When I look at the successes and failures in business, I think I have found consistency between them.
The successful businesses remember their primary objective and the businesses that fail have forgotten what they are working for. Their efforts are misplaced because they forgot the reasoning and goals behind their efforts.
Let's put a practical example with this concept.
There is no single business that doesn't require a bit of understanding of technology in this day and age. Even the least technical professionals are sporting smartphones or alternate mobile devices to check email, talk to staff and connect with clients.
The challenge is that technology can be a bit unnerving for some business owners. It’s not unnerving because it’s technology, per se. It’s unnerving because of the need to understand, yet again, something new.
When there is so much technology to keep up with, how do we keep it all straight?
Think of it this way- Technology helps us solve problems and improve our processes the same way any other tool would. Until we understand that the technology we use is meant to solve problems, we’ll continue to focus on how hard it is to integrate technology into our business and marketing efforts.
A trending term right now in the business world is "martech." Maybe you've heard of it, but for the sake of those who haven't, martech is the blending of marketing and technology. Every company has at least a smidge of this happening within their walls, whether they realize it or not. It's a thing of beauty. Let's explore a few examples of martech to give you a clearer idea of it in action.
We get questions from people all of the time looking for the best way to market themselves. They want to know the right strategy and tactics to developing great sales and marketing funnels, going viral, getting a higher ROI... the list goes on. Well, there is, in fact, a root ideology that we believe strongly impacts all of these things:
Be uniquely YOU and the rest will follow.
Poole Family Farms is a small, four-generation family farm, joyfully bringing locally grown produce to communities in the Pacific Northwest. They provide high-quality produce, direct from the farm, at bulk rate pricing.
The Poole family offers an opportunity for “You-Pick Cherries” right from the Poole Family Farm property in Hood River, Oregon, as well as deliveries of a variety of fresh produce from their farm and from other Oregon family farms, to Portland, Newport, Corvallis, and beyond (12+ locations).
If you’re a data nerd like me, then you know that one of the most frustrating things in marketing is to *not8 know information about the users browsing your site content. Sure, you could sift through all the information that Google Analytics provides, but there’s got to be an easier way to get some quick insights about leads and users…
What’s this? HubSpot has software that does this? And it’s FREE?
Years ago, in a different life, I was a sales manager in a different industry. I had ten sales associates working for me in outside sales. We won some and we lost some.
Whether we won a deal or lost a deal, I would ask my sales rep to debrief. I wanted to know how it all worked out. I was always much more interested in the reasons we lost deals than the reasons we won deals.
In that highly commoditized industry, more often than not, the reason for losing a deal came back as, "We were too expensive."
That always frustrated me; not because we were over-priced but because the sales rep didn't understand that price is only one part of the buying decision. It's usually not even the most important part.
In the business world, it used to be enough to sell a product. Talk about what it does, how it will help you, and it is bought. Now, a product needs a story. An idea. There are hundreds of others offering what you do; what makes yours different?
You may be doing better on followers, but is the only sound on your Facebook... Crickets? You're posting regularly, (we hope) but no one responds. We've found some pretty nifty tips for increasing Facebook engagement, which we've used ourselves, and thought we'd share:
Yes, games work! They're fun, they show your personality, and people like to play. The key is not making them about you or your business, but about your audience. Be sure to check out Facebook's guidelines first, then go wild!
Here are some games you might try out!
Run a "Take Your Best Guess" competition!
Business owners use several marketing strategies to entice customers and increase profits. Some strategies succeed and reinforce sales, whereas other methods exhibit insignificant results. Market and data research is vital in determining the best marketing or advertising strategy. Data-driven market research is perhaps the most important tool for business owners when evaluating the market they are interested in engaging with.
You've finally done it; you finally have all the matching electronics from your beloved tech company. You've imagined this perfect world where your phone shares well with your tablet, laptop, and desktop. You think of the beautiful symmetry involved in seamlessly taking a document from your desktop to your phone while you are on the go and then dream of yourself laughing and smiling because nothing ever goes wrong with your technology.
