One of the coolest parts of working at Argentum is learning about new industries that we didn't know existed. Last year we worked with Universal HPP, a company that applies intense cold pressure to packaged foods to prevent any pathogens from reproducing, making the foods safe for consumption. And this year we're working with Swank Motion Pictures, a third generation, privately held company that holds the rights to distribute and license most Hollywood movies in venues like parks, hospitals and schools.
While both Swank and Universal are the epitome of later stage companies, we've been working with some equally interesting early stage companies. As an Entrepreneur In Residence with Future Founders, an organization that facilitates entrepreneurship for students in high school and college, we're exposed to a fascinating crop of startups. Two that really stood out in the "who knew" category from last year's class were Swine Tech, a company that dramatically reduces the number of piglet deaths for pork producers and Shoe Box One, a company that makes display units for people who collect limited edition sneakers.
Argentum helped entrepreneurs like these, and many others, fill their marketing tool boxes and now we've packed this newsletter with new tools to help you stock your own, including book launch tips and a great hack for tracking brand awareness.
Marketing Your New Book
It seems like a lot of people feel that they "have a book in them." Occasionally, one of them will ask us for book marketing recommendations. So we're excited to share some great tips from author and friend, Sheryl O'Loughlin. She's a brilliant marketer and entrepreneur and has written
Prior to the book's launch, she sent out an email to her mailing list. It's a great example of how to leverage your connections to spread the word about your new book or anything else you're passionate about.
Video: The Difference Between Strategies and Tactics
In my experience teaching marketing strategy, I often encounter people who have difficulty understanding the difference between strategies and tactics.
This segment provides an easy way to differentiate them. There are also some handy strategy examples from real marketing plans and a list of common strategies for early stage companies.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a great tool for a marketer's toolbox. However, it's not the only tool you should have, despite what the original Harvard Business Review article declared, but it's definitely a useful metric.
While we've fielded periodic NPS questions over the years, we were surprised when two colleagues recently asked for advice about it in the same week. Here's the Argentum Strategy Group's point of view that we shared with them.
Too small to effectively measure your brand's awareness? Mana Ionescu, Founder of Lightspan Digital, recommends that clients track the growth in their branded searches as a proxy for brand awareness. If you have Google's free tools Console and Analytics installed, this metric is easily available to you.
Thank you!
We appreciate your continued referrals and are always excited to meet new businesses that might need our supplemental marketing strategy services.
To learn more about Argentum, visit our
website, and feel free to pass our information along!
