Whether you’re marketing to businesses or consumers, social media marketing should play a prominent role in your marketing plan. Here are seven ways to make social media marketing a top priority in your smart marketing strategy. ...
View MoreEvery marketing guru (including me) is telling their clients to blog, for lots of good reasons. But blogging is a big commitment. Do blogs produce real results for B2B marketers? Does blogging truly lead to fame and fortune? I’ve just completed my second year writing a blog about marketing strategy. Here are seven ways I’ve used the blog to increase visibility for my business (fame) and get new clients (fortune) and some blogging tips for your smart marketing strategy. ...
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Promoting a professional services firm is one of the most difficult challenges in marketing. Whether you’re selling legal services, marketing services, accounting, IT, insurance, benefits, payroll, or consulting, it can be tough to create a marketing strategy that differentiates your company from everyone else who does what you do. Here's the usual approach: “We have great capabilities and we deliver great service.” No offense, but you must, or you wouldn’t still be in business. Plus, all your competitors say the same thing. Is that really what makes you stand out? Is that...
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The most successful social media marketers create and publish a high volume of original content through blogs, videos, white papers, and other vehicles. But they also share quality content produced by others. Gathering, sorting, and republishing content from other authors that you believe your followers will value is called curation. By being a great content curator, you help customers, prospects, and colleagues find the “good stuff” online and know what to read. This not only makes you an informative and influential social media contributor, but it also helps attract new followers....
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How many times have people at your company told you that they just don’t “get” social media – or understand why your company needs to join Justin Beiber and Lady Gaga on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter? These aren’t just idle comments. Misconceptions about social media can hurt your brand and hamper your ability to compete in your marketplace by limiting your company’s participation in the social media dialogue. And if the people who hold those misconceptions also control the marketing budget, alarm bells should be ringing in the marketing...
View MoreBlogging is one of the most powerful ways to market your company. But only a few of the 156 million people who are publishing blogs achieve a big following. One is Chris Brown, owner of Marketing Resources & Results, a full-service marketing consulting firm in Northeast Ohio that helps companies attract new customers. Chris has published the blog Branding & Marketing since 2006. She’s written more than 900 articles on marketing strategy, marketing tactics, branding, social media, and market research. Last week, she reached a major blogging milestone: 10,000 subscribers. In this interview...
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Bloggers wield enormous influence in many markets and smart marketers strive to get bloggers to write nice things about them. But outreach to bloggers can be tricky. Many bloggers resist overtures from marketers and other outsiders. Here are five do’s and four don’ts when approaching bloggers to write about your company, product, or service, from my perspective as a blogger and a marketing consultant who advises clients on social media. ...
View MoreAre you getting the results you want from your website? Whether you’re a business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) marketer, a great website is essential for a smart marketing strategy. Here are 10 ideas to boost the marketing value of your website through higher traffic, better search engine rankings, and more effective engagement with your customers and prospects. ...
View MoreNearly every marketing consultant is advising their clients to create a blog. Why? Because blogging is one of the best ways to increase website traffic and improve search engine rankings. But let’s be honest: Blogging can be a big commitment. A smart marketer has to ask, is it worth the time and effort? Can someone prove that it really works? And what can you do to increase your odds of success, especially if you’re in business-to-business (B2B) marketing? Here’s how traffic to my website skyrocketed in one year thanks to the addition...
View MoreBlogging is a powerful marketing tool and an increasingly popular tactic in a smart marketing strategy, especially for business-to-business (B2B) marketers. I know, because I launched this blog to promote my Cleveland-based marketing consulting business exactly a year ago. Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned in my first year as a B2B blogger and three ways blogging has boosted my business. ...
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