Wendy Covey
The key to maximizing marketing ROI, according to Hiller Measurements CEO Jeff Olsen, starts with addressing customer pain in a unique way, and embracing your value proposition internally first. This done right, marketing can be a force multiplier.
Before taking the reins at Hiller Measurements six years ago, Jeff Olsen's career experience ranged from electrical engineer and business development to product management and sales leadership at both small start-ups and large Fortune 100 companies. Each experience reinforced to Jeff that the key to business growth is understanding customer's needs and delivering unique value in the market.
When Jeff and I first met some years ago, he was a skeptical technical business leader who thought of marketing as a cost center of outbound activities with poor returns. It made for some fun debates between the two of us! He has since expanded his view and appreciation of marketing, and ranks thoughtful messaging and quality content as the most important focus for an executive leader.
According to Jeff, without having a truly unique value proposition, backed up by truth and substance within your culture, your company will forever limit business growth and certainly marketing return on investment. This is something that has to come from within first by studying and understanding the market and customer need, which then can be articulated with help from brand messaging experts.
Jeff and TREW Marketing are in the midst of shifting Hiller's marketing model to be heavily content marketing focused, finding the "add another salesperson" model of his smaller operation is not scalable nor cost-effective to meet Hiller's growth goals.
Case in point: noting the strong adoption curve of YouTube across all demographics, Hiller Measurements recently launched a video series: AE2 - Artists, Engineers & Entrepreneurs. "Each episode explores the creative drive, personal motivations, and stories of perseverance of leaders and creators on the grow. Our aim is to find the business model in the engineering mind, the drive and technique a gifted artist is developing, and the impact for good that outweighs the personal risk taken on by bold business creators. Along the way, we hope to inspire viewers to step out, build, and create," reads the channel description.
I've watched a few episodes and have been both entertained and inspired. The show can also be found through popular podcast platforms.
Jeff Olsen on stage at Town Hall Productions, recording an episode of AE2 - Artists, Engineers & Entrepreneurs
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Wendy Covey
Wendy Covey is a CEO, a technical marketing leader, author of Content Marketing, Engineered, one of The Wall Street Journal’s 10 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs in America, and she holds a Texas fishing record. She resides in a small Hill Country town southwest of Austin, Texas, where she enjoys outdoor adventures with her family.
About TREW Marketing
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving B2B companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in the design, embedded, measurement and automation, and software industries, TREW Marketing provides branding, marketing strategy, content development, and digital marketing services to help customers efficiently and effectively achieve business goals.