Everybody’s a Marketing Consultant
Sometimes job titles become so commonplace and broad that they lose their effectiveness for identifying the exact nature of the position. The term “marketing consultant” has definitely reached this level of ubiquity. Anyone can call themselves a marketing consultant. There are no educational requirements, governing boards, professional designations, or other bonafide prerequisites that must be met to hang out a shingle and start advising... [Read More...]
Become a Part of the Process
Some products are designed to be bought on impulse – chewing gum, magazines, and keychain flashlights for instance. But unless your product or service is an inexpensive commodity available at the checkout counter of your local convenience store, your customer’s buying process is probably a little more complex. Most people do some research before they buy. They look on the internet, read product reviews, scan catalogs or brochures,... [Read More...]
Change
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Marketing a business is not about tactics. If you simply look around at what your competitors are doing and then try to do the same things, only better, you’re going to keep struggling. Chances are, most of your competitors are doing the same thing you are – looking around the marketplace trying to find the right combination of... [Read More...]
Capture and Conversion
The difference between successful marketing campaigns and those that fail often comes down to how comprehensive the strategy is. If you tend to think solely in terms of tactics, it’s easy to fall short on execution. Marketing is a process that builds and reinforces relationships over time. Much of the disappointment business owners endure trying to generate a return on marketing investments comes from an over-emphasis on finding that one magic... [Read More...]
Content Factory
The Internet LOVES content. The only thing the Internet loves more than content is relevant and timely content that is updated frequently. Businesses that win in the age of online marketing will embrace that fact that they need to evolve into content factories. Of course it’s not as if producing content is new for marketing people. We do it all the time. The difference in the online era is that content is now A) free or nearly free to produce... [Read More...]
Tracking
Asking people where they heard about your business is not a tracking strategy. The data that you get from this kind of informal polling just isn’t that accurate or useful. Decades of mass-media advertising has led to the evolution of powerful defense mechanisms that enable consumers to tune-out most of the ad impressions delivered to them. In other words, they are ignoring your ads. At least they are trying to. It’s a survival instinct.... [Read More...]
Something Worth Finding
Advertising used to be about finding large groups of people congregating and then interrupting them with a message. Kind of like walking into the mall with a megaphone or the town crier standing on a box on Main Street. Many businesses still approach it that way and wonder why their ROI is dwindling. Things have changed. From this point forward stop thinking about finding your customers and start thinking about making something worth finding.... [Read More...]
The Magic Bullet
There is no “magic bullet” in advertising. Despite reports to the contrary, social media tools are not the exception to this rule. While we’re at it – television, search marketing, radio, outdoor, bus benches, bathroom stall posters, sky writing, giant inflatable guerrillas, and tissue packs don’t qualify either. If you current marketing strategies are not producing results, moving them around to different media... [Read More...]
What’s the Difference Between an Advertising Agency and a Marketing Consultant?
The simplest way to explain it is this: Advertising Agencies create ads. Marketing consultants help you determine what and how to advertise in the first place. They also help you with other marketing issues such as pricing strategy, sales training, customer retention, referral programs, joint ventures, product development, database strategy and everything else involved in selling products to customers. Many people instinctively believe that advertising... [Read More...]
Time and Money
Prior to the Internet, money was the throttle that governed an advertiser’s ability to dominate a market. More money meant larger ads in the paper, more ads on TV, and more billboards around town. The goal was to spend as much as you could, sell more stuff, and then reinvest in more advertising. Scarcity kept the system in balance. There were a limited number of providers that could deliver an audience and there were limited dollars to... [Read More...]