Argentum Blog

Ho Ho Holiday Cards

‘Tis the season to send holiday cards! Holiday cards with a hand-written personal note inside, that is. This is one of my most favorite marketing tactics for just about every business, but especially for consulting companies like mine. It is also fabulous for people in transition, and that’s when I originally became enamored of them....

Cupcake Marketing: Sweet!

I am a sucker for a good cupcake and am fortunate to live in a city with many delicious options. And while I realize that the whole cupcake craze is just that – a fad, I love how several cupcake bakeries are pushing the marketing envelope in big ways and small. Big ways: In case you missed the news, Sprinkles, the CA-based chain with truly...

Entrepreneurs: Don’t Write That Survey!

I am an advisor to lots of start-ups. Lately I seem to be spending my time fielding enthusiastic questions from them about the kind of survey questions they would like to ask their customers. Here’s a typical recent email I received on this topic (names are changed to protect the innocent) from a marketing employee at one of these...

Use Employee Voicemail Messages To Reinforce Brand Messaging

I called a friend of mine the other day at work. While I didn’t get him live, I got something much better: His voicemail! Normally I would much prefer to reach the person I’m calling, but Bruce’s message was so great from a branding perspective, that I have found a new tactic for all of my clients. Bruce works for a company that...

Leveraging The Power Of Habit

Understanding customer habits opens a window into better aligning your product or service with your customers’ regular behaviors. Charles Duhigg’s latest book, The Power of Habit, provides a fascinating glimpse into the way habits influence human behavior. An excerpt from the book regarding Target’s marketing to pregnant women...

Pinterest for B2B

At last, an interesting B2B example of using Pinterest! I recently received this email from FONA International, a company that creates and manufactures sweet and savory flavors for the food and beverage industry. You can also click here to see a larger version of the email on my website. While Pinterest is now the 3rd most popular site, according...

4.3 Things I Learned At LinkedIn’s Marketing Symposium

Because many of my clients are B2B companies, we often consider LinkedIn for the marketing mix. I am a frequent user, but I have often wondered how to use LinkedIn better for my clients and for my own business. A few weeks ago I attended a symposium sponsored by LinkedIn, hoping to learn more. The morning consisted of a talk by Jonathan Lister,...

When Your Main Marketing Vehicle Is A Vehicle

I had some electrical work done at my house yesterday. When I was writing the check out to pay my electrician he slapped a magnetized version of his business card on my fridge. When I complimented him on the idea, he told me that he kept a bunch stuck to the back of his van below the painted words “Please Take One.” I think this is...

Marketing Lessons in Brilliance for Entrepreneurs

I loved reading Jennifer Wang’s recent blog post for Entrepreneur.com about 10 Lessons in Marketing Brilliance. I have always been a sucker for great advertising and love when someone conveniently gathers a “Best of” list all in one place. Jennifer’s blog piece focuses on “marketing marvels from 2011” and the...

How To Avoid 4 Common Start-up Marketing Mistakes

I have been working with a lot of dynamic, young companies lately as an advisor, mentor and consultant. It’s a lot of fun, and not surprisingly, I see many of the same initial marketing mistakes made over and over. While none of them are fatal, they are pretty easy to avoid in the first place if you just know what to look for: 1. Telling...

Argentum's blog, Marketing Op-Ed, highlights interesting, real-world examples of marketing with a little bit (okay, a lot) of opinion thrown in. It's written by Susan Silver, President of Argentum Strategy Group, with the occasional guest blogger added to the mix.