If you've read our blog before you'll know that I'm a proponent of customer-centric messaging.
Today, I find myself in the midst of my own customer-centric messaging project as it applies to a new client. The manufacturer is based in Shanghai and establishing an office in Jersey. We're tapped to establish their U.S. brand.
So what. What does MY business development have to do with YOUR marketing needs?
Just this: The value of understanding and aligning your messages and value proposition to the true needs of the prospect cannot be overstated. Company/customer alignment will make a measurable difference in sales. By measurable I mean you make the sale or you don't.
Many companies understand the value that their prospects and customers are seeking and effectively communicate these benefits throughout their marketing communications. Many of these same marketers still find themselves asking not for more leads but for better conversion numbers.
Where's the opportunity for success? In mapping, analyzing and improving the prospect experience. Then in identifying ways to personalize the conversation and provide customer-centric value messages throughout the chain of communication. This can be done for customer retention initiatives as well of course. It simply involves reviewing a different set of communication methods with different objectives in mind. (upsell and cross sell)
As I head into my meeting on Monday, I'll be thinking about:
-- Based on where we are in the buying stage, what do they expect to hear from me in terms of my value and offering?
-- What are the individual motivators for the parties at the table? For example, at least one will be concerned with "mianzi," (saving face) and will be responsible for the decision to work with my Agency.
-- Have I accurately assessed what it is that they value in my service offering? If so, am I prepared to communicate my value in their terms, so they experience alignment that leads them to be fully comfortable with our relationship.
-- What next step can I anticipate? What will each person need in terms of personalized and value-driven communications at that next stage?
This is lead nurturing = Taking the time to understand the buyer's role, crafting communication to align with his or her needs, selecting communications methods that are appropriate based on their preferences and where they are in the buying stage.
Whether you manufacture heat pumps or are a politician the lead nurturing concept can be applied and used to increase conversions. Ultimately, it can be used to increase the lifetime value of a customer.
Don't wait to review your communications process, identify gaps and ways in which you can personalize the conversation. Even if you can only implement a portion of the improvements identified, you'll be on your way to increasing conversions or customer lifetime value.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Now Why Don't He Write? (Or, Where are all my leads?)
As a marketer of a product or service have you ever had that thought with respect to your prospects (or customers)?
"We have a high-quality, value-added fill in the blank. We're marketing it. Why don’t we have more business?"
There could be lots of reasons. Maybe your competitor has a better offering. Maybe you aren’t marketing in the right places (where your prospect is seeking your product). Maybe you aren’t using the right messages (we often find this to be the case). Maybe it’s a combination.
Even if your marketing efforts are working, it’s likely that you have sales goals to reach and that “someone from above” is asking you to improve performance.
So how are you going to improve marketing's performance to increase sales, improve customer retention, drive new customer acquisition (or another top-level objective).
Some thoughts:
There are countless ways to improve the performance of your marketing program. We've offered just a few for consideration.
If the marketing strategy you've deployed in the past is not delivering the results you're expected to deliver, by all means don't replicate what you're doing! Before 2011 begins, re-visit, re-think and re-set your strategy so you can deliver improved -- and measurable -- results.
"We have a high-quality, value-added fill in the blank. We're marketing it. Why don’t we have more business?"
There could be lots of reasons. Maybe your competitor has a better offering. Maybe you aren’t marketing in the right places (where your prospect is seeking your product). Maybe you aren’t using the right messages (we often find this to be the case). Maybe it’s a combination.
Even if your marketing efforts are working, it’s likely that you have sales goals to reach and that “someone from above” is asking you to improve performance.
So how are you going to improve marketing's performance to increase sales, improve customer retention, drive new customer acquisition (or another top-level objective).
Some thoughts:
- Scan and evaluate your competitors. In addition to considering their tactical execution, what relationship are they attempting to develop with your customers and prospects? Marketing messages and content can be as revealing as tactical selections.
- Consider your call (or calls) to action. Is it compelling from the prospect's point of view? Is it role specific? Does it promise something of value?
- Review your metrics. It's possible you aren't reviewing the right metrics. Customers may be responding but not in the way that you anticipated.
- Prospects are responding. You just don't know about it. It's an ugly truth to uncover, but a worthy one in the end: Are leads coming into to your company via a selected mechanism (phone, web, etc.) but not being properly parsed to the correct internal respondent? There may also be a disconnect between internal departments. Either way, you can't measure and improve upon what you don't know about.
- There is a serious disconnect between sales and marketing. This can be an issue of message being out of synch, lack of timing/orchestration between the two departments or something -- anything else -- that represents disparity between these two departments. Whatever the issue the result can be damaging: dissonance between sales and marketing can confuse prospects and prevent them from responding to your offer.
There are countless ways to improve the performance of your marketing program. We've offered just a few for consideration.
If the marketing strategy you've deployed in the past is not delivering the results you're expected to deliver, by all means don't replicate what you're doing! Before 2011 begins, re-visit, re-think and re-set your strategy so you can deliver improved -- and measurable -- results.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Marketing in the "New-Normal World"
I googled the phrase "New Normal" and find I'm one of many using the phrase to describe how business -- and marketing -- has changed thanks to the recession.
There are plenty of industry experts asserting that the rules of busines have changed and maybe for good. Or at least for a good, long time.
Some thoughts on how B2B marketing has been effected:
The involvement of the CFO on more than a peripheral level. Close inspection -- and I mean close -- of the planned marketing spend and occasionally without overt enthusiasm for the positive impact on top-line results is a trend we've seen repeatedly in the past 18 months.
The requirement to do more with less budget. Do I really need to go into detail on that one?
The use of technology to build communities, streamline communications, engage customers, wash the laundry, walk the dog and deliver actionable marketing metrics. Yep. Technology carries a full load these days.
The use of "integrated PR" as a priority program element. PR tends to increase in use during a recession. "Searchified" and "social media-ized" public relations isn't NEW...it's more that the prioritization of these extensions of an already powerful tool may be new. (You could argue with me on that one...)
Lots has changed.
And so have marketers. And their agencies.
Unless your marketing strategy is delivering "send me straight to retirement do not pass go" kind of results, you'd be wise to audit what you're doing and identify ways to re-work your program as you enter 2011.
We urge you not to look for budget cuts, but rather to seek out ways in which you can improve program performance while playing by the new rules.
-- Seek a better understanding of what motivates your prospects in today's economy. Often this is enhanced through improved integration of sales and marketing. Craft your messages, select your tactics, time your activities, in ways that demonstrate your understanding of the prospect's current points of pain. You've changed, right? Well so have "they."
Commit to using audience-centric messaging and tactics. Execute a program that is completely customer centric as well as fully integrated.
-- Consider a shift in focus from customer acquisition to customer retention, but only if this is aligned with top-level objectives and will not handicap your company in 24 or 36 months when you'll be hungry for leads. (We offer this only as a sample strategy, not as one that's appropriate to all companies.)
-- Identify ways in which you can effectively support your sales team or channel. This may be a planned distributor communications program, a co-marketing program or even a Mobile Phone App that aligns sales and marketing teams. There has never been a better time to support sales than now.
What does YOUR new normal look like? How can you evolve your marketing in a way that allows you to take advantage of the opportunities existing within today's economy?
Can we help?
There are plenty of industry experts asserting that the rules of busines have changed and maybe for good. Or at least for a good, long time.
Some thoughts on how B2B marketing has been effected:
The involvement of the CFO on more than a peripheral level. Close inspection -- and I mean close -- of the planned marketing spend and occasionally without overt enthusiasm for the positive impact on top-line results is a trend we've seen repeatedly in the past 18 months.
The requirement to do more with less budget. Do I really need to go into detail on that one?
The use of technology to build communities, streamline communications, engage customers, wash the laundry, walk the dog and deliver actionable marketing metrics. Yep. Technology carries a full load these days.
The use of "integrated PR" as a priority program element. PR tends to increase in use during a recession. "Searchified" and "social media-ized" public relations isn't NEW...it's more that the prioritization of these extensions of an already powerful tool may be new. (You could argue with me on that one...)
Lots has changed.
And so have marketers. And their agencies.
Unless your marketing strategy is delivering "send me straight to retirement do not pass go" kind of results, you'd be wise to audit what you're doing and identify ways to re-work your program as you enter 2011.
We urge you not to look for budget cuts, but rather to seek out ways in which you can improve program performance while playing by the new rules.
-- Seek a better understanding of what motivates your prospects in today's economy. Often this is enhanced through improved integration of sales and marketing. Craft your messages, select your tactics, time your activities, in ways that demonstrate your understanding of the prospect's current points of pain. You've changed, right? Well so have "they."
Commit to using audience-centric messaging and tactics. Execute a program that is completely customer centric as well as fully integrated.
-- Consider a shift in focus from customer acquisition to customer retention, but only if this is aligned with top-level objectives and will not handicap your company in 24 or 36 months when you'll be hungry for leads. (We offer this only as a sample strategy, not as one that's appropriate to all companies.)
-- Identify ways in which you can effectively support your sales team or channel. This may be a planned distributor communications program, a co-marketing program or even a Mobile Phone App that aligns sales and marketing teams. There has never been a better time to support sales than now.
What does YOUR new normal look like? How can you evolve your marketing in a way that allows you to take advantage of the opportunities existing within today's economy?
Can we help?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Are You Considering Your Customer's Point Of View? Customer Engagement Strategies Improve Lead Nuturing
This year, we have heard recurring themes from many of our clients as they place their marketing focus on penetrating existing account relationships and improving their lead qualification processes: “We are struggling with converting our leads into sales opportunities,” “We aren’t sure what happens to our lead after an initial introduction or meeting,” “Our sales cycle is months long. How do we keep our customer engaged during that time?”
Often, these struggles bring us back to a fundamental question: ‘Are you demonstrating relevant value to your prospect through all communication touch points as you develop the relationship with them?”
It’s important to remember that EVERY communication that the prospect receives from you gives
that prospect insight on:
that prospect insight on:
§ How much you truly value them
§ If you will honor promises made
§ What differentiates you from a competing brand
Connecting the customer relationship with where the rubber meets the road is the further “connection” to your company’s bottom line. Harris Interactive recently found that:
§ 86% of consumers quit doing business with a company with whom they have a bad experience (up 27% from four years ago).
§ 60% will PAY MORE for a good experience (even in a down economy)
§ 53% will recommend you based on an outstanding experience, and experience trumps price (50%) and the quality of product (41%) in driving word of mouth promotion.
The Impact of Marketing on the Lead Nurturing Process
It’s key to remember that the customer’s experience of your company and brand does not begin and end at the sales call, the web site visit, or trade show. Marketers can no longer think about their marketing efforts as individual “tactics.” Why? Because, it is the TOTAL set of communication experiences that your prospect has with your brand that drives your prospect’s impression of your company and has direct impact on your ultimate goal: converting the lead from prospect to customer.
Today, our challenge as marketers is to orchestrate and engineer our marketing messages to the customer and organize the timing and delivery of those messages in an effort to successfully encourage the action we want our prospects to take.
Often, an unplanned lead communication process contains gaps that the customer falls through on the process of becoming aware of your offering, becoming a customer, and ideally a brand advocate.
Strategy + Message + TIMING. A little bit of organization can go along way to increase the effectiveness of your communications strategy. A customer engagement strategy maps the communication tactics that are deployed along the relationship stages that the customer advances through on his way to becoming a buyer of your product or service.
So, how do you help drive your customers through the sales cycle and make your marketing efforts a stronger asset to the company (and to the sales organization)? Incorporate these six steps, and you will be on your way:
- Inventory your current lead management process and the communication tactics that are currently used in that process (create the chain).
- Organize your current process by the key stages that the prospect is at in his relationship with your company. (AIDA marketing models frequently works well.)
- Start to analyze this process from your customers POV (that’s “Point of View”).
- Complete a GAP analysis – where do things fall short?
- Identify points of “conversion.” What measurable actions will you ask your prospect take that will tell you that he is developing a closer relationship with you. (“Conversions” are today’s “Call to Action.”)
- Develop your communication strategy:
- Identify tactics
- Orchestrate timing
- Identify ownership within your team for tactics, timing, and delivery
- Implement, Analyze, and Act
Customer engagement mapping allows you to more effectively create and communicate value to the customer, position you as expert, and build trust and credibility more quickly. Thoughtful engineering of messages provided to your customer along the demand generation process will guide them to a closer relationship with you.
Where have you had success in pulling the customer through your lead communication cycle?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
All you want to do these days is blog, blog, blog
Interesting study out of eMarketer and published recently in B2B : "34% of U.S. companies currently use blogs for marketing purposes."*
In fact, the study states that blogging activity will rise to 43% by 2012 (excluding microblogging and social network activity).
Why? As stated in the study, more companies view blogging as an effective means of supporting key marketing functions (brand building, lead generation) and as a way to enhance customer support/service.
I also like to think of blogs as an excellent "equalizer" of brands. Where one company may have the financial resources to pour into an integrated campaign (PR, print advertising, SEM, direct, etc.)...another in the same market space may not.
Blogs level the playing field by providing companies large -- and small -- with an opportunity to develop an incredibly personalized marketing tool without the need to overinvest in terms of hard dollars. Can you spend thousands of dollars developing a customized, interactive corporate blog? Of course. Must you? No.
Just consider:
Tone. Particularly important if blogging is used to support branding activities. The most basic rule of branding is that the brand personality must be present and consistent throughout all communications. Consider the tone of your brand and execute it consistently within your blog posts.
Objectives. Be clear about what you hope to gain from your blogging activities at the outset. If your blog is intended to support branding activities, to present the essence of your company's brand, it may not be realistic to expect leads from your posts. (It may happen of course...it just may not be an expected outcome.)
Demand Gen. Do you have a clear picture of how your blog will fit into or support your demand/lead generation activities? Are all demand gen activities working together in terms of timing and message? What are your key performance indicators for your blogging activity -- and are they realistic given the other components of your program?
If the blog is intended to deliver leads, is the content fully in tune with your target audiences? Use keyword research tools to help understand what terms your target audiences are searching for and how you can organically include them in your posts.
Have a plan for where the blog will take your visitors after they've read your content.
If the blog supports other efforts (ex. serves as a call to action) make sure the transition from that tactic to the blog is logical.
Of course there are more things to consider when preparing to launch your blog, or improve your current efforts. These are just food for thought.
How can blogging benefit your top-line objectives?
*Source: "Study says more companies blogging," B2B, Posted 10/20/10
In fact, the study states that blogging activity will rise to 43% by 2012 (excluding microblogging and social network activity).
Why? As stated in the study, more companies view blogging as an effective means of supporting key marketing functions (brand building, lead generation) and as a way to enhance customer support/service.
I also like to think of blogs as an excellent "equalizer" of brands. Where one company may have the financial resources to pour into an integrated campaign (PR, print advertising, SEM, direct, etc.)...another in the same market space may not.
Blogs level the playing field by providing companies large -- and small -- with an opportunity to develop an incredibly personalized marketing tool without the need to overinvest in terms of hard dollars. Can you spend thousands of dollars developing a customized, interactive corporate blog? Of course. Must you? No.
Just consider:
Tone. Particularly important if blogging is used to support branding activities. The most basic rule of branding is that the brand personality must be present and consistent throughout all communications. Consider the tone of your brand and execute it consistently within your blog posts.
Objectives. Be clear about what you hope to gain from your blogging activities at the outset. If your blog is intended to support branding activities, to present the essence of your company's brand, it may not be realistic to expect leads from your posts. (It may happen of course...it just may not be an expected outcome.)
Demand Gen. Do you have a clear picture of how your blog will fit into or support your demand/lead generation activities? Are all demand gen activities working together in terms of timing and message? What are your key performance indicators for your blogging activity -- and are they realistic given the other components of your program?
If the blog is intended to deliver leads, is the content fully in tune with your target audiences? Use keyword research tools to help understand what terms your target audiences are searching for and how you can organically include them in your posts.
Have a plan for where the blog will take your visitors after they've read your content.
If the blog supports other efforts (ex. serves as a call to action) make sure the transition from that tactic to the blog is logical.
Of course there are more things to consider when preparing to launch your blog, or improve your current efforts. These are just food for thought.
How can blogging benefit your top-line objectives?
*Source: "Study says more companies blogging," B2B, Posted 10/20/10
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
B2B Creative - "Smart" Thoughts for Today's Market
Today's B2B Agency Creative Director faces new message delivery challenges (and opportunities) we couldn't have imagined a few years ago.
Smart phones, Apps, Social Media, QR codes, YouTube -- the landscape changes fast and you need the ability to adapt quickly. Long gone are the days of creating an ad, laying out the "capabilities" brochures for lead response and the "possible" call center follow-up.
Just as the Internet changed the push/pull dynamic, Smartphones are changing some sales processes. Being in a meeting no longer means being out of touch. And phones are being used more than ever to advance face-to-face sales.
Maybe it's an obvious question, but what's the impact on creative?
Tried and true design approaches don't necessarily work on a 3 x 4 inch screen. Maybe it's time to think "inside the box". What works on the small screen? How do we develop visual/creative solutions that work in the new hand-held era? How are messages, brands and images created, supported and maintained through a phone? As creative folks we must use unique navigation and data content mapping combined with simple and easy-to-use fingertip-friendly designs to yield the best functioning creative product.
With iPhones, Droid and Blackberry devices becoming the future of just-in-time delivery of sales and marking information to your sales force (and customers) our clients are looking to us to find the right mobile solution.
It's time to think and create "smart".
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Organic Search and the Importance of Being Yourself
Just finished updating a keyword list for a client. Since they provide a seasonal service, it only makes sense to pay to optimize those words that are relevant to the season. You already know this, right?
What's been bouncing around in my mind since the client sent over their ideas for the winter list was a phrase they wanted to include:
Tax rebates.
To say that this is generic is an understatement. They don't offer tax rebates. And the product that they do sell is one of hundreds that qualifies for a tax rebate.
As I think about it, I hear a little voice in my head -- the voice of a former colleague and something of a mentor. He used to say: "You can be anything you want to be. Make up your mind what that is, and promote it."
With all due respect, in the case of search, I beg to differ.
Search is about a customer looking for a specific product or service to fulfill a specific unmet need. (Again, you know this.)
"Searchers" are going to pretty tweaked if they click on your link (I'm talking organic here) only to find that you offer in no way, shape or form, the product or service they want.
The point? When it comes to search, you can't be all things to all people.
This is a lesson I learned first hand while attending a seminar at Google's NY office last year. Organic search works best when specific search terms lead to matching content.
If you're going to take the time to execute an organic search program -- and we suggest that you do especially for B2B -- consider:
-- Who is your best online audience
-- What are they likely to search for
-- What specific need to they want to have met
-- What matching online content can you provide as a search result
-- What are your competitors offering
-- Once they land on your results page, how can you gently lead them through the sales process?
Now get on out there and be yourself!
What's been bouncing around in my mind since the client sent over their ideas for the winter list was a phrase they wanted to include:
Tax rebates.
To say that this is generic is an understatement. They don't offer tax rebates. And the product that they do sell is one of hundreds that qualifies for a tax rebate.
As I think about it, I hear a little voice in my head -- the voice of a former colleague and something of a mentor. He used to say: "You can be anything you want to be. Make up your mind what that is, and promote it."
With all due respect, in the case of search, I beg to differ.
Search is about a customer looking for a specific product or service to fulfill a specific unmet need. (Again, you know this.)
"Searchers" are going to pretty tweaked if they click on your link (I'm talking organic here) only to find that you offer in no way, shape or form, the product or service they want.
The point? When it comes to search, you can't be all things to all people.
This is a lesson I learned first hand while attending a seminar at Google's NY office last year. Organic search works best when specific search terms lead to matching content.
If you're going to take the time to execute an organic search program -- and we suggest that you do especially for B2B -- consider:
-- Who is your best online audience
-- What are they likely to search for
-- What specific need to they want to have met
-- What matching online content can you provide as a search result
-- What are your competitors offering
-- Once they land on your results page, how can you gently lead them through the sales process?
Now get on out there and be yourself!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
(Audience-relevant) Content is King
We're in the early stages of helping a manufacturer based in China enter the U.S. market.
While the details are confidential, let's just say their product line is in a highly competitive market -- one with established, experienced brands with lots of marketing moola to ensure their positioning.
As we prepare to Westernize the brand, we are encountering research that shows the potential for Chinese manufacturers is great in the American market if they can overcome one key dynamic: the preconceived notion that Chinese products can be lacking in quality (because they are low in price).
Well that's okay. We never intended to sell on price.
So why blog about this?
It reinforces one of our most important messages:
Audience relevance is critical to marketing's success.
Fancy campaigns won't move the needle if you fail to understand what motivates buyers and connect their need to your solution. Whether it's a plant manager, a CFO or a college dean. Each buyer is motivated by something specific to their function and the subsequent accountability.
One of the most successful B2B campaigns I ever had the honor to work on took this thinking to the highest level -- for construction equipment of all things. When we worked really hard to understand why target audiences should care if the wheels moved seamlessly over a curb -- and made sure that they understood how this benefitted their role and responsibility...wow, the results.
Understand your audience. Deeply know what motivates them to buy. Truly know your company's and your product's strengths (and weaknesses). Compare them honestly to your competitors.
And craft your marketing messages with the end-user squarely in mind.
If this is the biggest change you make at the end of 2010, or for all of 2011, it might be the one with greatest impact.
While the details are confidential, let's just say their product line is in a highly competitive market -- one with established, experienced brands with lots of marketing moola to ensure their positioning.
As we prepare to Westernize the brand, we are encountering research that shows the potential for Chinese manufacturers is great in the American market if they can overcome one key dynamic: the preconceived notion that Chinese products can be lacking in quality (because they are low in price).
Well that's okay. We never intended to sell on price.
So why blog about this?
It reinforces one of our most important messages:
Audience relevance is critical to marketing's success.
Fancy campaigns won't move the needle if you fail to understand what motivates buyers and connect their need to your solution. Whether it's a plant manager, a CFO or a college dean. Each buyer is motivated by something specific to their function and the subsequent accountability.
One of the most successful B2B campaigns I ever had the honor to work on took this thinking to the highest level -- for construction equipment of all things. When we worked really hard to understand why target audiences should care if the wheels moved seamlessly over a curb -- and made sure that they understood how this benefitted their role and responsibility...wow, the results.
Understand your audience. Deeply know what motivates them to buy. Truly know your company's and your product's strengths (and weaknesses). Compare them honestly to your competitors.
And craft your marketing messages with the end-user squarely in mind.
If this is the biggest change you make at the end of 2010, or for all of 2011, it might be the one with greatest impact.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Bridging the Gap Between Sales and Marketing
As my colleague, Jody Jacobs heads off to the 27th Annual ISBM Members Meeting (Institute for the Study of Business Markets), those of us holding down the fort (and a tish envious) are having our own discussion about the importance of aligning sales and marketing teams.
And how difficult this process has been for various clients over the years.
The benefits of fully aligning sales and marketing efforts are indisputable. When both "departments" work together to understand the buyer's needs and define the company's product or service in audience-specific terms, business grows. Alignment of and integration between the two silos yields profitable growth.
Why then, does it tend to be so difficult to bring the two together?
I can't answer that one. What I can do, while I wait for the new ideas that Jody will bring, is offer my thoughts on how to at least get the ball rolling. Thoughts that are based on actually helping a major manufacturer bring the two groups together. And watching the company subsequently grow from less than $100 million to over $1 billion.
Some basic steps:
1. Executive buy in
As with any major initiative, you need buy in from the top. You need a champion. Someone who understands the benefits, the challenges, the process and the resources necessary for succes. And the power to say, "I want this to happen and I'm willing to make it happen."
2. Understanding of the current processes
How do sales and marketing currently communicate? Where does product development fit? How does marketing create the messages that are used to raise awareness, generate interest, and move prospects to action? How does marketing select the tactics that are designed to generate leads? What role -- if any -- does sales play in the marketing process (message development, tactical execution, overall strategy, etc.)
3. Understanding buyers
When the aforementioned client grew, it was due -- in part, not entirety -- to the manufacturer's desire to bring the customer into the sales and marketing process. Here is where the alignment internally began. Sales was charged with delivering key customer insights that could be used by marketing to better intrigue and engage prospects in an increasingly competitive environment. Sales became an integral part in marketing's ability to understand and therefore reach -- on a far more powerful and personal level -- the buyer. Seems so obvious doesn't it? But how many organizations really execute this? And on a regular basis?
4. Improving communication between marketing and sales
Many companies correctly use marketing to support sales in many ways. Lead generation efforts, sales support materials, are such examples. But there are other ways in which marketing can support sales that are often left behind -- and with budget cut backs and time constraints we understand why.
But if growth is on your mind, I urge you to challenge this thinking. How can a planned, regular and ACTIONABLE communications effort directed at your sales force improve your company's top line performance?
I'd guess: substantially.
Don't just jump in. Ask the sales force what they need and how they want it delivered. Don't give them a monthly email if they rely primarily on their phone for communication. Don't give them updated brochures if what they really want is market data and trends.
Ask: what will help you penetrate key accounts or move a prospect into the buy column? How do you want to receive that information and how frequently.
Depending on the answer, bite off what you can chew and get started.
REMINDER: Establish key performance indicators before launching the initiative. Know what you want to measure before you get started...then measure, re-work and re-launch as necessary.
Take the leap.
And how difficult this process has been for various clients over the years.
The benefits of fully aligning sales and marketing efforts are indisputable. When both "departments" work together to understand the buyer's needs and define the company's product or service in audience-specific terms, business grows. Alignment of and integration between the two silos yields profitable growth.
Why then, does it tend to be so difficult to bring the two together?
I can't answer that one. What I can do, while I wait for the new ideas that Jody will bring, is offer my thoughts on how to at least get the ball rolling. Thoughts that are based on actually helping a major manufacturer bring the two groups together. And watching the company subsequently grow from less than $100 million to over $1 billion.
Some basic steps:
1. Executive buy in
As with any major initiative, you need buy in from the top. You need a champion. Someone who understands the benefits, the challenges, the process and the resources necessary for succes. And the power to say, "I want this to happen and I'm willing to make it happen."
2. Understanding of the current processes
How do sales and marketing currently communicate? Where does product development fit? How does marketing create the messages that are used to raise awareness, generate interest, and move prospects to action? How does marketing select the tactics that are designed to generate leads? What role -- if any -- does sales play in the marketing process (message development, tactical execution, overall strategy, etc.)
3. Understanding buyers
When the aforementioned client grew, it was due -- in part, not entirety -- to the manufacturer's desire to bring the customer into the sales and marketing process. Here is where the alignment internally began. Sales was charged with delivering key customer insights that could be used by marketing to better intrigue and engage prospects in an increasingly competitive environment. Sales became an integral part in marketing's ability to understand and therefore reach -- on a far more powerful and personal level -- the buyer. Seems so obvious doesn't it? But how many organizations really execute this? And on a regular basis?
4. Improving communication between marketing and sales
Many companies correctly use marketing to support sales in many ways. Lead generation efforts, sales support materials, are such examples. But there are other ways in which marketing can support sales that are often left behind -- and with budget cut backs and time constraints we understand why.
But if growth is on your mind, I urge you to challenge this thinking. How can a planned, regular and ACTIONABLE communications effort directed at your sales force improve your company's top line performance?
I'd guess: substantially.
Don't just jump in. Ask the sales force what they need and how they want it delivered. Don't give them a monthly email if they rely primarily on their phone for communication. Don't give them updated brochures if what they really want is market data and trends.
Ask: what will help you penetrate key accounts or move a prospect into the buy column? How do you want to receive that information and how frequently.
Depending on the answer, bite off what you can chew and get started.
REMINDER: Establish key performance indicators before launching the initiative. Know what you want to measure before you get started...then measure, re-work and re-launch as necessary.
Take the leap.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Social Media for B2B Marketers
Yesterday, my associate, Jody Jacobs, led a roundtable discussion at the World Trade Center, Central PA .
The topic was a hot one: Integrating Social Media into your Marketing Mix.
The lively session provided attendees with excellent tactical ideas and best practices related to Linked In, blogging, twitter, and Facebook.
But I found myself scratching my head a bit as discussion swirled about using Twitter to dramatically expand one's reach (as an example).
There seemed to be a missing element in the discussion.
The customer.
Naturally, Wavelength agrees that social media tactics should play an important role in a company's marketing strategy. To one degree or another, most audiences are online doing "something" and marketers -- even those that are industrial in nature -- must use online forums to demonstrate value and build relationships that ultimately generate sales.
But where we seem to differ is in the focus on the customer.
Most marketers don't have unlimited budgets and they certainly don't have unlimited time resources. They are pressed to select the "right" tactic that delivers the "best" outcome and can be measured. For many, there is pressure to launch successful social media campaigns in addition to increasing sales and growing market share.
But where to start? Yesterday's discussion left me feeling that some consultants might select a tactic and advise the marketer on how to properly execute.
This feels like the cart before the horse to me. And goes against our agency's principle: Customer-centric marketing.
And in order to execute targeted marketing strategies that truly reach prospects where they are and deliver marketing content in a format that they desire in a time when they are most likely to receive it you have to actually understand what the customer is doing online.
What value does a marketer receive, for example, when they set up a FaceBook fan page, if their customers are not predisposed to use this forum to receive valuable product information?
Without sounding stodgy and old fashioned, I'd have to say that the take away here is the same one as always:
-- Any marketing tactic must support the overall strategy. This is true whether you're talking about a brochure, a white paper or a Twitter campaign.
-- As with any tactic, you must establish an objective and reasonable outcome before getting started
-- Without a clear understanding of what your customers and prospects want from you online, and what they are doing online, it would be difficult to deploy a social media strategy that doesn't somehow mis-use resources.
Put the customer first. What content of value do they want from me? White papers? Customer service updates? Discounts? New product information?
Where are they going -- currently, without my efforts to create a destination -- to find information about my products and services?
Which social media tactics most effectively allow me to reach my customers and prospects?
For marketers who don't have unlimited resources, marketing programs become about selecting highly targeted tactics. Understanding customer behavior and thinking about marketing from the customer's point of view is the natural place to start.
The topic was a hot one: Integrating Social Media into your Marketing Mix.
The lively session provided attendees with excellent tactical ideas and best practices related to Linked In, blogging, twitter, and Facebook.
But I found myself scratching my head a bit as discussion swirled about using Twitter to dramatically expand one's reach (as an example).
There seemed to be a missing element in the discussion.
The customer.
Naturally, Wavelength agrees that social media tactics should play an important role in a company's marketing strategy. To one degree or another, most audiences are online doing "something" and marketers -- even those that are industrial in nature -- must use online forums to demonstrate value and build relationships that ultimately generate sales.
But where we seem to differ is in the focus on the customer.
Most marketers don't have unlimited budgets and they certainly don't have unlimited time resources. They are pressed to select the "right" tactic that delivers the "best" outcome and can be measured. For many, there is pressure to launch successful social media campaigns in addition to increasing sales and growing market share.
But where to start? Yesterday's discussion left me feeling that some consultants might select a tactic and advise the marketer on how to properly execute.
This feels like the cart before the horse to me. And goes against our agency's principle: Customer-centric marketing.
And in order to execute targeted marketing strategies that truly reach prospects where they are and deliver marketing content in a format that they desire in a time when they are most likely to receive it you have to actually understand what the customer is doing online.
What value does a marketer receive, for example, when they set up a FaceBook fan page, if their customers are not predisposed to use this forum to receive valuable product information?
Without sounding stodgy and old fashioned, I'd have to say that the take away here is the same one as always:
-- Any marketing tactic must support the overall strategy. This is true whether you're talking about a brochure, a white paper or a Twitter campaign.
-- As with any tactic, you must establish an objective and reasonable outcome before getting started
-- Without a clear understanding of what your customers and prospects want from you online, and what they are doing online, it would be difficult to deploy a social media strategy that doesn't somehow mis-use resources.
Put the customer first. What content of value do they want from me? White papers? Customer service updates? Discounts? New product information?
Where are they going -- currently, without my efforts to create a destination -- to find information about my products and services?
Which social media tactics most effectively allow me to reach my customers and prospects?
For marketers who don't have unlimited resources, marketing programs become about selecting highly targeted tactics. Understanding customer behavior and thinking about marketing from the customer's point of view is the natural place to start.
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