Posted by Devesh Panchwagh on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 @ 10:54 AM
It’s official: TSL Marketing delivers killer content. At the First Annual Killer Content Awards ceremony hosted by DemandGen Report, TSL was recognized alongside marketing industry leaders—HubSpot, Eloqua, and Rackspace, to name a few—for raising the bar in content marketing tactics.
This award—hopefully the first of many— further validates that TSL is a go-to partner for B2B organizations looking to increase their brand and content awareness. Content creation has become even more critical at a time when prospects seek as much insight as possible before making critical buying decisions.
“Content collateral — such as E-books, white papers, webinars and infographics — helps B2B organizations speak to their prospects' buying needs and pain points," says Andrew Gaffney, Editor, DemandGen Report. "The Killer Content Award winners have demonstrated a clear understanding of how to create engaging conversations with today's B2B buyers."
Among the “Killer Kudos” that TSL received for its content marketing program:
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Enlisted editorial schedule to manage content program
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Catered to various format preferences
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Last webinar garnered more than 250 global registrants
Each winner is profiled in the 2012 Killer Content Awards Report. Click here to download this report about TSL’s award-winning development strategy.
Posted by Finn Davis on Tue, Feb 21, 2012 @ 11:34 AM
“It’s not you, it’s me!” Many of us have heard this tired relationship cliché before, if not personally than certainly in any number of cookie cutter TV series bombarding our living rooms. Although a time tested slogan of sputtering relationships, its essence is vital to bettering your business model in 2012.
Customer Profiling, a behaviorally based science enables your company to align with the customer’s needs by determining habits, strengths and weaknesses. Of equal importance, effective Customer Profiling will provide the information to determine whether a prospective customer is capable of, and willing to be delighted by your products or services. The latter of these benefits receives much less credence, perhaps due to its counterintuitive nature; turning away business. Believe me, it is of equal importance.
Can you recall a time when your Execution team met with a Sales member who described a prospective customer as reluctant to work with your organization? Perhaps bound by external pressures, they were forced to engage with your company? Maybe funding limitations, timeline restrictions or execution requirements have left them no choice but you? These are the early warning signs of a prolonged relationship marred by bickering over product quality, frayed communication, frustrated management and resource depletion. Does this sound terribly familiar? Well there is of course, another way.
Prior to execution, long before the first action is taken; make time for a discussion with your internal team. Whether it is an internal kickoff call, or a discussion devoted solely to Customer Profiling, take time to reflect on the customer. Break down their disposition, internal makeup, capabilities, wants, needs and character. Reflect on how your organization complements them. This is the essence of customer centric organizations, and a pivotal moment in preparing yourself to delight your customer, the ultimate goal. If you find yourself thinking “In spite of best efforts put forth, this relationship will not be profitable, and as important, we are not capable of delighting the customer.” Be confident enough to politely approach your prospective customer with the news that a serious conversation needs to take place to further align expectations. Your transparency and guidance as a trusted advisor should solidify in their mind that you are working in their best interest and a genuine reassessment of expectations is necessary.
It is this honest self-reflection, based off of sound data around your customer’s needs, habits and capabilities that will enable you to focus resources on the right customer. Focusing on customers who are a fit for your products and services, will enhance revenue through increased loyalty and profitable execution. The road to profitability does not circumvent Customer Profiling; to the contrary, effective Customer Profiling is the left lane.
Posted by Steve Stone on Wed, Jan 11, 2012 @ 03:08 PM
One of the greatest achievements of the 21st century is the mobilization of business. Companies are decreasing their dependency on stationary workstations and are moving to mobile phones and tablets. Marketing is no different, as there are several ways to market your company from the street, inside a coffee shop, the grocery store, etc. Anywhere you go, your business can follow. There are many ways to take advantage of marketing on the go. Email blasts, social media updates and mass texts can happen from the palm of your hand. One important thing to remember is that you aren’t the only one working on a mobile device. There is a good chance that any prospects you reach out to are working on the go as well. Mobile to mobile messaging is now the the preferred form of communication, and could create a comfortable environment to converse with your audience.if you prefer the traditional cold calling method, the mobile phone is perfect for that as well.. Several applications such as Active Strategy, and Sugar (which runs through the browser) are available to connect to prospects and clients, track activity and report results through your mobile device’s interface. With one touch of the screen in the phone number field, you will automatically find yourself on a prospecting call. Most mobile devices today carry massive amounts of storage space, so thousands of prospect data cards can be held on a phone. Today, the storage is getting even bigger as devices are now connecting to the cloud.We are a generation of multi-taskers who are always on the move. Technology is adapting to our lifestyle, just as we adapt to keep up with its rapid changes. How are you keeping up? In what ways are you managing your marketing while on the go?
Posted by Tara Robertson on Mon, Oct 31, 2011 @ 10:29 AM
Wishing you a fun, safe, and scary Halloween!
Posted by Steve Stone on Mon, Aug 29, 2011 @ 09:32 AM
We know that the business climate is changing. Technology is shrinking the planet by keeping a world of people just one click away. With rapid technology growth comes new strategies and trends in business and marketing. This has made business easier, but the difficulty is trying to keep up. Just like everything else, trends come and go.
The following tips can help your company stay ahead of the curve:
- Companies need do their homework. The internet is filled with lists of top companies in each industry. Most of these companies will have blogs on their website. I've discussed before about how companies use blogs to market themselves; industry leading corporate blogs will have great, innovative marketing strategies within their blogs. Make sure you follow them - Google has great tools that allow users to follow blogs and websites. You will be notified whenever an update is made to a followed blog, always keeping you current.
- Staying abreast of current events. Google allows you to collect RSS feeds to deliver breaking news to one location 24 hours a day. To keep your company current, stay up to the minute with the latest events. If a natural disaster hits, be the first company to set up a relief fund. If something major happens in the news, offer an opinion on it right away. The information age moves at warp speed. Thirty minutes ago might as well be last year. Never get left behind.
- Keep prospects and customers happy. One easy way to accomplish this is to keep the look and feel of your website, Facebook page, twitter account, and any other content based platform fresh. A website with the same look becomes stale and boring after a few months. An outdated look can drive away traffic. Try to add new graphics ever couple of months. Add a new feature to your site. Create a poll and post it to Facebook and twitter. Depending on the topic, you might be able to get a handle on what your potential customers care about, which can in turn help you market to new customers.
In today's tough economy, marketing is more important than ever. In a crowded marketplace, companies need to stand out from their peers just to survive. Don't fall to the back of the pack. Stay current and become a leader, not a follower.
Posted by Steve Stone on Thu, Jul 28, 2011 @ 10:30 AM
Starting a new company is an exciting venture. It can also be scary once you look at all the things you need to do in order to be successful. First and foremost, you need to make a name for yourself. If you are just starting out, how will anyone know you exist? In a world of competition, you need people to know that you are an option.
Here are five ways for startup companies to market themselves:
- Be active in the community More than likely, you will initially be targeting a local audience. There are plenty of things you can do to make a positive impact in your community that won't cost a whole lot of money. Organizing a charity fundraiser is one example, and it's a great cause that can get your name out to the public. As an added bonus, you will be giving yourself plenty of good PR, which is vital as you begin business.
- Start a blog As you start, you need something of value to offer potential customers before you get settled as a fully operational business. A blog is a perfect way to offer advice, opinions, and advertise your company. For example, the web based financial service mint.com is very popular today, but it started off as a financial advice blog.
- Leads This obviously depends on the company, but any B2B service needs quality sales leads to survive. By going off of these leads, you establish business relationships, retain customers and provide an opportunity for positive word of mouth to spread.
- Be creative You may already have a blog, but if you really want to be remembered you may have to offer your customers a little more. A jingle can be created and uploaded to iTunes in minutes. A video can be added to YouTube in the same amount of time. If you can offer something of high quality, potential customers will want to check you out.
- Socialize We know about the social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook, but there are several other services out there designed specifically for companies to get noticed. Make sure you are creating business profiles all over the web. LinkedIn is a site created specifically for companies, their employees, and other business professionals to socialize. Google has several applications that can help as well. Make sure that your profile has just enough information to entice prospects without being too long.
Posted by Norma Shepardson on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 @ 08:38 AM
Social media and social media marketing have experienced extreme upward momentum over the past few years. The most popular social media outlets have increased exponentially in size; the number of users has exploded, and the actual usage of the websites themselves has gone through the virtual roof. The most amazing part of it all is that it shows no signs of stopping. Social media may be considered a phenomenon by some, but in reality it's become a staple in the lives of hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
We could go on for hours discussing the various social media outlets and tools, but for now we're going to focus on three of the most popular. I want to give a few stats for each to help illustrate just how powerful social media has become.
- According to the 'Timeline' available on their website, Facebook reached 1 million users in December of 2004. As of July 2011, there are 750 million active users.
- As of February 2011, Facebook was seeing 250 million users daily according to a Mashable article.
- A report from eMarketer found that 42.3% of Americans are active on Facebook.
- The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, stated that the most used Facebook products are Photos, Places, Groups, and Messages.
- As of March 2011, Twitter users are now sending 1 billion Tweets per week - this means it took all of 3 years, 2 months, and 1 day for Twitter to truly explode.
- Just one year ago, Twitter users were sending just 50 million Tweets per day - as of March 2011, users were sending 140 million Tweets daily (on average).
- On average, 460,000 new Twitter accounts are created daily according to the TMV article.
- A Mashable article states that 22.5% of registered Twitter users are responsible for 90% of Tweets.
- LinkedIn announced on March 22, 2011 that the Social Media tool reached 100 million professionals worldwide.
- The same announcement by Jeff Weiner stated that LinkedIn is growing by roughly 1 million new members every week - the equivalent of one member per second.
- The LinkedIn website states the following usage numbers: USA - 44 million, Outside the USA - 56 million. The fastest growing countries as per LinkedIn usage are Brazil (428%), Mexico (178%), India (76%), and France (72%).
- There are 17.8 million users in groups.
Posted by Steve Stone on Thu, Jul 14, 2011 @ 10:27 AM
I’ve written that blogging can be a great way to get your company noticed, and a powerful addition to your marketing plan. While creating a blog is a good business idea, many times businesses don’t know what to blog about. It’s important to have relevant topics that can attract readers and get them interested in your company.
Here are five blog topics that every business should use:
- Tease new developments (but don’t give them away!) - Everyone wants to know what the future holds. They want to know where your company is going, so let them know. The trick is to only give bits and pieces. Apple is the master at this. They like to leave hints about innovations and new products, but most of the information is a secret. When the time comes to pull the curtain everyone is hungry to learn about the new product.
- Review literature related to your industry - No matter what industry you are in, chances are that someone has written about it. Reading what others are writing is good research for your own benefit. By reviewing the literature, it shows your readers that you have your finger on the pulse of your industry.
- Discuss Current Events - While this can be a nice diversion and show that you have an understanding of the outside world, a good writer can relate anything back to his or her business. A quick opinion on the latest news spun in the direction of your business can catch the reader’s attention, and before they know it they are reading an advertisement for your company.
- Ask for suggestions - Blogs are not a one way street. They can be interactive. Feedback received on a post can be just as important to a blog as its actual content. Ask your customers and readers for feedback on your products and services. This is a valuable resource for your business and it is welcoming to your blog readers.
- Report From the Scene - Trade shows and community events are great places for your company to set up shop for the day. Live blogging shows your readers that you are keeping your blog fresh and current, and it might even get some readers to come down to whatever event you are at.
Posted by Steve Stone on Thu, Jul 07, 2011 @ 10:55 AM
You may have noticed something a little different the last time you were in Starbucks. If not, the next time you are there drinking a nine dollar latte take a look at the logo on the side of the cup. The iconic mermaid is still there, but the classic “Starbucks Coffee” is gone. Last fall, the popular chain decided to remove the text and just leave the image. This is an example of minimizing a brand, but it’s really maximizing its potential.
Starbucks used to have a plan. They cornered a specific market and hit it hard. In their case, they were making gourmet coffee drinks, and they were doing it better than anyone else. It worked for a while, but things started to change. Their customers wanted more, so Starbucks delivered. Today you can go up to a Starbucks barista and order tea, juice, pastries and breakfast sandwiches. There are regular customers that have never ordered a coffee. By removing the text in their logo, Starbucks has allotted itself unlimited potential by not being pigeonholed as a coffee shop.
There is a reason why businesses subscribe to the “less is more” theory with branding and marketing. If an athletic apparel company created a logo that showed a pair of shoes, consumers may only consider them to be a sneaker company. Nike’s famous “swoosh” is a perfect example of minimalistic branding. It’s a sleek and attractive design, but it doesn’t suggest any specific product that Nike makes. That provides them the flexibility to market and sell any products they want.
Branding can make or break a company. It is important to have an attractive image or logo that catches the eye and becomes recognizable. But by limiting specific language, companies can use the power of the unknown to their advantage. Smart companies are giving themselves the opportunity to expand by not limiting the potential of their brand.
Consider how these principles could possibly apply to your company. Would engaging in a more minimalistic version of your current brand bring you any benefits?
Posted by Steve Stone on Tue, Jun 28, 2011 @ 01:48 PM
As we push forward through the information age, it feels as if there is no end to what our technology can do for us. The ceiling is gone, and the potential is limitless. It used to take days, weeks or even months for news to spread globally. Now it takes seconds. In the business world, smart companies are capitalizing on this phenomenon. Just as they embraced the World Wide Web fifteen years ago, they now understand its truly limitless possibilities.
The internet has been changing. After ten years of anticipating massive growth, businesses began to realize that the internet was actually getting smaller. The term “surfing the web” became outdated. Most online users had a specific plan when they turned on their computers. They developed a routine; one that didn’t usually didn’t involve "surfing" at all. This meant that fewer visitors were going to any given company’s website unless there was a specific reason to do so.
This revelation became crucial in B2B marketing because business prospects typically have less internet time than the general public consumer. They are busy people who are on the go, and cannot afford to spend hours looking through a collection of websites to find their potential vendors.
This all has revealed that to get your name out there, you need to provide fast information and you need to provide it to people who are mobile. It is also becoming known that there are a number of key places that businesses have to hit in order to be seen:
- Facebook: The ultimate example of a shrinking internet. Users can get news, entertainment, opinion and human interaction all in one place. I call it “the internet in one website.”
- Twitter: A great place to give and receive quick information about your business or your customers. With only 140 characters allowed, messages are short and to the point. It’s a perfect way for a company to advertise new products and services.
- Google: This is the closest we have to surfing the net today. Google offers several tools and applications that improve your search ranking and make you more attractive to customers and other businesses. Google defines what people are looking for when they do search the web, providing valuable knowledge for any business.
- Mobile Messaging: The most important innovation of the informational age. It allows information to travel to other businesses or to customers at any time, even while on the go. Marketing can easily be performed and sales can be made at any time or in any place.