Worse, if content fails to deliver in an appropriate and meaningful way, it can even alienate existing and potential customers.

Gauge consumer perceptions and expectations by asking: What mix of mediums will best resonate with my target audiences?  For example, consider the written word, the spoken word, different types of imagery, such as photography, graphic art, infographics, and/or video.

Create Content

With a strategy in place, the next step is to begin creating content. Here are some top tips to make your content program successful:

• Be purposeful. Does your content convey the benefits of your product or service? Does it answer the important questions or address key issues in your industry? Content that presents your product/service as a solution is one way to help your brand become etched in the minds of your target audiences.

• Be thoughtful. Ensure brand messages are easily understood by intended audiences. Know the market landscape, everything from the competitive set to user personas. Content meant to prompt a desired action only works if it’s crafted with the language, style, customs, etc., relevant to your audiences.

• Be consistent. Develop an editorial calendar and publishing schedule. This will help you with achieving consistency and alignment with your business objectives, which may evolve or shift.

Content Distribution

Successful content marketing not only requires the creation of content that tells your story, it also requires effective content distribution tactics. Some marketers may prefer to disseminate directly to target audiences and become self-publishers. However, a more strategic approach is to leverage both owned and earned media (editorial) channels.

Scope out and plan the circle of influence before you embark on a dissemination strategy, for example, a contributed article in a publication widely read by your target audience can be amplified through other distribution channels, e.g., social media, email marketing, website, sales collateral, and more. In addition, repurposing proven content for sales purposes is a savvy approach and opportunity for marketers to tap and allocate advertising and sales budgets for content marketing programs vs. only tapping traditional marketing or PR budgets.

Measure Success

Measurement is a requirement for any successful content marketing strategy. Achieving business goals with your content requires an analysis of the data. A straightforward approach is to measure the following areas: consumption, lead generation, sales and sharing. There are a host of analytics tools that can help content marketers evaluate the ROI of their campaigns.

Conclusion

Content marketing provides ongoing opportunities to tell your organization’s story, effectively engage potential and existing customers, extend the goodwill of your brand and spread key company messages.  For information on how Graham & Associates can help with your organization’s content marketing program—please visit: http://www.graham-associates.com/public-relations-content-development.html.  

As a society, we’re becoming more digital. We now have smart apps that can monitor our health 24/7, and sensor devices that can detect everything from remote forest fires to available parking spaces in urban jungles. It’s also increasingly how we receive our news. According to Pew Research's State of the News Media 2014: “The vast majority of Americans now get news in some digital format. In 2013, 82% of Americans said they got news on a desktop or laptop and 54% said they got news on a mobile device.”

Still, the placement of news stories in online media seems generally underappreciated by companies evaluating public relations programs and the relative merits of media “hits.” For a number of reasons, including the statistics cited above, companies should embrace Web-based opportunities, rather than discount them. Indeed, here are several arguments in support of online news placements as part of a comprehensive media relations strategy that complements and accentuates those already targeting traditional print and broadcast media:

You’ll find a connected audience: Readers of online news often read publications that directly suit their professional and personal interests. And they actively find articles and stories through search engines, RSS feeds, and news aggregation platforms while seeking out specific topics. This means news coverage in online publications will likely bring your company an engaged and knowledgeable audience.

Social media can spread your message like wildfire: Unlike other news formats, online stories aren’t static. Your company’s message can exponentially reach more readers and remain relevant longer if it resonates with readers who share it through Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and other social networks. Also, many popular blogs writing on similar topics may cite and link to your story, providing further traction.  

Online news enables an immediate call to action: Another important benefit of online news coverage is the immediacy and convenience it allows for readers to learn more about your company and its products and services. While enhancing your company’s reputation and giving it credibility, online news coverage can also bring direct marketing benefits, as most stories include hyperlinks to company sites or products. In such cases, new customers, clients, or partners may be only a click away.

Coverage with a lasting impact: The news cycle of online publications continues well after a story is first published. Previously published articles may be referenced and linked to for the life span of the news site. What’s more, many online trade publications include archived pages with search features that enable readers to find the historical record for that publication’s coverage of individual companies.  

Graham and Associates understands the value of online news coverage. We work hard to get strategic placements for our clients. To learn about how our media relations programs earn valuable coverage both online and off, see www.graham-associates.com  

To secure national and international communications and public relations awards for the work we do for our clients, Graham & Associates, Inc., applies a discipline of best practices and Original Thinking® in research, planning, creativity and execution to achieve measurable results. Experts and industry peers who know what it takes to generate results-oriented PR programs judge our work, and we credit our success to consistently exceeding the norms in our industry in these key areas.

First, we define business goals and objectives to ensure we develop a program that meets our client’s needs. Then, Graham conducts initial industry research scans to identify the issues and trends affecting a brand, and we review the competitive landscape. We listen to online chatter to learn what’s being said publicly. Next, we develop creative messages using Graham’s trademarked Original Thinking® approach to create strategies and a plan with campaign initiatives and outreach ideas that engage key audiences to achieve maximum results. Finally, we measure those results to see how they move the needle for the organization. 

Of course, PR awards are much more than a pat on the back for our agency teams; they are also recognition for the amazing work our clients do. Innovative products and services, coupled with our drive and discipline for raising awareness for them, add up to our roster of top industry awards such as: the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Silver Anvil for Marketing Consumer Services and Overall Public Relations Program, the PRSA Bronze Anvil for Media Relations Business-to-Business, the Communicator Award of Distinction for Program-to-Market Products/Services, the International Business Award for Communications Campaign of the Year in North America, the International Public Relations Association’s Golden World Award for Special Creativity, the MarCom Awards’ Gold for Publicity Campaign, and the Platinum Hermes Creative Awards for Online Placement, to name a few.

As a testament to our continued drive to excel, Graham & Associates just received its 63rd award for excellence in public relations and communications. This milestone comes at the completion of our 10th consecutive year of successfully securing industry recognition.

Please visit the Graham & Associates website to learn more about our award-winning work at http://www.graham-associates.com.  

Message consistency is vital for successful marketing communications campaigns, but reaching agreement on messages can sometimes be challenging, especially in organizations where top executives each have their own vision. Building consensus is important.

When dealing both internally and with the public, it’s critical for executives to understand the repercussions of message inconsistency and how a breakdown often leads to a decline in an organization’s status, brand reputation and ultimately its sales. 

Identifying primary and supporting messages up-front is the cornerstone of a successful public relations campaign. Consistency and repetition of messages across all communications vehicles drives success, whether used in internal meetings with employees, marketing brochures, presentations or during an interview with The New York Times. Graham & Associates, Inc., facilitates full- or half-day sessions with management teams using a proven discovery process that uncovers issues and determines the messages that should (and should not) be communicated to your audiences. 

These intensive sessions are fun and interactive and a great team building exercise. We help top management reach agreement on positioning and messages. The outcome is a core set of messages, highlighting your company’s unique differentiators that you can use across all media, customer, employee and partner interactions. 

For more information about our messaging workshops, please visit: http://www.graham-associates.com/workshops.html  

While Facebook and Twitter are the two primary social media outlets, companies can also benefit from visual outlets such as Pinterest and Instagram. Pinterest and Instagram are terrific ways to share photos and are powerful tools to promote products, services, advocacy campaigns and businesses by inviting conversations via images.

With the right approach, companies can leverage these two sites to reach more customers. If branding is the main objective, Pinterest is an excellent choice. If your goal is to initiate conversations with individuals, Instagram is a better option. Some companies use both, but how do you know if one (or both) are right for your business?

With Instagram, users take a picture, apply filters and share it with family, friends or colleagues through the application directly or via other social media platforms. More brands and businesses are choosing this service to share visual content with customers and potential customers because the photo streams capture the character and experience of a business – beyond typical stock photos. Because it doesn’t have an official desktop site, Instagram focuses on mobile-centric users wanting to capture and share images in the moment, stimulating further engagement by passing these images on through other social media channels.

On the contrary, Pinterest is a computer-centric social media platform that lends itself effectively to marketing brands because it is highly interactive. Pinterest uses a virtual pinboard with ample space to “pin” pictures and share content across users who share similar interests.  As an example, a resort can pin visual content of the hotel, grounds, restaurant food, amenities and past events to draw more picture views and stimulate interest in its services. Pinterest encourages group usage and sharing of content, so other members can “repin” photos on Pinterest or from articles with hotel reviews, expanding brand awareness across Pinterest’s many users.

Marketers should consider using Instagram & Pinterest. At Graham & Associates, we can help you decide which visual social media platform will work best for your business. Please visit http://www.graham-associates.com/social-media-pr-campaigns.html.­­­  

Companies, membership organizations and nonprofits all have important things to say, but breaking through the noise to deliver your message successfully can be overwhelming. Here are a few steps we take at Graham & Associates to help our clients prepare, engage and lead the conversation.

1) Lay the groundwork – Solid messaging lays a foundation for your organization’s marketing and communications strategy. Delivering clear and consistent messages that resonate with your target audiences is the basis for increasing your company’s visibility. Awareness and credibility can be short-lived if spokespeople fail to deliver consistent messages across conversations.

2) Build a thought leadership program – The best way to establish credibility is by showcasing your senior talent and their expertise. Identify a targeted thought-leadership platform for executives, and tap their knowledge to address business/market issues prior to joining any conversation. How does their expertise address the unmet needs of the market? Listen to uncover where your thought leaders can engage and lead the conversation. Raise their profiles as experts in their respective areas.

3) Prepare to talk the talk – Once you’ve identified thought-leadership topics, executives need to prepare for media exposure. Media training can refine how to deliver a point of view. Practice answers to tough questions. Anticipate questions that media and other pundits will ask as an important preparatory step before joining the public discourse. Have your ducks in a row, and make sure you can back up your position.

4) Tap conversations – Monitor the media and keywords to identify real-time conversations. At Graham, we follow trending topics and offer strategic counsel on delivering insightful responses and advise on the right time to engage to raise visibility for your company and thought leaders. Keeping our finger on the pulse in real time and identifying strategic opportunities to lead conversations are two of the things we do best.

5) Maintain the momentum – Leading the conversation can happen quickly. Sustaining it takes time, dedication and persistence. Working with a PR firm to ensure you continue to address the issues that matter to your target audiences will keep you actively involved in the conversation and build leadership.

For more information about Graham’s thought-leadership programs for raising and maintaining visibility for your company, please visit us at http://www.graham-associates.com.  

Without a social media content strategy, businesses can waste lots of time and money and even hurt their reputation. Untended Facebook pages, nonsensical tweets, questionable YouTube videos, or company lunchroom pins on Pinterest – however cute – won’t stimulate the desired conversations with your target audiences necessary to boost sales and increase demand for your products and services. What’s worse – they might even leave a bad impression.

Step back. Think about your objectives. Listen to online conversations first and visualize the entire social media landscape as an ecosystem. Then, develop your social media PR and marketing plans. Having an integrated strategy is the smart way to build a successful social communications program.

Companies often fail to consider how social media channels work together. A solid plan for effective social media channel integration starts with reviewing each social media channel, studying its unique strengths and weaknesses as it pertains to your brand or product. Only then, can you determine how these separate channels work best in concert. Also, consider how social media integrates with your existing traditional and online marketing campaigns.

For example, when a hotel marketing campaign focuses on compelling content for a website or a frequent traveler loyalty program, social media can actively drive awareness, and prompt engagement to boost these marketing efforts by engaging guests before, during and after their stay. A push to draw guests to a newly opened hotel might begin with Twitter teasers to raise curiosity and provide incentives to check out an informative URL or Facebook fan page and ultimately, the hotel itself. During a guest’s stay, hashtags on coasters in the bar encouraging guests to tweet can increase online engagement. Announcing the hotel’s daily activities/promotions on Facebook can also raise interaction. Post departure, encouraging guests to post photos on Pinterest and Instagram, tweet about their stay or write a review on TripAdvisor can generate excitement, result in further online conversations that go viral, and draw potential new guests to check out the property as well as build loyalty among repeat hotel guests.

Developing a simple interactive campaign where your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest profiles point to each other, and back to your website, is a good start.

If you need an agency to manage and tie all this together, please visit us at: http://www.graham-associates.com/social-media-pr-campaigns.html  

This week, Facebook announced a new search tool letting users find information shared by their connections through social queries. The new search feature, called Graph Search, allows users to search Facebook for data “shared” with friends, such as likes, pictures, people, places, business pages, etc., (“that users have access to,” as stated by Facebook, to address privacy issues).

Facebook may be trying to compete with Google for search business, but for now, they are really focused on making search more functional on their own site. Graph Search will make it easier for Facebook members (your potential customers) to search topics their friends have liked, and if your business is included in those likes, you’ll have a higher likelihood of popping up in the search results.

As a business on Facebook, the more you share, the more useful the Graph Search tool will be for your followers. So eventually, brands that share lots of information and wish to increase their Facebook traffic (and eventually sales) should keep a few things in mind about this new tool:

1) The good news is that brands with a Facebook page presence will be more visible to Facebook users following their brand. As users search for specific terms on Graph Search, it provides an opportunity for branded Facebook posts to surface months after the initial post. For example, tips on painting, where to find a suitable retirement community or a favorite restaurant or seaside resort in California that you posted last year will surface.

2) "Shares” will be more visible with Graph Search so updating brand content will be critical. Fresh content will maintain interest and entice your followers to share it. The more up-to-date the content, the more likely it will be shared, helping to drive traffic to your Facebook page increasing fans and ultimately generating greater brand awareness.

3) Key words aren’t as “key” with Graph Search. Including all the details on your Facebook profile will be more important so the Graph Search algorithm can find your business. For example, a user searching for a fine dining experience to celebrate a special occasion will only find your restaurant if all details about the food style, price range, proper attire, etc., are provided in the profile. 

The jury is still out on Graph Search, but the concept is a clever one, and brands can use it to their advantage. Stay tuned as Facebook likes to make changes, and this new feature will surely transform as trial users provide feedback.  

It’s no secret that baby boomers are coming of age and that older adults 65+ now comprise 12 percent of the U.S. population. What’s surprising is that older adults are more plugged into technology adoption than you might expect. Everyone thinks of millennials as adopters of the latest social media, but the fastest growing group of social media users is really parents of baby boomers. Older adults are looking for easy, fun ways to: stay in touch with friends and family on Facebook; share common interests on Pinterest; or remain active by joining a Nintendo Wii bowling team. According to a study by Inc. Magazine, the Internet users ages 65 and older who said they use a social networking site grew 100 percent, compared to just 13 percent by those ages 18-29.
  
While this is good news for marketers and social networks, it also presents interesting opportunities for the health care industry to improve the health of older adults. With 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) spent on health care, technology can help manage patient care and disease as well as provide the catalyst for older adults to remain independent.
 
Health care service providers, from hospitals and clinics to retirement communities, can benefit from older adults’ high-tech adoption by using technology in new and innovative ways to address their biggest issues, such as maintaining health, security, independence, engagement and a general sense of well-being, whether they are aging in place or in retirement communities.
 
Beyond the fun stuff, technology is being used to help monitor patient health remotely via dial-up and mobile phone, and it can actually save lives. For example, technologies that remind individuals to take their medicine at a prescribed time, monitor blood pressure remotely or even keep the mind sharp through brain fitness programs are all available today and will continue to grow as this population demographic grows.
  
“The marketplace for technology to assist aging adults is expected to grow sharply from $2 billion today to more than $20 billion by 2020,” according to an updated 2011 report by Laurie M. Orlov, founder of market research firm Aging in Place Technology Watch.
  
This presents a great opportunity for the technology industry, research institutions, health care, aging services and homecare provider organizations to create new technologies or innovative uses of existing technologies to address the specific needs of a growing senior population. It also means these organizations must rethink marketing campaigns and communications tactics, tapping new channels to reach an audience that is now spending more time, and dollars, online.
  
As the old adage goes, “necessity is the mother of invention,” so stay tuned for exciting new developments in this area.  

As the old saying goes, there's no "I" in team, and at Graham & Associates, these are words we live by every day to produce great results for our clients. Working well together is a key ingredient for success at any organization, and something we value highly within our company.

Recently, the Graham & Associates employees took a field trip to a cooking class at Cavallo Point Lodge to pair team building with exceptional food and wine. As we walked into the Cavallo Point Cooking School's pristine kitchen and saw the beautiful fresh ingredients, we knew we had a job to do, and the best way to get that job done was the same way we handle any project—as a team.

As individuals, we all have unique strenghts. Some are better at chopping, some are better at marinating, some are better at baking, while others have instincts and vision for beautiful presentation. Whenever all of these abilities come together, there is an exciting outcome—in this case, a successful and delicious meal.

As we split into smaller groups, we were assigned to prepare different courses for an authentic Italian feast. One team prepared appetizers, one cooked the sauce, one broiled the main course, and one created dessert. Although some staff are veterans chefs and some are rookies, we all worked together, balancing each other's talents and weaknesses, stepping in to aid our teammates if they needed a helping hand.

Each dish had its unique flavor, created by each team, and the combination of dishes made for a tasty and satisfying dinner, demonstrating just how well we work together.

As we sat and enjoyed the fruits of our labor, we grew closer appreciating each person's contribution and realizing with the right materials, skill set, drive and team dynamics we can turn the simplest ingredients into a gratifying and memorable result.

Come visit us at www.graham-associates.com to learn how we can cook up a successful recipe for your communications program.

Only the best athletes become Olympians, and their journey to the top offers great insight for business. Here are some qualities public relations professionals can learn from these competitors to attain success.

1 - Dedication to a craft, whether it’s a sport or business, requires 100-percent commitment to victory. Olympians only compete on this global stage once every four years. Spectators often overlook how much dedication and hard work it takes in between to win the smaller battles that lead to potential gold. In business as in sports, maintaining motivation and drive is crucial to success, regardless of ups and downs. Communicators must remain dedicated to winning.

2 - Consistency builds identity and provides stability. For athletes, routine builds a strong rhythm, allowing them to measure success with incremental improvements. If they followed a different plan every week, they’d never reach their goals or gain recognition for outstanding achievements. In public relations, consistency builds strong brands for clients and catapults them beyond their rivals.

3 - Excellence – Olympians aspire to perfection, but that’s not always realistic. What they do obtain is excellence far beyond other athletes. PR can position clients for greatness by identifying the essential components that make a business shine.

4 - Aim higher – Athletes are competitive by nature, giving 110 percent to beat a personal record or a tough opponent. A successful PR program is not the end of the race. There’s always another milestone or goal to achieve, so no resting on your laurels!

5 - Confidence – Each competition provides an opportunity to win. A positive attitude generates the inspiration and belief needed to secure the next medal. As communications pros, we are hired when we instill confidence about our ability to make a difference in a client’s business.  

There are many interesting things about Pinterest, the hot new visual social media discovery network, which allows users to “pin” beautiful ideas captured in images or videos onto virtual pinboards. From home décor tips to restaurant suggestions to bucket lists, more than 10.4 million registered members of Pinterest create and curate visually stimulating content that they share via their Pinterest boards. A recent report found Pinterest drives more referral traffic than three of the largest social media sites, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn, combined, so brands need to heed the call of the pin and learn how the site can help increase business.

Currently, Pinterest users are predominantly women (90 percent), although men will likely soon catch up. Given the types of Pinterest boards users create, consumer brands have curation tie-ins that make joining Pinterest a good option for many products and services. Below are five reasons why your brand should get active on Pinterest:

1. It offers a platform for window-shopping: Unlike Facebook and Twitter, users visit Pinterest to discover ideas for interests as broad as travel, home décor, cars, sports, etc. As people visit other people’s boards, Pinterest becomes a platform for window-shopping and often leads to a sale through Pinterest’s “pin-it” function which links back to a picture’s originating site.

2. It functions as a vehicle to showcase brands: For companies, it is a platform to showcase new products and services, introducing users to new and existing brands.

3. It provides an instant call to action: The ability to pin images and videos from an e-commerce catalogue directly to Pinterest boards allows users to instantly purchase the products they like. This is one of the most distinguishing and financially rewarding features for companies. 

4. It delivers an instant user reaction: It is also a platform for conducting quick market research. For example, a home décor company can post a few creative ideas and note which designs and colors people are drawn to and which products are being re-pinned.

5. It boosts SEO: Linking back to your website through Pinterest can increase search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Google now indexes personal Pinterest profiles, so adding keywords to your boards can increase your site’s ranking when users re-pin your post(s).

At the same time, Pinterest does come with a few challenges. For example, there have been some questions around image copyrights. Our suggestion is for companies to upload images they have rights to use and distribute, expecting those images will be re-pinned and spread around the site and Internet. If you’re worried about preserving image rights, then Pinterest may not be the platform for you. 

Is your company ready for Pinterest? Email your comments to pr@graham-associates.com.  

Although print newspapers and magazines still have a broad audience, and play an important role in disseminating content, many outlets have evolved to include an online edition to address the different ways their audiences choose to receive information. Whether you pick up the morning paper off your lawn, buy your favorite magazine off the newsstand, or receive the latest news via RSS feeds, today's publications are diversifying to meet their reader's needs by providing accessible delivery options.

As published online in MIT Communications Forum, director David Thorburn states, "New technologies never displace older systems with decisive suddenness; the process of media transition is nearly always accretive and gradual, a mix of tradition and innovation, in which emerging and established systems interact, shift and collude with one another."

In PR, even in this digital age, we still get asked how important is online coverage, and our answer is: important! Here's why:

• The majority of news today is consumed online. All leading newspapers, such as The New York Times ,Wall Street Journal, USA Today, etc.,have online unique visitor numbers that are much higher than their print subscriptions. This holds true for many newspapers and magazines.
• Secondly, online coverage has longevity. Once coverage appears online, you can search, find and read it after many months and even years. This isn't true for print articles – unless you keep huge stacks of past issues or visit a library's archive.
• Thirdly, online coverage increases search engine optimization (SEO). Backlinks coming from external websites (e.g., news sites, blogs or Wikipedia) to your homepage are not only a sign of quality and trust, but ultimately increase your searchability and Google Page Rank.

Many of us still enjoy reading the printed word in the traditional fashion, but the power and importance of online coverage simply cannot be ignored.

We would like to hear which is more important to you - online or print? Email your comments to pr@graham-associates.com  

Every company knows how valuable the brand image is to its core business. But a lot of companies forget the importance of protecting that image online, which can make it an ideal target for online scammers, counterfeiters and fraudsters.

Since the Internet is such an important and effective tool, it’s vital to take protective measures and develop an Internet policy to uphold the organization’s image; not doing so could be extremely damaging. Many fraudsters linger on search engines, and social networking and eCommerce sites. Commonly, scammers ‘hijack’ brand terms and redirect traffic to illegitimate or competing sites. They can also misrepresent your brand on social media sites, hijacking your logo unlawfully to gain credibility. Ultimately, this impacts your bottom line and devalues your brand.

These are five steps you can take to protect your brand online:

The social media landscape can be daunting for anyone, especially for marketers. Attracting distracted consumers’ attention and keeping them engaged with your brand can be time consuming. Here’s a cheat sheet to get you started:

Don’t sell: Social media platforms aren’t your company’s website or brochure. It’s not a place to sell to your targets. Be genuine, helpful and fun.

Offer something more: Share information that is unknown and unique about your company or the industry e.g., a sneak preview of product launches, trade tips, new regulations, product images and videos, etc.

Make them feel special: Indulge your community with a special deal on your service and products for a limited time.

Listen to them: Conversations should be two-way. Allow your audience to engage with you and share experiences. Read what they have to say about your organization on Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor, etc.

Respect their feedback: After listening, take action to make changes as needed, otherwise just say thank you. Let them know that you are listening.