Marketing Audits: Best Practices

Marketing Audits: Best Practices
A marketing audit is a great way to assess the health of your current marketing efforts against two separate benchmarks: 1) How you compare to your industry peers and 2) How your marketing does or doesn’t align with overall best practices. While we always do a mini audit as part of any project, sometimes we have clients who want to start with a...

Backing Off Buzzwords – Case Studies

Backing Off Buzzwords – Case Studies
Every company has internal jargon that has evolved to speed conversations, including those about the benefits of its products and services. At its extreme, this might mean using inscrutable acronyms like those Kraft Foods used to use (anyone out there remember CIS, STOC, DRF). In fact, in the early 90’s, every new brand management employee was...

Throwdown: So You Think YOUR Service is Differentiated?

Throwdown: So You Think YOUR Service is Differentiated?
Whenever we teach Positioning, someone invariably wants their Point of Difference to be “Exceptional service.” Generally, this is way too generic to be genuinely differentiating. But a remanufactured toner cartridge company we worked with a few years ago was the exception to this rule.  Watch this quick video case study. 

It’s Okay to be Needy – Identifying Your B2B Customers’ Unmet Needs

It’s Okay to be Needy – Identifying Your B2B Customers’ Unmet Needs
Defining your customers’ unmet need can be one of the trickiest parts of developing a strong positioning statement, especially since it has to be a need your customers know they have. It hurts me every time I hear someone say “we just need to educate our customers,” because that’s a pretty good indication that the speaker...

B2B Content Marketing: Digital vs. Face-to-Face

B2B Content Marketing: Digital vs. Face-to-Face
There’s exciting new research out from my alma mater, the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, about how B2B marketing teams can help drive more quality leads to sales through digital content marketing. The research, conducted by professor Bobby Calder and his team at the Medill School’s Speigel Research Center, explored which...

Leveraging the Power of Word of Mouth

Leveraging the Power of Word of Mouth
If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that Word of Mouth is their best source of business, I’d be a rich woman! Whether you’re a B2B, B2C or services company, Word of Mouth will always be your best source of business! Learn a little more about how to make it work for you in this quick video.  

Smarter Marketing for Smaller B2Bs

Smarter Marketing for Smaller B2Bs
Background: Earlier this month, I met with Mark, the founder of $100K B2B cabinet hardware company. His five product lines consist of colorful knobs and handles, and he’s just about to launch two new lines in neutral colors. Like most companies in this space, the bulk of Mark’s business comes from showroom sales to interior...

B2B Featured Tactic: VITO-esque Campaign

B2B Featured Tactic: VITO-esque Campaign
Way back when I was working with one of my very first B2B clients, the CEO’s agency introduced me to the concept of a VITO (Very Important Top Officer) campaign. It was a great addition to my marketing arsenal, and I pull it out when I have a client who is targeting a manageable number of senior-level individuals. VITO is a direct...

Five Favorite Marketing Hacks

Five Favorite Marketing Hacks
There’s no greater marketing challenge for a startup than a budget that is almost non-existent. Whenever I work with entrepreneurs who are in a low to no-budget situation, one of the first things I ask them is: How much skin are you willing to put in the game? Because in the entrepreneurial world, passion and scrappiness are going to be...

Learning About Your Customers For Free

Learning About Your Customers For Free
I had coffee a few weeks ago with an investor. One of his portfolio companies is having some growth problems and he’s been thinking that maybe they need to spend money on marketing help. The company is a farm-to-market retail store in a somewhat obscure location without much customer foot traffic. Because the company is small, can’t...