Get personal when you select outside resources March 31st, 2008

Outside resources. The right ones can bring invaluable expertise, insight to help with your marketing efforts.
The wrong ones will simply waste your time and money.
Today, there’s no shortage of companies, products and services to help you with everyday marketing needs. But, finding the right service provider, agency or resource is proving harder than ever. Blame it on everyone sounding and acting the same as well as the Internet, where perception can easily dwarf reality.
Then, [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Strategy, Misc. No Comments »

Don’t Sweat Marketing Measurement March 18th, 2008

Any marketing measurement system based solely on circulation, clicks, impressions, advertising equivalency or whatever is flawed.
The only measurement that matters is measurement that truly shows how effective you are at reaching your customers and other audiences.
Traditional B2B marketing measurement is especially tough because anything you do impacts everything else you do. How does your PR impact your PPC? How does your PPC impact your SEO? How does your SEO impact your website? How does your [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Tactics, Misc. 1 Comment »

Calling all cars March 13th, 2008

Most mid-marketers have a hard time policing their organization on using correct logos, marks, images, etc.
One idea to help… try to take a moment today to send a message to everyone that is appropriate to remind them of the importance of using the brand correctly, and even supplying them with the most recent versions.  Something simple like… “Just a quick note to remind everyone how important using our brand correctly really is.  To help you [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Tactics, Misc. No Comments »

Consumers versus Customers March 10th, 2008

“Consumers are statistics. Customers are people.” What a great quote by Stanley Marcus, formaer Chairman of Neiman Marcus.
How often are you thinking about your audiences as customers, and not just “consumers” or stats? In today’s one-to-one marketing environment and the increasing need connect on a personal level, it’s imperative that a mid-marketer tries to focus on “customers.”
A few ideas on how to remember and focus on the customer while you wade through [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Strategy, Misc. No Comments »

Take some time to explore March 7th, 2008

I’ve talked a lot about the “Core Traits” of a mid-marketer.  Understanding these core traits, (or characteristics) go way beyond any specific tactic and help form the attitudes and disciplines of a great marketer. The result is the ability to form great strategies and know how to deal with any medium, tactic or technology.
The 4th core trait of a mid-marketer is Exploration- a MidMarketer takes the time to explore and dig a little deeper. 
Some simple [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Creative, Marketing Strategy, Misc. No Comments »

What Competition? March 6th, 2008

On many occasions, when talking to clients about competition, I would hear… “We don’t really have any competition” or… “We don’t really consider anyone else competition.” Seriously, I’ve heard that dozens of times.
Danger! Danger! While it is admirable to be confident in the marketplace, it is foolish to consider that you have no competition.
Instead of thinking about competition as specific companies that you are competing with daily, I always have tried to have [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Strategy, Misc. No Comments »

Wear sunglasses- Don’t get blinded by the technology light March 5th, 2008

Ever have a conversation like this…?
“We need a corporate blog” or,
“We need a Podcast” or,
“We need a Web 2.0 Web site” (or insert the latest marketing buzzword here.)
Answer this with… “Why?”
My advice- Wear Sunglasses and don’t get blinded by the technology light. Marketing technology only works if it (the technology) can effectively and efficiently deliver on a solid strategy.
A good exercise… Before going about creating a podcast, for example, think of the benfit of the [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Creative, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tactics, Misc. No Comments »

What kind of car are you? March 3rd, 2008

I often ask a question to marketing and business executives I’m working with… “If your brand/product/service was a car- what would it be?”
People usually stop for a second and smile- the quickest reply is usually “Mercedes.” The next reply is usually “That’s an interesting question… give me a minute.”  You can see people’s gears turning as they go through all of the cars they can think of in their head, and try to connect one [ read more… ]

Posted by Dan Swartz in: Marketing Strategy No Comments »