Most of the time a communications crisis starts like this: a phone call, email, SMS or IM out of the blue “Hey, are you aware of this _____?” If you are a leader and your organization is struck by a communication crisis what do you do? Often you did not expect it and you have […]
Recently, I experienced a very effective marketing experience that was seamlessly connected to the start of the sales process. I have to admit I was impressed; until I went to the physical location and was immersed in their in-store experience. So what happened? I was triggered by a radio ad for an item I am […]
We often measure a marketing campaign by this metric: did it get more sales? While this is ultimately an important result, it is really only a small part of the picture. One could argue that the ultimate measure of marketing’s effectiveness being tied to sales results has driven a wedge between marketing and sales teams. […]
I work for an organization that sells industrial equipment, farm equipment and recreational products. Our buyers are generally not shoppers but customers that have a product solution need: they need to get the crop off and are looking for a grain cart to move it. They need to haul a skid steer to the job site, […]
There is more focus on customer experience now than ever before. Interestingly enough, when you read why brands are focusing on the customer experience the reasons given are more excuses or accusations. What we’re not seeing are brands aspiring to have a great customer experience because that’s what best for their business. Typical reasons given […]
It is easy to get trapped in the rut of “market of one” thinking (if I like this every one else should). To mitigate this thinking our team regularly takes one of our websites and submits it to a user testing group. This group is tasked to answer questions such as describing the purpose of […]
I believe there is a trap many of us allow ourselves to be snared by. When a great idea is tossed out by someone on the team often we reflect on how our customers will respond and back that up by the mountains of data we can quickly obtain. This makes sense, the reason we […]
How to build an audience online When I think of an audience my immediate vision is a crowd at a rock concert or an assembly for a speech or play. My second thought is an image of a family gathered around their television or if I get historical, their radio. As I loosen the boundaries […]
Flaman Man good or bad? Recently I contracted Points West Consulting out of Regina to conduct market testing for our Flaman Man commercials. This fiscal year the Flaman Man commercials have been a polarizing conversation within our organization, and it seems outside of it as well. Many within the organization love the Flaman Man and […]
We all know the reason why we market. We want to create interest in our goods and services that will convert into leads which can be closed to create revenue. We want to do this efficiently to create the return on investment our shareholders are seeking. This is the definitive reason why we market. But […]