Marketing that Actually Empowers Sales - Smarketing

By David Mills
on September 10, 2019

The longstanding tension between marketing and sales is no secret. One side (marketing) runs great campaigns and is disappointed by the way sales teams put those leads to use. The other side (sales) doesn’t think the quality of leads is high enough and responds to marketing generated leads with a less than enthusiastic attitude. Story Collaborative recently joined the elite group of “Sales Lions” after completing the transformative Pipeline Generation Bootcamp provided by our partner, HubSpot. We learned better sales-marketing alignment through smarketing.

High Performing Websites through Growth Driven Design

By David Mills
on September 02, 2019

Who is your number 1 sales person? Your website.

A lot is riding on your website. What used to be an online support to sales has now shifted to become our number #1 sales person. How so? Consumers spend at least half of their time online before they talk with anyone in your business. The wrong choices on how you approach your website can have the same affect as firing your best salesperson, or closing your most profitable storefront.

Story Ecology

By David Mills
on September 01, 2019

Story Ecology is the analysis and development of intentional strategies to bring health and vitality to the complex network of stories that surround every organization. The interaction of these stories, their impact on both the organization and the individual groups. Story ecology combines elements of cultural anthropology, communications theory, systems thinking from ecology, narratology and communications best practices to enhance prosocial values and interpersonal health in companies and nonprofits.

Should I be using digital ads?

6 Steps to Marketing Cremation Services without Becoming a Commodity

By David Mills
on June 18, 2019

The pressure to compete on price is mounting, but consumers want services beyond cremation too.

Consumer groups and low-cost providers are making price a focus for cremation. However, when we marketing cremation services on price alone, we risk becoming just another commodity like everything else that you can buy online with a coupon or an "on sale now" tag.

What is a commodity? Something to be traded and purchased based upon price alone. Commodities are things for which a special description is unnecessary because the service or good is always the same. The market treats commodities as essentially the same, measured in a standard unit and interchangeable.

How do funeral homes respond to families concern about prices without allowing themselves to be shopped on price alone?

Making Sure They Find You Online - Digital Ads vs. SEO

By David Mills
on June 07, 2019

Online search is the new yellow pages. Even older adults rely upon web search to find important information about healthcare, finances, travel and funeral options. With 75% of those who are age 70 to 74 relying on search, it is no surprise that the decision makers for many funerals, who are Baby Boomers or younger, rely almost entirely on searching online to find funeral resources. A key business decision is how to reach them using digital ads vs. SEO?

Healthcare marketing - Digital Ads vs. SEO

By David Mills
on June 06, 2019

If you wonder whether healthcare marketing should focus on digital ads or organic SEO (search engine optimization), the right answer is often - "yes." Making a choice about how to prioritize ads in your healthcare marketing can pit your efforts to create the content required for effective SEO against digital ads. The digital ads vs. seo decision should be based on your current business needs, and balanced against long-term goals. Healthcare marketing, done well, can address both long-term and short-term business goals.

Inbound marketing - Digital Ads vs. SEO

By David Mills
on March 25, 2019

If you wonder whether inbound marketing can focus on digital ads and organic SEO (search engine optimization), the right answer is often - "yes." Making a choice about whether to include ads along with inbound marketing and its native SEO vs. digital ads is based on your business needs. Inbound marketing, done well, can address both long-term and short-term business goals.

How Do Businesses Grow When the Prospect List is Small?

By David Mills
on February 11, 2019

Solving the Marketing Challenge for businesses with small prospect pools.

We’ve come a long way from the days when all marketing was distributed to the entire available audience - true mass marketing. The development of technologies like targeted cable and retargeting (serving ads to people who have visited your website), has allowed more focused and cost-effective outreach. But these approaches still don’t meet the need for the many businesses, sales teams and nonprofits who need to reach a very small pool of prospects.   

Is your brand helping you to compete in an employee’s market?

By David Mills
on October 30, 2018

It hardly seems fair.  First, consumers use democratizing technology to change everything,  and then the state of change puts employees in the driver's seat too. We're hiring at Story Collaborative, and like many other employers, want to find the right person. Here is a chance to catch your breath and look beyond our now Uberized world as it relates to hiring and keeping great team members.  In this guest post, we are joined by Jonathan M. Mills, Founder of Corporate Culture Specialist with important insights into how your brand  can adapt and thrive in an employee's market.