Marketing Blog

Whether it is through acquisition or organic growth, more and more of today’s companies have the ability to offer numerous services and/or products to multiple target audiences across vastly different industries.

However, according to Jonathan Ebenstein, the managing director of Skoda Minotti’s marketing services group, all too often companies are using a shotgun approach to marketing, when a rifle-based solution is needed.

“In other words, you can’t use the same broad-based, one-size-fits-all marketing approach to go after a construction company as you would for a law firm,” says Ebenstein. “These are two different industries with vastly different needs, hot buttons and challenges.”

Click here to read more of this article from SmartBusiness Cleveland.

And, for more information, post a comment below or contact our Marketing Services Group at 440-449-6800.

This is the fifth and final installment of our five part series on niche marketing.

Clearly it is imperative that you put some kind of system in place to monitor and evaluate your efforts. Without a tracking mechanism it is difficult to know what strategies work best and those that should be either revised or not carried forward in the future. My advice would be to design or invest in some kind of CRM system that will track new and repeat customers and allow you to determine how they learned about your product and/or services. And, should they be repeat customers, why they have returned and what new or additional services or products they purchased. An­other way to track your efforts is, as you get to know your repeat customers better, to meet with them for detailed feedback and ask them for ideas and suggestions about how you can introduce your prod­ucts and services to more prospects that are just like them. 

Click here for part one, part two, part three or part four of this series. Or, for more information on niche marketing or any of our other Marketing Services, contact Jonathan Ebenstein at 440-449-6800 or visit our marketing web page.

This is the fourth part of a five part series where we have been elaborating on why niche marketing is a vi­tal concept to consider when developing a marketing plan, while addressing some of the key elements to developing a niche marketing plan.

The basics start with a description of your target market, competitors and products or services. Additionally, you’ll need to put together a marketing plan and budget, which will contain your advertis­ing and promotional plan along with a detailed account of costs allocated for the development, creation and execution of the marketing initiatives and tactics detailed in your plan (i.e., Web site, ad creation, PR, sales collateral, SEO, Social Media, etc.). You’ll also want to make sure you’ve thought through such things as geo­graphical boundaries (i.e., do you want to be local, regional, national or global?) and industry trends. Completing a SWOT anal­ysis of your company’s strengths, weak­nesses, opportunities and threats is often very helpful in forcing yourself to better understand the nature of the market space you are playing in. Lastly, you’ll also need to determine your pricing strategy and rev­enue goals.

Click here for part one, part two or part three of this series. Or, for more information on niche marketing or any of our other Marketing Services, contact Jonathan Ebenstein at 440-449-6800 or visit our marketing web page.

This is part three of a five part series where we have been elaborating on why niche marketing is a vi­tal concept to consider when developing a marketing plan, while addressing some of the key elements to developing a niche marketing plan.

No surprise here, your target audience is the primary group of people you want as customers. But you need to think be­yond just the corporate decision makers (i.e., C-level executives or business own­ers). That’s too broad. Think about the hot buttons of those people. What size busi­ness does their company need to be to be considered ideal? What is the best way to communicate with them? Who needs to hear the message? Who has influence over your target market? Who must be moved to action in order to get a meeting, a RFP or a piece of business? What events do they typically attend? Who else is compet­ing with you for your target audience and what are they doing to target, attract and communicate with them? 

Click here for part one or part two of this series.  Or, for more information on niche marketing or any of our other Marketing Services, contact Jonathan Ebenstein at 440-449-6800 or visit our marketing web page.

This is the second part of a five part series in which will be elaborating on why niche marketing is a vi­tal concept to consider when developing a marketing plan, while addressing some of the key elements to developing a niche marketing plan.

After you have figured out what your niche specialty is and what true opportuni­ties lay ahead, you need to assemble your team and team leadership. This needs to be a dedicated group of people who are committed to growing the business or business unit. Next, with your team intact, you should create your mission/vision statement. This will serve to guide the actions of your group, spell out its overall goals, and provide a sense of direction and direct decision mak­ing. It’s a guidance system in a sense. One that will help keep you on track when the lure of going back to the shotgun approach comes calling.  

Click here for part one of this series. Or, for more information on niche marketing or any of our other Marketing Services, contact Jonathan Ebenstein at 440-449-6800 or visit our marketing web page.

Whether it is through acquisition or organic growth, more and more of today’s companies have the ability to offer numerous services and/or prod­ucts to multiple target audiences across vastly different industries.

However, all too often, companies are using a shot gun ap­proach to marketing, when a rifle-based solution is needed.

In other words, you can’t use the same broad-based, one-size-fits-all marketing approach to go after a construction com­pany as you would for a law firm. These are two different indus­tries with vastly different needs, hot but­tons and challenges.

By identifying and analyzing how to ef­fectively reach the different niche markets that you serve, your marketing plans for them will become more effective.

This is the first part of a five part series where we will elaborate on why niche marketing is a vi­tal concept to consider when developing a marketing plan, while addressing some of the key elements to developing a niche marketing plan.

Marketing Generalist vs. Marketing Specialist

Many people, especially those in the pro­fessional services space, tend to be gener­alists. By that, I mean they chase, without rhyme or reason, any business opportunity that crosses their path. While you can net business this way, this model lacks focus. To me, the secret to being successful in driving new business opportunities is fo­cusing on your niche specialties and then putting together a strategic marketing plan with focused goals and objectives that are specifically tailored to target and attract the target audience that inhabits that niche space. Whether it is a niche service offer­ing or a niche industry that you are chas­ing, narrowing your focus is the first step.

For more information on niche marketing or any of our other Marketing Services, contact Jonathan Ebenstein at 440-449-6800 or visit our marketing web page.

"Pay-Per-Click," or PPC,” is a method of online advertising that's measurable, flexible and very fast. PPC ads are paid listings that appear above and to the right of the free listings on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. To be listed in a search engine’s PPC’s results you pay/bid in an auction like manner. With PPC you only pay for the ads that are clicked on, so in addition to being able to quickly, measure the effectiveness of your ad, you can also track and justify your results and costs.
 

For example, in the illustration above, someone in need of financial services, presumably in the Cleveland area, searched on Google for “Cleveland financial planning services”. This screen shot shows the first four choices and links that are available from about 614,000 results. In looking at the PPC results on the right, the folks that own www.USdirectory.com, have the highest PPC position, probably paid the most to be there, and by virtue of top positioning are probably most likely to get clicked by the searcher. If someone does click on the ad, US Directory.com, will then pay what ever their cost per click bid was. If the searcher elected to click on the second sponsored link, “Cleveland Financial”, Skoda Minotti, (it’s our ad and we are not ashamed to pimp it) would pay.

The important difference to remember when looking at PPC vs. other kinds of paid advertising is that you don't pay until someone clicks. So while in a TV or radio campaign, you pay for all the eyes and ears (i.e., impressions) that could potentially see and/or hear your message. With PPC, you only pay for those that are actually interested in your company. The impressions, while still valuable from an awareness standpoint will cost you nothing.

Looking for a Cleveland Marketing Consultant? Contact Skoda Minotti Marketing Services at 440-449-6800.

Topics: Akron Marketing Services, Cleveland Marketing Consultant, Cleveland Marketing Services

If you’re a businesses looking for ways to cut your marketing budget and thinking of leaping onto the Twitter bandwagon, be sure to look before you tweet.

Twitter, no doubt, is a great low budget, grassroots approach to create awareness, drive business and build your brand, but keep in mind that everything you tweet is searchable on the web. This can be both a curse and a blessing.  The good news is, if you're strategically using key words for which you want to be found Twitter can be a great aide.  The bad news is, if you say something that is unprofessional, unethical, or libelous, it can come back to bite you…hard.  A real life example is the drama that unfolded after a Vice President from the Global PR agency Ketchum insulted the entire city of Memphis and his biggest client, FedEx, via his personal twitter account. 

The lesson here is simple: Twitter is a public communication medium and everything you type can and will be used against you in the court of viral law.

For more on how other businesses are succeeding using Twitter check out this article.

Need help improving your social media marketing efforts? Contact Skoda Minotti Marketing Services (or follow us on Twitter @SkodaMinotti).

If you’re like just about every other business professional these days, sales are down, new business efforts are up and it’s time for you to get out…and start networking.  I know what you’re thinking.  I hate networking.  I’m painfully uncomfortable talking to a bunch of people I don’t know.  I don’t know what events to attend …etc.  I get it.  For most of us networking is as unnatural as a palm tree on the shores of Lake Erie, but the reality of the times is this:  You have to start doing something to drive sales and networking, when done right, works.

Networking that builds business is not just circulating through a room exchanging business cards. Networking done right is creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information. To be successful, your business network can and should contain colleagues, competitors, a wide range of business people, and personal friends, as well as clients and prospects.

Meeting people at organized events is one of the easiest ways to build an extensive business network. The first key to effective networking is choosing the right kind of events to attend.  In Northeast Ohio, regardless of what industry you are in, there is no shortage of events to choose from.  A good source for learning what events are happening and when, are the event boards of the following web sites: Smart Business Magazine, Cleveland.com, Crain’s Cleveland Business, Cleveland Business Connects and/or Inside Business.  Clearly, there’s a lot to choose from, so when considering an event, try to make sure that the people attending are largely potential clients, and other professionals who may be able to refer business to you.

It is important to understand that successful networking does not always yield immediate results.  Think of it as planting seeds.  It may take some time before you efforts bear fruit.  Ultimately if you become known as a powerful resource for others, people will remember to turn to you with not only business referrals, but for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. Networking keeps you visible to them.

Lastly, keep in mind, networking doesn’t end when the event is over.  Follow-up and ongoing contact is a key component to successful business development.  When you get back from an event, make sure you add any new clients to your contacts database and flag those contacts so that they can receive any future communications from your company (i.e., e-newsletters, e-blasts, holiday cards, etc.)  You should also consider forwarding these people relevant articles, events or web sites that you come across that you think may be of interest to them. 

The hardest part of networking is getting out the door and to the events. Set a goal for yourself to attend at least one networking function each month and before you know it, the faces in the crowd won’t seem quite so unfamiliar and you’ll be on your way to building your own business network.

Looking for a Cleveland or Akron marketing consultant to help you with your networking initiatives? Contact Skoda Minotti Marketing Services at 440-449-6800.

Now stay with me here, I’m gonna take the long way to make what I hope will be a clever marketing point.

Got kids? I do. My wife and I have three boys, age: eleven, nine and seven, each one more different than the next. Now as a veteran parent this shouldn’t come as a surprise to me. I, like most people, have known for years that all kids are different, even siblings. However every day without fail, one of my boys will do or say something that makes me wonder how these three could possibly have come from the same gene pool.

Recently I watched The Empire Strikes Back for the 59th time with my oldest son. Afterward, I asked him if he’d be willing to turn to the dark side of the force and rule the galaxy with me as father and son. As a deftly skilled Jedi Master of Marketing, I explained in great detail to him all the feature benefits of being an Evil Dark Lord:

• No bed time
• Endless supply of PlayStation games
• Candy for breakfast, cookies for lunch and cake for dinner
• Free reign of amusement parks the size of entire planets
• And so on and so forth….

But like his hero Luke Skywalker, he declined my offer and remained brand loyal to the Light Side of the Force.

Now,  taking on the role of a Dark Marketing Lord of the Sith, I re-evaluated my target audience and looked for other options.

“If you will not turn to the Dark Side.” I said to him. “Then perhaps your brother will?”

It was a no brainer. My nine year old, after hearing the same sales pitch didn’t hesitate.

“Sure,” he said after I made my offer. “When do we start?”

Before we could start, I explained, we needed to rid ourselves of his older Jedi brother. A pretty fierce and heated lightsaber battle quickly broke out between the three of us. There was hitting, screaming (my wife mostly) and we broke a lamp.

Looking forward, it makes me wonder how my youngest son, who is just now learning the story told in a galaxy far, far away, will answer when offered galactic supremacy. But whatever he decides, I know to expect the unexpected. That the balance of the force will again change within my house and my own personal trilogy will undoubtedly continue to unfold in unusual and unexpected ways.

So what is the “Brady Bunch” moral of the story? Well it’s two fold:

1.      As a parent of two or more kids, you can’t expect what’s good for the Goose to be good for the Gander and with children, there is no Dark or Light side of the force. Kids are all different so using a Cheerio in the toilet to successfully improve the aim of one child may result in your bathroom smelling like a subway station restroom with the next. As parents it is our job to accept, embrace and nurture the differences in our children and above all else to never show a preference for one over the other.

2.      As a marketer, the moral is simple: know your target audience. Understand what drives their decision making process and craft your message to their hot buttons.

We know how to do this – without using Jedi mind tricks. Call us.

A logo is a vital identifier that customers/prospects use to associate an organization with its products or services. The professionalism and attractiveness of a logo will immediately create a perception for the customers/prospects regarding a company’s level of integrity, product quality, player status and overall brand identity. These perceptions, right or wrong, are the factors that many customers use to measure a product or service before making a choice. A “hokey” logo can cheapen the perception of the company or product.

A few things to keep in mind when evaluating yours:

·          Overall, a logo should have a connection and association with the business image of the company or product it is representing.

·          It should be simple, short, and able to be used in a wide variety of applications, easy to remember and appear unique in a crowd of many others.

·          When designing a logo it is vital to design something that can “stand the test of time” and not require constant revisions.

·          While complex multicolor logos can be “eye-catchers,” they are not very practical. Four-color process logos are more expensive to reproduce than spot color. And they do not transfer well in applications where production requirements need to be simplified (i.e., embroidered shirt, two-color / b & w collateral). This will hurt your brand image.

·          When considering size and color it is best to select a design that can be easily reproduced and read when printed and viewed off of a fax machine, printed on brochures, business cards, letterheads or on-line.

If you feel your logo doesn’t meet with any or all of these guidelines, contact us; we are experts at taking logos from good to great.

Looking for help with your logo from a Cleveland marketing consultant? Contact Skoda Minotti Marketing Services at 440-449-6800.

Before I get to our first marketing blog entry, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m Jonathan Ebenstein and I’ll be your author for the next ten or so paragraphs. I invite you to sit back, relax and open your mind.

If you’ve sifted at all through our Firm’s web site, you’d know that we are a CPA, Business and Financial Advisory firm.  We help our clients, mostly companies, grow their business through a myriad of professional services (i.e., Tax, Accounting & Auditing, IT, Financial Services, Litigation Advisory Services, Financial Staffing, etc.) Notice how well we just seamlessly cross sold our services.  Good stuff.  Keep reading.

What do I do?  Well up until January 31, 2009, I was in charge of the marketing department here at Skoda Minotti.  I’m the guy who with the help of my staff, re-branded the firm, wrote the marketing plan, handled all the public relations, negotiated, purchased and coordinated all the media, designed and wrote all the copy for our sales materials, website, advertising, blogs, e-newsletters, e-blasts and handled all the firm’s internal communications efforts. 

When we were done, as if you can ever be done marketing…BTW you can’t.  We looked around and thought, “Not too shabby. I bet we can help other companies do the same thing.”  And you know what? We can.  And we are going to.

On Feb 1, 2009 Skoda Minotti Marketing Services was launched (cue Chariots of Fire sound track).Wait a minute.  Hold on.  You’re going to launch a marketing service group during this economy?Yep.  And here’s why.

Down economies are actually the best time to ramp up your marketing efforts. It’s true. Recessions actually create unique marketing opportunities for companies that, if leveraged properly, can render your marketing efforts even more successful. Here’s why:

·          Since most people slash their budgets and pull back their marketing efforts during an economic slow down, there’s less “clutter” to compete against.

·          With less marketing messages for your target audience to sift through, the easier it is for them to see your message… and only your message.

·          Supply and demand.  With less demand for space and air time, media outlets will be more willing to make deals, such as decreased rates, increased placements, better placements and even category exclusivity.

·          Strengthen your brand.  Marketing during a down economy tells your customers and prospects that your company is confident in its staying power.

Then, when the economy pendulum swings back up, the companies, hopefully yours, that proactively marketed themselves during the downturn will have put themselves in a position to seize market share, reach new customers, and strengthen brand loyalties while their competitors are busy playing catch-up.

Looking for a Cleveland marketing consultant? Contact Skoda Minotti Marketing Services at 440-449-6800.

Before I get to our first marketing blog entry, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m Jonathan Ebenstein and I’ll be your author for the next ten or so paragraphs. I invite you to sit back, relax and open your mind.

If you’ve sifted at all through our Firm’s web site, you’d know that we are a CPA, Business and Financial Advisory firm.  We help our clients, mostly companies, grow their business through a myriad of professional services (i.e., Tax, Accounting & Auditing, IT, Financial Services, Litigation Advisory Services, Financial Staffing, etc.) Notice how well we just seamlessly cross sold our services.  Good stuff.  Keep reading.

What do I do?  Well up until January 31, 2009, I was in charge of the marketing department here at Skoda Minotti.  I’m the guy who with the help of my staff, re-branded the firm, wrote the marketing plan, handled all the public relations, negotiated, purchased and coordinated all the media, designed and wrote all the copy for our sales materials, website, advertising, blogs, e-newsletters, e-blasts and handled all the firm’s internal communications efforts. 

When we were done, as if you can ever be done marketing…BTW you can’t.  We looked around and thought, “Not too shabby. I bet we can help other companies do the same thing.”  And you know what? We can.  And we are going to.

On February 1, 2009, Skoda Minotti Marketing Services was launched (cue Chariots of Fire sound track).  Wait a minute.  Hold on.  You’re going to launch a marketing service group during this economy?  Yep.  And here’s why.

Down economies are actually the best time to ramp up your marketing efforts. It’s true. Recessions actually create unique marketing opportunities for companies that, if leveraged properly, can render your marketing efforts even more successful. Here’s why:

• Since most people slash their budgets and pull back their marketing efforts during an economic slow down, there’s less “clutter” to compete against.
• With less marketing messages for your target audience to sift through, the easier it is for them to see your message… and only your message.
• Supply and demand.  With less demand for space and air time, media outlets will be more willing to make deals, such as decreased rates, increased placements, better placements and even category exclusivity.
• Strengthen your brand.  Marketing during a down economy tells your customers and prospects that your company is confident in its staying power.

Then, when the economy pendulum swings back up, the companies, hopefully yours, that proactively marketed themselves during the downturn will have put themselves in a position to seize market share, reach new customers, and strengthen brand loyalties while their competitors are busy playing catch-up.