#1NWebinar: Forget the Funnel. Enter the Loop

Forget the Funnel. Enter the Loop. 1 / 2 8 / 1 5

# 1 N W e b i n a r

WELCOME!

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John Simpson Chief Executive Officer

[email protected]

@johnlsimpson3

Kalev Peekna Managing Director, Strategy

[email protected]

@kpeekna

Consider the realities of today’s

markteplace.

DID YOU KNOW:

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•  Only 30% of organizations still engage in cold calling.

•  57% of purchase decisions are completed before a supplier is contacted.

•  Only 55% of B2B Marketers have programs dedicated to client retention.

•  More than 75% of buyers are very likely to refer their firm.

You’re different … and that’s okay.

A QUICK QUIZ

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•  Revenue generation is not transactional.

•  The buying decision is a long process.

•  Your value to clients isn’t easily or quickly replaced.

•  Client relationships are complex, involving multiple touch points between several individuals.

•  Current clients are an important source of new revenue.

•  What your clients feel about (and say about) your business strongly impacts the decisions of other clients.

FORGET THE FUNNEL

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•  The right audience is more valuable than a large one.

•  Buying decisions are only the beginning of the conversation.

•  There’s no room for loyalty in the funnel.

•  Buying decisions aren’t only driven by the messages you deliver to clients. They’re also driven by what clients say about you and to each other.

The Relationship Cycle

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THE RELATIONSHIP CYCLE

FINDING THE BALANCE

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What Your Client Does

•  Identify Need •  Research Solution •  Active Evaluation •  Formalize Relationship

What Your Firm Does

•  Generate Awareness •  Drive Consideration •  Follow Up •  Establish Trust & Advocacy

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AWARENESS IN A WORLD OF ORGANIC DISCOVERY

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“The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), when people research products before buying, applies across all customer bases ‘whether you're buying a big jet engine or a refrigerator,’ says Beth Comstock, SVP and CMO of GE.” SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.COM.AU/THINK/COLLECTIONS/ZERO-MOMENT-TRUTH.HTML


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SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.COM.AU/THINK/COLLECTIONS/ZERO-MOMENT-TRUTH.HTML

71% of people use the internet DAILY to make decisions about business purchases

According to Forrester Research, the first thing 80% of people do when they confront a problem or have a question is to go online and search for an answer.


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SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.COM.AU/THINK/COLLECTIONS/ZERO-MOMENT-TRUTH.HTML

“The internet clearly is now the new trade show.” Sam Sebastian, Google

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WINNING CONSIDERATION WITH CONTEXT

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Content Marketing

Delivers education or useful information

Context Marketing

Adds timing to content marketing, taking into account the specific

personality of the customer

DRIVE CONSIDERATION

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We instinctively practice ‘context marketing’ offline, but are we doing it online as well?

DRIVE CONSIDERATION

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Context turns ho-hum visit into international news.

DRIVE CONSIDERATION

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Context brings content to life.

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FOSTERING LOYALTY

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“Loyalty counts more and costs less than awareness.” Harvard Business Review

•  Let's you add up to four family members in the same household to your account

•  One in 3 households will have access to Amazon Prime in 3 years

•  "Amazon Student" $39 version of Prime for folks with a valid .edu email address

INFLUENCE, THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

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88% of B2B professional service buyers are likely or very likely to recommend providers to friends or colleagues.

Source: Hinge Marketing, How Buyers Buy Professional Services

How You Can Use It

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HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN

Avoids the firm’s objectives in favor of the audience’s needs

BRAND-CENTERED DESIGN

Focuses on the firm without respect to the

human/audience

RELATIONSHIP-CENTERED DESIGN Balances the firm and audience’s needs

RELATIONSHIP-CENTERED DESIGN

USING DIGITAL ACROSS THE CYCLE

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We are bombarded with experts proclaiming the “truths” of our “digital age.” Taking the relationship perspective helps you understand which “truths” have immediate, strategic impact:

•  Digital permeates every step of the cycle, whether in a leading or supporting role.

•  Social communications, especially beyond branded channels, increases the influence of influence. Every interaction matters more.

•  Mobile expands not just channels and platforms, but also the contexts in which we interact with clients. We interact in different places, at different times of the day, with different people.

USING THE RELATIONSHIP CYCLE

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The Relationship Cycle is a framework, not a methodology. Here are three examples of how the Cycle expands your understanding and directs you to strategic decisions:

1.  Auditing your Activities & Priorities

2.  Understanding your Audiences & Users

3.  Mapping your Interaction Opportunities

Auditing your Activities & Priorities

AUDITING ACTIVITIES

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Many marketers confront the full range of their activities only during budget season – which makes everything look like a tactic. Using the Relationship Cycle can lend a more strategic view on what you do.

Start by considering all that your department does at each stage of the client journey. Focus less on platforms, and more on actual activities:

Proposal

Preparation Ads Pitches Key Client Program

Email Marketing Blogging

Awards & League Tables Client Events SEO Industry

Events Sponsorships Lateral/Partner

Recruiting

Brochures & Biographies

Thought Leadership LinkedIn Client Sat

Survey Internal Comms ????

SORT YOUR ACTIVITIES

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Next, sort your activities into the appropriate phase of the cycle:

Generate Awareness

Drive Consideration Follow Up

Establish Trust & Advocacy

Loyalty Loop

Ads Proposals Key Client Program

Email Marketing Blogging SEO

Industry Events

Client Sat Survey LinkedIn Thought

Leadership Brochures & Biographies Sponsorships

ADD DIMENSIONS

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You can expand your strategic view by adding additional dimensions to the matrix you’re building:

Generate Awareness



Loyalty Loop

Activities

•  Ads •  SEO •  LinkedIn Posts •  Blogging •  Thought

Leadership •  Industry Events

•  Biographies •  Awards •  Thought

Leadership

•  Pitches •  Key Client Program

•  Sponsorships •  Email

Marketing

•  Client Sat Survey

Priority

Resources

Content

Tools

ASK YOURSELF

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As you build out your view, ask yourself some of the following questions:

•  Where are we lacking coverage?

•  Where are we making the most impact?

•  How would it change if we took a different perspective based on:

–  Practice

–  Industry

–  Geographic Market

•  Where do we expect my practitioners (consultants, lawyers, bankers) to contribute?

•  Do our activities accurately reflect our priorities?

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

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Having priorities – paying more attention to some activities and less to others – is not a problem. The problem is when priorities become unintentional.

For example, most professional services marketers know instinctively the value of repeat clients. But strikingly few have programs design specifically for clients in what we call the Loyalty Loop.

Are you Avoiding the Loyalty Loop?

General Counsel Report 2013

•  12% of firms always meet clients to discuss satisfaction

•  18% of firms never discuss satisfaction with clients

Corporate Data Litigation Survey 2015

•  59% of general counsel never provide performance feedback to outside counsel

Understanding your Audiences

UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES

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This exercise is really a flipped version of the first – this time from the client’s perspective.

Focus on what lies outside the actual work. Think back to all the requests your department may handle or coordinate:

Research reports

Industry news

Who you’ve worked with

before Proof of

Expertise Continuing Education

Updates on Work

Background on your Leaders

Suggestions for Suppliers RFP New Data

SORT NEEDS

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Next, sort your activities into the appropriate phase of the cycle:

Identify Need Research Solution

Active Evaluation

Formalize Relationship

Loyalty Loop

Research reports

Industry news

Who you’ve worked with

before Case Studies Continuing

Education

Updates on Work

Background on your Leaders

Suggestions for Suppliers RFP New Data

ADD DIMENSIONS

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As before, adding dimensions can enrich your understanding:

Identify Need

Research Solution

Active Evaluation


Loyalty Loop

Needs

•  Research •  Daily updates •  New Data

•  References •  Suggestions

for suppliers

•  RFP •  Background on

Leaders •  Proof of

Expertise

•  Updates on work

•  Continuing Education

•  Leveraging your networks

Content to match need

How/where do they find it?

Best way to deliver content

ASK YOURSELF

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As you consider your audience’s needs, ask yourself:

•  Do we fully comprehend their needs?

•  Are we fully meeting their needs?

•  How are their needs changing over time?

•  Where do they look for new information?

•  What is they best way to deliver what they need?

•  What kinds of data do we have to support our assumptions?

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

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Most relationship-based businesses understand their clients pretty well. But there’s a danger in letting your assumptions about what you know go unchallenged.

For example, McKinsey’s research reveals that most leading B2B brands are completely “talking past” the true drivers of client loyalty:

“Our research suggests a potential stumbling block, though: a marked apparent divergence between the core messages companies communicate about their brands and the characteristics their customers value most.” -B2B Brand Awareness Survey, 2013

Mapping your Interactions

MAPPING INTERACTIONS

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The last example exercise is really about what connects the previous two. Consider each stage, from both yours and the client’s perspective, and identify the interactions that matter the most.

Expand your scope to consider both digital and non-digital modes of interaction:

Web Email In Person

Social Media Event Print

MAPPING INTERACTIONS

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Most interactions hit multiple points in the cycle. Visually tracking them may work better than using a bounded matrix:

Your Firm Generate Awareness



Loyalty Loop

Your Client

Identify Need

Research Solution

Active Evaluation


Loyalty Loop

Web

In Person

Email

Social

ASK YOURSELF

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As weigh the relative impact and prominence of different modes of interaction, ask yourself:

•  Where are your interactions currently limited?

•  Is there an opportunity to improve a particular interaction at a particular point in time?

•  How well coordinated are the different kinds of interaction? Are they aware of each other?

•  What is the client experience in each interaction? Does it align to our brand?

•  Do you know how to accurately measure the effectiveness of your interactions?

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

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No one kind of interaction can govern the entire cycle. Your client’s experience during the process will always be made up of multiple, often discrete interactions.

Most marketers have experienced a pronounced increase in the number of communication channels and tactics they manage. Marketing’s job is to ensure they coordinate to create a comprehensive brand experience across the entire cycle.

86% Of B2B firms invest in content marketing 38%

Feel that their content marketing is effective

75% Do not have, or do not document, their content strategy

Final Thoughts

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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1.  The marketing landscape is and will constantly be evolving.

2.  Relationship-based businesses require a different model of marketing – the Relationship Cycle – to meet their unique business development needs.

3.  The cycle can be used to inform your digital strategy, target audience and map your client interactions.

Questions?