Inbound Marketing Insights

As a student at the Eller College of Management, I have many opportunities to listen to guest lecturers. Occasionally, some take me by surprise and are “unintentionally inspirational.” This recently occurred when I had the pleasure of listening to Matthew Goldman, Senior Vice President of Business Strategy of Fujitsu America, as he presented to my Managing Groups and Teams class. I decided to take the five key takeaways from his compelling presentation and apply them to marketing. 

These five takeaways are great advice for marketers to become more personable and effective. 

1. Do your job: So simple, yet can be difficult in any industry. It’s important that when you say you’re going to do something, you follow through and do it right.   So many times, this is not the case. So stand out from the crowd, and strive to go above and beyond your “job responsibilities." If you understand what others are counting on you to do, you can strengthen your communication skills and trust. 

2. Work smarter, not harder:  Working smarter, not harder, has become the year's saying. Time is your most valuable asset, and It’s crucial to find the right tools to help you operate most efficiently. As marketers, many tools help streamline your day and allow more through communication with others. Some great tools to help do this are Basecamp, Evernote, and HubSpot. These will enable you to communicate your ideas and thoughts better. Efficiency is key to growing and scaling your responsibilities and communicating most effectively. 

3. Stay "top of mind":  This is critical for every industry and role, but we’ll tie this back into marketing. How are you presenting your information? The marketing world is changing. Gone are the days of phone calls and mailers to gain customers. Marketing is about getting to know your customers, and what they want so they will come to you. Today, your brand must reflect your personality because it's entirely about how you present your story. 

4. Be concise with your message: Less is more. Haven’t we all heard this? Now it’s time to follow this advice and get straight to the point. Be concise with your message, so your consumer fully understands what you are saying. No one wants to read an endless email. People are busy with increasingly crowded inboxes. If you craft your message correctly, you’ll create a clientele interested in your content and convert them into a customer.

5. Pick up the phone: While email is fast and texting is even faster, there are times when phoning someone has a more significant impact. Relationships are the key to any great company. Marketers know that relationships are sustained through getting to know others and what they want or need. Sometimes personal conversations are necessary to accomplish goals. (And, most people enjoy speaking to other people…not just reading emails.)

It's essential to continue understanding the communication style of our prospects and customers so you can stay relevant and get your message across in the most effective way possible. We invite you to subscribe to our blog for more information on the latest news for marketers.