Tag Archive for: social media

5 Self-Reflections to Inspire 2020

December 19, 2019/in MARKETING, Mentorship

5 Self-Reflections to Inspire 2020

As the year comes to a close, it’s a great time for self reflections before looking forward. It’s a busy time of year with parties, families and holiday commitments, but make the time. Schedule a 1-hour meeting with yourself, a pad of paper and a pen. Ask yourself some questions:

1. What have you learned?
2. What have you accomplished?
3. Who have you met?
4. What are you doing great?
5. Where do you need help?

Find a place that inspires you. This could be your porch with holiday music playing in the background, the beach or your desk…whatever will give you some head space. Now think about each of these questions. These may not all be relevant, or you might have some to add. Make it your own, but my hope is that these inspire you.

What have you learned? This could be business related like a formal training class, a mentor or coach that has inspired you. In a conference I participated in this year, one of the speakers talked about how the world is aging, living longer and therefore living differently. Fascinating speaker (thank you Stephanie @GRMA). I also have a list of things I have learned from my team and mentees (I think they develop me more than I develop them!). What you have learned this year might also be personal, like how to deal with a kid going off to college or balance personal health like eating right and exercising. Everything will never be perfect, but reflecting on it will help you plan for the new year…it will be here in like 10 minutes.

What have you accomplished? Take a few minutes to bask in the glory of your achievements whether they are big or small. Sometimes we check things off the list so fast that we don’t take the time to appreciate all we get done in a day, a month, or a year. I recently heard a piece of advice from a fellow panelist at a speaking engagement… she keeps a list of her accomplishment throughout the year and uses that list as needed for resources and for reflection. Brilliant, right? (Thank you Valet Living).

Who have you met? This is a great time of year to appreciate new relationships and reconnect with old ones. If you went through your calendar and listed all the new people you met, you might be surprised at how long or short the list is. I find that this helps me focus in on the relationships I really want to grow as well as those people I really want to thank. A quick LinkedIn message that says, “I have been thinking of you and hope you are doing great,” can go a long way. I connect each year with a note, a card or a gift because it gives me an opportunity to connect and say I care (thank you 4Imprint and Minuteman Press who are helping us with our TMP gifts and cards this year). Don’t let this make you anxious (you don’t have to send a card to everyone you know ????). Simply creating your list and highlighting what or who is important to you for both business and family is the important part.

What are you doing great? Here is a chance for you to pat yourself on the back for what you are great at. At the Posse, we use StrengthsFinder to develop and optimize our team. My favorite part of this is spending time celebrating what each person’s strengths are and how we leverage those talents. We call them “Superpowers”. This year we talked about them in our annual planning meeting. Reflect on a project where you really shined or a situation you handled with grace that you are proud of. Go You!

Where do you need help? No one is great at everything. So, this is also a great time to think about areas where you need support or things you would do differently in the new year. Not a good cook or don’t want to be? Maybe there is a new meal solution you can explore. I love to cook, but just don’t have the time, so I have someone who loves to cook that helps me (thank you Alex@PeepsandEats). For business, we like to create partnerships at the Posse by pairing people with complementing talents for the task at hand. Go back to your list of people (see #3), and think about who can help you by either balancing your strengths with different strengths or by supporting you where you need it most.

One Hour. That’s all. Maybe the most valuable hour you could spend all year. Self reflections on a year well spent could include:

1. Learnings that make you better.
2. Accomplishments that make you proud.
3. People that are important to you.
4. Strengths that inspire you.
5. Support where you need it most.

What more could you ask for in one year? Start 2020 off with self reflections and a clear view of where you are going by knowing where you have been. It’s going to be a great year.

The Marketing Posse provides training and people development as well as workshops for company culture development. We have a passion for people and for taking time to reflect on your business and what is most important to you. Give us a call if we can help.

7 Tips for #NationalSocialMediaDay

June 28, 2019/in MARKETING

7 Tips for #NationalSocialMediaDay

Social media is a part of our personal lives AND our business lives…it’s hard to even keep up. Here at The Marketing Posse, we are very much in the social media business. Through thoughtful strategy (and fun work sessions!), we develop content, grow audiences, monitor performance and manage engagement for our partner’s social accounts. Through social media, we can help businesses large and small, engage with their target audience, build credibility and be thought leaders in their space.

Because of our passion for all things social, it only seemed right to send out a quick note in honor of this Sunday’s #NationalSocialMediaDay. Keeping up with best practices can be rough so we hope the tips below provide you with some new ideas and inspire you to get social. And remember, we are in your corner, should you need any help. As a small business, we truly believe that sometimes outsourcing efforts like social media, can help business owners and managers take back valuable time to spend on other areas of growth. So, without further ado, below are 7 Social Media tips to consider.

Create clear and consistent posts with key brand messages
Decide on 4-6 things you want to be known for and structure your content and messaging around the things that matter most. Every communication should be building to something.
Be where your audience is
The social space is not a one size fits all. Carefully evaluate where your customer base is so you can be in the right places with the right messages. Understand the communication differences in the platforms. We love this graphic which uses a doughnut analogy to explain each platform
Get the basics right

Complete your profile
The description sections of each social platform are not a one size fits all. They each have different character counts, and for some, like Twitter, you want to make sure to use keywords and relevant hashtags, so you show up when people search those terms. Consider adding call to actions to your business bios, when appropriate, and when you add your website link- instead of using your homepage URL, try the “Contact Us” page or a product page you are trying to drive traffic to.
Make sure your images are sized properly.
There is nothing that screams, unprofessional, more than a social media header image, profile pic, or post that is distorted, pixelated, cropped incorrectly or stretched out. These things keep us up at night. Good news is, they are easy to fix. Make sure you know what each platform’s suggested sizes are. These change often, so it is a best practice to check every couple of months to make sure you have the most recent dimensions. Here is a link to the latest social media sizes.
Tag people, places and use hashtags that expand your audience and are relevant to the content. Link to your website and other relevant pages wherever possible.

Earn ratings from your top fans
Asking for reviews from your best customers is a great way to build credibility. Lots of consumers use Facebook and Google to look up businesses for reviews. You can send an email, create a social media campaign, ask them in person, or create a pop-up ad asking for a review when they buy your product/service online. For Facebook reviews, make sure your Facebook review tab is visible (and activated) in your settings menu (under “general” heading). Keep in mind to respond in a timely manner to all reviewers. Another important online vehicle for reviews is Google. To ensure you are getting positive reviews, verify your business on Google. Then make sure to rate positive Google reviews as “helpful”. While Facebook has likes, Google has reviews that can be labeled “helpful” and those will often be the first reviews people read. If you get any less than stellar reviews, make sure to resolve them as soon as possible in a positive way. Lastly, don’t be afraid to share positive reviews and testimonials that you receive on all your social platforms.
Build your audience by engaging
Each time someone interacts with your brand on social media, overall awareness of your brand is increased. When a person likes your Facebook page or one of your posts, their friends and followers, as well as your brand’s, will all see that engagement, and give you more visibility to a larger audience. You can boost your engagement by offering incentives for fans that tag you in a post. An example would be to offer a discount off the bill if they take a picture of their food and tag your restaurant.
Measure performance and use your insights
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all provide free access to your business page insights. Some of the data will include audience demographics, times that your audience is online, professional titles, follower count, and engagement statistics. Understanding what types of posts that your audience engages with or doesn’t engage with is important so that you can make sure that you give them more of the types of posts that they like in the future. If your audience is online mostly at 8am then that is the time you should be scheduling your posts, as opposed to 3pm. You get the picture!
Follow The Marketing Posse on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Click the links below and follow us so we can keep the conversation going!

It is no secret that social media is here to stay even though it changes every day. With the right oversight and management, you can successfully leverage your social platforms to accomplish a variety of business and marketing objectives. I hope you have found the above tips helpful and wish you much social success!

The Art of Networking (Part 2)

November 26, 2018/in Business, Management, People, Strategy, Training

In The Art of Networking – Part 1, we talked about how important networking is and gave you a few tips and best practices. Now in Part 2, we want to talk about how to network. Imagine you are at an event, you are by yourself, not that comfortable chatting people up; what to do…help, please??!! Some people are really good at this. It’s second nature to them while others have to work a little harder. Whether it is in your DNA or not, these four steps can exponentially help you to be more effective at networking.

1. FIRST STEP IS TO SET GOALS FOR YOURSELF – Why am I networking and how do I measure success?

You might be networking because you love people and want to build a reputation for yourself as a connector. Or you might be networking because you are trying to generate leads for your business. Or you might be networking because you are trying to gain support for a cause you are passionate about. Take a few minutes before the event or networking opportunity to really think about this and set some goals for yourself. Don’t pick too many things or try to do too much. Keep it focused and manageable. You may want to simply meet 3 people you can add to your newsletter distribution. Here is an even better example. Let’s assume I am going to a women’s leadership conference. I might set myself a goal to meet 5 people that are business owners or decision makers in their company. This is nice and specific, but it’s also attainable and doesn’t stress me out. For an event like this, I might even be able to get a list of attendees in advance and target specific people I want to meet.

2. BE A CONVERSATION STARTER– How do I find the right people and what do I say?

The key to getting the conversation going is to engage and ask questions. You may be one of those people who can’t wait to get to the event and start meeting people, but lots of people are not really comfortable with it. You can take away some of that anxiety by having a plan. Let’s imagine I am at that same conference, and I just walked into the General Session. I don’t know anyone. I feel a little disoriented, but I have arrived a little early so I have plenty of time to get acclimated and get the lay of the land. First, I am going to claim a seat. There is no assigned seating, so I am going to select a table towards the middle closer to the front, but not “in front”. People that are “less comfortable” are likely to sit in the back or people that may want to leave or be in and out sit in the back. Picking a seat closer to the front is likely to have people that are more engaged in the event. Second, I am going to introduce myself to the people at the table right away…it always seems a little awkward if you wait, but if you do it right away, it breaks the ice and sets the tone.

Now you are sitting next to someone…what do you say and how do you engage in conversation? Don’t be a conversation stopper. Have you met people like this? They give one word answers “yes, no, sometimes”…full stop. Your goal is to invite conversation, so the key is to ask questions and be curious. Keep it about them and get them to do the talking. You can start with something simple, but keep it interesting. Don’t ask them what they do…boring. Get to know them as people first. Ask questions that might be relevant and give you an opportunity to connect. Write out a few things in advance that might be good, relevant conversation starters. For example, I might mention that I’m taking my daughter to college for the first time. Ask questions about them that helps you find some common ground to relate to (i.e. do you have kids? Favorite things to do on the weekend? etc.). Once you get them talking you can get back around to business. To keep them engaged in the business conversation, a few favorite phrases that work well for me have been things like: that’s interesting, how exactly does that work? Or how did you get started in your role/industry? Or I am not that familiar, what are some of the biggest issues you face? Get them to tell you more about what they do or their processes with genuine curiosity.

Don’t ask questions in a way that makes people feel like they are taking a quiz. Ask questions that invite conversation and shows your interest. Instead of “Who is your target market?” you might say, “Is there a target market that works best for you?” Most importantly, keep the conversation focused on them and what you can do for them not for your business…just for them. Think about anyone you can connect them with or resources you can suggest. They will remember you more for being helpful than for trying to sell them something. And if they are not part of your goal, that’s okay. They may know someone who is. Make them a connection and add them to your network…then move on. If you feel like you have spent a lot of time and they are not part of your goal, it may be time for a cup of Joe. You can step away and meet someone new.

3. JUST BE REAL – Is all this planning too contrived and salesy?

Having a plan will help build your confidence and help you measure the effectiveness of your time and efforts. Your time is an investment and you want to spend it wisely. So, NO, it’s only salesy if you approach it that way. At the end of the day, we are all just people and networking is about connecting and building relationships. Your conversation starters should be real things about your life, your likes and your passions. All of the planning tactics (goal setting and prepared conversation starters) are just ways to smoothly transition into a networking setting. Being prepared will allow you to relax and engage in real conversation. Think about this – the person you are talking with is probably there for the same reason you are – to make a connection. When you are yourself, you are making it easier for everyone to have a great conversation. Be real, genuine and authentic. When you are talking with them, be focused on what they are saying and be a good listener. Spend 20% of your time talking and 80% of your time listening…the golden 80/20 rule.

4. DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW UP – How do I stay connected to the people I meet?

Connecting back with people you have met is the most critical step in the process. It’s a habit you want to create that will be worth it – I promise. It can be overwhelming to feel like you have added more “work” for yourself, so keep it simple. This isn’t like the old dating adage “Give it a few days so you don’t look too anxious.” Follow up right away, the next day if possible. It makes people feel important and that connecting with them was meaningful to you.

As you meet people, you will find interesting ways to reconnect or follow up. You can simply send an email that says “It was great to meet you and I look forward to staying connected”. Then be sure to connect with them on LinkedIn and other social channels where relevant. It reinforces that you want to stay connected. You can also find more personal ways to connect like “I will send you a few restaurants I love in that town”…then make sure you follow up. I like to put it in my phone right as I am talking to the person, so I don’t forget. It also shows my commitment and reminds me to follow up. Other people might make notes on the back of business cards or right after the event. Whatever your process is, make sure to follow up. Real connections aren’t made in just one conversation. They are made by building relationships over time.

At The Marketing Posse, we know about the power of connections and hope that these tips will help you engage in meaningful and productive conversations at your next event. Let us know how it goes at your next networking opportunity or let us know if we can help expand your network!

Cheers!

Danielle Vona

danielle@themarketingposse.com

5-Legged Journey to Marketing Magic

October 3, 2018/in Business, Management, Strategy, Training

“It’s not just about the destination. It’s the journey.”

Oftentimes, the companies and individuals I work with feel overwhelmed by the marketing plan process. It can be a daunting task that involves multiple stakeholders. Sometimes, just getting everyone together in the same place at the same time can feel monumental. But, the plan itself does not need to be overly complicated or overwhelming. Some of the best marketing plans are actually quite simple – clear and concise. Let’s pretend we are going on a ROAD-TRIP (shot gun!)…

A marketing plan, much like a road trip, has three basic sections: (1) the objective – where are we going or our “destination”, (2) the strategies – what route are we going to take to get there, and (3) the specific tactics – what vehicle will we drive. Oh, and as a bonus during the strategy section, we may want to consider alternate routes in case there is traffic or road blocks.

What happens during the course of writing a branded marketing plan is the magic of it. It’s the joy of the journey and the most fun part! A well-crafted marketing plan is written in collaboration with people across the business and forces conversations on meaty, strategic topics. It forces teams to recognize trade-offs and align on priorities. So, the real beauty of the marketing plan lies not just in the plan itself but also the process of getting there (that’s the Road-trip part!). I want to share my approach to this journey, so you and your teams can achieve marketing magic – a clearly articulated destination and a plan of how to get there with everyone in the car with you.

Journey Leg #1 – Where To?
Setting clear objectives can often feel esoteric. “Grow the business” – “Get new users” – “Drive Traffic”. Yes, these are all objectives, but they can feel overwhelming and as they are, they don’t really help the team understand what to do or how they can contribute. It’s like telling someone to “just drive south” without telling them how far or what the fastest route might be. I find the best way to set objectives is to break it down… then break it down again. If your objective is to grow 5% in revenue, break it down into dollars, then break it down by quarter, then potential products and channels, etc. You get the idea. The more specific the objective, the easier it will be to develop compelling marketing and sales initiatives! Align as a team on the break down so everyone agrees and is headed to the same place.

Journey Leg #2 – Who Cares?
Now that we are grounded in our objective, who is buying? Set aside, for a minute, who we are selling to today, who do we want to sell to? Sometimes the person who is buying from you today might not be the one buying tomorrow. Or maybe there are new growth opportunities by re-framing who you are selling to. Never do this at the expense of your current customer or buyer but be as aspirational as possible in order to grow. And keep it simple with a sentence like “For people who look like this and act like that and need this…”.

Journey Leg #3 – Why You?
Now, the most critical conversation of all. Why choose you? What are the areas where you stand out from competition and win? To answer that question, you need to understand the competitors and what they are great at. There may be some areas where being at parity with the competition is ok and you have to nail the basics. But there should be areas where you are differentiated and the clear choice. It’s those reasons why people would choose to spend a dollar with you versus other options. Those are the things that stand out and where you have the capability to shine. This is the cornerstone of your communication strategy. It tells you what to talk about.

Journey Leg #4 – Why Not?
The most fun and magical part of the process are the initiatives and ideas that bring your strategy to life. What are the specific action items that we can start doing to implement our strategy? Be sure the tactics are going to help achieve the objective from “where to”. Don’t get distracted by ideas, recommendations or suggestions that aren’t focused on your goal…it’s just a distraction? This will likely require trade-offs. Estimate the value of each idea and build them into your plan. Make sure your total estimates exceed your goals. Everything you do may not work, so build in room to experiment.

Journey Leg #5 – Well Done!
The last leg of our journey is all about knowing when we are there. How do we know if we are successful? As you define your tactics think about how you will measure the success of that effort against the objectives you’ve aligned to. Measure often and don’t wait too long to adjust if something is not working. There are always alternate routes. Oh, and one last, important note. Make sure to celebrate achievements along the way. It will make the journey all the more magical.

At The Marketing Posse we thrive on helping companies create marketing magic. If you need help getting started or navigating the planning process, please reach out. We are here for you! The fall season is a great time of year for teams to have this dialogue and to create solid plans for the next year.

Social Media for Entrepreneurs (Not Dummies)

March 15, 2017/in Blog, Business, Strategy

Remember when landlines and snail mail were our favorite forms of communication? I can almost still feel that tiny burst of excitement after coming home to a green blinking light on the answering machine. It meant that someone most likely memorized my number, called me while I was out of the house and cared enough to leave a voicemail. That sense of satisfaction still lives somewhere inside us, but today, we thrive off instant gratification and convenience instead. Face-to-face meetings have turned into Skype meetings. Text messages are favored over phone calls. Feelings can be expressed through a library of never-ending emoticons. But what’s majorly leading the communication evolution is social media… and the conversation never stops.

Social media is no longer just social either, it’s a lifestyle. Outside of talking to each other, we’re buying our favorite products, connecting with brands we love and celebrating shareable life moments. It’s everywhere, is always at our fingertips and gives us everything we crave, including instant gratification. So, if you’re an entrepreneur with a new business you should ask yourself this question: If you’re not on social media, do you really exist?

What’s most interesting about social media is that despite its reign over the conversational universe, some brands and start-ups aren’t utilizing it. These companies are relying on traditional media to drive awareness, but they’re missing out on t opportunity to drive engagement through social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube, Google+, Vimeo, Vine. This isn’t just a laundry list of platforms, it’s a road map of opportunities for you to grow your business. If you haven’t started yet, here are the keys to unlocking your social castle:

Find the Right Platforms for Your Business

All social media platforms aren’t created equal. Depending on what industry you’re in, some platforms will work harder for you than others. Creating a clear communication strategy will help define who you want to talk to and what you want to say. Every platform caters to a different audience and ultimately, your key messaging will dictate where you belong in the social circle. For example, Instagram users value aesthetically beautiful images and videos, which is why it’s a sweet spot for hospitality and retail brands. Oppositely, if you’re looking for a vehicle to maximize blog content or announce company news, LinkedIn will be your new best friend. Finding the right platform is like finding the perfect pair of shoes. If the shoe doesn’t fit, you put it down and forget about it. If you try on three pairs that make you look amazing – buy them all. 🙂

2. Generate Engaging Content

In the world of social media, content is king. It can make a powerful first impression on someone new to your brand, or convert a follower into a customer. The key to content is making it relevant, attractive and engaging. My rule of thumb is if a piece of content doesn’t excite me, I don’t share it. If I wouldn’t like it, then why would anyone else? Your content should tell your brand story in a way that makes people want to be part of it. It should command attention through authenticity.

3. Automate Posts, Eliminate Stress

If you’ve dappled in social media, even on a personal level, you know it can be time consuming. Thankfully there are scheduling tools like Sprout Social and Hootesuite to automate posting! These tools not only do all the execution work for you, they also offer reporting. As an Entrepreneur with a million responsibilities and a vision to achieve, tools like this will give you more of what you need: time. *collective sigh of relief* Additionally, measuring social success month over month will help you gain a better understanding of what’s working for your business and what’s not. The key metrics to watch on social media are engagement, impressions and clicks that are driving traffic to your website.

4. Invest in Your Brand & Be Consistent

The simple saying, you get what you give, applies across the social media board. Like anything else in business, it requires you to invest time and money in it before it becomes lucrative. The most effective way to build a social media audience is through consistent, targeted promoted posts. These posts allow you to reach your target demographic and raise awareness for your brand. In fact, through Facebook you can create audiences based on interest, geographic location, demographic and online behavior. When you have an important message to share, you can feel confident knowing it will be delivered to the right people – where and when you need it to be.

5. Collaborate with Influences in Your Space

Social media is like high school. It’s made up of different cliques of like-minded people. There’s the jocks who worship sports, the notorious band geeks, the work-out junkies, the artists and of course, the popular crew. In this case, social media influencers represent the group everyone follows and admires. Think… “The Plastics” in Mean Girls. An influencer is someone on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. They have access to a large, curated audience (typically over 100k followers) and act as trusted brand ambassadors to help increase your reach. Collaborating with them works wonders for brand exposure and filling the sales pipeline! First step: find an influencer who loves your vision. Then watch the magic unfold.

No matter what approach you take, leveraging social media for your company is a step in the right direction! Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to me at Melissa@themarketingposse.com.

Peace, love + posting,

Melissa Santell

Marketing Maven

The Marketing Posse

www.themarketingposse.com

The New Marketing Landscape Is Here to Stay

April 29, 2016/in Business, Innovation, People

Everyone knows the marketing landscape has evolved significantly in the last 5-10 years, but it seems like some marketing organizations haven’t “evolved” as much as they have “revolved.” Traditional marketing organizations are at a loss for talent as restructuring, cost cutting, and turnover have become more prevalent than ever before. Newly minted graduates and millennials are more interested in being part of the “bigger picture” and they are inspired by the startup world. Interestingly enough, despite the significant growth of small businesses and startups, these organizations are not only financially challenged to hire seasoned marketing executives, but often times aren’t really sure what they are looking for.

It’s not uncommon for brand marketing, e-commerce, customer acquisition, CRM, social media, and an exhausting list of skills to be expected of job candidates today. Marketing roles are becoming more complicated, paving the way to a sea of grey area. With the turnover and instability in marketing leadership, younger marketing professionals often lack the leadership and mentorship that would help them grow and develop their career. It comes as no surprise that the life span of a Chief Marketing Officer is less than 2 years…so, should you feel accomplished when you hit that 24- month mark?

The truth is, this new marketing landscape is here and it’s not going to get simpler anytime soon. Our goal at The Marketing Posse is to act as an extension of your marketing department. We understand that some organizations need the “Worker Bees” but can’t afford the “Queen Bees.” That’s why our team is here to provide strategic business planning, brand positioning, marketing solutions and talent development at a level that works for you. The Marketing Posse gives you:

Access to senior level talent when you need it

Experts with multiple talents in today’s world of endless channels

Flexibility to staff each project with the level of talent it requires
Customized scopes to develop and execute plans your budget can afford

We can help support your team with consistent leadership and guidance, without a full time price tag. Let us work with you evolve when and how you need to.

Danielle Vona

danielle@themarketingposse.com

What can we learn from each other?

January 1, 2016/in Business

Serving a variety of organizations, both large and small, has provided some unexpected perspective. If you can take the best of both worlds, it would be pretty magical. Startups use disruption to make positive change possible and big companies can benefit from keeping an eye on the cadence and the speed of startups. That said, large companies have processes and resources that the smaller companies aspire to. Working with and leading large marketing organizations as well as working with small startup teams, has afforded me a front row seat to observe both. Startups are better at speed and efficiency and large organizations succeed at building consensus, leading diverse teams and in making thoughtful data driven decisions. So what can we learn? Here are my top 3 entrepreneuer learnings for large companies.

Move quickly with less time restraints. While we’ve all worked at organizations where things needed to be done by yesterday, an entrepreneurs’ timetable is even faster, hours and days count. One great meeting might lead to major changes in the company and this can provide an ongoing level of excitement and electricity to get it done and get it done today! At even the fasted paced large organizations, things tend to move much slower, there’s a process, conversations need to be documented, t’s need to be crossed and i’s dotted. Empower your people to make decisions and keep things moving!
Make decisions from the gut. Many entrepreneurs don’t require consumer feedback to make decisions and use their gut to make the “right choice.” They have an idea and are focused on making it happen; not getting everyone to agree that it’s a good idea helps them make decisions faster. Large organizations often take the time to gain cross-functional buy-in, team alignment on decisions, and consumer/customer feedback on ideas. This is where a blend of both would be ideal. Do some validating, but don’t get bogged down. You know your business. Make a decision based on the best information you have…you will probably be mostly right!
Disrupt the status quo. Entrepreneurs aren’t hampered by “how things are always done”. They reframe issues to suit their needs and never stop asking “why does this have to be done this way?” This allows them to think outside of the box and create new and better, faster ways to run their business. The processes required by many large organization’s infrastructures can help standardize work, but also can slows the entire engine down. Be open to always asking entrepreneurial questions like “Do we need this? If so, Why?”. Keep what’s good, and re-invent what’s not.

As marketing people, we often pride ourselves in our understanding of the “right” process, our ability to build consensus, gain alignment, lead diverse teams and make thoughtful data driven decisions. In large marketing organizations, these are key tenets of marketing executives’ reputations and used as evaluation criteria. In the startup world, on the other hand, it’s clearly a different set of criteria that drives success. It is more about how fast decisions are made, staying on top of the industry knowledge so that we can make educated choices “from the gut” and being creative in how we get everything done.

Big company thinking can help reduce the risk for startups with processes like consumer validation and category expertise. While an entrepreneurial mentality can help big companies cut through the red tape and simplify getting initiatives to market.

At The Marketing Posse, we understand what it takes to work across all kinds of organizations. We act as an extension of your marketing department and provide strategic business planning, brand positioning, marketing solutions and talent development. We can flex to meet your business and needs, whatever they may be.

To learn more, contact:

Danielle Vona
danielle@themarketingposse.com

What have you learned?

What have you accomplished?

Who have you met?

What are you doing great?

Where do you need help?

Learnings that make you better.

Accomplishments that make you proud.

People that are important to you.

Strengths that inspire you.

Support where you need it most.

7 Tips for #NationalSocialMediaDay

Connect

Swing By

Be Social

Connect

Swing By

Be Social

Tag Archive for: social media

What have you learned?

What have you accomplished?

Who have you met?

What are you doing great?

Where do you need help?

Learnings that make you better.

Accomplishments that make you proud.

People that are important to you.

Strengths that inspire you.

Support where you need it most.

7 Tips for #NationalSocialMediaDay

Connect

Swing By

Be Social

You can always find us playing on:

Connect

Swing By

Be Social