Jon asks, “What’s the most undervalued trend in business that marketers aren’t grasping?” There are two answers here in terms of business trends. One of them should have you a little worried. The other should either make you cheer or scare the crap out of you, depending on your business model. Find out what they…
Sherry asks, “What sets apart a good data science course? What should I look for in the curriculum?” Great question, and an important one in today’s world when companies are offering “crash courses” and “become a data scientist in X weeks”. Would you feel comfortable going to someone who did the “crash course in surgery”…
Aaron asks, “How do you think culture fits into the people / process / technology framework?” People / process / platform, a derivative of HJ Leavitt’s 1964 Diamond of Change Management, is itself a subset of culture. In this video, learn Dr. Rick Robinson’s AEIOU framework of ethnographic measurement, and learn how corporate values layer…
Amber asks, “I’m applying to a MBA Specialized Master’s in Marketing and this question has been eating at me. I have a BS and MA in Communication with 3 years of teaching experience in higher education. Do you have any advice on using this experience in the application process?” Teaching is a combination of disciplines…
Matthias asks, “Soon we will be preparing marketing budgets for next year. What tips do you suggest?” Budgeting is forecasting, and forecasting means prediction. Identify highest ROI channels and strategies based on historical data Cost data is essential Identify goals and targets to hit Status quo Needed Stretch Identify cost to hit targets Forecast by…
What’s the value of best practices? Some people live and breathe them; other people roundly criticize them. What’s the story? Best practices are competence in a box. They help us to quickly get up to speed on documented, reviewed, and approved ways of doing things. When you’re first starting out in anything, this is a…
For those who haven’t bought Marketing White Belt or haven’t gotten a business degree, the SWOT analysis is one of the oldest methods of assessing your company’s capabilities and abilities to respond to different business situations. I won’t rehash the basics of SWOT here, but I do want to highlight something I persistently see wrong…
Kevin asks, “How do we standardize metrics and measurement, especially when different parts of the company do things differently?” Great and very common question. The answer is, unsurprisingly, a framework: Goal alignment Exploratory data analysis Model creation Model validation Model deployment Adoption, training, and compliance Measurement of compliance Refinement and improvement If this sounds familiar,…
