On Words and Business

Marketing isn’t what it used to be.

It isn’t so much about the medium, although that is a key factor. It’s really about producing materials to share with your customers, creating value, and starting conversations.

What have you written lately?

Check out this article on BtoB: Committed to Custom

Do you know what core business goals your product or service helps your customers achieve?

Such as:

• Increased revenues
• Decreased costs
• Improved operational efficiency
• Faster time to market
• Improved customer loyalty
• Increased inventory turns
• Decreased risk
• Improved competitive differentiation
• Increased market share
• Faster sales cycle
• Decreased employee turnover

This is why they’ll listen to you.

A key aspect of content marketing is giving your audience what they need. To do this, you have to learn about and understand trends in your market.  You have to understand what your clients need right now and what they’ll need in the future. That takes a bit of research.

1. Demographics. Who are your clients? Women or men? How old?  What is their job title? Where are they in the country?
2. History. What events or needs have caused them to purchase your product or service in the past? Can you reasonably anticipate these situations in the future? Do you know what signs to look for in their communications and corporate behavior that would indicate these situations?
3. Correlation. Do you understand related businesses and forces that effect your client’s business?
4. Inquiry. Have you asked your customers directly about their needs? Or about where they see the market heading?

Do you know where your market is heading?

If not, you might want to start thinking about it. After all, you want to make sure you’re heading in the same direction. Better than following, though, put yourself out in front and you get to pick the direction to head.

In the absence of a true leader, your customers and market will get their information from anyone who seems vaguely credible.

In the presence of a true leader, your customers and market will follow happily.

Vanguard. Wishing you could see past the crowds in your way. Where would you rather be?

Interesting musings on thought leadership. Jim McGee talks about the lack of success organizations have had “transforming thought leadership into something systematic and manageable.”

He makes a compelling argument for moving thought leadership from a marketing program to a core operating principle. That way, it becomes a side effect of work, not just one more thing on the to-do list.

I agree that it shouldn’t be simply a marketing construct. It should be baked right into the way the organization works. How can we encourage this in organizations? Can marketers help lead the internal conversations to make that happen?

Sharing your knowledge

Sharing your insight and vision