How to Rethink Your Marketing Plan in a Crisis
If an event like the Covid-19 pandemic happens again – or another development upends your marketing plan with little notice – what should you do? Here’s how to quickly rethink your marketing plan for a smart marketing strategy.
7 Ways to Avoid Overcommitting with Marketing
Even 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.
How Your Employees’ Public Behavior Can Damage Your Brand
Marketers spend a lot of time and money building their brands. But nothing can hurt a brand faster than bad behavior by a company’s employees in public. Here’s why your employees’ behavior outside the workplace is an important factor in a smart marketing strategy – and how easily employees can hurt your brand and your business.
Why It’s a Mistake to Take a Break from Blogging
If content marketing is part of your smart marketing strategy, consistent blogging is essential. In fact, letting your blog lapse can be a big marketing mistake. How do I know? I just did it. Here’s why a break in blogging can be bad for your business – and five ways to get your blog back on track.
7 Reasons Banks Fail at B2B Direct Marketing
Banks are spending big money marketing products and services to small businesses via direct mail. Most of these direct marketing campaigns are terrible. Here are seven reasons why so many banks fail at B2B direct marketing and some lessons for your smart marketing strategy.
6 Reasons to Use Your Own Name in Your Company’s Branding
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.
10 Bad Marketing Habits to Break in the New Year
Even 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.
7 Smart Reasons to Use Catalogs in B2B Product Marketing
Before 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.
5 Business Fundamentals That Lead to Great Marketing
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.
11 More Timeless Tips for Smart Marketing
How to be a smarter marketer:11 more timeless tips for creating smart marketing strategies from Cleveland, Ohio marketing consultant Jean Gianfagna -- part 2 of a 2-part post
21 Timeless Tips for Smart Marketing, Part 1
How to be a smarter marketer: 21 timeless tips from 21 years of experience in developing marketing strategies and campaigns, from a Cleveland, Ohio marketing consultant - part 1 of a 2-part post.
When Does “Edgy” Marketing Go Over the Edge?
Have you seen the new “Ship My Pants?” ad campaign from Kmart?The TV spot is a viral sensation with nearly 16 million YouTube views. It’s been featured on CNN and The Today Show and it’s everywhere on social media.But just imagine the discussion that took place at Kmart when the company’s ad agency, Draftfcb Chicago, proposed an idea that sounds a lot like what happens when you don’t have time to make it to the bathroom.When is “edgy” marketing over the edge? Would you have said yes to “ship my pants?”Sometimes it's hard to know where to draw the creative line in marketing. Here are 10 tips for your smart marketing strategy.
A Peek Inside the C-Suite: CMOs Re-define Marketing’s Role
Chief marketing officers at top companies are using customer insights and passion to build brand equity and increase the strategic value of marketing within their companies, according to new research by Dr. Rachel Talton, an award-winning marketing and branding consultant, researcher, and author in Cleveland, Ohio. Here’s what Talton has learned about today’s CMOs and some tips for how marketing agencies can help clients create smarter marketing strategies.
Should You Hire that Marketing Agency? 7 Questions to Ask
Choosing a marketing agency to help you develop and execute a smart marketing strategy is a critical decision for your business. But how do you know if a new agency is right for you? And how can you avoid making a mistake? Here’s some advice for advertisers about evaluating agencies, from my experience on the agency side and as a former client.
Is That Super Bowl Ad Effective Marketing? 7 Ways to Judge
An estimated 111 million people will be watching this year’s Super Bowl and a recent survey showed that many American adults prefer watching commercials to watching the game. That’s why marketers are willing to spend an average of $3.8 million for a 30-second spot.When you have an audience that big and that eager to hear your message, your ad had better be great.But how do you know if an ad campaign or creative concept will be a winner -- or be worthy of such a huge marketing investment? What makes an ad effective?As a marketing consultant, I believe the principles of great advertising are the same whether an ad appears in a mega-event like the Super Bowl or in a small industry trade publication.Here are seven criteria I use to assess the effectiveness of advertising in a smart marketing strategy. Keep these factors in mind when you’re evaluating Sunday’s Super Bowl ads.
Why Listening is the Most Powerful Skill in Marketing
A successful career in marketing requires many skills, such as copywriting, graphic design, and project management.But there’s one skill everyone in marketing needs to master, no matter what their role: Listening.Here’s why listening is essential for marketing success and 10 tips for doing it better.