Small Business Marketing: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Many small businesses either fail to align their marketing with a business-related issue, or mis-diagnose the root cause of why their marketing isn’t working
Your Market Isn’t As Big As You Think
The definition, scope, and size of a market can only be based upon current buyer understanding on what that market represents. If customers don’t understand what your product is, and how it compared to other products, the truth is that you’re in a new market.
Presenting A Unified Customer Experience With Your Marketing
To provide a unified customer experience means a new way of doing business. one where the entire organization delivers a seamless, personalized and relevant customer experience, no matter where the interaction takes place.
The Specialization of Business Process
Instead of continually dividing a business into niche areas of specialization, there’s an argument for the return of what we could call the “informed generalist”.
All Products Have Become Commodities
Products, no matter how great they may be, are commodities. How much your brand is liked is the new barometer of how much advocacy it will generate.
Why “Good Enough” Leads To Marketing Mediocrity
“Good Enough” is no longer good enough. Today’s business marketing successes are where someone refused to accept the status quo, and instead set out to change a fundamental rule of that industry.
Mobile Marketing Isn’t Just For Apple Devices
If you’re targeting an audience who uses a mobile device that’s different from the one you personally own, then you owe it to them to (at least) be familiar with that device.
Today’s Marketing Combines Big Data With Sound Intuition
Today’s marketers can’t just simply rely on Big Data for their decisions, any more than they can rely purely on gut feeling. Today’s marketing is about the combination of the two.
Everyone Is Not Your Target Customer
There are any number of reasons why your target customer doesn’t think your product is all that.
Your Business Competition Isn’t Who You Think It Is
You can’t really market successfully to your audience until you understand the choices that they are making, and can see the alternatives from their eyes. The more you try to unearth your “stealth competitors”, the better your marketing will be.
Growing A Business: When Bigger Isn’t Better
The problem with building widgets faster and more cheaply is that you’re assuming the demand for those widgets will never wane – but that day will surely come. Today the innovation opportunity lies in the ability to address more transient customer needs.
When Customer Choice Is Bad For Business
Offering too much customer choice in your business, product or services prevents customers making any choice at all.
Conversion Rate Optimization For Your Website: Knowing vs. Guessing
Conversion Rate Optimization is the combination of the objective with the subjective – making creative content decisions based upon quantitative data.
A Mobile-Friendly Website Now Impacts SEO
Having a website that’s optimized for mobile-devices has been growing in importance for some time. With Google’s latest search algorithm changes, it’s become critical.
Review: The Art Of The Start 2.0 by Guy Kawasaki
2004’s “The Art of the Start” ranks as one of the best book around on the subject of startups. Now Guy Kawasaki has updated it. If you are looking to read just one book on start-ups and business development, your journey has ended.
Are Legacy Products Hurting Business Growth?
Are your organization’s legacy products, features or services still pulling their weight? If you’re not focused on maintaining and growing them, then you should be focused on replacing them.
Your Customers Don’t Believe Your Marketing
There’s an alternative to spewing-out hype and rhetoric. If you choose to tell your story in a way that’s more believable, then you have half a chance of your audience choosing to give you their attention.
iBeacons In Your Marketing: This year’s QR Codes?
Mobile marketing is the same as any other marketing: Give an irresistible and compelling reason for your audience to allow you to contact them and they’ll come – whether it’s iBeacons, QR codes or whatever else is around the corner.
Your Customers Aren’t Stupid: Stop Marketing To Them That Way
Being “simple” is about being understood quickly and easily by using the right words and phrases. Being “simplistic”, in contrast, assumes that your audience won’t understand what you’re saying unless you dumb it down to death.
You Had Me At Hello: Your Customer’s First Impression
The problem with first impressions isn’t that they’re not important – because they are. But that we have no idea when that first impression is going to manifest.
There’s No Room For Fear In Business
Fear is never far away when starting or running any business. If you want an easy life then find another job. Fear, insecurity, uncertainty, and anxiety are part of what you signed up to.
Stop Trying To Be Different With Your Marketing
Customer attention can no longer be held by things they don’t care about. Somehow businesses have come to believe that “standing out” is about “being different”. The truth is that what really moves customers is emotion, not hyperbole.
Is It Time For Your Company To Ditch Facebook?
With the continuing changes that Facebook makes to its algorithm, Facebook Business Pages have essentially become less effective – unless Page owners are prepared to spend significant amounts of money to promote their content. It’s time to evolve your company’s social media tactics.
Why Your Product Demonstrations Are Costing You Sales
The demo is there to back-up the claims that your solution will solve the problems that you’ve said it will solve. It’s not about features and benefits.
The King’s New Clothes, Or Today’s Business Narrative?
People buy from companies and individuals that they feel have similar positions, thoughts and ideals to their own. Don’t be afraid to tell your story. Say it in places where your audience congregates, and your customers, fans (and evangelists) will come.
Following The Herd Leads To The Slaughterhouse
These “thought leaders” go from conference to conference giving presentations but being dead-wrong, and everyone is so terrified of being thought odd or old-fashioned that they refuse to speak up.
Sales Is Not A Dirty Word: Without It, Your Business Doesn’t Exist.
Selling has grown-up in the face of information symmetry between buyer and seller. Today’s sales people are advisors and curators as much as persuaders.
Business Innovation Isn’t (Just) About Customer Benefit
Innovation in business has less to do with economic swings, and more with the strength of a company’s passion to avoid knee-jerk reactionary rhetoric and disjointed activities.
Why Marketing Automation Tools Aren’t Improving Your Marketing
There are many marketing automation products available to help reduce the inertia and increase productivity. But using them means one less excuse as to why your marketing’s not working.
Why Are You Extending Your Brand?
Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should. Ask yourself this one question before you extend (dilute?) your company or product brand.
The Changing Face of Marketing: Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report
The way that we consume, interact, and share information and content continues to change, as our media consumption tools evolve at an even faster rate. The challenge for marketers and business owners is to overlay such trends data in the context of their own value message and customer buying experience.
Marketing Today: Doing It Your Way
Today’s business success is driven by the ability to adapt to market conditions and customer expectations by finding and communicating in your own, authentic voice.
Your Customers Are Evolving. How Are You Evolving With Them?
Customer experiences are becoming ever more concerted and connected every day. Today’s always-on, empowered consumer is out-gunning and out-marketing even the largest corporate heavyweights. What’s your response?
Why Business Branding Takes Care Of Itself
A business doesn’t become successful because of getting its brand in shape. Get your basic business values in place first, and your branding will take care of itself.
Why Marketing Is Like Exercise
If you market today, your business is not going to suddenly be successful tomorrow or next week. But if you market every day, next year your business may be fitter, and healthier, and stronger.
Features vs. Benefits: The Difference Between “How” and “What”
Buyers are more interested about how your product or service addresses their problem, rather than how it works.
Which Page Is Your Website’s Homepage?
You don’t get to decide on which page your visitors join your website – search engines do. Every page on your website needs to be strong enough to stand on its own, as much as being part of a wider, integrated brand experience.
Are Your Customers Getting Bored With You?
Are your customers still the same eager advocates for your business that they were? Today, any business has a realtime barometer that gives them detailed information on customer opinion, sentiment and loyalty.Even more articles!