Author Archives: Ann James
B2B Marketing? It’s Basically Selling Toothpaste (to People, Not Teeth)
Craving a quick sugar fix? Businesses have them too, not for sweets, but for efficiency. That’s where B2B marketing comes in. Think it’s different from selling toothpaste? Wrong! Both are about understanding human needs and desires, even if one involves … Continue reading
What before How
So many marketing organisations seem to have all the channel delivery but none of the planning of what they need to say, to whom and when. Relevance trumps channel and frequency. Social is just a message channel. Blogs are a … Continue reading
Schrodinger’s lead
Just as the cat is both alive and dead until the box is opened, a lead is both valuable and not valuable until it is qualified and nurtured. Until a lead is qualified, you don’t know if they are a … Continue reading
Noise or a voice?
There’s so much noise out there, it’s overwhelming. I’m talking really about the noise of high volume content, which says nothing of note, noticed by nobody in particular, just adding to the general fray. Am I talking about AI generated … Continue reading
Weaving the strands together
Plans and lists. Successful marketing outcomes rely on a breadth of planning activities that can’t be underestimated, even if no-one outside the marketing team really cares about or needs to see what’s involved. Any campaign or event, from the single … Continue reading
I hate to burst your bubble,
But the thing is, the Lead Fairy – she’s not real! I know, I’m shocked too. And so close to Christmas. So every sales manager and product owner likes to think that marketing’s job is sooo easy, because leads grow … Continue reading
Customers, that’s what it’s all about
Creating customers. Growing customers. We have to understand customers, their needs, motivations, their language. Get under their skin. It’s not about leads and pipeline, those are measurements. Wherever you are in the chain of comms, content or delivery, if you’re … Continue reading
There’s always room for improvement
As something of a perfectionist, I like to think it’s worth getting it right. But I’m also a pragmatist, and more often than not you just have to take the first stab at putting a programme or message out there, … Continue reading
I trust this email finds you well.
Shoot me now. What a waste of words. The next sentence starts: I am writing to you because I believe our solution… I, I, I…. It’s not about you, it’s about them. The ‘prospect’. And you’ve lost them already. They … Continue reading
Thought leadership – sowing the seeds
Thought leadership. Marketing professionals might talk about it, either filing it vaguely under ‘strategise’, or rightly meriting it a place under ‘content planning’. But what’s the point of the wider conversation? It doesn’t have an immediate or measurable purpose in … Continue reading
"so what?" marketing 