There's no substitute for direct customer insight. It's a marketer's superpower. This is a reminder to any marketer out there who isn't actively trying to connect with their customers and prospects that second-hand customer information doesn't cut it.

The other day, I was having coffee with a small group of marketing leaders and consultants and the conversation turned to the question of, “What is Marketing Strategy?” Some of the responses were uncertain. Smart, accomplished marketers responded with “I’m not quite sure.” It occurred to me—if we, a group of marketing leaders don’t know how to describe marketing strategy, our leadership teams and departmental peers don’t know either.

It’s that time of year! 2020 is right around the corner and as marketers, it’s time to figure out the budget, priorities, plans, and targets for the upcoming year.

As we help our clients with their 2020 plans, I thought I’d share the Think Better process and template with other marketers out there who are looking for guidance.

A common conundrum that marketers face is deciding whether or not to buy that big lead list. Don’t. Here’s why.

This new B2B buyer demands a lot from today’s marketer. Your brand has to be “on” all of the time and distributed across channels, supporting in-person and online marketing experiences.

For small to mid-size companies with small budgets, this can seem an impossible expectation to deliver on, especially if your competitors have bigger budgets. But there are ways you can still meet the needs of today’s buyer, affordably.

Here are five suggestions for extending your reach and connecting with today’s B2B buyer, even on a small budget.