Why everyone should be a marketer

The world revolves around trade, commerce, selling and marketing. I have been involved in marketing and sales from a young age of 13 with my first business of Flyer Distribution. Since then I have been a sales person, marketer, corporate marketer, marketing educator at the Undergraduate and Graduate and then then marketer again. Here is the one thing that I have learned.

You can never take your eye off the marketing throttle, and you must have the lead flow, marketing funnel constantly being filled. Now that is easy to say but hard to do.

The simplicity of the statement the complexity of the statement. Sales is the Parent of Marketing according to Eban Pagen, marketing is sales that has been stylized across many mediums so that we can talk to many people vs 1:1.

Packaging, tools that you use, social media, traditional media, TV, direct mail, branding is is all there and should all be used.

Everything we do is marketing first and foremost.

Lesson Learned from #ICON14

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend ICON14 and let me tell you the case for small business was very strong. You could feel the energy in the room along with many business doing many great things.

It is now on my must attend for every year.

Here is what I learned:

automate everything that you can.

Culture come first, create it, live it, breath it

Look for scalable actions.

Create tribes and followers.

Go tot he fringes that is where the fun in.

Develop systems, people and process

Why I love the SaleHack Conference

This week I have been devouring the 2013 Sale Hack Conference feel free to connect with this link to see what I am talking about https://www.udemy.com/sales-hacking-introduction. The premise is put together by Aaron Ross, one of the best thought leaders in sales that I know of. The Udemy platform is a great concept which is a platform for sharing your information either for free or for a small fee.

Now back to sales hacker it is a bunch of people sharing their information and wanting to make the sales process better and giving more to their clients and prospects. Which is a must watch for all.

Why I love the NCAA tournament and Why you should to

Hope springs eternal. The March Madness countdown has started. The tournament, the Cinderella Stories, you name it it all happens in this tournament.

It is also one of the best marketing case studies out their. This year, we have Warren Buffet in the mix, Mobile Marketing will play a huge part and ads are almost has expensive has the Super Bowl.

Everyone is trying to tie into the tournament. How about your business? Are you trying to tie yourself and your company to the brackets, the tournament a college? Something at the very least… like a blog post.

Why are Direct Mail Still Rocks for SMB’s

A great post from Allen Rosen’s Fall Newsletter

 

“Online marketing, which includes electronic ads, targeted emails and
revenues from selling information to brokers, is about a $62 billion
industry.”
Kenneth Roseborough, owner of Money Mailer in Maryland reports
that “People get caught up in the digital age, but they find they have
to go back to paper. A lot of people want to see something in their
hand like a coupon, and not just an electronic image on their
smartphone or other device.
“Coupons are particularly effective as customers seek better value in
leaner times.”
There’s another reason to use direct mail. The study says, “The
electronic advertising industry has come under fire recently as
officials and others cite concerns over privacy in using targeted
emails that pick up characteristics of online users through “cookies”
— electronic tracking messages — and other methods.”
“New regulations that would stop the exchange of electronic data due
to privacy and other concerns would affect $110 billion in revenue to
the U.S. economy and 478,000 jobs.”
Mark Twain once wrote, “Put all your eggs in one basket and then
watch that basket!”
But that’s just not a good idea in marketing. Clients who integrate
social and digital marketing and direct mail usually have far better
returns than just one media.

The Where of your Business

Where is your business? Where should your business be? Where do you want your business to go? Where should your business be going? Where does your mission want you to go? Where do you sell to your customers? Where do they buy? Where should your business go? Where do their customers buy? Where should your business be? Where should you be with your business?

The Where of Your Business

The Where if your business. Where do you customers buy your product? Where do they consume your product? Where do their customers use your product? Where do you sell your product? Where do you want to sell your product? Where should your product be sold? Where do you want to take your business? Where do your customers want you to take your business? Where do your serve your customers?

Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk the old marketing model

The old marketing model is over, I call it the Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk model where all companies do is have their marketing and sales departments talk at their potential customers. This model can not work in today’s 24.7.365 world were we can communicate at anytime with any person. So insteand of talking at your customers, engage them in conversations. Have meaningful thoughts and conversations with them, really try to solve their problems, fill their needs or think of solutions to porblems that they did not even know that they had

A reprint I wanted to Share from Tell All Marketing Blog my new favorite

Reprinted from Tell All Marketing Blog

http://tellallmarketing.com/blog

Consumers Say: Most Marketing is ‘A Bunch of B.S.’

October 24, 2012

By Ray Schultz

Consumers and marketers look at the world through different lenses.

Over half of all consumers feel that most marketing is “a bunch of B.S.,” according to a new survey by Adobe. Worse, they rank advertising and marketing among the least four valuable professions to society.

But the two sides are closer than you might think. Marketers are even more likely to place their jobs in the bottom four. And like consumers, they favor traditional media over online.

Of the consumers surveyed, 45% prefer to see ads in print magazines and 23% on their favorite TV shows. Only 11% would rather view Web ads.

And while they’re engaged in social media, they wish the networks had “dislike” buttons, not just “like.” Marketers largely feel the same way.

Meanwhile, consumers are not much moved when a friend “likes” a product on a social network.

The largest percentage, 35%, said they would do nothing. Another 20% “do not visit social networking sites.” Still, 29% would check out the product and 14% would visit its Web site.

But there’s the rub. Only 2% would buy it. And 1% would de-friend the person who liked the product.

In general, 45% of the consumers polled say that traditional media is best for marketing and advertising. Next on the list are family/friends/coworkers (36%) and consumer forums/publications (28%). While their numbers are lower, marketers put their choices in the same order.

However, marketers are more likely than consumers to favor company sites, news sites, company social media pages and industry publications are the best ad channels.

Overall, consumers pay less attention to ads than they do the speed limit. Spouses, dentists, bosses, parents, kids and teachers all get more notice. Ads in apps and games are all but ignored.

What do consumer want to see in advertising?

First, they think ads should “tell a unique story, not just try to sell something.’ They prefer videos to the written word, user product reviews to ads and in-store experiences over online.

Here are some more factoids:

• 94% of the consumers believe marketing is strategic, compared with 98% of the marketers. The numbers are similar for the question of whether marketing drives sales.
• 69% of consumers uses social media, compared with 83% of marketers.
• Consumers believe that women are more susceptible to advertising than men.

Adobe surveyed 1,250 people, including 1,000 consumers and 250 marketing decision makers in the U.S.

Consumers agree that:

• Advertisements should tell a unique story, not just try to sell—73%
• Video is worth 1,000 words—67%
• User product reviews are the best source of truth—67%
• In-store experiences trump online experience—67%
• Televisions commercials are more effective than online—66%
• People buy what celebrities wear/like—57%
• The Super Bowl is the best advertising opportunity of the year—57%
• Web banner advertisements do not work—54%
• Most marketing is a bunch of B.S.—53%
• Beautiful advertising is more effective—51%
• Online advertising is creepy and stalks you—46%
• Advertising works between on women than on men—44%
• Online advertising isn’t effective—30%
• No one watches TV commercials anymore—27%
• All ‘likes’ are good in social media—22%
• Every brand needs a funny viral video—19%
• Advertising works better on men than women—12%

The Most Important Element to Every Ad

The Headline and the Offer. Those two items are the most important elements to the ad. If you do not have one in each of you ad do not run the ad, save your money.

If you look at the ad below you can see a very strong headline to draw you to the ad. Does it work for your you. As a new element to our blog this year we are going to feature ads that work and focus on what we are describing in the blog post.

If you have favorite a favorite ad please send them our way so we can share and discuss

If you are looking for some ideas of headlines that work try some of these on for size

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Everywhere Women Are Raving About This Amazing New Shampoo!

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Does Your Child Ever Embarrass You?

The Biggest Problems You’ll Have With Most Plumbers…And How XYZ Overcomes Them All.

To People Who Want To Write — But Can’t Get Started

Buy No Desk — Until You’ve Seen This Sensation Of The Business Show