Business leaders have discussed the differences and similarities between sales and marketing for years. Too often, the conversation ends there, without any clear and actionable takeaways. Yet, there are many insights to be gained that can lead to better sales results, deeper understandings of one another’s needs, and more camaraderie, collaboration and engagement. This process is known as sales enablement.
Category: Marketing
What Can Upstream and Downstream Marketing Do for You?
Most companies understand the importance of the marketing planning process. They create plans that include quantifiable goals, activities to engage in, assignment of responsibilities and a budget to fund the plan. That process, however, overlooks one key element: a strategic approach to marketing. When it comes to marketing, strategy should be the foundation or cornerstone of the marketing plan.
Event Marketing in 2021: In-Person, Hybrid and Virtual Events
In 2020, we faced significant challenges in the way we communicated, engaged and conducted business. From a marketing perspective, trade shows, conferences and other events were among the traditional initiatives that suffered the greatest losses. Cancelations due to the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected revenue and profits for hotels, convention centers, restaurants, transportation, travel and others that sell at these venues or support events on a global scale. To compensate, event marketers needed to adapt quickly. And one of the solutions that evolved was the shift from in-person to virtual events.
4 Types of Media to Enhance Your Multichannel Marketing
There are four categories of media that help shape and define multichannel marketing—an essential strategy to use to expand marketing outreach. While 95 percent of marketers say they know how important multichannel marketing is for reaching their target audiences, only 73 percent say they have a multichannel program in place.
How to Develop a Unique and Memorable Brand Identity
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as, “a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” While a brand is about distinction, it’s not just differences in products or services. Instead, a brand is about the unique perceptions and experiences you want to be known for in the marketplace.
How to Apply Mindfulness in Marketing
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that nearly 40 percent of Americans believe the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected their mental health. While recognizing the need to encourage good mental health in the workplace is not new, it has become more complex.
Debunking 5 Myths of Public Relations (PR)
Since the introduction of the first public relations agency more than 100 years ago, public relations (PR) has evolved significantly. Our communications channels shape and reshape public relations. These channels include traditional mediums such as newspapers, radios and television. Newer channels used by PR include the internet and digital communications.
Target Marketing: Who Is the Right Audience?
Four Types of Target Marketing Before you can dive into the details of target marketing, consider these common marketing approaches to identify the best communications strategy for your audiences. Mass marketing (or undifferentiated marketing) is the most encompassing marketing technique and essentially ignores segmentation. In mass marketing, the organization sells to the largest audience possible
Adaptability: The Name of the Game in Event Marketing
While event marketing looks different in 2020 (and perhaps into the future), it doesn’t mean it is any less powerful. If anything, buyers and sellers are looking for more effective and efficient ways to connect. For organizations whose lifeblood is event marketing, consider some of these alternative methods in our new normal environment.
Marketing ROI: What It Is and How to Use It
Companies invest a lot on marketing communications. In the United States alone, in 2019 businesses spent more than $197 billion on marketing. In B2B companies, marketing grabs an average of 11.5 percent of the total budget. But is all that money well spent? And more fundamentally, does marketing actually work? A marketing ROI analysis can help answer those questions.
What’s the Greatest Marketing Challenge You Face?
It’s an understatement to say that 2020 has been a challenging year. And to make matters worse, the dust hasn’t settled yet. When it comes to global health crises, social upheaval, major job losses and business closures, the resulting social challenge and economic hardships are overwhelming. “We’re all in this together” is the common refrain. Yet, knowing that we aren’t alone in these struggles is not particularly comforting.
Marketer’s Mad Libs: Fill-in-the-Blank Brand Guide
A reputable and robust brand is essential to any company’s marketing arsenal. However, a brand is much more than an eye-catching logo and color scheme (although those are important too.) A brand represents the totality of who the company is as an organization. It captures and communicates the values it holds and shares with its stakeholders.
How to Create a Multicultural Marketing Strategy
Multicultural consumers represent approximately 40 percent of the population, yet only five percent of marketing spending is multiculturally oriented. When executed well, multicultural marketing—the targeting and reflection of different ethnicities and cultures within a brand’s overall audience—can unite people, empower groups and capitalize on culturally connected populations. When executed poorly, it can lead to backlash and a potentially devastating brand image.
The Art of B2B Storytelling in Marketing
The business-to-business marketplace is built differently than its business-to-consumer counterpart. B2C sells products or services directly to individuals. B2B targets organizations where the sales process can be longer and more complex. This reality makes the B2B marketplace more resistant to the sometimes whimsical, flashy or ostentatious marketing tactics used in the B2C space.
Increase LinkedIn Engagement With Their New Features
Similar to other marketing outreach initiatives, LinkedIn is not a one-and-done tactic. To get the most from it requires constant time, attention and learning to keep up to date with its newest features, algorithms and technologies. Here are some recent LinkedIn engagement changes that will give you more and better ways to take advantage of this powerful platform.
How to Gain Insight into Your Audiences with Behavioral Marketing
Imagine if you could see into the minds of your target audiences and uncover their needs, values, concerns and desires. Fortunately, behavioral marketing allows us to explore those characteristics and the actions that are innate to human nature. This helps marketers develop better targeted and more effective messaging that resonates with your audiences.
How to Get Better Results from Your Advertising Campaign
Advertising can be one of the most effective channels for building brand awareness, generating leads and making more sales. That said, it also can be one of the most expensive tactics and is often a challenge to get right. At the core, B2B marketers are faced with the task of balancing brand and transparency with concise and attention-grabbing calls to action. Before starting your next advertising campaign, here’s a six-step guide to help you maximize your advertising effectiveness.
The Role of Marketing in Supply Chain Management
Between KPIs, ROIs and CRMs, the acronyms we use in marketing seem to be endless. One acronym you may not consider right away in marketing is SCM, or supply chain management. And yet, SCM’s connection to marketing is more pivotal than first meets the eye.
Increase Success With These 5 Must-Have Marketing Skills
Marketing’s role has expanded in recent years. Not only does it encompass addressing a company’s vision, brand, and strategies but also the content a company creates and distributes along with its interactions with prospects, customers and stakeholders on all levels. As marketing evolves and its practices become more diverse, the areas within it grow more specialized. There are experts in niches such as social media, public relations, SEO, trade shows, media outreach, influencer marketing, print advertising and digital marketing. However, technical know-how only accounts for a portion of the necessary marketing skills to become a good marketer.
Why You Need a Strategic Approach to Marketing Communications
Contrary to popular belief, strategy is not the same as planning. Ideally, planning involves the identification of growth strategies based on goals, but does not ensure it. On the other hand, a strategic approach starts with a collaborative dialogue and decision-making process about “how” the company will achieve its goals.
How to Find the Best Marketing Webinars
Savvy marketing professionals are lifelong learners. They know the trends, technologies and advancements in their industry. They don’t want to part of the crowd; they seek to be two steps ahead, ready to anticipate changing marketplace needs. In addition to reading, attending tradeshows, engaging in meaningful dialogues with peers and others, participating in marketing webinars is a valuable tool for staying at the forefront of innovation.
Which Platforms are the Best for B2B Advertising?
In the past, traditional advertising outlets were limited to radio, TV, print publications and outdoor signage. With the new economy, however, savvy marketers add digital outlets to the mix. As a result of the multitude of advertising platforms available today, it’s important to know which ones to choose based on the likelihood of attracting the greatest response from prospects and customers.
Why Marketing Transparency and Honesty Are Important
In marketing, new trends, evolving technologies and the ability to tap into customer preferences require marketers to continually refine their methodologies. But methodologies alone don’t separate winners and losers. In a saturated marketplace, it’s equally important to demonstrate the behaviors and values that customers and prospects expect and demand from your company and its products or services. The two most important are honesty and transparency.
Are Your Emails Going Directly to the Spam Folder?
Emails are one of the most relied-upon and widespread forms of business communications. In fact, 59 percent of B2B marketers say email is their most effective channel for generating revenue. But nothing hurts a company’s marketing efforts more than having emails wind up in the spam folder where subscribers won’t receive their information, offers and announcements. Whether you’re sending a monthly newsletter, building a drip campaign or distributing promotional content, your emails need to comply with regulations to avoid the dreaded spam folder.
