Before the web, marketers of business products relied on direct mail catalogs as their primary selling tools. But now everyone shops online. In a web-based world, do B2B product marketers still need print catalogs? Yes: Here are seven reasons why print catalogs continue to play an essential role in a smart marketing strategy for marketers of business products....
View MoreWhen business is good and sales are going well, it’s easy to get complacent about marketing. After all, if it ain’t broke, do you really need to fix it? Yes, you do. Complacency in marketing can be a costly mistake. Markets, competitors, and channels change fast. If you’re not keeping pace, you can fall a step behind. Sooner or later, your bottom line will show it. Here are 10 signs it’s time to give your marketing strategy a jolt: Looking dowdy at the tradeshow: Tradeshows are like a marketing face-off with your...
View MoreMember acquisition is a constant challenge and a top priority for most trade associations. Who do you target? How do you reach prospective members? And how do you convince them to join your organization? Here’s how the American Advertising Federation-Cleveland (AAF-CLE) developed a successful membership marketing strategy and campaign that exceeded its goals and laid the foundation for future member acquisition....
View MoreHow the Wall Street Journal lost a 20+-year customer through poor service and impersonal customer relations plus seven tips about customer retention during service disruptions for your smart marketing strategy....
View MoreHow to be a smarter marketer:11 more timeless tips for creating smart marketing strategies from Cleveland, Ohio marketing consultant Jean Gianfagna -- part 2 of a 2-part post...
View MoreDirect mail is a powerful tool in a B2B marketing strategy. Here are 12 lessons for using direct mail effectively in B2B marketing from a campaign by 4imprint, a Wisconsin ad specialties marketer....
View MoreBlogging is a great way to share your expertise and position your organization as a thought leader in your industry. Blogging offers particular value for business-to-business marketers like me who sell professional services. How can you get better results from your B2B blog? Here are five tips I discovered when analyzing my blog traffic. Traffic Tells a Story – and Offers Valuable Insights I started my Smart Marketing Strategy blog almost four years ago to promote my Cleveland marketing consulting firm. Blogging has produced great results for my business: Establishing my credibility as...
View MoreHave you or your business won an award? Congratulations! Once you’ve toasted to your success, it’s time to capitalize on your honor to promote your business. Here are 13 ideas for showcasing business awards in a smart marketing strategy. Why Awards are Great for Marketing Awards offer your business powerful marketing advantages. Winning an award enables you to: Stand apart from your competitors; Position your company as tops in your field; Instill pride in your staff; Spotlight your staff’s capabilities and achievements; Remind clients and prospects of your commitment to excellence; Generate positive...
View Morere you creating a new website for your business? You may want to build it on WordPress. WordPress is a free blogging and content management system and a hugely popular website platform. More than 60 million sites are on WordPress, with 330 million visitors viewing 3.4 billion pages each month. We recently created WordPress sites for one of our clients and for our strategic marketing consulting firm in Cleveland. Here are some tips and tricks we learned about WordPress that could be helpful to your smart marketing strategy....
View Moref you’re a business-to-business marketer who still doesn’t have a business page on Facebook, relax: You probably don’t need to be on Facebook after all. As social media has matured, each social media channel’s role and value has become clearer. Though Facebook is by far the dominant social network, B2B marketers increasingly are questioning its value for connecting with business decision-makers. I’m no longer advising most of my B2B marketing clients to focus on Facebook. Here’s why – and what it might mean for your smart marketing strategy....
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