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INTRODUCTORY
A CEOs Guide to
Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing
Learn how B2B Tech Startups can Attract, Convertand Delight Customers with Inbound Marketing.
www.marketheed.com
Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 2
Technological advances are disrupting a wide range of industries. The CEO of EMC,
Joe Tucci, recently stated that businesses had better prepare for disruption or be the
disruptor. The McKinsey Global Institute compiled a list of 12 technologies expected
to have an impact of between $14 and $33 trillion annually by the year 2025. Small
wonder, then, that “Business Insider” reports that venture capitalists are still rushing to
fund technology enterprise startups.
Problems arise, however, when companies on the cutting edge of technology fail to
understand that traditional marketing methods simply are not going to produce the
desired results. Just as technology has been reimagined to meet the needs of the
“Internet of Things,” so, too, must businesses reimagine their marketing focus and if
necessary, revise the way they think about marketing their products and services.
About this eBook
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 3
Table of Contents
1. Define Exactly What You Want to Accomplish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
1.1 Who are Your Buyers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 How do You Obtain Leads? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Do You Optimize Marketing Automation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2. Understand That Traditional Marketing May Not Yield Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
2.1 Traditional Marketing is Expensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2 Traditional Marketing Methods are Becoming Ineffective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 Modern Sales Cycles are Customer-Driven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3. Keep an Open Mind Regarding Inbound Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.1 Attract Potential Customers to your Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 Convert Casual Website Visitors into Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.3 Nurture Leads & Close them in to Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.4 Continue to Delight Your Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4. Avoid Common Tech Startup Marketing Pitfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.1 Pitfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5. Expect a Positive ROI from Inbound Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.1 Be Patient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing
1 . Define Exactly What You Want to Accomplish
Traditionally, many companies have considered the marketing department to be a financial drain on re-sources. This has often been the result of a “shotgun” approach to marketing and the lack of a reliable method for measuring success that made it easier for other de-partments to win the competition for limited resources. In a rapidly changing, competitive and global economy, old-school marketing simply will not achieve the results that your tech startup needs. Thus, the first step is to clearly define what you hope to accomplish with your marketing strategy.
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 5
You likely have limited resources to
spend, and mass marketing is a good way
to squander your money. You need to
tailor your marketing toward the buyers
that matter, i.e., those who actually have
a need for your product and are the most
likely to make a purchase. This is called
targeted marketing.
For example, if you are producing a
high-end smart thermostat, your typical
buyers are not going to be renters, teen-
agers or low-income singles. However,
without targeted marketing, you will be
spending a substantial portion of your marketing dollars to reach these groups along
with -- hopefully -- a few people who have both the interest and the means to buy what
you are selling. Therefore, you need to determine who is most likely to need your ser-
vices or products.
1.1 Who are Your Buyers?
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 6
Venture capitalists like to see that the
company in which they invested is gain-
ing ground and will likely show a good
return on their investment. Lead gen-
eration is an excellent way to do this.
However, you need qualified leads, not
an abundance of leads who are highly
unlikely to become buyers. Targeted
marketing can help you pre-qualify your
leads. This makes it much easier for your
staff to convert leads into sales.
1.2 How do You Obtain Leads?
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 7
Marketing automation is an area that is
often misunderstood and under-utilized.
Marketing automation is not buying a list
of email addresses. Modern marketing
automation is inbound and focused
around the prospect. It uses prospects’
behavior over multiple channels, such
as accessing an article in the knowledge
center or clicking on social media icons,
to help marketers understand their
needs and wants. It then delivers the
information to the prospects where and
when they want it.
The two primary things to remember about marketing automation are:
• Marketing automation supplements your lead generation and marketing
efforts. It does not replace them.
• Your messages should be focused on the living, breathing person receiving
your message. You must use all of the tools at your disposal to develop a
complete image of the person’s interests and challenges so that you can
properly nurture the lead.
1.3 Do You Optimize Marketing Automation?
8Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing
Traditional marketing techniques have, for the most part, been outbound marketing, also known as push marketing. Customers would hear a commercial on the radio, see a print ad or be forced to sit through a commercial to watch their favorite television program. If they opted in on a website, they received a multitude of emails with special offers or plaintive pleas to make a return visit. Major corporations still conduct many mass-marketing campaigns, some of which are simply attempts to keep the company name embedded in consumers’ minds. However, this is not going to yield the results you currently need.
2 . Understand That Traditional Marketing May Not Yield Results
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 9
WebFX recently compiled a list of the costs involved in traditional advertising.
• A 30-second commercial on national television costs between $35,000 and $2
million, which does not include the cost of production or setup.
• A full-page ad in a national magazine costs between $3,000 and $25,000 per issue
plus setup and design costs.
• A half-page ad in a national newspaper costs approximately $28,000 per day plus
setup and design costs.
None of the above methods offers a definitive method of tracking your return on
investment.
• A direct-mail campaign will cost you between $1,500 and $15,000 for setup and
approximately $2.20 for each addressee.
• Outbound telemarketing costs between $20 and $60 per telemarketer per hour,
and you will likely spend at least $1,000 for setup.
Although both of these methods offer some ability to target recipients and track
your return on investment, both have drawbacks. Direct mail costs are at the mercy
of postage rates and printing costs, and both methods have the potential to irritate
potential customers and harm your image.
2.1 Traditional Marketing is Expensive
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 10
Increasingly, people are “tuning out” commercials on television and radio, ignoring
print ads and deleting marketing emails without reading them. This makes it extremely
difficult to reach the people you want -- potential buyers. There are three primary
reasons for the growing ineffectiveness of traditional marketing:
• If you have ever watched an episode of your favorite television program
online, you might have noticed that the one-hour episode is actually around 45
minutes long. When the program airs live, the other 15 minutes are devoted to
commercials -- up to 30 ads per hour. Viewers are inundated by ads. Many find
the practice annoying, while others just mute the ads, “channel surf” or use the
2 .2 Traditional Marketing Methods are Becoming Ineffective
Welcome.
Give & Take.
Entertain & Educate.
Interact.
Reach Out.
Take.
Broadcast.
Speak.
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 11
ads to make phone calls, prepare a snack or check email. The multitude of ads
-- and people’s propensity to ignore them -- is not limited to television. Radio,
magazines and newspapers follow similar patterns in both the number of ads and
the way people react to them.
• Consumers are more critical and wary of advertising. Today’s buyers do not
blindly accept a marketing claim. They are more likely to go online and see what
others have to say about a product or conduct independent research prior to
making a purchase.
• Modern buyers prefer to feel empowered. They want to be the ones initiating
a purchase and retain control over the process. In other words, they want to
contact you at their convenience.
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 12
Due primarily to the Internet, the way that people make purchases today has
drastically changed. They have rebelled against high-pressure sales tactics, and
they are not overly fond of even low-pressure tactics. They want to educate
themselves about your products and services independently and at their own
convenience. Customers want to be in control, and they prefer to think of the
act of making a purchase as a process in which they take a proactive part rather
than reacting to a marketing strategy. As a result, most of your buyers have
progressed well beyond the halfway point in the sales cycle before they make an
initial contact with your sales staff.
2.3 Modern Sales Cycles are Customer-Driven
13Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing
Modern customers do not need to wait for you to contact them with your message. They can log onto the Internet and perform a quick search to find what they need. Inbound marketing, in simple terms, is allowing them to find you when they are looking for solutions. Furthermore, since they are the ones initiating the contact, you do not run the risk of alienating them with an aggressive marketing campaign. Inbound marketing has a number of advantages for your company.
3 . Keep an Open Mind Regarding Inbound Marketing
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 14
Letting your customers come to you helps
eliminate those who have no need for or
interest in your services. If a potential
customer takes the time to search you
out, that demonstrates a certain level of
interest. However, when he takes additional
actions, such as clicking on one of your
banner ads to visit your website, he is
demonstrating a higher level of interest. If
he submits an online form requesting more
information, emails you with his project
details, comments on your blog posts or
opts in for your newsletter, he has taken
things to the next level. In most cases, these
last actions indicate a qualified lead.
3.1 Attract Potential Customers to your Website
Strangers
ATTRACT
BlogKeywords
Social Media
Visitors
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 15
Tech buyers seldom reach the point of
information overload. Between 80 and 90
percent of all visitors to your website are
there to learn about your company and
your services, and they are nowhere near
ready to make an actual commitment.
But, it’s in your business’s best interest to
capture these leads to eventually nurture
them into paying customers.
Convert these visitors into leads by
providing valuable offers in exchange for
their contact information through various
call-to-actions on your site.
3.2 Convert Casual Website Visitors into Leads
CONVERT
FormsCalls-to-ActionLanding Pages
Visitors Leads
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 16
According to a survey conducted by Google
in 2011, the purchase cycle for a tech
buyer can begin more than 12 months prior
to actual purchase, with four to six months
being the average. Therefore, once you
have a qualified lead, you need to continue
to nurture the relationship until the
customer is ready to hear your sales pitch.
If you have nurtured your leads properly,
converting them to customers should
be relatively easy. Keep in mind that
just because a visitor to your website
submitted a form, it does not necessarily
mean that he is ready to commit to a purchase. If you have a system for determining
where the customer is in the buying cycle, you can track progress until the right
moment comes for sales to take over. One way to help you do this is to produce
content to help potential buyers educate themselves. Encourage potential buyers to
interact with you by leaving feedback, posting questions or leaving comments -- and
then monitor everything and take any appropriate actions.
3.3 Nurture Leads & Close them in to Sales
CLOSE
EmailSignals
Workflows
Leads Customers
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 17
Tech startups tend to grow at a very brisk
rate. When a company is experiencing
fast growth, the concept of retaining
customers can sometimes be overlooked.
It is a well-known fact that it costs
more to attract a new customer than
to retain a current one -- and it is even
more expensive to lure one back who has
left you because he felt unappreciated
or undervalued. The more emphasis
you place on staffing your business
with people who care about delighting
your customers, the more success you
will have. Use your inbound marketing
platform to help you keep customers
informed and educated to demonstrate
your commitment to their success.
3.4 Continue to Delight Your Customers
DELIGHT
EventsSocial Inbox
Smart Content
Customers Promoters
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 18
Strangers
ATTRACT CONVERT CLOSE DELIGHT
BlogKeywords
Social Media
FormsCalls-to-ActionLanding Pages
EmailSignals
Workflows
EventsSocial Inbox
Smart Content
Visitors Leads Customers Promoters
Inbound Marketing: The Complete Picture
19Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing
Traditional marketing strategies have revolved around the seller, not the buyer. That attitude is still pervasive in some corporations. However, the modern buyer is more interested in what you can do for them than ever before. Success may require you to change your thinking about how to sell.
4 . Avoid Common Tech Startup Marketing Pitfalls
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 20
• Understand that your company really is not the center of the galaxy. Focus
more on offering solutions for your customers and educating them, and spend
a little less time patting yourself on the back in front of them.
• Find out where your customers are and meet them there. For example, if your
customers have a significant presence on social media sites, so should you. It is
pointless to market your services where your potential buyers are absent.
• Use a light touch when attempting to attract customers. Pull, rather than
push. Offer them relevant information that they can use; tell them what they
need to know rather than what you want them to know.
• Pay special attention to customer services. Modern customers tend to take
outstanding customer service as a right to which they are automatically
entitled, so you may not get any points for being exceptionally helpful.
However, the first time a customer feels slighted, you can be virtually assured
that there will a forum post somewhere about it.
4.1 Pitfalls
YOU MUSTCHANGE HOW
YOU SEE THINGS
INBOUNDMARKEING
IS THENEW WAY
21Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing
5 . Expect a Positive ROI from Inbound Marketing
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 22
• B2B companies typically see leads increase 23.9 times per month after the initial
12 months.
• In 2013, approximately 34 percent of all leads came from inbound marketing
methods.
• Respondents from the above survey also stated that their inbound marketing
provides significantly higher ROI than other methods.
5.1 Be Patient
A well-executed inbound marketing
program should provide a positive return
on your investment. Here are some
statistics to consider:
• Inbound marketing methods
provide leads that are not only more
numerous, but also of higher quality
and less costly per lead than outbound
methods. In 2013, a survey found
that inbound marketing introduces
approximately 54 percent more leads
to the funnel than outbound methods.
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Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing 23
As far as the size of the investment, it depends on where you are in establishing an
inbound marketing program and how much help and support you will require. Once
established, your monthly budget to sustain your activity will probably range between
$2,000 and $3,500; growing your program will cost between $4,000 and $7,500; and
accelerating your program will cost an estimated $8,000 to $12,500 per month.
Marketing today is far more than advertising. You must embrace the entire customer
experience if you want to keep a customer for life.
24Selling B2B Tech Using Targeted Marketing
To learn more about Inbound Marketing, and to get a free assessment of your online marketing activities, get in touch with us today.
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