Entries by Allen Stafford

Sales Analysis – Annual Plan Control

Sales Analysis In the article titled The Marketing Control Process for your Business – Explained, I outline what marketing controls are:  “Marketing control is a process where company management or executives analyze and assess their marketing activities and programs.” The marketing control process includes four types of marketing control, they are, Annual plan control Profitability […]

The Marketing Control Process for your Business

Understanding the Marketing Control Process If you are like most small or medium sized businesses, marketing your company probably includes a basic marketing plan, most likely not written down. You probably have some marketing collateral (brochures) to leave with customers, a website, a social media presence that gets occasional attention, and a sales team. Like […]

Creating B2B Buyer Personas

Are B2B Buyer Personas Important for Marketing? Are buyer personas, specifically, B2B buyer personas, important for B2B marketers to develop and use in attracting the ideal buyer? After all, when segmenting markets, marketing professionals can deploy several segmentation strategies that include demographics and psychographics.  As you read through this article, you will discover that buyer […]

Choosing the Right Social Media Platform for your Business

The Rise of Social Media Platforms Digital technology, devices, the surging popularity of the internet, and the human need to stay connected have given rise to many social media sites and other virtual communities over the past 20-years. Social media’s popularity continues to accelerate with no sign of slowing soon, allowing marketing professionals to connect […]

Going Viral: Five Content Categories That Increase Your Chances

Going Viral, the New Black Marketers and brand executives dream of taking their content viral, infecting viewers with their messages in hopes of gaining market share, brand recognition, and hours of free advertising. Marketers learned that digital video and other digital content are an alternative to traditional media at tremendous savings after Evian Water posted […]

Creating Engaging Videos and Their Optimal Length

The Web – A Visual Medium and Engaging Videos Humans are visual creatures. Our survival depends heavily on visual cues for fundamental behaviors like locating food, a partner, and shelter. We also rely on visual cues for complex actions like parental care and the forming of social hierarchies.  In a 2004 research paper by Indiana University School […]

Does Your B2B Company Measure up to Marketing Excellence?

Marketing in many B2B firms is often lackadaisical at best. However, B2B marketing should not be halfhearted, especially in today’s digital, customer-driven marketing environment. B2B companies that achieve marketing excellence often outperform competitors because they put customers first, create strategic alliances, and are value and outcome-driven.   “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, […]

Measuring Marketing Performance – Four Marketing Metrics to Measure

Measuring Marketing Performance Marketing has come a long way from the days of being known as the arts and crafts department. Once considered an art form rather than a science, the key to today’s marketing success hinges on the marketing manager’s ability to measure marketing performance using marketing metrics. Marketing success also stems from the […]

Four Skills Marketers Need To Thrive After COVID-19

A Changing Employment Landscape Let’s not beat around the bush; it’s brutal in the job market right now as COVID-19 rages through the U.S. In December 2020 — the latest data available — unemployment rose 6.7%, virtually doubling from the previous year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s 10.7 million people out […]