International expansion strategies: when is the right time to launch?  As the global economy rebounds from a prolonged COVID-driven contraction, international growth has become a critical agenda item for many organisations. However, the path to international success is fraught with challenges. Data from the Boston Consulting Group (2023) reveals that 50% of businesses failed with their expansion efforts within three years. With such high stakes, businesses must carefully consider two key questions: When is the right time to expand, and how can the process be de-risked?  The potential and pitfalls of entering new markets:  International expansion offers READ MORE ›

It's no secret that we live and breathe B2B sales and marketing at align.me – which means we keep a close eye on what’s happening in the industry. Over the past couple of years, we’ve noticed an interesting change, where B2B businesses and thought leaders are recognising (or remembering) that branding and positioning are super important, and that demand generation can’t be the only lever for growth.  We had a few questions about this that we wanted answers to. So, we thought, why not make it the subject of our next Referrer’s Lunch? That way, we'll be READ MORE ›

Keeping an eye on trends in the B2B landscape isn't just our job; it's also something we happen to be incredibly passionate about. Over the last couple of years, we've noticed some changes – both through research and anecdotally – in how B2B businesses have been conducting their marketing. The summary is this: we're moving away from traditional strategies – reliant heavily on demand generation through content downloads and emails – and moving towards an approach that's more focused on positioning and branding. There are plenty of interesting statistics (which we'll delve into later) around this shift, READ MORE ›

If you've ever been the beneficiary of a solid-gold referral, you'll be fully aware of the business value of a direct, qualified recommendation. At align.me, we most certainly are. There are over 100 people who actively introduce us to others from time to time as the occasion presents, and these referrals form a core component of our client base. Yet, in our experience, referrals are an underleveraged marketing tactic. Business leaders perhaps feel that to ask for referrals is ‘cheesy’ and serves to cheapen their brand and weaken their relationships. We agree. Yet, as you’ll find in READ MORE ›

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a hot topic of conversation amongst friends and colleagues. And there's been a sense of urgency felt among business leaders to understand how it's changing how we use technology to run our businesses. In fact, it has been the centre of align.me's workplace for the past few months. It even inspired our 'AI Madness Month', where we invited staff to spend a few weeks trialling and testing all the things AI, not just ChatGPT, can do for business. We recorded our findings in the hopes of discovering different ways we can leverage READ MORE ›