Having a plan is one thing, but making it happen is a different thing altogether… maybe that’s why so many of our actual ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ fall off so early. 

We had a small, but engaged group at the April Tech Marketers Group event in Christchurch which was hosted by Lucy Pink of Contented AI in the beautiful surrounds of the Arts Centre.

This is a selection of the interesting current and, not-too-way-in-the distant, trends which I have tried to pick as relevant to scaling Kiwi tech and innovation companies.

A marketing engine is a set of systems, tools and processes which help you to run your marketing operation. In some organisations there are whole teams dedicated just to marketing operations, but that is not the reality for many with tighter budgets, or earlier on their journey.

Talking to your customers isn't just about sales, asking for confirmation of your next innovation, or resolving an issue; it's about genuine feedback and insight. 

Even marketing professionals often get distracted by being busy pumping out content, but it's often tactical and not as effective in driving your business objectives. 

Whether you are creating your ideal customer persona, developing your marketing messaging, updating your website, or briefing your sales team - don’t forget to think about the personal drivers of the people you are trying to persuade.

One of the most common issues I come across is the disconnect between the sales and marketing teams.  It creates a disjointed experience for customers and costs organisations money, both in lost opportunities and wasted staff time.   

By analysing and really understanding what is causing the slowdown you can make decisions and formulate a plan based on fact and evidence, rather than gut-feel.

Unless you have an endless budget for paid advertising or sales people, good content is a great tool to have in your business' toolbox.  

I thought I'd share some of the things I've been experimenting with here and I'd love to hear what you have had successes and struggles with.

It seems amazing to me that in today’s environment we still have to say “the customer needs to be at the centre” of what we do as a business, yet I still have these conversations on a regular basis.  

Last week I headed to Auckland for the annual New Zealand Tech Marketers Group (TMG) Conference: The Future Of Tech Marketing.

I thought it would be useful to share some examples of the companies that continued marketing during previous downturns so you can see what the impact was for them. This will hopefully help you in your own decision-making.

In the light of a potential recession - should we squirrel our marketing expenditure away and stop spending, or should we go out and aggressively spend?

Gartner predicts that by 2025, 30% of outbound marketing content will be produced using AI.

Lots of businesses I'm talking with seem to be relatively optimistic, but is the 'R' word causing some nerves?

During my recent solo 3 day tramp on Bank's Peninsula, I found myself reflecting on my own business and those I've been lucky enough to work with. 

This post explores the value of having a part-time (virtual) Chief Marketing Officer on YOUR team and when this might be a good move for your business.

This post focuses on how to deliver your vision and has been born from observing practices within the numerous companies I have worked with. 

This post is about giving you some tools and suggestions of how to get your proverbial marketing sh*t together!    

I want to add something to the mix - how a marketing-led approach can help in one of the burning challenges for businesses.

When I chat with businesses, it seems that the development and nurturing of existing customers gets focused on quite far down the track, when the business is already very well established. 

This blog is talking to you if you find yourself setting goals and objectives but don't actually have a plan of how to implement them. 

While many people consider marketing to be all about the tactics & activity (eg social media, Adwords & websites), I look at marketing as the successful delivery of 4 main elements: