Poetry In Marketing

Today’s edition of Poetry In Marketing is a reminder that not all data comes with a neat little number: Don’t undervalue How qualitative data Can help you succeed. In this episode, I explore the difference between metrics that measure and insights that guide. Quantitative data is great for benchmarks and trendlines... But when it comes to knowing what to do next , qualitative feedback is often mor...

This week’s Poetry In Marketing haiku is both personal and a little cathartic, and yes, I'm complaining about sales funnels again: I’m a nice guy, BUT… If you want to trigger me Mention sales funnels. Yeah, I said it. In this episode, I revisit my beef with the sales funnel—why it’s an oversimplified, misleading metaphor that fails to reflect the real-world difficulty of selling anything. Sale...

Today’s poem tackles a simple truth that often goes ignored: When you aren’t sure How you can grow your business, Ask your customers. In this episode of Poetry In Marketing , I talk about the curse of knowledge —how knowing too much about our own business can actually blind us to what customers really want. The solution? Ask them. I make the case for customer interviews and market research as the...

In the spirit of Halloween, I brought my Big Lebowski sweater and a spooky poem: “Give eight percent of Revenue to marketing,” Whispered the devil. In this episode of Poetry in Marketing , I take aim at one of the most misleading (and haunting) ideas in business: budgeting for marketing as a fixed percentage of revenue. I break down why this rule of thumb is not just vague; it’s completely unhelpf...

I recorded this one from the couch, dog on my lap, because some poems (and sales insights) are just too important to wait. Today’s verse: A “prove it” moment Is about fostering trust To fight uncertainty In this episode of Poetry In Marketing , I unpack what I call "the prove it moment" : that critical point in the sales process when a buyer’s on the fence and needs that last push of con...

In this episode of Poetry In Marketing , I’m taking on a modern plague: Why do my people Keep giving me irrelevant Stats that don’t matter? Marketing today is drowning in data: social metrics, website traffic, open rates, NPS scores, you name it. But more data doesn’t always mean better decisions. In this episode, I break down how to separate signal from noise, why marketing should only be measure...

I’m a little under the weather in this episode, which actually makes today’s haiku hit even harder: Marketing is A discipline, and requires Discipline in kind. In this episode of Poetry In Marketing , I talk about the gritty, unglamorous truth of marketing: consistency matters more than inspiration. Like sports, music, or cooking, your marketing muscles only get stronger when you show up and put i...

This time on Poetry in Marketing , I talk about the divide between sales and marketing: What’s the difference Between sales and marketing? Just perceived value. Sales and marketing have the same mission: driving revenue. So what's the difference? Sales is one-to-one. Marketing is one-to-many. I also talk about scalability in the sales process. If you’ve ever felt stuck choosing between investi...

In this episode of Poetry in Marketing , I take aim at one of the most overused (and misleading) metaphors in the business world: Funnels are stupid. There isn’t any gravity In a sales process. Yeah, I said it. Sales funnels look great in diagrams, but anyone who’s actually sold something knows the process isn’t that clean—or that passive. In this episode, I explain why the funnel fails as a metap...

I love this episode's poem: If marketing works, Why do I spend so damn much To be this pissed off? It’s a joke… but it’s also not. In this edition of Poetry In Marketing , I dig into the very real frustration so many CEOs and business owners feel when marketing doesn’t deliver, especially when they’re spending real money. The problem isn’t the budget. It’s how the money is being used. I dig in...

In this episode of Poetry In Marketing , I get into one of the more controversial issues modern marketers are dealing with, in a poem that may hit a little too close to home: Our content is great… At least that’s what I hear from My ChatGPT. AI is powerful. It’s fast. It’s affordable. And if we’re not careful, it’s going to drown us all in a sea of content that says a lot, but means very little. I...

In this episode of Poetry in Marketing , we dive into one of the great clichés of creative work, captured in a single poetic line: Just quit your whining And make the logo bigger. Design’s subjective. Except… it’s not. As someone who’s done a fair share of design over the years, I’m here to tell you: design is not about personal taste: it’s about purpose. Whether you’re building a website, a broch...

In this episode of Poetry In Marketing , I’m digging into something that might change how you think about your entire marketing plan: The budget isn’t For buying marketing tactics— It’s to fund success. This is one of the most common mistakes I see: businesses build a budget based on what they want to buy (a website, some SEO, maybe an account-based campaign) and then assume the job is done once t...

Today’s poem is a love letter to one of the most overlooked metrics in business: Oh, lifetime value How I long to see you grow Our retention sucks. In this episode of Poetry In Marketing , I break down what Lifetime Value (LTV) actually is, how to calculate it in plain English, and why it’s one of the most powerful (and underused) ways to grow your business. Spoiler: it’s not just about getting mo...

In this episode of Poetry in Marketing , I’m wearing a tie, so you know we’re getting classy. Today’s haiku goes like this: Marketing can be Unintentional, but it’s Never optional. Let’s talk about that. I run into folks all the time who say, “Oh, we don’t do marketing.” They think handing out business cards, grabbing coffee, and working the referral game somehow exists outside of marketing. Spoil...

In this episode of Poetry and Marketing , I read you a haiku about branding: If my love for thee Could be expressed as a brand, Of course it’s Apple. Apple is the brand business owners mention nine times out of ten when I ask, “What brand would you want to emulate?” But here’s the catch: Apple, Nike and others in that echelon are legacy brands, built over decades with billions in investment. Most...

In this episode of Poetry and Marketing , I’m sharing a haiku I wrote just this morning: Marketing planning Needs more than authority; It needs a leader. I use this poem as a jumping-off point to talk about something I see all the time in small and mid-sized businesses: a massive leadership gap in marketing. I walk through a typical (and deeply flawed) setup where a young, often underprepared mark...

In an age of advanced analytics it's surprisingly easy to lose the scent of what's really important: results that matter to the company's bottom line. If you want to be successful in pay per click, you need to focus on the needs of the customer before the cost of the campaign; otherwise you're just paying to get more people to content that doesn't work.