Marketing Craftmanship

OCTOBER 9, 2016

The first question we ask prospective clients is, “Do you have a Marketing Plan?”. Most prospects sheepishly acknowledge that they don’t have a formal Marketing Plan. We call this process the “Easy-Bake Marketing Cake Recipe.”. Step 2: Put your sales process under the microscope. Marketing is not a religion.

Planning 100

Planning Marketing Plans Work Management Marketing Management 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?”. And although this may be true, that response typically fails to convince the prospect, and can even backfire.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

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

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.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Automation High Quality Lead 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. Top-of-mind awareness, driven by these four disciplines, is not an esoteric marketing achievement, or a tactic that yields tangible benefits only when a prospective client assigns your firm a place on the short list.

Sales Cycle 100

Sales Cycle Marketing Management Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads 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. Failure to respond properly to the new vendor selection process. At the upper limit, the responses ran as high as 70%.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership WOM B2B Marketing Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 19, 2015

Making the short list” in B2B marketing means that your firm has been chosen by a prospective client as a candidate for an assignment. He knew I was motivated, and different from those applicants who were willing to participate in his selection process. The restaurant manager had a few good reasons to put me on his short list.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership B2B Word of Mouth Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

The central, unspoken issue embedded within the selection process for any type of B2B firm is easy to understand. Small firms can exclude themselves from consideration by large prospects in two ways. All decision-makers require a certain level of comfort and confidence necessary for them: 1.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Companies B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership 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. If the process yields any new customers, the event is considered a success.

Blast Campaigns 130

Blast Campaigns Webinar Metrics Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 130

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. Try using those materials as the basis for a snail mail campaign with clients or prospects, and see what happens.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Paper Work Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 5, 2016

In the pre-internet world, personal relationships, referrals and endorsements played a significant role in the decision-making process. For generations, human interaction served as the primary validation process in decision-making. We check out Edmunds.com before we buy a car. We join Angie’s List to find a reliable plumber.

Validation 100

Validation Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership Network Marketing 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

To increase their odds of getting that call, firms must constantly sow seeds with clients, prospects and referral sources, driving top-of-mind awareness regarding the firm’s capabilities and credentials. that can be merchandised by the firm to keep the firm in play. Ask for Referrals – This is a tough task for most account practitioners.

B2B Sales 100

B2B Sales Cross-Selling Work Management B2B Marketing 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 19, 2012

Although the underlying issues related to freedom of expression and corporate intrusion frequently serve as catalysts for heated protests and endless debate, there is really no good reason why both employee and corporate interests cannot both be served, if the process is managed in a reasonable, respectful manner.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JULY 1, 2013

For example, rather than featuring a message from your CEO in each issue of the company’s quarterly newsletter, consider publishing guest commentaries (not promotional messages) from clients, prospects, referral sources and recognized opinion leaders in your discipline. Merchandising Strategy Precedes Content Development.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership Merchandising B2B Thought Leadership Wikipedia 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 8, 2016

Although there are exceptions (which include those funds most likely to fare well over the long term), hedge funds are notoriously inept at expressing to prospective and current investors the “what, why and how” of their value proposition. More easily up-sell and cross-sell.

Allocation 100

Allocation Cross-Selling Marketing Management Validation 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 14, 2015

Because you can never know when your target audiences (current and prospective clients, intermediaries, referral sources, etc.) Here are some ways to make this process simpler and more effective: Create a repeatable format, such as an interview series, a partner letter, or hypothetical (or real) case studies.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Planning B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MAY 22, 2017

The brand transition strategy goal is to have a company’s stakeholders – including clients, prospects, referral sources, vendors, etc. Founders looking to jump-start an initiative to build an enterprise-based brand should consider going cold turkey, simply by disengaging themselves from the marketing & sales process altogether.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 22, 2015

The Marketing Department will manage the content creation process, suggesting topics and prompting individuals to contribute their posts according to a schedule. Content creation will be an internal group effort, with people / departments taking turns contributing blog posts on a regular basis.

Allocation 100

Allocation Terms and Conditions Paid Search Agency Enterprise Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

Prospective clients not only want to know what makes your firm unique; before they put you on their short list for consideration, they also want assurance that your company is a “safe choice.” This task of expressing your firm’s raison d’être involves far more than sticking a “Mission Statement” on its website.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Enterprise Management Brand Identity Branding 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 29, 2014

How an investment firm manages its enterprise brand alpha should be part of the due diligence process for investors.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Brand Identity Branding 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

Ideally, your website should express institutional values, explain investment processes, showcase human capital, provide examples of thought leadership and include inherent 3 rd party endorsements. It’s not a sales pitch or report card. Merchandise conference participation.

Transparency 100

Transparency Thought Leadership Planning Enterprise Management 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. But the only thing that’s of interest to prospects is what you can do for them. Nearly all of those firms will mistakenly talk about themselves, and what they’ve done for their clients.

Effectiveness 124

Effectiveness Business RFP Lead Scoring 124

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. But the only thing that’s of interest to prospects is what you can do for them. Think of your program simply as a long-term seed-sewing process, and shoot to send out 3-5 pitch letters every week.

RFP 100

RFP Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Tactics 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 12, 2011

I often pose this question to prospective B2B clients when they ask me if I can generate exposure for their company in Forbes , Fortune , the Wall Street Journal , CNBC or some other influential media source. …what will you do with that exposure? They typically respond, “Isn’t just being there in Forbes (or wherever) the goal?”.

Merchandising 100

Merchandising Verticals Press Marketing Prospects 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 27, 2013

White paper sponsors sought to educate, inform, raise comfort levels and eventually initiate sales conversations with prospective customers. White papers gained significant adoption as a content marketing tool concurrent with the rapid growth of new technologies that often required explanation or context for non-technical buyers.

Paper 100

Paper Paid Search Agency Advertorials Allocation 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Rather than burying influential publicity in an obscure “In the News” section that requires multiple clicks for visitors to locate, you can amortize your investment in publicity (and perhaps improve your website’s bounce rate in the process) if you create a location for these high value items on your home page.

Merchandising 100

Merchandising Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Public Relations 100