Does your organization need a new brand identity? Branding is one of the most important strategic decisions you will make. Getting it right can help your business vault to the top of your industry. Getting it wrong can result in costly misconceptions about your business. Here are the seven major steps of creating a new brand identity from our experience developing branding strategies and brand identities for many organizations....
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If content marketing is critical to your B2B marketing strategy, LinkedIn is now an even more powerful channel. But not all the changes at LinkedIn are positive. Here are five recent major changes that have reduced LinkedIn’s value to users and may also be reducing its value to B2B marketers....
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If you sell products or services to millennials – the 70 million Americans born between 1982 and 1999 – understanding the core values and experiences they share as a generation is crucial to success. Chuck Underwood, who helped develop and popularize the field of generational study, recently offered fascinating insights on generational marketing in a presentation to the American Advertising Federation in Cleveland. Here’s why viewing your marketing and advertising through a generational values lens -- especially if your target market is millennials – is so important to a smart marketing strategy. America’s...
View MoreEven if sales are up, critical marketing issues could be lurking behind the scenes that are limiting your company's success – or threatening your future. A marketing audit can help you find out. Here’s why auditing your marketing – when times are bad or good – can be so important to a smart marketing strategy....
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Loyal customers are essential to a successful business. But in addition to helping you reach your sales goals, your best customers can also play a powerful role in a smart marketing strategy. Here are seven ways to capitalize on the value of your best customers in marketing....
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Marketing is one of the most important factors in the success of a new business. So before you put your name on the door, consider this: Every business needs a marketing plan that outlines objectives, positioning, messaging, targeted audiences, channels, tactics, and implementation. Whether you develop that plan yourself or hire a marketing consultant or agency, there are the 10 key questions every new business owner must answer to create a smart marketing strategy....
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At some point, almost every business has important news to share with clients about major changes. Communicating big news is a pivotal moment in the customer relationship and it’s essential to do it right. Here are 12 tips for delivering important news to clients about your business from B2B marketing consultant Jean Gianfagna....
View MoreEven if you have the budget to execute marketing projects and a marketing agency standing by to help, there’s another factor that can impact your success: Your internal marketing bandwidth. Someone on your team has to make all that marketing happen -- and it's easy to get in over your head. Here’s how to prevent this problem in your smart marketing strategy....
View MoreCustomer and prospect data drives direct mail marketing. Data that’s outdated, inaccurate, or poorly processed can turn a good direct mail campaign into a wasted opportunity. Here are two examples of excellent mailings that failed because smart marketers that are usually highly skilled users of the channel relied on the wrong data....
View More“Can you hear me now?” Without thinking, you can probably picture the person speaking and know the reason why. It’s the spokesman from Verizon’s old advertising campaign demonstrating via countless ads in many different locations the power of Verizon’s vast nationwide network. It’s a tribute to Verizon’s marketing team and agency that this phrase became iconic for Verizon’s network reliability. Which makes it even more impactful from a marketing standpoint that Mr. Can-You-Hear Me-Now himself, Paul Marcarelli, has switched to Verizon competitor Sprint. In the new Sprint campaign, Marcarelli quickly dismisses Verizon’s position as...
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