Free Personas: Worth Every Penny
The most valuable part of any research is the insight. That nugget of truth that expands your understanding and guides strategy and messaging. Digging for insights isn’t easy—you have to go beyond the surface and get some dirt under your nails. And gasp! you may even have to talk with people outside your organization to widen your own (narrow?) perspective and blow up those assumptions you’ve been operating from for way too long.
Why Marketing Automation Fails And Three Ways To Fix It
When both my girls lived at home I had a wonderful idea – let’s have a family calendar. We’re all bumping knees – I didn’t know you had a swim meet; your aunt’s birthday is next week; yes, Mom’s working Saturday. This would be a window into the week and a sketch of the month to keep us on track and off each others’ nerves. And if we put it on the computer, everyone has instant access. Didn’t work. So I tried printing a blank calendar and putting it on the refrigerator door. Everyone could just write stuff. Didn’t work. For a very basic reason – you don’t get the picture unless everyone contributes.
The Network Of Me And What It Can Do For You
Come, take a walk with me and let’s talk about sales. In fact, I’d like us to put on our prospect hats because the experience is unique. It’s really important to our discussion.
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors (Even If They’re Sales And Marketing)
The river between sales and marketing runs cold and deep. We can see each other’s camp on the opposite bank, just out of range. That we all work for the same corporation is often the irritant, yet I have seen how much success is generated when there is cooperation. Let me tell you how. “Good fences make good neighbors,” Robert Frost concedes in his poem Mending Wall. He’s not entirely happy with the concept, but the sucker works, and it will work here. Building a strong fence will define the playing field (formerly, battlefield).
Customer relationships: Three lessons, Two Words and One Silver Bullet.
I’m a student of customer relationships and I’ve learned three important things. First, I’ve learned that the foundation of any long-lasting customer relationship comes down to two words: trust and respect. I’ve got to feel the love, that you’ve got my back. There’s plenty of other stuff, but at the core, there’s trust and respect, which I’d like to have throughout all my business relationships, thank you. It encourages me to assume the long-term. Otherwise, it’s short-term and transactional. Mr. Money never left the room, but his voice gets a lot louder when the discussion is about a transaction.
Content is in the Eye of the Beholder
We cram a lot of hopes and expectations into content marketing—that prospects will have a preference for our brand and use our content as stepping stones in their consideration journey. Expectations do not decrease. We need content to work harder.