Persuasive Marketing blog is a collection of inventive thinking, interesting articles and real life experiences shared by our consultants and clients.
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White papers can be great lead generation and sales support tools when properly constructed with purpose, impactful design and digestible content. But sadly, many technology companies publish white papers that miss the mark and fail to engage readers. Today’s executive decision makers are busy. They don’t have time to sift through text-intensive white papers in search of a few great nuggets of information. Boring, unformatted or overtly marketing-focused white papers will collect dust while hampering the sales cycle and negatively impacting your brand.
To make sure your white papers work for you, and not against you, follow these 5 essential steps.
Step 1: Define the Purpose. Before you write a single word, define the, “Who, What, When and Why?” of your white paper. The answers to these questions will help keep the paper on target and the content interesting.
- Who is the intended audience?
- What problem is your reader trying to solve?
- When in the sales cycle will the paper be used?
- Why should the reader spend his/her valuable time reading your paper?
For more tips on writing with purpose, read, “Sales Collateral Success Tips: 4 Questions to Ask Before You Write”
Step 2: Build the Outline. I know plenty of writers that skip this step, but you are more likely to stray off course or be repetitive without the outline as a guide. An outline forces you to think logically about how to best present the information before you invest time in writing. That said, an outline should be fluid. Make adjustments as needed to eliminate issues or incorporate new ideas that arise in subsequent steps.
Step 3: Give it an Attention Grabbing Title. The title is one of the most important determining factors for whether your paper is read or passed by in the search for better content. A seemingly endless number of books, blogs and articles are dedicated to the mechanics of writing effective titles. If you are unfamiliar with these resources, you may want to search out some of them or view my post on the topic, “Get More White Paper Downloads with a Great Title.” Otherwise, here’s some basic tips:
- Focus on what’s in it for the reader.
- Be specific.
- Balance relevance with creativity.
- Be succinct.
Step 4: Create an Impactful Design. In the old days (as in 5 years ago), the writer wrote the paper and then the graphic designer formatted the content and added a few graphical elements to make the piece visually impactful. The written word ruled supreme and the layout was just the icing on the cake. Today, this is no longer the case. With increasing job demands, constant disruptions and less time to do more, I think it is fair to assume that nobody actually reads any more – well at least not until they are convinced that the read will be worth their time. Within as little as 5 seconds, your prospective buyer will decide whether to read your paper or move on to the next task. Stack the odds in your favor by contemplating the design first. Aim to teach your reader something useful in 2 minutes or less, and make sure the design helps you accomplish this goal. Headings, call out boxes, tables, diagrams and imagery can help make your paper visually interesting and quickly demonstrate value. For each section of your paper, define what graphical queues will help tell your story before you write.
Step 5: Make the Content Digestible. When writing content, understand that your reader will probably not read your paper from start to finish in the first pass. “Reading” for most has become a 3 step process. Step 1) Skim the entire paper in search of interesting information. If the information presented is engaging, move on to Step 2) Review sections which stand out as potentially useful. Finally, if value is derived, move to Step 3) Read the entire paper. Support the 3 Steps process by avoiding text-heavy papers. Instead offer the reader relevant section headings, bulleted lists or tables and section summaries that can be easily consumed when skimming.
The title is one of the most important determining factors in whether your white paper is downloaded for reading or passed by in search of better content. Unfortunately, the white paper title is often approached as an after thought. And this can have damaging results. A lackluster title can severely impair the performance of an otherwise well-written paper.
Defining the title before you write can help give purpose and shape to the paper. For example, many tried and true attention-grabbing titles are based on formulas, such as “How to _______ in X easy steps” or “X Reasons Why ________ Fail.” These types of titles drive the structure of the paper. When you write the paper first and title second, you limit your opportunity.
To improve the effectiveness of your next white paper, develop the title before you write the paper and use these tips to help you make the title great…
- Focus on what’s in it for the reader. Your audience is out there looking for information because they have a problem that they need to solve. Tell people how you will solve the problem or give them a reason why they should listen to you.
- Be specific. The needs of your potential customers vary greatly depending upon their industry, company, area of responsibility and current projects. Help your readers quickly identify what the paper is about and decide whether or not it’s applicable to them.
- Balance creativity with relevance. Try to strike the right balance by giving the title enough personality to entice the reader, while still explaining what the paper is about. While a creative title may win you a chuckle, not many people will send their precious time downloading a paper just because it made them laugh.
- Focus on Benefits, not Features. Benefits are the language of your customers. Features are the language of your engineers. Your customers don’t care if you have the fastest processor, strongest encryption or largest libraries. They care about the benefits those features will deliver, whether its cutting costs, supporting revenue growth or getting more done with less. So focus on what your product or services can do for your customers, not how it will do it.
- Be succinct. Eliminate any unnecessary words and use the active voice to get your point across as quickly as possible (and avoid the awkwardness of the passive voice).
- Be original. If you are syndicating your white paper, you will be competing with hundreds of other titles. After you have brainstormed and identified your short list of title favorites, do an Internet search for white papers on your chosen topic. If you find similar titles already available, cross them off your list. You cannot compete with a “me too” title.
There are hundreds of more tips available in books, blogs and articles. I’ve focused on the ones that I think are most important. If I’ve overlooked some, please feel free to weigh in with your suggestions.
P.S. Journalists that write for popular publications are masters of writing attention-grabbing and succinct titles. Perusing the headlines before you start your title brainstorming session can help get you in the right frame of mind and stimulate your creativity.
So you are finally ready to write that piece of marketing material that your sales department has been begging you to write for months. You know all the marketing mumbo jumbo about how your product or solution is better than any other thing out there. You know all the industry jargon and buzz words to include. You “know” because you read all the industry pubs and you keep tuned into the sales department – gathering feedback from the executive team and their people with feet on the street, who talk to sales prospects day in and day out. And they’ve told you what to write… and what sales needs to close the deal easier, faster and for more dollars.
But if you take a step back for just a moment, you might just find out, what you don’t know is of the most critical importance. At times we all get so close to the products and services that we represent, that we are guilty of “drinking the company Kool-Aid.” Meaning we lose perspective of who we are marketing to and what our potential buyers actually think and need.
Understanding the answers to the following 4 questions and the impacts to your sales collateral strategy and messaging can make a huge difference to the effectiveness of your marketing materials. Ask these questions before you write any sales copy to arm yourself for success.
- Who is the intended audience? Consider whether your sales targets come from a business or technical orientation, and know the titles and job responsibilities of your prospective buyers. Understanding the persona of your perspective buyers (their goals, concerns, preferences and decision process) is critical to the development of engaging collateral. Avoid the “one piece will appeal to all” approach even if your buyers vary greatly from industry to industry or company to company. If necessary, write targeted collateral for each audience to maximize the effectiveness.
- What problem is your reader trying to solve? All too often sales collateral is written from the perspective of the vendor with little or no understanding of the business or technical issues the reader is trying to solve. If at all possible, talk to actual customers and ask them to explain the problem and how your product/service solves the problem. You may be surprised in the differences between your vocabulary and your customers’. Using their descriptions and terminology will make your collateral more impactful.
- When in the sales cycle will the collateral be used? The interests and attention span of your target buyer will vary greatly throughout the sales cycle. Let the stage define the depth of content and focus of the collateral. Early in the information gathering stage, keep the piece short and high-level with industry relevant and vendor neutral analysis of the topic. During the evaluation stage, supply your readers with more depth and useful product/service specific information that can help support the their decision process.
- Why should the reader spend his/her valuable time reading your collateral? Your prospective buyers are busy people, who suffer from complete information overload. To be worthy of their time, your collateral must offer something of value that cannot be easily accessed from other sources. Become familiar with content offered by competitors, analysts and media within the industry you serve. Strive to offer something with unique perspectives and value.
If your press relations efforts are failing to achieve the results you desire, media alerts could be just the thing you need to breathe life back into a flat lining PR program. When used in tandem with press releases, media alerts can help to further nurture media relationships and ultimately earn your company more news coverage.
Press Releases vs. Media Alerts: What’s the Difference?
Press releases (a.k.a. news releases or media releases) have long been the mainstay of media relations. Written like news articles, with quotes and facts, their purpose is to initiate pick-up by online news channels and generate broadcast, print and online feature stories through larger outlets. Well-written press releases create an image and story that journalists can use alone or as background when writing a story.
Conversely, media alerts (a.k.a. media advisories or press advisories) are used to notify the media of something (like an upcoming press conference, product unveiling, tradeshow appearance or speaking engagement). Media alerts are written to answer the important questions of Who, What, When, Where and Why.
Defining Success
While the press release’s main goal is facilitate news coverage, the media alert’s main goal is to get the media to take a specific action (attend an event, download a report, review survey results, etc.). Think of the media alert as an invitation, while the press release is the actual dissemination of newsworthy information.
Press Release Goal = News Story Written by Media Targets
Media Alert Goal = Action Taken by Media Targets
Filling the News Gaps with Media Alerts
For many start up companies, media alerts are a rarity. Some public relations practitioners never issue them. But the press release’s lesser-known counterpart, the media alert, is growing in popularity within the B2B tech sector and here’s part of the reason why… (the rest of the reason has to do with Internet marketing, which you can read about in my colleagues post, “How to Use PR to Improve SEO Results”)
Many young tech companies set out with good intentions to support a robust calendar of media communications and relationship building activities, but find that they struggle to deliver newsworthy press releases month after month. Soon after comes the realization that it can be difficult, if not impossible, for their company to maintain productive media relations without consistent outreach (remember the old adage, “out of sight, out of mind”).
With a little ingenuity media alerts can help fill the news gaps and provide a continuous stream of communications that will help to keep your company top of mind. Which will in turn translate to more news coverage in the long run.
How to Get Started
Remember that the purpose of the media alert is to notify the media of something that they might find interesting – with the goal being that they take a specific action. To come up with media alert ideas, review both your existing and in plan content assets (case studies, white papers, survey findings, etc.) and calendar of events (webinars, speaking engagements, tradeshow appearances, press conferences, product unveilings, etc.). Then compare the content against the topics covered by your media targets to determine what might be “media alert worthy”.
Before you write the media alert, put yourself in the shoes of the editors and journalists that you are targeting. Give careful consideration to how they might use this information as background when writing a story or how it might help inform them of an important trend. While it is not necessary for you to develop a news story in the media alert, the media will not take the desired action unless you clearly communicate to them the “what’s in it for me?” (view media alert example)
Share Your Ideas and Success Stories
If you are using media alerts in a unique way or getting good results from your media alert communications, please feel free to weigh in and share your insights or success tactics with our readers…
 If you want to improve your search engine optimization (SEO) results (or squeeze out a competitor in page ranking), a properly leveraged PR program could be just the boost you need.
Relevant keywords. Link building. Delivering fresh, quality content. These tactics top the list of requirements for a successful SEO strategy – and a well-executed PR program can deliver on all three with just a little extra effort and planning.
Use these tips to make get the best SEO results from your PR program:
- Choose Keywords Carefully. Keywords should not be approached as an after thought once a release is written. If you have a list of keywords already in use for SEO campaigns, deliver the list to your PR writer, if not, do your homework and come up with a laundry list of relevant keywords that can be leveraged across all communications. When brainstorming keywords, consider which terms your target audience is likely to use when searching for your type of products or services. Free tools like Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool or WordTracker, will provide useful search volume data that can help you refine your list. Eliminate words or phrases that cannot deliver significant website traffic due to insufficient search volume and consider cutting any popular terms that put you in competition with 1M+ search results. Try to create a list of 10 – 15 targeted keywords that can be leveraged repeatedly in your press campaigns over time. (Note: your actual list may be shorter or longer depending on the size of your company, scope of offering and SEO budget).
- Be Aware of Keyword Placement and Frequency. Each press release should be optimized for 1-2 keyword phrases. Include keywords in the title, subtitle and first paragraphs, but don’t over stuff your press release with keywords. This practice will dilute the effectiveness of your media communications – remember ultimately, humans, not bots, read press releases. Ideally in a 500-word press release, your chosen keywords should appear 2-4 times.
- Include a Call to Action with Hyperlink. Search engines favor sites that have a high number of inbound links from other popular sites. Press releases can be a very effective way to earn those inbound links. News distribution sites that copy content from newswire feeds often convert full URLs into hyperlinks. Use this to your advantage by making sure that every press release distributed across the wire includes a call-to-action with a full URL link to your site (not an embedded hyperlink). Also, be sure your PR person asks journalists to include inbound links in any feature news stories (To be successful, you may need to get creative and provide a reason to include the link, i.e. come up with a special or exclusive offer for the publication’s readers). This strategy won’t always yield results, but it’s definitely worth a try – just a few links from top tier publications can do wonders for your SEO program.
- Add Images and Video. Multi-media can give your company added visibility in search engines and make your press releases more shareable. To get the best SEO results, add descriptive titles that include your chosen keywords to all embedded images and videos. News distribution services charge extra for the inclusion of multi-media, so you may want to strategically plan which press releases are worthy of the added cost or stagger your distribution of multi-media releases throughout the year.
- Create an Online Newsroom and RSS for News Distribution. Search engines, especially Google, love blogs for the fresh content and highly structured data. If you don’t already have an online newsroom, consider adding a blog style newsroom to your website. By posting releases to your site and distributing through RSS, you can get even more mileage from your PR program. Be sure to choose a SEO friendly blog platform and include tags for your keywords with each post. Bookmark and share each post and provide sharing tools so that others can easily do the same.
- Make Headlines Tweet Friendly. Keep your press release headlines short (less than 70 characters, if possible) to improve tweetability or consider adding suggested Tweet text at the end of your release to make sharing of your news easy for readers (and be sure to include a shortened URL that links back to the full-text release on your site).
- Automate Distribution of News Across Relevant Channels. By using a news distribution service like BusinessWire or PR Newswire, you will be able to extend the reach of your news and get pickup of full-text press releases (complete with keywords and hyperlinks to your site) on thousands of downstream sites, including Internet portals, search engines, websites, financial services and database systems. Choose the level of distribution service based the relevancy and newsworthiness of the communication you are distributing. For instance, you may want to consider lower cost “online only” distribution options when the primary goal of the release is to aide SEO efforts (as may be the case with a media alert announcing the availability of a company sponsored informational report), while a larger distribution would be more appropriate for a press release that is likely to earn your company feature news stories.
- Keep a Steady Pace. Ideally companies should aim to distribute a minimum of 2-3 releases per month to help boost SEO results. Understandably, it can be difficult for smaller companies and start-ups to keep this pace. Having a back up strategy in place can help fill news gaps when they occur. Momentum releases (that package multiple smaller news items into one communication) or media alerts (that publicize events/information vs. news) can keep your SEO-friendly PR program afloat despite a slump in media-worthy news.
- Measure Your Results. Web analytics are essential – if you don’t already have a web traffic-monitoring tool, get one. Google’s free web analytics offers a wealth of information on the origin of website visitors and keywords. Use this information to track the progress of your efforts and identify areas for improvement.
- Be Patient. Neither PR nor SEO are about instant gratification. Often it takes months to see results and this is especially true for smaller or new companies. Set realistic expectations from the beginning and give the program a minimum of 6 months to deliver measurable results.
- Make Adjustments. SEO isn’t a one-time event. Search engine algorithms change regularly, so the tactics that worked last year may not work this year. Keep up with SEO best practices and make adjustments as algorithms change to ensure the best results. SEO requires dedication and a long-term commitment but the pay-off will be worthwhile for those that keep with it over time.
 A lot of companies tend to see only two options for PR around the holidays: holiday story lines and New Year trends. While these may be the perfect recipe for a good holiday PR campaign, it’s time companies think outside the box. As noted in my blog post last year “Tips for Successful Holiday Campaigns”, I do believe the time period between Thanksgiving and the New Year presents an opportunity to leverage the perceived news lull with a year-end or year-beginning storyline. Often editors and bloggers are looking for interesting ideas to fill their “pages” during this holiday down time.
However, as is with every good strategy, over time everyone gravitates to it. So now, the noise around obvious holiday trends is so great, it’s difficult for a company to rise above the crowd. Time for some holiday innovation, how about it?
With the general slow-down in corporate productivity around the holidays, more people are reading news sites, blogs and following social media channels than during busier times of the year. So smart holiday PR campaigning can be a powerful way to get your company noticed. And everyone knows Sales is desperately trying to make their year-end numbers, so give the readers something that will potentially translate to a sale.
Customer case studies, product innovations and discounted products and services are three great alternatives to the holiday trend approach.
#1 – Customer case studies: I can promise you that in your existing customer base there is a hero waiting to rise to the forefront of your PR efforts. Here’s the catch. They don’t have to come from a behemoth company. They just need to have a passion about what they are doing and believe your product is an enabler of their cause. Also, with smaller companies you don’t need to maneuver the dreaded corporate PR watchdogs – many times these spokespeople have an open microphone to speak freely about what they are doing with your product and /or service. Seek them out and then pitch their story. Nothing is more helpful to a customer sale than a great customer testimonial.
#2 – Product Innovation: A lot of companies hold product innovation news until the New Year has rung in. Why not be bold and let potential customers know what your product can do for them now. In the midst of holiday “do’s and don’ts, a strong product announcement is like a breath of fresh air to writers who have been pitched trend stories ad-nauseum. And it certainly won’t hurt your sales team’s efforts.
#3 – Discounted products and services: Let’s face it; we can’t get around this one. Everyone is looking for a bargain during the holidays, so give your customers what they want. With the advent of location-based offers at ridiculous prices, you can’t escape the fact that everyone is expecting at companies will make some incredible offer at some point. Why not during the season of giving? Instead of offering tips, offer a promotion.
Again, I do believe the holidays are great times to announce results of surveys or make predictions about New Year trends – or to consider something a little more catchy or gimmicky as these types of news stunts often seem to fit in better with the sense of sensationalism surrounding the holiday season.
But please, they’ll be enough boxes under trees - don’t let your PR campaigns get stuck in one.
Wishing all of Attain Marketing’s clients, colleagues and friends a safe and truly joyous holiday season!
This week’s Persuasive Marketing blog comes from Pete Bartolik, a freelance writer/editor with whom I enjoyed and valued working with for many years. I think you’ll see why. Pete spent many years as a staff reporter and editor, followed by a virtual lifetime with a PR agency, before hanging out his own shingle. Enjoy!
 Back in 1987, Ray Donovan, previously Secretary of Labor under Ronald Reagan and the first sitting cabinet member to be indicted, was acquitted with other defendants from charges of fraud in construction contracts. Alluding to the flood of negative print and TV news stories that accompanied the original mob-tinged allegations, he was famously quoted saying, “Which office do I go to get my reputation back?”
In today’s hyperactive blog environment, he’d probably feel like he’s falling – perpetually – like Alice down the rabbit hole.
When print still dominated, we’d counsel clients to expect to be misquoted or taken out of context, and develop a thick skin – plus, even when a publication printed a correction, odds are it would be seen by just a fraction of those who had read the original.
Blogs have vastly ramped up the delivery speed of information, and misinformation, and it now persists for all digital eternity. More concerning is that the information can take many twists and turns as it traverses the Net echo chamber.
As a youngster you may have played the party game that goes under a variety of names such as “Whisper” or “Telephone” in which successive players pass along a sentence or phrase. By the time the content reaches the last person and is announced to the group, it inevitably has acquired a much different meaning.
Electronic social networks can take the Whisper game to extreme heights, with the potential for truly harmful reputational damage. You can’t afford to shrug off misinformation because it becomes part of your online “permanent record.”
Extreme alertness is the order of the day. Once a story or comment appears online it can proliferate with rapidity and continually resurface as later bloggers pick up on the original. So the best way to blunt the impact is to communicate quickly and directly with the original author to try and correct the record.
The folks who do the blogging for a living are generally pretty reasonable. Many will quickly update their online posting, sometimes just replacing erroneous information, or at least noting a required correction. The sooner you’re able to do this, the more likely you are to limit parroting of the damaging content.
But, still, work on developing that thick skin. It’s inevitable that even after you’ve got the right information online, somewhere down the line someone is going to resurrect the original damaging content. And their blog will tell two people, and they’ll each tell two people, and so on and so on…
Welcome to the rabbit hole.
This week’s Persuasive Marketing Blog Post features marketing pro, Susan Lowe, who has a rich background in product marketing with companies ranging from start-ups to large enterprise companies. She shares great tips for utilizing online surveys to keep customers happy and loyal to your products.
 As good marketers, we should never forget that our job is to bring products or services to the marketplace (B2B or B2C) that fulfill needs and customers want to buy. Of course, our work doesn’t end once the product or service launches. We must continually assess whether those products or services are actually meeting our customers’ needs and to what level of satisfaction. Adding to the importance of finding out how customers’ assess our product is that their needs may change over time. We don’t want to miss out on a new opportunity – or worse – lose business to a competitor that makes it their practice to know what the customer is thinking.
Today’s online survey tools provide an easy and cost-effective way to find out what customers think about a company, service levels, products, overall satisfaction and to uncover unmet needs. Surveys also provide a method by which to confirm your own beliefs about customers’ perceptions. Once you’ve decided to move forward with an online survey, it is important to set objectives and determine the information you want to obtain from the survey. Helpful tips and guidance are available at most survey tool websites that can then assist you with planning the survey and developing the questions. In addition, you will find it useful to send at least one test survey within your organization before sending the live survey to customers. Running a test allows you to weed out poorly worded questions, measure actual time to complete the survey and provides the opportunity to edit and refine the survey content.
Now you’ve sent the survey and collected the responses from your customers. What’s next? The survey results will have a meaningful and positive impact on your business, only if your company is ready to respond to the feedback and take any necessary actions. The survey information will do your company little good if it is only shown as data points in department presentations. Based on the results, identify problem areas that need to be addressed immediately and those that are longer-term. Develop an immediate and longer-term plan to address areas for improvement.
Next, communicate to your customers your plans for improvement based on their survey feedback. They want to know that you are listening and their time was not wasted. Now you are ready to put together a ‘task’ force that is responsible for executing to the plan and measuring results. This team will hold meetings, review the plan, set goals, agree on tactics and actions, assign ownership, and set timelines to complete.
When and how frequently should you survey customers? Be pro-active not reactive. Find out what your customers think early on during product concept and regularly throughout the lifecycle. It is a continuous process. Make it a part of your best practice to know what your customers think about you and make improvements as needed. If you’re not proactive and fall behind in getting customer feedback, it can cost you loyalty, profits and customers.
Keys to Successful Customer Surveys
- Identify your goals and objectives and determine what information you want to attain from the survey.
- Develop survey questions based on what you want to find out – online tools are available to help you plan the survey and develop the questions.
- Ask your customers early on and throughout your relationship what they think about you.
- Respond timely to customer feedback.
- Develop a plan to address customer responses. Communicate the plan.
- Put a task force together responsible for implementing the plan and measuring improvements.
 OK, ok, it’s true. Yes, you need a social media strategy even if you’re a B2B technology company. Although B2B still lags behind in social media use compared to consumer companies, we’ve reached that point where it can’t be ignored in any segment. The key is to establish a social media plan that supports your company’s core marketing objectives and is inline with overall goals – then you can craft an effective program that incorporates one or many of the available social media tactics that make the most sense for your business.
A good social media strategy will help your company:
- Increase unique traffic to your core website or desired web page
- Convert anonymous traffic to potential customers by promoting premium content to visitors from social media sites
- Create buzz, promote viral groundswell and increase brand recognition for your company
Here are a few of the various programs and tactics to consider as part of your social media mix:
- Blogging – although now very popular and competitive, corporate blogs represent an ideal venue for posting thought leadership views as well as an additional place to post company news, events and other important info
- Microblogging – Clearly Twitter has emerged as the leading microblogging site and it’s worth the effort to build a quality list of followers and use the channel to broadcast company news, events and other industry commentary
- Social Networking – While the verdict is still out on Facebook as to its viability as an effective B2B social media channel, more companies are finding innovative ways to leverage the channel. Meanwhile, LinkedIn remains a favorite for B2B marketers as a way to develop mini-communities and participate in industry discussion and position themselves as thought leaders.
- Social Press – Media 2.0 is all about the online conversation and blogger mentions. A successful social media program will include updating all influential bloggers on a regular basis about all new thought leadership and new products
- Bookmarking/Tagging – it’s now all about content marketing. The more places you can post good content – or have others share your content, the better off you’ll be. Delicious, Digg, Sphinn, Reddit, and Friendfeed are just a few of the more popular bookmarking sites.
- Online Video – we’ve been saying it for years now, we’re in a video revolution and it’s the future of digital marketing. And now, for online video posting, YouTube is not the only game in town with sites like Tom’s ITPro.com, InfoSecIsland.com and ITExpertVoice.com popping up daily.
- Photosharing – Photosharing through sites like photobucket.com represents yet another channel to post content and generate links back to your core site. Encourage employees to share any interesting and relevant photos from industry events with links back to blog and the website.
- Podcasting – here’s a great channel for re-purposing valuable recorded content like webinars, interviews and phone conferences.
- Presentation sharing – the use of Slideshare enables you to post presentations (again, another opportunity for thought leadership and content marketing) with links back to your core site
Bottom line… there’s a robust selection of social media programs to help promote your company on the Internet. The key is a good social media strategy that provides the right mix of programs based on your company’s overall goals and objectives.
Recently Attain Marketing joined forces with AgileValue, a Silicon Valley- based consulting firm focused on helping technology companies launch new companies and products, to provide a full range of start-up marketing services. In this blog post, Susan Knorr, AgileValue Principal with over 20 years of experience in executive sales and marketing management, talks about the value of the interim CMO, an innovative approach to start up marketing that helps young companies, or companies in transition, leverage executive level marketing talent on a consultant basis. As discussed in a previous blog post with financial services pro Charlie O’Rourke, outsourcing marketing is a good way to deal with budget restraints while staying competitive in a sluggish economy. Smart companies know they should not forgo their marketing activities – especially if they plan on establishing healthy longevity in their business, so they see outsourced marketing, like an Interim CMO, as a great way to leverage talent and stay proactive.
 Many high-technology companies start the marketing process too late. They build new products/services based upon a cool idea and technology innovation hoping the buyers will come.
However, all companies need to analyze the market opportunity for new products. Is there a genuine need? How should the new product/service be positioned competitively to win in each potential target market segment? Bottomline, companies must answer three key questions: Will they buy? Will they buy from me? Will they buy from me now?
And they need this assistance before the product/service is developed. In fact, for companies to succeed, a marketing plan is needed while product development plans are still on the drawing board. Sure, it could be the next Facebook, but in reality chances are less than 5% that a new company will succeed. Further, these statistics also apply to new product offerings in existing companies. Many companies typically rely on one bread-and-butter product to generate revenue, but a second “hit” is elusive.
If it makes sense that marketing should occur before (if not in parallel with) product development, why do so many companies wait until the end of the development process to get started? One reason may simply be a belief in the old adage that says “if we build it, people will come”. Really? Still, another common reason is lack of funding to hire the marketing staff required before and during the development process. Funds are spent on engineering resources without a strategy as to how the product will be marketed or sold. Often, the product languishes before becoming profitable.
More than ever, companies striving for success must consider just how costly it is to build a new company, product or service that won’t succeed.
So what can companies do to maximize their success rate when introducing a new product/service? One solution is to outsource the marketing function by employing an interim CMO, a strategy that greatly reduces overhead costs while improving the overall potential for success.
5 Must-Have Start-Up High Tech Marketing Activities
Given limited resources, what are the top activities that should take place and where can companies derive the biggest bang for their buck? Here are 5 essential marketing activities for securing VC funds, launching new companies and introducing new products.
- Market Opportunity Assessment. A basic assessment should include needs analysis, market sizing and detailed profiling of key competitors. This analysis serves as a validation of the product/service offering given the competitive landscape.
- Investor Package Development. Investors are most interested in: What is the market opportunity? What are the funding requirements? How will funds be used? What is the exit strategy? The investor package includes an executive summary, presentation, revenue model, revenue projections, costs, staffing, exit strategy and time frame.
- Sales Distribution Planning. Ideally, a good sales distribution plan brings together sales and marketing. It identifies the target market segments, how to reach those target markets and how to sell to them. Sales distribution can include direct, indirect, channel partner, retail, third-party and online sales. Effective sales distribution plans also identify the relative importance of inbound vs. outbound lead generation.
- Go-to-Market Strategy. Companies need to come out of the gate quickly with new offerings without breaking the bank. This includes creating buzz and generating leads. The strategy may include product launch, PR, events, advertising, search engine optimization, social networking and marketing campaigns. Once again, it is important to determine how leads and revenue will be generated from inbound and/or outbound marketing.
- Market Messaging. This can include product naming, tagline, elevator pitch, product/service descriptors and pitches. It is important to have specific market messaging for each target market. In addition, the messaging must be clear, succinct and compelling. It must communicate what exactly is unique about the product/service and why it is better than competitive offerings. It cannot be bland or indicate a “me too” solution to potential customers.
In conclusion, it’s never too early to start the marketing function for any new company, product or service. An interim CMO can help the process by providing the assistance needed, when it is needed, and at an affordable cost.
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