Blog
Category: Marketing Strategy
04
Dec
2012
In Blog
Content Marketing
Inbound Marketing
Marketing Strategy
SEO (Findability | Search Visibility)
By Marcia K
That Sound You hear? It’s Not Holiday Bells. It’s The Dangerous Sound of Money Being Wasted on PPC Ads
On 04, Dec 2012 | In Blog, Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Strategy, SEO (Findability | Search Visibility) | By Marcia K
More and more of our clients are asking us about pay-per-click advertising – sometimes called “SEM” – and where it fits into their inbound marketing + content marketing plans. For us, this is a little like the holiday bells in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Instead of hearing an angel getting its wings visualize hearing the robot in “Lost in Space” shriek “Danger Will Robinson”. PPC in the wrong hands can be – well a waste of money. Which makes it dangerous. Here’s why and what you can do about it. 1. PPC Ain’t Easy Google Adwords accounts are deceptively easy to set up and almost impossible for people who don’t specialize in PPC to optimize …
12
Sep
2012
In Blog
Content Marketing
Marketing Automation
Marketing Strategy
Social Media
Technology / Tools
By Marcia K
“IF CONTENT IS KING, CONTEXT IS GOD,” said Gary Vaynerchuk
On 12, Sep 2012 | In Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing Automation, Marketing Strategy, Social Media, Technology / Tools | By Marcia K
Recently, Hubspot picked up on this copy line to define their newest product offering … Hubspot3 which adds contextual marketing + advanced personalization to this product, which we and our clients use to generate leads and nurture them until they are ready to buy – at which point we hand off the lead to sales by integrating through to SalesForce. We work with clients to help them understand how to effectively engage with their buyers using the web, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Slideshare and a host of other tools at their disposal. The technology and tools we use change fast. Most of our target customers either sell B2B (business-to-business) or products to consumers that are a …
Content Marketing: Still in the early innings.
On 20, Jul 2012 | In Content Marketing, Marketing Strategy | By Paul Pruneau
Guest Post I recently came across an article by Lara O’Reilly in MarketingWeek with a provocative title: “There’s value in Content Marketing, but don’t jump in”. The premise of the article was interesting when you consider the rapid ascent of Content Marketing and the attention that this new discipline has garnered. Recent research findings from Rebecca Lieb, partner at the Altimeter Group, go even further to document both the value and pain points that organizations are realizing as they navigate through the new challenges that Content Marketing is forcing on them. Altimeter’s research was conducted with 56 content marketing thought leaders on the state of Content Marketing and the impact of social media on their …
Making the case for Customer Loyalty
On 17, Jul 2012 | In Marketing Strategy | By Marcia K
Can a small- or medium-business focus on measuring customer loyalty without breaking the bank. Yes. If your SMB leverages the net promoter score methodology pioneered by Bain & Company and the topic of the book “The Ultimate Question.” In fact, if you are a small- or medium-sized business and don’t focus on customer loyalty, we would venture to say to that you may find yourself behind the eight ball. Why? Because increasingly, sites where your customers congregate online are collecting reviews and making them available. Take Houzz, a popular site that showcases interior designers and architects has started a Yelp-like service, where it asks visitors to its site to rate their experience with trade professionals. …
15
Feb
2012
In Email Marketing / Lead Nurturing
Inbound Marketing
Marketing Automation
Marketing Strategy
ROI marketing
By Marcia K
The difference between marketing automation and CRM
On 15, Feb 2012 | In Email Marketing / Lead Nurturing, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Automation, Marketing Strategy, ROI marketing | By Marcia K
A client asked me recently what the difference is between marketing automation and CRM and why they needed both systems as part of their fundamental infrastructure. CRM solutions like Salesforce target sales and business development folks and the tasks that are important to them, especially how to input, manage, and track their leads. The unit of measurement used is an opportunity. However, CRM systems don’t do a good job of recording all the marketing activity that happens through multiple channels. For this, we need marketing automation. Most marketing automation applications are designed to do 7 core things: 1. Lead Generation Make sales happy with more qualified leads Convert website traffic into leads, automate lead development, …
Don’t forget the marketing funnel when creating infographics
On 15, Nov 2011 | In Marketing Strategy | By Marcia K
Source:Marked Lines Today, content marketing is the strategy everyone seems to be talking about, as a low-cost way to re-invigorate business-to-business marketing, drive more leads, and create more engagement. And the poster child for content marketing is – of course – the infographic. For those not in the know, Content Marketing is defined as a strategy where you create and distribute relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action. (Source: Junta42.) Notice that last bit – driving profitable customer action. What a lot of people don’t seem to understand or appreciate is that content marketing takes the …
Behavioral targeting goes mobile
On 28, Nov 2006 | In Marketing Strategy, Mobile | By Marcia K
As reported by Advertising Week … If you want to reach guys in their 30s in Midtown Manhattan who use Motorola Q phones to check sports scores twice a day, you’re in luck. That’s the type of targeting is coming to mobile phones soon courtesy of Sprint and Cingular. While some people think people won’t tolerate ads on their mobile phones, I think it depends on who you are talking about and what kinds of advertising opportunity it is. Younger customers are more price sensitive and more willing to put up with advertising so long as they get something they feel like they are getting something of value in return. The problem is right now …
A star is born
On 26, Nov 2006 | In Gadgets, Marketing Strategy, Mobile | By Marcia K
If you want to know whether a technology is mainstream or not, look to popular culture. And no culture has more influence on the general public that big blockbuster movies. So it is worth noting when feature films start to feature wireless data in starring roles no less. This tells us that things like SMS – short-messaging service – have crossed over the chasm and are no longer limited to selective demographics (young people, geeks) but are becoming mainstream technologies we depend upon day in and day out. Two cases in point. Check out Martin Scorcese’s “The Departed” where SMS messaging is used to build suspense and advance the plot line. It’s fun to watch …
Seven strategies for mobile advertising, which ones will work
On 22, Nov 2006 | In Marketing Strategy, Mobile | By Marcia K
Great article first published on VentureBeat on the mobile advertising strategies one VC expects to endure as opposed to novelty strategies that will be here today and gone tomorrow … By Ken Elefant 11.12.06 The past few years haven’t been easy for wireless service providers. With 3G and fee-based data services a flop and a sagging voice business, not much seems to be going right for the mobile industry. But the situation is set to change. After many false starts, wireless advertising is finally ready for primetime. Startups and major players alike are jockeying to see who can market most effectively through the wireless medium. Here’s a quick summary outlining seven of the most discussed …
Simplicity and personalization: tomorrow’s tech values
On 12, Nov 2006 | In Marketing Strategy | By Marcia K
To align with what consumers want and need, now and in the future, get simple and get personal. Those are two of a dozen “technology values” unearthed in a new study from the Washington-based research firm Social Technologies. The top 12 values consumers will look for in products, services, and technologies include simplicity, efficiency, and personalization. User creativity is another essential. Consumers increasingly want to create or influence design and content, then share these creations with their peers. Personalization means consumers want products and services that align with their specific needs and preferences, both in a product’s aesthetics and its functional design. Tomorrow’s goods will be created to match individuals’ unique specifications. Other top values …
