Archive for the ‘Marketing strategy’ Category
Friday, August 7th, 2009
One of my clients, a membership organization, is facing a challenging problem. The Board would like to recruit younger members to ensure that the organization continues.
One of the issues our team has been trying to address is, “How do you attract and retain new community members—when these prospective members start out with little in common with current members?”
Luckily for me, I attended a social media breakfast in Boston(#15) this morning. There, Communispace CEO, Diane Hessan, was the last speaker at an event entitled “SMB15: The Power and Peril of Online Communities.
This is a preview of
Social Media Breakfast (SMB15) serves up great insights and recommendations
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Read the full post (1334 words, 7 images, estimated 5:20 mins reading time)
Tags: campaign, Communispace, community manager, community members, Community Roundtable, health care, health care providers, healthcare, listening strategy, LiveWorld, Marketing strategy, marketing tactic, medical device companies, membership organizations, on-line communities, online communities, online community, SMB15, social community, social media, social media breakfast, social media communications, Twitter
Posted in Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy, social media, social media marketing | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
By Barbara Bix -
What if Tom’s of Maine had tried to match Colgate or Crest feature by feature? Would they have ever succeeded? How about Netflix?
Unique product positioning is the key to success
Each of these companies entered markets where there was a dominant player—yet both succeeded. They understood, what many of us often forget, that satisfying the unmet needs of a distinct market segment is far more important than matching the competition feature-by-feature. While these are consumer examples, the same product differentiation principles apply for businesses that sell to other businesses.
This is a preview of
Is the competition distracting you from becoming a market leader?
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Read the full post (644 words, 2 images, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)
Tags: category, commodities, competition, market penetration, market segment, new market entrants, positioning, price premium, product differentiation, product positioning
Posted in Marketing strategy | 3 Comments »
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
Google the title of this article and you’ll find lots of statistics on who reads blogs. That said you may not know anyone who reads blogs. I believe that blogs are worth writing—even if no one reads them right away.
The reason? When readers are ready, the blogs will still be there. And that’s the power of on-line content.
Blog statistics track traffic and level of interest
I know this from direct experience. According to the statistics my blog collects, a lot of visitors find my blog posts weeks or even months after I originally publish. Most of these latecomers find my site when searching for information on a particular subject. Many stick around long enough to read several other posts. A smaller, but significant, number subscribe so they can receive future posts.
Tags: blog statistics, business model, content strategy, marketing campaigns, Marketing strategy, new media, return on investment, search engine rankings, social media, word of mouth marketing
Posted in Internet marketing, Marketing strategy, social media | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 16th, 2009
Sports teams watch video replays to learn from experience and see how they can improve upon their game. In so doing, they examine what worked—for them and the competition—at various points in the game. They also study their performance under various playing conditions.
More than win or lose–it’s how you play the game
The goal is not so much as to see what cost the game, but to note specific behaviors that contributed to the win or loss—at crucial points in the competition. Only that way, can they reduce future vulnerabilities and replicate success.
Tags: buying process, close deals, close more deals, complex solutions, loss, professional services, replicate success, revenues, sales cycle, win, wins and losses
Posted in Marketing strategy | 1 Comment »
Sunday, January 25th, 2009
Wikipedia defines social media as “primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. Examples of tools this source cites include blogs, wikis, podcasts, and information sharing cites such as Linked In and Flickr.
Call me old-fashioned but I tend to think of interacting with machines—rather than directly with other people—as antisocial. But let’s not quibble over terms. Social media is all the rage at marketing conferences these days, so it’s fair game for this blog.
What got me thinking about this topic today was an event that I attended earlier this week at the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MTLC).
Tags: audience, blogs, broadcast media, direct marketing, effectiveness, marketing communications, podcasts, privacy, relationships, results, social media, targeted messages, wikis
Posted in Internet marketing, Marketing strategy | No Comments »
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
The economy has slowed down but businesses—and individuals—are still buying. The difference is that they’ve tightened their belts. Most are spending less—and many are spending on different things, for different reasons. The question is—how do you get money from those who are deliberately trying to cut down?
Where there’s sales activity, there’s an unmet need
Our clients find that one of the best ways to find out where to concentrate their firepower is to follow the money. They do this by studying recent activity—their own, the competitions’, or those of the companies that are succeeding under current market conditions. Why? Because where there’s activity, there’s an unmet need.
This is a preview of
Follow the money: How to capitalize on opportunity in a tough economy
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Read the full post (810 words, 1 image, estimated 3:14 mins reading time)
Tags: competitive intelligence, justify investment, losses, market intelligence, market opportunity, market strategy, marketing messages, sales activity, target market, unmet need, value proposition, win/loss reporting win/loss, wins
Posted in Marketing strategy | No Comments »
Sunday, December 7th, 2008
With the economy slowing, prospective buyers are scrutinizing every penny they spend. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon sellers to clearly articulate the value that prospective buyers will derive once they buy.
In recent posts, we’ve discussed the characteristics of a compelling value proposition, and the importance of concentrating your firepower on those companies that most value your capabilities. This week’s post discusses concrete steps you can take to identify, validate, and test your value propositions.
This is a preview of
Developing a compelling value proposition: What you need to know
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Read the full post (922 words, 1 image, estimated 3:41 mins reading time)
Tags: buyers' needs, compelling value proposition, decision makers, key stakeholders, market segments, marketing investments, marketing research, mitigate purchase risk, most promising prospects, purchase preferences, slowing economy, target market, value proposition
Posted in Marketing strategy | 6 Comments »
Monday, November 17th, 2008
As we discussed last week, a compelling value proposition is a clear, concise description of exactly how buyers will benefit from your solutions. Done well, it motivates action by speaking directly to the needs of those who need your services most and mitigates risk by addressing potential reservations.
Your value proposition must target your most promising prospects
Nevertheless, to be truly effective, your value proposition must target your most promising prospects. Willie Sutton robbed banks because that’s where the money was.
This is a preview of
Getting top dollar depends on first determining who values your solutions most
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Read the full post (1035 words, 1 image, estimated 4:08 mins reading time)
Tags: business-to-business marketing consultant, marketing research, value proposition, win/loss analysis, win/loss data
Posted in Marketing strategy, Pricing, value propositions | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
By Barbara Bix, B2B Marketing Consultant
Today, more than ever, companies are seeking value from every purchase. Without telling buyers upfront how their organizations will prosper from your solutions, it’s difficult to capture their attention—let alone close the sale. So, having a compelling value proposition is more important than ever.
Today’s entry describes the elements of a compelling value proposition. We’ll follow up in subsequent posts by discussing steps you can take to create and validate your organization’s value proposition. Then, we’ll discuss how to leverage your value proposition in all your marketing initiatives.
This is a preview of
Capturing buyers’ attention: What makes a value proposition compelling?
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Read the full post (726 words, 3 images, estimated 2:54 mins reading time)
Tags: compelling value proposition, value proposition
Posted in Marketing strategy | 2 Comments »
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
So you’ve got the attention of your prospective buyers. The good news is that they now know of the existence of your business. The bad news is that they know far less than you think they know about your company. That’s because most of us are so busy, that we only have the capacity to think about our most pressing concerns.
This is a preview of
Shorten the sales cycle: one marketing message at a time
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Read the full post (790 words, 1 image, estimated 3:10 mins reading time)
Tags: brand, buying process, case study, clinician marketing, drip campaign, email marketing, email newsletter, marketing messages, physician practice marketing, sales cycle
Posted in Buying process model, How to, Marketing communications programs, Marketing strategy | 1 Comment »
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