Mondaymorningmarketing With Ilyce Glink And John Byrne

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing John and Ilyce discuss one of the top marketing trends of the year: niche marketing. You have to understand whether you're offering a niche product to a wider audience or marketing a general product to a niche audience (or several niche audiences) in order to optimize your marketing dollars. Think about your product, and think about your niche strategy. Niche marketing started with market segmentation and has been around for a long time. You want to be the authority voice in your niche market to make that market as profitable as possible. But, be aware that niche markets can change on a dime. At the end of the day, it's all about identifying your audience and providing a marketing solution that makes sense. We'd love to hear your feedback, so be sure to leave comments, find us on Twitter and Facebook, and check out our companies (and brands) online: Ilyce Glink - Twitter - Facebook - ThinkGlink.com&n

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss the basics of the review market and talk about how to use reviews mentioning you and/or your business to drive website traffic and sales. Ten years ago, the world of online reviews was just starting. There was Yelp and TripAdvisor, but deciding where to go based on reviews of restaurants and hotels wasn't the norm. Today, all sorts of companies get reviewed: You see reviews of real estate agents, doctors, attorneys, teachers, mattress manufacturers and coffee shops. When everything gets reviewed, and those reviews are online, waiting for search engines to pull them out of the ether, companies have got to figure out what their review marketing strategy is: How to encourage reviews, dispute negative reviews and engage with reviewers. We'd love to hear your feedback, so be sure to leave comments, find us on Twitter and Facebook and check out our companies (and brands) online: Ilyce Glink - Twit

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss how President-elect Trump's tweets may change once he takes office. Then they look at a 2016 report by Domo and CEO.com indicating that Fortune 500 chief executives might not be using social media as much as people think. Overall, chief executives and others in the C-suite aren't on social media. A study last found that just about a third of all CEOs are active on at least one of social media's Big Six, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, G+, Instagram and YouTube -- although some younger CEOs are starting to use Snap (formerly Snapchat). Why? CEOs have very little time as it is, and the bigger the company, the bigger the outside time commitments. And, CEOs of publicly traded companies need to be wary of forward-looking statements, per SEC regulations. But social seems to be getting even bigger, and there are those who believe that to help brand a company, or give the brand some depth, all senior-level execu

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss Mary Meeker's 213 slide Internet Trends report and possible long term implications caused by the usage of new technologies. 1. How many people in the world are on social media like Facebook or Linkedin? How many people just in the United States? What does the decrease in Internet growth mean for businesses? 2. Fintechs are taking hold in many less developed countries. Ilyce talks about how Venmo, a currency transfer company similar to Paypal, has become popular and could continue to spread rapidly in African countries or India. 3. Cell service has become so ubiquitous that a judge even labeled it as a utility for the American people. Will everything completely mobilize in the future? 4. John shares the 3 Vs for advertising that Snapchat has used to enhance their growth: Vertical, Video, Viewing. What makes this formula successful and what other companies have used it successfully in their advertising?

Marketing isn't hard. It's just hard work. When it comes to Content Marketing, Ilyce Glink and John Byrne believe you have to do about 17 different things in order to make the most of each piece of content. And, they're not alone. Entrepreneur magazine online also talks about what you need to do repurpose content: Infographics, podcasting, quick explainer video, bite-size content via social media platforms, short videos, quick chat live video via Periscope or Facebook. And, don't forget about Pinterest, Reddit, and thousands of other social sites. All this slicing and dicing of content is leading us to be Jacks of all trades, masters of none. You have to take a step back and remember what you're trying to accomplish here. What's the best way to do that? Marketing pros often get distracted by the metrics they can measure. But, what does it really tell you? What's important? What does it mean? So, what are you trying to do and how do you measure success? Are you trying to generate leads? Increase

There's a lot that's been said about Prince in the past few weeks since his untimely death. But from a marketer's point of view, there are few musicians who have been able to capture the imagination of the public, or who have imprinted themselves so strongly on the American Mind. In this week's episode of Monday Morning Marketing, Ilyce Glink and John Byrne discuss how Prince may have been the ultimate marketing maven, someone who wasn't afraid to let go of the his logo and brand, and reinvent himself numerous times - even reclaiming a discarded brand.   SINCE PRINCE DIED.... Since his death last week, there has been so much focus on Prince and where he came from. But other brands are trying to connect/leverage/profit from death. Is that right? How do you feel about it? Prince was the ultimate control freak when it came to his brand. He controlled his songs and intellectual property. Everyone (and by that Ilyce and John mean companies) seems to feel free to use his song catalogue, knowing that his estate

In this week's Monday Morning Marketing podcast, Ilyce Glink and John Byrne discuss the new Cohn & Wolfe Authentic 100 Survey about brand authenticity. In other words, what does it take to be an authentic brand, and how can you use content marketing to create brand authenticity and customer engagement? Cohn & Wolfe is a global communications and public relations firm that specializes in brand awareness. The company surveyed more than 12,000 global consumers, asking what made a brand authentic, and asking which companies fit the definition of brand authenticity. Which brand ended up at the top? Disney.  The survey found that 75 percent of global consumers do not believe companies are open and transparent, which means that brands around the world have a credibility problem. Cohn & Wolfe's survey found that brand cynicism is the highest for Western European consumers, and global brands are as suspect as more local companies. What's interesting about the most authentic 100 brands

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss the steps necessary to successfully own the customer experience from end-to-end: 1. How do you build for the future before it hits? How do you help your customers envision and understand what is the future for their brand? 2. You can’t keep your marketing plans static. John says, it’s the Marketer’s Angst. There are all sorts of ways to market a company brand. But you have to plan for the future, which is more like a gamble. You may be wrong, and you’ll have to plan for that eventuality as well. 3. How do you market without middlemen? Ilyce says the great promise of the Internet was the end of middlemen (or women, not to be sexist). The Internet allows some control of end-to-end marketing, but not everything. It’s also industry dependent. In real estate, you’ve got real estate agents. Will Zillow move in and take over that role? Even technology can function as

What is content marketing? What are the different types of content you can use? Where do you use different sorts of content, and how do you make it most effective? In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss how to choose and deploy specific types of content based on the needs that you have or the problems you're trying to solve. Want to drive thought leadership? Use blogs. Want to drive it on a B2B level? LinkedIn is your space. Want to sell actual products? Images and videos are a must.  But how do you decide what you should be talking about? Ilyce and John discuss how to take yourself outside of your own head and think about what your customers want to hear.  Marketing is about selling the benefit of the product in addition to the product itself. Content marketing pushes the marketing agenda of a product without a direct sales pitch. Shows like the Auto Show and the International Home and Housewares Show #IHHS2016 do it in an experiential way. Looking forw

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss the steps necessary to successfully reengineer your brand: 1. Figure out what your brand stands for. Distance yourself from your personal feelings and try to understand how your company is perceived by your customers and prospects. 2. Research about your brand. What are insights you can gather from Yelp!, PowerReviews, social media, email marketing and other feedback mediums? This research should test your assumptions about the brand. Are you happy with the dialogue surrounding your brand?  3. Hash out goals for your company. Think big picture - what do you want to accomplish other than just an increase in sales? What do you want to be as a business and how do you want to accomplish that?  4. Differentiate your brand. Take the insights you have gathered and leverage them to take your brand to the next level.  5. Continue to test your assumptions. Marketing is a constant cycle and y

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss the top 10 marketing mistakes businesses often make. The biggest mistake marketers often make is not knowing who the audience is. Figuring out who is the audience (or even a niche audience) is an important first step for any successful marketing campaign. You've got to figure out who is your target demographic. Go deep into your customer profiles, which involve knowing the age, income level, location and gender of your customer. You can't expect to maximize your sales if you don't know who's buying.  Another common mistake many businesses tend to make is marketing to the mirror. In other words, a marketing executive (or business owner) will often believe that if it happens to them, it's the same for all of their customers. Not only are you marketing with bias, you could be making a very serious and expensive mistake. Another mistake is what John likes to call "Random Acts of Marketing." Ilyce and John believe that

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce continue the discussion they started last week on the virtuous cycle of content marketing. To recap, they discussed the four essentials of content marketing: Audience, Platform, Engagement, and Follow-up. They covered the first two pieces last week: #1:Audience: Who is your message aimed towards?   Make sure you know the age, lifestyle and all other essential demographics for your target consumer.  #2: Platform. choose the platform that meets the audience’s needs. Ilyce and John covered the first two in depth last week, so in this episode, they hone in on the final two phases of content marketing: #3 Engagement, Interaction and Views: How do you target audience segments and make yourself be thought of as an expert in your field? Don't just focus on what your company can provide on the surface level - get down to the illusive "so what?" In addition, your content should be differentiated based on you

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss the virtuous cycle of content marketing and Facebook's recent discovery that its users are only 3.57 degrees separated from one another.  To kick off our discussion of content marketing, we will explore the 4 essentials to executing a successful plan: 1. Audience: Who is your message aimed towards? Make sure you know the age, lifestyle and all other essential demographics for your target consumer.  2. Platform: How do you plan on reaching your audience? The platform you choose will likely dictate which type of content marketing you use, so make sure to have a variety of platforms so that you can have different ways of communicating with your audience.  3. Engagement: Once you have put your content out there, how are your users interacting with the material?   4. Follow-up: How do you know if your strategy worked? What information can you use to improve your plan for next time.   Next we

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss reputation management and how to monitor Google, other search engines and social media platforms for negative information about yourself and your company.  Getting your name out there can be a tough task, especially in such a saturated market. It can be even harder to earn recognition online if your name is "John Smith" or your company is one of thousands in a big city.  Join us as we talk tactics for reputation management and a couple of tricks for standing out in a crowded room. Next, we talk about how to monitor some of the fastest-growing social media platforms and how to leverage them to promote yourself or company. Pintrest is great for "newsjacking" the fastest growing trends online. Snapchat seems to be taking over the world. Twitter's future (or lack thereof) is looking bleak.   Finally we will wrap things up with a discussion about politics. The Iowa Caucus is TODAY! Who will come out o

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss three different types of media: Paid, owned and earned. Paid media are basically all formats of ads, like display and PPC. Owned media refers to blogging and social media platforms. It might also be an ad that looks like a blog (like a Realtor who pays for a space in a local circular each week but puts a blog in there rather than an ad for her company). Earned media falls into the realm of media relations and public relations. No matter which type of media you buy (and you're likely to encounter all three types if you own a business), there is a cost/benefit ratio that you have to go through to figure out which type of media you're going to buy. How do you think about it? How should you think about it? It’s getting more complicated any way you look at it. And, it's taking more time than you’d prefer. Then, we tackle marketing in the restaurant world. What happens when you have a big idea? How do y

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, John and Ilyce discuss how the best way to keep customers is to make an experience fulfilling rather than focusing on the quality of the product/service. It's called "Marketing by Experience" or the somewhat shorter version: "Experience Marketing." First Ilyce and John dissect Coke's new slogan: "Taste the Feeling," which apparently comes along with "Drink the Coke." This replaces “Open Happiness” as the trend toward drinking sugary sodas is still declining fast in the US and only growing 1 percent worldwide last year. An experience isn't just the physical interaction of the sale; businesses have to understand how the consumer interacts digitally with them. Ilyce and John discuss a variety of different platforms including social media, email marketing and other digital tools to reach out to your consumer base. In addition,they provide key points that should help you and your company communicate its message most effectively.&n

How do you build brand engagement? It's all about the communication strategy and message you're delivering - and how smart it really is. Most marketers worry about boring their audience with message repetition. Couldn't be any further from the truth. Message repetition is a big part of any marketing strategy, and building brand engagement is no exception. But in a media-saturated environment, it can be a tiresome device unless you've got a killer strategy that will deliver the brand engagement and other results you're looking for. What strategies use repetition effectively? Ilyce and John discuss some notable marketing campaigns and how repetition can help brands engage with consumers. In this episode of Monday Morning Marketing, they dissect the advertising strategies of political candidates, who use social media to send frequently redundant messaging to their donor lists, as well as the ad campaigns of several large insurance corporations such as Geico, Progressive and State Farm, all of

In this week's edition of Monday Morning Marketing, Ilyce and John discuss new marketing plans for the new year. What should include in the way of personal branding and reputation management for senior leadership as well as for companies themselves? Ilyce and John cover it.  In the age of Google, what will somebody find when they search for you or your company? How often do you check your reputation? This week, John and Ilyce will talk about where and what to check to make sure you or your company has a strong online reputation. And if it doesn't, we will show you a few tricks to "fix" your reputation and improve your brand.  Your new marketing plans for the year should include adding to your social media stable. There are platforms other than Facebook, Twitter and G+ that will help you build your reputation. Did you know that Pinterest is the fastest-growing social media platform? Do you know how to grow your brand on Pinterest or, if you're in the real estate space, Houzz? Depending on your

Biggest story of 2015: The dominance of Mobile Nearly two-thirds of American adults now have a smartphone, and for many, it’s their main online access point. About one in 7 of those mobile phone users aged 18 to 29 use smartphones as their primary online access (and may not have any other convenient or consistent access to the Internet).  Google recognized this in April, 2015 by implementing a search “penalty” for any websites that weren’t “mobile-friendly.” On the show, we discuss the “vertical” scroll, the fastest-growing social media network, and how most smartphone users spend 85 percent of their time using just 5 apps. We also discuss how the Big 4 (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple) see mobile and how you as a marketer should use it going forward in the new year. Continuing trend into 2016: Advertising is still struggling, in all categories We spend a few minutes discussing how to beat the advertising blues in mobile, desktop digital, social media, p

Consumers are more informed than ever, so being smart is even more important than it used to be. . The old model of sales, where the goal was to educate the customer, is no longer valid. Instead, selling depends on connecting with a potential consumer or client’s needs, and a smart marketing strategy can help achieve that goal. Content marketing is one pathway to increasing consumer intelligence. Then there’s what seems to be a “retro” movement afoot in the industry. Digital advertising is out for hyperlocal marketing strategies, while old pipelines such as direct mail are proving they’re not dead yet. Successful marketing is all about staying ahead of the curve, so tune in to this week’s Monday Morning Marketing Podcast for all of Ilyce Glink and John Byrne’s marketing trends for 2016. And, be sure to reach out on Twitter & check out our companies: @Glink - Think Glink Media   @johnmbyrne - Glencoe Media Group