The New Four P’s of Marketing — Part 4

So far, we’ve looked closely at Proof, Presence and Persuasion to identify why they now make up the first three parts of the New Four P’s of Marketing.
Now let’s look at the final piece of the puzzle. The final P is actually an old-school holdover from the original Four P’s: Price.

Price — Of course, [...]

The New Four P’s of Marketing — Part 3

So, we’ve looked at Proof and Presence and why they’re the lead tandem in the New Four P’s of Marketing.
Now let’s look at what you need once you have Proof and Presence: some Persuasion.

Persuasion — What good is Presence if you don’t use it wisely? If you don’t use it to demonstrate your Proof [...]

The New Four P’s of Marketing — Part 2

So we’ve discussed Proof and why it’s critical to demonstrate that what you do and what you say means something to customers.
Now let’s discuss what you can do to demonstrate that Proof – go get yourself some Presence.

Presence — You can’t prove anything to anyone without having a Presence. And not just in terms of being there [...]

The New Four P’s of Marketing — Part 1

In a way, it’s not even appropriate to say “Things change fast” any more. It’s like saying “The sky is blue” or “AT&T sucks” or something else equally obvious.
Change is such an engrained part of the marketing landscape now, sometimes things change and you don’t even notice. Hell, you even start doing things the new [...]

Social Media Revisited

I’m not even sure that’s the right title for this post. It seems like everything we do nowadays involves social media — maybe this should be called “Social Media Yet Again.”
Anyway, in the past I’ve focused on things like measuring social media ROI and the demands of doing social media right. I took a [...]

When Sales and Marketing Don’t Mix, Part 2

Since it’s part two of the story, I’ll share two examples of ineffective sales strategy.
And even though I say “sales” in these cases, if you take a good, long look it’s clearly marketing that shares the blame. As a marketer, you have to align with and win over the sales team, and implement a [...]

When Sales and Marketing Don’t Mix — Part 1

I know what you’re thinking. You’re simultaneously saying “They never mix” and thinking of all the things those annoying sales people down the hall have done to you, from using outdated materials to sending customers letters and emails wrought with incorrect grammar and off-brand language. I mean, the notion that sales and marketing [...]

Cascading Questions?

It was a good week wasn’t it? Got alot of work done and accomplished alot, but always alot left to do, right? Looking forward to the weekend?
I started with a few questions because many questions popped up for me today, all day. I read some articles and heard some comments that made [...]

The Dark Ages Persist

They’re still out there. You know who they are. They’ll all around us.
They’re people who still do it the old way. Still live in the dark ages and do it just because. Still do it because it’s too much work to change.
I ran into some of them today. They called [...]

New Acronym, New Urgency to Measure Your Social Media Metrics

It used to be so simple.
At first, social media was easy because the standards of traditional marketing didn’t fit. It was new and different. It was personal and customer-driven and you were just feeling it out. It was Facebook and Twitter and what was to measure? If you knew how many [...]

Think Your Emails Are Compelling?

They very well may be. But what if they’re never delivered? Your customers never get a good, long look at your message.
A new study from Return Path just came out that shows a little more than 20% of business email doesn’t get delivered. And that’s across all email addresses — when you [...]

7 Things To Do in the Next 7 Days — Part Two

Hopefully you’ve been able to make some progress on the first three to-do’s posted not too long ago. Or, at the very least, you plan to start on them now, then come back to these four after. Anyway, here you go — four more things you need to do for the latter part [...]

7 Things To Do in the Next 7 Days — Part One

It’s a crazy time to be a marketer.
So much to do, so much to learn, so much to stay on top of. It’s the most dynamic time in the last 15 years. Technology evolves at a breakneck pace even in the down economy. Social media rewrites the way marketers can engage customers [...]

Another Letter to Marketing Professors

Dear Business School Marketing Professors–
How are you doing? I haven’t had time to drop you a letter since my last one in April, but I took a good, long look at something today that made me think of you.
Leave it to the guru, Seth Godin, to write another blog post that makes it all [...]

Sometimes It’s All in The Show

It’s been said time and again, in one way or another. Focus on substance, not style.
Yet this is a fact — sometimes, your customers want a good show.
Sometimes style is king. Sometimes it differentiates. Sometimes it appears unneccesary, yet has deep impact.
In tough economic times like now, style is often the first [...]