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Seminar on Marketing for Technology Companies, presented for Technology Transfer Office at National University of Ireland Galway on 12 Decemer 2012. Describes how to use web marketing and content to sell high-value, complex technology products online
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Marketing Technology Products
NUI Galway 12 Dec 2012
Michael White
How to generate leads, drive sales and increase revenue using Online Marketing
Today when people want to buy something the first place they look is the web, whether they’re looking for shoes, a car or a house (or a technology product)
You need to make sure they find you when they come looking for your type of product
You need to make sure that when they find you they take an action that’s useful e.g. subscribe, buy, register ...
We’re going to look at the overall approach and the tools you use
Product?
Web Marketing for Tech Companies
Generate more leads
Website traffic
Google Pay-per-click
EmailSocial media
My Product
My potential customers
• 1. Make sure your product meets the needs of a group of customers – product/market fit
• 2. Promote that product effectively to those customers
Make something people want, then sell it to themMake something people want, then sell it to them
6
Because this is the way businesses buy today
• Buyers are doing most of their initial research online before initiating conversations with vendors and are better informed at an earlier stage.
• We're moving from a focus on traditional techniques like press advertising, mail shots and cold calling, to techniques based on websites, ‘content-based’ marketing and automated marketing.
Why Focus on Web Marketing?
In a survey of 4000 B2B technology buyers in the US, who had bought a
product worth $25k or more, 80% of those buyers said they found the vendor, not the other way round.
Source: MarketingSherpa – “B2B Technology Marketing Benchmark
Survey 2008”
In a survey of 4000 B2B technology buyers in the US, who had bought a
product worth $25k or more, 80% of those buyers said they found the vendor, not the other way round.
Source: MarketingSherpa – “B2B Technology Marketing Benchmark
Survey 2008”
7
Because your website should be your top source of leads outside of personal connections
In a 2011 survey of B2B IT and marketing professionals, the corporate website was identified as the second most important source of leads after personal connections and referrals.
Source: DemandBase and Focus.com 2011
In a 2011 survey of B2B IT and marketing professionals, the corporate website was identified as the second most important source of leads after personal connections and referrals.
Source: DemandBase and Focus.com 2011
Why Focus on Web Marketing?
8
A 2011 survey of B2B buyers in Europe
indicated that websites, web searches and email made up 3 of the top 4
information sources when carrying out a
purchase process
Source: 2011 BuyerSphere survey
A 2011 survey of B2B buyers in Europe
indicated that websites, web searches and email made up 3 of the top 4
information sources when carrying out a
purchase process
Source: 2011 BuyerSphere survey
Because your website should be your top source of leads outside of personal connections
Why Focus on Web Marketing?
9
Because this is a natural progression of how sales work
Sales teams find and persuade the buyers
Buyers start to search online, find service and product information from multiple vendors
Buyers confer with each other via online networks
Sales now use online tools to prospect, generate and qualify leads
Marketing Automation
1997
2006
2009
1950s to
1990s
Why Focus on Web Marketing?
• Siemens Ireland – acquire customers for a new consulting service – migration to Microsoft Office 365• Value proposition – reduced capital costs, reduced operational costs, ease of access to IT systems• Buyers – CIOs, Directors of IT at top 500 companies in Ireland with more than 300 staff• Content – created a white paper called “Migrating to Microsoft in the Cloud”• Drive traffic – sent targeted email offering the white paper, plus Google ads and PR• Result – 265 contacts with targeted profile after 4 weeks, 25 leads, 10 prospects
Email and Google ads Website registration page
Visitor gets white paper
Siemens gets contact details of visitor
How Does It Work for B2B?
11
Digital Marketing for B2B is Different from B2C
• The difference isn’t always clear cut
• But generally these differences are true
B2B B2C
Higher value e.g. > €10k Lower value e.g. < 1k
High consideration - more evaluation required Lower consideration – evaluation is faster
Perceived risk – so reducing this risk is important for buyers
Low risk
Complexity of product is greater e.g. large software system, machinery – so need to educate buyers on features, differentiators
Generally less complex – clothes, food, tickets (but exceptions e.g. cars, laptops, some software products)
Longer, multi-phase sales cycle – can be up to 18 months
Immediate – transaction occurs quickly (e.g. purchasing consumer goods, books)
Multiple participants on buyer side (e.g. financial manager, users, IT dept)
One buyer
Executive involvement – may require sign-off from senior staff or head office
Buyer decides for themselves
Branding / emotional appeal less important Branding / emotional appeal very important
12
But for both B2B and B2C, buyers find you online …
• In B2C, you use online marketing to bring someone to your site so they will purchase something directly, right now Buy Now
• In B2B, you use online marketing to bring someone to your site so they will register for something (a white paper, free trial ...).
• Once you have their contact details, you set up a regular communication with them to build up their interest, qualify them as sales opportunities and persuade them to buy later
Download
The Overall ApproachUnderstand who you are targeting (your buyers) – what are their roles, which companies do they work for, where are they, what is important to them, how do you connect with them?
What are you selling – what does your product and service do for them, what is your value proposition for these buyers?
Generate ‘content’ – based on your understanding of the buyers, create information that your target buyers will find useful e.g. Case studies, white papers, research surveys, how to guides ...
Drive traffic to that content using PPC, email, SEO, PR, social media
Capture contact details in exchange for your content
Build a relationship with those people over time via your content, website, social media and email so they learn and understand your proposition, answer their concerns and select you as their best choice
How do you compare with competitors – which ones are worth focusing on, how do you differentiate from them?
http://
Who?
Who else?
What?
Content
Traffic
Leads
Lead Management
2. Who to target?
2. Who to target?
• Who is your ideal customer?• Profile of ideal customers - what is their
• Industry?• Typical size (staff, revenue)• Type of Organization• Role(s) - Personas?
• Do you know any individuals who fit? Can you prepare a list of names?• Could you get me a list of email addresses? E.g. Business.ie
• Who is your ideal customer?• Profile of ideal customers - what is their
• Industry?• Typical size (staff, revenue)• Type of Organization• Role(s) - Personas?
• Do you know any individuals who fit? Can you prepare a list of names?• Could you get me a list of email addresses? E.g. Business.ie
2. Who to target?
• Create “Personas” for your top 3 target customers• They are “archetypes” representing 80% of your target visitors• Use them as way to describe and understand those customers
• Create “Personas” for your top 3 target customers• They are “archetypes” representing 80% of your target visitors• Use them as way to describe and understand those customers
Oscar
Role: Sales managerOrganization: SMEAge: 45Goals: have easy access to prospect information 24/7; get better quality leads; better pipeline
NoraRole: Marketing managerOrganization: multi-nationalAge: 32Goals: manage multiple channels; drive awareness of the company; produce more and better quality leads.
LiamRole: IT managerOrganization: SMEAge: 31Goals: reliability and availability; simplified architecture; security; cloud-based infrastructure
3. “What are we selling?” Your value proposition
3. Your Value Proposition
Need it …
• When talking to prospects
• On your website
• On Landing pages
• In Email campaigns
• On Brochures
• In your PR
• When talking to prospects
• On your website
• On Landing pages
• In Email campaigns
• On Brochures
• In your PR
For <target customers>
Who are dissatisfied with <current market alternative>
Our product is a <new product category>
That provides <key problem solving capacity>
Unlike <the main product alternative>
We have assembled <key ‘whole product’ features for your
product’s specific area of application>
For <target customers>
Who are dissatisfied with <current market alternative>
Our product is a <new product category>
That provides <key problem solving capacity>
Unlike <the main product alternative>
We have assembled <key ‘whole product’ features for your
product’s specific area of application>
3. Your Value Proposition
Value Propositions• From the outside, a lot of products and services look the
same to their potential customers.
• The more complex the product or service, the harder it is for buyers to understand how to differentiate between the available options.
• You have make it easy for buyers to quickly understand how you can help them and why you are better than your competitors.
• You do this by defining a clear and compelling Value Proposition aka your pitch
• From the outside, a lot of products and services look the same to their potential customers.
• The more complex the product or service, the harder it is for buyers to understand how to differentiate between the available options.
• You have make it easy for buyers to quickly understand how you can help them and why you are better than your competitors.
• You do this by defining a clear and compelling Value Proposition aka your pitch
3. Your Value Proposition
The ProductThe Product
The ServiceThe Service
The way we deliver our product or and service, our skills and expertise
The way we deliver our product or and service, our skills and expertise
Other elements that our customers value – easy to do business with, reliable, innovative, thought leaders,
trustworthy
Other elements that our customers value – easy to do business with, reliable, innovative, thought leaders,
trustworthy
3. Your Value Proposition
4. Product Launch Plan
Objectives and time
“More than 3 objectives = no objectives”
Year
Q3 Q4
M1 M2 M3 M1 M2 M3 M1 M2 M3 M1 M2 M3
Q1 Q2
1. Planning
BUDGET1. Set an annual budget for marketing2. Pick an initial figure based on spending in the past 12 months 3. Should be between 3% and 10% of revenue on average4. 30% or more of spend should be on online activities5. The budget should be allocated to specific activities:
1. Website updates2. Online ads – PPC3. SEO4. Email marketing5. Events – in-house seminars6. Online ads – banner / display7. Events – Tradeshows8. PR9. Press advertising10. Sponsored email distribution11. Printing12. Analysts
6. Report monthly and quarterly on spending against plan
1. Planning
PLAN1. Quarterly planning2. Quarterly objectives for unit3. Personal objectives match up to unit objectives4. Planning starts 2 weeks before end of quarter5. Review capacity and outputs from previous quarter6. Prepare draft plan and draft objectives based on what was delivered on
previous quarter7. Discuss with Sales and agree goals for lead generation, campaigns,
events8. Product marketing – get briefing on upcoming features from R&D9. Use simple graphical chart to discuss timeline
4. Product Launch Plan
26
Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk 9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk 12
Activity 3
Activity 4
Activity 6
Activity 5
Activity 2
Activity 7
Activity 8
Activity 9
Activity 1
Activity 10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• Multi-touch promotion• Synchronize your
activities so they lead up to one point e.g. a launch event
• Multi-touch promotion• Synchronize your
activities so they lead up to one point e.g. a launch event
5. Website
•Explains how to make sites more usable.•Helps you avoid basic errors.•Main message - when we look at a web page it should be obvious, self-evident. Don’t use text, graphics or layouts that cause unnecessary delays or confusion.
•If you follow Steve Krug’s advice you have a better chance of steering visitors to what you want them to do and see.
•Explains how to make sites more usable.•Helps you avoid basic errors.•Main message - when we look at a web page it should be obvious, self-evident. Don’t use text, graphics or layouts that cause unnecessary delays or confusion.
•If you follow Steve Krug’s advice you have a better chance of steering visitors to what you want them to do and see.
5. Website
Purpose of Website•To generate sales leads •To generate sales
Purpose of Website•To generate sales leads •To generate sales
Source: DemandBase and Focus.com 2011 Survey of B2B IT and marketing professionalsSource: DemandBase and Focus.com 2011 Survey of B2B IT and marketing professionals
5. Website
• Call To Action – make these prominent• Encourage sign-ups – use home page, all internal pages• Understand search patterns – use Google keyword tool so you can
identify phrases to target• Use Landing Pages for your online ad / email campaigns
• Call To Action – make these prominent• Encourage sign-ups – use home page, all internal pages• Understand search patterns – use Google keyword tool so you can
identify phrases to target• Use Landing Pages for your online ad / email campaigns
87%Description of service/products
Which Industries You Serve
Success stories / case studies
Professional website design and presentation
About us / biographies
Client list
Online resources/content (white papers etc.)
News items
Podcasts or audio content
Top 10 Website Elements – rated “Important/Extremely ImportantTop 10 Website Elements – rated “Important/Extremely Important
87%
Video or online presentations
78%
73%
69%
64%
64%
60%
57%
47%
40%
Source: “How clients buy 2009 Benchmark Report”, RainTodaySource: “How clients buy 2009 Benchmark Report”, RainToday
5. Website
5. Website
5. Website
5. Website
Example landing page layout
Example landing page layout
5. Website
Bring people (traffic) to
your website
Bring people (traffic) to
your website
Persuade them to sign-up for a
Free Trial
Persuade them to sign-up for a
Free Trial
Persuade them to pay for your
service
Persuade them to pay for your
service
Convince them to renew each year –
retain your customers
Convince them to renew each year –
retain your customers
TrafficTraffic ConversionConversion SubscriptionSubscription RetentionRetention
Traffic Conversion Subscription Retention
35
What content will interest your Buyers? “Bait”
Digital Marketing is like fishing – you need the correct bait to attract your fish Different buyers have different information needs at each stage of the buying process So, if you identify 3 to 4 typical buyers – General Manager, Sales & Marketing Director,
Head of Compliance ... Develop content that meets the information needs of these buyers at different stages
of their buying cycle This will be used as online “bait” to bring them to your website
Types of content•Case studies•Research•Education e.g. slides and tutorials•Tours and overviews•How to tips•News•Thought leadership
Content Strategy
7. Email marketing
• Use an email service provider – Mailchimp, ConstantContact etc.• Build your list – a list of emails from your target group• Design your email so it looks professional• Offer either (1) Pilot sign-up or (2) content e.g. a White Paper• Or carry out a survey e.g. “Your use of Technology X”, offering something in return• When someone clicks, bring them to a landing page• Plan what your response should be – phone call, email, other ..
• Use an email service provider – Mailchimp, ConstantContact etc.• Build your list – a list of emails from your target group• Design your email so it looks professional• Offer either (1) Pilot sign-up or (2) content e.g. a White Paper• Or carry out a survey e.g. “Your use of Technology X”, offering something in return• When someone clicks, bring them to a landing page• Plan what your response should be – phone call, email, other ..
8. Pay-per-click ads
These kinds of ads are called “Pay per click” – get them on Google and Bing How it works – tell Google that if someone searches on “phrase” they are to show
your ad; if someone clicks on your ad, then they are brought to a Landing Page You only pay when someone clicks; you know in that case that they were
searching on a relevant term for your business Keyword selection – find all the relevant words and phrases Write your text ad - offer “Free sign-up, this month only” Bring visitors to specially designed Landing page When they register, think through the follow-up e.g. Email, phone call ... Store the contact details ! OnePageCRM, ZohoCRM, your email system, Excel ...
Your ad here
1. The WebsiteGoogle Ads
11 Keyword analysis
22 Ad text
33 Landing page
Campaign set-up – budget, geography Keyword analysis – what are people searching for Ad text – variants Bids and cost-per-click Bid management Broadmatch, exact match, negative keywords Keyword insertion
Your ad textWhy we’re greatCall us now!www.mywebsite.com
NameEmail
Download
Google Ads
Think about how visitors search for your product or service
Thousands of ways people search for things, but usually fall into a category :
The actual question they have e.g. “how do I fix a broken pipe”
The answer to the question e.g. “plumbers in Galway”
A description of the problem e.g. “broken water pipe in kitchen”
A symptom of the problem e.g. “flooded kitchen”
A description of the cause e.g. “frozen pipes”
Producer parts or brand names e.g. Bosch, Philips
For each product, think how people might search for it, using the above as a guide
Use Google’s free Keyword Tool to help generate more keywords
Sort by “volume of searches” and “level of competition”
Break them into groups of 20 to 30 keywords and put them in Ad Groups
Google Ads
Keyword selectionKeyword selection
41
Why SEO is important:• Business buyers as well as consumers search online when looking
for products and services
• 85% of those buyers find what they want via search engines
• If they can’t find you, they will find a competitor
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search (ads) are the two main tools to ensure you are found
• You should understand the basics of how search engines prioritize search results
•With SEO there’s no incremental cost per customer
• Then you can decide what to do about it – do nothing, do it yourself or hire someone to help
42
Why is Search Engine Optimization important?
Because most people (75%) click on the ‘natural’ search results rather than ‘paid’ ads
25% of clicks go to the
“paid” advertising results you
see at the top and right-
hand side of Google and Bing search
pages
25% of clicks go to the
“paid” advertising results you
see at the top and right-
hand side of Google and Bing search
pages
75% of clicks go to the “natural”
or “organic” search results you see at the
left hand side of the search
results pages
75% of clicks go to the “natural”
or “organic” search results you see at the
left hand side of the search
results pages
43
Because when people do search, they usually don’t look past the first results on page 1
Most people (64%) click on the first 3 results on Google page 1•42% to the first result•12% to the second•9% to the third
Less than 10% click on pages beyond page 1
Source: SEOBook and SEOMoz
Most people (64%) click on the first 3 results on Google page 1•42% to the first result•12% to the second•9% to the third
Less than 10% click on pages beyond page 1
Source: SEOBook and SEOMoz
Why is Search Engine Optimization important?
44
• Search Engine Optimization is the process you use to appear higher in the search engine results pages for searches relevant to your business
• It is based on first understanding how people search for terms related to your business - keyword analysis
• You then use that understanding to update your website, interact with social media and seek links so you can push your business higher up on the search results
Website settingsWebsite settings
Links (incoming, outgoing
and internal)
Links (incoming, outgoing
and internal)Social mediaSocial media
Content on your pages
Content on your pages
Keyword AnalysisKeyword Analysis
Search Engine Optimization
45
Search route 1
Search route 2
Search route N
• People take different routes when searching for your kinds of products and services
• You need to understand which kinds of searches are best at bringing your desired buyers to you online
• You should analyze each major ‘search route’ into your site so that you can increase that traffic
Search Engine Optimization
Signals that Google uses to decide which page to show for a query
1. Keyword use in title tag2. Anchor text in inbound link3. Global link authority of site4. Age of site5. Link popularity within the site’s internal structure6. Topical relevance of inbound links7. Link popularity of site in topical community8. Keyword use in body text9. Global link popularity of sites that link to the site
Overall, it looks at relevance and popularity.The list below is from an SeoMoz.org poll of SEO companies – 9 most important factors
Search Engine Optimization
The Long Tail
Source: SEOMoz.org
• The most popular keywords account for 18.5 % of search traffic• They are the most competitive terms – it is usually hard to get a new web page onto the top
of page 1 for these terms• However, over 70% of searches are for less common terms – these are the ‘long tail’
keyword phrases• Usually these terms are 3 words or longer and are more specific e.g. “1996 green 3 series
bmw” rather than “bmw”• Targeting these ‘long tail’ keywords is a good way to get more traffic to your site
Search Engine Optimization
The Long Tail
• You can optimize for about 3 phases per page• And … you need to have pages for the phrases you are trying to target• So plan out the site structure based on the phrases you want to be
found for
Search Engine Optimization
Three main tasks in SEO
“On Page” – configure settings and place content on your website
“Off Page” – Link Strategy – encourage other sites to link to you
Social media – has an increasing effect on your rankings in the results pages
On page Off page
WWW
WWW
WWW
WWW
WWW
Social media
Search Engine Optimization
First step – KEYWORD ANALYSIS – what terms do you want to be found for? Start similar to Google PPC keyword analysis – use Google keyword tool But – you have to pick smaller selection of keywords to focus on Sort by search volume (high) and level of competition (low) Pick top candidate phrases for your key phrases Optimize specific pages for particular terms More pages, more terms you can optimize for
Search Engine Optimization
4. Text, internal links, bold
1. Page Title
3. Header tags
2. URL
5. Page description text
‘On page’ optimization – 5 settings per page, plus regular use of your target keywords on an optimized page with relevant content ‘On page’ optimization – 5 settings per page, plus regular use of your target keywords on an optimized page with relevant content
Search Engine Optimization
Social Media
• Why will people share your status updates?• What do you want to happen when they do?
Social Media – Blog
Blogs• What? Basically like a website that you can easily edit and update• Why? Draws more traffic to your web-site, leads, sales• Can form the basis for your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter marketing• Allows readers to provide feedback• Can paste in YouTube videos, SlideShare slides
Social Media – Blog
Why start a blog?
12. Sign-up Process
Follow-up all leads within 24 hours It’s in your interest to get them to sign-up so make an effort Help during sign-up and test – use webinars, even call round for the first few Do not let them work it out for themselves Provide someone for them to contact 24/7 – these are your pilot customers so it’s worth it Be prepared for a “4 touch” cycle – email, phone, email, email ... Record what you are doing – it can quickly get confusing Sketch out a workflow diagram showing how it should work
13. Conversion
Are they using your product? If you take it away will they miss it? Can they see the value they obtain e.g. Money saved, time saved, revenue generated? What will it take to get them to buy? How does your pricing compare with comparable systems? Does someone else need to sign-off on the purchase? How do you know they understand the value? How do you test pricing? Big difference in saying “would be interested” versus providing credit card details Can you handle a card payment?
Are they using your product? If you take it away will they miss it? Can they see the value they obtain e.g. Money saved, time saved, revenue generated? What will it take to get them to buy? How does your pricing compare with comparable systems? Does someone else need to sign-off on the purchase? How do you know they understand the value? How do you test pricing? Big difference in saying “would be interested” versus providing credit card details Can you handle a card payment?
Lead Generation
Lead management
Score = 1
Score = 1
Initial contact details, not meeting basic criteria, bogus information, no real interaction with the company
Initial contact details, not meeting basic criteria, bogus information, no real interaction with the company
Score = 2
Score = 2
Score = 3
Score = 3
Contact details valid, company details valid, but low expectation that it will become a leadContact details valid, company details valid, but low expectation that it will become a lead
Details valid, lead is of interest to marketing, but doesn’t meet all criteria for a Sales Qualified LeadDetails valid, lead is of interest to marketing, but doesn’t meet all criteria for a Sales Qualified Lead
Score = 4
Score = 4
Lead meets all the criteria specified to be a Sales Qualified LeadLead meets all the criteria specified to be a Sales Qualified Lead
Score = 5
Score = 5
Lead meets all the criteria specified to be a Sales Qualified Lead, plus we have indication that they are seriously engaged and/or have shown interest in the company
Lead meets all the criteria specified to be a Sales Qualified Lead, plus we have indication that they are seriously engaged and/or have shown interest in the company
Hand offTo Sales
Hand offTo Sales
Lead Generation
Lead management
Score = 5Score = 5
Score = 1Score = 1
Score = 2Score = 2
Score = 3Score = 3
Score = 4Score = 4
Score = 5
Score = 5
Handoff to SalesHandoff to Sales
Not a fitNot a fit
Returned ProspectsReturned ProspectsSales-
generated leads and existing clients
Sales-generated leads and existing clients
EmailEmailGoogleGoogle WebWeb TelesalesTelesalesEventsEvents
14. Referral
Starting point – you have your first happy customer Will they give you a referral Why would they give you a referral? Can you incentivize them? E.g. 6 months free for every new customer? Can you offer something else? Value of offer should relate to value of customer e.g. If new customer worth 1k per year,
what “commission” will you offer to referrees? Examples: Perlico, ConstantContact, the Ecomist, Blueface ...
Books
Bonus advice
Presentation Zen
Call to action!Call to action!
63
About Motarme
Motarme is an easy-to-use enterprise Marketing Automation system. Motarme is specifically designed to help business-to-business (B2B) companies in the technology, software and industrial sectors generate sales leads online. In addition to our web-based Marketing Automation product we provide consulting, web marketing and lead generation services. Our customers include Siemens, Mergon, SF Engineering and mid-size and early stage technology companies.
Web: www.Motarme.com.
Clients
“ We have seen for ourselves how a solid strategy has helped to drive traffic to our
site and generate sales leads.”
“ We have seen for ourselves how a solid strategy has helped to drive traffic to our
site and generate sales leads.”Caolan BushellBusiness Development ManagerMergon Group
Caolan BushellBusiness Development ManagerMergon Group
Barry RooneyChief Operations OfficerSiemens ITSS
Barry RooneyChief Operations OfficerSiemens ITSS
“The system delivered real, measurable results in a short
timeframe – sales and contacts from our target audience at Tier 1
companies.”
“The system delivered real, measurable results in a short
timeframe – sales and contacts from our target audience at Tier 1
companies.”
Joe LynchGeneral ManagerIMEC Technologies
Joe LynchGeneral ManagerIMEC Technologies
“Generating leads online is now a central part of our sales strategy.”
“Generating leads online is now a central part of our sales strategy.”
About Motarme