Business

Marketing and Marketing Communications for Small and Medium Businesses: Important Forecasts for 2017

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2016 ended with Americans exhausted by emotionally harrowing politics, stories of foreign entanglements and violence at home. Companies have also struggled with modest economic growth and a turbulent stock market. As we begin 2017, everyone – consumers and organizations alike – faces uncertainty in a variety of areas.

Against this backdrop, companies have yet to develop, plan and execute strategies for profitable growth. After speaking with various colleagues and clients, and reading feedback from various experts and forecasters, here is my take on what awaits small and medium-sized B2B and B2C businesses in the coming year:

one. A significant number of marketers, both large and small, will conduct agency reviews in 2017. The current Advertiser Insights report (based on 420 marketers representing about 90 percent of the top 100 US advertisers) reveals a staggering number of planned reviews:

ยท 66% Creative Agency Review Plan;

65% plan to check search agencies;

64% plan to review media agencies;

61% plan to review digital agencies.

Why? Beyond the lack of trust in the authorities of society as a whole, trust has also been lost, rightly or wrongly, between marketers and their agencies. So if you are feeling concerned about your agency relationship, acknowledge that you are not alone.

two. There will be significant increases in the number of companies hiring “temporary workers”, that is, freelance contract workers and freelance specialists. Faced with minimum wage increases, increases in health care costs, and rising payroll taxes, companies are obviously doing everything they can to reduce their fixed labor costs. But the ability to hire top-tier talent in the short or long term is also a practice that’s gaining a lot of momentum. In fact, a recent Deloitte University Press survey showed a “significant 7 percent increase” plus a “44 percent increase” in planning to hire casual workers in the next few years.

Keep in mind that these “outsiders” bring fresh energy and ideas to any type of organization and, at the same time, can provide some savings to your bottom line.

3. Media fraud and ad blocking will increase in 2017. Much was uncovered by the National Advertisers Association’s eight-month investigation into undisclosed refunds flowing from digital media companies to agencies. However, there is an incentive for scammers to keep doing what they are doing due to the ability to bypass fraud detection systems. This widespread practice can influence agencies’ media recommendations (and bottom line), although it obviously does not serve the best interests of clients.

Perhaps most importantly, the staggering growth of ad blocking in the markets poses a huge threat to digital media. At least 419 million people around the world are blocking ads on their smartphones, almost double the number blocked on desktop computers. That’s 22 percent of the world’s 1.9 billion smartphone users (PageFair – Ad Blocking Goes Mobile).

Digital and mobile media won’t go away, but using them effectively is challenging. Find professionals you trust to make sure you get what you expected.

Four. Since customers and followers are the lifeblood of any business or nonprofit organization, organizations will need to significantly increase their efforts to better understand their real-world wants and needs. A recent McKinsey & Co. study of about 700 top executives found that: 1) only 6 percent of companies felt they understood their customers’ needs very well; and 2) seventy-two percent considered the knowledge-of-the-client budgets inadequate.

There has been an explosion in the amount of customer data available, with new software programs mining all kinds of purchase and opinion information, including social media. To be competitive, organizations will need to continue expanding their knowledge using this new information. It just doesn’t seem smart to even consider developing a specific strategy or plan without knowing your customers, so make sure you have the skills to obtain and interpret the correct information.

5. Developing and maintaining a positive customer experience will become the new king of marketing. Distrust of institutions appears to be rampant: products are withdrawn from the market, passwords are stolen, online tweets have as much credibility as government agencies. Starting with employees, make sure they have the knowledge and tools to provide better customer service, create a positive experience, and promote repeat buying and customer referrals.

Confidence is the new black. All aspects of a brand’s life must convey reliability, delivered consistently and credibly, at every point of contact.

6. The acceptance and use of direct mail by millennials will continue to explode. Yes, millennials. And yes, traditional mail. This demographic is the one most likely to open and read direct mail. In fact, 63% reported that they made a purchase based on a direct mail article that they opened in the last 3 months (Direct Marketing Information Trends Study in the US).

Perhaps their flood of spam, disrupted advertising, and meaningless content will leave you tired of staring at screens and searching for a “new” medium. After all, it’s not about technology; it’s about efficiency.

7. While internet media spending will be tied to television for the biggest spending in 2017, more marketers will acknowledge that the majority of top media spending is still accounted for by traditional media (65%). Spending on television will increase by 1 percent, away from home by 4 percent, as radio will remain unchanged and only magazines and newspapers will show decreases (by 5 and 9 percent, respectively). Additionally, the Marketing Services category will increase by 2.8 percent to $ 237 billion, led by sales promotion, telemarketing, direct mail, and event sponsorships. (Age of advertising)

It goes without saying that determining where to spend your money on marketing communications is becoming increasingly complex. The key to doing this successfully is understanding the difference between selecting the newest “efficient” tactical tool and selecting the most “effective” one. This becomes increasingly important for small businesses, which cannot afford costly mistakes.

8. Much more time and smart thinking will be spent developing marketing strategy, positioning, and planning for marketing and marketing communications. A study of “Significant Brands” conducted by Havas in 2015 reported that most people wouldn’t mind if three-quarters of all brands disappeared forever. Also, most brands haven’t updated their strategies to satisfy today’s internet shoppers. These buyers have access to a wealth of information and have a wealth of purchasing options at their fingertips. It is more vital than ever that, to survive, you must continue to keep your brand meaningful to its constituents.

Both for-profit and non-profit brands must make absolutely clear how they differ from the competition and make their value proposition completely credible at every opportunity. Once your plan is implemented, you also need to know what is working and measure everything.

Marketing Communications and Value Marketing Consultants

2017 brings a considerable number of unknowns and concerns facing your customers, prospects, and even your employees. Clearly, they are more cautious about what to believe and who to trust for the next year. All organizations are faced with these problems and the dilemma of how to run a successful business in this climate.

Many small and medium-sized organizations are partnering with established and independent senior consultants to assist them with marketing communications and marketing plans and budgets, evaluating, developing, refining and, if applicable, implementing. If this is something you might consider, look for people with extensive experience in B2B, B2C, and nonprofits across all industries and brands. Look for consultants who are media neutral and don’t sell a particular discipline. And make sure they are passionate about analyzing the results and willing to “tell it like us” so that candor can flourish.

Improving the ROI of profitable sales and marketing communications is a daunting task. Finding the right consultant to partner with can take a bit of searching, but as Yogi Berra said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Home Kitchen

Old style, new style: Richmond Stoves 900DFT and Stoves Sterling 900DFT Cooktop

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Stoves knows what it does when it comes to electric range design. Point for point, the sterling 900DFT range range cooktops and the Richmond 900DFT range range range range are nearly identical. They share the programming functionality, have the same general internal capacity and the same number of boards. But they seem to come from two different worlds.

Stoves almost seems to be asking you a question, styled with its two flagship range 3-foot-wide kitchens. Both are designed for what Stoves calls the “compact kitchen.” Both have been designed to offer a versatile range of cooking functions, extras and options. And they both ask you this question: city or country?

When you get down to business, that’s the basic difference between these two models. Stoves Sterling 900DFT range kitchen is the whole city – Stoves Richmond 900DFT range kitchen is the whole country. The Sterling and Richmond give you dual-fuel capabilities in a 3-foot-wide casing; both offer a real capacity of 91 liters; and both allow you to convert to GLP. They both have cast iron skillet holders and wok burners. Both have telescopic shelves and enameled interiors for easy use and cleaning. The Stoves Sterling, however, is dressed in a very sleek and minimalist steel suit; while Stoves Richmond appears to have just passed the property and is home in time for a hearty dinner.

The Richmond 900DFT Stoves is encased in an enameled casing, with nice, thick oven and grill doors (they close with that satisfying “bang” that only well-made parts can produce). The knobs are carefully designed with responsive icons that let you know what you can do with each one. And a smart digital watch face reminds you that for all the country style, this is a modern gadget.

The Stoves Sterling 900DFT has the exact same knob and dial setup, but is clad in professional-looking flat steel. The same watch face now has a sleek circular edging with sleek control buttons underneath.

Stoves has clearly decided that the basic package, that is, the working parts, of your range kitchen should remain the same no matter what the exterior looks like. It’s a smart idea and it works very well for the client. If you know that the Stoves Richmond 900DFT is going to work exactly the same, and also the Stoves Sterling 900DFT, then you don’t need to waste time agonizing over the fact that you like the look of one, but the other has better compartments or functions For your needs.

Stoves have separated the way the kitchen works, from the way it looks – allowing homeowners with homes of all styles to get the look they want with the functionality they need. So whether you’re more of a country squire or an urban socialite, Stoves has the range kitchen to suit you.

Auto

CSR Classics – Fun, Addictive, and (Mostly) Free

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NaturalMotion’s CSR Classics (iOS and Android) is a surprisingly addictive drag racing game brought to you by the same people who made great achievements with CSR Racing years before. I tried the original CSR Racing game many moons ago, but never stuck with it, mainly because, I think, collecting and racing the cars offered to the user did not interest me.

This problem is well solved in CSR Classics, where drag racing is put on a fictitious “strip” (think Las Vegas). Players buy, upgrade, and race cars from a vast catalog of classic cars, from traditional muscle (Ford Mustang, Chevy’s Corvair, and Nova, and the incredible Dodge Challenger, to name a few) to high-end classics like Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin. , and BMW, with a ton in between. Cars can be purchased in “loved” or “unloved” condition. Beloved cars look and perform much better than their unloved counterparts. As for me (and many people who have been involved with CSR Classics), I prefer to buy rusty, sweaty, hit and run relics to earn money to upgrade them, which makes CSR Classics much more than just a racing game, but rather one for collecting and building too.

The racing dynamics at CSR Classics are deceptively simple. To start a race, the driver (that’s you!) Hits the gas pedal to bring the needle into the “green zone” of the tachometer, trying to hold it there while the timer runs out and the race begins. Starting a career in the green zone provides a “perfect start”, which makes life that much easier. If the needle is too low in RPM, your car struggles to get up to speed, while overrunning the engine before start-up causes the wheels to spin, wasting valuable time until the wheels find their grip on the pavement.

Once the race starts, everything is time-based, as you must try to achieve a “perfect shift” through the gears. A fraction of a second sooner or later can cost a race, especially when competing with tougher opponents. The difficulty of the race varies between Easy (you can make a lot of mistakes and still come out on top), Challenging (a mistake here or there is surmountable, but don’t make it a habit), Hard (be on top of your game or you’ll go home a loser) and Extreme (I’ve never beaten one of these and don’t even bother trying anymore.

As I said, timing is everything in CSR Classics while on the brake, as there is no need to worry about steering, braking, or acceleration (except when starting). However, the variety of career difficulties helps keep your interest, as do the different types of careers available.

In “career” mode, you try to rank up in better and stronger cars, spending your cash to upgrade what you have and buy new vehicles. Within each level are a variety of races, including ladder races, restriction races, crew races, and manufacturer or car specific events. CSR Racing also offers an “online” mode in which the developers say that you can compete against real life opponents. This is somewhat untrue, as you actually compete against other real-life players in ladder events for money, reputation, and prizes. However, what you can’t do is participate in a real-time endurance race against real-life opponents, which is a bit tricky (pun intended).

Like all games, CSR Classics has some problems. The two most obvious are the replay factor, which I’ve run into every now and then if I’ve played a lot recently, but I keep coming back. Let’s face it, there is only one time limit and tapping a guy can do before things get a little boring. But, for me, a little free time and the appeal of new cars (which NaturalMotion regularly adds), it brings me back.

The other big drawback is a common one in all the “free” games I have played, namely that at some point the developers make it very frustrating NOT to invest money in the game. CSR Racing does this by using “gold”, which CAN be earned in races or by completing free offers, but it is an extremely time consuming and tedious process, especially since there are some really amazing cars that can only be purchased with large amounts of gold.

Overall though, CSR Classics gets a big “thumbs up” from this gaming gourmand as it has provided me with, and I believe will continue, hours of good gameplay.

Digital Marketing

5 reasons why content marketing is important to building your brand

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The expression “Content is king” is an absolute truth. It seems like there’s a shiny new object every week to drift off, but content marketing is still the most powerful technique for building an audience and generating leads. In this short article, I will give you 5 of the top reasons why you need to do content marketing as a great component of your advertising and marketing method.

Reason n. Content Marketing # 1: Establish Trust and Build Reputation

There are dozens of effective methods of content advertising. Blogs, podcasts, videos, or interviews are powerful ways to demonstrate your expertise in your market and help your prospects at the same time. Content marketing will not only show your trustworthiness as an expert, but it will certainly help you create a report with your target market, which is crucial for brand awareness.

Identify the most common pitfalls or pain points your target market faces and also develop material to help them find options. And don’t make your content a great sales pitch! The goal of content marketing is to develop goodwill by offering solutions that will also develop your brand. Ultimately this will lead to even more organic sales without being a constant release festival.

Reason n. Content Marketing # 2: Build Brand Awareness

If you routinely refrain from doing content marketing, then the opportunities are undetectable. You may even have the most effective services or products in deep space, but unless people learn about you, you don’t exist either. Web content advertising can help you transform that. When people come to your content to get the answer or find solutions, you increase brand recognition organically. Use your content to demonstrate your competition, as we said above, and also to increase web traffic to your website.

Reason n. Content Marketing # 3: More Leads = Additional Customers

Having a steady increase in leads and customers is vital, right? And also advertising and content marketing allow you to reach an unlimited flow of customers who otherwise would not have understood about you. When you offer relevant, fast and useful material, you attract potential customers like a magnet. Simpler simpler.

Plus, the quality material keeps customers coming back for more. People are more likely to return to a resource that has helped them in the past. Once they start to depend on you to provide professionally appropriate web content in your field, your customers will automatically go to your content whenever they have a request related to your market.

Reason n. Content Marketing # 4: Online Search Engine Rankings

Its material allows you to integrate search phrases that will certainly help you to rank better on the Google search results page. The more you post relevant web content, the greater your authority, and that means more traffic to your website. A small portion of people strive beyond the initial web page of the search results page, so the higher and longer you rank, the better your results will be.

Also, if you upload high-quality material, other organizations will want to connect to your site, further expanding your target market. And also, these “backlinks” are great for your site SEO. Do you intend to rate better? Backlinks are an important part of getting there.

Reason n. Content Marketing # 5: Engage Your Target Customer

Yes, the role of content marketing and marketing in general is to attract leads, however you don’t want unqualified leads or tire kickers who never employ you. Rather, you want to attract your target customer, your perfect customer, so that you don’t waste time or power on the wrong people. So exactly how do advertising and marketing materials attract the optimal customer? In other words, only those who are interested in your industry are sure to search for your material. And also only those looking for your material will click on your Call to Action and end up going to your touchdown web page and seeing your service or products. This indicates that quality leads will surely be thinking of buying from you.

Produce even more content!

There is no better time like the present to start creating and providing high-quality content as a component of your marketing approach. Add content marketing to your technique, and invite those organic leads!