Morettini on Management

General Management and Marketing Advice for Software and Tech Companies

Category: Promotion

Social Media Marketing for B2B Tech Companies

By now, every company has grasped the importance of having a social media presence on the web. Or have they?

In discussions with potential clients and others I am actually amazed how many folks have done little or nothing in the area of social media marketing.

Why do you think this is? Some business executives immediately associate “social media” solely with consumer-oriented activities on social medial sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. You know the stereotypes that are popularly characterized by the mainstream media: pictures of wild high school parties, viral invitations to flash mobs, and inane posts about what people are having for breakfast.

But there is serious business going on in the Social Media world. The fact is that Social Media marketing has definitely become not just a mainstream activity, but a critical one. No longer are at an advantage if you are heavily using social media in your marketing mix; you are falling behind if you aren’t!

Social Media is obviously very important in B2C software and hardware marketing. Because it is less well understood, I will be focusing on B2B marketing in this article.

Blogs

A Blog is the single most important step into Social Media for a B2B tech marketer. In addition to being a great way to bring traffic directly to your site, it provides the content to use as bait for all of your other social media activities. There are almost too many benefits to list here, but let’s try a few:

  • New and high quality website content which increases SEO (search engines LOVE fresh, high quality content. This assumes a self-hosted Blog–it’s critical for your Blog to be hosted on your domain to maximize SEO benefits)
  • Direct traffic to your website
  • Fast & Easy search engine crawling and indexing due to the large number of Blog ping services, Blog indexes and Blog search engines
  • High quality backlinks from the Blog services mentioned above, as well as from happy readers who link to your Blog
  • Content you can repurpose in a number of ways such as publishing in newsletters and posting on appropriate social media sites
  • Positions your company and key employees as “thought leaders” in your category

This is just a taste of what a Blog can do for you; the uses and benefits are limited mostly by your imagination. It’s a bit of work, no doubt, but has a high return if you dedicate reasonable resources to the effort.

Linkedin

After creating your Blog, this is the second most important social media activity for a Business-to-Business technology marketer. Key employees should create a complete profile (for professional development purposes, if no other reason) and a profile for the company should also be created. But that’s just where the fun starts. Here are some additional important activities to consider:

Join and Use Groups: Other than setting up a complete and effective profile for both you and your company, the most important thing you can do is join groups. You’re allowed up to 50, and if you choose the groups well they can be a very effective segment of your online marketing efforts. Become known and respected by participating in discussions. But most importantly, post links to your Blog content, press releases, newsletters, webinars, etc. If you’ve targeted the right groups, this will create a good deal of qualified traffic to your website and other online vehicles.

Build your Network: This is the place where you want to go fast, but don’t hurry. The more people in your business segment you know, the easier it will be to market your product over a long period of time. The key is to take a long term perspective. You don’t build a network by being pushy or “all about you”. It’s like any other form of networking. Reach out not only to connect, but to actually assist those in your network. In the long run, you’ll have a stronger position and it will benefit your business.

Search for Prospects: People are listed on Linkedin that you wouldn’t find elsewhere. It’s a great place to search for both companies and high level executives that you’d like to connect with. Be very careful in your targeting efforts and try not to be too obviously sale-sy. But if you are respectful and careful, an excellent source of targeted prospects awaits you, that you can contact directly (with a premium account) or connect with through your mutual contacts.

Ask and Answer Questions: This Linkedin feature provides a great, low key way to both show off and improve your knowledge. By answering questions posted by others you can demonstrate your knowledge in a forum without having to appear to be bragging. Don’t be afraid to ask questions either; there are a great many resources out there to fill in the blanks in your current knowledge base.

Twitter

This is a great place to connect with like-minded people. As profiled time and again in the mass media, it’s also a great place to waste time. So unless you find that you can become a productive and efficient Twitter networker, make sure you don’t become addicted to tweeting. Some people love it, some hate it–what’s important is to leverage it optimally for your business. I personally don’t waste a lot of time on Twitter, but there are some folks who have dedicated a lot of time–to great effect for their business. Especially if you have more time than money for marketing, there’s a lot you can do to gain exposure and goodwill for your business here. At a minimum you should post your Blog content, press releases and other important external communications. You should also think about assigning members of key departments (PR, customer service, tech support) to Twitter, giving your users and potential customers an easy, informal way to interact with appropriate parts of your company

YouTube

Yes, Youtube! Everyone loves to go to YouTube to view that video of the 6 month old baby surfing in the bathtub while smoking a cigar (Ok, I made that up, but if you do a search you might just find it on YouTube). But it’s also a great place to post a short intro video about your product or service. You can even put up training videos to show the depth of your knowledge in a particular area, or the depth of your product or service offering. The videos are hosted on YouTube, but you link to them and feature them on your website. These videos will give you a leg up in search engine ranking as Google, et al love video content and provide it with preferential search result positions.

Facebook

Yes, use Facebook as well! Facebook is certainly not a core platform for business to business marketers. But 750 million users (and still growing like a radioactive weed) shouldn’t be ignored. So create a personal profile and company page and post your Blog content and other external communications pieces there. If nothing else, you’ll get some quality backlinks to help your SEO efforts with very little effort. Don’t waste time here, but it makes no sense to completely ignore this platform, either.

Coming Soon — Google +?

This is a real wild card that could have a big impact on the Social Media Marketing landscape. As I write this article it’s too early to tell what Google+’s ultimate impact with be on B2B social media marketing. Most people don’t yet have access. I haven’t used it yet, so I only know what I’ve read. It’s still in pre-release phase (although it seems that most things at Google are!), and the features are still being developed. But so far it appears to be off to a very promising start, with 25M users in only a few weeks of controlled beta release. Reviewers have raved about the elegance of the “Circles” feature, which allegedly makes it very easy to segregate those connected to you into logical groups, a real problem on Facebook. Of course, Google is aimed far past B2B social media with Google Plus, taking aim squarely at Facebook as a mass-market social media network. But I think this new platform also has particularly strong potential for the B2B crowd, with possible integration with tools like Google Adwords, Analytics, Apps, Docs, etc. We’ll have to wait and see where this goes, and I’ll be watching closely.

There’s certainly much more that can be written on this topic. This was just a quick look at what I think about the importance of social media marketing for B2B Software & Tech companies. For example, there are new vertical social media networks popping up every day–there may be one perfectly aligned with your market.  This is a varied and rapidly evolving topic–what are your questions or opinions? If you need help with your marketing mix or other aspects of managing your software or hardware company, please contact me at your convenience. In the meantime, post a comment to share your views on this topic and continue the discussion.

Follow Phil Morettini and Morettini on Management via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, RSS, or the PJM Consulting Quarterly Newsletter. Contact Phil directly at info@pjmconsult.com

Is Outbound Marketing Dead?

The craze in the marketing world these days is “Inbound Marketing”–otherwise know as “content marketing”, “permission marketing”, “new marketing” “modern marketing” and a few other buzz-terms. The definitions may vary slightly, but they’re essentially variations on the same theme:

Potential customers find you, rather than you (the marketer) approaching them.

The current commentary on marketing methods goes like this:

People are insanely busy these days, and constantly inundated with marketing offers of all kinds, causing them to tune them out. Traditional outbound methods such as direct mail/email, advertising, etc. no longer work as a result. The answer is to use inbound marketing methods, defined as to driving traffic to your website via search engines, content (such as blogs and videos) and social media. Since these users have found you, they are by definition more attentive and better qualified targets.

Of course, although this discussion is very hot in the marketing world today, it isn’t really a new topic. It’s an argument about Push vs. Pull marketing, concepts which have been around nearly since the beginning of marketing as a science. At any rate, the preceding paragraph makes a lot of sense, does it not? No denying that getting boatloads of prospects finding you is a good thing.

The problem I see is that like most “trends”, the inbound marketing case is being grossly overstated. There is no doubt that the Internet has enabled pull/inbound methods grow to a degree not previously possible. If you’re a software or tech company marketer, in almost every market/product situation you should be leveraging online inbound methods to the max. But is that all you should be doing?

Of course not. Some companies may be able to fill their pipelines using only inbound methods. But this shouldn’t be an either/or discussion. In almost every situation, both inbound (pull) and outbound (push) should be used. They are not competitive methods; they each serve a different purpose, and are actually very complementary. Let’s take a look why:

Different psychographic profile of prospects

Prospects are not a homogeneous group in any market. They come in all shapes and sizes–early adopters, mainstream buyers, late adopters, etc. As a result, they respond to different stimuli, and have different buying styles. Many want to be totally in control and never have any “invasive” marketing targeted at them. But for every person that is offended by any offer directed at them, there are others who are happy to receive a timely, targeted offer which saves them money–as well as time– in searching out a software or hardware product they need. This is especially true for some very busy folks, and others that absolutely hate the shopping process. Outbound marketing can be a real advantage with these prospect profiles.

Different stage in the buying process

This is a key point which someone relatively new to marketing may not understand. If you have a prospect in the active buying stage, inbound marketing works great. Since they are out searching for your product or service, if you’ve done a good job on inbound marketing activities, there is a good chance they will “find” you. But what about those target prospects that aren’t yet in active buying mode? Should you just be ignoring them? I think not. First of all, you absolutely want to get a leg up on your competition and get your message to them as early as possible. By doing this, you’ll be on their short list of vendors to check out when they are ready to buy. But the right offer can also turn that future prospect into an active buyer–without so much as a look at the competition. What happens to your odds if yours is the only marketing message they see? Outbound marketing is much more effective than inbound in this scenario.

Timing vs. budget

From a marketer’s perspective, outbound and inbound marketing may fulfill different needs. Inbound marketing may provide a solid, day-in-and-day-out flow of leads and revenue. Outbound marketing can provide a more instantaneous bump to your numbers. Think PPC advertising vs. SEO. An inbound marketing technique like SEO is probably the more powerful activity in the long run, but and outbound method like PPC advertising can start creating business almost instantly. This outbound marketing bump can be very useful during slow periods where you’d like to “smooth out” your numbers, when you’re just getting started, during a busy (but competitive) holiday buying season or to give extra emphasis to a new product introduction.

Targeted Offers

Since you have greater control with respect to when a prospect will be exposed to an offer, it’s much easier to provide urgency and that critical timeliness component via outbound marketing. In addition, targeting can also be easier with outbound methods.  Direct outbound marketing, in particular, can be highly targeted if good lists are available.

Push and pull on the same prospect

Lastly and very importantly, this really isn’t an either/or argument–as I stated earlier. When discussing inbound and outbound marketing, we’re really still just talking about push and pull by other names. As any good marketer knows, push and pull work together. The number of total marketing impressions matters–more impressions increase your odds. This is fundamental brand-building. As an example, it’s well documented that PPC ads and organic results on the SERP converts better than either alone. So don’t choose between inbound and outbound marketing–use best practices in both methodologies to optimize your marketing results.

So what do you think? Will all your investments going forward be toward inbound Marketing activities, or is there still room in your budget for outbound methods? I’d love to hear your plans and opinions–post a comment to weigh in on this discussion.

Follow Phil Morettini and Morettini on Management via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, RSS, or the PJM Consulting Quarterly Newsletter. Contact Phil directly at info@pjmconsult.com

Is SEO a Legitimate Marketing Technique?

I have definite ideas on this question. But what got my attention recently was a reference to SEO in a prime time television show (one of the legal dramas) on one of the major US networks. It went something like this:

Lawyer: “What are you concerned about?”

Client: “I’m concerned that the jury will have a negative reaction to my profession; a lot of people don’t like what I do”.

Lawyer: “What is it that you do?”

Client: “I perform search engine optimization.”

When it hits primetime TV, you know the topic has entered the consciousness of the masses. And in this case, not in a good way!

For the uninitiated, SEO is an acronym for “Search Engine Optimization.” Wikipedia defines SEO as “the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results”. This is done by various methods, but the two most important aspects are creating relevant content on your website, and gaining links to your site from outside websites.

How can this be so bad? Well, like any other form of marketing it can be taken to extremes. Because it’s so valuable to appear near the top of a search results page in a search engine like Google, some will do practically anything to make that happen. And that’s what causes the problems. Techniques that the Search Engines consider inappropriate are called “Black Hat”; the page results that are listed inappropriately are referred to as “search spam” or “SEO spam”.

All this simply means that when you type in a search phrase into Google, for instance, you are presented with a bunch of websites that aren’t appropriate for what you were looking for. I’m sure you’ve all done a search, and the top sites that pop up have absolutely no value. The results might show a poorly constructed “Directory” aimed at a particular vertical topic, but really isn’t useful except to its owner trying to get Ad clicks. Or a site stuffed with a huge number of articles–none original or written by the site owner, and sometimes even modified by computer program to make it look “original”, but in actuality making it practically unreadable to humans.

Arguments for SEO

  • It’s just a marketing technique like any other, just like Press Relations in the “real” world. Why can’t you use all the tools at your disposal to make sure that your website is visible to your target audience?
  • “White Hat” SEO techniques are above board and available to everyone. What’s wrong with writing appropriate content for your site, and requesting backlinks from other compatible sites on the web? If you do a better job than your competitors, or they don’t choose to use these methods, that’s simply you beating them in the marketplace.
  • White Hat SEO is really just an acceleration of and a focus on the very things that happen naturally for a successful company on the web: Attractive onsite and offsite content, with a large number of links to your site from other sites with a compatible focus.
  • The “Black Hats” will always be around–the only way to avoid being left in the dust by these scoundrels is to use (legitimate) SEO techniques to compete for position in the search results–or they win by default.

Arguments against SEO

  • Any technique designed ONLY to move a website up in the search engine results pages (SERPS) is by definition cheating and not legitimate.
  • SEO is a slippery slope; there really is not sharp dividing line between “white hat” and “black hat” techniques.
  • Search Engines work best without any efforts to circumvent the “natural” results; any manual intervention to change them is a distortion of the real world, and therefore inefficient for the market.
  • Buying or otherwise obtaining links that you wouldn’t get naturally is deceptive, and therefore of no value and even immoral.
  • Content stuffed with keywords simply to rank high–rather than inform–is also of no value and is ruinous to the beautiful Internet.

The irony of this controversy is that inbound marketing techniques like SEO originally held the promise to marketers of largely avoiding the negative stigma associated with more direct methods. Now, it appears that the term “SEO” has gotten a negative connation in the web marketing world, much like all direct email marketing is considered by many to be SPAM. It’s apparently gotten bad enough that the term “SEO” has completely fallen out of favor with some; “Content Marketing” and “Inbound Marketing” are two new code phrases for what really is just SEO in a repackaged form.

My view is that this is a real shame. In the email world, there are legitimate direct email marketers, offering real products and doing their best to target their offerings to interested prospects. These companies shouldn’t be lumped in with Spammers who are nearly breaking our email systems with endless numbers of fake Viagra ads. In the same way, companies using standard SEO methods to ensure their target prospects can find them, shouldn’t be thrown together with the black hats who distort search engine results while trying to make a quick buck. I realize many folks don’t make this distinction. What’s your view? Post a comment to let us know where you come down in this argument.

Follow Phil Morettini and Morettini on Management via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, RSS, or the PJM Consulting Quarterly Newsletter. Contact Phil directly at info@pjmconsult.com

Promoting Software and Hardware Products through the VAR Channel

With the exception of some software and hardware vendors who sell super-expensive products to the largest enterprises, a large percentage tech companies uses the Value Added Reseller (VAR) channel, to one extent or another. So how do you best go about doing this successfully? Create a great product, throw it to the channel, and sit back and collect the money?

If only it were so. Unfortunately, many tech companies new to the channel find out the hard way that you will fail by taking the word “seller” in the VAR label too seriously. For those of use with experience in the VAR channel, you know that it is still incumbent upon the vendor to create end user demand for their product. Yes, you need to market to VARs as well. And you will take whatever “push” you can get from the channel. But you must have an active promotional program aimed at end users for a realistic chance at channel success.

So what are the best marketing approaches to support channel sales activities? If depends, of course, on the specifics of your product, market, price point, etc. But let’s take a quick look at some popular promotion methods used in conjunction with channel sales. I’ll break it down into three basic categories:

End user demand creation

This is first and foremost the most critical activity. It’s an unfortunate fact that most new players in the channel don’t understand this initially. Many have to learn it through a painful hands-on lesson, which sometimes leads to rejecting use of the channel outright, due to spectacular failure. It may be counter-intuitive, but it doesn’t even matter whether you establish end user demand for your products by selling direct or via the channel. The important thing is that with few exceptions there needs to be serious interest in your products at the end user level if you’re to successfully sell through VARs. In fact, it’s almost always necessary to be successful selling directly to end users, before you can hope to have a successful VAR channel for your products. Almost any end user marketing method that fits with your product type and budget can be used to create this demand, but here are some commonly used promotional types:

• SEO (Search engine optimization)
• PPC (Pay per click) advertising
• Press relations
• White paper marketing
• Targeted online banner advertising
• Direct mail, but traditional and email
• Social media marketing (Blogs, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc.)
• Trade shows

VAR recruitment

In addition to creating end user demand, you’ll also want to market directly to VARs, to get them interested in actively working with you and your products. An important point to remember is that the VAR channel is very large, and generally segmented into many vertical categories. So however you approach them, don’t waste time (yours or theirs!) by contacting VARs who aren’t doing business in your target end user segments. Here’s some common recruitment approaches:

• Direct email through available VAR lists
• Phone campaign using available lists
• Internet research with direct email or phone approach
• Trade Shows (VARs frequent them, and it’s a great opportunity for personal contact)
• Have a highly successful product with strong end user pull (VARs will find you!)

Cooperative marketing with the channel

Lastly, once you’ve created end user demand and recruited enough VARs to have a “program”, you need to establish standard methods of working with your new partners to create and fulfill demand. VAR programs come in all shapes and sizes depending upon the market, and I’ve seen a wide variety of promotional opportunities included in these programs. One of my personal favorite “getting started” methods is to offer to pay for and execute a direct mail campaign (blind to the vendor, if necessary) introducing you and your product family as a new partner of the VAR. Below are some promotional activities that are very commonly included in VAR programs:

• Co-op advertising/promotion with the vendor provides funding for approved VAR-executed promotional programs up to a set percentage (3-6%) of sales of your products
• Free or discounted demo units
• Special pricing for large opportunities
• Co-selling with your in-house sales force
• Deal registration
• Additional discounts for completing product training, certifications or maintaining premium support levels
• Co-branded product literature and other use of the vendor’s logo
• Website and catalog listings of authorized or “preferred” VARs
• Rebates for volume sales (not recommended; fraught with danger)
• Vendor-funded introductory direct mail campaign

That’s my quick primer on successfully promoting your products for sale through the VAR channel. Many of you have your own experience in this area; post a comment or a question to activate our discussion.

Follow Phil Morettini and Morettini on Management via Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or the PJM Consulting Quarterly Newsletter. Contact Phil directly at info@pjmconsult.com

All atwitter About Twitter Marketing

There’s been a lot said and written about the newest Social Media craze, Twitter.

Particularly in the popular press, there’s also been a lot of misinformation. Sometimes the only way to get the real story is to try it yourself. I thought I’d give it a shot, and throw in my two cents on what Twitter’s really all about with respect to marketing.

I’ve been on Twitter for a few months now. As of today, I’m following around 45 people, and have about 45 following me as well. I think that at this point I’ve got a pretty good idea of what Twitter is and isn’t. So here’s my take:

WHAT TWITTER IS

Most fundamentally, it’s a micro-blogging platform with a limitation of 140 characters per post. Most of you have almost certainly seen a blog online by now. Just like blog postings come in many shapes, sizes and topics, so do “tweets”–the term for an individual message or post on Twitter. “Following” someone on Twitter is akin to subscribing to updates on a blog.

The 140 character limitation is very extreme, and forces even the most verbose writers to be very brief. This can be a good thing. This 140 character limitation also allows Twitter to be available on even platforms with very limited resources, such as cell phones. This wide platform availability extends the potential uses for Twitter, greatly adding to its utility as a one-to-many instant-communication tool. Twitter is actually pretty simple.

WHAT TWITTER ISN’T

It’s not robust–it’s very limited by the 140 characters. So it isn’t suitable for everything–certainly not anything that requires a lot of detail. You really can’t publish anything of note directly on Twitter. It’s not good for:

* Complex or lengthy communications
* Private communications, while possible, are probably best handled via other methods.
* It doesn’t replace a Blog or website

Contrary to what you see in the popular mass media, it’s not some weird cult of people who are inexplicably exchanging tweets on what they’re having for breakfast. It’s also not strictly an avenue for following the day to day minutiae of People Magazine’s list of 100 top celebrities (Aston Kutcher’s 1 million twitter followers notwithstanding) The biggest thing to remember about Twitter is that it’s just a horizontal communications medium–which by itself isn’t much of anything. Twitter is really what people decide to make of it.

WHAT TWITTER IS GOOD FOR

The uses for Twitter are almost as broad as the profile of its millions of users. It’s hard to classify best uses because of this. But in simple terms, I find that the major uses of Twitter falls into a few categories–at least with respect to what interests a marketer:

Personal Communications with friends
In this respect, Twitter is like a simpler, quicker version of Facebook in how it’s being used. This is where you see people broadcasting where they’re having breakfast–those messages are really intended for their circle of close friends.

Personal Branding
An executive or professional using Twitter to increase awareness of his/her capabilities or work.

Business Branding
Similar to personal branding, but used by a business to provide exposure to the capabilities, products or services it offers.

Business Communications
This is the more tactical business use–restaurants broadcasting the specials of the day to their customer base, new product announcements, links to press releases, etc.

HOW BEST TO USE TWITTER

Have a strategy, and stay true to it
If you are using Twitter for business branding, don’t continuously talk about what you’re doing for fun that night. A more personal message occasionally which is of particular interest in fine, but remember your target audience. This is one of the biggest mistakes that a newbie Twitterer makes–they think being on Twitter means broadcasting their daily minutae. But for business conversations–who’s interested in that? It’s common sense. If you’re using Twitter for business/marketng purposes, stay on topic at least most of the time. If you want to use Twitter extensively for multiple purposes, it might be best to create multiple personas.

Use it to listen and learn–not just broadcast
If you pick the right people to follow, Twitter can be an extremely efficient source of information in your chosen topical interests. You have to be careful–you can easily become obsessed, and Twitter can become a real time sink. But if you’re judicious in your use, you can leverage the work of others to find things of interest to you. And by watching how other skilled Twitter users utilize the platform, you can learn how best to use the tool yourself.

Use links
Even though the 140 character limit won’t allow complex messages, links are allowed, and are very powerful in Twitter. Often Tweets are “teasers” or introductions to the linked document. For example, I broadcast the availability of new articles on my Blog by posting a Twitter message

Use keywords
One of the most powerful aspects of Twitter is the ability to easily “re-tweet” a message, or pass it along to your own Twitter network of followers. This makes Twitter a very powerful viral platform in getting the word out on your chosen topic. If you include keywords in your tweet that are relevant to your target audience, the viral aspect can really enhance the breadth of delivery of your marketing message.

That’s a take on Twitter after a few months of use. I’m sure many of you have different experiences with this exciting new platform–post a comment and let’s get the discussion going!

Follow Phil Morettini and Morettini on Management via Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or the PJM Consulting Quarterly Newsletter.

White Papers in the High Tech and Software Marketing Mix

There are many marketing methods in Software and IT marketing that can be appropriate in some, but not all situations. I’d put White Papers in that category. The term “white paper” is a broadly used term, and can mean different things to different people. I define a white paper as a document written to provide insight or expertise specific to a market, process or product category.

PRODUCT & MARKET APPLICABILITY

White Papers are used far more often in B2B marketing than in B2C marketing. I have seen them used in a B2C environment, but only infrequently. A White Paper is most often useful when there is complex technology or work processes involved. In a B2C environment, they would usually only be used in an “early adopter” market where a product concept is new, and prices and sales cycles are still long.

MARKETING RATIONALE FOR WHITE PAPERS

Why use a White Paper at all? The best reason is to build credibility for your company or product. White papers are most frequently accessed by prospects early in the sales cycle, when a prospect is just beginning research on a product category. These documents allow company personnel to show off domain or technology expertise, which should reflect well on the product you eventually want to sell the prospect. The white paper shows off your company as thought leader in your category. It also allows you to subtly and gently position your company and product in the prospects mind, very early in the sales process. It is often helpful to designate one (or a few) people in the company as the author of the white paper and as an expert in the field.

THE “RIGHT WAY” TO DO WHITE PAPERS

So what are the key factors to creating a successful white paper? Here’s a few:

* Written by a domain or technical expert
* Succinct-no fluff or overt marketing, to the point
* Aimed directly at your target prospects
* Provides valuable information to your target
* Mostly solution-agnostic, any product or company promotion must be subtle

WHAT NOT TO DO IN A WHITE PAPER

And what are the things to avoid a wasted effort? Keep these points in mind:

* Can’t be a product brochure -no relentless promotion
* Don’t make it the length of a book
* Never stretch the truth
* If it’s too general, so that no one will invest time to read it

BEST USES FOR WHITE PAPER

What can you do with your white paper, once you’ve put in the time, money and effort to create one? There are many good uses–here’s a few to consider:

* It will contribute positively to Search Engine Optimization on your website
* An excellent item to use in a PPC campaign offer
* A great email marketing campaign offer
*An important intermediate step in the sales process; often useful just after a website visit, but prior to a webinar or product trial
* Versatile as “lead bait”; regardless of the medium or campaign, you should require contact info from the prospect prior to a white paper download
*Assists in moving a prospect along without “high touch” interactions–helping automate the sales process and shorten the sales cycle

SUMMARY

White papers can be very valuable tools in a number of market segments. These documents should be used to differentiate your company as a progressive thought-leader in your market category. The optimal goal for a successful white paper is to position your company as a preferred vendor or serious alternative for prospects in your market segment. This is accomplished by demonstrating expertise and providing credible, valuable and unbiased information which is valued by the target prospect. It is NOT accomplished by “tooting your own horn”, playing fast and loose with facts, or duplicating your company brochure. If you want to be a successful white paper marketer, it’s important to restrain yourself from tactics in the latter category. That’s what I think about making white papers an important part of your marketing mix. Please post a comment and add your experience and thoughts on this topic.

Phil Morettini
PJM Consulting
www.pjmconsult.com

Integrating Sales and Marketing at Software and Technology Companies

In some, but not all tech companies, the Sales and Marketing functions are managed separately. They are separate, but closely related functions that some people (especially technical folks) have a tendency to confuse. Normally, there is a VP or Director heading up the Marketing department, and another VP or Director leading the Sales staff. But it is also not unusual to see a VP or Director of Sales & Marketing who leads both functions at once.

This all seems benign enough, so what’s the issue? The issue comes when actual revenue fails to meet the forecast–that’s when the finger-pointing usually begins. Unfortunately, not meeting forecasts is a common event in technology businesses, where forecasting of new software and tech products can be particularly challenging. When that finger-pointing starts, it often breaks out first between the Marketing and Sales departments–here’s how the ensuing “discussion” might go:

SALES: “You haven’t planned products that our customers want to by. You’ve priced them too high. And those leads that you’ve spent SO MUCH money on that you are giving us aren’t qualified, and are essentially worthless to us.”

MARKETING: “You’re not selling the right products as we directed, or presenting the positioning of our product line properly. All you do is try to sell on price, constantly discounting and hurting our margins. If you’d follow up on all the leads we gave you, get off of the golf course and work more than 4 hours a day, you’d be well over quota and the company would be doing fine.”

Sales folks and Marketers are different types of people, and tend to view the world differently and from their own selfish perspectives. This often nasty “discussion” as simulated above is far from uncommon, and can get pretty ugly–which can really hurt a company in trying to reach its goals. So what’s the right way to get the Sales and Marketing departments to work together as a team, avoiding all of this counter-productive ugliness?

SOLUTIONS TO REDUCE POTENTIAL CONFLICT

The VP of Sales & Marketing
One way to greatly reduce this conflict is to have a common leadership for the Sales and Marketing functions. This usually means having a VP-Sales & Marketing in your organization. If you can find the right person to fill this role, this can actually be a very good solution. Having a single leader can go a long way toward eliminating or at least greatly reducing this conflict, assuming he has a balanced background and perspective, and is fair, not favoring one department over the other. Good people to fill this role are out there–but are very rare, in my opinion. There are far more managers who have been put in the position of VP-Sales & Marketing than there are those who were suited for the role. Most of the time you end up with a manager that understands one function well, and gives short shrift to or completely screws up the other function. . You will often find this combined VP position in companies that are not “marketing-intensive”, where the sales function is the dominant aspect of the job. If the Marketing function is truly less important, a company can get by with this structure, although it usually isn’t ideal. You can read more about the issues with a VP-Sales & Marketing role in a previous article that I’ve written entitled “Big S, little m“.

CEO Demands Communication and Cooperation
If care isn’t taken, the very different personality types in sales and marketing can lead to some pretty intense conflicts. I’ve been a soldier, captain and general in this war–and let me tell you, it isn’t pretty. I’ve also (effectively) filled the role of VP-Sales & Marketing, which is a story for another day. Much like the battles between Marketing and Engineering that I’ve previously written about, I have seen this battle play out regularly in the companies that I have worked for as an employee, as well as at many of my clients in eight years as a consultant at PJM Consulting. Things can get out of hand very quickly, and paralyze a company. In many cases, the key is how the CEO handles the situation. He must go well out of his way to be a fair arbitrator in these discussions. Even the most benign comment can appear to show favor to one side, in the eyes of the other. Don’t ignore or deny the problem, or assume it will be handled at the VP level. It is the CEO’s responsibility to prevent, recognize and fix this problem. Be careful that you don’t inadvertently make decisions or set up policies that reward or tolerate company politics.

Departmental Social Integration
I recommend planning activities which allow sales and marketing counterparts to get to know each other as “people” outside of their project activities. In many ways a successful outcome is all about relationships, so closely monitor the personal relationship between VP-Marketing and VP-Sales. Also, make sure that the VPs are monitoring the relationships below them. Ensure both VPs are open and honest with about the relationship between departments. Also watch for arrogance (especially from “experienced veterans”) when screening potential new hires for either department that will interface with the other –arrogance often usually the trigger which starts the battle rolling

Integration of Departmental Functions
Encourage the sales department to get marketers in front of their customers. Hire marketing people that have had some sales or business development experience, who understand dealing directly with customers–and know what’s it like when your living depends upon making your quota. Insist that the marketing department include the sales folks in determining what a “qualified lead” looks like. If you can get agreement on this up front on this important issue, much of the finger pointing goes away when things don’t go as planned.

Joint Goals and Compensation Structure
It currently isn’t common to design department or individual goals which cross marketing and sales functions, but if you can find a way to do this, you are structurally setting up the desire and need for close cooperation. Design goals and MBOs to reward the two departments for working together. Also, don’t ever allow one department to “get ahead” by blaming the other–tie them together as much as possible in your goal setting.

SUMMARY

To limit issues between sales and marketing functions and ensure that they “sing from the same sheet’, make sure to pay close attention to the individual departmental activities, which can nevertheless greatly effect the perceived performance of the other department. Optimizing the cooperation between sales and marketing demands an up front look at things such as the corporate structure at the highest levels, the social fabric of the company, compensation structure and use of MBOs, and formal cross-departmental reviews so each department can influence the other department’s approaches. All too often in my practice at PJM Consulting, these things aren’t taken into consideration until after the fact–when things have already blown up and there is a mess to clean up.

That’s my view on this all too common conflict. What has been your experience in this area? Post a comment and begin a discussion.

Phil Morettini
PJM Consulting
www.pjmconsult.com

Trade Shows for Software & Technology Firms – Do They Still Make Sense?

Let’s talk about what, for some people, is a marketing method from a bygone era: Trade shows, or Trade Fairs, as they’re referred to in most places outside of the US.

At one point in time, Trade Shows were a staple in most every tech company’s marketing budget–shows like Comdex, PC Expo, Network World and a host of others were annual rites of passage. But in this Internet age, they have been greatly reduced in the marketing mix, if not taken completely out of the picture.

There are many reasons for this. First and foremost, the ROI of tradeshows was always very questionable for most exhibitors. In marketing departments everywhere there were sharp discussions during budget time, on whether to continue the expense of the major shows. They always seemed important to be at, but usually it was pretty difficult to make a direct correlation to enough actual revenue, to justify the large expense. As the Internet became more prominent, this ROI looked even worse in comparison–as it did for many other “offline” marketing methods, such as traditional direct mail and print advertising.

So are tradeshows now obsolete? Probably not, but many marketing folks might say that they are on the endangered species list. So when, if at all, do traditional trade shows still make sense today? And what should your goals be, if you do decide to invest in a show or two? Let’s take a quick look at 4 points relevant to each of these two questions.

4 REASONS IT MAKE SENSE TO GO TO A TRADE SHOWA CONTRARIAN APPROACH
One of the major enduring tactics of marketing is to “zig when your competitors zag”. If you are in a market where a show is still well attended, but vendors are starting to stay home rather than pay for booths, you may have an opportunity. If your competitors aren’t there, you have a larger, captive audience of prospects to strut your stuff to. One of the basic tenets of a good marketing program is to find a “communications channel” which isn’t too crowded. With trade shows falling out of favor in marketing budgets, there is potential to benefit from a contrarian approach in some markets.

INTRODUCTION INTO A NEW MARKET
This is always one of the strongest reasons to attend a few shows. If you have a brand new company, or your company is entering a market space it hasn’t previously participated in, a couple of well-selected shows can be a very good investment. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

INTRODUCTION OF A NEW PRODUCT
Much like a company entering a new market, a new product introduction is a very traditional reason to exhibit at a trade show. In my opinion, introducing new products at shows has historically been over-estimated as a marketing tactic. Sure, the press is there covering the show, but if 50 other vendors are also announcing new products, your new product might get lost, or at least get less press coverage then if you announced two weeks before or after the show. Remember the comment above about over-crowded communications channel?. In some cases, announcing at a show fits this description. This can still be a very sound marketing tactic–just do careful research and planning to ensure it is a net positive.

IMPORTANCE OF HIGH TOUCH
If you have a product that absolutely requires some hands-on or personal selling before prospects buy, trade shows can be an excellent investment. For example, if the product is quite expensive, or an expert demo sells far more than prospect downloads from your site. I have a software company client at PJM Consulting who is in a market where expert demos are essential; they have grown the company, to a great extent with trade shows, and almost always can demonstrate a profit on their show budgets.

4 GOALS TO ENSURE A HIGH RETURN FROM A TRADE SHOW

PRESS COVERAGE
This is always one of the most important reasons to go to many shows. If it is an important show, the press will be there in full force. You really need to plan PR tactics ahead of time, however, as all of the other exhibitors have the same goal of getting press appointments and coverage. It is CRITICAL to plan far ahead in securing appointments with target editors, and have a “tease” of substantial news to obtain the appointment. Editor’s schedules fill up far in advance. Properly planned, the show can pay for itself here by eliminating the need for a dedicated press tour. But if not well planned, you will end up “wasting” your product introduction or other news, resulting in little or no press coverage.

EFFICIENCY OF INDUSTRY NETWORKING
Networking with the other exhibitors is often overlooked by many vendors. The focus is generally solely on customers, and maybe distribution channels. Often many companies with complementary offerings are attending exhibiting, along with a few competitors. This can be a great arena to begin or continue discussions with potential strategic partners. At a minimum, makes sure to set aside some time to walk the show floor, and see who might have synergy with your company. Even if you’re pressed for time, shake a few hands and gather some business cards–it can be an excellent setup for future discussions.

LOCAL CUSTOMER VISITS
This is also an area that holds potential to lift your show budget’s ROI, which is often overlooked by many exhibitors. You are flying staff to a faraway city–why not go in a couple of days early, and call on a few potential major customers? At a minimum, make sure you get those free show tickets that often go to waste out to local prospects in your database, so they can come to the show for a meeting or demo at your booth.

LOCAL CHANNEL VISITS
In the same vein as visits to customers, it makes a lot of sense to call on current or potential channel partners, once you decide you’ll be spending money going to a show in a certain region. Add a couple of days to your trip and visit a few key partners and prospective partners in the area. And make sure to invite them to the show well in advance and supply those free tickets, so you can see many more later at your booth.

SUMMARY
If you just fly to a city, set up your booth, and wait for new customers to flock by to see you–you are likely to be very disappointed in your return on investment. But if you use a tradeshow as a hub for a variety of related activity, adding a couple of key shows into your marketing mix can still bring a very nice ROI. The key is preparation and planning, to make sure your results are optimized. I’ve outlined a few reasons why it may make sense to exhibit at tradeshows/trade fairs even today, along with some ways to maximize your return. What’s your reason for attending tradeshows in the Internet Age? And what concrete results do you hope to achieve? Post a comment to continue this discussion.

Phil Morettini
PJM Consulting
www.pjmconsult.com

Retail Distribution of Software Products

Selling software at retail at one point in time was the “Holy Grail” for consumer, home office and small office software suppliers. That’s where the volume was. Everything that a company did starting up was intended to build enough volume to get into a distributor, so they could then pursue shelf space at the major retailers of software.

But oh, how times have changed. The advent of the Internet and wide availability of broadband has made nearly every consumer and small business application downloadable with the click of a mouse, and a major credit card. In the meantime, major sellers of software have dropped like flies (CompUSA, Computer City) or have de-emphasized software in their retail assortment.

PROFITABLE retail distribution of software, which has been a major challenge for software companies dating back more than 20 years, has gotten tougher every year, as the retail distribution pipe shrinks. And even twenty years ago, it was already very tough, for small software companies, in particular. I’ve even seen a credible authority recently predict that distribution of software through retail outlets will CEASE TO EXIST within five years.

IS RETAIL SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION DEAD?

So should you forget about retail as a potential distribution channel for your consumer or SMB software application?

First of all, it’s my opinion that the near term extinction of retail software distribution is greatly exaggerated. While it has been in decline for a very long time, and will continue to decline, it still has some life left. There is still quite a bit of software sold at retail. There are still some reasons that people buy at retail. And last but not least, nearly every thing in high technology takes more time to “go away” than the pundits predict. People just don’t change their habits that quickly, no matter the technological reasons for that change to occur. Among several reasons people still buy at retail:

WHY PEOPLE STILL BUY SOFTWARE AT RETAIL

Impulse – They are in a store looking for something else, and happen upon a product that looks neat or useful. In this respect, software benefits from this “in-store effect”, much like any other retail product.
Credibility – Buying software, or any other item over the Internet from some unknown company, is scary for many people. Just the fact that it’s in a “touchable” package, and is “blessed” by the retailer stocking it, gives comfort to many, especially the mainstream and late adopter types.
Physical Media – Most folks want a backup copy of the application which they’ve put out good money for. Sure, you can burn a backup CD on your own. But to some folks that’s technologically challenging–and seems like a lot of work to others.
Internet Phobia – There still are folks, more than want to admit it, that just aren’t comfortable with the Internet, particularly the ecommerce aspects.

WHEN SHOULD A SOFTWARE VENDOR CONSIDER RETAIL DISTRIBUTION?

So in some cases, software vendors should still give consideration to packaging their products for retail distribution. What are the elements which may make retail still a viable distribution channel for a particular product line?

* A VERY hot product – In one of these rare instances where you’ve hit a product home run, it’s beneficial to get your product in as many channels as possible. When you have a product “selling like hotcakes”, retail can be ideal to help you maximize your return on the high demand. Make sure that you’ve proven that it’s a brisk seller via other marketing and distribution methods BEFORE you enter the retail channel, however.
* A well-known brand – Almost nothing helps product sell through retail as much as a well-established brand. There is almost never anyone to “sell” your product in a retail store. You are relying almost soles on the box copy to be your salesman. In this situation, the credibility of a strong brand is often the difference between a customer purchasing, and leaving the box on the shelf.
* A related portfolio of products that can be sold to the same customer. It is very hard to make money on a single product being sold through retail channels. The upfront marketing programs and thin margins make breakeven a huge challenge for a single product company. However, if you can profit indirectly even if you just break even on the actual retail sale, by building your customer list and selling related products to them–that’s a huge advantage.
* Add-on services to sell – Much like having a large portfolio of products, a single product vendor can also have a greater chance at profitability if the “retail product” is a front-end to other revenue generating services. Maybe the product leads to subscriptions to an add-on web-based service, or there are custom forms or other tangible supplies that can be sold to users of the software application.

These are a few of the circumstances where I would actually encourage an ISV to consider retail distribution. I want to caution that in the best of circumstances, this channel isn’t for the “faint of heart”. Startup costs are high, margins are generally lower than other forms of software distribution, and there are substantial inventory issues and risks. There’s an old saying in the software business about retail distribution–”the only people who make money at it are the freight companies who ship the inventory back and forth among vendors, distributors and retailers”. In short, it’s a great place to lose money–if you aren’t careful. I highly recommend that you retain an expert to help you through the process, if you are new to retail and decide that it may be appropriate for your products.

There are many more angles to cover on this topic. To name a few, the need for a relationship with a major distributor of software to retailers, what marketing programs to use, the importance of a retail package–and much more. As important as they are, we’ll have to leave the detailed mechanics of getting your software into retail distribution (and making a profit!) for a later article.

SUMMARY

So don’t dismiss retail distribution of your software applications completely, even in this age of Internet instant gratification. But make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons, with a solid plan for how it will benefit your company. If your company is entering retail for the first time, consider retaining an expert to reduce your risk of failure.

I’d enjoy hearing your own experiences with retail distribution, past and present, as well as your attitude about this channel today. Post a comment so we can all learn from your experience.

Phil Morettini
PJM Consulting
www.pjmconsult.com

Which Online Advertising Platforms Should You Include in Your Marketing Mix?

I often write about online marketing, as many of my regular readers know. A frequent topic of mine is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, also known as Cost-Per-Click (CPC). Occasionally, people will refer to this marketing vehicle as Search Engine Advertising. What you’re hearing this called more and more is “Google Adwords”.

HAS GOOGLE ADWORDS “BECOME” ONLINE ADVERTISING?

Of course, its kind of like asking for a “Coke” when you want a soft drink, or “Scotch Tape” when you are seeking sticky-backed tape. It’s the age old story of a brand DEFINING the category itself, and usually happens when a product becomes dominant in a market segment.

The conventional wisdom these days is that Google has basically won the Online Search Engine-based advertising wars, so don’t even bother with any of the other advertising platforms out there. This topic is the very reason for Microsoft’s recent offer to buy Yahoo for a gazillion dollars; they are motivated to do this because Google is so far ahead that they don’t appear able to catch up on their own. This raises the issue of two also-rans in a market, combining to take on the market leader–which usually ends in disaster–but we’ll leave that for another discussion…

Back to the main question, should you focus your online advertising energy and budget strictly on Google Adwords, or broaden your campaign to other platforms? I have an opinion, of course, and I’d like to illustrate that opinion with my own pragmatic advertising experience, as well as some more theoretical marketing theory which has served me well across a variety of markets. Let’s start with the theory, using an experience from my past to illustrate my viewpoint.

MARKET NICHES: HIT’EM WHERE THEY AIN’T

As markets develop, conventional wisdom usually instructs you to “get on the bandwagon” of the market leader, and don’t waste your time “where the action isn’t”. Back in the 90s when I was running a systems & network management software business, Novell Netware had the overwhelming share of the Network Operating Systems business–roughly a 70% share. As a result, most of the companies in our general space focused on making their add-on products compatible with the Novell platform. They ignored two other competitors: Microsoft LAN Manager and Banyan VINES. There were almost no add-on systems management products available for these two platforms. We ported our applications to these two platforms, with excellent payback. Not only were we able to make easy sales to the customers of these two NOS vendors due to lack of competition, these secondary platform vendors supported our efforts to a much greater degree than Novell, where we were one of many. In addition, it turned out that while Banyan (and too a lesser extent LAN Manager) had much higher market shares in the coveted Fortune 1000 market than they did the market as a whole. Many large companies also had mixed networks containing two or more of these NOS platforms–we had a major strategic advantage in these large accounts, due to our cross platform support. The first lesson here is that sometimes it really pays to segment a market a bit differently. In some cases, in segments important to you, the market leader isn’t nearly as dominant as overall market share data would lead you to believe. The second take-away is that smaller market segments are often DRAMATICALLY less competitive, allowing you to efficiently grow revenue without huge marketing outlays to “get above the noise”.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE WITH THE MAJOR ONLINE ADVERTISING PLATFORMS

I run PPC advertising campaigns for several of my clients. Let me make something clear right away–there is no comparison between these three advertising platforms. Google Adwords is the clear winner, hands down. It’s not close. Adwords is both by far the most robust and easiest to use, which is quite a statement. Adwords is a great piece of software, which Google is constantly evolving and improving. You can do almost everything you want and there is excellent online help if you do have a question. If you ever really do need a live person, help is available, even if you are spending a modest amount on advertising with Google. It is a pleasure to work in Adwords. Plus the fact is that by far the most volume of searches is available on this platform.

Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) comes in second place. This is the original search advertising platform. It’s not nearly as robust as Adwords, but the recent major upgrade at least brought the software into the modern ages–it was pretty stagnant for a very long time, allowing Google to surge into a commanding lead. The basics are covered, and it’s pretty intuitive–although if you are used to working in Adwords, the subtle differences can drive you a bit crazy. And there are a few things that are simple to do online in Adwords, that you have to call and request over the phone to make happen in Yahoo’s platform–but at least they are very nice about it.

And then there is Microsoft AdCenter. What can I say about Microsoft; it is the typically excruciating experience dealing with them. They dominate most markets they are in, and have that arrogant way of dealing with you that only a monopolist has. When you have 90% of the OS or word processing market, you can get away with lousy support, vendor-centric policies and non-intuitive software. But they are a distant third in this market, and they aren’t gaining on anyone. So these weaknesses stick out like a sore thumb. This is the newest platform. The software isn’t all that hard to use, but in Microsoft fashion they have created some of their own conventions in opposition to market terminology, and the application doesn’t always behave in a way you would expect. Add in the unbelievable support mentality, not to mention the fact that they are a distant 3rd in traffic, and you realize why they are last among the major platforms. As an example of their attitude, when I decided to look at Microsoft’s offering, I wanted to import my Adwords campaigns into Adcenter to save a BUNCH of time, which the Help function stated that I could do. Makes a lot of sense for a new user, right? Well, I couldn’t figure out how to do it in the software, so I called Adcenter support to ask how. I was told that I needed to be spending at least $11,000/month to have access to that feature! There’s a classic catch 20–not allowed to import all your campaigns into a platform (which will enable you to spend money in that platform), until you’re spending over $100,000/year. Brilliant market penetration strategy! Whoever is making decisions at Microsoft has no idea how to compete–which I guess isn’t surprising for a monopolist. No wonder they are trying to buy Yahoo….

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Adwords is clearly the best platform, so why bother with the other two? Remember the discussion about niche markets above. Although Adwords is by far the best, as a result, it’s also the most fiercely competitive of the three–meaning costs are high and margins are sometimes lower. It really varies by market segment, but in some segments, Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft Adcenter are neglected, leaving excellent bargains on important keywords. I am currently running a campaign on Adcenter for a client in a very niche, technical market, which isn’t supposed to be well suited for MSN search traffic. This campaign is doing VERY well. So the moral of this story is don’t pick one–use all three, as long as you’re making money on each of them. This is the beauty of PPC marketing, after all. It is quite easy to test to see if it will work for you, and objectively track your results.

That’s my take on the three major search marketing platforms–I’d love to hear yours. Post a comment so everyone can benefit from your own experience.

Phil Morettini
PJM Consulting
http://www.pjmconsult.com/