At Articulate, I and the other members of the Articulate Leadership Team (ALT) present a company update every quarter, and we did the Q3 review this week. At the first-half update in July, we actually upped our company success metrics based on trends we saw heading into the third quarter. And we’re ahead of our goal so far, a fact that we are all quite proud of.
A few observations:
- Our current clients are stable and looking toward more aggressive marketing in 2010. Six Articulate clients actually increased their PR spend in the third quarter.
- We’re continuing to build on our long-standing relationships with our clients, adding seven former clients back to the roster so far this year.
- Five new companies signed with Articulate in the third quarter – we’re seeing strong growth from marketing services companies and financial technology firms this year, a testament to our ability to quickly ramp and excel in new industries.
- The depth of our work has shifted as well this year. We’re doing more strategic and consultative projects, from message development workshops to media and presentation coaching to Social Media 101 seminars, and we look to expand these capabilities in 2010.
There was a report this week that the recession is over. I’m not so sure that means recovery yet, but there are strong signs that technology and B2B services firms are more hopeful that 2010 holds plenty of opportunity, and the smart companies are getting ahead of the pack by maintaining and growing their investment in PR to outpace their competitors as other industries begin to renew their spending.
By Laura Grimmer