Take a hard look at the effectiveness of your partner operations

Once you have settled into a comfortable channel routine, there’s one thing you shouldn’t neglect (but probably will): optimizing your partner base.

What is the Difference between Marketing and Advertising?

That may seem like an obvious question, but the fact is that most people interchange the two terms without acknowledging the huge, inherent differences between them. This lack of understanding can translate to problems for vendors and partners alike when developing marketing campaigns or co-op and MDF programs.

The difference between a channel goal and channel strategy?

What a silly question, right? I mean, isn’t the answer obvious? Actually, for many companies, not really—and this confusion can make the difference between a successful channel partnership and one that only complicates your business.

Social media works for SMBs

Social media is huge for marketers today—and not just for the big guys. Because this tool requires more time than money, SMBs have been quick to adopt a social media marketing strategy. By employing a social media team or even just one savvy professional, an SMB can level the playing field with the larger competition. Social media is all about converting a business to a human level—one-to-one, person-to-person.

Business blogging builds SEO

There has been a lot of discussion as to whether or not a business blog is worth the time. Blogs are supposed to build SEO, generate leads, and reinforce brand recognition. But I still encounter many naysayers who grumble a resounding “Bah!” at the mere mention of the four-letter word. However, it doesn’t take long to realize that they are just not doing it right.

A blog shows active content, which captures the notice of search engine spiders that are crawling the Web in search of new, relevant information worth sharing as search results. The newer the post, the more notice it gets. The more keywords integrated relevantly, the more notice it gets. And this added notice pushes your blog higher in the search engine results page (SERP), which is the SEO goal of everyone on the Web.

The facts are out there. People are not just reading blog posts; they’re voraciously devouring this content! U.S. Internet users spend three times more minutes per day on blogs and social networks than on their email. The global population of blog readers is almost one-third larger now than three years ago.

About 40 percent of companies in the U.S. use a blog as a marketing tool—and for good reason. Research published by Hubspot reported that companies that blog have 434 percent more indexed pages than those who don’t invest the time in a blog. And Hubspot’s 2010 State of Inbound Marketing Lead Generation Report stated that companies that blog have 97 percent more inbound links and get 236 percent more leads!

But that still leaves 60 percent of companies blog-less. For the time being, I would relish this reality and blog my heart out, because I’m gaining the SEO value that they’re missing—this wonderful forum for communicating with my prospects, referral sources, colleagues, and guest bloggers.

What kind of results do you get from your blog? Let me know how it’s doing for you!

Social networking works for lead generation

Everyone is buzzing about social networking for business marketing. In 2010, it was recognized as the leading emerging channel for lead generation. In 2011, nearly 64 percent of U.S. Internet users use a social network regularly, according to Emarketer. And it’s not just the kids.

Marketers are heading inbound

Are you a party crasher or a gracious host? That’s the difference between outbound marketing and inbound marketing. Traditional marketing—also known as “interruption marketing”—focuses on actively seeking out potential customers through advertising. You zero in on your target and aim.

Pushing leads through the marketing funnel

With budget cuts, marketing often gets the first whack. And it’s unfortunate because those number-crunchers don’t see the value of each marketing mix component and how they build on one another. So it might be helpful to show them a marketing funnel to illustrate the process of casting a net into a sea of prospects and reeling in the big ones via integrated marketing.

Target your marketing activities to phases of the buying cycle

A buyer is influenced by different marketing activities depending on which stage of the cycle he’s in. When identifying the need, the prospect is most influenced by advertising. That could be television, print, Web-based, or radio. According to a 2011 study by Gartner, 64% of U.S. respondents put advertising as the marketing activity that exerted the most influence when considering potential solutions to a business problem. Newsletters were second with 59 percent, followed by social media at
58 percent, press publications at 55 percent, and marketing literature at 43 percent.

The advertising category dropped to 29 percent when these same prospects were identifying which providers could provide the solution. Provider websites scored highest here, with 47 percent. But only 40 percent of those respondents considered websites as a big influencer in the first phase.

Contact from the provider scored 23 percent in the first phase but jumped to 45 percent in the second phase.  Similarly, sales presentations went from 22 percent to 45 percent. White papers were fairly consistent in the first two phases—42 and 44 percent, respectively—which makes sense since this medium feeds the information gatherer, which is carried out in the first two phases of the buying cycle.

In the decision phase, references from the provider’s customers carried the most weight, with 54 percent. This category far outpaced the second place category, sales presentations, which garnered 33 percent of the response, and provider contact
with 32 percent.

Knowing how much influence your various marketing activities can exert on your sales prospects is key to making the right choices—and investments. Give careful consideration to the prospects you’re trying to reach and in which phase of the buying cycle they are in so you can tailor not only your message but also your medium to get the most ROI.

Navigating the phases of the buying cycle

Marketing is linked closely with sales in that they are both focused on selling. Marketing is the precursor; it is intended to create recognition for a brand, build desire, and generate leads. Contrary to the urban myth, marketing’s purpose is not to close deals—that’s the job of the sales team.