Marketing needs to be scrapped -- here's why
Published in Marketing
Old school marketers are dead. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that.
Marketing no longer resembles the textbooks of the 90's. Old-school marketers no longer have a advantage over young marketers since the rules of game have changed. If your firm is still conducting marketing of the past, you are missing out on real opportunities. Doing the same will not result in the same results, you may not get any results at all.
How goods and services are researched and purchased has, and continues to change. Even industries that have existed on personal networks alone are needing to re-evaluate their sales and marketing approach. If your marketing department hasn't changed the way they do business in the past five years, it's time to re-evaluate this department. Here's why you may need to take a fresh look at how your reach and sell to your target market.
Marketing no longer resembles the textbooks of the 90's. Old-school marketers no longer have a advantage over young marketers since the rules of game have changed. If your firm is still conducting marketing of the past, you are missing out on real opportunities. Doing the same will not result in the same results, you may not get any results at all.
How goods and services are researched and purchased has, and continues to change. Even industries that have existed on personal networks alone are needing to re-evaluate their sales and marketing approach. If your marketing department hasn't changed the way they do business in the past five years, it's time to re-evaluate this department. Here's why you may need to take a fresh look at how your reach and sell to your target market.
How to master your marketing strategy
Published in Marketing
Have you started thinking about your marketing strategy for 2016? If not, now is the time. As budgets and plans are put into place, they are often a copied from previous years. If you are doing this for your marketing strategy and budget, note that marketing has changed. How prospects and clients find you, research you and buy from you has evolved. An online strategy is no longer just for large retail businesses, but for everyone's business, including B2B.
Failure and positive thinking seem polar opposites, but they consume much of what is posted and shared on social media.
When I first started my Twitter account I asked a colleague what posts get the most shares. She told me "Celebrity deaths and inspirational quotes." Interestingly, when I asked the same questions about blogs, I was told that people love to learn about your failures.
So of course, we can't always post inspirational quotes and hopefully no one has so many failures that it's all they write about. So, how do you create content that people will want to read?
When I first started my Twitter account I asked a colleague what posts get the most shares. She told me "Celebrity deaths and inspirational quotes." Interestingly, when I asked the same questions about blogs, I was told that people love to learn about your failures.
So of course, we can't always post inspirational quotes and hopefully no one has so many failures that it's all they write about. So, how do you create content that people will want to read?
Marketing is an investment in your business and not something you should take lightly. It is also something that has changed over the past ten years and continues to evolve. How you reach customers and how they find you, research your business, and buy from you has also changed.
If your marketing practices are stagnant or nonexistent, your business will fail. Here are the top five mistakes that I see small-to-medium sized businesses make most often.
If your marketing practices are stagnant or nonexistent, your business will fail. Here are the top five mistakes that I see small-to-medium sized businesses make most often.
Let's face it, we are all busy. Keeping up with the ever changing landscape of marketing, entrepreneurship, social media can be a challenge with an already full schedule. A tool that I have found that is both educational and entertaining is podcasts. When stuck in traffic or sitting at an hour and half swim team practice, I really enjoy listening to others experiences in business. Not only is it a distraction from the parking lot of Dallas rush-hour traffic, I usually learn something that I can apply to my own business and life.
A good podcast is more than educational, it is entertaining. The more you listen, the more you really get to know and enjoy the host. While the podcasts I listen to all have a business, entrepreneur or marketing spin, they also have a personal side. Think more along the lines of "This American Life", and less like an economics college lecture.
Here are my top ten picks:
A good podcast is more than educational, it is entertaining. The more you listen, the more you really get to know and enjoy the host. While the podcasts I listen to all have a business, entrepreneur or marketing spin, they also have a personal side. Think more along the lines of "This American Life", and less like an economics college lecture.
Here are my top ten picks:
4 Ways To Have Big Marketing Results on a Small Budget| Grass Roots Marketing
Published in Marketing
What do you do when you biggest competitor has endless amounts of revenue to invest in marketing, and you have very little? You start a grass roots campaign.
We are still early in the 2017 presidential race, but one candidate has caught my attention. Not from the issues for which he stands, but the creativity of his grassroots campaign. Bernie Sanders may be this fall's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. He is looking to get the democratic nomination for the 2017 presidential race and his competitor comes with a big 'brand name' and an even bigger budget.
No matter what side of the aisle you sit, as entrepreneurs we all have been up against a competitor with strong name recognition and a large marketing budget? Tackling the behemoth in your industry may be as easy as rallying your supporters and spreading the word through grass roots campaigning and social media. This doesn't mean you don't invest in marketing, it just means your investment should be spent in a way to maximize the greatest return.
We are still early in the 2017 presidential race, but one candidate has caught my attention. Not from the issues for which he stands, but the creativity of his grassroots campaign. Bernie Sanders may be this fall's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. He is looking to get the democratic nomination for the 2017 presidential race and his competitor comes with a big 'brand name' and an even bigger budget.
No matter what side of the aisle you sit, as entrepreneurs we all have been up against a competitor with strong name recognition and a large marketing budget? Tackling the behemoth in your industry may be as easy as rallying your supporters and spreading the word through grass roots campaigning and social media. This doesn't mean you don't invest in marketing, it just means your investment should be spent in a way to maximize the greatest return.
I often hear from a number of professionals in the manufacturing, construction, professional services, medical, and technology fields that social media is not for them. If they have tried social media, they have tweeted a time or two, connected to a few people on LinkedIn, and maybe sent one message. Through a meager attempt they have determined that it does not work.
The question I pose to them and to you is "how did you find this blog?" and "how do you now know the Marketing Eye brand?"
I know the answer - do you?
The question I pose to them and to you is "how did you find this blog?" and "how do you now know the Marketing Eye brand?"
I know the answer - do you?
The surest way to never have an epic fail is to never try something new. At sometime all companies will face a blunder, but how you deal with the situation may determine if your business 'Fails-up' and grows and strengthens from its mistake or if you just fail.
As a marketer and communicator I have walked the unfortunate path of dealing with crisis management for some of the biggest companies and notorious blunders. From communicating to clients during the Enron Scandal, to spinning the story of trust for a firm with a sour reputation.
One thing I learned from 10 years in the technology field is that things are going to go wrong. You can't deliver a new solution without a hiccup or two. It is how you deal with the situation that will determine if you fail or 'Fail-up'.
As a marketer and communicator I have walked the unfortunate path of dealing with crisis management for some of the biggest companies and notorious blunders. From communicating to clients during the Enron Scandal, to spinning the story of trust for a firm with a sour reputation.
One thing I learned from 10 years in the technology field is that things are going to go wrong. You can't deliver a new solution without a hiccup or two. It is how you deal with the situation that will determine if you fail or 'Fail-up'.
