December 2011
2 posts
The Mobile Imperative, Is The Glass Half Empty or... →
In his blog post last week Mitch Joel wrote about how the mobile market is “too small for most Marketer.” He has a number of good points, but I think he is overly pessimistic. For example, he mentioned that smartphones have a penetration rate of 25-35%. According to Comscore data from July 2011, that represents 234 million smartphones (link). That’s an awfully large group to...
November 2011
1 post
Customer service is your best marketing
When thinking of marketing most people immediately think of advertising, marcom or public relations. But real marketing happens when you deal directly with your customers. Take coffee shops for example. These days, nearly every street corner has a coffee shop. Competition is high and the product is not that differentiated. Sure some shops offer stronger coffee, darker brews or somewhat unique...
September 2011
1 post
1 tag
Are you an appetizer, side dish or main course?
Competitive marketing is like a great meal. The first to the market is the appetizer, setting the initial conversation for the rest of the industry. But the appetizer is quickly forgotten when the second course is served. Following the appetizer are several vaguely memorable courses. These are companies chasing the innovator and trying to establish themselves with a message indistinguishable from...
August 2011
1 post
1 tag
Your email marketing is crying wolf
I worked with a guy who would mark every email he sent as urgent. Every single email. Even worse, he would even start each subject line with “Please read this” or “Urgent, this needs your attention.” After a few months, everyone stopped reading his emails and they became ineffective. My spam filter even started auto-tagging his email as “likely” spammer.
...
October 2009
1 post
How to dump your satellite service with Hulu,...
Like many people, I have been paying for satellite television service for the last decade or so. After receiving a recent bill, I tortured myself by calculating what I’ve spent over the last 10 years. Let’s just say I could have purchased a new Hyundai for what I paid. The total was sobering and encouraged me to look at alternatives. At first I scoured the Internet for deals...
December 2008
1 post
The cobbler's children have no shoes
Why it is that web marketing people often lack a website themselves?