seven steps to marketing success
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© Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Seven Steps to Marketing Success
2 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Seven Steps - Overview
A few years ago people noticed a fundamental shift in the way companies bought products and
services. Gone are the days when cold calling to generate leads was effective. Gone too are
traditional selling cycles where sales executives could orchestrate the whole process from first
meeting to contract signing.
The internet changed all that. Today buyers prefer to research products and services online,
seeking to educate themselves rather than be sold to. Companies that demonstrate thought
leadership – engaging in educational exchanges with prospects rather than ‘selling’ to them –
are more successful at winning clients. Permission-based content marketing is here!
Seven Steps to Marketing Success
In response to these changes, Espresso B2B Marketing
developed a go-to-market program called
3 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Seven Steps to Marketing Success
1 Build the Foundation for Success
2 Get Found and Generate Leads
3 Generate Great Content to Capture Interest
4 Attract Targeted Traffic: Blogging plus Social Media
5 Widen Audience With an Outreach Program
6 Implement Lead Progression and Nurturing
7 Support the Direct Sales Team
4 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
1. Build the Foundation for Success
Before launching sales and marketing
programs, it’s important to develop a unique
value proposition―something that separates
you from the noise of the market.
The value of your solution can only be
measured by the way it helps people solve
business issues and challenges.
To build go-to-market messaging that
resonates with targeted buyers we
developed a process called Foundation for
Revenue by Espresso.
Going to market with an undifferentiated message will lead to disappointing results!
Foundation for Revenue is an on-site or remotely run
program that has been used by more than 100 companies
around the globe. Through this process we generate the
key messaging needed for the marketing campaigns,
including:
• Sales frames that capture target buyer’s pain points.
• A unique selling proposition.
• An articulation of value that will resonate with target
buyers.
• A description of the buyer’s journey with sales
provocations and progression points.
“The program is just outstanding. When you think about it,
it’s a tremendous accomplishment in just 2 half days!”
Channel Executive IBM
Systems & Technology Group
5 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
2. Get Found and Generate Leads
The key steps in this process are:
• Develop compelling website content that appeals to
buyers and reflects your unique value proposition.
• Create optimized content so that your website ranks
highly for selective keyword phrases.
• Use call-to-action buttons and landing pages to
‘progressively reveal’ informative content to engage site
visitors.
• Establish web tracking methods to identify new
opportunities and leads.
Get your website found, then convert visitors into leads.
Implementing search engine optimization
correctly will get your website found for
the products and services you offer.
Once at your site, buyers need to see
educationally rich content in order for
them to engage with you. This content
must reflect value and how your solutions
help solve business issues.
Through this process, you embark on a
journey of converting website visitors into
new leads.
―We hit page 1, position 1 on Google for many of
the keyword searches we targeted – and soon after
got our first lead through the website.”
Matt Moylan
General Manager
Espresso B2B Customer
6 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
3. Generate Great Content to Capture Interest
Promoting killer content can be done in a number of ways,
including:
• Create E-books, white papers, articles and company
collateral that are informative, educational and relevant.
• Use the Sales Frames and messaging components
developed in earlier steps to highlight your unique selling
proposition.
• Build a content strategy map. Match the content created to
the key phases in the buying cycle.
• Distribute content through the website, outreach programs,
webinars and seminars.
Today’s buyer is looking to be educated before being sold to. In this step we
develop compelling content to secure your thought leadership position.
Content that is perceived as too sales-like,
irrelevant or out of sequence with the
stage in the buying cycle could reduce
your chance of winning a deal by up to
45% (according to Marketing Sherpa).
Content that demonstrates your
knowledge and understanding of the
target buyer’s key challenges will
establish you as thought leader ̶
positioned to generate leads and convert
leads into sales.
“The outcome of working with Espresso B2B has been a complete
transformation of our website … taking something that was quite lacking with
no lead generation ability and turning it into a very professional and value
focused website that is already driving outside leads!”Mark Middendorf
Output Solutions Architect
Espresso B2B Customer
7 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
4. Attract Targeted Traffic: Blogging plus Social Media
To build a following of potential buyers, we recommend
that you:
• Publish at least one new blog article each week.
• Join a number of social media sites and build a following
in Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.
• Promote blog publication through a number of social
media channels to ensure the largest possible audience.
Use blog publication and social media tools to develop a ‘following’ and drive
traffic to your website.
Espresso has been able to show many IBM business partners how to
rework their messaging and web sites to get new prospects from
inbound marketing. And then Espresso shows them how to get those
leads through a progression pipeline. It is good stuff.”
Keith Myer
Marketing Program Manager, IBM
With your website optimized, and great
content available, you’re now ready to
engage in a full inbound marketing
program to drive more qualified traffic to
your website.
Blog articles promoted through social
media will dramatically increase traffic to
your website—but more importantly, it
will be traffic that is interested in your
blog and social media topics, making it
highly qualified.
8 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
5. Widen Audience With an Outreach Program
The key components in this step include:
• Build and run a series of email campaigns with
messaging and content tied to the key steps of the
buying cycle.
• Enter into an electronic dialogue with targeted prospects
and progress the leads through a process of sharing
educational and solution oriented content.
• Make direct calls into targeted companies to set
appointments for your sales team.
Use email marketing to promote educational content―use targeted direct calling
to move opportunities to sales ready status.
The program has a unique mix of vision and execution skills that leads to a
winning formula on how to go to market to win new prospects. It provides
best-of-breed lead generation with little time consumption for the clients.”
Alan Probert
Head of Channels
Espresso B2B Customer
Use email nurturing and progression
programs to move leads through the
stages of the buying cycle. Matching the
content you share with the appropriate
milestone in the buyer’s journey,
combined with provocation points and
call-to-actions, is a great way of
advancing leads to sales ready status.
9 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
6. Implement Lead Progression and Nurturing
The key steps for progression and nurturing
include:
• Create a marketing funnel focused on lead
development.
• Develop a process to assess stage in the
buyer’s journey and match content to buying
stage.
• Establish progression points and provocations
that seek to advance the lead towards sales-
ready status.
Implement a formal and ongoing process to progress and nurture leads – ensure
a steady stream of qualified leads for the sales team.
Many buyers prefer to conduct online research
early in the sales cycle and delay first contact
with a sales person. As a result, they are less
likely to respond to a cold call or meet with a
sales person early in the buying cycle.
Lead nurturing is the practice of matching the
content you share with the information buyers
are seeking. Lead progression is the process of
conducting a digital conversation with buyers to
advance them to a position where they are ready
for the first face-to-face meeting.
“Thanks for a well-done, professional job! The campaign will
result, I believe, in one to three new customers (one sale already
closed!) and increased visibility with all the other prospects.”
Barry Nashen
Espresso B2B Customer
10 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
7. Support the Direct Sales Team
This includes:
• Establish a formal and agreed definition of a sales-
ready lead.
• Maintain a separate marketing funnel that nurtures and
progresses leads.
• Implement a process for moving leads from the
marketing funnel to the sales funnel when they are
ready to meet with a sales person – and from the sales
funnel to the marketing funnel when they fail to
progress.
Many leads fall into a ‘chasm’ when passed from marketing to the sales team.
This program has contributed to over 300 leads, improved
lead conversion rates and launched active sales cycles,
which have resulted in closed business.
Jared Wells
Account Manager
Espresso B2B Partner
Far too often, marketing passes leads to
sales too early in the buyer’s journey.
This clogs sales funnels and distracts
the sales team from their prime objective
– meeting with prospects and clients.
By developing an agreed definition of a
sales-ready opportunity, you can move
all non-sales-ready leads into a separate
marketing funnel. This increases the
efficiency of the sales team, and ensures
that no leads get ignored!
11 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Conclusion
As a result of using this seven step process companies have:
Increased traffic to their website.
Generated new leads from website traffic.
Established a thought leadership position in chosen markets.
Engaged in successful digital conversations with companies
that are reluctant to meet face-to-face.
Improved sales team productivity.
Increased lead-to-win rates.
Generated more revenue.
And lowered the cost of lead generation!
WAY TO GO, Espresso!!! Seriously, this is AWESOME. I am very
excited for our campaign and I think you really nailed it!Joy Spicer
President
Espresso B2B Customer
12 © Copyright Espresso B2B Marketing 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Contact Information
Thank you
Mark Lennon
650.346.9683
mark@espressob2b.com
Dave Brown
650.291 1001
dave@espressob2b.com
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