Targeted Thinking

You don’t need a crystal ball to be a better marketer

By Andrea Hill 

We humans are rather predictable when it comes to what we do with enthusiasm versus what we tend to avoid. For instance, we jump right into the things we understand and know how to accomplish, but tend to procrastinate when it comes to stuff we find uncomfortable. So it’s no wonder that many businesses neglect or avoid marketing, which seems like magic and luck wrapped up in an expensive package. But you don’t need a marketing degree and a crystal ball to be a better marketer. You just need a better way to think about it.

In most things, reflecting on why you do something will lead to superior understanding and execution, and this is certainly true with marketing. The purpose of marketing is to support the sales function with everything from lead generation to capturing an order. To understand the importance of this role, consider what it means from the context of sales, particularly the seven phase...