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?

The marketing mix - should it change?

Successful b-2-b marketing uses a combination of marketing techniques that working together produce results. But do companies have the right mix? Are they bringing new online methods into the mix? Are they clinging on to old methods that no longer make an impact? In the next few blogs we will examine what methods companies are using, or could use and ask some challenging questions to evaluate present day suitability.

Because there are a growing number of marketing techniques that could be deployed, it does not mean they must all be used. The marketing mix is not a checklist that has to be completed. It is the skilful use of the right combination of techniques that are right for an individual company.

With marketing budgets under pressure our experience suggests that rather than re-think the whole budget most companies apply a percentage cut across the board and continue to allocate resource in the same mix as before. Many marketing communications budgets still have the same two high ticket items at the top of the list – ‘display advertising’ and ‘exhibitions’ – but are light on new online methods. Much evidence suggests that display advertising is in decline in the b-2-b sector. Consider the trends in the industrial media for example – card rates are heavily discounted, editorial pages are shrinking and filled with paid for advertorial from press releases, while publication intervals are increasing. Fortnightly publications are moving to monthly, monthly publications are producing amalgamated January/February issues and so on throughout the year. Meanwhile surveys suggest that fewer people look to magazines for information and recommendation or even read magazines, but turn to the Internet instead. This is reflected in sales lead analysis where few enquiries are attributed to publications as a source. Despite this, display advertising typically remains the top budget item.

Exhibitions might actually cost even more if the ‘off budget items’ were included - travel costs, hotels, entertaining, opportunity cost of staff away from their regular duties. Despite the claims of exhibition promoters, customers and prospects find it increasingly difficult to justify the time away from the office when they can discover all the information they need on the Internet and if they need a product demonstration then the exhibition environment is distracting at the best. But exhibitors have evolved a ‘club’ mentality as they migrate around the country and world, seeing the same familiar faces of people that are actually their competitors not prospects. Exhibitor lounges contribute to the club mentality and re-enforce the concern that dropping out of a trade show leaves the field open to competitors to benefit. Again sales lead analysis for exhibition-generated enquiries is at best disappointing.

Because the traditional promotional methods take up so much of the marketing budget it is difficult for new opportunities to get a look in. The next few blogs will put some of the sacred cows of marketing communication up for examination.

The changing role of data sheets

Product Data Sheets should provide factual product information, stripped of the excesses or over enthusiastic claims that sales brochures and advertising use to generate interest, excitement and aspirations to want the product. Their role tends to come into play once the specifier, customer or installer is already pre-disposed to recommend, buy or install the product. But if the technical and practical information contained fails to match the expectation raised by the promotional information that led to considering the product in the first place, then they can just as easily kill the sale.

For many companies Product Data Sheets now only exist as PDFs that visitors download from the company web site. So increasingly consumers of this information may have completely by-passed the type of material that promotes the product benefits, differentiates it from competitive offers and instead cuts straight to the details. In short the downloaded PDF may become a 'stand alone' item that together with the reputation of the company is instrumental in influencing the purchase decision.

Rather than lump all the Data Sheets together in a "Download Zone' it is helpful to provide some guidance to web site visitors to narrow the options down to a short list of products that will meet their specific needs. At one time this was done by using indexed ring-back folders for the company suite of data sheets, so users could use the filing tags to get to the appropriate section. Within this would be a range of data sheets for products suitable for that application or need, arranged in some logical order - say from a simple entry level product right through a range of product options to the top of the range, total capability version.

It is also helpful to provide a consistency in layout and scope of content to make it easy for users to make comparisons and know where to look for particular pieces of data between data sheets.

Finally, remember to brand the data sheet so that once downloaded from the web site viewers still know which company is actually marketing the product and of course ensure that it includes all the necessary contact information so that the sale can actually be closed.

Have marketers lost control of the message?

Controlling the message and protecting the brand has long been of paramount importance to marketers. But with the phenomenal rise of social media messaging it is being suggested that marketers have now lost control of the message and it is in the hands, or perhaps more accurately fingers and thumbs, of tweeters, bloggers and facebookers.

Some years back talking to the editor of the leading journal in the market served by a recently acquired client who had advertised in that publication for years, I was surprised at the question. "Of course I am very familiar with the brand, but tell me what does your client do?" Of course we addressed this to ensure that all marketing communications associated the brand name with a message or messages that positioned and differentiated the brand. Now it is being said that control and authority for communicating messages about your product is being handed to users. I have always suspected that most contributors to Trip Advisor who give negative reviews have had a poor experience and the web site offers a platform to express that dissatisfaction. Others enthuse extravagantly - in short the middle ground of people who were merely satisfied and found the experience OK seem less motivated to write a review. Many suppliers are now routinely inviting reviews of products, but can still retain control over what appears on their site as customer endorsements.

Social media detaches comment about the company from that control and they may not even see what people are telling each other about their products, so decide to join the conversation and at least be able to respond. One surprising statistic I have seen recently claims 75% of b-2-b brands Twitter compared to just 49% b-2-c brands. Our b-2-b clients range from enthusiasts to join this great new 'conversation' to those steadfastly clinging to the dated notion of guarding every scrap of product information they can reasonably hang on to. But for the adopters there is not much comment, more people busily promoting their own messages with the client's facebook a convenient medium to publish them.

What does seem to be emerging is the importance of using a mixture of channels to communicate the customers and prospects and social media is something else to add to the list.

What's that for then?

It is easy to forget the purpose of a product or system when people become focussed on a single issue that appears more compelling.

There are examples everywhere. Political groups formed for a single agenda item such as a ban on hunting, green issues, changing daylight hours, planning issues etc can focus all their attention on making a strong case for their political cause. They rarely succeed at an election because the electorate appreciates that there are not just two sides to an argument, but there are plenty of other matters that also demand attention and resource and the 'hot heads' are unlikely to possess the right skills to deliver a programme that a majority can endorse.

Back in 1991 Intel launched a global campaign directed not at a select band of engineers with the specification authority to embody Intel microprocessors into a new product development programme, but to end users of PCs. The 'Intel Inside' campaign addressed the general public that in the main had absolutely no idea what made an electronic product work, but could understand a simple concept of looking for a label that apparently benchmarked the product as good or bad. Although the marketing campaign was in partnership with OEM PC makers it was also reported that buyers of lighting controls were asking the same question - does it use an Intel 486 processor? This possibly unintentional spin off from the campaign would not immediately lead to lighting control manufacturers simply switching processors - too much R&D - but prompted a return to marketing the product explaining what it did. That is it controlled lighting, but crucially it did so when required, not after watching some little egg timer spin around for 30 seconds or so before enacting the control command as most PCs did at the time.

Recently we have experienced a new take on this theme driven by Search Engineering Optimisation specialists re-working web site content in pursuit of improved SEO. Again, clients have come to believe that SEO is the holy grail for web sites and seem to be blissfully prepared to trade functionality in furtherance of that goal. They have absolutely no comprehension of html code, java script or cascading style sheets but can grasp the concept of being number one in search results. That the proponents of SEO do not actually know the rules and algorithms used by Google, that they regularly change and it is a constant evolution is not questioned. The single issue brigade have struck suitable terror into their victims. We have to explain that one of our products - Virtual News Office - is actually a fully functional Press and PR system with all the functionality to not just post press releases on site, but deliver news, generate news feeds and provide press resources such as high resolution images, press packs and contact details. By focussing just on one aspect - how the press release is worded and put online - the SEO boys loose sight of the purpose of what it is there for in the first place and end up with a product that doesn't work. Even if this does propel the site high up in the search results why would visitors use the site if the information they went there for does not work or even exist?

The art of Imperfection

Why is it that some marketing projects fly through to completion and others get ground down to dust before limping home? It is better to sign off a marketing initiative and move on to the next, than to seek perfection and miss the point. Accuracy and truth are demanded and expected in all things marketing, especially in the b-2-b arena, but the sequence of checking, correcting and proofing isn't always the reason why some initiatives take so long to reach fruition. Indecision can be a killer to creativity and success.

Every marketing initiative – be it an advertisement, press release, technical data sheet or website page – needs a champion, someone who can specify, agree and take responsibility for the result. There are times when we seem to have lost the benefits of decision making we enjoyed in the pre-electronic network days. Remember when people met in a room to receive a pitch and make a choice there and then, or the time when one person was given, and accepted, responsibility for a marketing decision? Now it seems that material sent for client approval has to be distributed far and wide for comment, usually with time-consuming and unwanted consequences.

Successful marketing campaigns rarely rely on a single initiative. The elements of a 'marketing mix' should combine to magnify the stimulus to buy a product or service. Don't be afraid of giving a green light to a piece of copy or a graphic design; asking 'n' others will usually result in 'n-1' different responses. Many people think they have to find something to criticise or else they will be seen as an ineffective non-team player. The resulting task of assessing all the responses and different views and trying to walk a middle path, will inevitably annoy n/2 colleagues while delaying the process, diluting the result and costing more in creative time.

To misquote the Duke of Wellington, as long as it's not misleading or illegal, "print and be damned"and get onto the next marketing initiative - because that's the only way your well-prepared marketing plan will be effective.

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Is social media diluting communication channels?

The marketing chatter on the Internet is dominated by the growing importance of social media as a marketing tool. The suspicion, based on knowledge of client experience, is that for most b-2-b companies it isn't yet dominating the marketing budget. Traditional marcoms such as display advertising, exhibitions and print continue to take the lion's share of the marketing budget. Despite the considerable importance, almost dominance of the Internet, clients continue to spend a significant portion of their budget on display advertising.

The 'Social Media B2B' web site has researched what it bills as 28 Awesome B2B social media statistics, the first of the 28 claims 86% of B2B companies are using social media. On the other hand 46% of another survey considered social media irrelevant to their business.

Not surprisingly the B2B companies ranked most successful on Twitter are large global enterprises with Cisco ranked at No.6 with 48,000 followers and Intel at No. 10 with 35,000. To put this in context, Barack Obama has 6,588,000, Stephen Fry 2,205,00 and Cheryl Cole 157,000! Philips Lighting has 2,200 and step down the scale to SMEs and a couple of hundred followers seems to be quite a respectable number.

Perhaps for now companies will need to recognise that the growth of social media has opened up new and diverse communications channels of which Twitter and Facebook are just 2 of dozens of others and add these to give customers and prospects a choice. Let them decide how they want to receive information from you and how to interact if they want to do so at all. Oh and you can follow Technical Marketing on Twittter @technicalmarket

Three things influencing buyers

There are three important things that help form a conviction to buy. What a product does, expert evaluation of the products and the experience of customers using the product.

This type of information can be provided in different ways and inter related. It is becoming more common on web sites to solicit user feedback on product pages, but the more traditional method is to present third party endorsements. This can be in the form of testimonials or case studies and increasingly as a video testimony. Research consistently rates recommendations highly and of course there is the importance of 'word of mouth' product endorsement based on the experience of ownership.

Other trusted sources can be the opinions of respected experts in the field, industry gurus and influential journals. Getting informative articles published and positive product reviews by opinion formers is always a good marketing tactic.

Finally the product information should be well presented. Buyers are more influenced by benefits - what the product will do for them - not a list of features they don't understand. Products should have clear differentiation and suitable applications suggested. And of course if you want your product specified, a full specification.

Which way is the digital future headed?

Britons now spend 45% of their waking hours watching television or using mobile phones, computers and other communications technology, according to new figures from Ofcom. Meanwhile a survey of the 'Changing face of e-mail' by Marketing Week revealed the continuing popularity of e-mail as a marketing tool with over half planning to spend more on e-mail marketing this year. Emerging from these insights is the recognition of the advance in capabilities and use of new devices such as iPhones and the rise in popularity of new platforms such as Facebook. And then deciding whether these offer new marketing opportunities or threats.

As digital evolves so does user behaviour and user interest in receiving and consuming marketing communications. For example is visually interesting e-mail that works on a computer the right format for a smart phone? Or will some form of e-mailing perform better than text messages as more people view the Internet 'on the go'? The fact is the survey confirmed the continuing importance of e-mailing to marketing campaigns. Integration is now a growing issue. One perceived challenge is moving customers and prospects from an e-mail database to social media platforms. Perhaps the more pertinent question is whether this is even desirable.

Not so long ago marketing messages to a target audience were through a publisher that acted as an intermediary between suppliers and buyers. The publisher offered a product - in the b-2-b world - typically a trade journal with editorial interest that attracted a certain readership profile of interest to the supplier. Most commonly the business model evolved to a free, verified circulation so that publishers held the database, not the suppliers. Not surprising then that marketers having collated their own customer and prospect e-mail subscriber lists want to carry on using them. Not only is it cheap to send an e-mail campaign, but it bypasses the intermediary and the still relatively expensive cost of display advertising. The question might be are the Facebook and Twitter consumers the same people that have proved receptive to e-mail hence the interest in migrating them to social media platforms. Or are they a different group. Indeed are they even prospects for a b-2-b company?

Of course display advertising and publishers are also under fire from online advertising, particularly AdWords and on Facebook which is driven by user behaviours and profiles where the new media owners control a different set of end user data. So going that way may be passing the interface with prospects from an old media broker to a digital media broker. It makes sense to continue to build and own contact data for company to buyer communication, but in a form and on a platform the buyer prefers, users and trusts.

End of year report 2010

The end of the year is often a time for review and forecasts for the coming year. So what happened in 2010 and what does 2011 hold in store?

Last year our review of 2009 picked on similar topics to those that featured again throughout 2010. Marketing budgets were under pressure - they still are - the importance of content was discussed  as was social media and the decline of print as content moves online. We noted that the year ended with the coldest pre-Christmas weather for years (until this year that is) and  the growing interest in green marketing. Well green marketing was not mentioned in 2010 but social media and video was. We started in January with 'The year of video?" and suggested video had a growing and important role in online marketing. Few clients have actually embraced this although most acknowledge the benefits and YouTube was the third most visited site in 2010. It is an area where investment in professional video production is noticeable in terms of quality and few have so far committed budget to this.  It was a matter we covered later with "Do it yourself or hire a professional?" blog noting the limitations of much in-house production quality to save money - the marketing budget issue again. In fact we said that marketing budgets must evolve to allocate investment for new and evolving marketing tools.

It is fair to say that amongst our b-2-b clients little has changed with regard to adoption of social media, at all in most cases. For those who have an emerging social media policy it is still early days with modest interest by their customers at best. We asked "Is it time to redefine target audience classification?" to address the individualistic social media 'club'. We also raised the importance of market research for b-2-b companies. One interesting insight from market research for one client is that although unsurprisingly the web was the preferred source for product information, some three quarters already knew which web sites to go to and only a quarter searched on generic terms. A strong argument for on and offline branding.

A recent report suggests that b-2-b marketers are using social media to:-

1. Build brand awareness
   
2. Increase web traffic
   
3. Generate sales leads
   
4. Provide deeper engagement
   
5. Improve search results
   

Experience so far suggests that goals 1 to 3 are general aims not specific to social media there is no clear evidence that Facebook for example is contributing to this from a review of Google Analytics or that any but a handful of people are engaged in the 'conversation'.  What we can confirm is that blog links are being picked up and ranked highly which must help with search results.

So maybe 2011 will see more b-2-b companies adopting a social media policy, but it will require allocating marketing budget to do this properly. 

Features may not be benefits

Product features are often assumed to also be benefits, but this may not be true.

Because features and benefits are often linked together, there is an implied assumption that all features also have a benefit and this thinking then extends to the belief that potential customers will be able to figure out for themselves why those product features are beneficial to them. Marketing text that talks about 'feature packed' products may be interpreted by customers as suggesting the product is likely to be complicated and difficult to understand.

The problem is that adding features has become something of a tactical 'arms' race to outstrip the competition and meet or exceed specification criteria. Charts listing a whole range of features with ticks to indicate where a product excels and others fall short are quite popular for technical products from cars to consumer electronics and of course b-2-b products too. But these are what the product does. The reality is that the more complex - feature packed - the product, the less the features actually get used. Just look at a control surface that has been used for a while - a remote, key board, control desk - and the pattern of wear and grime will reveal which keys are regularly used and which are pristine and untouched.

Benefits may be based more on an emotional consideration than an analysis of how the features stack up. The decision to purchase a television may depend more on what it might look like in the living room, the quality of the picture and how much it costs. There is an implied assumption it will do a few other things like hooking up to a sat. box and DVD, but beyond that the extensive range of other features are unlikely to sway the argument.  Mobile phones have become feature rich, but in terms of sustaining a telephone conversation in an area of poor coverage or when a train plunges into a tunnel remain just as challenging to the user as they were in the early days. In the b-2-b sector product development has too often been driven by what features  the competitors offer, then going one better. The rationale is to create differentiated products rather than compete in a commodity market on price alone. But unless the features are translated into customer benefits and explained in a way that the prospective customer understands and appreciates, these features risk being excluded from the purchase decision.  

What the marketing messages should focus on is convincing the prospective customers that the product has benefits that they can relate to and can actually appreciate. Features that make the product easy to use, improve productivity, save money, even bestow prestige - what they don't want is a list of features. We recently took delivery of a new television that offers a handbook only on screen which tantalisingly lists its 'features' some about its own proprietry system but unfortunately no explanation of how to access or use them.   

The story of the sweet shop

In difficult economic times there are two main targets for cuts - marketing and stock. One drives enquiries and the other provides goods customers want, now.

We have previously commented on the dangers of cutting marketing investment during tough times and allowing competitors to gain market share while advertising space costs are lower. But attracting customers then failing to deliver the product is not going to create loyalty and repeat business. So the temptation is to review product sales and delete the less popular from the range as a stock reduction strategy. This in itself in some manufacturing business models will  cause their contribution to factory overheads to be transferred to the more popular products, in turn increasing their cost and reducing margin.

However there is an important marketing issue here as well - one of presenting choice. The chairman of a company I worked for some years ago had a cautionary tale about the owner of a sweet shop of the old fashioned type that displayed sweets in a range of jars arranged on shelves behind the counter - a merchandising method for confectionary that appears to be enjoying a revival incidentally.  Each week the shop owner decided he would delete the least popular confectionary item and remove that jar from the shelves. After a few weeks he was able to clear a whole shelf, but as he worked to delete jars from the next shelf he began to notice that sales of the popular lines were declining and so was footfall. In short he was loosing business.  Customers, especially young children actually enjoyed the opportunity to have a big choice, but as stock rationalisation proceeded the choice reduced inversely to a point where customers perceived that there were only the most common and popular types on display and they could get those anywhere.  Although they usually purchased their favourites, part of the shopping experience was savouring what else was on offer and when that went, so did their custom.

A direct b-2-b analogy was with the marketing of floodlighting products. The main sellers were floodlights that lit wide areas, rather than narrower beam spotlights that could illuminate a small defined feature. In particular a very tight beam model that could illuminate a clock on a church tower which not surprisingly sold in small numbers. But of course the thing was that having that 'tool' in the range demonstrated that the company understood the challenges facing lighting designers and in doing so helped create specification for the more common products as part of the package. A purely accounting analysis would simply eliminate the specialist product whereas a marketing analysis would look at package sales and understand that volume alone was not the whole story.

Has Christmas been re-branded?

Has "Christmas" been re-branded as "Holidays"? Judging by the flow of e-mails and greetings particularly from the USA, the word 'holidays' features prominently in subject lines, even in sender addresses, while Christmas is not mentioned.

Winston Churchill is attributed with the observation that Britain and America were "two nations divided by a common language" although even the origin of this quote is questioned. In England there remains a general acknowledgment that Christmas is essentially a Christian festival from which the ethic of giving and good will to  all men has been transformed into a focus on promoting the sale of  goods that can form the gift element. Holidays are an entirely different product generally recognised as a travel and accommodation vacation package more commonly associated, but not exclusively, with the summer. Would Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' have proved so popular and enduring as 'White Holidays'?

The problem is that the Church of England's Christmas brand has in marketing terms become generic and no longer properly associated with their own well defined product. This is a problem that others have discovered to their cost when their brand becomes descriptive of a class of products, often a category they have pioneered. Hoover is a classic example where people commonly refer to their vacuum cleaner as a 'Hoover'. In the theatre the Strand Leko was so popular that all spotlights were commonly known as 'Lekos'. Of course supermarkets deliberately create generic brands - Cola for example - to position against, but priced beneath the leading brands. Electrical wholesalers also benefit from the product development efforts that bring buyers to the trade counter through promotion and specification where they are then encouraged to switch brand and save money. 

Protecting brand names through trademarks may not be adequate protection when the brand name becomes a product descriptor. May be the term 'holidays' will allow the church to reclaim their ownership of Christmas after all. 

How well do companies merchandise products online?

With the web site often the first sight of a product, it is important that prospects get a complete and positive view to convert visitors to buyers. And yet few b-2-b companies fully exploit the possibilities of photography, video and user reviews, relying instead on one low resolution product image and text description to turn prospect interest into a conviction to buy. Some times there isn't even a picture!

There are 4 important opportunities for presenting a product to best advantage - product description, photographs, video and user views. Unlike a 'hands on' opportunity, at an exhibition, potential buyers cannot touch, explore and test a product online. Take most electrical products - it is just as important to see round the back, to see what sockets there are, to understand how it is installed and these features can easily be shown by offering other static views of the product. Instead of the traditional product shot from the front, why not show other important views - the inside, the fixing locations, connections to other systems, profile views? If however the product has performance features such as how it works, opens up, transforms for different tasks, then these are better shown in a video. It is also important to offer independent reviews. Case studies can provide valuable third party endorsement and the views of recognised authorities carry considerable weight. 

Finally, a full technical specification and content highlighting and differentiating the product should not be forgotten - plus of course a 'call to action'. Having virtually demonstrate the product you still need customers to call and place the order and this should be made simple to do and a seamless part of the process to close the sale. 

Is it time to redefine target audience classification?

It is unwise to ignore statistics particularly those that claim significant growth in new communications channels that could become important marketing tools.

So it comes as little surprise that the consumption of social media now accounts for 25% of all time spent online - by far the biggest defined activity, with others such as email (7%) in single figure percentages. Likewise it is not surprising that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are ranked as the top 3 most popular web sites. By now even the most laggard business has acknowledged that a web site is an essential marketing tool. But statistics like this tend to support the view of sceptics that the Internet is somehow frivolous and not a serious marketing channel. The real question is, where are your customers spending time in this space? Facebook claim 500 million accounts globally. But how many are active accounts? Anecdotally I have observed that some people I know discover Facebook, embrace it with great enthusiasm, add a lot of information, make friends with total strangers, then just as rapidly lose interest.  Others of course remain loyal and regularly communicate with friends. Data from Facebook shows 57% of members are female and 43% male. Based on Facebook's charts over two thirds are under 35 years of age too. The largest group is 18 - 34 (approximately 54%). For many b-2-b companies in the industrial and engineering sectors for example this may not correspond with the profile of their customers. A quick look round a typical engineering exhibition suggests the audience is mainly male, older and judging by dress code, conventional and possibly not a Facebook convert.

The thing is, it is unlikely the average b-2-b company has profiled their target audience in this way. Much more likely the target audience is classified, where it is thought about at all, by job functions, specification authority, industry sector - not by age and gender demographics.  It is easy to see big numbers and assume the media is essential, but quite another to have realistic data that it will deliver the audiences that specify and buy products and services from b-2-b enterprises. It calls for research to find out. It is no good waiting until competitors have stolen a march as many did when web sites were the coming thing. On the other hand why invest marketing pounds in channels that may be irrelevant?

But it is not just social media that may hold opportunities or not, other tools are on the up as well. The UK has seen 70% increase in smart phone ownership over the last 12 months - far greater than our European neighbours - and with it a big surge in mobile search. It prompts another question - how many web sites are mobile friendly?

Technical information

Continuing our short series of blogs discussing White Papers, Guides and now Data Sheets - important documents that each have a role at different stages of the buying process.

White Papers provide a briefing relevant to the product technology and current state of knowledge while Guides offer more specific information on topics such as planning, options, installation needs and other practical considerations. But at some point customers will need detailed product information. This is the role of the Data Sheet. Interestingly none of these three documents is an overtly sales document - the traditional glossy brochure extolling the virtues of the product for example. Clients are typically expressing less demand for brochures as high volume printed items, but more commonly used as downloads or short run digital print as their role changes.

Data Sheets too are most commonly supplied as downloads and are vital documents particularly in situations where it is normal for a consultant or engineer to specify a product for a contractor or buying department to purchase. They should contain relevant and sufficient content for the product to be specified and the nature of the data will depend on the product itself. Where there are a range of products in the company portfolio then it can be helpful to have a design that allows users to find the same type of data in the same section on each, for comparative purposes. Data that falls into specific categories such as 'electrical', ''mechanical', environmental' and 'standards' compliance helps give structure to the data sheet. Headings, classification and contact details are also helpful elements to include to help order and index a suite of data sheets. Often creating a comprehensive, coherent range of data sheets is not recognised as a high priority, but getting the supporting information correctly documented is an important and essential marketing task.