Why is it that when businesses have a top of funnel growth challenge they don’t want to invest more money in development growth? You will notice I carefully chose development, not marketing. There is a difference. Here are a few simple things to think about so that when you are faced with this challenge, you will have some ideas to lean on to help you navigate through this tumultuous time.
Marketing
As we all know, marketing’s job for most companies is to expose the brand in ways and places that reach the primary audience. It also must be presented in a way that captivates, attracts and compels the audience to take action. Yeah, that sounds a lot easier than it really is, but nonetheless, that’s about as simple a definition as I can make it.
Development
Development on the other hand is also attracting and doing some of those same things that marketing does… But here’s the real difference, some marketing can be planned, scheduled and put into motion through automation and use of technology. Development is like having a toolbox at your desk, you should always try to figure out ways to uncover leads with the tools you have. Sometimes the relationship tools are the most important and thought about the least, especially with advanced tools at our fingertips. In-person meetings and events can be highly successful if you use them with a plan and goal in mind. The focus here is on the in-person development process. I feel it’s grossly underestimated and also overshadowed by today’s cool digital tools that everyone wants to try.
Outline Your Plan
Before you attend any in-person meeting, appointment, or event, write a brief that outlines your plan. This should describe your goal, the anticipated audience, how and what you plan on communicating to them, what tools you will use to reach your goals and if the meeting is to be successful at the end, answer the question, what has to happen in order for this to be a success? But don’t forget to do some research before you make your first outreach activity (lunch meeting, pitch, or even a call or email). You just may uncover some real gems about the company that will help you understand their market, positioning, new products, recent growth or even layoffs. All of this is like gold before you reach out.
In order for top of funnel growth to occur, you must plan, because it doesn’t just happen accidentally.
Create a plan that maximizes marketing outreach channels, inbound opportunities, measurement of activity, trends, as well as technology, social, content, video, brand collateral and your charisma. When all of these come together, it’s like magic, and we all love that!
YourBrandExposed is designed to look at digital using a creative, analytical, innovative marketing perspective. We’re a team of digital gurus working with companies who want to leverage the power of digital, web, social, mobile and content marketing strategies. Contact us if you’re feeling the digital squeeze on how to best market and expose your company.
Scott MacFarland – Chief Content Marketer | Digital Strategist
HuffingtonPost | Relevance | Natcom Global
LinkedIn | Twitter: @scmacfarland
Email: yourbrandexposed@yahoo.com
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Source:
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