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Author: jeangianfagna

Gianfagna Strategic Marketing / Articles posted by jeangianfagna (Page 18)
March 29, 2011
Advertising Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

New Prospect, Bad Client? 7 Red Flags for Marketing Agencies

Every advertising and marketing agency is in a constant search for new business. But as a marketing agency president, I’ve learned the hard way that not all prospects should become clients. Even if you're a marketing agency looking to grow, sometimes it's smarter to walk away from prospective new business than enter into a bad relationship. How do you know when to stay or go?Here are 7 warning signs that a new prospect could become a bad client for your marketing agency....

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by jeangianfagna
March 24, 2011
B2B Marketing Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

7 Ways to Improve Your Marketing Strategy with RFM Analysis

Do you know which of your customers are most profitable to your business? Or even how to measure customer profitability? One of the best ways to gauge the value of a customer is to perform a recency, frequency, and monetary value (RFM) analysis of your customer data. Here’s how RFM analysis works and seven ways you can use insights from RFM for a smart marketing strategy. ...

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by jeangianfagna
March 17, 2011
Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

How Cleveland is Regaining its Marketing Mojo

Can Cleveland, Ohio – the city that rocks, but has struggled in recent years with population decline and the economic downturn – capitalize on its extraordinary assets and regain its marketing mojo? The answer is an emphatic yes, according to executives representing the region’s health and medical community, film industry, convention and visitors bureau, and professional and amateur sports. These leaders shared insights on how to tell Cleveland’s story at a presentation on “Marketing Cleveland” on March 15 at Executive Caterers of Landerhaven. Here are highlights from their comments and my views...

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by jeangianfagna
March 15, 2011
Advertising Creative Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

#FAIL: The 11 Most Overused Creative Themes in Marketing

A fresh creative concept is crucial for effective advertising and a smart marketing strategy. But too many advertising and marketing campaigns recycle the same, tired creative themes and copy phrases over and over and over. This is more than annoying. It’s a guaranteed audience turn-off and a misuse of the marketer’s resources. Here’s the 2011 edition of my annual list of the most overused creative themes in marketing. How many do you recognize?...

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by jeangianfagna
March 7, 2011
Creative CRM Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

How Great Direct Mail Helps a Retailer Win Back Customers

Direct mail is often used to reactivate lapsed customers, but few direct marketers do it well. Instead of a powerful, personalized appeal that rekindles the relationship, they turn the customer off with a generic message, irrelevant content, and a “so what?” offer. But when a direct marketer gets it right, with a highly personalized, data-driven message, a compelling offer, and a warm invitation to re-engage, it’s a thing of marketing beauty. Here’s how a major women’s retailer – Chico’s – nailed it with their customer win-back direct mail campaign, and...

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by jeangianfagna
March 1, 2011
B2B Marketing Creative Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Social Media Uncategorized

40 Questions for a Smarter Marketing Strategy

Are you getting a good return on your investment in marketing? Could it be better? One way to find out is to conduct a top-to-bottom review of your entire marketing plan to determine what’s working and what isn’t. This process is sometimes called a marketing audit. I’m often asked to guide audits as an independent marketing consultant and I recently shared advice on how to do an audit effectively. What specific factors should you assess in a marketing audit? Here are 40 questions I recommend for evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing and...

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by jeangianfagna
February 15, 2011
Advertising B2B Marketing CRM Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

The 7 Most Important Things to Do with a Sales Lead

Business-to-business (B2B) marketers often use such tactics as direct marketing, e-marketing, advertising, trade shows, and web marketing to generate sales leads. But a smart lead generation marketing strategy goes well beyond the creation of the marketing campaign. If your goal is to build a relationship with a business prospect, increase your sales conversion rate, and maximize the value of your sales resources, you need a careful plan for what happens after the lead comes in. Here are the seven steps you should take with a marketing-generated sales lead to achieve success....

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by jeangianfagna
February 7, 2011
Advertising Creative Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

Which Super Bowl Ads Were a Smart Marketing Strategy?

Super Bowl XLV is history and so is the advertising that generated so much buzz and discussion before, during, and now, after the game. Best and worst ad lists are everywhere after a Super Bowl, and there generally is agreement among marketing experts about the winners and losers. But when you look more closely at Super Bowl ads, a smart marketer has to wonder about their strategic marketing value. According to the Wall Street Journal, marketers spent $2.8 million to $3 million for a 30-second spot during this year's matchup. Did the...

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by jeangianfagna
February 3, 2011
Advertising Creative Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

Talkin’ About My Generation? Using Cultural References in Marketing

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,” I heard a marketing consultant say in a recent meeting. I knew he was quoting the scene from The Wizard of Oz when Toto pulls back the curtain to reveal that the Wizard is just an ordinary man. But judging by the puzzled looks on their faces, the twenty-somethings in the meeting had no idea what he was talking about. Situations like this don’t just make you feel your age. They painfully illustrate the fact that cultural points of reference are constantly shifting...

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by jeangianfagna
January 27, 2011
Advertising B2B Marketing Creative Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

What Makes Bad Advertising So Bad? It’s Not Believable

When an advertising campaign is so bad it makes you groan out loud, there’s usually a simple reason: It’s not believable. The worst offenders are campaigns that attempt to portray real-life situations. The dialogue often is so forced or the setup so phony that your only reaction is to roll your eyes and think, “Yeah, right.” But lack of believability in advertising is more than annoying. It’s a waste of the marketer’s money. Here are two ways to achieve believability in your advertising and two examples of smart marketers, including one in Northeast...

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by jeangianfagna
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