Authentic Blog - Marketing Insights for Growing Businesses

How to build an effective on-demand marketing team

The modern marketing ecosystem has changed the way businesses market themselves. Marketing programs now require an entirely different array and a longer list of skill sets than they did 20 years ago. The agency of record no longer makes sense because one agency cannot provide all services a business needs or provide all of them effectively. Companies now need access to a long menu of service providers skilled in various areas, including content, creative, search, paid media, events, analytics, and more — and they need different services at different stages of their growth. But not all businesses have the strategic bandwidth or experience to…

Is the agency of record irrelevant in today’s marketing landscape?

Twenty years ago, most businesses outsourced their marketing capabilities to an agency of record: One single agency that provided the entire landscape of marketing services. At that time, there were only a handful of traditional marketing services that businesses needed their agency to provide, including branding, public relations, advertising, copy, and creative. Fast forward to today, and the marketing landscape has changed dramatically and exponentially. One indicator of this is how much the marketing technology landscape has grown. From 2011 to 2020, there was a 5,233% increase in the number of marketing technologies available, and these technologies spanned numerous subspecialties. Some of…

In-house marketing vs. agency or freelancer: What’s best for you?

There comes a time in every business’s lifecycle when it needs to invest in marketing to continue growing. Some of the most important decisions are when and who to hire to develop and manage your marketing programs. Your business has what seems like endless options: in-house marketing vs. agency, consultant, or freelancer. But these resources also vary in their seniority and experience in various functional areas (e.g., digital, content, analytics, traditional). Without strategic marketing leadership at the helm, it can feel impossible to make sense of all of the options available and which are the right resources for your business. In this…

When to Hire a Marketer and Which Your Business Needs

Understanding fractional services and when to hire marketers for your teams One of the most challenging business decisions a growing company faces is when the right time is to hire marketers and build an internal digital marketing team. Many scenarios prompt this decision, but it often comes when the business reaches a critical growth point, typically when generating between $5 million and $10 million in revenue. This high demand period indicates that the company may need to shift from being founder-led or sales-driven to a more strategic marketing focus. Until this point, the company may have relied on the founder…

How remote collaboration in marketing has changed — and why it’s here to stay

In a matter of days, the COVID-19 pandemic altered where marketing teams got their work done and how they collaborated with colleagues. Research suggests that the remote work environment is here to stay in some form, with less than one in five executives saying they want to return to the office as it was pre-pandemic. Employees are eager for hybrid office and remote options, but some executives express concern over the impacts these hybrid work environments could have on company culture. (more…)

Marketing budget allocation: Why there’s no silver bullet

At Authentic, we work primarily with small to mid-size growing businesses that have started to invest in marketing activities but aren’t sure if they are allocating resources in the best way to support their business growth goals. One of the most common questions we get from clients is, “How much should I spend on marketing?” It seems like a simple question, but unfortunately, the answer isn’t. The not-so-satisfying answer we often give to questions about marketing budget allocation is, “It depends.” (more…)

Marketing Technology — Your biggest headache or significant business driver?

Choosing and implementing marketing technology can be an overwhelming process. There are thousands of martech solutions on the market, making it challenging to determine which ones your business should invest in (and perhaps more importantly, which it shouldn’t). Without a strategic marketing plan or experienced leader, marketing technology decisions can be daunting. Too often, businesses end up committing random acts of marketing in their technology decisions. (more…)

Let’s get strategic — Leveraging social media to advance your business

It’s hard to believe that YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were all launched less than 20 years ago. As consumers, we’ve quickly become accustomed to social media being the first place we turn to engage with the brands we love. Given how embedded social media is within consumers’ day-to-day lives, these channels have also become one of the best ways for brands to reach their audiences. But savvy brands aren’t just using social media to push out content. They’re using it to connect with customers to build, sustain — and sometimes — repair trust. Companies that use social media effectively take…

Tractionville Podcast: Integrator Community, Fractional CMOs and more

Why should Visionaries have all the fun? Jennifer Zick joins the hosts of Tractionville, Chris White and Benj Miller, to share what inspired her to create the Integrator Community for EOS®-powered business leaders, as well as her own entrepreneurial story in building Authentic as a leading provider of Fractional CMO services for growing businesses. (more…)

How to build brand trust using social media in an era of distrust

It’s no secret that how much a person trusts a brand impacts whether they’ll purchase from it. Sixty-seven percent of respondents to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer said they’d buy a product from a company with a good reputation, but also said, “unless I come to trust the company behind the product, I will soon stop buying it.” This sentiment is especially strong among young adults, the upcoming generation of buyers. (more…)

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