Tag: Business

All Marketers Feel the Ups and Downs at JC Penney

JC Penney has been going through a lot of changes lately, and that is an understatement. After changing their logo, leadership, strategy, and pricing model, they have been losing both their identity and their customers.

But, they may have a plan to turn it all around. Check out this great article by Lisa Arthur about the renovation of the JC Penney brand. I really enjoyed her analysis of the different and creative ways that JC Penney is re-branding themselves moving forward.

Do you think that they can create a clear identity that their customers can connect to, and turn around their sales numbers as well?

Mad Men vs. The Modern Marketer

Matt Wesson, a very talented Marketing Content Specialists at Pardot (and someone I am honored to call my friend), recently created a very fun and creative infographic that analyzes the evolution of the marketing and advertising profession, from Mad Man to Now.

In the infographic, Matt breaks down each aspect of both the 50’s/60’s marketer and the modern marketer; from the clothes they wear to the tools they use to reach consumers. Check out more about the evolution of “the art of influence” below! Continue reading →

6 Tips for Effective Email Marketing

Today’s consumers are being hit with sales messages from all directions; while watching TV, reading magazines (paper or tablet version), browsing the web, checking out what their friends are up to on Facebook, checking their email, and more. However, even with all the different ways consumers are being targeted they still have the power to ignore, or in the case of email marketing delete, sales messages targeted at them.

When it comes to email marketing, there is a very short time frame in which to draw the recipient in and convert them into a customer. Pardot, a leader in marketing automation, created a great infographic to help companies understand the six essential components of effective email marketing. The infographic below does a stellar job breaking down the six components into easy to understand and apply tools. Also, check out a quick recap below for tips and takeaways.

The 6 Essentials of an Effective Email [Snapshot] - Pardot Infographic

Embedded from the Pardot Blog

Continue reading →

The Brand Spiral of Death

The term branding is thrown around a lot in relation to every facet of marketing and advertising, and as such its’ true meaning has become lost in the shuffle. A company brand is not its’ logo, slogan, or website, these are a product of a brand just like the services or products that a company sells. A brand is the external, and internal, perception of a company and/or products/services it sells. In comparison, branding is a process of defining how a company wants to be perceived by their customers and internal team, as well as how they will go about achieving this goal.

I recently read a very interesting article by Jesse McGowan at Atomicdust titled The Brand Spiral of Death (and other thoughts on branding). Continue reading →

How Social Media Has Changed the Sports Industry

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Sports industry social mediaAre you a social media and sports addict? Or just interested in the ways different industries use social media? Well, check out this great article on the role of social media in the sports industry. Using real-life examples, the article breaks down how social media techniques have been used to build player notoriety, create a culture around sporting events, increase ticket sales, and managing crisis situations.

http://mashable.com/2012/06/04/social-media-sports-tickets-infographic/#bbrOEKlj2mqP

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Jenna Langer: 5 Ways to Humanize Your Brand

I recently read a great article by Jenna Langer, on how brands can better connect with their customers by creating a brand that is “human”. As we all know, humanizing a brand is not a small request; Humanizing Brand Imageas  medias (i.e. social media) and customer expectations continue to change, this challenge becomes more difficult.

In the article, Jenna breaks down 5 humanizing tips, why they are important, and ways in which companies can implement them. These tips can help companies not only connect with their customers, but also turn them into brand advocates. Continue reading →

16 Tip for Marketing on a Budget

For a company to thrive, it is important that they always make sure that they get the most for their money. This is especially true for small businesses who can’t afford the large advertising campaigns that larger companies can. But don’t fret, there are many things that all you small business owners can do to market your brand, find new customers, and increase sales. Check out these 16 great tips on how to market on a budget from Transition Marketing.

Do you have any tips for marketing on a budget?

Related articles

The Influence of Social Media on Sales

Check out this very interesting article by Nick Martin, recapping his recent presentation at the International Customer Reference Program Conference in Boston. In the article he breaks down his presentation into the following two categories:

Impacting the Right Conversations Means Influencing the Bottom Line

Business need to understand the different stages of the customer life-cycle. In order for businesses to target their audience correctly during each stage of the customer, they must:

  • Research top influencers
  • Determine target search terms & phrases customers use
  • Calculate a customer’s desired outcome

Four Common Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

  • Don’t assume that your target audience is already following you
  • Focus on building followers
  • Defining social too narrowly
  • Optimizing for search AND social

I highly recommend not only checking out his presentation recap but also the full presentation titled Unlocking the Value of Search and Social for Customer Evidence on SlideShare.

Infographic Resume Timeline

Stand Out With An Infographic Resume

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With hundreds of applicants applying for every job right now, how do you make your resume stand out from the rest? One way is by creating an infographic resume.

My favorite tool for building a visual, dynamic, and interactive resume is Re.Vu. Re.Vu calls its self the “Cure for the Common Resume”. They not only offer free tools for creating your dynamic resume, they also let you select a custom Re.Vu url to direct people to. Continue reading →