Mike Gospe
CEO at KickStart Alliance
Website Address: www.kickstartall.com
Each week on “Marketing Champions”, our host talks to marketing experts across the country. This week our host speaks with Mike Gospe from KickStart Alliance.
To learn more, check out https://www.kickstartall.com.
What is the biggest change in marketing that you see coming in the next 2 years?
Recessionary pressures will result in many companies missing their numbers. We are already seeing marketing teams & budgets getting cut. Pressure to produce leads will rise. Unfortunately, the knee-jerk reaction is to execute “marketing popcorn” = random acts of marketing that don’t win customers. This approach wastes money and often confuses prospects. A busy marketer is not necessarily an effective marketer. It’s a downward spiral. Now is the time when truly integrated marketing strategies are required (print & digital advertising, SEO, press relations, events, demand gen, etc.). And these strategies must be mapped to business trends, customer pain points, and the buyer’s journey — not a frantic need to make quarterly numbers. There is nothing random about strategic marketing.
What makes your company unique?
We are a marketing leadership consulting team focused on strengthening relationships between B2B executives and their best customers. Our mantra is, “Whoever understands the customer best wins!” We do two things extremely well. 1) We bring the voice-of-the customer (VOC) to life by helping company leaders to understand and learn from their best customers. We do this via our Customer Advisory Board (CAB) and Partner Advisory Board (PAB) programs. Over the past 20 years, we’ve designed and facilitated more than 200 customer and partner meetings. These CAB and PAB programs provide insight into the buyer’s journey and how B2B companies can help them thrive. Our CAB Resource Center (www.cabstrategy.com) shares lots of CAB best practices and is acknowledged as a valued resource for marketers around the world. 2) As go-to-market strategists, we use the knowledge from our VOC, CAB and PAB programs to teach and guide marketing teams to build truly integrated marketing strategies that map to customer needs. We provide services, programs, workshops, “how to” books, and resources that help marketers not only in their current jobs but in their career.
What is your biggest pain point when it comes to digital advertising?
It is treated as a silo; lack of integrated marketing.
