I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
My mix of Outside Sales, Marketing, Social Media, helping Customers and Classroom Teaching experience makes me an excellent Marketing candidate for your organization.
Are you hiring for Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing, Content Marketing, Customer Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement, Lead Gen, Demand Gen, Retention Marketing, Talent Branding and Employer Branding roles?
I’m willing to build Marketing from scratch if no marketing function exists.
Hiring?
Contact me via LinkedIn or E-Mail to set up interviews. If you are not hiring, share this with people that are looking to hire.
See how I can improve your Sales and Revenue using Marketing.
My mix of Outside Sales, Marketing, Social Media, helping Customers and Classroom Teaching experience makes me an excellent Marketing candidate for your organization.
Are you hiring for Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing, Content Marketing, Customer Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement, Lead Gen, Demand Gen, Retention Marketing, Talent Branding and Employer Branding roles?
I’m willing to build Marketing from scratch if no marketing function exists.
Hiring?
See how I can improve your Sales and Revenue using Marketing.
There are many exhibits at the New York Auto Show that showcased innovations and technological advances in the automotive industry. After two days of coverage on the press preview days, I am going to share my favorite product unveils and displays. This year, I also did a video walk through of the show floor to provide an inside look.
If you are in the New York area, checkout the New York Auto Show. The New York International Auto Show is open to the public from Friday, March 30th to Sunday, April 8th, 2018. Tickets cost $17 for Adults, $7 for Children, pricing for groups and tours can be found on the website. For more information go to http://www.autoshowny.com/tickets.
What cars and trucks do you want to see? If you have attended the show, what was your favorite exhibit?
My mix of Outside Sales, Marketing, Social Media, helping Customers and Classroom Teaching experience makes me an excellent Marketing candidate for your organization.
Are you hiring for Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing, Content Marketing, Customer Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement, Lead Gen, Demand Gen, Retention Marketing, Talent Branding and Employer Branding roles?
I’m willing to build Marketing from scratch if no marketing function exists.
Hiring?
Contact me via LinkedIn or E-Mail to set up interviews. If you are not hiring, share this with people that are looking to hire.
See how I can improve your Sales and Revenue using Marketing.
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include Start Ups, Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content and Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
Posted 332 weeks ago
Organic Sales, Growth Marketing & Social Media Strategies Video
How can I help?
Marketing, Sales Enablement & Customer Experience Q & A. Send me your questions.
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include Start Ups, Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content and Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
2018 continues to be the year of Brand Safety for Brands, Advertisers and Agencies as the industry status quo was disrupted in 2017.
Many advertisers pulled or suspended their ad campaigns from YouTube and Google’s display network because the company put brands at risk by serving up inappropriate ads that conflicted with the value of advertisers.
Google has taken steps to address the issue and updated the YouTube Partnership Program in efforts to reduce the chance of ads being served up against inappropriate content. This is a great first step but where does the industry go from here?
For the industry to be successful, it is important that Brands feel that their Brand Safety will be protected. Brands need to deliver a consistent message to customers and prospects. When advertisers are showing messages that conflict with Brand values; consumer trust erodes. This can destroy a Brand.
Ultimately, a Brand is responsible for its safety.
· According to independent sources 70% of programmatic money in the UK is being used for various agency commissions leaving media platforms with 30%
· Brands are not sure how their media money is being used
However, for the industry to function successfully, Brands, Advertisers and Agencies need to collaborate; taking ownership of their respective role in the ecosystem. This collaboration, can take the form of: allowing Third party monitors from data science firms to examine data i.e. audit ad inventory, conduct site analysis, pre-bid targeting, keyword exclusion against Brand Guidelines and Standards.
How will these changes affect the digital landscape?
As Brands, Advertisers, and agencies collaborate more closely, allowing third parties to audit their work; campaign development and execution will take longer. More content moderators will be need to implement these changes. Google has announced that it will hire 10,000 Content Moderators this year to honor its commitment to Brand Safety. The fee structure of Advertising will need to be changed. Either the cost of advertising will increase or margins of Advertisers and Agencies will need to be cut.
Agencies will need to support the industry to overcome the issue of Brand Safety by: offering the above services to clients, providing clients with points of contact with partners that support client work, holding discussions/events on Brand Safety and offering guides on the topic.
Brands and Agencies, how do you address the issue of Brand Safety? Comment and share.
The Customer Experience and Customer Journey is being disrupted by technology. The technology comes in the form of social channels such as the internet, mobile, social media, publishing platforms, audio books and video on demand. All of these channels have the effect of giving consumers instant access to information about products and services. Mobile is becoming the biggest channel with 6.2 Billion Devices projected globally by 2020 According to Ericsson’s Annual Mobility report.
The way customers request information is changing. They may approach Sales, Marketing and Customer Service or an independent source for information and help choosing a product.
Competition in every product and service category has never been higher. This marks a significant shift from the days of Mad Men where brands controlled information and the conversation. This marketing shift is known as information marketing through content or simply content marketing. As a result, Marketers and brands have to become the educators or teachers of consumers. To become the educators of consumers, brands have to become the industry resource to consumers; showing how their products can solve problems and improve the lives of consumers.
Content Marketing needs to be used in Sales, Marketing and Customer Service because customers expect a consistent experience through out their journey.
Marketing is undergoing an AI revolution. The marketers surveyed anticipate their AI use will grow more than 50 percent over the next two years, helping them deliver more targeted campaigns, smarter personalization and higher ROI.
Marketers realize the importance of delivering customer journeys, but are having a hard time breaking down silos between sales, service and marketing, and bringing customer data together to deliver on this vision.
Marketers are making significant organizational changes, within their own departments and in how they collaborate with others, such as sales and customer service.
Over the next two years, marketers expect to see unprecedented growth in their marketing technology usage.
“According to a recent research study by Forrester, 71 percent of consumers begin their journeys by using a search engine to discover new products and services (initiation), and 74 percent reported using a search engine for consideration and purchasing (research, comparison, transaction).”
Once brands convert prospects into customers, they still need to focus on and support customers post sale. Here is where Content Marketing can help. Brands can use Content Marketing for customer retention, cross-selling and up-selling. To take advantage of this, brands need to involve their Marketing, Sales and Customer service teams in their Content Marketing strategy.
Sales Teams
Sales teams can provide a lot of information about customers, product concerns or issues and objections they face. They are front line soldiers that have a direct line to customer intelligence.
Including the Sales Team in your content marketing strategy
Meet with the sales team and encourage them to compile a list of customer complaints, objections and questions about products that they face. Ask the team to create materials that address these concern that customers can access. This could take form of blog posts, Power-points FAQ’s, product demonstrations and tutorials.
If the sales team feels uncomfortable creating content, they could be interviewed by the marketing department. The marketing department could take content /basic materials, emails from the sales team and polish it up into visually appealing content that customers can access.
Customer Service
Similar to the sales team, your customer service teams are front line soldiers to help customers with issues they face at call centers or through social media. Ask them to write down complaints they get from customers with the answers. These complaints of FAQ’s could be put up on a web site via a PowerPoint presentation, blog etc… If this is not possible for the team, interview them, collect basic materials, emails, notes and create the content yourself.
Customer Retention
Sales and Customer service team are an important part to using a Content Marketing Strategy for customer retention. The more products a customer uses from a brand, the less likely they will switch to a competitor. Remember it costs more to obtain new customers that it does to keep existing ones.
Cross-Selling & Up-Selling
Sales and Customer service teams can also help with cross and up-selling by sharing promotion and new offerings with customers. The Sales and customer service functions of brands are essential to creating a great experience for customers.
Marketing Automation and AI
Salesforce is rolling out a Customer Success cloud where Sales, Marketing and Customer Success can track the Customer Journey across the organization. Each function of the organization can create tasks for the other to make sure the customer does not fall through the cracks. I saw a demonstration at Salesforce World Tour.
This is how brands can integrate sales and customer service teams into their Content Marketing and automation strategy. How are you using content from sales and customer service teams to help your brand retain customers? What are the goals of your brands content marketing efforts?
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include Start Ups, Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full-time marketing role. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content and Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
I am conducting a job search for a full-time Marketing role. ( CMO to Marketing Specialist, Marketing Associate etc…)
Are you hiring for Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing, Content Marketing, Customer Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement, Lead Gen, Demand Gen, Retention Marketing, Talent Branding and Employer Branding roles?
I’m willing to build Marketing from scratch if no marketing function exists.
My combination of Outside Sales, Marketing, Social Media and Classroom Teaching experience makes me an excellent Marketing candidate for your organization.
Hiring?
Contact me via LinkedIn or E-Mail to set up interviews. If you are not hiring, share this with people that are looking to hire.
See how I can improve your Sales and Revenue using Marketing.
Launching a content marketing and digital marketing campaign is a big investment of time and resources. Before launching a campaign there are a lot of things to consider. Here are three questions that digital and content marketers should be able to answer before launching a campaign.
According to Research conducted by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs fewer than 33% of B2B Marketers who use these tactics seen in the infographic said these tactics will be successful to their Overall Content Marketing success.
Before jumping in it is important to study what type of Marketing works in your industry. The one size fits all Marketing Campaigns of the past are over. Below are three questions to ask before starting a Marketing campaign.
1.What are the best ways to market to my industry?
The best ways to market to your industry is through offerings such as whitepapers, industry events, Social Media/Content Marketing and through direct selling. As there is no single best way, all of these methods need to be integrated together and function as a synergy. The Sales and Marketing functions need to be aligned and support one other in order for any marketing effort to be successful.
Becoming a part of your industry community is one of the best ways to market to them. This can be achieved by becoming a trusted advisor. Earning the trust of the community can be achieved by demonstrating your value and becoming a resource they the turn to all of the time not just when they have a need. Understanding the pain points of this group is critical to creating and implementing the best solutions to solve their problems.
2. How you would repurpose/rewrite/market to increase readership?
In order to increase readership, I would create accounts on other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Slideshare. Before content can be repurposed, you need to establish channels to share the content beyond a blog and LinkedIn in order for it to reach a broader audience.
Rewriting/Repurposing
The first thing I would do is to change the title in the form of a question. This way it invites the audience to weigh in. I would also ask a question at the end of the article.
A great call to action would be: feel free to comment, or asking a question of the reader at the end of the post. By having a call to action to comment, readers are more likely to start a discussion and share the content. It is important to talk with your audience and not at them.
Another, thing that I would add is an about the author section at the bottom of each post. This is another great way to showcase the author’s expertise and incorporate a call to action such as see how we can help or click here to sign up for a free demo.
Repurposing Formats
The contents of the article can be put into different formats such as a PowerPoint, a YouTube video all of which can be uploaded to Slideshare. The article can be published to LinkedIn’s publishing platform as well. The article can also be written and have presentations and videos embedded in the article itself. There are endless ways to repurpose content.
3. Imagine you could speak to a current customer. What would you want to ask them? How would you use their responses to market my product?
I would want to ask current customers the following questions:
1.Why did you chose my product?
2.What do you like about the product?
3.What do you dislike about the product?
4.Is it easy to use?
5.How long did it take to put the product to work?
6.Would you be willing to provide a testimonial in writing, on video about how the product helped your business, speak at an event?
(Questions may differ based on the user’s answers.)
I would take the information from questions to 1-5 and discuss them with the product manager and engineer to see how the product could be made better. Testimonials obtained would be uploaded to the website and integrated into product literature.
What questions are you asking before starting a Marketing Campaign?
About the Author
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include Start Ups, Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content and Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
Today we receive a lot of mail. Most of the time, a majority of the mail that I receive is a solicitation and/or junk mail. People are very busy; as a result they will skim their mail very quickly. They have to think that your message is compelling and relevant to them within the first 30 seconds. Otherwise, your mail will get tossed in the trash.
To make sure you get your mailing opened, you have to make sure that you are directing your message to the decision maker. The decision maker will be different depending on your product. It is important that your recipient see’s your message as valuable. In your mailing, I would ask catching questions in terms of the person you are trying to market to. For example, I would ask questions such as: Are you happy with your company’s current sales and marketing results?, Are you satisfied with your company’s standing in the marketplace?, Do you want to know how you can produce more?, If you lost ______ what would you do?, Do you have a backup plan in place if this happens?
The insurance industry does this when they want to sell insurance policies. You have to customize the message for your product or service. This message will get the decision maker thinking because everyone wants to produce more. In other words, you need a message that drives people to act.
Another thing that you could do is to offer a free trial of your work. You could also offer a discount to new customers. For example, you could offer a free consultation. Also, if you are sending the mailing to existing customers, I would offer them rewards for referrals. Make sure to provide a direct response card with paid postage for them to mail back.
Besides the copy and content of the message, it is important to make your mailing visually appealing to your prospect. The copy should be clean, neat and easy to read. Use colors and images that are visually appealing in your message. Make sure that prospects are aware of your presence on social media sites by including badges with link addresses.
Make sure that your business address, phone number and website are included in each piece of the mailing. This is a good precaution to take in case any piece of your mailing gets lost.
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
During my time in field sales, I wanted to obtain the business of Dental Schools and Hospitals. After obtaining meetings and making presentations to prominent Dentists, I was informed that they could not buy from me. After handling objections, showing how my offerings were better than the competition, I found out why. The decision-makers explained that they were under contract with large manufacturers and distributors.
These competitors offered deep discounts to Dental Schools so their students would get comfortable using their products. When students would become licensed Dentists, they would use the products they trained on instead of the competitors. These competitors built lifelong customer loyalty.
When I called on certain Dentists, they said they liked a particular company’s product. I asked them why they liked the product and would they consider switching for something comparable with faster service. The Dentists said no saying that they learned on particular equipment in Dental School and it was the only thing they felt comfortable using.
Geoffrey Moore discusses the Technology life cycle in Crossing the Chasm.
Dental manufactures and large distributors used pricing to target the Innovators/Early adopters/which in this case was the dental students and hospitals. To increase market share, they offered discounted pricing in exchange for purchase and long service contracts. These manufacturers and distributors succeeded in targeting dental students right before they would become customers; earning them years of customer loyalty.
Here is how this SAAS marketing program could be executed on the Technology Life cycle curve.
Innovators Preparation programs
Offer Preparation programs discounted pricing and free trials to try the product.
Have Pre-service Professionals get comfortable using the product.
Early Adopters Early Career Professionals
Offer them free trials and a lower discount.
Early/Late Majority Seasoned Professionals
Offer Trials and discounts to targeted staff and managers
Laggards Senior Staff Members
Continue to innovate the product and messaging to show how the product is being used.
Obtain Testimonials from satisfied staff and managers.
Show how the product exceeds competitors.
When appropriate, offer free and discounted trials to all appropriate prospects.
This is how Tech companies can improve their market share and generate life-long customer loyalty.
Tech Companies have the chance to improve business and generate life-long customer loyalty. This opportunity can be seized by offering discounted pricing and free trials to Innovators/Early Adopters which in this case are the preparation programs.
What Tech product do you want to try?
Comment and share below.
Additional Market Research Why & How People Buy Tech
When marketing and selling a tech product or service, it is important to ask two questions to understand your buyers.
1. What motivates people to buy a tech product or service?
2. How do people find a tech product or service to buy?
I surveyed my LinkedIn audience for answers.
1. What motivates people to buy a tech product or service?
People buy a technology product or service for many reasons.
2. How do people find a tech product or service to buy?
People find and buy technology products or services in different ways.
These findings suggest businesses need to create customer-centric offerings to survive in a competitive marketplace. Answering these questions will help businesses develop, create and, position offerings people want to purchase. I
Why & How People Buy
When marketing and selling a product or service, it is important to ask two questions to understand your buyers.
1. What motivates people to buy a product or service?
2. How do people find a product or service to buy?
I surveyed my LinkedIn audience for answers.
1. What motivates people to buy a product or service?
People buy a product or service for many reasons.
2. How do people find a product or service to buy?
People find and buy products or services in different ways.
These findings suggest businesses need to create customer-centric offerings to survive in a competitive marketplace.
Answering these questions will help businesses develop, create and, position offerings people want to purchase.
About Me
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill-sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
Articles and insights have been featured, mentioned and, referenced in:
•SlideShare for being in the top 5% of profiles viewed in 2014
•LinkedIn Profile was in the top 1% of profiles viewed out of 200 million members in 2012
I’m seeking a full-time role in:
Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Product Marketing, Demand Generation, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement Enablement, Sales Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Employer Branding, Recruitment Marketing.
Open on title, industry, company, location, and level. Reach out on LinkedIn or at dan@dangalante.com to start a conversation.
Posted 142 weeks ago
Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
Connecting & Innovating at TechDay 2024
I covered TechDay in New York this past Friday. This year was special because it was the 10th anniversary of TechDay.
Over the past ten years, TechDay events have connected over 10,000 startups with over 250,000 investors, accelerators, engineers, suppliers, and other members of the tech startup ecosystem. This is according to TechDay.
Attendees had the opportunity to network with venture capitalists, and accelerators, learn about the latest technology, and attend tech talks.
These tech talks consisted of thought leaders from the NYC startup ecosystem, including investors with over $5 billion in combined assets under management. Thought leaders spoke on a series of panels focused on the history of the NYC startup ecosystem, its present opportunities, and possible futures
Entrepreneurs had the opportunity to audition to pitch their start-ups on Shark Tank.
There were many exhibitors at TechDay as well. Companies were from a wide array of industries.
In this video, I walked the event floor to give you a sense of the things happening from networking, connecting, pitching, and learning.
Thank you to the organizers of TechDay for having me.
TechDay was a great event.
TechDay events are held both in person and online. Visit techdayhq.com for a schedule of upcoming events and a recap of the recently completed TechDay Expo.
Did you attend?
What are your thoughts on TechDay?
Comment and share below.
Posted 6 weeks ago
Survey of 2023 Holiday Spending
I surveyed my audience on LinkedIn on how their spending was impacted by inflation.
This is an updated extension of my last report where I surveyed my audience on LinkedIn about their holiday spending intent, method of purchase, types of purchase, and sentiment in the U.S. Consumer spending is always top of mind for marketers, sellers, and retailers.
This year, I focused only on inflation and holiday spending.
How has inflation impacted your holiday spending?
How did inflation impact your spending during the holiday season? Share your thoughts.
As you can see, 71% percent said they spent less during this holiday season. Consumers must see value in what they are buying. Brands need to create memorable experiences for consumers with their offerings
Based on my research, my finding suggests:
Inflation has dampened consumer spending during the holiday season.
Customers are taking a closer look at their finances this year.
Brands need to provide value offerings that create memorable experiences for customers.
How did inflation impact your holiday spending?
Please share your thoughts and join the conversation.
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, and SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
Open on title, industry, company, location, and level. Reach out on LinkedIn or at dan@dangalante.com to start a conversation.
Posted 21 weeks ago
Trends in AI & Generative AI: Insights from The 2023 AI Summit New York
Last week, I covered the AI Summit in New York. I was excited to learn about the trends in AI and generative AI and to see some commercial applications of these new technological advancements.
Patrick Murphy of UAB led the AI Exhibitor hub. Patrick shared insights from his research on Entrepreneurship. He shared how start-ups use AI, and Generative AI to scale up and bring products to market.
Generative AI is being used in the following eight ways:
Content and Asset Generative
Automated Processes
Ideation
Financial Management
Project Design
Optimized Structures
Acceleration and incubation
Ethics and Risk Management.
There was a pitching completion where start-ups did pitches in multiple rounds. At the beginning of the competition, they received advice from judges on best practices.
One of the start-ups that was of interest was Botwise. Jan Nowak shared how his team shared a use case on how they leveraged Language Learning models (LLM)using statistics and GPT solutions for rapid automation in customer service for Mylead.global is a platform that allows influencers to earn money. As a result, MyLead.global was able to screen influencers faster and better for their big brand clients.
AI-Powered Use Cases from across the board panel discussion
Leaders Saira Kazmi Ph. D. (CVS Health), Matthew Blakemore (Creative Industries Council) Taha Mokfi (HelloFresh), Kriti Kohli (Shopify), and Kris Perez (Data Force) share how they use chatbots, improving both the buyer and seller experience using AI. How AI can be used in video games to identify levels of violence and how AI can improve in healthcare and Radiology reducing the amount of time images are read while improving accuracy and detail.
Another interesting Panel was by Tim Delesio CTO of techolution
Tim asked What’s driving the explosive rise of AI all of a Sudden?
The answer is the economics of the labor market.
On the demand side, he cited labor shortages and persistent high inflation.
On the supply side, he cites the rise of ChatGPT and, major scientific and Technological breakthroughs in the past five to seven years.
He shared trends in AI for 2024 that include:
Physical Labor with AI to help deliver small batch sizes with high-precision quality control
Improved customer engagement by providing a new generation of customer service agents using Generative AI
Tim demonstrated some of these trends when he ordered a soda using an AI-powered robotic arm.
The booth had another machine showing how AI can enhance inventory management when items are ordered.
I was amazed to see some AI Tech that techolution brought to the marketplace.
On that note, I saw an AI-powered Kiosk by Graphen where a man ordered his food and paid. This company is using AI to revolutionize all industries.
Man orders food AI Kiosk
Man pays for food at AI Kiosk
There were so many great talks and exhibits.
Additional pictures can be found on Instagram.
I want to thank the AI Summit for having me as their guest. If you want to use AI and Generative to improve business outcomes, sign up for the AI summit in your city.
What do you think is next for AI and Generative AI?
I asked my LinkedIn audience If the Sales and Marketing functions were merged and run by Sales, What would be your main focus? Why?
As you can see, 68% of those surveyed said that increased lead generation and demand generation was a top priority. What this means is that people see Marketing as a vehicle to increase Sales and Revenue.
Free Trials
Previously, I have discussed the marketing strategy of free trials, discounted trials, and loss leaders.
Free Samples
Another great marketing strategy for brands to get prospects and current customers to try a new product or retry an existing one is to offer a free sample. This can be done by handing out the product sample during online, field, and tradeshow marketing.
Field & Trade Show Marketing
Samples can be in the form of a physical product, a link to an online offering, offering a discount to make a purchase. Recently, I attended the 9th Avenue International Food Festival in New York. I received sample food products. One of the vendors offered a food sample and a coupon to make a purchase.
At Tradeshows, brands can offer physical and digital products in exchange for customer information. This is an excellent tactic for lead generation. Most times brands scan the badge of customers to collect this information.
Online Marketing
Brands can also reach customers online to get them to request a free sample. The sample can come in the form of a download or a physical offering depending on the product type.
Brands can also offer branded merchandise as a way to be remembered by prospects and customers.
How have you used free samples to attract new customers, renew, upsell, and cross-sell existing customers?
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, and SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today; a blog that covers industry events and trends.
The 2023 New York Auto Show is happening at New York’s Jacob Javits Center.
I had the privilege of covering the New York Auto Show on press and industry days. The show opened with the World Car Awards Breakfast.
I want to congratulate Hyundai for winning multiple awards with its all-new Ioniq 6 EV including the World Best EV Award, World’s Best Design, and 2023 World Car of the Year!
Congratulations to all of the other finalists as well.
I rode along in the Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV on one of the multiple test tracks at the show. It was an exhilarating experience!
The show consists mainly of EVs and hybrid vehicles. There are two levels including using EV test tracks where you can a do ride-along. There are fun exhibits that I recommend that you experience. I rode along on all of the test tracks experiencing various EVs.
The Jeep track simulates a mountain and off-road driving experience.
If you are interested in learning about EVs, Charging Stations, and electric power there are displays and resources to explore at the show.
You can find additional pictures posted on Instagram.
There were also some new vehicle roll-outs and major press announcements from Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler, Ram, VW, and many others. You can see some of them below.
Kia Press Conference The all new EV9.
Hyundai Press Conference and Reveal Kona N Line, The All New 2024 KONA Electric
I enjoyed the Subaru Loves Pets campaign at the show. Subaru is partnering with animal nonprofits to get pets adopted, especially pets that are disabled and traumatized.
The show is open to the public as of yesterday at the Jacob Javits Center located at 429 11th Avenue New York, New York 10001. How to get to the Auto Show. The Auto Show runs from Friday, April 7th, through Sunday, April 16th, 2022. The hours are as follows Monday — Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm and Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm. General admission tickets are $21 for adults and $ 7 for children. If you want early access for this Friday or Saturday tickets are $45 for adults and $7 for children. Tickets can be purchased here.
What are you hoping to see at the auto show?
If you have attended the auto show, what was the most exciting thing you experienced?
Building relationships with customers and closing deals is critical for sales success. In business, customer acquisition and customer retention are crucial to generating revenue. It is cheaper to keep existing customers than to acquire new ones.
Once a sale is made, it is tempting for sales reps to move on to the next customer.
However, the sale is not complete when the customer signs the contract. Customers should pay their invoices on time to ensure the business has enough cash to operate and potentially turn a profit.
What on time means is dependent on a company payment policy. Customers can have payment terms raining from C.O.D, net 30, net 60, net 90, net 120, or longer. Some cycles can run for a year or longer. Certain companies offer financing options. Payment structures are structured based on the length of the sales cycle.
How can we make sure customers pay their invoices on time?
Here are six ways to keep customers and get them to pay their invoices on time.
Build and nurture customer relationships.
When the sale is complete, put all details in writing.
Follow through with the implementation product or service post-sale.
Check-in with your customer to make sure they are happy with their purchase. This can present an opportunity for upselling, cross-selling, repeat business, referrals, and testimonials.
If the customer voices concerns or has an issue with a product or service, address it immediately.
Make sure to honor any promises and warranties extended during the sales cycle.
If you follow these steps, you will get most customers to pay their invoices on time.
What do I do if a customer will not pay their invoice?
In large organizations, the accounts receivable manager will handle the customer by sending past-due notices and charging penalties. However, if Sales Reps work for a small company as I did, this will be the Sales Rep’s responsibility. Ideally, the Sales Rep should be able to handle customer issues because they have a relationship with the customer.
Sales Reps should call and visit the customer. During the visit, Sales Reps need to try to solve the issue. Be polite. Never raise your voice or swear at a customer. The goal is to get paid while keeping the customer whenever.
As a result of implementing the strategies above, my receivables (open invoices) were the lowest in the company! This allowed me to earn more commissions, make more sales and develop great relationships with my customers.
It is important to note that Sales and Service across acquisition and retention are subdivided in larger organizations.
How have you improved customer retention and gotten your customers to pay on time?
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, and SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today; a blog that covers industry events and trends.
I surveyed my audience on LinkedIn about their holiday spending intent, method of purchase, types of purchase, and sentiment in the U.S. Consumer spending is always top of mind for marketers, sellers, and retailers. With inflation on the rise, consumers spend differently than when inflation is low.
I asked my audience four questions.
How has inflation impacted your holiday spending?
Which types of holiday gifts are you buying?
How did you buy your holiday gifts this season?
Did you use shoppable ads to make a purchase?
Below you can find the results of each survey question.
1.How has inflation impacted your holiday spending?
As you can see, 60% percent said they spent less during this holiday season. Consumers must see value in what they are buying. Brands need to create memorable experiences for consumers with their offerings.
2. Which types of holiday gifts are you buying?
This survey was split across different categories. Gift cards were top at 33 % percent of those surveyed saying they were buying gift cards and giving cash as a gift. Experiences and electronics were tied at 25 %. Media was in the lowest category at 17%. Across all of these categories, there are opportunities for brands to sell to consumers.
3. How did you buy your holiday gifts this season?
Based on the survey, 56% percent of consumers said they started their customer journey online; including purchases on a mobile device. Brands need to make an e-commerce experience seamless for customers. Most big box stores are creating an omnichannel buying experience; 31% percent of those surveyed stated that they made purchases online and in-store. Small businesses only received 11 %, followed by only in-store buying at 2%.
These findings suggest that small businesses need to create an e-commerce store to create an omnichannel experience for consumers, catering not just to what they want to buy but how they purchase. Small businesses need to show up where consumers make purchases.
4. Did you use shoppable ads to make a purchase?
75% of those surveyed said that they did not use a shoppable ad to make a purchase. Since late 2019, shoppable increased. Consumers can buy products directly from ads on search engines and many social media sites. This will shorten the customer journey.
Based on my research, my finding suggests:
1. Inflation has dampened consumer spending during the holiday season.
2. Brands need to provide value to consumers creating memorable experiences.
3. Businesses should serve consumers on the channels where they make purchases.
4. How consumers buy will continue to evolve.
5. With Shoppable Ads on the rise, the customer journey will be shorter. More purchases will occur during the time consumers search for products.
It will be interesting to see the consumer sentiment and the price of goods with the release of the CPI and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey due to be released this week.
How did inflation impact your spending during the holiday season? Share your thoughts.
If you want to share your opinion but didn’t get the chance to vote, answer these questions in the comments.
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, and SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skillsets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, and SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
A LinkedIn profile is a great opportunity to showcase who you are and what you can do for others. To effectively showcase yourself with your LinkedIn profile, you need to be able to tell a story that is credible and engaging. How do you tell a story on LinkedIn with your profile? There are 8 steps you need to take to optimize your profile for storytelling.
1. Creating a Great Headline
A headline is equivalent to the title of a book, essay, or story. The headline should be engaging. Like a story, the reader decides if they want to read more or move on. Using the automatic headline that lists your job title is a mistake. It is boring and makes you just like everyone else. It demonstrates that you lack creativity.
Your headline should be a short introduction showing how you help others in your current role. This is key if you are happily employed or if you are looking to advance in your current field. If you are looking to change careers, the title should demonstrate how you can take the skills and insights that you have developed and apply them to the career that you aspire to obtain. In other words, the headline should be able to answer the question “What are you looking to do or what do you want in your next role?”
2 Uploading a Photo
LinkedIn profiles include large amounts of text. Similar to a story, text alone is not visually appealing. This is where a photo can help. When you upload a photo to your LinkedIn profile, your profile comes to life; similar to cover art on the front cover of an autobiography. Remember your profile is your story and brief career autobiography.
When you chose a picture, make sure that it is clear and makes you look professional.
3. Recording an introduction
LinkedIn also lets you record a 30-second introduction to your audience.
4. Crafting and Creating a Summary/Presentation
Your summary should reflect and expand on the headline. This is the place where you provide a brief overview that supports the headline, thesis, and title of your story. Your summary is a place to introduce yourself to your audience. It is important to keep your audience in mind. Put yourself in the place of the reader. Would you want to read your profile if the roles were reversed?
Once you introduce yourself, tell your story. Explain your background, where you are today, and where you want to be in the future. Make sure to include how your current skill set and experience have helped others and how these skills can be applied to a new role. When you list your work experience, make sure to back up your headline and summary. Think of this as your body paragraphs.
You can also share links to a digital portfolio, website, or whatever boosts your profile appearance.
5. Describing your work experience
As I mentioned above, the work experience section of your profile is the body paragraphs of your essay and story. It should be listed in chronological order. Each position that you describe should have specific examples of how you helped others in the role. LinkedIn also allows users to upload presentations and videos of their work. This can serve as a digital portfolio of your work that people can view. The next thing that I would do is obtain recommendations. You can also share your presentations from Slideshare on LinkedIn as well.
6. Obtaining Recommendations and Endorsements
A LinkedIn recommendation serves as proof that you have done excellent work in your position. These recommendations should be from coworkers, supervisors, and customers that you have served. They should serve as the conclusion to your story and essay where your claims are verified and validated. Recommendations should not be given away freely; doing that will undermine your credibility.
Endorsements are a quick way for someone to say that you are good at a particular skill without needing to write a recommendation. LinkedIn allows users to list up to 50 skills that connections can endorse.
7. Open to Work/Open to Hire
LinkedIn allows users to share if they are open to working or looking to hire. This is a nice addition to their job seeker and job posting experience. I am currently looking for work.
As you can see, LinkedIn allows you to list 5 job titles along with your desired work type location, etc. While I chose to make my job search public, LinkedIn allows users to make their open-to-work status visible to only recruiters to protect the anonymity of job seekers.
Recruiters and hiring managers can also share that they are hiring for roles by using the Open to Hire frame.
8. Creator Mode
LinkedIn allows you to display 5 topics on your LinkedIn profile to show potential followers when you turn on creator mode. Creator mode also allows you to reach your audience in new ways with tools such as LinkedIn Live, Audio Event, Newsletters, and follow on LinkedIn.
Putting it all Together
Using these 8 steps will allow you to create a LinkedIn profile that can help you tell a credible and engaging story to potential customers and employers.
How have you used your LinkedIn profile to tell your story?
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill-sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
Things are changing in the automotive industry. These changes are from the way vehicles are bought and sold. Vehicle offerings are also different. Vehicles went from gas combustion engines to hybrid vehicles which means a split between gas and electric. Now there is going to be a shift to all-electric vehicles or EVs. The adoption of EVs will accelerate as more charging stations become available.
Source: Derived registration counts by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Experian Information Solutions https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10861
“This figure illustrates the population breakdown of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) registered in the United States as of Dec. 31, 2020. Most of the vehicles are flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), but those generally operate primarily on conventional gasoline. FFVs were produced and sold as a way for vehicle manufacturers to meet their fuel economy requirements. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are the second-largest population by fuel type, accounting for 70% of the AFV population when excluding FFVs. Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) include all-electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and account for about 30% of the AFV population when excluding FFVs.”
I covered The New York Auto Show which was back after a two-year pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s auto show had different types of cars, trucks, and SUVs. The show was made up mostly of electronic vehicles and hybrid vehicles. This change is because of changes in the industry and US government policy to improve the environment. Starting in 2026, all gas vehicles will need to get 50 miles to the gallon to be sold in the US. Gas engines are being phased out. The industry pledges to sell only electric vehicles or EVs by 2035. This is a global trend.
This is information that came out of the World Traffic Symposium, at the New York Auto Show.
I did a survey on LinkedIn on how people find and buy vehicles. The results are here.
People are buying and selling cars online but many sales are still happening at dealerships.
According to the New York International Auto Show, here are the demographics of people who attended and bought cars at the auto show over the last 10 years.
How do you feel about electric vehicles? How do you find and buy vehicles?
