Thinks Out Loud: E-commerce And Digital Strategy

I’m not an optimist. I’m a "possibilist." And, I’m betting you are too. What’s a possibilist? It’s someone who sees the world as it is and also can see a better future. More than that, they work to make that better future happen. And that’s a very good thing for you and for your business… The post We Owe It To Our Customers to Make Their Lives Better (Thinks Out Loud Episode 361) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Finding, retaining, and developing talent is the single biggest challenge facing many organizations right now. Counterintuitive though it might seem, your company can’t "do digital" if you doesn’t have the right people. So, what does it take to develop an effective digital team for your organization? How can you build a digital team and help… The post Revisiting How to Build a Digital Team (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

What is the "Next Big Thing" for digital marketers? Is it web3? Virtual reality and the metaverse? Or something else altogether? More importantly, is it time for digital marketers to move on to the "next big thing"? Well… maybe, but probably not in the way that you think. We’re living through a period of continual… The post Is It Time for Digital Marketers to Move On to The Next Big Thing? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 360) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Can you believe that you’ve been listening to Thinks Out Loud for ten years? I’m amazed that the podcast has been around for that long and even more thrilled that you’ve joined us for so much of that time. But what have we learned from 10 years of the podcast? What lessons can we take… The post Content Marketing in Action: 10 Years of Thinks Out Loud (Episode 359) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Well, folks, I’ve got some bad news for you: Summer is over. Which means it’s time to bear down for the rest of the year—and start planning for next year as well. In other words… it’s budget season! Yay!!! Wait… what?!? Who loves budget season? So, maybe budget season isn’t your favorite time of year.… The post Revisiting How to Build the Business Case for Digital in Your Budget (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

As we wind down the last days of summer and enjoy a few moments in the sun, here’s a brief reminder that you get to make it better. Yes, there are challenges in the world. Yes, some of those challenges are significant. Yes, that’s not fun. But you truly do get to make it better.… The post Revisiting You Get to Make it Better (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Earlier this year, I responded to my good friend Mark Schaefer’s post the other day about the future of content marketing, noting that "…across the board, Mark nailed it." That’s not the whole story though. Because, as I stated at the time, "the future of content marketing is already here." More importantly, if you want… The post Revisiting "The Future of Content Marketing is Already Here" appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

We’re not just living through digital transformation, we’re living through a massive transformation of our lives. A century ago, our grandparents and great grandparents lived through remarkable change with the introduction of telephones and electricity and flight, while experiencing wars and pandemics and economic disruptions (plus good stuff like romances and weddings and births). But… The post "Touch Grass" (Thinks Out Loud Episode 358) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Digital transformation is all about customers. You can’t put it more plainly than that. Your customers carry the internet in their pockets — and more commonly, in their hands — everywhere they go, every single day. If you want your company to succeed at "digital transformation," however you define it, you have to start with… The post Revisiting "Digital Transformation is All About Customers" (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

It’s earnings season once again. And, as always, we’re taking a look at what Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft — the AGFAM; Big Tech — have to say about the state of digital. If you only look at the top-line though — missed forecasts, big pullbacks in digital ad spend, hiring slowdowns — you’d… The post The Sky is Falling for Digital… or Is It? Big Tech’s Earnings Q2 2022 (Thinks Out Loud Episode 357) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

You and your customers have lived through massive transformation in the last two-plus years. Not just “digital transformation.” But transformation of every aspect of our lives. We’re not the same people we were two years ago. You’ve changed. I’ve changed. Our customers have changed. And one feature of that change is that customers don’t want… The post Top Trends: The Word of the Year in Digital is “Integration” (Thinks Out Loud Episode 356) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

We are in one of the weirdest economies in history. It’s not that the economy is terrible; it’s that it’s… strange. Some economic indicators suggest that things are awful. Others suggest that we’re doing OK. That’s not normal; it doesn’t usually happen. And it’s enough to make a poor digital marketer or strategist want to… The post Doing Digital in the Weirdest Economy Ever (Thinks Out Loud Episode 355) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

OK, Big Thinkers, Covid has finally hit your favorite little podcast, which has put us a bit behind schedule. Of course, that makes a good time to revisit the archives for trends that continue to be important to your business. And, though this episode of Thinks Out Loud is from more than a few years… The post Revisiting Top Trends: Is Execution the New Innovation? (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

We’re halfway through the year—and what a year it’s been so far. Inflation, supply chain issues, immense consumer demand, and, of course, the "I-can’t-believe-it’s-still-with-us" situation with the pandemic. And, yet… things aren’t all bad. Many companies are seeing record demand from their customers and record profits to boot. And, of course, the future keeps coming—ready… The post Revisiting "How We Get to Brand 2030" (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Trends Driving Digital in the Future: Customer Privacy (Thinks Out Loud Episode 354) There is probably no bigger trend driving digital in the future than the need to focus on customer privacy. Big shifts in government regulation and actions by major tech platforms like Google and Apple have suddenly caused marketers and business leaders alike… The post Trends Driving Digital in the Future: Customer Privacy (Thinks Out Loud Episode 354) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

As the year goes along, we start to creep closer to everyone’s favorite exercise: Budget season! Wait, what?!? You don’t love budget season? You don’t love having to spend your days with spreadsheets and forecasts and building yet another business case for digital all to justify your team’s existence—and your own? OK, so maybe budget… The post How to Build the Business Case for Digital in Your Budget (Thinks Out Loud Episode 353) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Between the continued rise in inflation and the potential risks of recession, I wouldn’t blame you if you were concerned about the economy, and more specifically, where your business is heading at the moment. One way people react in uncertain times is to slash prices as a way to drive sales. We see it in… The post Revisiting "The Lost Art of Value Adds in Marketing" (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Inflation? Supply chain issues? Tough to find employees? Possible recession? The economy is all over the place, leading to very uncertain times for business leaders and for marketers. So, what’s a marketer to do? Should you lower your prices? Slash your budget? Give up on marketing your business altogether? In simple terms, how can you… The post Marketing in Uncertain Times (Thinks Out Loud Episode 352) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

Google’s Marketing Live event last week offered some fascinating insights into how Google plans to shape the marketing environment in the next year. And core to its message was the importance of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to its vision. What’s more interesting though, is that Google isn’t alone in how it… The post What’s Going on With AI in Marketing? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 351) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.

My good friend Mark Schaefer wrote an amazing piece the other day about the future of content marketing. And, across the board, Mark nailed it. So, if he got it so right, why am I also talking about the future of content marketing this time around? Well, simply, because as is so often the case,… The post The Future of Content Marketing is Already Here (Thinks Out Loud Episode 350) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.