This question was recently posed to a
LinkedIn Group of which I’m a member, and it got me thinking, because it’s a question you could approach from a few different angles. For instance, one challenging thing can be setting up and measuring an effective
lead nurturing campaign. So, instead of thinking tactically, I took a step back and thought about what’s been most challenging for me.
With that in mind, I’m an agency guy, so from an agency perspective in the B2B space, the number-one hardest thing seems to be getting buy-in from our clients. It’s not because there’s a question of whether or not inbound marketing works (Luckily, we have results to share that make that a low hurdle), but because inbound encompasses social media, which in a lot of cases is still met with raised eyebrows.
Many of the B2B marketers we’ve encountered seem to understand the importance of social media, and recognize that they should be doing something (if only listening), but many are still hesitant to take that first step. The challenge, therefore, has been putting social into the proper context (i.e. inbound), showing them how it relates to their current business objectives, proving that it’s not so intimidating and, finally, that they can hit the ground running once they have a game plan in place.
Along these same lines, the second hardest part is keeping the client engaged so they can sustain their inbound activity by continually creating fresh content. As the agency, we’ll step in to fill a void – whether it’s writing a blog or recognizing opportunities to leverage inbound for offline channels (e.g. tradeshows, existing media buys, etc.) – but, especially with content creation, we prefer that it comes from internal resources. It comes across as more genuine, is often more accurate and it adds a layer of credibility that resonates with the target audience. It’s challenging, and it takes a lot of effort, but the payoff makes it all worthwhile.
There have been other challenges for sure, but these are the ones that seem to surface more often than not. I don’t begrudge it. In fact, I welcome it, because each time we overcome these objections to inbound marketing, it makes us a better partner for our clients.
What have been your biggest inbound marketing challenges?
Patrick Maness is Director of Marketing Strategy with B-to-B marketing agency MLT Creative and heads their Rhode Island office.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, direct marketing, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.
A current campaign I’m involved with got me thinking about my roots in consumer direct marketing. Whenever we launch a campaign that relies heavily on direct, I’m reminded that the rules in business-to-business direct marketing are really the same as they are in the consumer space. Granted, the overarching differences between the two disciplines are still present and should be considered (e.g. committee buying/decision-making in b2b vs. a solo decision in b2c), but when you strip it down, the similarities are crystal clear.
- State Your Objective: Generally, one objective per mailing is best and should be the very first thing you do. Are you trying to generate leads, nurture leads, cross-sell to existing customers or otherwise retain them? Establishing a clear objective at the onset will lead you down the path of a sound campaign.
- Know Your Audience: Aligned with your objective, knowing your audience is crucial for any direct campaign. Figuratively, you’ll want to know what types of people make up your target list, and communicate accordingly. Are you targeting in-house prospects, or a rented list? Current or inactive customers? Senior VPs or CEOs? Teenagers or housewives? In the literal sense, you’ll want to make sure your mailers are addressed properly, and include as much personalization as possible.
- Create Compelling Copy & Offers: Why should I buy your product, let alone respond? Aside from any level of personalization, which can only increase response, compelling copy begins with developing a unique selling proposition (USP) that speaks to your target audience. A successful USP is one that promises to solve a problem and makes life better, easier or otherwise addresses the “What’s in it for me?” question from your target audience. For most products and services, a compelling USP will only generate so much response, so identify any number of offers that can be tied into your campaign. Your offers should be relevant and continually tested. If your budget will not allow for big-ticket items, free trials or even introductory discounts, think about free information or content you can offer (this is especially effective in B-to-B).
- Make it Easy to Respond: Following a clearly stated call-to-action that specifies how you would like your target to respond, give them as many options for responding as appropriate – toll-free number, postage-paid envelope, URL, etc. Not too long ago, offering multiple response options would have been frowned upon because the age-old rule was that more choices equates to a lower response. Times have changed; people expect a choice, and not having a preferred response channel could decrease response. Now, is there anything else you can do to make it easy for your prospect/customer to respond? OK, do it.
- Maintain Continuity: Regardless of your business or cause, you must extend a consistent brand identity (messaging, logo, design, etc.) across all channels, and direct is no exception. Chances are your direct efforts will overlap another campaign channel. Each of these impressions to your brand has a cumulative effect that, over time, can lead to increased recognition and recall that can make a positive impact on your response. You’ll only see these benefits if you’re consistent with how you present your brand identity.
- Test, Test, Test: If you can think of a variable, it may be worth testing. A/B split and 2x2 testing are common tests for direct mail, and include examining things such as the creative, the copy, the offer, the list, etc. However, before you begin, make sure you know how much of a response you’ll need from your test to break even, and make sure the sample size of your test group will be large enough to yield results that are statistically significant. This is what you’re supposed to do. With B2B direct, the reality is that you’re often dealing with a universe under 10,000, so “statistically significant” isn’t achievable, and therefore can’t be guaranteed to perform the same if rolled out. In cases like these, you have to be that much more selective about what to test, and you’ll probably also want to be more frugal with your split if you have a dominant control piece.
In true direct form, you could analyze and segment each of these steps to create an even longer list, and while every effort was made to consolidate for easier consumption, I would like to hear your thoughts or experiences.
Leave a comment below for your chance to win a FREE reply from me (not the most compelling offer, I know).
Patrick Maness is Director of Marketing Strategy with B-to-B marketing agency MLT Creative and heads their Rhode Island office.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, direct marketing, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.
Nothing compares to good old fashioned face-to-face networking, but the days and weeks leading up to, and even after, a recent trip to Memphis, Tenn., reminded me that social media marketing – regardless of whether its B-to-B
or B-to-C – is all about relationships.
Billy Mitchell and I traveled to Memphis a few weeks ago to join fellow marketers at a social media seminar led by best-selling author, blogger and marketer, Chris Brogan. Chris is president of New Marketing Labs and a leading authority on all things social media - particularly how to make social media work for large and mid-sized companies.
The opportunity to meet and listen to a bona fide expert was great and worth the trip, but it wasn’t the best part. The best part was meeting other marketing professionals from the US and Canada IRL (in real life), more than a few of whom I've followed on Twitter for quite some time. The chance to make new connections and solidify existing ones was what the trip was really all about. The seminar was really just an excuse for all of us to come together (no offense, Chris), and we all have Amy Howell to thank for it.
Taking a cue from one of Chris Brogan's recent blog articles, I wanted to follow his lead and turn my #MarketerMonday recommendations from the #BroganMemphis event into a blog post. This is a diverse group of incredibly sharp minds, and whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, a PR practitioner, social media beginner or expert, you’ll want to follow them, too.
Cick here to follow this list.
@HowellMarketing - The hostess with the most, Amy is the principal of a Memphis based marketing, PR and social media agency. Amy and her team planned, promoted and did an outstanding job pulling off this event.
@alysdrake - Ask anyone who attended, and they'll all agree. Alys is awesome! If Amy was powering the #broganmemphis train, then Alys - a PR pro from Howell Marketing - kept it on the tracks.
@AnneDGallaher – Principal of a leading PR and marketing firm in Pennsylvania.
@marisacorser – Marketing strategist and Anne’s right hand.
@jeremyvictor - Jeremy is a leading B2B social media and content marketing strategist, and is the editor of B2Bbloggers.com.
@DebWeinstein– Principal of B2C advertising and marketing firm in Canada.
@ProfS - Kathy Snavely is a college professor from Pennsylvania and expert on marketing, social media and entrepreneurship.
@treypennington - Trey is an integrated marketing consultant and author of the upcoming book, Spitball Marketing.
@ericfletcher - Eric is a marketer, blogger, law firm CMO and all-around great guy.
@ryansauers – Ryan is one of the principals of large printing business near our Georgia office. He has an advanced degree in Sales, and is an active blogger and speaker.
@JeffAshcroft - Jeff is a leading authority on logistics and supply-chain management. He can also be found @TheSocialCMO
@KentHuffman – Kent is CMO of a Texas-based business and one of the most helpful marketing professionals on Twitter. Kent also started #MarketerMonday.
@alexromanovich - Alex is the CMO of EuroSpaClub International, and leads the charge at @Social2B.
@markwschaefer - Mark is a college educator and consultant in business strategy, social media and economic development. Check out his blog, {grow}.
@TrendTracker - Glen Gilmore is an attorney and business consultant specializing in integrating traditional marketing with social media.
@ChrisBrogan - A bona fide social media rock star. Follow and learn.
Cick here to follow this list.
Special thanks to @SheaBlackwell at Shea Blackwell Photography for use of TheSocialCMO Crew group shot with Chris Brogan.
Patrick Maness is Director, Strategy with B-to-B marketing agency MLT Creative and heads their Rhode Island office.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.
Presidents Day will always have a special place in my heart.
Scratch that - way too cheesy for an opening. Let me start over.
Presidents Day will always remind me of one of the more interesting campaign kickoffs I've ever had the privilege of managing.
After months of planning, MLT Creative launched the MAFS (Manheim Financial Services) MAKE MONEY WORK MORE FOR YOU campaign (a.k.a. "the Presidents campaign") on Presidents Day, 2007.
Its purpose was to increase credit utilization among existing customers, while also driving new customer applications. MAFS' target audience was car dealers. A division of Manheim, MAFS serves thousands of franchised and independent car dealers with short- and long-term floor planning (You didn't think car dealers paid for their inventory upfront, did you?).
The campaign was the brainchild of Billy Mitchell. At its core, the idea was to differentiate MAFS from its competition by injecting some much-needed humor and personality into the otherwise straight-laced credit industry. We did this by strapping sandwich boards on Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Jackson that essentially said, "We're here to work." The juxtaposition is, in hindsight, a little ironic, given what our economy and government have been through over the past three years.
After an extensive internal communications campaign to socialize the idea and alert Manheim's more than 80 auction locations, the campaign was launched with place-based point-of-sale, segmented direct mail and email to current account holders and prospects at varying levels of activity, print advertising, online advertising, sales collateral and PR.
For our efforts, MLT Creative was awarded with an AMA AMY Award in 2008 for Best B2B Integrated Marketing Campaign. However, the cherry on top was that the campaign was an enormous success for MAFS. They generated record highs in new loan originations and new loan applications that year.
Where are the Presidents now? Well, they're alive and well, in a manner of speaking. Even during the recent credit crunch, they remained a key fixture in MAFS' marketing efforts, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Happy Birthday, Mr. President.
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Patrick Maness is Director, Strategy with B-to-B marketing agency MLT Creative and heads their Rhode Island office.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.
OK. I admit it. There are days I know I've reach my daily allowance of hearing any combination of the following words: social media, SEO, PPC, RSS,
Twitter, tweet, re-tweet,
LinkedIn, Facebook, inbound, link score, landing page, and of course...(wait for it)...blog. If you haven't done this in awhile, stop and say it with me: blog. A frumpy little word if there ever there was, no?
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Patrick, you're a b-to-b marketer in the 21st century. What's your problem? Do you need a vacation? Would you rather be doing something else? You should be eating this stuff up."
While a trip back to the Willamette Valley sans kids would be nice, the answer is no. I love what I do and couldn't imagine doing anything else, especially today, especially right now. If you don't know what I'm referring to, read Groundswell, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, Inbound Marketing.
If you're a marketing, advertising or public relations professional worth your salt, you know the score, and I'm sure you all agree. The way we do business has already changed dramatically; it's constantly evolving and it's very exciting. But that has nothing and at the same time everything to do with this post.
The enormous focus that has been placed on these new marketing 2.0 practices seems to be greatly overshadowing the other tried and true (if only for now) disciplines that are still being successfully utilized. They are the "outbound" or "push" tactics that you would think are no longer being practiced based on peer-to-peer chatter.
The fact is that many of our business-to-business clients continue to allocate more (if not all) of their marketing dollars to outbound programs whether they involve print advertising, direct mail, sales collateral, point-of-sale, tradeshows...you get the idea. This is because many of their customers and prospects still go to tradeshows, they still read the trade rags, they still open their mail and they still physically go somewhere to conduct business.
The point is that there's no match for knowing exactly who you're trying to reach and the best ways to reach them, even if the best way to reach them is seemingly going the way of the Dodo.
So, who's with me? What other brave soul out there is going to join me in writing about an integrated sales promotion involving direct mail, banner ads, landing pages and telemarketing?
Patrick Maness is Director, Strategy with B-to-B marketing agency MLT Creative and heads their Rhode Island office.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.
In a recent article penned by CNBC's Silicon Valley Bureau Chief, Jim Goldman, he posed the question, "Has Twitter's Finest Hours (Seconds) Come and Gone?" As a B2B marketer, I believe the answer to this question is...maybe. But let's look a little closer at the trend and take a minute to separate fact from fad.
In his article, Jim points to a steadily declining user-base, miniscule growth, and an overall lack of direction. No doubt Twitter will have to evolve - maybe even figure out what it wants to be when it grows up - if it is going to remain relevant and survive. Otherwise, it will be surpassed by the next great whiz-bang platform for communicating with one another. That is, if it doesn't run out of funding first.
More to the point, I believe the declining usage cited in the article is represented by the millions who latched onto it earlier this year after it was declared to be said "next great whiz-bang platform" and just as quickly, left. People signed up by the truckloads to find out what all the fuss was about and then...they didn't get it. Or, they got tired (I've experienced a few bouts of Twitter fatigue myself). Or, they totally got it and leveraged it so well they tweeted their way to a new job. Or, they realized they can't make thousands of dollars a day from home just by Tweeting.
When it comes to B-to-B marketing, there is no shortage of experts actively exchanging ideas on Twitter; often with links to excellent blogs on everything from SEO to PPC to Inbound Marketing and yes, blogging. Speaking for myself, I am part of the team at our B2B marketing agency that shapes the inbound strategies for our clients (and our agency), and so far, the benefits of dedicating a portion of the inbound marketing mix to Twitter are nothing but positive and trending up.
I could go on, but the point is that I don't see current declining usage as a sign of Twitter's imminent death. Will it someday die or forever fly? I have no idea, but I believe we'll all have a collective say in it one way or the other.
As Jim states in his article, "Twitter continues to drift through the marketplace like a dandelion seed, going where the winds of trend and word-of-mouth and hype take it." Call me crazy, but given the audience it caters to, this mindset may be the basis for its survival.
Pull up a rock and let me know what you think.
Patrick Maness is a strategist with B-to-B marketing agency MLT Creative and heads their Rhode Island office.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.