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Recent Posts
Manufacturing and Technology Marketing Executive to Drive Growth for Chief Outsiders Clients
With a consistent record of transforming complex companies, Sabrina Donley to drive growth and increase marketing ROI for clients as a Chief Outsiders Fractional CMO
4 Ways to Develop Your Inbound Marketing
1.31.2013 — By Barbara Fowler, Chief Outsiders, LLC (As featured on outright). Inbound marketing can be an effective and inexpensive approach to expanding your audience and customer base. While traditional marketing focuses on getting your message out through advertising in newspapers, magazines, or television, inbound marketing entices people to come to you. Through creativity and community, you can develop loyal customers who will do the marketing legwork for you. With some basic research and the incorporation of simple changes into your overall marketing strategy, you can take your business to the next level. Research Your Industry Explore which strategies are effective for other businesses in your space. For example, if you’re part of a small law firm specializing in workman’s compensation claims, Google “workman’s compensation law firm websites” to get ideas. Examining Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn pages can really open your eyes to new perspectives and formatting techniques. Recently, a local deli asked customers to share their favorite sandwich ingredients on the deli’s Facebook page, and then named sandwiches containing those ingredients after the customers. Great ideas like this can be incorporated into your plan at little to no cost. Seek Feedback Your customers are your best source of ideas. Encourage and reward their constructive feedback. Ask them what specific things they like – or don’t like – about your business. Listen closely. By actively using customer feedback to change your strategies, you’re encouraging them to become more invested in your business. They will tell friends and family about their experiences. Appreciate them and reward them in some way, whether that’s through customer discounts or, in turn, promoting their businesses in a creative way. Use Social Media Effectively Make sure you’re engaged with your audience on a consistent basis to truly see the benefits. If you simply create a Facebook or Pinterest page without managing it, you’re not going to see results. Experiment with what works best for your audience and your interests. With a small fan base, you have the perfect opportunity to be creative and fun. Social media is a great platform for displaying feedback from, and rewards for, your audience. If you run a tech company, ask what your audience’s favorite gadgets were in the past year. Food or clothing businesses can support their customers’ creations by asking for recipe posts or outfit designs. Your support of your audience’s creativity and passion is communicated through these online forums. Reward your audience with gift cards or other perks for participating in the community to show them that you appreciate and value their ongoing involvement. Analyze Your Data Many tools are available to analyze your web traffic and possible conversions. Most small businesses start with Google Analytics. It’s essentially free, and it can help you analyze your web traffic. You can then better target your intended audience. The key to improving your business is making sure you seize every opportunity you have to get your name out and establish yourself as part of an expanding and welcoming community. Consistent analysis of your promotions, media interaction, and traditional efforts is necessary to best reach your desired audience. Inbound marketing gives you the opportunity to connect with your customers in a creative and entertaining way. Through research and feedback from your valued clients, you can design promotions, events, and social media groups that draw an even larger – and more loyal – customer base. Barbara Fowler, Managing Director at Chief Outsiders, a provider of part-time marketing executives to help mid-sized businesses. Fowlers specialties lie in sales and marketing synchronization, global business strategies and family business turnaround techniques. A frequent speaker and writer on topics such as leadership, cultural diversity and developing an environment of success, she has effectively led culturally diverse organizations and written and implemented training programs for CMOs worldwide. View original article at outright. Media Contact: Pete Hayes 512-923-6512
Young CEOs Getting Message: Outsourcing
1.29.2013 — By Barbara Fowler, Chief Outsiders, LLC (As featured on Under 30 CEO). This week “Under30CEO” the leading media property for entrepreneurs features Barbara Fowler, Managing Director at Chief Outsiders. She provides an outsiders perspective for developing a healthy relationship between sales and marketing as well as a perspective on the role and benefits of executive outsourcing. Under30CEO is inspiring the world’s next generation of business leaders by featuring direct interviews with the most successful young people on the planet, profiles twenty-something startups, provides advice from those who have done it before, and publishes cutting edge news for the young entrepreneur. Find Marketing Success through Outsourcing A healthy relationship between sales and marketing is key to the success of a business, particularly in small- to medium-sized companies. Marketing efforts will develop and nurture leads, and the sales staff will carry the interested customer to the end of the buying process. With each Google search, consumers are looking for the items they want before ever approaching a sales person, making marketing even more crucial in differentiating your company from the other 112,600,000 competitors and search results. With that in mind, filling the chief marketing officer (CMO) position in your company can be critical to the business’ success or failure. Thought it may initially seem frightening to extend such a key opening to someone from outside the company family, outsourcing a CMO can provide your company with a qualified and results-driven marketing director who can set up the processes, strategies, and goals to take your company to the next level. The Role of a CMO As head of marketing, the CMO has many roles to fill that can affect the success of the business. Drive revenue by delivering qualified leads to the sales organization through data-driven marketing efforts. Ensure excellent brand experience for prospective customers — this includes customer experiences with web content, payment, and service. Test assumptions using CRM and other data-driven research. Act as the right hand of the CEO and work closely with IT, operations, and other support areas within the company. When a CMO fulfills each of these roles, it allows marketing and sales to work together to solve issues, rather than assigning blame, and it helps the CEO and company’s vision for business success come to fruition. From the Outside In Looking at the above list of a CMO’s roles, it may still seem that outsourcing your next CMO is not necessary. You may think that someone who is already on staff could fill those roles just as easily. But the outsourced CMO possesses a set of qualities that cannot be found within your company walls. The outsourced CMO is: An Outsider. People within the same company have a tendency to think alike or become wed to an idea because they are so invested in the organization. They understand how things are done and are comfortable that it works. An outsourced CMO will have an outside view of your processes, procedures, and staff. They can interview other executives without any preconceived notions or biases, review current marketing and sales projects from the view of a customer, and will use this information to survey customers to develop fresh insights on company marketing tactics. Experienced. Outsourced CMOs have experienced challenges in a variety of different industries, stay current on best practices and trends in the marketing industry, and bring a different type of skill set that doesn’t currently exist within your company. They also will have connections with other industry professionals to get the talent and information your company needs to execute on marketing strategies. A Leader. Businesses going through a transition period (growing at an unprecedented rate, have lost a key member of the executive team, or are repositioning their brand) will experience conflicts or confusion from management and the staff. An outsider can help to keep a pulse on rising issues and work to transition the company into a more stable environment, since they won’t have formed alliance or relationships with the staff. An outsourced CMO has dealt with different types of company culture and management styles over their career, so their insights into what works and what doesn’t will be an invaluable asset. If your business has been sluggish, the management team has been clashing, or your business is in transition, bringing in some new blood may be the jumpstart your company needs. Outsourcing is not always the obvious solution, and the idea of bringing in someone with new ideas and different methods can be intimidating. However, the fresh insights, unbiased point of view, and varied experience of an outsourced CMO can revitalize your business and challenge your team to produce truly original work. Barbara Fowler, Managing Director at Chief Outsiders, a provider of part-time marketing executives to help mid-sized businesses. Fowlers specialties lie in sales and marketing synchronization, global business strategies and family business turnaround techniques. A frequent speaker and writer on topics such as leadership, cultural diversity and developing an environment of success, she has effectively led culturally diverse organizations and written and implemented training programs for CMOs worldwide. View original article at Under 30 CEO. Media Contact: Pete Hayes 512-923-6512