By Jeff Campbell
This is a familiar phrase to all those who have used the tube to get around London. It may also be familiar to those who continue to try to reconcile the information we often use to measure marketing effectiveness with sales forecast. In other words, trying to answer the question, “How will my marketing spend translate into revenue?”
Along the continuum from awareness to closed sale, marketers and sales leaders use many measurements to manage the processes and understand the effectiveness of various investments. The thing is, marketing uses metrics like impressions, click-through rate and conversions (among many others) to understand the effectiveness of campaigns while in sales, measurements are typically activity-based or state-based. Some examples include: number of leads, number of calls, number of opportunities by stage, and so on. All of the sales measurements are provided through the sales people themselves while the marketing measurements are taken directly from prospects’ actions.
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By Alexandra Reid
As usual, we covered a lot of ground this month on our blog. We argued that RIM won’t commit suttee, why Harper’s free trade efforts need more thought, how Don Drummond’s arguments on Canadian business are flawed, and we also offered loads of advice for PR and marketing professionals.
Here are our posts from August, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
August 27: Harper’s free trade efforts need more thought by Denzil Doyle
August 29: Thinking outside the bunker by Leo Valiquette
August 30: Marketing’s hidden treasure map by Francis Moran
August 13: Secrets of bulletproof marketing implementation by Rob Woyzbun
August 8: 5 tips content marketers should take from journalists by Alexandra Reid
August 14: Five common content marketing mistakes by Alexandra Reid
August 1: Any press is not always good press, but it may pay dividends down the road by Leo Valiquette
August 28: 2012 B2B content marketing trends by Alexandra Reid
August 22: Inbound marketing: An alternative to traditional PR? by Alexandra Reid
August 23: Truth … and sincerity … in advertising by Leo Valiquette
August 2: Waterloo will not commit suttee on any RIM funeral pyre by Francis Moran
August 9: How to get the media’s attention with your dignity and reputation intact by Leo Valiquette
August 21: The case for inbound marketing: What’s in it for you? by Alexandra Reid
August 15: The buck has to stop with whoever owns the byline by Leo Valiquette
August 16: Unleash your inner consultant by Caroline Kealey
August 7: Don Drummond on productivity by Denzil Doyle
August 10: The worst marketing sin by Francis Moran
Image: Curt Fleenor Photography
By Leo Valiquette
Have you seen that commercial for a teeth-whitening toothpaste that features two “sisters,” one of whom says, “as a professional photographer …” but as she speaks, a disclaimer pops up on the screen that states this is not a photographer, but an actress?
Read zero on the credibility meter.
As Alex blogged about earlier this week in her inbound marketing post, more traditional outbound marketing, in which specific messages are pushed upon a target audience in a one-way flow of information, remains an important part of the marketing mix. The good old boob tube is the best place to see examples of it done right and done horribly, horribly wrong.
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By Alexandra Reid
As usual, we covered a lot of ground last month on our blog. We talked about social media, customer service, content marketing, trademarks for small businesses, neuromarketing, the trials of RIM, government funding for startups and what they have to get right to go global. In case you missed any of our posts, here’s a handy roundup:
July 9: Trademarks for small businesses in little towns
July 23: What technology firms must get right to internationalize quickly
July 25: Have the feds finally found the right way to back winners?
July 30: The pitch from a neuromarketing perspective
And on a related note…
In addition to our series, our associates and guest bloggers were also busy writing on a great range of topics. Here are our other posts from July, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
July 26: Hard-cabled for success
July 31: A nice little story about the value of storytelling in content marketing
July 16: The best time to start a business
July 17: 5 qualities of a great ghostwriter
July 24: Throttled by those five ubiquitous rings
July 10: 7 reasons why people hate your B2B business blog
July 11: Your audience will judge you by your cover
July 3: The top 10 truths of social media
July 18: Where is Ottawa’s International Startup Festival?
July 12: Managing perceptions and product at RIM like Apple did
July 19: Why I like customer advisory boards
July 5: The price of everything, the value of nothing and customer service
Image: Cynthia Frenette
By Bob Bailly
In the July 13 post on Francis Moran and Associates blog’s Great Articles Roundup, this excerpt was referenced and it caught my eye: The startup pitch in the corporate context.
You can tell a lot about a company by its approach to the business pitch. This post argues that the corporate business pitch could take some pointers from the standard VC pitch, which should always identify a clear problem, provide a compelling solution and be differentiated, aspirational, inspirational, and visually communicative.
The excerpt references a longer blog piece written by Joe Lee that contains great practical advice on the corporate pitch. I’m pleased to say his ideas are also supported from a neuro-scientific point of view.
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By Jeff Campbell 
