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The goal of marketing is to win the hearts, minds and trust of people. If you win them over, you might win their business too. It has taken a lifetime of experiences to learn these timeless laws of marketing. Being the youngest of 11 kids, losing my Dad at 6, being raised primarily by women and becoming a bridge builder shaped my worldview towards human-centered marketing. I hope you find them beneficial. 1. The Law of Humanity Great brands always remember that prospects, customers, users, ambassadors and loyalists are real people, with real needs, wants, motivations and ambitions. They never forget that they are in the business of making the lives of their customers easier and helping them realize their ambitions. Be empathetic. Treat customers like human beings. Humanize your brand. 2.The Law of Findability If they can’t find you, they can’t buy you. If a prospect can’t find you on Google page 1, your product or service won’t be … Continue reading
Posted in: Elliance culture, Marketing, Marketing Strategy
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Marketing, like ecology, is a complex ecosystem of reciprocal relationships thriving in a network of mutuality. Parts grow, interdependence begins and symbiotic relationships form. It adapts to each new season. Mutual Reinforcement in a Marketing Ecosystem On the organizational or micro-level, marketing is a highly interconnected, mutually reinforcing and complex ecosystem of paid, owned and earned media tactics – part digital and part traditional. Examples include: Brand strategy and strategic plans build strength upon strength. Magazine stories lift program/service offerings; in turn, program/service offerings imbue the stories with context and relevance. Tightly aligned page content and SEO meta-coding persuades humans and influences the Google bot alike. Content marketing creates a rising tide of website visitors, and paid advertising lifts the site visitor volume disproportionally. The presence of the brand in both Google organic and Google paid results creates a four-fold increase in click-throughs. Billboards and the website tango to enhance brand reputation. Lean print pieces and advertising complement smart websites. … Continue reading
Great marketers are a rare breed. They are shapeshifters who play ten crucial roles and gracefully switch between them: S T R A T E G I S T As strategic thinkers, they imagine new possibilities, combinations and offerings that don’t yet exist. They don’t confuse strategy with planning or tactics. They play to win. D I R E C T O R The daily work of a marketing leader is to orchestrate in-house and out-sourced talent in service of larger goals. They recognize, motivate and unleash talent…wherever they can find it. I N T E G R A T I V E T H I N K E R They understand that marketing is a highly interconnected, mutually reinforcing and complex ecosystem of paid, owned and earned media tactics – part digital and part traditional. They have the capacity and the desire to work through its complexities. E V A N G E L I S T They help … Continue reading
Posted in: Marketing, Marketing Strategy
As an agency that has served more than 250 corporate, higher education and non-profit brands, here is what we have concluded: successful brands invest in cultivating and nurturing these seven powerful habits with fierce intentionality: 1. Keyword Habit: The SEO Keyword Lexicon includes a variety of keywords that prospective buyers will use on Google to search for your products and services. It includes groups of keywords related to your brand, decisioning, reputation, thought leadership and products and services. Great brands develop an Institutional SEO Keyword Lexicon which informs creation of new content based on keywords of strategic importance. Successful colleges and universities include keywords for brand positioning, signature academic programs, areas of thought leadership, college search by prospects and institutional reputation. After all, what’s the use of creating new content if it’s going to become a lotus flower in the Himalayans, which only a few people can enjoy? 2. Data Habit: Great brands develop an institutional data framework that includes sales funnel and metrics that measure … Continue reading
Posted in: habits of successful marketers, Marketing
In the past 25 years, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with more than fifty college chief marketing officers. Whether they are recruited as a change agent or a strategic visionary, they are increasingly expected to liberate new growth for college by focusing on the 3 R’s of prosperity: Revenue, Reputation and Rankings. These three currents flow under the fifteen practices for managing and running a successful college marketing operations in this manifesto: 1. You become the story you choose to tell.It’s how institutions make meaning from the arc of their history, and operate with a sense of destiny to create purpose that propels them into the future. This story is what students, parents, donors, funders and partners buy into. A brand rarely exceeds the size of its ambition and the story it chooses to tell about itself. 2. Students, not the institution, are the real heroes of your story.The best colleges and universities realize that students, alumni and faculty … Continue reading
A new year is always the perfect time to evaluate personal and professional goals. Which explains why the article, 10 Resolutions Marketers Should Make —And Keep — In 2017 caught my eye. I thought this article included some good advice: Marketers should resolve to prioritize the mobile customer experience. Marketers should resolve to stretch and exercise more. Marketers should resolve to stop combating ad blockers. Marketers should resolve to create seamless experiences. Marketers should resolve to partner more closely with the startup community. Marketers should resolve to spend more time actually interacting with customers. Marketers should resolve to leverage mobile location data. Marketers should resolve to invest more in video. Marketers should resolve to truly get to know their customers. Three of these resolutions, prioritizing the mobile customer experience, investing more in video and getting to know customers are topics Elliance often discusses with our clients. Instead of making resolutions at work or in your personal life, consider focusing on … Continue reading