How to Create Brand Value

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I discovered The Sales Lion about a year ago and have been a huge fan of Marcus Sheridan since that day.  I joke and call it “drinking the Sales Lion kool-aid.”  Do I agree with everything he says?  No.  However, I have a lot of respect for the man for many reasons.  One of those reasons is his passion for inbound and content marketing.

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" means wholeheartedly believing in something.

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" means wholeheartedly believing in something.

In his latest post, The Reality as to Why Most Big Brands Stink at Content Marketing, Marcus writes about big brands not taking the opportunity to teach.  This ties in perfectly with the three main pillars of the Challenger Sale (my other favorite flavor of kool-aid): teach, tailor, and take control. 

According to CEB and The Challenger Sales, our customers are 57% of the way through the buying cycle before they reach out to a supplier for an RFP or a price quote.   And what have they been doing for that 57% of the process?  Learning everything that they can online about a problem or a need that they have.   If you’re not there to educate  your current and future customer, someone else is.

To quote my favorite social selling super star Jill Rowley, “Our customers are having a learning party and we’re not invited.”

Brands and companies that are part of the learning (teaching) party achieve their highest sales potential and experience an increase in their brand value.  They’re earning trust and creating awareness.  And most importantly, they’re not blatantly selling.  Unfortunately, most companies (both large and small) are not teaching their customers and irritating them with useless information.

You’re wasting everyone’s time if you’re not teaching via social networks, your websites, and blogs.

So how do you teach and create a higher brand value?  Inbound marketing and creating AWESOME content that educates your customers.

Tailor the content to different buyer personas, teach the customers through content, and lead (take control of) the customer through the buying process.  Make it easy for them to purchase from you when they are ready.

Stop talking at your customer and start talking with your customers.

Further reading:
CEB Blog (Sales & Service) 
CEB Blog (Marketing & Communications) 
Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing Blog 

marketCHARLOTTE: Doing More with Less, Quaero and Big Data

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This is a recap of marketCHARLOTTE, part two of three. 
Part one: Lowe’s Mobile Strategy
Part three: CruiseDeals.com

The second session at marketCHARLOTTE was presented by Dan Smith and Stephanie Reese of Quaero.  

There is a lot of data out there, big data, which can be overwhelming and difficult to understand.  But we should not be afraid of it.  Data can be used as a competitive advantage and not just for sales and marketing.  It can be used to improve your whole organization, helping you work smarter and faster. 

Data is the nervous system of your organization and our customers feed it.

The most critical part of big data is the collection and organization of the data.  How do you organize it and analyze it to give you the powerful insights that you need to improve your business?   How do you move the data from information to knowledge?  How do you personalize it?

​Data as a Competitive Advantage
Stephanie Reese of Quaero

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​Data as a Competitive Advantage
Stephanie Reese of Quaero

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A great personal example of a company that takes their data and turns it into great personalized customer experience is Target.  We have all heard the story about how Target figured out a teen girl was pregnant before her father did.  In my case Target figured out how often I purchase laundry detergent and when I’ll need it again and which scent is my favorite, my cycle, and my need for allergy medication.  How you ask?  By figuring out how to use all the big data they have collected from me over the many years I have been a customer.  By printing coupons for all of those items that I needed when I was checking out both delighted me and freaked me out (a little).

​Targeted use of big data.

What did Target get in return for using big data in a smart way?  Not only did they have a happy customer (that likes to save money) but they also got a return visit that very same day to pick up the items she had coupons for and also had a few impulse purchases.  An easy addition to the bottom line because the customer felt good about her experience with the brand.

Now multiply that by hundreds and thousands of customers. 

Big data can make a big difference for your bottom line.  It can also help predict future trends, helping a company stay ahead of the curve and the competition.

Dan and Stephanie did a great job breaking down big data and many of the marketCHARLOTTE attendees had an “a ha” moment. 

Don’t be afraid of big data, embrace it!

For more information, check out Quaero’s website and blog.

Additional reading: 
The Whimsical Nature of Data Analytics
Can 'Predictive Analytics' Help Retailers Dodge a J.C. Penney-Style Debacle?
Turning Big Data into Smart Data: 5 Lessons for Marketers from The Obama Campaign

 

 

 

marketCHARLOTTE: Doing More with Less, Lowe's Mobile Strategy

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This is a recap of marketCHARLOTTE, part one of three. 
Part two: Quaero and Big Data
Part three: CruiseDeals.com 

 

Wednesday night I attended marketCHARLOTTE, a yearly event organized by Charlotte AMA and included participation from several marketing organizations in Charlotte.

The theme this year was Doing More with Less.  Our marketing budgets are getting slashed but we want the same, if not better, results.  How do we do that?

Mobile, big data, and inbound marketing and partnerships.

Sean Bartlett of Lowe's presented on mobile.   Their challenge?  Doing more with less with over 1,750 stores.  Lowe's experienced a 70% growth in e-commerce in 2011, most of it was in mobile.  Their main mission?  To advance the customer and associate experience. Lowe's is utilizing mobile to provide the best experience for their customers by advancing the customer through compelling interactions.  They also make it easy for the store associates with an app that has both a front and a back end.

​Lowe's Guiding Principles for Mobile.
@ marketCHARLOTTE

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Retail is no longer where people go to buy things, it’s now a place where they go to have an experience. 

This idea of experiences leads to what some consider the future of retailing: showrooming.  You can read more about it in an article written by Matthew Bishop on LinkedIn earlier this week.

Even if your product or service is B2B, the mobile experience still applies.  For example, my day job is in the healthcare industry, specifically in medical devices.  I see so many opportunities in improving not only our customers’ and end users’ experience but also internally (customer service and sales).  Whether it is choosing the best orthopedic brace for an injured end user, a fitter punching in measurements and knowing what size compression stocking to put on a patient and all the style available in that size, to empowering our employees to give the best advice by providing them with the best tool – information.  All of the scenarios help the customers have the best experience with the brand.

Lowe's went beyond a store app that helps a consumer find a product in their stores.  They also have a lifestyle magazine for the iPad that has a heavy subscription base full of home improvement ideas.  Their My Lowe's loyalty program is fantastic.  Their social media team is quick to respond, whether it’s to give you a pat on the back for a job well done, say thank you for shopping in their stores, or use a YouTube video to answer a customer’s question (probably my favorite yet!).   

Lowe's succeeds in providing a mobile experience worth experiencing.

And most importantly they practice what they preach:  Never Stop Improving.

 

What's your mobile strategy?

 

Brevity is King.

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I am guilty as charged of writing a 1,000 word post and not really getting to the point.  I am ashamed because I live in a world where I am proud of my ability to communicate in a 140 characters or less. 

Brevity is king.

So I vow to you (and me) to write concise and to the point blog posts going forward.

In the words of Sweet Brown, “ain’t nobody got time for that.”

 

Read Geoffrey James’ article on Inc. on getting to the point.