Consistency breeds professionalism and confidence in your brand. Extend it across the organization with standard email and voicemail signatures.

Develop a brand-compliant format and distribute it across the company. Ask HR and IT to incorporate these elements into the new employee welcome process.

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I hate it when the cable company offers new customers a deep discount—and ignores me as a long-time subscriber. When it costs five to ten times more to get a new customer than to keep a current one, the ROI equation for marketing is clear.

Think carefully about extending offers to prospects without demonstrating corresponding value to your established customer base. Consider developing a formal program to maximize customer retention.

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It’s a safe bet the marketing wish list includes more items than available resources can complete. Next time you need to prioritize activities or collect group input for a decision, remove the subjectivity and come to agreement with speed.

List the choices in one column, then ask stakeholders to mark each item Required, Desired, or Nice. If needed, prompt for a rationale on all “required” items—the reason that justifies higher priority for those projects.

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Overcome the skeptics and boost your public relations efforts by developing a library of first-person customer success stories. A strong case study presents a before-and-after story that’s loaded with specifics, tangible benefits and a first-person account in the customer’s own words.

Do your homework before requesting a customer interview:  meet with sales reps or account managers to outline the story, then draft potential questions so customers can respond thoughtfully.

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As baseball season kicks off, take a page from the major leagues and start drafting your reserves—the freelance talent and agency resources you may need to quickly step in on a future project.

Identify copywriters, designers, photographers, printers, project managers and programmers, ask for samples and references and keep a list of potential candidates. Ask your network for referrals and recommendations.

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Gardeners know that periodic trimming promotes lush and fruitful growth. The same techniques apply to marketing. At least once a year, review your activities. Sunset or reconfigure those that require the most effort but produce the fewest returns. Freeing up resources leaves room to improve efficiency, expand effective programs or test new techniques.

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Build a better website by focusing on action first and content second.

Think and plan with your prospect’s behavior in mind. What does your ideal web visitor want to accomplish on your site? What actions do you want this visitor to take?

Develop interactive content and navigation that lets visitors achieve these tasks with the fewest clicks possible.

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Improve the relationship between marketing and sales by documenting the definition of a qualified lead.

Use objective criteria, such as demographic information about the business or yes/no questions a prospect can easily answer.

Be clear on which answers indicate a qualified buyer ready to be passed on to sales, and which prospects it remains marketing’s responsibility to nurture.

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Is your marketing budget tied up in a dustry storeroom stuffed with boxes of brochures? Investigate print-on-demand options that facilitate high-quality, short-run output. Use this method to reduce costs, improve accuracy and even customize materials by sales rep or territory.

Follow the B2B Marketing “Tip of the Week” every Monday for a short, practical recommendation to improve your marketing effectiveness. Looking for suggestions in a specific area? Tweet me your request @ThinkSpringMktg or contact me.

Marketing is a constant learning curve, making campaign testing a must.

Split your list into two or more random segments, testing only one variable at a time with a single group. Repeat successful findings with a larger group to verify results.

For online campaigns, use testing to determine which subject lines, offers and days of the week produce the highest open and click-through rates.

Follow the B2B Marketing “Tip of the Week” every Monday for a short, practical recommendation to improve your marketing effectiveness. Looking for suggestions in a specific area? Tweet me your request @ThinkSpringMktg or contact me.