Thursday, December 15, 2011

Position Your Sales Team Brings To Market

No doubt, polishing your media products has been essential to adapting to our new world of e-media. On the other hand, your competitors have likely been doing the same thing...and look-alike messages are all around us.

That's why a new priority should be set...one that puts the requirements of your sales team front and center. It's the need to communicate a market position that sets your brand apart...that differentiates it from today's commodity media.

How do you do that?

Assess your current value proposition.
Analyze your competitors' positions.
Refocus your approach on the most important aspect: your customer's selfish interest.
Conduct research to prove your enhanced sales story.
Build the communication tools.

And then train your team on the concepts and tools.




Tuesday, September 27, 2011

When A Prospect Isn't Ready To Buy


Does this happen to you? Everytime you try to do web research, it seems like you are immediately bombarded by salespeople looking to close a deal. It doesn't matter if you are only doing research. You get the same result -- lots of people wanting to get your requirements and send a quote.
This happens when lead-management programs make the mistake of treating all prospects as if they're ready to make a purchase right away. So, how can you set your company apart from the rest -- and prove a valuable resource in a prospect's research process?
Give as much -- if not more -- than you take. Prospects need a reason and benefit to share their goals and needs with you. They also need some assurance that their information won't be used for "evil."
Tailor your communication for each prospect. Make it clear that you're responding to a specific question or action. Each action should be traced back to a specific past behavior of the prospect.
The point: You'll earn the most goodwill (and, potentially, close the biggest sales) if you give the prospect exactly what he wants during the research process.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Do Your Sales People Need Fewer Leads?





If your sales team (including dealers) is missing revenue targets, their first impulse might be to cry out, "We just need more leads." After all, it's logical that more leads will generate more opportunities and more sales.

It reality, just the opposite turns out be true.

A sales paradox is at work here because reps actually need fewer sales leads -- or, more accurately, fewer raw, unfiltered, unqualified leads from marketing. Drowning your sales reps in more leads, especially those of poor quality, can simply make things worse.

Standard lead generation's focus on quantity floods the pipeline with far too many low-value leads that don't deliver sales and marketing ROI. Qualifying criteria are rarely met due to lack of marketing resources.

It's no surprise that many recent surveys of sales reps report that an overwhelming majority of marketing-generated leads are not being pursued because their quality is perceived to be poor. Rep calendars are cluttered with unqualified meetings; ultimately, money is being wasted on lead-generation programs that simply don't work.

Sales teams need qualified leads that have been carefully and consistently nurtured, as well as appropriately developed into high-value, sales-ready opportunities. Reps can then invest their time more effectively on the most likely buyers.

Source: Dan McDade

Next time: Attributes of a well-qualified lead.




Wednesday, August 24, 2011

How To Improve Offers (Calls To Action)



Last of a three-part series...

1. Make sure your offers are compelling. Your offer should answer the question: "What's in it for me." Things like pricing brochures, specs, and self-promotional videos are not compelling offers because they do not answer that question. Informational items like whitepapers, guides, and webinars are compelling.

2. Link back to your site in your offer. Although lead nurturing is a very powerful tool, provide a way for your leads to find you again besides through email. If they enjoyed your whitepaper, make it easy for them to remember where they got this valuable information by linking to your site on the cover page.

3. Create offers for every stage of the buying cycle. Just like your forms might vary for each phase of the buying cycle, your offers should as well. Someone at the top of the buying cycle may be more interested in an informational piece like a guide, whereas someone more committed at the bottom of the cycle might be more interested in a free trial or demo. You don't need to pick and choose. Create offers for each phase, and include a primary or secondary call to action to these various pages throughout your site.

Friday, August 19, 2011

How To Improve Landing Pages


1. Match the headline of the landing page to the corresponding call to action. Keep the messaging consistent on both your CTA and the headline of the landing page. If people click a link for a free offer and then find out there's a catch on the landing page, you'll instantly lose their trust. Similarly, if the headline reads differently than the CTA, it might lead to confusion., and the user might wonder if the CTA linked to a wrong page.

2. Be clear about what you're offering. This is the most common mistake with landing pages. People often try to be too clever or witty with the headline...and the offer isn't clear. Again, if you're givng away a free whitepaper, say "Download our FREE Whitepaer for Improving X." Plain and simple.

3. Improve the positioning above the form. Just like you want to have your call to action above the fold, it's ideal for this form to be above the fold as well. This way, there can't be any confusion as to what's expected from the visitor on this page. They simply need to fill out the form to get what you're offering.

4. Keep the text concise and easy to scan. Be brief and to the point. It's the offer where you give the prospect more information. In addition to your headline, have a brief paragraph explaining the offer followed by a few bullet points outlining what the offer consists of to include the benefits.

5. Remove links and navigation to maintain focus. When a prospect reaches your landing page, you're just a few keystrokes away from getting their contact information. So don't distract them with links that we'll take them further away from your goal to get a lead.

Next time: How to improve offers.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Increase Sales and Lead Generation




Six ways follow to increase website conversions, not only to the point of becoming a lead, but to the point of becoming a qualified lead.

How to improve your calls-to-action:

1. Calls-to-action do best "above the fold" - the space of your webpage viewable to the user without having to scroll down. According the heat map analysis, "below the fold" will only be viewed by 50% of the people who view your page.

2. Be crystal clear about what the offer is in your CTA...and be specific. If you're giving away a free whitepaper, say "Download our FREE whitepaper for X." If you're hosting a free webinar, say,, "Register for our FREE webinar on X." X should convey a compelling benefit of receiving the offer. This is much more effective than "Download Now" or "Get a Free Whitepaper."

3. Use images rather than text so it stands out. Images stand out on a webpage more than text...and get a lot more attention. Additionally, using an image will allow you to show off an offer in a way you can't necessarily convey using text alone.

4. Make your CTA a hyperlink to the corresponding landing page. Whether intentional or a matter of forgetfulness, the lack of a link will make it harder for visitors to find out how to get the offer. Instead, they'll likely give up. Double and triple check to make sure all of your CTAs link to their corresponding landing pages.

5. Place CTAs on the most relevant pages. CTA's shouldn't be one size fits all. If your company offers various products or services, you may want to consider creating a different offer for each. Then you can place CTAs linking to each offer on the website pages that are most relevant to the offer.

6. Finally, add CTAs to each blog post. Whenever you create a new blog content, choose an offer that's the most relevant to that blog post. Then add a call-to-action to the bottom of that blog post linking to the landing page for that offer.

Next time: How to improve landing pages.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Is Print Dying?



I don't want to burst your cyber bubble, but it's not.

Careful where you stand in the digital wonderland.

As a marketer, perhaps you've experienced the fervor and futility of the newly enlightened who rely solely on digital and social media to build their business brands.

In one category I know of, marketers target their audience exclusively with online media. They shower them with digital content that's devoid of a compelling, unifying creative idea. The net result is that awareness and familiarity of each of the competitors in this category is less than ten percent. They've been marketing like this for almost a decade and no one knows who the heck they are. There is no perceived leader. Even worse, virtually no one knows what the category is about.

Print helps people remember.

Too bad they haven't discovered some of the persuasive qualities that make print powerful in its own way:

* It forces us to synthesize brand and buying concepts into one simple and compelling idea explained and illustrated. As a result, people can easily grasp what the brand is about in their first exposure to it.

* It can portray the essence of a brand in a highly memorable way through the synergy of words and pictures.

* It provides immediate scale and reach.

* It connects the brand's point of view with the unique worldview of a very specific audience.

* It encourages its audience to read and picture themselves in a brand story that it tells.

* It stays around. People can easily put their hands on it when they want it.

* It creates an environment of contemplation and learning instead of simply sound bite gathering.

Source: Gordon Hochhalter, Creative Strategy Connectivity

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Impact of Media On Industrial Marketing - Part III




Further insights from AJ Sweatt...

Brand awareness is critical, especially in industrial marketing where the stakes are so much higher and the buying cycle protracted. Many projects to select technology solutions take months, and in many cases years. So the brand must resonate consistently in the minds of prospects as they enter and progress through the stages leading up to comparison and selection.

Push media (magazines and e-Newsletters) are strong branding vehicles. They deliver information about new technologies and products, R&D, and knowledge leadership in ways that are much more effective than hoping a prospect encounters those messages on their own. Trade magazines still play a vital role in connecting prospects to solutions and options.

Then too, ads in industry-focused websites offer an interesting "brand bump." And, surprisingly, ad banners offer branding advantages beyond measuring a "click." A substantially majority of visitors to top advertiser websites came from people who saw at least one online display ad, but never clicked on the banner.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Impact of Media On Industrial Marketing - Part II




Social Media and The Capital Equipment Buying Cycle
More insights from AJ Sweatt.

The greatest strengths of social media today are found in its abilities to connect like-minded engineers, manufacturers and, yes, technology suppliers like you. Certainly, networking is a critical piece of any business -- particularly in vertical industries like ours, with their distinctive requirements and qualities.

But when research-minded, stealth prospects enter into the buying cycle, they want control.

They want to remain anonymous. They want to consume, digest, compare and assess information on their own terms. The information they seek often must match ultra-strict technical and proprietary needs imposed by their company, customers and industry/government regulations.

With few exceptions, social media aren't useful for prospects seeking legacy information because of content decay in an archival environment.

Using Twitter for example, most information that's shared there has a very short shelf-life - the quick bursts are useful in a time-sensitive environment but not for an industrial stealth prospect looking for specs, performance, capabilities and features to make technology recommendations.

Then, with LinkedIn, it is above all else an employment site. Its primary purpose has been and is to connect prospective employers and employees.

When assessing the benefits of social media to your company you should always ask, "What are our prospects and customers actually DOING there?"




Friday, July 8, 2011

The Impact Of Media On Industrial Marketing - Part I



The capital equipment buying cycle is the core for your own marketing strategy. It defines the steps and stages industrial prospects follow as they research, compare, scrutinize and select technologies for their manufacturing enterprise.

Created by AJ Sweatt with Gardner Publications back in 1998, the steps of this buying cycle have remained virtually unchanged throughout the industrial age. While media and communications options have evolved to make prospects' journey through this cycle more efficient, they've remained consistent in following these steps in order. And, specific media have unique influential strengths on prospects, depending on where they are in the buying cycle.

Push Media: Magazines, email, direct mail introduce prospects to things they didn't know they need (i.e. discovery).

Pull Media: Your website, elements of trade shows, industry/technical websites serve prospects that already know what they need, but aren't sure where to get it/them.

Next post, but what has social media done to this equation and media's overall role in the buying cycle?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Marketing Lays Groundwork For Sales



How much is masterpiece music worth performed by an internationally acclaimed virtuoso to an audience of a thousand people?

About $32 according to the Washington Post with their experiment about the influence of context on people's perceptions and priorities...and their ability to "recognize beauty." As part of the experiment, Joshua Bell, one of the world's best violinists, played incognito inside a Washington DC subway station. During his continuous 45-minute performance, Bell played six pieces by Bach, Shubert, etc....some of the most powerful music written for a solo violin. Two days prior, Bell performed at a sold-out concert in Boston, where tickets averaged $100.

But back in DC, 1,097 people went through the subway station. Only seven stopped and listened for awhile. About 27 gave money but continued to walk past the musician. There was no applause at the end, and the total sum collected during the performance was $32.17. Very few people were interested enough to pay it any attention, let alone money or time.

What is value?

Though beauty and its place in our lives are the subject of philosophy and sociology, willingness to pay for or "value" a product or service is the consequence of marketing. Value is dictated by customer preferences (demand) and competing alternatives (supply)--not by the product itself. It is a product of time, place, social context and mental attitudes.




Thursday, June 23, 2011

Evaluating Print Advertising Effectiveness


When evaluating the potential effectiveness of different print campaign ideas, you should ask the following questions:

* Does the ad offer a high degree of visual magnetism? An ad should be constructed so that a single component dominates the area -- a photo or screenshot, the headline or text but not your company name or logo.

* Does the headline immediately grab the reader? In Ogilvy On Advertising, advertising guru David Ogilvy states that five times as many people read
headlines than read body copy. Ideally, the headline is nine words or less. Promise prospects a worthwhile reward for continuing to read.

* Does the ad talk person-to-person? Copy is more persuasive when it speaks to the reader as an individual -- as if it were one friend telling another friend about a good thing. The terms should be the term's of the reader's business not the advertiser's business.

* Is the ad easy to read? Text type should be no smaller than nine point. It should appear black on white. The writing style should be simple: short words, short sentences, short paragraphs, active rather than passive voice, no advertising cliches, with frequent use of the personal pronoun you.

* Does the ad reflect the company character? A company's advertising should portray the company's personality -- the things that will make the company liked, respected, admired. A messy ad tends to indicate a messy company. A brag-and-boast ad suggests the company is maker-oriented, not user oriented.

* Does the ad focus on "What's in it for me (the prospect)?" How will the prospect benefit from your product?






Monday, June 13, 2011

The Conversation Opportunity


As online conversations are a growing, new marketplace, you must first understand how your customers and prospects behave online. While social media users meet in different places (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), they still evaluate brands based on content. People still buy products to accomplish something.

Companies that understand this behavior are able to communicate directly with customers and prospects to influence their perception of their brand. Here's what you need to do to make this happen.

Research where your customers and prospects are located online to join these communities.

Establish a listening campaign ot figure out who's doing the talking and what's being said.

Consider how you will connect with the more influential "conversationalists" within those communities. Do you need to create your own Facebook page or Linkedin profile? Or do you need to comment regualarly on select blogs?

Share whatever is going on in your offline world with your online community (photos and videos).

Reach out to other bloggers (guest blogging).

Respond quickly to comments and feedback on your own blog.






Wednesday, June 8, 2011

How To Approach Content Strategy



As you brainstorm your own content strategy, ask yourself these questions:

Which primary niche do I want to be known for most?

What are my prospects' challenges?

What kind of content do they like and consume?

How can I create interesting yet consistent content that will attract new customers and retain old ones?

When all is said and done, what business results do I want to achieve for all my hard work?

How will I know if this stuff is working?

More next time.

Reference: Patricia Redsicker

Friday, June 3, 2011

Content Strategy Before Social Strategy


No matter how far you're along in the social media experience, you hopefully understand that social media marketing is not just about having a Facebook page or Twitter profile. You can't succeed in social media if you don't have something interesting to say.

Social media is the vehicle for communicating and distributing interesting stories (content) across the Internet. In turn, your customers and prospects share the content they think is compelling.

So, what does content strategy have to do with it?

The purpose of content strategy is to facilitate the consistent delivery of interesting stories. The end result is that you will attract and retain the attention of the targeted audience that you want to reach. Preparation is important because social media is a very active space. There's a lot to do and a ton of conversations taking place. It is a very distracting environment, and everyone has a very short attention span.

You have to figure out what kind of conversation you're going to spark that will make customers and prospects pay attention to you because social media attention is very hard to get (or retain for that matter).

Your competition isn't just the company that sells the same stuff that you do. Your competition is every brand, every company, every politician, every celebrity and everybody that thinks they have something interesting to say.

That's why it's important to have a plan (content strategy). And that's why your plan must be put in place before you show up on any social media channel. Otherwise, you'll be wasting the opportunity.

More next time.

Reference: Patricia Redsicker

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Maximizing Your Sales Leads - Part II



Three more components for developing a lead-scoring marix:

4. Score Decay: If your lead hasn't been active within a certain time period (maybe two or three weeks), you may want to deduct from their score to indicate lack of engagement. At this point, your lead nurturing should include targeted email marketing pieces that engage leads by asking if they're still interested or need more information.

5. Sales Ready Lead: After collaborating with sales and learning what type of behavior a sales ready lead displays, you should have an accurate view of what qualifies as a "hot" score. Leads with these numbers should automatically be routed to sales or resellers for follow-up. However, if one lead carries a high score but still isn't far along the sales cycle, it may be time to revamp the criteria that you've applied. Perhaps you've assigned too high a score to certain behaviors.

6. Recycled: If a lead has graduated through the cycle and received sales follow-up, but still isn't ready to buy, a strong lead nurturing campaign will keep them from dropping out. It may be the changes at a lead's company (such as budget cuts or personnel changes) have caused their progress to stall. A smooth transition back to marketing for further nurturing may then be effective.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Maximizing Your Sales Leads




Perhaps you already have a basic sales lead management program in place. But to take lead management to the next level, you need to go beyond the foundation when you determined your ideal target and which activities you'll use for qualification with a scoring matrix. Consider six components to develop a robust lead-scoring matrix.

1. Individual Lead Score: This is the sum of the various scores combined for each prospect. The higher the number, the hotter the lead. Scoring tallies should reflect demographics and behavior such as:

  • Clicking on email links
  • Completing web forms
  • Visiting your website's product pages
  • Reading your blog or other company social media
2. Company Score: A good indicator of interest is the number of prospects at a company that have indicated interest in your product(s). When you have multiple leads from one company, you can bump all those leads' scores or you can establish a company score from the total of all the leads. Tracking buyer roles within the company will affect scores too. For example, you may want to rate "influencers" differently than "decision-makers".

3. Product Score: To get a more granular view of your leads' interest, assign a specific score to each product line. This can help you better understand buyer behavior and manage campaigns more effectively for separate products. Some situations may call for multiple scoring when leads show interest in more than one of your products.

Next blog: 4-6 components to complete a lead-scoring matrix.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Apple Proves ROI For Branding - Part II




Mobile apps, social media, webinars, videos, virtual trade shows, e-newsletters and, of course, print and trade shows, all have a place in your marketing mix. The best marketing employs an integrated media approach appropriate to your marketing goals. However, you should consider where each media fits in the marketing process.

Here is brief summary of each marketing purpose:

Print: The foundation for all other marketing. It's still the best way to brand and drives traffic to your web site.

Internet: Provides information in the selection process (driven by good branding).

Social Media: Creates opportunity to build momentum.

Mobile: Timely information when done right, always on.

Trade Shows and Events: Face to face impact, easier to close, works best when branded.

Being associated with a great brand gives you credibility at all stages of the buying cycle...just like with Apple and those customers that bought iPhones, iPads and iPods.

Reference: Kathi Simonsen, Simonsen Sales & Marketing

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Apple Proves ROI For Branding




If you think leads and click-throughs are the Holy Grail of marketing, you may want to consider Apple's success. According to Millard Brown Research for the top 100 global brands, Apple is the most valued brand in the world, worth $153B, up 84% since 2010.

How did Apple do it? By creating a brand. Remember when Apple had only 10% of the computer market? What changed? Apple tuned into the needs and wants of their target audience and built excellent products that gave them what they wanted. Then, they branded, branded, branded and branded! Apple has never been concerned about leads and clicks in their marketing. Instead, they focus on creating a spectacular brand that everyone respects.

Would you like to take over your #1 competitor? Would you like to be a leader, revered and respected as #1 in your market? If so, you need to know the needs of your prospects, produce excellent products and then brand, brand, brand.

And what is still the best marketing vehicle for branding? Print! All electronic media is useful of course but print still leads for branding. Branding should still be the number one focus in a marketing campaign.

Reference: Kathi Simonsen, Simonsen Sales & Marketing


Monday, May 16, 2011

Sales Lead List Building


Let's assume you continually build and maintain a list to target prospects with email and more promotion on an ongoing basis. This process is automated, it's fast, but it's not a success. Drowning under a large and growing list, you have nothing to do but send out a generic pitch email to all. The dreaded email blast.

Your messages reach people who are at various stages in the buying process or, worse yet, are not true prospects for you product(s). This approach does nothing more than clutter in boxes and perhaps upset recipients that aren't far enough along to want email or other sales promotion. Management might be impressed with the sheer numbers, but they will eventually begin to wonder when they'll actually see results.

Once you understand the inherent limitations of putting quantity ahead of quality, you may want to whittle down your massive list to create multiple, granular lists ranked by "qualification." Ranking by qualified hierarchy can help you determine where and when to push your limited resources and focus with prospects at different stages in the buying cycle. This will set you apart to generate the results your management expects.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Data Doesn't Always Include Intelligence



I didn't come up with this commentary, but I think you'll like it.

With many marketers, they're busy collecting an abundance of data. From social media monitoring, traditional media monitoring and Google alerts -- new tools are popping up each day to help marketers collect data. As a result, marketers may be swimming in data, but that data doesn't always translate to insight, nor intelligence, let alone tracking to sales conversion.

In many areas of market research, there are growing disconnects between data gathering, data analysis, and action. There's little doubt that media lists, large datasets, and cool charts are important to understanding the media landscape. But, frankly, in the era of Google and social search, data has become a commodity.

Truly successful marketers can't just collect data. They need to learn something they don't already know by putting the information into a meaningful context and then creating a strategic plan based on that data. In short, data is only as good as the strategic mind that does something with it. Understanding that is one thing. Being able to do something about it in day-to-day business is another.

More with my next blog.
By Gary Lee, Marketingprofs

Monday, May 9, 2011

Your Web Site Needs A Headline





In direct response marketing, the headline is always the most important part of the ad. This is what gets more or fewer people to actually read your offer. The headline has to be as strong as possible and it makes all the difference.

Like any direct response ad (an ad that wants someone to do something), the headline on your web home page is key. You want your web visitor to stop surfing, stay on your site, read about your company and take action by giving you their email address. When a prospect lands on your home page, the pretty design isn't what captures their attention. It's the headline. All the web sites that don't even have one are simply wrong. And don't make the mistake of using a label instead of a headline. A headline isn't just a "heading" that tells the name of your company or describes your product or says, "Welcome to our web site."

A headline is an overt benefit statement that tells your visitor what's in it for them without platitudes, generalities or mere features. Your headline should be a statement of he unique benefits that only your company can say -- your unique selling proposition.



Monday, May 2, 2011

Why Most Web Sites Don't Work - Part II





The good news is that prospects are using your web site to research your company and products. But they're likely to be early in their buying cycle. There's no guarantee they will ever be back. Most of them won't remember your web site at all a few days later.

Your challenge is to capture their contact information (especially their email address) while they are on your web site for the first time--to get permission to send more information. Don't make them leave your web site to get it. You can then implement an automated process to follow periodically by email, providing more information and building a relationship over time--until they're ready to buy.

Your web designer should work to create a direct response model that focuses solely on capturing leads. More prospects will buy after they visit your site--if you capture their information while you have the first chance.



Monday, April 25, 2011

Why Most Web Sites Don't Work




Web sites should work like direct response ads. Unfortunately, too many web sites look like they're competing for a design award -- at the expense of making sales. In fact, more than half the battle is understanding the right question to ask. "How can I make my web site better?" is not the right question. Neither is "How can I improve the design."


The real purpose of a web site should be one thing and one thing only: To capture as many leads as possible as a percentage of all site visitors. With far too many web sites, you can look at them and know they are not capturing as many leads as possible. How? Because the web site does not even invite a response -- at all. In other words, many web site developers seem to want to limit themselves to only talking to prospects who absolutely, positively want to buy from them right then.


On the contrary, web sites should invite prospects to take a small step to get more information and begin a new relationship.


Step One With My Next Blog: Focus on getting a response.


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Converting Online Visitors Into Customers



You probably spend a good deal of time and money trying to drive prospects to your website. Having lots of visitors every day is good, but if you don't convert a high percentage into customers, what's the point?

Would you prefer 100 visits a day with a 10 percent conversion rate or 1,000 at 0.1 percent? So, how do you increase your conversion rates?

Make it easy. Be sure it's easy for visitors to respond to a call to action or some kind of offering. If you are trying to get visitors to fill in a form for a trial or demo, make sure the form is simple and easy. You don't need 25 fields...at least the first time. Get essential information and then get more with further communications.

Test, test, test. Test everything from forms to landing pages. Testing will give you information that you can use to improve rates. Go slowly to test only one or two things at a time so you know what worked and what didn't.

Know your visitors. Understand who your potential customers are, understand how they speak, what matters to them, how they prefer to make decisions. Make your content and offerings relevant to them. To provide value, you need to know what your visitors value.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Why Branding Matters



A successful brand can benefit your company in the following ways.


It separates you from your competitors, in a unique way, that is relevant and motivating to your customers, prospects and sales channels. It gives you value and makes your product(s) special.


It enhances your perceived value, supporting premium pricing, sheltering you from low-price competition.


It enables you to launch new products more quickly and cost effectively.


Remember, brands happen with or without you. It is up to you to be proactive in shaping the identity and strength of your brand image.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A Brand Is The Promise That A Company Makes



Let's set the record straight on what a brand is...and is not.


First, your brand is not just your logo, tagline or the "look and feel" of your ads, website and literature. These are all graphical parts of your brand identity and are often narrowly, and incorrectly, referred to as branding. Here is a much broader definition:


Your brand resides within the hearts (feelings) and minds (intellect) of your customers and prospects. It is their sum total of your product and their experience and perceptions, some of which you can influence and some you cannot.


Successful marketers understand the needs and wants of customers and prospects. They understand how to meet these needs and wants in a way that is motivating. They apply this by initiating integrated strategies throughout the company at every point of contact--marketing communications, customer support and sales.

Monday, March 28, 2011

What Is Branding?



Brands are built by countless interactions of people with other people--customers, suppliers, dealers, shareholders and communities and one another. If your brand does not reflect your people in a way that makes them proud and passionate, they will not deliver the brand experience in the marketplace.

A brand is a work in progress requiring constant vigilance, care and protection. Given the changing needs of the marketplace, brand perceptions can shift, and brand strength can weaken from neglect.

Your brand is your company's most valuable possession. As technologies change and competition grows, the one quality that endures is your brand. So what is a brand? Is it your logo? Is it you tag line? While each helps to deliver your branding message, none alone is your brand.

Your brand is the result of constant reinforcement of a distinctive core benefit that your company or product delivers to your customers.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Can Small and Medium-Size Companies Build Their Brands?




The answer is yes, but it takes time and a real, long term commitment from management. The key is to develop an integrated marketing communications program and stick with it.

The first step is to conduct as much market research as possible--both internal and external. You need to understand your customers, your markets, your strengths and weaknesses, your competition, your distribution channels, your awareness level and current perceptions. The more intgelligence gathered, the greater the odds of being on target with strategies and positioning. Without this information, it's like shooting in the dark and your chances for success will decrease.

Long Haul Is The Key

If management can't commit to a long-term brand building program, save your money and lower expectations. A "start and stop" program doesn't work and is a waste of both time and money. Creating a branding program involves more than advertising. It is only part of a total marketing communications program integrated with everything produced, including advertising, brochures, websites, data sheets, email blasts, trades show exhibits and PR. Everything needs to ahve the same "look and feel" to project the personality of the company.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Dare To Be Different



If most business-to-business products are commodities being almost identical in price and performance, then the brand becomes the difference. Consumer companies figured that out a long time ago. B2B, and particularly companies in the metalworking manufacturing space, are often run by enginnering types. Marketing has most often taken a back seat.

Many B2B companies have been slow to recognize the importance of marketing, but they are now becoming more receptive to brand building programs due to increased technology parity and more global competition. More-and-more, there is a shift from product marketing to brand marketing. As competitive advantages diminish, brand building becomes a necessity rather than a luxury. The need to differentiate by personality or image is rapidly increasing.

However, brand building is not easy as technology and products become more similar. Plus, target audiences, communication channels and media are increasingly complex. It can be expensive as well.

Next time: Can small and medium-size companies build their brands?















Monday, March 7, 2011

Brand Building



It's 2011 and print is still with us. Although beleagured, print remains a key ingredient in the B2B mix. It has impact and shelf-life; it has texture and a certain portability. And print has a way of commanding an audience's attention that its flashing, beeping, buzzing electronic counterparts are hard-pressed to match. But for print to be most effective, it must be integrated with the Web and its own content.

One of print's primary roles is to drive prospects to the marketer's website. That's even true for branding ads. Brand loyalty is a sound foundation on which businesses can build enduring, profitable growth.

By aggressively competing on features and price, it's difficult for companies to create meaningful and lasting differences from their competitors. While customers benefit from price wars by saving money, they also get confused when choice is confined to price. The customer is in effect buying a commodity and has no sense of brand loyalty because little is known about the company making the product or about service after the sale.

Next time: The Brand is the Differentiation.

Monday, February 28, 2011

How do prospects react to your web site?




Is your web site informational and organized with smooth navigation that makes it easy for prospects to find the information they need? Or, do they get frustrated and leave your site? We've all visited those really bad web sites that instantly turn us off....and then we click off.

A great web site should be easy and quick to navigate. Speed is so important because it reduces frustration and helps prospects get to your content quickly. Your visitors need to be able to find their way around your web site easily or they will leave. Make sure to link all your pages together on each and every page using the top menu bar so they can be found quickly. Your contact information should also be included on each and every page.


Keep your web site simple. The latest flash, scrolling text boxes or moving banners won't impress anyone except maybe you and they will only slow down your site. The simpler the site, the quicker it will load and the better your prospects' experience. The "skip intro" button is the most clicked on button on the web for a reason.

On the Internet, sharing information has become so easy it's expected. Create a unique and original web site worth visiting, that solves prospects' problems and they will come back to visit again.

Teach and entertain your prospects.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Web Content


Buyers Crave Content

Buyers crave useful, relevant content to justify buying decisions. It's up to you to provide valuable content to help buyers make informed business decisions. Take stock of your current content and map it to your audience needs. Then, fill in any gaps. Maybe analytical buyers don't understand your approach to solving a problem. That might call for a case study. You don't have to start from the beginning when developing content. Often you can repurpose content to use across several media. For example, a whitepaper can become a webinar and later a video. Or, a technical article can be repurposed into a series of blog entries.

Users Want A Multimedia Experience

As with most audiences, your prospects and customers are now reading and watching and listening to online content. Take advantage of this trend by offering more that just words on a screen. You have plenty of source material to create videos. You can record interviews, product demos and presentations--delivering anything from expert analysis and advice to product announcements. And don't forget to promote your videos everywhere you can--on web sites and blogs using links and banners and via email and social media.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Measuring Return On Investment



For the last several years, return on investment (ROI) has been "top of mind" for advertisers and non-advertisers alike. With nearly every company visit, discussion starts out with ROI. Marketers are searching for ways to measure return on investment for both print and electronic advertising. More than ever, perhaps due to expanding web options, marketers want to know if they're spending their ad dollars wisely.

Researching how to measure ROI all this time, I must admit that I've held on to some old metrics. For some that remember the old reader service card, ROI for print ads was measured by numbers of so-called "bingo card" inquiry returns. Then with web sites, ROI was measured by number of ad hits and links to advertisers' own web sites. In both cases, quantative results were the criteria.

Then, more recently, I had a "duh" awakening. To measure the impact and effectiveness of advertising and branding on a quantitative bottom line alone is a mistake. There are far too many facets of the success quotation. The value of reputation, relationships, brand awareness and buyer attitudes are impossible to measure by quantative numbers. ROI instead should be measured by:

... total sales revenue
... change in awareness of your brand
... change in market share
... change in buying pattern for your products
... change in intent to buy
... change in incremental sales revenue
... customer retention

How did I arrive at this revelation? Watching several NFL playoff games on TV this weekend, I viewed commercials for Sony, IPad, Verizon, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Hyundai, AT&T, Reebok, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Gillette Fusion, Budweiser, Dos Equis, even M&M's and more. While I didn't rush out to buy any of these products this morning, I might do so down the road. Their brands are certainly imbedded in my mind! In the end, branding is a life of its own.




MY OBJECTIVE:

To share common sense lessons learned with 40-plus years experience in marketing, sales and as a B2B publisher.

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