Businesses of all sizes and types are concerned with staying abreast of constantly changing customer and consumer expectations. The information age we are in represents both challenges and opportunities for doing this. The challenges are related to the sheer volume of information we now have available to use. The opportunities are related to the same thing! As both a small business person and a marketing consultant, I approach keeping us with customer needs from a couple of different perspectives: Continue reading “Keeping Up With Customer Needs”
Tag: Marketing
A Marketing Prediction and Fervent Wish for 2014
One of the “hot topics” we’ve been following in 2013 is the trend toward more accountability and measurement for social media efforts. We’ve been doing a lot of research on the topic, speaking at conferences and writing articles for communication publications. Based on what we’ve seen we predict–and fervently hope–this is a trend that will continue. Continue reading “A Marketing Prediction and Fervent Wish for 2014”
Challenges on the Horizon for Marketers in 2014
As 2014 rapidly approaches (I can’t believe how rapidly it’s approaching…) businesses are looking ahead to the New Year and thinking of the challenges and opportunities they will face. We recently responded to a reporter’s inquiry about marketing challenges lying ahead in 2014. Here’s our perspective:
There are two key challenges that businesses are likely to face in 2014 from a marketing standpoint: one is evergreen, the other is continuing to emerge: Continue reading “Challenges on the Horizon for Marketers in 2014”
Looking for the next big marketing idea? Unless it’s tied to real, bottom-line results don’t bother!
Marketers, advertisers, marketing communication strategists, copywriters, designers, videographers, etc., etc., etc., often talk about “the big idea” – and much of their time, effort and brainstorming activities are directed at identifying that “big idea” – that one thing that will… That will what? It is at this critical juncture between the idea and what that idea is intended to do, I think, where creatives often fail to get the point.
Here’s the thing: Continue reading “Looking for the next big marketing idea? Unless it’s tied to real, bottom-line results don’t bother!”
Are You Engaged in Marketing Malpractice?
I responded to a reporter’s query this week related to best (or I should say worst!) practices in marketing. His question was related to “marketing tactics that don’t work.” I had two initial thoughts about that query:
- I definitely believe that many of the marketing tactics being deployed today are ineffective—not worth the time or money spent on them and not generating relevant results
- The reason this is true, though, is not because of the tactic–but because of the strategy, or lack thereof Continue reading “Are You Engaged in Marketing Malpractice?”
STP: A Useful Marketing Acronym
One of the marketing concepts that I find many people struggle with–even marketing professionals–is defining a target audience. Seems pretty simple but, in fact, most people tend to cast a very wide net when determining who to target their marketing messages to. Much of this is because, I’m sure, we all have a tendency to believe that our product or service could appeal to a large segment of the market. So we attempt to reach the masses and, as a result, fail to effectively position our product or service within the minds of an audience that is most likely to respond. Continue reading “STP: A Useful Marketing Acronym”
What NOT to do on LinkedIn—or other social media sites!
We’ve been fairly active in social media for quite some time and manage several accounts for our own marketing efforts and to experiment with techniques that we can use to help boost clients’ awareness levels and levels of engagement online. We’ve reached that point where it is more common for people to reach out to us to connect than it is for us to be actively seeking new connections. To manage our connections, we have some guidelines in place to determine whose invitations to connect we accept and whose we ignore. Continue reading “What NOT to do on LinkedIn—or other social media sites!”
How Can You Measure Your Advertising Effectiveness?
It’s very important for businesses of any size to track the results of their marketing campaigns. Small businesses, in particular, are often “budget-challenged,” so it is especially important that they know that their marketing efforts are achieving desired results. The biggest benefit is that they will have information to tell them how to use their marketing budget most effectively.
There are a variety of ways they might track the effectiveness of these campaigns: Continue reading “How Can You Measure Your Advertising Effectiveness?”
Is It Time for a New Logo?
Recent logo changes by Google and Yahoo! have gotten the marketing and branding communities around the country buzzing. Neither change is significant which, from a branding standpoint, is significant. In fact, if you review most iconic brand logos over time (think Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonald’s, etc.), you’ll see only slight changes–often changes so slight that, if they hadn’t told us about the change, it’s likely that we wouldn’t even have noticed.
Why are these slight changes so prevalent among the top brands? Continue reading “Is It Time for a New Logo?”
Some “Silly” – But True! – Advertising Rules You Shouldn’t Overlook!
The field of advertising is traditionally known as a haven for “creative types.” And those types often come up with some pretty creative “rules” for doing business. Some of the rules may seem pretty silly, but they work. And there’s nothing silly about that. For instance: Continue reading “Some “Silly” – But True! – Advertising Rules You Shouldn’t Overlook!”