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5 min read

Marketing Budget Planning for 2024

By Michele Nichols on Fri, Jun 16, 2023

For many, it’s budgeting season as companies work through their strategic plans for the coming year. This means something different in every B2B industrial company we surveyed:

Topics: Business Insights Marketing Strategy Strategic Planning Marketing and Sales Alignment
5 min read

Marketing KPIs for 2023: What to Expect, and How to Measure it

By Michele Nichols on Wed, May 31, 2023

What to expect in 2023? After the last two years, we are prepared for anything! There are ongoing changes to privacy regulation and management that will impact what you can measure, and what you should expect in the year to come.

Topics: Inbound Marketing Lead Generation Marketing Mix Marketing Strategy Social Media Marketing Metrics Email Marketing Strategic Planning Digital Transformation
1 min read

Trends for Tech Startups and the Investment Community

By Michele Nichols on Thu, Feb 09, 2023

Last week we attended Photonics West 2023 in San Francisco, for the latest in optics, lasers, imaging, and sensing technology. We had the opportunity to sit on the start-up panel, where entrepreneurs pitched their optics and photonics businesses.
Topics: Business Insights Strategic Planning Tech
2 min read

Annual Planning: Company Retreat Ideas to Build a Cohesive and Actionable Plan

By Michele Nichols on Mon, Sep 19, 2022

Topics: Business Insights Strategic Planning Organizational Culture
1 min read

The Current State of Marketing Budgets: Our Survey Results

By Mary Crowley on Fri, Aug 12, 2022

How are your peers in the industry reacting to the market conditions this year? We recently conducted a survey on sales and marketing mid-year results and their approach to budgeting and planning for the coming year.

Topics: Business Insights Strategic Planning Marketing and Sales Alignment
3 min read

Change is Coming: The Role of Executives in Change Management

By Melissa Newcomb on Mon, Mar 14, 2022

“Change is coming”--it's a bit of a troupe. After the world-changing experience of the COVID pandemic, frequent, rapid change in business has become universal and continual. [Check out our blog on important lessons learned.] Some of the biggest changes are common across all businesses:

Topics: Marketing Strategy Internal Communication Positioning Strategic Planning Transformation Change Management Digital Transformation employee engagement
2 min read

2021 Lessons Learned in Navigating Change

By Michele Nichols on Mon, Jan 03, 2022

Here we are, entering another year where the only certainty is uncertainty. Take a deep breath and recognize all the growth you’ve achieved and the stability you’ve provided in spite of rapid change. You’re helping to build a culture of resilience and action in the face of ambiguity. 

Topics: Inbound Marketing Marketing Strategy Change and Innovation Strategic Planning Digital Transformation
2 min read

Change Management and Digital Transformation: Tips for Success

By Michele Nichols on Mon, Dec 06, 2021

Digital transformation today is taking place at a pace that is 20-25x faster than pre-2020. Changing at unprecedented speed comes with inherent risk, and in this case, digital transformation is largely treated by leadership and operations teams as a series of independent IT projects instead of realizing its full potential as a driver of competitive advantage.

Topics: Change and Innovation Positioning Strategic Planning Change Management Digital Transformation
5 min read

Mergers & Acquisitions: Communication Strategy for a Smooth Transition

By Alison Arnold on Mon, Dec 06, 2021

Mergers and acquisitions present challenges to even the most seasoned leadership teams. Executing a strong and organized communications planone that delivers the right messages to the right constituents at the right time—can help a merger or acquisition go smoothly and establish unity and profitability. Yet, despite the best-laid plans, change management is always hard and you’re sure to encounter challenges along the way.

Topics: Business Insights Internal Communication Positioning Sales Strategic Planning Marketing and Sales Alignment Change Management Digital Transformation
3 min read

CRM – Not just for Sales, How Your Executive Team Can Utilize This Tool

By Alex Ormond on Wed, Nov 24, 2021

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a place for businesses to collect data that can help increase productivity, internal communication, and training support within your sales team. It can also help to create a bridge of information for marketing to use for optimizing campaigns. But, your CRM can reach beyond these two teams, providing valuable information for many other departments at your company that can help your executive team make decisions.

Topics: Sales Strategic Planning CRM implementation
3 min read

When Should You Outsource? How to Identify Core Competencies

By Michele Nichols on Mon, Aug 02, 2021

In a high-growth economy and tight labor market, understanding your company’s core competencies can help you quickly and effectively seize opportunities and improve financial performance. These are the foundation for:

Topics: Positioning Strategic Planning
3 min read

Market Outlook: How to Maximize Results this Year and Prepare for 2022

By Michele Nichols on Tue, Jun 01, 2021

What’s next for the markets your technologies serve? It’s hard to get a clear read. There’s a dichotomy right now that is challenging for C-level leadership to interpret and declare a clear direction. With a broad perspective on markets like biotech, biopharma, diagnostics, instrumentation, medical device, aerospace, manufacturing, and industrial, we notice:

Topics: Business Insights Strategic Planning