Most of us have a vision for our business that is far grander than the current reality. But the scope of work required to realize that vision can be immobilizing. It’s hard to know where to start and what to do next. Employees and customers are often threatened by drastic changes. And if you take on too much, too fast and fail to deliver, then your efforts may backfire.

Improve Your Business by Just One Percent Each Week

Small changes are more manageable, give you time to perfect each step before moving on, and allow you to stay flexible.

Your customer’s needs will change and your vision for the business will change, so don’t plan your one percent too far in advance. Reevaluate the next improvement each week. By taking one step at a time, you are able to respond to changing conditions and you avoid being locked in to a stale vision.

If you improve by just one percent each week, your business will be 50% better after a year.

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Survey reveals where 2011 marketing dollars are going

Allan Starr

A midyear survey by Google of over 600 B2B marketing professionals asked where their 2011 marketing dollars are going. Even if your focus is not on B2B, these current trends can be pertinent to your perspective.

First, here is how the marketing pros allocated their funds in 2010:

Traditional Media (trade shows, magazines, direct mail, etc.) 62%

Events/trade shows 28%
Magazines/publications 13%
Direct mail 9%
Sponsorships 7%
TV 3%
Outdoor 1%
Radio 1%

Digital (social media, SEO, Email) 34%

Email marketing 8%
Online Content 5%
SEO 5%
SEM 5%
Display Ads 4%
Social Media 3%
Online Video 3%
Mobile 1%

Budget Increase for 2011

34% of marketers who were already marketing through digital channels planned to increase their digital budgets in 2011.

41% of ALL MARKETERS surveyed expected a budget increase in 2011. Out of that group, the average anticipated budget increase was 21%.

Anticipated Increases (by channel):

Online Content 43%
Mobile 40%
Social Media 38%
SEO 38%
Online Video 35%
SEM 35%
Email Marketing 23%
Display Ads 22%
Other 21%

Top-10 most effective media channels (8 out of Top-10 are digital).

Search Engines
Visiting Websites
Using Email
Online Content
Podcast/Webcasts
Online Video
Social Media
Mobile
Events/Trade Shows
Magazines/Publications

Biggest Challenges for 2011
Limited Budgets: 40% are concerned they don’t have enough budget fund their plan and deliver on goals.

Limited Staffing: 39% believe they will not have enough people to execute planned marketing efforts.

Insufficient ROI Analysis: 31% indicate that insufficient ROI analysis is one of their biggest challenges.

Revenue, Lead Quality or Lead Volume: 67% indicate this is the most important metric for digital efforts.

Predictions and Indicators for the Future:

85% of marketers invested in event marketing (tradeshows) in 2010 and 28% plan to increase their investments in 2011.
Search is still #1 for reaching B2B Audiences:

81% believe their prospects are using search engines for work purposes, and agree that search marketing is the most effective digital channel to reach them.

85% said that SEM was effective for gaining new leads, and was ranked as the No.1 channel for this purpose.
Expect a renewed focus on the customer.

62% agree that since the economic downturn customer loyalty has declined.

87% of marketers invest in customer retention.

Two-thirds say customer retention is where a majority of their marketing dollars will go in 2011.

Predictions and Indicators for the Future:

85% of marketers invested in event marketing (tradeshows) in 2010 and 28% plan to increase their investments in 2011.

Email marketing is a top digital priority.

One-third of those surveyed plan to increase their Email budgets in 2011.

There is an eagerness to test new approaches.

69% intend to try out new digital tactics in 2011.

Social media is emerging into the B2B mainstream.

42% believe that social connections have a positive impact on the brand and brand sales.

38% plan to increase their social media budgets in 2011.

16% plan to use social media as a marketing channel for the first time.

40% believe their audiences frequently use social media for business purposes.

Mobile and online video are expected to surge.

40% of those already using mobile as a marketing channel anticipate positive growth in 2011.

48% believe that online video initiatives have a strong positive impact on their company’s brand and sales.

12% intend to incorporate mobile into their marketing plans for the first time.

35% of those already using online video will increase their video budgets for 2011.

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Organizations use their own languages internally; the languages of developers, manufacturers, marketers, or lawyers. Unfortunately they often try to use this same language when communicating with their customers.

People are conditioned to distrust robotic corporate-speak, if they hear it at all.

Speak to Customers in their Own Language–Speak Like a Human

There is a reason for the popularity of YouTube videos, Facebook, blogs, and reality television. People find the intimacy of genuine humans compelling.

Being professional is okay, but first be a person. Be one of us.

Whether you are building a new team at a startup or a joining an established company, your people will form opinions about your leadership based on your early actions.

Are you accessible? Are you treating people humanely? Do you convey a sense of urgency?

A Leader’s Earliest Actions Have a Disproportionate Influence on How they are Perceived

Leverage opportunities to demonstrate your values and teach the behaviors you want to encourage.

Although you may not have a measurable impact on the organization’s performance in the first few weeks, the actions you take can resonate for years.
– From The Startup Daily

Instead of looking to catch your employees doing something wrong, try to catch them when they are doing things right.

The Human Brain is Wired to Learn from Successes, Not from Failures

When negative feedback is given, lower level emotions like fear and shame can interfere with the higher level learning process. Managers will see more consistent results by acknowledging and praising the behaviors they want to reinforce.
– From The Startup Daily

Commonly accepted business wisdom says you should always grow as fast as possible. There is a tremendous pressure to make sure you aren’t “leaving any money on the table.”

Being Too Successful is an Easy Way to Lose Your Business

To grow at a rate faster than you can finance with your profits requires outside capital from outside investors, and that means giving up some ownership. But this is just the beginning of a cycle that you cannot turn back from. Those initial investors will demand that the growth rate continue, which means more capital from more investors down the road, and loosing more control. Eventually your business is no longer yours, and you work for the investors.

Limiting your business’s growth not only helps you retain control over quality, but it just might save your business.
– From The Startup Daily

Don’t discount tapping into your own customer’s creativity for finding new markets.

Pay Attention to Unintended Uses of Your Products, They May be Pointing at New Opportunities

Baking soda was originally sold for use in cooking. Arm & Hammer was smart enough to pay attention when people started using it for cleaning and odor control, and a new and much larger market opened up for them.

What are your fringe customers doing with your product?

It is tempting to take advantage of your brand’s existing equity when launching a new product, and this makes sense if you are launching a new model into your current category.

When entering a new category however, this will dilute your brand and confuse customers in both categories.

It’s Better to Create a New and Separate Brand When Expanding into a New Category

Black & Decker was the worlds largest power tool company with a very strong brand, but it created the stand-alone brand DeWalt, not Black & Decker Pro, when it wanted to enter the professional power tool category. Within a few years it was the leader in both categories.

This isn’t the same as starting from scratch. You still have the advantage of the learnings, infrastructure, and processes you have refined with your existing brand.

Price promotions are commonly used to drive interest, but they are not a sustainable solution.

Discounting is Not a Marketing Strategy, it’s a Pricing Strategy

Used too frequently or too deeply, discounts can devalue your product or your entire brand. Or worse, discounting can start a price war, which ultimately is never winnable and can devalue your whole category.

Loyalty programs or giving away free samples can have the same promotional value without the long-term damage.

Complete this sentence: Our brand is the only _____ that _____. Describe your category in the first blank. The second blank is what you do different from everyone else.

Find the One Thing that Only You Do

If you can’t complete this sentence and find something that only you do, your brand does not have a strong enough differentiator. Try the exercise on your competition. Use this as a starting point to see what your differentiator isn’t.