Thanks to the attendees of today's Swiftpage Thought Leader webinar series - you were terrific. I've made an attempt to answer some of the questions submitted during the webinar. There are more, and I'll try to get to them later this week.
Q. But you would agree that without very tight database management by sales the step backs "step" could lose it all for the buy totally?
Someone has to monitor for Step Backs. Whether it’s marketing or sales will depend on the technology and visibility available for monitoring prospect behavior across the buying process. This said, you’re absolutely correct about Step Backs. If we don’t catch these instances when buyers start “what-iffing” themselves and hesitate, we can lose the sale to a competitor or a no decision.
Q. Can you give a quick definition of WHITE PAPER?
A white paper is a formal, in-depth exploration of a topic that includes research to back up the author’s assertions—usually 8 – 12 pages in length and presented in PDF format. White papers are quite often “authored” by companies without a byline to support the company’s message. They can also be written by a third-party expert and sponsored by a company, or bylined by a company executive.
Q. Can you use eMarketing to individuals who have not opted in?
It’s not a good practice to email to anyone who has not opted in. This said, eMarketing affords many opportunities to connect with prospects beyond your database. Some examples include:
- Using Twitter to pull prospects back to articles on your website or posts on your blog.
- Guest posting on another blog in your industry with a link back to yours.
- Commenting on other blogs on relevant topics (creating back links to your blog)
- Posting a blog post as a news link in relevant LinkedIn groups where prospects belong.
- Updating your status on LinkedIn with a brief snip and link to a blog post.
- Participating in discussions in LinkedIn groups.
- Submitting content to article sites (e.g. ezinearticles.com, biznik.com)
Q. Email Subject Lines. Any tips? Are they any specific 'action words' you recommend?
For action words, here are a few to get you started:
Get, Create, Design, Develop, Learn, Drive, Reduce, Increase, Stop
Tips include:
- Limit to 50 characters.
- Aim for provocative.
- Hint about what they’ll get – (hence the action words)
Q. What is a good conversion rate from start to finish?
I’d love to say 100% - but I won’t. Instead I’ll ask you a question back. What’s your baseline conversion rate? If it’s 5% and you’re able to double it, is that enough to grow your business reasonably? A “good conversion rate” is about what works for your company. If your baseline is 5% and you ramp your conversion rate to 30%, are you prepared to deliver? Just some food for thought.
Rule of thumb via research on B2B complex sales is that, on average, about 20% of the leads you generate will be short term opportunities. Three-quarters of the other 80% will likely buy within two years from someone. If you want that to be you, solid lead nurturing is one way to get that to happen.
Q. What is ROI?
Return on Investment
Q. What is your experience combining offline direct mail with online? Do you recommend online ONLY as a strategy? Why/Why Not?
I only work in online marketing, so my experience is limited. However, I know of a number of companies that use direct successfully to connect offline efforts to online ones. It depends on your prospects and customers. Find out what their preferences are and give them what they want.
This said, “online only” can also work well in today’s business environment as long as your strategy is comprehensive. Planning, measurement, process and consistent follow-through are all critical to success.
Q. Address e-Marketing strategies for selling consulting services. Do the same strategies and tactics work for any size B2B? What about professionals like Dr's and Lawyers?
If you’re creating content designed to help a prospect solve a problem, then your strategy is often the same across services, professions and product/solution companies. What I mean by that is you want to educate them about the issues, share the expertise you bring to the project and prove you walk your talk with evidence content.
It’s not about the products or services. It’s about what they enable people to do that they couldn’t do before. It’s about helping them understand why they need your company (whether consultant, doctor, lawyer or other type of company). It all begins with your buyers and how well you know them. That’s what dictates your strategies and tactics. Give them information they find valuable, in formats they want to consume, in places where they spend their time.
Q. How do you use email marketing for small retail stores without annoying customers and driving them away?
Just as in B2B marketing, give them information they value. In retail, sometimes an offer is enough. Other times it’s not about the price, it’s about the convenience, cache or need. Mix it up. If possible, don’t send offers for things they’ve already purchased.
In fact, if you know this, design offers to complement what they’ve already purchased. For example, these headphones will allow you to enjoy that U2 CD, even if your wife wants to watch TV. Or this blazer will nicely complement that blouse you bought last week.
Be creative based on your customers’ needs. Driving them away often happens (for all of us) if we send too often or communicate with nothing relevant to say.
Q. What is a good frequency of e-blasts?
Depending on length of buying cycles, during a B2B complex sale, I’ve seen clients build nice momentum with once or twice per month. The key is to get a clear picture on all the other communications your prospects may receive.
For example – are they also getting your monthly eNewsletter? How about additional emails for other topics they’ve expressed interest in? What about webinar invitations?
If you add them all up, you could be sending much more than you think. You need to get a big picture view to determine the best scheduling for your situation.
Q. How do I create a sustained drip marketing campaign and how long should each campaign last?
First of all, it will be easier if you stop thinking of it as a campaign and start thinking of drip marketing as a consistent publishing process. This said, the minimum length of time for a drip program is the average length of your buying process. To sustain drip marketing over time the following tools can help:
- Create an editorial calendar to guide your content development. This way you don’t end up struggling to create some kind of content just because a send is due to go out.
- Create a style guideline based on the prospects you are marketing to in the drip. Include:
- Phrases they use around the problem/challenge.
- Pronouns – you, (type, like retailers, marketers, etc.) This reminds you to write content that gets close to customers vs. content that’s company focused (using we, or the company name) and puts distance between you and them.
- Keywords – both long-tail and short. Using the same keywords in your content can help you to “own” the front page of search results. For example, query Marketing Interactions and you’ll see that I currently hold the top 4 results on Google, Bing and #1, 2, 5, 6 and 10 on Yahoo!.
- List of words not to use.
- Value you provide.
- Proof points that you deliver.
A style guideline will help you to maintain consistency in how you address your audience over time.
Hi Ardath,
Nice posting. I was not able to attend your webinar yesterday since LeadLife (www.leadlife.com) was exhibiting at BtoB’s Leading Edge Virtual Show, but I did find some of the questions that your attendees asked of interest. I have never tried submitting content via the article sites you mentioned, but will give it a shot.
Above you briefly discussed doing a guest posting on another blog in your industry with a link back to your blog, but how do you recommend doing this? What is the best way to reach out and get started?
Thanks for the valuable information as always.
Regards,
Meredith Smith
LeadLife Solutions
http://www.leadlife.com/blog
Posted by: Meredith Smith | June 23, 2010 at 10:59 AM
Hi Meredith,
Thanks for stopping by. I dropped in on the BtoB Virtual Conference a few times yesterday, myself.
A few tips on guest posting:
1. Begin commenting on blogs you think would make a good fit for a guest post from you. You need to build a relationship before you ask for anything. (Same as with prospects) Your comments go to show your interest in them, and your competence for the subject matter.
2. Find out if the blogger supports guest posts. Before anyone asks, I currently do not. Just a personal preference and time limitations. However, I sometimes do blog interviews with other industry experts.
3. If you ask to do a guest post, submit the idea along with your request. It helps also if you reference one of their posts that would support your post - showing the tie-in of topic. Also provide them links to articles you've written so they can see that you can write. I get requests all the time without an idea which would make it impossible to respond to if I did take guest posts.
4. Do not ask the blogger to co-write it with you. Not unless you know them well. This just adds more work to their plate and minimizes the value having you on their blog might achieve. (Yes, people ask me to do this.)
5. Remember that their blog is their sandbox and community. If they don't think their audience will benefit, they won't agree to use your post.
Most bloggers have full-time jobs in addition to their passion for blogging. Be respectful of their time and make it easy for them to say YES!
Posted by: Ardath Albee | June 23, 2010 at 01:39 PM