Building your company’s brand around your name can be a smart marketing strategy, especially for professional services companies. Here are six reasons why it’s smart to name your company after yourself, three ways it can be problematic, and some tips for branding success....
View MoreHow a life insurance direct mail package uses 7 classic direct mail copywriting tactics to produce a smart, effective direct mail letter. ...
View MoreThe Super Bowl is the most-watched event on live television. Marketers spend millions to buy 30-second ads. But many of those ads will fail. How can you tell if a Super Bowl ad is a smart marketing strategy? Here's an encore post about to evaluate the marketing effectiveness of Super Bowl advertising from my viewpoint as a marketing consultant. I'll be tweeting comments throughout the game; follow me on Twitter: @jeangianfagna...
View MoreContent marketing is essential to every smart marketing strategy. But what exactly is content marketing? And how do you do it right? The world’s expert on content marketing is right here in Cleveland: Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, publisher of Chief Content Officer, noted author of a new book, and the genius behind Content Marketing World, the biggest global conference for content marketing practitioners. Pulizzi shared tangible steps to take in 2014 with content marketing at a recent meeting of the American Advertising Federation-Cleveland. Here’s what he had to...
View MoreOne of the most common creative approaches in advertising is making fun of someone or something. When it’s on point, an ad that mocks can engage and entertain. But when it goes too far, it feels mean, casting the marketer in a bad light and unsettling the audience. How do you know when funny goes too far in advertising? Here are five tips for developing a creative approach for your smart marketing strategy that mocks without being mean....
View MoreWhite papers can be a powerful tool in a smart business-to-business marketing strategy, especially for marketers of professional business services. But how do you develop a great white paper? And how should you use white papers in a marketing plan? Gianfagna Strategic Marketing has just published a comprehensive, free guide to using white papers in B2B marketing. Our report explains why white papers are so effective in establishing credibility, the steps of creating a high-impact white paper, and how to maximize the value of white papers in your B2B marketing...
View Moreven the best marketers can find themselves stuck in bad habits – harmful behaviors that limit the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and waste valuable marketing resources. Like breaking any bad habit, the New Year is a good time to make a fresh start. Here are 10 ways you could be hurting your marketing and recommendations for a better approach from a Cleveland, Ohio marketing consultant....
View MoreDan Malley is a third-generation chocolatier in Cleveland, Ohio with 21 bright pink and green retail candy stores across the region. He’s also one of the area’s most creative marketers. Here’s how a savvy retailer in Cleveland consistently comes up with fresh ideas for a smart marketing strategy....
View MoreBefore the web, marketers of business products relied on direct mail catalogs as their primary selling tools. But now everyone shops online. In a web-based world, do B2B product marketers still need print catalogs? Yes: Here are seven reasons why print catalogs continue to play an essential role in a smart marketing strategy for marketers of business products....
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Behind every great marketing success story is a great business — an organization with such a strong foundation that the marketing (almost) comes easy. Here are five fundamentals of a successful business that are essential for a smart marketing strategy, based on my experience as a marketing consultant....
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