Successful marketing means getting in front of the right audience, with the right message, at the right time. Learn six fool proof ways to provide value to your target audience. 

​Written by Lisa Cassidy, November 13, 2020 
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While there is no one sure-fire formula for creating successful marketing campaigns, there are campaigns that tend to stand out from the rest. You know the ones I'm talking about. The email that reminds you to order flowers for your Mom in April or the one that sends you a webinar on the topic you have been googling. That's what I'm talking about.

The reason these emails are effective is because they are appropriate, timely and relevant to the reader. In order to create value for your audience, you need to know your audience. Listed below are six fool proof methods for maximizing the impact of your next B2B campaign.

#1 Know your audience
In order to connect with your audience, you need to be honest about who your audience is and what their preferences are.  Start by getting answers to these not so simple questions.

• What are the features of your best/most profitable customers and how can I find more prospects like them?
• Where do your prospects go to gather information? Facebook? TV? Twitter? Podcasts? Email?
• What types of messages resonate with this audience?
• What format do they like to absorb information? Audio? Video? Print? Word of mouth?
• What are their interests or pain points?
• What role do they have in the organization?
• What motivates them to take action?

#2 Focus on channels that yield results
Not every business needs to have a presence on Facebook to be successful. Before spending too much time trying to be everywhere, focus on the places your prospects go to get information. Then spend a few months measuring the value of the leads coming from each channel.

If Facebook leads turn into customers, put more money into Facebook posts and ads. If Google Adwords yields better leads, invest there. Just make sure to put enough time and effort into each channel before pulling the plug. Adwords, in particular, takes several months for ads to show up consistently.

#3 Be clear, compelling and concise with your message
Resist the urge to be wordy or to use lots of industry jargon. Your message must be clear and compelling. It should be of value to your audience and memorable. If your message can be easily repeated by the recipient, you nailed it. 

#4 Have a consistent look and feel
Create a visual connection with your audience. Everything should look like it is coming from the same company. The overall design should have the same look and feel whether it is the style of photography, font types or color combinations. The visual theme should be repeated across all channels. Visual consistency will help prospects remember you and is the key to looking organized and professional.

#5 Create content for all the stages of the buyer’s journey
All content is not the same. In the early stages, a prospect may not yet be aware that they need your product or service, so creating awareness is more valuable to them than pricing, for example. Google is often the first place buyers go to research topics they are interested in learning more about, so it is important to have blogs, videos, ebooks and social media posts available for discovery on relevant key words.  

Once a buyer is aware and ready to evaluate their options, they will most likely want pricing or comparison information. It is at this point that they may click on google ads, landing pages or your web site to get more information. If they are serious about learning more, they will be eager to connect with you and provide their email address.

#6 Track everything
The most important aspect of any campaign is to make sure that you understand whether you are achieving the results you intended. The best way to know this is by identifying your goals up front, then tracking against these goals. There are many tools for tracking and evaluating campaigns. Marketing platforms, like Hubspot, can make tracking leads from multiple sources a.k.a web site, email, online ads, landing pages, forms, social media posts and more, seamless and easy, not to mention informative thanks to their real-time reporting dashboards.

Whatever way you choose to move forward, as long as you make it a habit to stick to these six methods for implementing and managing your campaigns, you will find that you get better, more reliable, cost-effective results that align with your company’s marketing goals. ​

Sustainability. Social consciousness. Upcycling. Pre-cycling. Global warming versus climate change. What does it all really mean and why should you care?

Written by Lisa Cassidy

Well, as a business owner, you are in a unique position. Businesses have the ability to tackle sustainability issues linked to consumption, waste, recycling, clean energy, education, equality and climate change (to name a few) more so than individuals - and faster than government. But even more importantly, businesses have a lot to gain financially.

In today’s environment, endorsing and implementing sustainable business practices has a competitive advantage. Not only can it help you cut costs, increase market share and motivate the best people to work for you, it can propel your business to the top as a market leader.

For the past few weeks, I have been taking a course in sustainability through the Harvard Business School. The main questions I had going into this course were – what does it mean for businesses to be sustainable and what would it take to motivate businesses to operate sustainably? What I learned was 1) that the definition of sustainability is much broader than I expected and 2) profitability motivates businesses more than good intentions, but good intentions can lead to enormous success.
 
According to Professor Rebecca Henderson of the Harvard Business School, when a business is motivated to "Do Well" a.k.a. make money and "Do Good" a.k.a. solve social and environmental problems, they create a “Shared Value Opportunity” – basically the intersection between the two.

“Doing good” translates to such things as reclaiming waste, operating more efficiently, utilizing clean energy, reducing inequalities between people and offering fair wages, quality education and clean water.

“Doing well” is about profitability.  It requires decisive action and leadership to move away from the safety of “business as usual” and take risks.  

The Business Case for Change
There are a number of business models that enable companies to balance sustainability and profitability.  The first is the Cut Costs Business Model. In my experience, this is the easiest model to incorporate and the most prevalent.  Businesses who leverage sustainable practices, like recycling and energy management, are rewarded with lower costs and increased profits.

The second model is the Raise Price Business Model.  In this model, businesses charge a premium for adopting more sustainable business practices. If the customer values the sustainability effort, they are likely to pay more for the “same” good or service. We see a willingness to pay more for sustainably produced products and services like coffee, tea, building materials and so on.

The Increase Market Share Business Model rewards first movers. When companies are first to incorporate sustainable business practices and remain price-competitive, they are likely to increase their market share compared to those who offer non-sustainable alternatives. This is even possible in highly commoditized markets where margins are razor thin.

Then there is the Entirely New Business Model. This model takes shape when companies disrupt the industry by developing new, sustainable technologies, products or services to replace older, less sustainable alternatives. A prominent example of this is the creation of clean, renewable energy over fossil fuels.

The Emotional Case for Change
As we see through the above stated business models, there is definitely a business case for change.  The real question becomes an emotional one. Do you have the courage and the passion to break away from “business as usual” and take a risk? 

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.”
​— T.S. Eliot.