Marketing for Where You Want to Be10 Proven Ways to Strategically Grow
© 2011 ClearEdge Marketing
January 26, 2011
Leslie Vickrey, President & FounderClearEdge Marketing
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Our Agenda
� About ClearEdge Marketing
� Challenges and Opportunities
� What Marketing Can (and Can’t) Do
� Marketing for Growth Top 10
� Your Questions, Our Answers
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About ClearEdge Marketing
� About ClearEdge Marketing
� Founded in 2006, ClearEdge is an award-winning marketing firm
headquartered in Chicago, IL
� 95% of our clients are technology services firms
� Operate on a unique and flexible outsourced marketing model
o Become virtual department on a monthly retainer or project basis
o Special forces for internal marketing when bandwidth needs arise
o Offer small- to medium-sized companies an opportunity to invest in marketing without carrying the overhead of an entire department
� Team of strategic and tactical marketing professionals with
experience managing global marketing operations
o Strategists, Project Managers, Writers, Designers, Developers
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About ClearEdge Marketing, cont.
Outsourced Marketing: Our Unique, Flexible Model
� Branding & Messaging
� Competitor and industry analysis, brand development, go-to-market strategy and
messaging
� Digital/Interactive
� Website, search engine optimization, blogging, social media, video
� Campaigns
� Lead generation and Target Account Programs (TAP), Keep-in-Touch (KIT) programs,
customer care programs, recruiting and retention programs
� Sales Collateral
� Custom tools that fit strategically into the sales cycle, including: brochures, presentations,
proposals, surveys, business perspective articles, case studies, testimonials, introduction
and follow up HTMLs and letters, etc.
� Public Relations
� Press releases, rapid response programs, editorial calendar, speaking opportunities, media
training, articles, awards
� Event Support
� Seminars, conferences, roundtables, webinars
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Challenges and Opportunities
Grueling competition to win an audience.
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Challenges & Opportunities
Competition for Your Prospects’ Attention
Is Everywhere
In their pockets — Mobile devices
On their desktops — Web, direct mail, social media
Around the house — Web, TV, telemarketing, direct mail
When they’re with friends — Social media, events
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Challenges and Opportunities
Finding the money for marketing
programs today is not easy.
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What Marketing Can (and Can’t) Do
� Marketing Cannot…
� Make the sale – great sales
processes and teams still
required
� Work magically—like any
strategic process, it’s about
plans, hard work, smart insights
and creativity
� Despite those Challenges Marketing Can…
� Build your brand
� Get and hold the attention of
key audiences
� Influence sales
� Be affordable
� Help you better address the
changing marketplace
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Marketing for Growth Top 10
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#1 Turn Clients Into
Raving Fans
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The Goal: Raving Fans
A Secret Sales Weapon
Your clients are powerful resources with broad networks of…
� Colleagues
� Peers
� Friends and family
They are the smartest, most direct pathway to new sales success
A Client Fan Will…
� Give your business great referrals
� Spread positive word of mouth
� Provide marketing legitimacy (back up your claims)
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Got Clients or Fans?
� Do clients refer their contacts to your company?
� Do they participate in testimonials and case studies
that demonstrate your company’s value and
capabilities?
� Do they speak positively of your brand and become
an indirect yet highly effective component of your
sales and marketing strategy?
QUESTIONS?
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Tips for Client/Fan Conversion
Tip 1: Engage Clients
at Several Levels
�Executive sponsor
�Project manager and
team leader
�Peers (developer-to-
developer, tester-to-
tester)
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Tip 2: Conduct Client Satisfaction Surveys
You Want to Learn…
� If clients are satisfied and how to make them happier
� How their needs are changing
� If any accounts are in peril
Benefits
� Easy to implement
� More cost effective than ever
� Provides data for benchmarking your performance over time
Tools
� Online surveys (e.g. Survey Monkey, Zoomerang) and feedback tools
(e.g. NetPromoter, Inavero)
Keys to Success
� Surveys need to occur regularly
� Share results
Tips for Client/Fan Conversion
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Tip 3: Create Case Studies and
Gather Testimonials
Case Studies Work Because They…
� Demonstrate capabilities
� Underscore qualifications and experience
� Show a solution in action/help sales tell a story
� Reveal results
Testimonials Work Because They Are…
� Authentic
� Personal
� Distinctive
� Evidence
Tips for Client/Fan Conversion
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The Result?
An Organized Network of Fans
Who Refer Your Business
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#2 Compete for
Industry Awards
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� How many of you have applied for an award either
for your company, one of your staff members or one
of your clients?
QUESTION?
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Why Enter Industry Awards?
Worth their Weight in Gold� The “cool” factor:
“It’s a chance for everyone to rally around the company—which
is great for morale—and the application process raises questions
that opens the door for people to talk.”
— Jeff Miller, Founder and Managing Director of EdgeLink
� Clients are flattered
� Visibility in the marketplace
� Third-party validation
� Staff pride increases
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Awards in Action
Talon Professional Services
� 2010 Bronze Tower Award, Corporate Identity
� Business Marketing Association
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Awards in Action
� EdgeLink
� Award: 100 Best Companies
to Work for in Oregon
� From: Oregon Business
Magazine
� Broadcasting Channels:
o News
o Boilerplate
o Marketing
About EdgeLinkEdgeLink is a Portland-based, technology staffing firm that recruits the area’s best mid-to-executive-
level technology professionals on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct-hire basis. EdgeLink’s client
companies include Digimarc, Sharp Laboratories, RuleSpace, Ensequence, Biamp Systems, RNA Networks.
Since its inception in 2003, EdgeLink earned the 100 Best Companies to Work for in Oregon by Oregon Business Magazine three years in a row: 2009, 2008 and 2007.
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#3 Speaking
Opportunities
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Speak at Industry Events
Speaking Opportunities� Local business groups
� Local, regional and national
business and industry
associations
� Conferences
� Webinars
Benefits� Reach a diverse audience
� Gain industry validation
� Increase brand credibility
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The Value of Events
� Many legs
� Provides multiple avenues for building brand recognition, gives
you a reason to contact a client, you can be creative!
� Demonstrates thought leadership
� Gives you clout as an expert in a particular area
� Direct contact
� Allows you to get in front of prospects
� Insight
� Lets you learn more about a prospects pain points or business
needs
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Webinar Best Practices
� Target your audience
� Choose a great topic for
your audience
� Partner with an expert
� Promote it everywhere
� Offer incentives
� Communicate often
� Make it dynamic
� Follow up
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Webinars in Action
Harvey Nash Webinar Series
� Average of 60 attendees per
webinar
� 6-8 webinars per year
� 44 appointments to date
� 5 deals in the pipeline
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Market Validation
Harvey Nash
� 2010 Gold Tower Award, Best Webinar Series 2010
� Business Marketing Association
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#4 Pulse Surveys
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Multiple Touch Points
Do You Have
Marketing Tools and
Resources for All
Phases of the Sales
Life Cycle?
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� Do you currently have marketing tools that can be
used in all stages of the sales life cycle (reaching,
acquiring, developing, retaining)?
� If so, what are they?
QUESTION?
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Member in Action: SCS
� The Marketing Tactic
� Thought leadership on Business Intelligence (BI)
o Pulse Survey
o Survey Report
o Event – Panel discussion on survey results
� The Goal
� To connect with the senior-most IT leaders and/or the most
senior BI representative at client and prospect companies
� Networks Leveraged
� Clients: A narrow swath of 250 existing, former and prospective
clients for survey participation
� Staff: BI practice and thought leader
� Clients: A small panel of clients to participate in survey event
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How It Worked
� Clients asked to participate in
select survey and would receive
thought leadership insights and
opportunities (event invites)
� Survey report is developed and
delivered in person and by mail to
survey participants and prospects
� Panel event created to share and
discuss survey findings with SCS
thought leaders, SCS clients and a
network of clients/prospects
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Results to Date
� Survey achieved a 14% response rate, which is well above the widely accepted 10% mark of “a very good response”
� Panel event had a 63% turnout rate, which is on par with similar type events
� Three current clients participated as panelists; shared real world BI experiences; answered several audience questions
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Key Takeaway
Thought l
eaders ar
e as importa
nt as
cultivatin
g thought
leadersh
ip.
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What You Can Do:
• Identify internal team members
who can fill your channels with
great content—thought
leadership, industry insights, etc.
• Find ways to connect thought
leaders with your greater
networks: blogs, events, social
networking, etc.
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Pulse Survey Best Practices
� Narrow your audience
� Choose a great topic
for the media and
your audience
� Keep it short, 10-15 questions
� Get a substantial
respondent pool
� Incorporate SMEs in analysis
� Provide a report with good,
actionable insights
� Generate local (and national!)
PR
� Keep it going—write blogs based
on each key finding, link to
survey
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STAR BASE Consulting’s Annual Pulse Survey� 85 responses
� 5 appointments to date
� 8 requests for report without prior
appointment
� 1 new client
Pulse Survey in Action
“The STAR BASE
Consulting Pulse Survey
became a part of every
sales call we made.
The data we had was
relevant to our
prospects and helped
give us much greater
credibility in our
meetings.”
— Jeff Welsh, President,
STAR BASE Consulting, Inc.
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#5 Public Relations
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Public Relations
� Provide business updates and
introduce experts ― Buzz
� Build relationships with media
� Identify target publications
� Be on the lookout for newsworthy
information� Community involvement
� New hires/promotions/acquisitions/
mergers
� Pulse surveys
� Blogs (can turn into bylined articles)
� New business
� New services
� Events
� Awards
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Required for Success
� In-house experts
� Use your own expertise or that of your staff to
become a reliable resource for the media
� Awards
� Good PR topics that can be added to brochures,
company profiles and website to bring distinction
and credibility
� Places to look:
o Industry associations
o Clients and vendors
o Local media outlets
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Public Relations in Action
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#6 List Development
& Cold Calling
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� How long has it been since you updated your
prospect list?
� 1 – 2 months
� 6+ months
� 1 year
� More than one year
� Never
QUESTION?
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List Development & Cold Calling
� Focus: A well-defined list of prospects grounds your efforts
� Clarity: There is little guessing about who you are going after
� Results: An accurate list quadruples the effectiveness of
a cold calling campaign
� Appointments: You won’t have an opportunity to get a meeting if
you don’t call and ask for one
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List Development Best Practices
� Conduct an Internal Audit� Have a sales team list “spring cleaning”
� Send out “update your profile” e-mails
� If needed, hire help
� Find New Prospects� Conferences and events
� Online registration on your website
� Referrals and co-registration
� Carefully consider renting and buying
lists
� Maintain, Maintain, Maintain!� Have a regularly scheduled clean up
� Conduct regular evaluations of list
building tactics
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Cold Calling Best Practices
70% of the population need at least 5 contacts before they'll trust you enough to grant an appointment
� Increase cold calling activity to
increase sales
� Take time to measure activity and find
out what is working and what is not
� Have a precise value proposition
� Offer something (a demo, a prize)
� Use scripts
� Take good notes
� Follow up, many, many times!
DO YOU HAVE ANY COLD CALLING BEST PRACTICES WORTH SHARING?
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#7 TAP Your Targets: Target Account Programs
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Target Account Program (TAP)
What Is It?
� A scheduled, targeted weekly mail-based or drop-in
program for target accounts
� 4-8 weeks, depending on target and service/solution
(on average 10 prospects p/sales rep p/campaign for
drop-off; increases for mail-based)
� Branded Components: A weekly postcard and
giveaway tied into a campaign theme
Touch Item Follow up
Week One Mail note card and/or HTML Follow up call
Week Two Drop off #1Follow up call/e-
mail/LinkedIn
Week Three Drop off #2 Follow up call/e-mail
Week Four Drop off #3 Follow up call/e-mail
Week Five Drop off #4 Follow up call/e-mail
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Why TAP?
� Increase Customer Relationships
� Regularly get in front of decision
makers
� Push Your Sales Team
� Get your sales team out to “pound
the pavement”
� ROI is Easy to Measurement
� A simple way to measure sales and
marketing message effectiveness
� Engage in Direct Contact
� I one of today’s most successful
marketing approaches
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TAP in Action
IBS Results to Date� 28 meetings
� 20 requirements
� 5 new billable clients
� 6 placements
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TAP in Action
Consultis Results to Date
� 253 acknowledgements
� 155 meetings
� 61 requirements
� 9 placements
“The sales campaign broke down
client barriers, it set us apart from
all of the other competitors trying to
get in the door and significantly
increased our activity even during a
downturn.”
― Jamie Delsing, Managing Partner, Consultis
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#8 KIT ProgramsKeep-in-Touch
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Keep-in-Touch Program (KIT)
What Is It? � A scheduled program of tools and resources that keep businesses
connected with existing clientele, great coming off a TAP
What Can It Include?� Feature articles, blogs
� Team profiles
� Digital marketing� Webinars, social media activity
� Events
� Client case studies and testimonials
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Why KIT?
� Maintain Strong Customer Relationships
� Keep Your Brand and Services in Front of Your Clients
� Build Credibility
� Warm Them Up for Future Sales and Recruiting Calls
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KIT Best Practices
� Share thoughtful, useful content� What does your audience want to know?� Create short, benefit-oriented subject lines (make it catchy)
� Time campaigns well� Send campaigns when your audience will open
o Tuesday/Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. tend to have highest open rates (some say Friday and weekends work well too!)
� Include sales teams in the process� Forward with personal note—easy, thoughtful touch point� Promote across everything you do, including social media
� Set goals, measure results� What open rates/click through rates to do you want to
achieve? Start at 18% with goal of 25%+� Set goal, measure, enhance and increase!
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#9 Get Social
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The Power of Social Media
The way people communicate is changing,
evolving…sales and marketing programs should
span as many mediums as possible!
�Power to easily edit and create content
�Tools to share and broadly distribute content,
opinions, insights, experiences and media
�Forums for easy, regular and low-cost
communication and congregation
�Clients can rely more heavily
on personal networks to make buying decisions:
� 78% of consumers trust peer
recommendations, only 14% trust
advertisements(Source: www.socialnomics.net)
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Social Media. What Should You Be Doing?
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Put a Plan in Place
SET A GOAL� Where are we?
� Where do we want to be?
� How do we get there?
Agree upon metrics…
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Define Metrics that Matter
Be Open to New Metrics
� INVOLVEMENT: Web analytics measure if a person is present through site visits, page views, time spent, etc.
� INTERACTION: Addresses more robust actions people take, such as signing up for an e-mail, posting a comment, etc.
� INTIMACY: The affinity that a person exhibits in the things they say or the actions they take
� INFLUENCE: Addresses likelihood that a person will recommend your service to someone else.
(Source: Forrester’s Four Components of Engagement)
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Identify Communities
Discover places where key
clients, candidates and
partners are meeting,
interacting and networking.
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Assign Some Voices
Identify internal team members that can help contribute
content—thought leadership, industry insights,
community knowledge, etc.
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Social Media in Action
Consultis
� 779 fans to date
� Targets candidates
� Highlights a “featured job”
on the wall nearly every day
� Candidates can apply for jobs,
take polls, watch videos, see
pictures and more…
“Social media is helping us
connect with candidates ... more
and more we are placing
candidates we find through
Facebook with our clients.”
- Jamie Delsing, Managing Partner, Consultis
“Cool man! Very innovative!”- Director of Corporate Information Technology
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#10 Website
Optimization
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Website Reminders
� Your website is still #1 marketing tool
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Website Best Practices
� A Website must be:� Functional
o Is it well organized? Attractive? o Does it convince people to take action?
� Well designedo Is the layout interesting and clean?o Does it grab users?
� Content smarto Is it clear what you do?o Are messages easy to understand?o Is it written to the right audience?o Does it promote action?
� Contain SEO!o At a minimum title tags, keywords and meta descriptions … make it easy to find!
� Make sure your site is always ready to win business
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� Do you have strong SEO best practices in place?
QUESTION?
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Why SEO is a MUST
� Without good SEO...� You can’t be found
� You give competitors a free advantage
� SEO Tips� Get your content SEO friendly
(title tags, key words and link rich)
� Link everywhere (internally and externally) - register your site!
� Use bullets
� Put most important content up front
� Add and create content regularly o Blogs
o News
o Multimedia (video)
57% of Websites are using Google Analytics
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Marketing for Growth Top 10
1. Create Raving Fans
2. Win Awards
3. Speak To and For the Industry
4. Survey and Report Your Findings
5. Increase PR Activity
6. Improve Prospect Lists and Cold Calling
7. Leverage TAPs (Target Account Programs)
8. Incorporate KITs (Keep-in-Touch Programs)
9. Engage in Social Media
10.Optimize Your Website
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Register for Next Webinar
Your Brand Matters! What Does it Say About You?
Tuesday, May 10
12:30-1:30 p.m. ET
Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/842058547
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Let’s Talk
Your Questions, Experiences & Thoughts.
Let’s Share & Learn.
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Thank You!
For More Insights, Contact Me AnytimeLeslie Vickrey, President of ClearEdge Marketing
Tel: 312.731.3149
E-mail: [email protected]
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