Posts Tagged ‘marketing strategy’
Thursday, May 26th, 2022
A recent LinkedIn question resonated with me—”Why don’t people like to talk about pricing UPFRONT?” Why indeed?
Have you ever been frustrated when trying to make a purchase decision because you can’t get pricing information from coy salespeople or cryptic web sites? In my opinion, (more…)
Tags: how much does it cost, marketing strategy, Pricing, pricing strategy, sharing prices, strategic marketing, Strategy
Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Friday, May 13th, 2022
A prospective client contacted us recently wanting to produce a white paper to serve as a promotional tool. The white paper needed to include: a focus on the new national campaign theme, a focus on the new local campaign theme, a focus on the areas served, a focus on the organization’s new direction for the coming year, a focus on…OK, hopefully, you get the point.
If you focus on everything, you’re focused on nothing!
It’s tough to focus. Any organization has multiple objectives and messages that need to be conveyed and there can be a tendency to try to “do it all” in one message. The trouble with that, though, is (more…)
Tags: areas of focus, content pillars, effective advertising, effective marketing, finding focus, focus areas, marketing strategy, Strategy
Posted in Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, Strategic Communications, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 18th, 2022
Our company is named
Strategic Communications to emphasize our belief that to be effective, communication must be strategic. Too often, marketing initiatives are focused more on tactics (let’s get on TikTok! let’s put up a billboard!), rather than
strategy. That’s probably one of the biggest mistakes that marketers can make. Why? Because unless you just “get lucky,” and you might, simply picking tactics may result in doing the wrong things, wasting time, effort, and money.
(more…)
Tags: content marketing, marketing plans, marketing strategy, marketing tactics, strategic marketing, Strategic Planning, Strategy, thinking strategically
Posted in Content Marketing, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
First there was AIDA, then the notion of a sales “funnel” emerged and the concept of a buyer’s journey that began at the top of the funnel (TOFU), moved to the middle of the funnel (MOFU) and ultimately ended with a sale at the bottom of the funnel (BOFU). But is this concept too simplistic—and too linear—to truly represent today’s buyer’s journey? Was this model ever relevant in a business-to-business environment? Are content marketers wasting their time attempting to create copy that focuses, discreetly, on TOFU, MOFU, BOFU?
(more…)
Tags: Advertising, AIDA, buyer's journey, Marketing, marketing strategy, Sales, sales funnel, sales strategy, top-of-funnel
Posted in Business Development, Client Relations, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 10th, 2021
Not many people remember a product called Zima, and that’s the point of this post. As a marketing professional, I’ve always been interested in new product introductions and advertising campaigns in general— how well do they work? how long do they “run” (suggesting that the positive effects are continuing to produce results or, if nothing else, that the agency and client haven’t “pulled the plug” prematurely).
In addition, as someone who is not a “beer drinker,” I was interested several years ago when a new product was introduced—Zima—a beer-based beverage that was supposed to be light and refreshing. Hmm. Sounded interesting. The campaign was extensive, attention-getting, and effective—to a degree. It raised awareness. It generated preference (at least initially). All was good. Right? Wrong. (more…)
Tags: Advertising, beating the competition, competition, effective advertising, ineffective advertising, marketing strategy, product quality, service quality
Posted in Competition, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Thursday, June 24th, 2021
I have been fortunate enough to practice marketing before and after the emergence of the internet, social media, and digital marketing. While the channels for communicating have changed and grown significantly, the basics of good marketing have remained the same. These new channels also often come with something that traditional marketing efforts usually lacked─analytics. Or, at least, lacked the sophistication that now exists to understand the nuances of the target audience’s response. (more…)
Tags: analyzing data, analyzing web data, data, Google Analytics, marketing strategy
Posted in Analytics, Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Saturday, June 5th, 2021
As summer approaches, and as restrictions related to COVID-19 begin to ease around the country, tourism is likely to pick up significantly. That’s great news for the many hospitality and destination businesses that took a hard hit during the pandemic. Now they have an opportunity to hit the ground running to attract the attention of consumers with pent-up demand.
But how can your company effectively connect with travelers to ensure that 1) they know you exist and 2) they believe spending their time and money with you will provide higher value than spending their time and money elsewhere? (more…)
Tags: boosting business during the summer, hospitality industry, Innovation, marketing strategy, restaurant industry, summer destinations, summer marketing techniques
Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Monday, March 29th, 2021
When pandemic restrictions around the country started occurring in March 2020, few imagined that many would still be in place—or starting up again—as the year drew to an end. As I write this, in mid-November, cases are rising across the country, and new restrictions are emerging. Through it all, organizations of various kinds have had to adjust and adapt to the new normal—whatever that is. As businesses plan for 2021, none can ignore the potential for COVID-19 to continue disrupting their operations and impacting consumer decisions. (more…)
Tags: B2B content marketing, content calendar, content marketing, content marketing effectiveness, effective marketing, internet marketing, marketing during COVID, marketing in 2021, marketing strategy
Posted in Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2021
SEO has long been the holy grail for internet marketers—and content creators—of all kinds. Attracting eyeballs, and website visitors, was job number one. While that’s still the case to a large degree, SEO has become less of a numbers game and more of a driver for creating high-quality, relevant content. This is because of the ongoing algorithmic changes that Google and other search engines make to deliver a positive search experience for users. (more…)
Tags: content marketing, marketing strategy, search engine optimization, SEO
Posted in Content Marketing | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021
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…)
Tags: business goals, business objectives, content marketing, marketing strategy, seat at the table, strategic analysis, strategic plan, Strategy
Posted in Career Advice, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »