www.lookingglassmarketing.com
Where are marketers spending budgets?
● Marketers are investing
more in online tactics
(14% increase) than
traditional methods (3%
increase)
● Less expensive
● Easier to measure
ROI
● Spending more on
online tactics
including:
● Social
networking
● Emailing
● PPC
●
More budget cuts seen earlier
in 2009 with some starting to
see budget increases now
●
Marketing budget reductions
are getting smaller
●
●
Fewer respondents were
planning cuts greater than 20%
More marketers said they
anticipated lesser cuts, especially
reductions of 1% to 5%
Source: eMarketer Inc., www.emarketer.com
● Most marketers – in small
and large businesses –
look at first half of 2010 as
the year the recession
begins fading away and we
see significant growth
● Based on history, average
length of a recession is 8 16 months
● Mix of online marketing and traditional
tactics:
● Online/Inbound marketing
● Website
● SEO
● Blogging
● Social networking
● Nurture marketing
● Referral marketing (referral sources and
existing customers)
● Inbound marketing defined – attracting
people to your business
●
●
●
●
●
Focus on your website
SEO
Blog
Social networking
Content is key
● “Inbound” marketing (using the web to help
drive qualified prospects) can be much
more cost effective
● Attracting prospects who are interested in
your products/services, offers/content, and
company
● Higher number of leads are going to be
qualified because they are seeking you out
● Average cost-per-lead is significantly less
than what it would cost for leads generated
through traditional outbound marketing
techniques
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●
Content:
● Content on website consumed differently than on paper:
● 79% of users scan the page instead of reading word-for-word
● Reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper
● Web content should have 50% of the word count of its paper
equivalent
● Clear, concise, easy to view—and repeated in several ways, on several
pages—and easily searched
● Put yourself in shoes of the visitor - Include content that your visitors are
interested in
Offers and Calls to action:
● Have compelling offers (white papers, events, podcasts, case studies,
articles, demos, etc.)
● Use Action Words - “Learn more.” “Find out why.” “Buy.” “Contact Us.”
Visitors appreciate it when you clearly tell them what to do. And why. For
example, “Click here to get your free six-step guide to hiring your next IT
consultant.”
●
●
Landing pages:
● Build dedicated landing pages
● Don’t send prospects to your home page – make it easy for visitors
to obtain information
● Dedicated web landing pages can nearly double the conversion
rates of potential prospects responding to your marketing
programs and offers
Benchmark:
● Website Grader (www.websitegrader.com) that measures and
scores the marketing effectiveness of a website
● Looks at website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical
factors and provides some basic advice on how you can improve
your website from a marketing perspective
● Optimizing your site so search engines can find you
● SEO is one of the least expensive forms of marketing
with strong ROI
● According to a Gartner and Forbes study,
● 86% of C-level executives use search engines to find
information on products and services
● According to HubSpot:
● 25% of SEO is on the actual pages of site (content, titles,
headers, keywords)
● 75% of SEO is off page – outside of your site (how people
are finding you)
●
●
On page – Building a foundation
● Page text, Page titles, URL, Tags ● Check out the Microsoft Partner Network - Marketing
Pointers
https://partner.microsoft.com/US/salesmarketingsection/
smcampaigns/rtgpointers
● Keywords - finding the best keywords through research
tools
● www.goodkeywords.com
● www.wordtracker.com
● Google keyword tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Off page – Links that point to site and search engines pick up
● The more incoming links, the higher your page will rank
● You can easily pull up a list of sites that link to yours. In
Google's search box, simply type Link:yoursitename
● Get the links by creating great content through blogging,
podcasts, videos, press releases, etc.
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●
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In Google, Fresher Content = Better Website
Sites that get crawled more often have more frequent updates and more
authority. Blogging consistently ensures there will be fresh content on your
site.
Every Blog Article is an SEO Opportunity - You can’t realistically optimize
your site for every search term, but you can certainly write blog posts targeting
niche keyword phrases that are likely to draw highly qualified prospects.
Blogs Are Link Bait – Blogging can be powerful from a linking standpoint.
People welcome linking in blogs so more links back to your site, means better
search engine rankings.
Gain Visibility as a Thought Leader - demonstration of your thought
leadership, and professional insights.
Source: HubSpot - http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/1676/6-Reasons-Every-Small-Business-Should-Be-Blogging
Are-You-Missing-the-Boat.aspx
Search out and begin commenting on other people’s
blogs:
● Search for relevant Blogs
● Blogsearch.Google.com
● Technorati.com
● Icerocket.com
● Commenting
●
●
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Share an example
Add a point
Add a useful link
Disagree
Ask a question
●
Writing – Topic Ideas
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Just starting out? Here is a list of free links in blog directories that you can get for
your blog with no-reciprocal link requirement:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
●
List of 5 ideas, trends or thoughts
Publish a list of links
Take a recent experience and share it
Answer questions you received recently
Turn a press release into a blog article
www.blogarama.com
www.globeofblogs.com
www.bloggapedia.com
www.blogflux.com
www.superblogdirectory.com
www.bloggernity.com
www.bloggio.com
Monitor and measure your own blog – www.blogpulse.com
● Helps analyze and report on the daily activity of your blog
● Who’s responding and linking to blog
● Trends in blog activity
● What blogs are similar to yours
● Social networking involves 2-way communication and the
conversation
● Social media is a platform that gives businesses a chance
to establish a more personal relationship with existing and
potential customers
● Forrester Research study showed 92% of B2B technology
buyers consider themselves engaging in some form of
social media
Do you agree or disagree that Social Media will…
Compliment other tactics
Standard tactic
Budget for it
● Getting started:
● Check out www.searchwiki.com – seek out social
networking sites
● Get an account set-up and build profiles
● LinkedIn
● Face Book
● Twitter
● Look for Q&A and Discussions to participate in
● Terminology:
● Drip marketing
● Relationship marketing
● Defined:
● Initiating a conversation with
prospects and customers over
period of time
● Growing relationships by sending
unique and valued messages to
prospects and customers on a
regular basis
● Leave a positive imprint in their
mind until they're ready to buy!
● Longer sales cycles, increased competition, everchanging business climate – need to be there when they
are ready to buy
● Forget about the one-off effort! According to the Direct
Marketing Association, a prospect will need to see/hear
your message 3 times to recognize you and a minimum
of 9 times to make a sale
● Nurture marketing process leads to:
● Better qualified leads
● Higher close ratios
● Stronger sales pipeline
● Shorter-than-average sales cycles
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Creating consistency
Messaging based on who targeting
Value-based offers
Setting the rhythm:
● Plan should include:
● Target List
● Messaging and Content
● Frequency and Execution
● Measurement
● Understand and profile who you want to nurture:
●
●
●
●
What makes up a good customer for your company?
What are the characteristics?
● Industry focus, company size, geography, revenue, etc.
What problems does my prospect need to overcome each day?
What is the prospect’s top priority right now?
● Build a list of Prospects, Leads, Customers
●
●
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Prospect = no formal communication or has not responded to
your company in the past
Lead = Prospective customer who has responded to your
communication in past and/or is someone in pipeline
Customer = existing or former customers who have done
business with your company
● Segment your list into A, B and C prospects and
customers
● Deliver communication and offers applicable to each
Prospects
E-Newsletter
Direct Mail
Email
Dimensional
Mail
Telemarketin
g
Sales
Contact
Prospect A
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Prospect B
Yes
Yes
Yes
Prospect C
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Customers
Customer A
Yes
Yes
Customer B
Yes
Yes
Yes
Customer C
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
●
Know your audience and ask yourself
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How can we build credibility?
How can we show that our products/services will help them achieve
goals?
How can we differentiate ourselves?
How can we become a trusted advisor/expert to prospects and
customers?
Integrate “pains” messaging:
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Getting More Organized to Save Time and Money: Do more with
reduced time, people, and finances; improve teamwork and collaboration;
and stay connected to the business while away from the office.
Managing Cash Flow: Make your finance, operations, and other business
processes more efficient. Gain better insight into what drives revenues
and expenses, so you can improve your financial position and make more
informed decisions about where to best invest resources.
Finding and Retaining Customers: Find customers more costeffectively, close deals faster, and improve customer satisfaction.
Reducing IT Costs and Risks: Stay focused on running the business—
not wasting time and money dealing with network disruptions or fighting
fires.
● We all consume media differently
● Email, telemarketing, direct mail
● Need to stand-out
● Use a common theme to break through the clutter
and get your message across
● Choose a theme that’s:
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Fun
Topical
Engaging
Memorable!
● Execution includes:
● Following a plan
● Resources and funding to keep
momentum
● Multiple tactics (direct mail, email, phone)
● Multiple offers to move your audience
along in the sales cycle
● Setting the rhythm…move prospects along
Timing (every 30 days)
Action
Contact #1
Introductory call with follow-up email
(Get permission/verify contact information)
Contact #2
Email with offer educational report/article
Contact #3
Direct mail with white paper offer– ROI of ERP
Contact #4
Email newsletter
Contact #5
Email and link to relevant case study or podcast
Contact #6
Direct mail invite to webcast with follow-up phone
call
Contact #7
Follow-up touch base phone call - reminder
Contact #8
Email newsletter
Contact #9
Phone call to touch base and prospect interested in
meeting with you!
● Monitor and analyze
● Track each phase of plan and response – can’t improve
what you don’t measure!
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# of responses and qualified leads
# of closes
Number of downloads by offer
Number of appointments made
Track your web traffic
Measure ROI
● Be flexible and make changes as necessary
● Ensure continued support and funding to continue
nurturing
 Think long-term – anything worthwhile takes
hard work and persistence
 Know who you want to target and what they
are interested in
 Build relationships that are personal and
respectful
 Offer information that is educational
 Consistency and follow-up is key
 Measure and track
Does this sound familiar?
"Two business owners meet at a networking event. Their
businesses compliment each other so they touch base
after the event and they talk about how they could refer
business to one another. But, after they put the phone
down, they never talk again."
● What are you doing from a referral
perspective?
● Do you get referrals?
● Do you provide referrals?
● Informal? Formal program?
● The act of being referred is a validation of
your value and credibility
● Potential customer has already been presold
● Have a high return-on-investment – small
efforts that don’t cost a lot of $$
● Generate high quality customers and
business for the company
● Referrals allow you work with people you
like and perform services that you enjoy
● Concept is pretty simple – “People will do
business with, and refer business to, those
they know, like and trust”
● So, why don’t we do it more?
● Good referral sources are also elusive and can
be hard to define/identify
● No plan or strategy to get referrals
● What hurts our ability to get referrals?
● Referral source is not educated on our
products/services
● Thinks you may be too busy
● Questions your ability to deliver
● Does not feel comfortable putting his/her
reputation on the line
● Referral source is unsure of what he/she will
get out of it
● Don’t actively seek and communicate with
referral sources – no consistency
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Customers and their contacts
Vendors
Partners
Industry association leaders/members
Centers of Influence
● CPA’s
● Bankers
● Consultants
● Develop list of key referral sources – start
small
● Develop plan and calendar to make regular
contact
● Set yourself apart – what makes you different,
focus on messaging, offers and theme
“Out of sight means out of mind”
•
Mailings
● Topical articles
● Reprints
● Letters
● Thank you notes
•
Meetings
● Personal, one-on-one meetings
● Seminars
● Receptions, dinners, events
● Association activities
•
Email
● Forward items of interest
● Quick notes, etc.
•
Phone
•
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•
•
Number of referrals received/given
Types of referrals
Frequency of contact and type of activity
Follow-up efforts
Close ratio
 Can’t afford not to be integrating referrals
into your marketing efforts
 Start small - develop list of top possible
referral sources
 Develop plan to communicate
 Offer information that is educational
 Consistency and follow-up is key
 Measure and track
• Keep marketing and be smart about budgets
• Online marketing – make greater investment
and try new tactics
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Tune-up your website and SEO
Subscribe to top blogs and follow
Produce and publish content
Get Social
● Traditional marketing – focus on nurture and
referral marketing
• Track and measure – make sure your
marketing $$ are working for you
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Marketing consulting group focused on helping small to mid-market companies
grow their business through effective marketing strategies. Services include:
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Marketing planning and budgeting
Campaign development and execution
Outsourced marketing management
Direct marketing
Collateral creation
Telemarketing
Newsletters
Success stories
Website development and strategy
Event planning
Press releases
Contact Jennifer Culbertson
jennifer@lookingglassmarketing.com
614-453-5927
www.lookingglassmarketing.com
Thank You for Attending!