Blogging is one of the most powerful ways to market your company. But only a few of the 156 million people who are publishing blogs achieve a big following.

One is Chris Brown, owner of Marketing Resources & Results, a full-service marketing consulting firm in Northeast Ohio that helps companies attract new customers.

Chris has published the blog Branding & Marketing since 2006. She’s written more than 900 articles on marketing strategy, marketing tactics, branding, social media, and market research. Last week, she reached a major blogging milestone: 10,000 subscribers.

In this interview with Smart Marketing Strategy, Chris shares how she has used blogging to build her marketing agency and offers some lessons from her success.

Every smart marketer knows the importance of branding. A strong brand differentiates your company from competitors, conveys the highest value you deliver, and serves as an implicit promise to your customers of what your organization stands for.

But what’s the difference between a good brand and a truly great one? How do you create a brand identity that’s so powerful, it becomes one of your most valuable assets — and the centerpiece of a smart marketing strategy?

Here are six factors that separate the best brands from the rest, and examples of marketers who are using these factors to set the bar for branding success.

You’d expect marketing agencies on Madison Avenue and Michigan Avenue to be producing world-class work for big companies. But how about marketing agencies in Cleveland, Ohio?

Major marketers can choose agencies anywhere in the world, yet more and more are selecting marketing teams in Northeast Ohio.

Top executives from three regional agencies and a large Midwestern bank explained why global brands and other market leaders are “Choosing Cleveland” at a NOCA (Northeast Ohio Communications Advocates) Forum at the Cleveland Plain Dealer on April 27.

Here’s how these local firms are landing prestigious accounts and helping national and local clients create smart marketing strategies.

Are you getting a good return on your investment in marketing? Could it be better?

One way to find out is to conduct a top-to-bottom review of your entire marketing plan to determine what’s working and what isn’t.

This process is sometimes called a marketing audit. I’m often asked to guide audits as an independent marketing consultant and I recently shared advice on how to do an audit effectively.

What specific factors should you assess in a marketing audit? Here are 40 questions I recommend for evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing and developing a smarter marketing strategy.

Super Bowl XLV is history and so is the advertising that generated so much buzz and discussion before, during, and now, after the game.

Best and worst ad lists are everywhere after a Super Bowl, and there generally is agreement among marketing experts about the winners and losers.

But when you look more closely at Super Bowl ads, a smart marketer has to wonder about their strategic marketing value. According to the Wall Street Journal, marketers spent $2.8 million to $3 million for a 30-second spot during this year’s matchup. Did the massive investment these marketers made in Super Bowl ads pay off? And even if the ads were clever, were they a smart marketing strategy?

Here are 10 criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising from my experience as a strategic marketing consultant, and my take on how ads from last night’s Super Bowl measured up

Blogging is a powerful marketing tool and an increasingly popular tactic in a smart marketing strategy, especially for business-to-business (B2B) marketers. I know, because I launched this blog to promote my Cleveland-based marketing consulting business exactly a year ago. Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned in my first year as a B2B blogger and three ways blogging has boosted my business.

What’s the best way to maximize the return on your marketing investment? Take a step back from your day-to-day marketing projects and conduct a marketing audit.

A marketing audit is a top-to-bottom assessment of your entire marketing program, from branding to tactics. The beginning of a new year or the start of a new budget period is an ideal time to do it.

How do you conduct a marketing audit? And how can an audit help you develop a smart marketing strategy? Here are some answers.

Do you market products and services to businesses? If large companies are your target market, it can be tough to break in as a new supplier. Here are 10 tips for a smart sales and marketing strategy that can help you land a big client.

Are you thinking about renaming your company? A new name can help your customers, prospects, and competitors see you in a new light. It also can help you make a splash in the marketplace and get media attention. But changing your company name is a major undertaking that requires substantial marketing resources. Before you take the plunge, you must be sure you have the right name and a smart marketing strategy to deploy it. Here are 10 strategic marketing questions to ask yourself when selecting a new name for your company.

If you’re launching a new company, changing your company name, or revamping your brand identity, selecting a new logo will be one of your most important marketing decisions. The logo is the most visible element of your brand identity and the foundation of a smart marketing strategy. A great logo gets attention, sets you apart from competitors, and solidifies your position in the marketplace. A poor logo makes a permanently bad impression on prospects and confuses people about what your brand stands for. Here’s a checklist of seven factors to consider when your creative team or marketing agency presents you with new logo design concepts.