Business Growth Blog

The landscape of inbound marketing agencies is diverse, coming in various shapes and sizes, along with distinct specialties and talents. The myriad of options available can make choosing an agency BEYOND difficult. However, there are specific core values and skill sets that set certain agencies apart. Knowing what values and skill sets to look for can save you the hassle of hiring the wrong agency. 

You’re ready to take the leap and hire an outsourced marketing agency or internal hire to help advance your business growth to the next level. It’s a scary endeavor because if you’re like most of the other companies I’ve talked to, you’ve been burned in the past. Something about this new hire intrigues you, but the last thing you want to do is waste more time and money. How can you ensure that things will be different this time?

Your contact database is your most precious asset because it contains (or should contain!) the people you’re currently doing business with or with whom you would like to do business with. Unfortunately, it often gets neglected and holds companies back from effective selling and marketing. Here are three common database problems and how they can negatively impact your business.

Who do you want to sell to? It may seem like an obvious question for a business, but identifying your niche market (a.k.a. buyer persona, target prospect, target segment, ideal profitable customer, etc.) may be more challenging than it sounds. Plus, the answer might change over time as your company grows and develops. Here are some ideas about how startups and early-stage companies can improve the success of their sales and marketing investment by clearly identifying their target market criteria, building a list of ideal customers, and tightening the messaging.

Most business and marketing leaders know they need to include digital marketing as part of their business growth plans: things like blogging, email marketing, social media, paid advertising, and website development. They’re often already doing bits and pieces of it, depending on the skills, resources, and budget they have available to get the work done. However, gaps in the strategy can cause a disjointed approach that detracts from the potential return on investment.

The answer is that it depends.

If you’re like most companies, the goal of doing inbound marketing is to increase brand awareness and get more leads. You want interested prospects to come knocking at your door (which, by the way, shortens the sales cycle significantly). For prospects to know who you are and feel confident that you can help them, you need to put your name out there - somehow.

One of our clients wants to use sliders on their new website layout. We’ve been managing websites as part of our marketing plans for a long time and haven't used them in our designs for various reasons. I told my developer about the client's wishes, and he was still adamant that we should NOT use sliders in our designs.

This may sound crazy, but one of the hardest things to do from a business perspective is figuring out…what you actually do.

Most small businesses don’t spend much time thinking about their core values. It’s a concept that can seem like fluffy B.S., especially when everyone and their brother talk about the same things: excellent customer service, team player, integrity, etc. If not done right, core values can quickly sound like familiar platitudes.

Salespeople always think their product or service is better than the competition, so prospects should naturally choose them, right? Wrong. Looking at it from the prospect's perspective, there usually isn’t much difference between companies. It’s hard to find that one defining factor that stands out above the rest. 

Here are three ideas about identifying differentiators and using them with the right prospect at the right time.