Innovative B2B Marketing: New models, processes and theory [2 ed.] 9781398604780, 9781398604766, 9781398604773, 2022017626

Citation preview

i

PRAISE FOR INNOVATIVE B2B MARKETING

If you read any B2B marketing publication this year, this should be it! Simon Hall provides us with a refreshing view, relevant content and truly practical advice, touching on many areas pertinent in the B2B marketing world right now and for the future. Absolutely fantastic insight for any marketer. Catherine Dutton, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Atos How do you build best-in-class B2B strategy in today’s digital economy? How are great B2B brands built? How do you select the right lead nurturing agency? Innovative B2B Marketing is a rich treasure trove of B2B strategic wisdom. Shenda Loughnane, Global MD, iProspect B2B marketers today need to be more dynamic than ever before, but this can be difficult in an environment where the complexity of the tools, technologies, techniques and channels has exploded, leaving many of us floundering. Innovative B2B Marketing provides the guidance that all B2B marketers need to help them navigate for success. I will be keeping this book very close to hand. Richard Robinson, former Chair, B2B Council DMA A long-overdue resource for anyone working in the B2B environment or wishing to enter into it. Simon Hall’s development of practical and relevant B2B marketing models make this essential reading for marketers and other professionals. Dawn Southgate, former Head of Knowledge, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)

iii

Innovative B2B Marketing New models, processes and theory

SECOND EDITION

Simon Hall

iv

Publisher’s note Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or the author.

First edition published in Great Britain and the United States in 2017 by Kogan Page Limited Second edition published 2022 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses: 2nd Floor, 45 Gee Street London EC1V 3RS United Kingdom www.koganpage.com

8 W 38th Street, Suite 902 New York, NY 10018 USA

4737/23 Ansari Road Daryaganj New Delhi 110002 India

Kogan Page books are printed on paper from sustainable forests. © Simon Hall, 2022 The right of Simon Hall to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBNs Hardback Paperback Ebook

978 1 3986 0478 0 978 1 3986 0476 6 978 1 3986 0477 3

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Control Number 2022017626 Typeset by Integra Software Services, Pondicherry Print production managed by Jellyfish Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY

v

This book is dedicated to Laura for her unwavering support and inspiration.

vi

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

vii

CONTENTS

List of figures and tables  xv About the author  xviii Preface  xix About this book  xx

01 Introduction to business marketing 1 The changing business landscape 1 What is B2B marketing? 1 Business market segmentation and size 5 The digital economy 7 Core trends and this book 8 References and further reading 10

PART ONE

Developing your marketing strategy 02 The new marketing mix 13 The marketing mix defined 13 Is the marketing mix still relevant? 14 The shift away from the four Ps 14 The new B2B marketing mix 15 Marketing mix and trade-offs 19 Reference 22

03 B2B marketing strategy and planning 23 Marketing strategy 23 B2B marketing strategy and planning 23 Marketing strategy formulation 29 The marketing funnel and beyond 29 B2B marketing strategies 31 Reference and further reading 33

viii

Contents

PART TWO

Improve B2B customer-centric marketing 04 Business customers and buying behaviours 37 The importance of business buying behaviours 37 Identifying business buying behaviours 39 Business buying influencers 40 Buyer types 42 Types of buying situation 44 Changes to business buying behaviour 45 Buyer triggers 46 Further reading 47

05 Acquisition marketing 48 Customer acquisition and customer lifecycle 48 Acquisition marketing and types of acquisition customer 49 Applying ADEPIR to acquisition 50 Creating the acquisition campaign 53 Implementation of acquisition marketing 55 Acquisition marketing strategies and tactics 56 References and further reading 58

06 Retention and loyalty marketing 59 The REAP model 59 Customer loyalty 62 Tailoring communications 65 Retention marketing and marketing communication mix differences 66 How to increase customer loyalty 66 Advocacy marketing 68 Customer satisfaction and marketing 69 Identifying next purchase 70 References and further reading 71

07 Marketing for preventing customer attrition 72 What is customer attrition? 72 Why customers lapse 73

Contents

Loss of a customer 74 Churn prevention (lapse prevention) 75 Signals of customers about to churn 75 Customer satisfaction 76 Marketing and integrating with customer services 77 Reacquisition marketing 77 Role of marketing in preventing customer churn 80 Getting to know customer segments 80 Data and data integration for customer churn prevention 81 Strategies to prevent churn 82 Further reading 82

08 C-suite marketing  83 C-suite and C-suite marketing 83 The importance of the C-suite 85 C-suite marketing challenges 86 The C-suite marketing mix 87 C-suite communication 89 C-suite collaboration and communities 90 C-suite loyalty 93 References 94

09 B2B product and solutions marketing 95 Product and portfolio marketing 95 Product marketing: hardware, software and services 96 The shift away from ‘products’ 97 Building effective value propositions 99 Towards solutions marketing 102 Communicating solutions effectively 109

PART THREE

‘Transform’ through content and digital marketing 10 Digital and content marketing 113 The digital marketing evolution 113 Changing B2B digital marketing channels 114

ix

x

Contents

Driving forces 115 The changing face of B2B 117 Digital and sales 118 References and further reading 119

11 Digital marketing strategy and planning 121 Digital marketing strategy objectives 121 Digital challenges and opportunities 126 Resources 128 Digital marketing value chain 129 Selecting the digital channel mix 130 Digital marketing measurement 131 Attribution models 132 Reference 134

12 B2B digital marketing channels 135 What is a digital marketing channel? 135 The challenge of B2B website marketing 137 Next get found: SEO and search 138 B2B email 140 Mobile marketing 142 Online PR 144 Digital advertising 145 Webinars and webcasts 145 Digital video 147 Communication channel integration 147 References and further reading 148

13 Content marketing 149 Content and content marketing 149 The benefits of B2B content marketing 150 Content marketing insights 150 Differences with B2B content marketing 151 What is great content? 151 Content creation 152 References and further reading 164

Contents

14 B2B social media marketing 165 Social media evolution 165 Benefits of social media for business 166 Social media channels 166 Social sales and marketing 168 The social media marketing process 169 Social media marketing enablers 170 Social and the customer cycle 171 Implementing a B2B social media advocacy programme 175 Social listening and monitoring 176 Social media channel selection 177 References 178

15 B2B brand building 179 Introduction 179 B2B brand touchpoints 181 Brand-building obstacles 182 B2B brand-building goals and programmes 183 Brand loyalty 185 Importance of brand consistency 185 Brand-building stages 186 References and further reading 192

PART FOUR

‘Collaborate’ with partners 16 Partnership marketing 197 Introduction and the 8th P 197 Types of marketing partnerships 199 Identifying the partner 199 SEO partners 199 Content syndication partners 200 Blogging partners – blogging outreach 201 Telemarketing partners 203 Business communities and associations 203 B2B sponsorships 205 Speakers as partners for webinars and podcasts 205

xi

xii

Contents

Marketing partners according to stage of the buyer journey 206 Finding and selecting the right partner 208 Reference 210

17 B2B influencer marketing 211 What is influencer marketing? 211 The influencer marketing process 214 Further reading 222

18 The modern B2B channel landscape 223 B2B channel partner marketing 223 Channel partner types 225 The changing channel landscape 226 Channel selection 227 B2B distributor marketing vs channel reseller marketing 228 Channel partner and marketing alignment 229 Types of channel marketing strategies 232 Channel partner acquisition marketing 232 Channel partner for customer acquisition 235 References 237

19 Marketing to and through channel partners 238 ‘To’ and ‘through’ channel partner marketing 238 Marketing to channel partners 239 Digital channel partner communication 241 Offline channel partner communication 242 Selecting channel marketing ‘to’ communications 243 Channel partner enablement 244 Marketing to channel partners – solutions 246 Marketing through channel partners – definition 247 Types of through channel partner marketing 248 Marketing through channel partners – lead generation 249 Gaining channel partner mindshare 252 Partner programmes 253 Reference 256

Contents

PART FIVE

Optimizing marketing execution 20 Sales and marketing alignment 259 The importance of alignment 259 Benefits of sales and marketing alignment 260 Organizational obstacles to alignment 261 Establishing sales and marketing alignment 262 Alignment areas 263 Alignment initiative: sales integration 266 Technologies for supporting alignment 268 References 270

21 Account-based marketing 272 ABM defined 272 Benefits of ABM 273 ABM insights 274 ABM types 274 Challenges with ABM 275 The ABM process 275 Account identification and profiling 277 Executing ABM 280 ABM key success factors 282 Is ABM right for you? 282 Measuring ABM 284 References and further reading 285

22 Lead generation 287 Introduction 287 Challenges impacting lead generation 289 Types of leads 289 The customer buying cycle and intent data 290 The lead generation process 291 Gated or ungated content 293 Lead magnets 295 Lead generation tactics and strategies 296 Landing pages 296

xiii

xiv

Contents

23 Lead nurturing 300 Introduction 300 Lead nurturing defined 300 Importance of lead nurturing 301 Using customer journeys 301 What we’re doing with lead nurturing 302 Lead nurturing by communication channel 304 Lead qualification and lead scoring 305 Lead handover 308 Lead nurturing strategies 308 AI and lead nurturing 310 Lead nurturing via sales 310 Sales follow-up 311 References and further reading 312

24 Modern B2B events marketing 313 B2B events marketing 313 B2B events trends 314 Events marketing goals 315 B2B events type and segmentation 315 In-person events 316 Virtual and online events 320 Event marketing before, during and after the event – the BDA framework 323 References 326

25 Measuring and evaluating B2B marketing 327 Measuring across the customer lifecycle 327 Measuring reach and awareness 328 Measuring acquisition 329 Measuring retention 331 Measuring loyalty and advocacy 333 Outcome and process measures 334 Marketing reporting and analytics 336 Evaluating B2B marketing effectiveness 337 Optimizing use of marketing budgets 338 References and further reading 341 Index  343

xv

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Figure 3.4 Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 Figure 5.1 Figure 5.2 Figure 6.1 Figure 6.2 Figure 7.1 Figure 7.2 Figure 7.3 Figure 8.1 Figure 8.2 Figure 9.1 Figure 9.2 Figure 9.3 Figure 9.4 Figure 11.1 Figure 11.2 Figure 11.3 Figure 11.4 Figure 12.1 Figure 12.2 Figure 13.1 Figure 13.2 Figure 13.3 Figure 13.4

Innovative B2B marketing 9 The new marketing mix (updated) 17 Marketing mix process 20 Traditional vs new B2B marketing planning 24 Marketing strategy formulation 29 From funnels to cycles 31 B2B marketing strategies 32 The B2B buyer process 38 The decision-making unit 44 Customer lifecycle 49 Acquisition process 51 Customer loyalty process 64 Customer loyalty 65 Why customers lapse 74 Identifying customer churn: signals 76 How to segment 79 C-suite messaging 88 C-suite and their gatekeepers 91 Core and augmented product 98 Value proposition creation 101 The 5 Whys technique 102 Integrated solutions marketing 105 Digital marketing strategy framework 123 The 4Ss 128 The digital marketing value chain 129 Attribution models 133 Hub and spoke 137 Email and the B2B buyer journey 143 Content creation process 153 Buyer persona template 155 Content map 157 Stakeholder content mapping 158

xvi

List of figures and tables

Figure 14.1 Figure 14.2 Figure 14.3 Figure 15.1 Figure 15.2 Figure 15.3 Figure 15.4 Figure 16.1 Figure 16.2 Figure 16.3 Figure 16.4 Figure 17.1 Figure 17.2 Figure 17.3 Figure 18.1 Figure 18.2 Figure 19.1 Figure 19.2 Figure 20.1 Figure 20.2 Figure 21.1 Figure 21.2 Figure 21.3 Figure 21.4 Figure 22.1 Figure 22.2 Figure 23.1 Figure 23.2 Figure 23.3 Figure 24.1 Figure 24.2 Figure 25.1 Figure 25.2 Figure 25.3

B2B social media navigator 168 Social media marketing process 170 CLC social media 172 B2B Brand Levels 180 B2B brand touchpoints 182 B2B brand-building process 187 B2B brand positioning map 189 Bridging market gaps 198 Partnerships by buyer journey stage 207 Partnership selection table 209 Partnership evaluation table 210 Influencer types 214 Influencer marketing process 216 Influencer identifier 218 Channel partner acquisition process 234 Customer acquisition through channel 236 Marketing to channel partners (key areas) 240 Marketing through channel partners 247 Alignment radar 263 Key areas of alignment 267 ABM process 276 The ABM process and key applications 278 Account identification and selection 279 ABM and the buying cycle 283 The lead generation process 292 When to gate 294 Using customer journeys 303 How we nurture 304 Lead scoring 307 Events and the buyer journey 314 Events – before, during and after (BDA) 324 Measuring acquisition 330 Measuring retention and loyalty 332 Outcome and process measures 335

List of figures and tables

TABLES

Table 1.1 Table 1.2 Table 1.3 Table 2.1 Table 3.1 Table 6.1 Table 10.1 Table 17.1 Table 18.1 Table 18.2 Table 19.1 Table 19.2 Table 19.3 Table 19.4 Table 21.1 Table 24.1 Table 25.1

The changing shape of industry  2 B2B marketing types  4 Estimates number of business UK private sector (thousands)  5 Marketing mix: mix/trade-off review  21 Relevant differentiation source  30 Differences between retention and acquisition  61 Transactional digital vs relationship digital 114 Identifying the right influencers 219 Distributors vs resellers 229 Marketing and channel partner 229 Digital and offline marketing vehicles 239 Audience and communication/content type 243 Digital and offline marketing vehicles 249 Leads tracking via channel partners 251 ABM fit checklist 284 Social media and events 325 KPI alignment and goals 340

xvii

xviii

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simon Hall is a marketing innovator with around 30 years’ experience in technology and services marketing. In his former career, he served as UK Chief Marketing Officer for Dell as well as in many senior European roles at Acer, Microsoft and Toshiba. He is also author of the book B2B Digital Marketing Strategy. In 2016 Simon founded NextGen Marketing Solutions, with the aim to help companies of all sizes capitalize on the latest marketing techniques. He is passionate about pioneering new and exciting initiatives and sharing his knowledge and experience with the current and next generation of marketers. In addition to running courses and workshops with companies on various B2B marketing and digital marketing areas, Simon lectures final-year university students and degree apprentices in strategy and marketing at Pearson Business School. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and is a member of the DMA B2B Council.

xix

PREFACE

Innovative B2B Marketing is a clear, practical guide that demystifies modern aspects of B2B marketing, including new marketing models, processes and thought leadership pieces. The new customer buying habits, the digital era and the new industry landscape influenced by the application economy have forced marketing to shift away from using marketing funnels and traditional marketing models. The focus of this book is to explain and promote all the new B2B marketing models and practices that have arisen as a result of these key changes in the marketing space in the past five years. You will find a number of case studies throughout the book; please use these as examples to apply and adapt to your organization and sector. This book is perfect for any marketer working in or having an interest in the B2B space; it is also suitable for non-marketers wanting to have a grasp of the core elements of modern B2B marketing. I truly hope you benefit from my experience and practices leveraging these models. B2B marketers will find new approaches, models, processes and solutions to help them deal with all key current B2B marketing challenges. In short, this book is great for marketers at any stage in their career.

xx

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Part One: Developing your marketing strategy The newly evolved business landscape has impacted the traditional marketing mix over the past decades, driving a shift away from product-centric approaches to customer-centric and more recently towards a more dynamic marketing mix including social and offline communities. Associated with the changing business, the marketing strategy and planning activities have needed to be adapted; this section looks at how to deal with this new landscape and provides a framework for a new marketing mix as well as guidance on how to create and plan strategies.

Part Two: Improve B2B customer-centric marketing Customer-centric marketing is about putting the customer at the forefront of any marketing initiative; it’s about viewing customers as valued entities. A customer-centric marketing approach can help a business add value and identify ways to differentiate through leveraging customer relationships and insights. During this section we look at different stages of the customer lifecycle from customer acquisition through to retention and loyalty. Also included is a section on C-suite marketing, as the ability to market to senior business executives is also becoming more important for vendors’ future success and profitability. Customer solutions marketing is about how vendors can market solutions and offerings as opposed to product marketing, where the focus is on providing solutions according to customers’ needs.

Part Three: ‘Transform’ through content and digital marketing With shifts in buyers’ journeys, in media consumption, offline and online channels, and in technologies, it’s more important than ever before for

About this book

marketers to think strategically and embrace different tactics that support business goals. Within this section we’ll cover the main aspects of B2B digital and content marketing from B2B digital channels all the way through to B2B brand building

Part Four: ‘Collaborate’ with partners Marketing partners today play an increasingly important (if not critical) role in supporting different marketing challenges, supporting business growth, providing solutions, accessing customer segments and geographies, as well as many other business goals. This section looks at different types of marketing partners according to buyer journey stage, by looking at influencers and how to market to and through channel partners.

Part Five: Optimizing marketing execution With new digital applications, such as marketing automation, CRM etc, B2B marketers today can and need to engage sales better and maximize marketing performance. This sector spans topics such as how to engage and market to accounts, how to engage customers better through events, and how to improve lead generation and lead nurturing. Across all these areas B2B marketers need to understand the new role of sales and the new role of marketing and work more effectively than before as one sales and marketing unit.

Supporting online resources for this book can be found at koganpage.com/Innovative-B2B-Marketing

xxi

xxii

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

1

01 Introduction to business marketing The changing business landscape In less than 100 years we’ve moved through multiple eras of business and industry, from the production age through to the marketing age and recently from the globalization era to the era of digital and applications. Various factors have affected a shift away from internationalization and globalization in the 21st century; businesses during this period moved from a model of focusing on globalizing to a more balanced model where businesses benefited from globalization but reverted to a more localized business approach, sometimes called the ‘Glocal’ model. Business today looks and feels very different even compared to 10 years ago. It needs to deal with increased data and information, to understand and capitalize on digital technologies, to operate with rapidly shifting business models and new working behaviours where location is becoming less relevant, and now the additional challenges of a global pandemic. As a result of this dynamically changing business environment, businessto-business marketing has needed to change; new models have needed to be developed and old models adapted. This book looks at the core areas of marketing where change has occurred and provides up-to-date tools for B2B marketers to deal with this challenging new business environment.

What is B2B marketing? B2B marketing, sometimes referred to as ‘business marketing’ or ‘industrial marketing’, is the practice of individuals or organizations marketing products or services to other companies or organizations. The customer in this

2

INNOVATIVE B2B MARKETING

case is an organization rather than an individual customer or consumer, though the products, services and solutions they purchase may sometimes be the same or similar.

B2B vs B2C marketing B2B marketing differs from consumer (or B2C) marketing in several ways. Firstly, B2B marketing is about building long-term relationships, not just because of the nature of the products and services sold but quite simply because the buying process can be much longer, often lasting more than a year and in some cases multiple years. If we compare that to buying a mobile phone, the buyer might be influenced by a positive review on a website, compare reviews for phones, and within days or even hours move to purchasing. In a B2B situation, a purchasing department may review multiple new mobile phones for their salesforce. They will look at how easily the phone can be integrated into their IT operations; there may be a review with finance regarding level of expenditure required; there might be a review with senior-level IT people to discuss levels of internal technical support or how to support any mobile phone requests through an externally led group. Another difference is in the number of stakeholders. In B2C marketing one could argue that friends or family might influence an individual’s TABLE 1.1  The changing shape of industry

Business era (20th and 21st centuries)

Description

Period

Production era

Emphasis on goods production, innovation in production techniques enabling faster manufacturing

Since 1900-1930

Marketing era

Focus on consumer and to satisfy their needs and preferences

Since 1950s

Relationship era

Deepening engagement with customers, employees and suppliers

Since 1990s

Globalization

Greater focus on internationalization of business, going global

Since 1990s

Internet age

Greater use of the internet for information, for commerce

Since mid-1990s

Digital (or application) age

Characterized by digital applications

Since late 2000s

INTRODUCTION TO B2B MARKETING

purchase behaviour, but typically decisions in B2C are made by one person. In B2B there are on average over six stakeholders and three departments involved in the purchase (Toman, Adamson and Gomez, 2017). Decision making can also be more formalized, with different steps and approval milestones to get through before a purchase decision is made. In B2B, quite often the complexity of offerings/products being discussed is greater; it is not just about buying one product but a collection of products and services in volume.

Similarities between B2B and B2C marketing CHANNEL

Despite the many differences there are points of crossover where B2B is similar to B2C marketing. For example, businesses targeting small businesses or home offices may use similar distribution channels and retailers as those for consumers; small business owners may use retailers or other consumer channels to purchase goods in small quantities. THE EMOTIONAL FACTOR

Consumer purchases are typically regarded as emotional, aspiration, a desire for something, and it is assumed that B2B purchases are mainly rational. In fact, emotions also play a role in B2B purchases, such as when a small or medium business owner is purchasing goods for their business. Even in large organizations an individual who has the ultimate responsibility for procuring for the business may be emotionally influenced, as the purchase decision, if it goes wrong, could impact the business and its performance negatively. In fact, according to a recent study, B2B buyers are 50 per cent more likely to buy a product or service if they see personal value for themselves (Hague, 2019). LARGE AUDIENCES TO TARGET

Consumer marketing tends to be aimed at large groups of consumers through mass media and retailers; likewise, small businesses and small office users may also fall into large audience groups. For example, a business selling to a small business community needs to send messages to thousands or millions of businesses, if not segmented. SEGMENTATION

Another difference between B2C and B2B marketing can occur with segmentation. In B2C, segmentation can be applied across life stage and lifestyle,

3

4

INNOVATIVE B2B MARKETING

TABLE 1.2  B2B marketing types

Transactional B2B marketing – SOHO/ small business

Relationship B2B marketing – scaling business/medium/large

Product driven Large target audience = small businesses [>4m in UK] Simpler buying process Small size of purchase; more quantity Single stakeholder in buying process Emotional buying decisions Increasing and generating revenue

Trust-based relationships Small, focused audience [12 months

Purchase size

3

Largest

Mid-size

Smallest

Propensity for purchasing high-margin products

4

High

Medium

Low

A1

A2

Most recent – last 0–6 months

+

A3

Most frequent every 3 months

A1 + A2 + A3 + A4

+

Largest bid

Least recent >12 months

A4

+

Highest propensity

= Primary target list

Reacquisition marketing strategies So what are some strategies to reacquiring customers? One is about diving deeper into customer preferences and using that information to better speak to the customer’s needs and answering their issues and problems. Other strategies might include using nudge techniques through marketing suggestions; through nudging we are making suggestions regarding possible next purchases without being too pushy. If you have information regarding timing of previous purchases, e.g. at specific times in the quarter or year, use this to provide reminders. In the area of B2B software this might

79

80

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

be easier due to renewal dates etc, but even outside of that it is worth using CRM information that highlights timings related to business needs to send personally timed messages related to the customers’ business needs. Another strategy is to use customer feedback as a way to reignite communication with the customer; the act of asking for feedback can be engaging but of course this can capture reasons as to why the customer went silent. Finally, vendors can employ the strategy of recognizing loyalty; recognizing spend thresholds or important loyalty milestones such as having been a customer for one year, three years or five years.

Role of marketing in preventing customer churn As mentioned earlier, marketing own a number of touchpoints that shape the customer experience, and as such can influence directly and indirectly whether a customer stays with the organization. More recently we have a set of insights we can draw on in terms of digital behaviours. Marketing will often also manage data and information relating to CRM by looking at purchase behaviours, and are able to do customer research, sentiment reviews through surveys, or even social media analytics. We’ve heard that marketing and customer service departments can work together to optimize content but sales also has a role to play in working together with marketing to help with messaging and content. Marketers together with sales can ensure that appropriate communication channels are used and used correctly, for example not over-emailing customers. Marketers today can benefit from using email preference centres, which are digital applications that allow organizations to understand customers’ preferences in terms of themes, frequency of engagement, level and type of engagement.

Getting to know customer segments As mentioned above, one part of preventing customer attrition is about understanding customer experience as well as understanding preferences. Of course having all this information is fine if it can be used practically. To be able to better understand our customers we should be segmenting them and building insights relating to a customer segment or type. In retention marketing, segmentation can be along the lines of the customer lifecycle according to onboarding, growth, loyalty or advocacy. Other segmentation

MARKETING FOR PREVENTING CUSTOMER ATTRITION

approaches could be related to their share of wallet, i.e. how much potential spend for a product or service they are actually spending. Through segmentation we’re able to better tailor sales, marketing, operations and ensure we understand needs and answer said needs.

Data and data integration for customer churn prevention Data from marketing automation and from CRM databases together can provide us with information regarding what content customers engage with, what offers they’ve responded to, social media intelligence, sentiment, likes and comments. Another way to use data is to predict not only next purchases but also why customers might leave, combining data to create a ‘likelihood to leave’ score. Of course, one can collect the likelihood to leave score from the NPS or other customer satisfaction reports but not every customer fills those reports out or is included in them. With data we can pinpoint the customers and their likelihood to leave. Data can also help us to predict the next best product, service or solution to propose to the customer. One way to capture data is using different types of analytics. Diagnostic analytics is typically used to diagnose customer churn after the fact, but it can be useful to help reengage the churned customers or to prevent customer churn where we identify similar types of customers who buy currently from us who match the profile of the already churned customers. Other analytics might be predictive analytics which allow us to predict the future actions of customers, or outcome analysis which helps us to understand which things drive certain outcomes, for example competitors’ or our own price moves, change of account manager, reduction in engagement or interaction, etc.

CRM AND HOW TO USE IT CRM applications and data can go a long way in helping us prevent customer attrition, and identify purchase behaviours. CRM systems use customer data and translate it into valuable actionable insights. They can be used to better personalize marketing campaigns, for example by using a recipient’s name in a communication or suggesting suitable products they currently buy or might be interested in.

81

82

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

Strategies to prevent churn Across this chapter we’ve discussed a number of aspects relating to preventing churn and we can summarize these into the following key strategies: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Root causes of churn. Analysis behind churn and reasons for customer attrition. Improving engagement with customers. Engagement can be through better or more suitable content, and through responding with preferred topics or subject themes. Better understanding existing customers and segmenting them. Understanding customers through clear segmentation and then using various methods and applications capture a set of insights per customer segment. Customer service and marketing integration. Working together better and ensuring lines of communication remain open from marketing to customer service and vice versa. Better onboarding. Having a good onboarding approach can prevent customers from churning.

ACTIVITY Ask your customer service departments for a breakdown of the latest customer complaints and ask them whether there have been any product/ service-related complaints. Using any sales and purchase figures have a look at 10 random customer accounts and their purchases over the past two years; do you notice any changes in purchase behaviour?

Further reading Reichheld, F and Shefter, P (2000) The economics of e-loyalty, https://hbswk.hbs. edu/archive/the-economics-of-e-loyalty (archived at https://perma.cc/LY2A4EDR) Stillwagon A (2014) Did you know: a 5% increase in retention increases profits by up to 95%, https://smallbiztrends.com/2014/09/increase-in-customer-retentionincreases-profits.html (archived at https://perma.cc/2EH6-B572)

83

08 C-suite marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

C-suite – who they are

●●

importance of C-suite

●●

C-suite marketing challenges

●●

C-suite and personas

●●

C-suite marketing success factors

●●

C-suite contact strategies

●●

measuring C-suite marketing

C-suite and C-suite marketing ‘C-suite’ is a term commonly used to refer to the senior executive level of companies and includes all executives described as CEOs, CIOs, CMOs or other ‘Chief’ or ‘C-level’ positions. ‘C-suite’ for the purposes of this chapter also includes those who may not have a C-based acronym to their title but who operate at the senior executive level within an organization. In a similar fashion, ‘C-suite marketing’ refers to all aspects of marketing oriented towards C-level or senior executive decision makers in a business.

C-suite roles The main C-suite roles are as follows: ●●

CEO: concerned with the success of the company and involved in creating its vision. CEOs hold their management team accountable; they think

84

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

about revenues, margin and the performance of the business on a regular basis. In engaging a CEO, marketing needs to communicate at a business level rather than on a technical or product level. ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

CFO: manages and reports on the financials of the business. CFOs report financials and highlight any red flags; they’re interested in marketing from a point of view of what it can deliver and the return on the overall marketing resources – budgets, people, etc. CIO: handles all IT requirements for the company. CIOs handle the internal IT support and ensure the business and employees are supported through equipment and infrastructure. CSO: sometimes known as the general manager, head of sales. CSOs lead and direct the salespeople in the organization; they are responsible for sales targets and all aspects of sales. COO: concerned with the operations of the business from a logistics and supply perspective. CMO: is concerned with the brand, marketing communications and supporting business growth through delivering new business opportunities through leads, clicks or calls, or supporting sales through sales enablement. CMOs are also typically responsible for market research, market insights and providing greater customer insights through data.

C-suite trends ●●

●●

●●

Since 2018 there have been a number of observable trends related to marketing to executive-level decision makers. One area that the majority of executives cite as drawing them to consuming content, is utility of content (or usefulness of content) (Carufel, 2018). Associated with this trend is a shocking statistic that only 31 per cent of C-suite officers rate content created by firms as very good and 38 per cent find the content barely satisfactory. Another area is the growing use of social media by C-level executives, with around 84 per cent using social media to influence purchase decisions. Another consideration in marketing to the C-suite is that 90 per cent of C-level prospects ignore cold outreach, pointing to the need for B2B marketers to find ways to entice and engage them with content through third-party channels before any direct outreach (King, 2016).

C-SUITE MARKETING

●●

A final major trend is the need to integrate mobile into marketing; 79 ­per cent of C-level executives expect a seamless mobile experience and that a brand’s mobile site will work as well as their desktop version (Quartz, 2018).

In summary, these trends point to the need to look more at quality, as the majority of content is not at the level expected by C-level executives, as well as better integrating social media and mobile.

The importance of the C-suite Why C-suite? C-suite marketing is for organizations that want to think of longer-term, strategic and essentially more profitable business relationships with customers, through building more senior executive relationships and marketing to them. Where the sale is thought of as a transaction and to non-senior executives, the chances are that the supplier is missing out on potential opportunities. Typically, engaging the senior executive level of companies means suppliers can enter into more strategic conversations, propose different value propositions and solidify business relationships, which opens up wider business opportunities.

Broader view of needs Senior-level executives, or C-suite, will have a broader view of the company direction and will be interested in unlocking potential through capital, resource or other means. They could also be looking for partners in the form of suppliers who can offer a different relationship. It may be that the vendor organization can offer something the company hasn’t thought about or that the proposition being offered needs to be considered with a long-term perspective, which at a lower level in the company may not be appreciated. For example, a proposition which in the short term costs a lot more but over a year reduces energy bills or other operating costs may be more positively considered by a financial head who is looking at long-term benefits rather than a more junior person in the purchasing department who is taking a short-term view of the business.

85

86

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

Early in decision cycle We discovered in earlier chapters that the main challenge today for B2B marketers is to influence or engage customers or decision makers earlier in the buyer journey so they are more informed and influenced to purchase products or services. One way to resolve this challenge comes from deepening engagement with the C-suite by a customer who then can influence purchase decisions within the organization earlier on in the decision process.

C-suite marketing challenges C-suite are probably particularly challenging to engage; they’re generally extremely busy people, with packed calendars. They tune out of traditional marketing messages more than non-C-suite, skip TV ads and don’t click on digital advertising. In the office they receive masses of emails and brochures and, more than others, need to be very discerning in what they read and respond to. C-suite typically have a set of gatekeepers that protect them, such as PAs, heads of department reporting into them, and assistants who filter emails, phone calls, etc. C-suite executives will also typically have very specific interests and motivations depending on their area of responsibility and topical business challenges, so unless potential vendors are on top of the latest trends and challenges and unless they tailor those to the sector or language used by such C-suite executives they may find very little or no response to marketing. Once a C-suite executive is engaged and interested in a vendor’s value proposition and what it can deliver, the time between the first engagement and concluding a deal is likely to be much longer than when engaging purchasing departments directly. However, the potential benefits are much greater in terms of broader business arrangements and more profitable business. It does mean that success from marketing or business activities aimed at the C-suite can be difficult to demonstrate due to the length of the purchase process. Other challenges are that in some organizations the C-suite is large, consisting of many stakeholders, so detailed targeting and sub-segmentation are required. With the above taken into consideration it’s clear that approaches such as database or email marketing will probably not work to engage a C-suite executive.

C-SUITE MARKETING

The C-suite marketing mix For C-suite marketing we can use an adaptation of the new marketing mix we discussed in Chapter 2, with some changes. The relevant areas of C-suite marketing include 1) content adapted and tailored to a specific type of senior-level decision maker, 2) communication that involves looking at how to use communication channels, 3) collaboration and leveraging C-suite communities where one can look at involving suitable third-party organizations to support marketing to C-suite or activities that engage them, and 4) shaping customer solutions that answer needs not only at a product/service level but also at an organizational level. We’ll look at customer solutions in the next chapter, but let’s explore the others in more detail below.

Content for C-suite As per the research mentioned above, the majority of content doesn’t meet the needs of most C-level executives. So, what do we need to consider when thinking about creating content for this ‘suite’ of executives? The first point is that although senior-level decision makers may be part of the C-suite, they don’t act as a suite of people; they are mostly different in their needs, and what the CMO looks for in content will be different to what the CFO looks for. There are some common interests such as the top-line growth of the business and improving bottom-line margin, but how they achieve that varies from role to role in the C-suite. Remember the point before about research on utility of content? It won’t be enough just talking about top-line growth; companies targeting C-level executives need to be tailoring content towards specific roles. According to the IBM Global C-suite study, executives are more likely to rely on advice and information from peers or people they perceive as peers rather than from self-proclaimed experts.

Thought leadership content One common form of content that C-suite executives consume is thought leadership content. Good thought leadership content provides insights relevant to a C-level problem, provided in a format expected by C-level prospects, e.g. reports, blogs, podcasts, videos, guides, presentations.

87

88

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

Thought leadership content needs to be accessible from multiple devices and still support a good user experience; mobile, tablet and desktop should all be optimized.

C-suite content creation In terms of actually creating C-level content there are some different approaches. One needs to consider that marketing and marketing agencies (which are responsible for content creation) tend to be very good at identifying products, solutions and their related benefits and messages, but creating content and messages for C-level executives requires a very different approach. It is about thinking about different levels of content – see Figure 8.1. Potentially we can identify four levels in the messaging and related content. The obvious place to go is to look at the impact on revenue and profitability, though actually the most interesting area to look at is the level below that, Level 3, as this will provide more context as to how the profit or revenue is positively impacted. Other approaches in creating content for C-level executives include actually leveraging an influencer or C-level executive as part of your marketing content to deliver to C-level prospects – C-level executives who write blogs or who agree to participate in the content creation from the B2B marketing. This could involve the marketing department setting up video interviews, podcasts, or asking for a comment from a C-level executive; it could also take the form of an expert C-suite panel or a webinar.

FIGURE 8.1  C-suite messaging Example: Purchase of new notebooks for a customer’s sales team How revenue, profit, sales volume are positively impacted

Level 4

Revenue increases

How business benefits can benefit organizations more broadly

Level 3

Productivity per sales head improves

How benefits translate into some business benefit

Level 2

Faster process or more efficient technology supports salesperson in being more productive

Immediate benefits related to product/service features

Level 1

Notebook has a faster processor, has latest mobile technology

C-SUITE MARKETING

Another approach is to engage the C-level prospect and co-create content with them; in fact, workshops, panels and councils are commonly found in industry and can be a great way not only to engage C-level executives but also as forums to create content. A final approach is to leverage C-level executives within the vendor as part of marketing; again this can take the form of videos, webinars, podcasts, blogs, quotes, etc.

C-suite and long-form content One key trend in the past five years has been that of long-form content. It was once thought that C-level prospects are more interested in snackable, digestible content in short-form, but long-form content has become more popular. So why is this? We constantly hear about this audience being timepressed and not able to find time to engage content, so why is long-form content popular? A potential reason is that C-level executives might consume such content in personal time or when they need to kill time by informing themselves on particular topics. According to statistics, more than one-third prefer traditional, longer formats in print (Rogers, 2017).

C-suite communication So how do we go about reaching C-suite executives? There are a number of options. We can leverage our own C-level executives to send messages via email if they are existing customers or via LinkedIn InMail either as a sponsored InMail or for free if the C-level prospect is within their networks. Another option is to market to trade associations, memberships or industrial associations if we know that C-level prospects are members. For example, if you’re trying to target CIOs then maybe you might want to leverage a CIO-based social media platform or even advertise via CIO.com. Another way to consider targeting is through those social media sites that have a detailed enough set of professional criteria. One final approach might be to leverage loyal customers or advocates who are open to referring you as a company to someone they know or who is in their network.

89

90

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

C-suite and social media In marketing to C-suite, social media plays an important role. If we consider that thought leadership content in its various formats is something commonly used to engage C-suite, we probably want to think about appropriate social media platforms. LinkedIn is probably an effective channel to use to promote medium- or long-form thought leadership blogs, whereas YouTube might be interesting to promote thought leadership videos. Having your company’s C-level executives using social media is a great way to engage other C-level executives. One good example is that of Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, who uses LinkedIn to capture the attention of his audience by showing behind-the-scenes looks into Delta Air Lines. Using LinkedIn and real-life or even raw-type content can be helpful in supporting transparency with other C-level execs (Alexis, 2019). Of course the company needs to encourage C-level executives to use social media by helping them with any trainings or guidance regarding how to use different platforms. Some companies develop programmes to encourage their C-level executives on social media by defining themes and providing relevant resources, and even gamifying the use of social media through platforms like Sociabble. Aside from LinkedIn, senior executives use Twitter at times and even Instagram, but when it comes to video, around 75 to 80 per cent watch workrelated videos on business-related sites. Fifty-two per cent watch work-related videos on YouTube and 65 per cent of senior executives visited a vendor’s website after watching a video (Shawn, 2014). As mentioned previously, C-level-relevant videos may include an interview with a C-level executive, an expert panel discussion, a quote, or some industry insights that have some utility.

C-suite collaboration and communities One of the main challenges organizations have with C-suite marketing is contacting and engaging C-suite people; these aspects of engaging C-suite executives may not come down to just selecting the right content or communication channels but how one engages them directly or via suitable partners. Here are some of the possibilities for engaging C-suite as new customers: ●●

Third-party research. Use a third-party research company to improve contact data; marketing can help to identify organizations which have contact data profiles.

FIGURE 8.2  C-suite and their gatekeepers PA

CEO Gatekeepers 6

CEO Gatekeepers 1

Cxx PA

PA

Reporting staff

Other teams

Cxx

Cxx Reporting staff

Other teams

PA Other teams

CIO

Cx Gatekeeper

CEO Gatekeepers 5

PA

Cxx Cx Gatekeeper

CMO

CEO CFO

PA

CSO

Cxx Reporting staff

Other teams

PA

Cx Gatekeeper

Other teams

Reporting staff

CEO Gatekeepers 3

Cxx Reporting staff

CEO Gatekeepers 2

COO

Cxx Other teams

Other teams

PA

Reporting staff

Other teams

Reporting staff

CEO Gatekeepers 4

91

92

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

●●

●●

Via industry associations. Executives are often part of multiple associations depending on function, background or business interests. For example, a CFO may be part of a financial organization or an accounting organization such as CIMA or others as well as leadership organizations. Reaching CFOs may be more effective through financial bodies or associations that have a long-standing relationship with the company’s executives. C-suite forums and memberships. Vendors can ask their executive level to engage and participate via forums on social platforms. Sometimes this type of activity is supported and managed by public relations to ensure messaging is right, and the right social platforms are leveraged.

Why the challenge in contacting? As mentioned earlier, one challenge in engaging C-suite is due to each one having gatekeepers in the form of department personnel or personal assistants who manage post and email on their behalf. As you can see from Figure 8.2, the gatekeeper is not just one person but can be multiple per C-level executive member and if the marketing department needs to target more than one C-level member the challenge multiplies.

CONTACT THE C-SUITE OF YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMERS Sometimes there are challenges in talking to C-level executives of your existing customers; this may be due to having an existing relationship that has been established at a manager level. Of course, an organization wants to ensure the existing relationship continues to be supported but may want to also develop a senior-level interaction. So how does one resolve this dilemma? Here are some options: ●●

●●

Vendor executive engagement. Marketing can enlist their company CEO or other C-suite representative to engage an existing or potential customer at a more senior level. Through having the C-suite of the vendor engaged, the message or communication would then be directed to the right level at the customer. Create a C-level event. Creating a specific event exclusive to C-suite will encourage customers to ensure the right level of people attend.

C-SUITE MARKETING

●●

●●

Build PA peer-to-peer relationships. A vendor could request their executive PA to build a relationship with the client’s own PA by offering opportunities for dinner or other forms of engagement opportunities. In turn this relationship-building serves as a way to remove the barrier of the main gatekeeper to the C-suite contact person. Two-pronged communication. Emails sent directly to executives will either go to PAs or into a spam folder, so having a two-pronged communication approach involving email and phone, as well as some other form of communication, will ensure a higher probability of the message reaching the intended target person.

C-suite loyalty How do companies gain C-suite loyalty? How do they sustain such loyalty with executives, and what is the role of marketing? Essentially, C-suite loyalty is a two-way process where both supplier executives and customer executives see benefits in the executive relationship. There are a number of ways such executive-level loyalty can be sustained, including: 1 Offer up information that only executives are privy to. This can be

through simply creating content only meant for executives and their pain points, or through more sophisticated approaches by providing access to specific online sites only for C-suite executives. 2 Three-way networking. Facilitate a relationship between a customer’s

executives, as well as between executives at the vendor and customer site. Marketing’s role here is to develop executive engagement opportunities for executives to come together. 3 Provide insights. A vendor could share interesting insights or tips with the

customer’s C-suite to keep them abreast of the latest news and market trends.

EXAMPLES FROM INDUSTRY In terms of companies which conduct C-suite marketing, one only needs to look at the large consulting companies such as Accenture, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Other organizations that tend to do a lot of C-suite marketing include IBM, Oracle, and the World Economic Forum, which target senior decision makers in large enterprises.

93

94

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

If one takes a look at Deloitte, one can find various examples of C-suite marketing include industry sector reports available for download, their Green Room, which is a podcast platform covering the latest thought leadership topics, their own Insights magazine, and applications for download.

ACTIVITIES Look at your top 30 accounts and ask your account manager what level of relationship the company has with their C-suite. Is it just with the CEO or with others? Where you have an existing C-suite relationship, look to build a forum or an event to discuss with them the latest trends regarding C-suite, sharing any observations from your company and its executive leadership.

References Alexis, C (2019) How to craft a winning C-suite social media strategy, https:// www.socialshakeupshow.com/c-suite-social-media-strategy/ (archived at https:// perma.cc/6X8N-XKGY) Carufel, R (2018) C-suite content consumption trends—here’s what they’re looking for, https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/c-suite-content-​ consumption-trends-heres-what-theyre-looking-for/ (archived at https://perma. cc/6JB7-F38E) IBM Corporation (2019) Global C-suite study, 20th edition, https://www.ibm.com/ thought-leadership/institute-business-value/c-suite-study (archived at https:// perma.cc/WXF5-5TA8) King, J (2016) 5 statistics that will change your view of the B2B buyer’s journey, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-statistics-change-your-view-b2b-buyersjourney-janet-king/ (archived at https://perma.cc/979M-D9NL) Quartz (2018) Global executives study, https://insights.qz.com/ges/2018/ (archived at https://perma.cc/BTE4-U4DL) Rogers, B (2017) Long-form content and print key to convey insights to the C-suite, https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2017/06/09/long-form-content-andprint-key-to-convey-insights-to-the-c-suite/ (archived at https://perma.cc/ 8YT5-Z5WD) Shawn (2014) Study: 80% of executives watch animated business video, https:// idearocketanimation.com/4279-animated-business-video-executives/ (archived at https://perma.cc/F72E-E48B)

95

09 B2B product and solutions marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

product and portfolio marketing

●●

product marketing: hardware, software and services

●●

building effective value propositions

●●

how to create a solution

●●

challenges in marketing a solution

●●

enabling the solutions marketing integration

●●

solutions marketing strategies

Product and portfolio marketing Product marketing is the science behind marketing products, where products take centre stage for marketing. The area of product marketing has seen a number of shifts in the past decade, such as an increasing shift to offering additional accessories and services, plus the additional increase of marketing services. This has had knock-on effects of managing greater complexity and lengthening of product lifecycles but also the possibility of offering more meaningful products and solutions that customers want. This use of e­ xtending product offerings in turn allows companies to differentiate themselves.

96

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

Portfolio marketing Few marketers today market just one product; most will market multiple products across hardware, software, services or a combination so the correct description is marketing of ‘offerings’ or ‘portfolio’ marketing. Portfolio marketing is about managing multiple products, each as discrete products or product categories.

Portfolio management Marketing departments typically have the responsibility of managing product and service offerings as well as the product mix to achieve business revenue and margin targets. Often there are products that serve to achieve unit/revenue targets while other products or services serve to achieve margin targets; it is rare that a business looks at the same product to achieve and maximize both margin and unit volumes. Portfolio marketing for many marketers brings the challenge of managing a marketing mix per product, and with multiple products or product types it means that marketers or marketing departments need to be able to manage different marketing mixes across each product type or category. Marketers and businesses tend to create portfolios according to customer type, size and segment or tailored to a different mix of customer need, e.g. where the vendor’s portfolio is broad.

Product marketing: hardware, software and services Product marketing can differ depending on whether the product is hardware, software or a service. Some of the similarities and differences are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Product hardware marketing refers to something tangible, whereas services and software tends to be less tangible. Sometimes product vendors will use services to differentiate or to help with selling products, e.g. free services to capture the customer’s attention. Tangible products are more susceptible to lifecycle impacts than services, which tend to be more easily adapted. Both hardware and software can come in packaged forms; for example, Microsoft offers customers delivery via the internet or offline channels such as retailers or the post.

B2B PRODUCT AND SOLUTIONS MARKETING

●●

●●

●●

●●

Hardware (and sometimes software) products need storing, so the ­logistics in delivery and warehousing become more time-consuming. Services are based on people delivering them. They are dependent on their skillsets and the quality of their output; they are less controllable than hardware or software products. One could view the person delivering the service as part of the product. The quality of services is based more on the subjective opinion of the customer, hence frameworks such as checklists or quality controllers are important. Measurement of service is subjective so evaluation approaches are needed such as questionnaires and surveys.

Lifecycle of products and services As mentioned above with the increase in portfolios and extension of services, lifecycle management of products has become more challenging. With tangible products (goods), lifecycle management becomes a bit easier but when extending the product with additional services the points of evolution of the service in the lifecycle become more difficult to define and identify. Services themselves tend to extend the lifecycle of the product/offering and services can also be adapted and changed on the go, as typically they are less at the mercy of build, design and test challenges than physical products.

The shift away from ‘products’ The core product and the extended product and solutions In product marketing there is typically one or multiple core products which can be hardware, software or service-based. Beyond the core product there are additional aspects such as warranty, packaging, brand and customer care known as the ‘augmented product’. In solutions marketing the core product can be multiple products tied together. Within B2B the augmented product is of great importance. For example, for software and hardware core products, service is a major way that businesses can differentiate themselves and demonstrate value add. Even for software, vendors such as Microsoft and Apple make the product tangible by using cards for buying iTunes or boxes for office applications. Services

97

98

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

FIGURE 9.1  Core and augmented product

Core product • Main product features

Supplementary product • Additional accessories • Additional services

augmentation is through customer care, brand or other aspects. A business needs to leverage augmented aspects of the solution in order to connect with customers, engage them and appeal to them.

Why evolve to become more solutions focused? Solutions marketing is all about being customer-centric; businesses have seen real benefits from moving to a customer-centric business model. By identifying customer needs, organizations can create better solutions; often customers have a need but are not aware of how to articulate the solutions or features they require. Take the example of dictation software. The customer needs to reduce the burden of typing at a keyboard throughout the day but may be unable to state that he or she needs a software application that can perform this task.

Product focused vs customer-centric So, what is the difference between product-focused and customer-centric product marketing? Product-focused marketing typically has a more specific value ­proposition or a value proposition that doesn’t align to customer needs; the products developed are off-the-shelf rather than oriented towards customers.

B2B PRODUCT AND SOLUTIONS MARKETING

Inversely, customer-centric product marketing is demonstrated through needs-focused messaging and products, configuring and tailoring of offerings to the customer; the products are designed bottom-up or built on expertise from customer input, whether directly or indirectly. To carry out solutions marketing effectively a company needs to be customer-centric. By identifying customer needs, organizations can create better solutions, where needs could be about using something, to improve something, to support growth. Solutions marketing can also allow vendor businesses to improve their margins, improve sales and improve relationships with customers.

From product to solutions In the B2B space one hears more frequently the term ‘solutions marketing’. The background to this focus will depend on sector and segment; in the IT sector, personal computers, desktops and notebooks which were once regarded as luxury items or purchased by business in the 1990s are now affordable for all to purchase. With communization of technologies, businesses are under greater pressure to demonstrate the value they offer and how they can support business customers by solving current challenges.

Building effective value propositions One of the main ways to effectively market to customers is in creating and messaging value propositions. Value propositions explain the value and experience a customer will receive from a product, service or solution. They state specific benefits and highlight why it is a superior offering compared to alternatives.

Creating the value proposition Creation of the value proposition is the foundation to effectively engaging customers in solutions marketing. The main process, outlined in Figure 9.2, is as follows: 1 Identify customer needs, desires, challenges. What are customer pain

points today, what keeps them awake and what problems do they have that today are not getting solved? Identification of needs can come through talking to the customer, engaging them in exploratory discussions or through listening forums via social, etc.

99

100

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

2 Identify benefits. In this step the benefits of the product or offering are

defined. What does the offering do for the customer? How does it answer their needs and help them? 3 Identify differentiator. Differentiator can sometimes be the same as the

benefit, but these can be features, aspects of the product that differentiate the offering from competition offerings. 4 Create the value proposition. Based on needs, benefits and differentiators

a value proposition is created which captures all these aspects. 5 Create and test messaging. The value proposition is then translated into

salesforce messaging, market messaging and tested. 6 Implementation. The final stage is implementing the value proposition

internally by ensuring enterprise-wide adoption and integration into external marketing materials and messaging.

Identifying needs – the 5 Whys technique The 5 Whys technique can be applied in this context to really understand what’s behind customer needs. It’s a simple but effective technique. The example in Figure 9.3 shows a customer who has purchased a server; through applying the 5 Whys technique, the fifth layer reveals that the customer did in fact purchase it to improve their marketing efficiencies. Using the 5 Whys, we can shape our messages and marketing and improve our solutions marketing.

Identifying the solution Identifying the solution typically starts with identifying the need for a solution. This sounds easy but sometimes those needs are not something a customer has specifically articulated; instead, vendors of potential solutions need to interpret needs from customers’ comments, behaviours, or using special techniques that allow companies to uncover hidden needs. Take the example of dictation software; the customer has the need to reduce the burden of extensively typing on a keyboard throughout the day but may be unable to articulate that they need a software application that can perform this task.

FIGURE 9.2  Value proposition creation Identify customer needs, desires, challenges Carry out research into customer needs Define customer challenges

Identify benefits

Identify benefits, values, and features

Create new value proposition

Combine insights from customer needs, identification and benefits identification stages

Develop and test messaging

Translate into salesforce messaging, market messaging. Test messaging

Implementation

Implement and ensure business-wide adoption

101

102

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

FIGURE 9.3  The 5 Whys technique To drive efficiency in their marketing efforts

Why?

To target their market more effectively

Why?

To manage their customer data

Why?

To host a CRM application

Why?

Customer buys a server

Why?

PRACTICAL TIP Key questions to answer In creating a value proposition, organizations need to answer the following key questions regarding product and service offering: ●●

What value does it deliver for the customer?

●●

What needs does it fulfil?

●●

What problems does it solve?

●●

Why should a customer purchase it over the competition?

Towards solutions marketing The difference between solutions marketing and portfolio marketing is that the marketing of a portfolio tends not to be messaged or designed around a solution; it tends to be presented in the form of ranges of business offers. Portfolio marketing or marketing of offerings can sometimes be marketed as a solution or in piecemeal fashion as some customers may not require or want to purchase a complete ‘solution’. They may have already purchased some of the solution – for example, a customer who is creating a home office may already have a computer and only need a screen and a printer.

B2B PRODUCT AND SOLUTIONS MARKETING

PRACTICAL TIP Mechanisms for creating solutions There are different mechanisms for creating solutions and delivering solutions. In putting a solution together physically where two or more products or services are required, one first needs to ask, do we have all the products and services in-house which constitute a solution or only have some of them? If an organization has everything it needs within its portfolio then of course combining it into a solution is relatively easier than looking externally. If an organization needs to look externally to create a solution there are a number of options. The first option is to formulate a strategic alliance with another company to deliver the solution as a joint venture; operations would need to be involved to create this. Other options are to work with a valueadded reseller or specialized reseller to configure the appropriate solution. Finally, a long-term option might be for an organization to create and design the missing services or products and integrate them.

Challenges in marketing a solution One of the main challenges facing marketers today is in the marketing of a solution, even where all the components of the solution are owned by one vendor. Those challenges can come from a number of areas; companies’ internal silos can drive competition between product areas rather than support collaboration. Other challenges can come from the ‘ability (or lack thereof)’ to integrate from a marketing perspective as this may require specialist knowledge of multiple products.

Enabling solutions marketing Four areas can be identified that support solutions marketing. 1 Customer-oriented value proposition development. This can be achieved

through better public relations, improved customer segmentation and account-based marketing.

103

104

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

2 Customer intimacy. Customer intimacy is about maximizing exposure to

customers through customer events such as advisory councils where companies listen to existing and potential customers. Customer engagement can be facilitated via social forums or through loyalty programmes. 3 Internal integration processes and approaches. Supporting the external

marketing, there needs to be a governance around how solutions and messaging are formulated between departments and product units. This can be done using processes that orient the business towards customer segments rather than inward approaches focusing on the product. 4 Strategic alignment. This is about aligning the organization strategically

towards relevant market segments for the current and future business, and building capabilities to support the business to offer solutions. 5 Sales integration. Sales integration within and across the organization

can help with future implementation; where the solutions require handover between departments, any niggles can be resolved in advance. Also, sales integration can ensure a level of buy-in is already in place at time of roll-out.

PRACTICAL TIP How to integrate for solutions marketing 1 Integration starting point. The integration starting point is to create a forum for

different companies or departments to engage, share and agree on the objective, scope and process. This can be through regular calls and meetings. 2 Prioritize customer segment. The different companies or departments need to

agree on the customer or priority customer segment(s), e.g. where there are multiple customer segments in play. This first step in agreeing is critical to ensure the following steps in integration occur smoothly. 3 Define customer challenges, needs. Next the combined departments/

organizations need to define core needs and challenges faced by customers. 4 Ensure the actual solution is complete according to detailed customer

challenges. From the previous step an aspect of a solution may be missing, e.g. for an office documentation solution, up-to-date software that helps archive documents may be missing even if all the hardware is present.

B2B PRODUCT AND SOLUTIONS MARKETING

5 Integrate messaging. With solutions marketing the biggest challenge

marketers face is in integrating components of marketing into one cohesive message. It is important to highlight the overall benefit as well as individual benefits of each of the elements of the solution. 6 Test the message. Before proceeding with marketing materials and content

it’s prudent for combined parties to test the message and solution with customers to understand if they resonate; this should then be incorporated and tweaks or changes made depending on the input and customer feedback. 7 Create combined marketing materials and content. Once the message is

defined, marketing should then create marketing materials or content, for example a digital brochure, a video or an advert. 8 Create combined marketing activities. These can be combined webinars,

events or other marketing vehicles.

FIGURE 9.4  Integrated solutions marketing Create an integration forum Review customer response

Prioritize customer segment

Create the combined marketing scope

Define the solution

Test messaging

Integrate messaging

105

106

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

Enabling solutions integration For solutions integration from a messaging and marketing perspective to occur, a few things need to be established. The first is executive sponsorship. A business needs to visibly support this through formal communication and executive sponsorship; this will allow for any process or other stumbling blocks to be overcome and ensure buy-in across business units. The second requirement is overall marketing leadership. It should be agreed that one of the partners needs to lead the ‘overall’ process; where both regard themselves as leading this can lead to duplication and potential friction in the process later.

Encouraging boundary spanning Enabling solutions integration as mentioned above is about dealing with the challenges of operating sales, product areas and marketing separately. This can be overcome by encouraging people to think beyond the scope of their particular knowledge or role; this is called boundary spanning. Boundary spanning here can come in different forms, spanning beyond the remit of marketing to work with sales, spanning outside of a product focus area, or going beyond the scope of the segment knowledge. Boundary spanning could also mean spanning boundaries vertically up and down the organization to not only work with most senior people but also those who have operational knowledge in bringing a product together.

EXAMPLE Voyager Worldwide customer solutions Voyager Worldwide (previously known as GNS) is a leading provider of maritime technology solutions, providing solutions and services to over 1,000 shipping companies worldwide. Background. Prior to 2017, seafarers would use paper products to navigate, as well as some digital charts and publications to support planning and navigating the seas. In order to ensure compliance, all necessary charts and publications had to be held onboard. The problem was that these shipping companies were not only using masses of paper but spending far more than they needed to; inversely, they were on occasion not fully compliant with all their required products and services, leaving them potentially exposed to

B2B PRODUCT AND SOLUTIONS MARKETING

being detained in port. Although the industry had begun the transition from paper to digital, at that time in 2017 the situation of overspending and over-reliance on paper for navigation had not been properly addressed due to a general mindset of ‘this is the way we’ve always done things’. The solution: identification of the right offering. In a bold move, Voyager Worldwide embarked on a customer solutions initiative with the focus to move their clients from a ‘just in case’ to ‘just in time’ approach, or in other words, implementing more digital products onboard to enable vessels to only buy what they actually needed as opposed to having everything onboard ‘just in case’. The solution was addressed in three main ways: 1) review current holdings of navigational products onboard compared with products actually required during the voyage, specifically focusing on the removal of historical paper products; 2) engage customers in order to discuss and identify the compliant navigation products and services required onboard, ideally in digital format; and 3) offer new options for customers to order and procure navigational products and services. ●●

●●

●●

To diagnose current products and services used onboard, a bespoke in-house tracking tool was developed to provide a detailed view per vessel of all products needed based on actual route analysis compared to the existing navigational products currently held by the vessel. The navigational products review (including over 50 line items on average) highlighted overspend as well as missing documentation to aid in compliance. To engage customers, a workshop was set up to discuss current and future needs and to highlight areas of overspends as well as areas where vessels were non-compliant (and susceptible to potential detentions in port). The final part of the solution was to facilitate easier ordering of navigation documents through provision of their back-of-bridge computer-based ordering and navigational system, as well as offering options to pay for navigational products through access to third-party solutions and corresponding new payment options such as ‘Pay as you Sail’ and 12-monthbased purchasing for digital products.

Promoting and marketing. To promote this new approach to support customers in moving to digital, Voyager Worldwide created brochures and email templates for their account managers. Seminars were rolled out in different countries to educate customers about this new approach. Promotion was supported through social media posts and messaging on Facebook and LinkedIn.

107

108

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

The result. The results of this initiative included customers purchasing products and services that were required for each route, rather than have holdings onboard ‘just in case’; reduced overspend through allowing customers to purchase only those necessary navigational products; and finally saving customers from potentially incurring detentions in port in cases of non-compliance. An added benefit was that by moving customers to digital procurement and increasing the transition to digital navigational products and services, they were supporting those in the industry in becoming more sustainable. Final note. This is a perfect example of a company arriving at a customer solution through using different services and tools to diagnose and tailor product offerings per customer that also lead to optimized offerings from the product and services portfolio of Voyager Worldwide.

Dealing with competition The strength of a vendor’s solutions will be directly linked to its resilience in resisting competition; this can be comprehensiveness, level of customization, level of integration with a customer’s business, or quality of components. Where a solution is missing some of these it will be more exposed and vulnerable to competitive displacement. Marketing has the ability to articulate clearly the benefits of a solution that customers find important. Although a solution may be the sum of different products, vendors still need to ensure that organizations are managing product transitions and lifecycles to keep them as up to date as possible. Competition may offer more up-to-date aspects of the solution, which can persuade customers to move away from their existing supplier.

Updating solutions Probably contrary to perception, solutions have a shelf life; even those more complex and tailored to customers’ needs will reach maturity or end-of-life. The complexity and sum of the parts of a solution tend to mask some of the needs for updating or replacing. Situations where solutions need updating or changing include: ●●

Where customers’ needs change. If this is a dramatic change of business needs, business purpose or growth, a vendor needs to ensure it capitalizes in time.

B2B PRODUCT AND SOLUTIONS MARKETING

●●

●●

●●

Products within the solution reach end-of-life. For example, application software as part of a home office solution is replaced by updated office software and is no longer supported. Products within a high-end technology solution need to be updated with new technologies. Competition challenges by offering new benefits. For example, a telecommunications provider offering new tariffs for multiple phone contracts will influence alternative vendors in updating and improving their ­solution or offering.

EXAMPLE IBM If we look for good examples of companies which deliver solutions marketing examples, IBM Healthcare is probably worthy of mention. In dealing with crises like pandemics they highlight a number of possible solutions. Although they deliver IT services, their messaging is related to solutions to challenges such as ‘reducing operating costs’, ‘engaging staff and citizens virtually’, and monitoring the safety of those living independently. These are examples of challenges that healthcare providers are encountering during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Communicating solutions effectively In terms of communication of solutions, we’ve provided some examples in the above-mentioned cases of Voyager Worldwide and IBM. In communicating solutions we are normally talking about multiple parts of the solution, which may involve multiple products, software, services and accessories. Of course, visual representations are things to lead with but there are also good and less optimum ways of communicating. Some companies show blueprints of the solution in terms of how it supports and optimizes processes if it’s that type of solution; sometimes solutions need explaining so a video is a good way to go, but be careful it is not too long, as after three minutes you may lose some prospects. How you deliver explanations is important. Do you offer opportunities via webinars or events? Do you demonstrate in person or offer a digital view by showing a video? In some cases, a printed

109

110

IMPROVE B2B CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING

catalogue with a detailed spread of the solution can really help. Of course, make sure that if the solutions are well sought after then it is probably good to ensure the website is designed around the solution, but make sure the description makes sense for the prospect and avoid corporate speak.

ACTIVITIES Ask existing customers if they regard your current ‘solutions’ as solutions to their problems and needs. Are they actually solving or addressing their needs or problems? Do a quick poll with your customers to check if there are any particular challenges or needs that are not being addressed with your portfolio of offerings and solutions.

111

PART THREE

‘Transform’ through content and digital marketing

112

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

113

10 Digital and content marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

digital marketing evolution

●●

B2B digital marketing channels

●●

how media has changed

●●

digital and sales

●●

digital and marketing

The digital marketing evolution Even in the past five years B2B marketing has undergone some dramatic shifts. Recent years have seen the rise of content marketing, an increase in content formats, the use of digital in marketing, the increase in marketing technologies and the changing behaviours of customers in how they use digital and online information. Within B2B marketing there are two distinct forms of digital marketing: transactional and relationship (or enterprise as it is sometimes called) – see Table 10.1. Transactional digital marketing is digital marketing centred on business purchases of products; this is very like consumer marketing and is typically the form used to market to small business customers. The customer buying process and behaviours across the journey are easier to measure as almost all of them occur online. Relationship digital marketing is built on a business requiring sales relationships to market and sell; this requires integration between offline and online or at least an appreciation that some aspects of the decision journey are not all digital.

114

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

TABLE 10.1  Transactional digital vs relationship digital

Transactional digital marketing

Relationship digital marketing

Products

Point products

Multiple products

Customer

One decision maker

Multiple decision makers

Targeting

Large sets of consumers based on segment/persona

Fewer groupings of customers based on segment/account/persona

Price

Important

Less important

Time to purchase

Short

Long

Main digital marketing objective

Website traffic and conversion

Lead generation

Communication channel mix: online vs offline

High mix (to full use) of digital channels

Balanced mix of digital vs offline channels used

B2B customers are becoming more selective, more demanding and vocal about how they want to be engaged by potential suppliers. Email marketing in some areas has become overused or applied inappropriately, leading to customers perceiving it as a nuisance and subsequently requesting emails from vendors to be stopped. Because of digital marketing and technologies, business customers expect more from an organization; they expect to be engaged in a timelier fashion per their needs.

Changing B2B digital marketing channels Digital channels are the digital marketing communication channels used to reach customers. Within the B2B space over recent years, there has been a shift away from offline marketing communication and towards digital marketing communication, with the amount of digital marketing channels broadening as well as an increase in their versatility. Digital marketing communication channels include search engine marketing, online PR, social media, email, digital advertising, website marketing, mobile applications and mobile communication. The application and mix of these channels will depend on customers and their phase within the buyer journey.

DIGITAL AND CONTENT MARKETING

Driving forces So, why the change in digital marketing and digital marketing applications? We know from previous chapters that customers’ behaviour has had an impact. The three main driving forces that have influenced the usage of digital marketing and digital applications are accessibility, availability and versatility of information.

Accessibility of information In the past 10 years, use of mobile devices has changed; smartphones as recently as 2004 were regarded as luxury items used by senior-level executives, determined by mainly price. Now it is not just about having a smartphone but how one uses it. Aside from smartphones, ultra-mobile devices, tablets and other mobile devices have become more prevalent. According to Forbes, the top 25 per cent of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are seeing big gains from mobile. They’re recording twice the revenue growth and up to eight times more jobs are being created. According to research about 50% of B2B search queries are carried out on a mobile device; mobile B2B users spend about two hours daily on their devices (Trustradius, 2018). ACCESSIBILITY TO THE CUSTOMER

As part of this accessibility to information, customers can obtain information in real time. They are able to be engaged at almost any time of the day, although being able to potentially access a customer all the time doesn’t mean that vendors should do it. CROSS-DEVICE MARKETING

A new feature of mobile advertising is that of cross-device marketing. This provides advertisers with information on the user’s use of devices and their interplay by looking at mobile exchange, desktop activity and geo-specific locations. Cross-device is a hot topic in B2C marketing and now a growing trend in B2B. While B2C is about targeting an individual across multiple devices, in B2B it’s about both the individual and the company targeting across multiple devices. If multiple employees from the same company have visited an organization’s website with some regularity, this can mean either that they are more likely to convert to buyers or that they are somewhere along the buyer journey.

115

116

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Understanding multiple device usage and behaviours gives marketers insight into building unique user profiles. In B2B it is important for creating content that is mobile friendly and helps understand when, how and where to engage prospects.

Availability of information Another major driving force is the availability of information. Information and content are growing at a rate faster than users can consume them; today the challenge is not about getting information but understanding which pieces of information to access, read and keep. Management of information is becoming more the trend. In the business world the challenge is how to digest it, store it and then use it. Big data as a term has become popular as some businesses require specialized applications backed with powerful servers and storage to crunch data and draw insights from it to help improve operations and marketing. Online data is being created in real time at an incredible rate; for example, in 60 seconds over 1,300 LinkedIn posts are created, over 350,000 tweets made, around 700,000 hours of YouTube videos watched, over 70 domains registered, 700,000 search queries carried out and 168 million emails sent (Thomas, 2020). With availability of information the challenge for customers is being able to separate out that which is relevant and important from that which is just clogging up the system.

Versatility of information The final driving force is versatility of information. Although the types of content have mostly been available for a long time, the range of content formats used by B2B marketers on average has grown in the past five years. Additionally, B2B marketers are expanding the audiences or personas they create content for, with an average of four audiences. The average is higher in large companies (five) and lower in small companies (three) (CMI, 2020). The background to this probably comes from customers spending more time online and business customers spending more time self-educating as there is more information readily available. According to research, during a buying process buyers consume on average about 13 pieces of content from different sources, eight of which are from the vendor and five of which are from various third parties (Focusvision, 2019).

DIGITAL AND CONTENT MARKETING

The changing face of B2B Over recent years we’ve seen the digital and content marketing landscape evolve further. Video is still being increasingly used and 70 per cent of B2B marketers think that video is more effective than any other form of content when converting qualified leads (Sebok, 2017). Search is still important, with buyers making 12 different online searches before having some form of engagement with the B2B website (Erskine, 2017) Mobile as a digital channel likewise continues to be increasingly used, with about 70 per cent of web traffic generated by mobile devices. Mobile usage per B2B employee is expected to increase from two hours per day to three hours per day by 2020, driven by millennials, Gen Z-ers, and the increased use of smartphones by older workers (Huree, 2020). In the area of content creation about half of B2B marketing teams outsource at least one content marketing activity (CMI) (Dean, 2021). Despite the challenges facing B2B marketers to generate and nurture leads, about two-thirds of B2B content teams still create most of their content for the early buyer journey or top of funnel. Social media has evolved further. LinkedIn has continued to change and evolve as a platform supporting live video, including hashtags since 2017, and we’ve seen Instagram on the rise in the B2B marketing space, with 33 per cent of B2B marketers now on Instagram and over a third of B2B decision makers using Instagram to research new products or services (Newberry, 2021).

EXAMPLE YouTube YouTube, founded in 2005, is today the most used video site in the world. In 2016 it was used by around 1.3 billion people; 72 hours of video were uploaded every minute and four hours of video were watched monthly. YouTube originated as a site for amateur videos but has become a site to effectively distribute original content. B2B marketers use YouTube at different stages in the buyer journey not only to promote awareness of products and solutions but to nurture customer relationships and even to help in closing sales. More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices and 9 per cent of US small businesses use YouTube. According to the CMI, in 2016 76 per cent of B2B marketers used video marketing.

117

118

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Marketing automation Marketing automation, which was perceived initially as an email management tool, now can manage and track all marketing channels, measure them and in doing so help marketing better understand customers’ behaviours online and offline. Marketing automation has evolved to support easier and quicker integration of offline tactics. For example, at events badges can be more easily scanned and sent to CRM systems, allowing leads to be captured faster and more easily nurtured and tracked.

Digital and sales In the past the emphasis was on sales to discover customers’ problems or challenges and then present them with the right solution; this allowed salespeople to steer customers’ interest in a vendor/supplier’s own solutions or offerings. Salespeople could provide the solution and articulate how their particular solution was better and could serve the customer better. Digital has inverted the relationship between sales and customer, giving the customer more power to manage their purchase decision journey, to educate themselves and decide when and how to engage a potential vendor. By inverting the relationship, digital has also meant that timing of engagement with a vendor can take place much, much later in the journey, which it does. This shift between sales and customers means sales need to appreciate the new digital channels and for some to adopt and use those digital channels as customers will be more receptive if sales use them appropriately. According to LinkedIn, 62 per cent of B2B customers respond to salespeople who connect by sharing content and insights that are relevant to the buyer (Alfred, 2020). In other cases some sales specialists have become bloggers in their field, while others have adopted social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn to engage a wider audience. Others work more closely with marketing to help with creation of content which they can use later to send to a potential prospect. Advocacy programmes have become more important, where sales as well as other employees embrace and use social content. Sales are becoming marketers and the most successful salespeople are the ones embracing different forms of digital, adopting social platforms to engage customers in different ways. They understand how to use different forms of content to manage customer relationships right from the early stages to purchase and beyond.

DIGITAL AND CONTENT MARKETING

Changing models and approaches Digital marketing has also impacted the linearity of customer buying phases. Customers used to move from one step in the process to the next, using a piece of content or marketing tactics as they moved through their journey. Today customers can, in an instant, digest a piece of content, share it on social, then be messaged through their mobile device via email or SMS. At each stage customers can digest different content and use different marketing vehicles. This means that the traditional way of tracking and measuring media and ROI by each channel in isolation is no longer possible, or if it is done it does not reflect reality. New measurement and tracking models are being developed to account for this lack of linearity, such as attribution models across the journey in a blended or allocated fashion. Funnels are also becoming more complex. Customers don’t always move clearly from awareness through consideration to purchase. The reality is probably more stages for a business customer, extending from early in the buyer journey to the end. Instead of using marketing funnels in their pure form, marketers need to complement the funnel approach with buyer cycle stages, breaking it up into early, mid and late in the cycle.

References and further reading Alfred, L (2020) 37 LinkedIn social selling stats you need to know, https://blog. hubspot.com/sales/social-selling-stats (archived at https://perma.cc/QTT6KUPD) Bullas, J (2012) 6 powerful reasons why you should include images in your marketing – infographic, http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/05/28/6-powerfulreasons-why-you-should-include-images-in-your-marketing-infographic/ (archived at https://perma.cc/85RU-UULG) CMI (2016) B2B content marketing: 2016 benchmarks, budgets and trends – North America, Content Marketing Institute, http://contentmarketinginstitute. com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf (archived at https://perma.cc/LQ3N-GD67) Columbus, L (2015) Mobile technologies becoming a growth engine for small and medium businesses, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/​ 2015/02/08/mobile-technologies-becoming-a-growth-engine-for-small-andmedium-businesses/#45be4f574edb (archived at https://perma.cc/E97Y-XQ6Q)

119

120

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Erskine, R (2017) How to turn B2B buyers into sales leads, according to data, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanerskine/2017/12/28/how-to-turn-b2b-buyersinto-sales-leads-according-to-data/?sh=3b980abf5a18 (archived at https:// perma.cc/XS25-N7LV) Focusvision (2019) Content really is king: content consumption in the B2B buyer’s journey, https://www.focusvision.com/resources/content-really-is-king-contentconsumption-in-the-b2b-buyers-journey/ (archived at https://perma.cc/4XKH-X9LX) Pereira, J (2021) 25 marketing automation statistics you need to know, https:// bloggingwizard.com/marketing-automation-statistics/#:~:text=1.,t%20plan%20 to%20use%20MA (archived at https://perma.cc/5WFB-F3RA) Sebok, R (2017) 16 stats that prove the value of B2B video, https://www. themxgroup.com/blog/16-stats-prove-value-b2b-video/ (archived at https:// perma.cc/2XUM-MCA7) Stengard, J (2016) 15 must know marketing automation stats, emarketeer, http:// www.emarketeer.com/blog/mustknow-marketing-automation-stats/ (archived at https://perma.cc/L5QP-FR35) Thomas, G (2020) What happens every 60 seconds online? GTWeb, https://gtweb. co.uk/what-happens-every-60-seconds-online (archived at https://perma.cc/ VAZ3-L4DG) Trustradius (2018) The impact of mobile on B2B customers, https://www. trustradius.com/buyer-blog/impact-of-mobile-on-b2b-customers (archived at https://perma.cc/WH7D-VBSY)

121

11 Digital marketing strategy and planning

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

digital strategy objectives

●●

digital marketing framework

●●

digital planning/strategy enablers

●●

digital challenges and opportunities

●●

digital marketing value chain

●●

paid, earned and owned digital

●●

digital marketing measurement

●●

digital marketing technologies

In this chapter, we’ll look at digital marketing objectives, a framework for digital marketing planning, and how to embrace new digital technologies that enable digital marketing success.

Digital marketing strategy objectives As digital marketing has become part of every stage of a buyer’s journey and digital technologies flourish, the objectives behind a digital marketing ­strategy can vary greatly, as can the implementation and use of digital marketing techniques. Some examples of digital strategy objectives include ­increasing leads and customer engagement, reaching new customer segments, raising brand awareness, reducing marketing and customer service costs. For each objective the application of digital marketing can be very different.

122

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Digital marketing strategy and planning framework To develop digital marketing plans and strategies we can apply and adapt the planning framework from Chapter 3, which starts with audit and goal definition. The six steps can be abbreviated as ADEPIR: audit, develop options, establish and select strategy, plan definition, implement, review process. Figure 11.1 outlines how this is broken into six steps: Step 1: Audit and goal definition. Step 2: Develop strategic options. Step 3: Establish and select the suitable strategy. Step 4: Plan definition in terms of key communication mix and specific actions. Step 5: Implement per schedules, readiness and then around enablers such as technologies, making sure to capitalize on key technologies that can optimize the marketing of the digital content and channels. Step 6: Review progress of activities as per goals, objectives and KPIs. The below outlines the key aspects that will differ in developing a digital marketing strategy.

Step 1:  Audit and digital marketing goals This stage is about assessing the market and forecasting digital market dynamics. During this step marketers need to identify what is changing, how and why. Additionally marketers during this stage can identify how digital marketing can support different marketing strategies; to understand more about this, below are some examples of B2B marketing strategies and how digital marketing and applications can be aligned. TARGETING AND REACHING CUSTOMERS

Traditionally, if a marketing department wanted to reach masses of business customers it would need to think about hefty marketing budgets to cover direct mail, email, public relations, advertising and maybe TV advertising. Businesses today can suddenly reach thousands of customers at very low or even no cost. Digital marketing plays an important role in targeting and reaching customers through the organic multiplier effect digital channels have.

FIGURE 11.1  Digital marketing strategy framework 1

2

3

Audit and goal definition

Develop strategic options

Evaluate strategic options

1. Digital goals or goals to achieve through digital

1. Customers via digital 2. Digital mix (comms, content) 3. How to get there – influencers, use of SEO, application of social 4. Where to focus 5. Digital partners 6. Digital applications & technologies

5

4

1. 2. 3. 4.

Digital resources Digital capabilities Digital skills ROI

Plan to create

1. Which communication vehicles to use 2. Which specific activities per communication channel to roll out

6

Review and optimize

Implement

1. Digital activation 2. Digital amplification 3. Content curation

1. 2. 3. 4.

Digital measures Digital tracking Digital analysis Digital optimizing

© Simon Hall, 2022

123

124

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Through shared, liked and referred content businesses today can quickly target and reach customers and gain exposure that would not be possible with offline marketing. Marketers putting together a digital marketing strategy designed to reach customers have to think about how to do so effectively, i.e. how to reach the right customers at the right time in the right way. ENGAGE

Marketing automation technologies allow businesses to engage huge volumes of customers through nurtured and targeted communications. Social platforms and online communities mean that businesses now can engage potential customers much more easily through questions, dedicated forums or other aspects of social media platforms. Ad-serving technologies make it possible for advertising to be placed on website pages whose content is deemed relevant. Native advertising means customers get to see additional content similar to what they are already viewing in a similar format; this means organizations can share content without interrupting the customer. Other forms of engagement include online chat functions; vendors employ chat possibilities for customers to ask short questions in real time rather than being burdened with the time and cost of making phone calls. Online webcasts or webinars allow businesses to present directly or in partnerships with others’ key messages or information. Customers, regardless of location, can attend lectures, seminars or virtual events. CUSTOMER NURTURE

Prior to the increase in digital and digital technologies, businesses were limited in ways to nurture customers along their buyer journey; digital has made it possible to nurture customers through their purchase process. A nurture strategy could involve a mix of the following digital marketing applications: software to retarget customers with additional content, email management software, or marketing automation software that manages email send and response rates and sends subsequent emails and associated social banners to customer profiles and industries. Digital channels and formats for nurturing customers along their buyer journey can be social forums, own social downloads, webcasts to update on latest product ­information, and new videos.

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLANNING

CUSTOMER CONVERSION

Digital can help with converting customers to purchase through webinar platforms geared to answering pre-order questions. As part of events, digital plays a role in helping customers engage better with content or to view content before, during and after the event.

Step 2:  Develop strategic options During this phase different strategic digital marketing mix options are developed according to goals. Options for reaching, engaging, nurturing and converting customers are explored. New elements of the marketing mix such as which social channels to use and how to use them are also defined within this phase.

Step 3:  Establish and select a strategic option The options above are then evaluated based on budget and required resources; from the review of the different strategic options the most suitable digital marketing strategy is then selected. One difference in evaluating ‘digital’ strategy options might be in the use of digital technologies, e.g. A/B testing to understand the effectiveness and impact of the different options.

Step 4:  Plan definition in terms of key communication mix and specific actions During this step, the communication channel mix is defined, such as which channels are most suitable to support the chosen strategy and which content is appropriate to support the objectives. Main activities per channel are defined, such as where social media is used to support an awareness objective, and how and which aspects of the social media channel are used.

Step 5:  Implement and activate Digital plans are then implemented according to schedules; activities are readied where needed to support implementation, and technologies leveraged so marketing can optimize the use of digital content and channels. With a pure digital marketing strategy implementation we can make use of digital technologies such as marketing automation platforms to track and monitor the implementation.

125

126

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Step 6:  Review and analyse During this stage the activities and plan per goals, objectives and KPIs are reviewed and analysed.

Digital challenges and opportunities With digital marketing technology there are several challenges facing marketers; on the flip side, digital technologies have brought with them some solutions and answers to alleviate these challenges. It’s important that marketers embrace and capitalize on these digital opportunities.

Digital challenges The main challenges digital marketing and technologies have brought have been in content diversification, the evolving social media marketing space, and the move away from traditional marketing funnels. Regarding the increased diversification of content formats, marketers need to create not only more content but content in a richer variety of forms. Some of these content formats would, only 10 years ago, be challenging or even impossible to create due to limited resources, bandwidths and capabilities. The social landscape is evolving as business customers are using social more and in different ways due to the increased sophistication of social media platforms. LinkedIn, for example, now offers new and different capabilities beyond helping people network; it supports advertising, lead generation and different content formats. Social has become part of business customers’ DNA and their business processes. Marketing funnels have been erased and in their place is a maze of interconnected channels reflecting the organic way in which customers use channels and consume information.

Digital opportunities Digital marketing and digital technologies have brought about new opportunities from which B2B marketers can benefit: Lower cost of digital marketing Those who used TV or offline media in the past will find digital more cost-effective in reaching the same customer segments.

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLANNING

Speed of connecting With digital, the pace of marketing to customers and connecting with them has become much faster; at the touch of a button businesses can engage and share information with prospects. Digital and social platforms facilitate ease of engaging and reaching customers and even building relationships with them. More detailed analysis Digital applications enable businesses and marketers to analyse behaviours at a micro-level; where customers use digital throughout their buying process marketers can track them and their behaviours more easily. Richer content Richer and more varied content has become easier and possible even for less experienced marketers. Content distribution New technologies mean marketers can distribute content more easily in a targeted manner and through retargeting can tap into buyer journeys and areas of interest by retargeting customers with additional pieces of content. Media buying Digital applications have made it possible for marketers to purchase media more easily, either directly or through agencies. Competitive levelling Digital also supports smaller businesses in marketing in the way larger businesses do; they can compete regardless of their size. Traditionally a smaller retailer would struggle to match the finesse of the approach of its larger competitors. Native advertising With digital it is possible to use native advertising to catch content and use it to build trust and engagement with potential customers. Native advertising doesn’t disrupt the user experience and offers helpful information in a format similar to the other content on the site, so users engage with it more than they would with, say, a banner ad. According to the CMI, in 2015, 34 per cent of B2B marketers used native advertising to promote content; although not a large number this trend is expected to increase in the coming years (CMI, 2015).

127

128

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Resources Another way to support planning is to identify necessary resources for a digital marketing strategy; we can call this the 4S framework of digital ­strategy, covering: Skills and capabilities. These are the capabilities of marketers from a knowhow perspective, in designing the right digital marketing strategy and implementing it effectively. Systems and technology selection. Technologies and applications may be needed to collect and crunch data related to the strategy as well as track customers across the journey. Digital technologies may be employed according to the communication channel, e.g. if the focus of the company is to embrace further social media then it may be necessary to invest in social monitoring and listening applications. Structures and tools. Structures and tools could include buyer personas and buyer journey mapping, as well as ensuring associated processes are in place, e.g. buyer journey mapping and customer activity mapping according to different stages of the buyer journey. Securing of budget. The final ‘S’ is about securing budget. One can obtain budget using different methods; it can be purely KPI based, or if it is related to revenue or pipeline the budget can be calculated based on revenue or pipeline contribution. FIGURE 11.2  The 4Ss • Number of staff • Type • Skills – content creation

• Content creation technologies • Tracking technologies

Staff and skills

Systems and technologies

Structures and templates

Sourcing budget

• Buyer persona • Buyer journey

• Costings • Budgeting approach

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLANNING

Digital marketing value chain The digital marketing value chain should be used as an auditing tool to review the value-add of all the digital marketing-related elements according to business and customer objectives. By working through the value chain back end to customer-facing front end, businesses are able to understand how each digital marketing element impacts the next stage in the value chain and thus understand if there is a value-added or redundant (non-value-added) component. A typical digital marketing value chain is split into four core areas: 1 Background infrastructure can be split into owned online resource, in-house

content resource, and general cost of infrastructure. At this stage the challenge for marketers is to understand the potential need and value-add prior to incurring costs in using or purchasing such applications and technologies. 2 Digital preparation – awareness-based. Such digital applications can be

through using apps to buy media and serve ads. In the cost of creating content (as opposed to cost of resource) this can be the cost of paid search rather than organic search. 3 Digital preparation – lead generation-based can include social paid

targeting activities, content syndication associated with lead generation, webinars or other digital channels directly attributed to generating leads. 4 Digital performance tracking and review. Such technologies can be CRM

with marketing plug-ins, marketing automation to analyse marketing activities more broadly, specific monitoring programmes to monitor SEO quality, or social listening to monitor conversations on social. FIGURE 11.3  The digital marketing value chain Back-end infrastructure

Digital performance tracking

Digital preparation

Digital activation

Owned website(s)

Co-creation

Programmatic

Social monitoring

Owned social platforms

SEO content

Content licensing

Search tracking

Owned content (existing)

SEO

Retargeting applications

Marketing automation

Owned resource, know-how

Content formats

Paid social, search, advertising Content syndication

Customer

129

130

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Why conduct a value chain audit? The costs of digital marketing can mount up alarmingly unless controlled. Technology has grown at a phenomenal rate and marketers could spend all their budget on new technologies and none on ‘marketing’. Additionally, business leaders will need to understand how marketing can justify new investment and what such investments can deliver for the business; sometimes an audit can surface new opportunities for improving the business.

Selecting the digital channel mix One area that sometimes proves challenging relating to strategy and planning is how to select the right media mix; as per previous comments, different goals and focus objectives will drive a different type of digital marketing strategy and a different digital communication mix. Below are some methods that can be used in selecting digital communication channels.

Method 1:  paid, earned and owned One way to develop strategy is to look at the mix of owned, paid and earned media channels. Owned media is any online property that a vendor owns or controls that is unique to the brand. Examples are own websites, own blog sites and own social pages. The social media and blogs are extensions of the own website. Paid media is media that the business pays for. Paying for media channels, which can include everything from social through to online video, can help promote to customers, reach customers and increase traffic coming to owned media. Businesses do this to help achieve objectives not possible with pure owned media. Even with social media you can pay for advertising that boosts content and gains exposure, such as pay-per-click ads and display ads. Paid search also helps improve rankings. One can also pay influencers to promote content. Earned media is media that is neither owned nor paid but falls in-between. Earned media can be described as online word-of-mouth; examples are mentions, shares, reposts, reviews, recommendations or content picked up by third parties. One of the most effective driving forces of earned media is usually a combined result of strong organic rankings on search engines, and content distributed by the brand. You can also have earned influencers who

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLANNING

you haven’t paid for but support the brand’s messaging. One big driver behind earned success is content, so compelling, timely, informative content such as blogs, infographics, videos etc can help improve earned media impact.

Method 2:  Detailed buyer persona usage You can create a very detailed buyer persona that provides detail in terms of what channel mix is being used at different stages in the buyer journey and before and after initial purchase. The buyer persona should be aligned to a clear target customer segment.

Method 3:  Test, learn and implement Another method might be more popular in a very volatile environment like the one we’ve all experienced since 2020 as a result of Covid-19; we may not have any reliable research and data because the environment is so new. One way to deal with this is to test out your marketing on a specific sample number of target customers. and the great news is that digital technologies and digital channels today allow us to test this and do random sampling through digital advertising, using email or social media. However, the key is not only about testing but having learning mechanisms built into the process to be able to adjust and adapt aspects before stopping the activity altogether or scaling up to a large target audience.

Digital marketing measurement Before building tables of metrics it’s important to answer a number of questions. Digital marketing and technologies produce more metrics than other areas simply because they have the ability to track more easily and support more granular views than traditional offline marketing. Marketers need to be extremely focused on what they measure and how, and in overall management of digital measurement to ensure success: 1 Set measurable goals. During this step goals that can be measured are

defined, along with how they are to be measured. 2 Define business-associated KPIs. The KPIs should be linked to business

performance in some way; even KPIs early in the buying cycle should be

131

132

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

linked to engagement or reach. For example, the number of repeat visitors to a website or number of pieces of content being viewed can be linked to customer conversion statistics. 3 Track and report. During this phase the activity is tracked and reported

back to key stakeholders. 4 Review. The activity is reviewed in terms of performance against set KPIs,

how the activity is supporting business goals. 5 Optimize. Optimization may be needed when results are below plan.

Where performance is above plan, optimization may still be possible by looking at implementation or how to take it to the next level, for instance where the activity was a pilot before the full implementation. Digital marketing measurement can be split into some core categories: ●●

●●

●●

●●

general performance – traffic, leads, reach; digital channel based – website, blog, social networks, search engines; customer lifecycle – acquisition of new customers; existing customers; campaign-based performance – lead generation, click-through, conversions.

Some other considerations and questions are: ●●

●●

●●

How will we use the metric? This question should help marketers think about which KPIs are going to be used rather than collecting sheets and sheets of metrics. How frequently will we need to use it? Some metrics may not need collecting or reviewing so frequently; limiting the number of metrics to review on a regular basis to a manageable number helps save time. Who is the audience of the metric? This question will help marketers think about how metrics are understood and whether they need interpreting or explaining before presenting. Rarely is it the case that marketers can understand and articulate all metrics they receive; this line of questioning will help marketers challenge the metric before sharing it further.

Attribution models One of the areas B2B marketers need to grasp is how and where to attribute marketing spend across the buyer journey; these engagements are referred to

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLANNING

as touches. For some sectors these can stretch beyond 10 or 15 touches before a customer engages a vendor salesperson. Figure 11.4 shows the main attribution models: First touch – this model means value is given to the first marketing touch in a sequence of touches. An example could be a business buyer receiving a message via a mobile phone and many steps later purchasing online from his or her desktop computer. Last touch – this model means value is given the last touch in a sequence of customer touches. The example above means the weighting is given to the online website purchase. Non-weighted – value is attributed equally across all touchpoints regardless of their relevance or importance. Time based – value is attributed increasingly to touchpoints closest to conversion. This is often used because it is where it is easiest to measure and assign value; the risk is that investments earlier on in the buying cycle that are more awareness based are neglected and undervalued. Measurement based – value is attributed to the touchpoints most easily measured; this can be where digital activities are measured even if offline activities contribute greatly to the purchase. This is the case in sectors where integration between offline and online marketing hasn’t been put in place; the risk is that offline marketing is undervalued. Position based – value is attributed to touchpoints at the start and end; the middle touchpoints are usually not attributed.

FIGURE 11.4  Attribution models

Last touch All value goes to last touchpoint

Non-weighted

Measurement-based

Equal value to every touch point

Value given to most measurable points

First touch

Time-based

Position-based

All value goes to first touchpoint

Value increasingly given to touchpoints closest to conversion

Bulk of value given to first and end points

© Simon Hall, 2022

133

134

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

ACTIVITIES Look at your current marketing approach and identify which media are owned, paid and earned. Consider your main target audience today. What do you know about their time spent online? Where do they go? What do they use online for?

Reference CMI (2015) B2B content marketing: 2015 benchmarks, budgets and trends – North America, Content Marketing Institute, http://contentmarketinginstitute. com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2015_B2B_Research.pdf (archived at https:// perma.cc/B4RR-PF6Q)

135

12 B2B digital marketing channels

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

key digital marketing channels

●●

importance of website within B2B digital marketing

●●

how to use search and SEO

●●

B2B email

●●

B2B mobile marketing

●●

online PR

●●

digital advertising

●●

webinar marketing

●●

video marketing

What is a digital marketing channel? A digital marketing channel is sometimes referred to as a digital marketing communication vehicle, of which there are many. Sometimes digital marketing channels and digital content are confused. One way to think about this is to use a roads and traffic analogy where digital marketing channels can be thought of as the types of roads such as A-roads, B-roads, motorways etc, and the different types of traffic on those transport routes such as buses, lorries and cars are like the content that the digital channel delivers. The digital part of the term is because it’s via the internet or online. The non-digital part is any form of communication channel that is not online or

136

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

conducted via the internet, e.g. printed brochures, magazines, newspapers and brochures, physical events, printed advertising or word of mouth.

B2B digital channels – interconnected In the digital world, some of these channels will merge and cross over with each other as they are used together. Marketers need to view digital channels as an interconnected universe, in the same way as customers use digital channels in an interconnected manner as opposed to only using mobile or a website for a purchase journey.

B2B digital channel overview The main digital channels are as follows. SEO: SEO is search engine optimization and search engine marketing; it’s about being ranked high in search results when buyers search for topics related to your products. Online PR: Online PR marketing is linked to reputational marketing; it’s about telling stories through effective PR activities. Social media: Social media in B2B has exploded in the past 10 years and encompasses such a wide universe of channels that it is worth looking at it separately; in fact we’ll be focusing on social media in Chapter 14. Email: This continues to be integral in B2B marketing strategies and a great way to engage and nurture some business customers. Digital advertising: Sometimes referred to as online advertising, digital advertising is any form of advertising online or leveraging digital media; as such this includes PPC advertising, mobile advertising, native advertising, social media advertising and display advertising. Mobile: Mobile marketing involves communicating with the customer via a cellular (or mobile) device, to send a simple marketing message, to introduce them to a new audience participation-based campaign, or to invite them to visit a mobile website. Webinar: A webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the web using video conferencing software.

B2B DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS

FIGURE 12.1  Hub and spoke SEO

Online PR

Webinar

Website Email

Mobile

Advertising

Social

Video: Video channels are used to provide digital video, e.g. YouTube. Website: Website marketing is using a company’s own website to support the communication and marketing of the business, value proposition and other information.

The challenge of B2B website marketing Website content and B2B buyer journey We’ve understood from previous chapters that B2B buyer journeys are generally much, much longer than B2C; within the buyer journey the stages of early buyer, consideration, purchase and post-purchase are much more distinctive. So, the challenge is to see how the website caters for these different stages. One way to consider this is to think about different types of content and areas of a B2B website. For example, one could align different areas of a website to different buyer stages as follows: ●●

B2B landing pages aligned to early buyer stage and the website home page (when prospects aren’t directed to a landing page) which helps direct prospects to relevant information on the website.

137

138

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

●●

●●

B2B pages with educational, informative content supported by other channels aligned to the consideration stage. B2B solutions and product-specific pages with detailed product-related case studies related to the purchase stage.

Website content and B2B buyer type Most businesses need to engage different stakeholders of their target customer accounts. In general we can think of customers as technical and non-technical; where technically oriented customers are more interested in details relating to the product or solution and have a more product-specialized knowledge, non-technical customers are those more interested in business impacts. They are less interested in the details and features of the product. Non-technical customers could be business decision makers or senior executives within the customer business. Considering this aspect, a company should think also about how they divide up their website and content according to these technical and nontechnical needs.

Measuring effectiveness Effectiveness of websites can be measured by repeat visitors, time on site and/or bounce rate. A high bounce rate would indicate that the customers are leaving the website quickly and are not compelled to stay. A short amount of time on the site indicates they are not staying long enough to read and digest the content. Another way to measure is by using heat maps, which show how much time is spent on different areas of the website pages.

Next get found: SEO and search Search and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) marketing still remains one of the top priorities for any B2B marketer according to different recent surveys; 89 per cent of B2B researchers use the internet during the research process (Erskine, 2017). It is usually the first step in the buyer process. Search engine marketing can be broken out into two main areas: SEO (organic search) and PPC advertising (or paid search as it is sometimes known).

B2B DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS

Search engine marketing Search engine marketing is so called as it relates to the customer conducting ‘searches’ online. In the B2B space, searches can be more general at the very early part of research, and then later on in the consideration stage search can be more specific, related to problems, product, solutions, etc. Vendors trying to engage prospects can facilitate search through better optimization of their web and setting up links that will direct people to their website; this is called search engine optimization. The other main area is paid search. This refers to businesses spending money on keywords; according to the level of spend against keywords and associated advertising, their website is ranked based on search queries.

SEO SEO in turn can be further broken out into on-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page SEO is about optimizing the website in terms of tags, content and keywords so the site is found when people type keywords into search engines. The other important part of SEO is off-page, which essentially is about creating links from third-party websites to drive traffic to the vendor’s website. OPTIMIZING SEO

There are several digital applications businesses use to understand how or whether their website is SEO optimized; typical criteria are performance of the website, navigability, security and mobile applicability. Optimization can be conducted in-house if the competence and resources are available. Essentially, SEO is about being found without paying for keywords, through an intuitive website, by building links from content on other digital sites to the company’s own website. OPTIMIZING PAID SEARCH

One way B2B marketers can leverage paid search is by optimizing and selecting keywords related specifically to a vendor’s business and its USP (unique selling proposition). The advice is to stay clear of peak seasons as bidding on keywords may prove expensive: the more businesses bidding, the higher the price of keywords. Sometimes it may be more beneficial to bid on the keyword directly after the peak season.

139

140

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

CASE STUDY GlobalVision and organic search GlobalVision is a company operating in the global packaging industry. They help companies save money by providing automated proofreading software that eliminates errors in artwork and label production. They needed to improve their organic traffic and were dealing with a lot of ‘indirect’ SEO competition. Their other challenge was that their products and solutions were of a highly specialized nature, so they need to not only identify and use more specialized keywords, but identify and educate audiences regarding their solution. To address these challenges, they conducted comprehensive keyword research and grouped keywords into clusters. In addition to the keyword research and keyword analytics, GlobalVision also addressed technical areas to optimize, such as removing duplicate content, better language targeting and improving URL formats. Keywords were grouped into stages of the buyer journey and mapped to relevant content according to the buyer journey phases, for example long-form and SEO-optimized blog posts for the early buyer stages, and product landing pages for the mid and late stages. Link-building activities were carried out, improving external links as well as internal links. The result of these efforts was an increase in leads of over 300 per cent, an increase in organic traffic from 1,000 to over 10,000 per month, and a 420 per cent increase in their top 10 keywords.

B2B email B2B marketers use email more than ever before, with as many as 93 per cent of B2B marketers distributing content through email (Wybieralska, 2021). Email marketing is still important as a channel both for retaining customers and for existing customers as well as being used to support mid and late buyer journey stages. Within B2B there are different types of email marketing; one could probably find hundreds of different versions of emails. Essentially the main ones would align to different stages of the buyer journey in the mid-late buyer journey and post-purchase phases. During the stages before purchase, the main email types might include thought leadership-based educational emails, promotional emails and

B2B DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS

newsletter/news emails. One should think about how to align email and where a prospect is in their buyer journey considering that the journey on average can last between 12 and 18 months. Planning emails and content in advance is worthwhile to get the most out of email marketing and to support prospects. Thought leadership, education and newsletter emails can be used to maintain and develop the relationship more in the mid-buyer journey (or consideration) stage. During the purchase stage, product/solution emails or promotional emails may be more suitable. During the post-purchase stage, one can find again many different examples of types of email including product emails, offer emails, welcome emails, suggestion emails, product update emails, etc. The risk is that one can overuse this channel as it is free, and with overuse some customers may become niggled, or even annoyed by the frequency of emails being sent. Personalization within the post-purchase stage is particularly important in terms of frequency, type of email, timing of email and content, and where possible one should try to personalize emails within the pre-purchase stages. As email marketing tends to be free (unless a company pays for email addresses), it is a particularly popular tracking and delivery channel. Email marketing is also very easy to track as it is an owned form of media and hence used a lot in lead nurturing and to support the purchase process while tracking prospects and their stage in the buyer journey. It is also a great way to deliver different types of content.

PRACTICAL TIP Using email in enterprise marketing In enterprise or relationship marketing, emails are still widely used but in different forms; aside from the forms discussed above, the way emails are managed can differ where the relationship is being built or where sales want to lead the way information is communicated. The email can be a lead into a phone call, or used to communicate something during a phone call, or as a way to follow up a phone call. This type of email mechanic is sometimes called assisted emailing, as the email is not sent on its own but assisted by another activity. In some companies automated email sends are restricted, as blanket emails are regarded as ineffective or even damaging to customer engagement. Emails are therefore provided to sales to use according to their judgement.

141

142

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

PRACTICAL TIP Nuisance emails – how to avoid them If customers want to receive information or be engaged by a vendor at the right time in the buying process, emails can be welcome. They are only perceived as a nuisance if they’re not timely or if they are over-used. When companies send too many emails, customers can feel bombarded and ask the vendor to stop through suppression requests. One way around the risk of over-emailing is to create preference systems allowing customers to opt in to email only for selected topics. A common example of preference systems can be found in magazine or event companies that offer topic selection options for information or email themes that customers are interested in.

Social media Social media channels cover a wide range of activities including social listening, social platforms – e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter – social email and social commerce. You’ll find more about how this digital channel can be used by B2B marketers in Chapter 14.

Mobile marketing Mobile marketing offers multiple benefits to B2B organizations, as well as being one of the main influencers of digital marketing. According to a survey by Google, 57 per cent of customers say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site and 40 per cent have turned to a competitor’s site after a poor experience. Another survey from eMarketer (Sukhraj, 2016) highlighted that among the group of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) that had or planned to create a website, just 33 per cent had a mobile-optimized site in September 2015. Mobile provides customers with anytime, anywhere access. Vendors looking to target customers can access them in many more ways than with desktop-based activity. Other benefits of mobile marketing include the ability to personalize or target customers, the greater response rate and effectiveness of mobile channels, immediacy and distribution.

FIGURE 12.2  Email and the B2B buyer journey

Buying stages

? Unaware

Email types

Late buyer stage

Mid-buyer stage

Early buyer stage

I

Define needs

I

I

Evaluate options

• Educational • Thought leadership • Rich content

Compare Options

• Nurture • Solution • Case study – story telling

Customer retention

$

$×

Purchase

Repeat Purchase

• Product deployment • Product • Promotional • Newsletter • Next best purchase • Demo – suggestions embedded videos

© Simon Hall, 2022

143

144

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

B2B mobile marketing tactics The main mobile marketing tactics include the following: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

SMS is simple and involves sending a text message. SMS can be effective in delivering very simple messages and in response rates as it boasts extremely high open rates; on average around 98 per cent open rate. Average response rates for SMS are also high. QR codes. Quick response codes are like a barcode that can be read using smartphones; they can be used to provide access to additional content, e.g. as part of a campaign. Mobile display ads. Through different options such as click-to-call and click-to-video, mobile display is great for engaging prospects with the brand. Mobile adverts can be used in conjunction with geo-targeting to advertise to customers within a given area. Mobile-optimized and responsive websites. Considering the amount of time prospects or customers are away from their desk using smartphones, having a mobile site allows users more possibilities to see a brand’s content. Responsive content means adapting the content according to the device, whether a mobile, a desktop or tablet. Mobile applications include software downloaded and installed on mobile devices. B2B event companies use mobile applications to better engage with audiences before, during and after events to share information and capture feedback and comments.

Online PR Online PR is very similar to traditional PR in the sense that it’s about influencing people rather than buying placement for brand content. The influence could result in a story in a magazine, newspaper or blog. It could also result in other online pick-ups, including social media. As people are influenced through more digital stimuli and usage, PR has made a shift in the past decade over to digital; we’ll explore this digital channel more in Chapter 15.

B2B DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS

Digital advertising Similar in many ways to advertising in print media, with online advertising one pays for the space online, with the additional benefit that organizations can determine where the advert is placed and who sees it. With digital advertising one can target customers by behaviour, which can be a good way to reach professionals. This is done through advertising networks, which basically track the behaviour of users who visit their site network, then catalogue their behaviour based on site content. Types of digital advertising in the B2B space cover display advertising, mobile advertising, paid search advertising, social media advertising and native advertising. Depending on your goals and budget, different forms of digital advertising are selected. For example, if you’re just trying to get your adverts in front of as many prospective customers as possible then maybe display advertising is preferred; however, if the advert is not only used to generate awareness but also to educate prospects you may want to use native advertising.

PRACTICAL TIP Using Google AdWords Google AdWords is an online advertising service enabling advertisers to display ads in a timely manner to specific audiences. The success of AdWords for B2B marketing depends on three main factors: 1) carefully selecting relevant keywords; 2) speaking to customers’ pain points; and 3) making sure ads are written for B2B buyers and have keyword qualifiers that can help filter out B2C traffic.

Webinars and webcasts A webinar’s main feature is its interactive elements. Webinars come in the form of lectures and tutorials, presentations or mini events online. Webinars are useful in some of the following circumstances: ●●

●●

when budgets don’t allow for physical events; when the target customers are in different locations or across different sectors;

145

146

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

●●

●●

●●

where multiple topics at different time periods need to be planned; where customers’ preference is for a short engagement approach; smaller businesses may consider webinars as an alternative way to showcase their value proposition or present on a topic that is current and topical.

Webinars as alternatives to events Webinars can be considered as event alternatives as they allow different speakers to present from different locations. Where businesses have operations spread across different locations or even countries, a webinar allows them to include the highest-quality internal speakers to be put in front of customers.

Types of webinar Webinars can be one of three types. They can be one-way educational, where the focus is to update and educate the audience and where the communication is only to the audience; two-way interactive, where audience response is facilitated; or awareness-focused, where the objective is to create awareness of a product or service. Webinars are also great tools for improving retention by keeping customers up to date on the latest products or solutions.

PRACTICAL TIP Webinar optimization The main areas where webinars can be optimized are: ●●

●●

●●

Speaker quality. Involving the best speakers means webinars can be executed to the highest level possible. Interactive where appropriate. Facilitating opportunities for interactions will allow participants to engage; this can be managed or unmanaged depending on the business preference. Sales engagement/inclusion. With sales involved in the process, opportunities arising from the webinar sales can be followed up in a more timely fashion.

B2B DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS

Digital video Digital video is becoming more and more effective in B2B marketing and YouTube is increasing in popularity and is used by most businesses today. Typically, video channels are used for demonstrating or launching new products and technologies, providing expertise, sharing events, or demonstrating leadership in a subject area. YouTube is one example of a video channel supporting SEO of its videos, which in turn helps boost rankings. Video can come in different forms: as pure advertising, as something to solve business challenges, or to demonstrate thought leadership.

Video and the customer journey Video can be used across the customer journey and is becoming increasingly effective not only in the awareness stage but during the consideration and final purchasing stages. This is through case study videos and videos demonstrating a solution or product.

Communication channel integration In B2B marketing, digital has become more important and marketers need to be aware of the customer’s information needs and consumption behaviours. Offering up a purely digital approach may mean that either some customers or stakeholders are left out, or customers are not included at certain buying stages, such as where they require more direct engagement via phone, or face to face in the consideration or purchase phase. With that in mind, B2B marketers need to understand when, where and how to integrate digital and non-digital channels. There are different approaches to integration: ●●

●●

By stage of purchase. One way is to look at the early buying cycle mix, where the early part may be more digitally led and the late part may be mostly offline where customers may require some face-to-face interaction. By customer type. Small businesses may be chosen for a purely digital approach while larger enterprises will require a mixed approach.

147

148

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

●●

By customer decision maker. Even where targeting an organization may require a mix of digital and offline channels, certain decision makers could be regarded as being engaged purely through digital; for example, a CMO or chief digital officer in a company may be singled out as using mainly digital channels.

References and further reading CMI (2016) B2B content marketing: 2016 benchmarks, budgets and trends – North America, Content Marketing Institute, http://contentmarketinginstitute. com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf (archived at https://perma.cc/LQ3N-GD67) Erskine, R (2017) How to turn B2B buyers into sales leads, according to data, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanerskine/2017/12/28/how-to-turn-b2bbuyers-into-sales-leads-according-to-data/?sh=786004c85a18 (archived at https://perma.cc/4MLP-RQM3) Snyder, K and Hilal, P (2015) The changing face of B2B marketing, https://www. thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/the-changing-faceb2b-marketing (archived at https://perma.cc/6GHQ-W9WM) Spencer, J (nd) 120 mind-blowing mobile marketing stats, https:// makeawebsitehub.com/mobile-marketing-statistics/ (archived at https://perma. cc/NA26-LQKL) Sukhraj, R (2016) 31 mobile marketing statistics to help you plan for 2017, eMarketer, https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/mobile-marketing-statisticsfor-2016 (archived at https://perma.cc/4KBM-9UZ4) Wybieralska, A (2021) 5 tips to use content marketing in your email newsletter to get better results, https://elasticemail.com/blog/marketing_tips/5-tips-to-usecontent-marketing-in-your-email-newsletter-to-get-better-results (archived at https://perma.cc/ZVS6-EDPR)

149

13 Content marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

what content marketing is

●●

benefits of B2B content marketing

●●

types of B2B content

●●

the content marketing process

●●

content marketing planning

●●

key tools to support content marketing

●●

content curation and how to take advantage of it

Content and content marketing Content marketing can be defined as the process of creating and distributing relevant, timely, compelling content with the purpose of attracting, engaging and acquiring target customers. Content marketing in the past five years has become a hot topic; in Chapter 10 we reviewed the three main driving forces of digital, which have given marketers greater access to more information and content and the ability to create more types of content. Where customers are exposed to more information and content, the need to make that information more compelling, relevant, digestible, readable and timely becomes paramount, hence the increasing importance of content marketing.

150

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

The benefits of B2B content marketing Content marketing allows B2B marketers and businesses to reap different rewards, and builds a community of loyal customers. Good-quality, free information can seal connections between a community of customers loyal to the vendor’s brand. Regular sharing of content will incentivize customers to stay connected to the brand. Content marketing also helps instil trust; with good-quality content the brand can become more of an authority and trusted supplier or provider in the eyes of the customer, and this trust will influence purchase decisions. Compelling content will improve SEO and tends to get cited and shared, which will mean a greater likelihood of people going to a brand’s website. Content helps drive inbound traffic. With great content, businesses can benefit from more inbound traffic and more interest without having to go out and seek customers. Content that is easy to read and understand can help customers make better decisions; it can mean customers self-educate better, which in turn allows them to make better decisions for their business. According to other research from Forrester and SiriusDecisions (Setty, 2013), about two-thirds of B2B buying decisions are investigated, evaluated and compared before the brand is contacted. Most B2B purchasers say that content has a moderate or major impact on vendor selection.

Content marketing insights Looking at some of the more recent content trends, the majority – 70 per cent – of organizations changed their messaging and targeting since the pandemic impacted in early 2020 (CMI, 2021). We can still see the e-newsletter as being particularly popular for B2B marketers, with the number one most used content being blogs; according to the CMI B2B marketing report, the three top-performing content formats are blogs, e-newsletters and case studies. Another evolving trend in B2B content marketing is that long-form content is becoming popular. Articles that are more than 3,000 words get three times more traffic, four times more shares, and 3.5 times more backlinks than shorter articles (HubSpot, 2021). Content consumption is an important area to watch, as 47 per cent of B2B buyers consume three to five pieces of content prior to engaging with a salesperson (Hall, 2017).

CONTENT MARKETING

Finally, a more concerning statistic coming from the CMI is that only 42 per cent of B2B marketers regard themselves as effective in content marketing.

Differences with B2B content marketing B2B content marketing differs in several ways from B2C marketing. Firstly, B2C marketing is normally focused on one type of buyer persona, whereas in B2B, due to buying decisions being made by more than three key stakeholders, content marketing needs to account for potentially multiple types of content and messages even for one target customer account. For example, a finance person will have different content needs compared to a procurement manager. Secondly, the objectives in B2B can be different, due to the fact that many vendors have products and solutions that are more complex than B2C products. This means that products need to be explained; there is an educational element in the process where the prospective customer is learning about the solution before purchasing it. There are also objectives such as establishing trust, where trust in B2B will mean different things such as trust in the competency of the organization’s product and services. The digital channels delivering content can also vary between B2B and B2C; within B2B there are social media digital channels that are more effective in reaching B2B audiences, and webinars are used a lot more. Within B2C, more traditional advertising is used such as TV or online TV and video channels, which are not often used in the B2B space. The message being delivered can vary between B2B and B2C; within B2B this can be more rational, fact-based and appeal to business concerns. Finally, in B2B, the content formats differ; advertorials, infographics, SlideShare, case studies and white papers are more often found in B2B than in B2C.

What is great content? Great content is: ●●

●●

Compelling. It resonates with the audience and compels them to view more closely. Timely. It reaches customers at the right time for their needs; retargeting or redirected links make this possible.

151

152

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

●●

●●

●●

●●

Digestible/readable for the target customers and their buying stage. Relevant. Information is relevant to the customer, their business, industry, etc. Original. It is something different, new, fresh rather than a repetition of what’s already out there. Emotive. It inspires an emotion such as an urgent need or a desire.

EXAMPLE Deloitte Insights As per above where we talked about compelling, digestible, relevant, original and emotive aspects that represent great content, let’s take a look at an example. Deloitte is a professional services company providing consulting, auditing and other services. With Deloitte Insights pages they provide content based on multiple cutting-edge topics and by multiple sectors and thus achieve relevance for those searching by topic or sector. By offering content in different formats such as long-form articles, reports, blogs, polls, surveys and even supported by a dedicated mobile app, they make their content digestible. Their content encompasses research and blog articles, leveraging writers from across their organization as well as outside and thus they provide original content. Finally, the emotive side of the content is achieved by touching on topics that relate to broader business but aren’t always about business. This could include aspects relating to specialisms in the business, discussion of social influences on business, discussion of environmental aspects, etc.

Content creation So how does one create content? Below is a six-step outline for content ­creation, shown in Figure 13.1: 1 Customer needs assessment. Customer needs and associated digital chan-

nels and content are identified. The needs of different organizational stakeholders are reviewed. Buyer triggers are identified, account profiles and personas are created. Core themes are then agreed upon based on the research.

CONTENT MARKETING

2 Planning. In line with the budget content requirements are documented,

timelines are drawn, processes are mapped out and editorial calendars built. The editorial calendar is the main tool to document content, timing of content, availability of distribution and different messages. There may be decisions to change content or reduce the amount of content based on the output of planning or to adjust the budget if it doesn’t allow for both creation and implementation. 3 Content creation. The main content is then created; this could be a large

piece of research, or a piece involving a case study. The main content includes all messages and is the basis for the content creation that surrounds a marketing or brand campaign. 4 The content portfolio is then created. Different content formats are devel-

oped based on the main content. This part of the process is sometimes called ‘content fragmentation’. 5 Content activation. Content is distributed or activated. During this step

content is made ready and accessible and distributed according to content calendars. Part of this step is content amplification where techniques are employed to maximize the audience reach for the content. 6 Measure and optimize. Content is measured in terms of effectiveness and

against a set of criteria and metrics such as downloads, clicks, ­clickthroughs, time spent or other if the content is offline.

FIGURE 13.1  Content creation process

Measurement, evaluation

Customer needs assessment

Activate, implement content

Planning

Build core content and create suite of content

153

154

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

1.  Customer needs research The first step in creating content is to understand the target customer, their needs and their pain points. One way to capture this information is in the form of a buyer persona. Buyer personas are fundamental to understanding the customer; despite this, only 44 per cent of B2B marketers use them (Schwartz and Weaver, 2014). They require resources, effort and competency to build.

HOW TO CREATE BUYER PERSONAS Buyer personas can be created in different ways and can be broken out into the following main approaches: 1) using matched customer information, 2) conducting customer polls and surveys, and 3) outreach. These methods are not mutually exclusive: 1 In terms of internal information mining this is about identifying customers

who match your ideal customer profile specifically related to the role, company or any other criteria used to define the ideal target customer. Information sources could include marketing automation, CRM database, website information, social media information and content consumption information. 2 The second method would be to conduct surveys or polls with existing

customers. This might be to fill in the gaps in terms of information not gleaned from internal information sources, and can be done directly with the account manager’s permission. 3 The third approach is to use an external company to engage a random

sample of people who fit the profile of the ideal target persona, and will include non-customers as well as customers. The advantage of this approach is the ability to ask questions of those non-customers as to why they don’t buy from the organization. See Figure 13.2 for a comprehensive view of what’s included in a buyer persona

CONTENT MARKETING

FIGURE 13.2  Buyer persona template Persona context Who are they? What is their experience? What are their areas of focus? What are the roles? What’s a day in the life of the person?

Goals Business goals? Personal goals? Organizational goals affecting buyer behaviour?

Buying process What’s their buying process? How does procurement play a part?

Buyer needs What is driving their buying need? What are their pain points?

Why buy? How do buyers make choices? Risk affecting buying choices?

Initiatives Projects today? Projects next financial year?

Timing Seasonal patterns of buyers?

Buyer view of brands How do they view you as a brand? How do they view other competing brands?

Why they don’t buy What are their deal breakers? Are there any negative opinions of your organization? Have they heard of you?

Influencers, stakeholders Who are the key stakeholders? Who participates in buying decisions? Who participates in approval process?

Content, channels Difference in content consumption between stages in customer journey. Differences in use of marketing channels across customer journey.

Keywords, key phrases What keywords are being used by persona?

PRACTICAL TIP Identify buyer triggers Another step in creating compelling content is identifying buyer triggers. A buyer trigger is an event or occurrence that spurs buyers to make purchases. Buyer triggers come from different influences such as technology, legal, competition, business growth, government or the economy.

2.  Content marketing planning The next stage is to plan for content. Within this stage content mapping, content audit and content plans are carried out. Timings for content creation, availability and distribution are defined as well as corresponding budgets.

155

156

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

CONTENT MAPPING

Content mapping is about identifying and aligning content not only to buyers but to specific stages in the purchasing process. For example, for the early buyer journey stage, content formats that typically get used include banners and videos; as the buyer moves further through their purchase process, content formats that work might include specific product videos, case studies or blogs. Content mapping is also necessary to ensure enough content is there to cover different stages of the buyer journey, and to continue to help move to the next stage in their purchase process. Content mapping can be achieved by looking from two different ­perspectives: 1 Understand activities that prospective buyers carry out during the differ-

ent stages and use those activities and channels to define best-aligned content (and channel). Typically, the activity and need will determine the content; for example, if a prospect is trying to understand a product in depth, a banner or brand video will not work. 2 One can also identify relevant content that is currently being used by

viewing engagement metrics during the mid-buyer journey (or consideration stage); one can view social media content metrics, website metrics, and email relating to content consumption.

CONTENT AUDIT

The content audit follows the content mapping stage. It is the analysis of the market communication collateral the organization has developed for internal and external purposes. The objectives behind a content audit are to determine content availability compared to content requirements. It’s about uncovering opportunities and gaps within the content portfolio – for example, are there enough formats to capture the buyer and help them move from a consideration stage to purchase stage? HOW TO AUDIT

A content audit can be conducted in the simplest form as an inventory list documenting all that is available in terms of content, e.g. white papers, infographics etc, the date or age of the content, ownership of content and details regarding target customer.

FIGURE 13.3  Content map Buying stage

Awareness

Evaluate

Content stage

Educational content

Research support content

Content types

SEO Videos Infographics Research reports Industry article

Compare

Buy & post purchase

Comparison support Usage, optimization content content

Webinars Case studies Webinars Testimonial Case studies Content syndication Testimonial Comparison tools Content syndication SlideShare

User forum content Tutorial Forums Blogs

157

158

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

FIGURE 13.4  Stakeholder content mapping Target persona C-suite Business manager Purchasing IT Finance

Core themes How to deploy storage infrastructure How to reduce costs

Buyer stage Need recognition Consideration Evaluation Purchase Post purchase

Content tactic Infographic Webinar SlideShare Display Social Email Testimonial

Once the audit has been documented, the next step is to understand the content usability, content shareability and tone. Can customers easily find it? Is it shareable, relevant? Does it have a call to action? CONTENT MARKETING PLANNING TOOLS

Other tools to use in content marketing planning include: ●●

●●

●●

Provisional editorial calendar mapping out themes or requirements by time period, e.g. month, week, etc. It is quite possible that all content is already created before the start of the campaign and released and activated according to timings. The benefit of this is that the messaging is controlled, and fewer messages are in the market; sub-themes can be emphasized by month. Also, the customer can digest and follow rather than receive everything all at once. Content creation vs activation review. This essentially is reviewing the overall budget between the content creation and content marketing; some marketers can get so excited about creating content and types of content, leaving little budget to share the content promote and distribute it. Budget planning. Based on scope, themes and personas, the next step is to determine budget requirements to create different formats.

3.  Content creation There are various methods or approaches to creating content, the main ones being in-house content creation, subcontracted content creation supported by agencies, curated content, collaborative content and user-generated content: In-house content. This is where organizations use internal marketing departments to create content. Essentially it is about any form of content that organizations themselves find but can include customer case studies,

CONTENT MARKETING

corporate stories, themes identified, product and portfolio messaging. A consideration for this method of creating content is that it is resourceintensive for existing marketing communication departments; potentially there may be lack of availability. It also assumes that internal human resources have access to the latest applications for creating content as well as the necessary skills and capabilities. Curated content. Curated content is third-party content typically purchased on a licence basis for a limited amount of time. It’s not about creating ‘new’ content but about providing the perception of something new through the collecting and provision of pieces of content. The content can be thought to be semi-exclusive as potentially other organizations may use it outside of the exclusive time period. For the period of using the content typically organizations would pay for exclusive use. Using curated content means an organization can share other parties’ content, as well as including commentary on the content piece. It is important to credit the author of the content through adding an attribution line. User-generated content. User-generated content is a third option where the content is generated by users, in this case businesses, business customers and partners. This is regarded by other customers as one of the most credible and reliable types of content but can be one of the most difficult to obtain. The best way to approach user-generated content is to create a structure by which you invite customers to create content, for example by incentivizing them to share thoughts, stories, case studies, opinions, etc, or by providing platforms for them to talk, such as at events, on mobile, or on webinars and podcasts. The final approach to creating content is through collaborating with other companies. Other companies can be magazines, industrial and trade associations, experts, channel partners or research companies; the idea of collaboration is that the other party brings something of value in co-creating with you, ideally adding to the credibility of the content.

CONTENT CREATION CONSIDERATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

In creating content, marketers should be cognisant of the following: ●●

Co-creation can mean more credible content. As mentioned before, if your content is not getting the traction and engagement rates you’re expecting, then consider co-creating content with another business. This will help to create content that is not only more credible but also more interesting.

159

160

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Chances are that the other business has its own followers and customers, which can only help in further getting the content distributed. ●●

●●

Ageing of content. Content freshness can be sometimes very subjective and those B2B marketers behind the creation and managing of campaigns will typically have a different relationship to the content than the recipient. Vendors of B2B content are quick to view content as old even after only three months, due to being exposed to the content so frequently. B2B marketers should therefore think about how much exposure target customers have to the content over a period of time and use that as an indicator rather than internal fiscal quarters or planning cycles. The final point is that content creation doesn’t have to be so difficult. One way to approach it is to first create one large piece of content of more than 3,000 words; this could be a survey, a big event, a big piece of research, a large case study, etc. One can then use this large piece of content – also called core content – to create all the smaller pieces of content. So, whilst the large piece of content may be costly, it will save you all the costs of the smaller pieces of content.

PRACTICAL TIP Creating content by starting with core content The next stage is in creating the core content – the main original core piece (or pieces) of content upon which the content portfolio is built. Examples of core content can be: ●●

a piece of research;

●●

a story the company wants to tell;

●●

an event or trigger event in the market which the company has an answer to;

●●

a new message or theme the company promotes;

●●

a customer story;

●●

a market trend around which the business focuses key messages.

What the core content looks like depends on the customer target, the business goals and other influences.

CONTENT MARKETING

Build the content portfolio Once the core content is created, the next stage is to fragment or atomize according to content format requirements, e.g. taking a research piece and transforming it into infographics, a banner, SlideShare or other formats according to the content map.

4.  Content activation and distribution During this phase, content is promoted and distributed across different channels according to media plans and editorial calendars. Below are some of the mechanisms for distributing content: ●●

●●

●●

via content syndication through third parties who place company content on their website; media placement and distribution – media or advertising slots are booked across online and other sites directly or via media agencies; via content licensing, through content licensing and posting companies which post and distribute content on behalf of the vendors.

Additionally, content can be amplified further beyond the above distribution mechanisms by having a self-sharing mechanism for the content, e.g. through social, or by leveraging influencers or encouraging advocates to post and share content relevant to the topic.

PRACTICAL TIP Scheduling content As a way to plan and distribute content, one can use content scheduling technologies; these typically allow you to create a schedule view of when and how content will be distributed. Such scheduling technologies include Asana, Trello and Monday.com. If you’re distributing posts or tweets only on social media, you can schedule tweets on Twitter using technologies such as Buffer, and across social media with technologies such as Sprout Social, Falcon.io, and Monday.com.

161

162

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

5.  Content marketing measurement and review The effectiveness of content marketing is something marketers need to be able to justify or demonstrate if they’re to protect budgets for content. Content marketing measurement can be split into three core areas using the TEL framework below: ●●

●●

●●

Traffic metrics. Metrics relating to number of visits, unique visitors, etc. Engagement metrics include bounce rates, repeat visits and time spent. A high bounce rate of 80 per cent means that 80 per cent of customers landing on a page or content leave immediately. A measure of how much time an audience spends on content can say a lot about the content quality or how engaging it is. Finally, repeat visits is the number of customers coming back, so having a high repeat visit level is a positive sign as it shows customers are willing to come back. Lead-generation metrics. These metrics include number of leads, leads converted to sales opportunities, and ultimately leads closed as deals.

EXAMPLE The B2B content strategy at Softbox Softbox is an award-winning temperature-control packaging innovator that has been designing and producing high-performance passive temperature-control packaging solutions for the Pharma industry for over 20 years. Since early 2020 they have been supporting the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines which have placed additional temperature control demands on packaging. With Softbox’s latest packaging innovations they can maintain vaccines at ultra-low temperatures of up to -70 degrees whilst the vaccines are in transit for over 10 days. To support communicating these packaging innovations and to inform their key customer audiences, Softbox have developed and expanded their approach to thought leadership content and product packaging content. They created a set of videos which were subsequently promoted on LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo and other digital video channels. Aside from this thought leadership video content, they have created a wide variety of content assets such as animated gifs, static images, product images, PR articles and links to white papers. Animations have proven to be useful tools to convey the technology and the complexity of their innovative packaging technology, even in short videos of as little as two minutes.

CONTENT MARKETING

Sustainability: As part of their innovation story, Softbox have developed a range of sustainable temperature-control packaging which has also been aligned to pharmaceutical companies and their sustainability initiatives. Content to support these has also been in the form of videos, articles and their sustainability report. For example, when Tempcell ECO plastic-free packaging was launched, sustainability was a key focus in the articles written and the videos created; Softbox also supported the launch with a global sustainability survey that was subsequently shared across several digital platforms. Content over time: For more than two years, Softbox have been working on developing and expanding different content formats to include videos and visual elements such as icons on their website, as well as a graphic or video attached to every social media post to catch the audience’s attention. Animations are also used a lot and are well received by customers and business partners; total views across all videos on YouTube amount to over 45,000 and for Vimeo it is over 50,000. Over recent years short animations and GIFs appear to be performing particularly well; incorporating facts as well as the use of emojis also improves engagement and reception of product content, with their followers on LinkedIn increasing from 947 in 2018 to around 2,678 in 2021. Softbox employ multiple social media channels including LinkedIn, Twitter, Vimeo and YouTube, as well as their company websites, company email and industry magazines. The mix of content created by Softbox covers areas of branding, industry news and trends, with the budget divided up as 50 per cent for brand content, 30 per cent for industry content, and 20 per cent for news and trends. Softbox is a great example of a company operating in a very traditional industry, which has successfully initiated a shift into new content approaches, embracing new digital channels as well as themes at the heart of the industry such as sustainability.

ACTIVITIES Identify by campaign which pieces of content could be used for different stages of the buyer journey: beginning, middle and close. Identify your key target personas of a recent campaign and check whether your content is really tailored to them through formal or ad hoc surveys. What are your KPIs according to the TELS framework? Where do you focus today? How would you adjust the KPI discussion depending on a marketing or sales audience?

163

164

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

References and further reading CMI (2016) B2B content marketing: 2016 benchmarks, budgets and trends – North America, Content Marketing Institute, http://contentmarketinginstitute. com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf (archived at https://perma.cc/LQ3N-GD67) CMI (2021) B2B content marketing 2021, https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/ wp-content/uploads/2020/09/b2b-2021-research-final.pdf (archived at https:// perma.cc/AUH4-9CQH) Hall, M (2017) Content marketing statistics: the ultimate list, Curata, http://www. curata.com/blog/content-marketing-statistics-the-ultimate-list/ (archived at https://perma.cc/PW74-38K5) HubSpot (2021) The ultimate list of marketing statistics for 2021, HubSpot, https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics (archived at https://perma.cc/ RZG5-3EUA) Schwartz, J and Weaver, A (2014) The marketing strategist: what’s behind the customer mask? ITSMA, http://www.itsma.com/whats-behind-the-customermask/ (archived at https://perma.cc/L549-XLHN) Setty, R (2013) How to get started on marketing and sales alignment, Salesforce, https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/10/align-marketing-sales.html (archived at https://perma.cc/GZ82-FA4J)

165

14 B2B social media marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

social media business benefits

●●

social media channels and how to select them

●●

social and the customer cycle

●●

how to implement an advocacy programme

●●

social media marketing strategies

Social media evolution Social media has evolved in the past decade from a conversational forum to a full end-to-end marketing and business tool. Businesses are now embracing social media in different ways and those that evangelize and embrace social media are set to reap huge benefits across the business and business functions.

Millennials as an influence on B2B social media Millennials are growing as a percentage of the workforce; with this increase in numbers there is undoubtedly also an influence not only on digital adoption and usage but also in social media channels. Millennials can also have a direct and indirect influence in the workplace, not just directly by being a larger part of the workforce but also indirectly as they are educating their parents and relatives in using social media platforms privately and in doing so are educating baby boomers or Gen X in the workplace.

166

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

According to the Harvard Business Review, around 73 per cent of 20–35-year-olds are involved in product/service purchase decision making at their companies, with one-third reporting that they are the sole decision maker for their department (Almquist, 2018). Apparently a good 50 per cent of B2B product researchers are digital natives, according to a Google/ Millward Brown digital survey of buyers (Prodanov, 2019). What these statistics tell us is that we can no longer ignore Millennials in B2B marketing; they are now a substantial part of the target customers for most industries, and if we haven’t already, we need to think about adapting our social media activities to be relevant for them. Social media is a collection of online platforms and tools that people use to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself, facilitating conversations and interactions online between groups of people. Social media is an ever-growing and evolving collection of online tools and toys, platforms and applications that enable all of us to interact with and share information.

Benefits of social media for business Social media has shifted in the way it impacts and benefits business. About 10 years ago social media platforms were forums oriented towards consumers; today businesses benefit from influencing customers without engaging them, in messaging and marketing at a low cost (or even no cost). Social has become a new element of the marketing mix that helps position and promote the brand as well as generating leads. For small businesses, it’s one of the easiest ways to get started; beyond networking it can help them promote their offerings. Social media can drive traffic to a website and can boost a site’s SEO. Great content on social platforms means search engines are more likely to pick up a business’s posts. Social can help businesses understand their audience; for example, Facebook Insights can help them learn about customers.

Social media channels B2B social media channels have evolved over the past 10 years to support business needs and customer needs; they have become more fragmented into

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

the following areas (see Figure 14.1 for the ‘new’ B2B social media navigator): ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Social networks. Network platforms designed to allow people to connect with each other; the main social network platforms used by businesses in most countries are LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook. Social video. Rich and streaming media sites including YouTube and Vimeo help to engage customers early in their buying journey through richer content. Social display. These are display adverts typically provided through social media platforms; they are a form of paid advertising. Social knowledge. These are social networks used also for business ­reference purposes, like Yahoo! Answers, Quora, Ask and Wikipedia; businesses use these to get quick answers or to reference on questions or topics. Social business forums. Business communities that may also be part of social networks or created separately as paid or unpaid memberships. Such business forums include members from a similar industry, function or to discuss similar challenges. For example, Procurious is a social media business forum that purchase managers can use to engage with others working in purchasing or with procurement professionals. Social mail and messaging. Social networks with their own mail or messaging possibilities; for example, LinkedIn ‘InMail’ can be an effective way to target customers and potential customers. Messenger applications such as WhatsApp and WeChat are used by organizations as a way to market, and engage customers and customer communities. Social blogs. Company blogs, industry specialists’ blogs or specialists ­blogging on platforms or forums.

EXAMPLE Spiceworks Over the past 10 years, Spiceworks has been effective in creating a rich IT decision-maker community; it is regarded as the world’s largest social business network for IT professionals. In 2011 alone, IT professionals spent almost 3 billion minutes in Spiceworks, making it one of the most active sites in the IT industry.

167

168

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

FIGURE 14.1  B2B social media navigator

Social networks LinkedIn

Social blogs

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

RSS

Social mail and messaging

Social Video YouTube

Vimeo

LinkedIn

Twitter

WhatsApp, WeChat

Social business forums

Social advertising LinkedIn

Forum

Facebook

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Sector-based, e.g. Procurious

Social sales and marketing Social media is a channel used by business customers to self-educate, where they can learn about new products, new vendors, engage peers, and where they may engage potential vendors to ask questions. Due to customers increasingly using social, more businesses have turned to social media; both sales and marketing use it to target and reach prospects, and to promote content. Although the emphasis for marketing is to leverage social media during the early and mid-buyer journey, i.e. during acquisition, typically sales will use social media during the late buyer journey and for existing customers. So, who is responsible for social media within an organization? Essentially both sales and marketing, but for different aspects. Sales need to become more social savvy to use social media channels to educate, engage, and continue to nurture prospects after these have been handed over from marketing during the lead generation and lead nurture process. Sales also need to leverage social media for existing customers to answer questions, responding to their comments and sharing content. Marketers

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

need to use social to learn about customers, identify and target prospects, attract customers, and engage and nurture them indirectly through their buying process.

The social media marketing process The six-step process in developing and rolling out social media marketing activities, as shown in Figure 14.2, is: Step 1: Social media objectives and goal setting The first step is to align with the business and marketing goals as well as the audience to target. Step 2: Social media audit The next step is to conduct a social media audit across four core areas: customer and social media channel usage; vendor employee business usage of social platforms; vendor-owned social platforms; and required social media platforms. The audit should start with the target customer’s social media usage: what, how and when. The next level of the audit is to what extent owned platforms are used internally within the company compared to the required extent, e.g. where social is being used simply to network and add contacts and the business needs to use the platform to target and engage through additional licences. Step 3: Social media channel selection According to the social media audit and budget, social media channels are selected and prioritized. Step 4: Social activation Once the channels are selected, content should be prepared and readied as part of the overall media and content marketing plan (see Chapter 13) where content timings, paid, owned and earned plans come together to activate social across different channels. Step 5: Social review Once implemented, social media activities should be reviewed against pre-agreed KPIs. Step 6: Social optimization Based on what has been learnt during the review stage, social media activities are optimized further, whether this is content, implementation, type of social advertising or marketing.

169

170

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

FIGURE 14.2  Social media marketing process Define social media objectives and goals

Social media audit – internal/external audience social usage

Social media channel selection

Social activationsmedia+content

Social review

Social optimization

Social media marketing enablers The success of social media marketing not only hinges on good planning and innovative usage but also on some key foundations or enablers. Success typically relies on sales engagement and support, i.e. their buy-in. Business buy-in in this context is the respective business stakeholders being fully aware of the social media benefits for the wider business as well as being supportive of social media activities. Sales adoption, i.e. sales readily using social media platforms, is key. Some sales specialists may already be bloggers within the business. Where senior business stakeholders have adopted social media, whether for private or business purposes, this can also benefit the business. Having the business actively using social media is fundamental to any business social media activities. Where a business has little or no social

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

­ resence, a social media marketing strategy will struggle. Business customp ers today expect all businesses to have a presence and to know how to use ­business social platforms.

PRACTICAL TIP How to gain buy-in So you need to get your business and sales department participating in your social media initiatives but there isn’t the buy-in? Here are some key steps to achieving this across four approaches: 1 Leverage third-party advocates. The typical scenario within businesses is that

the marketing department takes the lead on social media and in using it for marketing and even broader business purposes. One way to support the marketing voice within a company is introducing outside advocates or experts who can explain the potential of social media for the business. 2 Competition activities/monitoring. Sometimes highlighting how competitors

are using social and how they benefit from it can be a great way of showing how an organization needs to catch up. 3 Customer insights and viewpoints. Leveraging customer views on how they

use social, when and to what extent can play to marketers or others trying to get buy-in for social media marketing. One simple way could be to get salespeople to ask their key accounts about their use of social media. 4 Identify internal non-marketing advocates. Marketing departments are usually

expected to be social media advocates so having non-marketers emphasizing and supporting the benefits of social can be a great way to influence other non-marketers.

Social and the customer cycle As social media platforms have become more sophisticated, so business can leverage social at each stage in the customer lifecycle, from finding them, to engaging, acquiring and retaining them. Following are examples of business goals aligned to the customer lifecycle (CLC) and how social could be used for each of the stages – see Figure 14.3.

171

172

FIGURE 14.3  CLC social media

Buyer stage

Need recognition

Banner on social website

Evaluation

SlideShare adverts

Click-based InMail

Infographics on social

Gated content, e.g. infographic on social platform

Social media Sponsor content, e.g. platform on LinkedIn, Facebook tactic Sponsored InMail, e.g. YouTube awareness videos

Purchase

LinkedIn Build follower base

CPC sponsored updates YouTube demonstration videos

Postpurchase Participate in social forum Share news via social forum Post new content SlideShare update material Q&A social

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Finding and targeting customers Social media can be used in various ways for finding and targeting ­customers, for example through targeted display advertising on social media platforms or through monitoring third-party social forums. Despite display advertising such as pop-up ads sometimes being perceived as an annoyance by customers, display advertising through social network sites such as LinkedIn can support more engaging display formats such as dynamic ads that allow ads to be personalized to the target customer. Another way is to use LinkedIn retargeting. Other possibilities on LinkedIn might be to use native advertising, which is advertising as in-feed units in the form of sponsored content, i.e. video ads, image ads or event ads.

Engaging customers Customers can be engaged via a social forum, whether the company’s own or a third party. Another possibility is sharing banners and retargeting customers when they click on a banner. Influencers or referrals can be used to engage and offer some credibility and trust to an unknown organization reaching out to potential customers.

PRACTICAL TIP Nurture the engagement – don’t rush it During this phase vendors can easily lose potential customers. With social marketing it is so easy to connect, contact and communicate with customers, sales may not be able to resist the temptation to ask for a phone call or to ask questions about potentially selling something. Businesses need to remember the word ‘social’; in B2B this is about building some form of relationship prior to any pitch or sale. Some social sites offer blocking mechanisms to restrict vendors from connecting or engaging unfamiliar contacts, so watch out!

Other possibilities for vendors to engage customers include: ●●

●●

Invite to a forum based on a relevant topic. The forum could be a tutorial via SlideShare. Via InMail, personally engage a customer. Based on defined personas or business types, companies can engage customers through social emails or texts.

173

174

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

●●

Respond on social questions. Where customers ask for help with a question or challenge, vendors can demonstrate capability and even ­ thought leadership on a topic.

Social for acquisition Social media can be used for acquiring customers by using social-based mail and messaging (e.g. LinkedIn, InMail) offering the latest solutions to customers’ needs or interests; or downloads from a social website with the opportunity to hear about latest offerings; or gated content in the form of SlideShare, infographics, e-books, or white papers.

Social for customer retention and loyalty Post-acquisition, social media is a great tool to increase loyalty and stickiness with existing customers. One of the ways is sales updates. These may include news about technologies, about the business, or latest offerings. Rather than using emails all the time, this form of updating can be more powerful and less invasive as information can be shared through links or likes, and it reduces traffic to the customer’s own email box. Conversations Businesses can listen and respond on their own social site to customer mentions or questions; this may be about sales or other business stakeholders actively engaging customers on key topics through the company’s social blogs and posts. Social mention Organizations can support customers through mentioning them in their news updates via social or posting about an achievement the customer has had; this can help the customer’s profile in the industry through ‘free’ marketing. Collaborative social marketing The vendor and customer participate together on social blogs, where they co-advertise through videos or banners. Post-event engagement Companies can include a follow-up message to an event through social in the form of additional content or news.

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Customer service Dealing with complaints in a timely manner can help put a customer at ease and address a problem. Integrating sales operations can also be beneficial where social is used to provide updates on delivery or other aspects.

Implementing a B2B social media advocacy programme More and more organizations are looking to actively encourage internal employees in using social for business purposes, known as employee advocacy programmes. Here are some of the main steps to implementing a targeted social media advocacy programme, known as the TIPSS model: Target audience The first step is defining the target customer audience, e.g. specialists within an industry sector or general customers in all businesses. Internal audience grouping Based on the target audience, the next stage is to build internal groups, which could be general sales, specialist sales, or different business functions. Prepare Internal employees are trained to use social, content is prepared, and mechanisms for internally sharing social content are created. Share content that is easily shareable Accessible content is sent on. Structured review against core KPIs KPIs could be reach, influence, activity level, etc.

EXAMPLE Ricoh Canada social media advocacy One example of a company successfully implementing a social media advocacy programme is Ricoh Canada, which offers workplace solutions and digital transformation services designed to help manage and optimize information flow across your business. In 2019, Ricoh Canada decided to take a more focused approach to encouraging social media advocacy, by leveraging GaggleAMP (a social media advocacy technology). They started this with a three-month trial period

175

176

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

which involved nine sales representatives who were already active on social media; they started promoting company posts and content as well as responding to activities requested via GaggleAMP. As part of the programme, these sales representatives would engage in activities on social media such as posts to LinkedIn and Facebook, retweets and posts on Twitter, writing reviews on Glassdoor, or watching a video on YouTube. As a result of the first few months the nine sales reps generated a collective reach of over half a million people on social media. Following the trial period the programme and the GaggleAMP platform were expanded to additional departments; the nine sales representatives were also nominated as GaggleAMP ambassadors and in turn identified other employees who would benefit from employee advocacy. Since launching the programme, Ricoh Canada have been able to expand to reach over 2.6 million people.

Social listening and monitoring B2B social media listening Social media listening is the monitoring of your brand on social media to understand customer response, feedback, and mentions of your brand; it is about monitoring keywords, topics, competitors and industries. There are key areas where social media listening can help, including industry monitoring, competitive monitoring and brand monitoring. Its main uses are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Uncover pain points. Listening to conversations about products and services may provide context and insights into pain points. How you’re positioned/rated vs competition. Through monitoring conversations you can understand how customers view you and your competition. Identify influencers. Identify main influencers: who has the largest following, which influencer content is being shared the most, etc. Identify topics, content. For example, monitoring industry-specific hashtags can help you understand what terms and types of content are resonating with your audience. Understand feedback on products or services. Know whether customers are satisfied with products or services and then take appropriate action where needed.

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social listening technologies include TweetReach, TweetDeck, Hootsuite, Cyfe, Crowdfire, Twitonomy, Buffer and SocialMention. Some of these are paid for, some offer free versions.

Social media channel selection Selecting the right social media channel depends on the target customer audience. For example, a healthcare professional may have a profile on LinkedIn, be present on Facebook and be in an online community with a separate platform but may not use Twitter. Some of the main criteria in social media channel selection are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Audience usage and propensity to use. What do they currently use? This information can be found in the persona profile (see Chapter 13). Where is your competition on social? Through understanding competitors’ social activity and channel use, one can avoid falling behind. Buying stage focus. What stage of the buying journey are you targeting? The answer may determine the type of social media channel. Budget. What budget do you have for social, or is the idea only to use owned and earned material? Accessibility/reach. Which social platform allows you to reach and/or engage your target customer?

CASE STUDY Schneider Electric/Invensys Better Together In September 2014 Schneider Electric launched a communication campaign using social media channels to promote the merger/acquisition of Invensys with the aim of reaching global customers. The objective was to address two major concerns: 1) existing customers were concerned about the company’s future investment in products they used and thus were holding back on new projects; and 2) new customers did not yet recognize the value of the combined Schneider Electric and Invensys portfolio and demonstrated higher resistance to moving to Schneider Electric/Invensys solutions. The focus of the campaign was to demonstrate the combined value and benefits and to reassure customers in their business with either or both companies. As part of

177

178

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

the campaign an internal competition was launched to encourage employees to use their personal accounts to tweet about the power of being ‘Better Together’. For every tweet posted using #BetterTogether, the firm committed to donate a corresponding amount to ‘Habitat for Humanity’. After five months about €20,000 was raised and donated. Confidence among existing customers was re-established. Aside from the business numbers, internal productivity improved as both companies were working better together and both could see the benefits of a combined business.

ACTIVITIES Identify which social media channels your current customers are using. Does this match the social media channels included in your marketing activities or campaigns? How often are your customers using social and for what purpose? Identify social forums, groups related to your function, industry or business challenge and join one of them.

References Almquist, E (2018) How digital natives are changing B2B purchasing, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2018/03/how-digital-natives-are-changing-b2bpurchasing (archived at https://perma.cc/6BTZ-UJNJ) Edmond, R (2021) Ricoh Canada’s strategic launch of an employee advocacy program, https://blog.gaggleamp.com/case-studies/ricoh-canadas-employeeadvocacy-program (archived at https://perma.cc/MV49-TP8H) Prodanov, G (2019) Millennials – the B2B buyers of the future and what this means for your business, 20 May, https://www.uppb2b.co.uk/insights/b2b/ millennials-the-b2b-buyers-of-the-future-and-what-this-means-for-yourbusiness/ (archived at https://perma.cc/S6DW-LA54)

179

15 B2B brand building

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

brand building and impact on business growth

●●

key brand elements

●●

what prevents a business from building a brand

●●

the brand-building process

●●

how to engage employees to communicate the brand

●●

how to build a B2B brand tracker

●●

B2B brand ROI and measurement

●●

how to ensure brand consistency

Introduction There are several differences in building a B2B brand compared to a consumer brand. Business brands don’t have the same day-to-day exposure as consumer brands; they also tend to use different communication channels. Business brands need to appeal to different needs and requirements and the messages they use aren’t as sexy. So how do B2B brands establish presence and how do brands that have B2B and B2C manage the different messages?

180

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Brand and brand building defined A brand starts with the identity of a company, and the way it presents itself through titles, description of the company, logo, etc. The consistency of these different elements forms a brand.

Brand levels There are different levels of brands: the company brand, a business unit brand, and a product/services brand (see Figure 15.1). For this chapter we will focus on B2B product/service brand building and sometimes business unit brands (as opposed to company brands), though the thinking and approach for building a product brand and a company brand are similar. So, what is a business unit brand? Quite simply a business unit brand is one that spans a number of product brands. An example of a B2B business unit brand could be FedEx freight, which includes sub-product brands such as FedEx Customer Critical and FedEx Multimodal. Product and services brands in B2B might be Dell’s business notebook brands, which include Vostro and Latitude. When thinking about the brand it should be considered that a number of elements that customers see will shape their view of the brand; these are called brand touchpoints.

Why invest in brand building? Several indices can be found pointing to links between business performance and profitability and brand strength. According to Interbrand, the top 100 most valuable brands grew by 9 per cent in 2020 despite the effects of FIGURE 15.1  B2B Brand Levels

Corporate brand Business unit brand Product/service brand

B2B BRAND BUILDING

Covid-19 (Marketing charts, 2020). Additionally, strong brands based on research have been shown to secure loyalty, drive choice and command a premium.

Brand building in B2B is less emotive – wrong! B2C customers may purchase the wrong brand of marmalade but that is easily rectified. What if the IT storage infrastructure for a business doesn’t function, or worse, loses data? Such things, if known to a customer, can hurt a company’s performance, earnings or credibility. This higher level of emotionality in B2B becomes more obvious on closer inspection; B2B purchases can entail personal risks, more so than for B2C. For example, the person responsible for having purchased the datacentre or choosing the supplier will have invested emotions as their credibility and time are impacted. The other factor is the degree of impact if things go wrong. For pharmaceutical drugs, for example, a vendor who changes to a new B2B freight forwarder, where timing is of the issue, may also feel very emotional if critical timelines for delivering (receiving) new pharmaceutical drugs are not adhered to. And some statistics from a Google-CEB survey include: ●●

●●

B2B buyers are nearly 50 per cent more likely to make a purchase where they can see personal value; B2B buyers are eight times more likely to pay a premium where they feel this personal value is present.

B2B brand touchpoints The B2B brand touchpoints are the points at which customers could engage with a brand directly or indirectly; the sum of the touchpoints usually helps the customer form a view of the brand. Figure 15.2 shows the main brand touchpoints across the customer journey, before, during and after purchase. Some of these elements are typically more specific to B2B, such as product training, channel partner reseller or distributors and the touchpoints where they represent the brand: unveiling events, user conferences, business cards and collateral that businesses receive.

181

182

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

FIGURE 15.2  B2B brand touchpoints

Customer journey Pre-purchase Advertising

PR

Purchase

Post-purchase

Service agreements

Customer service

Website Catalogue

Partnerships

Email

Sales Channel

Events and tradeshow

Channel Social

Channel

Product brand voice

Loyalty programmes Product/ service quality

Within B2B relationship marketing, customers are a lot more exposed to sales or physical opportunities to engage, such as webinars and events, so managing messages and associated branding elements is important if an organization intends to build its brand effectively. Even for small businesses, getting these right and managing this mix early in their business life could impact the future success and growth of the business.

Brand-building obstacles So, if brand building is proven to be a success factor for a business and its profitability, why don’t more businesses invest in it? The reality is that businesses encounter some of these challenges: Pressure to invest elsewhere Pressures can come from different areas that influence other investment areas for marketing or even the business; pressures can come from shareholders, from internal stakeholders, or even external stakeholders (non-shareholders). Short-term view of marketing investment Building a brand is typically a long-term investment and needs to be carried out consistently over time if it is to be impactful. Some companies that measure themselves every six or three months look for quicker results, which is not consistent with brand building or repositioning.

B2B BRAND BUILDING

Failure to articulate benefits If marketing fails to articulate the benefits of brand building or where sales fail to understand them, this can lead to brand-building initiatives being negatively impacted. Competitive pressures When dealing with competitors that employ aggressive sales tactics such as dramatic price reductions, a vendor’s brand activities can be impacted as longer-term investments aren’t seen as a priority. Complexity in sustaining, and rolling out Building brands and maintaining brand-building activities over time usually involve different skillsets, investment in resources and budget. Brand investment needs to be carefully managed to ensure the correct media mix and media placement. There is also a need to review return on advertising spend (ROAS).

B2B brand-building goals and programmes The main goals for investing in brand-building initiatives are repositioning of the brand, increasing awareness for the brand, acquiring new business, building loyalty, or demonstrating value-add. The main types of B2B brandbuilding initiatives linked to these goals are: ●●

●●

●●

Brand positioning. This relates to the positioning of the company. For example, in the last 20 years a lot of companies in the IT sector have repositioned their brands either into more premium price brands or as solution providers. Sponsorship. B2B sponsorships usually help brands in reaching different or extended audiences. Examples are sponsoring a piece of research intended for a specific customer, sponsoring an event or a campaign for an industrial association, or larger-scale sponsorships such as major sporting events. Ideally the sponsorship speaks to the audience and highlights to the intended customer the background of the B2B brand sponsoring the activity. Sponsorships can also help brands acquire new business and reinforce loyalty in existing customers. Employee advocacy programmes for brand building can be powerful in B2B; they can potentially serve all the above goals.

183

184

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

●●

●●

Social amplification programmes are used more and more by B2B brands; they can serve to deliver on all goals. Social amplification through sales as well as partners can help disseminate messages and content much faster. Partnerships. Partnerships can include member partners that cover a target segment or sub-segment, alliance partners that offer complementary products or services to the B2B brand portfolio, or channel partners who work closely with the B2B brand to develop a market.

EXAMPLE HP Wolf campaign In 2017, HP launched a product brand campaign titled HP Wolf Security. HP Wolf Security focuses on how endpoint security is at the centre of an integrated portfolio of hardware, software and services. The campaign theme also extends beyond the theme of integration by highlighting how the products and services can relieve some of the burden on IT personnel. The campaign includes amongst other things a suite of videos and focuses on how corporate networks can be hacked and how vulnerable they can potentially be. The protagonist in the video is Christian Slater (HP, 2017), who plays a sinister hacker who systematically hacks different parts of a corporate network from mailroom to boardroom exposing the vulnerabilities of their poorly secured printers and PCs. The use of Christian Slater is not only a clever touch due to how he can play the hacker with charm, but also due to his popularity in the cybersecurity space. The background to the campaign is the evolving workforce and how more and more people are working from home and splitting work time between home and office; in fact, HP rebooted the campaign in 2021 on the basis of more people working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The HP Wolf campaign is more than just a product campaign, it is a product brand campaign including their suite of security products, i.e. HP Wolf security for home, HP Wolf security for business, HP Wolf pro security, and HP Wolf enterprise security.

B2B BRAND BUILDING

Brand loyalty Brand loyalty is the level to which a customer stays with a brand; it can be viewed in terms of how tied a customer is to the brand, despite temporary issues or challenges they may have with the brand vendor. Brand loyalty can be viewed as a two-way relationship: organizations that engage with their customers or potential customers, and customers that demonstrate how they engage with the vendor through purchases, positive feedback or even how they defend a brand when it is receiving ­unfavourable criticism. Creating brand loyalty can be based on different brand elements or touchpoints. Loyalty benefits cover several areas; with increased loyalty, organizations don’t need to devote as much marketing to persuading customers to purchase or consider purchases. Through brand loyalty more customers talk about the brand or advocate it. This can be thought of as ‘earned’ media. Earned media (or free media) is publicity gained through marketing efforts other than paid media marketing. Through loyal customers, other potential customers are persuaded to try the brand. With greater brand loyalty an organization is more likely to have stable repeat business.

Importance of brand consistency B2B brand consistency is very important; it’s about being consistent across customer touchpoints, i.e. where customers engage directly or indirectly with the brand. Ensuring consistency is about having a touchpoint management programme spanning customers by buying stage. In establishing such a programme there are a number of characteristics that could be managed to support brand consistency. Creative, look and feel should be consistent. Messages across a campaign should also be consistent, as should overarching corporate messages. Where business unit silos exist this can lead to messaging silos where eventually the company appears fragmented and confusing for the customer. Websites and micro-sites should be consistent in look and feel, and means of navigation. Having a policy governing how to use social media, how to post, how to engage customers and what to message, send and share should form part of the B2B brand social media policy (see Chapter 14). Employee communication includes how employees apply email signatures, type of font used, usage and placement of any logos as well as how employees conduct themselves in terms of making themselves available and accessible.

185

186

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Brand-building stages In building a brand, B2B marketers should use the five-point framework shown in Figure 15.3: 1 Brand gap audit. This step is about understanding the current view of the

brand, the perception of the company and its product brands from customers and business partners. Sometimes this outside view may not always align to the business reality, i.e. what the business does and its goals. 2 Positioning. This includes a business’s messaging and overall brand

elements; potentially the root causes behind gaps coming from the brand audit may be due to one (or a sum) of the brand elements and this can be addressed here with a clear positioning or repositioning. 3 Plan for building and communicating the brand. The plan around brand

building and activation is defined; marketing vehicles and channels are selected, brand-building approaches are agreed to by core stakeholders which typically include the CEO or business head as well as marketing head. 4 Activation. Internal: To ensure all internal employees are clear about

product or business unit brand values and brand tenets, during this phase business stakeholders are re-educated with messages, the brand campaign and how branding activities support the business.

External: Expose the brand. The brand initiatives, messages and campaigns are then rolled out externally; this can be across direct marketing, through third party, through agency media placement as well as through employees who articulate the new messaging and share brand campaign assets.

5 Review and assess the brand. During this phase various aspects are meas-

ured such as brand equity, brand loyalty and brand awareness.

1.  Brand gap audit As mentioned above, the purpose of the brand audit is to understand internal and external views of the brand compared to business goals. Audits should result in understanding the performance of the brand, areas or gaps to performance, as well as the competitive brand position. Failure to track brand efforts is one of the reasons why there could be lack of buy-in; there is either a belief that it is not necessary or, if it is, there is no evidence to show where to spend the brand investment.

B2B BRAND BUILDING

FIGURE 15.3  B2B brand-building process

Gap audit of brand

Review brand; assess brand stature

Activation – internal and external

Positioning

Plan – brand build, activation

PRACTICAL TIP Building a B2B brand tracker 1 Brief creation. Create the brief, which can be a simple document outlining

the intended audience, the objective of the brand survey, timings, and expected respondent numbers. 2 Survey creation. The survey questions are created based on the brief. 3 Implementation. The survey is carried out, directly or externally by an agency

or marketing services company. 4 Collect answers. Responses to the survey are collected. 5 Report creation. Report against key brand metrics, showing the response rates.

In implementing B2B trackers, marketers should consider several aspects. For example, with more questions the cost of the tracker will increase as it requires more time to conduct the survey; it is therefore important to carefully select questions and their number. Larger numbers of respondents will also increase costs, so companies should consider what is needed or representative in terms of an audience sample. Can the questions stand the test of

187

188

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

time and run for multiple quarters or even years? If so, this will allow companies to compare the brand tracker movements over time.

2. Positioning This is an important step for a vendor. It is defined as creating a brand offer or presence and supports a brand in positioning value in the mind of the target customer. Brand position goals should encompass the following core elements: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Differentiation. Ensure uniqueness in brand compared to alternative vendors; this can form part of the value proposition. Customer focused. Includes what customers the brand is targeting. Sustainable. Positioning statements need to be sustainable over a long period. This allows customers to relate to the brand and understand it over time. Geo-agnostic. If a brand operates across different territories, positioning activities should not be focused on one area. Support organizations’ business goals. Brand positioning should serve to achieve business goals.

POSITIONING AND THE BRAND LADDER

In positioning a brand for a new business or product one can use the brand ladder to think about the extent of the positioning; the ladder illustrates four possible levels of positioning covering features, benefits, emotions and experiences. Positioning a brand on the lowest level, i.e. features and b ­ enefits, is regarded as the most vulnerable positioning as competitors can easily imitate this by copying and communicating the same features and benefits. Whereas positioning that includes the levels of emotions and experiences would be difficult to imitate and can be more uniquely associated with a product brand or business unit brand. Taking the above into consideration, companies can use the brand ­positioning map shown in Figure 15.4 to understand current brand positioning against market criteria: competition and customers, customer needs, ­uniqueness, customer benefit and reason to buy.

B2B BRAND BUILDING

FIGURE 15.4  B2B brand positioning map

1. Product brand view Product brand values Experience

2. Customer and market view Key Segments

3. Integration

Benefits

Pain points

Value proposition

Brand overlay

Needs

Brand tenets revised

Business goals

Value proposition revised

Competition

Messaging architecture adaptation

Customer benefit

Differentiation

3.  Plan for building and activation The brand plan typically includes key goals and focus uncovered in step 1, the brand audit, positioning statements and values from step 2, and focused target audiences that may not necessarily be the current target market of the business. Also included are key messages the business wishes to deliver, the media and communication outline defining which media will be used, and across which communication vehicles. The brand plan should include key partners that will deliver it. In B2B it’s important to consider which partners will deliver the message and which marketing or business partners will be involved; partners in this sense include alliance partners, channel partners, influencer partners, associations or other organizations that the business is connected to. The partner selection and plan may indicate some gaps.

4. Activation This stage should serve to prepare for external brand activation as well as accompany it. Similar to employee advocacy programmes for social marketing, for brand building, organizations should follow the framework: Target audience The first step in creating a brand employee advocacy programme is defining the target audience, maybe specialists within an industry sector or a general customer reach programme for all businesses.

189

190

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

Internal audience grouping Based on the target audience, the next stage is to build internal groups; they could be general sales, specialist sales, or different business functions. Prepare Internal employees are trained in using social. Social-ready content is prepared, and mechanisms for internally sharing it are created. Content should be ready to share and send on. Structured review against core KPIs KPIs could be reach, influence, activity level or other measures. The difference to the social employee advocacy programme is that social can be used to promote brand building, whereas the inverse is not true.

PRACTICAL TIP Key considerations in internally activating B2B brand building ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Ease of understanding. Sometimes the brand-build initiative is not understood, so making the messaging clear is key to the success of brand advocacy initiatives. Ease of access, easy to share. Organizations should make brand assets and content easy to access as well as easy to share. Who messages and articulates. Internal activation success sometimes rests on internal leadership support and advocacy. Rather than leaving this to marketing, involve the CEO with public relations articles if possible; this way brand initiatives are seen as ‘business’ initiatives that all in the business own. Who owns this. There is a common misunderstanding that the brand is owned by marketing; in fact all employees and departments play a part in brand building. Marketing tends to own external activation and PR, and supports internal departments by providing brand messages. Not only digital. Brand building, particularly in B2B, is about supporting face-to-face and non-digital engagement at events, in phone calls and meetings, and in printed material left for channel partners. Communicate value of brand. In getting campaign buy-in it’s important that organizations highlight the benefit and value of the brand for their customers.

B2B BRAND BUILDING

Implementing brand activities or campaigns can occur in different ways. They can be a pure media and advertising exercise or can be an all-encompassing approach including media, messaging, influencers, internal champions, digital and offline media. Content creation and activation form part of the brand plans as well as social media activities that help amplify the brand assets and messages (see Chapters 13 and 14). In activating the brand externally, B2B marketers should consider the following: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

During this phase consistency in message is key, to give strength and impact to the brand messages. Social in B2B has evolved rapidly in the past 10 years both in capability and usage in business. Organizations are increasingly using social platforms to rapidly reach audiences and extend the reach of brand assets. In B2B, business partners are important in delivering brand messages; they allow them to reach the right audience and lend messages credibility. Depending on history or the extent of brand activations organizations should allow time for brand activities to take effect. Touch rate is the rate at which marketing content (or in this case branded content) is touched and seen by customers in whatever form. The rate differs between customer type, industry sector and solution type. With digital applications as well as digital marketing, touch rate can be tracked both on- and offline.

5.  Review and assess the brand How do you know how customers see your brand? Is it positioned the way you want it to be? One part of the brand process is to review and assess the brand. In measuring a brand, organizations can measure brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand health and/or brand perception where brand loyalty refers to likelihood of repurchase or likelihood to recommend or refer. Brand awareness refers to awareness of the brand overall, i.e. do potential customers know about your company and what it offers? Brand health typically highlights how values, mission and culture are communicated. Brand perception relates to how the brand is perceived against value criteria or positioning; where the reality is that the company is

191

192

‘ TRANSFORM’ THROUGH CONTENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING

a solutions provider rather than a seller of point products, does the customer or prospect view the company that way? QUANTITATIVE

It is important to look at different types of metrics to get a full picture of the product brand performance. Quantitative methods might include traffic related to specific product brand website pages and viewing before and after product brand campaigns to understand the impact of activities; other methods might be to view sales related to product brand types before and after marketing campaign activities or search engine rankings, and time on website pages. QUALITATIVE

Qualitative metrics and methods would be more based on surveys and polls to identify whether the customer’s perception is aligned to the positioning of the brand.

ACTIVITIES Identify potential areas where customers interact with your product brand directly or indirectly; how many of them can be controlled or influenced by marketing, and how many of them fall outside of the marketing scope? What metrics do you use today to measure your product brand activity and which part of the brand do they measure between brand awareness, brand health, brand consistency or brand perception? Review current marketing materials for a given period. Are the look and feel, message and creative all consistent with one another?

References and further reading Bsales, J (2021) HP Wolf security delivers integrated, end-to-end protection, https:// www.keypointintelligence.com/news/editors-desk/2021/may/hp-wolf-securitydelivers-integrated-end-to-end-protection/ (archived at https://perma.cc/ Y9UD-JK7C) HP (2017) HP reinvents security with global campaign starring Christian Slater, https://press.hp.com/us/en/press-releases/2017/hp-studios-casts-christian-slateras-hacker-in-branded-cybersecu.html (archived at https://perma.cc/YVS5-64XW)

B2B BRAND BUILDING

Marketing Charts (2020) Here are the world’s 10 most valuable brands in 2020, https://www.marketingcharts.com/brand-related/top-brands-115372 (archived at https://perma.cc/59U3-Y5GY) Poynter, A (2019) Why emotional connection matters in B2B marketing, https:// www.business2community.com/b2b-marketing/why-emotional-connectionmatters-in-b2b-marketing-02216449 (archived at https://perma.cc/277X-FFSE)

193

194

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

195

PART FOUR

‘Collaborate’ with partners

196

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

197

16 Partnership marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

what partnership marketing is

●●

types of marketing partners

●●

how to select marketing partners

●●

marketing partnerships to support stages of the buyer journey

●●

evaluating marketing partnerships

Introduction and the 8th P Almost two-thirds of the buyer journey is completed before a customer engages a vendor. This essentially means that vendors are not engaged ‘directly’ with potential customers for two-thirds of the buyer journey; the key word here is lack of ‘direct’ engagement. With customers not wanting to be engaged directly during their awareness stage and most of the consideration stage, B2B marketers need to be more creative in targeting, engaging and supporting prospects not only through clever use of content marketing and inbound marketing, but also through using marketing ­partnerships: the 8th P.

What is partnership marketing? Partnership marketing refers to collaborating with a person or business with the purpose to carry out some form of marketing; the reason for collaborating with these partners is that they can contribute value in some form. For example, perhaps they are an association with a membership of target ­

198

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

c­ ustomers you’re interested in or maybe they are a brand that is recognized by your target customers. By partnering you’re gaining something of value as well as providing something of value to the other party.

Why collaborate? Working with marketing partners is not a new thing but an increasing trend. A few things have led to this. The knowledge that marketing departments are expected to have at hand has expanded greatly, e.g. knowledge relating to lead nurturing, sales enablement to support retention marketing, dealing and managing data, understanding how to use the vast universe of social media, and so. Related to this knowledge are capabilities and time needed to invest in these areas; the need for marketing departments to play a bigger role not only in nurturing leads but also in supporting sales to retain customers; and finally the need to be aware of more and more marketing technologies in a time when the marketing technology universe has grown by over 5,000 per cent from about 150 technologies in 2011 to 8,000 in 2020 (Brinker, 2020). During this period of increasing demands on B2B marketers, B2B marketing departments have not experienced a similar increase in the size of their teams or budgets related to support these demands. This is where marketing

FIGURE 16.1  Bridging market gaps Gap type

Bridging gap

To reach

Partners have access to type of target customer

To general awareness

Partners not only have access but can also deliver content, messages to a large volume of prospects

Creating credible and compelling content

Lead nurturing

Improving website traffic

Partner

In cocreating content, the partner is able to improve credibility and attractiveness of the content Partner can support in listening and responding to prospect information needs Partner can help in improving and quantity of website traffic quality

Marketing department

PARTNERSHIP MARKETING

partners come in. Through engaging and using marketing partners, whether an SEO partner, a trade association partner, an event technology partner, an influencer, a blogger or a telemarketing partner, the mix of partners selected by the marketing department will support in bridging those gaps. Marketing partnering can also help us achieve objectives faster, more effectively and more efficiently. Figure 16.1 shows an overview of the main gaps and where different marketing partners can play a role.

Types of marketing partnerships Partnership can include many areas such as content syndication or content creation partners, channel partners, telemarketing, or membership partners, i.e. those partners who offer memberships to customers and include customers as their members. For example, if you want to reach accountants as target buyers you may want to engage with the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). Other examples of partners could be event organizing companies, influencer organizations or ­influencers themselves.

Identifying the partner How does one go about identifying the right partners to reach customers? One answer might lie in a detailed buyer persona that highlights their key media preferences, their memberships, and key stakeholders who influence them including influencers, memberships and associations, social media platforms and forums as well as anything that can provide a clue to reaching such partners ‘indirectly’. Another way to think about partners is in terms of scale or strength of what they could offer. Do they have a strong brand? Do they have a large database or can they provide access to a target customer?

SEO partners SEO partnering or collaboration is about identifying website partners who can provide relevant and/or high-quality traffic to your website: these are

199

200

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

called backlinks. One can also benefit from partnering by adding strategic partner links on your website; the benefit of this comes from showcasing the partners you work with and providing options to your customers to view relevant and high-quality websites.

SEO partner types SEO partners can be bloggers, online publications, online companies offering services related to your area, membership associations, trade associations, business listing websites and many, many more. Selecting SEO partners comes down to your B2B marketing goals. One way to get started is by ­joining forums, and targeting customer-related industries where content is being promoted.

Collaborative link-building process The process of collaborative or SEO link building can be carried out as follows: 1 Identify SEO partners for backlinks. You can identify potential partners

by 1) looking at direct competitors and their links, and by 2) understanding websites customers view through using buyer persona research. 2 Contact: Contact the selected SEO partners. 3 Get connected: Agree on how to form links and on which pages on their

website links will be shown. 4 Build partnership: Continue to build partnerships, maybe through additional

links or working together to see how to benefit customers further.

Content syndication partners What is content syndication? Content syndication is about placing your content on third-party websites. It’s a great way to reach prospects and allow them to interact with your branded content early in the buyer journey. Syndicated content can come in many forms such as articles, infographics, reports, recordings, podcasts etc, although some work better than others in B2B, such as white papers, webcasts, articles and infographics.

PARTNERSHIP MARKETING

Goals of content syndication Content syndication can allow companies to achieve different goals; it can help reach a larger group of people, to reach a certain type of audience, to engage with a target audience by leveraging the third-party website, and/ or to establish the credibility of the content. Essentially all of these benefits support companies securing better-quality traffic to their websites and can be great for acquiring customers but also developing new business ­opportunities with existing customers.

How to syndicate content Syndicating content is about defining your goals and target audience. Considering goals and audience, you may find content syndication sites suited to generating awareness, and other things that help with lead nurture. Another approach to thinking about content syndication is to identify websites that allow partner companies to use their website and pages of their website. For example, if you’re in IT some companies work with TechTarget to set up their own pages on the TechTarget site to reach and engage decision makers in the IT industries.

Ways to syndicate content Some companies offer the possibility to syndicate webpages; examples could be TechTarget for IT. Other examples include syndicating webinars, e.g. via BrightTALK, syndicating presentations, e.g via Scribd, or syndicating videos via Vimeo.

Blogging partners – blogging outreach Introduction Blogger outreach is a type of marketing partnership and can be thought of as when you turn to bloggers to help promote your products, services or company; bloggers are a type of influencer. Blogging partnerships can be really effective in supporting marketing efforts; in 2016, 78 per cent of B2B businesses favoured blogging as a content marketing method.

201

202

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Importance of blogs and blogger outreach So why should we view blogs as key to our marketing? This comes down to three main factors: the length of the buying journey, the amount of time prospects read content without directly engaging the company, i.e. sales and pre-sales, and what types of content prospects view. In terms of types of content, blogs are in the top three most used content formats during the lead nurturing phase, so putting that all together we can see blogs as being critical. The other element to consider is who is writing the blog.

Benefits Having someone else talk about your brand is powerful and it improves the reputation of the brand as well as reinforcing it. Other benefits are in building relationships with your audience; you can also benefit from increased shares, likes, and ultimately traffic to your owned social media and website properties.

Blogger outreach As with SEO, blogger outreach starts with identifying the best and most relevant websites related to your audience, industry, product and service area. One way to identify relevant websites might be to set up an RSS reader or Google alerts to capture industry or related keywords. In terms of approaching the blogger if they don’t know you, you’ll want to avoid coming across as spam so try to help them understand in the first introductory words something about how reputable your company is. Following that, keep your request simple, i.e. don’t ask for anything too big, and also communicate the value to the blogger of partnering with you.

Understanding whether bloggers are influential Once you’ve identified relevant bloggers, the next step is to identify their level of influence. One can do this by looking at the site’s domain authority, i.e. the score given to a website in terms of how they rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). Other clues to a blogger’s level of influence can be likes, comments and types of customers commenting. One can also look at the blogger’s social media profile to understand followers and how active they are. You can also see frequency and recency of blog updates on the blogger’s website.

PARTNERSHIP MARKETING

Telemarketing partners Why telemarketing? So, what makes telemarketing so effective? Telemarketing can be used to generate and nurture leads, to qualify prospects better, to conduct marketing research, or to ensure the marketing database is up to date. Telemarketing can also be used to follow up on a direct mail or email or other previous communication already sent to a prospect.

Choosing the right telemarketing agency In telemarketing it is not just about choosing a B2B-knowledgeable telemarketing agency but an agency that has experience of your industry and its customers. For example, agriculture, manufacturing and fintech are all very different sectors and need different expertise, skillsets and knowledge, so it’s important to ensure the telemarketing agency not only has the modern telemarketing competencies but is knowledgeable of your particular industry. Where your solutions are more complex than average you will need a more qualified telemarketing person, so vet the agency also based on the type of personnel being utilized. In setting up the contract, be sure to specify your objectives from the partnership. For example, if they are there to qualify leads this should be specified. Finally, agree on contingencies; you’ll want to ensure there is a clause relating to leads that may not be of the right quality, stating how the telemarketing agency deals with these.

Business communities and associations Another potentially valuable marketing partnership is with business associations or communities. By business associations we are including industrial associations, vertical associations or established business communities that have a presence online and offline.

Types of business associations and communities Business associations can be broken out as follows: 1 Role-specific, e.g. related to marketing, sales, operations, finance, level,

i.e. manager, C-level execs.

203

204

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

2 Business size-specific, e.g. related to small business, medium business,

large corporate. 3 Industry-specific, related to the broader industry or vertical-specific.

Volume, reach and credibility Most established business associations or communities typically have larger numbers of members; in addition, their voice carries some resonance and credibility with their members. Their knowledge and their networks have become stronger over time.

The scope It may be that you already have some form of collaboration with a business association of some type; in non-Covid-19 times, business associations would typically set up an in-person event to engage their audiences by working with an association, though normally the scope of marketing involved in such activities was restricted to some email and the physical event itself. When we think of the fact that business associations tend to have a number of owned communication channels at their disposal, e.g. own website, emails, newsletter, social media channels, blogs, webinars or even podcasts, there is potentially a much wider scope of marketing we could have with such partners. The strategies in partnering with trade associations can involve co-creating content where case studies are co-written or videos are co-created. Other approaches might be to collaborate on a webinar or event. For the trade association the benefit is in having someone from the industry offering knowledgeable viewpoints or insights through information.

How to generate and nurture leads – partner with trade associations Think about how to identify the right prospects. Does the trade association have a breakdown by professional role or title? Can they help you identify whether they have the right type of target customer within their membership? In terms of engaging prospects, both parties should agree on how the trade association will help you engage the right prospects, e.g. insertion in a newsletter tailored to that prospect, or a specific talk at an event or virtual event. One final important point is to discuss options to allow trade association members to be able to reach out to your organization; this can be facilitated

PARTNERSHIP MARKETING

by such things as including website links, social media addresses and email addresses in business association content.

Vetting and selecting the trade association In terms of vetting whether the trade association is right for you, trade associations are able to share information about their type of audience without divulging confidential information. For example, they could share the position of a member and their company without disclosing their name or email address. Where a trade association is not willing to help you understand the type of audience they have as members, this should set off alarm bells. Another way to vet the trade association is to understand the number and breadth of communication channels they are using; you can also see their followers on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media platforms.

B2B sponsorships Sponsorship can come in different forms and sometimes in seemingly unlikely areas, such as sports events. These seem on the surface to be consumer-oriented, but consider also that vendors can bring customers to them; maybe the sports event can be used as an analogy for a business theme, e.g. better-performing products or services linked to sports performance aspects. In terms of sponsorship, define what you want to get out of it and think about the outcome or return you want from the sponsorship. Define what it is and whether it is of value to your business. Some sponsorships can be broad and used to generate awareness, while other trade event sponsorships can be used to generate and acquire customers. Sponsorships in B2B can also come in the form of sponsoring an award category.

Speakers as partners for webinars and podcasts Webinars and podcasts are regarded as one of the top-performing formats to support lead generation and lead nurturing. Webinars are regarded as great lead magnets, i.e. something for which prospects are willing to provide their email address in exchange for accessing the webinar. Different types of webinars can also be used to nurture leads later in the buyer journey, which

205

206

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

might be used to further educate prospects on a topic or to allow prospects to have their final questions addressed relating to a product or solution before they decide on a purchase. In terms of speakers as partners for webinars or podcasts, looking outside your organization for a speaker can add to the credibility of a topic but also improve the attractiveness of a webinar; when you think about it, would you rather hear a company talk about their own company, products and services or an interesting speaker talk about a compelling theme?

Finding suitable speakers To find suitable speakers there are different options open to marketers. They can look within their own network, at industry events, or ask an agency, as they typically have some ideas of good speakers or know where to find them. Another option is to turn to organizations such as the Speaker Bureau, which are in the business of providing speakers for different engagements.

Marketing partners according to stage of the buyer journey Let’s break down marketing partners by key objectives related to different stages of the buyer journey. When we think of the early buyer journey we can think of the need to generate awareness, to reach customers, and to generate higher-quality traffic to our website. These needs might be met by the following areas of marketing partnerships: 1 SEO partnership marketing focused on the early buyer journey. 2 Blogging partners. 3 Publisher partnerships. 4 Influencer partners. 5 Sponsorships.

For lead capture, or after lead capture through to acquiring customers, there are a number of possible different types of marketing partnerships or different ways partners can engage to support. Some partnerships more suited to this stage of the buyer journey might be as follows: 1 SEO partnership marketing focusing on the mid-buyer journey. 2 Telemarketing partners.

FIGURE 16.2  Partnerships by buyer journey stage

Early buyer stage

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Mid-buyer stage

Late buyer stage

Strategic engagement with websites → Website organizations Native advertising collaboration → Native advertising platform owners Blogger outreach [link building] → Bloggers Influencer marketing [boosting referral traffic] → Influencers Content syndication → Content syndicators 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Webinar and expert speaker engagement → Speakers Telemarketing to lead capture/nurture → Telemarketing companies Industrial and vertical associations Channel partners – Through/with marketing Third-party events – discuss day 2 → Third-party event owners

207

208

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

3 Vertical and industrial associations. 4 Speakers as partners for webinars and podcasts. 5 Channel marketing partnerships.

We’ll be covering influencer marketing and channel partner marketing in the following chapters. Marketing partnerships are used to support lead generation or nurture. In lead nurturing we are talking about listening and responding to prospects in the buyer journey whilst building the relationship; in using partners for lead nurturing we’re helping the customer indirectly via the partner and helping them better understand our brand, products and propositions.

Finding and selecting the right partner Previously in the chapter we mentioned a number of aspects relating to selecting partners, such as checking domain authority for SEO partners, blogger partners, and membership databases for trade associations. Outside of this there are of course other considerations for understanding if there is an appropriate fit. This comes down to broader aspects such as sharing each other’s objectives in a partnership and whether each party can support the other in achieving those objectives. For example your organization might only be interested in capturing leads but the business you look to partner with is only interested in general awareness. Ultimately a partnership comes down to exchange of value and agreeing on this value exchange being for the benefit of each. One approach in selecting a partner might be to use a tool like in Figure 16.3. Here we can see overall objectives and then, according to objective fit, criteria fit and value contribution, consider how well the marketing partner aligns to our objectives and come up with a final rating.

Getting started In terms of getting started there should be some initial form of agreement or contract in writing; this may seem overkill for a marketing partnership but it allows both parties to set out in black and white what’s expected. This can also protect each in sharing information, for example, where the partnership

PARTNERSHIP MARKETING

FIGURE 16.3  Partnership selection table

Main objective of marketing partnership: Marketing Partner 1

Marketing Partner 2

How objectives are met Top 3 criteria of partner selection 1. Define criterion 1 here

Green

Green

2. Define criterion 2 here

Orange

Green

3. Define criterion 3 here

Red

Green

3

5

Value to marketing department Overall rating on a scale 1–5 (where 5 is great, 1 is poor) Value to partner in collaborating with us

is in cocreating content such as a case study. Then this acts as a green light for the cocreation before there are investments of technologies, people and time in content creation, particularly if the type of content is something on a large scale such as a long video. Other considerations in getting started might be to test out the partnership on something small to ensure both are happy with the collaboration.

Evaluating B2B partnerships before and after After we enter into a partnership there comes a time when we probably want to evaluate its effectiveness, particularly if going into the partnership there was financial as well as human resource investment. For this we can use a table similar to Figure 16.4 according to the objectives and KPIs established while going into a partnership. If, for example, a lead generation or lead nurturing-related partnership was entered into the criteria might be quality of leads or conversion of lead to opportunity. If we are evaluating an early buyer journey-based partnership we may look at volume of traffic coming to a website landing page, quality of traffic in terms of bounce rate, etc. This evaluation should allow for both quantitative and qualitative aspects.

209

210

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

FIGURE 16.4  Partnership evaluation table

Main objective of marketing partnership: Quantitative

Target

Actual

KPI 1 e.g. Number of sales-ready leads KPI 2 e.g. Opportunity conversion KPI 3 e.g. Associated pipeline and/or revenue Qualitative Key qualitative negatives in collaborating Key qualitative positives in collaborating Focus improvement areas

Reference Brinker, S (2020) Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic, (2020): Martech 5000 — really 8,000, but who’s counting? https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/ marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/ (archived at https:// perma.cc/GX26-PMEE)

211

17 B2B influencer marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

types of influencer marketing

●●

what an influencer is

●●

influencer marketing process

●●

preparing the influencer strategy and programme

●●

finding influencers

●●

identifying the right influencers

●●

engaging influencers

●●

measuring influencer marketing

What is influencer marketing? Influencer marketing is a form of marketing where the focus is placed on specific individuals (or groups of individuals) as a means of influencing the target customer. It identifies individuals who have some sway over potential buyers and orients marketing activities around them with the goal of ­leveraging their influence. The idea of using influencers to market a product or service is not new. Most consumer commercials include influencers (professional athletes, movie stars, etc), though most B2B marketing budgets are not sufficient to cover the costs of such influencers and fortunately they may not be the most suitable for business customers. In B2B there are influencers with a smaller but a very specific reach.

212

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Types of influencer marketing Influencer marketing can come in different forms, the main ones being testimonial advertising, interviews, panel and roundtable discussions, guest blogging, co-created content and events speakers.

DELL LUMINARIES To call the Dell Luminaries a set of podcasts would be downplaying what this is about; Dell Luminaries, which was set up in 2017, is about partnering with various technology visionaries and influencers. Through this initiative, Dell have managed to develop relationships with a network of influencers including Mark Schaefer and Doug Karr, who host the podcast platform. This platform has over the years created great content for customers across a multitude of topics and simultaneously encapsulated the very human face of innovation.

Why use influencer marketing? The application of influencer marketing in B2B is increasing. This is due to three factors: 1 Social platforms have matured and become more sophisticated. 2 Customers in general are using social more and in more versatile ways in

the business world where Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube have grown in usage and sophistication. 3 Content is growing at an overwhelming rate and influencers provide a

different angle with which to engage customers. At the heart of influencer marketing is the fact that people trust people, especially people who have credentials of some sort. This part of B2B marketing is sometimes called B2P as it’s about the human component of B2B marketing. Influencer marketing is great when one is trying to reach an audience or sway an audience in a direction. Influencer marketing can overcome the following issues: ●●

Audience reach. The current perception of the brand or marketing hinders its ability to reach a given audience.

B2B INFLUENCER MARKETING

●●

●●

Credibility. The influencer’s advocacy can help the company improve its credibility. Resonance. Current marketing messages and activities aren’t resonating with the target customer; they’re not compelling enough. Influencer marketing helps support and substantiate messages with a customer.

Influencer types An influencer is a person who is well connected and regarded as influential and in the know; someone who is looked to for advice, direction, knowledge and opinions. Business buyers can be influenced by these types of people: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

peers who are regarded as leading in their field; analysts for a subject area or market – through white papers or papers they are deemed experts; magazine writers or journalists; specialists in each field who are regarded as experts by customers; bloggers, typically specialists or experts in their subject who communicate opinions and views via blogs.

Types of B2B influencers by scale How influencers are categorized (in terms of audience size) in B2B is slightly different to B2C. We can categorize B2B influencers by level and scale of influence and audience into the categories of macro, mid-tier, micro and nano. MACRO

Macro-influencers are individuals with followers anything above 100,000. Their reach in terms of audience is huge; macro-influencers in B2B can also be celebrities that have a following from B2B audiences. Such high audience reach tends to mean macro-influencers have much lower engagement rates and the costs of working with these influencers can be relatively high. MID-TIER

Mid-tier influencers tend to have an audience following of around 25,000 to 100,000; they are more established than micro-influencers though not as recognized as macro-influencers.

213

214

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

MICRO

Micro-influencers typically have an audience of about 10,000 to 25,000; their level of influence is narrow but can be very powerful. Their influence can be a particular audience and/or particular product or solution area. On social media micro-influencers have a higher engagement on their posts probably because, due to the narrower audience, they are able to provide more tailored and specific content. NANO

Nano-influencers typically have an audience following of 1,000 to 10,000; their level of influence is even narrower than the micro-influencers. Nano influencers typically can be found in very specialized areas of the industry. As with the micro-influencers, their engagement rates are much higher due to the narrower focus of the audience. Nano-influencers might be ordinary professionals and as such aren’t pushing sponsored posts as strongly, which can typically mean that their posts online are viewed less as promotional and have a degree of authenticity to them. FIGURE 17.1  Influencer types Nanoinfluencers

1k to 10k audience reach

Microinfluencers Mid-tier influencers Macro-influencers

10k to 25k audience reach 25k to 100k audience reach 100k audience reach

The influencer marketing process Influencer marketing can be split into five steps, shown in Figure 17.2: 1 Prepare. The customer or audience intended to be reached is defined.

Activities to carry out in this phase are creation of stakeholder maps, identification of how stakeholders are influenced, and purchasing ­influences within the buying journey.

B2B INFLUENCER MARKETING

2 Identify key influencers. The next step is to discover or identify the right

influencers. During this phase digital applications can be used to identify the best-placed influencer(s). 3 Select influencers. In this stage influencers are selected based on criteria

such as followers, reach, strength of recommendation, level and so on. 4 Engage and activate. During this phase influencers are engaged directly

or indirectly. 5 Measure results. Results from the influencer campaign or activity are

measured.

Step 1. Preparation Before launching into the influencer search, engagement, etc, one needs to prepare the ground. It’s important to define the customer target and then map the influencer ecosystem for the customer target set. INFLUENCER MARKETING GOALS

Influencer marketing goals can include such things as endorsement of a brand, generating broad awareness for a brand, driving engagement related to a particular subject area, or reaching a particular customer segment. According to the different goals, different types and scales of influencers will be used, so it is important to clearly define influencer goals. For example, if you’re just interested in driving a broad-level awareness of the company brand then a mid-tier or macro-influencer who is a subject matter expert and/or researcher might be the suitable choice, whereas if you intend to reach a focused customer segment then a micro- or nano-influencer might be more suitable. CUSTOMER TARGET SET

The customer target set can be a customer segment, sub-segment or another grouping. Typically, influencers are engaged to reach a specific niche target segment; where there are multiple segments it’s likely that more than one influencer is required. This specificity will help with the impact and effectiveness of the influencer marketing campaign later in the process. BUILDING THE INFLUENCER STAKEHOLDER MAP

The influencer stakeholder map is created using two approaches that may substitute or complement each other. The first is auditing the existing

215

216

FIGURE 17.2  Influencer marketing process

Influencer stage Activities

Tools/ methods

Prepare and plan Define influencer marketing goals Define customer targets Build influencer map Brainstorming forums Stakeholder maps Audits

Identify influencers

Select influencers

Leverage social Research Leverage third-party Marketing budget review knowledge Market activities Engage SMEs

Engage influencers

Measure influencers

Forum participation KPI selection KPI review Engage indirectly Incentivize

Engagement outline Marketing Social monitoring Influencer grid automation Social listening Influencer selection CRM Influencer identifier overview Influencer tracking software

B2B INFLUENCER MARKETING

customer base using in-house resources. Customers can be engaged through sales or directly to understand their influencers during their purchasing journey. Customers may not refer to such people as ‘influencers’ but as key contacts, information sources or experts. This method is ad hoc and low in cost, which means most businesses can carry this out; it assumes a good relationship between vendor and supplier. The second method is using a research company where organizations can use existing and/or external customers; the benefits of this approach are that in-house resources are not burdened with additional tasks and external expertise can be leveraged.

Steps 2 and 3. Identify and select influencers In B2B the process of finding influencers can be different to that of the consumer space, where influencers have great exposure and are often very public. If the business is actively engaged in business conversations, themes and members of associations there’s a likelihood that there are already several influencers in its network, whether digitally, socially or offline. Some ways of identifying influencers are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Social listening tools. Using social listening applications with influencer search plug-ins and key words or terms, one can find several influencers. Twitter activity. Influencers can be found by viewing Twitter activity and associated numbers of connections and followers. It’s likely that influential speakers or speaker associations are already being engaged. Industry associations. Industry associations will typically be connected to key experts in the industry and will know of influencers. Within the industry association itself, some of the senior executives may be ­influencers. Events and speakers. Event management organizers will probably know of relevant keynote speakers who are influencers. Peers. One can ask peers, in the company or in other companies, who may know of influencers or be in touch with them. Subject matter experts. In-house subject matter experts who are bloggers may be influencers themselves or be in a social network that includes influencers.

217

218

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

FIGURE 17.3  Influencer identifier

Social (Twitter activity, Klout) Subject matter experts

Peers

Influencer identifier

Monitor events and speaker

Influencer search software

Social forums Third party (PR agencies, industry associations)

PRACTICAL TIP Finding influencers in the B2B enterprise marketing space It is possible that the influencer being searched for is not yet using digital or social in the same way as in the consumer space. If the B2B customer being targeted is a niche one, the influencer and their way of engaging customers may be selective. So how does one find such influencers? For example, how would you find an influencer talking about technology usage in healthcare? Here are some thoughts: ●●

ask contacts working in the healthcare or IT industry;

●●

look at trade fair events and key speakers;

●●

look at trade or industry associations and senior people who are responsible for public relations;

●●

ask a PR agency;

●●

look at editors of healthcare IT journals;

●●

ask customers who they think of as credible spokespeople.

B2B INFLUENCER MARKETING

Where research finds multiple influencers, marketers will need to select the optimum influencer type and the best one per category. Even if the marketing budget supports the use of multiple influencers at the same time, this may lead to different messages, which could be confusing for the customer. One can narrow down the choice of influencers as follows (see Table 17.1): 1) Measure using digital metrics such as Klout score, reach or posts. Reach can include aspects such as Twitter reach, and activity levels in terms of number of blogs, posts and how many people like, share or comment on such posts. 2) Offline, which may require qualitative research, e.g. a survey with customers asking them to highlight their sources of information or i­ nfluencers. Overall the digital and non-digital weighting can be across influencer type and based on type and level of influencer strength. TABLE 17.1  Identifying the right influencers

Stage 1: Influencer type selection Criteria

Journalist

Analyst

Peer

Industry

Subject matter expert

Reach Posts Activity Followers Customer mention Qualitative

Stage 2: Influencer weighting By type Reach Posts Activity Followers Customer mention Qualitative

Journalist 1

Journalist 2

Journalist 3

219

220

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Step 4.  Engage and activate Once the influencers have been identified and the choice narrowed down to the right influencer(s) the next stage is to engage them. Ways of doing so include: ●●

●●

●●

●●

be their fan and follow them online; participate in their forums; engage through customer referral and recommendation, on- and offline; engage through PR agencies or industrial association referral.

ENGAGEMENT MODEL

Engaging influencers is about building relationships. Every influencer will probably require a different engagement approach so it’s important to think about how to engage. INCENTIVIZING THEM

Engaging influencers, like most business relationships, is a two-way approach. It involves a balance between offering advantages for the influencer partnership and receiving benefits; the partnerships tend to be long term so creating the right engagement environment is important. Advantages offered to influencers may be providing access to market information or specialized information about the business’s products and solutions. Like partnerships, the influencer relationship can be loose or heavily integrated, where the influencer is treated as an extended member of the company. However, the risk of over-integration of influencers is that they are no longer perceived as impartial by the customers they’re trying to influence. Other advantages may be participating in company or customer events, offering them platforms to speak to customers, and access to information. Benefits from the influencer are reach, credibility, resonance, and ultimately converting prospects to customers or increasing customer stickiness.

Final step – measuring influencer marketing Before an influencer marketing campaign is implemented, key KPIs linked to objectives need to be determined; measurement of influencer marketing will vary and depend on goals stipulated within the preparation phase. Types of measurement can include reach or campaign reach, audience engagement, SEO influence, change in share of voice, brand mentions, increased

B2B INFLUENCER MARKETING

leads and sales, or be related to the specific marketing communication c­ hannels used to deliver the influencer marketing, e.g. events, social media etc: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Reach or campaign reach: The number of prospects or customers reached as a result of the influencer campaign. Audience engagement: This is about tracking number of audience engagement interactions; if this is on social media, we are typically talking about likes, shares, comments. SEO impact: One can track this based on website traffic related to the influencer campaign, e.g. by using URL tags. Change of share of voice: We can measure our brand’s share of voice related to the influencer campaign by looking at how much it increased by. Brand mentions: Tracking brand mentions through social listening platforms before and after an influencer campaign can help us understand brand awareness change. Increased leads and sales: Where influencers are used as part of a lead generation campaign one can measure new leads and later the impact on revenue or sales.

CASE STUDY Examples from the industry: Cisco and Okta Let’s take a look at a couple of examples of how influencer marketing is used.

Influencer marketing used to generate leads For their Innovation Grand Challenge campaign, Cisco partnered with influencers to gain exposure to new audiences of enthusiasts and creators. The campaign focused on capturing ideas for new industry-disruptive solutions and involved content and giveaways. Audiences involved were small and medium businesses. The campaign resulted in Cisco generating thousands of leads and development ideas for future innovations.

Turning clients into influencers Okta, an identity and device management company, developed an area of their website fully devoted to case studies, interviews and videos from their customers.

221

222

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Among other things, customers talk about their satisfaction with their service and how Okta helped them solve their business challenges. By doing this Okta were able to build trust with customers and prospective customers; this is one factor that helps either to shorten the buying processes of prospective customers or increase the loyalty of existing customers.

ACTIVITIES Based on your industry, start to identify potential influencers through digital applications such as Klout and Twitter. Use partners, associations, PR or anything else to build influencer identification through non-digital means. Compare the results from the digital and non-digital approaches in terms of influencer names. What are your observations?

Further reading Barker, S (2019) 5 B2B influencer marketing strategies you should try, https:// artplusmarketing.com/5-b2b-influencer-marketing-strategies-you-should-try149e369fd4ae (archived at https://perma.cc/CN4Q-9DMS) Clearlyblue (2019) Influencer marketing for B2B – 5 tips to ace it, https:// clearlyblue.in/influencer-marketing-for-b2b-5-tips-to-ace-it/ (archived at https:// perma.cc/BSD3-FFMW) Ellis, L (2020) 24 essential B2B influencer marketing statistics, https://www. toprankblog.com/2020/02/24-essential-b2b-influencer-marketing-statistics/ (archived at https://perma.cc/W64X-MNDS) Malone, K (2018) Does influencer marketing work in B2B? https://www. b2bmarketing.net/en-gb/resources/blog/does-influencer-marketing-work-b2b (archived at https://perma.cc/LJ5S-VLAH) Odden, L (2019) Examples of B2B influencer marketing to inspire you in 2019, https://www.toprankblog.com/2019/01/5-b2b-influencer-marketing/ (archived at https://perma.cc/D6RR-TA9F) Odden, L (2021) 45 B2B Influencer Marketing Statistics to Optimize Your 2021 marketing, from https://www.toprankblog.com/2021/01/b2b-influencermarketing-stats/ (archived at https://perma.cc/74UY-LDES)

223

18 The modern B2B channel landscape

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

the main B2B channel partner types

●●

B2B channel partner marketing

●●

how to select channel partners

●●

the types of channel partner marketing strategies

●●

channel partner lifecycle marketing

●●

channel partner acquisition marketing

●●

channel planning and control

B2B channel partner marketing As most B2B medium businesses and large enterprises sell indirectly via channel partners and a large portion of small businesses need to engage a reseller or distributor, B2B marketers need to be equipped with skills and knowledge as to how to market indirectly. This chapter looks at the B2B channel marketing space, the main dynamics and trends within B2B channels, as well as channel marketing. For clarity, channel partner marketing, sometimes known as channel marketing, is the practice of marketing indirectly via any channel partner or channel intermediary.

224

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

What is a channel partner? A channel partner is a person or organization providing services or selling products on behalf of a vendor. They come in different forms such as valueadded resellers (VARs), distributors and online resellers. In the technology sectors other additional channel partner types can be found such as managed service providers (MSPs), consultants and systems integrators (SIs).

What is B2B channel partner marketing? B2B channel partner marketing is channel resellers or channel partner systems oriented towards businesses; one could think of the approach as B2B2B, where the channel systems eventually serve business and where the channel partners are focused on selling to businesses. Alternatively, B2C channel marketing is marketing via channels to consumers, where the channel can be retailers or online resellers.

Benefits of channel partners and channel partner marketing B2B organizations engage channel partners to achieve different goals; some of the benefits organizations can derive from using channel partners are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Gaining access to a customer segment. Where channel partners already have a legacy in doing business in a market and have built credibility with a customer segment, a vendor engaging such channel partners can immediately take advantage of this. Geographical reach. Channel partners can help businesses by providing geographical reach; this can be by working with a channel partner in the same region or with one that has multiple sites across different ­geographies. Entering new market sectors. Like point one, with the difference that some channel partners who already have credibility within an industry sector can provide value by leveraging contacts and relationships to build business for the vendor. Solution selling and marketing. The channel partner acts as a value-added reseller and resells combined solutions for segments or can help assemble one vendor’s products with another’s to create solutions.

THE MODERN B2B CHANNEL LANDSCAPE

For B2B marketers, channel partner marketing brings various benefits. It can raise the awareness of a product or product offering to a broader or more niche customer base. It can also help to position a vendor’s products through channel partners or influence the perception of a product, i.e. where channel partners are seen to support the product or service, it becomes more credible in the eyes of the customer.

Channel partner types Channel reseller is the umbrella term for those channel partners reselling a vendor’s products. The main channel partner types include VARs, large corporate resellers, micro-channel resellers, distributors, and online resellers: ●●

●●

Micro-resellers: Micro-resellers are those channel partners typically smaller in size; their range of products may be narrower. Often, they support a set of customers based on geographic location. Value-added resellers: VARs offer additional services to help businesses such as logistics, warehousing, stocking, credit checks, integration, advisory services, or extended offerings. With changing dynamics and more frequently services offered via the Cloud, VARs need to justify their value-add even more; on the flip side, some business customers still prefer to maintain their relationship with the VAR due to a legacy relationship and trust in the capability of the VAR. ●●

●●

Often a vendor will not need to be involved beyond the point of sale, enabling them to focus on generating sales and maximizing profits and the VAR takes over these efforts. Typically, a VAR helps provide exposure to new customers, and the customer acquisition benefits tend to be mutual or on the side of the vendor.

Online and mail order resellers are like retail stores, except they usually do not have traditional brick-and-mortar locations. Due to the nature of conducting business online they don’t have additional costs of physical locations, etc. With lower operating expenses, they can offer lower prices. Some resellers focus primarily on conducting business via mail order or online. Examples of online resellers in the IT industry in the UK are Insight and Ebuyer.

225

226

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

●●

Distributor: Distributors primarily help vendors by managing multiple relationships with resellers, so reducing the vendor’s time and manpower spent managing such relationships. They are typically managing relationships with smaller resellers. Where a good relationship between vendor and distributor exists, it may entail the distributor allowing vendors to access their partner database for purposes of acquiring new channel partners.

The changing channel landscape There are a number of trends directly or indirectly impacting channel partners. Increasingly channel resellers are building their own software and services revenue streams; vendors need to be cognizant of this when discussing portfolios as part of the channel partnership. For some channel partners there is an increased focus to verticalize their offerings, allowing them to target potential new clients and increase account penetration with a richer set of products and services, leading to increased revenue and a more successful business. In the past decade there has been a move for channel resellers to globalize and increase their presence internationally; some have achieved this through acquiring channel resellers in a different region. Messaging for channel partners will become increasingly challenging. With technologies in some areas eroding competitive advantage regarding product and product USPs, channel partners will come under pressure to change messaging to businesses around challenges and the need to sustain or gain mindshare and business. Because of such trends, channel partner marketers should consider some of the recent trends impacting marketing to and with channel partners below.

Key trends in channel partner marketing Most sectors have been impacted by digital transformation, which has only been accelerated due to Covid-19. According to IDC surveys in EMEA, conducted during the first wave of lockdowns, 61 per cent of channel ­partners believed that Covid-19 would be a driver of digital transformation. Furthermore, 46 per cent said the pandemic escalated their own transformation efforts (Worrall, 2021). The shift to ‘solutions marketing’ thinking, as mentioned in Chapter 9, is becoming an increasing focus for B2B marketers; one of the main areas to support this is through working with channel partners to develop and market

THE MODERN B2B CHANNEL LANDSCAPE

combined solutions. The activity of combining solutions via a c­ hannel partner may occur because some vendors are unable to offer the full suite of products or services that make up the solution, or because the c­ hannel reseller offers elements of the solution themselves. This means B2B channel partner marketers need to create marketing content that can be assembled in a modular fashion so that channel resellers can incorporate assets, text or visuals into their own creative. Servitization, or service orientation, has also become more important, and has been enabled for some time due to cloud applications. Customers expect a wider range of services from their channel resellers and as such channel resellers need to offer this as part of their own portfolio or via those organizations they are representing. B2B marketers need to think of different ways to collaborate with channel partners on marketing activities and messaging such as events, webinars, online, website mentions, etc. One of the most effective ways to market is to sub-segment and create marketing that speaks to a niche or vertical market. This requires marketers to provide content tailored specifically to niche markets and provide it via segment-aligned channel partners.

Channel selection The main B2B routes to market can be subdivided into three main types: directly to business customers, indirectly via channel resellers or VARs, or indirectly via distribution and channel resellers to business customers. Below are some considerations for when to choose a reseller route, a distributor to reseller route, or a VAR route.

When to engage channel resellers directly ●●

●●

●●

The vendor has the resources (sales, marketing, operations etc) to engage the reseller or resellers directly. Channel reseller numbers are small enough to be managed by in-house resources, i.e. sales and marketing. A direct engagement with the resellers is regarded as more beneficial, e.g. to build collaborative business, marketing or sales activities.

227

228

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

When to engage a distributor directly This engagement may be in addition to or instead of engaging channel ­resellers directly: ●●

●●

●●

●●

The distributor network is strong and offers the ability to access new markets. The distributor provides reach to smaller businesses, or the volume of companies to engage or reach is so large that the vendor’s resources are unable to manage the business directly. The distributor warehouse is leveraged to house, store and deliver goods; this can be the case where a business has products in another global location and needs more timely delivery of goods based on immediate demand. Manpower and Competency: The distributor provides manpower and/or competency to manage reseller relationships, e.g. for smaller or relatively new business unable to commit.

When to engage a VAR directly ●●

●●

●●

●●

The VAR offers specialized services to support a vendor. The VAR offers specialized knowledge that the vendor doesn’t have in-house. The VAR can provide access to specialized customer target sets. The VAR has customer relationships within a specific business segment or sector that some vendors would like to benefit from.

B2B distributor marketing vs channel reseller marketing Marketing to or with distributors can differ greatly from marketing via channel resellers; the requirements for marketing differ depending on the channel type. Some of the main differences can be found in Table 18.1. In summary, although distributors can offer services like marketing, branding, etc, they are normally focused on buying and selling ‘products’ rather than complete offerings or solutions. Resellers compared to distributors tend to avoid c­ ommitting on sales or revenue targets and therefore inventory overage is a risk.

THE MODERN B2B CHANNEL LANDSCAPE

TABLE 18.1  Distributors vs resellers

Distributor

Reseller

Buying and selling

Buys products and sells to resellers

Buys products and sells to end customers

Managing sales to channel

Can manage sales to various resellers

NA

Location

Sells to physical resellers in their Can cover a wide area and territory locale depending on Can have a wider area coverage organizational size (than resellers)

Inventory

Large warehousing facilities to Never takes inventory support big logistical operations of products Normally buys inventory

Margin and pricing

Often require higher margins than a reseller

Can work with lower margins than distributor

Merchandising, promotions

Promotions widely used

Managed promotions and all other forms of marketing

Pipeline-based lead generation

Rarely follows up leads

Often will take leads, manage leads and follow up

Channel partner and marketing alignment Marketing methods of resellers and distributors can vary greatly depending on the size or type of channel partner. Some smaller channel partners who don’t have strong brand recognition may tend towards unpaid or low-cost TABLE 18.2  Marketing and channel partner

Typical business Channel partner vendor

B2B marketing type Example

Distributor

All sizes depending Transactional on goal marketing

Search, SEO, website demand generation, advertising, promotional emails

Large corporate reseller

Large corporates

Inbound and outbound lead generation including webinars, events, content syndication, account-based marketing

Relationship marketing

(continued)

229

230

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

TABLE 18.2  (Continued)

Typical business Channel partner vendor

B2B marketing type Example

Micro reseller

Small and medium Transactional business marketing

Search, display, SEO, email

VAR

All sizes

Verticalized and/or relationship marketing

Inbound and outbound lead generation including webinars, events, content syndication, account-based marketing specific to vertical customers

SI

Medium and large business

Relationship marketing

Inbound and outbound lead generation including webinars, events, content syndication, account-based marketing

Online resellers

All

Transactional marketing

Search, SEO, website demand generation, advertising, promotional emails

marketing activities such as SEO, website, unpaid social media or email marketing, while larger corporate resellers can leverage brand strength and budgets to generate or sustain awareness regarding their value proposition. The types of marketing can be explained as follows: ●●

●●

●●

B2B transactional marketing includes merchandising, promotional marketing, email marketing, pricing, product management and marketing; typically, there are strong ties between marketing and operations in order to manage product inventory. B2B relationship marketing typically includes provision of content and assets, lead generation, event marketing, webinar support, other inbound lead generation activities, and account-based marketing. B2B marketing enablement is required by all channel vendors, though enablement materials will be different. Channel partner enablement allows channel partners to carry out any marketing on behalf of the vendor.

The role of marketing in channel marketing strategy creation Channel selection, channel management and channel strategy are important business decisions typically encountered by leaders and senior executives in sales, marketing, operations and financial departments.

THE MODERN B2B CHANNEL LANDSCAPE

In most organizations the marketing departments have insights into the market and market structure including the channel structure. The role of marketing regarding the channel partner marketing strategy is to support and guide business leaders in assessing optimal routes to customer, and in defining the optimal mix of channel types. Marketing can also help the business by providing an overview of the full channel partner universe; that is, data highlighting all the channel partners and intermediaries in a given geography. Based on the goals and agreed route(s) to market, marketing then need to define or re-define the marketing department structure to best support the business and channel type. For example, some channel resellers require a high-touch sales process and therefore marketing to provide a different set of resources to those marketing departments will focus on supporting ­distribution channel partners.

B2B channel marketing goals and objectives In defining channel strategies it’s important to first define the goals exactly; below are some of the main ones influencing such channel partner marketing strategy selection: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Market coverage: Where a company’s goal is to cover a geographical area, channel selection would be focused on channel coverage. Customer reach: Where a company with its own business resources is unable to reach customers, a channel partner would be selected to ­facilitate this. Provision of end-to-end solutions: Where the channel resellers can complement the brand’s offering to offer a complete solution. Accelerate growth: Collaborating with a channel partner could allow the firm to grow their business faster. Vertical growth: Where a brand is trying to reach a vertical, a vertically aligned channel partner strategy may be well suited. Credibility: Where a new brand or a brand in a new market needs to gain credibility, channel partners who have established relationships in that given market can help organizations promote their products to the new audience.

231

232

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Types of channel marketing strategies Below are some of the main types of channel marketing strategies aligned to the above goals: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Expansion channel partner marketing: Where a vendor engages an existing channel partner to increase business with existing customers by marketing and selling more of the portfolio. Channel partner acquisition: This involves adding new channel partners to the vendor’s channel partner base to support business goals such as market coverage, customer reach, or vertical market access. Customer acquisition via channel partners: This is about working with channel partners to focus on specific customers to acquire. Integration marketing: Integration marketing hinges on collaborative marketing and integrating marketing messages across the channel partner and vendor’s portfolio to highlight end-to-end solutions. Brand and market presence building: Marketing together with the channel partner intensifies brand-building efforts; this may be a combined new solution both parties will benefit from, early time-to-market communication, or where investment in co-branding is expected to reap returns through additional business. Alliance channel marketing: Partners of the vendor, whether a technology partner or other, work together with the vendor and channel partner to promote the vendor’s product portfolio; for example, where a technology vendor can contribute a lot of value to the relationship through thought leadership, budget, or other aspects. Marketing operations: This can be where digital applications are adopted or processes are optimized to support smoother marketing operations and execution. An example can be a new marketing automation system.

Channel partner acquisition marketing Channel partner acquisition marketing can occur via two routes: directly from the vendor, targeting, selecting, engaging and onboarding the channel partner, or via a distribution where the vendor and distributor work together to acquire a reseller.

THE MODERN B2B CHANNEL LANDSCAPE

To understand marketing’s role in channel partner acquisition we need to first understand the typical steps in the overall process of acquiring a c­ hannel partner. Below is a sample six-step process, outlined in Figure 18.1. 1 Define target market, target customer, and number of customers per

territory or region. This information will help you later in selecting the most appropriate channel partner type as well as understanding if a region is underserved or overserved. 2 Review current GTM approach, coverage for market. During this step,

you look at existing channel partner coverage and structure to understand whether the established business and channel partners are sufficient. It may be that you don’t need to acquire more channel partners but will work better with existing ones. 3 Define offerings to meet target market needs. As part of this exercise the

needs of a certain target market may not be met by the existing portfolio of the business; additional products or software need to complement your portfolio for a more complete offering. In this case the selection criterion for the channel partner is to ensure that they can assemble or sell on the vendors’ products together with other products in the channel partner portfolio to meet the customers’ needs. In another case the customers’ needs may be so niche that a specialized channel partner needs to be acquired. 4 Identify gaps between intended target market and current GTM model to

create a channel partner checklist, e.g. by geography, channel partner type, customer segment, type of reseller, geographical penetration. 5 Evaluate and select channel partner. Channel partners are evaluated based

on a set of criteria which could include location, specialism, appetite to engage new vendor, ease of engagement. 6 Initiate acquisition process directly or indirectly. The vendor may decide

to use a distributor to start acquiring the channel partners. In some cases, the distributor may already include the intended channel partner in their established list of served channel partners; in other cases, the distributor may carry weight or a reputation which allows them to engage and acquire the channel partner more easily.

233

234

FIGURE 18.1  Channel partner acquisition process

Define target market

Define offering

Review current GTM approach

Identify gaps between intended target market and current GTM

Identify channel resellers

Identify best approach to acquire

Acquire channel partner

THE MODERN B2B CHANNEL LANDSCAPE

Channel partner for customer acquisition Acquiring customers via channel partners can follow a similar process to the one outlined in Chapter 5 on acquisition marketing, though there are several differences that make it worthwhile for vendors to consider the channel partner marketing route. See Figure 18.2 showing the different routes to acquiring customers via channel partner. In scenario one, the prospect is already a customer of the channel partner but only buying certain products from another vendor; this could be because the vendor only offers those products, or that the customer prefers to buy only those products from the other vendor. The prospect is still interesting for both you and the channel partner to sell additional products and services not currently bought from the other vendor if there is no conflict. The channel partner has an existing relationship or reputation which carries credibility and weight with the target customers. In this way, the buying process can occur faster than a vendor trying to acquire the customer directly. As the channel partner already has an established business relationship with the customer, social media can be a powerful tool to engage the customer through forums, YouTube and social networks to share information about additional products and services the customers could think about. The channel partner could follow up by inviting the existing customer to webinars or face-to-face events to explain and engage further. In scenario two, the prospect is a customer purchasing products/ services through another channel partner (channel partner ‘2’); in this respect the intended customer is a prospect for both you and the channel partner ‘1’. As there is no potential conflict of interest for the channel partner, i.e. the vendor is not a supplier of the channel partner ‘1’, the full products/services can be offered through channel partner ‘1’ to the new customer. A benefit of this approach can be that channel partner ‘1’ has a strong reputation in the market, sector, region, which improves the possibilities of acquiring new customers rather than the vendor going directly. The vendor ‘B’ and channel partner can agree on how to leverage insights to create an initial market communication plan for educating and informing the customers through a mix of advertising, social media, online, and other media.

235

236

FIGURE 18.2  Customer acquisition through channel

Scenario one

Scenario two

Vendor A Only sells products ‘a’ and ‘b’

Vendor B (YOU) Sells products ’c’ and ‘d’

Vendor A Only sells products ‘a’ and ‘b’

Vendor B (YOU) Sells products ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ and ‘d’

Vendor A Is selling today to customer ‘x’ via channel partner ‘1’

Vendor B Is not selling to customer ‘x’ today

Vendor A Is selling today to customer ‘x’ via channel partner ‘2’

Vendor B Is not selling to customer ‘x’ today

Channel partner ‘2’

Channel partner ‘1’

Customer ‘x’

Customer ‘x’

Channel partner ‘1’

Customer ‘x’

New customer acquisition for products ‘c’ and ‘d’

New customer acquisition for broader product portfolio

THE MODERN B2B CHANNEL LANDSCAPE

EXAMPLE Lenovo LEAP The Lenovo LEAP (Lenovo Expert Achievers Program) was originally created in 2014 and is built around two main areas: 1) Learn and Earn, where participants earn points for completing various educational modules online, and 2) Sell and Earn, where participants are incentivized to sell eligible Lenovo Server products. The LEAP has been particularly successful in driving loyalty and engagement and spans 8,000 participants, 1,800 firms, 80 countries and eight languages. Probably one significant piece of information is that those who were part of LEAP sold seven times more Lenovo products than non-participants (Motivforce, 2019).

ACTIVITIES For your industry, identify the different channel routes to customers. Are you marketing to different channel partners today and is your marketing differentiated enough? Review the marketing needs of the different channel partners by conducting brief surveys with key stakeholders within the channel partners.

References Motivforce (2019) Lenovo’s multi-award winning LEAP program, https://www. motivforce.com/lenovo-leap (archived at https://perma.cc/EPW5-9L46) Worrall, J (2021) Channel trends and developments to watch in 2021, https://www. f5.com/company/blog/channel-trends-and-developments-to-watch-in-2021 (archived at https://perma.cc/GG79-QMNQ)

237

238

19 Marketing to and through channel partners

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

‘to’ and ‘through’ channel partner marketing

●●

channel partner marketing tactics and vehicles

●●

how to select tactics and vehicles

●●

key challenges and solutions in ‘to’ channel partner marketing

●●

channel partner ‘to’ strategies

●●

goals of marketing through channel partners

●●

types of marketing through channel partners

●●

gaining mindshare

‘To’ and ‘through’ channel partner marketing Vendors and suppliers can use a variety of approaches to engage, and market ‘to’, ‘with’ and ‘through’ channel partners. ‘To’ channel partner marketing is defined as anything intended for the channel partner and/or those working within the channel partner. ‘Through’ channel partner marketing is defined as marketing through or with a channel partner for the purposes of engaging existing or potential business customers. We’ll cover ‘through’ channel partner marketing more later in this chapter.

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

Marketing to channel partners Marketing to channel partners has similarities to as well as differences from standard B2B marketing directly to customers. A similarity is that the channel partner in one respect should be considered a customer and recipient of marketing activities and messages. The differences lie in the scope of context or working relationship where the channel partner also plays a partner role; therefore, marketing need to think of these two approaches when working with channel partners. Marketing to channel partners covers five main elements (see Figure 19.1): ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Clear and effective communication. Provision of content and information in the right format across the communication channels. Tools to use the information and content, which could be marketing campaign creation tools, content creation tools such as templates. Training to support channel partners effectively in using the tools. Marketing communities: finally, some vendors have gone one step further in building forums or communities for marketers.

Marketing vehicles for marketing to channel partners The main marketing vehicles used to communicate to the channel partners are increasingly digital and online. In Table 19.1 is a summary of the main communication vehicles split between digital and offline. TABLE 19.1  Digital and offline marketing vehicles

Digital

Offline

Email E-newsletters Own website Webinars Webcasts Portals Social

F2F Events Magazines, brochures Onsite demonstrations Onsite trainings Direct mail

239

240

FIGURE 19.1  Marketing to channel partners (key areas) Communicate effectively

Provide content and assets

Digital selection e.g. email e-shots, e-newsletter, webinar, social Offline Events, meetings, phone, brochures

Product comparison Demo assets Campaign assets

Provide tools Product Positioning tools Marketing campaign creation tools Budget, MDF management tools

Train What Products Product positioning How Online Offline Train the trainer

Create marketing community Marketing advisory councils Marketing to marketing forums online Adhoc chatter

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

Digital channel partner communication The main digital channels used to communicate to channel partners are as follows.

Email marketing In terms of email marketing to channel partners, the principles are like emailing directly to customers. The main difference is that the receivers of emails at channel partners tend to be salespeople who will be using information contained within the email to potentially resell those products and services. Email management and information management needs to be structured in terms of contact people, number of emails by a given period, and overall number of emails from the brand if the brand has different parts of the organization communicating with the same channel partner. For example, as some channel resellers will have multiple stakeholders or salespeople to engage, getting the right contact people down to named individuals may be necessary to ensure messages reach their intended audiences or to drive accountability for forwarding and re-distributing emails within a channel reseller. As with emailing customers it’s important to make emails easy to read, short, and include calls to action; the difference with a channel partner is that the call to action may include follow-up accountabilities.

Vendor website The website is important for housing information as well as providing access for channel partners to separate portals. The main website is also there for the public and business to view, and serves as a great opportunity for vendors to redirect customers to channel resellers’ own websites or other useful points of information supporting business through a channel partner.

Vendor portals for channel partners Portals in this case are specific for the channel partner rather than a general website intended for anyone. Portals should be there as the hub for channel communication and all communication should drive traffic to them; they need to be easy to sign up to and access, and contain information in a ­structured manner.

241

242

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Portals provide information only for the eyes of channel partners, and some vendors segment content according to channel partner type. Types of information to provide are product information and sheets, marketing campaign information, assets to support channel partners’ marketing in creating their own campaigns, training, information on rebates and bids budget, the ability to purchase directly (for more sophisticated websites), and customer opportunity assessment tools.

Webinars Webinars can be a great way to update more complex or important information ‘to’ channel partners. Some channel resellers or partners can have offices located and distributed across geographies or be located away from the brand. Webinars allow vendors to educate, update or even provide virtual events with interactive possibilities.

Offline channel partner communication Offline ways to market or communicate ‘to’ channel partners include events, face-to-face communication, voice-to-voice communication via phone, printed brochures and printed leaflets.

Events Events (including virtual events) can be used to update on latest product offerings and new products and allow a vendor to promote themselves. Depending on the size of channel partner and the relationship, events can be exclusive to one channel partner or involve multiple channel partners. The benefits of events marketing come from having a forum with the possibility to engage and answer questions and be more interactive. Events are also a great way to build better relationships between vendors and channel partners. For more complex solutions or technical products events are an ideal way to get in front of masses of people and articulate value and benefits.

Printed brochures and catalogues Brands can use educational or promotional brochures to communicate product offerings to channel partners; printed brochures are also a great

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

way for vendors to be top of mind if they’re placed on-site at channel p ­ artner locations and can also be used by salespeople as reference material.

Selecting channel marketing ‘to’ communications The purpose behind marketing to channel partners will determine the communication vehicle used: is the purpose to educate, to inform, to provide necessary tools, to help sell (see Table 19.2)? The next main criterion for defining communication mix should be channel partner audience. If the audience are sales specialists then it is likely that more specialized information is required; more time to explain products and more complex products and solutions will be involved. Thus, email alone as a medium may not be the best means to communicate; perhaps webinars, printed brochures and follow-up e-newsletters may be more appropriate. Aside from goal and audience, the budget available would determine the communication possibilities. Where the vendor is limited in budget or resource, then ‘pure’ digital approaches are probably more appropriate, such as emails, website promotions and potentially webinars. For dispersed offices, again digital marketing is effective, though the use of webinars or webcasts is best suited for educating and engaging channel marketing audiences.

TABLE 19.2  Audience and communication/content type

Channel partner audience Communication channel

Content type

ALL

Email, E-newsletter

E-newsletter,

Sales

Webinar, social media

SlideShare, digital brochure, digital product demonstration

Sales specialist

Webinar, online portals, website

Technical, solutions oriented, SlideShare, digital brochure, digital product demonstration

Marketing

Email, online portal access

All types

Senior management

E-newsletter, event, meeting Informative meeting or event

243

244

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Channel partner enablement Channel partner enablement has become an increasing trend in recent years; this is due to the changing role of channel partners and greater demands on them to sell and resell solutions and value rather than simply products. This shift requires help from vendors in providing different sets of content, tools and training.

Definition of channel partner enablement Channel partner enablement is essentially enabling the channel partner to perform effectively on behalf of the vendor. It is normally mentioned in conjunction with marketing where the channel partner is equipped with training, assets and tools to carry out marketing activities.

The scope of channel partner enablement The vendor’s marketing scope here can be challenging as multiple partners need to be enabled, and channel partner stakeholders need to be enabled to perform marketing. Examples of stakeholders may include marketers, sales, and some senior executives. The four main areas of channel partner marketing enablement are as follows: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Tools: Access to tools and instructions on how to use them, e.g. tools to help identify and size customer opportunities. Content: Access to content, information, resendable or forward-friendly communication. Training: Product/portfolio benefits; information to help argue and position against competition. Insights: Tips on customers; customer behavioural information supports the sales process.

PRACTICAL TIP How to enable channel partners Vendors’ marketing can enable channel partners across the four areas as follows.

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

Partner enablement content Content for channel partner enablement usually serves to enable the channel partner and is not intended for business end customers. Types of content can be comparison sheets, product positioning content, demonstration software, and printed brochures highlighting the portfolio. Other assets can be pure visual assets of the product, case material or other for channel partners to assemble into an overall campaign themselves.

Tools Tools to support channel partner marketing can include product-based positioning tools, marketing campaign creation tools, customer assessment tools that marketing roll out, planning tools, and access to online applications that allow both channel partner and vendor marketing to track marketing performance. Tools can also extend to budget, marketing development funds (MDF) and planning.

Training Training can come in the form of very structured marketing certification. It can be carried out online or offline, though typically with more sophisticated products or solutions it is recommended to conduct face-to-face training. Training can include how to use content, tools (as above), how to position products, and demonstration training for products.

Insights Finally, insights used in partner enablement can be based on market or customer trends that the vendor has researched and therefore provide insights on how to better market or engage/convert customers through marketing and sales.

EXAMPLE Cisco Marketing Velocity One example of a focus channel partner marketing programme comes from Cisco and their ‘Marketing Velocity’ programme. This is their marketing

245

246

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

enablement platform, offering webcasts, live events and e-learning, and supporting marketing communities. The programme is a B2B marketing training curriculum designed for both partner marketing and Cisco expertise. The programme was updated in 2019 to consist of four key areas: 1 Marketing Velocity Learning, which consists of various educational material. 2 Marketing Velocity Central, which is the service marketing portal previously

called Partner Marketing Central (PMC). 3 Marketing Velocity Activate, which is a co-marketing service combining

data-driven business planning with Cisco and insights-driven omnichannel journeys. 4 Funding for Marketing Velocity, which provides Cisco Joint Marketing Funds

( JMF).

Marketing to channel partners – solutions Some of the ways to address the challenges include clearly defining marketing go-to people and agreeing with the channel partner on who is the go-to person and accountable for any follow-up. Vendors could check with the channel partner to capture any movement in personnel to ensure contact data is up to date. Communicating and sending emails to a few stakeholders can reduce the perception of vendors over-communicating as well as support accountability measures for those go-to people at the channel partners. In addition, by selecting communication and better communication management, frequency and number of emails can be controlled. Email should be easy to reuse or send on, allowing for sharing of information within a channel partner by channel partner stakeholders. Where the vendor CMO also is involved in communicating, marketing can sometimes help channel partners by reading and responding to emails. Where the channel partner is a premium or very strategic one, and budget allows, some companies opt to pay for a resource to be present on-site to support with messaging, sales support, marketing and training.

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

Marketing through channel partners – definition As mentioned above, channel partner ‘through’ marketing is all about marketing through or with a channel partner, and this can happen in three possible ways: ●●

●●

●●

Directly by the vendor. Vendor marketing directly markets to the customer and directs the customers to the channel partner, e.g. through links on their website, or by redirecting to channel partner sales. Indirectly. Via the channel partner to the business customer where the channel partner markets on behalf of the vendor. With the channel partner to the business customer: Where the vendor collaborates with the channel partner to engage the customer as a joint marketing activity (see Figure 19.2).

Why market to an end business customer? If the business has engaged a channel partner to reach and engage customers, why do vendors use their own marketing resources to market to customers? One reason behind this can be in the initial agreements between a vendor/ supplier and a channel partner regarding the purpose of the relationship, for example where the partnership was set up for logistical reasons or for customer reach. Other reasons can be that the vendor believes the core messages that the channel partner needs to deliver are not strong enough

FIGURE 19.2  Marketing through channel partners A

A Channel partner

B Vendor

B

Channel partner and vendor

C

Customer

247

248

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

and that more direct messages to the target market are required, or that the channel partner’s use of marketing communication doesn’t cover certain aspects, for example if the channel partner relies on newsletters and emails and the vendor feels that other forms of marketing should be used such as online advertising and social media.

Types of through channel partner marketing The type of ‘through’ channel partner marketing will depend on customer audience and channel partner.

Marketing to business customers Where the marketing is direct to the customer, it can come in three forms, as shown in Table 19.3. Awareness-based marketing such as PR, emails, social, co-branding and advertising is there to create awareness for the vendor’s brand and to direct customers or traffic to their channel partners. Lead generation is where vendor marketing invests in generating leads through content syndication or outbound telesales etc to capture leads and pass these on to channel partners. Demand generation is about directing traffic to the channel partner website or sales through incentives, promotions, or direct response marketing. Where the channel partner markets on behalf of the vendor the channel partner typically restricts marketing activities compared to the vendor’s own marketing activities; for example, they would do little awarenessbased marketing purely on behalf of the vendor as this is the vendor’s role. Lead generation-based marketing may occur where they have in place a lead generation approach supported by the vendor through MDF or other budgets. Types of lead generation can be through e-shots, emails, or lead generation via social. Channel partner and vendor marketing collaboration examples can span all types of marketing, as in Table 19.3, including collaborative PR, advertorials, testimonials, etc. Collaborative lead generation-based marketing can include content syndication where the channel partner participates, such as events between the channel partners and the vendor.

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

TABLE 19.3  Digital and offline marketing vehicles

Awareness tactics

Lead generation tactics

Demand generation tactics

PR E-shots Newsletters Social Branding Advertising

E-shots Social lead gen Content syndication

Promotions Incentives Seed units

Types of through marketing according to channel partner type Types of B2B marketing can vary depending on the type of channel partner; a supplier/distributor relationship may be more based on demand generation, lead generation and associated marketing vehicles. Sometimes this form of channel marketing can be called ‘volume-based’ as the marketing is focused on generating larger volumes of sales transactions in smaller sales sizes. Via large value-added resellers, the forms of marketing may be more relationship based, e.g. events, launch events with channel partners, webinars with channel partners, combined online advertising, combined lead generation, content syndication, or outbound marketing forms. This type of marketing is looking at generating larger sales with fewer transactions.

Marketing through channel partners – lead generation Enterprise or relationship marketing (see Chapter 3 for definition) will tend to rely a lot on lead generation-based activities. Lead generation and managing of leads without a channel partner in the mix can be challenging in terms of tracking leads, ensuring follow-up, conversion, etc, so when using multiple channel partners and their sales this can bring additional challenges with it. The first challenge is about accountability and ownership: who owns the lead and what stages of the lead generation process are they accountable for? Aside from ownership, how is the follow-up discipline maintained between vendor and channel partner or between the third party generating the initial lead and potentially nurturing it and handing it over? Also, in

249

250

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

handing over, how does the vendor ensure the leads are kept as warm as possible and don’t go cold? With different entities covering different stages of the lead journey, how are leads tracked? Finally, what about assigning the leads: how are leads assigned if there are multiple channel partners a vendor works with?

Solutions in managing lead generation with channel partners Below are some ways to manage lead generation with channel partners. Stakeholder management ●●

●●

Clearly define steps in lead generation from marketing-ready lead to sales-ready lead to follow-up, opportunity identification, pipeline ­detection and closure. For each step define who owns the step – who is responsible for generating the leads, who is responsible for nurturing the lead, for qualifying the lead.

Assigning of leads to channel partners ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Create assignment rules for types of leads so they are automatically directed; rules may be location based, specialist based, type of lead, or product based. Agree on business rules for leads for channel partners: volume of leads, type of lead, timing, etc. Review the effect of business rules vs. assumptions, e.g. timing and volume of leads meeting expectations. Maintain consistency of rules through lead assignment. Optimize lead allocation by removing or adding channel partners where needed, e.g. where a channel partner doesn’t execute or decides not to take part further.

Ensuring lead execution ●●

●●

Agree on follow-up timelines. Some companies apply zero tolerance beyond 24 hours for lead follow-up, meaning no lead is left unfollowed beyond 24 hours. Others will agree to longer follow-up times. Follow-up and execution. Define champions or accountable people within the channel partner who enforce a discipline on lead follow-up and conversion.

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

●●

●●

Quality of execution. Ensure leads are followed up in a qualitative way; making sure that diligence is applied to qualifying the lead, if this is the channel partner’s responsibility, to nurturing the lead and following up all will mean better ROI for the channel partner and vendor. Visible and transparent executive support. Get senior-level support from the channel partner and make it visible; this in turn will mean sales are more bought-in to the process.

PRACTICAL TIP How to track leads via channel partners Tracking of leads can be cumbersome but there are ways to support this across different channel partners, outlined in Table 19.4. TABLE 19.4  Leads tracking via channel partners

Lead tracking option Detail Channel partner CRM

The channel partner uses its own CRM system to track and manage leads and provide the vendor with access to the CRM system for purposes of reviewing performance

Vendor CRM

The channel partner uses the vendor’s cloud-based CRM systems and inputs and tracks leads performance

Marketing automation The vendor uses a marketing automation platform which can platform (MAP) integrate multiple CRM systems, providing access across channel partners Manual

Reporting of leads is manually captured by channel partners and vendors and tracked through manual reporting such as Excel

Lead handover Lead handover refers to leads being passed from one party to the next; usually handover occurs to improve conversion. Examples include where leads are passed on from a telemarketing agency to channel partners, or where leads are handed over from the vendor’s sales department. Handover typically occurs with help from a marketing automation system or CRM system.

251

252

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Gaining channel partner mindshare One of the challenges of marketing through channel partners is gaining mindshare, where a partner needs to maximize their share of the marketing space that channel partners devote to the vendor vs. other vendors, whether directly competing, indirectly competing, or just taking up marcom space. Even if agreements and structures are in place, a business and its marketing department need to go a few steps further in motivating channel partners and gaining mindshare; the competition are doing the same so doing the bare minimum means the vendor will lose out. Having maximum mindshare and support from channel partners will in turn mean greater probability of achieving targets. There are a number of ways vendors can increase mindshare and support from channel partners: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Sales incentives: Help to motivate sales to promote products. Some vendors believe that having a contract and agreement in place is enough, but if other vendors have channel incentives in place (and they often do) then attention will be drawn away from a vendor’s products. Great content: If the vendor can provide some compelling content this in turn will mean sales are more likely to read and forward the content to colleagues or partners. Lead generation: By providing high-quality leads to channel partners. MDF: A larger contribution of marketing development funds made available by one vendor over the other will mean the channel partner invests more in communicating and marketing and therefore customers and sales have greater exposure. Onsite sales animation activities: Onsite activity from vendors can be in the form of focus days or burst focus sessions. Partner programmes: These are where partners participate in a vendor channel partner programme and receive different rewards through ­different levels of sales target achievement. Awards schemes: Partners can take part in a competition compared to other channel partners and thus increase focus and push for a vendor’s products; based on implementation this can be effective in driving sales and multiple channel partners.

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

A Canalys report from 2018 showed that 77 per cent of those surveyed rated partner programmes as important when evaluating vendor relationships. The results of the survey also highlighted lack of consistency/changes to programmes as a top complaint, with 16 per cent of respondents selecting it among their top issues (Canalys, 2018).

EXAMPLE The Oracle Channel Marketing Handbook In the past few years, Oracle have developed a handbook specifically for channel partners, covering a broad range of marketing services. Channel partner marketing stakeholders can use different marketing services such as ‘campaign as a service’, events, marketing automation support, sales velocity days, and other resources. Through this comprehensive handbook, channel partner marketers are able to access everything in one document.

Partner programmes As mentioned above, partner programmes are a great way to gain mindshare and lock in channel partners. Most IT vendors operating via channel provide these; typically, they are segmented across three or four types of partner as follows: Level 1: This is the highest level, where the channel partners are regarded as premium accounts. They are typically account managed, sometimes exclusively by one account manager. These channel partner accounts will typically have their own in-house marketing resources and resell large amounts of goods and services. Level 2: Mid-level channel partners may or may not share an account manager; they may also be managed by a different sales model, e.g. via phone instead of a face-to-face arrangement. These channel partners may be reselling some products but not a wide or full portfolio. Level 3: These may be non-account managed, though still avail of some vendor and marketing resources. Level 4: These may be an additional tier of newly onboarded channel partners, or newly acquired.

253

254

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Marketing support based on these different channel partner levels would differ, based on the following: 1 Assignment of leads from vendor would typically only go to Level 1

channel partners. 2 MDF would be provided to those channel partners actively marketing

vendors’ products and investing, so Level 3 and 4 probably would not receive MDF. 3 Content access may differ in terms of the types of content, where premium

partners would receive richer content. 4 Marketing campaigns may be only provided to Level 1 and 2 accounts,

where channel partners are specifically included.

CASE STUDY EIMS Energizer programme EIMS is a global sales and marketing agency founded in 1996 by IT industry professionals who still run the business; it is a company that has consistently grown 25 per cent year on year. One specialism of EIMS is to build and enable a channel, feeding the partners with high-quality leads to optimize channel value. One of the services in the EIMS channel portfolio is called ‘Channel Energizer’. Effective indirect sales channels allow a vendor to expand market reach and deliver related revenue targets at speed and at economic cost. The purpose of EIMS Channel Energizer is to increase channel productivity and deliver high growth in a way that is cost effective; through insights and data, a tailored programme is created to target specific opportunities. In many cases, the programme enables vendors to reach more effectively into their channel, boosting the revenue productivity of partners that have not enjoyed the benefit of high-touch account management and transforming the relationships with some partners that had not delivered significant revenue to date. The EIMS methodology starts with analysis and planning, a study to identify the characteristics displayed by successful partners to really understand and challenge what channel success looks like and how to achieve agreed business goals. To assess potential, EIMS understand the partner’s business mix, including other solutions and relationships that may be competitive or complementary to that of the vendor. Driving growth through increasing the productivity of existing partners is often the shortest route to success, but the initial analysis and related workshop

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH CHANNEL PARTNERS

assessment may conclude that to deliver aggressive revenue goals, especially in new markets, new partners may need to be recruited. The identified characteristics of successful partners inform targeting of potential new partners. The resulting shortlist of new and existing partners is engaged, typically by teleconference, to assess their levels of motivation for long-term success and alignment to the vendor’s goals. The EIMS approach is to then engage with the principal decision maker to evaluate the business ambition to grow with the vendor and understand alignment of strategic direction. As a result, the shortlist is further refined to create a final ‘hot’ target group of high-propensity partners ready to enrol into the Channel Energizer programme. EIMS work with vendor channel executives to agree and design a process to take identified and qualified ‘hot’ partners on a journey of accelerated growth and productivity. EIMS have a unique technology platform to ensure optimal process and consistent partner experience; it includes a storefront allowing vendors to offer services to their channel from their own marketing teams and a multitude of preselected and approved external providers. Partners can self-select, guided by a concierge service where required, to ensure optimal use of marketing development funds. This ensures delivery of approved partners plays across a large partner base in a hassle-free and highly scalable way. Partner engagement and activity outcome is completely transparent and reportable, and the partners can stay one step ahead of their competition. This proven approach has helped many organizations drive accelerated growth in the channel while increasing the number of transacting partners. Vendor and partner engagement is enriched as each delivers more value to the other, supporting sustainable and predictable long-term success. For some customers this programme has allowed them to break into new international markets; for other customers it has delivered an incremental pipeline of around $19 million.

ACTIVITIES Review with a channel partner the number of emails sent to channel partner stakeholders in a given period for quantity, relevance and whether they’re used. Identify improvements in communicating emails. Review channel partner marketing needs and whether current vendor marketing efforts support those needs. For current identified challenges in channel partner marketing, review current digital applications.

255

256

‘COLLABORATE’ WITH PARTNERS

Reference Canalys (2018) A warning for vendors as near a quarter of partners say programs not important, https://www.canalys.com/newsroom/a-warning-for-vendors-asnearly-a-quarter-of-partners-say-programs-not-important (archived at https:// perma.cc/QH5W-EJRC)

257

PART FIVE

Optimizing marketing execution

258

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

259

20 Sales and marketing alignment

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

importance of alignment

●●

benefits of alignment

●●

obstacles to sales and marketing alignment

●●

how to identify misalignment

●●

steps to establishing alignment

●●

integration best practice

The importance of alignment Sales cultures within organizations can in themselves be obstacles for marketing to engage or to build relationships. Some organizations have very complex sales structures, further complicating the marketing task in achieving alignment with sales. Alignment is important as it highlights the value each party delivers for a goal. In an aligned situation, sales will get what they need to support the business, and marketing achieve their goals through delivering to the right customers. The right messages are sent via the right sales structure and physical and communication channels. In B2B marketing the success of marketing often hinges on sales alignment, for example in lead hand­-over, or in participating in an activity. Alignment is less of an issue in B2C marketing.

260

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Changing sales role The modern buyer is digitally driven, socially connected, mobile, and empowered, with nearly unlimited access to information and people. The role of sales has shifted according to organizational buying behaviour shifts and this means that sales need different support from marketing in the form of sales enablement, different information, and buyer stage-based content. On the flip side, marketing need sales to adapt their role to understand and embrace how to educate customers indirectly, and how to embrace new communications channels such as social media.

Benefits of sales and marketing alignment Based on recent research, where sales and marketing are aligned and engaged, the productivity of the business is greater, and they achieve business targets over those organizations where sales and marketing are not aligned. Recent reports have produced the following insights: ●●

●●

●●

Companies see an average of 19 per cent faster revenue growth and 15  per cent profitability when sales and marketing teams are aligned (Harrell, 2020) Research shows that businesses with strong sales and marketing alignment are 67 per cent more effective at closing deals, 58 per cent more effective at retaining customers, and drive 208 per cent more revenue as a result of their marketing efforts (O’Connor, 2018) According to a CEB study, 49 per cent of sales reps actually ignore more than half of marketing leads. Gleanster Research estimates that only 25 per cent of marketing leads are worth passing along to sales (D’Angelo, 2019).

Overall the main benefits can be summarized as: ●●

●●

Increased sales conversion rates. Sales convert more leads as marketing deliver leads that sales need and desire. Faster sales conversion. With tighter engagement between sales and marketing, leads are handed over to sales more efficiently and sales follow up in a more timely fashion.

SALES AND MARKETING ALIGNMENT

●●

●●

●●

Transparency on pipeline improves. As marketing understands how pipeline builds and sales understands what is being delivered from ­ marketing, there is a greater visibility to the pipeline progression. Less leakage of leads. Where leads are not followed up this can be rectified earlier and they can be reassigned to a different sales group or further nurtured by marketing. Optimization of marketing budgets. As there is greater input and direction from sales, marketing budgets are optimized for lead quality and conversion.

Organizational obstacles to alignment There are often good reasons why sales and marketing departments aren’t well aligned; these obstacles are areas that help us later when we come to looking at ways to resolve alignment: Culture: Sales cultures and marketing cultures tend to be very different. They use different terminology, value different things, work differently and have different behaviours. Some business cultures can be heavily sales focused, have siloed departments, or emphasize the importance of sales over marketing. Cultures within sales and marketing can occur based on legacy leaders, teams etc. These cultural aspects can maintain divisions between sales and marketing departments. KPIs and targets: Sales teams are often targeted and incentivized differently from marketers. Sales targets can be based on pure pipeline and overall revenue, whereas marketing may use other KPIs such as website traffic, number of marketing or sales-ready leads, and marketing pipeline. Where targets are differently set for marketing teams and sales teams, this will typically lead to a lack of alignment. Customer definition: Agreement on the target customer as well as specificity is something that impacts alignment. In terms of specifically defining the target customer, an example could be if marketing just targets a broad customer segment and sales are looking for marketing support in terms of content, messages, etc related to a specific purchasing manager profile. In other situations, this can simply come down to customer segments or customer roles that have not been previously agreed upon.

261

262

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Lack of focus: Organizations may simply not focus on marketing efforts, and this lack of focus can frustrate marketing teams who feel undervalued. This can be due to seasonal business peaks where sales need to focus on opportunities to close rather than start to work on leads earlier on in the customer buying cycle. Multiple sales teams and priorities: Where the organization has different sales teams, this can lead to different or conflicting requests, e.g. an internal sales team may prioritize leads whereas an external sales team may prioritize enablement tools and materials to support more customerfacing activities. Processes: Another cause of misalignment can be broken processes. This can be where one of the processes that involve sales and marketing is not working. Typical processes might be defining the customer, setting KPIs, handing over leads, lead follow-up, sharing content, and facilitating sales to share content. Leadership: For alignment to be established where previously misalignment has occurred, leadership skills are required not only from marketing but also from the overall business lead. Leadership in this case helps unite different departments around common goals, including marketing.

Establishing sales and marketing alignment For alignment to be established, organizations should follow this four-step process: 1 Recognize misalignment. During this step the organization agrees and

recognizes that there is a misalignment between sales and marketing, and acknowledges the need to address it. Stakeholders are identified, ideally representatives from sales and marketing, to take the lead in the process for alignment. 2 Identify and audit. Obstacles and contributors to sales and marketing

alignment are identified. This is carried out by reviewing structures, cultures, KPIs, etc. This will typically be a qualitative exercise involving outsiders as well as key stakeholders from sales and marketing. Marketing or sales investigate and listen to feedback to understand the factors behind the misalignment. The results can then be plotted in a radar diagram like the one shown in Figure 20.1 to help plot the impact of each misalignment factor.

SALES AND MARKETING ALIGNMENT

FIGURE 20.1  Alignment radar

Impacting misalignment Vs or =

Different KPIs 4 Lack of follow-up

3

Poor content

2 1 Lack of go-to person

Too many sales departments

0

Too many marketing priorities

Marketing not valued Taxonomy – not communicating well

3 Agree on fixes, priorities and timelines. The organization and sales and

marketing leaders agree on where to start and the priorities to address to solve the misalignment. As part of this process marketing may relook at business goals, challenges and opportunities as well as more granular behaviour and process aspects. These can be through service level agreements (SLAs) between sales and marketing teams holding both parties accountable for what they deliver; they can be extremely formal or less formal, allowing for change where needed. 4 Implement and review. The steps and activities to resolve the misalignment

are implemented and progress checked through regular reviews.

Alignment areas Define marketing’s role in the organization The role of marketing in midsize or larger organizations may stretch across multiple types of marketing. Where marketing resources are limited this means the department may not be able to deliver across all the marketing areas that the business and sales are asking for. The main types of marketing are: ●●

Sales enablement. The focus is on preparing and supporting sales through training and provision of marketing materials and assets that support the sales cycle.

263

264

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

●●

●●

●●

Marketing communications and content. Marketing’s focus is on managing the marketing communication channels and the content across those channels. Brand building and awareness. The focus is on building the brand and investing in activities that promote the company and its value ­proposition. Demand and lead generation. Marketing focuses on generating demand and leads and investing in activities to maximize traffic for the business.

To improve marketing effectiveness there needs to be an agreement within the executive team on the core priorities of marketing; this doesn’t preclude marketing from doing something in all areas but helps provide a core focus for marketing to deliver on.

Processes Ensuring that processes are correct and understood between sales and marketing is one success factor in sales and marketing. The first step in this area is to define the key processes that impact sales and marketing. These could be: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Customer definition process: How target customers and target buyer personas are defined and how sales are involved in the process. KPI setting: Agreeing on how marketing and sales will be evaluated by sales and by marketing and collectively; this could be sales-ready leads, number of opportunities, or opportunity conversion. Part of the KPI setting is also about being sensitive to the naming of the KPI; calling a KPI a marketing-generated pipeline might not be the best name to bring together sales and marketing and not a metric that ‘sales’ feel accountable for. Lead handover: What is the exact process for handing over leads? As part of this process leads should be correctly assigned; in loading leads into a CRM system and allocating them to salespeople, situations can occur where one salesperson receives 20 leads while another may only receive two. Lead follow-up: Although leads are expected to be followed up by sales, the agreement on how quickly leads should be followed up and who is reporting on the leads and sharing information about progress should be defined.

SALES AND MARKETING ALIGNMENT

For each process one great tool to use is the RACI (Harned, 2019), a tool that stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. The idea of the tool is that for each process the different activities should be documented in as much detail as possible, highlighting per activity who is responsible, accountable, and who is just consulted and/or informed.

Target customer It’s important to define the type of customer to target: whether existing or new and, if new, which sector. Other aspects to stipulate are size of business, geographical focus, key target stakeholders, and department. Having customers defined in a granular way will help when planning the right marketing mix and materials and in supporting sales in the right and relevant way.

Activity alignment Once customers have been defined, the next stage is for sales and marketing to agree on activities. Some activities will involve either sales and marketing or both. For example, what type of content will be used to engage customers directly from marketing or via external parties, and which content is sales expected to use to engage customers themselves? What messages will be used to generate leads and who is responsible for nurturing and to what stage in the lead development process?

Communication structure/governance A communication policy should cover the following: ●●

●●

●●

Forms of communication to use. It should be agreed how sales want to receive updates from marketing and how marketing expect to be updated by sales. Is this through email, phone conferences or face-to-face meetings? Frequency. Both parties need to agree on how frequently the updates will occur. Timing. Timing of reporting is key to allow for sales to address or correct their performance if it is not on plan.

265

266

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Shared KPIs ●●

●●

●●

Both parties should agree on definitions relevant to each other and this should form a two-way service level agreement. For example, marketing’s commitment to sales could be around number and quality of leads in a given period, pipeline or revenue. Sales commitment to marketing as part of the SLA could be time to follow up leads, pipeline and revenue. In summary, marketing and sales goals should both be aligned to ultimately the same business targets to ensure both departments speak the same KPI language.

Alignment initiative: sales integration One effective way for marketing and sales to align is to work together on common projects and for marketing to include or integrate sales within marketing initiatives. This could be at an activity level such as 1) co-creating content, 2) co-designing campaign focus, 3) in execution process or design, or 4) in promoting and marketing. In co-creating content or designing marketing campaigns, the focus can be on providing customer input indirectly from sales to support more relevant messaging, as well as using customer language. Regarding 4) promotion and marketing, some organizations include salespeople who are also specialists and/or influencers in the market. Other ways are to integrate sales in advocacy programmes for social marketing and brand building or, at a marketing vehicle level, by inviting sales to participate in an event, either as speakers or to support customer networking. Having sales acting as part of the marketing team helps marketing through additional support as well as gaining further buy-in to other departments. Sales gains more understanding and appreciation of marketing efforts and can influence marketing to optimize their activities to improve impact and ROI.

FIGURE 20.2  Key areas of alignment Question: What is the value-add of marketing? Where do they fit?

Marketing related Sales related And/or combined sales and marketing

How to communicate? Which frequency? What to communicate? Who to engage?

Marketing role and purpose

KPI

Communication

Target customer and stakeholder

Activity

Who should marketing target? Types of customer etc

What activities should sales execute, which ones should marketing execute? How does marketing hand over and at which points?

267

268

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Technologies for supporting alignment Undoubtedly in the past five years we’ve seen an explosion of marketing technologies, and with that there has been an increase in types of application technologies that can be used to align sales and marketing. Here are the main ones to consider: Internal social media: Updating sales with the latest information can ensure they are always kept up to date; internal social media apps such as GaggleAMP can ensure sales receive updates in a more topic- and contentfriendly manner. Other applications that support internal employee communication include Hootsuite Amplify and EveryoneSocial, and some CRM applications have their own function for employee advocacy communication. Content sharing: Having a central online space for sales reps to access content in a structured manner can help sales greatly; the important part is to ensure sales know how to use online central portals or content applications. Content can be distributed through online portals, through sales enablement platforms, and even through well-structured emails or social media ‘friendly’ emails with links ready to tweet or post. Examples of content sharing and scheduling tools include Trello, Hootsuite; for scheduled distribution tools include GaggleAMP, Circulate.it and Listly; and for sales enablement examples are Showpad and Seismic. Messaging technologies: One of the challenges between sales and marketing is to improve sharing of information as well as collaborating over tasks. With various digital technologies these challenges can be greatly alleviated; examples of applications include WeTransfer, Dropbox and Google Drive. Collaboration tools: Under collaboration tools there are also various options including Slack, which is a chat-style collaboration tool allowing employees to communicate, chat, and much more. Alternatives to Slack could be Evernote, Google Hangouts and Fuze. Tracking leads and lead handover: Digital applications such as CRM systems or marketing automation can help to track lead acceptance and lead follow-up from warm lead to lead closure. Some CRM applications allow for setting of email triggers based on lack of lead follow-up; for example, if the lead is not followed up within two days then the time trigger email is sent to the salesperson reminding them to do it.

SALES AND MARKETING ALIGNMENT

Conducting a poll or survey with sales can help to evaluate more qualitative aspects relating to roll-out of marketing activities and information. These polling technologies can be used to track sales satisfaction related to different aspects of marketing but can also be used with sales to track other sales teams. Polling technologies could include MonkeySurvey, Slido and Poll Everywhere.

NUDGING: USING EMAIL SIGNATURE TECHNOLOGY One way to help with communicating to sales is through email signatures and associated notes; in email signatures companies can include a call-to-action or any form of reminder at the bottom of the email. Email signature solutions serve to ‘nudge’ the recipient; in terms of sales enablement this can help nudge sales related to activities that marketing and sales collaborate on. Examples of activities might be to remind sales regarding the latest content or report available, customer insights, or leads that need to be followed up on. One such technology is Rocketseed, which offers email signature solutions for intercompany communication as well as supporting marketing to customers and prospects.

EXAMPLE Atos In February 2014, Catherine Howard stepped into the role of Atos UK Marketing Director. It was quickly apparent that there was a lack of alignment between marketing and business stakeholders and a lack of buy-in to marketing and its deliverables. The process for turning around the marketing department kicked off with reviewing attitudes towards marketing and past delivery of marketing; this was captured through various research and surveys: one-to-one meetings with key business stakeholders including United Kingdom and Ireland board members, client-facing team meetings, one-to-one meetings with the marketing team, and an online survey across the wider organization. The investigation surfaced underlying issues that needed to be addressed; the marketing department led by Catherine developed a business-led marketing strategy focused on three core areas all supporting the objective of externally delivering business value. The plan was presented to the board and marketing secured an increased budget for implementing it.

269

270

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

To enable the implementation, the new marketing team was restructured and people and activities were better aligned to business and objectives. The new structure provided each key business stakeholder with marketing contacts, and behind the scenes stakeholder plans were developed to ensure each marketing team member was engaged with his or her respective business stakeholders in a regular and appropriate fashion. This new approach improved accountability and response rates within marketing and helped establish a new team collaborative culture between marketing and the rest of the business. Accompanying the team reinvigoration were daily guidance from the marketing leader, improved communications in the form of weekly calls, regular one-to-one meetings, pay realignment, as well as celebration of marketing successes both at an individual and team level. Following the implementation, the marketing culture was transformed and team morale issues addressed and improved; additionally, new processes and business-leading programmes were introduced to support the business. The marketing team could deliver a much-improved return on investment and demonstrate a contribution to Atos’s business growth; the marketing team also received consistent praise from key business stakeholders.

ACTIVITIES Based on the different types of marketing – sales enablement, brand building and lead generation – what percentage of time do you or your marketing department spend on each type of marketing? Is the allocation of time aligned to business requirements? Conduct a mini-survey with sales to understand their perception of marketing. Where do they see value-add and where do they see a need for improvement?

References D’Angelo, G (2019) Best practices in automated lead management, Demand Gen, https://www.demandgenreport.com/features/demanding-views/best-practices-inautomated-lead-management/ (archived at https://perma.cc/7P2H-RD6D) Harned, B (2019) Confusion with RACI charts explained: definitions, example and template [Template], https://www.teamgantt.com/blog/raci-chart-definition-tipsand-example (archived at https://perma.cc/L6SH-NDME)

SALES AND MARKETING ALIGNMENT

Harrell, P (2020) A sales executive’s perspective on alignment: outdated stereotypes, pipeline and revenue goals for marketing, Forrester, https://go. forrester.com/blogs/sales-executive-perspective-on-alignment/ (archived at https://perma.cc/YTC7-AVHM) O’Connor, C (2018) The truth about smarketing that the playbooks won’t tell you, April 12, available from https://business.linkedin.com/en-uk/marketingsolutions/blog/posts/sales-and-marketing/2018/The-truth-about-smarketingthat-the-playbooks-wont-tell-you (archived at https://perma.cc/N4RU-WT9B)

271

272

21 Account-based marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

account-based marketing

●●

types of ABM

●●

ABM process

●●

preparing for ABM – insights

●●

challenges/pitfalls in ABM

●●

ABM technologies

●●

measuring ABM

ABM defined Account-based marketing (ABM) is defined as marketing (and eventually selling) to key customer accounts directly. High-value accounts or prospective accounts are singled out and key stakeholders within those accounts are targeted. ABM is also about better aligning processes and resources against specific accounts.

Background ABM has been around since as early as the mid-1990s and was mainly used by large companies as part of a high-touch process by their sales teams to

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING

focus on accounts rather than generic marketing. Companies such as HP, Xerox have been noted as early adopters. Today, thanks to new marketing technologies, ABM can be used by almost any size of business; SMBs and mid-range companies with very limited business and technical resources can target, assign and manage hundreds and even thousands of prospective accounts and customers. They can keep track of their customers, segment lists, and target accounts with personalized content for email nurture campaigns or for generating new interest.

ABM and differences to traditional lead gen marketing So how does ABM differ from traditional B2B lead generation marketing? The first answer is that although it is called account-based ‘marketing’ it is not just marketing; this is about drawing together predominantly sales and marketing but potentially will also involve other organizational departments. ABM is about sales and marketing defining ‘named’ customers to target, working together in tracking progress according to the account both before and after sales conduct any outreach activity. The second major difference is that ABM is about simultaneously targeting multiple decision makers within the same account, whereas with traditional B2B, marketing and sales may be engaging different decision makers at different times. Another key difference compared to traditional B2B marketing is that ABM takes a longer-term approach, with activities related not only to capturing the account but expanding business within the account. Finally ABM is about having a highly personalized approach where content and messages are tailored to the different decision makers in an account.

Benefits of ABM Following are the main benefits in moving to adopting an ABM approach: ●●

●●

Better routing of leads: By aligning account managers to specific accounts the assignment and routing of leads is much more accurate; it also allows account managers to develop expertise by account. Sales and marketing working better together: If you already thought your sales and marketing teams were aligned, ABM will bring them even closer

273

274

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

together; ABM by its nature requires sales and marketing to agree on key details such as named accounts, decision makers to target within the account, as well as the content and messages to deliver. ●●

●●

●●

Better use of resources: Having a very targeted and highly focused approach allows marketing to focus their budgets on content creation. Higher ROI and close rates: Through a highly focused approach on multiple decision makers within one account, not only is the probability of winning an account higher but also the scale of the win in terms of greater amount of revenue return per account. Other benefits include pipeline acceleration and more targeted and tailored content (and probably higher response rates to queries from accounts), typically accelerating the buying process.

ABM insights Some insights from recent research have shown the following: ●●

●●

●●

●●

A full 87 per cent of account-based marketers say that ABM initiatives outperform other marketing investments, according to a new benchmark survey conducted by ITSMA and the ABM Leadership Alliance (Schwarts, 2017). Demandbase found that 60 per cent of companies that implemented account-based marketing saw a revenue increase of minimum 10 per cent within the first year, with 20 per cent of companies experiencing an increase of 30 per cent or more in revenue (Calisse, 2021). 86 per cent of marketers report improved win rates with ABM (Schoening, 2019). 85 per cent of marketers said that ABM significantly benefited them in retaining and expanding their existing client relationships (Gomes, 2017).

ABM types There are three main types of account-based marketing: 1 High-penetration critical (HPC) ABM: This is sometimes called strategic

or one-to-one ABM and is a form of ABM usually reserved for strategic

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING

accounts involving one-to-one marketing. It can involve a dedicated marketer and a dedicated customer account manager. Performance metrics and ROI are typically focused over the long term due to the nature of the account. 2 Mid-tier (MT) ABM: This form of ABM is sometimes described as the

‘one to few’, and is about targeting accounts in multiples of two to five, as a small number of accounts may resemble each other in terms of their make-up, size or industry. 3 Group ABM (Grp): Sometimes characterized as ‘one to many’, this is

probably similar to traditional B2B lead generation which focuses on a type of account. For purposes of this chapter we’ll focus on HPC and MT ABM (ITSMA, 2017).

Challenges with ABM Despite the benefits of ABM, there are challenges that can hinder the effectiveness of this approach; these include lack of sales buy-in where sales are not fully aligned to the ABM activity. This could be due to lack of communications or lack of agreement regarding target customer and type. Other factors can be resource based, where insufficient resources are available in terms of budget and human resources to create specific content. Other challenges might be in lack of technologies or lack of data. For this reason, the first step in the ABM process of strategic alignment is critical in addressing potential challenges and discussing requirements in rolling out an ABM campaign.

The ABM process The framework in Figure 21.1 will allow organizations to effectively set up and implement account-based marketing. 1 Strategic alignment: During this step it’s important that business objectives

are understood in terms of growth areas and customer focus, as well as marketing’s role in supporting such goals. The key to this step is alignment at a strategic level in the organization, the reason being that ABM is more than marketing and may involve multiple departments. Another reason to gain strategic alignment might be to get buy-in in terms of resource investment where resources could be budget, human resources, or new content or technology resources need to support the ABM initiatives.

275

276

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

FIGURE 21.1  ABM process

Measure

Strategic alignment

Account analysis and identification

Execution

Scope definition and account list building

Launch Asset and activity preparation

2 Account analysis and identification. The next stage is to build customer

intelligence and profiles and use insights from sales about existing customers related to target customer segments. Target accounts are identified, working closely with sales based on a combination of sales input and third-party databases. Predictive analytics may be used to determine the specific accounts most likely to buy. 3 Define scope. Scope of activities and size of accounts are defined and

account lists are created. The scope will depend on salesforce size, sales objectives, and ability of marketing to support sales with, for example, content. 4 Asset and activity preparation. Marketing builds assets and information

for account-based initiatives; examples are qualification scripts, white papers, associated infographics and associated promotions. 5 Launch ABM. Account data is loaded, typically into a CRM application.

The ABM activity is launched according to scheduled timings. Coaching

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING

or training accompanies this step to support sales in using marketing assets and tools. 6 Execution. During this phase sales follow up on leads or make outbound

calls for the pre-defined set of accounts. 7 Measure and review. KPIs are reviewed for each of the activities according

to the accounts targeted. Corrective actions are taken where KPIs are not achieved. For example, where follow-up is behind plan, sales executives may act to ensure greater focus during a given period.

Account identification and profiling In identifying and selecting accounts the first step is to look at the specific goals of an ABM campaign. Where the goal is to acquire accounts from a particular sector then this would guide the account selection; where it is about long-term profitability then the goal would be to look at types of account with potential for buying more profitable products and services. Where pipeline acceleration is the focus then the campaign would be to look for accounts where there are engagements but also potentially where there is greater possibility to accelerate the pipeline, e.g. by looking at types of products and services that can be accelerated. Another way to think about account selection is to plot them on an attractiveness, contribution matrix where 1) account attractiveness would be based on the account’s growth rate, type of industry, and how the account is performing in their industry, and 2) contribution refers to business contribution over the long term in terms of their fit and alignment to the vendor organization’s products and services, potential revenue and profit ­contribution – see Figure 21.3 below. To enable the process of account selection, having a robust set of data on accounts is key; if an organization is looking at existing or previous accounts then the data is typically more readily available in areas such as CRM. Where accounts are greenfield accounts that have not previously purchased from the organization, then one should look at data houses externally, e.g. Experian, Dun and Bradstreet, or Equifax.

277

278

FIGURE 21.2  The ABM process and key applications

Step

Strategic alignment, account data analysis Steps 1 and 2

Account scope Step 3

Content and activity preparation Step 4

Launch and execute ABM Steps 5 and 6

Measurement Step 7

Description

Source account information, understand relevant accounts. Gather insights

Identify and prioritize accounts

Create account-specific content and messaging

Manage 1:1 accountspecific interactions and associated marketing channel activity

Demonstrate results of ABM, coverage, awareness, reach

Applications to support step

D&B, LinkedIn, Agent, Hoovers

Lattice, Leadspace, Everstring

Various B2B sources, use content management systems

Data management platforms, various marketing automation platforms

Marketing automation platforms

FIGURE 21.3  Account identification and selection

Priority 2 accounts

Priority 1 accounts

High

Account attractiveness 1. Account growth rate 2. Industry size 3. Industry growth

Account attractiveness

Priority 3 accounts

Priority 2 accounts

Low Low

Account contribution

Account contribution 1. Account potential revenue contribution 2. Margin contribution of account 3. Potential customer lifetime value 4. Fit to organization’s products/services

High

279

280

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

PRACTICAL TIP Where do you find account information for ABM? One core success factor for ABM is correctly targeted accounts based on analysis and insights that can be drawn from different areas: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Past purchase and portfolio gaps. These can be drawn from previous purchase history and can highlight purchase gaps, e.g. where only a few of the products/services are being purchased from a larger product portfolio. Account propensity modelling. A more sophisticated approach is to take multiple criteria such as sector, size of company and past purchase history and use them to create a more accurate set of accounts based on richer detail. The idea is that a vendor can identify accounts with a higher propensity for purchasing its products or services. Account plans. Account manager input can help with customer insights and highlight likely prospects for targeting with additional products or services. Other sources of information include external telemarketing and data research companies.

Executing ABM There are different approaches to actually executing ABM; the main ones are via display advertising, social media, email, IP-based and phone-based sales outreach. The approaches will be defined by the type of account, where they are in the buyer journey, whether they are a new or existing account, and the actual possibility to target the account and its decision makers.

Sales outreach ABM This type of ABM is where sales leverage email, phone and events to engage an account. For new accounts this typically occurs at a point where marketing has had some previous engagement with the account and its decision makers through promotional content and emails. For existing accounts this is probably the dominant approach employed.

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING

Display-based ABM Display-based ABM sometimes involves lining up ads so they only appear to people at specific companies; some account-based advertising networks go one step further in targeting by role or title. This type of ABM is sometimes referred to as account-based advertising (ABA) and is used to target new accounts very early in the buying process. It is typically followed up by email or social media approaches to target the accounts. One main method to carry out ABA is IP-based, i.e. using an account IP address to target accounts with advertisements. This form of advertising is very precise as it reaches only the specific account based on its IP address. Companies can use tools such as Reverse-IP Lookup to find IP addresses of accounts.

Social media-based ABM Social is also a great way to optimize ABM activities; by using social listening programs, companies can gain insights into target accounts’ needs and pain points. Leveraging such insights, companies can post relevant content on social media websites answering those customer needs directly. Via LinkedIn and Facebook, organizations can run very targeted adverts, down to named individuals or companies. LinkedIn even allows for targeting adverts to people in companies according to their role or job title. Outside of these main methods, of course email is widely used to target accounts by both sales and marketing.

PRACTICAL TIP Piloting ABM One way to test and start ABM in a lighter manner is to try ABM via LinkedIn. Typically, this involves defining key named accounts to target, loading these lists, and potentially leveraging data from external companies and loading these (LinkedIn calls this partner integration). Using this loaded list, you can then decide on the appropriate advertising and messaging to deliver via LinkedIn.

281

282

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

ABM key success factors So, what constitutes a successful ABM or ABM strategy? Below are some of the things drawn from companies which have demonstrated best practice in this space: 1 Insight led: Having some level of insight clearly helps in the identification

process; although sales involvement should be in helping define customers, this should be focused on criteria used for selection and informed input rather than ad-hoc input. Insights should also be supported by a sufficient level of data. 2 Programme design: Programmes should be designed as a response to

specific business challenges or needs and thus add value. Content should be provided at different touch points for the intended target, i.e. offline and online. 3 Technology enabled: Marketing integrating with CRM will help with

reporting and tracking performance on a regular basis. Digital applications such as IP or audience-based programmatic applications and social media applications can further complement ABM.

Is ABM right for you? ABM is suited to companies that have either relatively few accounts they wish to target or where they have a target group of accounts with similar characteristics. The latter could be an industry sector or a department within a company from a specific customer segment. Organizations should have some form of tracking and monitoring to carry out ABM effectively; this means having a form of CRM in-house or help from third-party companies. ABM is not right for companies that are looking to market to a wider or mass audience or where the audience is so broad no segment or characteristics can be drawn. ABM relies on the ability to target, so platforms that have targeting capabilities should be used. For example, LinkedIn can target customers by size, type and stakeholder. The success of ABM lies in the personalized experience it can offer to customers, allowing the creation of relevant content according to buyer stages. ABM is a powerful tool for serving the right message and content to the right customer at the right time. Figure 21.4 shows how ABM leverages content and content marketing to engage customers.

FIGURE 21.4  ABM and the buying cycle

Goal

Activities

Content

ABM KPIs

Early buying cycle

Transition from leads to qualified accounts

• Campaigns • Inbound • Outbound

• Blogs • Infographic • White paper

• Marketing-ready leads • Contact activities • Number of appointments

Late buying cycle

Convert opportunities to customers

• New opportunity • Evaluation • Negotiation

• Video testimonial • Case studies • ‘How to’ resources

• Lead conversion • CTR • Sales-ready leads

Increase share of wallet

• New products • Outbound • Upgrades

• Case study • Video testimonial

• Net, new sales • Revenue per account • Deal size

Portfolio expansion

283

284

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

ABM fit One way to check ABM suitability is to use a checklist such as Table 21.1. Here, by answering questions with a yes or no, one can get a picture of the ABM fit. For example, if the product or service is complex and more than four stakeholders are identified within the decision-making unit, the target customer is a large enterprise customer, the sales cycle is long, and the lifetime value is regarded as relatively high, then ABM would be a good fit. On the inverse, where the product is simple, the company is much smaller, with fewer stakeholders, then possibly ABM isn’t appropriate. TABLE 21.1  ABM fit checklist

Checklist questions

Yes/No

Do you have a limited addressable market? Is the product or service relatively complex? Are there a relatively high number of stakeholders identified (low = 1–2; high = over 4) Is the target customer relatively large (medium and/or large enterprise organization)? Is the sales cycle relatively long? Is the customer lifetime value relatively high? Is the average deal size relatively large? Is there a high potential for upside in terms of upselling and cross-selling sales opportunities?

Measuring ABM In terms of measuring ABM, common measures include the following: ●●

●●

Engagement rate: As ABM involves personalized content and messaging, the engagement rates for the content should be much higher. Engagement rate can be based on channel or content by account or compared to ­average engagement rates of non-ABM activities, e.g. email engagement ­looking at open rate and CTR. Reach within the account: Reach related to number of decision makers within the account. Increased reach might be that previously no decision makers or just one decision maker was reached and now it is two or three.

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING

●●

●●

ROI: ROI can be opportunity, pipeline or revenue by account or can be pipeline and/or revenue increase if it is about existing accounts. Pipeline velocity: This is the measure of the speed at which a lead moves through the buying process and then closes. Pipeline velocity can be measured overall from lead to revenue closure or by stage within the sales process, e.g. lead to opportunity identification, opportunity identification to pipeline, pipeline to revenue.

EXAMPLE O2 ABM campaign Up until 2015, O2 was probably well known in the B2C space but less known in the B2B. Around 2015 O2 decided to increase its efforts to raise its profile in the B2B space as a total communications provider. Between 2015 and 2017, O2, supported by The Marketing Practice, embarked on an ABM programme with a pilot one-to-one programme. One of the first steps to this initiative was to identify those organizations that were a right fit for O2 Business. Subsequently the campaign was divided into three parts: by vertical, by key accounts within those sub-sectors, and by strategic accounts. ‘ABM vertical’ involved using data analytics to identify main vertical sectors where there was a probability to increase O2 market share; retail, travel and transport, construction, the police, and utilities were some of the sectors identified. As of 2017 the results of the ABM programme included 325 per cent achievement of target business generated, 313 per cent achievement of target pipeline, and 39 C-level contacts (Sharma, 2018).

References and further reading Calisse, L (2021) Why account-based marketing beats traditional B2B marketing, https://momentumdata.com/why-account-based-marketing-beats-traditionalb2b-marketing/ (archived at https://perma.cc/8QS3-5T95) Gomes, E (2017) Introducing the definitive guide to account-based marketing, Marketo, https://blog.marketo.com/2017/03/introducing-the-definitive-guide-toaccount-based-marketing.html (archived at https://perma.cc/5KPN-GVMS)

285

286

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

ITSMA (2017) Three types of account-based marketing, https://www.itsma.com/ pdfs/research/ITSMA_ThreeTypesofABM_TB059.pdf (archived at https://perma. cc/RKR7-XD8E) Schoening, E (2019) Study: 80 per cent of marketers say ABM improves customer lifetime value, https://abminaction.com/abm-in-the-news/study-80-of-marketerssay-abm-improves-customer-lifetime-value/ (archived at https://perma.cc/ H7JC-26ZP) Schwarts, J (2017) Like fine wine, ABM improves with age, ITSMA, https://www. itsma.com/like-fine-wine-abm-improves-with-age/ (archived at https://perma.cc/ PKK9-XCYD) Sharma, D (2018) Account-based marketing 101: ABM strategy, ABM campaigns, advantages & pitfalls, Convert, https://www.convert.com/blog/account-basedmarketing/account-based-marketing-101-abm-strategy-abm-campaignsadvantages-pitfalls/ (archived at https://perma.cc/8MWY-9ADQ)

287

22 Lead generation

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

lead generation challenges

●●

types of leads

●●

leads and the buying cycle

●●

lead generation process

●●

lead generation tactics and strategies

●●

lead capture and lead magnets

●●

landing pages

Introduction Lead generation is the bread and butter of any B2B marketer today, and the challenge is in extracting better leads and gaining value from them. Lead generation includes all activities associated with the task of generating leads; it is anything that constitutes an opportunity to sell to a customer, whether in the short term or long term. Leads can be described as outbound or inbound; mid or late buying cycle leads; as well as mid and bottom of the funnel.

Difference between demand generation and lead generation Sometimes lead generation is confused with demand generation. Demand generation covers all marketing activities that create awareness about an offering, company or industry and includes a mix of inbound and outbound

288

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

marketing. Lead generation is a subset of demand generation. Demand generation is a marketing operation that serves to create a demand for or interest in your product. Lead generation, on the other hand, is used to collect specific information about potential clients, turning them into sales leads.

Lead generation vs lead nurturing Lead generation is typically something that refers to the overall process of acquiring leads and handling them; it can also be more focused on the actual ‘generation’ and capturing of leads. In this chapter we’ll discuss the lead generation process as well as aspects relating to lead capture; in the following chapter we’ll be focusing on lead nurturing and discussing what to do with leads once they are captured.

Trends in lead generation Today the companies doing well with lead generation are those leveraging digital technologies and digital marketing a lot more, connecting offline and digital and incorporating new automation platforms to better track leads. Lead generation recently has been influenced by changes in the buyer’s journey, in how customers access and use information, and the increased amount of information available. The key trends in B2B lead generation are as follows: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Intent data usage: More personalized lead generation leveraging intent data where buyer intent data is data that illustrates where buyers are in their buying process. Increased use of video. Video is being used more to capture and nurture leads. Rise of chatbots: Chatbots at key points in the buyer journey are also being used more to help prospective buyers with key questions. Further increase of marketing automation: Marketing automation is still on the increase as it has been in recent years, helping companies of all sizes manage leads and nurture them. Rise of account-based marketing: As mentioned in the previous chapter, ABM is one area that is being increasingly used to capture and nurture leads. Rise of virtual events: More recently, due to Covid-19, there has been a rise in virtual event-type activities to nurture and engage prospective buyers.

LEAD GENERATION

Challenges impacting lead generation Below are the main challenges that marketers and sales need to deal with regarding lead generation: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Getting the right quality of leads: Where the lead quality is not meeting sales requirements and leads are handed over before they are ready. This can lead to poor follow-up or impact sales productivity, as sales are taking more time than needed in qualifying and nurturing the lead. Time to load: If the time between lead capture and loading the lead for sales to follow up becomes unacceptably long, the chances are that the lead is no longer viable for follow-up. Late sales follow-up: Where the lead is loaded on time but sales don’t follow up in a reasonable amount of time, this can mean the lead goes cold as customers are no longer prepared to discuss opportunities with the potential vendor or they have already approached an alternative vendor. Lack of a lead nurture process: Not having a specific process in place to engage, qualify, follow up and move the prospect further through the funnel can mean the good potential leads can amount to nothing. Misaligned sales expectations: Where sales expectations regarding the leads are not set correctly, for example on volume of leads, timing of leads, type of leads or other, this can quickly lead to sales and marketing misalignment around lead execution and opportunity detection. Resourcing: If marketing has misaligned leads to sales resources this can lead to poor lead execution. For example, where a high volume of leads is loaded at any given time and sales are not equipped to follow up, this can mean a good percentage of leads are left abandoned.

Types of leads Leads can be categorized in many ways. In the B2B space, defining a lead is critical for talking the same language to internal and external parties. The following are the main categories of leads: ●●

Marketing-ready leads (MRL) are defined as leads ready for marketing; unless agreed with sales, these leads should not be released to sales teams.

289

290

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

●●

●●

●●

Marketing-accepted leads (MAL) can be the same as an MRL but are leads that have been accepted by marketing. For such leads there can be a filter system only allowing leads through to marketing that adhere to a set of criteria. Sales-ready leads (SRL) are those leads that are deemed ready for sales and for sales follow-up; depending on the company’s internal policies they can be the same as BANT leads. BANT qualified leads are leads ready to be passed to sales per the BANT set of criteria (see below).

BANT criteria are used for assessing the quality of prospects and tracking them through the sales qualification process: B: Budgeted, where the lead has been budgeted. A: Authority, where the lead is tagged with contact name, details. N: Need based, where need and requirements are associated with the lead. T: Timescale, regarding the lead in terms of the opportunity.

The customer buying cycle and intent data In simple terms, we can think of lead type and status according to the customer buying journey; one way to map leads to the buyer journey is through using intent data. As mentioned already, intent data is data and insights that help us understand where customers are in the buying journey or process. The degree or level of ‘intent’ is essentially the level of consideration a prospective buyer has for the organization and/or its products and services; as the level of intent changes across the buyer journey, so will the type of data being used. Intent data related to the early and mid-buyer journey can be different forms of search terms. Looking at types of search terms can give organizations a clue as to where a prospective buyer is in the buying journey; for example, general brand terms might indicate a casual awareness of a brand, whereas a branded product search term or a specific description of a product need may indicate a buyer is more in the mid-buying journey. Intent data can be broken out into own or third-party data, i.e. data you collected yourself about a prospective buyer or data captured from a third party. Examples of own data (or first-party data) might be time on site, level of content engagement on a page, whether content was downloaded, bounce

LEAD GENERATION

rate or pages per session, data in the CRM and marketing automation ­platform, data from social media profiles, data from subscription-based email, and data from polls and surveys. Third-party data can be collected by using tools such Semrush or Ahrefs Keyword explorer, social media platforms, external polls and surveys.

The lead generation process The end-to-end lead generation process can be summarized by the following main steps, mapped to customer buying cycle and typical marketing/sales process as follows (see Figure 22.1): ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Enquiries – early buyer journey, marketing driven. Lead capture – start of mid-buyer journey, marketing driven. Marketing qualification – mid-buyer journey, marketing driven. Lead nurturing – mid-buyer journey and potentially some of late buyer journey, mainly marketing driven. Lead handover – sales and marketing. Bid and opportunity identification and further sales qualification – close of buying cycle = sales. Sale – close of buying cycle = sales.

Enquiries: These are customers in the early stage of the buying cycle; they could be quantifying their needs or evaluating vendors and alternatives. As business customers tend not to engage vendors directly, this stage of lead generation is typically led by marketing or third parties through content distribution. Lead capture: Can be through multiple lead generation vehicles, e.g. events, content syndication, download of content. Marketing qualification: This is when leads are qualified as appropriate and suitable leads to be included in subsequent marketing activities. At this stage we might call the lead a ‘marketing-ready lead’. Lead nurturing: Can be through third-party telemarketing agencies, through internal market/pre-sales teams, or through marketing automation. Lead handover: During this step the lead is handed over to sales and sales are responsible for carrying through the remaining stages of further qualification (if required), opportunity conversion, and ultimately closing the sale.

291

292

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Bid/opportunity and further sales qualification: During this stage, sales qualify and progress the lead. Sales: This is the final stage where the customers make the purchase. FIGURE 22.1  The lead generation process Enquiries Lead capture Marketing qualification (MRL)

MRL

Marketing driven, managed

Lead nurturing Lead handover (SRL) Bid (opportunity) Close (sale)

SRL Pipeline

Sales

RFP Sale

Lead capture Lead capture is when we capture a detail (or details) about the prospect which we can use later to engage them further. The stage of lead capture occurs usually where the prospect provides some details in exchange for something, such as information, some compelling content, or where a customer is interested in understanding more about an organization and its products and services. Lead capture can occur through multiple different marketing vehicles or a combination of them. The main vehicles employed are door openers, webinars, email with calls to action, events, outbound calls, content syndication, content downloads in the form of infographics, access to information, white papers, SEO, paid search, public relations, social, direct email, advertising, mobile and print advertising. This stage of lead capture is important in terms of getting timings right and getting the method right. In terms of lead capture methods, there are various options available to B2B marketers, for example: ●●

Invite prospects to leave details: This is probably the most customer-friendly method, as you leave it to them to provide their details; this can be done by offering a space on your website where they can leave their information.

LEAD GENERATION

●●

●●

●●

●●

SlideShare: Offering presentations in exchange for contact details. Offer reports in exchange for contact details. Implement live or automated chat features where more information is gathered about the prospect to help them in their buying journey. Gamified content and interaction: Using game mechanics to engage prospects. It also makes the interaction a fun, engaging activity where those participating will tend to be in more of a mood to share information.

Auto-capturing of leads is also another way in which technologies can be used for sign-up forms, phone calls, referrals sites, social media and landing pages to capture information about the prospect. Companies like LeadSquared or MyMedLeads offer this option to provide a tailored approach to capturing leads. Sources of lead capture can vary; leads can be captured through PPC ads, social media, phone inquiries, chat inquiries, lead gen sites, API and webinars.

Gated or ungated content Whether to gate content has been debated a lot amongst B2B marketers, though probably it should be less about ‘whether’ to gate content and more about ‘when’ to gate it. Before we go any further let’s define ‘gated content’. This is content that is provided based on users submitting their contact details. For some prospects this gating of content is seen as a nuisance as they must start filling multiple fields to access the content. So why do we gate content? Gating content is one quite easy way to capture some customer details and allows vendors to re-engage customers in the next stages of their buying journey. One could also argue that we gate content to understand the level of interest from customers and use this as an indicator to understand the stage they are at in the buying process. We might have heard or read statements that Millennials won’t accept gated content. One could say that for some more digitally savvy customers or Millennials, gating content won’t work. However, in a recent poll I conducted with Millennial B2B customers I asked whether they accepted gated content or not; the response from almost all was that if they had previously engaged or used content from a potential vendor, they would be willing subsequently to provide a few contact details. So, from this I would gather several criteria are important before gating content: the timing of the content, the type of content, and how content is gated.

293

294

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Timing Ideally, we should be gating content in the consideration stage, as typically in the awareness stage customers are not ready to engage vendors. In the awareness stage prospects are understanding possible routes to satisfying business needs and educating themselves through exploring information. Hence, the gating of awareness-based content would just be more of a nuisance and potentially be off-putting.

Options for gating content There are a few options to use to get the timing right for gating content: ●●

●●

●●

Look at the type of traffic. One way to identify customers is first by the type of traffic coming to your website; typically, traffic that is based on PPC advertising should not be gated, as this is very much awarenessbased traffic. Owned media properties. Understanding when they engage your ‘owned’ media properties such as your website, your social media properties, blogs etc also indicates that they could be well through the awareness stage. By viewing your owned media properties this would indicate you’re in their consideration mindset. Type of content. We can understand ‘when’ to gate also by the type of content they engage. If this is purely educational early-stage content, then we know they’re engaging in the early stages and by understanding content differences according to the buyer journey we would avoid gating such content in the early stage. Inversely, content that is more aligned to the consideration stage could be considered for gating.

FIGURE 22.2  When to gate Content 1 A

2

3

4 B

Where do you gate content? At the first point a prospect downloads content (Point A) or after multiple pieces of content have been consumed (Point B)?

LEAD GENERATION

●●

●●

●●

Type of campaign traffic. Website traffic that is based on campaign themes or messages relating to the consideration stage is where we start to see that they are more than aware of our brand and branded products or services and therefore we could apply some form of gated content. Content sequencing. Another approach is to ensure certain types of consideration content only follows previous content. Based on retargeting of customers and possible second- or third-time retargeting, this could be a good indicator to apply gates to content (see Figure 22.2). Compelling long-form content. Another approach may be to just gate unique, long-form content that has a degree of exclusivity to it. Customers who download this type of content are willing to take the time to read it and therefore understand the content is of a certain value and are willing to provide their details.

Lead magnets As mentioned already, lead magnets are a type of incentive you provide to prospects in exchange for some personal details, usually an email address. Lead magnet examples are white papers, research reports, eBooks, videos, webinars, or any downloadable content.

What makes a good lead magnet? An effective lead magnet is one that solves a problem or promises something of value from the prospective customer’s perspective. Effective lead magnets are easy to understand and can be accessed easily; lead magnets also include clear calls to action. Examples of B2B calls to action that are included as part of lead magnet messages are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Download. Watch this webinar. This offer is only available for the next 24 hours, so take advantage now! Make use of this exclusive training. Complete a survey? Download an eBook?

295

296

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

●●

●●

●●

●●

Sign up for our newsletter? Schedule an appointment? Discover more about you? Register for this masterclass.

Executing lead magnets In terms of lead magnet performance, recent research shows that short-form content such as newsletters, checklists and eBook samples have the highest conversion rates. Of long-form content the best-performing lead magnets include guides or reports.

Lead generation tactics and strategies Below are some of the main tactics and strategies in lead generation: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Funnel focus: Depending on marketing department objectives there may be a focus to improve leads according to different areas of the funnel. Website capture improvement: Optimizing website pages for receiving leads through aligning content to buyer journeys as well as offering information or content alternatives can help customers along their buyer journey. Lead nurture alternatives: Rather than focus on one method to nurture leads, businesses can develop different ways to nurture different campaign leads through a mix of telemarketing, in-house nurturing, automated nurturing and media-based nurturing. Cost reduction and reducing the cost per lead: This can be achieved by tendering out to different lead generation companies requesting more competitive quotes.

Landing pages A landing page is a separate web page created specifically for a particular marketing campaign, in this case a lead generation campaign. Compared to general web pages, landing pages have specific goals associated with them, typically either to capture initial details or to encourage an action to be taken later in the lead generation process.

LEAD GENERATION

How B2B landing pages differ B2C companies typically use landing pages to drive conversion where ­conversion means to purchase something, whereas in B2B, landing page conversion means a different thing, such as performing an action which might be to watch a webinar, subscribe to a newsletter, or download something.

Structuring a B2B landing page In terms of a B2B landing page, typically the navigation pane at the top of the webpage is removed to encourage the reader to read through the key landing page details. Text is kept to an optimum minimum and is focused on quick capturing of interest followed by a call to action. It is also recommended to include an illustration or diagram. Other elements that are recommended in a good landing page: ●●

●●

●●

Explain the benefits of your products and services. Highlight briefly some benefits of a specific product or service. Demonstrate evidence of quality products. Include awards, or any recognition in the industry. Evidence of customers. Highlight key customers by including logos of the companies.

Reviewing B2B landing page performance Apart from the Google analytics, you can use specific landing page technologies such as Unbounce or Leadpages. These allow you to carry out a/b testing of different aspects of the landing page and then subsequently make necessary adjustments to optimize engagement and conversion within the landing page.

LEAD GENERATION AGENCIES AND SELECTING THEM Lead generation agencies come with greatly varying competencies. If the marketing department isn’t responsible for the lead generation agency relationship then it’s important to review lead quality through conversion, and to have close ties with sales.

297

298

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

How to select a lead generation agency In the same way business customers self-educate through different forms of content before purchasing a product or service, in selecting a lead generation agency the marketing department is now the potential customer. Ways to understand and select lead generation agencies can be through forums, through word of mouth from contacts in similar roles in the industry, through referral from a different type of agency, or from online searches.

Lead generation agency management A lead generation agency should be managed by their output based on a clear briefing. The briefing should clearly communicate needs, expected quality and quantity of leads, expected cost per lead, and contingency agreements for when lead quality doesn’t meet the desired level. Outputs from lead generation agencies can then be monitored based on quality and number of leads, and can be measured through sales-acceptance levels as well as opportunity conversion. Pipeline may be a difficult measurement, as before going into a process the agency won’t know the level of opportunity in terms of revenue.

PRACTICAL TIP How to manage and correct poor lead conversion One of the recurring and frequent complaints from marketing departments is the conversion levels of leads. Below are some of the key steps taken from the industry that have been effective in resolving the issue of lead conversion and improving the quality of conversion: ●●

●●

Step 1: Map out the process in detail. In this phase the current process that has led to poor results should be mapped out from lead capture, to lead qualification, opportunity identification and deal closure. Each point in the process should be labelled accordingly. Step 2: Look at conversion points in the process to understand which metric is underperforming. Lead volume, marketing to sales-accepted lead, sales lead to opportunity, pipeline creation and deal closure are all conversion points, but it may be the case that one of these points is underperforming.

LEAD GENERATION

●●

●●

●●

●●

Step 3: Analyse further the conversion point not meeting KPIs, e.g. if average order value per lead is according to plan then the lead itself is of good quality but the number of leads may be lacking; if the opportunity conversion rate is low then it could be that the quality of the lead is not there. Step 4: Root cause of the impact. If opportunity conversion is the issue then is the cause that a salesperson or sales group are not converting enough? Are they distracted by other demands? Opportunity conversion can also be impacted by timing of handover, type of lead, type of salesperson, or experience of salesperson. Step 5: Corrective action. Review possible corrective actions and implement the most appropriate. Step 6: Review based on implementation and new metrics.

ACTIVITIES Review your marketing process to see what could be indicators of a marketingready lead and a sales-ready lead. What methods do you use today to capture your leads? Why not try different methods (using ideas from this chapter) to capture leads? What have been your best lead magnets used so far to capture details of prospective customers? If you’re not using lead magnets, what are your competitors doing to capture prospective customers’ details?

299

300

23 Lead nurturing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

lead nurturing

●●

how to nurture leads

●●

marketing automation

●●

lead scoring

●●

lead handover

●●

lead follow-up

Introduction With the lengthening sales cycle and changing customer behaviours, organizations need to look after prospective customers’ needs and questions over a longer period of time. As a consequence, sales and marketing have a more challenging task in keeping prospects warm across these longer periods; this chapter looks at all the possible areas and techniques that organizations can use to support this.

Lead nurturing defined Lead nurturing is defined as anything that is done to progress prospective customers in their buyer journey. Lead nurturing takes place after a lead has been captured and typically spans from that point through to the purchase stage. Typically, we talk about lead nurturing within the pre-purchase stages of

LEAD NURTURING

the buyer journey, but this could also apply to existing customers post-purchase when they buy additional products and services. Lead nurturing involves multiple marketing channels and encompasses the use of content or other information types to support customers. Through lead nurturing the potential supplier is looking to create a relationship with the prospective customers.

Importance of lead nurturing Lead nurturing is particularly important in the B2B relationship as it can be a long time between lead capture and purchase, on average around 12–18 months. The challenge therefore is to keep customers interested in the organization’s products. For B2B marketers it is important to understand roughly the length of this lead nurture period as it will help with planning. We can also think of lead nurturing as being about improving the possibility of conversion through keeping leads ‘warmer’ (more interested).

Using customer journeys Customer journey maps provide us with a view of the touchpoints a customer goes through in their buying process, as well as a number of elements that help us optimize our lead nurturing efforts: ●●

●●

The sequence: Customer journey maps help us understand the sequence of touchpoints, i.e. which channels come first, which come later. This allows us to construct the lead nurture plan and to set out our strategy. For example, if we know that social media, website and webinars form part of the customer journey map then we would revise our email-only lead nurture plans to include social media and website. We can also define when and where different channels need to be used. The content: Good customer journey maps allow us to understand activities carried out at each touchpoint. The activity will help shape the optimum content to use; for example, if we know that at some point a customer is interested in understanding a more visual view of a complex B2B solution then we could consider video, infographics, images or even webinars.

301

302

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

●●

●●

The handover point: By understanding customer journey maps in detail, we can also define the optimum point of handover to sales. If we know that a customer is on average going to engage with five pieces of content before engaging a salesperson, then we know not to hand over to sales after just two pieces of content. Scoring: By understanding different channels and content being consumed we can better define our lead-scoring approaches; we can potentially simplify our scoring of leads to number of contents rather than having an overcomplicated scoring mechanism. We’ll be looking at lead scoring in more detail later in this chapter.

According to Forrester, buyers might be anywhere from 67 to 90 per cent of the way through their customer journey before they even come across your business (Margo, 2019).

What we’re doing with lead nurturing To effectively nurture leads it is probably worth taking a step back and thinking about what this means. So, if we remember the definition of lead nurturing, we need to be developing a relationship; this will be mostly indirect, as during the lead nurture process we are not interacting with prospects in person. In developing a relationship we are helping prospects by listening and responding to prospects; we are identifying where they are in the buyer journey and helping them progress to the next stage or stages. We can break down lead nurture into three areas where marketing can develop a relationship: ●●

●●

We facilitate the buying process. We facilitate the stages the customers take by allowing them to find content on a channel or across channels. We can make this process of moving between channels or areas of your website much easier by providing links to content. For example, including website links on email or social media, or providing links on the website to other key pages. ­ ptimizing number of touchpoints. We can optimize touchpoints by O adding steps in the customer journey to help the prospect; maybe through customer journey investigation we can add a step whereby a customer can view a YouTube video to better explain the proposition rather than try to explain the solution in text, or via a static image on the website. Of

FIGURE  23.1  Using customer journeys Early buyer journey Org website

Mid-buyer journey

Late buyer journey

Lead capture

Mobile

Sales handover

A: Sequence of touchpoints First mobile then social media, then email

Social media B: Types of content being used

Email

C: Number of touchpoints From lead capture to sales handover 5 pieces of content are consumed

Online adv YouTube Events/ webinars Types of content

Mobile video Social media blog Email Solution video

Email with product details/specs networking, product event, Q&A, webinar

303

304

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

FIGURE  23.2  How we nurture Facilitate nurture

Touchpoint 1

Optimize nurture

Improve experience

Less optimal content, e.g. ‘text-based’

Touchpoint 2 Remove touchpoints

Include possible links in touchpoint; e.g. add links to website, social media site in touchpoint 1

More optimal content, e.g. ‘video-based’ Add touchpoints

course, YouTube videos can be embedded and watched within website pages. We can also optimize steps by removing touchpoints that are redundant and don’t add value, and by providing options to ­prospects to cater for slightly different information and content needs. ●●

Improving experience of the touchpoints. We can improve touchpoint experience by understanding digital behaviours of prospects and using this to improve the content experience; again, this may be to add a visual view instead of a text view, or we can include a live chat option to help customers understand information on a web page. Of course, there are many, many other ways to improve the customer experience of a ­touchpoint.

Lead nurturing by communication channel So now we know that lead nurturing means facilitating the journey, helping through listening, and improving experience, we can think about what this means by channel. Let’s take a look at a few communication channels.

Email In terms of email, we can facilitate the journey by including links to the website on a social media page; we can listen by retargeting customers who opened emails with follow-up emails that help them in the next steps; and we can improve the experience by having easy-to-digest text as well as embedding diagrams and videos within the email.

LEAD NURTURING

Social media Regarding social media, we can facilitate the journey by providing links in our posts or tweets. We can listen through social media retargeting and improve experience by including interesting content on our company-owned social media pages.

Websites In terms of website, we can facilitate by including links between website pages, by including a navigation pane, and by including links to other owned media such as social media, a blog, or YouTube pages. In terms of improving the website experience we can remove text, add text, include different content, add videos, or look at different ways to structure the website to mirror requirements as per the customer journey. We can also include interactive chat or set up email triggers so that when prospects view areas of the website this triggers an email that is timely and relevant to the prospect at their stage in the journey.

Lead qualification and lead scoring What is lead scoring? Lead scoring is the process of rating leads, usually relating to the readiness of the prospective customer to engage with sales or to purchase something. Lead scoring is usually according to a pre-determined criterion whereby the criteria are assigned a point or number, the aggregate of which gives you a score.

Ways to lead score There is no one way to score; each company does this differently and it depends on what makes sense. One can score leads based on implicit criteria or explicit criteria. Implicit lead scoring is lead scoring based on observed behaviours and inferred information. Observed behaviours can be anything from attending a trade show or webinar, to downloading an asset, or visiting certain web pages.

305

306

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

The idea behind implicit lead scoring is that people who buy your product will exhibit certain behaviours indicating their intent to purchase. To set up an implicit lead scoring model, a company will typically review all actions that a person can take and assign positive and negative values to those actions. For example, a person downloading a white paper may be worth 10 points. If they request a demo, that may be worth 20 points. But, if they don’t interact with the website for a month, they may lose 15 points. Explicit scoring is based on account demographics, firmographics rather than based on behaviours; examples of explicit scoring might be their industry, role, or size of company. Aside from implicit or explicit scoring, one can score differently. For example, for implicit scoring one company may choose to look at assigning a wider scale of values of 1–10 based on different behaviours; opening an email may be a 2 whereas viewing a website page for more than one minute might equate to a score of 10.

Calculating the lead score In terms of calculating lead scores, think about what you’re trying to do. Essentially you’re trying to differentiate between hot and cold leads, and the different scales of lead temperature will depend on the business’s approach to lead follow-up. Some companies simply identify interest as a lead and then shortly afterwards look at explicit data before handing over to sales; other companies have very sophisticated approaches to lead scoring and have four or more types of lead temperatures where each temperature is allocated to a different follow-up activity. All companies as a minimum should divide lead types into 1) urgent to immediately follow up leads, and 2) less urgent leads that need following up through further marketing or sales. Figure 23.3 shows different views in lead scoring. The left side is to score leads according to cold, warm and hot, which is about capturing and logging leads according to the stage of the buying cycle where cold leads are very early and hot leads are late in the buying cycle, ready to be handed over to sales. In the right box are leads categorized by propensity to purchase and stage in buying cycle across the top. The hottest leads are A1, A2 and B1.

­F IGURE  23.3  Lead scoring Lead type

Cold

Stage in buying cycle

Early buying cycle Mid-buying cycle (EBC) (MBC)

Late buying cycle (LBC)

Ranking

0–2

3–6

7–12

Lead level

N/a

Marketing-ready lead

Sales-ready lead

Nurture further

Hand over to sales

Action

Target with content

Warm

Close to conversion (conversion to opportunity, conversion to sale)

Hot

1 High propensity to purchase

2

3

4

A B C D

307

308

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Lead handover The sales handover stage within the lead generation process is an important step to manage. On average, less than a quarter of the leads on a company’s website are ready for sales representatives to follow up; that’s why lead scoring approaches are great things to use, followed by lead nurturing. This allows relationships to be built with qualified prospects who may not be ready to speak with sales. The lead scoring system allows the marketing department to understand what the right leads are to hand over. Handover can occur in different ways, according to the type of salesperson and the extent of the lead nurture, e.g. early or late in the buying cycle: ●●

●●

Handover to type of salesperson: the type of salesperson can impact how leads are received; this is not referring to their competence or ability but to aligning the right lead customer target with the right salesperson. Additionally, where the lead requires sales specialism and is handed to a generalist, this can quickly mean it is killed early on. It’s therefore important to categorize leads by richer details and according to different sales types. Timing of handover: it’s important not to pass on leads too early. Where marketing might tend to hand over leads more based on volume rather than quality, this can potentially lead to poor-quality leads being passed to sales, which can backfire on the business in terms of wasted effort, budget and time for both sales and marketing.

Lead nurturing strategies There are four strategies to nurture leads: ●●

●●

●●

●●

multi-touch responsive drip multi-stakeholder

­Multi-touch, multi-channel focus Multi-touch lead nurturing is about running a similar or the same theme across different channels. A multi-touch approach allows you to engage prospective customers seamlessly across the buyer journey and across online channels. This way your brand is in front of them as often as possible despite

LEAD NURTURING

the channel they are on. Essentially all lead nurturing approaches should be multi-channel, though it is about the scale of the channels and touchpoints covered. For example, for some companies a pure email approach to lead nurturing is sufficient, whereas other companies view multi-channel lead nurturing as thinking across all possible channels a customer is using. There are ways to enable multiple channels through marketing automation, integrating marketing automation with CRM systems including social media, and dynamic content strategies.

Responsive Responsive lead nurturing focuses on improving response to prospects in terms of content they’re engaging or even queries they may have over chat or email. A responsive lead nurturing strategy might include a number of activities such as using email triggers built into marketing automation, or using retargeting in emails to respond to email digital behaviours. This can also include live chat on particular web pages, or clickable phone numbers to enable prospects to engage or respond more easily. Responsive can also mean responding according to the persona, so a dynamic website, dynamic emails and dynamic CTAs in blogs are all part of a responsive lead nurturing strategy. Responsive could also include having intelligent forms so that prospects don’t have to repeatedly fill out forms to access content if they’ve filled one out before.

Drip nurturing Drip nurturing is a form of nurturing by sending communication in drips, usually via email. There are different ways to implement drips, including top-of-mind and re-engagement drips. Top-of-mind drips are designed so that your brand stays in the forefront of prospects’ minds over a longer period of time. Re-engagement drips are drips of emails geared to encourage inactive customers to consider purchasing again.

Multi-stakeholder Multiple stakeholders are about designing a lead nurturing campaign around more than one persona; this may be the top two, three or more buyer personas identified according to prospective accounts or existing

309

310

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

accounts. The idea of targeting more than one stakeholder is to increase the likelihood of securing interest in the business as the different stakeholders in an account form part of the decision-making unit. As mentioned before, one effective way to carry out a multiple-stakeholder nurturing strategy is to make use of account-based marketing software – see Chapter 21 for more details.

AI and lead nurturing Artificial intelligence is beginning to play a bigger role in lead nurturing. For example, AI-based chatbots can help assist prospects with queries and more naturally guide them in their buying process. In other areas, artificial intelligence can help through AI-based email and SMS acting as AI assistants, applications like Conversica acting as a pre-salesperson in engaging prospects via email and SMS, and understanding when and how to re-engage prospects based on responses and words used. AI-based social media can automate social media posts and responses, and can boost site traffic by up to five times in the form of applications like Lately.

Lead nurturing via sales Up to now we’ve covered approaches as to how marketing nurtures leads, although nurturing can also occur after handover to sales; despite the lead handover to sales, marketing still has a role to play to support sales in nurturing. Some of the ways marketing can help in nurturing via sales are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Where sales have repeated questions related to the product, marketing can support by providing an FAQ or blog post piece of content. White papers, interesting research, case studies and product news can provide sales with reasons to engage prospects and keep the lead warm. ­ here prospects are still wavering in terms of whether to buy or not, W a webinar or event (or virtual event) can be a great opportunity to bring prospects and specialists together and allow prospects to ask any ­remaining questions they may have. An informative webinar on a useful topic can help to re-awaken ­inactive leads.

LEAD NURTURING

Sales follow-up Sales follow-up is the stage straight after leads have been handed over to sales. Of course, part of the follow-up is about correctly scoring leads as well as correctly assigning them to salespeople, which we covered earlier. Effective sales follow-up, although very much the responsibility of sales, is something marketing need to think about. Below are some areas and considerations relating to the sales follow-up phase.

Content for the post-sales handover stage Content for the buyer journey doesn’t finish once the lead has been handed over to sales. To ensure the highest possible conversion of leads to sales, marketing should use the customer journey to create a set of content aligned to the late buyer journey. Typically, content in the late buyer journey is a bit more detailed in terms of product or solution information so these could be product-based case studies, product videos, or product FAQs. Additionally, content might be related to evaluation of the product or solution and how it adds value, so content might be in the form of an ROI document, an ROI calculator, or a case study demonstrating the value of the product or solution. Content should not only be prepared in terms of a schedule or portfolio but should be made available easily to salespeople.

Reporting on lead progress Another key area is reporting, which should be thought of in terms of areas. Reporting from marketing on leads can be looking at how leads are being followed up, flagging any potential areas of concerns; reporting from sales should be broken up into specific leads according to sales teams so sales managers or leaders themselves can take necessary action to resolve any lead follow-up performance issues.

Technologies Another area to consider is technologies. Technologies such as CRM are probably the most obvious in terms of tracking lead follow-up progress, although other technologies to consider might be sales enablement technologies for ensuring sales have access to the latest content to support the later buyer journey stage. Finally, technologies relating to email usage and email templates can go a long way to help sales in writing different types of emails.

311

312

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Schedule a follow-up Create a schedule for follow-up. This is where schedules are proposed according to prospect needs, not just in terms of timing but also method, whether phone, face-to-face video calls, email, social media or messaging.

Accountability for follow-up aspects In following up on a lead it is important that the ownership of and accountability for the follow-up activity are clearly communicated and understood. Some B2B marketing departments are still carrying out the role of chasing sales to follow up on leads, which creates conflict and inefficiencies. Sometimes a clean slate approach to an agreement or service level agreement can be a good way to ensure roles are delineated.

References and further reading Andjelic, J (2020) 34 lead nurturing statistics to boost your sales, https://www. smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/lead-nurturing-statistics/#gref (archived at https://perma.cc/8YYM-23NA) Brooks, A (2020) 20 lead nurturing statistics & charts for 2021, https://www. ventureharbour.com/20-insightful-lead-nurturing-statistics-charts/ (archived at https://perma.cc/N5GL-E6JJ) Chauhan, R (2019) 10 eye-opening statistics on lead nurturing in 2019, https:// www.business2community.com/inbound-marketing/10-eye-opening-statisticson-lead-nurturing-in-2019-02203965 (archived at https://perma.cc/ TXT8-AF73) Deyan, G (2021) 27 lead nurturing statistics to pump up your sales in 2021, https://techjury.net/blog/lead-nurturing-statistics/#gref (archived at https:// perma.cc/W9Q2-VLNY) Indydesk (2019) How to follow up with your B2B leads, https://medium.com/ indydesk/how-to-follow-up-with-your-b2b-leads-97562c7863bb (archived at https://perma.cc/5L76-XCHF) Margo, L (2019) The 3 must-have customer journeys for lead generation, https:// www.autopilothq.com/blog/lead-generation-must-have-customer-journeys/ (archived at https://perma.cc/Q48E-RU5Y)

313

24 Modern B2B events marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

B2B event types and segmentation

●●

event objectives and event selection

●●

event marketing and business buying stages

●●

key success factors for B2B events marketing

●●

event marketing and performance optimization

●●

social media and events

B2B events marketing A marketing event in B2B is an activity revolving around a themed display or presentation, leveraging people engagement, either virtually (via webinars) or physically. Events can occur on- or offline and can be participated in, hosted, or sponsored.

What are the benefits of using events? Events can take a lot of time to organize, and are often more costly than other marketing vehicles; they typically involve a lot of effort in collaborating with agencies, third parties and other functions in a business. However, they are extremely effective in marketing and ultimately selling a company’s products and services. Where a business’s portfolio is broad or complex and requires more than a few minutes to pitch, events can be an effective means of explaining more complex solutions. When done well, events are also great incentives for potential customers, whether it’s down to

314

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

FIGURE 24.1  Events and the buyer journey Event invitation tied to previous content download Webinar follow-up

Webinars

Need recognition Themed events Trade shows

Need quantification

Vendor evaluation

Vendor selection

3rd-party event participation Sponsorship of events

Post purchase Webinars Companyhosted events Hospitality events

the opportunity to network and meet peers or to discover new information. Events also help businesses stand out from the competition. With more and more information accessible online for business customers during all phases of the buying cycle, events hold the opportunity and advantage of being a different communication channel that offers a more powerful engagement approach than online forums. Events also allow business vendors to engage customers via third-party conferences, collaborative events through sponsorship opportunities as well as market stall-type events where vendors can pitch their portfolio to a large throughput of people. Webinars allow vendors to engage customers digitally, again through third parties if early in the buying cycle or directly later in the cycle where customers require more information in the evaluation phase. Companies that run their own events have the advantage of greater control and influence over the event’s scope, agenda and communication. Participating in a third-party event means a company can engage with customers at a lower cost. According to a study by the Event Marketing Institute (2016), 98 per cent of the respondents said that, assuming the product or service promoted was one they were interested in, participating in the event or experience made them more inclined to purchase.

B2B events trends The obvious and main trend since Covid-19 impacted in early 2020 has been the shift to more virtual events, with 86 per cent of companies of all sizes currently hosting online events (Certain, 2020). Aside from this mega shift, a majority of companies (81 per cent) are using webinars to support events. Trends in the webinar space include the use of automated webinars,

MODERN B2B EVENTS MARKETING

which are recorded webinars that typically have a more engaging look and feel, and are moderated. Automated webinars can be created using automated webinar technologies such as EverWebinar and EasyWebinar. Other trends include live streaming of events and hybrid events, which are a mix of in-person and virtual event features. Digital gift bags are another trend in the past years; these are digital gifts such as eBooks, product coupon codes and exclusive speaker webinars.

Events marketing goals There are multiple different goals behind events. For example, a goal can be to introduce a company to new potential customers. Here an event is normally set up by a third party. They can also serve to introduce existing customers to new portfolios, where a company advertises to the customer directly or through a third party, giving the customer the opportunity to see new products and solutions first-hand, or for organizations to be able to present and pitch new solutions more effectively. A goal could be to deepen engagement with existing customers. Events are a great way to demonstrate an extended portfolio and discuss ways to improve business with customers. The events will vary depending on the existing customer relationships, nature of business, or number of customers. Events can be used as opportunities to surface and resolve any final questions or queries customers have before their purchase, and may be a way to sway customers away from alternative vendors and convert customers while they are in the consideration phase. Physical events can help vendors reach customers in a geography or, if large enough in scale, can span multiple regions. Vertical trade shows or conferences may be more appropriate to engage potential customers from a vertical sector. BETT for education in the UK is an effective way to engage all involved in the education sector once a year.

B2B events type and segmentation B2B events can be categorized under in-person events, and online and virtual events.

315

316

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

In-person events The main types of in-person events are as follows: ●●

●●

●●

Physical trade shows or trade fairs are exhibitions organized around a specific industry and allow companies from that sector to showcase their latest products and services. They tend to be large-scale in nature and include an ecosystem of businesses involved in the sector, such as suppliers, customers, partners and channel partners. Networking dinners and lunches are events designed to bring a small number of people together, and are typically there to allow vendors to engage more intensively with potential customers. They can also serve the purpose of retaining customers and helping businesses build or reinforce relationships. In-person first-party events can span different themes and focus on areas such as product solutions, product launches, and smaller events such as roundtables, seminars, customer workshops and expert roundups.

Online and virtual events The main types of virtual and online events are as follows: ●●

●●

Webinars: A webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the web using video conferencing software. A key feature of a webinar is its interactive elements: the ability to give, receive and discuss information in real time. Virtual events: These are events run virtually and usually supported by virtual events technologies. Since Covid-19 they have also been developed into a variety of formats including large-scale events and smaller events mirroring what were previously run as in-person events.

In-person events Challenges of in-person events Events marketing performance can be affected by multiple aspects. An event agency may not capture all leads and contacts due to insufficient event staff in place, or missed opportunities at point of entry where customers joined. Where the event agency doesn’t hand over contacts or leads in a timely fashion, such as late handover of leads, this can result in opportunities going cold before the vendor has a chance to follow up.

MODERN B2B EVENTS MARKETING

A company can quickly change priorities, for example due to a move to a new quarter or fiscal year. As marketing change their priorities or focus, previously captured leads may go neglected. Where sales aren’t correctly notified about the event lead this can mean the event lead goes cold. If an event lead is not assigned correctly this can mean an incorrect salesperson or type is assigned and the quality of follow-up is impacted. Finally, the customer opportunity may not be correctly captured, resulting in a poor sales follow-up.

Key success factors Below are some of the main factors which contribute to the success of in-person events marketing: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Data capture: Ensure that information can be captured and is captured about customers before, during and after the event. Plan: Allow time to set up and implement. With short lead times, companies can falter by finding venues are booked out and then being forced to select suboptimal venues. Allow for potential attending customers’ timelines and schedules: Plan in advance to allow for potential attendees; typically, some may have their schedules booked out months in advance, so notifying customers a few weeks prior to the event won’t work. Know the events market: Avoid setting up events on dates where competing industry or trade events are already occurring. Set realistic attendee targets: A portion of customers typically drop off between the registration stage and the attendance of the event; industry standard drop-off rates are around 50 per cent, i.e. only 50 per cent of those registered attend the event. Venue selection: The venue needs to align to type of event, audience and audience location, as well as other factors. Selecting the right venue can heavily impact the success of the event and therefore event goals. Follow-up: Provide customer contact information and leads from events within a few days following the event.

Data capture Capturing data prior to the event relates to capturing data about customers who are more likely to attend; where the event is intended to be split by

317

318

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

region, the data can be used to understand customer location and invite according to a maximum distance surrounding the event. Data can be captured during the event by collecting attendees’ contact details as well as forms for them to fill out to understand audience view of presentations. Today this is captured through online event-based forums where the audience share comments and inputs about the event. After the event, data can be captured around the audience rating the event overall, rating speakers, event content, and generally capturing feedback as to what can be changed or adapted should the event be repeated.

Lead capture Twenty years ago, event lead capture was conducted manually with sheets of paper, notes and/or collecting of business cards; nowadays leads capture has matured to include badge scanning during and after the event at exits and entrances. Today event lead capture has also gone a bit further with even less invasive activities using barcode scanner and near field communication (NFC) technologies. The main ways companies can capture event leads are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Badge with barcode and barcode scanning: Event personnel use barcode scanners to scan in badges, usually at the entrance to the event. Use of PCs or tablets at entrances to the event: Tablets are used to log in audience details, usually at event entrances or reception. Business card collection and scanning electronically: Business cards are collected manually and then scanned in or manually inputted into a ­database. Surveys: These can help host companies get feedback and at the same time understand attendance, providing a hard copy to attendees.

There are three considerations when selecting the best way to capture leads: ●●

●●

●●

Number of customers: Where there are few customers it might be better to collect business cards and manually input rather than invest in the time to use technology. Speed and ease of registration for visitors: Visitors may find data capture a lengthy process and be put off attending future similar events. Data protection: Are the form and process of lead capture influenced by any data protection legislation?

MODERN B2B EVENTS MARKETING

In-person events technologies New events technologies and digital applications can help modern B2B marketers maximize and optimize events. With the help of NFC, organizers can make their events much more interactive. There are countless creative possibilities to do so. Terminals with NFC readers could encourage attendees to take a picture and automatically share it on social networks, for example. NFC devices are perfect voting and rating tools and could be used to determine the tastiest bottle at a wine tasting or the most desired product at a trade fair. Registration platforms can help you quickly set up a webpage and then invite people; set-up can be done in minutes, and the platform can help with reminder emails. Some platforms are even free.

EXAMPLE The SPE offshore event Europe – oil and gas industry SPE Offshore Europe is recognized as one of Europe’s leading exploration and production events covering the oil and gas industry, and takes place once a year in Aberdeen. In 2019 the event received over 38,000 customers, over 900 exhibitors and around 119 countries were represented (Thomas, 2019). The event is the main go-to place for business professionals to learn the latest about oil - and gas-related trends, products and services. From previous years’ events (such as the one in 2015), over a third of exhibitors said they received orders of from £50,000 to over £10 million, generated over 100,000 leads, and additionally 24,000 online leads.

PRACTICAL TIP How to maximize attendance/reduce ‘no-shows’ Organizations can maximize event attendance by sending invitations well in advance, allowing customers to plan better around the event. After or before sending the invitation, organizations or agencies can call the customer directly to explain more about the event; this is easier where the intended audience is an existing customer or where the organization has some form of relationship with the customer. Reminder emails help prompt the customer, though organizations need to be careful not to send too many or too frequently.

319

320

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

There are two different views about charging an event fee. On the one hand it helps lock in the audience and therefore once confirmed to attend they are less likely to not show up; on the other hand it can put off attendees as they feel the event shouldn’t be charged for. Some vendors include customers within the event, whether providing a stand or booth or as part of the presentation. Finally, events can be promoted in different ways to increase exposure or targeting; some of the ways are through telemarketing agencies, PR and company own websites, and social media sites.

Virtual and online events Considering the recent shift to virtual and online events, here are some recent statistics: ●●

●●

●●

●●

In 2019, 39 per cent of event professionals agreed that ‘engaging ­attendees’ is the most crucial element of a live event (EventMB, 2019). 57 per cent of attendees believe that they can conduct the majority of their event objectives online (EventMB, 2019). The majority (63 per cent) of organizations are moving to digital conferences or events (Bizzabo, 2020). More than half (54 per cent) of virtual event registrants convert to virtual attendees (Bizzabo, 2020).

Challenges with virtual and online events Some of the key challenges with moving to virtual and online events include the following areas: ●●

Lack of technical knowledge and skills: On average, one out of every five event planners avoid organizing virtual events simply because they do not have the infrastructure and the technical knowhow required for the job (Eventify, 2020).

MODERN B2B EVENTS MARKETING

●●

●●

●●

Engagement opportunities: Obviously in-person events allow for ­multiple opportunities for businesses and customers to meet up, but doing an event virtually comes with the challenge of facilitating engagement. There are of course features like polls, surveys and Q&As, which help compensate this challenge, and virtual event platforms do offer different possibilities to engage delegates through direct messaging, virtual booths, virtual meetups, webinar platforms, polling, and Q&A functionality. No-shows: With virtual events, no-shows are around 35 per cent; this is slightly higher than in-person events (Markletic, 2021). Getting people to talk: Specifically for virtual events (rather than webinars) getting events delegates to talk is another challenge. In this case it is worth being more explicit in terms of highlighting noteworthy topics to discuss, posting questions both via the speaker or moderator as well as in chat windows, and asking delegates in advance to come up with questions to kick-start discussions.

Key success factors for virtual events and webinars To address these virtual events challenges, below are some of the main key success factors in running an event: ●●

●●

●●

●●

Have moderators as well as speakers: Having a moderator per speaker session helps in inviting delegates to engage and interact as well as filling in those quiet periods in between speakers and presentations. Moderators themselves can be prepped to ask questions to speakers where questions from delegates are not forthcoming. Use technologies for webinars and virtual events: Where the virtual event is not just a webinar but something running much longer and to a larger group of attendees, virtual technologies are useful; for webinars there are also dedicated webinar technologies. Test the technology beforehand: Test technology ahead of the event to not only know how to use it but to leverage it to get the most out of it. Guide audiences from the start: Don’t assume audiences know how to use the different functions of the virtual events technology. Guiding

321

322

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

a­ udiences on how to use chat, the different areas of the virtual event, how to ask questions, and how to participate in polls helps to maximize ­engagement of customers as well as the overall customer experience. ●●

●●

Camera usage: Speakers and moderators of course will need to use their cameras but when it is a virtual event encourage participants to use them as well. Engaging participant profiles and descriptions: Ask participants to include descriptions of themselves as well as photos of themselves next to their names; this just helps people put the ‘face to a name’ virtually.

Data capture at virtual and online events OK so we’ve mentioned some of the things where virtual events don’t match up to in-person events, though one major advantage of virtual events and webinars is that you can get a wealth of data from analytics. If you’re using a virtual events platform you can measure each of the aspects of the virtual event such as speakers, networking, sponsors, chat, etc. The main aspects you can measure are: ●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

Dwell time: This metric tells you how long an individual spent in a session. Average content and presenter ratings: These tell you how attendees rate the speaker and the content. Attendance per session: This metric tells you how many attended each session. Chat message: This measures average chat messages per attendee. Demographic/firmographic data: This provides an overview of level, role and industry of attendees across the event.

Lead generation Another advantage of virtual events technology is that you don’t need to take specific actions to scan badges to take names of those visiting events, speaker sessions or virtual booths as this information can be captured based on the before-mentioned data and analytics. In terms of lead generation or

MODERN B2B EVENTS MARKETING

lead capture this provides opportunities to see where attendees expressed an interest in a theme, products or solutions. Some of the different ways to generate leads are during the event to prompt whether there is interest in a topic, and also to ask during the event if participants are interested in ­hearing more about something. If the opportunity was not exploited enough during the virtual event, there is also the possibility to use follow-up communication and surveys to prompt participants and ask them whether there is interest to hear more about something.

Event marketing before, during and after the event – the BDA framework

PRACTICAL TIP Customer engagement: the before and after of the event The mistake some companies make is to view an event as a single activity and opportunity to engage customers, missing out on potential opportunities to connect with customers before and after the event (see Figure 24.2). Before the event, organizations can use the event theme to inform, educate and interact with customers, through surveys, Q&As, or sharing pieces of content or research. This can be done by leveraging the company website, social media platforms, or even advertising. During the event one can make use of different engagement activities; use technologies such as social media and mobile apps to nudge and prompt participants. After the event, organizations can connect and follow up with customers by sharing related pieces of research or content, or by helping them in their evaluation of current challenges. During the follow-up phase after the event, companies can use this interaction to acquire, retain or grow business with the customer or prospects.

323

324

FIGURE 24.2  Events – before, during and after (BDA) Follow-up evaluation Marketing follow-up with further insights and intelligence Sales follow-up on customer queries

Directing customers Putting customer in contact with correct sales account manager

Before-event activities

Informing and educating Sharing of research Sharing of pieces of information related to upcoming event

During the event

Understanding the customer Short surveys to update on customer intelligence Q&A leading up to the event

After-event activities

Informing and educating Follow-up

Sales qualification Qualify customer needs further in phone or face-to-face meeting Marketing support with key materials

MODERN B2B EVENTS MARKETING

EXAMPLE How social media can be used to support events Social has become a powerful tool for B2B marketing in the past decade; also, for events marketing purposes social can be used to maximize the event before, during and after. Before the event, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or even Instagram can be used to promote events and to increase exposure through likes and shares regarding the event and related topics. LinkedIn and Facebook can also be used to highlight an event. During the event the most commonly used social platform is Twitter, usually through creating a Twitter handle or address linked to the event; this allows information and comments to be provided and shared in real time. It’s important to build Twitter lists and for vendors to promote sharing by providing regular updates throughout the event to encourage usage and participation. After the event, Instagram can be used to show images from the event, e.g. in Carousel form. Twitter and a blog can also be used to highlight key images, themes and takeaways from the event. Results from the event can be shared as well. And finally, a digital catalogue of key event moments can be shared using technologies such as Turtl or Issuu, which can then be shared with event delegates using different social media channels.

TABLE 24.1  Social media and events

Before

During

After

Twitter

Great for spreading news, can be good to promote to Twitter groups for specific members or in groups

Most interesting as Great to talk generally Twitter is more for about event real-time occurrences at event, photos, etc

Facebook

Nice way to promote through graphics

LinkedIn

Great for advertising and promoting via InMail – most targeted way

Share stories about event Not easy to use in real time

Reports and overviews can be shared on forums, company LinkedIn pages etc

325

326

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

ACTIVITIES Review your current marketing activities in engaging customers face to face (physical events) or voice to voice (webinars). How are you using events to support customers during the buying journey and where are there gaps? Look at the key success factor lists in this chapter and look at where you could potentially optimize your events.

References Bizzabo (2020) 2021 marketing statistics, trends, and data for the events industry, https://www.bizzabo.com/blog/event-marketing-statistics (archived at https:// perma.cc/E5P2-CMNY) Certain (2020) The 2020 state of event marketing, https://www.certain.com/ wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020-State-of-Event-Marketing-Report.pdf (archived at https://perma.cc/N57U-QJJR) Event Marketing Institute (2016) Event track 2016 content edition – experiential marketing content benchmarking report, http://www.eventmarketer.com/ wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016EventTrackExecSummary.pdf (archived at https://perma.cc/W8UW-ZK6Y) Eventify (2020) Planning a virtual event: top 12 challenges to handle, https:// eventify.io/planning-a-virtual-event-top-12-challenges-to-handle/ (archived at https://perma.cc/G9ZU-ZMYA) EventMB (2019) 100 event statistics (2021 edition) https://www.eventmanager​blog. com/event-statistics (archived at https://perma.cc/MTH5-2PFE) Markletic (2021) 60 incredible virtual event statistics! (2021 Research), https:// www.markletic.com/blog/virtual-event-statistics (archived at https://perma. cc/7LR7-63JB) Thomas, A (2019) Visitor numbers increase by 3,000 for Offshore Europe 2019, https://www.energyvoice.com/events/offshore-europe/207197/visitor-numbersincrease-by-3000-for-offshore-europe-2019/ (archived at https://perma.cc/ 3CQN-MS2C)

327

25 Measuring and evaluating B2B marketing

This chapter will give you an understanding of: ●●

how to measure across CLC

●●

outcome and process measures

●●

how to manage marketing data

●●

how to evaluate effectiveness

●●

how to optimize budgets

Measuring across the customer lifecycle The customer lifecycle (CLC) is an outline of the different stages a customer goes through, from early awareness of an organization and/or its product and services through to advocacy. The main stages of the CLC are: ●●

●●

●●

Reach: During this stage a customer is targeted and reached through an organization’s marketing; this stage aligns to the early and mid-buyer journey phases. Acquisition: During this phase a customer will purchase a product or service or subscribe to a service; this phase aligns to the late buyer journey. Retention: During this phase a customer is onboarded and has made a purchase but is now deploying and making use of a product and/or service. He may also be buying a product or service repeatedly, for ­example monthly or annual subscriptions.

328

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

●●

Loyalty and advocacy: During this phase a customer becomes a loyal customer; not all customers become loyal to an organization. With loyalty one can measure and monitor this by reviewing increased frequency of purchase, increased amount of purchase, or purchasing of additional products and services.

We are now going to break up these different phases to understand how we could measure our B2B marketing by stage.

Measuring reach and awareness Share of voice Share of voice is a metric to describe the strength of your company or product brand, and it helps gauge how visible the brand is. Traditionally share of voice was used to measure a company’s share of advertising compared to its competitors, but it has been extended to include many forms of measurable brand awareness; essentially it measures a brand’s popularity. It is a great measure to understand the company’s positioning in the market. There are different ways to measure share of voice; in B2B, common ways are with SEO and social media. In terms of SEO this is about estimating traffic relating to as much of the brand keyword set as possible; the calculation is as follows: Brand traffic / total market traffic = SEO (keyword-based) share of voice

Social media share of voice can be measured using social media technologies such as Brandwatch, Talkwalker and Sprout Social. Social media share of voice typically will take into consideration brand mentions; this is ­calculated as follows: Number of brand mentions / total number of brand mentions (including competitor brands)  100 = social media share of voice

Direct traffic One can use Google Analytics and review ‘direct traffic’. Direct traffic is typically someone who has typed in the website address, a brand name or product name. Direct traffic normally conveys some prior awareness of the brand and is a good area to monitor before and after awareness-based marketing activities are implemented.

MEASURING AND EVALUATING B2B MARKETING

Brand awareness surveys Another way to measure awareness might be to carry out a survey and ask existing customers or random groups of customers whether they have heard of a brand or a product brand. In using surveys to review brand campaigns the typical way is to carry out a survey before and after the campaign to understand the impact of the brand campaign or activity. Of course, it is important to maintain consistency in the questions to ensure results can be compared.

Other methods There are many other ways to measure awareness. Some common methods include number of impressions related to an awareness campaign; reach and number of prospects or target customers reached; sentiment, which is typically captured as social media sentiment through social media listening technologies; and engagement, which refers to engagement of posts, content or advertisements.

Measuring acquisition The main methods for measuring customer acquisition include customer acquisition cost (CAC), new revenue or sales, new pipeline, number of salesready leads, and conversion (see Figure 25.1). Let’s explore these further.

CAC The customer acquisition cost is calculated by dividing the costs incurred in acquiring the customer (acquisition marketing campaign costs) by the number of customers acquired. For example, if in a given period a company spent $2,000 on a campaign to acquire customers and they acquired 200 customers in that same period, the CAC would be $10, i.e. $2,000/200. It is important to capture all marketing costs related to the acquisition of a customer; this typically doesn’t include headcount costs but does include content creation, delivery, and the cost of using marketing communication channels.

329

330

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

FIGURE 25.1  Measuring acquisition

CAC

Marketing spend on acquiring customers

=

# of customers acquired

New customers

=

# of customers acquired in a given period

# Sales leads in pipeline × Average deal size × Overall win rate %

Pipeline velocity

=

Opportunity conversions

=

Current length of sales cycle in days (as a % of a 12-month period)

Number of opportunities

× 100% # of sales-ready leads

Number of sales-ready leads Sales-ready × lead = conversion # of marketing-ready leads

100%

New customers/net new customers New customers are simply calculated as how many additional customers were added during the period compared to the start of the period. Net customers goes one step further by deducting any customers lost within the period.

Conversion Another method or metric is conversion, though in B2B marketing there are many stages of conversion, so it is best to specify; for example, there is lead conversion rate, opportunity conversion and revenue conversion. Lead conversion rate can relate to how many marketing-ready leads converted to sales-ready leads, opportunity conversion rate refers to how many sales-ready leads converted to opportunity, and revenue conversion is how many sales-ready leads or how much of the pipeline converted to revenue. Revenue conversion is sometimes referred to as close rate.

Pipeline contribution Pipeline contribution from the perspective of marketing refers to how many of the opportunities generated through marketing programmes or activities converted into sales opportunities. This may seem straightforward at first but sometimes the challenge is to identify those activities that were originally sourced by marketing as opposed to those sourced by sales. Confusion

MEASURING AND EVALUATING B2B MARKETING

can happen where sales and marketing engage the same prospect customer or the same organization; this is where marketing sometimes use the term ‘influenced’ marketing pipeline. One way to resolve this confusion is to define completely new organization accounts (greenfield accounts) which marketing target as part of their marketing programme and measure and track those through to pipeline. Where sales and marketing agree to work on the same organization, e.g. in an account-based marketing initiative, it is good to differentiate this pipeline as marketing influenced and agree on a typical contribution percentage that reflects both marketing and sales efforts. There are many different opinions regarding what a marketing contribution to the sales pipeline should be; a good contribution is considered as between 15 and 20 per cent.

Pipeline velocity Pipeline velocity is all about speed and how quickly leads move through the sales pipeline. To calculate pipeline velocity, one needs to have four pieces of information: the sales-qualified leads in the pipeline, the average size of the deal, the win rate, and the length of the sales cycle (see calculation in Figure  25.2). Most organizations have these numbers readily available already in their CRM system. In terms of sales cycle this is defined as the first touch with a prospect through to a deal being won. In terms of first touch in the sales cycle, the definition can vary by organization as either a first touch from sales or the first touch by marketing, e.g. where a lead was first captured.

Measuring retention The main methods for measuring customer retention are customer churn rate, purchase ratio and time between purchases (see Figure 25.2).

Revenue and customer churn Revenue churn is calculated by measuring the rate at which a company loses revenue based on customer attrition. Customer churn is calculated in a similar way to revenue churn, but instead of revenue one looks at customers, i.e. measuring number of customers lost.

331

332

FIGURE 25.2  Measuring retention and loyalty Revenue lost in a given period

Revenue churn rate =

Customer churn rate

Total revenue at the beginning of period

× 100%

Customers beginning of month minus customers end of month = × 100% Customers beginning of month

Retention rate =

Number of customers end of period minus new customers during period

× 100

Number of customers when the measured period began

Repeat = purchase rate

Net Promoter Score

Number of customers purchasing more than once in a given period Number of customers

=

% promoters minus % detractors

× 100%

× 100

Customer = Average customer lifetime × average lifetime value monthly spend × % gross margin

MEASURING AND EVALUATING B2B MARKETING

Customer renewal rate Customer renewal rate calculates the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions at the end of each subscription period; of course, this metric is very specific to certain businesses, such as companies providing software on a subscription basis.

Recency Recency looks at how recently a customer made purchases. Recency of course is relative to different industries and types of products. Those buying IT infrastructure products such as servers and storage will have a lower recency figure than those buying computer accessories such as mouses.

Time between purchases This metric tells how often a typical customer waits before making a repeat purchase. This metric is useful as it can help us consider appropriate timings of retention marketing campaigns as well as to be more specific in the customers we target. The time between purchases will vary for different industries; for some it might be more regular, such as every month or two, while for other industries it may be every two to three years.

Measuring loyalty and advocacy As customers move towards the final stage of the CLC, some will be reflecting greater loyalty and advocacy than others. To understand customer loyalty and advocacy we can use the following methods (see Figure 25.2).

Repeat purchase rate This measure looks at the likelihood of a customer making another purchase. The rate looks at repeat purchasers compared to one-time purchasers. Where they are less likely to purchase this could mean they are probably going to churn. To calculate repeat purchase probability, take the number of customers that have purchased and multiply by the number of times in a period of 365 days, and divide that by the total number of customers in that same period.

333

334

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

NPS Another way to track loyalty is to look at the Net Promoter Score. This is a method by which customers provide feedback on a range; depending on how they answer they are either detractors or promoters. Detractors are not happy with the organization or its products and services; promoters are happy.

Loyalty customer rate Loyalty customer rate is measured by calculating the number of customers who purchase more than two or three times in a year and dividing it by the number of unique customers in the same year.

Customer lifetime value (CLV) Customer lifetime value measures the projected revenue a customer provides throughout their relationship with your business. Commonly companies do this on the basis of three years or five years. The importance of this metric is to look at revenue and margin contribution compared to the cost to acquire and cost to serve. CLV is calculated by taking the average order total and multiplying it by the average number of purchases in a year multiplied by average retention time in years.

Outcome and process measures One way to approach measurement is to think of it in terms of process and outcome metrics, where process metrics are metrics that describe how activities are progressing and outcome metrics are those measures that highlight the results of the measured activities. In order to effectively measure something by process and outcome, please use the following steps.

Step 1: Scope it Before looking at process and outcome we need to define the scope or area of what we’re measuring; for example, are we measuring reach, awareness,

MEASURING AND EVALUATING B2B MARKETING

consideration, retention or purchase? Acquisition or just the entire buyer journey? We scope the area of marketing we’re measuring by defining a start point and an end point. For example, if you were defining awareness or the early buyer journey the start point would be any initial awareness being tracked; the end point of the early buyer journey is probably where a lead has been captured as this indicates that a person or organization has expressed some interest in your organization or its product and services.

Step 2: Identify best outcome measure(s) The next step is to define the most suitable outcome measures; these should match as best as possible the objective of the marketing activity. For example, if ‘reach’ was the focus of the awareness campaign, then the outcome measure could be number of customers or percentage of customers reached; if the objective is general brand awareness, then the outcome measure could be awareness or shift in awareness.

Step 3: Identify how you’ll measure progress of the activity Process-based evaluation and metrics are about informing about ongoing elements of the marketing activities, usually including qualitative and ­quantitative data collection. Process-based measures for the early buyer journey or awareness might be impressions, traffic, or anything that helps us ­understand the progress or the awareness activity.

FIGURE 25.3  Outcome and process measures Process

Outcome

Early buyer journey

Process

Outcome

Mid-buyer journey

Process

Late buyer journey Process

The full buyer journey

Outcome

Outcome

335

336

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Marketing reporting and analytics Marketing reporting and analytics serves a marketing department by providing a consistent way to measure and track business as well as ­ providing different views of marketing performance. They facilitate ­ ­marketing in improving performance as well as the business in justifying decisions related to marketing investment decisions.

Applications for reporting and analytics In reporting and tracking performance, one key application available to marketers today is the marketing automation platform, which we covered earlier in the book, so we’ll be looking at some of the other options to track and analyse marketing. Regarding marketing automation, thankfully in the past five to six years the number of marketers in B2B using marketing automation has grown from about 20 per cent to over 55 per cent, though of course this means that almost half of B2B marketers are not using marketing automation (Steward, 2022).

Other ways to measure marketing UTM CODES

UTM codes – sometimes called URL parameters – are tags that are added to the end of a URL and used typically by Google Analytics to track web browsing by cookies. UTM codes can provide insights into where audiences have been, and whether they have visited your website. AD TRACKING

Ad tracking is, as it sounds, the tracking of adverts, and can be carried out by using Google Adwords, LinkedIn campaign building, Bing ads, etc. They can track conversions by covering areas such as newsletter sign-ups, ­downloads of apps, and other activities related to advertising. CRM TRACKING

CRM tracking assigns a code to an activity; the activity might be a campaign or something more specific such as a webinar, event, or download of something. CRM tracking is typically more for leads-based campaigns where at some point a lead is produced and tracked. CRM tracking of leads might happen at the point the lead is handed over to sales or once the campaign is started.

MEASURING AND EVALUATING B2B MARKETING

PHONE TRACKING

Another way to track campaigns is using phone tracking; this is where some businesses have a portion of leads as phone calls from digital channels such as websites. Phone tracking in B2B marketing should probably be included as part of the campaign tracking process complementing other tracking mechanisms. Using technologies such as CallRail and Mediahawk, one can assign a phone number per marketing campaign and display this number on owned media properties related to the campaign.

Evaluating B2B marketing effectiveness One can look at marketing effectiveness in terms of the return on spend, or in terms of contribution. Return on marketing spend-type metrics can be expressed as ROAS, whereas marketing contribution is usually expressed in terms of pipeline or revenue contribution.

Reviewing effectiveness and marketing return Here we’re trying to understand the return the company gets from investing in marketing; this is treating marketing as an investment area. ROAS

Officially ROAS is defined as the return on advertising spend but this metric is also used to define the return on marketing spend including those spend areas that are not technically advertising. In B2B the return in profit or revenue terms can be quite a far away in time from the timing of the adverts due to the length of the buyer journey. This is calculated as total campaign revenue divided by total campaign cost. ROMI

Return on marketing investment over the years has been defined very differently; we’ll define it as any form of return based on marketing invested. That return can be defined in revenue or margin terms. It can be used as a metric to understand the effectiveness of marketing or a marketing campaign. It is usually used as a total number to cover a collection of marketing activities.

337

338

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

Marketing contribution evaluation MARKETING CONTRIBUTION

The best practice for determining your marketing contribution is to capture the primary source of each marketing-sourced or marketing-influenced lead. Then track qualified leads in the CRM all the way through the funnel as they convert to pipeline opportunities and closed/won revenue. PIPELINE CONTRIBUTION

Pipeline contribution measures the number of opportunities generated by marketing that convert into sales opportunities. This metric helps identify which marketing campaigns contribute to pipeline and the relative contribution vs. non-marketing contribution activities. It is also a good metric to highlight the value-add of marketing. PIPELINE MOVEMENT

Pipeline movement measures the rate at which opportunities move through the pipeline and convert to wins. This metric helps assess the degree to which marketing programmes and investments accelerate the sales cycle. One can measure this using conversion of leads and opportunities over time.

Optimizing use of marketing budgets Many B2B marketers at some point experience the challenge of doing more marketing with the same or less budget; as a result marketers need to be able to justify every part of their budget while optimizing and improving ROI, as well as look for creative ways to further optimize their marketing activities.

Marketing budgeting trends A recent trend impacting marketing budgets is the increasing spend on digital marketing. As a result of changing customer behaviours and how they use and access information, allocation of spend to digital channels is increasing. Programmatic spend is on the increase, is growing more efficient and becoming more targeted in spend, and will help marketers target, retarget and engage customers. With increased competition, B2B marketers are

MEASURING AND EVALUATING B2B MARKETING

looked to, not only from a lead generation perspective but to position the brand and communicate its value proposition. Sales are demanding better and higher-quality leads from marketing, and marketing are asked to provide nurtured leads or more qualified leads. Finally, with the need to pre-empt buyers educating themselves and deciding on a different vendor, organizations are looking to marketing to invest more in social platforms, social communications and content to capture customers earlier in their buyer journey. There are different ways to establish marketing budgets. The main ones include looking at percentage of sales revenue; for smaller companies setting the marketing budget can come down to what is affordable. Other methods might be where marketing is seen as a strategic lever to support future growth and therefore the investment is tied to a growth objective. Whatever the approach, B2B marketers need to evaluate how to optimize their budgets and how to split up their marketing objectives to support organizational goals.

PRACTICAL TIP How to optimize marketing budgets There are many ways to optimize marketing budgets. One can reduce costs by reviewing the cost of agency fees if the company is using marcom, PR, or telemarketing agencies; cost of content can be looked at in terms of production or creation cost. Where ROI is low or contribution to marketing goals is not regarded as effective, marketers can remove such tactics or activity. Marketers should be cautious in defining which activities to remove and in assessing the true performance of the activities, e.g. in terms of relevant KPI and allowing for the right time period for the activity to take effect. Acquisition marketing and brand-building objectives typically take time to implement and demonstrate ROI. Reducing priorities and objectives is another way to optimize budgets. As marketers we may tend to try to do many things, supporting many objectives, and end up with multiple priorities. Reducing priorities and improving focus and aligned marketing resources can lead to improved ROI through greater control and monitoring of implementing fewer activities. Another possibility is to increase overall budget; country marketing can request re-allocation from central marketing functions, or a country marketing department can engage a local partner to provide additional funding.

339

340

OPTIMIZING MARKETING EXECUTION

The marketing mix can be changed to remove high-cost marketing tactics to shift to lower cost. For example, where a B2B marketing programme puts video content and engagement high in the mix but this eats up the budget disproportionately, a marketer may consider shifting to lower-cost marketing channels. Rather than create four or five pieces of content per buying stage in a journey, a marketing department may look to reduce to two or three pieces; other approaches are in atomization of content further and reusing content over a longer period.

TABLE 25.1  KPI alignment and goals

Type of marketing

Example KPIs descriptors

Hi touch sales model

1. 2. 3. 4.

1. a ) Sales participation b) sales engagement 2. a) account follow-up b) opportunity c) pipeline 3. a) event leads b) event opportunities 4. a) website traffic b) online downloads c) online queries d) digital leads from content syndication

Digital intensive

Digital 1. website 2. email 3. video 4. Other

1. W  ebsite traffic, engagement, time on site 2. Email CTR, CTO 3. Video download, engagement 4. Digital leads, sales-ready leads, opportunities

Top-of-funnel

Awareness Brand building

1. 2. 3. 4.

PR circulation Online traffic Content engagement Other brand KPIs (see Chapter 16)

Execution intensive

Marketing execution – bottomof-funnel

1. 2. 3. 4.

Sales-ready lead volume Opportunity volume and conversion Pipeline Revenue

Blended

Awareness Blended mix of the above selecting Consideration maximum one or two key KPIs from each Execution (purchase) of the areas of the marketing funnel

Enablement Outbound Offline digital

MEASURING AND EVALUATING B2B MARKETING

ACTIVITIES Review current marketing performance. What top three KPIs are being used to communicate with the business? Are all current KPIs relevant to communicate to the business? Which ones need to be removed and which ones need to be added? Is the current measurement system reflecting the work that marketing delivers for the business or are certain marketing efforts being ignored? Why?

References and further reading Oracle (2016) Thomson Reuters uses content to start conversations that boost conversions, Oracle Marketing Cloud, https://www.oracle.com/marketingcloud/ content/documents/casestudies/thomson-reuters-customer-success-oracle.pdf (archived at https://perma.cc/K4AS-XMDE) Steward, J (2022) The ultimate list of marketing automation statistics 2022, https:// findstack.com/marketing-automation-statistics/ (archived at https://perma.cc/ Z3AB-S5RJ) Wickey, W (2016) Why data is the (not so) secret ingredient to marketing and sales alignment, http://www.business2community.com/b2b-marketing/data-not-secretingredient-marketing-sales-alignment-01716196 (archived at https://perma.cc/ RLV4-8RPS)

341

342

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

343

INDEX

NB: page numbers in italic indicate figures or tables 4Ps 14–15 ‘5 Whys’ technique  100, 102 7Cs 15–16, 17 A/B testing  125 Accenture 93 account managers  39 account-based marketing (ABM)  32, 51, 272–86 account selection  277, 279 benefits of  273–74 challenges with  275 defining 272–73 vs lead generation  273 display-based ABM  281 measurement 284–85 process of  275–77, 276, 278 sales outreach ABM  280 social media-based ABM  281 success factors  282 suitability of  282–84, 283, 284 types of ABM  274–75 acquisition accounts  60, 61 acquisition marketing  48–58 ADEPIR framework  50–52, 51 advocacy programmes  57 calls to action (CTAs)  57 campaign content  53–54 channel partner marketing  235, 236 customer lifecycle, the  48–49, 49 ‘door openers’  56 dormant customers  50 greenfield customers  48, 50 implementation 55–56 inactive customers  50 lapsed customers  51 segmentation 57 and social media  174 ad tracking  336 ADEPIR framework  50–52, 51, 122–26, 123 advocacy marketing  60, 63, 65, 68–69 Ahrefs 291 Amazon 57

Apple 97 applications (mobile)  144 Asana 161 Ask 167 Atos 269 attribution modelling  132–33, 134 B2B marketing, defining  1–2 relationship B2B marketing  4, 4 transactional B2B marketing  4, 4 vs B2C  2–4 BANT qualified leads  290 BASF 33 Bastian, Ed  90 BDA framework  323, 324 Bing Ads  336 blogs  118, 167, 305 blogging partners  201–02 C-suite marketing  87, 88, 90 in e-newsletters  150 influencer blogs  212, 213 ‘boundary spanning’  106 brand awareness surveys  329 brand building  179–93 B2B vs B2C  179 brand consistency  185 brand ladder, the  188 brand levels  180, 180 brand loyalty  185 brand touchpoints  180, 181–82, 182 defining 180 initiatives, types of  183–84 obstacles to  182–83 stages of  186–92, 187 activation 189–91 brand gap audit  186–88 planning 189 positioning 188, 189 review 191–92 brand ladder, the  188 Brandwatch 328 BrightTALK 201 Buffer  161, 177 buyer personas  154, 155, 199

344

INDEX buying behaviours, business  37–47 buyer triggers  46–47, 155 buying situations  44–45 buying stages  37–39, 38 changes to  45–46 decision-making unit (DMU)  42–43 buyer roles  43, 44 external factors  41–42 identifying 39–40 internal factors  40–41 CallRail 337 channel partner marketing  223–56 acquisition marketing  235, 236 acquisition process  232–33,234 benefits of  224–25 defining  223, 224 distributors  226, 228 goals and objectives  231 mail order resellers  225 marketing methods  229–30, 229–30 marketing strategies  232 micro resellers  225 online resellers  225 selecting 227–28, 229 ‘through’ marketing  247, 247–54 defining 247 lead generation  249–51, 251 mindshare, gaining  252 partner programmes  253–54 types of  248–49, 249 ‘to’ marketing  239, 239–46, 240 channel partner enablement  244–46 communication with  242–43, 243, 246 trends in  226–27 value-added resellers (VARs)  225, 228 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)  92 Circulate.it 268 Cisco Cisco Champions programme  69 Innovation Grand Challenge  221 Marketing Velocity  245–46 cloud, the  7 competitor analysis  25, 29 content marketing  117, 149–64, 153 activation and distribution  153, 161 B2B vs B2C  151 benefits of  150 brand building  191 content auditing  156, 158 content calendars  158

content creation  158–61 content fragmentation  153 content mapping  156, 157, 158 customer needs assessment  152 defining 149 gating of content  293–95, 294 great content, defining  151–52 long-form content  89, 90, 150, 295, 296 measurement and review  153, 162 and SEO  150 syndication 200–01 user-generated content  159 video content  117, 130, 137, 147 C-suite marketing  87, 89, 90 lead generation  288, 295 social video  167 solutions marketing  109 syndication 201 see also YouTube Conversica 310 conversion 330 corporate social responsibility (CSR) 33 cost-per-action (CPA)  8 cost-per-click (CPC)  8 cost-per-mille (CPM)  8 Covid-19  109, 162, 181, 204 and digital transformation  226 home working during  184 testing 131 virtual events  288, 314, 316 Crowdfire 177 C-suite marketing  83–94 challenges in  86 communication 89–90 content 87–89, 88 C-suite roles  83–84 defining 83 engaging with  90–93 gatekeepers  91, 92 importance of  85–86 loyalty 93 trends in  84–85 customer acquisition cost (CAC) 329 customer advocate  63, 65 customer attrition, preventing  72–82 customer attrition rate  73 customer satisfaction  76–77 customer service, role of  77 data, analysing  81 defining 72 reacquiring customers  77–80

INDEX nudge techniques  79–80 segmenting for  78–79 reasons for lapsing  73–74, 74 reputation, impact on  74 segmentation 80–81 signals 75–76, 76 customer churn  331 see also customer attrition, preventing customer lifecycle (CLC), the  48–49, 49, 327–34 customer lifecycle marketing see retention marketing measurement and evaluation, of B2B marketing  327–34 acquisition 329–31, 330 loyalty / advocacy  332, 333–34 reach / awareness  328–29 retention 331–33, 332 and social media  171, 172 customer lifetime value (CLV)  334 customer loyalty  60, 62–65 increasing 66–68 process 62–63, 64 types of  63, 65, 65 customer purchase evolution  70–71 customer relationship management (CRM) systems  28, 71, 331 account-based marketing (ABM)  276, 277, 282 channel partner marketing  251 CRM tracking  336 customer attrition, preventing  80, 81 lead handover  251, 264, 268 lead nurturing  309, 311 customer renewal rate  333 customer satisfaction  69–70 Cyfe 177 decision-making unit (DMU)  42–43 buyer roles  43, 44 Dell 180 fiscal year  41 Luminaries 212 Deloitte 93 Green Room  94 Insights 152 Delta Air Lines  90 differentiators 100 digital advertising  136, 145 digital marketing  113–19 A/B testing  125

accessibility of information  115–16 availability of information  116 channels for  114, 135–48, 137 defining 135–36 digital advertising  136, 145 email  136, 140–42, 143 integration of  147–48 mobile  117, 136, 142, 144 online PR  136, 144 search marketing  136, 138–40 selecting 130–31 social media see main entry video  117, 137, 147 webinars  124, 136, 145–46 website 137–38 events, promoting  125 funnel approach, the  119 marketing automation  118, 124 relationship digital marketing  113, 114 sales, relationship with  118 strategy and planning  121–34 4S framework  128, 128 ADEPIR framework  122–26, 123 attribution modelling  132–33, 134 challenges with  126 earned channels  130–31 measurement 131–32 opportunities 126–27 owned channels  130 paid channels  130 strategy objectives  121 value chain  129, 129–30 transactional digital marketing  113, 114 versatility of information  116 direct traffic  328 display advertising  145 display-based ABM  281 distributors  226, 228 ‘door openers’  56 dormant customers  50 drip nurturing  309 Dropbox 268 Dun and Bradstreet  52, 277 dynamic ads  173 dynamic SWOT  27–28 earned channels  130–31 earned media  130–31, 185 EasyWebinar 315 Ebuyer 225 e-commerce 7 EIMS Energizer Programme  254–55

345

346

INDEX email marketing  114, 136, 140–42, 143, 230 account-based marketing (ABM)  280, 281 automation tools  124 channel partner marketing  241, 243, 246, 248 C-suite marketing  86, 89, 93 customer attrition, preventing  77 email preference centres  80, 142 email signatures  77, 185, 269 lead capture  292, 295 lead nurturing  304, 309, 310, 311 personalization 67 retention marketing  61, 65, 66, 77, 174 Equifax  52, 277 events, B2B  313–26 BDA framework  323, 324 benefits of  313–14 business associations  204 buyer journey, the  314 channel partner marketing  242 defining 313 goals of  315 in-person 316–20 data capture  317–18 events technologies  319 lead capture  318 social media, use of  325 trends in  314–15 virtual and online  316, 320–23 challenges with  320–21 data capture  322 lead generation  322–23 see also webinars Evernote 268 EverWebinar 315 EveryoneSocial 268 expansion accounts  59–60, 61 Experian  52, 277 Facebook  142, 167 account-based marketing (ABM)  281 channel selection  177 events, promoting  325 Facebook Insights  166 Falcon.io 161 FedEx 180 four Ps, the  14–15 Fuze 268 GaggleAMP  175–76, 268 gatekeepers  91, 92 Glassdoor 57

GlobalVision 140 ‘Glocal’ business model  1 go to market (GTM) models  55, 57 Google 7 Google AdWords  145, 336 Google Alerts  202 Google Analytics  297, 328, 336 Google Drive  268 Google Hangouts  268 Google Plus  167 greenfield customers  48, 50 group ABM (Grp)  275 high-penetration critical (HPC) ABM  274 Hootsuite 177 Hootsuite Amplify  268 Hotmail 7 Howard, Catherine  269–70 HP Wolf Security  184 IBM 93 Know Your IBM (KYI) programme  68 solutions marketing  109 inactive customers  50 influencer marketing  66, 161, 173, 211–22 benefits of  212–13 defining 211 influencer categories  213–14, 214 process of  214–21, 216 engagement 220 measurement 220–21 preparation  215, 217 selecting 217–19, 218, 219 types of  212 Insight 225 Instagram  117, 325 Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)  199 Invensys 177–78 Issuu 325 Karr, Doug  212 Klout 219 Kotler, Philip  17 landing pages  296–97 lapsed customers  51 Lately 310 lead generation  53, 287–99 agencies, using  297–98 challenges with  289 gating of content  293–95, 294 intent data  288, 290–91

INDEX landing pages  296–97 lead magnets  295–96 lead types  289–90 process of  291–93, 292 lead capture  293–93 tactics and strategies  296 trends in  288 vs account-based marketing (ABM)  273 vs demand generation  287–88 vs lead nurturing  288 lead magnets  295–96 lead nurturing  300–12 artificial intelligence (AI), using  310 customer journey maps  301–02, 303 defining 300–01 email marketing  304 how we nurture  302, 304, 304 lead handover  308 lead scoring  305–06, 307 sales, role of  310–11 social media marketing  305 strategies for  308–10 vs lead generation  288 website 305 lead scoring  305–06, 307 Leadpages 297 LeadSquared 293 Lenovo LEAP (Lenovo Expert Achievers Program) 237 LinkedIn  90, 107, 116, 118, 142, 167 account-based marketing (ABM)  281, 282 Campaign Manager  336 changing face of  117, 126 channel selection  177 C-suite marketing  89, 90 display advertising  173 events, promoting  325 influencer marketing  212 InMail  89, 167, 173, 174 retargeting 173 sponsored content  173 trade associations  205 Listly 268 long-form content  89, 90, 150, 295, 296 loyal customer  63 macro influencers  213 mail order resellers  225 marketing mix, the  13–22 four Ps, the  14–15 process of  18, 20 purpose of  13–14

seven Cs, the  15–16, 17 trade-offs 19–22, 21 marketing strategy / planning  23–33 corporate social responsibility (CSR)  33 customer cycle, the  30, 31 defining 23 marketing funnel, the  29–30, 31 marketing plan, defining  23–24 planning process  24, 24–28 audit 25–27 implementation 28 plan creation  28 review 28 strategic options, developing  27–28 strategy setting  28 strategy formulation  29, 29, 31–32, 32 differentiation 29, 30 marketing-accepted leads (MAL)  290 marketing-ready leads (MRL)  289 measurement and evaluation, of B2B marketing  131–32, 327–41 account-based marketing (ABM) content marketing  153, 162 customer lifecycle (CLC), the  327–34 acquisition 329–31, 330 loyalty / advocacy  332, 333–34 reach / awareness  328–29 retention 331–33, 332 influencer marketing  220–21 marketing budgeting  337–38 marketing contribution, measuring 338 marketing return, measuring  337 process and outcome metrics  334–35, 335 reporting and analytics  336 Mediahawk 337 micro influencers  214 micro resellers  225 Microsoft  96, 97 fiscal year  41 Windows XP  46 mid-tier (MT) ABM  275 mid-tier influencers  213 Millennials and gated content  293 influence of  165–66 mobile  117, 136, 142, 144 Monday.com 161 Motivforce 68 multi-stakeholder lead nurturing  309–10 multi-touch lead nurturing  308–09 MyMedLeads 293

347

348

INDEX NACE (Nomenclature Générale des Activités Économiques dans les Communautés Européennes) system 6 nano influencers  214 native advertising  124, 127, 145, 173 near field communication (NFC) technologies  318, 319 Net Promoter Score (NPS)  69–70, 78, 81, 334 new customers  330 nudge techniques  79–80 O2 285 Okta 221–22 online advertising  8 online PR  136, 144 online resellers  225 Oracle 93 Channel Marketing Handbook 253 organic search see search engine optimization (SEO) owned channels  66, 130 paid channels  130 paid media  66, 130 paid search see pay per click (PPC) advertising partnership marketing  197–210 blogging partners  201–02 business associations  203–05 and the buyer journey  206–08, 209 content syndication partners  200–01 defining 197–98 evaluating 209, 210 gaps, bridging  198, 198–99 selecting  199, 208–09, 209 SEO partners  199–200 speakers 205–06 sponsorships 205 telemarketing partners  203 types of  199 pay per click (PPC) advertising  138, 139, 145 PEST/PESTEL model  25, 27 phone tracking  337 pipeline contribution  330–31, 338 pipeline movement  338 pipeline velocity  331 podcasts 205–06 Poll Everywhere  269 portfolio marketing  96, 102 preferred accounts  60, 61

PricewaterhouseCoopers 93 Procurious 167 product lifecycle management  95, 97, 108 product marketing  95–110 core vs augmented product  97–98, 98 hardware, software and services  96–97 portfolio marketing  96, 102 product lifecycle management  95, 97, 108 solutions marketing  99, 102–10, 227 ‘boundary spanning’  106 challenges with  103 communicating solutions  109–10 competition, managing  108 integration 104–06, 105 updating solutions  108–09 value proposition, creating a  99–102, 101, 103 ‘5 Whys’ technique  100, 102 programmatic advertising  282, 338 prospects  48, 61 QR codes  144 quantitative vs qualitative metrics  192 Quora 167 RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed)  265 reacquiring customers  77–80 nudge techniques  79–80 segmenting for  78–79 REAP model  59–60 recency 333 repeat customer  63 repeat purchase rate  333 request for proposals (RFPs)  38 responsive lead nurturing  309 retargeting  124, 127, 173, 295, 304, 309 retention accounts  59, 61 retention marketing  59–71 advocacy marketing  60, 63, 65, 68–69 communication, tailoring  65–66 customer loyalty  60, 62–65 increasing 66–68 process 62–63, 64 types of  63, 65, 65 customer purchase evolution  70–71 customer satisfaction  69–70 REAP model  59–60 share of wallet (SoW)  60–61 and social media  174–75 vs acquisition marketing  61

INDEX return on advertising spend (ROAS) 337 return on marketing investment (ROMI) 337 revenue churn  331 Ricoh Canada  175–76 Rocketseed 269 sales outreach ABM  280 sales, alignment with  259–71, 267 activities, agreeing  265 benefits of  260–61 communications 265–66 customers, defining  261, 265 KPIs, setting  261, 264, 266 obstacles to  261–62 process of  262, 262–63 processes, agreeing  264–65 role of marketing  263–64 role of sales  260 sales integration  266 social media marketing  168–69 tools and tech  268–69 sales-ready leads (SRL)  290 Schaefer, Mark  212 Schneider Electric  177–78 Scribd 201 search engine optimization (SEO)  136, 138–40 partners 199–200 segmentation  3–4, 5–7 acquisition marketing  57 business clusters  7 business size  5, 5 customer attrition, preventing  80–81 how to segment  6 reacquiring customers  78–79 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 6 Seismic 268 Semrush 291 servitization 227 seven Cs, the  15–16, 17 share of voice  328 share of wallet (SoW)  60–61 Showpad 268 Slack 268 Slater, Christian  184 SlideShare  173, 293 Slido 269 SMART goals  28 SMS marketing  144 Sociabble 90 social listening  176–77, 217

social media marketing  136, 142, 165–78 benefits of  166 brand building  191 buyer personas  199 channels 166–67, 168 channel selection  177 C-suite marketing  90 customer lifecycle (CLC), the  171, 172 enablers for  170–71 events, supporting  325 evolution of  117, 126, 165–66 lead nurturing  305 marketing process  169, 170 responsibility for  168–69 social display advertising  145, 167, 173 social listening  176–77, 217 social media-based ABM  281 TIPSS model  175 SocialMention 177 Softbox 162–63 solutions marketing  99, 102–10, 227 ‘boundary spanning’  106 challenges with  103 communicating solutions  109–10 competition, managing  108 integration 104–06, 105 updating solutions  108–09 SPE Offshore Europe  319 Speaker Bureau  206 Spiceworks 167 SPOCs (sales point of contacts)  14 spot customer  63 Sprout Social  161, 328 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 6 strategic champion  65 SurveyMonkey 269 SWOT analysis  25, 29 dynamic SWOT  27–28 Talkwalker 328 TechTarget 201 TEL framework  162 thought leadership  87–88, 90, 174 time between purchases  333 TIPSS model  175 trade associations  203–05 Trello 161 trends, core  8–9 Turtl 325 TweetDeck 177 TweetReach 177

349

350

INDEX Twitonomy 177 Twitter  118, 142, 167 channel selection  177 C-suite marketing  90 events, promoting  325 influencer marketing  212, 217, 219 reach 219 scheduling tweets  161 trade associations  205 Unbounce 297 user-generated content  159 UTM codes  336 value chain  129, 129–30 value-added resellers (VARs)  225, 228 vendor portals  241 video content  117, 130, 137, 147 C-suite marketing  87, 89, 90 lead generation  288, 295 social video  167 solutions marketing  109 syndication 201 see also YouTube Vimeo  162, 163, 167, 201 Voyager Worldwide  106–08

webinars  19, 124, 136, 145–46, 151, 182, 316 automated webinars  314–15 channel partner marketing  230, 235, 242, 243, 249 C-suite marketing  88, 89 lead generation  292, 295, 310 partnership marketing  205–06 peer-to-peer networking  67 syndication 201 technologies for  321 WeChat 167 WeTransfer 268 WhatsApp 167 Wikipedia 167 World Economic Forum  93 Yahoo! 7 Yahoo! Answers  167 YouTube  116, 117, 137, 167 channel partners  235 C-suite marketing  90 influencer marketing  212 lead nurturing  302, 304, 305 video SEO  147

351

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

352

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

353

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

354

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK