quick! check that marketing blind spot
TRANSCRIPT
www.clearedgemarketing.com
Quick! Check That Marketing Blind Spot Explore Valuable Opportunities You Don't Know You're Missing
Presented by: Leslie Vickrey, CEO & Founder
December 4, 2014
Confidential Information. Copyright ClearEdge Marketing 2014.
Webinar Series
Your Presenter, Leslie Vickrey
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• CEO and Founder of ClearEdge Marketing, an agency specializing in outsourced marketing solutions for IT services firms 8+ years in business Serving clients across four continents Staff from coast-to-coast (30+) 8-year TechServe Alliance marketing partner
• 18 years managing marketing operations or providing consulting services for companies such as Spherion, Harvey Nash, TechServe Alliance, Bartech, CRi, Aon Hewitt RPO and Fieldglass
• Co-founder of ARA—a mentoring organization for attracting, retaining and advancing women in tech (www.aramentors.com)
CEO & Founder ClearEdge Marketing @lvickrey
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Today’s Agenda
• Where Is Marketing Heading? • A Peek at Marketing Trends • Where Top IT & Engineering Services Firms Succeed in Marketing
• Top Three Blind Spots in IT Services • What Are They? • Tips & Examples: Turning Weakness into Advantage
• Q&A
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Poll #1
What is THE most effective marketing tool/approach your business invests in today? A) Social Media B) Website/SEO C) Marketing Campaigns D) Events and Conferences E) None of the Above
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Feel Like Your Marketing Is Missing Something?
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WEB
MOBILE
TV RADIO
SOCIAL MEDIA
CONTENT MARKETING
BLOGS EVENTS PR
SPONSORSHIP
SEO
EMAIL MARKETING
STRATEGY
Excited About New Possibilities?
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Augmented Reality
Marketing
http://blog.bazaarvoice.com/2012/01/30/finally-augmented-reality-with-real-utility-meet-blippar/
Excited About New Possibilities?
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Marketing Automation
http://www.emailmonday.com/marketing-automation-statistics-overview
What You Need to Do in 2015
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• Share Your BRAND Your biggest differentiator is your company and culture
• Leverage Your RESOURCES Staff Recruiters and sales teams Known candidates
• Engage CANDIDATES Where They Are: Online Web engagement Mobile engagement
Poll #2
Does your business have a clearly defined vision and mission that your staff, clients and candidates understand and can clearly articulate? A) YES B) NO
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The Power of Your Brand Today
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• People Have to WELCOME Your Brand into their Lives Consumers of your marketing (candidates or clients) have more choice in whether or not
to engage with your brand Online reviews are helping them choose whether or not to engage with your brand More and more consumers are turning off pop-up ads and paying for ad-free media (think
Pandora and Google Contributor) Now more than ever your brand must be likeable and memorable
• Questions to Consider: Could your brand be confused with a competitor? Are candidates and clients engaging your business on social media? Do candidates trust your employment brand/see you as an employer of choice?
CareerBuilder: A Staffing Industry Story
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• Defining the Brand • Targeting the Right Audience • Creating a Story
Sales team contest Create the best pitch
MMI: Talent Tech Labs
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• Highlight your DIFFERENTIATORS MMI is passionate about
innovation and founded Talent Tech Labs to further their mission – driving the industry and their individual business
Brand Lessons
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• Know Your Core BRAND MESSAGES Vision, Mission, Value Proposition
Are they well defined? Can they be easily communicated?
• Give Clients and Candidates Ways to ENGAGE WITH YOUR BRAND Reach them in their worlds
Skill communities Social networks Events
• PARTNER WITH COMMUNITIES AND MOVEMENTS that Compliment Your Brand Talent communities Causes/Outreach –Where do employers volunteer? Where does the company give?
The Importance of Internal Communication
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• Staff Members Need to Understand WHAT’S HAPPENING To contribute to success they need to understand what
success means for the business Do team members know how the business is doing? How are goals and milestones communicated?
• Staff Members Need to Know HOW THEY ARE DOING High performance needs to be cultivated and recognized
How are achievements shared? Is their regular recognition of team and individual achievements?
CSI: The Pit
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• GOAL To integrate all employees –
including full-time consultants/bench employees – with company culture and happenings
Connect branch offices with headquarters
• Result: THE PIT A community and destination for
all things CSI Includes social, file sharing,
internal communications, collaboration, recognition and networking tools
Internal Communication Best Practices
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• Underscore Vision, Values & Goals Remind staff of brand attributes—what makes your
business unique
• Reach out Regularly Give staff the certainty that comes with regular
communications
• Share Stories People like to read about other people—their
successes and challenges
• Be Concise Remember that people have little time to read—keep
content succinct, clear and informative
Sales/Recruiting Contests: The Opportunities
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• UNITE & MOTIVATE Get staff members excited and united behind a goal Push performance
• TARGET CRITICAL NEEDS New Accounts Existing Accounts Skill Gaps – Java, .NET, etc.
Poll #3
When was the last time your business ran an internal sales or recruiting contest that was planned, measured and achieved ROI ? A) Within the last month B) Within the six months C) Within the last year D) Within the last two years E) We don’t run sales/recruiting contests
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Sales/Recruiting Contests: Common Issues
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• Roll Them Out & Let Them Fizzle No follow up No encouragement No recognition of winners No transparency
• Too Ambitious Targets are set too high Staff are overwhelmed and uninspired Challenge is good but make it attainable
• Too Long Attention spans are short A few short contests are more effective than one long one
Best Practices
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• Be Consistent Have a theme Communicate weekly Start and end on time Make part of daily stand-ups
• Praise Winners Make a big deal about those who win and contribute Profile winners, share their stories
• Reward In competitive contests, rewards do matter Offer worthwhile prizes
Vacations Stay-cations Events
Training Cash
Gadgets
Poll #4
How much of your online content is candidate focused? A) More than 50% B) 25%-50% C) 10%-25% D) Less than 10%
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The IT Services Web Problem: Candidate Content
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• SIA Report: “Which Website Design Attributes Drive Staffing Firm Business Success?” IT staffing firms have the least effective websites in terms of
contributing to their company’s success IT staffing firms stand out as having more client-focused websites, and
the lowest level of average satisfaction The staffing companies that had ‘candidate focused’ websites reported
having a higher level of satisfaction with their website than those that had ‘client focused’ websites
Candidates in general are more likely to visit a recruiting website than prospective clients
Increase Candidate Engagement on Your Site
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• Develop and CALL OUT CONTENT AND FEATURES that will attract candidates Job postings Salary insight Candidate blogs and success stories
• Go MOBILE Make mobile job search and application processes
easy
• Make ACCESS Easy Provide easy access to recruiters Share job placement insights and consultant stories
Candidates Want to See Jobs
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• Job search and office locator are the first thing that a visitor sees
• Opportunities to
connect on social media to help validate front and center
• Spotlight content that
engages and helps generate interest and leads
In Summary
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• Erase Marketing Blind Spots:
Be Clear in Your BRAND
Be Strong in COMMUNICATIONS
Be CANDIDATE Focused
Need Help? Contact Us Any Time!
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Leslie Vickrey, CEO & Founder ClearEdge Marketing Tel: 312.731.3149
E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @lvickrey @clearedgemktg