From Company First to Customer First- How a Brand got its Swagger Back by Lee Carter and @patrickshort
TL;DR: You might think you're b2b, but you're really b2p (business-to-people).
1. Numerous ownership changes
2. Revolving door of executive leadership
3. Global acquisitions created a blend of different companies
4. An engineering-led company that didn't place any importance on marketing.
5. A reluctant sales force. Their product line was a little intimidating.
In addition, like many b2b companies, most people never think of them. Their true audience is small and infrequent (corporations and government bodies).
What changed? A new executive leadership team including a CMO that believed in the power of branding and marketing.
Started by listening to the:
Voice of client
Got input from the client and the teammates in the company. Brought all these voices together. Who are we as company? What can we deliver?
Voice of customer
Used this to discover that customers needed an ally, advocate. In this case their customer needed the company to help them advocate for their products to the decision makers.
Voice of market
A competitive review revealed they were in a sea of sameness. No differentiators between the competitors.
Voice of brand
They didn't have much of a brand, to start with.
This lead them to a new brand platform and promise. Not just a maker of things but a provider of solutions. Created strategy with the data they discovered.
This hard to be sold internally, not just externally. Employees were getting bored or lost motivation. The new brand needed to help solve this problem.
The results of this campaign:
* Revitalized the company and sparked a new energy with teammates.
* Ignited greater collaboration between sales and marketing.
* Reinvigorated customers and a channel partner relationships.
* The client was acquired by another corporation (a goal of the campaign) because they had a brand to purchase.
Using Analytical Insight to Improve B2B Marketing by @wilsonraj
The average human attention span in 2015 was 11.7 seconds long. It has since dropped to 8.2 seconds. We use about 4.5 devices each day. We have a short attention span and our content is fragmented. The issue is not better marketing. The thing we need to solve is fragmentation.
When it comes to B2B marketing we have to remember that our audience is still a consumer. They still use Facebook, etc. They are still subject to this fragmentation phenomenon.
How do you think about marketing in today's digital world?
Are you a b2b company in a digital world or are you a digital business in a b2b setting? Most think they are the former but should consider themselves the latter. Don't just think about the marketing channels (digital being one). Use the data to form your business.
1. How do you extract insights about your b2b customers?
Your audience has the same challenges as a consumer. They want to be entertained, educated, etc.
Moments that matter in the lifecycle of a consumer:
I want to know something
I want to go somewhere
I want to do something
I want to buy something
Use technology, analytics and automation for your marketing and sales efforts. Most companies don't use all these, together, across all areas of the organization. That's our goal.
2. How do you layer on your customer's life-cycle with your analytics?
People are exploring, evaluating, and engaging with your company. They are doing all of these at the same time. As they progress through the buying funnel, the ratios of each will change but they will always be exploring, evaluating and engaging. Your content should reflect this fact.
Data driven marketing allows you to: acquire faster, keep them engaged longer and retain better.
All this comes together in your objectives. For each phase, you have different goals. When you execute your campaigns ask yourself if you can measure each goal using your analytics capabilities.
3. Redefining b2b loyalty and advocacy.
You can develop loyalty through rewards, for sure. You can do the same with recognition (of the customer's value) and engagement (to strengthen the relationship).
For instance, you can build loyalty through recognition and engagement by giving them more access to your company. Content can build loyalty as a reward and as a way to engage your customers. You can also give surprises and delight rewards and in terms of relationships. Loyalty is not just about rewards.
My thoughts: you do this implicitly (giving your favorite clients access by answering the phone whenever they call or wishing them a happy birthday). We should make this an explicit part of the process to reach our customers.
Loyalty is part of your entire engagement, not just at the end.
Key takeaways:
1. Use precise customer insights
2. Re-imagine b2b customer loyalty
3. Use CX that is consistent and reinforcing
4. Orchestrate customer communications
Facebook Ads: Right Users, Right Timing by @SusanEDub #dsclt16
TL;DR: Facebook is different than other PPC platforms. You can target along several different dimensions to make your campaigns very successful.
DEMOGRAPIC
Audience layering helps you dial in to the customers you want to target. You want to know who you want to target, but you REALLY want to know who you don't want to target.
Ad Sets help you set different budgets for different groups. Set them up, in your account, according to what you want to test. Set your account out, like this, in the beginning.
GEOGRAPHIC
Targeting based on physical location. Facebook allows you to target ads based not just upon where they are now, but their relationship to that location: do they live there, travel to there, travel through their, etc.
BEHAVIORIAL
You can target according to custom audiences: visit to website, email list, etc. The more data you have, from these sources, the better your targeting will be. In fact, your email marketing team should work costly with your Facebook marketing team. Heck, take your "dead" emails and market to them over Facebook.
Website Remarketing through Facebook is effective, too. You can ask Facebook to go find people who look like your current users, too. Of course, the more data you have, the better results you'll see.
Marketing Through Micro-Moment by @SFMCbrittany #dsclt16
TL;DR: Take advantage of micro moments to help your customers accomplish what they want.
What are "Mirco-Moments"?
The moments you have with your mobile device. 60% of consumers use mobile exclusively to make a decision with telecom, restaurants and entertainment. Today Americans will check their mobile device 8 Billion times.
This is because customers want information immediate, relevant and frictionless.
What are the top 3 Micro Moments that we can take advantage of?
1. I want to do- how can our brands be useful to our customers as they try to accomplish something?
2. I want to go- how can we help our customers get to where they want to be?
3. I want to buy- TAKE MY MONEY!
These might seem big-brotherly but they are a mutually beneficial relationship. We help the consumer accomplish something but we also get to market to them.
Take Aways
1. Identify your customer's micro moments.
2. Evaluate the current experience across those moments.
3. Connect the dots across your brand's teams and channels.
4. Strive to be available, useful and quick. Utility trumps novelty.
5. Test. Measure. Adjust. Repeat.
Uniqueness, Belonging, and Marketing to the Individual by @mattwallaert #dsclt16
TL;DR: people have a unique identity that makes them part of a group- when marketing, speak to that identity.
The fact is, if you don't feel special and unique- you get depressed. At the same time, if you don't feel like you're part of a group- you get depressed. In other words, we all want to be both unique and similar. How can we be both?
We do this by switching between what we identify with based on where we find ourselves.
In fact, we don't just "like" or "dislike" things. We also sometimes like or sometimes dislike things. It's a matrix: like & dislike vs sometimes & always.
We can use this when it applies to our marketing efforts. For instance, if someone dislikes your company, they might always dislike it or sometimes dislike it. Your message will change based upon this.
Unstable Dislikers: will move on to the next thing, later.
Unstable Likers: will eventually move o not the next thing, too.
Stable Dislikers: can help tell you what you can do better. This can be an advantage.
Stable Likers: are your brand ambassadors. These are a big asset to your company.
What does this have to do with marketing? People buy according to their identify: "We are the people who..." You need to market to people according to their identity.
Part of marketing to soemone'es identity is to identify how they fit into the matrix. Don't try to make someone become a "Stable Liker." Market to them, where they are located in that matrix.
For example, an unstable liker would be interested in snackable, brief content.
Content Marketing Strategies Roundtable with @michaeljbarber, @ustinKnight and @LinkedInQueen #dsclt16
TL;DR: Quality, quality, quality.
What is content?
Eve: 20% should inform; 20% should entertain; 40% should be interactive; 20% remaining can then sell your products.
Austin: content is not just blog post- think creatively. Tools, for example. Don't just view it as a means to an end, provide true value.
Is "content" just a buzzword?
Eve: we're sick of "content" as a buzzword but some of our clients are just getting on the content bandwagon- so it's new to them.
Austin: the concept behind 'content" will become more broad.
What needs to happen before you can even start to think about your content?
Austin: start with personas- even for design work. Make sure you also understand your "negative persona"- someone who is definitely not interested in your product.
Eve: You need to start by understanding your business goals. Then create content around that goal. A business goal is not just interactions, etc. If you don't know what the business goals are- ask.
Michael: if we don't know our audiences or our goals, we end up producing a lot of useless content.
How do you know the right amount of content to produce?
Austin: We (Hubspot) knows the perfect amount of content (words, etc) to share in our content. [I call BS, here] Other than that, make sure you have a focused audience and specific goals. Map content to that audience and goals. Take the quantitative route- don't just worry about quantity.
Eve: When you decide which platforms to work with (not all of them) understand who's on them. How do these audiences digest content? Produce content accordingly. Be flexible, monitor your results and modify your strategy accordingly.
How do you break through the noise competing for the attention of your audience? You can no longer "build it, and they will come".
Austin: You can still use keyword research to determine your content but this is a poor way to do it. Instead, focus on producing actual and demonstrative value for your audience. This will stand the test of time- even as Google changes their technical requirements.
Eve: Sometimes you have to "pay to play." You don't always have to, though. How? You have to create compelling content.
Austin: the way people decide how to make a purchase is changing. Buyers are more empowered than ever. This should affect your content creation strategy.
Tomorrow's Marketer by @juliemarketer from @marketo
TL;DR: modern customers are self-directing and demand a personal experience. Marketing autmation software can provide this, while growing your business.
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