Measuring marketing – are we on target?

We live in a culture where so much business activity has a numeric target attached.

Targets are everywhere today. Not just in business, they have even spread into the public sector services where targets for appointments in the NHS for example are seen as measures of how well health services are being delivered – not do patients get better. The thing is people who have to achieve these targets often invest more effort and imagination in finding ways around the target than in focussing on the work task itself. A few decades ago companies seemed to be driven by doing what they did, well. Whether it was designing better products or providing ‘old fashioned’ superior service it was more guided by a shared work ethic than a numeric goal. Then the accountants moved up from the back office to board and CEO level and brought with them the language they understood best – reducing everything to a set of numbers.  It was a compelling idea which politicians adopted to mange public sector services as well.

Think about banks. At one time banking was a profession that carefully managed funds and ensured loans were made to people able to repay them and with collateral that could be called in the event of a default. Then the terminology changed to talk about retail banking and selling financial products. They developed a sales target culture and hired sales people rather than bankers. Meanwhile the investment arms developed a casino culture. Targets were met or exceeded and motivated by generous bonuses. And look what happened. Even my milk bill left by the doorstep deliveryman starts, “ Please can you help me reach my targets by making payment this week.” Yes there are targets everywhere and marketing has not escaped either. My big question is, do they work?

“I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted … I just don’t know which half.” This quote is still occasionally rolled out. Whether half is wasted is not the point. What is worth thinking about is that successful marketing campaigns use several different communications methods, so when enquirers are asked, “where did you hear about us?” quite often they don’t actually know. But just the same systems demand that they should know, so they offer an answer anyway that contributes to statistics. Instead of looking at the net result, such as “did the company make a profit?” individual elements of campaigns are scrutinized and costs per lead determined. Another quite different example is in justifying new product development by producing return on investment analysis. Anything less than 18% was a non-starter in one large organization I worked for. And guess what - every application reached this magic figure because sales targets were revised upwards until the numbers worked. Then there was the five year plan which took year 1 as the current budget year because it couldn’t be different. But partly because it was written last year it was probably already off target, but years 2 through 5 merrily forecast as rising year on year starting from that already off target benchmark. Nobody ever forecast a downturn. Huge effort went into developing these plans including competitor market shares to 2 decimal places – an implied precision based completely on guesses and a figure the competitors themselves would not recognise. Then all this questionable data was used to produce targets. Experience suggests that the data itself, assumptions and forecasts upon which targets are set lack the credibility that a numeric target implies. What then of the data used to measure achieving targets?

Thanks to web statistics Internet activities give rise to a new mass of data. Once more the implication is that this is precise and accurate. It is data collected on our behalf and provided free. Although companies can set rules, they do not collect or evaluate how the data is collected. Another example is email delivery and open rates. Sometimes non-delivery messages are received when in fact they did arrive, some seen in a viewing pane without registering as open.  The reality is that marketing targets are being set based on dubious data and measured by data nobody in the company actually controls. Targets are useful but they shouldn’t become the objectives themselves.

The customers know best - do they?

Do companies that use focus groups develop the most successful products?

The answer is probably no. Gathering together a cross section of customers to determine the specification for a new product development is unlikely to result in a sure fire success. While customers can usefully comment on existing products or on even advanced prototypes, they are unlikely to provide the key to a winning concept. Similarly designing by committee can be a recipe for disaster, especially when it is composed of company delegates from around the world. I have seen too many such meetings where a shopping list of features is drawn up to incorporate pretty much every local quirk and oddity that some how have to be delivered in a product that actually works. Not only is a new product developed from this unpromising start likely to be burdened with a heap of features that are little understood or appreciated outside the country that asked for them, but the new products will still be much the same as what already exists. It might tick a lot of customer requested boxes, but thanks to all the bells and whistles also be more expensive.

The thing is customers are conditioned by what they are used to now, so their input tends to be for improvements - gradual evolution, not innovation. It is unlikely they will be familiar with new enabling technologies or advanced manufacturing methods that could actually revolutionise the market. Back in the 1960s Thorn Lighting, better known then for its mass market products such as Atlas and Mazda branded lamps, suddenly stormed into the theatre lighting market with Q-File - an electronic lighting control that immediately challenged Strand Electric the incumbent market leader. Developed originally together with dimmers that are often now forgotten, the landmark system was very much the brain child of Thorn's Tony Isaacs and his team. I worked with Tony on various electronic products in later years and understood they learned what was needed by spending night after night in control rooms observing, noting and learning.  In the boom years of construction during the 1950s and 1960s Thorn had grown rapidly with their Pop Pack fluorescent lighting package being responsible for much of the success. Prior to Pop Pack it was normal to buy lamps - the light sources - and fittings (luminaires) from different suppliers. Thorn simply put the two together in a single pack from a single supplier, then invested heavily in production plant that ensured they were also the lowest cost producer. Again it was a game changer.

Today Steve Jobs and Apple are classic examples of not only telling customers what they want, but creating a massive desire for their products. Nokia and others were dominant mobile phone manufacturers who probably carefully monitored what other phone makers were up to but didn't expect the challenge to come from a specialist computer manufacturer. Any more that is than the music industry expected the Apple Store and iPods to revolutionise music sales and create a whole new class of product.

So asking customers what they want is probably unlikely to result in a game changing product. Studying the markets and marrying actual needs and benefits with new technologies and production methods may prove more successful.

Show and tell

Of the social media tools, YouTube is one that offers a new, different, affordable and useful marketing channel.

Telling a story on video can add greatly to showcasing products and interviewing satisfied customers who are endorsing your products. So why are many b-2-b companies slow to utilise this great communications channel? There are many online video sites, but YouTube seems to be the leader and allows companies - well anyone really - to present and share their movie content online. Founded in February 2005 and bought by Google for $1.65 billion in November 2006 it is also not surprisingly given the ownership,  an important channel for search results. It offers a useful technology platform that neatly solves many production and delivery problems of the past.  Back in the 1970s VHS had won the format battle over Betamax as the de-facto market standard and marketing departments experimented with video in various ways. But production was then expensive. Cameras were expensive. Creative capability was expensive. Talent was expensive. So was post production, packaging, duplication and all the other stuff that had to be done, because most companies were aiming to produce broadcast standard work. And the reason they needed high quality material is because that was what people expected. It was what they were used to on their television at home as it was through the domestic television/VCR combination that customers would need to view the company video. Oh and because you had to hire cameramen, actors and some production crew the videos were quite long and of course had to compete with more compelling content served up by broadcasters. So video never really gained traction as a standard b-2-b marketing tool - it was an indulgence, a luxury.

But so much has happened since then. You no longer need the family VCR and TV to view content - more likely video content will be consumed on a PC, laptop, tablet or smart phone. Viewers are used to programme material that is user produced thanks to the popularity of reality TV. Cameras are more forgiving about lighting levels and quality and most people own one as well. To sum up - creation of content, delivery to users and options for users to view have created an opportunity to reconsider video. In fact not using video as a marketing tool is to pass up on a great communications opportunity.

Video allows products to be demonstrated to show functionality that static images would otherwise struggle to convey. It is also useful to to show how products are installed, or can be used as a service guide. Video for PR is taking off too through interviews, showing recent projects or explaining new ideas. Of the new social media sites YouTube provides a convenient means to get today's inexpensive video content online and distributed.

B-2-B blogging

Of the leading social media tools mentioned previously, the blog is possibly the easiest to include in a b-2-b marketing programme.

The blog can be regarded as an informal publishing tool for press releases - but there are important differences. A Virtual News Office (VNO) is better for publishing formal news releases as it caters for the needs of the press, such as offering downloads of high resolution images, background and contact information. But a VNO could also be used as a blog. The big step between publication of a formal press release and blogging is the delegation of authority to the blog author or authors. Although b-2-b businesses are generally used to working with PR agencies, nothing is usually approved for publication until the content has been carefully scrutinised and signed off. Because a blog invites comment and comment calls for response and moderation, this formal process is unrealistic to implement for blogs. Content may touch on some of the subjects that press releases address, but more likely the blog will evolve as a commentary about the company itself, the industry it operates  in and support for the users of the products. Probably one of the blogs most useful roles is to develop an awareness of the company's expertise, establish authority and create a level of trust that extends into a desire to purchase products.

Content is also valuable for search as the scope may be wider than that covered by the company web site and discussing issues from a different perspective may provide links from users that may not otherwise discover your company. But a blog does require time to write and manage and commitment - this is where companies are not so good.

Continuing the social media question - Facebook.

Columnist Mark Ritson writing recently in Marketing Week - The seven dumbest sins of social media - sparked off considerable debate about the effectiveness and value of social media as a marketing tool, not least in eliciting a response from the publication's editor who replied: "But all three of these social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Google+) are still in their infancy. We’re still finding new ways for them to add relevance to our lives as users. The fact that brands haven’t yet figured out how best to exploit social media channels is no reason to rule them out as valuable to marketers just yet." Ritson previously had written " If you have opted for a social media budget that is going to be allocated exclusively on Twitter and Facebook, you are not budgeting or planning your marketing properly." A telling point that emerged was the absence of real success for brands and examples of some downright and expensive failures. Clearly there are success stories as others have documented, for example David Meerman Scott in his best seller book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR".

With the major brands still trying to figure out the best use of social media, it is perhaps unsurprising many b-2-b marketers are still proceeding warily. In the last blog we pointed out how Twitter could be useful as another self published channel for headline news and links back to your main site's news office or blog. The next one to think about is Facebook. Undoubtably  it is extremely popular as a social media tool, but does that make it a marketing tool? And if it does is it relevant for b-2-b marketing? With 750 million accounts by July the numbers are compelling but how many of these are buyers of industrial components for example? Some clients enthuse about Facebook and maintain a company page while others scorn the idea of association of their company with such a site. As yet we have still to see any sales that can be attributed to a Facebook lead for our clients that use Facebook. Typically b-2-b marketing is not about gossip, so the more common use is news stories, snippets of news that don't rate a real press release and general chit chat rather than actual campaigns that involve the 'friends' and test the strength of their interest. 

How can you use Twitter for b-2-b marketing?

Twitter can be useful for publishing headline news with links to a more detailed story as an extra channel in a b-2-b PR programme.

Journalists and broadcasters have latched on to Twitter in quite a big way.  Twitter appears to be a useful source of news leads so it is not surprising that journalists monitor or 'follow' various accounts and frequently news reports cite Twitter as a source. TV programmes such as the BBC and CNN actively promote the use of Twitter so it is not surprising that a great deal of hype has been generated. As with other social media, such as YouTube and Facebook, there has been a lot of talk about the rapid growth, not to mention the fortunes heading the way of their inventors. Actual numbers of registered users seem impressive - a figure of 200 million estimated for Twitter - but can that be broken down to how many engineers have specification authority in a particular UK industry sector? The main journal for that sector usually can identify their readership in that category supported by ABC certification. But Twitter is not really that sort of channel.

Although generally lumped together with other social media, Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows you to publish a 140 character news bite or tweet. Research by Harvard suggests 90% of tweets originate from 10% of registered users, indicating a tendency to a 'one to many' broadcast medium rather than peer to peer information exchange. It kind of divides registered users into broadcasters and followers. CNN has an impressive  4.8 million followers, but a quick review of a couple of industries tells a different story. A leading global light source manufacturer shows just 2,100 followers and a leading entertainment lighting company some 1,600. A world leader in ball bearings manages a mere 20 and an equally famous name, a major British engineering group, apparently is not even on Twitter. So is it worth doing? 

The answer is yes, because amongst the followers on some of our client's Twitter sites are journalists and editors in their market sector who presumably find a convenience in receiving news this way. But at present for the typical b-2-b company it is equally not worth putting in much time or resource. Use Twitter by all means, but use the tweets to publish headlines that include links that land back on your news page or blog. And you can keep in touch with us @technicalmarket.

Are b-2-b marketers engaged in social media?

How are b-2-b marketers exploiting social media opportunities?

Many of our b-2-b clients were late adopters of web sites. Now of course the web site is probably their most important marketing tool. But at the time they saw no need for a web site, not that is until they realised that suddenly their competitors had them and what we had been telling them for years was indeed happening. It is a familiar story of the reluctance, even hostility to embrace new technology. Back in the 19th century it was the Luddites who challenged the industrial revolution as machinery took over the work of artisans. But early adopters are not always right either. Some technologies do not fulfill their promise and in hindsight were expensive mistakes. The technology opportunity that b-2-b companies are faced with for marketing communications is the second era of the Internet, web 2.0. Web 2.0 allows interaction and has made its mark most tellingly in social media - Twitter, YouTube, Blogging and Facebook, plus several hundred less familiar names. Once again b-2-b companies have been slow to become involved because social media brings new challenges to the status quo, it takes businesses and the individual out side their comfort zone.

Previously the only communication by businesses to their customers has been controlled by the company through advertising, mail shots and press releases - all checked and approved before issue. In fact a lot of smaller companies don't even do that much, rarely if ever issuing a press release. But a key feature of social media is the so called 'conversation' that provides for comment, feedback, opinions. If not properly managed, there is an opportunity for disenchanted customers to not only complain, but to do so in a public forum where other customers and prospects can be exposed to a hitherto secret process. The challenge here is what to do about it. Failing to monitor what is being said about your company, if anything, is one issue and becomes a problem once a subject gains traction.  This sort of thing has already caught some out due to their ignorance of the original problem. At the very least 'alerts' should be set up to monitor what is being said about your business on the Internet, so you are immediately aware of problems and can respond rapidly before a small irritation becomes a crisis. There needs to be an agreed process already in place to respond quickly, effectively and positively to nip the problem in the bud. Customers are realistic enough to know that things go wrong, what interests them most is how well the supplier fixes the problem.

The next matter to address is how businesses proactively use social media. Setting up a blog or Facebook page needs to be carefully thought about. In particular how to share information, what to share and who to authorise to do this. Some high profile CEOs write blogs for example, something that will probably shock many SME business owners particularly where they have traditionally played their cards close to their chest and barely communicated with their own employees let alone their customers. Actually more enlightened businesses work closely with their PR agencies and it is they who actually contribute much of the input.

Finally despite all the hype about the millions of people signed up for Facebook or followers on Twitter - are your customers and prospects at these places. In the next few blogs we will look at this in more detail and talk about specific social media channels.

Do you have a strategy for today's diversity of media?

When there was just print media there were a few ways to go, but  online media is bringing a diversity of communication opportunities that calls for a review of marketing strategy.

In our recent series of blogs discussing budgets we noted how traditional display advertising was still a big ticket item, if not the biggest, for many b-2-b marketing budgets. Similarly exhibitions continue as a major call on budget and resources, although there is a noticeable trend away from printed brochures, preferring short runs, digital print or simply offering PDFs for download. Typically everything to do with online media is lumped together with the web site budget. But this budget line is actually concealing a rapidly expanding sector and new ways to reach your target audience.

The traditional approach to b-2-b advertising is to identify the leading journals for the sector that reach the target audience most effectively and book display ads. A lot of people still do. But there are now  several different ways to go. Banner advertising is probably the nearest to display advertising and apart from providing visibility on relevant sites additionally offers a link to click through to the advertiser's web site or landing page. However it is argued that click through rates have fallen and are now 0.2% to 0.3% and banners are ignored anyway. But then again are readers responding to display ads as much as they did in trade journals?  Adwords work in a different way and are displayed when chosen keywords are triggered by a search and require time, effort and expertise to run a successful campaign. Social media sites display advertising relevant to user profiles and location. So three different approaches to paid for online advertising to consider - display banners placed on sites prospects visit such as industry portals, Adwords displayed in response to keyword search terms and advertisements displayed to social media users who match the target audience profile. In reviewing media plans it makes sense to bring the online media into the advertising planning and budget rather than tucked away as a web site expense.

Similarly PR has changed as discussed in a recent blog. With traditional print the editor chose whether or not to use your press release, although in many trade magazines you can pay to get it printed by buying the editorial space. Now however you can be the publisher. An online news office allows you to publish all your company's formal announcements without editorial rejection. Social media offers the opportunity for informal communications, the chance to engage in conversations with customers and prospects. Blogs are good for a more personal style of communications and offer the opportunity for readers to comment on your blog and provide feedback. Twitter lends itself to headline communications and short links to a blog or other content. YouTube is great for actually showing product, but the real dilemma for b-2-b is the much discussed Facebook. More traditional clients shudder at the idea of associating their brand with Facebook while others enthuse - does the 'status' of an engineering company really interest users?

There are other examples such as traditional print mail shots v html email, eNews v printed newsletters - it all adds up to a game changer. Whether we are witnessing a gradual transition from print to online, or a  greater diversity of advertising, publishing and communication opportunities it makes sense to consider the communications techniques as a whole and decide what mix and balance there should be between print and online.

How are press releases evolving?

The traditional press release has moved on as news publication platforms proliferate.

The traditional press release, usually accompanied by a 5" x 7" glossy print and mailed to the editorial desk is presumably no more. Maybe some traditional agencies continue to issue double spaced stories typed on client headed press release paper and avoiding paper clips that might scratch the glossy photo in transit and render it unsuitable to scan. The double spacing was to give space for the editor to scribble notes and changes on material selected for publication. There has been a gradual move away from postal delivery to e-mail often now to a news desk address rather than the editor. It was once quite a big deal developing a press release, researching the story which may have involved an onsite interview at a location where the client had installed product, all accompanied by a professional photographer - it all added up to a substantial fee and took some time before the client signed off on a final copy and the release was ready to go.

Today it is rare to visit a location for a story, interviews are more typically by email or telephone and everyone has a digital camera or phone to take some pictures and e-mail them across - mainly because clients don't want to pay much for it. But with the immediacy of the Internet and new publishing opportunities the demand for content is growing. Not from the printed trade press where editorial pages are shrinking and publication intervals extending due to the relatively high costs of putting together, printing and mailing a magazine, but from blogs, Twitter, Facebook and online news sites. When the trade journals were the only show in town getting stories published was vital, but now print media is just one route to reach customers and prospects. Indeed for many trade journals one that can be bought just the same as space for display and classified advertising.

Savvy companies are investing marketing pounds in not just news creation, but in publication and with that building readership and a following amongst their target audiences. But the news piece itself no longer needs to fit the old formula of say 150 to 200 words. It can be a headline piece published on Twitter which typically will include a short link to a more expansive story that might be on a blog. Or go to more detail on the company web site, or a White Paper that sets the whole scene. All this information provides valuable research material for prospective buyers who are now far better informed when they are ready to buy than ever before. It is not just text, but good use of photographs and videos are becoming more and more important influencers in that decision making process that leads to making a purchase.

The ability to editorially control the publishing platform allows the tone of voice to be more conversational and less formal than before and give a personality to brands previously mainly communicated by logos and icons.

Do headlines tell their own story?

In today's quick consumption, time deficient world, headlines are becoming the story.

Sensational headlines on news vendors' placards are traditionally written to capture attention, introduce a story and sell a newspaper, but today thanks to the 140 character limitation of Twitter, the headline is becoming the story. Twitter is particularly interesting as the established news organisations frequently attribute Twitter as a news source and invite readers to participate through the medium. Journalists are apparently fond of using Twitter and refer to announcements made by "celebrities" issued as Tweets which seems to be an increasingly popular way of communicating with the press. Of course skimming headlines in  a newspaper, magazine or web site helps readers make a choice of which stories to read in more detail, if any are read at all. Apart from Twitter, headlines come in other forms too - RSS news feeds and email subject lines for example - but increasingly in the age of texting and social media there isn't much more content. Encapsulating the main issues of an announcement into a few well crafted words therefore takes on even greater importance for marketers.

This trend to short communications extends to reports upon which major investment and purchase decisions are made. It seems not uncommon for decision makers to have a short attention span, one that may extend to reading a one page proposal, but not a 70 page document that provides background information, research, rationale, numbers and facts. However it may not be that new - just becoming more commonly encountered. It is reported that Ronald Regan, Winston Churchill and Dwight D Eisenhower all insisted on one page decision making memos. "Regan required officials and staff to boil down the issues into a one page format with the following four elements: the issue, the facts, reasoning and recommendations."


Conversely time seems to be out of proportion to the  importance or value of the decision. Writing a humorous piece  in The Economist as long ago as 1955, Cyril Northcote Parkinson observed in what became known as 'Parkinson's Law' that 'work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion' and in a subsequent essay described a management meeting agenda with three items requiring a decision. Discussion over a multi-million pound investment in a nuclear power plant merited a mere ten minutes discussion with experts not even called in to provide detailed advice. Review of quotations for repairs to the roof of the cycle shed a matter of a few hundred pounds took rather more time, while the decision to raise the price of tea in the works canteen by one penny went on for hours.

There are also plenty examples where decisions are made on the basis that the project should include some pet feature insisted upon by the MD while a detailed specification is ignored. Time spent on planning pays off in the long run but marketers need to gain attention in the first case to provide a hook and and for the prospect  to swallow the bait. So succinct, to the point headlines, reports that get to the point quickly are important, but in depth analysis in the form of White Papers and detailed product specifications are equally vital to answer all the questions the MD may ask anyway but can't be bothered to read. And of course having relevant unique content on your web site will help with Google as well.

Talking about marketing strategy

The purpose of a marketing strategy is to help a company deliver its business objectives.

It follows that first of all there should be a business plan that sets out what these objectives are accompanied by a strategy for achieving them. In many companies the business plan can often be dominated by financial projections including revenue forecasts and investment in capital expenditure.  Both revenue and capital expenditure is relevant to marketing. Sometimes the business objectives are purely financial such as to achieve percentage growth target  and hit profit goals.  Although companies put a lot of effort into forecasting and budgeting it is still easy to be too optimistic in forecasting high revenue, then spending as though that forecast revenue is actually being achieved when often it isn't. The impact of new product introductions can also be  over estimated, particularly as they have usually been developed with the expectation of rapid market uptake which if the marketing is wrong may not be achieved.

There are two important elements to the marketing plan - new product development and marketing communications. New product development is an essential part of the marketing plan that will incur investment in both R&D resource and in production equipment such as custom tooling to develop and manufacture the product. New products will typically require independent testing and authentication against standards and there may also be intellectual property costs such as patents and trademarks to consider as well. Product management of both new development and product maintenance of the total  portfolio will strategically aim to maintain a competitive market position. Competitive factors will include the specification and performance of the product, its price and availability.

Communicating product messages will work together using a range of integrated marketing communications techniques in a comprehensive and 'joined up ' plan . The 'marcoms' part of the marketing plan should describe the rationale for the methods being deployed, identify on-going issues such as developing brand values and awareness, specific campaigns such as new product launches, events such as exhibitions and include media schedules and timescales. Supporting the marketing communications plan should be a budget which will in turn be a component of the company budget.

It is this attention to strategic planning and detail  that distinguishes marketing from sales. Sales will have a focus on more immediate matters resulting in the closure of a sale and achieving targets. Indeed the personalities of people in sales and marketing can be quite different as well.

Talking about technical marketing

Why is it consumers will pay a premium price for a product far in excess of its intrinsic cost? The answer is that the product bears a logo representing a brand that is desirable to the consumer. They are not just purchasing a product – they are investing in a life style choice, ownership of that product is aspirational and makes a powerful statement to their friends and associates about their own values and status. Of course the brand owner has invested serious money to create that desire and positioning of their brand intended to convey instant recognition and comprehension.

So do the same marketing techniques work for the less glamorous world of business-to-business marketing, where budgets are considerably less? The answer is that the general principles of marketing still apply – the challenge is how they are applied. People buying business products and services are also consumers who experience the world of consumer marketing every day, but in their professional capacity will be less influenced by emotional appeals. When buying or specifying b-2-b products the process is not characterized by a spontaneous desire for instant gratification. It is a process of evaluation and consideration which may be quite lengthy. But what might ultimately differentiate one similar product from another is the reputation of the brand of the supplier. Although price will always be important, quality, reliability, technology, availability, post sales support and many other factors may figure in the final purchase decision. Building that reputation for a brand is where marketing performs a vital role in creating an environment where purchasers will ultimately demonstrate a preference for one product over another.

Marketing should not be confused with sales. It is far more to do with planning for the future, with strategy to keep ahead of fast moving trends, the routes to market, and the means of promotion and delivery that provide the essential environment in which selling can be successful. When marketing technical products, there are many facets to the marketing role. Technical marketing will typically embrace new product development, marketing communications and protection of intellectual property. Instead of the emotional appeal of consumer marketing we recognize that in the marketing space we address of industrial, technical and entertainment technology products, we are more typically engaged with engineers. Accordingly we have introduced an engineering approach to marketing. Engineering brings discipline to marketing, a discipline much needed in controlling the flights of fancy of the creative media types in getting the i's dotted and t's crossed, keeping feet firmly on the ground and keeping sight of the purpose of marketing a product - not in winning design awards. And if bringing engineering into marketing might seem a strange notion, unless marketing is properly controlled and brought in on budget then it will be a disaster. Engineering projects are as much about planning, adherence to schedules and budgets as they are about technology. In fact engineers are increasingly being employed in some surprising areas including many types of management consulting even in the financial sector. 

Technical marketing brings the same engineering methodology and thinking to marketing - introducing staffing structures, building the team, setting objectives through the marketing plan, formalising budgets, introducing financial controls, defining schedules and setting specifications for creative projects. Too often companies launch into building a web site, designing a brochure, booking an exhibition stand or commissioning an advertisement without first deciding on what they need to achieve. Design led agencies naturally play to their strengths - a flare for creative designs - and wow clients with exciting images. Arguably engineering marketing, or as we call it technical marketing, lacks some of that wow factor, but what we have discovered is that clients recognise the benefits that our approach can bring to the bottom line. We supply the rationale. And with the increasing importance of the Internet in marketing, a technical competence and comprehension of what works online too.  Of course there is a need for professional creativity, but it requires purpose and direction - in short planning, organisation, discipline and control. So engineering marketing solutions works - our clients testify to that.

Common to successful engineering projects and successful marketing is the importance of planning and testing first. Our technical marketing philosophy helps engineer marketing solutions that support and aid delivery of company objectives. Starting at the beginning of the planning process is the marketing plan. Very few companies actually seem to have one any more than they have a formal business plan. There is too often the impression conveyed that the only marketing plan is to repeat last year's pattern of expenditure - usually the last several years - which makes it difficult to find budget for new concepts. All at a time when marketing is rapidly evolving. The usual reason given for not having a formal marketing plan is lack of time. But what is the point in spending money without knowing why or having any benchmark to measure whether it is successful? We recommend not only reviewing the marketing plan at least annually, but also setting the budget that will help deliver the results and company objectives. 

Planning needs to be followed by effective implementation. This is an important part of our client involvement – working as part of the team to actually implement the plan at an operational level. By working in partnership with our clients, changing circumstances can be easily accommodated in the plan. We bring experience in a range of marketing disciplines from traditional to evolving online techniques and can handle some or all of these to an agreed plan. The mix will differ according to each client’s own specific needs and resources. Most of our clients now regard Technical Marketing Ltd as part of their team thanks to long standing business relationships.

If you market technical products and think your business could benefit from working with us then get in touch. If you are just interested in what we do then sign up for our e-mail newsletter or just follow us on Twitter or any of the other options offered on the web site. We are here to help businesses succeed.

Time for b-2-b companies to review the marketing budget

 Investment in marketing  should deliver valid returns just the same as for investment in other business assets. Accordingly there should be a Marketing Plan that is designed to help the company achieve its business objectives and an essential part of that plan is the Marketing Budget.

Recent blogs have asked some searching questions about the value of investment in the most commonly used marketing communications methods in a rapidly changing environment. We began with the marketing mix and suggested that it may be time to review the balance. Despite the dominance of digital marketing methods and user preference for information online, many companies continue to commit large proportions of their budgets to traditional media. Why? Because they keep updating last year’s budget.

As the initiative shifts from print to online media many b-2-b marketers remain stubbornly committed to traditional display advertising. Exhibitions seem more popular  with exhibitors than with visitors and do the total costs really get considered?. Meanwhile new media opportunities are emerging online which call for a share of a marketing budget that is already under pressure. These blogs have now been brought together in a PDF version that can be downloaded from the Technical Marketing web site.

Marketing in difficult economic times will pay dividends for those businesses that invest by gaining share at the expense of rivals who cut their budgets. But that investment should be carefully made - not just last year plus or minus x%.   

Creating the marketing budget

A simple spreadsheet can provide a useful tool for creating and controlling the marketing budget. 

The most important thing is to both have a budget and to monitor expenditure against plan throughout the year. The budget is the financial expression of the Marketing Plan which provides the strategic vision, rationale and implementation programme. The budget also helps impose a discipline and control for the marketing team and is usually approved by management as the authority to invest in the marketing programme.

Some may find it helpful to include detail work sheets that feed summated figures into a summary page. Comment boxes can also prove useful to add explanation to the individual figures without adding line items for each. Of course larger operations may have sophisticated software to record and measure all transaction but it remains important to remember marketing is not accounting, so the budget tool should be an aid not an end in itself.

There are 2 ways of creating the budget:- 1) to ‘cost the need’ or 2) to invest what can be afforded. Cost the need is unlikely to be affordable to the typical b-2-b company so it comes down to a percentage of sales budget. There are no hard and fast rules as to what this figure should be. However some companies apply the percentage to product lines so well established products enjoy larger budgets than new products which actually need more support to gain traction.

Establishing actual costs can come from suppliers or past experience to build up the budget required to support the marketing plan. And finally include a sum for contingencies - the unforseen costs or even commitments made on behalf of the company in a weak moment by the MD! 

Recent blogs have looked at some of the big ticket items in many typical b-2-b budgets and suggested it is time to re-think the marketing mix rather than simply revamp the previous year's budget. Take a look at the index for related articles.

Influencing the great and the good

Prospective buyers can base their buying decisions on what you tell them about your product, what users say about the product and what people they trust for their expertise say about your product.

Product information can be presented at various levels of detail, from a brief overview to detailed specifications and operating instructions. User experience is traditionally in some form of endorsement such as a testimonial or case study and increasingly feedback online in the form of reviews. Thirdly opinion leaders can prove to be important influencers so putting resources into creating favourable support is a worthy marketing task. Opinion leaders can be instrumental in encouraging early adopters to buy new products as well as more generally giving credibility to a brand. In order to get opinion leaders onside the company message needs to be credible and verifiable. To achieve positive recognition the company needs to be perceived as being more than just a supplier of product and to exhibit in depth knowledge of the market applications and needs, the technology and wider legislative and operating environment.

Opinion leaders can be respected gurus within their area of expertise, leading publications, web sites and news channels in the sector, professional bodies, important consultants, conference speakers or respected companies using the product. Recommendations, referrals, specifications and word of mouth support from opinion leaders are essential to cultivate so identifying who these people are, how to engage with then and providing the resource is another important budget consideration,

Does direct mail still work?

Although e-mail has many benefits there is still a space for carefully designed and well executed mailings.

email promotions have  many benefits over mail for b-2-b campaigns - especially postage costs for high volume distribution. Creating a mailing piece, inserting in an envelope, producing address labels and franking soon racks up the cost, so for general promotional messages email will probably be cheaper and achieve higher open rates as well. It can also be linked directly to a landing page offering a seamless 'call to action'. But this does not mean that mailing should be ignored. Using direct mail for carefully targeted campaigns, using novel mailing pieces and including QR codes can be very effective.



A well constructed database should allow the selection of some quite specific target audiences which for many b-2-b companies may be relatively small numbers. This list might be augmented by profiling the target group against the total population and bringing new prospects into the campaign. The mailing piece itself can be quite creative - it doesn't have to be a letter of leaflet. 3D objects are often more memorable that sheets of paper and far more likely to be opened than regular mail. This is where a creative agency can add value to the campaign. The campaign could in fact be  a short series of mailing pieces that build into a complete story. Now with QR codes smart phone users can link directly to a landing page or video, but a follow up telephone call can be very effective  if made soon after the mailing while the visual impact of the mailing piece is still fresh in the recipient's mind. This sort of campaign can work well for introducing the company to prospective clients and setting up meetings.

So when reviewing marketing communications budgets, remember to include some resource for selective direct mail campaigns, but plan these thoroughly right through from getting the target audience right, being creative in the execution to following up and establishing the level of lead.

Putting it to the test

It is rare to find a budget line for market research for b-2-b companies and yet they will invest heavily in new product development and marketing campaigns without testing the market.

Arguably market research should be another high ticket item, but generally it isn't. Typically b-2-b companies regard MR as expensive, they do not traditionally do it and anyway think they already understand the market. A formal MR project can indeed cost several tens of thousands of pounds, but then an R&D project might cost hundreds of thousands so investment in developing and testing the concept first could prove good value compared to a major new product failure. When it comes to marketing communications how many b-2-b companies test the concepts before investing in an expensive advertising campaign or new web site? In fact the brief to the advertising agency should be informed by research in the first place and then the execution of the concepts tested to see if they work before committing to a big media spend. Even if formal and statistically substantiated market research is beyond the scope of the budget, testing and trials with small samples can often provide valuable insight that can influence the marketing communications programme.

A simple telephone questionnaire can often check if your assumptions are on the right track. Even calling a random sample of just a dozen prospects can flag up an issue that may not have been considered or not thought important. For example one company planing a major product launch aimed at encouraging stocking by electrical wholesalers exposed serious delivery problems with existing products over a period of time that needed to be solved first. An online survey can also provide useful information. One company typically spent the biggest share of their marcoms budget on display advertising. But the survey indicated that less than 20% read the market journals at all, with 80% going to web sites for information.

When reviewing the marketing communications budget include some allocation for at least some market research because it can often save wasting investment in other areas.

If a picture speaks a thousand words - how about video?

When it comes to showcasing products, moving images can be very powerful.

The facility to produce and publish videos online is a major step forward from the video cassette or DVD that companies once sent out to customers to promote the company and its products. The big problem then was not producing the video but persuading recipients to actually view it. Twenty or thirty years ago smaller b-2-b companies did not have a television or video player in the work place and most people had just one television and VCR at home. Persuading the family to give up watching their favourite soap and watch a company extolling the virtues of it s new product, or even worse the latest changes on VAT from Her Majesty's Tax and Revenue were hardly compelling alternatives. So the expensively produced videos gathered dust on a shelf or sat in a desk drawer. Consequently allocating a line for video production dropped out of the typical b-2-b marketing budget.

But now with YouTube it is not only easy to publish video online, but due to YouTube's high ranking as a search resource, video is now a must do. So why do so few b-2-b companies actually offer video presentations? Again it is a matter of reviewing the balance of the marketing budget. Video can be used in many ways - to demonstrate what products do and how they work, for PR to interview customers and provide testimonial endorsements and for post sales and service support. Videos should be short, to the point and professionally filmed. Using 'voice-overs' allows other language options to be added with relative ease.

When reviewing marketing budgets, look at the high tickets items such as display advertising, exhibitions and print, for many b-2-b companies there will be plenty of scope for saving that can be reallocated to video production and other new media opportunities.

Do you have lots of unused literature?

Delivering sales messages, specifications and documentation can generate of stack of print - but is print still the most appropriate medium?

Traditionally company, product and service information has been delivered as  printed documents. But even in its hay day piles of unused print stacked up in marketing offices and in the boots of reps cars. As more and more information is being delivered and consumed online, it makes sense to review the print budget. Firstly it is important to distinguish between the different process elements involved in producing a piece of print. Three main elements are 1) researching, writing, photographing and collating content, 2) design and 3) artwork for print - or for other media. Lets just consider these three items. Accurate and timely content is vital whatever the final form of delivery and so is design. Quality design is important as it subconsciously conveys an impression of the company itself that even people untutored in such matters will notice. But not all collateral now needs to be printed and even if designed for print might actually be delivered as a PDF for customers and prospects to download and choose whether or not to print at the point of delivery.  You might opt for digital print on demand which has the benefit of not just avoiding producing   surplus print, but allows for regular updates and customization. A newsletter or company magazine will typically have a known circulation perhaps with a bonus exhibition quantity. Other material however may be best integrated with web site content.

Traditionally there has been a hierarchy of print requirements that can be quite extensive and accordingly the 'print' or 'literature' budget can be a significant part of the marketing communications budget. A 'print' hierarchy could include:-

• Corporate brochure introducing the company and establishing credibility with new prospects.
• Sales literature introducing the benefits of the company products and differentiating them from competitors. These too might have a hierarchy from product ranges or families to individual products.
• White Papers and user guides placing products within a market and technology context.
• Product data and specifications providing performance and specification information.
• User, operation and installation manuals and documentation.

The list could be far more extensive and in reviewing budgets it is worth creating a hierarchy of information then deciding on how it will be used. For example is it important to control the quality to impress prospects in the early part of the sales process, in which case print could be the best option? Is technical data that is accurate and up to date what counts most, in which case a downloadable PDF might be the best option. Or is it an instruction leaflet packed wit the product where a simple black and white sheet perhaps with QR link to a video instruction or downloadable manual could be a preferred option?

As with other big ticket budget items such as advertising and exhibitions, it is time to review and reconstruct the print and literature budget as well.  

Is your database effective?

For too many b-2-b companies the database is an aging record of customers spread across different lists.


Databases can be an extremely useful marketing tool, but the reality is that customer and prospect data is often spread across a number of mailing lists and records from sales to accounts and 'one off' lists such as for mailings of newsletters and Christmas cards. Apart from duplicate entries in these different lists, typically vital data is out of date and it is also surprising how quickly data ages. Contact names change, so do company names, customers relocate and even if they don't, address details can change. On some updates we typically found that for 25% of records parts of the information had changed in a year. Add to this e-mail contacts on e-mail only lists and social media followers and it is soon evident that developing and maintaining current information requires allocating budget resource.


The situation is compounded by use of proprietary customer management software that few people in the company can actually use or have adequate training in. Then records get messy because there is no consistency in data entry, typically address fields are used differently by different people, some use upper case, data is spelled incorrectly and quite rapidly the database becomes a muddle. This is often exacerbated by inputting customer data while processing a sales call, so both parties are anxious to complete this part of the call quickly and tend to skip bits and make input errors. Many companies recognise that their database is in poor shape but do not allocate resource to 'clean' lists and keep it up to date. 


With a well planned and maintained database marketers can learn useful insights into customer behaviour and data mining but in many cases we come across, the 'sales' package somebody bought is totally disconnected from the software package that 'accounts' use so marketers cannot track enquiries through to sales and relate to other information such as web analytics or e-mail tracking. From a marketing perspective there are further issues. Marketing is also interested in prospects, possibly people with similar profiles to current customers along with competitors customers who make up the total population of the market sector - not just the people you know.


When reviewing the marketing budget alocate sufficient resource for database software whether custom built or off the shelf, for training to use it effectively and for cleaning data.  

Is the trade press losing its power?

Not so long ago, the trade press was the most important communication channel for industrial and technology b-2-b companies.

Getting news published in the trade press gave an impression of independent endorsement even though the piece originated from a PR agency or was even commissioned by the journal from an expert in a company. Yes - magazines actually paid good money for product managers like me to write an authoritative article. Today it is typically the manufacturer who pays for news inclusion in what are generally much slimmed down publications. The industrial sector has been in the vanguard of selling editorial as their display advertising sales have declined, pages per issue reduced and in several cases the number of issues per year reduced too as combined monthly versions become more common.

But news consumption is still popular. It has shifted to more immediate online media and new platforms where the company can now be a publisher. The better journals have recognised that monthly publications can offer a more reflective role with researched, balanced, in-depth articles rather than as a conduit for breaking news. Although most that include paid for news have slowly added an online dimension, they are no longer the only act in town. Many companies have themselves to embrace the new reality in their marketing budgets and PR is often viewed with at best curiosity and at worse suspicion and hostility.

The online value of news resides not just in the promotional value of the content itself, but in the links and positive impact on search engine rankings as it grows into a body of relevant information about your company. And it is not just text that gets indexed, pictures and video news are increasingly important. Add to this that news is not just viewed in the work place on a static PC, but increasingly on the move via smart phones and similar mobile devices. Marketing communications budgets now need to recognise the need to utilise a whole range of communication tools that should include a Virtual News Office, eNews (news by email), RSS, mobile and social media. This will also involve working closely with a suitable agency to build and operate news delivery systems and maintain a flow of quality content.

The company web site - is it time for an overhaul?

Today the web site is at the hub of marketing communications but is it being regularly reviewed and updated?

In previous blogs we talked about the inertia that keeps traditional display advertising and exhibitions as such high ticket budget items. But because there is no need to build a new web site each year there is a tendency to consider them a 'one off' investment and merely budget for maintenance. For many b-2-b companies the web site does not offer an e-commerce facility, but it is still the shop window for the business which can form a view amongst potential customers and specifiers as whether to step inside and ultimately buy. It is a two way interaction with prospects, providing both a conduit for enquiries and dispensing information, guidance and documentation

There are three important messages about its business a company web site can usefully communicate:-

1. Provide information that prospects need about products and services.
2. Provide endorsement and testimonials from customers who have bought and used the product and can offer useful experience and observation.
3. Provide expert views from respected opinion-formers - industry gurus, technology experts, editorial etc. - that endorse the products directly or indirectly.

One convenient way to provide new information, endorsement and expert opinion is through a well organised press relations programme. Adding a Virtual News Office provides the means to publish that news. This can be integrated with the company web site and not only provide great, relevant content, but also a resource for the media to access and search archives. The VNO system pioneered by Technical Marketing Ltd does all this and can automatically generate news feeds and press releases and integrate with social media.

So instead of leaving the web site to age and allocate a small budget for maintenance, budget to keep developing and publishing new content. And by trimming back the big display advertising and exhibition budgets it can be funded within existing resources.

Last week in marketing

Suddenly QR codes - Quick Response - are everywhere providing a handy way of linking print, particularly display advertising to the Internet and generally to video footage. Writing in Marketing Week Lara O'Reilly points out that 'most people are unaware of how to use them in the first place" requiring a smart phone with Internet and an app to access the information locked up in the geometric patterns. QR codes are not new having originated in the manufacturing world in the mid 90s and don't add billable value to agencies, so their recent and rapid take up in advertising is interesting.

Despite the rise and rise of the Internet outdoor advertising remains steady and last week saw the Outdoor Hall of Fame recognising the top 10 posters from the past century. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the iconic Lord Kitchener recruitment poster from the First World War.

Travelling by train gives several interesting opportunities to note what is going on. The free Metro newspaper seems more popular on the morning train ride to London than the free Evening Standard on the return trip. In a distinctly un-scientific sample, more people in the evening were peering at Blackberries and iPhones - one guy had even fallen asleep clutching his Kindle. At least few people seem to conduct loud telephone conversations these days which is to be commended. I discovered that my battery had died so searched for a public phone to request collection from the station. It must be years since I used such a facility and back then we carried phone cards. I discovered that the minimum amount of cash to make a call now is 60p. In the post war days of being instructed to push either button A of button B, it was two old pence.

The pay phone experience pushed me to upgrade to an iPhone4 which thanks to the Apple philosophy is more intuitive than any phone I have had before and has the promise of being a useful productivity tool helpfully synchronising with my iMac.

Spent a lot of time chasing voucher copies of magazines to have proof our client's advertisements had actually been published. The administration of advertising campaigns gets more time consuming while agency margins decline.

And finally why were the whole accounts department of one company wearing high visibility jackets? Health and Safety apparently - their office is near a warehouse.

Time to assess the value of trade shows

When off budget costs are factored in, then trade shows are easily one of the top expense items on the marketing budget.

Just like display advertising many SMEs continue to support their industry trade shows even though for most they don't generate anywhere like the enquiries a web site does. Most exhibitions are expensive enough anyway given the 'arms race' mentality to out do (out spend) competitors. How often does the MD complain the sign is not big enough, so stands get topped out by giant banners or have them expensively 'flown' in from the roof so he can spot the stand location the moment he enters the exhibition hall. So apart from space costs, stand design and construction, electrical power, furnishings, free gifts, entry in the show catalogue and trucking which should merit lines in the marketing budget what about those costs charged elsewhere. Travel, hotels and entertaining can lump in a whole lot more, not to mention expenses where there is not much change out of a tenner for a daily styrene cup of coffee and a sandwich in a triangular plastic box. Then what about the products on display, they will probably be signed to a demonstration stock account somewhere and of course if there are over- lapping shows then you need twice as much stock, another stand, more staff. There is the more difficult-to-assess 'opportunity' cost of lost time from stand staff being away from their regular work, quite often actually booking orders from real customers who stayed in the office. Then there are all the incidentals to pay off from photographers to florists, union electricians and stocking up the hospitality bar of course. With so many companies needing to address a global market most industries can feel the need to exhibit at multiple shows around the world and many countries may helpfully offer more than one show. It is easy to see why exhibitions are both a big call on marketing budgets but also on time for planning, attending and breaking down shows.

So who goes? Well most trade show organisers will claim 'record numbers' but reality suggests that the share of the total population of the market sector is relatively small and many busy specifiers - busy because they have a lot of work on - can ill afford the time to attend. Exhibitors meanwhile have developed a club mentality thanks to plenty of opportunity for socialising in exhibitor lounges with the same people they meet in London, Las Vegas, Berlin, Dubai and the rest and are loathe to pull out for fear of negative perceptions and anyway quite like all the global travel. The big questions are how much does a lead from an exhibition actually cost and are there clear and measurable marketing objectives set for each show?

Thinking about b-2-b display advertising

For many companies operating in industrial, technical and scientific sectors display advertising in trade journals has been a popular marketing technique for decades. But is it still valid?

It is not uncommon for display advertising to be the biggest single item in the marketing mix because to run a campaign costs a lot of money. First there is the expense of design. To create a successful advertisement calls for more than putting a few words and nice pictures together – a good ad. needs a concept. The concept is what a creative director comes up with to ‘sell’ the product. It may also need original and creative photography, a snappy headline and succinct, to-the-point body copy. It is the originality and creativity that a good advertising agency brings that produces a successful advertisement and of course this doesn’t come cheap. Many companies have long since moved to graphic design agencies who lack the insight and perception of an advertising agency and simply churn out some artwork, albeit for a more modest fee. Then there is developing a media plan, negotiating and booking space rates, supplying artwork copy and of course handling payment of invoices. Not to mention fielding telephone calls from space salesmen. Unfortunately many companies who save money on creating the ad in the first place fail to produce a compelling proposition that will get noticed or a ‘call to action’ to generate response.

Even a modest campaign in the trade press will cost thousands that could buy a lot of other marketing. Many b-2-b companies spend tens of thousands on display advertising that is why it is such a high ticket item absorbing a big share of the marketing budget. At one time journals supplied sales leads from advertising generated enquiries, now I suspect few companies attempt any serious measure of response. Most seem content to carry on doing the same thing they have always done as a great and probably misplaced act of faith. At the very least display ads should provide a great call to action that is measurable, such as promoting a landing page specific to the advertisement or requesting specific information such as a white paper or guide.

Why not drop a couple of ads from the schedule and use that budget for trials of other forms of advertising such as Adwords and compare response. Oddly enough the same people who stick with display advertising expect better analysis from other, newer communications but quite like seeing their own ads published anyway. On the other hand one client mentioned they had discontinued subscriptions to all trade publications except one, as a cost cutting measure. What if a significant percentage of their target audience has done the same thing? And finally how often do people reach for a directory to search for a supplier? Exactly – so why advertise in directories that at best sit on a book-shelf when the first place to search is the Internet?

In summary it is time to totally overhaul the display advertising campaign. What is the display ad for and is it working? Is response being measured? Can online media deliver better results?