Marketing Craftmanship

MAY 4, 2012

Ogilvy claimed his door-to-door sales experience provided insights into the mind of the consumer that earned him acclaim as an advertising wizard. I credit my door-to-door experience with an appreciation for the power of insulting people as a sales tactic. Sales Trainer: Let’s see how well your vacuum cleaner handles this mess. [

Paper 100

Paper Tactics Advertisements Advertising 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MAY 13, 2020

Many companies have abused email to such a great extent — bombarding clients, prospects and referral sources with email blasts, self-serving newsletters and other useless information — that it’s now extremely difficult to get noticed or gain meaningful traction. Direct Communication. Less is more, if it’s well written.

Blast Campaigns 130

Blast Campaigns Webinar Metrics Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 130

Marketing Craftmanship

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

There are practical reasons diet companies and national gym chains spend most of their advertising budgets within two seasonal windows: in advance of the new year, when people make their annual resolutions, and in springtime, when beachgoers face the prospect of wearing a bathing suit in public. Setting Unrealistic Expectations.

Enterprise Management 147

Enterprise Management Planning Work Management Marketing Management 147

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 18, 2017

For decades, the ONLY way to produce any type of printed material – ranging from sales & marketing brochures, to annual reports and informational flyers – involved a multi-step, time / people-intensive, costly process requiring a copywriter, graphic designer, a typesetter and a printing press. And that created a different problem.

Marketing Automation Services 100

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

Marketing Craftmanship

OCTOBER 9, 2016

There are several good and bad reasons why companies (of all sizes) don’t create a Marketing Plan. After decades of watching companies either earnestly struggle to create a Marketing Plan, or strenuously avoid creating one, we recently had an epiphany. We realized that most companies should SKIP the Marketing Plan altogether.

Planning 100

Planning Marketing Plans Work Management Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JANUARY 5, 2020

But before they put you on their short list of candidates for consideration, they first will need some assurance that your company is a “safe choice.” Prospects will require both hard and soft evidence to support their decision to include you as a serious candidate. ( Acid Test: Do credible media sources or research firms cover the company?

RFP 165

RFP Thought Leadership Opinions Validation 165

Marketing Craftmanship

OCTOBER 14, 2014

Intrinsic selling provides buyers with a significantly higher level of confidence in the seller’s capabilities, and leads to an engagement or sale far more frequently and rapidly than extrinsic selling. Would a company ever publish examples of its past work that were not portrayed as highly successful?).

Case Study 100

Case Study Case Studies Studies B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 11, 2014

I don’t know your company. I don’t know your company’s product. I don’t know what your company stands for. I don’t know your company’s customers. I don’t know your company’s record. I don’t know your company’s reputation. We’ve got all that.

Advertising Agencies 100

Advertising Agencies Advertisements Advertising B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 12, 2020

Notably it: • Allows us to be selective about the types of companies we would like to have as clients. Use the name of the company, and consider referencing the idea you’re pitching. For example: “Our Review of Smith & Company’s Customer Service Capability.”. Similar to any sales tactic, you’re playing a numbers game.

Work Management 130

Work Management Marketing Management Content Marketing Blast Campaigns 130

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 11, 2019

The “Big Lie” in this sales pitch is that no journalist will ever cover a topic because they know your PR rep. And companies are still being played. Further, any PR rep who pitches stories to journalists based relationships is unlikely to have those relationships for very long. Me: How well did they perform?

PR 100

PR Linkedin Media Contacts 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JULY 8, 2019

Your company uses a collection of tactics (often labeled as a “marketing campaign”) only in response to a problem; typically involving the loss of a key client, or decline in revenue. To be included on the short list of candidates for an assignment or sale, you need to build awareness with key decision-makers.

Advertising Mediums 100

Advertising Mediums B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership Planning 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 12, 2015

In new business development efforts, B2B firms of all types are often challenged by prospective clients with this question: “Do you have any experience working for companies in my industry?”. Because most companies believe their situation and the challenges they face are unique, suggesting otherwise usually will end the sales process.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Thought Leadership B2B 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 23, 2017

Regardless of whether your company is an established leader or an upstart, brand integrity matters. Unfortunately, simply telling target audiences and opinion leaders that your company is smart, honest, unique, innovative, creative, cutting-edge, trusted, etc. Do clients identify themselves by name and company?).

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Thought Leadership Opinions Validation 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 31, 2018

For most B2B companies, there’s no reliable way to predict when a prospective client will purchase their product or engage their services, regardless of what their “marketing automation” expert promises.

Work Management 100

Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services CRM 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 1, 2015

The company applies a collection of tactics (often labeled as a “marketing campaign”) only in response to a problem; typically involving the loss of a key client, or decline in revenue. This classic behavior is depicted in the “Sales / Service Volatility Curve” chart above. Connect with the Sales Force.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership Planning B2B 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MAY 22, 2017

Over time, this means moving brand perceptions away from “Smith & Company: Jack Smith’s business,” and arriving at “Smith & Company: The business that Jack Smith built.” Or better yet, eventually “Smith & Company: Who was Jack Smith, anyway?”.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 24, 2011

Intrinsic selling provides buyers with a significantly higher level of confidence in the seller’s capabilities, and leads to an engagement or sale far more frequently and far more rapidly than extrinsic selling. Would a company ever publish examples of its past work that were not portrayed as highly successful?).

Work Management 100

Work Management Validation B2B Sales Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MAY 11, 2016

Your company applies a collection of tactics (often labeled as a “marketing campaign”) only in response to a problem; typically involving the loss of a key client, or decline in revenue. To be included on the short list of candidates for an assignment or sale, you need to build awareness with key decision-makers. M arketing.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Planning B2B Thought Leadership B2B 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

A company Blog had everything I was looking for in social media. I need interesting ideas, not sales promotion,” my Blog would scream. Blog visitors wonder if my company has a pulse. I can’t look at the company’s website anymore, because my Blog is always there, reminding me of our failed relationship.

Merchandising 100

Merchandising Thought Leadership Promotion Social Media 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 28, 2016

Most often, however, the sheer volume of first-class mail processed every morning by office gatekeepers made it more likely that your personalized pitch letter and costly sales brochure would end up, unopened, in the garbage can. Dead on arrival. Ink on Paper moves in slow motion, forcing readers to pay closer attention to its content.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Paper Work Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 22, 2015

When pressed to explain why their company has a blog, many CEOs will admit they were either pushed by marketing counsel to create one, or believed they needed a blog because their competitors have them. Unfortunately, a blog is much like a marriage, but without dating in advance of a commitment. Just take it down. No one will miss it.

Allocation 100

Allocation Terms and Conditions Paid Search Agency Enterprise Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Many B2B companies, and professional services firms in particular, do not succeed at marketing for two major reasons: Failure to understand that the vendor selection process has fundamentally changed. At the upper limit, the responses ran as high as 70%. Failure to respond properly to the new vendor selection process.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership WOM B2B Marketing Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

As the limitations of a virtual marketplace continue to reduce most B2B firms to commodities, it’s become increasingly important to communicate not just what your company does, but to generate interest in what your enterprise stands for. Do clients identify themselves by name and company?). never succeeds.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Enterprise Management Brand Identity Branding 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 6, 2016

When a client complained to me recently about the difficulty of competing against larger companies, I had a flashback to when my kids were in grade school. White papers and editorial content are poorly disguised sales pitches, and offer no helpful information or insights. Sales reps don’t know how to convert their leads.

Marketing Management 100

Marketing Management Paid Search Agency Marketing & Strategy Paper 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 8, 2011

Distracted by all the social media buzz, it’s easy for a company to lose sight of the fact that their website remains the mother ship of brand expression and commerce. 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

APRIL 2, 2015

It’s often the result of poor planning, lack of creativity, laziness or unrealistic expectations by the companies that participate in them. But the conference sponsor is typically not at fault for the lack of return on this marketing investment.

Conference 100

Conference Tactics B2B Marketing Planning 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 16, 2013

New software programs enabled companies, for the first time, to design and produce their own graphic materials in-house. If your website has not been refreshed and updated in the last 3 years (which means more than simply sticking press releases in the “News” section), then your company is due for an overhaul.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Merchandising B2B 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

For most companies, there is no way to predict when a prospect will purchase their product or engage their services. 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.

Sales Cycle 100

Sales Cycle Marketing Management Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads 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. This effort requires that a company either engage an outside PR agency or employ dedicated staff members who are skilled at pitching stories and nurturing press coverage. Seek only high-value exposure.

Merchandising 100

Merchandising PR Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 31, 2011

For public companies, dissemination of financial results and material events will be handled by their legal department. Because press releases are now considered sales collateral by their target audiences, “media relations” for all companies will be managed by the marketing department.

Public Relations 100

Public Relations Press PR Content 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 30, 2013

Its source notwithstanding, the axiom applies perfectly to the great number of companies that retain PR firms, year after year, to generate publicity that will have little or no impact on tangible business outcomes. What type of media exposure will benefit us most?” If we gain that exposure, what will we DO with it?”

PR 100

PR Advertorials Merchandising Paid Search Agency 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JANUARY 10, 2015

It’s not a sales pitch or report card. Despite the research study’s sugar-coating (for example, “…mid-sized funds…are beginning to understand the importance of a website.”), hedge fund resistance to marketing is unlikely to abate anytime soon.

Practices 100

Practices Planning Enterprise Management Transparency 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

These brief, tailored messages – sent either by email or snail mail – have not only enabled us to maintain a consistent pipeline of clients; but more importantly, we’ve built a practice consisting of high-value companies and people that we wanted to work for. Lacking this insight, you have no tangible basis for an effective pitch letter.

Effectiveness 124

Effectiveness Business RFP Lead Scoring 124

Marketing Craftmanship

JANUARY 13, 2017

These brief, tailored messages – sent either by email or snail mail – have not only enabled us to maintain a consistent pipeline of clients; but more importantly, we’ve built a practice consisting of high-value companies and people that we wanted to work for. Lacking this insight, you have no tangible basis for an effective pitch letter.

RFP 100

RFP Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Tactics 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

Regardless of how well a company communicates with the press, it stands a good chance of being “burned” on occasion. There are, however, several field-tested procedures and certified blunders that can serve as a rudimentary first aid manual for companies. Don’t be afraid to make some noise.

Media 100

Media Press Paid Search Agency Mobile Advertising 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 27, 2013

The original purpose of white papers as a B2B marketing tactic was to produce objective information, packaged as quasi-academic research, that might validate a company’s or product’s value proposition. And there are still many companies that produce legitimate white papers containing helpful, objective information.

Paper 100

Paper Paid Search Agency Advertorials Allocation 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 6, 2018

CMOs continue their struggle to make the connection between marketing activity and company performance, and they continue to shift the blame for their failure. An oversimplified description of the CMO’s role is to promote the brand, and to generate viable leads for the sales team. The reason CMOs give for the disconnect?

Work Management 133

Work Management Marketing Management Account Based Marketing Marketing Automation Services 133