For most, 2009 can’t come fast enough. Many of my prospects and even some clients have put off spending until the New Year with a wait and see mindset on the state of the economy and the inauguration of President-elect Obama. No doubt the last few months have been tumultuous for those in the business to business marketing niche. Some markets have remained unaffected and even some have grown, but by and large the global recession has had many forecasting pessimistically and our consumer spending and business budgets reflect this apprehension. The reality is this is a perfect time to market but that I’ll save for a later post…

Read More…

Britain’s The Guardian newspaper recently reported that since Muntazar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President Bush, the shoe manufacturer has been swamped with orders. Seriously! The Turkish manufacturer has seen orders for the $41 shoes quadruple according to the story. All good humor aside, there is a point to be made for B2B marketers:

Read More…

Ok, you just got the news that your budget has been cut in half this year and your company is/will continue to announce layoffs. The sales department is under tremendous amounts of pressure and you can feel the weight of responsibility on your shoulders to help fill the pipeline. Happy Holidays…   

Chances are there is no federal bailout for you; however you do have a job and a budget to work with. Count yourself fortunate. So what the marketing plan you spent all of October crafting is now out the window. The beauty of your situation is you are positioned to be a hero, a new media hero… creating more sales opportunities, gaining market share and fortifying your brand in the most challenging of times.

Read More…

I had a meeting with a client yesterday to finalize some open PR items for December and look toward activities for Q1 2009. Of course, the meeting made its way around to the all too familiar discussion of rather bleak sales over the last few months. But, this client was excited about what the new year might bring. What would be the next big target market? Solar, fuel cells, Li-ion batteries, specialty ceramics for military applications.  The good news is…there are a lot of options for the new year.

My bets are on energy-saving applications and I’m starting article research on solar energy for this client now. What’s your next target market and how do you plan to reach them?

The computing power we have on our desks today dwarfs the entire network NASA had when it first put a man on the moon in 1969. We can manipulate photos to create flying pigs that look real. We can write in calligraphy that would have taken a scribe years to produce. With unimaginably simple-to-learn programs like PhotoShop, InDesign, DreamWeaver and Illustrator, many people who were shut out of the creative world are now making amazing creations. That’s great, unless the works they’re creating are your company’s ads, brochures or Web pages. Your company’s collateral, both inprint and online, are part of your brand. If they appear amateurish, you’re handicapping your sales effort. The problem is, most who take this route to save money don’t know enough about about science of messaging to know that they’re hurting themselves.

Read More…

At B2B companies, Sales is king. That fact alone is not surprising if you consider it’s the salespeople who close the orders and bring in revenue. What is surprising today is the absence of “sales perspective” in the strategic marketing communications planning effort. The two critical functions just don’t work as a team. Should they? You bet your sweet Web site they should. It’s a new B2B sales game out there.

The Internet puts marketing squarely in the beginning, middle and end of the sales process, so it had better be in line with your sales team’s needs. The only way to guarantee alignment is to get Sales involved as part of your research for continuously refining your Web presence. Astute sales staff can define prospects’ pain points and industry trends that you can translate into messaging that attracts, engages, educates and nurtures customers and prospects.

In tough economic times, marketing is usually the first budget cut. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop communicating with your customers and prospects. Now is the time to leverage new media to maximize your remaining budget dollars. Dynamic online advertising, interactive sales tools, and cost-efficient public relations can help.

Don’t let budget cuts sink your sales efforts. Nurture your leads. Uncover new ones. Sustain and grow your brand.