Tracking changes and identifying gaps in customer experience
One of the things that has changed across the board with the recent business shutdowns is the type of interactions/experiences customers are having with businesses. Suddenly, a premier digital customer experience is necessary to make sure that the customers you have are the customers you keep. This is not a [...]
How digital marketing integrates with sales
We’ve been working in the B2B space for many years and this year we’re seeing companies across the board embracing online and digital marketing in ways they haven’t before. This is good news. And we’re excited that instead of hiding during a pandemic, businesses continue to talk to customers and [...]
Moving and Shaking
During my recent interview with Todd Nelson for the Movers and Shakers section of the Star Tribune, I had the opportunity to discuss a number of things happening at d.trio, including what is an exciting new chapter for us. We are celebrating our 20-year anniversary and we’re entering a new [...]
Why marketing creatives need constraints
Over the years, my creative team and I have had many discussions about what sparks and engages the creative mind to produce ideas. One theme has come up repeatedly, and it deserves to be shared. Anyone who is not tasked with “making things” everyday may be under the impression that [...]
Why marketing can be like skiing in a whiteout
As I was on my vacation skiing in Colorado, I rode to the top of one of the peaks to ski above the tree line. Conditions were not great – it had started to snow and the clouds were lowering as the wind came up. Approaching the top of the [...]
Skills sharing through StrengthsFinder
We recently took the Clifton StrengthsFinder test to see where everyone in our agency has strengths. The idea behind this is to focus on the positives, and I love that. Each one of us has something unique to give – but those attributes might not be obvious or top-of-mind in [...]
2019 ANA ECHO Awards
Another season of judging the ANA ECHO Awards has come and gone. And, it was a little underwhelming at that. After 15 years I never know what to expect. In the early days, it was all about creative/copywriting, list and results for direct marketing campaigns. We’d sit in cramped quarters, [...]
8 ways to align sales and marketing for better results
The numbers are staggering. 79% of all sales leads never convert to sales. In business, not having your marketing and sales teams aligned is an expensive misstep. According to HubSpot, that amounts to $1 trillion a year in wasted marketing efforts and decreased sales productivity. How does landing 38% more [...]
Prepping your Sales Team for Marketing Leads: 3 Pitfalls to Avoid
Even the best companies can struggle with getting separate departments in their organizations to work together to accomplish the same objective. This is especially true with marketing and sales—entities who have historically operated in their own separate silos. The breakdown tends to occur as each department works independently toward their [...]
An Ode to Partnership
Owning a business is hard. Owning a marketing business is dog years hard. You need grit and persistence plus a sense of humor and people who support you and challenge you by your side. From this perspective, I believe I am absolutely blessed to have had a marketing business with [...]