Digital Marketing, Analytics and Music

December 10, 2016December 16, 2017

Marketing Challenges: What are the greatest concerns for marketers?

I guessed number one of the marketing challenges correctly. See if you agree with this Hubspot post – updated to reflect recent business marketing research.

7 of the Top Marketing Challenges Marketers Face Today

Every marketer faces different challenges. Although we typically share similar goals, some teams are stuck on hiring top talent, while others are having trouble finding the right technology for their needs.

[Also, read, “Want to Create a Fantastic Social Media Proposal?”]

Whatever the case may be, there’s always at least one area that you can stand to improve. In other words, there’s always room to optimize the various components of your strategy and turn your marketing into an even more effective revenue generator.

Curious about what kinds of obstacles other marketers are up against?

To learn more about the challenges marketers face today, download the free 2016 State of Inbound report here.

We polled thousands of marketers on the challenges they face, as well as the tactics they’ve used to meet those challenges head-on. Here are some of the most common challenges marketers reported struggling with … and their solutions.

The Most Common Marketing Problems We Face, According to the 2016 State of Inbound Report

According to our report, generating traffic and leads and proving ROI are the leading challenges marketers face. Here’s a look at this year’s data:

Image Credit: The 2016 State of Inbound Report

Let’s go through each of these top challenges and how marketers can address them.

Read the rest HERE

Written by Lindsay Kolowich | @lkolow

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December 1, 2016December 16, 2017

Remarkable life advice from an entrepreneurial genius

I’m a big fan of Richard Branson. After reading The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership [listed in 8 fascinating must-reads for entrepreneurs…] I started paying attention to his books as well as active blog and social presence. His writings reveal a scrappy, thoughtful, and very much non-risk-averse entrepreneur who lives life to the fullest and shares his experiences and lessons along the way. When he writes, I read. This recent post struck home and I hope you enjoy it as well.

If Richard Branson could tell you just one thing

“People talk about work and play as if they are separate things, with one being there to compensate for the other, but all of it is life, all of it is precious. Don’t waste any of it doing something you don’t want to do. And do all of it with the people you love.

This was my response when my friend Richard Reed, who knows a thing or two about entrepreneurship himself, asked me for my best piece of advice.

My golden rule in life is to have fun. Life’s too short to waste your time doing things that don’t light your fire. Do what you enjoy, and enjoy what you do. Trust me; great things will follow.

It’s no secret that I like to play as hard as I work. I’ve always lived the ‘work hard, play hard’ philosophy, believing that it’s one of the best ways to achieve balance. I’ve never really thought of work and life as separate. My work is my life, and vice versa… ”

Read the rest of the post HERE.

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November 24, 2016December 16, 2017

Outstanding free marketing tools you need to know about

Free Marketing Tools… and More

The amount of free marketing tools and information available for marketers, entrepreneurs and those bootstrapping a business is fantastic. However, it can be overwhelming to keep track of everything you might use now or down the road.

After creating a comprehensive list of essential free tools for Entrepreneurial Marketing students, (available HERE) one student did a little extra research. She found an incredible list. Big shout out to these folks. It is a terrific resource and pretty well organized for everything from business, marketing, design & code, and productivity to learning.

Click HERE for the list. The updated list contains new tools for website, branding, invoice, image editors, email management and more.

IF nothing else, this is a great way to get familiar with the free tools available and help you to nail done the services you might want to pay for. There are some paid services I use regularly and perhaps those can be covered in a separate post.

Again, don’t forget to visit the list of free marketing tools on this site.

Finally, enjoy! If you have any questions on which tools I’ve used and might be best for you please contact me. Or leave a comment below.

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November 23, 2016December 16, 2017

Powerful lessons that will help you craft your brand

Branding is powerful.

It associates an array of associations with a commodity. Successful messaging and branding makes it about you, the customer.

An excellent and not-so-excellent example of branding happened during this past year.

Donald Trump understands its power.

Hillary Clinton did not.

The reason.

Trump’s brand messaging was focused solely on “Make America Great Again!” a take action phrase first used by the Reagan campaign in 1980. It was simple, memorable and understandable. He messaged his brand in terms folks could easily repeat, remember, take ownership of and take pride in. His brand message was of an outsider that was doing it for YOU, America, the country, the underdogs. He branded himself as “for the people.”

Hillary’s overall message? “I’m With Her.”

“Stronger Together and “Love Trumps Hate” were out there as well, but the first message became the focus – and ultimately the brand message.

Unless you’re a well-read policy wonk, the benefit of standing with the candidate is unclear. I understand what strategists were thinking. It would be great to brand this as a historic, progressive time and that America is ready for a battle-tested female president. I’m sure it spoke to her base, but it didn’t seem to contribute to growing her audience – to which good branding should aspire.

The problem.

Clinton’s campaign message didn’t appear to be about the people – it seemed to be about the candidate. Branding cannot afford to be myopic.

When brands connect, such as: Nike’s “Just do it,” “Inspiration and Innovation for Every Athlete in the World.”; Coca Cola’s “Taste the feeling!” “Red, White and You.” “I’d like to buy the world a coke…”; and even benefit branding served with humor “Save 15%…” by Geico, they make it about you, the customer, taking you into account, making you the center of the message.

Clinton’s campaign brand wasn’t about you, the country or people, instead placing the candidate at the center of attention. A much better branding approach for Clinton would have been (if we still needed to remind folks she was female), “She Stands for You” or a more generic “A Vote for Her is a Vote for America” style of branding and messaging. The list could go on – just anything but “I’m With Her.” Could you imagine a brand trying to define itself with, “I’m With Brand X” while still in the difficult process of convincing you that they are looking out for your best interests, and therefore your best choice? It’s a tad presumptuous.

The solution.

If you want to get people behind you, you need to make it about them, their choices, their ideologies, and their voice. It’s not about you.

Trump understood that and took it to the finish line. Will your brand?

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7 of the Top Marketing Challenges Marketers Face Today

The Most Common Marketing Problems We Face, According to the 2016 State of Inbound Report

Don’t Quit Social. Put It to Work for Your Career Instead.

If Richard Branson could tell you just one thing

Free Marketing Tools… and More

Branding is powerful.

The reason.

The problem.