Did the new rules of marketing happen in 2012?

As 2012 draws to a conclusion it is traditionally a time when the events of the year come up for review.

Probably the most intriguing marketing event of 2012 was the IPO of Facebook in May. The initial stock offer was priced at $38 a share, valuing the company at many $ billions. Much of the revenue was to be from advertising. It was the first real test for the company - would people invest? Could the huge Facebook membership be converted into money? Well after some teething problems the shares started trading and currently stand at $27. Not the overnight cash bonanza the average investor might have hoped for.

A significant factor in all business models that rely on advertising revenue is the size of the pool of funds available to spend by companies and their agencies. The overall size of this pot fluctuates with the ebbs  and flows of the economy. New media opportunities are evaluated as alternative means rather than additional, so someone's gain is generally at the expense of the incumbent media. B2B advertising agencies are cautious about investing client funds in untested media and typically wait to see how a new title or media channel shapes up.

One thing advertising account managers and PR account managers have tended to agree on in the scope of their respective activities, is that display advertising is not in the PR camp. But pretty much anything else in marketing communications can be laid claim to by the rapidly evolving role of PR. The so called 'new rules of marketing and PR' have been to the fore as PR moves into social media. But the anticipated death of the printed media didn't happen in 2012, so the need for traditional press releases to editors remained while also writing content aimed directly at readers without editorial intervention was added to the PR portfolio. But like the size of the advertising pool of money, the pool of genuine news does not grow either. Whether most B2B companies with a Facebook presence have even researched their audiences and their appetite for frequent trivia on the news feed, if 'liking' a news item has any connection to actually buying the company's product, who knows? And what about Pinterest? Great concept, but getting great images from the average client is tougher than getting good news stories.

Meanwhile QR codes largely fizzled out in 2012 as it became clear that the intrusive chequered patches that had exploded over print advertising in 2011 were too much bother for target audiences. Although more and more, but still a minority were viewing social media, emails and web sites via smart mobile devices - not desk top computers. A lot of marketing communications were not designed with this in mind.

Content is king. Not just the written word, but images and video content and not just for information, but the all important search engine optimisation holy grail. Creating compelling content that is authoritative depends on knowledge and insight - not something easily gained or usefully fed out in 140   character tweets either.

Summing up 2012 on the assumption ancient Mayan prophecies of global apocalypse don't materialise rendering this blog irrelevant, things might be changing in marketing communications, but generally slower than advocates of the new rules predict. What is clear is that there are more and more marketing channels, traditional media is proving resilient, social media is joining the mix and Google remains almost the only act in town for getting visitors to your web site. The western economies are still struggling to pick up and it looks like a long haul. We continue to experience the new economic reality. Looking back two years to 2010 the overall marketing situation was much the same and had been in 2009 as well and hardly likely to change much in 2013 I guess.

PR - Who, What, Where, When and Why

There is a swell of opinion that the old PR approach is over now that companies can be their own online publishers.

There are even 'new rules' for publishing news such as detailed in David Meerman Scott's book The New Rules of Marketing & PR  described as 'A Businessweek Bestseller'' and yes, it is printed on paper. But wait. Despite the onward march of online publishing, there has not yet been the expected death of the printed medium. In fact within the b-2-b sectors we handle for clients the media we deal with has remained surprisingly resilient with only a few titles failing - but they would probably have done so anyway, not because of Internet competition. One or two have moved to online versions only, but most, albeit late in the day have developed an Internet business model to work with the traditional printed magazine. Pricing has evolved for email news delivery and web site news publication rather than use the free news model funded by general advertising revenue. Instead, charging for the news delivery, maybe with banner options in the package too, has a direct relationship between editorial content and payment. So for some publishers - and this is by no means all of them - there is a different approach needed for PR where editorial is part of the advertising deal. Writing for the trade press is evolving away from a single press release to attract the attention of an editor. As well as the traditional press release, there can be other versions which include what are in effect short articles commissioned on the back of an advertising package as well as news published free online in various ways.

Writing for news publishers in your b2b sector is no longer one press release suits all. Your press release may initially go to editors or news desks for editorial action - to publish or not, to edit to suit the publication's house style, edit to abbreviate, edit headline only or even where the originator is a trusted source, to publish  as received. Of course there is another audience to write for and that is your customers and prospects, because every business can be a publisher too - on your web site using a Virtual News Office or basic news page, on social media, via eNews and in company newsletters.

Traditionally press releases have been organised in a particular way. Usually editors will want to write their own headlines so the press release headline should be factual, concise and informative rather than some witty pun, for example. But where the story is to be published unedited or on your own site, then a good headline should attract the attention of your readers and draw them in. The headline is the first thing they all see. The opening paragraph is likewise  crucial and must communicate the essence of the story - the who, what, where, why and when. Because if this fails to raise interest, nobody - editors or customers are going to bother to read more. This is far from the whole story but if readers don't get this far, the other content is lost anyway.

Does your written communication have the right choice of voice?

Does the average B2B company pay the same attention to 'tone of voice' in written communication as to visual communication compliance in line with corporate identity guidelines?

To gain an insight into how tone of voice impinges on brand values take a look at this article by Ted Albrighton.  When working with clients we strongly advocate that three key documents are at the core of the marketing mission - a marketing plan, a marketing budget and a corporate identity (CI) guide. The CI guide is there to provide a reference for visual communication so that the brand is consistently presented  and advertising material produced in Hong Kong will have the same look and feel of work commissioned in Los Angeles or London.

But what about the words? The way the message is communicated demands consistency too, otherwise your target audience will receive confusing messages about what your brand represents. For example for a B2B claiming market leadership in its chosen sector the tone of voice could be authoritative, building consistently a position that the company knows what it is talking about with the inference that its products can therefore be trusted. The main reason we did not have a written document providing such guidance is that we typically created the words and effectively set the style. This was mainly in the form of press communications and company documentation such as sales brochures, web site copy, data sheets and white papers. The audiences being editors for PR and customers and specifiers for company literature. Press releases  invariably open with the who/what/where/why of the story that unfolds in the following paragraphs and the equivalent of the advertising tag line qualifying the brand is used consistently.

Style is another matter. It should be pitched at a level to suit the target audience. Generally this means stripping out jargon and complex technical terminology while not under valuing the knowledge or intelligence of the reader. The trade press offers a useful guide to the style their readers are comfortable with. Cut and pasting copy from several in-house authors to produce a document needs to be carefully reviewed to eliminate a mixture  of styles which will appear at best disjointed and at worst confusing. Where PR is generated by multiple agencies, then a style guide becomes essential to maintain quality and consistency of output.

Finally companies need to think carefully about tone of voice and style when it comes to social media and not least of course who has authority to write and say what. With target audiences less understood than for traditional B2B communication media, the opportunities to damage the brand through ill chosen tweets or Facebook news feeds is high.

Follow us anyway you like

Social media agencies have a tendency to talk in terms of building audiences through adding 'followers' and gaining 'likes'.

Traditional outbound b-2-b marketing defines the audiences to target based on analysis of the job function and role and perhaps even the persona of people who are prospective customers or specifiers of the products or services offered. Audience categories are detailed by the publications' readership profiles. Publications  cultivate readership that meets the needs of a specialised sector through editorial content the readers want and providing a platform for advertisers to present their messages to this specific group. Advertising is sometimes referred to as 'interruptive', intruding into the space where selective audiences are consuming information. Awareness through advertising of the important vendors in their market is also valid to buyers and specifiers so they may view display advertising as informative rather than interruptive. But this cosy business model of publishers, editors, PR agencies and advertisers is out dated claim other voices. It is the search engines dominated by Google and AdWords that are the way forward. This business model is not only trackable but paid for only when clicked on. It is a different media channel, but depends nonetheless on matching places where advertising is displayed in response to visitor defined search terms. The advertisements are presented because through search selection the audience has effectively defined itself as people the advertiser would like to reach.

So how does this work for social media? Are the audiences acquired through accumulating 'likes' and 'followers' the same people that traditional marketers would identify? In short are they buyers or specifiers of b-2-b goods and services? How many b-2-b companies have done the research to find out if social media channels are the preferred route to receive information from potential vendors? Do any of their customers even go there and if they do are commercial messages in a social forum welcome?

If the information offered by a company Facebook page is of great value then maybe a traditional engineer or consultant might be motivated to click 'like'. Consider now the more likely content on Facebook or Twitter. Well we know Twitter is probably going to be headline news rather than an in-depth analysis because of the 140 character limitation and Facebook is unlikely to be any more informative. It seems that the content posted on social media sites is at best what is left once the interesting stuff is published as press releases and white papers or magazine articles. Most PR people will know how difficult it can be to coax news worthy stories out of the average b-2-b client in the first place. Consider next the target of 5 posts a day advocated by one social media specialist. What is the chance of generating 5 quality items, but then the aim seems to be less to inform and educate - more to amuse and generate a warm fuzzy feeling rather than prompt a call to action and engage in the buying process.

Do QR codes really work for B2B marketing?

The pick up of QR codes as a marketing tool to link prospects directly to Internet content seems a compelling idea - but does it work?

We first commented on the widespread use of QR codes in April 2011. Developed as a device for component tracking in the Japanese automotive industry, their use in marketing appeared to offer a simple means of linking to a web site, or specific page without the need to type in a url. But is it that quick and are business customers that motivated to go through the process?

Sitting in front of my Mac writing this piece and using the QR code on this article, I made 3 tests with an iPhone. Switch phone on, unlock, find scanning app, focus, scan, site reached and open, took variously 16, 18 and 17 seconds. Not that long, but given how quickly people give up if a web site doesn't open in seconds, how many will be bothered? Also it can take longer if the QR code is not focussed straight away. But surprisingly using the Mac, Safari and Google combination took longer - open new browser window, key in company name until it appeared as a prompt, click search. Then the process slows as I scan the results page to find the actual company site, click and open. This took twice as long. And of course if not seated in front of the Mac then the mobile solution would win easily, provided there was a good signal. So may be the technology is robust but is the expectation of what the link will lead to, offer a strong enough motivation to bother with the process?

Not only does the 'call to action' need to promise access to interesting or valuable content, but in my case it also depends on what else I am doing. In a restaurant waiting for the bill my wife and I scanned the QR code on a card to enter a simple questionnaire promising the chance of a prize, because right at that time we had nothing better to do. But if I was skimming through the pages of a magazine would I bother to stop, get out the iPhone and scan a QR code in a display advertisement unless there was powerful motivation to do this?

Is display advertising still the safest option?

An article by WebProNews raises an interesting question - will brands shift focus away from Facebook?

The WebProNews piece which can be read in full here points out "There has been quite a bit of controversy, especially in recent weeks, about how many of Page's updates are making it to their fans' News Feeds, as Facebook pushes its monetization efforts (like promoted posts), which are essential to make shareholders happy." Further on and quoting from another blog "Defining engagement by clicks, likes, shares, unlikes and reporting works for Google's search engine, I don't believe it works for a social network."

And while Facebook has always been the biggest dilemma in what it really offers, look what has happened to Twitter. The function of Twitter is more immediately obvious as a means of sending news headlines optionally linked to the full story published on your blog or Virtual News Office. But the Lord McAlpine issue demonstrates the importance of keeping to the law in what is written and passed on in the public domain. 

Perhaps not surprising that many clients, even those experimenting with social media, still maintain a significant share of the marketing communications budget in display advertising in the traditional trade press. There is safety here particularly that advertising is going to appear associated with industry relevant editorial copy - content that is not going to lead to legal recrimination. Of course the voices of those selling online advertising regard print advertising as archaic and lacking the trackability of online pay per click advertising for example. Much depends on where your audience goes for information. Are they still reading printed publications? Do they influence and cultivate views and opinions on what is going on in the market and who are the important companies in that sector? At a stage when not actively researching products or yet ready to make a purchase, magazines remain a convenient way to keep in touch and seeing advertisements and press coverage remains an important part of that function. When ready to check out possible vendors for a product,  then it is time to turn to Google, but not turning to search for a generic product but as a quick means of going directly to already familiar brand names - thanks to awareness from that display advertising.

 

 

Do people with limited time want to keep up with new interests all in one place?

In an information rich, time deficient world there is some merit in being able to go to just one place to keep informed of the latest developments on topics of interest. The question for b-2-b marketers is to discover  where this might be for their customers and prospects.

It was during a conversation with the publisher of a special interest web site that the idea of busy people checking into one place regularly to keep abreast of the latest news, developments and chatter of interest and relevance to them, came up. This notion that there are people who actively monitor activity and developments as opposed to passively consuming received communications runs contrary to the traditional marketing approach. In the conventional marketing communication plan messages are sent to the target audiences - advertisements in trade journals, postal campaigns to individuals, emails to inboxes - all as outbound marketing campaigns. In-bound marketing shifts the initiative from marketer to customer or prospect, but still places a requirement on the marketer to make the information available in the format required by the consumer of information.

Ten years ago or more, RSS seemed to offer just such a solution. In the early days of RSS feeds the user downloaded reader software then selected which RSS feeds they wanted to monitor. For example  feeds from major news organisations such as the BBC or CNN could be combined with feeds from information relevant to work such as new products, new technologies, exhibitions and conferences and finally perhaps news from a favourite sports team or hobby. Quite quickly, say each morning, the headlines from all the news feeds of interest could quickly be scanned and those of more interest than others clicked on to read the story in more depth. But RSS got built into browsers so readers became redundant and the notion of a personalised headline service never really caught on. Twitter has kind of captured this solution and certainly has widespread acceptance. As with RSS feeds you can select who you choose to follow, but beware of the sheer volume and triviality of some of the messages. Some advocates of Facebook anxious to update on the current status of friends used this as the one place they were anxious to review on a frequent basis and used this as a peer to peer communications platform as well, but extending this to following the antics of your favourite company may be a stretch for the typical b-2-b company.

So if RSS is fading and social media not really cutting it as the single destination for such a diverse range of "need-to-know" information embracing both personal interests and work knowledge, perhaps the old concept of industry portal or community interest site might be a good place to ensure your information is there and regularly updated.  The thing is few companies seem to be asking their customers the question where do they visit on a frequent basis to keep informed of important developments relative to their field of work.

 

How are your online communications being viewed and received?

There is growing evidence that an increasing number of visitors viewing web sites and emails are now using mobile devices.

A quick view of Google Analytics for some clients indicates that over 10% are currently using mobile devices to view their web sites. The suggestion is that the percentage now viewing emails may be even higher. These are not statistically validated research findings, merely observations based on what we actually see happening. The problem is that the web site does not always work too well on mobile devices.

Emails may have communication  problems other than how an html email is displayed on an iPhone or iPad, but also in how the message is handled by the recipient. For a long time we have tended to use email not just as a quick message system, but as a tool to deliver a more complex document as an attachment, with a brief covering note in the body of the email. There is a suspicion that the frequent lack of response suggests that the documents are not being opened or even being received at all. So where possible the document content now becomes transmitted within the body of the email. By of necessity shortening the document this may actually improve the focus of the report. But then another problem arises in that many recipients simply forward it to someone else within or even outside the organisation. So don't send anything confidential is the thought.

May be there is a psychological issue at play here in so far as emails received on a phone are thought of as similar to text messages, some ephemeral, even trivial communication. So before sending out the next email, check how it will display and think about how it might be received. And finally, why don't people change that "sent from my iPhone" footer.

Customer retention is important too

There is so much focus on techniques for developing sales leads that sometimes nurturing existing customers gets forgotten.

Of course it is important to generate enquiries from new prospects, but the process from that initial enquiry to closing a sale utilises a lot of marketing and sales resource and typically only a minority actually turn into customers anyway. Resources invested into Search Engine Optimisation and Adwords, one way or the other are aimed at prospects searching on generic terms. People making such an open search request might be the least well informed about the product category and once at your site will more likely require helpful background information to make a better informed purchase decision further down the line. Many web sites give the impression they are more for first time visitors than a resource for existing customers.

On the other hand, b-2-b buyers are more likely to already know the most respected  manufacturers and suppliers of products in your market sector and less likely to be using Google to generate a list of potential vendors. There is evidence that many go straight to the sites of suppliers they already know and trust.  Apart from new start ups, most established businesses will already have customers and these are also the source of most new enquiries, so it makes sense to nurture them. It is easy to focus marketing on obtaining new prospects and not put the same effort into retaining exiting customers and indeed selling them more.

Does your web site cater for returning customers, or is it "selling" to new visitors? Do you keep in touch with existing customers? What information do they receive? Before deciding what to send and how frequently to communicate it can be useful to identify which are your most important customers - your "Top 10" or "Top 100" depending on the size of your customer database. These are the most valuable and contact with them should be on a more individual basis keeping them informed of new developments, changes in the industry relevant to them and perhaps inviting them to special events such as new product introductions. But don't forget the other customers too. Keep them informed of what is going on generally in your business area, remind them of your expertise and knowledge, re-enforce the wisdom of buying your product in the first place and maintain 'top of the mind,' brand awareness so you are on the list next time they are buying,


  

What is going on in advertising land?

A few days since Google shares dipped after its core advertising business slowed, in the UK, a big fall in print advertising is reported.

Print Week writes today that  according to the latest quarterly Expenditure Report published by the Advertising Authority and WARC "print adspend shrunk by 11.7% year-on-year in Q2 2012" with the biggest hit taken by the B-2-B magazine sector with a massive 21.5% fall. Although this is not surprising news to marketers in the B-2-B area, the scale of the decline certainly puts big numbers against what has otherwise been supposition. That many businesses are cutting back on display advertising is no surprise either, based on feedback from advertising managers. The static, or falling value of advertising space is also having an impact on agencies who see commission falling too and thus have little motivation to drive prices down via more aggressive negotiation. "Advertising" is typically the big ticket item in the b-2-b marcomms budget, so what is happening? Well the obvious assumption is the advertising pounds are being spent online.

But Reuters filed a report on Friday that' "Google Inc's quarterly results fell well short of Wall Street's expectations after its core advertising business slowed, stunning investors accustomed to consistently rapid growth from the Internet giant and wiping more than 9 percent off its market value." "For the fourth consecutive quarter, the company reported a decline in average cost-per-click (CPC), a critical metric that denotes the price advertisers pay Google. Average CPC declined 15 percent from a year ago and 3 per cent from the second quarter of this year." One culprit is mobile devices as "advertisers pay far less for ads on smartphones and tablets than for similar ads on desktop computers."

There is another implication for Google in that some people might be by passing search engines and heading straight for already known destination sites and using those sites' own, more specific search facility. Interestingly we have been seeing evidence of this for some time now. Some research we conducted a couple of years ago for a client suggested a majority of b-2-b customers had long since identified the most important sites for the products and services they wanted to buy and went straight to them. Only a minority, about a quarter of customers, searched on generic terms using Google. So in this case 3 out of 4 wouldn't see the Google Ads anyway.

Perhaps it is no wonder some b-2-b marketers are sitting on their budgets or buying strategically when a good deal comes up and more often buying not just display advertising space but a package that includes editorial, online publication and email delivery. The notion that advertising pounds will simply migrate to the Internet may be too simplistic. Quality publications will continue to attract advertising revenue and online media may have to work harder too.

There are no five minute jobs.

How do you plan time for creative ideas? Although planning is an important marketing discipline, creative ideas do not just pop up to suit a fixed time frame, although a good clear brief can help provide the focus.

At 6.45 am every Monday morning the entire account management team and all the creative staff of the advertising agency where I worked would be assembled for the weekly planning meeting. Open jobs and new jobs would be reviewed and time allocated and work assigned. The planning meeting had to finish by 9am, the official start time and as the hour approached and it once again became obvious it was impossible to squeeze the work required into the hours available so the infamous "5 minute jobs" got shoe horned in. The staff knew nothing of any value could be accomplished in that time, simply opening up work folders would consume most of that. Everyone knew that once again they would be working late!  In an advertising agency back in the 80's and 90's billable hours were everything, but fortunately clients had scant knowledge of hourly rates. Staff were paid for regular office hours, hours they rarely actually worked, hours that were balanced  by unpaid overtime. Of course, once the official work day began more work, often urgent, would need to be squeezed in particularly if the client was important and usually accommodated at the expense of smaller, less valuable clients. 

The so called "5 minute jobs" were those that we knew how to do, exactly what was required and had the skills available to accomplish the task. So because it was a known quantity, the time to do it was under estimated. In the four box grid that identifies tasks according to understanding of the task versus skills to do it, it was in Box 1 - in other words, a known quantity requiring no thinking or planning time. Hence it was pigeon holed as a "5 minute job".

 But unfortunately creativity requires flashes of genius and insight to have the big idea and doesn't easily fit into time slots. Sometimes the creative concept is quickly established, but other times may prove elusive for days. So planning needs to allow the creative director time to brain storm ideas not just execute them. It is this creative process that marks out a successful creative agency from a design agency that just turns out artwork to client request. The clever headline, the engaging visual that a truly creative agency delivers stand out from the ordinary fare the others produce and gets results. 

But it comes at a cost of course. One good creative advertisement that drives enquiries must be better than a load of wallpaper. Often the idea - the key concept - may come quickly. But its value will be far greater than 5 minutes at the hourly rate, like the artist can capture the essence of an image with a few strokes of a pencil it is the years of experience and learning that enables this to happen.

Does simultaneous use of devices mean less attention for content?

According to a survey by Sky TV reported in a recent edition of Metro many people are using mobile devices while simultaneously watching television.

According to the survey three people in four watch television with a second device at hand and one in three uses tablets, smart phones or tablets to talk about it while watching. Sky claim social media is relied on "to feel part of a bigger online conversation and to gain recommendations about what to watch." When asked why people watching TV turn to social media 25% of 18 to 24 year olds said because "it makes me feel part of a larger conversation," 24% of 25 to 34 year olds because "it makes my viewing experience more fun," 15% of 35 to 44 year olds say "it makes me feel more sociable" and surprisingly even 12% of over 55s said "it enriches my viewing experience." The days of a family spending evenings huddled round a small television all watching the same programme have long since gone. What is interesting is what is now termed 'sociable'. It is not uncommon to see families in restaurants sitting silently round a table not inter acting with each other, but with a wider group via their smart phones. Same in cinemas, even theatres people are tweeting and whatever to people who are not present. Many in that 25 to 34 year age group seem to be permanently bonded to their iPhones when they are supposedly socialising, driving, walking, working and even sleeping.

From a marketing point of view, providing content to mobile platforms like iPhones and iPads using social media tools might seem an obvious thing to do if so many rely on these channels for recommendations. But then there's the nagging doubt about how much attention they are paying to the content. Are this growing band addicted to always on social communication buyers for b-2-b products and services? There is an ominous lack of research into a link between company presence on these platforms and channels and sales. Does the influence of social media, apparently so important in recommending what to watch on TV and how to live generally, actually translate into enquiries and ultimately sales?

Should marketing be sliced up or joined up?

As developments in digital marketing call for new skills and specialists emerge to provide them, it prompts the question of who makes sure the total marketing programme is seamless and nothing slips through the joins.

Clients looking to tap into the expertise they may believe they need could soon have a growing number of specialist suppliers. For example, SEO, Adwords, social media, website development, emailing, video production not to mention more conventional skills in PR, advertising, graphic design, exhibition   stand design, mailing programmes and many more. The average b-2-b company with modest marketing personnel resources could soon find they are spending most of their time managing suppliers - providing briefings, agreeing fees, providing material and at the same time keeping a watchful eye on budgets. Soon time pressures lead to skipping formal briefing and becoming a hub for forwarding emails between suppliers. But who checks the quality of the assembled material, who ensures that it all works as a whole? Consider a recent example. The client asked their graphic design agency for an html email. The design agency sub contracted this to a freelancer. He emailed a package back, the agency forwarded it to the client who emailed it to us. Our role being to provide the email delivery service in this case. In between nobody appeared to have looked at the package or tested it. Typically the client is unaware of much of the technical aspects so the relevant suppliers are not briefed and often work on low bid prices that do not build in issues such as testing and quality control. The specialist suppliers are equally unaware of the total marketing plan, the brand values and strategies and company ethos. Marketing is sliced and diced and treated as a bunch of plug-ins.

The Technical Marketing philosophy promotes the joined up marketing view where the marketing communication tools are integrated into a comprehensive plan where together the combination adds value. Our role starts at the planning stage, developing strategies then working with clients to help them implement marketing programmes.

Has PR become an essential SEO tool?

As search engine algorithms are increasingly refined to weed out devious SEO tricks and focus on web site quality and relevance, so content becomes really important and this widens the scope and role of PR.

When we set up Virtual News Office over ten years ago we soon noticed that Google indexed our clients' stories and these showed up in searches in several ways. Although this wasn't an intended feature of the VNO, searches turned up not just for the client's name or brand, but the customer's name, the location and of course the generic product type. The VNO service was devised to allow marketing to regularly update news on their web site, rapidly - something their IT or web agency often struggled to achieve, or was expensive to do. The VNO service Technical Marketing Ltd offers is not just a means of publishing news online, but a searchable archive, a high resolution image resource for the press, an RSS news feed generator and a tool for delivering press releases.  Although CMS is now common on company web sites, actually updating a news module requires the discipline and time for someone in the marketing team to actually go and do. Because the news from the VNO is fed to an iFrame on the client's site there are relevant inbound links, something Google rates highly. But this system also allows us to feed news to other industry sites, news tickers or banner ads. We have found that our news server consistently ranks in the top 10 referring sites to client web sites.

An onsite news module merely supplies  page content, it neither generates in-bound links or provides editorial resource and may not be making best use of the content anyway. We reasoned way back during the development of the VNO that the news was what changed most often and required regular updates that most other pages didn't and was most effectively and efficiently managed by the PR agency. The only counter argument being that the company web site did not have the benefit of this content.  But this is easily overcome by examining news subjects and publication channels and re-purposing content that has a longer term value on the web site for search engine indexing. Important news should still go to the media and this requires to be written in a media friendly style and delivered typically by email. For customers and prospects the style can be different and the delivery channels include newsletters and social media.

Some news will be short term - an exhibition or event, financial results, staff changes etc. Other news may have longer term value such as new products, interesting customer applications or installations and these can be re-purposed as product support and testimonials to create quality, relevant web site content. News delivery can be used as appropriate such as Twitter or RSS for headline news and links to more extensive content on the web site, less formal communication on a blog and groups on LinkedIn.

The scope of this work seems to most naturally be within the remit of the PR agency, a role now expanded beyond the traditional press release, to include alternative publication and delivery platforms and now playing an important part in good search engine positioning.

The value of customer testimonials

Third party endorsements of your products published as testimonials can positively influence prospective customers and become another useful marketing tool.

Endorsements can be requested or unsolicited - such as someone spontaneously contacting the company to praise the product, or in response to examples of good service they have received. Alternatively it could be a product review on an industry (or your own company) web site, but reviews can also focus on negative experience.

Requested testimonials should be organised where users of your products can be invited to provide a statement that can be quoted in publicity material, or go further than that and invite them to agree to a full interview. Interviewing the person giving the testimonial can be made on video and at the location where your products are used. The video technique is very useful. The interviewees can introduce themselves and talk about their company to establish their authority and credentials and then be guided through response to a series of questions. The products can be shown in situ and demonstrated in use. How and why your products were chosen can be elicited and the user experience explored.

Usually the video will need editing so that it flows well and establishing footage of the venue or location added to help tell the story.  But posting the interview to the company YouTube archive is just the beginning. The interview can easily be re-purposed as an article for the company newsletter, as a press release and selecting a still and quote used for display advertising with a QR link back to the video.

The value of advocates

Within the market you address there will be an important and exclusive group whose advocacy of your products is disproportionate to the numbers of people.

They can be grouped as your “VIP List”–these are the people that you need to have on message and feeling positive and warm about your products. The first task is to identify who qualifies for your VIP list. They may not all be on your database, although they should be. Examples of people qualifying for VIP membership may include your most important customers, editors of the most influential publications in your market, consultants and advisors, academics and  the recognised industry guru – if there is one.

These people need to be kept not only informed of what your company is doing, but taken into your confidence where appropriate. The VIP group can be a good sounding board for new products in development for example. Communications should be personalised both in terms of providing the most relevant content to each person and in a form that they prefer. It may be information mailed with a personal covering letter if that is their preference, or a personal email or even a telephone call.

The VIP group can be invited to special events –not a hospitality package at a sporting event –but a new product launch or site visit to a prestige project. At one company we hosted a monthly lunch for groups of VIPs at a London restaurant and because they had the same industry interests in common discussions could be lively and informative.

By cultivating your VIPs they will become valuable advocates for your brand and products.

Are printed magazines on the way out?

When The Engineer announced it was to cease publication of its respected fortnightly magazine and go online only, was this the end of an era, or the dawn of a new age?

Editor John Excell explained the economics and dynamics of print v online that was behind publisher Centaur Media's decision to cease print and move the title to an online magazine only. Clearly the cost savings could be significant. In general we see less printed material in the b-2-b world anyway because most customers are satisfied with information on company web sites or willing to print off PDFs if they want a hard copy record. And of course an online magazine has the capability to do much more - links, video, interactive tools for example. But this is much more of a landmark decision than simply offering product information online rather than in print. The Engineer is a well established title that has been in print for nearly 150 years, it has valuable content of well written and researched articles at the cutting edge of engineering. It is not a publication full of manufacturers' press releases. It is a publication of note that engineers read. And this is really one of the key issues - what platform do the readers prefer to read content?

Other publishers must be watching with great interest to see what happens next. Other titles in the industrial, engineering, technology sectors have over the years, been slow to publish on the Internet at all, but most now have online versions using Yudu page turning versions of the printed magazine, email newsletters, news archives etc but still retain the printed version. Interestingly the first digital publication of The Engineer retains the magazine style but online, with tools to view full screen, print, share, download etc. It still looks as though it is designed for print rather than optimised for online viewing. I suspect few readers will print off 42 pages to read away from a computer or mobile device. Not surprisingly online comments divide into two camps - those who view the decision to cease print as the death of the title and those that herald a bold environmentally wise move. But being engineers someone soon got to calculating the energy used by the devices that carry the digital copy. Whether people prefer to read articles, stories and generally longer pieces in printed format or on say an iPad is a matter of wider debate and for now there seems to be a market for both.

The advertising manager of a technology publication that offers both print and online options of their magazine told me there was very little cross over between readers registered for the print and online versions and accordingly the advertising packages were sold separately. This is of course another important test - how will advertisers respond? On the face of it placing the advertisement online should enable the opportunity for tracking response that print advertising has not offered since the demise of response cards. The design and format of advertisements could use new techniques, although the first digital issue appears to use the advertising designed for print plus a link. In theory advertisers could have the advertising copy on their own server in future and offer far greater reader interactivity. But much depends on the readers transferring actual reading habits, not just skimming headlines, from the printed page to the online page and that is what advertisers and other publishers will be watching with interest.

The value of case studies

Case studies, describing how customer needs have been met and their outcome received, can have a positive influence on new business.

The use of case studies as a marketing tool can be very informative and influential in converting prospects into customers, or persuading people such as architects or consulting engineers with specifying authority to recommend your product. Case studies should outline the brief or issue being addressed, mention options considered and provide the rationale for the final choice, then explain how the product or system was installed and finally the outcome of the project will round off the case study.

Case studies are usually most relevant to projects and contracts for example in architecture, construction and engineering. The target audiences will include management of companies and organisations contemplating similar work as well as specifiers working in those disciplines. Often they will be used to show case a number of company products or systems installed in the project.

We can divide the case study into 4 main sections:-

1.     The scene can be set by describing the project brief or problems to be addressed and the specific role or involvement of your company.

2.     Then review the options that would meet the goals of the project and the recommended solution.

3.     Details of the products or system can then be described, perhaps illustrated with building plans, wiring diagrams and photographs showing important stages of the work.

4.     Finally the outcome. Were the targets met, what did the client have to say what are the views of the users?

Building a portfolio of well-explained and illustrated case studies will help develop credibility and trust. The final version can be designed for print, to download from a web site or as a web page including links to products and other relevant information and always including company branding and contact information.

The great, the good and the not so great

Final decisions in the buying process can often be influenced by the opinions of others. Aiming to achieve positive influences, or turn less enthusiastic endorsement into support, is an essential part of the marketing brief.

There are many people willing to offer opinions on the value and merits of your products but for simplicity consider two main groups that need to be addressed:-

1. The experts and 
2. The users

Expert opinions in general are the views expressed by people recognised as having authority within their field and whose independence and judgement is respected and trusted. They can be the 'great and the good' of the industry, reviewers of a trusted magazine or web site, or professional consultants. Industry or market sectors often have a 'guru' whose advice is sort and respected and a favourable or unfavourable opinion of a new product can be decisive to potential buyers looking for guidance. All these influencers should be identified and subject of a communications programme of information and disclosure directed towards getting them to be advocates for your products.

Keeping in touch with users of your products is as important as bringing them through the earlier stages of the buying process to become customers in the first place. Continuing  a dialogue not only helps confirm that they made a wise purchase decision, but contented customers can be turned into repeat customers and through personal testimonials, advocates on your behalf. Where products are sold directly identifying this group should be easy, but where goods are sold through intermediaries other methods will be needed to motivate product users to participate in your communications programmes.

Finally a word about the 'not so great' - the disaffected customer who uses online means to have a moan and dissuade others from buying your products. Monitoring the usual places, engaging and providing solutions can be time consuming in dealing with rogue dissidents, but failure to do so promptly can tarnish your product's and company's hard won reputation.

 

Time for a marketing audit?

When was the last time your marketing programmes were subjected to review and audit?

Annual marketing plans and budgets, for those who write them at all, tend to be repetitive year on year. How often does the plan take a fresh look at the market, customers and prospects and ask is the plan still relevant, or have things out there changed? And not just the means of delivery of the message but has the market fundamentally changed, are new players reshaping that space, do customers still want the same thing and where do they go to find what they want?

What prompted this chain of thought was an enquiry from a company where the dynamics of their market seemed to have changed and a realisation that sales leads from their old sources were dwindling and they needed to be pro-active in generating more. Unfortunately it exposed the absence of any marketing plan at all and consequently no tools to use to improve the situation. One worrying aspect of their specific case is the main product they sell started life as a replacement for an old technology solution and selling a smarter, more energy efficient and useful modern solution was an easy sell. Today there are many suppliers in that market not to mention the imports at rock bottom prices and the old technology all now replaced so the original message needs to change too. Time to conduct a marketing audit as a prelude to developing a marketing plan and building a new sustainable position.

So before the situation becomes a crisis, have another look at your target market. Has it changed from the last time you actually thought about it? Is the user base still the same, what are your geographic boundaries - maybe when you started it was defined as a particular region, now it could be the world. Have the buyers and influencers changed? At one time it may have been the case that engineers carefully evaluated a number of potential products and the buying team bought a specific product from the engineer's approved manufacturer. By now there may be little difference so buyers bypass the engineering evaluation and just buy a generic product from the company that gives the best terms. So both the target market and target audiences have changed, the competition intensified and prices and margins declined. Worse still the sales brochure doesn't cut it anymore, why wait for that to turn up in the post when a web search can find a supplier right now.

Of course these changes don't usually happen overnight, but a audit to check the marketing plan is  addressing the actual situation might be worth doing.

Survey probes industrial marketing trends

The 2012 market survey for industrial marketers indicates widespread uptake of online channels but notes a dissatisfaction with social media efforts.

Trends in Industrial Marketing 2012: How Manufacturers are Marketing Today published by GlobalSpec surveys marketing managers in industrial companies to discover their marketing goals, priorities and how marketing budgets are allocated. "Only 17% of companies are satisfied or very satisfied with their social media efforts and just 7% have a full-time employee dedicated solely to social media." "Incorporating social media into their marketing efforts" is also cited as one of the top challenges in their profession along with generating leads for sales and measuring marketing ROI. The most used social media are LinkedIn (73%), Facebook (55%) and Twitter (40%).

With 47% of companies spending more than a third of their marketing budget online, one perhaps surprising finding is that when asked, " Which of these marketing channels do you plan to use in 2012?" the top answer at 67% was 'Tradeshows'. The list of most commonly cited (by 30% or more) comprise a mixture of online and offline channels ranked:

• Tradeshows
• email marketing using in-house lists
• online directories and web sites
• SEO
• Social media
• Trade magazine advertising
• Video
• Public relations
• Direct mail using in-house lists
• Online newsletter sponsorship/ads
• Search engines - paid traffic
• Internet banner advertising on individual site
• Blogs
• Printed directories 

The survey tends to support the argument for using an appropriate mix of traditional and online channels but it is the established routes of email and web sites that remain most popular of the online marketing tools.

What next - will chirping take off?

Is the Chirp app the next big thing?


As social media has evolved and insinuated its presence into the b-2-b marketing space there cannot help but be a sneaky suspicion that there is a measure of uncertainty about the value to a business and therefore how much resource to invest. Behind this concern is the ephemeral nature of some of the delivery tools and how much they are dependent on the continued enthusiasm of the users. Remember the initial excitement that greeted Friends Reunited and discovering what old school chums were up to? In the main it was pretty mundane stuff they were doing and it reminded you of why you had not kept in touch with them after leaving school. Then there was MySpace and now the hot property is Facebook. Both Friends Reunited and MySpace soldier on and you wonder if the shine might also go off Facebook too. So what next? A flurry of exchanges on my local marketing network responded to the news that one agency's client was investing resource in Chirp.


According to News Scientist - "Chirp,launched today, is a new service that allows people to share digital content – web pages, pictures, video or pretty much anything that can be stored on an online server – by playing short tunes to each other." The BBC mentions potential marketing applications saying,"It can also work over public address systems or radio transmissions - potentially allowing broadcasters a way to send up-to-date pictures or links to background information: or an advertiser to send coupons or snippets of a song or promotional video." One big question is will people be bothered? Last year it was QR codes that were suddenly everywhere in a checkerboard black and white rash over display advertisements and posters. But what seemed like a great system for linking the printed page to the Internet requires the user to make an effort and that won't happen if the experience disappoints. 


b-2-b marketers need to be aware of the technical possibilities and allow some modest resource to test and evaluate but not lose sight of a crucial question - is this a place that your target audiences actually visit?




  

Marketing is more than getting leads

catalogue collectors surprisingly include vicars 

Historically leads generated by marketing activities have then been passed straight on to the sales team. And what happened next is anyones guess.

Sometimes they sat in a pile on the sales manager's desk or in the back of his car. Sales people may also have been sceptical about the value of the leads, particularly if they hadn't been qualified in any way. The salesman is usually looking for immediate prospects that can quickly be converted into orders to meet  targets. The reality is there will probably be few 'hot' leads, most will be at different stages in the sales process from initial research into what might be available and onwards to being close to buying. When sales leads arrived in paper format - often response cards - there was usually a fair sprinkling of catalogue collectors with a surprising number of school children, students and more surprisingly - vicars. To discourage the amateur librarians response cards or forms asked more and more questions to provide information that would help weed out the 'time wasters'. And of course the forms in due course moved on to the web site. Some research indicates that the intervention of a form to qualify for information loses a high percentage of visitors. This matters, because the old weeding out process is as totally outmoded as much as the salesmen jealously guarding product information that would only get released to the most eager prospects once they had jumped through a series of hoops.

The web site brutally exposes all the product details that past generations of salesmen would drip feed to prospective customers. But it doesn't mean that having this information online makes it understandable to web site visitors and it helps to provide paths through the web site that are appropriate to prospects at different stages in the process that not only leads up to closing a sale, but continues after as they become users of the product or service. Many b-2-b enterprises do not sell online   to customers buying on impulse, but are more likely once on board have an extended relationship with the vendor. So when  a visitor reaches your web site make available the type of useful information in the form of white papers and video the type of information that sets the scene, explains the technology, provides examples of how your product benefits users. Instead of hiding this behind the old style form, offer the option to sign up for a monthly newsletter with the promise of useful and current information. By nurturing the prospect the relationship is being built and valued. When the time arrives for a purchase your company will have created a good impression and time for the sales call. It is just as important to maintain the relationship after purchase with follow up contacts, maybe even a 'users' club if relevant and of course introducing accessory products to build the value of the customer's account.

Talking about planning

In this blog we have often talked about planning and more specifically the importance of a marketing plan. But what about individual campaigns?

Simply writing a marketing plan annually when reviewing the budget, then forgetting it for a year is a pretty pointless exercise. And when it comes to campaigns that are part of that marketing plan, then it is important to give these the same attention to planning. Whether it is a major event such as a new product launch, a trade show or a special price promotion, setting objectives, strategy and targets as well as ensuring all the marketing tools are in place calls for some careful planning and at the end of the campaign evaluating the results. Was the outcome successful? Were targets achieved? What worked and what didn't?

In today's time short environment it is all too easy to respond to an imperious directive from on high within the company to do some marketing initiative without understanding the rationale, having the right tools in place, agreeing benchmarks and reviewing results. Then rush on to the next half executed scheme. As the chairman of a company I worked for some time ago when observing such frenzied activity was fond of asking, "are we merely being busy fools?"

Thinking about content marketing

Content marketing. Is that a new buzz word to tempt unsuspecting clients?

However exciting the new web site looks or a glossy new brochure appeals, the real test is does the content  interest the prospect and contribute to moving that person towards a commitment to purchase. The previous two blogs have discussed the changing role of PR from the traditional press release to the ability  the Internet affords of now being your own publisher. But unless the content published is compelling and valuable it won't do the job. So we talk about content marketing.

At different stages in the buying process, or perhaps in the stages that lead to an actual purchase, a prospect may need to be guided through a sequence of events. There will be prospects who may have identified a problem with something within their area of expertise, but at this stage are unaware of the existence of products or services that can deal with their problems. To give an example a company specialising in instrumentation may already have a solution for people who are experts in other fields such as geology or structural engineering, but are unaware of the products and how to use them and the companies that can supply the tools they don't yet know they need. This can also be the case in new markets where content is required to educate people. This can be a two edged sword, as in educating people you also help open the door to a market they didn't know existed and in turn to your competitors. The well written educational piece will not just explain the technology and applications but in doing so position your company as experts, build credibility and trust. Typical examples of useful content at an initial research stage are White Papers, Guides and 'How To' tips.

Creating awareness is often an essential early step for introducing new customers to the products you have and lead to an interest to learn more and to become more specific in their research to discover what particular products from your range are what they need. At the early interest stage offering telephone support can be very helpful in identifying product options that best meet their application needs. Some prospects might be alarmed at actually talking to a vendor so early in the process, particularly if they have only recently discovered the benefits this class of product appears to offer them. So online selection tools can seem less intimidating and anonymous than getting engaged with a sales person before they have researched other options. At any time that help option needs to be accessible. Not everyone wants to take the time to figure it all out first. Having read a white paper and realised where to go, others may prefer to short circuit the rest of the process and press the help button right away. Others need to be nurtured along the route and directed to content appropriate for that stage. At some time products,  price and availability become important in the decision process. How this information is presented will depend on the nature of the product as to whether it is off-the-shelf for next day delivery, or subject to design and proposal. Content should have made sure prospects know what to expect here.

Writing for totally newcomers to the market as well as repeat customers and regular specifiers who need to get straight to the detail and expect it to be up to date and accurate, will call for different styles and different paths through the web site. And what with multiple communications channels, content marketing has an important role to play.

Thinking like a publisher

Thanks to the web and free publishing tools anyone can now be a publisher - but what to publish?

In The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott he writes, "Prior to the web, organisations had only two significant choices to attract attention. Buy expensive advertising or get third party ink from the media." There were other options such as a company newsletter mailed to the customer database to keep in touch, particularly useful when product purchasing/replacement cycles are long to help maintain top of the mind awareness and unprompted recall of your brand during the long intervals in between. But the web has indeed opened a new door directly to customers, so what do they need to know? Well they don't necessarily want to go straight to an online catalogue. In the b-2-b marketing space purchases are more likely to be researched rather than made on impulse. And of course web site visitors may not yet be a customer, but they could be prospects waiting to be converted.

It is often noted that customers and prospects want benefits, they want to know what your product and service can do for them. Creating an online resource that is authoritative about your industry or market can be a very effective marketing tool. There is plenty of scope for content here, not just talking about the latest developments but taking a step back to provide people new to the subject a straightforward explanation of what the sector is all about, the main things to be aware of and the benefits to their organisation. You should also discuss the operating environment, issues such as legislation specific to this area of interest, what standards apply, examples of applications, new developments, user experience - in short, content which is relevant and informative to prospective buyers that provides a valuable briefing resource. Traditionally this is the area of White Papers and some of this content can indeed be available packaged in a PDF for download. But a blog actually can do much more. There are several benefits in using a blog. Although company sponsored it can afford to take a more  personal approach, less formal than the White Paper and certainly more flexible. Content can be developed by several authors, each with different expertise and knowledge of the subject. A blog is not restricted to text alone, images and video can be used to great effect and links can take readers to further information such as products that meet their needs. Blogs are also an interactive tool allowing followers to comment on articles and authors and others to respond.

The thing is, running a blog does require effort, not just to set up, but to keep going forward, to maintain quality and build followers and that is what not many companies are good at doing. But those who do will see the rewards. Taking the moral high ground in their market sector will build authority, develop trust and know what, when the time comes to replace or buy a new product guess whose name will be high on the short list of vendors.

Have the rules of PR changed?

Not everyone gets what PR is about.

Forget about the formal definitions, in the B-2-B world PR is about generating favourable news coverage for a client, it is about managing the reputation of the client and in money terms it is about using the PR fee to gain value that simply buying equivalent media space for advertising could not achieve. It is not the world of murky 'spin doctors' who seek to manage news in the political arena. And it is not just about press releases either.

The thing about PR is that it can use many channels to communicate and this often used to cause problems in one B-2-B agency where I worked, between advertising account executives and PR account executives as to what constituted PR and what had strayed into advertising territory.  Traditionally press releases could probably be regarded as the core of a PR programme along with newsletters, company magazines, subscribed articles, White Papers and the like. But whatever the actual delivery mechanism the process ultimately required client approval before release and the news pitch was directed towards the editors of trade press publications. It was the editor who decided which press release would appeal to the readership of his magazine.

But in the era of social media the audience is not an editor writing for say a technical audience, but the end customers themselves. So it is argued the formal style both of writing and presentation should be abandoned in favour of an informal conversation with the customers. And another thing - the imperative of instant communication and response bypasses the process of review and approval. It is no longer just the press release, but the blog, Facebook, Twitter, news feeds and video that are useful PR communication tools. It is not of itself an alternative as some might assume, or without cost - whether the hours consumed are on the in-house budget or as an outsourced fee. Opening up the writing task to a roster of authors also involves risk - a wrong word here or there can destroy years of carefully constructing that reputation at a stroke.

One approach we have used to manage the diversity of news channels is to develop a PR Grid that chooses the style and form of publication and how appropriate a particular news item is for certain channels. Some items are only for the social media channels, items which are different, unusual or in some other way more interesting still go down the traditional publication route as well as the social media routes. Brought together it makes for an integrated approach that still delivers a consistent core message but in a way that recognises the diversity of broadcast options.

DAY 2 at ABTT Theatre Show

On show with British Harleqiin.

ABBT Theatre Show

Great buzz on opening day.

Should all marketing communications now be online?

Some marketing commentators are suggesting that traditional marketing tools are no longer of value and that trackable and measurable campaigns should now all be online.

Although much evidence points to the company web site as the preferred portal for initial contact with a vendor, what drives visitors to the site in the first place is another matter. This may well be conventional display advertising in a trusted industry sector publication. A recent email received from Industrial Technology quoting from market research they had commissioned, noted that "Despite the growth of on line promotion, advertisements still play a major part in directing traffic to websites and, from our reader research findings, 76% of readers prefer magazines to keep up to date with new products. 66% then visit the chosen manufacturers websites." 

The sudden uptake a year or so ago, of QR codes provides a link from the printed page to a landing page which in theory offers a simple connection without the need to key in a url. There is some scepticism about the take up of these, or whether the novelty value has passed. It still takes time to open an app, scan and view content which has to be pretty good to bother doing this on a regular basis. So if the first experiences are disappointing, the call to action will have to be very compelling to bother.  Interestingly looking at Google Analytics for some clients the move to mobile devices is growing, but at under 12% of site visitors is still a minority, with the top platforms being iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Social media referral currently accounts for just over 1% of their traffic, despite a significant client commitment to engage in this area. Here there is even more scepticism in b-2-b marketing. It seems some people are becoming bored as noted in a recent article reflecting on some market research. "Along with saying that they were bored, the Facebook defectors also used the words “not useful” to describe the experience. Apparently, some users simply aren’t getting the information that they require when they log on to the service. One major issue could be that users aren’t seeing the statuses, photo uploads, and other activities from the people they care about. Even if they want to see what Person X had for breakfast, it might not appear on their News Feed. Facebook has been upfront with the fact that only a small percentage of your friends actually see your posts – somewhere around 12%." A big question is whether advertising is that effective in a social environment. The fall of 30% in Facebook stock since the recent IPO suggests that the financial markets are also having their doubts.

At a more general level over 70% reached the client web sites through search - more searching by brand name than for generic product - 16% via referral and 12% direct. Most likely the referred and direct visitors are more valuable as one third are returning visitors. So getting visitors to the web site is not simply generated by other online actions but in many different ways and that points to a fully integrated marketing campaign both on and off line. The challenge is getting the best mix of offline, online and new tools to create an effective and joined up campaign.