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

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/

Pay Per Click (PPC) Online Advertising

It's known by several names: PPC or Pay Per Click advertising, CPC or Cost Per Click advertising, or sometimes by the best known PPC advertising engine, Google Adwords.

Pay Per Click advertising is no longer new; as a result, much of the "easy" money has already been made. But I'm struck by how many companies I run across that are NOT using this method, to attract prospects or make sales on the web. While it is a competitive channel, unlike the early days of this medium, it is still one of the most effective, and cost-effective, method to promote most any product or service online.

PPC should not only be a staple of the promotion budget of nearly every company, it should be one of the first promotion methods utilized on behalf of a new product, service or company. Here's why:

Complex to Optimize--But Simple to Start
PPC advertising campaigns can be very complex and extensive, and will be once you get them optimized. Many companies are spending tens of thousands of dollars/month on PPC. At that point they will be making a lot of money for you--so it's worth the investment and the trouble!

But getting started is quite easy--anyone can do it. You simply open an account with one of the major advertising engines, which will take you all of five minutes or so. You can put together a basic test campaign in less than an hour's time. I always recommend starting with Google Adwords first. Once you are successful and understand what you are doing on Adwords, it is pretty easy to move your functioning campaigns to the other major systems (Yahoo Search Marketing, and Microsoft Adcenter). There are differences, but they are fundamentally the same.

Adwords is the most powerful and has by far the greatest reach, yet it is still very easy to set up your initial trial campaigns. There is an excellent set of online Help and tutorials to walk you through the basics. When you set up your initial campaigns, you WILL make mistakes. But don't worry. Just set your budget limits to a low number that you can easily afford, and you will quickly climb the learning curve. Once you've learned the basics of what you are doing, you can then seek assistance to do the final optimizations to your campaigns, which will lead to the greatest success. You may decide to "do it yourself"; if so, there are a lot of different experts out there with modestly priced guides and services, to bring you to the top of your PPC game. Or at this point, you may wish to outsource your PPC advertising activity. I always recommend opening an account on your own first, even if you plan to outsource. The knowledge that you gain will help you in hiring a third party who will best optimize your PPC activity.

Easy on the Budget
If you are a thinly capitalized startup company, or otherwise on a tight budget, you can start a PPC campaign that brings you results that you can continually improve, for just a few dollars/month. As usually is the case, the more money available the better. The more money you have to spend, the faster you can receive statistically significant results--which can then be used to tweak your campaigns for improvement, over and over again. But if you can only spare $50, $100 or $500 per month at first--don't let that deter you. In most cases you can get started and move your campaign forward, at even these low budget levels. The beauty of PPC is that you really don't need to commit to a large budget, until you're sure that you've got a profitable campaign. At that point, you'll want to pour as much money into your campaign that you can muster! Once a campaign is proven profitable, pouring more money into it is like turning up a profit meter!

Precise Measurements
One of the major advantages of PPC advertising, compared to traditional adverting and other promotional methods, is the ability to precisely measure nearly every important aspect of your campaign. The ability to track your results is much greater than any other form of promotion I've utilized in my career. This measurement precision turns PPC advertising into the most scientific form of marketing available. After some initial hypotheses with respect to Ad copy, keyword selection and landing page design, it is possible to systematically improve your results by tweaking these elements of your campaign, almost forever--increasing your profitability as you go.

Fast Results
The other important aspect of PPC advertising, in conjunction with measurement precision, which makes this medium so systematic and scientific, is the ability to get this precise feedback in near real time. As an example, in traditional, offline advertising campaign, you need to invest tens of thousands of dollars upfront. After this large investment, you won't even know if your campaign was successful for months. With PPC advertising, you quickly get feedback in the form of precise, quantifiable results, sometimes only minutes after you started it. As a result, you can have a fully optimized, profitable PPC campaign working, before you would even get your initial measurements with other methods.

The Ideal Platform to Test Messaging, Campaigns and Offers
The expediency and precision of PPC advertising make it a great platform to kick off any new product, campaign or company. It is very efficient way of testing messages, offers and websites. Once you've discovered and proven the things that work best, you can transfer this knowledge to your rollout of other promotional vehicles. This greatly reduces the risk inherent in starting up new marketing campaigns of any type, and should increase your profitability across platforms, and promotional vehicles, from day one.

Summary
As you can tell, I am a big proponent of PPC advertising as a staple of every marketing budget. Unless your market is so small that it consists of only a few hundred prospects, I recommend it to nearly every software and high tech company on the planet. Consumer, Enterprise or SMB--it's very effective across many markets. In fact, the more of a niche your market is, the more cost-effective PPC becomes, due to reduced competition and lower resulting bid prices. There are a few highly competitive markets these days which are so competitive, that it's hard to run a profitable PPC campaign. But these are few and far between, and by far the exception to the rule. So if you aren't active in PPC advertising today--get started! Give it a try, and let me know your questions or comments.

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