i7 Marketing Blog

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are. – J.P. Morgan

Our goal here at i7 Marketing is to ensure that your business is reaching its maximum potential in connecting with your current customers as well as reaching new ones. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing our approach to marketing that make up our seven pillars of marketing - thus i7 Marketing.

“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.”

– Will Rogers

We all need a push to get/keep going every once in a while. Sometimes we just need to be reminded we are on the right track.

Building a list of qualified leads is an essential part of marketing. This list is your pipeline to future sales.

Inbound marketing is strategies and tactics you use to attract or “pull” your target audience to your brand. A strong inbound marketing strategy can help you earn the attention of prospects, making it easier for them to find you and buy from you.

Video is the most effective form of media to promote your product or services. This is especially true for illustrating how your product or service works and benefits your target audience.

Video is perhaps the most engaging form of media. Moving images and audio add new dimensions to your message that does not exist in other forms of media. In addition, video elicits a greater emotional response from your audience than still images or print.

Content marketing is still in its adoption stage, yet it is fast becoming an essential part of the promotion mix, especially for B2B companies. Not too long ago, a content marketing strategy may have been only a few published articles, white papers and case studies; now an effective strategy entails much more.

Marketing automation is a server-based software tool that enables you to turn leads into customers, and it allows you to nurture customers into buying more of your products or services more often. It helps you fulfill these achievements through automated campaigns that involve email that you may integrate with postcards, letters, and text and voice messaging. In essence, marketing automation is a management technology that can take your marketing results to a much higher level while saving your organization manpower, time, and money.

Short message service (SMS) – also called mobile text messaging – is a fairly new way to promote your business. In fact, SMS is perhaps the most effective way to get your message read by your audience, according to Forbes in 2014. SMS may also cost less per target and can achieve a 45% response rate, compared to other marketing strategies such as email that may get just 6%.

Content marketing is growing in importance as a strategy to develop and sustain your Web presence. The Content Marketing Institute reports 42% of B2B content marketers in North America consider this strategy as effective compared to 36% last year. Furthermore, 93% of companies today do some type of content marketing, with only 16% of marketers that say it is not effective.