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Marketing plan
Social Media – Just Like Any Other Business?
Has Social Media become so complex that we feel like we’re losing our minds trying to make sense of it? For the majority of us, Social Media is complicated, even for those of us that use Social Media on a regular basis. It’s a young industry and new companies, tools, and applications are continuously launching. Trying … Continue reading
B2C Lessons that Can Improve B2B Brand Experiences
I recently read The Experience Effect by Jim Joseph. It’s about creating just that, an ‘experience effect’ that will drive consumers to a brand. As I read Jim’s book, it seemed to me that many of his lessons on B2C branding translate to the B2B world. A strong brand offers many benefits to business. It can … Continue reading
Focus or Fail – Tips to Keep Your Eye on the Target
Focus: a point upon which attention, activity, etc, is directed or concentrated. A common challenge we marketers confront is keeping a laser-sharp focus. We may do this some of the time or even most of the time, but, to maintain focus requires awareness and conscious action. I’m not talking about loosing short-term focus because of office … Continue reading
Do the 4Ps Work in the B2B World??
Anyone who studied marketing knows the 4Ps. Even those who didn’t can recite at least 3 of the 4; Product, Price, Place (a.k.a. Distribution) and Promotion. The 4Ps were first talked about in 1960 by Jerome McCarthy and later published by one of the most famous marketing scholars, Philip Kotler in 1967. Back in those … Continue reading
Aligning Marketing Programs with the Sales Cycle – How Great Marketers Measure Their Performance
With the end of a quarter upon us, functional departments are pulling together performance results to present to their CEO and CFO. For marketing, it has long been a struggle to show how marketing programs have resulted in growth of revenues and profits. When asked how a specific marketing program, activity or campaign affected sales, … Continue reading
Get Unstuck and Seize the Opportunity
One of the problems that we all face from time to time is getting stuck. We may get stuck for different reasons but when we are stuck, we have closed our minds and our ability to be open to change. The cost is missed opportunities. At one time in my career, I was a data … Continue reading
Defining a Target Market
When my sister was ten, my aunt gave her a box of a 1000 assorted smiley face buttons and she decided to earn extra money selling them to the neighborhood kids. The kids wanted different buttons based on sizes and colors and how much money they had to spend, so she put together several different … Continue reading
A Simple but Powerful Business Tool
Whatever strategic decisions we make in our business it’s important to have as much information at hand to make the best choices for success. A sometimes overlooked but, simple exercise that can provide much of that information is a S.W.O.T. Analysis. What is a S.W.O.T. Analysis? S.W.O.T. = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats Part of a … Continue reading
How to Avoid Social Media ‘Soup du-jour’ Syndrome
A small business owner and I met the other day to discuss social media and how it can help her business. She said she was overwhelmed by all the different platforms and sites and wasn’t sure which one was the best way to go. Her perception is that social media tools are ‘soup du-jour’ and … Continue reading
Business Plans are Dynamic – Is It Time for a Review?
by Susan Lowe It’s been six months or longer since you last looked at your business plan. Now might be a good time to consider a review. Here are a few of the reasons why you might want to take a look at your business plan. Something significant has changed in the marketplace, such as … Continue reading
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