Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα marketing. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα marketing. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων

Τετάρτη 27 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

Outsource or Insource? Evaluation Lens for Marketing Leaders

Marketing leaders are faced with difficult decisions regarding outsourcing.  As new technologies and skillsets are required, CMO’s are turning to consultants.  What functions should be built in-house vs. outsourced?

It is a common business practice among world class companies to outsource significant levels of strategy and execution.  The strong get stronger.  But when do you do it in-house?  When do you outsource?

Top marketing leaders focus on building a strong internal team, while outsourcing key projects.  Consultants can be brought in to provide these benefits:
  • Increase success rate priority projects
  • Extend capacity
  • Leverage experience
  • Accelerate timelines
When outsourcing you should expect more.  The following are 'multiples' to evaluate when considering whether to outsource or do it yourself.  Every marketing team is different.  Not all multiples apply to every case.  Gravitate toward the multiples that dovetail with your team’s capabilities. Download the Outsource Evaluation Worksheet to calculate the impact factor of outsourcing.

Execution Multiple - Does the firm provide strategic input and execution support?
Companies that embark on a major consultancy engagement can find it difficult to execute.  Companies struggle going from strategy to execution.  The digestion period can be months before springing into action.  I’ve had senior executives tell me after a major strategic engagement that they need another consultant like they need a hole in their head.  My personal favorite quote on this topic is “I don’t need more Bain pain.”  

Κυριακή 24 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

Defining Your Market in 7 Steps

You've come up with a great idea for a business but you're not ready to roll yet. Before you go any further, the next step is figuring out who your market is.

There are two basic markets you can sell to: consumer and business. These divisions are fairly obvious. For example, if you are selling women's clothing from a retail store, your target market is consumers; if you are selling office supplies, your target market is businesses (this is referred to as "B2B" sales). In some cases -- for example, if you run a printing business -- you may be marketing to both businesses and individual consumers.

No business -- particularly a small one -- can be all things to all people. The more narrowly you can define your target market, the better. This process is known as creating a niche and is key to success for even the biggest companies. Walmart and Tiffany are both retailers, but they have very different niches: Walmart caters to bargain-minded shoppers, while Tiffany appeals to upscale jewelry consumers.

Πέμπτη 21 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

Manage and Grow Your Customer Relationships with these Web Based CRM Solutions

I've taught for a long time that customer relationships are the key to any marketing strategy, but I'm still surprised at companies that don't use customer relationship management tools. Recently while working with a client I spent time evaluating the different CRM options that are available. I want to share with you what I found, in hopes that you to will adopt a CRM and begin to use it with your initial and ongoing marketing campaigns. Using a CRM will show you that by staying in touch with customers you can in fact increase your bottom line.

My objective in finding a CRM was to find a solution that was web based. The reason I like a web based solution is because they tend to be easy to setup, cost effective and great if you have employees in different locations.

Κυριακή 17 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

What Education Marketing and Sales Executives Need to Know About Telemarketing to Schools

Marketing to schools, especially for products with a long sales cycle, is a real challenge. Education sales managers need to speed up the process and, in some situations, the telephone is just the right tool. Is it right for you? Here’s valuable free advice from a veteran of K-12 telesales and telemarketing.
Supercharge your channel strategy now

Five Ways to Integrate Tele-Services into Your School Marketing Mix

Τετάρτη 13 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

The State of Our Marketing Departments in 2013

The marketing industry has gone through an evolution over the last decade. Just take a look at what job postings look like now, compared to what they looked like in the 1990s. Even the role of Chief Marketing Officers has changed and seems to be going one of two different directions in businesses, either phased out or growing into a more complex position than it used to be. Chief Marketing Officers are now required to be both strategic and operational. They must not only focus on consumers, but on business stakeholders to create links across businesses by aligning brand strategy and business strategy.

Σάββατο 9 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

Drip Marketing: Is It Effective?

What is drip marketing? Drip marketing is a direct marketing strategy that involves sending out several promotional pieces over a period of time to a subset of sales leads.

Is this process effective and how can you begin planning your drip marketing campaign?

The phrase drip marketing comes from the common phrase used in agriculture and gardening called "drip irrigation." This is the process of watering plants or crops using small amounts of water over long periods of time.

Κυριακή 3 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

The Cost of Misaligned B2B Marketing

When alignment is discussed in marketing, the usual application is to sales and marketing alignment. This has been an ongoing conversation for nearly as long as I can remember. And I've been in the business environment for quite a while.

The issue that comes up for me is that there are some alignment issues before we can even get to sales and marketing alignment that could have major implications for brands, if they took stock.

What I'm talking about are two sources of fragmentation - the second driven by the first.
  • marketing misalignment
  • customer misalignment
But, first, let's start by defining what "alignment" really means. According to dictionary.com:

    Alignment is a state of agreement or cooperation among persons, groups, etc. with a common cause or viewpoint. 

Σάββατο 2 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

Building Customer Communities Is the Key to Creating Value

What are your customers telling their friends and colleagues about your business? As I described in my last post, your prospective customers and buyers increasingly learn about you from their peers — including your current customers — while tending more and more to ignore traditional sales and marketing communications from corporate. Companies are now taking advantage of this new marketing reality, becoming more skilled at getting their customers to advocate for them, create peer influence in their markets, and make important contributions in areas like product development and services.

Creating and capturing such value from customer relationships doesn't just happen, no matter how stellar your products and services are. It requires an enhanced value proposition, what I call a Level 4 customer value proposition.

Seth Godin: Why Small Businesses Fail

The famous marketing expert explains how small businesses can hone their market efforts.

  Bestselling author Seth Godin

A few months ago, I traded emails with best-selling author Seth Godin on the subject of marketing inside small businesses. The more I read over the interview, the more I realize that his advice is priceless. Here's the interview: 

Τετάρτη 30 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Exploring the Fifth and Sixth P of Marketing

For years I’ve written about how the 4 Ps of Marketing, Product, Place, Pricing, and Promotion represented a dated perspective of customers and markets. In an era of connected consumerism, one could argue the merits of any of “Ps” and whether or not they’re still relevant. I suppose that’s a debate for another time. Instead, I’d like to introduce of two additional Ps that will propel a decades old concept and modernize it for a social economy.

Truth be told, there are many words that can find their way into this discussion. I’m sure we can find words that begin with the same consonant. But we now live in an era where customers are more connected, informed, and empowered, and as a result, their expectations amplify and modify. To adapt, new pillars are needed whether or not they start with the letter P. Rather than run through the dictionary, I would like to share two words that I believe are more important than ever before—people and purpose.

For those who’ve followed my work over the last decade, you’ll note that I’ve often referred to “people” as the “5th P of Marketing.” It wasn’t until recently however that I finally put all of the pieces together to consider a 6th P, in this case adding “Purpose” to the mix.

Σάββατο 26 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Solving the Analytical Problem of Marketing Attribution

Marketing attribution is a topic that remains a thorn in the side of most organizations. Are we still no better off than John Wanamaker back in the 1800's when he purportedly said those famous words: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half"? The trouble is that the goal posts keep moving, and just when you think you might be able to get your arms around the subject, the landscape changes.

Παρασκευή 25 Ιανουαρίου 2013

6 Reasons Original Marketing Materials Sell

The siren call of a premade print design can be hard for a small-business owner to ignore. As CEO of Company Folders, Inc., I’ve spent nearly a decade providing clients with original die-cut marketing materials. I’ve also run into plenty of people who seem more interested in using a generic “cookie cutter” design. Whether from print-on-demand sites or the templates in your publishing software of choice, the appeal of a quick, inexpensive and easy solution to your marketing needs is sometimes too tempting to pass up.

However, actually using a premade design can spell disaster for your small business and hurt the reputation of your brand. Here’s why:

Πέμπτη 24 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Οι τάσεις που θα κυριαρχήσουν στο brand marketing το 2013

Οι τάσεις μάρκετινγκ που μπορεί να δημιουργήσουν σημαντικές ευκαιρίες ή να αποτελέσουν μεγάλες προκλήσεις για το brand marketing αυτή τη χρονιά καταγράφηκαν από τους ειδικούς του χώρου. Πόσοι άραγε είναι έτοιμοι γι αυτές;

Λογοδοσία

H διαχείριση της φήμης στα social media δεν ήταν ποτέ πιο σημαντική, η διαφάνεια για κάθε brand είναι κρίσιμη. Το 2013 ακόμη και το μικρότερο λάθος μπορεί να γίνει ένα τεράστιο πρόβλημα δημοσίων σχέσεων. Οι άνθρωποι του μάρκετινγκ θα πρέπει να είναι έτοιμοι με σχέδια αντιμετώπισης δυνητικών προβλημάτων για να προστατεύσουν τη φήμη της μάρκας τους. 

Τετάρτη 23 Ιανουαρίου 2013

4 Marketing Hazards to Avoid

In their book No B.S. Guide to Marketing to Leading-Edge Boomers and Seniors, marketing experts Dan S. Kennedy and Chip Kessler offer small-business owners a handy guide to targeting the leading-edge boomer and senior market. In this edited excerpt, the authors outline four errors that can crash your well-planned marketing campaign.

There are specific hazards in communicating with and building trust with leading-edge boomers and seniors. Stepping in any one of them, even a little, can sabotage an entire marketing campaign or sales presentation with everything else in it done perfectly. Here are four sand traps to watch out for on the course: 

Πέμπτη 17 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Five big marketing mistakes companies make

For most businesses, marketing is a crucial component of success. If you can't market effectively, you can't sell and grow, and that spells trouble.

Thanks to the internet, the rise of digital marketing channels, and the abundance of marketing tools and technologies, companies have more marketing assets and capabilities than ever.

But figuring out how to use them correctly is often a challenge and there are a number of common mistakes that hold companies back. Here are five of the biggest and most detrimental.

Τετάρτη 16 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Influencer Tools for Marketing

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, or WOMMA, defines an influencer as "a person who has a greater than average reach or impact through word of mouth in a relevant marketplace." As WOMMA puts it, "when a marketer identifies, seeks out, and engages with influencers in support of a business objective" the results can help sway consumer opinion and behavior in ways that traditional advertising can't. To find the influencers who can benefit your business efforts, start with the right tools.

Influencer Marketing

Τρίτη 15 Ιανουαρίου 2013

How Much Did That New Customer Cost You?

Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition twice a year and after each campaign. The old business adage goes, "You can't manage what you don't measure." Yet we fail to measure these costs all the time. We seldom take the time to see how effective our marketing was.

A poor return on investment can have a variety of causes. Maybe your demographic has shifted, or maybe your prospects are getting their information from a new source. Or maybe a particular campaign was never effective, and you just didn't know it.

Κυριακή 13 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Οι τάσεις που θα κυριαρχήσουν στο brand marketing το 2013

Οι τάσεις μάρκετινγκ που μπορεί να δημιουργήσουν σημαντικές ευκαιρίες ή να αποτελέσουν μεγάλες προκλήσεις για το brand marketing αυτή τη χρονιά καταγράφηκαν από τους ειδικούς του χώρου. Πόσοι άραγε είναι έτοιμοι γι αυτές;

Λογοδοσία

H διαχείριση της φήμης στα social media δεν ήταν ποτέ πιο σημαντική, η διαφάνεια για κάθε brand είναι κρίσιμη. Το 2013 ακόμη και το μικρότερο λάθος μπορεί να γίνει ένα τεράστιο πρόβλημα δημοσίων σχέσεων. Οι άνθρωποι του μάρκετινγκ θα πρέπει να είναι έτοιμοι με σχέδια αντιμετώπισης δυνητικών προβλημάτων για να προστατεύσουν τη φήμη της μάρκας τους.

Κυριακή 6 Ιανουαρίου 2013

The 3 big marketing fallacies for 2013

The start of each year is always accompanied by a rush from everyone to make their predictions for the next 12 months. While I’ve obviously got my own thoughts on the subject, I thought I’d do something different. My good friend Jonathan MacDonald has used Fallacies as a theme of sorts for a few years now, so in the creative spirit, I’m adopting the idea with the 3 big marketing fallacies which all businesses need to overcome.

Having worked with a huge range of brands and clients over the years, there are certain issues and concerns which I know will increase in regularity over the next 12 months. So identifying and tackling them now as part of your strategy for 2013 will be key in having a successful year with less problems.

Πέμπτη 3 Ιανουαρίου 2013

Top 5 Mistakes Made in Marketing

A properly developed marketing campaign can not only connect you with the right prospects, but it gets everyone talking about your company, your product, or your service. However, marketing mistakes can just as easily cost your business thousands of dollars. Here is a checklist of 5 mistakes commonly made in marketing.

1. Lack of Research and Testing
Market research and testing should be done to determine the performance of every marketing effort. This takes the guesswork out of what your potential customer or client wants. Always make sure you have done your due diligence when it comes to testing different offers, prices, and packages. Get the input of your customers.