5 Lessons from My UPS Guy: How to Create Loyal Customers
One of the most common questions I’m asked as a marketing consultant is how to differentiate a service business from its competitors. After all, most accounting firms deliver the same services as other accounting firms. Ditto for law firms, IT firms, banks, and even marketing agencies. One strategy is to focus on the knowledge and experience of the firm’s employees. I recently wrote about the importance... [Read more]
What’s Next in Digital Media? Answers from the Experts
Digital media is transforming how marketers engage with customers and prospects. Whether you’re marketing to business executives or consumers, it’s critical to monitor the fast-changing digital media space. So what’s on the horizon for digital media in 2012 and what does it mean to marketers? Three marketing experts shared their forecasts last week at a program sponsored by the American Advertising... [Read more]
5 Ways to Blow the Sale with a Bad Proposal
The quality of your sales proposal can make or break your ability to close the deal. So why do so many business-to-business marketers produce such poor sales proposals? I recently helped a client of my Cleveland marketing consulting firm prepare a request for proposal (RFP) for professional services. I also reviewed the proposals received in response to the RFP. Though the RFP spelled out the client’s... [Read more]
How to Create Great Advertising with Storytelling
Top 10 lists are everywhere this time of year. One of the most interesting lists for marketers is the Top 10 Most Viewed Ads on YouTube, as reported on Mashable.com. Think about this list for a moment: These are TV spots people chose to watch online, by the millions. That’s an advertiser’s dream. But what makes these ads so popular? Why did the Darth Vader Volkswagen spot get over 45 million YouTube... [Read more]
USPS Service Cuts: Why Direct Marketers Should Be Worried
The announcement last week that the U.S. Postal Service plans to eliminate next-day delivery of first-class mail was hard news for direct marketers like me to hear. Not because the direct mail campaigns our marketing agency creates require next-day delivery. In most cases, we mail standard class to get lower rates and we factor in the necessary delivery time when crafting a marketing plan. But I got... [Read more]
