We’ve previously discussed the challenges many companies face when trying to calculate an ROI on their marketing efforts. For small and medium-sized businesses, this can make it difficult to justify increasing spend on marketing efforts.
But, just because you feel like you can’t spend more money on marketing doesn’t mean you can’t invest in your brand. (more…)
by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
It’s hard to overstate the value of relationships in business. And, while it’s true for companies of any size, this can be especially crucial for success among small and midsized businesses (SMBs) as well as in the B2B world generally. “As an entrepreneur, you have countless relationships you need to manage on a daily basis,” writes Jennifer Spencer in an article for Entrepreneur. “There are your employees. There are the vendors who provide needed support services to help you run your business. And, of course, there are also your customers.”
by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
With an up and down history dating back to the 1960s, the software-as-a-service or SaaS model has become the norm in tech-centered industries over the last couple of decades. With a SaaS model, providers of various applications or data storage capabilities allow end-users to remotely access the application or data. This is in contrast to models many of us were familiar with in the 1990s and 2000s where you would purchase an operating system software and install it via CD on a personal computer, for example.
In an article for Entrepreneur, Thomas Smale writes that the SaaS model has moved further and further toward a subscription model and suggests several subscription model-oriented growth strategies. These aren’t strategies only for very large, enterprise organizations. Even the smallest businesses, or solopreneurs, can leverage the subscription model to build sales. (more…)
by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
Earlier this year, an outage on Facebook, as well as its subsidiary services Instagram and WhatsApp, demonstrated that even the most sophisticated tech companies and social media platforms are not immune to technical challenges. In an article for Entrepreneur, Kimanzi Constable argues that the outage could hold some important lessons for content marketers and online advertisers. It wasn’t an isolated incident. Lately it seems that every week brings another outage—most minor, but all troubling.
“There is no doubt businesses lost revenue with this outage,” he writes. “For those who pay for advertising, their ads weren’t reaching potential customers. For those that rely on posting in their Facebook groups, on their personal pages and on Instagram, they lost revenue because they couldn’t use the strategy that they’ve always used.” So what should companies do from a strategic standpoint to prevent this kind of negative impact in the future? (more…)
Many of us are familiar with the concept of disruptive innovation: a new product or service enters the market and overthrows established competitors by fundamentally changing the paradigm. Common examples include the advent of the automobile, the personal computer, or direct streaming services. But, do we really need to be disruptively innovative? (more…)
by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
Amazon has proven time and again to be particularly adept at figuring out what its customers want and giving it to them. Whether it’s shopping suggestions based on previous orders, on-demand media content or same-day delivery, the retail giant answers the demands of the people whose purchases are lining its pockets.
The latest example of this as-you-wish mentality was recently announced and reported in an article for CNN by Taylor Nicole Rogers titled “Amazon’s new waste-reduction strategy: Delivery only once a week.” (more…)
Customer communications management—or CCM—is a term that has been making its way into marketing and customer relations circles and conversations lately. But, is it something new, or just a repositioning of the same, classic approach to communication management that marketers have been using for years? Is this a term just used to apply to what is also known as digital marketing, or does it have an analog component as well? (more…)
Maybe it’s because I grew up in a family-owned business. Maybe it’s because I grew up a bit “socially awkward.” Maybe it’s because I spent 20+ years in corporate communications. Whatever it is, I grew up with a very strong sense of inclusiveness when it comes to interacting with people. The concept that you “can’t judge a book by its cover” has always been meaningful to me; I’ve always enjoyed interacting with and learning from a broad range of people–trying hard not to pre-judge those I come into contact with. That has served me well. (more…)
Many people are somewhat wary of having something sold to them. Even with professional salespeople, and even when we’ve actively sought out the product or service a salesperson is offering, there is a tendency to be skeptical of what they’re telling us. After all, they are trying to get money from us. That’s why anything that can be done to boost the credibility of a salesperson is a big boon. (more…)
by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
At first glance, it might seem like a ridiculous strategy to price a product below its cost. Wouldn’t you just be losing money? While this is true, many companies do just that, and they do lose money. On that specific offering. This is part of a strategy known as loss leader pricing. As defined by Inc., “loss leader pricing is an aggressive pricing strategy in which a store sells selected goods below cost in order to attract customers who will, according to the loss leader philosophy, make up for the losses on highlighted products with additional purchases of profitable goods.”
A great example of a loss leader is razors. (more…)
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