Marketing – Page 8 – Taylor Made Solutions, Inc.

Business Counsellor’s: The Top 10 Tips to Start Your Own Business

February 24, 2014/1 Comment/in Human Interest, Management, Marketing, Uncategorized/by Andrew Campbell

Guest Blog Post by Andrew Campbell, Business Development Specialist

As a Business Development Specialist with Enterprise Fredericton, I work with entrepreneurs on a daily basis counselling them and helping them succeed. Based on years of experience working with these enthusiastic entrepreneurs I have developed my top 10 tips to start your own business.

1. Research, research, research!

Put on your detective cap and dig up all you can for market research. This is one area that people don’t spend enough time on. Gain superior knowledge on the marketplace that you will be operating in (demographics, logistics, and trends). You have to determine that there is current and future demand for your product or service, and that there are customers willing to buy/use it. Spend the time on this before you jump into debt.

2. Understand Your Funding Requirements

Are you able to finance your new business yourself, or are you going to have to get additional financing? Most people will require additional investment through banks, or other lending vehicles. You might have to get creative and stack some funding options. Prepare a detailed list of your start-up costs. Then gather information on all potential sources of funding (financial institutions, government programs, etc.).

3. Build a Business Plan & Financial Projections

I say “build” a business plan because an effective plan is built in sections. Each section contributes to a solid business proposal. This plan is your blueprint for success. Creating a viable business plan and financials will be vital in achieving your funding goals. Don’t think you can write in one sitting. Remember, you are asking someone to lend you money for your business idea. It is in your best interest to put in the appropriate time. You only get one chance to impress a lender. Make it count!

4. Know Your Customers

I owned a retail store for over a dozen years and I was constantly asking customers about my products and quality of service. Before I opened, I would go visit the competition and watch people shop. I’d ask the clerks what people were interested in, and what made them come back. You have to know the pain & pleasure points of your customers. You want to reduce/eliminate their pains, and reinforce your WOW factor.

5. Know Your Competitors

The old adage rings true here; “keep your friends close and your enemies even closer”. You can’t be shy as a business owner. Call and visit your competitors often. Get to know them. Know their strengths and weaknesses. Know their specials and pricing. Become an expert on your competition. This way you can adapt to changes proactively and not get “surprised” by new developments.

6. Have a Well-defined Value Proposition

A value proposition (VP) is a statement that clearly identifies what benefits a customer will receive by purchasing a particular product or service from a particular vendor. It’s kind of like your “elevator pitch”. It should be simple and easy to remember. It should emphasize both the benefits the customer will receive and the price the customer will be charged as compared to the competition. An important goal of a value proposition is to convince the customer that they will be getting many more benefits than he/she is being asked to pay for.

Andrew Campbell, Business Development Specialist

7. Build Your TEAM

Although choosing quality employees is a key component to running a successful business they are not the only players to include on your TEAM. Your team also consists of mentors, advisors, your accountant or bookkeeper, your lawyer, banker, even your insurance agent. All of these experienced professionals are in your corner to help reduce your risk of failure. Use these connections to your benefit at every opportunity.

8. Network. Network. Network!

Before and after you open your business you should be finding ways to network in the community. Again, you cannot be shy when you are an entrepreneur. You have to make your business a success. You want to get to know other business owners and community members. You should be active, attending civic functions and relaying your value proposition to potential customers. Get to know your city council, provincial/state and federal government representatives. You never know when having them as an acquaintance may be of a benefit to your business.

9. Be Resilient

As a business owner you will face many obstacles. Keep treading forward. Be adaptive to potential problems and turn them into positives. Become a problem solver. Some days will be difficult, others will be fantastic!

10. Enjoy the ride!

If you are serious about starting a business then look to do something that interests you. As a business owner, you will be spending many hours on your baby (yes, it will feel like an offspring). It’s not a 9-5 commitment. Soak up the experience. It is a milestone moment in your life. Enjoy it!

Andrew Campbell is a Business Development Specialist with Enterprise Fredericton. Andrew provides free, confidential business counselling services to local entrepreneurs and businesses in the Greater Fredericton Region. Prior to joining Enterprise Fredericton, Andrew owned and operated his retail business. He joined Enterprise Fredericton after selling his business.

Olympic Hockey a Case Study in Second Screen Usage

February 23, 2014/1 Comment/in Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

As I sat watching the Gold Medal Hockey Game for Sochi, my thoughts on Second Screen usage were really front and centre. After all, I had my tablet while watching the game. Olympic Hockey is a real case study in Second Screen Usage.

Even though the Game started at 4 a.m. Pacific and 8 a.m. my time, my Facebook newsfeed was filled with friends that were pumped up and primed to watch the Game. There are six time zones that cover Canada. Some had not been to sleep yet while others had gotten up early. A significant amount of the near 40 million people in Canada were talking about hockey — live while the game was on.

While research shows that only 42% of consumers try synchronizing their content experience to live TV, I would love to know if anyone was monitoring and researching activity today in Canada. A number hashtags are trending in Canada even an hour after the game:

#CANvsSWE
#Toews
#kunitz; and more!

On both Twitter and Facebook #anythingforhockey is pretty active and full of great moments.

In terms of Second Screen however, I think that a challenge remains for Marketing Practitioners like me. How do Marketers take advantage of these conversations and provide meaningful content? How do you interject yourself into conversations and create real engagement without intruding? And when I talk about engagement I am speaking more about true conversations where relationship building is happening versus just “Likes” and “Shares”. How do you use your content to build relationships versus just pushing your message?

Speaking for myself only, I don’t want to be inundated with advertising when I am watching TV to be honest. Yes, I realize what this sounds like considering that I am a Marketing Practitioner. But, I think that I am not unlike the rest of consumers. Of course we are used to ads when watching, but there are two important components to this. First and foremost, clever ads get our attention and we do tend to like those. On the other hand, networks like Netflix are changing the way that we look at advertising, or no advertising.

I believe that the best bet for Marketers is to focus on Second Screen through Community and Community Engagement. I am talking about real engagement here. Depending on whom you speak to, engagement is defined differently. For me engagement is not a goal, but a result. (and I borrow this from people like Jason Falls). Engagement is definitely not about how many likes you can get or how many shares. Not at all! It is about building a community of people who actually talk to each other, share information with each other and get to know each other. Talk about relationship marketing! This is it at its best. Companies like Radian6 were excellent at it. In some ways they were some of the best at it.

I am hoping that with the importance of Second Screen companies will realize the value in this approach and either get back to basics with Community Engagement and/or implement it the way it was intended. I believe that companies that do, will see great value for their respective brands.

This is my take on Second Screen. I would love to hear your thoughts. Agree or disagree, tell me what you think.

6 Tips to Market to the Start-up Entrepreneur (& the #1 Way)

February 19, 2014/0 Comments/in Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

I don’t care where you are located, start-ups and the people who do start-ups – the entrepreneurs – are all the rage. Everyone wants to be a part of the next great start-up. And, why not? It can be pretty damned cool working for or with a start-up. But start-up entrepreneurs can be hard to reach. How do marketers reach them? Here are 6 tips to market to the start-up entrepreneur.

Like all marketers I had assumptions and beliefs about what works and what doesn’t. So, I wanted to test my theory. I asked 20 start-up entrepreneurs to take a short survey. I wanted to know where do they look for information, who influences them and what influences them.

6. What type of advertising do you notice

This is an interesting question in and of itself. I didn’t ask what influences them, but rather what do they notice.

Interestingly enough in this group it was ads on buses. In fact, 71% noticed these ads. Online pop-up ads were second getting the attention of 43% of my sample group. Tied for last place were ads in local newspapers and/or in newsletters. In fact, only 14% noticed these ads.

5. Do Ads Influence Entrepreneurs?

Now, this is the question that is really important to all marketers! Are my ads influencing you? Will I woo you to my brand versus my competitor with my clever and witty ads? Sadly the answer is a resounding no from my sample. Nearly 72% indicated that ads do not influence them.

4. How about trust? Do Entrepreneurs trust our ads?

Again, I was pretty certain about what I would get for answers to this question. In the words of Erik Qualman, only 14% of consumers trust tv ads. My survey was more focused and 58% acknowledged that they don’t trust advertisements in general.

3. How do you feel about promotional materials (hats, t-shirts, pens, etc.)

I have my own personal feeling about promotional items and it is quite strong. For me, unless it is something amazing, I likely don’t take it. If I have to take it and I am travelling I leave it for housekeeping. As a marketer, I always hope that people are not like me in this regard, but they are. In fact, 57% felt that promotional items were a waste of money. And, most importantly marketers, not one person indicated that promotional items had any influence on them when it came to wanting to work with one brand versus another.

2. So, where do Entrepreneurs go looking for information?

Well, according to my survey nearly 72% visit blogs. Surprisingly for me though, is that 57% also go to government sources. Perhaps this should not be too surprising as many start-ups are seeking funding grants and programs for such things as payroll, and yup, you guessed it: marketing funds!

1. So, what is the best way to reach Start-up Entrepreneurs and better yet, influence them?

Are you ready for it? As a marketer if you are surprised by this, we really, really need to chat. The #1 thing that influences the start-up entrepreneur are referrals by peers. In this instance, entrepreneurs are not that different from the rest of us. Check out this great survey result from marketingcharts.com. Their results indicate that 84% of respondents trust peer results. My survey netted 100% results.

Second to referrals were…and a drum roll and again if you are surprised, we need to talk……blogs. Nearly 72% said that they are influenced by blogs from peers and/or experts.

Social media discussion groups were third at 43%.

So, if you want to reach and influence start-up entrepreneurs, dump the traditional marketing approach of push, push, push the message and adopt a solid content marketing strategy. Be sure to make Influencer Relations a part of that overall strategy!

3 Clues that Your Social Media Consultant is Clueless

February 14, 2014/2 Comments/in Marketing/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Whether you are biting the bullet and just starting to use social media in your operations or, you have been using social media for awhile, you would be wise to find the right consultant. But the question is, how do you know when your consultant is feeding you the wrong information? Well, there are signs and here are 3 clues that your social media consultant is clueless:

1. Recommending that You Be Present & Active in ALL Social Media

If your consultant advises you that you need to be present and active in every social media channel known to mankind, you should not only raise an eyebrow, you should raise a lot of questions.

I recently started working with a client who was having significant challenges with her marketing initiatives. In fact, she was not getting any results what so ever. She had previously engaged a consultant that advised her to be active on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and four others. She was further advised that she needed to be posting at least 10 times a day every day. As a small business she had to manage all of this activity herself. She was following the recommendations of the consultant to the letter. The problem was that she was consumed with social media. She didn’t have much time to actually run her business and to boot, she was getting zero results.

Essentially all of this advice was wrong for her. After auditing her program, I recommended significant changes. She is now active in two channels. I also provided her with a plan on how often to post and during what times of the day. In just three weeks she has seen a substantial increase in qualified leads and enquiries.

2. No Listening and Engagement Program

When your consultant speaks to your about your needs and objectives, one of the first things that needs to be considered and discussed by your consultant should be about setting up your listening and engagement program. If your consultant fails to recommend, or at the very least discuss it with you, this should be an alarm bell. This is always the first step in leveraging social media. Failing to discuss this with you demonstrates that your consultant is not grasping the fact that social media is about a relationship and two-way dialogue.

Another client I was working with did not have a listening and engagement program. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t getting any conversations going. He wasn’t listening to his clients and he certainly wasn’t engaging with them where they were conversing. He was advised by his consultant that all he had to do was issue push communications. In other words, he was told that just putting out your message was the way to go.

I worked with him to get a listening and engaging tool and developed a Playbook for how to engage with his customers and prospects. In just one week he is seeing conversations develop.

3. You Should Only Focus on Social Media – It is all You need.

Social media is still a relatively new concept for many. Even practitioners continue to develop and hone their skills. Despite this however, really qualified practitioners will never advise you to look at your social media efforts in isolation. Instead, they will look at your overall marketing and operational plans and objectives. They will work with you to develop strategies and tactics that will help you meet those objectives. They will also help you determine the necessary metrics and align them to your Key Performance Indicators.

Working with another larger organization I have helped them identify all key components of their overall marketing strategy and how they all work together. Each piece supports the other and there is a consistent message. The result, customers and prospects see a solid and consistent approach. They are seeing a story unfold versus disparate and confusing information.

Social media doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be done with the right approach. These 3 tips should help you ask the right questions when working with consultants. And most importantly don’t be afraid to pause and reflect on what is being offered. This is an important component of your brand, identity and bottom line, getting a second opinion might not also be a bad idea.

Want to learn more? Check out “Best Practices – Social Media Listening and Engaging”. This free resource will help you start your own program.

How You Tell Your Customers (on a daily basis) That Your Brand Sucks

February 5, 2014/1 Comment/in Communications, Customer Service, Human Resources, Management, Marketing/by Heather-Anne MacLean

First off, a brand is not a logo. A brand is about the emotional reaction that your product and/or service causes. For example, how do you feel when you think: Apple, Range Rover or Canada Goose? What you thought and felt is the brand – good or bad! More importantly, ask yourself how do you want people to react to your brand? What do they think when they hear your name? So, repeat after me: a brand is not a logo. And people who continue to think that a brand is a logo are likely the same people that don’t understand why they are having customer retention issues. These same people are telling their customers and prospects that their own brand sucks in these three ways:

Image: TaylorMade Solutions

1. Unknown Company Values

If you haven’t really thought about what your company values are, your employees will be left to make them up. Needless to say, consistency might be an issue at best. Worst case scenario? Your customers won’t like what they see and bail.

It is not enough to say that you strive for excellence for example, you need to ensure your entire team knows and understands what this means. What excellence looks like and what it does not. In December I wrote of an experience with Keurig Canada that demonstrated that they weren’t operating on that premise of excellence. Thankfully they were listening on social and called me to rectify the situation. You can read about that experience here.

2. Not Responding to Customers

This is no doubt the best way to tell your customers or prospects that they don’t matter. First and foremost you have to be present in the channels where your customers and prospects are. So, that means telephone, email and in some cases social media. (I differ from most marketers with respect to social. I believe you have to be realistic about your business and who your customers are and make an informed decision, but this deserves its own separate blog post.)

Here is the critical piece, however: be sure that you properly staff these channels and respond. Seems logical right? Unfortunately not. Would you sit next to a ringing phone and not answer it? Probably not. At least I hope not. So, why then do some brands ask people to email them and then never respond? The same goes for social media? You are sending the wrong message.

Not responding to customers happens all the time. Not responding to prospects happens all of the time. These results in lost business.

Here are two recent examples:

Robert Burns Day got me thinking about Haggis. So, I wanted to buy some. I googled and found Stahly Quality Foods. Great! However, not so great! When I tried to order a notice came up for North Americans. Not to worry, I could reach out to a regional distributor via email. I sent that email more than two weeks ago and have not received an acknowledgement or answer. So, I put a message on Stahly Quality Foods Facebook page…and you guessed it…nothing. In fact the last time they actually posted on their Facebook page was October 2013. So, exactly why do they have a Facebook page? Why do they list their distributors with their contact information? Frankly I have formed an opinion of this brand. It is not a good one. I now can’t imagine buying food from them.

I was helping a student with his cover letter and resume for a specific job. The company doing the hiring requests that applicants send their information via email or snail mail. They are a large company with a full HR department. They had approximately four jobs listed on their website at the time this student applied. The issue that he faced is that he could not get anyone to respond to his request to confirm receipt of the email. He even tried a delivery receipt, but received a notification that their system was set up so that a delivery acknowledgement was not possible.

Many HR departments that do this often claim that because of volume of applications and only successful candidates will be notified of an interview. I say “B.S” to that. First and foremost you can have an automatic response that acknowledges receipt of the email. Secondly, you can set rules to sort applications by job number. So, saying that you get too many email is really and truly B.S.

What you are doing is setting the tone for candidates. Some may decide that this is not the type of organization that they want to work for. This could certainly be the case in markets where there are more jobs than candidates. Or, you can be setting the tone for how, if successful, they should act towards their colleagues, prospects and customers. After all, mediocrity begets mediocrity (tweet this).

3. Lacking of Training and Management

We all need training. Sometimes it is training rooted in the technology we need for the job, some times it is in safety, working hours, etc. What many brands forget to train their employees in, is customer interaction.

Have you ever gone into a store and saw a number of employees clustered together laughing and carrying on? There are many things that could be going in here. The first thought might be, wow, this is a great place to work. These people are happy. This is great. However, as you are in the store longer you see that these same employees continue to stay together and are completely oblivious to the customers around them. They don’t see the customers who need help. They deliberately avoid eye contact. This is often systematic of a lack of training and management. It can be a very easy fix. Train your employees on the importance of the customer. Ensure that your managers are always focused on the customer and lead by example. There is nothing wrong with a team huddle and good camaraderie. Actually it is great. It only becomes an issue when your comrades don’t focus on the customer and the customer walks out.

The Fix

These are three ways that you and your employees tell your customers, on a daily basis, that your brand sucks. Thankfully there are easy fixes:

communicate your values to all employees
consistently enforce your brand values and acknowledge your employees when they live the brand values
make brand training a regular operational practice
ensure that your customers are prospects are at the forefront of your communications and expectations
communicate your expectations
test your employees – secret shoppers help identify issues for improvement
remember to focus on issues and not individuals – praise publicly and coach privately

What would you add to the list? Want more information or help? Feel free to connect with us.

5 Secrets To Starting An Influencer Relations Program

January 31, 2014/0 Comments/in Influence, Marketing/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Let’s face it! We all want to be associated with people who are influential. One of the best things that can happen for sales is to have an Industry Influencer speak, blog or Tweet positive comments about your product and/or service. Having this third party endorsement from an independent Thought Leader can be gold. So, how do you go about creating an environment that can foster organic Influencer commentary? It is not as difficult as you think. Here are five simple steps to take to get started:

HA MacLean Image

#1 Have a good product/service – The first step should not be a surprise. You need a product or service that is top-notch. For an Industry Influencer to promote something it can’t just be good, it has to be great! Focus on being great!

#2 Delight Your Customers You need to make your customers happy. Delight your customers. Delighted customers talk – as do unhappy customers. As momentum builds, Industry Influencers interest will be piqued!

#3 Identify Your Influencers – Think about the people in your industry who are of interest to you. Who inspires you? What books are you reading? What blogs do you follow? Who would you like to emulate and/or be your mentor? Chances are, these people are your Industry Influencers.

Build a list of these individuals and build a database for easy tracking and future reporting purposes.

#4 Follow them, but don’t stock them – Follow your Industry Influencers in all their social channels. Some information maybe the same, but since each channel can be used differently, following in all could expose you to different content and through engagement you could meet different people, thus expanding your network.

That being said, just because you follow an Industry Influencer does not mean that you are best buds. It takes time to build a relationship, particularly online. To help build that relationship, comment on the Influencer’s blog, ask thoughtful questions and offer additional insight. Over time you will build a relationship.

#5 Determine Your Objectives & Execute – Once you have gone through steps 1 through 4, you then need to determine what you wish to accomplish through having an Influencer Program. To help keep you focused, avoid the 5 Myths About Influencer Relationships and align your objectives to your top three business KPIs and start to execute. Just remember Rome wasn’t build over night.

(A version of this post previously appeared on a salesforce blog)

Sex, Drugs & Rock n’Roll? How About Smart Technology, Ethics and Privacy?

January 21, 2014/0 Comments/in Communications, Human Interest, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Sure, sex sells and drugs and rock n’ roll still elicit a raised eye brow from many, but I have a question that is much more important to the masses. Are we really ready for where smart technology – specifically related to appliances – is taking us? Do we have the ethical issues identified? What about privacy policies for vendors, industry ethical standards, laws and regulations? Have we really thought out the implications and considered the ramifications?

Image courtesy of digitaltrends.com

It has been less than a week since a refrigerator has been identified as the source of more than 100,000 spam email. Seriously…yes, a fridge was used to spam people. It was spam this time, but my point is that someone was able to get control of the computer in the appliance – a fridge that was located in someone’s home or business. We have been so focused on virus protection and firewalls for our computers, mobile phones and tablets, but what about all this great new technology that is already in our homes and yet to be in our homes – fridges, microwaves, and even diapers – I kid you not diapers.

Technology is emerging so quickly that we just can’t keep up with the implications and ramifications. Regulators and legislators are still struggling to catch up with social media and all the issues around privacy that have emerged. Ethically, we are still working to deal with online bullying and distribution of child pornography as well as what rights employees have to privacy, and the rights of employer to access to social sites and information of their employees.

This is not to say that all this technology is not great. Just the opposite actually! I love technology and the things that it can do for us. Technology has enabled us and empowered us to reach wider audiences and to have a voice. Prior to social media, individuals didn’t really have this ability…not without a lot of expense and time. Additionally, I believe that there is some great work being down with Smart Grid technology with a significant focus on protection and privacy.

The issue for me around all of this smart technology in terms of appliances is really centred on who is the gatekeeper? Who is helping identify all of the potential land mines that come with having access to so much personal data? Who is ensuring that the right people have the information versus protecting it from the wrong people? As more and more smart devices enter our homes, there are countless companies that will have access to our activities including food and drink preferences and consumption, brand preferences and by extrapolation spending habits, when and what rooms we use and how, the frequency of cleaning and on and on and on. In addition, who has the access and power to take control of our devices ( and information) and use it they way they want to use it? Can our access be cut off?

As we become increasingly dependent or reliant on our technology, how long will it be before we are rendered incapable of caring for ourselves? What are we doing as individuals to ensure that we protect our data, our privacy and our ability to think for ourselves?

What are your thoughts on having “smart” devices in your home? Are you ready to jump in with both feet?

Marketing Advice or Snake Oil: When to Walk Away (or Run)

January 20, 2014/0 Comments/in Human Resources, Management, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

I have worked in the management consulting/marketing/PR industry for a long time know. I have seen many trends emerge and die. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. My colleagues and myself have also shaken our heads more than a few times when self-professed experts or gurus have emerged offering a one-sized solution. This is the modern-day version of snake oil. In fact, there are some signs that you need to watch for in order to know when to run away from the expert when he or she recommends the following:

Image owned by TaylorMade Solutions

Outsource All of Your Marketing

If a consultant recommends that you don’t need a marketing presence within your organization, this should be a red flag. If your business needs to understand and build an audience, have data and research to develop products or solutions, you need a marketing presence internally. You might not be able to have an entire team based on your size and revenues, but you need at least one person who has the knowledge and real marketing experience to guide your organization. You need someone who has a vested interested in the long-term success of the business and who thinks about the overall strategy versus just tactics and campaigns.

Metrics

If either your consultant or your marketing team informs you that it is not necessary to measure your marketing efforts, run! Yes, run. While there are many thoughts on how to measure marketing and just what metrics need to be in place, they are absolutely essential. They key of course is to have a marketing leader who understands the fundamentals of marketing and also how to align those activities to the overall KPIs of the business. Not connecting the two is a big miss.

Social Media

You Don’t Need To Be In Social Media

If a management consultant advises you that you don’t need to be in social media, first laugh and then run away. In this day and age, to still hold this belief is like telling a business that they don’t need to answer the telephone when it rings.

The issue at hand with social media is that far too many consultants, including those that specialize in marketing still approach social media as a push tool. They don’t understand social media and/or the power.

You Need To Have A Presence in ALL Social Channels

If you are told by your marketing team that you need to have a presence in all social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, etc. etc.) you need to evaluate your marketing leadership. This approach will fail and fail miserably. This is neither practical, nor strategic

Public/Customer Comments

You Should Turn OFF the Ability for the Public to Comment

If you are going to go this route I would recommend not bothering to venture into the world of social media. Social media is intended to be social. Your customers and prospects aren’t interested in push communications. They want to engage.

You SHOULD Delete All Negative Comments

If you want to create a problem and possibly an online backlash, this would be good advice. The only reason I would recommend deleting a comment would be if it was containing threats, profanity or a personal attack. Before deleting any comment you should have a policy in place and publicly shared that outlines the reasons that a comment would be removed.

You Should ALWAYS Respond to Negative Comments

While we might all have the urge to respond to negative comments, stop and think about it first. Will responding to the comment give the person a bigger audience than he or she already has? Is this a justified negative comment? Can you take the conversation offline?

You Should NEVER Respond to Negative Comments

Again you need to apply some logic and common sense. If you never address the issues at hand, you need to question what your purpose and objectives are for social media.

Regardless of the situation, businesses need a social media playbook to be able to quickly, consistently and accurately navigate social business. A good social media management consultant will be able to give you the skeleton of such a tool or develop one for you. Your budget will determine whether it is a skeleton or a full-fledged playbook.

Blogs

If your consultant and/or marketing team tell you that you need a blog, think about this carefully. The same applies for if you are directed that you should not have a blog. While blogs are all the rage, do you have a good understanding of content marketing? Do you understand SEO, how to write a blog headline, or know which platform you should be using? Do you have the time to do it properly? If you say no or are not sure, do you have someone leading your marketing team that has this expertise? If you say no or you don’t know, you need to engage the right person to lead you and your organization through this.

As you can see, there are many indicators that business leaders and owners should look for when getting marketing advice or hiring marketing leadership. It doesn’t need to be a frightening experience, but hiring the right people in the early stages is important. Hire for experience and knowledge immediately. Hiring resources that you think will learn or gain experience as they go, is not the way to build and protect a brand. What do you think? What has been your experience in hiring the right marketing resources?

The #1 Way to Build Your Sales (Hint: Hire A CMO)

January 16, 2014/0 Comments/in Human Resources, Management, Marketing/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Great companies stack their C-suite with the best people they can find to support the CEO and the objectives of the company. Great companies also realize that in order to build their brand and ultimately sales, they make marketing an integral part of the overall strategy. Entrepreneur.com said it best: many current business battles are marketing battles. “The CMO owns the marketing strategy–and that often includes the sales strategy–and oversees its implementation. The CMO will know (or learn) your industry inside out and helps you position your product, differentiate it from your competitors’ products, enlist distributors, and make sure customers learn to crave your product….If your business’ success depends on marketing, you need to hire a CMO.” So, let’s look at #1 way to build your sales: Hire a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

image courtesy of naturallyadvanced.wordpress.com

Many think that CMOs are for large enterprise organizations. That thinking couldn’t be farther from the reality of today’s business world. In fact, leading companies whether start-ups or small and medium businesses have realized that they need to have a CMO on the team as early as possible. CMOs work with the rest of the C-suite to build the overall corporate strategy and then they lead the execution of that strategy. CMOs understand how to establish an integrated marketing strategy and look at all pieces of the puzzle. They look at everything from segmentation to pricing, packaging to audiences/channels, advertising to digital strategies and tactics. A strategy that doesn’t include all aspects of traditional and digital marketing is a missed opportunity.

Still confused and uncertain? If so, ask yourself the following questions:

Have you ever confused your customers or prospects with inconsistent messaging/advertising? For example, if you are selling a specific lifestyle does all collateral including website, social channels, advertising, wording and imagery reflect that lifestyle? If not, then you have confused your customers and prospects.
Is your marketing department staffed with great people, but with no real marketing experience?
Are you having to spend more time mentoring and guiding the marketing team to stay on track?
Is your organization shifting gears, but still gravitating to old markets and/or practices that are no longer your core business?
Do you have a burning platform, but don’t have the marketing team to build and/or execute upon an integrated marketing strategy?
Do you desperately need a strategic business plan?
Have you been attacking your marketing at a tactical level hoping that something will “stick”?
Do you have partnerships with third party brands that have stringent branding requirements and implementation?
Do you have a senior marketing strategist/practitioner onboard who can talk the talk with your branding partners?
Have you implemented the tools of the trade or your competitors, but just aren’t seeing results?
Do you need to build your brand and protect that brand?
Are you marketing and communicating in both traditional and new digital channels?
Do you need to reach the right audiences to sell to?
Do you know what evergreen content is, or even if you need it?
Do you know how to develop and execute inbound marketing?
Do you know what metrics you need to focus on?

image courtesy of contentmarketingup.com

If you answered yes to more than one of these questions, you need a CMO. The second biggest mistake after not hiring a CMO is waiting to hire the CMO. It is important to note that CMOs are strategic by nature. Developing a strategy without the CMO should be done only as a last case scenario. Developing the strategy and then hiring a CMO will likely result in hiring someone who is tactical only. Alternatively you might only attract someone who has experience in the areas identified. An integrated strategy will not exist and some important components may be totally missed.

So, summarizing entrepreneur.com, if your business depends on marketing, don’t wait. Hire a CMO.

6 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2014

January 15, 2014/0 Comments/in Content Marketing, Influence, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Every day marketers are looking for the next big thing. Knowing what will be “the” next big thing is hard to say. From experience I can say that there are a few things that I am watching very carefully this year. In fact there are 6 marketing trends that I am watching in 2014:

Image courtesy of esol.britishcouncil.org

1. Social Media Is Part of An Integrated Solution

Since social media emerged, different disciplines have been battling to take ownership. In 2014, I believe that most organizations will mature enough to realize that the disruption that has been experienced is throughout the organization and not just in one area such customer service or marketing. Rather, social should and must be looked at as a part of an integrated management solution and not in a silo.

2. Mobile is No Longer An After Thought

There is no question that I believe 2014 will be the year of mobile. Despite this it wasn’t that long ago that companies were putting mobile second or as a next phase in their online strategy. In fact, I can think of at least one very innovative and leading company who unfortunately opted for social to be an after thought when launching a new website. Despite warnings, the plan was not changed. Sure enough, their customers called them out on the faux pas. It was a lesson that they will not repeat.

3. Second Screen Gains More Importance

Adding to the importance of mobile, the second screen is going to continue to gain prominence. The question will be how well marketers leverage the use of second screen. With approximately 88% of U.S. consumers using a second screen, what will be the potential impact be for online purchases, social channel conversations, etc? There is great potential.

4. Hyperlocal Comes Full Circle and Community Will Re-Emerge

Mobile and second screen further enhances the opportunity that is presented by being able to be hyperlocal. In fact, with the opportunity for focusing on local markets, I believe that many organizations will come to the realization that they need to renew their focus on building and maintaining online communities. In 2013 some companies veered away from their communities. If they really want to leverage hyperlocal, they need to rethink that missed move.

5. Video

Video consistently proves to be the most clickable and sharable content. What some companies miss however is that it does not have to be the high production that we once loved. As long as it is easel digestible people will look at it. Think short quality content and/or messages. Flashy high production might lead people to miss the message or question the validity of what you might be trying to accomplish.

6. Trust/Influence

Marketers have a lot of tools in the toolbox. What marketers will need to come to terms with sooner than later is that the average consumer is becoming harder to influence and as a result they have become less trusting of both traditional and non traditional marketing. Marketers of all sizes and shapes will have to work harder to ensure that their actions don’t result in mistrust and lawsuits such as some that Facebook has been experiencing.

Do you agree with my observations? What would you add to the list?