Marketers Take Flight

Do you ever feel like you're doing everything right when it comes to marketing, but you're just not getting the respect or credit you deserve from the C-suite? If you're nodding your head in frustration, this episode is for you. You'll learn 3 tips as to why are CEOs unhappy with their marketing teams' performance, and what can be done to bridge the gap.
 
Stacey Danheiser is the founder of Shake Marketing Group, a B2B marketing consultancy. She is an expert in marketing strategy and execution and helps her clients build alignment with their sales teams, craft customer-focused value propositions, and set up their marketing teams for success. 

As a marketer, it can be difficult to gain credibility and respect from the C-suite. One way to overcome this is to understand the business and what the C-suite cares about. This can be done by speaking with someone in the finance team and asking about the important metrics that the C suite uses to measure success.

Here are some highlights:

• What do CEOs expect from their marketing team: 5:11
• Marketers number one job: 7:44
• How can marketers earn more influence and credibility with the C-Suite: 18:56
• Get to know your clients: 25:07
• Why marketers are skipping steps: 27:25
• Confident Marketer’s Playbook: 28:28

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Your AEC firm can have the greatest piece of content in the world but it doesn’t matter if your ideal client doesn’t see it. It’s not enough to just hit that publish button on the blog post or YouTube video if you’re not promoting it. In this episode, I share some common and not-so-common promotional tactics. 

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

One of the most frequent challenges I hear from Proposal Pros is that their proposal management plans and proposal production schedules are often ignored by their internal teams. This week’s episode addresses how to reshape your thinking and approach to help you get the buy-in you need for your proposals. 

This audio comes from a part of a lesson inside the Proposal Pro Course. Originally recorded in 2019, I’m in the process of revamping, and re-recording the entire course including many of these mindset lessons. However, because there are some good nuggets that can help you today, I didn’t want them to just stay hidden on my server somewhere. And, this lesson is especially good because you can start applying it today, right after you listen to the episode. 

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Can you really create a 3-month content calendar in just a few hours? I say yes, it can be done. I know because I do this for not one but two different companies. 

And, in this special ModMarketing episode I’m going to show the steps to create your own quarterly content calendar. 

Yep! An entire three months worth of your online marketing content – from your firm’s weekly core content to social media posts to holidays and promotional pieces – strategically laid out, and ready to schedule in a handful of hours. 

In this episode, I’ll be walking you step-by-step into the content calendar creation including:

• How to use your content ideas and keyword research to identify the topics to populate your calendar
• How big marketing campaigns, special events or conferences should factor into your content plans
• How to leverage holidays and weekly themes to engage your ideal audience
• How to incorporate a weekly cadence into your content creation routine
• And so much more!

Block off a few hours and get ready to master your marketing content calendar! It can really be done in that little time. 

You’ll walk away with an entire quarter’s worth of content.

Plus, I’ve put together a free quarterly content calendar to use while you listen to the episode. Just plug in the dates and content to get your firm’s online marketing engine started!

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Tasked with creating new roles for her organization, Nicole Robinson shifted from being an individual contributor in her firm to a people manager. Is it an easy transition? Today we are talking about making that transition. Nicole gives us tips on creating the role, looking at the details, and measuring the team's metrics.  

Listen in as I talk to Nicole about what you need to consider before hiring a team if you have never hired a team before.  In addition to forming a new team, training, organizing, and building relationships are also part of this process.  However, before all of that, you need to determine exactly what role this individual will play within the company.  Nicole offers advice on how she handled the transition from individual contributor to people manager.

Here are some highlights:

• Nicole’s career path: 3:27
• Nicole’s experiences: 8:43
• Duplicate yourself: 10:27
• What to think about when creating a role: 12:40
• 3 things to create a team: 15:02
• Team benchmarks: 16:38
• Writing To Win language: 19:09
• Look at the details: 21:39
• Metrics for your team: 23:57
• Nicole’s #1 piece of advice for new marketers: 31:09

Resources & Links:

Nicole Robinson, Podcast Co-Host of “The No Really Everything’s Fine!”
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-a-robinson-6223b35a/
Proposal Manager Planner – email: [email protected]
The No Really Everything’s Fine Podcast: https://pod.link/1620171601 

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

In the last series episode, I talked about different content types that can fuel your [ModMarketing] program. Content is a crucial piece of attracting new potential clients to your firm as well as continuing to nurture and educate existing clients. 

But, how do you know what to write about? And, how do you know that your targeted audience, aka, your ideal clients, even cares about your content?

You see, while I 100% agree you need to be producing content on a consistent basis. I don’t believe you should just be creating content to have something to publish. That’s just a waste of your time and your efforts. I want your work to be effective.

So, just how do you know what type or topics to write about for your marketing content? Well, that’s where keyword research comes in. In this episode, I am going to walk you through some old-school and new-school keyword research techniques to help you start brainstorming topic ideas for your content calendar. 

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Why are some decisions so hard to make at our AEC firms? And why is it so hard to keep people accountable for making and keeping those decisions? Can the use of metrics or different analytics drive accountability? Kathy Nanowski, CPSM is the vice president and director of marketing and business development at Fuss & O'Neill, she is here to share with us the metrics she uses for reporting on capture plans and how you can get started at your firm as well.

As we are entering the season where we start our business development planning and our marketing planning for next year, having some metrics to review and look at could help with the future plans of your firm.  Listen in as Kathy gives you some reasons to prioritize these metrics and drive more accountability at your firm.

Here are some highlights:

• Why are some decisions so hard for firms to make?: 6:05
• What are some metrics your firm could use?: 8:51
• Drive accountability to your firm: 17:18
• Does everything have a capture plan: 19:15
• Most successful capture plans: 22:05
• What is the goal for the information: 24:34
• Getting started with metrics: 26:49
• How long should you give it: 28:19

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

This episode is all about content creation – the fuel that ignites your online marketing efforts.  Content is a crucial piece to attracting new potential clients to your firm as well as continuing to nurture and educate existing clients. 

I walk you through different content types, how to determine which content type works for each stage of the decision-making funnel, and some ideas to make your content stand out. And, stay until the end to hear about an award-winning and sales-generating marketing campaign from an engineering firm!

This is just one of the episodes in my ModMarketing podcast series. In this series, I’ll walk you through how to modernize your marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive growth at your firm.

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Are you taking advantage of your local SEO?  This relatively low-cost but high-impact digital marketing strategy should be on your list.  Making sure you have a few key areas ready could make an impact on who in your neighborhood is finding you.  Today, I have Amanda and Amy from Pixels + Ink Studio and they are here to tell you how to tweak a few details on your website design, how important local SEO, a Google Biz Page, Google Reviews, and domain authority is to find local clients. Local SEO could be a great way to generate leads in your own backyard.  

Most of us head to Google to find a refrigerator repairman or a new car but is your firm using that same strategy so local clients can find you?  Whether you have satellite offices or you are located in one area, making sure your local SEO is on point for the area you are in could bring a plethora of different opportunities to your firm.  Listen in as we find out a few of Amanda and Amy’s secrets to being found locally.

Here are some highlights:

• Local SEO, what is it?: 6:27
• Selling your team on local SEO: 10:53
• What are you missing by not using local SEO?: 10:59
• Niche down for maximum results: 12:30
• Generate leads: 17:19
• Get started in local SEO: 19:39
• Your office specialties?: 23:22
• Using schema: 24:00
• Domain authority: 25:23
• Put a plan together: 27:44

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Initial steps in creating a ModMarketing program include defining personas and setting goals. Once those are set, it’s time to begin creating content. But what types of content need to be created? How does an A/E/C firm develop content ideas that attract potential clients?

In this episode, I’ll walk you through the answers to these questions to show the steps to create a content strategy. And it’s the next step in modernizing your marketing. 

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.