Strategy

Isn’t it time we all made more sense?

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I read a recent Gartner report that proposed the new role for B2B sales teams was “sense-making”. Their research indicated 44% of millennials did not want to interact with a sales rep at any phase of their B2B buyer’s journey. That means B2B sales pros must reinvent their role. Gartner proposed their best way to service prospects was to make sense of all the content we marketers have been producing for years now. This is an interesting concept for sure. But shouldn’t we marketers be helping to make sense throughout the buyer’s journey as well? We already know B2B buying READ MORE >>

3 Tips for Tidying Up Your Marketing

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Sniff, sniff.. Is that Spring we smell?? (If you are in our neck of the woods don’t let those April snow showers fool you, Spring has indeed sprung!) Time to get out the marketing Swiffer and clean up some habits. Now is the perfect time to do a bit of marketing housekeeping. Here is ODEA’s spring cleaning to-do list for 2022: Commence Content Creation If 2022 is the year you pledged to overhaul your website or make that brand video you have been dreaming of, you need to get started NOW!  Supply chain issues aren’t confined to hard goods. Web READ MORE >>

Meaningful Metrics: Understanding and Using UTM Codes

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In our last blog, we talked about how sometimes the clicks reported by LinkedIn, Facebook or other digital advertising platforms don’t always jive with what you see in Google Analytics. In this article, we are going to tell you about a nifty little tool – the UTM code – that will make it easier for you to track those ad clicks (and more!) through to your analytics. There’s a very good chance that you are interacting with UTM codes, and you don’t even realize it. Once you know what to look for you can spot them hiding in plain sight READ MORE >>

Looking For Our Next Out-Of-This-World ODEA-ite!

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We Want You: Graphic Designer WHO WE ARE A small-but-mighty virtual marketing firm with team members spread from Illinois to Ohio to Michigan to Arkansas. We execute branding, marketing strategies and niche projects for (mostly) B2B clients clustered in areas like manufacturing, industrial tech, professional services, family businesses, niche start-ups, etc. Our focus is on brand and storytelling via digital and the free/earned media side of the biz; web, content marketing, media relations, event marketing, nurture, social, marketing automation, etc. We serve as the outsourced marketing department for many of our clients – developing brands, strategies and plans then sticking READ MORE >>

3 Things to Know Before Working with an Influencer

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When you think of influencer marketing, what comes to mind? Most people jump to beauty bloggers and fashionistas from social media. We’re here to remind you of the bigger picture! Influencer marketing is formally defined as “a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field.” Influencers don’t just exist within the beauty and fashion atmospheres, they’re everywhere! Whether you’re into cooking, sports, organization, or anything in between, odds are there’s an influencer within that realm. These figures are really READ MORE >>

Socially Savvy: 5 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy

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There’s no denying that we live in a digital world. And as much as we try to separate our work lives from our personal lives, it’s certainly hard to do, especially online. With more than half of the world on social media, you can find content ranging from a detailed description of lunch to a reminiscent post about vacations past to the adorable furry friend recently added to the fam. You may even find people posting about the company they work for. It’s estimated that 98% of employees use at least one social media site for personal use. And of READ MORE >>

Goodbye Supply, Hello Demand: Improving the Customer Experience During a Stock-Out

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If you have purchased gas, lumber, or even a pair of shoes recently, you know that these once commonplace products have become hot commodities. And as demand for these hard-to-get products rise, marketers struggle to keep customers around long enough for the shelves to restock. After ODEA’s weekly status meeting turned to a discussion on supply chains and a general lack of production, we decided to suit up and dive deeper. Keep on reading for our findings on the causation of these recent stock-outs, and how you can keep your loyal customers around as a marketer even when the shelves READ MORE >>

Tips for Collecting Customer Testimonials

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You know that your current, happy customers are the greatest gold mine for your marketing efforts. Yet, you struggle to tap into it. But, why?! Well, it can be hard to ask for help! We get it – you don’t want to pester them and maybe you’re even a little nervous they might decline to comment. But we’re here to cast your doubts aside. Asking for customer testimonials doesn’t have to be intimidating!  Now presenting: the ODEA-ites’ best tips for collecting customer testimonials.  Let Them Sing Your Praises Happy customers typically want to sing your praises. They might even beat READ MORE >>

It’s Showtime: Tips to Prepare for Tradeshow Season

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Tradeshows are back baby! It’s been a long year of working from home and nowhere to go. But lucky for us, it’s time to be a carnival worker again! ODEA is fortunate enough to have some seasoned tradeshow vets on our team and we thought we’d let you in on some tips and tricks of the trade(show). Check out what our gurus have to say and your tradeshow mojo will be back in no time! Getting ready to rumble! ODEA-ite Chelsi is a behind-the-scenes kind of gal when it comes to tradeshows. She’s all about the magic that happens before READ MORE >>