Marketing automation has finally reached its way to all marketers. Software tools that were for so long only available to the Fortune 100’s and top .com’s like Amazon are now available to all of us.

As soon as you throw out a term like “B2B marketing”, everyone in the room starts yawning. However, when it comes to marketing something like a utility, businesses are a target that can't be ignored.

I recently attended a conference called the Financial Brand Forum to learn more about where the banking industry is headed and how to more effectively market financial institutions.

Is research overrated?

Developing a marketing strategy is vital for any business. It keeps your team aligned and working toward the same objectives. Without one, your marketing is likely to be ineffective and inefficient.

Brainstorming seems like such a simple concept, just pull a few people into a room with a white board and start throwing out ideas, right? It’s not always that easy. People often come in with a lot of things on their mind and aren’t always in the zone to just start shouting out great ideas. Time of day, people’s moods, group dynamic, schedules, preparation, etc. are all factors that can either positively or negatively affect a brainstorm.

So you’re a marketer on Pinterest and you either have access to Promoted Pins or you are on Pinterest’s waiting list - maybe you’re not sold on the idea quite yet.

Not sure where to place the call-to-action button on your new landing page to increase engagement? Or are you wondering what email design will result in a higher click through rate? 

I consider myself to be a competitive person. Perhaps too competitive in some instances. As a kid, I couldn’t practice free-throws without tracking what percent I hit. As a waiter, I always knew my per-check average. As a runner, I timed every session with the objective of beating my previous time at that distance. I’ve never been a ‘do the best I can’ type of guy because that’s subjective. You can’t measure it.

The brackets are filled by the laptop with care,

The ball is tipped and March Madness is here.

As the NCAA markets its gem in the gym,

Three weeks of hoops and messaging we’re about to suck in.

I’m sure you’ve either read or heard of the book, “The Purpose Driven Life” which was incredibly popular back in the early 2000s. 

Ask any Marketing 101 student and they will tell you that conversion is the key performance indicator (KPI), but ask a handful of Marketing Managers what they consider a “conversion” and the answers are as diverse as the industries and services they manage.