Category Marketing

Is This Working? How to Know If Your Marketing Is Any Good

By in Marketing Tag , , , , , , , ,

by Megan Noorman for Zen Media As a B2B CEO, it’s crucial to know if your marketing tactics are delivering results. The question: “Is my marketing working?” or “Is my marketing any good?” is one we hear from many CEOs—both clients and otherwise—who simply don’t know how to tell one way or the other. With the rise of digital marketing, there is a lot to track, but not all metrics or key performance indicators are created equal, and what’s “good” for one brand, may not be for another. So is your marketing working? Is it any good?  That all depends on how…

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You’re So Vain: The ‘Me, Me, Me’ POV—How to Avoid the Most Common Sin in Marketing

By in Lead Generation, Market Research, Marketing Tag , , , ,

by John Furgurson for Marketing Profs I guess vanity's not technically a sin. It didn't make the list of the seven deadliest, anyway. But the "look at me" approach to messaging and copy is certainly one of the most common mistakes in marketing. How many times have you seen a social media post with a look-at-me selfie and a headline like "We just got our product on Amazon!" Or the equally meaningless "My book's an Amazon bestseller." (For a five-hour period in a tiny, esoteric category.) Who cares?! Many people would argue that's what social media is good for, but the "me, me,…

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How To Write Like a Journalist (And Why It Matters in Marketing)

By in Content Marketing, Marketing Tag , , , ,

By Kyle Covino for Brafton.com The importance of good journalism can’t be overstated. Journalism is an art: It’s not just telling a story, it’s about helping the reader read it through to the end. Perhaps above all, it should produce positive results in society. To quote Andrew Vacss: “Journalism is what maintains democracy. It’s the force for progressive social change.” A free, democratic society is impossible without accurate and ethical journalism. But the qualities that make up this art can be extended to many other forms of writing — notably marketing — in a big way. How’s that? Read on to find…

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8 WAYS TO SELF-DESTRUCT YOUR B2B CONTENT MARKETING

By in Content Marketing, Marketing Tag , , , , , , ,

by Message Up A lot is written about how to succeed at content marketing. It’s a complicated thing to get right and there’s a how-to guide for every element. Marketing leaders and their supporting casts do their best to implement a practical subset of this advice, within inevitable resource constraints. Many of them do a really good job, getting a lot of things right. Until they don’t. Like the racing driver who is on a personal best lap, only to wreck at the penultimate corner, they make mistakes that undermine everything they’ve worked so hard to construct. In this week’s…

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18 Expert Tips For Creating A Successful B2B Podcast

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by Forbes.com As B2B companies continue to seek ways to expand their reach, many are turning to podcasting as a way to build brand awareness and connect with their target audiences. While starting a podcast may seem simple, creating a successful one that generates results requires careful planning and execution. As the members of Forbes Agency Council know, this applies to everything from booking guests to selecting topics the audience will find valuable and promoting a podcast. Below, 18 members share smart tips B2B podcasters can use to create compelling audio content that their target audience will look forward to hearing. 1.…

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Boost Your Small Business With These Must-Have AI Tools

By in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Business Management, Finance, Marketing, Operations

by Belle Wong for The Hartford In recent months, ChatGPT has shown the world how far artificial intelligence (AI) has come. But as AI developers and software companies release more and more AI tools on a near-daily basis, it can be challenging to know which tools are worth it for your small business. It’s worth digging deeper to learn more about the options available. By harnessing the power of AI, you can potentially compete with big businesses. Keep reading to learn more about the AI tools that can help take your business to the next level and beyond. 1. Chatbots Customers want…

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Demand Generation Demystified

By in Lead Generation, Marketing Tag , , , ,

by KAMIL REXTIN for 42 Slash What is Demand Generation? If you believe the gurus on social media selling services, demand generation is about putting out content, amplifying it with paid spend, and hoping your prospects come into the funnel.  Wishful thinking. Demand Generation (DG) is an umbrella that includes customer acquisition (channels, content, and strategies) and infrastructure (how do the systems and technologies support the revenue teams - for example, what happens once you implement a tool to help Sales & Marketing to be more efficient at generating revenue). DG, in our experience, is about understanding the job is done…

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4 principles for marketing compensation

By in Marketing

By LIZ CHRISTO at Dear Stage 2 DEAR STAGE 2: Do you recommend variable compensation for members of the marketing team? If yes, what has worked for you to drive results and create alignment? ~Founder aligning incentivesSubscribe DEAR FOUNDER ALIGNING INCENTIVES: We brought in 2 stellar CMOs to help us answer this critical question. Kirsten Newbold-Knipp, who led marketing at companies like Fullstory, Convey and BigCommerce and Shane Murphy-Reuter, the CMO at Webflow, and former marketing lead at ZoomInfo and Intercom. Our collective answer? A resounding YES! We’re glad to hear you started with the goal of creating alignment. Too often we see…

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Brand vs. Performance Marketing Spectrum

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By Wes Kao There are few philosophical stances that will influence everything about your marketing thereafter. Deciding to prioritize brand versus performance is one of those things. I call this the Law of Brand vs Performance Marketing. It states: All marketing activities are a trade-off between immediate conversion and brand equity. This means there is a trade-off between brand marketing and performance marketing. Performance marketing means better short-term conversion, but worse long-term brand equity. Brand marketing means worse short-term conversion, but better long-term brand equity. This is worth discussing with your team: “If you could only prioritize brand or performance,…

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