Recently, a Producers Club member reached out to discuss her marketing plan for the upcoming year. In preparation, she broke down all the leads generated from the previous year by source: direct mail, referrals, SEO, trade shows, e-mail (which is really a lead activation campaign triggered by e-mail follow-up), Facebook and telemarketing. However, what she failed to provide – and …
This shocking statement just in from the US National Library of Medicine regarding diets: “They all work…when you stick to them.” Back when I was teaching fitness classes, the most common question I would get was “What is the BEST exercise I should do for _______ ?” with the blank being filled in with the body part or thing they …
According to an article on SiteImprove, 131 of 135 websites analyzed (97%) had broken links and errors on their web page. The websites they focused on were all Fortune 1000 companies, who arguably have the resources (money and staff) to ensure this doesn’t happen. YIKES! While there’s no truly accurate way of determining what percentage of marketing campaigns go out …
One of the biggest reasons people fail in marketing is that they never get beyond random, episodic campaigns to marketing assets built on SYSTEMS and PROCESS. The other day a marketing manager asked if we had any “summer” campaigns she could run; she said she had already done a number of our campaigns and wanted something “new.” Something for the …
I’ve often said marketing is simply psychology plus math…a “manipulation” of emotions and focus with an intent to get a prospective client to buy from you. Most people cringe at the thought of using any type of emotional appeal in their advertising, yet it’s been proven over and over again that all human beings make their buying decisions based on …
Last year I started a book club with my team where we all read and/or listen to an educational program and get together on Friday morning to discuss and look for practical applications of the ideas. One of our first books was Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount and it’s still top of mind a year later for underscoring one very …
At Boot Camp, I shared with the audience research I’d compiled on what clients want from their IT provider, based on examining the responses to a testimonial request e-mail we have our MSP clients send to THEIR best clients. I compiled and keyword-analyzed over 1,000 candid, unedited replies to those e-mails to determine the commonalities of what IT buyers – …
Ask any salesperson to list the most difficult obstacles for them to overcome and, inevitably, price resistance will come up. However, I don’t believe most prospects are hung up on price – they’re hung up on something else and are using price as the reason why they aren’t buying, because it’s the easiest obstacle to throw your way. Any prospect …
One of the most difficult things for our members to get their head around is the USP, or unique selling proposition. Without one, you’re pushing a rope uphill, fighting price sensitivity and the high hurdle of replacing an incumbent provider who might actually be doing a decent to excellent job. YOU are an unknown entity, unproven in your abilities, thereby …
From a Harvard Business Review article, “Why CMOs NEVER Last”: Something is amiss in the relationship between chief executives and their marketing officers. Four-fifths of CEOs say they don’t trust or are unimpressed by their CMOs. Not surprisingly, CMOs have the briefest tenure in the C-suite, and their churn can mean serious internal business disruptions. The articles goes on to …
