Content & the Buying Process November 5, 2009
Posted by mgospe in Integrated Marketing.Tags: Content, content marketing, Integrated Marketing, Lead Generation, marcom mix, marketing best practices, marketing blueprints, Marketing Campaigns, marketing strategy, strategy
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Last week I attended the TechTarget Online ROI Summit ‘09 West. For me, the highlights included a wonderful panel of CIOs providing insight and perspectives on a) how they search for information, and b) how their purchase decisions are made. Also of interest was a Google/TechTarget Behavioral Research Project that mapped search terms to content types at each stage of the buying process. I’ve paraphrased here three of the key take-aways, but you can find more detailed information on the TechTarget presentations here.
This graphic shows what content types are most valued at each phase in the buying process.
In other words, success with marketing campaigns is all about matching the right content to the right stage of the buying process. The graphic illustrates the point. The Google/TechTarget Research study confirmed that certain types of content are more valuable in certain stages of the buying cycle. Makes sense. However, I was a bit surprised to learn that CIOs and other decision makers are keenly interested in “Comparison Review” data — data provided by vendors or other sources that provide side-by-side solution comparisons. I’ve always been a bit leery of this — after all, why should a vendor promote a competitor’s product? However, the CIOs told us that they would like to see some honest comparisons by key vendors. As was described to me by a CIO, “the IT team will ultimately discover the good/bad/ugly, so vendors can do themselves a favor by being straightforward and honest.” Another CIO told me that if a vendor slams the competition or their assessment appears too heavily one-sided, they will discount the value/honesty of that assessment as well as the sponsoring vendor. On the flip side, vendors who show integrity by showing a few blemishes gain credibility in his book.
Bottom line here is that the #1 organic search link (and even the #1 paid search link) do not necessarily yield the highest traffic. It appears that most searchers will peruse a few pages of search results. However, the determination of what they click on is directly tied to the title/description of the searched item. As an example, CIOs told us that they were more likely to click on a whitepaper with a solutions orientation (e.g. “CIO Strategies: How a Hosted Platform for Unified Communciations Could Save you Millions”) versus a branded whitepaper with a vague description (e.g. “Vendor X Strategies”).
Simply put, if your marketing resources are in short supply and you can only produce a few pieces of relevant content, aim for the considersation phase — as opposed to general awareness or final decision. Assets targeting the consideration phase seem to get passed around the most during the buying process.
Want more info? Check out these additional resources on content marketing:
Your “Customer Advisory Board” (CAB) Resource Center October 26, 2009
Posted by mgospe in Customer Advisory Boards.Tags: CAB, CABs, Customer Advisory Board, Customer Advisory Boards, Customer Council, Integrated Marketing, marketing programs, marketing strategy, strategy, thought leadership
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There’s no question that 2009 has been tough on Customer Advisory Board(CAB) programs and events. Many companies had little choice but to cancel or postpone their events this fall. But good news is on the horizon. The Dow has hit 10,000 and many expect signs of recovery to continue to blossom in 2010. Kicking off or rejuvinating your company’s CAB (or Customer Advisory Council – CAC) program is an excellent way to strengthen customer loyalty and ensure you are on the right (roadmap) track for 2010.
I’ve been facilitating CABs and other executive summits and offsites for more than 10 years. Here is a collection of articles that offer insights, tips, and best practices that will help optimize your program and build stronger executive relationships.
- Are you getting strategic insight from your best customers?
Customer Advisory Boards help you validate and refine your product direction - What Came First, the CAB or the Executive Relationship?
- CAB or no CAB? That is the question
- How Three Collaboration Trends are Reshaping Marketing
- Customer Advisory Boards: Frequently Asked Questions
- Expect More Out of Meetings: Professional facilitators can keep your meetings focused and productive
Demystifying the Marcom Mix October 16, 2009
Posted by mgospe in Integrated Marketing, Marketing Operations, social media.Tags: activities & offers, awareness, campaign managers, direct marketing, Integrated Marketing, lead funnel, Lead Generation, marcom mix, marketing best practices, marketing programs, social media
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How to read and use the graphic
As leads are generated and prospects are nurtured from "awareness" to "decision", this graphic maps the high-level marcom objectives to a few marcom activities and tactics.
The Importance of Executive Relationships October 8, 2009
Posted by mgospe in Customer Advisory Boards, Integrated Marketing.Tags: CIOs, Customer Advisory Board, Customer Advisory Boards, Customer Council, Executive Relationships, Integrated Marketing, persona
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In his article, CIO Tells Us How to Sell to CIOs, Sridhar Ramanathan interviews Walt Thinfen, CIO of Visioneer. This article is a timely reminder about the importance of customer relationships built on an understanding of the customer’s world. Especially in this difficult economy, marketers and sales people can fall into the trap of myopic short-term thinking centered on making the quarterly number. It’s easy to lose sight of the customer and the problems they are trying to solve.
One excerpt that I really like is the following:
Vendors do, of course, need to do all the usual things like webinars, trade shows, datasheets, whitepapers, analyst briefings, etc. But I actually find the most valuable ones are opportunities to speak with fellow CIOs whether it’s on the golf course or in customer reference calls. I never turn down “lunch and learns” and events where I can have quality time with a peer.
There are two key elements interwoven into this quote from Walt.
- Reading between the lines suggests that when all the features and benefits become commoditized, the executive relationship will become the only true differentiator. This is where and why customer forums and Customer Advisory Boards (CABs) become so important.
- While the traditional “push” marketing tactics (like webinars, datasheets, etc) will continue to be important, they are not sufficient for successfully engaging CIO prospects. Marketing teams need to consider “push” marketing tactics that make relevant content (information & experiences) available to CIOs in places where CIOs look. Consider that in today’s Internet-based, social media-infused marketplace, 90% of the average sales cycle does NOT involve a sales rep!
Bottom line: the tough economy is causing marketers everywhere to rethink their approach in order to balance push and pull marketing tactics. And, in the center of the marketing plan needs to be recognition and respect for the executive relationship.
Characteristics of Effective Campaign Managers September 21, 2009
Posted by mgospe in Integrated Marketing, Just for Campaign Managers, Marketing Operations.Tags: brand managers, campaign managers, Integrated Marketing, integrated marketing team, marcom mix, marketing best practices, marketing blueprints, Marketing Campaigns, Marketing Operations, marketing programs
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“I’m looking to hire a campaign manager to oversee our integrated marketing programs. What are the characteristics of the best campaign managers?”
I get asked this question a lot. Earlier in my career, I worked as a campaign manager at HP, Sun, and Ariba , so I’ve seen the good, bad, and the ugly. I’ll be up front with you and say that I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way. That experience opened my eyes to the marraige of marketing expertise with an appreciation for internal politics.
The biggest challenge campaign managers have is that they have a purview over an integrated marketing campaign (aka the “big picture”) but no direct authority over the team players who will execute the campaign. They walk a tightrope between meeting the campaign goals while aligning and carefully guiding a team of folks who have other masters. With that in mind, the most effective campaign managers have these traits in common:
- A recognized, well-rounded marketing leader familiar with the target market
- Proven leadership experience in “managing by objective” Attentive to detail, but smart enough not to micro-manage
- Diplomatic and politically savvy
- Patient
- A good facilitator, seasoned in active listening techniques
- Excellent written and oral communicator (with the team, to upper management, and in front of the steering committee)
- Knows when and how to provide constructive feedback in real time during team meetings; knows when and how to provide direct feedback in one-on-one settings
- Is prepared to make hard decisions and trade-offs for the greater good of the campaign
- Most of all, doesn’t let their ego get in the way of sound recommendations
There’s art and science in this role. The science comes from understanding sound marketing best practices. More important than understanding the specific products being sold, the best campaign managers bring an awareness and appreciation for the customer and their business problems and opportunities. While they usually won’t know all the answers, their expertise comes in knowing the right questions to ask the team in order to define, architect, and execute the best, most effective integrated marketing campaigns. That’s the art.
Looking for more information on integrated marketing campaigns? Please see Chapter 7 in Marketing Campaign Development.
Social Media & the Marcom Mix September 8, 2009
Posted by mgospe in Integrated Marketing, social media.Tags: activities & offers, direct marketing, Integrated Marketing, Lead Generation, linkedin, marcom mix, marketing blueprints, Marketing Campaigns, marketing programs, pull marketing, push marketing, social media, strategy, twitter
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I have a hard cold truth for marketers: we are no longer in complete control of driving the lead funnel!
As recently as a couple of years ago, marketers were. The lead funnel was driven by our pushing messages out to our target audiences. We controlled the message, the media, and the timing. Social media has changed the dynamics. People are finding out about our companies and products before they even get on our radar screen. Some sources even estimate that 90% of the customer’s buying process takes place without the aid of a sales rep! This has huge implications for our marcom mix.
The upshot: we must help our companies become “findable” in a marketing landscape we no longer control.
Being “findable” is not just about having a decent website. It’s about having relevant, meaningful content available that addresses the topics buyers are interested in. And, it’s about having this content posted in places where buyers look. In fact, we shouldn’t be talking about social media as if it were another marketing silo. Instead, we should focus on “content marketing” — providing information and experiences that buyers are looking for. More than that, we can better establish and nurture a dialog with a prospect if we think about how to provide meaningful content that can be:
- Captured = easy-to-read content posted in a friendly format that can be cut-n-pasted and downloaded, and . . .
- Stored = easy to tag, sort, and file in electronic or printed format
- Forwarded = easy to pass-along and share with others, both formally (i.e. cut-n-pasted into a presentation) and informally (i.e. sharing a link via Twitter)
- Repurposed = content that can be annotated and adapted by the reader to fit their unique decision-making process
Including Social Media in a Marketing Blueprint
Integrating social media in the marcom mix
Today’s lead gen programs can produce higher ROI if they combine elements of both traditional “push” marketing (where you control the message) and “pull” marketing (where we offer information on non-corporate sites and we listen to and monitor the discussion around us). The example shown in the above illustration is based on a real marketing blueprint being executed today by a local hi-tech company.
There’s more to the story, of course. But this gives you a flavor on how and where social media is being used to complement traditional outbound marketing activities. How will all this play out? I’ll let you know when the campaign concludes in November!
How are you using social media? I’d love to hear your stories.
It’s miserable to fly and you know it! August 21, 2009
Posted by mgospe in Integrated Marketing.Tags: elevator pitch, Integrated Marketing, marketing best practices, marketing strategy, message box, persona, positioning statement, strategy
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A friend of mine has come up with “the alternative to the business class upgrade.” This is exciting to me because I can’t afford business class, and I get jetlag even when I travel north and south! Ted and his team of travel enthusiasts have developed a 100% natural jetlag remedy. He and I recently got together to draft the pillar components of his marketing strategy, namely a persona, a positioning statement, and a “message box”.
If you’re a frequent flyer or just an occasional puddle jumper, I’d love to get your input.
Persona: The Frequent Flyer (click image to enlarge)
1. The Persona
The persona is a fictional representation of a set of real people who share similar traits or experiences. In this case, Ted is interested in understanding the perspective of the frequent flyer business executive — who they are, what they care about, etc. After interviewing a few folks, reminiscing about our own travel experiences, we jotted down the following in the persona template on the left.
Positioning Statement (click image to enlarge)
With a keen sketch of our target audience in mind, we next rallied for a core positioning statement that would focus our attention on the benefits they find most valuable. We used a common positioning statement template illustrated here.
The Message Box (click image to enlarge)
3. The Message Box
The Message Box is the best technique I know to craft a concise “elevator pitch” using language the buyer will understand. I’ll post a separate article on Message Box uses and best practices. For now, here’s the primer for reading the adjacent slide:
In the center of the Message Box is the product being promoted. The “elevator pitch” is comprised of four messages that build off one another, and they are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Message 1 is known as the “engagement message”. A hook — usually expressed as a problem or opportunity – designed to literally engage the target audience in a dialog. This statement must be simple, yet relevant and clear.
- Message 2 is the “solution message”. This message suggests a criteria that must be met to address the problem or opportunity shown in the engagement message.
- Message 3 is called the “reinforcement message”. Then, and only then, do we introduce our product by name. Whereas the engagement and solution messages are about the buyer, reinforcement is about our product and how it is the best option for satisfying the conditions stated in the solution message.
- Message 4 is all about “value”. Literally, this message is designed to show how life will be better than before by using the product. It’s benefit focused.
All four messages form the 30-second “elevator pitch”.
Tell us what you think
Ted and I want your input and feedback. Have we painted a clear enough picture of the frequent flyer? Is the positioning statement properly focused? Does the Message Box ring true?
You can also learn more about FlyRight by visiting Ted’s website.
