I’ve worked in marketing for a number of years, and I know that it can be a thankless role at times. After all, the marketing department is a cost center, not a revenue center. It’s a function that is often highly scrutinized in terms of how dollars are being spent and what results are being achieved from those expenditures. Marketing staff is sometimes viewed as “squishy creative types” who don’t really understand business issues but like to throw money at bright, shiny things and the latest social media craze. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Strategic Planning’ Category
Marketers: Here’s How You Can Get That Seat at The Table
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021How To Demonstrate Your Productivity When Working Remotely
Monday, November 2nd, 2020
I’ve been thinking a lot about remote work lately. Not only because of the coronavirus, and not only because I’ve been working from home since 2008, but because my new book “Managing Remote Staff: Capitalize on Work-from-Home Productivity” was released by Self-Counsel Press, a publisher I’ve written a number of books for.
I received a lot of input for the book from both those who manage remote staff and those who work remotely. Some have been doing this for a number of years; others only since the pandemic emerged and changed the work landscape forever. Companies have historically been hesitant to allow employees to work from locations other than their official workplaces. This is true for a variety of reasons, many revolving around trust, concerns about communication, and the ubiquitous concern managers have of being able to successfully manage employees when they are “out of sight, out of mind.”
The 3 C’s of Marketing and STP: How they Align
Thursday, October 29th, 2020
The 3 C’s of Marketing (company, customers and competitors) is a popular model used to help businesses and marketers develop marketing strategies by encouraging them to think about their customers and what they value, what they have to offer that address what customers value/need, and what others (competitors) are offering. It’s a model that also aligns very well with another three-pronged marketing approach: segmenting, targeting, and positioning.Marketing During, and After, the Pandemic
Friday, June 19th, 2020As businesses slowly begin to open back up, many find themselves doing business far differently than they may have before the pandemic. Safety is top of mind. Not all customers feel comfortable at this point, interacting in person with the businesses they may have frequented without fear in the past. That means for many companies, a combination of in-store/in-person and online or socially distanced interactions. Many are operating on the fly, figuring things out as they go. But now may be an excellent time to take a step back and update, or create, a marketing plan to help you move forward more strategically.
Here’s some advice for doing just that: (more…)
Social Media and Your 2020 Marketing Strategy
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020
There have been plenty of notable changes in the social media landscape as of late. New channels (like TikTok) are popping up. Legacy channels (like Facebook and Twitter) are cracking down on users and APIs whose approaches have been more spammy than strategic. (more…)
Another Year Draws to an End
Friday, December 27th, 2019
It’s hard to believe that another year is drawing to an end. I can still vividly remember the countdown to Y2K and the anxiety so many were feeling as they wondered what a new century would mean in terms of digital disruption. The year 2000 came in with more of a whisper than a bang but, since that time, much has changed in terms of the ways technology continues to impact our personal and professional lives.Goodwill: Being Strategic About Your Giving Decisions
Thursday, December 26th, 2019
Supporting the local community can be expensive. Even large organizations have to be careful about how and where they lend their time – and money. Is there value – beyond personal satisfaction – in supporting local events and activities? Which ones? How can you say “no” graciously to the many requests that come your way? (more…)
Growing a Subscription Model Business
Thursday, June 20th, 2019by 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…)
General Mills Boosts Earnings by Raising Prices
Tuesday, June 18th, 2019by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
Where to price products and services is a key part of any business’s marketing and finance strategies. Economic theory includes multiple strategies for pricing, depending on broader business goals. For example, a company looking to maximize profit will try to set its marginal revenue—the revenue received from one additional unit of sale—equal to marginal cost (the cost associated with one additional unit of sale). A company trying to maximize sales will focus on average costs and revenue. The point where they meet is the sales maximizing point.
Of course, these are economic theories, and how these strategies play out in the real world is anything but certain.
Google’s EU Fines Illustrate Key Business Concepts
Wednesday, May 29th, 2019by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
Google has not had a great couple of years in Europe. In March, the company was fined 1.5 billion euros—roughly $1.7 billion—for antitrust violations in the online advertising market. This represents the third such fine against the tech giant since 2017. “With the announcement on Wednesday, the European fines against Google total roughly €8.2 billion, or $9.3 billion,” says an article by Adam Satariano for the New York Times. “But the bloc has not received any of the money yet; Google is appealing the earlier decisions, and is mulling whether to appeal the most recent ruling.”
These fines provide some interesting business lessons relevant to any industry. (more…)
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