Archive for the ‘Marketing strategy’ Category
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Lee Odden, a recognized expert in the areas of search and social media, recently ran the 2010 Digital Marketing Poll on the TopRank Online Marketing Blog. The poll, presumably directed at marketers, asks: “What 3 online marketing channels & tactics will you emphasize in 2011?” 
TopRank used Twitter to promote the poll–and did so on multiple occasions. Presumably, a lot of people received notice of the poll: @TopRank has 6061 followers, the update was retweeted 262 times, “liked” by 45, and likely got additional visibility through other social sharing media*.
How Odden attracted responses
Tags: 2010, @TopRank, content marketing, conversion rates, digital marketing, direct response campaign, engagement, Lee Odden, marketing channels, marketing tactics, mobile, online marketing, response rates, search, social media, targeted audience, Top 10, Top Rank Online Marketing Blog
Posted in Internet marketing, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
As a marketing consultant, I attend a lot of marketing seminars and marketing conferences to stay current with my craft. Today, the buzz there is all about online marketing.
Typical topics include content strategy, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, inbound marketing, marketing automation, and of course email marketing. Spending in all of these areas is up–often at the expense of conventional advertising and PR.
There are several trends driving this transition. One is that prospects are moving online so the marketers that wish to reach them must also move online. Another is that advances in marketing technology have made it relatively easy for non-professionals to produce content that attracts and engages their audiences.
This is a preview of
Will marketing consultants and agencies switch places with in-house staff in a digital world?
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Read the full post (317 words, 2 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
Tags: analytics, branding, content, content strategy, demand generation, email marketing, inbound marketing, marketing automation, Marketing consultant, marketing strategies, marketing techology, measurable, online marketing, search engine optimization, SEO, social media
Posted in Internet marketing, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Lots going on in Boston this month. Just got back from an information-rich panel discussion offered by the Massachusetts Technology Council entitled: Tricks of the Trade – Building Revenue Momentum in SaaS. Here are my notes.
Program description
Unlike traditional software business models which are based on one-time license sales and lump-sum cash payments, the SaaS model is predicated upon building annuity-type revenue and cash streams. Over the long-term this business model is highly attractive, but especially for early-stage companies ramping SaaS revenues poses a unique set of challenges. MassTLC has gathered a panel of accomplished SaaS operating executives to share their insights on getting the initial revenue ‘flywheel’ turning and building sustainable SaaS enterprises.
This is a preview of
SaaS: Building the revenue momentum you need to achieve profitability
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Read the full post (777 words, 2 images, estimated 3:06 mins reading time)
Tags: best practices, customer support strategy, early-stage, lessons learned, lifetime value of a customer, market insights, market positioning, profitability, revenue, SaaS, SaaS revenues, sales cycle, sales pipeline, target market, value proposition
Posted in How to, Marketing strategy, SaaS | No Comments »
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
So much to learn, so little time–which is why I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet and learn from hundreds of other marketing professionals this week at Marketing Profs B2B forum. What’s more we had a lot of fun and left with a lot of ideas that many of us are already putting into action.
B2B digital marketing best practices
Over two jam-packed days, we heard about best practices in areas like search engine optimization (SEO), content strategy, lead generation and lead nurturing, and social media. We learned about what’s worked, what hasn’t, and why from Marketing VPs that have been there, tried that.
This is a preview of
B2B marketing insights and tips compliments of MarketingProfs
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Read the full post (1256 words, 2 images, estimated 5:01 mins reading time)
Tags: B2B, B2B mobile, best practices, blogging for business, call for action, campaign ROI, content strategy, conversion, digital marketing, Google URL Builder, Google's webmaster tools, landing pages, lead generation, lead nurturing, Marketing VPs, qualified leads, recommended WordPress plugins, search engine optimization, SEO, Sepaton, site maps, social media, target market, URL Shortening tools
Posted in How to, Internet marketing, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Especially in a tough economy, companies often discount their products and services to increase sales. The advantage of this approach is that it attracts attention–and has the potential to get prospects that ordinarily would not buy to try out your goods and services. The hope, of course, is that once they experience what you have to offer that they’ll buy again.
The question is does it work? And for whom?
Discounts do increase sales volumes
There’s no question that discounts increase sales volume. To find evidence, you need look no further than to a Reuters article that ran earlier this month about automobile industry sales.
Tags: cash flow, competition, discount, discounts, increase sales, Marketing consultant, price war, profitability, sales, service revenues, software, software publishers, strategic marketing consultant, subscriptions
Posted in Marketing strategy, Pricing, SaaS | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Over the past six months, I’ve noticed heightened interest in market intelligence. To learn more, I interviewed marketing executives at several local companies to find out why–and summarized the results in The Secret to Success in a Down Economy: Market Intelligence published in today’s issue of MarketingProfs.
In this article, I discussed how one mid-sized company was using market intelligence to maintain its competitive edge and then asked readers if they had made similar marketing investment decisions. The article concluded with some questions to which I’d welcome your comments. They are:
This is a preview of
What role does market intelligence play in your company?
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Read the full post (193 words, 1 image, estimated 46 secs reading time)
Tags: competitive edge, down economy, market information, market intelligence, marketing executives, marketing investment, marketing messages, reach, target
Posted in market intelligence, Marketing strategy | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Thanks to Dave Cobosco for the following post.
Winners never lose sight of whom they serve.
For those of you not familiar with what happened in Massachusetts on January 19, there was a special election to fill the US Senatorial seat vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy. Kennedy had been in office for the past 46 years.
Since Kennedy was a Democrat, initially most people felt another Democrat would fill the seat. The Democratic Party must have felt the same way. They ran a campaign full of endorsements from high-powered Democrats, while the Republican candidate drove his pick-up truck from one end of the state to the other meeting with the people who he would represent if elected.
This is a preview of
What can businesses learn from the recent Massachusetts US Senatorial Race?
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Read the full post (521 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)
Tags: costs, customer, customer interaction, headcount, market, new product development, online forums, operating expenses, operational efficiencies, product marketing discipline, product organizations, profitable company, recent deals, top line growth, understanding your customers, unfavorable comments, won and lost
Posted in market intelligence, Marketing strategy | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Most B2B companies are just beginning to dip their toe in the social media marketing waters. Consequently, I was delighted when Alan Belniak, the newly appointed Director of Social Media Marketing at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) agreed to an interview about how his company is approaching social media and why.
My questions appear in bold followed by his answers. Here’s what he had to say:
Why did PTC create your position?
Tags: B2B, brand, content, conversation, engagement, listening tools, measures, metrics, online social networking, research, ROI, social media, social media marketing, strategy
Posted in Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
A quick search on Google indicates that surveys about business-to-business (B2B) marketing priorities tend to concentrate on tactics–rather than strategy. They also tend to focus on investments in various types of promotional activities, rather than the greater marketing picture. As for strategy, at least one survey seems to indicate that in a tight economy, B2B companies rank demand generation first and then raising awareness.
What happened to the focus on the customer?
The irony is that gaining deeper insights into customer, or prospect needs, rarely shows up as a priority, let alone a high priority. Why not?
Tags: B2B marketing, customer case studies, customer intimacy, demand generation, lead gen, listening tools, marketing priorities, marketing research, sales, sales enablement, social communities, social media, surveys, usability testing, win/loss
Posted in Buying process model, Internet marketing, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
More often than not, when I’m invited to speak it’s about marketing strategies that businesses can use to attract and capture businesses from other businesses. Typical topics include “Getting into Your Buyers’ Mind”, “Developing Compelling Value Propositions”, “Systematically Creating Referrals”, “Online Marketing”, and lately “Social Media Marketing”.
This month, however, I had the pleasure of speaking with Tufts alumni on how to use social media marketing techniques to land their next position. I don’t know which was more exciting doing the actual presentation–or preparing for it.
Tags: job search, LinkedIn, social media, social media marketing, Tweetdeck, Twitter
Posted in Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 5 Comments »
Twitter
What can businesses learn from the recent Massachusetts US Senatorial Race?
Monday, January 25th, 2010Thanks to Dave Cobosco for the following post.
Winners never lose sight of whom they serve.
For those of you not familiar with what happened in Massachusetts on January 19, there was a special election to fill the US Senatorial seat vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy. Kennedy had been in office for the past 46 years.
Since Kennedy was a Democrat, initially most people felt another Democrat would fill the seat. The Democratic Party must have felt the same way. They ran a campaign full of endorsements from high-powered Democrats, while the Republican candidate drove his pick-up truck from one end of the state to the other meeting with the people who he would represent if elected.
Tags: costs, customer, customer interaction, headcount, market, new product development, online forums, operating expenses, operational efficiencies, product marketing discipline, product organizations, profitable company, recent deals, top line growth, understanding your customers, unfavorable comments, won and lost
Posted in market intelligence, Marketing strategy | 2 Comments »