Category: Marketing

Marketing in The Age of Corona Virus.

Marketing in The Age of Corona Virus.

11 focus areas to use your B2B marketing dollars.

Whatever said and done Corona Virus is an amazing ice breaker. Begin a communication with Corona Virus and even your unintended audience will sit-up and pay attention. With due respect and concern for those suffering or having suffered from the dreaded virus, because life must go on, here are my two bits on how the now christened COVID 19 is impacting marketing as we know it, and how we can adapt our marketing budgets to best leverage from the situation.

While corona virus has impacted the overall economy and it is on a downward spiral across sectors, it is clear that the Market is down because of the ‘Collective Mood’ of the ‘Overall Market’ not because a big bank has crashed or there is a finance pressure in some geography because of a war.

This ‘mood thing’ however is leading to an unprecedented situation, because the markets do not know how to tackle this. Handling mood swings are not the domain of finance geeks and economists. Then, who bells the cat. At a macro level, creating moods, has always been the job of marketers. This time around marketers would take this experience and possibly take the lead in turning around the ‘mood’ of the markets and the never before Nobel Prize for Marketing (not economics) will be awarded to a humble marketer somewhere – just a thought.

But Marketing, in itself has taken a hit. The biggest area where Marketing is starting to see a big slump is the contact programs like Events, Meet-ups, Roadshows sponsored seminars etc., This is where the 2nd big money was. (The first is obviously the TV Ads). Till now enterprises sponsored ads for stadium full of people and corporate events filled up very ball room of every 5 star property without a day to spare. Now all this going phut, all of a sudden, organizers, advertisers, CMOs have no clue what hit them and where and how to spend their parked budgets and generate leads for their sales folks.

To set another background, it is clear that market demands, though may get deferred for a short while is not really going to reduce, specially for Technology companies (Technology powers everything, every video that gets created on Corona virus gets stored a million times creating a need for million times more storage, speed and power requirement!! Research needs humongous servers powering AI applications!! Working from home needs data-centers powering cloud for VPNs and so on and so forth). So is the story with Healthcare (for obvious reasons), Maybe Automobile (People may start preferring personal drive than public transport) and then each industry powers the other and while business models may shift , maybe shopping malls to online retail, overall market demand would exist if not increase.

What next in marketing, is the ‘no brainer’. So much ‘no brainer’ that even the guy supplying nails to the event guys is suggesting the option of going digital and is figuring out online SEO courses that could teach him Nail-biting trends in digital marketing.

With so much of introduction, to address the ‘Why’ Digital Marketing in the age of Corona Virus, the question is How and What in Digital Marketing.

Here are some 11 pointers which could be strong contenders for the focus of enterprise marketers’ budgets.

  • Greater focus on leisure content: In the near short future (hopefully short) lot of decisions are possibly going to be taken on the home dining tables – with working from home CXOs. In such scenarios, content that can compete to some extent with Netflix and occasional TV News on Corona Virus could have a greater chance of being consumed than regular B2B content.
  • Mobile friendly Content: Content that is mobile friendly – larger fonts, maybe a short video, a gif, contextual, shareworthy will possibly have a greater reach and recall and mobile trained contet teams might be up for a raise.
  • Online events such as Webinars: Webinars are a great format to explore in today’s context. They get you the best of three worlds – event kind of reach, digital kind of coverage and heavens kind of ROIs if done well. Read more on webinar strategies in my article on webinars.
  • Social Media Marketing: A good place to be if there are enough creative brains to power a continuous stream of awesome content to compliment the Ad-budgets. With more budgets shifting to SMM, the differentiation would be the content.
  • Email Marketing: For the same reasons as above, Email Marketing will only be effective if the CTA is powerful enough to entice an action, specially because the SPAM filters would be on an overdrive to ensure that all the emails powered by the Event Budgets do not burn-up your target audience’s hard drive.
  • Whatsapp marketing: Whatsapp marketing is not marketing – it is intrusion. Possibly the way it has to be handled therefore has to be more like – your TG says “I want to read it on my mobile, can you share a pdf.” What I call hook marketing. In other words the bait has to be in an opt-in in another campaign like registering to receive a whitepaper or attending a webinar and then on Whatsapp takes over. Give a shot on building a team for Whatsapp friendly content.
  • Content Syndication: Syndicating content with large publishers is expensive and does not always yield ROI class results but if there is a good content journey that drives the audience from top of the funnel towards down, the rewards could better. So if you are planning to include this in your campaign, focus on the content journey.
  • Videos: With folks sitting at home (and working 😊) consumption of video as a content would surely surpass the recent peaks, it has seen. Enterprises should focus more on multimedia content, irrespective of being lifestyle videos or info-illustration and animation videos.
  • Augmented Reality: AR has long been inducted by marketers as a marketing tool. In the absence of contact programs, this could see a greater adoption as a means for engagement with innovative interactions led renditions.
  • Website based Marketing: This is a pick from the past. When websites came up there was a rush to get audiences to visit website, so much so, that website marketers ignored the very product they were supposed to sell. Guess the time has come back, and we borrow some dried up leaves from the technique and build a whole new perspective on how audiences consume websites. Interactivity, content gamification, gratification for engagement can now all happen at the virtual home of the enterprise (maybe a microsite), aways from the threat of the Corona.
  • Tele-Calling: More monies available to marketers (savings from events etc.) focus may shift to getting more tele-sales. My take with Tele-sales would be to use as the last mile solution. Let the scenario for the tele-call be created by the digital campaigns and get the to prospect call the call center. If it is too much of outbound, my guess is people are going to get irritated in the middle of their tele and video conferences and prime videos 😊 and therefore becoming counter productive.

While humankind today is far more intelligent and capable to handle COVID19 like threats and things would come back to normalcy sooner than later, the scenario today could possibly lead to new disruptions in the way enterprises market their solutions and it would benefit all.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!

Until then. Happy Marketing!

About the Author:
Neel Sinha is the Founder & Principal Consultant at nFaktor a B2B Marketing Agency. Nfaktor has offices in India and Singapore and works with leading enterprises on their marketing and Content Strategies across industries and geographies. Nfaktor has worked on multiple campaigns in the areas covered in the article specially in Content Syndication, Social Media Marketing, Website based Marketing and Webinars (with nearly 1000 webinars executed till date).

Read the author’s article on Webinars here.

Six Ripper Tips to Gain Maximum ROI on your Webinars in 2018.
Why Influencer Marketing is Here to Stay.

Why Influencer Marketing is Here to Stay.

Influencer marketing that focuses on influential people rather than the target market as a whole, identifies individuals who have influence over potential customers and strategizes marketing activities around them. This type of marketing has been around all along. Today, neither does it show any signs of slowing down, nor will it reach its maturity anytime in near future!

The influencer marketing industry has increased rapidly over the past few years. Influencer content is a form of testimonial advertising wherein value-added influencers such as journalists, academicians, industry analysts, professional advisers, or celebrities play the role of a potential buyer themselves. It may, in other words, be referred to as a form of paid endorsement. Influencer marketing is evolving, and it’s quite interesting to learn why influencer marketing is here to stay on.

The Advent of Visual Networking. Facebook is the best known social media network. But, one cannot ignore the power of video. YouTube has grown over the years. The key to being successful on YouTube is working directly with the influencer channels, rather than depending on the YouTube ads. One has little control over who sees their ads, but working closely with a channel, one knows with certainty who will see their content. Brands are discovering that visual networks, such as Instagram and Pinterest provide a more significant opportunity to identify influencers.

Influencers Sharing Content on Behalf of Brands. An important advantage of influencer marketing is that one is working with people who have already earned respect from an audience. How accurate the phrase, “content is king”, holds in this age of daily social media advancement! An average person sees many audios, videos or written items every day; but ignores anything that is irrelevant. But, it needs to be noted, most modern consumers are willing to see or hear a review from somebody they respect.

One may need to decide the story they want influencers to tell on their behalf, and so the companies that work with consultancies have an advantage – they have someone to remind them what type of content may perform well.

Brands Building Long-term Relationships with Influencers. We have seen influencer marketing involve brands traditionally working with influencers on specific campaigns.  However, the trend is changing, and brands are now sticking with their best influencers for a longer period of time. In fact, many brands have started considering their influencers to be their partners! This has resulted in improving the influencers’ attitudes towards the brand they promote, and they associate with an increased enthusiasm.

Influencer Agencies and Platforms Simplify Process. For businesses attempting influencer marketing for the first time, wooing influencers can be a slow process that could lead to unsuccessful results. Advertising agencies have existed for many years, but it took some time for agencies to recognize the importance of online marketing. Influencer marketing began on a small scale, and as the industry matured, businesses spotted opportunities to smoothen the process.

Today, the scenario has changed, there are now quite a few specialist influencer marketing agencies that assist in creating and organizing influencer campaigns. There are also many influencer marketing platforms providing a way to find willing influencers matching the target market.

Cord-cutting over Social Media. Another trend that’s caught up and one of the main reasons for influencer marketing to have taken off is, “Cord-cutting.” The time people spend watching video on digital devices is set to rise. More consumers are now switching from TV to tablet and smartphones, especially the younger generation.

Today, even as users have more power than ever before over their viewing experiences in a crowded space, it is the relentless savviness of creators that promote a brand keeping fans engaged over social media channels. It should be noted that most users engage with their favourite social posts at least once a day! Hasn’t social media changed the relationship between companies and customers from master-servant to peer-peer? Social media is a big boost for influencer marketing – people don’t just watch; they engage by liking, commenting and tweeting in hoards!

Capturing and sharing a product, service or process; over a social media page or post enlivens and inspires a community. Doesn’t that fit in perfectly with a company’s strategy which aims to sign up customers? Indeed, a long-term relationship with an influencer creates a more meaningful interaction with the brand beyond a one-off post.

According to a marketing agency, around three fourth of consumers who were surveyed said that social networks influenced their buying decisions. That proves a point – influencers definitely tap-in by involving users with social content.

Consumers Seek Authenticity before their Buy Decisions. A consumer usually seeks greater authenticity from influencers – they try to look beyond the post to what the influencer likes! The hallmark of celebrity advertising has mainly revolved around conventional methods of endorsement and sponsorship. However, even if they are celebrities in the eyes of the world, where they need to cross the line as influencers is by how they make themselves accessible to people through social media.

Marketers need to note that the two terms – celebrity and influencer, should be kept separate, keeping in mind that the level on which to engage an audience is entirely different.

The consumer of today is smart and can tell the difference between an advertisement and a personal recommendation. Influencers add a dimension of credibility to a brand. Instead of just providing exposure to a brand, influencers lend their credibility to it. That’s what influencer marketing relies on. It finds the right balance between the two in order to retain authenticity among its audience. And this type of influencer marketing that recommends via advertisements can hardly go out of fashion, but will stay on for ages.

Drives a Higher Return on Investment. A large number of marketers use influencer marketing to grow their social media following and engagement. Most marketers use it to drive more sales. Some use it to drive traffic to their websites. And the major benefit of influencer marketing is the higher Return on Investment that it generates in terms of earned media value – a value that can be attributed to such parameters like social sharing and publicity as well as exposure to digital media.

Now we understand why brands are investing more of their time and money on influencers. In a recent study, it was found that more than half of the marketers surveyed, increased their budgets for influencer marketing in the year gone by. The massive followings that the influencers have, it’s obvious that they smartly help in reaching a bigger audience for a brand they endorse. Influencers facilitate increasing positive brand sentiment; it can yield a better return on investment.

So, it’s quite clear now, why brands choose influencer marketing as a weapon to overcome marketing challenges. Influencer marketing helps marketers stay ahead of their competitors and authenticates their brands with the target audience, along with delivering higher returns on investment.  With most marketers drawing exceptional results with influencer marketing, can anyone think of ignoring it? Definitely not. Influencer marketing is always going to be there – and continue to stay for a long time!

This blog was originally published in website: Digital Doughnut

B2B Marketing Trends that will Rule 2018.

B2B Marketing Trends that will Rule 2018.

Would 2018 be the year of innovative marketing? Well, just saying yes would be an understatement. This year also expected to be a promising year of better engagements with the audience and increased lead generation. But the critics have their worry hats on, wondering whether 2018 will also, be a year of fast-changing trends that will leave the marketers in a dizzy black hole writes Neel Sinha, Founder, MyLnk.

As a marketer, the best way to tackle the fireballs is to be well prepared and to have an understanding of the trends that will emerge and grow stronger in the year ahead. 2017 saw many B2B businesses trying marketing strategies, used by B2C companies. Some worked while many did not. The lines have blurred between the B2B – B2C marketing strategies, but it calls for attention on stronger customization of in the delivery of it, based on the audience.

Being aware of the B2B marketing trends that will rule 2018 could make any organization among the forerunners, as it would result in a well-informed marketing team that can plan better. B2B marketing success will still rein on the strategy that combines each of the below trends. B2B trends that will rule 2018 is strongly influenced and extrapolated from the year 2017, more so based on what worked and what tanked altogether.

Let’s run through the B2B marketing trends that will rule 2018,

  1. Building a Brand, Not Just A Company

The market has drastically changed in the last decade. It is not enough to just be the company that supplies products and services. B2B companies have buckled up and are working on being a brand. The clients now expect you to be more human and more approachable. Having social media accounts and random posting is not enough.

Social media, as a channel to brand building, is one of the most trending aspects of B2B marketing. Many organizations use their social media presence as a means to connect with not just their clients, but also with the end users. Facebook (89%), LinkedIn(81%) and Twitter(75%) are the three most used social media channels by B2B marketers. About 40% of the companies in India are B2B, so to not just be one among the crowd, it is essential to be a brand.

B2B companies are also turning to Instagram to build the audience and add additional channels to generate leads. Brands like Hootsuite, MailChimp, IBM are utilizing social media at length and turning end users into evangelists.

  1. Customized Marketing Strategies that are driven by Data

Data-driven marketing strategies have been a trend for a few years now, and it will continue to be on the pedestal. Data scientists or analysts will play a stronger role in the planning marketing strategies and also in the sales cycle- from lead generation to conversions. The amount of data available has also evolved over the years. Thanks to Google and other social media platforms, the target audience can be narrowed down and studied further. This would, in turn, mean data can be used not just to build an audience but also to convert the leads to sales. The B2B marketing trend in 2018 will be, Data will drive each level of B2B marketing and sales. It becomes utmost essential for companies to hence collect, as much data at every aspect. Additionally, it becomes imperative to collect quality data that scientists can then eventually use to ease the marketing efforts of the company.
Customization aspect of Marketing: In 2018, B2B marketers are predicted to follow the trend – maximum sales from minimum customers, i.e., the customers who tend to buy will be focused on to increase their spend basket. This focus will be driven by personalized marketing campaigns.

According to Marketingprofs, there was a significant 19% increase in sales when businesses personalized web experience. Personalized email campaigns improve CTR by an average of 14% and conversions by 10% according to CampaignMonitor. Statistics show that customizing marketing campaigns based on the segmentation of audience can lead to exceptional results.

The key to personalized marketing is to understand your audience and position the product or service in a way that is appealing to that specific group of prospective customers. For example, as B2B Billing SaaS Company, you could be targeting Hotel segments different from Retail. This will give an edge to your marketing efforts, wherein the prospective client will connect better with your messaging. According to Campaign Monitor, Marketers see an average of 760% increase in revenue from customized, segmented campaigns.

Customization is not limited to just emails or web services but also in every aspect of marketing. May it be PPC ads or links shared, personalization is a way for B2B to gain maximum results. Link shorteners and customizer tools like MyLnk, help to personalize the links you share across platforms for your marketing campaigns.

  1. Content Marketing will lead the way for Marketing Strategies

Content marketing was the star of marketing strategies in 2017. 93% of marketers in India are using content marketing over traditional marketing. B2B companies are also looking at content marketing as a promising strategy to brand building, generating leads, building an audience and making that sale. Previously confined mainly to serious content, B2B companies now have social media channels to experiment with content. Each social media brings forth different kind of audience and an opportunity to tell the brand story. The following aspects of content marketing are seen be one among the B2B marketing trends that will rule 2018,

Compelling brand stories & Interactive Content will be in demand: The most effective B2B marketers spend 39% of their marketing budgets on content marketing. The time wherein the content for brand communications being just informative, is long gone. Any content strategy built now should champion the brand story. Storytelling hit a high in 2017, with brands focusing on sharing their story and attaching an emotion. 2018 will also be the year of interactive content, wherein B2B marketers will turn to GIFs, videos along with image format of content. Reach amplifiers have also become an essential part of content strategy. It is not enough to create quality content, but also to give it a boost to reach the maximum audience. Reach amplifiers, i.e., blogs and websites should be reposting, publishing or promoting brand content.

Videos will take over 2018 Content Marketing Strategies: B2B marketing is no more confined to just traditional ways of marketing. Thanks to the boom in digital channels. According to Brandwatch, in 2017 4.1 million videos were viewed on Youtube, 1.8 million Snaps were created, and 15,000 GIFs are sent via Messenger. With Facebook’s strategy to move completely to video content in the next couple of years and the other social media channels like Twitter and LinkedIn following, Videos will be one of the most consumed forms of content in 2018.

B2B companies will also slowly transition to include more videos as part of their marketing outreach campaigns. Not just product demos but also as a way to communicate the brand. Videos will form the crux of storytelling for brands. Videos also give an opportunity to build a strong brand, displaying the values and ethics of a company. Be wise while you embrace the videos as part of your marketing strategies.

LinkedIn Thought Leadership – An emerging trend in Content Marketing: For B2B marketing, the content marketing had been confined to just Blogs with ‘How to,’ product launches. But with the LinkedIn Publishing taking on a bigger platform, Thought leaders are gaining the spotlight. The B2B companies will need to involve their management team or key players to become thought leaders, to influence the use of LinkedIn platform as indirect marketing. This strategy will also bring credibility to your company through employees and be a showcase of their expertise in the field.

The focus here has to be creating high quality, focused content that will impact the reader. Flaunt the expertise, because 2018 will be all about quality more than quantity.

  1. Lead Generation via Innovative Channe

Lead Generation will remain the top priority for B2B marketers . But the means to do it will be innovative in 2018. The B2B marketing trend of using social channels as a stronger means to drive leads and combining it with traditional means with a touch of customization will also be the highlight of this year.

LinkedIn will become a stronger channel for lead-generation and Brand awareness: LinkedIn has been there since 2009, but over the last few years, LinkedIn is emerging as a strong marketing promotional platform for B2B companies. LinkedIn has become a source for lead generation and also brand awareness. 79% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn as an effective source of lead generation. Additional to the Company profile, the option to publish content as Thought Leaders or employees of a firm is used as leverage for content marketing by many an organization.

LinkedIn is known as the professional social network, where work-related posts, discussions are exclusively done. So the presence on it, for any Company has become mandatory. 2018 will see a lot more B2B companies leveraging the reach of LinkedIn as a networking and sales channel. 92% of B2B marketers are said to prefer LinkedIn over other social media channels for marketing. LinkedIn also drives brand awareness, 46% of the website traffic to companies is driven through LinkedIn.

Build a strategy around reaching out better, as a combination of content, ads and networking. 2018 will be the year of goal oriented usage of LinkedIn. Smoothing the sharp edges and figuring out a way, to drive sales and brand awareness will continue to be the focus.

Email marketing with a touch of personalization will be a stronger channel for lead generation: Social Media is slowly getting congested with umpteen brands trying really hard to catch audience attention. Though it is a must to have a social presence, it may not be advisable to solely depend on just that. Email marketing is one such traditional marketing technique that will never go off the trending list.

Email Marketing has taken on a new direction in 2017 and will be seen to be paving newer pathways. Emails are no more just about transactional or promotional but rather CONVERSATIONAL. 2018 will be the year of innovative email marketing and personalization along with segmentation of email campaigns.

Personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates  according to Experian. Additionally, there was a 26% increase in the open rate, when the subject lines were personalized for the audience. With the barrage of emails coming into anyone’s inbox, to not move to the unsubscribed list, it is important to hold their attention.

Many B2B companies are taking this as an opportunity to discuss their forte of expertize and be of value to their existing and prospective clients. For example, MailChimp shares with tips and tricks to get better at email marketing through emails. A subtle way to showcase their features and helping the clients get better in their marketing efforts.

Email marketing is a great opportunity to stay connected with the clients. It also opens a window to acquire new clients through referral or converting a passive lead into a sale. Plan the email marketing well and combine it with the content marketing strategies to reap the best results.

  1. Influencer Marketing is here to stay and rule 2018 

There was a time when celebrities could drive sales for a product or a service. Now is the era of YouTubers, Bloggers. Influencer Marketing saw a major boom in 2017. It will only grow substantially in 2018. The interesting fact is Influencer marketing has been one of the most successful marketing strategies in 2017 for many brands. This, in turn, is influencing others to try it out. By 2020, there will be 600 million internet users in India and many more YouTuber and bloggers who will hit record-breaking subscribers. 12% sales were driven by Influencers in 2017.

Influencer marketing is one other trend that will stay on top throughout 2018. The main reason Influencers are working the sales magic, is because their recommendations or thoughts are seen to be more genuine as compared to any celebrity endorsements. So as a B2B company, try to get your clients and possibly software reviews to give out testimonials endorsing your product or service. You will see the value of influencer marketing much more than spending a high budget on random strategies that may not be even suitable for your brand.

Choosing the right or relevant influencers is important for a brand, to reach an audience who will become your potential buyers.

The way ahead – The Right Marketing Mix

B2B marketing trends that will rule 2018 will strongly influence the ROI of your marketing campaigns positively when combined in the right way. Personalized campaigns is one trend that is a must be implemented by every B2B company in their marketing strategy . Along with choosing the new marketing trends to be implemented, it is advisable to look back on 2017 and see what worked out and what did not. Build on a strategy that is a combination of effective campaigns and new plans. So this way, it will be a win-win situation with enough room to experiment but at the same time, not being in a blind spot.

Let 2018 be the year your B2B company becomes a brand with successful marketing campaigns that are on trend and relatable to your audience.

Disclaimer: This blog was originally published in website: Digital Doughnut

Six Ripper Tips to Gain Maximum ROI on your Webinars.

Six Ripper Tips to Gain Maximum ROI on your Webinars.

The evolution of webinars, from basic video conferencing to the use of sophisticated software for interactive engagements, has transformed it into a powerful marketing tool. Be it for the cause of brand awareness, lead generation or sales, webinars have paved the way for a cost-effective means to engage customers.

Our knowledge in this realm of marketing stems from the experience of conducting over 700 webinars for various organizations, over the past couple of years. These following 6 pointers are sure to improve the quality of webinars drastically.

  1. Webinar 101 – Compose a Webinar Invite to Engage and Excite

Without an invitation, there is no action. Without compelling action, there is no point of an invitation.

To begin, a lengthy introduction to an invite deters most readers. Since we like to practice what we preach, let’s delve straight into the following recommendation:

– Identifying your target audience is the first step in any marketing campaign. It is to your benefit to pick out the recipients of your eDM invite in a similar fashion.

– Send out an initial invite to connect with your audience.

– A catchy subject line prompts more readers to open an email. In this case, the relativity of the term ‘more’ is there for all to see. Only 33% of recipients open an email based on the subject line.

– Send out the invite with a personalized link. This not only allows a sender to brand the webinar in the link itself but tells the viewer what to expect by clicking it. Foremost, it incites trust, which is the cornerstone of good markehrting.

– The chances of holding a reader’s attention increase with the inclusion of a banner or eye-catching image. This makes a good location for your value proposition.

– A lengthy introduction may deter readers from reaching the crux of your email.

– Instead, we have noticed from experience that the inclusion of material to incite the fear of missing out on something exotic works best. The chance to network is one such incentive.

– Your emails are more personal when you include the webinar’s telecast time about particular time zones.

– Without a call to action button, any invitational eDM is futile. We have noticed that the inclusion of even two or three call-to-action buttons in a single email is beneficial when strategically placed. It is a good practice to make it as visible as possible.

– Artful use of follow up emails act as reminders. Overuse of follow up emails act as inhibitors.

– Insertion of brief teasers in-between the initial invite and final reminder keeps your audience engaged.

Go ahead, get creative!

  1. How to incite Interest in your Webinar?

Content creates interest! Good content seldom goes unread. Often, it isn’t the content alone that generates interest, but its strategic placement. The following illustrations will shed light on our claim:

– A company which depends on a webinar to promote the launch of a new car will hope that their car has the features to incite interest. However, if the CEO is scheduled to give a talk on the car, the company will benefit from highlighting this unique selling point. A personalized link will further enhance the appeal.

E.g. www.myLnk.in/Our_CEO_has_something_IMPORTANT_to_tell_you

– An e-commerce company may draw a larger audience if they feature promos and offers, rather than their entire catalog.

– An education consultancy has a good chance of attracting potential students with the promise of informative videos about colleges.

– A travel company may have to incorporate videos and promos to draw an audience.
Similarly, each company will benefit from promoting their webinar based on the topic and audience. ‘One size fits all’ is not the best strategy to fill a webinar room. Personalize to popularize!

  1. Six concerns to address before picking a suitable Webinar Platform

Webinars are hosted by individuals and organizations from umpteen walks of business. However, the goal is common – to initially educate and eventually earn revenue.

A fine-tuned webinar will suit the audience and hence improve participant experience. However, a virtual seminar poses challenges – the most notable of which is for a speaker to enthrall an audience. A glitch of any sort could lead your audience away from a webinar. Therefore, choosing the best platform from the many available options such as WebX, Adobe, Web Palace, Gotowebinar, On24 and so on, is crucial.

Ask yourself the following questions before picking an apt platform:

– How many participants do I want to engage in a session?

– How long will a session last?

– What elements will I want to incorporate into the webinar? E.g., video, polls, quizzes, widgets, PPTs, etc.

– Do I want all my participants to have access to a microphone?

– Do I want to record the webinar and make it available to my audience? If so, think about the ease of access and ability to edit the video.

– Would I require multiple video streams?

Find the webinar platform that best answers these questions. Bear in mind, the more you customize, the better your results. You can also take it up a notch by customizing the link to your invite. Customized links have a better click rate.

  1. The dos and don’ts for maximum webinar attendance

Webinars, feasible as they are, do not yield desired results if implemented without prior experience. You can avoid a barrage of blunders by heeding to the following:

Pay attention to the dos:

– Present-day topics create curiosity:
People’s interest is piqued when they hear about futuristic ideas, innovations and such.

– Catchy name for increased fame: 
‘What’s in a name’ is never the attitude of a prospective buyer, in the stage of exploration. A name can go a long way in creating a buzz about your webinar.

– Popular speakers generate interest:
Much like the effect, a recognized brand name has on customers; popular speakers draw audiences in masses.

– Persuasive invite: 
A personalized link to your invite will go a long way in building viewers’ trust. E.g. www.myLnk.in/best_speaker_in_Asia

– Content:
If your webinar comes off as a platform for networking and knowledge sharing, then you can be assured of a crowded webinar room.

Pay extra attention to the don’ts! Don’t let all your good work come undone:

– Do not let your persuasion turn into irritation:
Calls, emails, and text messages will become a cause for annoyance if they are overused. There is a thin line between underusing and overusing these promotional tools.

– Do not make goodies the primary focus: 
Although give away goodies is an incentive that works, highlighting it can make you seem desperate.

– Do not focus on the obvious:
Convenient, time-saving, etc. are things your audience already understands. Don’t draw their attention away from the more important facets of your webinar.

  1. Six behind the scene preps for a Successful Webinar

A successful event is the consequence of good preparation. A conversion rate of 30% from registrants to attendees has been the norm as per recent data gathered from over 700 webinars.

Without much ado, here are some seasoned suggestions to turn your webinar into a grand success:

– Create a strategic campaign with elements that encompass end to end execution. Have teasers and a final reminder email ready before sending out an initial invite to your customers.

– Recognize your target audience to pick appropriate marketing collateral for best results. Promotional modes include emails, well-placed registration forms, and tele-calling. However, you don’t want to overlook other strategies such as social media posts and promotions on other related webinars.

– Content plays a vital role in drawing an audience. Strategically constructed content, prepared in advance, can make or break your campaign.

– Consider the use of personalized links in your eDMs, text messages and other means of digital marketing. These links incite trust and increase the likelihood of getting clicked. E.g. www.myLnk.in/best_growth_strategies_from_the_best_speaker_in_town

– Based on the interaction expected during the webinar, a moderator’s inclusion can be indispensable.

– Conducting a dry run with all the elements in place will increase the comfort level of your speaker and moderator. This will, in turn, improve the quality of presentation for the live webinar.

– To leverage your webinar to the fullest, you may require a video editor to condense and repost the video for those who missed it. ‘Thank you’ and ‘Missed you’ emails also show that you care. Having content ready beforehand for these eDMs is highly recommended.

Remember, the right preparation yields the right results!

  1. How to leverage Webinars

Product launch

– Wider reach: From webinars conducted in over 220 cities, we have deduced that 70% of participants are from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Though logistics don’t support live events beyond the range of the core market, webinars provide a good platform to maximise opportunities.

– Ease of conducting demos: One demonstration of a product can reach thousands of potential customers, maybe even millions when promoted with customized links.

Lofty Return on Investment

The relatively minimal cost of conducting a webinar, along with extended reach assures you of a significant return on investment. It also saves time, which can be used in other lucrative ventures.

Prospects for further engagement

Webinars provide the most effective means to lead potential buyers from the stages of discovery to education and subsequently generates sales.

Interactive

Live engagement makes it possible for speakers to share resources and collect feedback.

Change brand perception

When companies look to upscale operations, webinars make it possible to spread brand awareness on the cheap. Customized URLs from MyLnk are proven to change perceptions.

Webinars are probably the least explored marketing tool by organizations. Only, the shrewdest have embraced the phenomenon of virtual seminars. It will behove you to consult an expert before you delve into this facet of marketing. Remember, the results are well worth the investment!

Disclaimer: This blog was originally published in website: Customer Think

Content Marketing – The Game Changer for your Brand.

Content Marketing – The Game Changer for your Brand.

The term ‘Content Marketing’ though relatively fresh, has elevated marketing to a whole new plateau. Thoughts and methods to reach a concerned target market have evolved, leading to the grand inception of this concept. Simply put, content marketing is the creation and distribution of posts, videos, blogs and such to stimulate a pre-existing need among potential customers. It is the stimulant which drives them to purchase products or services that meet their needs. Content marketing is essentially a psychological game, which often benefits the most preceptive marketers.

This may seem vague, but don’t worry, you aren’t alone. In fact, according to a survey conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, 55% of B2B marketers said they were unclear about the structure of a good content marketing campaign, despite stats which showed that they allocate 28% of their budget to content marketing. Such is the intricacy and thought that needs to go into content marketing. The next time you think the job of a content strategist is easy, think again!

A content strategist needs to analyze each piece of content, to ensure that the following facets are touched upon:

Social media engagement: Traditional marketing methods have given way to digital channels. The old marketing methods of postal letters and phone directory optimization are dead. Today, everything is online. Without an online presence, no brand would be as grand. With every passing day, the evolution of content marketing brings in newer methods to engage potential customers on social media.

Engagement is not confined to a certain stage in the marketing life-cycle. Before creating content, a content strategist needs to outline engagement objectives and goals to map out a content marketing strategy. After establishing the desired result, it is relatively easy to work backward and create content. However, it does take a good amount of thought to create content that gets clicked and initiates conversations. Content is crucial, as a survey conducted by Demand Gen Report showed that 47% of buyers viewed at least 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.

Without innovation, it is impossible to attract online interest. Custom URL shortener solution is the latest in innovative content. They are eye-catching and receptive to branding. mylnk.is/MeaningfulLinks is more click-worthy than uvw12xyz90.com/sjddh009. In an age where 76% of people use their Facebook feed to find something interesting, custom URLs are too novel to go unnoticed.

Gain trust with relevant content: Brand loyalty is one of the most important aspects of marketing. Though initial content will surely not get any customer close to the sort of devotion that can be classified under brand loyalty, trustworthy information can go a long way in sowing seeds for a long-lasting relationship. In keeping with this notion, the importance of blogs has steadily risen over the past few years. According to a survey conducted by Hubspot, 53% of marketers stated that blog content creation was their top inbound marketing priority.

It is not easy to initiate a relationship, but it is equally hard to cut ties once a relationship is established. For the purpose of illustration, consider Nike. Though the sweatshop ordeal was widely publicized, brand loyal customers hardly budged to give other sporting brands a second glance.

Create curiosity: Human beings are curious by nature. As we progress in years, we learn to disguise our curiosity, which gives “keen observers” the impression that kids are more curious than adults. But, this is far from the truth.

Content strategists have used shrewd content to pique the curiosity of audiences for ages. Consider the Yamaha advertisement from yesteryear, which began with numerous questions on a blank screen. The questions were very mundane in nature, such as “what should I eat” and “what should I wear.”

When the screen was inundated with questions, a rider shattered it with a Yamaha motorbike, and the text read, “It may not be the answer to everything, but at least it doesn’t raise more questions.” Curious to know the answers to the first set of questions? Well, there are no answers, but Yamaha’s shrewd content strategists ensured that people saw the motorbike and were left, not with questions, but the thought of riding to forget the many pedestrian questions that life throws at us on a daily basis.

This advertisement was way ahead of its time. It probably paved the way for the strategic content, which today is vital to the success of any business. A recent study by Adobe showed that 51.9% of marketing professionals trusted videos to deliver the best ROI. It is not just written content, but how it is delivered that truly makes a difference.

The role of content has moved from being product-centric to customer-centric. Extensive studies on this topic have shown that stellar content revolving around a product does not affect sales if a customer cannot relate to it. Potential customers must embark upon a journey of awareness, consideration and decision making, all of which is fundamentally facilitated by strategic content.

Story telling: People love stories! When a brand has a story to tell, people take notice. It is one of the most powerful marketing tools, not only for its ability to attract listeners, but its potential to turn into a juicy piece of conversation. While telling your story, you create compelling marketing content and stimulate word of mouth.

It is like hitting two birds with one stone. This is a competent strategy to gain the attention of your audience. You may need a raconteur to turn your story into engaging content, but it is definitely worth the investment.

A raconteur can turn a dull story into a fascinating fairy-tale, but if your viewers are not stimulated to read it, the effort is wasted. As the adage goes – You can take a horse to the water, but you can’t force it to drink… unless it is thirsty. Visual effects create that thirst in viewers to read your content. In fact, research by Xerox has shown that people are 80% more willing to read content that is accompanied by striking visuals.

Search engine optimization: Years ago, brands vied for top stop in telephone directories. Similarly, but with the use of different practices, brands compete for the top spot in search engines, simply because potential customers hardly ever visit the second page when hunting for anything online. The single most important driver of SEO is content.

The research-based marketing firm, Ascend2, noted that 72% of marketers felt that relevant content was the most effective SEO tactic. Google has tacitly monopolised the term search engine, so much so that ‘online search’ has become synonymous with Google. The fight for Google’s top spot is so intense, that though Google regularly changes its algorithms to make its search more relevant for customers, businesses find a way to beat the algorithm.

E.g., if you look for the synonym of any English word on Google, the first three search items will show www.thesaurus.com, which logically doesn’t make sense. But the people writing content for that website have so flooded it with keywords that other synonyms generating websites don’t stand a chance of finding a spot in the top three. This increases their chance of getting more visitors to their website. It is to nullify these illogical search results that Google regularly revises its back-end algorithms.

It goes without saying that businesses have to keep up with Google and its whims and fancies to get noticed by potential customers. Though this is essential for success, there are other simpler ways to get noticed. The use of custom short link generators, is a novel method to get more clicks, views, and shares.

Create brand reputation: With educative and trustworthy content, brands can become reputed sources of information. Once established as the go-to source for information, the reputation itself can create a legacy that will be hard to come undone.

Though this may seem like a tedious way to acquire brand loyalty, it is tried, tested and trusted. Great products create brand royalty, but great content drives brand loyalty. Royalty does not last forever, but loyalty does!

Subtle advertising: Hard selling is a thing of yesterday. Try hard selling to today’s savant customer base, and you’ll ruin your chances of ever making a sale. Therefore, it is of immense importance to keep away from “in your face” advertising. That being said, divulging information without a go-to-destination can lead your customers to your competitors.

Won’t that make your competitors glad!

Nuances of content marketing and intuition play a vital role in judging where the line must be drawn between marketing aggression and customer consideration when advertising a product or service. You don’t want to be too passive, and yet being aggressive can implode instantly.

Product manual: It is imperative to provide customers with an easy to read and understand “product manual.” Customers who can’t use products that they purchase are likely to be so ticked off that their negative opinion can not only keep them away from your brand but stop others who hear their opinion from venturing to try your products or services in future.

This is reinforced by stats, which show that 53% of smartphone users prefer companies whose mobile sites and apps provide instructional video content.

Now you know why it is of vital importance to have the right content specialist on your team. Without a content anchor, your marketing campaign will sail the stormiest of seas and eventually capsize, though the sea maybe full of potential customers who are waiting for the right sort of bait. Get that game-changing anchor on your team, and your brand will certainly flourish.

This blog was originally published in website: Customer Think

5 steps for start-ups to run a marketing campaign.

5 steps for start-ups to run a marketing campaign.

Marketing is self consuming, once we get in there is no way we feel we have had enough of it . We always want that additional few likes, Extra viewership, Extra Reads, Extra Leads and such. While we may be right in wanting the ‘extra’ and the ‘additional’ it requires  an exceptional campaign to get there. While not all exceptional campaigns require resources, most do. It is therefore important to attempt to create a good clever campaign without the need for resources burning  us out. Here are few things to consider

Step 1.  Identifying the right audience. Knowing whom we are selling to i.e.  the target market whom we want to address is first most important thing. It is important that we understand the profile of the person/s we want to target our campaign to. For example –  In a B2B scenario a campaign targeted for Purchase or vendor Management teams could be different from  a campaign targeted to CEOs of companies for the same solution, product or services.

Task : List down the profile of the desired audience in a simple excel sheet. (Hints: What type of Companies, Who within the company, His Level of Experience etc.)

Step 2.  Messaging.  Once we have got the profile of the audience, identifying and creating the right message, for our audience inline with what the audience wants is key. Often times, we get carried away by the exceptional product that we have and focus on it ‘more’ that what our audience wants. A simple example would be our desire to talk about the great underlying technology of our product while the problem that our audience wants addressed is maybe just a simple and secure way to share data over the internet. While technology is important, we would lose crucial attention seconds to technology tidbits which we would rather have for the audience to figure out how to reach us.

Task : List down the simple problems we have set out to solve. It could be technical if the audience we are going after is technical or simple life problems or business problems if the target audience is such. (Hints: Improve data crunching for higher data throughput in a cloud transaction or simple way to identify stock-outs in a retail store).  It is important to keep in mind that the same message can be represented in multiple ways. Once we have the messages listed out, brainstorm on them till we arrive at one or two most powerful messages (keeping in mind the delivery mechanism- for e.g. a message for a mail campaign with the reader’s own interpretation could be different from a print message where we could have visuals guiding the message)   

Step 3.  Getting the delivery mechanism/vehicle right. This is what, which generally takes away the resources. Marketing campaigns are run through expensive media Ads, Print Ads to downright and significantly inexpensive email campaigns. Generally a right combo of multiple delivery mechanisms work. In our case of Start-ups and SMEs, a combination of email campaigns alongside a well designed website and a dose of social media could help create the visibility and therefore the perception of availability. It would not serve the purpose if we reached out with a good email campaign and we did not have a good (within our means) website to support our claims in a campaign email.

Task : As a takeaway a from the step 1 derive the best and the 2nd best possible hang-out where the audience is available ,  Once we have identified  that, the decision of choosing the Delivery Mechanism is a function of the budget and resources . It is important however to know the trade offs in going for the 3rd best hangout due to resource and budget constraints. However, in a IT service/product business the most economical delivery mechanisms may often be the best delivery mechanisms.

Step 4.  Creating and executing the Campaign. Creating the campaign is an involving activity and a culmination of our knowledge about our identified audience, understanding the messaging that we want to project, the time we have, tuned for the delivery mechanism we choose. Once we have the above 3 steps in place and we know our budgets, it is a mixture of creativity and resources (that our budgets define) and the available time. Therefore the key here is to assign a budget and identifying the time by when the campaign needs to be executed, for example a holiday season or a Financial year closure. Budgets and time also define the creation of the target pool – the email databases for email campaigns, the Blog topics for Blog campaigns, Phone numbers for Phone-out campaigns etc. (not touching the print and media campaigns which focus more on the content)

Task : This is the most time consuming part of the Campaign Preparation. Our creative team, the marketing Team (Including the leadership) works on developing the content, design and the message. Another team identifies / builds the target market list/database, complete with email IDs, phone numbers, company profile data as required. A plan for running the campaigns is created covering sequential and parallel runs and the plan is executed accordingly.

Step 5.  Yield Management – Measuring, tracking and follow up. Good marketing campaigns always have this step well thought out before the campaign is executed. Lack of preparation of post campaign activities can be disastrous. Imagine not having enough sales force to address request for meetings before a holiday season across multiple geographies. The prospect that responded to our campaign of ‘let’s meet’, if not met, will most likely never respond to our future campaigns.  Also, not being able to measure the number of  responses received , type of responses etc. in mail campaign would deny us of crucial learnings to be accounted for in our next campaign.  Our preparation for this activity could also influence our messaging and the vehicle of choice for our marketing campaign.

In all Marketing Campaigns are involved activities, much beyond sending out random emails and tele-calling and the success depends on how much preparation goes behind. While resources are required, smart and less resource intensive ways of campaigning can also yield desirable results.

Task : In case of email Campaigns, create a simple excel sheet with the number of emails sent, day, time, messages and capture the responses, both negative, positive and neutral and build action items for all responses that require action. Collate the info and use the analysis for the next campaign.

Happy Marketing !! 

Frugal Marketing and Sales.

Frugal Marketing and Sales.

New entrants by their nature of operations have limited resources at their disposal and after investments on their core products/services have very little for their Marketing and Sales activities.

Pitched against the might of behemoth companies in almost any field of service or product leaves only few options for the new entrants, unless they are ground breaking ideas and/or are driven by a set of extremely nascent technologies which take off on their own.

Till the time the Start-up or an SME is funded it is important to follow a frugality in approach and measure every spend aspect against an expected ROI. Though there may not be a direct ROI for many of the activities in marketing, still it is good to keep the end result in mind.

Splurging on a media campaign will surely get us the ears and eyeballs but if we are not prepared to capitalize on the attention we generate, the marketing campaign would not yield the desired result. Therefore while planning for a marketing campaign we must include a clear plan for absorbing the results of the campaign and taking it to the next level. For example the advertisement for a patient management software product meant for hospitals could attract interest across multiple cities and if we do not have pre-appointed sales/sales support folks available who could engage with the hospitals for a demo/discussion, the impact that the marketing campaign made, would be lost and the huge investment with it.

A frugal approach would be to go through a restrained campaign through emails and social media, which can be controlled to a great extent. The investments are limited, however these campaigns need to be sustained over a period, therefore requiring a greater degree of planning and sustained efforts in execution. However tactical it may sound, it would be proper to invest in a basic in-house sales+ marketing team which could anchor the campaign.

The preamble of a Marketing campaign would be to clearly know The specific Product or the service that would be considered for the initial campaign (It becomes very tempting to use a single campaign to promote everything that we offer thereby diluting the message and the impact our limited budgets can make )

Since Marketing is akin to show business, there is never a way which could not have been done better with more resources. A first step towards a measured campaign would be to define budgets.

The next step would be to identify the audience and the hangout most frequented by the majority of the audience. This could be Social Media, Office (Office Email), Mobile Phones for FMCG it could be TV and Radio.

The next task would be to freeze on a media (email, Social, radio, TV) or a combination of media to reach out to the audience. Primarily the budgets and volume and distribution of the audience would determine this. For E.g. A combination of Drip marketing and social media presence could do well for marketing a Technology Event.

The objective of Marketing is not just creating an awareness and impact but benefitting from the impact, otherwise it would become journalism. Once the budget, audience and the media is frozen, it is time to plan for capitalizing the effect or impact that we would generate. i.e. we should have a ready list of FAQ answers for possible queries that our targeted audience may have when they call in, after a campaign or we should be prepared with enough resources to handle Demos in various locations quickly if the campaign promised a demo and our targeted audience asks for it.

If you notice, the focus of this Blog has been more on the less expensive means of marketing namely Email Marketing, tele-calling, Social media Marketing, Blogs and Drip marketing.

Typically a combination of vehicles / media used works and there are many more ways of expanding visibility – some are expensive while some or not. Some have great ‘Value for Money’ while some others are just hygiene factors and must be done. If we are into ‘Frugal marketing’ it will be great to explore few other ways to Market ourselves. Few online options

  • Networking (with a significant supply of Business cards) at RELEVANT events is a good way to spread the word,
  • Alliances with eco system partners – both large and small and to ensure that we get a mention in all/some of the marketing material/web pages that they have.
  • Getting featured in few Industry Magazines  and eZines (if the articles are good – they sometime come free)
  • Other options, apart from regular Social media Tools (FB, LinkedIn etc.) is to Blog regularly
  • Participate in discussions and Blogs of others and in groups

The success depends on planning and relentlessness of execution (rather than brute force of being available everywhere and hence visible and therefore making the chances of being recalled by the audience is higher).

Happy Marketing !!!

Marketing is an Attitude. Sales, is a Culture.

Marketing is an Attitude. Sales, is a Culture.

Marketing is all about building the right perception and Sales is the grit behind this suave perception. While it is critical to have the determination and perseverance needed to sell, a culture that amplifies the values of the organization is what creates differentiated organizations.

It is not just the job of a marketing team or an external agency to create the external hype, which we call Marketing, it is much beyond and actually goes deep inside the core of the organization.

The way the company represents itself, communicates, deals with its internal organization, and its employees behave while faced with their peers in other companies is what represents the company and this defines the marketing Culture of the company.

While it becomes difficult for smaller organizations to create a visible culture, which can be resonated by its employees, certain steps can be taken to ensure that the entire company brings the same face of the company to the outside world. Lot of it is to do with communication.

Going tactical, marketing cultures can be created right from standardizing email signatures to the way MoMs are recorded and circulated. Aligning of websites with marketing collaterals create a perception of seamlessness across other aspects. Uniformity in communications to customers slowly but steadily helps in creating a brand that an organization stands for.

Therefore a facet of Marketing is into spending big on creating visibility and perception, it also has a lot to do with the culture an organization chooses to adapt

While Marketing can be equated with ‘Soft Skills’ of a human being , sales is the actual character of the organization. While sales at the very minimum an exchange of product, solution or services in exchange of money, in practicality the sales is the process that leads to this final act when the exchange takes place. The tenacity with which the organization conducts itself, the perseverance, the innovation in positioning, efforts and investment in relation building defines the attitude of the organization.

A luxury brand can be in demand because of its ‘don’t care for buyer attitude’ while a similar attitude for an organization with a product which has multiple competing products can spell doom for the organization. A services company expecting repeat sales from an organization would do great with dedicated account managers, while an organization with low cost product line would sink with investments if it chose to do the same with all its buyers.

The attitude of an organization would therefore determine how it takes its product/solution/service to the market and the position, in terms of quality, price and value that it commands. In simple terms, this attitude determines, how we negotiate, concede, refuse and win business deals. This attitude defines the nature of not only the organization’s sales force but the entire leadership of organization that contributes to the sales process.

Needs, Wants and Demands in a B2B Marketplace.

Needs, Wants and Demands in a B2B Marketplace.

Firms exist to serve other firms and individuals. In a B2B scenario firms serve other firms. Let me consider the requirements that are visible and expressed by Firms to procure new goods and services. It is what is available in structured RFPs and RFQs. Vendor Firms bid for it and at most times the one with the right connections – (Which knows the CEO, Knows the Project Manager, Knows the user) wins. The win is attributed to good connections.

When I really think, what is it, that my good connection gave, which helped me close my deal and I come back to the very fundamentals of Marketing.

The terms  NEEDS, WANTS and DEMANDS.

An RFP is a demand by a Firm (Firm A) which it will like to be fulfilled, because it has an approval to spend so much on a project/product for fulfilling a specific requirement. The RFP is a globally available expression of such desires backed by a financial willingness to buy from the most qualified seller. DEMANDS are important as they have a strategic connotation, where a firm that is floating the RFP adds a cloak around the specific requirement, that make the solution to the requirement unique to the firm.

Then comes the WANT. It is a desire, which need not always have a justifiable correlation with the cost at which this desire could be fulfilled. WANTS are generally posted by middle level managers who wish well for Firm and who collect best practices (Processes/Features/Specifications/User Interface models etc.)  from within organizations and from outside (including competing firms/products). These WANTS could give a One-up-manship to the product/project for which the Firm A is floating the RFP.

Then finally at the root of all this is the NEED

The NEED is a basic requirement at the center of WANTS and DEMANDS. It is as basic as a Human Being’s need for food or shelter. The Firm needs a solution to a specific problem. For example, a software developer in a geographically distributed project team NEEDs to be able to interact simultaneously with multiple of his peers. The basic NEED is to be able to have a crisp and clear multi-location conference like discussion among team members.

The basic NEED gets transformed to a WANT with frills like, Video Presence, File Sharing, meeting reminders, automatic call routers, mute and record options etc. etc. And what translated to the RFP as DEMAND are the basic NEED + half of those frill features (WANTS). The trimming of WANTS happened due to cost, infrastructure, security and other strategic considerations.

Coming back to why Firm X won the deal, is because through its connections, it was able to understand the basic NEED of the Firm A and never lost sight of the basic NEED while proposing its product/service/solution.

The Firm with the connections, picked up the DEMANDed features, met the project managers and negotiated alternate and toned down version of their original WANTS (all of which no longer reflected in the RFP), and made sure it addressed the basic NEED and all this at a cost that suited the bidding Firm. Mind you, the NEED could be something that is not related to the product at all and could possibly be a legal, security related, or simply a long term commitment like warranty and support related NEED.

This knowledge of the NEEDS and WANTS and respect for the various levels of the Firm A, won Firm X the deal, though visibly it was because the Sales guy golfed with the CEO  and dined with the Project Manager of Firm A.

** Of course I am not considering the deals where favoritism in return for other favors swing the deals. I am also considering that the pricing or a perceptible price for the same product or service by all bidding firms was similar. (I have more to say on perceptible ROI, which I will, on another blog)

‘Selling’ and ‘Making a prospect buy’ – Not two sides of the same coin!!

‘Selling’ and ‘Making a prospect buy’ – Not two sides of the same coin!!

he objective, in the ‘selling’ approach and ‘making my prospect buy’ approach is the same, but there is an enormous gap in the messaging. In ‘Selling’ we have ‘We’ (our company, our product, our service, our culture) as the centrepiece while in ‘making my prospect buy’ approach the centrepiece is the Buyer.

At this point, we have lot of us nodding our heads in a ‘yes we know’ but typically the connect and the pride that we have with all that is ours (our company, our product, our service, our culture) makes it very difficult to even try to understand what our prospect actually wants.

Companies have become large, just by focusing on ‘how to make my prospects buy’ while those which focused on their greatest product have just perished – we know of the successful companies and for each of them there are a dozen or more companies which got their product right and they felt nothing could be better, not even a prospect which thought a bit otherwise.

One of the key aspects in ‘making prospects buy’ approach, is creating the perception of the product that it is good and is what it promises to be. Perception is a purely one sided word. We can show, tell, write everything about the product but ‘perceiving’ it the way a customer wants, is purely his/her prerogative.

This is where, it becomes an art. ‘Perception’ equates very closely with value. Not the value of the product but the value of the benefit the buyer derives from acquiring the product. Value also equates with the Price of the product, including the effort and the resources that the buyer is going to invest for the value, the buyer ‘Perceives’. Therefore, the key to creating the ‘Perception’ is to understand the customer, its business, need, preferences, dislikes and whatever is possible. In a larger context, a clear understanding of the market from the perspective of the buyers, themselves is essential to create the ‘Perception’. In essence, depending on how it is positioned, Perception becomes the real value.

The second most important parameter after ‘Perception’ is the ‘Likeability’ of the product. Likeability is again a very subjective word, nonetheless, when our buyers do not like the color on the bottle, or are intimidated by the sales guy and we lose serious brownie points. Therefore again, it is important that the product is presented and packaged in a way, it aligns with the ‘Perception’ created. Likeability in a way is a value enhancer

The last and a critical parameter is ‘Association’ of the product. All buyers have subconscious favourites and the favourites could be ideologies, people, fantasies, places, events and there are those standard memory joggers – like a life occasion, a childhood memory, a song. For e.g. associating with happy occasions could be better to get a mindshare for a chocolate brand than listing out the nuts and the flavors; likewise associating with ‘time with family’ could influence a buyer to make a decision on choosing a home internet connection. ‘Association’, in fact is a very powerful sales agent.

Having talked of Perception, Likeability and Association, it might sound little ‘Consumerish’ but almost everything stated above works even in a B2B scenario, after all it is always a human being that buys, not the business.