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Whitepaper: The Chief Marketing Officer’s Guide to Higher Quality Leads Created Through Digital Marketing
- 1. WHITEPAPER The Chief Marketing Officer’s Guide to Higher Quality Leads Created Through Digital Marketing B Y B R YA N Y O U N G
- 2. Unfortunately, many businesses are not “logging on” to the concept of going digital. WHITEPAPER 2 _ 9 F O R D E C A D E S S U C C E S S F U L B U S I N E S S E S have credited their marketing departments for innovative and creative strategies, but times have changed. Technology is the new leader in all marketing endeavors. Unfortunately, many businesses are not “logging on” to the concept of going digital. According to Clara Shih, a Starbuck’s Corporation director and the author of “The Social Business Imperative,” every compa- ny must become technology-based if they hope to compete in the current business climate. Many of the traditional lead-generation strategies still work in limited situations, but their usefulness is rapidly fading.
- 3. M I S S I O N Represent the company Represent the customer Being found T H E N N O W Finding customers C U S T O M E R I N T E L L I G E N C E 1:1 Targeting Behavioral Mass advertising Demographic M E C H A N I C S + TA C T I C S Continuous relationships Exploding / Integrated channels Point in time blasts Few / Isolated channels WHITEPAPER 3 _ 9 Adapting to Diverse Consumer Needs N O M A R K E T I N G S C H E M E W I L L D E V E L O P S U C C E S S F U L L E A D S unless you know and understand the diverse needs of the consumer. Dynamic sales strat- egies are based on the complexities that are found within the consumer’s needs. When your consumer base is broad it requires more flexibility to accommodate the varying levels of consumer purchasing behavior, which are often dictated by age. Learning about each segment of your consumer base and their specific reasons for purchasing will give you a head start in generating high quality leads. What does a particular group of buyers want to accomplish with the goods they purchase? Are they businesses, service organizations, non-profits, or individual people? Will the purchase they make be for their own use, to enhance a work experience, to assist others, or for some other purpose? Knowing the answers to these questions makes it easier to for you to demonstrate the benefits of your products or services within each consumer buying segment. Technology advancements make it easier for today’s chief market- ing officer (CMO) to assess the sales program of the company and bring it into the twenty-first century. Even the smallest companies need to recognize the benefits and strengths that come with digitalized automated marketing platforms. Data is so readily available and these aforementioned advances in technology have given many marketers the advantage to personalize campaigns specifically to these consumer segments. Advances in technology have given many marketers the advantage to personalize campaigns specifically to these consumer segments.
- 4. WHITEPAPER 4 _ 9 Why Do CMOs Resist Digital? M O S T C O M PA N I E S A C C E P T T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F T E C H N O L O G Y and digital applications for their business, however many limit incorporating these ideas into the marketing process. You will find most businesses have Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages, but this is only a drop in the bucket. There is a protective mindset among many CMOs, which prefer to rely heavily on the traditional methods and add just enough digital concepts to appease the technology-minded employees. The CMO has to answer for every decision he or she makes, and in large companies there is always someone higher up who can say no. Management often believes the use of traditional marketing strategies reduces risk, and that mindset ties the hands of the forward-thinking CMO. Many large firms contract out to management risk companies who are known to discourage even the smallest amount of innovative thinking. The only way to overcome this type of problem in both small and large companies is for the chief executive officer (CEO) to accept full re- sponsibility for the incorporation of digital into the marketing platform. Otherwise there will always be the debate between employees anxious to move forward and those who are willing to stay where they are. Many consumers begin their purchasing cycle online, and your company needs to be with them at every step. If the buying journey begins on a social media site, smart phone, tablet, or computer you must be there guiding the con- sumer through the purchase process. Don’t know how to start personalizing your campaigns? Simple questions on each section of the purchase can provide you with quality lead material. The same process can be adapted for use in a brick and mortar storefront. These days POS (Point of Sale) systems and consumer loyalty programs can be combined to allow your consumers to opt-in to campaigns and allow you access to their purchasing behavior data. Consumer’s devices are frequently in their hands while they are shopping, and businesses need to incorporate digital into the store experience by delivering content, specials, and discounts through a mobile app. Online or in-store, every business needs to go fully digital. To reap the full benefits, you must find technology systems that communicate with each other to allow you to build fully integrated campaigns. More companies are evolving the CMO role into a new Chief Digital Officer role to focus on successfully connecting the different platforms together. Regardless, all marketers must constantly work to have a deeper functional understanding of technology to build successful integrated campaigns. Simply having a team in which you give orders to and receive high level reports will rarely suffice for true success.
- 5. WHITEPAPER 5 _ 9 Another reason some CMOs resist the move to digital is the learning curve. While it is simple enough for schoolchildren to adjust to new technology concepts on a continual basis, some CMOs fear their employees will balk at having to learn new methods. Unfortunately, this reason has delayed many companies from moving forward at a pace that keeps them competitive with others in their industry. D I G I TA L M A R K E T I N G P R O V I D E S Q U A N T I T I E S O F I N F O R M AT I O N on every product and service in existence. Technology places information in the hands of consumers at a rate faster than it can be absorbed. The consumer has learned to sort through all the “noise” of the messages being hurled at them, ignoring what they don’t like and focusing on what they do. No longer do we have a marketing program that “finds” leads and passes them on to the sales department. How Digital Accelerates Quality Lead Generation The situation has reversed, and today’s buyers are online researching their needs and “find” the businesses that can provide them with what they want. Consumers use their computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices to locate and learn about what businesses have to offer them. This fact alone makes it critical for every business to build a strong digital presence. Many consumers have their mind made up before they ever speak to a sales person, and their decision is based on their online research. What online information are you providing your prospective customers? A major shift has taken place in the purchasing process. Buyers are becoming knowledgeable prior to making a purchase. The new type of lead that businesses need to generate is the self-taught buyer, and this is accomplished digitally. You can build a strong lead-generation strategy that will grab the attention and trust of the buyer before they make any sales contact. Your sales team will no longer be wasting time with old-fashioned cold calls. Pro- gressive marketing departments are increasing their budget allocation for lead generation, and this allows for the development of creative strategies to place products and services in front of the self-educated buyer.
- 6. WHITEPAPER 6 _ 9 M A R K E T I N G A U T O M AT I O N I S O N E T O O L T H AT C A N D R A S T I C A L LY improve the speed at which you present your message to the consumer. Ever since the Internet’s value was recognized by industry and ecommerce began its rise in popularity, consumers no longer need to take time making phone calls or visiting brick and mortar stores. In a matter of seconds, the consumer is online visiting websites and researching the products and services they want. How much information are you providing online for the modern buyer? It’s important to realize they are fully informed on the product and ninety-percent ready to buy before they contact a sales team. When you send emails to prospective customers with content that is groomed to meet their specific interests, you will make an impact. Include links with pictures to the specific products they have researched, and watch how many reactions take place. The same material the email con- tains is automatically uploaded to mobile, website, and social media outlets. The more you expand your brand’s locations through automation, the sooner you will realize the results. Automated marketing allows the sales team to concentrate on the quality of the communi- cations, which can include text, photographs, and video. Today’s major buying segment is a visual audience, and the wise CMO does not overlook that fact. Follow-up and service allows additional engagement with the consumer after the sale is complete. By providing excellent customer experience and after-sale service, you are building brand loyalty. Integrated and automated, digital marketing campaigns provide accurate customer tracking. Whether the consumer visits your site from a smartphone, tablet, or other device, digital tracking is in place. The location, products observed, searches, and other information is provided about the consumer. If you have a “member” option for your site, you will have the identity of the consumer and know exactly which of your products is being considered. You will know how many times the product has been looked at and how long the viewer stayed on the page. This is all valuable information that can only be obtained through digital marketing. The advantages the collected information provides for future campaign strategies is important and profitable. There are some drawbacks to an automated program, and they all relate to human error. Every person in the marketing and sales department must receive training in marketing automation. Computer programs need to receive the correct data in order to perform properly. If the programming is done incorrectly, the results will not be favorable. Programs also need to be monitored. Automation is designed to speed up and improve the marketing campaign, but it doesn’t mean the sales staff gets the day off. Errors can occur in data flow or prospect routing and the sales team needs to be monitoring the results every day. Expanding Brand Awareness
- 7. WHITEPAPER 7 _ 9 I T ’ S I M P O R TA N T T O D E T E R M I N E W H I C H K P I indicators will reflect the success of your campaign during the initial stages of organization. Depending on your product, the customer base, and the current strength of your brand, KPI will vary. If the goal of your company is to be the most successful within your industry, you may consider one of your KPIs to be the percentage of sales that come from return customers. Once you have determined all the critical KPIs for your business, you must accurately define each one. A company that wants to expand sales beyond the current customer base might choose a KPI of “Increase New Customer Sales”. It’s not hard to figure out what KPI you need once you establish your overall goals. You should also set target goals for each KPI. These precise definitions will help everyone on the team to understand what is happening and take actions to successfully reach goals. All of this information must be accurately entered into your software program in order to track and monitor your success. Recognizing Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
- 8. 125% 86%Q: Do you have lead nurturing campaigns in place? L E A D G E N E R AT I O N R O I B Y U S E O F L E A D N U R T U R I N G Source: ©2012 MarketingSherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded January 2012, N=1,915 WHITEPAPER 8 _ 9 Build-up your email list by offering a specific discount on the first purchase of all new customers who sign up online. Offer ten-percent or higher to generate a good response. You can also offer special product videos only to people on your mailing list. Consumers like videos and knowing they can only see them if they sign up is a great incentive. Make sure your videos are worth the consumer’s time by including quality and valuable content. How-to videos are especially popular for products used in building, remodeling, car repair, cooking, and crafts. If your product is a running shoe, a video showing the shoe in action on various surfaces will garner a lot of attention. If you sell pet products, you can charm customers with adorable animal videos. Quality and value are the two most important ingredi- ents for lead generation. Generating Good Lead Magnets in A Digital Business Climate T H E R E A R E M A N Y E X C E L L E N T M E T H O D S O F G E N E R AT I N G L E A D S that didn’t exist 15 years ago, but one concept has remained the same. Consumers still like to get things for free. The great thing about the digital age is that a business can offer free things with little cost to their marketing budget. We know the power of a magnet is its ability to make things stick to it. Your lead magnets must exhibit the same traits. Some inexpensive and well-received lead builders include online discount coupons, ebooks, webinars, website membership special pricing, and free additional item with a purchase of a certain dollar amount.
- 9. WHITEPAPER 9 _ 9 C M O s M U S T C H O O S E A N D R E I N F O R C E S T R O N G team goals. There are several areas to boost including product launches, sales promotions, and revenue initiatives. You do not want your teams chasing around after several different campaigns when they can all be coordinated under a single roof. Stay off the hamster wheel and choose just the marketing options that make sense for your business and train your team to make each venture successful. Your sales and marketing teams must work together on the ultimate goal of revenue generation. Alignment of these two crucial factors begins with effective communication, and that means agreeing on common terminology and avoiding any confusing jargon. Have weekly joint meetings and share informa- tion. Build a strong relationship based on mutual goals. Analyze and challenge the legitimacy of these goals on a quarterly basis at minimum. Are our goals realistic? Does the data support our pro- jections? Where is there room for improvement? Digital changes so often that having these conversations more often well help you stay ahead of the competition. I can’t emphasize how just simply mimicking things you’ve seen competitors doing solely because you’ve seen competitors doing it will not yield expected results. CMOs can lead their companies to new levels of success by utilizing digital technology. Working together with management and sales, communicating the latest trends, and sharing what the competition is accomplishing can aid the forward- looking CMO in convincing the management team that digital technology is the avenue to generating new and better leads for the future. Building A Top Notch Marketing Team