Marketing Craftmanship

JULY 1, 2013

Thought Leadership Programs Must be Accountable for Business Outcomes. Application — How should the content be applied to drive tangible business outcomes? Creating any Thought Leadership content before fully addressing these two questions is akin to building a large sailboat in your basement.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership Merchandising B2B Thought Leadership Wikipedia 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 5, 2016

Surprisingly, a significant number of professional services firms continue to resist building online brand visibility as a business development strategy. The excuses we hear from them most often include: “We’re in a relationship business.”. Our business is driven exclusively by referrals.”.

Validation 100

Validation Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership Network Marketing 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 1, 2015

When business is good, little or no time is invested in marketing. When business (inevitably) takes a dip, marketing becomes a priority. Build and Nurture your Database. More importantly, use content to initiate two-way conversations that build relationships in advance of sales. Do a Few Things Very Well.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership Planning B2B 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Over the past 20 years, most of my firm’s new business has been generated by unsolicited pitch letters sent to targeted prospects. The simple truth is that properly researched, well-crafted pitch letters are probably the most effective way for any type of professional services firm to build its client base and grow revenue.

Effectiveness 124

Effectiveness Business RFP Lead Scoring 124

Marketing Craftmanship

JANUARY 25, 2016

In manager selection, most investors will look beyond your fund’s track record and give weight to organizational factors that provide them with confidence that the business is well-managed and likely to succeed long-term. Taylor claims leaders who think differently about their business invariably talk about it differently as well.

Work Management 100

Work Management Enterprise Management Marketing & Strategy Marketing Strategy 100

Marketing Craftmanship

OCTOBER 14, 2014

The most noteworthy article on B2B selling was published in a 1966 Harvard Business Review article (#66213). In “How to Buy /Sell Professional Services,” author Warren J. Wittreich explains the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic selling.

Case Study 100

Case Study Case Studies Studies B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 14, 2015

Unfortunately, there are no DNA tests to validate marketing as a legitimate member of the CXO family of business functions. Get Quantitative – The fuzzy nature of marketing can sometimes make it difficult to demonstrate a direct correlation between that activity and tangible business outcomes.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Enterprise Management Lead Ranking Work Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 31, 2018

This is particularly challenging for professional services firms – legal, accounting, investment advisory, technology, management consulting, recruiting or marketing – where top-of-mind awareness (getting people to remember you) is a critical part of business development. Or ideally, as the only firm under consideration.)

Work Management 100

Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services CRM 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 14, 2015

Business owners across all industries and professions start companies because they have a specific expertise or interest – whether it involves trading currency futures or replacing car mufflers – and eventually discover that selling their product or service is neither in their wheelhouse, nor something they enjoy doing.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Planning B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

Sales cycle management is particularly challenging for B2B firms, and for professional services firms in particular, where top-of-mind awareness (getting people to remember you) is a critical part of business development. Senior management must make CRM a priority.

Sales Cycle 100

Sales Cycle Marketing Management Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 14, 2015

And that’s why Steve Jobs’ advice should be followed by marketers: Start with a specific business outcome you’re seeking, and build your tactical strategy in reverse order. Unfortunately for marketers, words like “trust” and “somehow” just don’t past muster in the business world.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership CMO Marketing & Strategy 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

To survive and prosper in a marketplace where transparency and trust are now valued by investors and promoted by regulators, hedge funds will be increasingly required to build a rational and risk-averse approach to external communication. Here’s a marketing roadmap designed to achieve that objective: Build your brand strategy first.

Transparency 100

Transparency Thought Leadership Planning Enterprise Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

And firms that understand this market dynamic, and work to build a marketing strategy to address the underlying human issues, can gain market acceptance and compete effectively against larger and better-known competitors. The old adage, “No one was ever fired for hiring IBM,” still rings true in every industry.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Companies B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JANUARY 10, 2015

In a business where an S.E.C. Many funds prefer to restrict market visibility, and even sacrifice potential asset growth, rather than to put the firm’s reputation and entire business in jeopardy by raising its public profile. She warned them, “It’s always the quiet ones that you need to keep your eye on.”

Practices 100

Practices Planning Enterprise Management Transparency 100

Marketing Craftmanship

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

These traditional corporate anniversary tactics may yield a few congratulatory notes, but will not deliver what might have been achieved – in terms of confirming core values, building corporate culture, and reinforcing brand presence – if the company had approached the opportunity in a strategic manner.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Allocation Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Get Quantitative – The nature of PR tactics can make it difficult to demonstrate a direct correlation between that activity and tangible business outcomes. Making PR an essential element in line function strategies can build internal support as well as career longevity.

PR 100

PR Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 16, 2013

The past decade’s social media debacle is akin to introduction of desktop publishing in the early 1980s, when personal computers arrived in the business world. Build Your LinkedIn Presence. LinkedIn has become an essential part of the business world’s due diligence process, and your company is conspicuous by its absence.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Merchandising B2B 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 18, 2017

Introduction of this new technology called “Desktop Publishing” rocked the business world. Using the automotive analogy, too many marketers are attempting to drive an 18-wheel tractor trailer through busy, narrow city streets without knowing how to shift the rig’s gears or apply the brakes, and lacking side-view mirrors.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Automation High Quality Lead 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Build long-term relationships. WordPress.com was the perfect matchmaker, and my Blog didn’t cost me a penny to build. Were there tangible and realistic business metrics to measure your Blog’s ROI…or did you think pre-nuptuals would kill the relationship? Engage clients and prospects. Create two-way communication.

Merchandising 100

Merchandising Thought Leadership Promotion Social Media 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 8, 2016

And that’s the fundamental marketing challenge for fund managers: building investor trust through clear and consistent communication, regardless of whether their performance meets, exceeds or falls short of benchmarks. Your fund’s goal is to do business with the people who believe the same things that you believe.

Allocation 100

Allocation Cross-Selling Marketing Management Validation 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 16, 2012

Companies of all sizes believe that more publicity is always better, as a means to raise brand awareness and drive business results. Companies seeking to leverage publicity to drive business results in a cost-effective manner need to play a very different game, using the following rules: Generate credibility tools, not placements.

Merchandising 100

Merchandising PR Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

Marketing Craftmanship

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Many companies either don’t have a clue, or have an unfounded / unrealistic viewpoint on why people should do business with them. Work backwards to build a marketing strategy. To justify its existence as a corporate function, marketing must help produce tangible business outcomes. You need to nail this step.

Planning 100

Planning Marketing Plans Work Management Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 11, 2015

What specific business goals / benchmarks are we seeking to accomplish? Do all of your marketing tactics have measurable goals linked to business outcomes? Some tactics can be measured in terms of direct business outcomes, such as lead generation. What is our target market and who are the decision-makers?

Planning 100

Planning Trade Show Paper Marketing & Strategy 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MAY 7, 2015

Whether its reluctance to proactively pursue publicity (also called “earned media”) is based on cost, control, or misunderstanding of the function, the investment industry is failing to take advantage of one of the most powerful means to build investor awareness, third-party endorsement, and assets under management.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Broadcasting Press Linkedin 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 28, 2016

But for small and medium-sized firms, where every marketing dollar is expected to yield tangible business results, award competitions make very little sense. But the easiest tactics, like award recognitions, are not always the most effective or enduring ways to help your business grow. Reason #3.5:

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management Aggregators 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 28, 2016

As a result, today’s B2B marketers are failing to capture opportunities to connect with prospects through physical materials, in a business environment where the arrival of personalized, first-class mail is often a unique event; prompting most gatekeepers to ensure that it’s delivered to the intended target.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Paper Work Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 19, 2011

Based on these impressions, website visitors will likely conclude one or all of the following: This company is out of business. This company doesn’t really care what clients and prospects think of them. If this company doesn’t care what I think of them, how well will they serve my needs?

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership Paper Press Case Study 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 24, 2011

The most noteworthy article on the subject of B2B selling was published in a 1966 Harvard Business Review article (#66213). Marketers at most B2B businesses, as well as many B2C firms, have similar opportunities to build disciplines and tools that can empower their sales reps to leverage the power of intrinsic selling.

Work Management 100

Work Management Validation B2B Sales Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 8, 2011

For many firms, “build it once & fill it with stuff” is considered effective website management. or “Is this how they will keep up with my needs?” If a company can’t produce and maintain a fresh inventory of content, then it’s better off from a brand perspective without having any content at all.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Content Case Study Case Studies 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 7, 2011

Negative posts are opportunities to showcase your company’s integrity and to build goodwill. Call In The Cavalry – The odds are, if you’re running a successful business, that you have plenty of satisfied employees and customers. If you can’t maintain your discipline, then don’t use hit and run tactics.

Brand Identity 100

Brand Identity Branding Viral Marketing Opinions 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JANUARY 13, 2017

Over the past 20 years, most of my firm’s new business has been generated by unsolicited pitch letters sent to targeted prospects. The simple truth is that properly researched, well-crafted pitch letters are probably the most effective way for any type of professional services firm to build its client base and grow revenue.

RFP 100

RFP Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Tactics 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 4, 2017

Although it had no signage, the other building had a single, large dirty window, and appeared more likely to be the bagpipe maker’s showroom. At the end of the dirt road there were two simple stucco structures, each one about the size of a detached two-car garage. There was no vehicle, no barking dog, or any sign of human life.

Generation 100

Generation Marketing & Strategy Paper High Quality Lead 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 6, 2018

Specifically, they feel their boss fails to understand the complexity of brand building; the importance of a customer-centric approach; and the correlation between marketing and revenue generation. The key to success in building an effective team is learning the strengths of others, and conveying what you can contribute to the effort.

Work Management 133

Work Management Marketing Management Account Based Marketing Marketing Automation Services 133

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

If those three factors drive a company’s revenue, then building and protecting brand equity must be a strategic priority, particularly when the enterprise undergoes any change or event that may negatively influence those factors. The overall impression will be that the company is in trouble or going out of business.

Brand Identity 100

Brand Identity Branding Urgency Marketing Enterprise Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Lacking that discipline, your time may be best spent building an effective distribution capability, in advance of seeking additional publicity.). The fruits of their labors will be self-evident in tangible business metrics, ranging from lead generation to high search engine page rankings. Avoid “Hey, look at me!”

Merchandising 100

Merchandising Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Public Relations 100