An excellent list of some great books. I've read half of these so I guess I'm on the right track with my own professional development, woo hoo!!
The others are now on my list, definitely check them out for new ideas, processes and different ways of thinking to then incorporate into your own style and beliefs.
Are there any others that I should add to my list?
Conversation Agent
Here's some great information from a friend of mine, Mike Byers of The Byers Group. Marketers should take this to heart and truly look to bridge the gap with sales. Marketing needs to make sure their activities are trackable, measurable and actually help sales sell.
Making all those “Wishing you a Prosperous 2010!” sentiments come true
As we all settle into 2010, here’s a thought to improve your new year marketing investments. For good sport, throw this out at your next management meeting:
“What should be the 2010 Sales Goal for the Marketing Department?”
The reactions may vary from adamant protestations to showing pre-and-post brand awareness studies to dragging out stacks of spread sheets on web site “click throughs”. The reality is that, in this digital age, it is indeed possible to tie many marketing efforts directly to converted sales and, at least to some extent, shouldn’t the role of Marketing be to provide qualified leads for Sales?
Let’s take a modest approach to this last thought for 2010. Is it unrealistic to ask Marketing to have 50% of their efforts be measureable and tied to converted sales? Even if that goal is 25-30%, the benefits are significant in:
- At least moving toward a more Sales oriented/measurable mindset within Marketing (and the rest of the organization?)
- Having a common scorecard for collaborative success
- Having visibility to what efforts provided ROI and what didn’t (thus, providing data to better direct marketing investments for 2011)
If there is no openness to discuss this approach, it often points to deeper challenges including no “closed loop”, marketing campaign-through-sales processes in place, little to no CRM utilization by the sales force, no ability to measure marketing campaigns, etc. Not to worry, everyone has to start somewhere and “2010” has a nice ring to it as a milestone. To this effect, start the process by presenting the question below the next time Sales and Marketing are all together:
“What do you consider to be a “good lead”?
This is the first area where “bridging” needs to occur. Make certain that there is consensus from the discuss as to what a good lead looks like and that the definition is captured on paper. This exercise alone can help make great strides toward bringing the two, often discordant, groups together.
As detailed in the white paper “Why Marketing Throws Sales under the Bus (and how to avoid fatalities)”, by the marketing automation company, Silverpop, the challenges are fairly common and the detriment to go-to-market efforts evident:
“Much of the problem lies in marketing and sales having different definitions of what constitutes a lead. For example, marketing might consider a person who downloaded a white paper to be a lead, while sales labels that person merely a contact or information request. Generally, salespeople want to work prospects that are further along in the pipeline than merely showing interest in a topic. They prefer to jump in when prospects are at a point where they’re ready to make a buying decision. And they certainly don’t want to follow up on a supposedly “hot” lead only to be told, “Actually, I’m not looking to buy anytime soon, I was just checking out a Webinar.”
Frustration builds when lead generation becomes a numbers game. Marketing rushes to fill the pipeline at the top, with little concern for quality over quantity, believing sales can sort through the chaff. Marketing feels it’s fulfilled its responsibility of driving more leads sales’ way, not realizing that unqualified leads become a distracting nuisance to the salesperson.”
If you would like directions to the web site where Silverpop houses this white paper (it is very good) or another excellent article on the subject from our strategic partner, The Annuitas Group.
In any event, take the first step in 2010 toward accountability, visibility to your marketing investment and measurement of ROI.
‘ Don’t let you prospects or customers forget about you. Out of sight = Out of Mind’
http://9inchmarketing.com/
I was in a meeting yesterday and rambling on about the usual stuff, but you know what? The usual stuff is really important.
- Creating compelling messaging that hits home to the audience AND is in their language.
- Identifying the sales cycle and communicating the appropriate message at each stage.
- Brand - who are you, what do you stand for and where are you going?
- Integrated marketing - utilizing web, electronic, direct marketing, PR, etc - all a concise, cohesive message.
- ROI and metrics - you getting the most out of your marketing dollar? If not, why? A plan is an organic thing, keep adjusting to find that magic combination, then once you got it, replicate it.
- Funnel all customer touchpoints into your CRM system and warm up any return calls from sales by giving them as much information as you can about the customers interest, history with the company (downloads, website visits, etc.).
- Work with an expert.
- One that understands and can think outside of your corporate walls.
- One that brings new ideas and innovative thinking to the table.
- One that offers excellent customer service and the attention the client and project deserves.
- One that is fun. Simply fun. Do you enjoy working with them?
Some things to think about.
I don't know how many times a day I get calls or emails from people looking for work. I tell them all the same thing... work your networks. Contact anybody and everyone you know. If you haven't checked in with them lately, do it now. Networking is the key to jobs, employment and relationships. And they're organic, always moving and changing. You have to move and change with them otherwise you're done.
How do you work your social media sites? Find a couple that work best for you and work them. Keep them updated and fresh. Also use those mediums as a mini portfolio. Post your work. Get it out there. Inspire others.
As some of you know, I'm over in Regensdorf, Switzerland for X-Rite. It's a small town outside of Zurich, which is a city about the same size as Grand Rapids, MI. Had two days of sales meetings for Europe which included sales managers and directors from the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and Eastern Europe. These folks cover all of Europe, the Middle East, India and Northern Africa. Every day here I'm learning more and more about the language and cultural challenges here. For instance, in Eastern Europe, there are 16 languages. Right now the X-Rite website supports none of them. It's unfortunate because that is one of the few growth markets in the world. But in talking with the sales director, we might be able to come up with a solution by creating a mini-website module that our distributers (dealers) in each of the country's can translate and drop into the local websites.
Not only language is important, but also trends from a marketing standpoint. Things that work in the US are not always appropriate for Europe. So I'm constantly working with my counterparts on specific regional techniques, activities and approaches for communications.
Had a great dinner with a new friend last night, Felix Schmollgruber, who is an Industrial Application Specialist here at X-Rite. He helps customers with the technical applications of unique customer solutions. Other than great food and beer, talked about cultures, languages, politics and children. We came to the conclusion that people are all the same, no matter where they're from. Same challenges, same fears, same happiness.
Vielen Dank Felix, sehr interessant und ein schoner Abend.
Good snapshots of some major campaigns. Check it out.
marketing-campaign
The West Michigan (and I suspect elsewhere) market is hurting. Hurting bad. Just in the last 2 weeks I’ve heard from several graphic designers, photographers, printers, film and video folks, web designers, ad agency’s and web programmers – all looking for work. Not good.
From what I’m seeing, there’s work out there… BUT… you have to work and dig extremely hard for it. I don’t have all the answers, but some things to think about. How are you using social media sites? Are you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, etc? A great little program I ran across is ping.fm. This allows you to update your status across several social media sites. Great for saving time. But when you change and update your status, is it really relevant to what you do or the work you’re looking for? Keep that in mind. Always your audience must be top of mind. Do they really need to know that you’re enjoying a cup of coffee or just got done letting the dog out? This is fine if you use these media’s for purely social. But if you’re using them for business that type of post isn’t going to cut it. People want to know what interesting things you’re doing. Updates like: “Strategizing a communications campaign for a professional services client,” would be more appropriate. It updates your readers on what you’re doing but relating it back to what you do. Strategize. It could trigger something in someone’s mind that could lead to a call, some business, a referral, etc. This type of status update is meaningful. Also, what about linking to related blogs, articles or websites. These can be invaluable to clients. Clients are always tied down dealing with internal politics, budget issues and don’t always have time to think about the future. That’s where you can help them. Send them information that may be pertinent to them and their industry. Help them. That’s how you bring value and strengthen relationships.
I also work my network. A network is truly what makes a person successful. Contact anyone and everyone that you know. Update them on what you’re doing and what you’re looking for. Even if you haven’t talked in years, reach out. The larger your network base, the more successful you will be at finding employment or gaining work or recommendations. Do breakfasts, lunches, dinner, drinks, whatever it takes to get face time and to show your portfolio. Also reach out to folks that come in contact with a variety of businesses like printers, photographers or even insurance people. Anyone in your network is valuable as long as they clearly understand you and what you’re looking for.
Keep digging, keep networking and don’t stop. This is something that you really must do all the time, not only when things are tough, and it has to be a conscious effort. I typically have 8-12 networking (and new business) meetings per week, around 10-16 phone conversations, and spend an hour each night returning emails and surfing industry blogs and articles. I don’t think this is the magic combination, but it works for me. You need to find that magic combination that works for you.
Good luck and happy networking!
The January 2009 list for the top 150 twitter users with advertising and marketing blogs.
Enjoy!
http://www.twitterpower150.com/
I was talking with a friend today (thanks Chris from across the pond) and he reminded me about a few things that we all (including myself) tend to forget about.
During tough times marketers and advertisers need to take advantage of that. Chances are, if you're cutting budgets, your competitors are as well. And then with nobody in your industry is advertising, sending direct mail, etc. isn't this a golden opportunity for you to take advantage of all that open space?
In tough times, we all think about efficiencies, accountability, ROI and lead generation. An integrated approach is still the best, but with shrinking budgets you have to make every dollar work for you. It's easy to throw money at marketing activities when budgets are huge, but the true test of your marketing is to make it work in today's economy. Every single penny you spend must count and help drive leads and convert them to sales, build and strengthen your brand and help the bottom line of your company.
Think long and hard about your audience and what makes them tick. Then sharpen your marketing sword and develop a targeted strategy.