10 Steps to Building a Great Brand
Your brand is one of your most valuable assets. It conveys the highest value you deliver; serves as an emotional shortcut to what your organization stands for; sets you apart from everyone else in your marketplace; and forms the foundation of a smart marketing strategy.How do you build a great brand? Here are 10 key steps.
Ready for Your Close-up? 7 Tips for Success in the Media Spotlight
It can happen out of the blue, through a lucky coincidence, or because you’ve done something noteworthy to capture the attention of a reporter or news editor. Without much time to prepare, you could find yourself in the media spotlight. Positive media coverage can be an important part of a smart marketing strategy. Here’s how to capitalize on your close-up and achieve success when a media opportunity comes your way.
Old Trade Show Leads? Re-Qualify Them or Toss Them
If you’re a business-to-business marketer who uses trade shows to get leads for new business, you probably send direct mail and email marketing to prospects after the show to convert prospects to customers.Lead generation via trade shows can be an important part of a smart marketing strategy, but if leads aren’t well qualified at the outset – and frequently re-qualified if they stay on your prospect database over time – your post-show direct mail and email campaigns could be a waste of your marketing resources. Here’s a case study in how NOT to do it.
Why Direct Marketing Campaigns Fail: 7 Common Mistakes
Direct marketing can be one of the most powerful elements of a smart marketing strategy, especially if you need to generate leads for a field sales force.But strategic errors can doom your direct marketing campaign to failure. Here are seven common mistakes in direct marketing strategy and ways to avoid them.
10 Tried-and-True Principles of Creative Direct Marketing
Is direct marketing part of your smart marketing strategy? Here are 10 tried-and-true principles for developing a high-impact creative approach for your next direct marketing campaign.
Take Your Tired, Poor Advertising Phrases -- and Ditch Them
Great copy is essential for an effective advertising campaign and a smart marketing strategy, but too many copywriters use the same tired phrases again and again in headlines and campaign themes. This is a giant waste of the marketer’s money. Here are seven advertising phrases we’ve seen used a hundred times and hope to never see again -- and why you should expect better from your marketing agency.
When Bad Marketing Happens to Good Customers
Loyal customers are a marketer’s best source of new sales and referrals. That’s why smart marketers treat their best customers like gold, and why earning customer loyalty is the goal of every smart marketing strategy. Except at Toyota. Their recent direct mail campaign to a loyal Toyota customer broke many of the rules of effective direct marketing and harmed a 25-year customer relationship. Here's why this campaign failed and what Toyota should have done instead.
13 Cheap, Easy Ways to Market Your Product or Business
Got a tight marketing budget? Here are 13 easy ways to promote your product or business without spending a lot of money. Some have more impact than others, but all are marketing tactics nearly anyone can deploy in a small-budget, smart marketing strategy.
How to Avoid the 7 Deadly Sins of Direct Marketing Lead Generation
If your sales team often complains about the leads they receive from your direct marketing campaigns – or if you’re frustrated with lackluster lead follow-up and low conversion rates – you may be unwittingly committing one of the seven deadly sins of direct marketing lead generation.Here are the common mistakes business-to-business marketers make with direct marketing lead generation and tips on how to avoid them.
Turning Your Brand Name into a Verb: Why it Rarely Works
Is it true that the more you know, the more you Kohl’s? Is taking stock in the long term Vanguarding? And will you Bing it if you’re searching for something online? Kohl’s Department Stores, Vanguard Investments, and Microsoft are the latest marketers to try to turn a company brand or product name into a verb. It’s an old marketing strategy, but it rarely works. Here’s why.
How to Create a Great Direct Marketing Offer, Part 2
What should you offer to generate higher response to your direct marketing campaign? Here are ideas for producing orders, generating leads, and driving retail traffic through an effective direct marketing offer.
How to Create a Great Direct Marketing Offer, Part 1
After the list, the offer is the most important element of a direct marketing campaign. In the first part of a two-part post, here are the basics of creating a great offer for your next direct marketing campaign.
Is It Time to Tune-Up Your Company’s Logo?
Your company's logo is the most visible element of your brand identity. But if your logo is more than five years old – or if there’s been a significant change in your mission, core services, customer base, or marketing strategy since your logo was developed – your logo may be due for a tune-up. Here’s how to evaluate and update your company logo to support a smart branding strategy.
Where Branding Matters Most: At the Human Level
There are many elements that make up a successful branding strategy, but the most important is how the people of a company are trained to exemplify the brand when they interact with customers. It’s branding at the human level – and it’s the pivotal point where many brand promises fall apart. Here's an example of a company that does it right.
Why Customer Data is Essential for Effective Marketing – Especially to Your Customers
When marketing to current or lapsed customers, it's essential to use your knowledge of the customer -- gleaned from database analysis -- to deliver a direct mail package or email that acknowledges and capitalizes on the customer's relationship with your organization.
