One word of advice (literally)
By Randy Mitchell The question still haunts me. It was the 4A’s annual Career Day, an event that brought hundreds of aspiring advertising professionals into Chicago. I was on the portfolio panel with three other agency creatives. Surrounding us was a wall of eager college seniors, all ready to shove their portfolios into our chests. (Remember physical portfolios? They could do some serious damage.) Just before the eagerly anticipated Portfolio Review, the floor was opened for questions from the students. Most of the inquiries were directly related to finding a job: where to look, who to contact, what to say, what to show in the portfolio. Then, a quiet student from Indiana University asked us
Taking social media seriously (and taking it to the bank)
By Randy Mitchell First, a painful confession. Seven years ago I was a hater. For a number of reasons, I simply could not take social media seriously, especially when it came to B2B marketing. That cautious thinking seemed to make sound business sense at the time. Our agency accounts were global companies. We worked with top-level decision makers that had ironclad objectives. They needed to grow market share, not followers. In short, ROMI was the mantra and every campaign demanded tangible results. If I had actually dared to suggest using social media to that C-Suite group, their first reaction would have been laughter. That would have been followed by this bottom line challenge: “If you’re really
Reinventing foodservice, one bite at time
By Randy Mitchell Driverless delivery. Ghost kitchens. Takeout everything. What in the name of Ray Kroc has happened to the world of foodservice? The industry is emerging from its most challenging year with remarkable resilience and some amazing innovations. An operator friend who owns a neighborhood café put it best: “Foodservice had a full-on freak out. But we found ways to make it work. We always do.” Here are a few quick content bites that illustrate her point. Bite #1: Driverless delivery Houston is famous for launching astonishing technology into the heavens. Recently, it also became the test site for rocketing pizzas to hungry Earthlings via driverless vehicles. Who is behind this stellar idea? A technology
Three secrets behind the best webinars
By Randy Mitchell There are far too many webinars in the world right now. In the last year alone, the use of webinars grew by 69% according to HubSpot. Chances are, you have two or three B2B webinar invitation emails in your inbox right now. On the flip side, there are far too few excellent webinars to satisfy our content-hungry world. We don’t need a data point to prove that one. If you recently wasted an hour enduring a bad B2B webinar, I’m afraid you will never get that time back. Which brings us to the question marketers everywhere are asking: How can we rise above the noise and create a webinar that people will
The year of being wrong and why it turned out right
By Randy Mitchell “See you back here in a couple of weeks.” That was what we said to each other as we left the office on the morning of March 16, 2020. And we sincerely meant it. That “quick return” theory was the first wrong belief in a year that was full of them. But it was also a rather small miscalculation in the grand scheme of things. Thinking back on the last twelve months, I am still astonished at how many longstanding professional marketing beliefs were challenged and ultimately changed. These were the rocks of our profession, and they were rocked to their foundations. Let’s consider some of those long-held beliefs and how a better
B2B marketing ideas that are ready to roll
By Randy Mitchell “How can we help our clients get through this crazy time?” That was the critical question. It was initially asked in our weekly marketing planning meeting by Gary Mattes, the CEO of Boomm. Gary’s question captured what we were all thinking: What was the best way to adapt our B2B marketing ideas when everything was changing so fast? As it turned out, we already had the answers right in front of us. As 2020 ran off the rails for many firms, the Boomm Team began working on a different breed of projects for our clients. These businesses were asking for B2B marketing ideas that were uniquely adapted to the times; ones
A cure for the common chaos
By Randy Mitchell A wise client once confided that a little chaos was good for creatives. She believed it forced us to think in unexpected ways. That was an eye-opening revelation and I embraced her sage guidance. Until last year. In 2020 we were suddenly forced to change everything about our routines until there truly was no set routine anymore. As a result, B2B marketers everywhere were searching for a small semblance of order amidst the industry-wide chaos. Thankfully, it is a new year. It’s also a different world. Early indications have shown that B2B marketers are transforming their strategies to meet the new business environment, which demands a strong digital and virtual presence. B2B in
What is the personality of your B2B website?
“This website is bland. It has no personality.” Recognize that criticism? You probably have heard it, said it, or at least thought it when visiting a B2B website. Who knows? It might even have been your own company’s site. With all due respect, that comment is simply not true. Every B2B website has a personality. They can be bold or geeky or verbose—some are even a little schizophrenic. In short, lack of personality is never the problem with B2B websites. The trouble starts when the site’s personality doesn’t match the brand you want to project. If that’s the case, your website will be an awkward representative for your company and it won’t speak
How to love your focus keywords and their results
You have a love/hate relationship with focus keywords, don’t you? It’s alright to admit it. Everyone experiences those conflicting feelings, and here’s why. You love the power effective focus keywords bring: web traffic goes up, prospects find your site before the competition, and everyone considers you a strategic savant. Nice. On the other hand, you hate the hassles: finding a solid focus keyword is a timesuck, it seems like everyone else snatched your word first, and it’s nearly impossible to work unwieldy search phrases into your content. Trust me, nobody can make “best industrial strength breaker overload detection device near me” sound conversational. Believe it or not, focus keywords can find their way to your
How to become LinkedIn to an alternate reality
By Randy Mitchell | Creative Director Creative people are different. We gladly accept that. Creatives tend to dress boldly, have quirky habits and embrace our inner uniqueness. But what truly makes us unusual are the unexpected ideas that erupt from the depths of our imaginations. A few years ago, one of those strange ideas seized me during my rambling commute home. I was scrolling around LinkedIn, checking out the latest posts and progress of my network. Then, the weirdness hit me. “What if there was an entire social network that consisted of people who shared my name?” Imagine the possibilities. Where would they live? What would they do for a living? It would be like