5 unexpected insights you can learn from competitor research
You can’t see the road ahead if you’re too focused on the rearview mirror. When it comes to learning from competitor research, many businesses adopt a “keep your eyes on your own paper” mentality. Yet, we all know we can’t exist (or thrive) in an echo chamber. There...
If you aren’t selling, do you need a secure site?
You may have heard about TLS or “Transport Layer Security” (also commonly referred to as SSL), a security protocol that ensures communications between your website and server are encrypted and can’t be intercepted. With big companies reporting data...
Speed up your sales cycle
If you align your sales and marketing teams, they become an unstoppable force. Marketing influences how people think and feel, building and nurturing relationships—and relationships drive sales. Period. Your sales team spends 80% of their time with the...
Great Content: The cure for the engineer’s marketing allergy
How to speak that engineer marketing language The first rule of marketing is know your audience. Find out what they want. Connect with them and show them how you will solve their problem like no one else. Reach your audience on a personal level. Get in their head....
When the rubber hits the road
As the saying goes, the "rubber hits the road" at the point in time when a salesperson is in-front of a customer and moves to quickly communicate why they should buy. Salespeople need the right tools at their fingertips as they initiate relationships, build trust...
Try making your own eggnog this holiday…
Leave the pre-made eggnog on the grocery shelf... a top-notch, home-made eggnog is not much work. Here's how to make your own eggnog: Booze: Bourbon, brandy or rum are the typical choices. You don't have to go expensive either beacuse the booze flavor is complimented...
Give your customers a big ol’ “bro hug!”
When you see an old friend, do you give them a handshake or a 'bro hug'? Of course, if you’re under 30 years old, you give them a hug to let them know that you’ve missed them and you appreciate them. It's more intimate than a traditional...
Blueprint for a successful content marketing strategy
Who in their right mind would build a house without a blueprint? You need a detailed blueprint to convert the piles of building materials on your empty lot into a beautiful, finished home. If you try to build it on your own, without a blueprint, you’ll end...
Marketing’s Secret Sauce: The Message
It seems like anything successful has a secret formula, proprietary technology or “secret sauce” behind it that makes people talk about it. Marketing is no different. The secret sauce of successful marketing is the message. It must command the attention...
They keep moving the marketing goalposts
There's an inherent mystery around the art and science of optimizing a web site for search. The optimization process changes nearly every week as Google works behind the scene, changing the rules to make their engine’s results more search friendly and...
12 tactics to transform your email signups from a trickle to a torrent
Your email list is one of your most valuable owned assets. It's the key to engaging your target audience and building trusted relationships with them. But most marketers don't do enough to build and nurture theirs. "But wait just a minute," you protest. "I put a...
Targeting your audience using LinkedIn
One of the mistakes marketers often make in trying to reach their target audiences is over-relying on organic distribution and under-relying on paid distribution. For many B2B firms, LinkedIn is the most important channel for sharing content with the people they need to target.
8 must-have elements of a strong home page
When visitors arrive at the home page of your website, are they able to quickly and efficiently find what they’re looking for? Or do they become confused and frustrated - because they can’t easily figure out exactly what you do or how your website is structured and...
How to choose the right email marketing platform
Email is a critical element of any B2B marketing program because it enables you to communicate with your customers and prospects on a schedule that you control. In addition, if you grow your email list over time, it can become a strategic asset that can help you grow...
There’s a runaway train barreling towards you
Today, if you’re not yet on board the content marketing train, you may get run over. It's that simple. Your customers have changed and you need to adapt the way you're marketing. If you continue to use the same old ways to communicate with them, you'll be left in the...
Stop burning cash on these inefficient content marketing strategies
Would you stack bagfuls of cash into a crude pyramid, and then set it on fire? Of course not! That would be stupid, and you’re not stupid, so you’re not going to ignore inefficiencies in your content marketing initiative, are you? Here are five areas that are...
Rock your list – it’s your biggest asset
Do you have a strategy for growing your email list and using it to communicate with your target audience on a consistent basis? If not, you’re missing a huge opportunity. Email isn’t a sexy topic, but it represents the backbone of nearly every successful content...
“Tilt” your way to grab your audience’s attention
In the classic Spanish novel The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, a nobleman becomes so enamored with stories of brave knights and ladies fair that his perception of reality becomes warped. At one point, he attacks...