Many of our clients ask us this: What do all the new social media tools and vehicles mean for launching new products? At Conifer Consulting a number of our projects involve developing go-to-market strategies and plans for our clients. Increasingly the strategies and plans we develop take account AND advantage of these new vehicles to engage in a two-way conversation with prospects and users. Why do we do this?
Because -
- It's essential - if you don't, someone else surely will and guess what? users are out there talking, discussing, creating already; so whatever you do, don't ignore the conversation
- It's ubiquitous - you may think your users are not engaged in this way, think again...
- It takes resources - despite what everyone may tell you, it is not FREE.
All of this does not mean that you need to start spending on social media willy-nilly tomorrow, nor does it mean that all the old rules of marketing are defunct.
Want to know more? My partners Anne and Jeff from the Aventi Group and I jointly conducted a workshop on precisely this topic at the recent Social Media World Forum on November 9th. Our presentation covered the following:
"Launching New Offerings in a Social World: What to consider when incorporating Social Media in your Go-To-Market Planning!"
- How to create a good go-to-market plan? What sound principles of marketing still apply?
- When is it appropriate to consider social tools?
- How should one incorporate social media vehicles in such plans?
You can view this presentation here.
Social Media Work Shop Deck Nov 09 2009
Effective Lead Management: Converting More Leads Into Sales
We had a great turn out for our recent B2B Lead Generation Rountable Webinar “Effective Lead Management: Learn How to Convert Marketing Leads into Sales Pipeline.” In case you missed the live presentation, there are still two ways you can review it:
- Watch the Presentation recording (no registration)
- Read the Effective Lead Management Executive Summary
I discussed steps for overcoming one of the biggest challenges organizations face today: converting leads to sales pipeline revenue. For most organizations, these problems stem from perception and communication issues between Marketing and Sales and a lack of process.
While I emphasize sales and marketing being on the same page is key to a well-optimized lead generation process, the solution involves more than just generating more high quality leads. Marketing and Sales need to use a robust qualification and nurturing process to optimize the leads already in the pipeline.
I taught a ‘playbook’ for effective lead management that helps optimize the lead generation process to produce major ROI gains. The ‘playbook’ included five steps:
1. refine the universal lead definition of “sales ready”
2. qualify leads based on the universal lead definition
3. nurture early leads until they were “sales ready”
4. define a clear process from Marketing to Sales
5. close the loop via Sales and Marketing “huddles”View recorded webinar and read executive summary
November 23, 2009
Don't Forget Hard Copies
The other night I talked before about fifty budding entrepreneurs. Mostly in their 20's, these young people gave me a new-found confidence in our collective ability to generate new companies and jobs.
They are wicked smart and tend to soak up almost every bit of information that is sent their way, especially from someone who has fought the good fight, ie, started companies too. They LOVE hearing stories.
I knew that before the meeting obviously. The usual question I get after the presentation is "What are the top three or five things you have learned in 25 years of doing start ups?" It is interesting to me that they just want the TOP 3 or 5 when it is the 78th or 48th tip that might be most meaningful to them.
So I wrote down 'everything' I have learned in this little mini book, a hard copy booklet that I give to everyone in attendance.
The reaction is so positive it bears repeating and teaching. I think nowadays we tend to rely too much on emails, pdfs, facebook and twitter et al to recall that a simple note, letter, or yes, even a handout gets you more notice.
Simply, it looks like you have invested more in it, cared more about it, and tried harder. I think people like that.
I might be wrong.
What do you think?5 ways to promote internal training and events
I had a meeting with a client this morning and one of the topics on the agenda was how could they better promote an internal training event that was optional for the employees.
When I asked how they would normally promote it, they said...we'd make up a flier with all the information and attach it to an e-mail. We'd send it out to everyone. We might send it out a couple times or ask their supervisors to also send it out.
There's nothing wrong with what they're doing. But, there's not enough right. You've got to toss a lot of messages and media into the blender and mix it all up -- to try to reach everyone.
Remember, your audience needs to hear your message 8-13 times before they notice that you're talking to them!
Here are some other ideas we came up with as we brainstormed:
Tease them: Don't give them ALL the information at once. Give them the bare bones (date, time, place etc.) but keep some of the details for the next communication.
Catch it on camera: Run around the office with a flip camera and record some people who know about the event. Ask them why they're excited or looking forward to it. Post it on YouTube, your corporate intranet or someplace else that employees will go see it.
Drip marketing: Remember....you want your marketing to be a drip, not a downpour. So why get 6-8 little tidbits of the content (think if it like a snack...which is how we like to consume information) and rather than send out one huge e-mail....once a week, send a tip tied to the content of the training.
Let them eavesdrop: Using BlogTalk Radio or Skype + Audio Hijack, whip up a quick 5-minute podcast with the presenter. Let the potential audience hear the presenter's enthusiasm and energy around the topic.
Make it personal: Draft a quick 15-30 second script and ask every supervisor to personalize it and then leave a voice mail for their direct reports....inviting them to the event.
What have we done? We've hit them with the written word, teased them with tasty snacks of content, let their peers and supervisor weigh in, used multi-media, and made it personal.
All for the cost of....$0. (Audio Hijack is $32 if you opt for that solution).
How could you use this recipe for things you need to communicate internally?
November 16, 2009
The Story You Can Tell to Triple Your New Client Wins
A few weeks ago a client said to me, "In this economy, I don't think we’ll ever be able to get ahead. It's been nearly impossible to get new clients to sign on, and I think it will be for some time to come. My team feels flat. It’s been a huge challenge to keep them motivated. And I understand why...it's just so hard out there."
We talked about it. The conversation went like this:
Mike: That sounds pretty difficult, but not an uncommon story these days.Client: My team seems like they’re running at 50% energy because no matter what they do, there’s just not the return on the other end for their efforts like there used to be.
Mike: You won a few new clients recently, though, right?
Client: Well, yes, but it’s been a huge effort to win them.
Mike: I understand. Now that you won them, how have the engagements been going?
Client: We’ve already returned all of our fees at least threefold to both of the clients we won last quarter. And it’s looking like they’ll both be signing on for larger engagements.
Mike: Great to hear! So have your competitors won new clients lately as well?
Client: Not as many as years past, but you know our industry is so fragmented that we have more competitors than most businesses. They wouldn’t survive at all if there weren’t at least some new clients signing on with most of them.
Mike: Let’s get an estimate then.
(Client lists off competitor after competitor and mentions the names of actual clients they’ve won recently.)
Mike: OK, then, let me stop you there. If you even won a fifth of those, that’s more new clients than you could even handle in a quarter.
Client: Of course, if we won them, that would be overwhelming to us. There’s no way we could keep up with that much work.
Mike: Assume for a minute that your team wasn’t feeling sluggish or defeated. That each individual on the team was as motivated as you’ve ever seen them to go out and win clients. That they believed great success was just around the corner waiting to be had, and all they needed to do was go make it happen.
Client: The change in the business would be dramatically positive. If we could get that done, we’d be growing like a weed.
Mike: So what you’re saying is that new clients are giving business to your competitors all around you, and, even though the circumstances are different in the market than they were three years ago, there’s still more business out there right now—today—than you could possibly handle. And to get those clients, all you need to do is to get the team performing as well as you’ve seen them perform in the past?
Client: When you put it that way…
As we continued talking, the client told me that if he could put it to his team this way he thinks that he could get them focused and excited again about the possibilities. "New clients were out there just waiting to be won…we have a great story that the market needs to hear…it’s up to us to get it done, and we can do it!"
Yes, he needed to put it this way to his team, but the first person he had to put it this way to was himself. Before he could get the team to focus again on the success they could have versus the failure that was obviously looming in front of him, he had to see it himself.
For as long as he told himself the stories of doom, sluggish, can’t, won’t, and unable, these were the stories that would come true.
What do you think would happen if you changed the story you tell yourself?
Or if everyone on your team changed theirs?
Major Study Shows White Paper Power Increasing!
Listen up businesses! The white paper is here to stay and it’s only getting more important. Or so says a brand new study by Eccolo Media.
I covered the main take-home message of their last report earlier this year. But this new study has some amazing findings covering everything from the influence of white papers compared to other marketing tools, how they are shared, their ideal length and when they are used in the purchase cycle.
I outline the key findings below.
Major findings:
• White papers yield powerful influence: 84% of businesses find white papers either moderately or extremely influential in their purchasing decisions. Only 1% of respondents thought white papers were not influential.
• White papers are the most viral form of marketing collateral: White papers are the most commonly shared form of marketing collateral, with 89% of respondents passing them along to others. In addition, white papers were the most viral marketing collateral with nearly one in three respondents sharing them with three or more people.
• Decision-makers are consuming more white papers: According to survey respondents, 77% of business decision makers are reading white papers and 2009, up from 68% 2008.
• Larger businesses rely on white papers more than others: Decision-makers at larger companies (85%) are much more likely to read a white paper than those working in smaller companies (64%).
• Delivering white papers in audio or visual formats may be worth pursuit: Regarding the format of a white paper, the study examined whether audio or webinar formats of what paper presentations are preferable. 29% said that they prefer to have a white paper consumed in a webinar and 24% said they’d be interested in listening to a white paper podcast.
• The preferred length of a white paper is 6 to 10 pages: According to the study, readers prefer white papers with an average length of 6 to 10 pages.
• White papers yield the most strength early in the sales cycle: Regarding the sales cycle, white papers were most effective in the presales process, with 80% reporting. However, white papers also were the leading form of collateral at all other stages of the sales process.
• Quality writing influences the perceived value of white papers: 51% of respondents felt that high-quality writing is either very important or extremely influential.
What are your thoughts about white papers and this report? Clearly this study shows white papers are here to stay.