Posts tagged with "marketing"

Every field develops its own arcane language. This usually starts as a shorthand to make it easier for those in the field to communicate economically and efficiently. Inevitably, however, the shorthand acquires a life of its own. It becomes a way to separate the “professionals” from the “non-professionals,” those “in the know” and those who are not. Every once in a while, it becomes useful to take this jargon out of the rarefied air of the “professionals” and bring it back down to earth. So, with all due respect to the profession (and the online marketing glossaries), here’s an English translation of some key (or ... READ MORE

Using marketing to create meaningful product differentiation separates you from competitors and allows you to command price premiums. One strategy should be the elimination of bad discounts. Discounts should never lead to a loss of margin. Instead, discounts should reward customers for activities that improve their value—either by reducing your costs or improving overall demand. As a first step, evaluate and build systems that reward customers based on desired behaviors. Not getting paid on time? Match prompt payment with a discount that reduces aging. Have customers that are time consuming? Provide a discount for ordering online. Have customers that are not properly utilizing their software? Allow ... READ MORE

A website redesign project should include ways to not only make it more appealing, but foremost, how to attract more qualified visitors which may turn into leads and eventually into clients. In my humble opinion, people will spend too much time on the "pretty" side of thing and miss the point. Redesigning your website should include most, if not all these great "lead generation" tips, and generate more paying customers out of your website.       First, you need to understand the mechanics of generating leads on your website. This is the infrastructure that an Inbound Marketing Agency would build a campaign on: The Offer This is the ... READ MORE

I gave a presentation recently to a new networking meeting, the Montreal Startup Breakfast Club. I talked about developing a content marketing strategy, and reviewed the rigorous methodology we have developed to govern our own internal content-marketing activities as well as those of clients. The novelty of using the term "content marketing" was evident to the people in the room and my presentation was well received, notwithstanding my explanation that I use this relatively new term to describe things I have been doing all my working life. For example, I told the two dozen folks at breakfast yesterday, what is a daily ... READ MORE

Recently, with more than a deliberate nod to Valentine's Day, I wrote about why I love working in technology marketing. I have spent most of my 25-year career in this exciting, dynamic and challenging sector, and with good reason, so the benefits obviously outweigh the detractions. But every coin has a flip side, and today I'm going to talk about some of the things I truly dislike about tech marketing.   1. We need you to launch this thing. Now. Perhaps the worst thing that happens in the technology sector is the sharp divide between development and marketing. Far too often, development beavers away ... READ MORE

I've been doing a lot of work with clients lately on refining their messaging and marketplace differentiation. It has always been clear to me that this is not a trivial thing. Unless you can carve out a unique value proposition for your offering, and communicate that proposition in an arresting and compelling fashion, you're dead in the water. What I am increasingly coming to understand, however, is how courageous companies need to be in doing so. Okay, maybe courageous is going too far; courage, after all, is reserved for heroes. Maybe daring is a better word. Here's what I mean. Any time ... READ MORE

Assuming: You assume there is no need to verify your assumptions about the marketplace, what your prospects want, why your customers buy.   Complacency: You’ve created your strategy. You know it’s a good one. Now you can hand off the implementation. Social media, sales calls, blogging, and all the other pesky drudgery is why we have employees or hire outside agencies. Right? Arrogance: No one can know your marketplace as well as you can. We all know that intelligence rises with rank. (I was actually told that once, in just so many words.) Employees are there to take orders. The market will accept whatever we offer. (Early in the digital revolution, ... READ MORE

For too long now, I have been painfully aware of just how dimly acquainted technology is with marketing. I’ve heard all the usual reasons; heck, I’ve even subscribed to most of them myself at one time or another. But these excuses simply don’t hold up to scrutiny. Technology companies tend to be engineering-driven, and gears just don’t get marketing, goes perhaps the most common refrain. It’s true that most technology ventures are engineering ventures, but I think marketers are letting themselves too easily off the hook by bleating that the engineers don’t understand what we do and that’s why they won’t support ... READ MORE

Ah, tech marketing. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 1. The learning curve can be wonderfully steep It's not true of all the tech companies and products I have worked with during my 25-year career, but my favourite clients have invariably been the ones that require me to go deep in order to understand them. I don't have an iron ring on my pinkie finger and although I was once a Canadian math Olympiad, I abandoned the maths and sciences in favour of writing, journalism and business strategy when I hit university. (However, I couldn't resist taking Calculus ... READ MORE

The Internet is filled with articles, discussions, and blogs on how managers should “market” to employees. We are told the best ways to motivate them.  We discuss the best ways to communicate with them.  We blog on how to “engage” them. What is fascinating to me is that, for the most part, all these discussions, expositions, and explorations of the subject assume a completely internal world view. We want to motivate them to work harder and be more productive. We want to communicate the company’s financial objectives and (in today’s economy) the need for cost-cutting. And we want to “engage” them in actively achieving ... READ MORE