Let’s face it, marketing can be hard! In each marketing blog post, we hope you’ll find the information you need for your business marketing success.
Does Your Brand Have a Brand Book?
I’m not quite sure how I came across this hilarious post today from The Quietroom about their Santa brand book, but I’m glad I did — for several reasons. First (and most obviously) it’s hilarious! Having written some of these brand books myself, I have to say — this is the brand book I always wished…
Focus on Your Target
Focusing on and choosing a target market is often the hardest thing for a business to do. The reasons make sense: you don’t want to exclude any potential customer and you don’t want to show preference to one customer over another. But here’s the thing — getting good at target markets makes you not only…
Fine Tune your Social Media Like your Golf Game
Social Media is nothing more than communication. There will always be certain individuals who are naturally better and more talented than others at communicating. Social media, like life offers several different forms to communicate in. It is important to play in as many different forms as you can, some will be more suited and others…
The Innovative Ducks a Little Like Social Media?
Have you watched the Oregon Ducks play football this year? If not, you’re really missing out. As I watch how innovative Coach Kelly and the Oregon Ducks are on the field I can’t help but think of the comparisons with social media. Some of the traditional football fans and writers complain that they’re offense is…
Layers, the more the better
Today marketing requires more layers than ever before. Years ago the business owner could choose one or more of the three traditional media outlets and call it good. With the continual downward spiral of traditional media, business owners must find layers to define the position their business has in the community. Social Media is a great way to…
Are You a Part of Small Business Saturday?
Have you heard of Small Business Saturday? It takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And it’s a movement that is growing. The concept is simple: A day to come together in support of the small businesses we love. The businesses that are the heartbeat of our communities and local economies. That day is November 27, 2010—the…
Competing for Attention
As a small business owner, I know, it is HARD to keep the focus on growing your business when the needs of your current business continually take all your time and attention. But here’s the thing we all know, intuitively, if we don’t focus our attention on doing those things that grow our business, we…
Who are Your Target Market’s Influencers?
Quick – who is your target market? Can you clearly and specifically tell someone, not in your industry, who your target market is? Good! Now, who are the people who influence your target market? Influencers are the ones who help shape opinion and who make recommendations on products and ideas to your target market. They are…
Branding Foundations
Every brand needs to be built on a strong foundation. While the materials the blocks are made of change from company to company, their purpose, form, and necessity do not vary. The first foundational block of your brand is the vision you hold for your company. Why does your company exist? Where are you going?…
Examining Your Marketing Environment
As you begin to put together your new strategic marketing plan, you should be sure to take into account the internal and external factors playing in your marketing environment that will be affecting you in the upcoming year. In my previous post, How Effective is Your Marketing Plan? I asked you the following you the following…
Make a Date to Review Your Plan
For the last several posts, I’ve been expanding on each of the questions I posed in my post “How Effective is Your Marketing Plan?” Did you follow through on the strategies you laid out in your plan to reach your target demographic? (Did you do what you said you were going to do to try to…
Choosing Products for Your Target Audience
Last week, I asked you, “How Effective is Your Marketing Plan?” The second question on the Effectiveness Quiz was: Did your plan address which products fill a need for your target demographic and why? (Choosing to target someone is all well and good, but if you can’t identify what product would fill a need in their…
You Need a Target Audience
A couple of days ago, I asked you, “How Effective is Your Marketing Plan?” The first question on the Effectiveness Quiz was: Did your plan clearly articulate your target audience, including demographic information?(The correct answer would be something on the order of 20-34 yrs old, middle income, attending “X” school and living in “Y” neighborhood.…
How Effective is Your Marketing Plan?
It’s officially fall, and that means many marketers are in the middle of another year of planning. Unless of course, you’re ahead of the game – in which case, congratulations!!! But since that’s probably not the case, as you begin to work through the process of another year’s planning, it is useful to consider how…
So What’s Your Social Media Strategy?
So what’s your social media strategy? I’m sure that when it comes to most marketing endeavors that you attach some strategy to it. Have you done that for social media? No I’m not talking about an ROI, I’m talking strategy. What is the base for your social media, Facebook? Twitter? Is location based social media…
Branding a Local vs National Company
I had the opportunity the other day to chat with a friend who is a brand marketer for a national brand. During the course of our conversation, I was struck (again) by the same-ness and at the same time, the different-ness that comes with branding a national vs. local brand. At its core, branding is…
Selling Your Brand Internally
One of the most important places to spend time and energy “selling” your brand is internally. There is no audience that is more important to have completely understand and believe your brand position. The reason should be obvious, of your staff doesn’t believe in your brand position, they cannot support it. Therefore, it is critical…
What’s Your Brand Story?
From start to finish, a well-executed brand is really just about telling a good story. Well-written stories are fairly predictable in their format, they have a beginning, middle, and end. The pieces of the story that are being told are consistent with, and advance, the storyline. They don’t pursue irrelevant tangents, and each paragraph and chapter…
Using Product Promotions to Extend Your Brand
Once you’ve established your brand position, and even created a branding commercial or two — it is inevitable that the next call you receive from your boss (or the CFO) is a plea/mandate to run a promotion to sell your product (yesterday)! In that moment the balance sheet requires moving a product for the financial…
Online Advertising in the Age of Adwords
With the advent of our new economy, we’re seeing a pretty significant move from traditional media dollars to online media. The reasons are several-fold. Traditional advertising takes a big bite out of a limited marketing budget. Online advertising is quite cheap in comparison with traditional media. Marketing budgets are getting smaller – not larger. Online…
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