In the first part of this article I discuss how marketing has a visibility and credibility problem – they’re not seen as critical to business success and the results they present often don’t reflect business relevance. Due to this, marketing is primarily viewed as a support function to sales.
The Complete Guide to Developing a Marketing BudgetRichard Hatheway
Marketing budgets are a business critical tool, as they help you determine what the costs will be for the various campaigns, programs and activities that the Marketing Department runs throughout the year. Unfortunately, most marketers don’t know how or where to begin creating a budget. While business courses in college may have touched on the subject, the reality is that most marketers learn how to develop a budget on the job, often through trial-and-error.
This blog will provide an overview and outline of the basic steps needed to develop a marketing budget from scratch.
Sales and Marketing Alignment - The Secret Ingredient to More RevenueRichard Hatheway
This article will explain what sales and marketing alignment is, explain the benefits of sales and marketing alignment, and provide best practices to help more fully align your sales and marketing departments.
It's Sales AND Marketing, NOT Sales OR MarketingRichard Hatheway
Sales and Marketing departments are critical, integral functions to businesses. As such, they need to work together to ensure that the desired outcome for both functions - sales - occurs. Unfortunately, that often does not happen.
Marketing, like any other aspect of business, requires careful planning to be effective. However, depending on the type of business, there are many different types and styles of marketing, ranging from traditional marketing to digital marketing that can be used to help a business grow. However, regardless of the type of marketing used, there are several basic steps that must be followed in order for it to be successful.
This blog will briefly highlight the basic steps that all marketers should follow before beginning development of any marketing activity.
Regardless of size, all business owners need to understand that marketing is critical to the success of their business. This blog provides insights to help them do that.
The Kitchen Sink Method is Not Marketing StrategyRichard Hatheway
Many marketers think that in order for their business to gain all the benefits that marketing has to offer, they need to include everything possible in every marketing campaign, plan or activity. That viewpoint is incorrect and this article will help you understand why.
Everyone in business – and in marketing especially – knows that you need to have a value proposition (aka, value prop). But yet, no one really seems to know why, it’s just one of those things that if you’re in business, you’re supposed to have.
What’s worse, many marketers don’t know what a value prop should include or how to develop one. In Part 2 of this blog, we’ll explain how to quickly and easily craft an effective value proposition.
This article will introduce you to the basic concepts of content marketing - content marketing is the process of doing the necessary customer research and gathering customer intelligence, developing relevant content based on that research and intelligence, developing a marketing strategy and then deploying/implementing the plan to take full advantage of the content.
The Complete Guide to Developing a Marketing BudgetRichard Hatheway
Marketing budgets are a business critical tool, as they help you determine what the costs will be for the various campaigns, programs and activities that the Marketing Department runs throughout the year. Unfortunately, most marketers don’t know how or where to begin creating a budget. While business courses in college may have touched on the subject, the reality is that most marketers learn how to develop a budget on the job, often through trial-and-error.
This blog will provide an overview and outline of the basic steps needed to develop a marketing budget from scratch.
Sales and Marketing Alignment - The Secret Ingredient to More RevenueRichard Hatheway
This article will explain what sales and marketing alignment is, explain the benefits of sales and marketing alignment, and provide best practices to help more fully align your sales and marketing departments.
It's Sales AND Marketing, NOT Sales OR MarketingRichard Hatheway
Sales and Marketing departments are critical, integral functions to businesses. As such, they need to work together to ensure that the desired outcome for both functions - sales - occurs. Unfortunately, that often does not happen.
Marketing, like any other aspect of business, requires careful planning to be effective. However, depending on the type of business, there are many different types and styles of marketing, ranging from traditional marketing to digital marketing that can be used to help a business grow. However, regardless of the type of marketing used, there are several basic steps that must be followed in order for it to be successful.
This blog will briefly highlight the basic steps that all marketers should follow before beginning development of any marketing activity.
Regardless of size, all business owners need to understand that marketing is critical to the success of their business. This blog provides insights to help them do that.
The Kitchen Sink Method is Not Marketing StrategyRichard Hatheway
Many marketers think that in order for their business to gain all the benefits that marketing has to offer, they need to include everything possible in every marketing campaign, plan or activity. That viewpoint is incorrect and this article will help you understand why.
Everyone in business – and in marketing especially – knows that you need to have a value proposition (aka, value prop). But yet, no one really seems to know why, it’s just one of those things that if you’re in business, you’re supposed to have.
What’s worse, many marketers don’t know what a value prop should include or how to develop one. In Part 2 of this blog, we’ll explain how to quickly and easily craft an effective value proposition.
This article will introduce you to the basic concepts of content marketing - content marketing is the process of doing the necessary customer research and gathering customer intelligence, developing relevant content based on that research and intelligence, developing a marketing strategy and then deploying/implementing the plan to take full advantage of the content.
Everyone in business – and in marketing especially – knows that you need to have a value proposition (aka, value prop). But yet, no one really seems to know why; it’s just one of those things that if you’re in business, you’re supposed to have.
This blog will explain what a value prop is and why you need one.
Integrated Marketing: What It Is and Why You Should Embrace It (part 2 of 3)Richard Hatheway
This article will provide an overview and will attempt to explain what integrated marketing is and why the use of integrated marketing is more important now than ever before. This is not an in-depth treatise on the topic, but will provide you with a solid foundation on the topic of integrated marketing.
Checklists for an Effective Lead Generation CampaignRichard Hatheway
Developing a lead generation campaign is a relatively simple process if you have the right checklists to help address all of the various components and inputs required. This article will provide you with a set of basic checklists to help ensure you have all your bases covered.
Sales and Marketing Alignment - The Secret to More RevenueRichard Hatheway
This article will explain what Sales and Marketing alignment is, explain the benefits of Sales and Marketing alignment, and provide best practices to help more fully align your Sales and Marketing departments.
Integrated Marketing: What it Is and Why You Should Embrace It (part 3 of 3)Richard Hatheway
This article will provide an overview and will attempt to explain what integrated marketing is and why the use of integrated marketing is more important now than ever before. This is not an in-depth treatise on the topic, but will provide you with a solid foundation on the topic of integrated marketing.
3 Steps to More Effective Social Media Marketing MetricsRichard Hatheway
Social media marketing (SMM) is now a standard part of the marketing mix in the B2B world, but how do you measure its effectiveness? This article will show you how to develop the relevant metrics.
Do you use Calls To Action (CTAs)? Do you know what a CTA is? This blog will give a quick, concise overview of what they are, how they can be used and why you really should be using them.
Like objects in our rear-view mirror, the future is always closer than it appears. Technology has changed and more importantly, so have consumers.
In an increasingly competitive, complex and connected mesh of world, collaboration, agility, transparency, speed and a relentless obsession with customer experience are at the core of this new enterprise.
This is a new era of business and our customers are best channel of marketing.
How To Get A Strong Inbound Marketing StrategyAnisha Vijayan
Focus your efforts on inbound marketing.
Create reasons for the customer to come to you.
Here are the 5 elements you need to implement in your inbound marketing strategy to get the best ROI.
#InboundMarketing #LeadGeneration #VantadorMedia
Trends, Tools and Techniques for the Modern Sales ProcessSean Henri
Question, how should sales teams spend their time? If you answered anything other than “selling,” you’re in the wrong business. But as it turns out, that’s not how most teams operate. A recent study showed that reps spend less than a third of their time actually selling – compared to a full 50% spent between administrative CRM tasks and searching for content.
So, how can your sales team make the shift to focusing more time on selling when you need them to keep up with everything else?
Join Pepperland Marketing’s Sean Henri to learn how your sales team can transform their approach the sales process.
During this session, you will learn:
· A new method of connecting with the modern buyer
· How to use technology to your sales team’s advantage
· Ways to easily identify the right prospects at the right time
View the slides or register to watch the on-demand webinar:
The challenges of managing a complex sales processAshutosh Bijoor
Is your sales process complex? Are you facing challenges in scaling up your sales process? What can you do about it?
These are some of the questions this presentation attempts to answer
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]HubSpot
Acquiring clients isn't easy. Sometimes, retaining them can be equally as challenging. Join Marisa Smith from The Whole Brain Group as she presents a proven process to help you engage, retain and delight your clients to transform them into customers for life.
Many small business owners confuse the disciplines of Sales and Marketing, in this presentation, we look at how they differ, and why companies should align both.
Everyone in business – and in marketing especially – knows that you need to have a value proposition (aka, value prop). But yet, no one really seems to know why; it’s just one of those things that if you’re in business, you’re supposed to have.
This blog will explain what a value prop is and why you need one.
Integrated Marketing: What It Is and Why You Should Embrace It (part 2 of 3)Richard Hatheway
This article will provide an overview and will attempt to explain what integrated marketing is and why the use of integrated marketing is more important now than ever before. This is not an in-depth treatise on the topic, but will provide you with a solid foundation on the topic of integrated marketing.
Checklists for an Effective Lead Generation CampaignRichard Hatheway
Developing a lead generation campaign is a relatively simple process if you have the right checklists to help address all of the various components and inputs required. This article will provide you with a set of basic checklists to help ensure you have all your bases covered.
Sales and Marketing Alignment - The Secret to More RevenueRichard Hatheway
This article will explain what Sales and Marketing alignment is, explain the benefits of Sales and Marketing alignment, and provide best practices to help more fully align your Sales and Marketing departments.
Integrated Marketing: What it Is and Why You Should Embrace It (part 3 of 3)Richard Hatheway
This article will provide an overview and will attempt to explain what integrated marketing is and why the use of integrated marketing is more important now than ever before. This is not an in-depth treatise on the topic, but will provide you with a solid foundation on the topic of integrated marketing.
3 Steps to More Effective Social Media Marketing MetricsRichard Hatheway
Social media marketing (SMM) is now a standard part of the marketing mix in the B2B world, but how do you measure its effectiveness? This article will show you how to develop the relevant metrics.
Do you use Calls To Action (CTAs)? Do you know what a CTA is? This blog will give a quick, concise overview of what they are, how they can be used and why you really should be using them.
Like objects in our rear-view mirror, the future is always closer than it appears. Technology has changed and more importantly, so have consumers.
In an increasingly competitive, complex and connected mesh of world, collaboration, agility, transparency, speed and a relentless obsession with customer experience are at the core of this new enterprise.
This is a new era of business and our customers are best channel of marketing.
How To Get A Strong Inbound Marketing StrategyAnisha Vijayan
Focus your efforts on inbound marketing.
Create reasons for the customer to come to you.
Here are the 5 elements you need to implement in your inbound marketing strategy to get the best ROI.
#InboundMarketing #LeadGeneration #VantadorMedia
Trends, Tools and Techniques for the Modern Sales ProcessSean Henri
Question, how should sales teams spend their time? If you answered anything other than “selling,” you’re in the wrong business. But as it turns out, that’s not how most teams operate. A recent study showed that reps spend less than a third of their time actually selling – compared to a full 50% spent between administrative CRM tasks and searching for content.
So, how can your sales team make the shift to focusing more time on selling when you need them to keep up with everything else?
Join Pepperland Marketing’s Sean Henri to learn how your sales team can transform their approach the sales process.
During this session, you will learn:
· A new method of connecting with the modern buyer
· How to use technology to your sales team’s advantage
· Ways to easily identify the right prospects at the right time
View the slides or register to watch the on-demand webinar:
The challenges of managing a complex sales processAshutosh Bijoor
Is your sales process complex? Are you facing challenges in scaling up your sales process? What can you do about it?
These are some of the questions this presentation attempts to answer
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]HubSpot
Acquiring clients isn't easy. Sometimes, retaining them can be equally as challenging. Join Marisa Smith from The Whole Brain Group as she presents a proven process to help you engage, retain and delight your clients to transform them into customers for life.
Many small business owners confuse the disciplines of Sales and Marketing, in this presentation, we look at how they differ, and why companies should align both.
Sales people are different from marketers. Outgoing, gregarious and aggressive vs. quiet, analytical and introspective. It is important for management to understand these differences and provide leadership to get marketers and sales people working toward a single goal. Productivity is increased when marketers generate high-quality leads and sales people are better equipped to close them.
Marketing and Sales alignment is paramount for success with any organization. Learn to create synergy between your teams for maximum impact for your sales. Revenue generation is the objective any effective marketing campaign, so aligning with your sales efforts will lead to a success and sustainability.
This is the status wherein the current entrepreneurs are
placed in. Many owners start a business without even
having a plan set to run the business and succeed in it.
A popular magazine survey stated that, 33% of new
start up businesses fails within the first six months, 50%
other new businesses fail in the first two years and 75%
fail in first three years. Not many out in this failure list
consider their failure as a potential of improvement.
Successful selling in a new market or new business is a blend of art and science, creativity and discipline. But no matter what you’re selling, and to whom, a certain foundation of core strategies can get you off on the right track and accelerate your path to customer and revenue growth.
Sales for Startups gives entrepreneurs, business owners and startup leaders a set of fundamental sales tools, processes and best practices to begin selling and producing results fast, with a foundation in place that can facilitate rapid scalability. Whether you’re building a sales effort from scratch or looking to improve an existing team, this book will give you specific new ideas and insights to hit and exceed your number.
Sales casualty analysis: why sales numbers do not happen and what to do to ge...Browne & Mohan
Despite significant investment in resource and infrastructure, many companies suffer from long sales cycles, lack of funnel, targets missed by miles and very low closure rate. Reasons for poor sales numbers are common across industries. In this white paper, Browne & Mohan consultants detail the inhibitors of sales growth and how to address the same.
Generative AI, aka tools like ChatGPT and Google Bard, are the latest shiny object in the tech space. As such, they’re getting a lot of attention right now, so the potential exists for a lot of great ways to use them. This article will discuss one area, marketing, and how marketing professionals might be able to use generative AI technology in their jobs.
In the COVID-19-influenced world, a company’s digital presence is typically the first thing a customer turns to or discovers when they seek information about your products or services. That’s why the use of digital marketing is critical to business success. This article will provide an introduction to what digital marketing is, some items to consider when developing a digital marketing strategy, and some of the different digital marketing channels that are available for you to use.
Within the world of marketing there are numerous areas of specialization. One of the most critical, and often one of the most confusing and least understood, is Product Marketing. This blog will help you quickly and easily understand what product marketing does, where product marketing is located within the organization, and why product marketing provides such a critical marketing function.
Recruiters & Hiring Managers: Remember Professional Courtesy in the Hiring Pr...Richard Hatheway
This blog is addressed to all Hiring Managers, Recruiters, HR personnel and anyone else involved in the job screening and interviewing process. It addresses the lack of professional courtesy that many job seekers experience on a regular basis. It also explains several very good reasons (that are often forgotten or overlooked) why the hiring manager (et al) should act more professionally and follow up with candidates that they've spoken with about potential jobs.
Sales enablement and content marketing are both critical components of any effective marketing strategy. But they’re often viewed as completely separate functions that are done independently of one another. The reality though, is that for them to be most effective, they need to work together.
This blog will provide an overview of both to help you understand the value of using them together in your business.
Marketing is a business necessity, but should marketing be done during times of crisis? And if so, how?
This blog will provide you with a few ideas and Do’s and Don’ts to consider.
The Realities of Implementing a Remote WorkforceRichard Hatheway
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses large and small are stating they're encouraging their employees to work remotely, but have they considered what needs to be done to make that happen? This article highlights several areas across the business that need to be considered in order for remote working to be effective.
Remote Employees - Are They Right For Your BusinessRichard Hatheway
Employers are beginning to realize that the COVID-19 virus will not only impact their business operations today, but it will also continue to impact them into the foreseeable future. Due to this, the standard employer-employee business model needs to change and new options, such as remote workers, need to be considered.
This blog provides a few things for businesses to consider about using remote employees.
Buyer personas are a useful tool to have in any marketer’s toolbox, as they help you understand your customers better. However, many marketers don’t know how to develop a buyer persona or even how to get started.
This article will provide you with an overview of what a buyer persona is, and outline the basic steps needed to develop a buyer persona.
Companies today take many approaches when it comes to growing their business and marketing their products, but there are two primary forms that most of the others can be combined into: whether the business is Sales-driven or Marketing-driven. Knowing which approach your business uses helps you understand what needs to be done to get your product in front of potential customers.
This blog will provide a brief overview to help you understand the differences.
Smart City Revenue Streams for Utility ProvidersRichard Hatheway
As cities become “smart,” utilities have an opportunity to take advantage of new technologies, such as IoT, to develop new capabilities. This allows them to provide new services and value to citizens and consumers, while developing new revenue streams.
Smart cities are the wave of the future. IoT is also the wave of the future. Together, smart cities that incorporate and take advantage of IoT technology will be at the leading edge of new urban environments.
Ageism is real and occurs on a daily basis. Thousands of people face it every day, but there are still too many people that don’t believe it even exists.
The hiring process has gotten so complex that it has begun to overwhelm what should be a basic, straightforward activity – hiring a new employee. Couple that complexity with the desire to hire the “right” candidate, the absolutely “perfect” candidate (or in other words, what is known as a “Unicorn”), and what should be a relatively simple process has now become unwieldy.
Integrated Marketing: What It Is and Why You Should Embrace It (part 1 of 3)Richard Hatheway
This article will provide an overview and will attempt to explain what integrated marketing is and why the use of integrated marketing is more important now than ever before. This is not an in-depth treatise on the topic, but will provide you with a solid foundation on the topic of integrated marketing.
A.I. (artificial intelligence) platforms are popping up all the time, and many of them can and should be used to help grow your brand, increase your sales and decrease your marketing costs.In this presentation:We will review some of the best AI platforms that are available for you to use.We will interact with some of the platforms in real-time, so attendees can see how they work.We will also look at some current brands that are using AI to help them create marketing messages, saving them time and money in the process. Lastly, we will discuss the pros and cons of using AI in marketing & branding and have a lively conversation that includes comments from the audience.
Key Takeaways:
Attendees will learn about LLM platforms, like ChatGPT, and how they work, with preset examples and real time interactions with the platform. Attendees will learn about other AI platforms that are creating graphic design elements at the push of a button...pre-set examples and real-time interactions.Attendees will discuss the pros & cons of AI in marketing + branding and share their perspectives with one another. Attendees will learn about the cost savings and the time savings associated with using AI, should they choose to.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
Monthly Social Media News Update May 2024Andy Lambert
TL;DR. These are the three themes that stood out to us over the course of last month.
1️⃣ Social media is becoming increasingly significant for brand discovery. Marketers are now understanding the impact of social and budgets are shifting accordingly.
2️⃣ Instagram’s new algorithm and latest guidance will help us maintain organic growth. Instagram continues to evolve, but Reels remains the most crucial tool for growth.
3️⃣ Collaboration will help us unlock growth. Who we work with will define how fast we grow. Meta continues to evolve their Creator Marketplace and now TikTok are beginning to push ‘collabs’ more too.
SMM Cheap - No. 1 SMM panel in the worldsmmpanel567
Boost your social media marketing with our SMM Panel services offering SMM Cheap services! Get cost-effective services for your business and increase followers, likes, and engagement across all social media platforms. Get affordable services perfect for businesses and influencers looking to increase their social proof. See how cheap SMM strategies can help improve your social media presence and be a pro at the social media game.
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
How to Run Landing Page Tests On and Off Paid Social PlatformsVWO
Join us for an exclusive webinar featuring Mariate, Alexandra and Nima where we will unveil a comprehensive blueprint for crafting a successful paid media strategy focused on landing page testing.With escalating costs in paid advertising, understanding how to maximize each visitor’s experience is crucial for retention and conversion.
This session will dive into the methodologies for executing and analyzing landing page tests within paid social channels, offering a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical insights.
The Pearmill team will guide you through the nuances of setting up and managing landing page experiments on paid social platforms. You will learn about the critical rules to follow, the structure of effective tests, optimal conversion duration and budget allocation.
The session will also cover data analysis techniques and criteria for graduating landing pages.
In the second part of the webinar, Pearmill will explore the use of A/B testing platforms. Discover common pitfalls to avoid in A/B testing and gain insights into analyzing A/B tests results effectively.
The digital marketing industry is changing faster than ever and those who don’t adapt with the times are losing market share. Where should marketers be focusing their efforts? What strategies are the experts seeing get the best results? Get up-to-speed with the latest industry insights, trends and predictions for the future in this panel discussion with some leading digital marketing experts.
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services using digital channels to reach and engage with potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of online tactics and strategies aimed at increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, and ultimately, converting those leads into customers.
https://nidmindia.com/
SEO as the Backbone of Digital MarketingFelipe Bazon
In this talk Felipe Bazon will share how him and his team at Hedgehog Digital share our journey of making C-Levels alike, specially CMOS realize that SEO is the backbone of digital marketing by showing how SEO can contribute to brand awareness, reputation and authority and above all how to use SEO to create more robust global marketing strategies.
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.\
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Top 3 Ways to Align Sales and Marketing Teams for Rapid GrowthDemandbase
In this session, Demandbase’s Stephanie Quinn, Sr. Director of Integrated and Digital Marketing, Devin Rosenberg, Director of Sales, and Kevin Rooney, Senior Director of Sales Development will share how sales and marketing shapes their day-to-day and what key areas are needed for true alignment.
AI-Powered Personalization: Principles, Use Cases, and Its Impact on CROVWO
In today’s era of AI, personalization is more than just a trend—it’s a fundamental strategy that unlocks numerous opportunities.
When done effectively, personalization builds trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your users—key factors for business success. However, relying solely on AI capabilities isn’t enough. You need to anchor your approach in solid principles, understand your users’ context, and master the art of persuasion.
Join us as Sarjak Patel and Naitry Saggu from 3rd Eye Consulting unveil a transformative framework. This approach seamlessly integrates your unique context, consumer insights, and conversion goals, paving the way for unparalleled success in personalization.
Digital Commerce Lecture for Advanced Digital & Social Media Strategy at UCLA...Valters Lauzums
E-commerce in 2024 is characterized by a dynamic blend of opportunities and significant challenges. Supply chain disruptions and inventory shortages are critical issues, leading to increased shipping delays and rising costs, which impact timely delivery and squeeze profit margins. Efficient logistics management is essential, yet it is often hampered by these external factors. Payment processing, while needing to ensure security and user convenience, grapples with preventing fraud and integrating diverse payment methods, adding another layer of complexity. Furthermore, fulfillment operations require a streamlined approach to handle volume spikes and maintain accuracy in order picking, packing, and shipping, all while meeting customers' heightened expectations for faster delivery times.
Amid these operational challenges, customer data has emerged as an important strategy. By focusing on personalization and enhancing customer experience from historical behavior, businesses can deliver improved website and brand experienced, better product recommendations, optimal promotions, and content to meet individual preferences. Better data analytics can also help in effectively creating marketing campaigns, improving customer retention, and driving product development and inventory management.
Innovative formats such as social commerce and live shopping are beginning to impact the digital commerce landscape, offering new ways to engage with customers and drive sales, and may provide opportunity for brands that have been priced out or seen a downturn with post-pandemic shopping behavior. Social commerce integrates shopping experiences directly into social media platforms, tapping into the massive user bases of these networks to increase reach and engagement. Live shopping, on the other hand, combines entertainment and real-time interaction, providing a dynamic platform for showcasing products and encouraging immediate purchases. These innovations not only enhance customer engagement but also provide valuable data for businesses to refine their strategies and deliver superior shopping experiences.
The e-commerce sector is evolving rapidly, and businesses that effectively manage operational challenges and implement innovative strategies are best positioned for long-term success.
It's another new era of digital and marketers are faced with making big bets on their digital strategy. If you are looking at modernizing your tech stack to support your digital evolution, there are a few can't miss (often overlooked) areas that should be part of every conversation. We'll cover setting your vision, avoiding siloes, adding a democratized approach to data strategy, localization, creating critical governance requirements and more. Attendees will walk away with actions they can take into initiatives they are running today and consider for the future.
Why All Marketers Should Work in Sales (part 1 of 2)
1. Why All Marketers Should Work In Sales
(At least at some point in their career)
(Part 1 of 2: The Challenge)
Overview
It’s often said that sales drives the business, but marketing drives sales. If that’s true,
then marketing is just as critical to business success as sales. However, that doesn’t
seem to be the case in most businesses. Marketing is often seen as nothing more than
a support role.
Why is that?
Because marketing has two primary challenges that need to be overcome: visibility and
credibility. This two-part article will help explain what can be done to overcome those
challenges.
Introduction
Sales and marketing. Marketing and sales. These two functions are intimately
interconnected and critical to a business’s success.
That’s good, right? As marketers, we’d like to think that everyone in the company
recognizes that fact. However, the truth is that sales is really the department that always
seems to get the credit and recognition when the company is doing well, and marketing
seems to be the department that always takes the hit or has budget and headcount cut
when the business is doing poorly.
2. Why is that?
Sales Sells
The short answer is that sales sells. Not only the company products and services, but
the sales people sell themselves, their function and their department as well. And they
do that internally, across the company.
Sales people know the importance of visibility.
Consider this: sales metrics, KPIs and sales results are a critical component of weekly
calls, monthly reports and quarterly meetings across the entire company. Executive
leadership teams are briefed on and provided updates about these data points on a
regular basis. The sales results drive annual sales conferences that almost everyone in
the company attends. Everyone except the marketing department, who has the
responsibility for organizing it, paying for it and making sure the sales conference
happens, but is often not invited to attend. Do you ever wonder why that is?
This happens because the sales organization knows how to blow its own horn.
Conversely, one of the main reasons (if not “the” main reason) that many marketers and
marketing departments don’t receive the recognition they’re due is that they really don’t
know how to promote themselves (i.e., “sell” themselves).
How can that be? They’re in marketing, after all. More than anyone else in the
company, they should know how to promote themselves. That’s what they do for the
company’s products, after all. And they must know how to do that or else the products
wouldn’t sell.
But they don’t.
While the marketing department may know how to promote the company products, the
truth is that most marketers don’t know how to promote themselves, their function or
their department. They don’t know how to call the right type of corporate attention to
what they do. They don’t know what metrics are really relevant to the business. And one
of the biggest problems is that they don’t present (or know how to present) their
activities and results in a manner that is relevant to the business.
Essentially, most marketers don’t know how to promote what they do, how they go
about doing it, what the results are, or how those results of their actions help drive
sales, and by extension, the success of the business. They just do their jobs and expect
that recognition will follow. But they hardly ever receive it.
Are we really surprised by that?
No. They’re not visible.
3. In addition, marketers also have a credibility problem. Other departments, senior
leadership and corporate executives don’t know what marketing has actually done that
helped drive the success of the business. They don’t see the planning and development
of assets. They don’t know about the months of research that go into understanding a
product, knowing the market and the competition, or knowing what channels to use to
most effectively reach the customers. They don’t understand all the logistics involved in
planning and executing an event that gets product in front of customers and provides
sales with the opportunities to meet customers. They don’t see all these actions that go
into helping sales make a sale.
And let’s face it, the sales guys don’t typically credit their success to the marketing
department, or to the events, materials and assets they use. Instead, more often than
not, they’ll complain about what marketing doesn’t provide, that they don’t have enough
leads, that the quality of the leads aren’t good enough, or that the leads aren’t the right
type. They’ll say that the marketing materials don’t give the customers the information
they need, that they’re not the right type of assets sales needs to facilitate
conversations with customers, or that the event isn’t the right type of event or doesn’t
attract the right audience.
In other words, marketing doesn’t help them sell. What type of message does that send
to the company?
Exactly.
Because of that, no one in the company often really knows what marketing has done to
help drive the success of the business. They think it’s all due to sales. And if marketing
does try to showcase their part in it, it often comes across as sour grapes or trying to
ride the coattails of sales.
Marketing credibility? I don’t think so.
Marketers Don’t Market Themselves
It’s true. Marketers don’t know how to market themselves. Too often they assume the
fact that they do their jobs is sufficient and that if it delivers results, they will be
recognized, rewarded, and promoted.
But how many marketers do you see being publicly recognized at corporate events?
How many do you see joining the President’s Club? How many marketers do you see
receiving huge bonus checks? How many marketers do you see going on all expenses
paid trips to the Caribbean?
I know. It’s a rhetorical question.
4. The sales guys are the ones who stand out. That’s because they’re the ones who not
only know the importance of self-promotion, they practice it on a regular basis. They
understand the importance of face time with senior management. They know that
keeping updated sales figures top of mind with the executives shows both their personal
and professional impact on the business.
Sales professionals know that it’s critical to their career development to blow their own
horns, so they keep track of their accomplishments and don’t let anyone in the company
forget them. Especially their management and the corporate execs.
Because of this, sales has budget. Sales has visibility. Sales professionals get raises
and promotions. Sales people get rewarded.
And marketing doesn’t.
In other words, sales professionals know how to sell themselves just as well as they
know how to sell a product.
Marketers could learn a lot from them.
Changing Paths
Okay, but I’m a marketer. I don’t want to be a sales guy. I don’t like to sell. I don’t want
to meet with customers. I don’t want to travel all over the place. I enjoy writing,
developing campaigns, creating messaging and positioning, writing white papers. In
other words, I like being creative and doing all of the other aspects of marketing that I’m
involved in.
Great. But you could always do more. Or do things better. Or most importantly, help
others across the company learn what it is that you as a marketer do and why your
function is critical to business success.
But you’ll have to prove this to them.
Unfortunately, the reality is that marketing is one of those areas that many people think
is easy. They think anyone can do it. Marketers often hear comments about how easy it
is to develop a website (it isn’t) or create a brochure (it’s not), so it can’t really be that
hard to do.
People don’t realize that marketing is a discipline and that marketers have to be experts
in their products, just as much as the sales teams are. They don’t understand that
marketers have to know how to apply the knowledge they gain from their research to
the various actions and assets they’re responsible for to most effectively engage with
customers. They don’t realize that marketers have to be able to collaborate and work
cross-functionally with numerous organizations across the business. And most
5. importantly, that in order to do their job right, deliver results, and accomplish the
business goals takes focus and hard work.
Of course, most marketers don’t help themselves by presenting “results” of their actions
through “metrics” such as click-throughs, number of page visits, number of shares,
number of attendees to a conference, number of visitors to a booth, or the number of
downloads a piece of content has generated. And truthfully, those aren’t metrics, they’re
measurements. They’re definitely not results.
Even as metrics, they’re not very good, as those are really nothing more than activity
(aka, “vanity”) metrics. They don’t tie a specific marketing action to a specific business
outcome. They don’t indicate how a marketing activity drove customers through the
sales funnel. They don’t show marketing providing strong, solid leads to the sales team
for them to close. Ultimately, they don’t show how marketing helped drive sales
revenue. All they really show is that some sort of activity took place.
In other words, they don’t show marketing’s relevance to the business. And that’s not
what business leaders want to see.
It’s no wonder then that marketing has no credibility and is typically viewed as a support
function to sales. They haven’t shown how they’re critical to business success.
Compare that to sales, who keeps track of and records in the CRM system all activity
related to the steps in the sales process: the number of times they’ve emailed or talked
to a customer, how often they’ve met with a customer, provided information to a
customer, given the customer a demo, or anything else that helps move a customer
down the funnel. They provide weighted estimates and probability of success for closing
the deal. They track budget spent vs. the size of the deal so that ROI can be calculated.
Sales people know how to show how each of these steps is part of the sales cycle a
customer goes through prior to making a purchase. They also have business goals that
they must meet, so they track and tie their activities to those goals, to show how all of
what they do (even taking a customer out for a nice meal) is business-related and helps
drive the sale.
Is it any wonder that sales professionals are recognized?
Marketing Can Learn a Lot from Sales
We know marketing has a credibility issue, which is why marketers have to change that
perspective. Marketers have to show how marketing activities drive customers through
the sales funnel. They have to not only deliver results, but show how those results are
tied to a specifically defined business outcome. They must be able to calculate
marketing ROI and be able to support that with hard data, not just with guesstimates.
Marketing contribution has to be defined not just in terms of activities, but revenue.
But how can this be done?