Christine Tran’s Post

There are no participation trophies in demand capture marketing. It is a zero-sum game. This means that either you beat your competitors and take market share, or you sit in frustration, wondering why your marketing isn’t impactful. The only way to beat your competition is to outperform them. How much effort you need to invest is dictated by how hard they are working to keep and grow their market share. If you do not know this, you are not ready to enter the race. The key to success is simple: → know who your top demand capture competitors are → take the time to understand how fast they are moving → develop a strategy to move faster

It's Tip Tuesday! At ECG we know that in marketing, purpose isn't just trendy—it's transformative. Purpose-driven messaging humanizes brands, forging deep connections with consumers. When purpose is deeply embedded in every aspect of your marketing strategy, success happens. Always have a clear purpose when creating marketing materials. Don't know where to start? Connect with us and we'll help you!

You have a marketing team. I AM my marketing team. The difference between us? Your marketing team spends more time deliberating than executing. I spend more time executing than deliberating. Go fast. Create feedback loops. Optimize, quickly. Go faster. Repeat.

I've always been part of relatively small marketing teams but that's not a bad thing. With a smaller marketing team you have one key advantage over your larger, faster growing competitors: You don’t have to plan everything. If at times it feels like your team is making up the plan as you go, that’s probably good. Because you can change plans week-to-week if needed. Large teams cannot. Most marketing teams aren’t built well to scale. So when they are forced to, they struggle with it and start over planning. Themes, integrated campaigns, website redesigns, product launches etc. Everything goes in the quarterly plan. Or the analogy I like: Your small team, like a small boat, can swiftly adjust to the changing currents of the market, taking advantage of opportunities as they arise and avoiding obstacles with ease. This agility is your competitive edge in a fast-paced market, where being able to pivot quickly can make a significant difference. That’s your advantage.

Every channel of marketing you will come across, from product marketing to social media to print to content to events, all follow the funnel and strive to do the same thing. Here is an oversimplified & condensed sequence: a) Get noticed. b) Retain the attention you're getting. c) Help the customer to take your intended action. Understand these and you just might conjure up some compelling campaigns. Now Funnels aren't everything or the defining factor when it comes to scaling of course. P.S. Look into pinwheels and thank me later.

🚀 Attention Marketers: Strategy vs. Tactics - Where's your focus? 🚀 Did you know that the most impactful marketing results come from a strong foundational strategy, not just random acts of marketing? 😉 While tactics are indeed sexy, and changing them can show instant results, their success stems from a solid strategy that guides them. Think big picture before jumping into action! Dive into this interesting interview with Kenneth Steel, Marketing Director of Nellemann Automotive, and feel free to share your thoughts below! 👇 https://lnkd.in/drJCAX-B

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠? You see, the key to winning your customer's attention is not in the features of your product you tout but in the perceptions you shape. Many marketing managers still make the mistake of focusing solely on product features and customer benefits to position their product. This outdated positioning strategy creates a disconnect between your reality and the customer’s reality. Interestingly, a great way to fix this disconnect is by realizing that the perception of your product in the minds of consumers is more important than the physical reality of its features. In other words, consumers’ beliefs signal their reality. This is why, beyond physical attributes, the product image is equally important. As a marketing manager, your goal is to OWN a word in the mind of the consumer. Just one word is all you need, which is why it’s important to understand how your product perceptually maps against the competition. Problems, however, arise when you try to own more than one word at a time. This approach can break your plan and lead to inconsistent messaging—the price you pay for trying to say too many things at once. It's best to establish one benefit in the mind of the consumer. Often, the consumer may eventually associate other positives with your product. Once you find your positioning angle, your messaging must reinforce it in the consumer’s mind. This is why I emphasize the importance of maintaining a consistent message once you've decided on what you want to sound like. Ensure your message continuously reinforces the original concept across all marketing programs. In summary: 1. You want to find out how the consumer perceives your product and make that perception your brand promise. 2. Stick to your message. Use it to reiterate the original concept in all your marketing efforts. Remember: POSITIONING = The Consumer’s Perception of Reality. Think UVP, not USP. #marketing #web3marketing #productmarketing #positioning #marketingstrategy

Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt *icky* about marketing. 🙋��♀️ You’re definitely not alone. With the way most marketing is taught nowadays, it’s hard not to feel gross about it!  But it doesn’t have to feel that way.  Instead of thinking about marketing as “selling”, you have to understand that, at it’s core, it’s about *helping*. You don’t have to trick people into working with you through sleezy jedi-marketing mind games… 😵💫 You just need to help them find their way to a better outcome. Whether that’s that’s with you or not… Marketing from this lens is about showing up exactly where your ideal audience is at in their journey, understanding what they think/feel/desire, and sharing the information that might help them learn if your solution is the right fit for them. Ultimately, if it is the right solution for them, they’ll convert.  *This* is human centered marketing!  When things feel misaligned, it’s important to get back to your foundation, the human beings you serve, and start marketing to HELP them. ✨ Reach out to book a chat with the BB team about re-aligning your marketing partnering up to move mountains! ⛰️

Tracksuit was invited to Reason’s Digital Marketing Forum yesterday, along with great brands like Hirepool, Ārepa, Caci Clinic, Vineonline and others ✌️ Our co-founder and co-CEO Matthew Herbert gave a talk on the ‘bothism’ approach to performance / activation marketing and brand marketing. (Spoiler slides below 🤓). I’m a sucker for a good metaphor and Reason hit us with a banger 💥 Performance marketing is squeezing the sponge (rinsing revenue and existing demand). But what happens if you keep squeezing a sponge? 🤷♀️ It’s gonna go dry. 🌵 Brand marketing is like the water to the sponge. Both necessary to get that rinse 🥳 How’s your sponge looking? We can help 😇

Founders hold the brakes! Before you pump funds into brand marketing, nail that product-market fit. It's the right PMF that fuels real growth. Know your audience, tailor to their needs - let your product prove itself! Until then... All your marketing dollars should go into a lead-generation engine that boosts your pipeline. Once you've got real PMF and referral customers, then start spending money on branding.