Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Marketing has changed!
I was recently asked how things have changed in the last few years of marketing. It was a great question but very innocuous. To me, this question, which is extremely valid, leads to the answer I provided my good friend.
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Two steps forward, One step back?
While technology executives are starting to get the role of Marketing, they still fall back on expecting shortcuts to deliver results…
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
What is a cafe to do?
Alright Marketers of all stripes, I need your input. It’s important - I’m sure most of us can relate, as consumers, to the subject matter at hand. I’m talking cafes.
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Mix it up, already!
I’ve decided to change the tone of this blog; at least for a while. We’ll call it blogger’s prerogative. I’m going to make this blog more personal. For those who are unaware, I’ve changed my employment status recently. No, I wasn’t laid off like so many other Marketers in this economy. I went from employee to employer. I no longer work for a high tech software company. Instead, I intentionally chose to finally start my own strategic marketing agency. I figured it would never get better than the current market…
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Tweetering on the edge of Distraction
As I sit in my office and determine how I’m going to complete the next project, of many projects, on my to-do list, I find myself constantly distracted with the beep of Tweetdeck as another Twitter post arrives for me to read. It’s painful. How does one manage the opportunity social media gives you to reach out to new prospects, establish yourself as a thought leader, and be exposed to new concepts or new ideas, all within 140 characters per post, while still actually getting work done.
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
It’s Deja Vu All Over Again
There is a new reality hitting the marketing world as we speak. You may have noticed it, although it is also potentially hidden from your vantage point due to the noise of the economy crumbling around us. The new reality is really something quite old however it’s something that can be counted on to happen over and over again despite what the various business schools will claim. What is it, you may ask? It’s the fact that Marketing is the last person hired, the last department funded, and in tough times, like what we’re in now, the first one fired. It’s the first budget removed.
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
The New Reality Starts with “R”
As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted in quite some time. I apologize. It’s not acceptable. It is, however, a sign of the times. Which times are those? The times where we do not want to mention the “R” word even though we all know that we’re clearly in a recession. The signs are everywhere, and one of those signs is my inability to post because of competing priorities that previously did not exist.
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Modern Marketing is all about the Technology
Launching a new website is no easy task especially when you’re a marketer marketing to marketers! Yowza! But my team and I recently completed a project where we did just that. While we’re proud, we’re also relieved. All that technology and integration is painful. In fact, I heard the comments made that I’m the most expensive web master they’ve ever employed. Truth is, I’m also probably the least qualified, technically speaking!
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Spying has never been so relevant
Things have changed dramatically on the awareness and brand tracking front since I began marketing so many years ago. When I engage clients I always do a little background search to understand their challenges. To do that I simply measure their brand awareness against their competition. I can do the same thing for their industry or solution category. Once I’m engaged, I use the same tools to measure and trend the impact our efforts are making. Seems natural, yet so many people do not do it. What’s even more amazing, people will rarely understand the impact you’re making until they see the visuals. And these tools are completely visual. If you need competitive intelligence, or you need to understand who to influence and how to influence then you need to use these tools.
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Marketing owns the Sales funnel, right?!
As marketing executives, we spend a fair amount of time creating our marketing plan, ensuring it’s aligned with the business plan, and then executing the programs and campaigns against that plan. It’s the cycle we live. We repeat it daily, quarterly, and yearly. We get into a routine. We become creatures of habit. If you’re wondering where I’m going with this allow me to get to the point: our habit is undermining our effectiveness. How so? In what context? We apply this same learned behaviour to our customer acquisition tactics. That may have been fine a decade ago but it no longer works today. If you haven’t adjusted then you’re missing out on something pretty significant. Allow me to explain…