About Andrew Benkard


Andrew Benkard takes his clients' online marketing to the next level. He helps them develop the right strategy, finds the right tools, develops the right processes, then builds and maintains the systems and campaigns.

Heart of a Marketer, Mind of a Geek

Andrew brings an unusual combination of skills to every project: strategic thinking and technical know-how. He develops results-driven, goal-meeting online marketing strategies and plans. He also evaluates, recommends, installs, and maintains the best technical resources for carrying out those plans. All of his technical recommendations are influenced by solid business criteria, something his clients really appreciate.

Andrew can create websites, build e-commerce, marketing, and content management/automation systems, and develop applications. He is deeply knowledgeable about all of the building blocks of a successful online marketing effort: content management systems, analytical tools, and A/B testing services -- in addition to the less exotic tools such as email campaign tools and website hosting. He has come to specialize in helping small and medium-sized companies achieve "big company sophistication" on a small-company budget.

Andrew is the author of MarketingSherpa’s "Buyer’s Guide to Subscription Site Technology." He speaks on the subject of online marketing and subscription services (the Folio show and the ContentBiz Selling Subscriptions conference, for example). He has served as a judge for the NJCAMA Marketing awards. His columns have been featured in several newsletters. Andrew blogs about marketing strategy and systems at www.benkard.com.

 

Services

Companies hire Andrew for marketing projects that require a careful integration of creative thought and getting things done. They usually fall into one of three categories:

Launch My New Product

A go-to-market strategy begins by knowing the customer, corporate strategy, competitive factors, a budget, and the new product itself. Andrew reconciles those elements to make a marketing plan, which includes product positioning that will resonate with the audience. Since Andrew is experienced with specific capabilities and limitations of the various online channels, the rollout plan is realistic and actionable.

Make My Website Pay Off

It begins again with customers: knowing what they expect on your site, what will  engage them, and what will help them buy. Andrew’s experience in the publishing business means you can have a content strategy plan that is feasible and wins more search engine traffic. Then, your site should tie into your other marketing systems and processes. Andrew, with his development partners, has built and maintained dozens of successful websites.

My Reporting is Lousy and My Customer List is a Mess

As customers spend more time online (and that includes mobile!) the opportunities for business-oriented measurement increase. Scores of buyer actions can now be tagged, tested, and analyzed, then distilled into an actionable scorecard. Andrew has built these processes, and has also tuned CRM systems to measure each stage in the buying process.

 

Andrew started his online marketing career in 1995 at Dow Jones, where he was product manager on the corporate team that developed and launched the first subscription website for The Wall Street Journal. Andrew founded his own consulting firm, Benkard Marketing Systems, in 2003. Located in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, the firm serves clients in the health care, software, professional services, financial services, and publishing industries, among others.

Partners

Andrew works closely with:

Andrew has an MBA from Columbia and is a graduate of Vassar College.