Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Business growth amid low growth - global business development

A Tale of Two Trends

The World Bank recently published a forecast for global growth which was recapped by Business Insider.  Included with the report was a list of the 20 economies they expect to be most stagnant over the next three years.  The list was largely populated by developed, Eastern European and Caribbean economies and included:

1. Euro area
2. Japan
3. Jamaica
4. Montenegro
5. Dominica
6. Swaziland
7. St Lucia
8. Iran
9. Venezuela
10. Syria
11. Albania
12. Romania
13. Fiji
14. Macedonia
15. St Vincent
16. Bulgaria
17. US
18. El Salvador
19. Antigua
20. Belize 

Now realistically most of these are tiny, and many wouldn't make most companies' short list of attractive markets for focused expansion.  BUT....

If the US & Europe are going to be stagnant, where's one going to find growth?

McKinsey says it's clear

"The world’s economic center of gravity shifts" and "Rapid urbanization is propelling growth across emerging markets and shifting the world’s economic balance toward the east and south. By 2025, it will create a “consumer class” with more than four billion people, up from a billion in 1990. Nearly half will live in the emerging world’s cities, which are set to inject almost $25 trillion into the global economy. Yet business leaders mostly ignore them."

Are you an ignorer?  A lamenter?  Or a DOER?

Seems you have a pretty simple choice.  Hang out, hold on and hope for better times....or....take your business to where the opportunities are.

And here's the point you might not realize.  The process of global business development and selling internationally can be started easily and inexpensively.  A strategic approach lets you maximize the return and mitigate risks.  Selecting the optimal markets and creating the infrastructure required require expertise but not magic.

Think maybe it's time to grow your business by going where the growth is?  Or do you really enjoy hammering your head against that brick wall?!


Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Content Management across cultures, languages, industries & personas

Spinning plates & balls in the air

There are hundreds of blog posts for every day of the year that talk about the process of content marketing; the difficulty of creating a sufficient volume of high quality content; and executing the myriad of internal and external steps to align the entire organization, nurture leads and interpret data. 

We're not going there.

But here's an important reality.  If you really embrace inbound marketing in all its nuance and detail, then you are marketing at a sophisticated level.  And therefore you probably have some microsites targeting specific industries (or perhaps personas) and a variety of contextually dependent content.

So why is it that with all the energy spent discussing the best social media management dashboard, the best landing page app, the easiest tracking tool, the most reliable hosting or the most powerful SEO apps it seems like there's very little discussion about the best content management system (CMS.)

Content management by default

Large and sophisticated marketing operations obviously do consider this tool as carefully as others.  But many SMBs view it as an extension of the design and site building process.  Initially, of course, it is.  But once a site is published (emphasis on function over form as @stevehall reminds us) the work of content becomes the raison d'etre for the CMS.  

So shouldn't the ongoing, day-in-day-out use of the tool for managing content be the real acid test for a CMS rather than the tool with which the web designer is most comfortable, a favored blogging tool, the one with the greatest range of low cost themes or the one that is bundled with some other tool?

Your putting real marketing dollars into your content marketing effort, shouldn't you use a real tool for the heart of the infrastructure?

Evolution & Growth

And how well defined are content marketing best practices, anyway.  This superhot (appropriately so - it works) marketing method that really only got a name a year or two ago is evolving quickly.  It's fair to assume that the methods and approaches that are cutting edge now will likely evolve quickly.  Your CMS should be robust enough to accommodate the unknown changes which you'll face.

Additionally, the folks you are marketing to today are quite likely different than those to whom you will market in a year.  Not only do buying habits change, but global markets are rapidly becoming the centers of growth as the traditional domestic market is stagnating.  What's that mean?

Your content management system ought to be able to handle multiple languages and multiple cultures across multiple domains - all with work flow capability to allow local channel partners, translation and localization resources and other internal and external resources to access parts for which they have responsibility.

Have you stopped to think about the hassle, complication and massive amount of duplicated work involved in logging into separate CMS portals for each domain/language/microsite?  If you've got one now, it may seem inconsequential, but in several years you will certainly have several.  If your business intends to grow and thrive, you will be doing international inbound marketing.  Plan for it now.

An interesting option

I recently met folks from E-Spirit at their new US offices.  I'm certainly no IT expert nor am I an enterprise software reviewer.  In fact I'm an easy sell if something looks like it will work and really make me more effective, more efficiently.  So this isn't an official review.  It is a gut feeling though, based on the perspective of someone who uses and manages sites built on various popular CMS tools.  FirstSpirit looks pretty darn cool.

My goal was simple - to find an affordable (it is), intuitive (it is), powerful (it is) tool that would let a diverse team manage the volumes of multiple language, persona and market content required to really leverage the power of global content marketing.  My take?  This is a tool worth putting on the short list to consider.

Want to discuss it?  Give me a call.

Want to understand how international inbound marketing can help you inexpensively and efficiently develop new markets?  Let's talk.

Thinking that slow domestic growth isn't going to give you the trajectory you forecast?  Let's explore which global markets represent opportunities for your product and company.




image from ezone
Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Frontier Emerging Markets - unless your business is just a hobby

Why don't you treat your business like an investment?

I've noticed an interesting dissonance when discussing strategy with business owners and senior executives. They often use an entirely different vocabulary in discussing their business investments than they do vis-a-vis their financial investments.

This is fundamentally perplexing because in nearly every case the business itself (or their vested interest in its success) is far and away the most significant financial asset they hold.  And yet they often are far more committed to a broad strategic perspective of their liquid investments.

Take diversification for instance.  Portfolio theory has evolved to the point that diversification is recognized as the single most important element of success (for preservation of capital in down markets and growth of capital in up.)

And yet, for many SMBs, diversification of their target markets, and innovative approaches in reaching them, are anathema.

Relevant analogs?

Obviously managing a business IS different than picking investments.  But it's too convenient note differences and stop there.  More helpful is to recognize the long-term investment insights that can be applied to business.

That precisely what today's cover story in Barron's does - and the result?  In light of consumption growth, income trends, demographics and fundamental factors, Reshma Kapadia (@reshmakapadia) notes that foreign markets are important investment locations; that BRICs aren't the best option; and that the frontier markets (a financial varietal of emerging markets) are particularly attractive.

Interesting emerging markets that are specifically mentioned include Nigeria, Kenya, Turkey, Mexico, Vietnam, Philppines, Indonesia, Thailand, Colombia, Sri Lanka & Sub-Saharan Africa in general.

One way to play these trends?  To identify companies that are actively growing their sales and channel in these markets - that's an indirect way to capture the future value of these opportunities.

The curse of 'self-attribution' bias

But many business owners eschew these steps for their own business.  The typical justifications are based on either the risk of that expansion, or the lack of need based on adequacy of domestic business.

These are really two sides of the same coin, because risk is a relative measure.  They're not necessarily saying that developing the market in Vietnam is too risky, but that it's riskier than committing the resources, which that effort would otherwise require, to the domestic effort.

But there's a huge flaw in that position.  Psychologists will tell you that people nearly always attribute their success to their own actions.  For the moderately successful American business owner that could be justified.  Alternatively the moderate success could be a function of a few sound actions and a generally favorable market.  In reality, it's almost always a combination.

That means that the manager has less control over continued success than they may believe, especially since the status quo is in dramatic flux.

In other words basing future business expectations on past success is indeed a very risky proposition, particularly as market conditions change quickly and the economic center of mass shifts from the US and west to emerging markets.

Ignored risk vs. exaggerated risk

So if "doing what we're currently doing" is much riskier than we acknowledge, instead convincing ourselves that we are expertly piloting the ship; and emerging markets are sensible as an important element in your liquid investments; then maybe there's a lesson here.

Perhaps a dose of emerging markets, carefully selected and strategically engaged with risks mitigated really should be part of your plan for your biggest investment - your business.

And before you say "Sure, but we must stay focused", here's a point to ponder.  On what are you focused?  Strategic growth, or simply myopic execution of the domestic strategy that you have convinced yourself you have so masterfully crafted?

Do it right....Don't 'just do it'

Of course there are downsides and risks.  It would be folly to strut into the office this morning and announce your departure, out of the blue, for Nigeria later in the week.

But you could strut into the office on Monday and give us a call.  Let's talk about your business, your product, your strategic goals and whether global expansion might support those.  For what it's worth?  We're into success.  If it's not a fit, we'll tell you pretty quickly.  But let's figure that out - don't just assume!

But maybe it is - and we could support your expansion into Nigeria (as we are for another client now) or any of the other enticing markets that beckon American SMBs.



Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Even the ultra conservative Catholic Church gets it...do you?

The "Old World"

I enjoy an espresso (or beer or glass of wine) at a café beside a cobblestone street as much as the next person. But those experiences are often a byproduct of business - not the core of it.

In reality many of the most compelling business opportunities in the world today are in developing and emerging markets. (And don't get offended.  There are many charming experiences in many emerging markets too, although the pace is more frenetic and the conditions sometimes not quite as congenial - but changing rapidly.)

After all, business is about creating value - and leisure is about appreciating it.

So "Old World" is a great expression on several levels.  It conveys the depth of history and experience, but it also conveys attributes that oppose entrepreneurial business growth.  These include:

• Unfavorable (aging) demographics
• Sclerotic bureaucracy and regulation
• A traditional (conservative) approach to business opportunity

Like all generalizations these are too broad, but sometimes there's instructive value in broad generalizations.  They help to frame alternatives.

Pope Francis I -  and the New World alternative

Now we don't do religion or politics here.  This is a business blog.  So let's look at the "business" side of this bold decision by the Catholic Church.  
Quite simply it's "customer base" in the "Old World" was stagnating.  It made the only responsible more it could make - it is reaching out to the emerging markets that will drive it's growth over the next several decades.

And what's gratifying to observe is the almost universal joy, excitement and optimism that the decision has engendered.  Surely some debate an individual's qualifications and philosophy, and the old world may lament losing its primacy, but generally reactions support a pragmatic move justified by current trends. 

Cognitive disconnect

But here's the rub.  While almost everyone "gets it" - or understands that the Catholic Church made a sound decision, they turn back around to their email inbox without ever considering that they face precisely the same conditions in their business.  But 95% of American businesses are too conservative to take the sensible step that the Catholic Church has taken.

Imagine that!  Here in the US, the supposed crucible of entrepreneurial vigor; the laboratory of business strategy;  the avant-garde of innovation....instead we focus on trying to bludgeon a competitor to gain a point or two of market share.

Are we nuts? Isn't that the quintessence of Einstein's definition of insanity?  To continue to do the same things but to expect different results?  

How will that produce 10-20% annual growth for most companies?

Simple choice

If you want your business to remain really relevant (not just sustain, but to thrive) over the next decade you have to go where the growth is.  Study after study shows that is in emerging markets.  Are they all risk free? No.  Are they all appropriate for your product?  Without even knowing your product I can answer...No.

But for many American companies the opportunities are enormous.  A strategy drawn upon expertise simultaneously accelerates success and mitigates risks.

So if you're wondering whether you can be as wild and crazy as the Catholic Church; whether you can live on the edge; whether you want to go where the growth is....then call us.  Let's talk.



photo from theguardian Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Transparency & Personas - Effortless Content Marketing Consumption

“In a media-saturated world, persuading through interruption and repetition is increasingly ineffective. To engage consumers, advertisers must focus on where and when they will be receptive.” Harvard Business Review, March ’13, Advertising that Works

But how do you get there?

If you’ve ever listened to a Brian Halligan presentation you’ve heard the “interruption marketing” mantra. What not to do is reasonably clear.

The problem is that what you should do isn’t necessarily as straightforward, but the key lies in the “where and when they will be receptive.”

The beauty of search is that you don’t need to know who is going to look when. If you are properly developing your inbound marketing program they will find you. That part is assumed.

But when they find you will you convince them?

Who you're really selling to

Well this is where all that jazz about personas and buying process come into play. If you haven’t gotten really cerebral with these then you’re squandering conversions and missing qualified leads.

If you really understand who your buyers are and what the typical buying process is then you will populate your editorial calendar with content (we’ll just presume it’s going to be awesome) across multiple channels, multiple personas and multiple buying stages.

Buying stages are going to have to be more specific than just TOFU, MOFU & BOFU (that’s a handy reference but not terribly nuanced, particularly for more complex sales cycles.)

If you do it right your public content will engage the prospect and direct them through a link or CTA to a page or section on your site that speaks to their persona/stage or to a dynamic landing page for an offer adapted to the persona/stage. Ideally either will also be adapted to their “learning style” (e.g. if an infographic brought them in, then your content will be visual in nature. If a snapshot of a financial analysis is the source, then a detailed, erudite whitepaper might be appropriate. Your content should accommodate auditory, visual and kinesthetic styles as much as possible.)

(Not to wander too far afield, but the style of hooks (snelled or barbed) shown on the HBR cover are worth noting.  Traditional marketing was based on snells to keep someone on the hook.  Expertly executed inbound marketing doesn't need a barb - the real & legitimate value of the content to prospects creates a symbiotic rather than combative relationship between seller & prospect.)

Prospects will intuit your expertise...and your respect for them

In other words your public content ushers them right in the VIP entrance directly to their suite. Ritz Carleton style (many say there’s no better yardstick for personalized customer service) you’ll have their favorite fruit in a bowl, preferred spirit on ice and down or memory foam pillow perfectly fluffed up according to their preferences.

And you can do all this automatically. You need only develop really accurate personas, understand the buying process intimately and put the time and effort into creating the content and infrastructure. Admittedly the latter isn’t a small task, but there’s help available – and it all depends on the former.

But if you do it, you’ll rock. If you believe in your gut that any link that directs someone to a home page (vs. a page that speaks to them, in their role, with their language, at their stage in the buying process) is a waste, then you’re on the right track.

Marketing automation and buyer personas - a magical combination

If interruption is the antithesis of what you seek, then the optimal result is the holy grail of hospitality service – transparency. Think about a really incredible experience you’ve had (maybe that $500 anniversary dinner) where in retrospect the right service, food, wine all just appeared magically at just the right moment without you even consciously noting it.

That’s the yardstick you should use for your inbound marketing, content and promotion efforts. Achieve that and you’ll have briefly attained mastery…but maintaining it won’t be easy.

 

Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

The Content Marketing "Keystone"...the mirage of inbound marketing

Fruitlessly struggling to distill a complex process into a "key step"

Anyone else tired of the lists?  For example these knock your socks off classics...

• The 5 keys to social media
• The 10 factors in content sharing
• 7 factors in email open rates?

And how about this recurring topic?

XXXXX - The Most Critical Element of your Content Marketing Program

I’m not sure if the folks writing those do so because they are struggling to keep up with their content calendar, or because they really bounce hyper-kinetically from one focus discipline to another. But the stream of categorical pronouncements has become almost comical. Here’s an example I saw recently.

I’m sure the good folks at Mesasix get it – and maybe only the eager headline writer at the Beaumont Enterprise is the silly one. But “Content Marketing Overtakes SEO & Link Building in 2013”?  Are you serious? What is great content if not the heart of your SEO? This sort of inanity misleads many small business leaders who want to capture opportunities but are misled by myopic “experts.”

Here’s the thing – as best I can determine, with the possible exception of strategy & planning, there is no single element more critical than another. And therein lies one of the real challenges of Inbound Marketing – it is a real grind.

Non-linear inputs & outputs

In many areas of business and life there is a generally linear relationship between commitment/input effort & outcome. If you never exercise, exercise two days/week or step up to double workouts daily you will find progressively greater benefit.

Similarly if you prospect just at trade shows, 1 day/month or 2 X ½ day every week you will find a direct relationship between your effort and results.

But inbound marketing is different. Let’s assume that it’s possible to identify all the key steps required to achieve Inbound Marketing perfection. My unscientific sense is that if you do 20% you will achieve 5% of the possible results. If you hit 50% maybe you’ll get 10% results. Hit 75% and you might get into the 40% range. But only once you start to get north of 85% of the ideal do you start to get 75 to 80% results.

The point is that it only works if you carefully execute the entire program, across all elements, according to a consistent schedule. Short of that it’s largely a waste of resources. It’s a classic example of the whole being far greater than the sum of the parts. Take away sound SEO and it fails; skimp on promotion and it fails; ignore social media and it fails; create crappy content and….you guessed it, it fails; ignore PR, events and other pieces and it fails. You must craft an entirely interrelated marketing machine….or you will fail.

Perspective is fundamental

What’s this mean?

First, if you’re an SEO expert (or video editor, or blog writer, or social media maven, or, or , or) you’d better get real serious real quick about rounding out your skill sets. Because even if you justify in your own mind that your activity is key to the total success (and your probably right) that’s irrelevant, because by itself it’s of little value.

Second, if you’re a business that’s tried to dabble, you’re deluding yourself. The blog link on your website that goes to last October’s ‘press release’ posting? That Facebook icon in your website template that goes nowhere? That twitter handle with 17 updates? They’re worse than worthless – they scream “we think we’re hip but we really don’t get it.”

Third, no software package is going to do this for you. No single person will pull this off. This is not a DiY or learn as you go activity. And there’s no easy way.

All that being said, it is incredibly efficient and economical. If you subscribe to the rule of thumb that a typical business ought to invest 5-10% of revenue in marketing, then I would argue that any company with $3,000,000 in revenue can create an awesome inbound marketing program. (If you want details on my calculation call me – basically I figured one FTE at $50K/year loaded @ 30%; software cost of $10K/year; consultant/outsource cost of 90K/year and a 5% of revenue investment)

A cavalier commitment is worse than none!

If you think you’re going to really nail it for $30K/year, save the money!

If your goal is that your business will be vibrant in 3 years, start today!

And most importantly if you can’t visualize marketing today as a completely integrated, multi-disciplined pursuit which demands that all components are concurrently and expertly executed, then you'd better hire someone who does….and prepare to work FOR them in the not to distant future.

Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

International inbound marketing...localization even at home

International inbound marketing - why you need it here and there

All you marketers that are felling pretty good about the program you have conceived and built for inbound marketing...prepare to get pretty nervous.

Check this out. 


Complete with HubSpot data no less.

Did you realize that 1 of every two babies born in the US today is Latino?  And there is no such thing as Latino marketing - there are different languages (Spanish & Portuguese), a myriad of dialects, vastly different cultures, and uneven geographic distribution.  So even if you have some Spanish language inbound marketing, don't feel to smug.  Your content needs to be even more nuanced.

Emerging threats

And how about inbound marketers who will try to out market you? Is your marketing good enough (with a broad enough foundation of multi-channel super duper content) to resist the coming influx of Chinese inbound marketing?

Emerging markets

Let's imagine, for a moment, that you are a content marketing superhero.  What market share can you reasonably expect to reach?  And is a growing market share of a shrinking (or stagnant) market a pyrrhic victory?

Maybe diversification makes sense.  Any idea where the world's growth is happening over the next 10 years?  Let's take a look at what McKinsey projects.  It's coming from emerging markets.

Marketing into emerging markets

And what's important to understand about marketing into those markets?  Here's an excerpt from a recent GlobalWebIndex study reported by Warc.

"Digital channels are more important for marketers than traditional media when it comes to connecting with consumers in emerging markets, new analysis has revealed."

Among other key facts, Social Media is SIX TIMES more important and mobile campaigns are up to FOUR TIMES more effective.

What's it all mean for you?

Fair question.  Probably 4 key points.

1. The domestic implications are less compelling for B2B than B2C (but there are other key lessons to learn through global business development that help make you competitive at home.)  But if you are marketing B2C you had better have a robust (and nuanced Latino focused content marketing program with distinct strategy and personas and a very different channel balance.)
2. B2B & B2C marketers need to understand that overseas companies will increasingly use the powerful inbound and content marketing methodology to uncover US opportunities.  Stronger offense is definitely the best defense in this case.
3. A business growth strategy focused just on the domestic market is inherently flawed.  Growth, opportunity and buying power is migrating to emerging markets.  Great marketing can be turned globally as one of two key business develpoment efforts - the other being new markets.
4. When you are ready to internationalize your inbound marketing there's lots to understand - much of it counterintuitive or completely different than domestic considerations.  Get great advice to avoid wasting time and money.

 
Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Ennui, Business Melancholy & the Global Business Development Antidote

Stuck in a rut?

Boredom...."one of the least recognized and most underrated hazards of company building" writes Inc editor @BoBurlingham in Small Giants.

Yesterday was a Monday...Since you own a business or help run one, you probably don't have the work week blues as if you were just slogging through the week to log the hours in exchange for a paycheck.

Nevertheless, as time passes, nearly every business becomes a little mundane.  Sure there are some folks who say they love going to work every day.  More power to them.  My guess is that they're the ones who are solving big challenges in creative ways for diverse clients on a regular basis.  Even though their role remains consistent, their work actually is constantly different.  But in most businesses, after a while you've deftly handled the typical complaints; you've nailed exciting deals so often the rush is slightly diminished; the highs and lows of personnel management start to blur and the money?  Sure you can always use more, but you're not terrified of satisfying your personal guarantees any more.  Net net...business gets a little boring.

Growth (company & ego?)

So what do you do to keep it engaging?  Burlingham's research indicates that many folks pursue aggressive growth (for growth's sake) including acquisitions and other strategies that introduce undesirable side effects - often compromising the company culture that they have carefully nurtured. But there's an alternative - carefully planned, strategically sound and properly executed global expansion can provide a bit of the growth rush, but more importantly foster the challenging, interesting and rewarding environment that makes business fun (OK....not every day, but generally.)  Global business development may be the answer.

Market entry, product localization, global channel development, international marketing and host of other elements are sure to get you back on the balls of your feet.

International sales

Here's the great part.  Undertaking this initiative is great for your business AND can put the spring back into your business step.

International business development offers a number of real business benefits including:

• profitable sales growth

• business diversification

• enhanced enterprise value

• lower taxes on business profits

• real opportunities to learn lessons abroad that benefit your business domestically

And those benefits are offset by far less risk and a much more manageable undertaking than most assume.

Let's chat about your business, your goals and your impressions/concerns about global business development.  Maybe it's a good fit for you and your company - maybe not.  If nothing else you'll noodle a big, interesting topic that will make your business day a little different.

Contact us to learn more.

 

Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Inbound Marketing and the Global Audience you're ignoring

Go global the easy way...with Inbound Marketing

Are you skeptical of the hype?  Nauseated with the incessant drivel about the promise of content marketing? You're not alone.

But the problem is that so many "know it alls" (maybe more like 'know nothing at alls') are flapping their gums in an attempt to sound hip and/or keep their agencies viable.  There are very few veritable experts.

That's why one of the best go-to-guys for Inbound Marketing info is actually a chemical engineer.  That's right - the affable, cerebral and insightful Pete Caputa (@pc4media) talks straight about the science and metrics marketing in a way few others do.

What's Pete predicting now?

If you're like me maybe you've got scars from the acid burns where you couldn't remember whether you add the acid, or add to the acid, to avoid the dreaded splash back.  Sometimes the basic rules get jumbled up (unless you really are an engineer!) and that's why I track what Pete has to say.  It's always a great combination of very grounded, metrics driven, fundamental tactical meat balanced with high level strategic perspective.

The Collaborative Growth Network article on inbound marketing that Pete posted on Wednesday is a perfect example.

Here's why it's great.  First, it's a necessary reminder that not everyone yet realizes the enormous potential (and myriad benefits) of content marketing.  He lays out 9 more reasons why inbound marketing can & should be part of every company's arsenal.

But what really got my blood pumping was Reason #7 - Global Opportunity, Business Growth & International Sales!

Shouting it from the Rooftops

At Consilium we've carried on about this global business development opportunity for a while - and we were starting to wonder if we were just way too early.  Maybe just a little early - and thrilled to read Pete's take on the international angle.

He's absolutely right.  Buyers are coming from all corners of the globe checking out what you are selling (the better your content the more they come.)

But are you listening?  All the metrics in the world won't get you a piece of business if you don't work it.  And if 30, or 50 or even 70% of your traffic is international, have you even thought about trying to sell to them, or do you treat those prospects and leads as wasted time?

And then taking it to the next level, if some of those leads are worthwhile, how would you work them, what regions seem to have the most interest/potential, and if you want to proactively develop that market, how would you adapt your inbound marketing to even more effectively mine that opportunity?

All good and reasonable questions - but here's the bottom line.  There are answers to all of them.  And because it's always the next question, yes, there are some risks (just like domestic business) but if you are aware of them you can mitigate them.

So the beret wearing artist may be a great coffee shop companion, but it's time to start taking your marketing advice from an engineer!  Step up your inbound marketing and consider the enormous business growth opportunity that the 95% of the world's consumers which lay outside the US offer.

Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog

Does your business strategy have vision across, or just look past?

Past what?

Does it matter?  There are eternal business challenges, and a slow growth environment like we'll all face this year accentuates all the warts which can be overlooked with easy growth. 

No matter what you might be inclined to look past, I'd suggest you instead look across, with vision.

I read this quote recently:

"long-term view lets us look out across…The operative word is ‘across’…and not ‘past it.’…’Across recognizes the reality of the risks and opportunities presented by the (market) in which we find ourselves. ‘Past’ suggests an ostrich-like approach of ignoring reality in the blind hope of an unrealistic outcome. ‘Across’ is enabling, while ‘past’ is disabling" Ed Easterling, Crestmont Research

It struck me as a wonderful metaphor for so much of what I hold dear in business strategy.  There are things you can control, and manifold more you can't.  While some of those which you can't are completely random and unpredictable, many, many can be observed, measured and anticipated...that is as long as you don't try to just look past them.

"Looking across" then, what do we see for SMBs in 2013?

Challenges for sure, particularly for companies that pursue the same strategies they traditionally have.  Certainly they'll tweak around the edges.  Maybe ask the recent grad who "manages" social media to add a Pinterest account; or perhaps seek some technique training for their sales team.

But for companies that are bold and committed we see huge opportunities as markets ripen globally and technology creates enormous reach and egalitarianism between brands.

Before we go any further, though, the word "globally" is important.  To parse one's market opportunities artificially with distinctions of "domestic" vs. "international", is to enormously limit potential.  Identifying new vertical industry opportunities and pinpointing regional areas with supportive consumption trends should be fundamental strategic objectives for every company.  The key is to really think globally, in both the literal and the figurative sense.  Only then will nascent opportunities become apparent - and those are where breakout growth will be found.  Incremental growth in a 1% GDP trend economy isn't what will propel SMBs!

2013 - year of SMB Global Business Development

Simple to say, but it feels hard to do?  Particularly when you are buried with routine crisis and priorities?  I'll leave the time management tips and tricks to others.  But certainly commitment - public, formal and substantiated with required resources - to bold strategic imperatives is a prerequisite.

But where should that commitment be focused?

Two broad foci provide the tracks upon which your initiatives can be based.

• Evolutionary marketing
• New Markets

We'll explore each in more detail in upcoming posts.  In short they represent a revitalization (and truly explosive improvement in effectiveness) of B2B Marketing along with the perspective, strategies and tactics to recognize and pursue new markets (industry and/or geographic) efficiently, with risk mitigation and value creation methods.

Combined, they foster:

• above trend growth
• fun (positive challenge) in business
• improved profitability
• engagement (management & employee)

More to come - stay tuned!  Want more detail immediately?  Contact us.




Evolutionary Marketing & New Markets Blog