With the advent of the Internet and various social media, marketing has become a conversation with your customers. Back in 2000, The Cluetrain Manifesto made it clear that marketers would not succeed in the Internet future without major retooling.
What does this mean? Well, put yourself in the place of your customers: If you want to talk to a vendor about buying products or services, do you call their marketing department?
No, because you don't want to hear how the product slices and dices and does everything but walk your dog.
Do you want to talk to a salesperson? Maybe, but only if you already have the information you need to make an informed buying decision and simply want to negotiate.
So, if you don't yet have enough information to make up your mind, who do you want to talk to? If you're a technical person looking for a technical product or solution, you probably want to talk to one of the vendor's technical people. You want a peer-to-peer conversation with someone who understands their technology and your needs.
If an informed customer is your best friend, then the curiosity of your customers is your best sales tool. Help them help you. Make the information they need accessible, authoritative, concise and complete.
Showing posts with label internet marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet marketing. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Define Social Media
Business.com's 2009 Business Social Media Benchmark Study shows that social media adoption for B2B marketing and PR purposes is growing, but I think the usefulness of the study is marred by its overly expansive (though unstated) definition of social media.
Is a podcast a social medium? When I think of people plugged into their iPods and notebooks on commuter trains, my first impulse is to define podcasts as antisocial media, but this of course begs the question:
What are social media?
The most basic definition is that social media is many-to-many as opposed to one-to-many communications. For me this rules out podcasts, because they are a one-way communication, rather than a conversation.
Another defining aspect of social media is that they are peer-to-peer. For me this rules out webinars, because webinars almost always involve a supposed expert lecturing to an audience wishing to learn from that expert's expertise.
Blogs can be considered social media, but they have to be considered on a case-by-case basis, because their status as social media depends on their operating principles. For example, a blog is not much of a conversation if the comments are turned off or heavily censored by moderation.
As always, I welcome your thoughts.
Is a podcast a social medium? When I think of people plugged into their iPods and notebooks on commuter trains, my first impulse is to define podcasts as antisocial media, but this of course begs the question:
What are social media?
The most basic definition is that social media is many-to-many as opposed to one-to-many communications. For me this rules out podcasts, because they are a one-way communication, rather than a conversation.
Another defining aspect of social media is that they are peer-to-peer. For me this rules out webinars, because webinars almost always involve a supposed expert lecturing to an audience wishing to learn from that expert's expertise.
Blogs can be considered social media, but they have to be considered on a case-by-case basis, because their status as social media depends on their operating principles. For example, a blog is not much of a conversation if the comments are turned off or heavily censored by moderation.
As always, I welcome your thoughts.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Marketing Is Hard!
But it doesn't have to be.
As an outsource marketer, my job is to market marketing to marketers. You'd think this would be easy, since we should ostensibly speak the same language. But it's not easy, because I'm trying to sell a new marketing paradigm to people who think traditionally about marketing. Because it's a new way of thinking about marketing, it inevitably requires a new way of talking about marketing.
It's lonely out on the leading edge, but I'm used to it.
In the early 90s, I started a career in technical writing. In the late 90s, I branched out into Internet marketing. What do these two things have in common? Well, for one thing, at the time I started in both of these activities, neither was yet regarded as a discipline in its own right. That is, when I became a technical writer, you couldn't yet go to school to become a technical writer. And when I became an Internet marketer, you could not yet go to school to become an Internet marketer.
All of this has changed, in part because we have entered what has become know as the Information Age. The University of San Francisco, among others is now offering online (of course!) certificates in Internet Marketing. And technical writing degree and certificate programs have been around for quite a while now.
The point is that our educational system is largely reactive: disciplines within academic institutions frequently emerge as a result of practices in the so-called "real world." Marketers in this real world cannot rely solely on history to formulate marketing strategy. They must look laterally to see what the competition is doing, and they must look forward to understand what is possible and to seize the advantage. That is the essence of lean marketing.
By the way, another thing both of these careers have in common is that they are information-based. Internet marketing is different from traditional marketing in that its goal is to sell using information rather than hype. As an Internet marketer, my objective is to target the most highly qualified prospects and help them make an informed buying decision.
As an outsource marketer, my job is to market marketing to marketers. You'd think this would be easy, since we should ostensibly speak the same language. But it's not easy, because I'm trying to sell a new marketing paradigm to people who think traditionally about marketing. Because it's a new way of thinking about marketing, it inevitably requires a new way of talking about marketing.
It's lonely out on the leading edge, but I'm used to it.
In the early 90s, I started a career in technical writing. In the late 90s, I branched out into Internet marketing. What do these two things have in common? Well, for one thing, at the time I started in both of these activities, neither was yet regarded as a discipline in its own right. That is, when I became a technical writer, you couldn't yet go to school to become a technical writer. And when I became an Internet marketer, you could not yet go to school to become an Internet marketer.
All of this has changed, in part because we have entered what has become know as the Information Age. The University of San Francisco, among others is now offering online (of course!) certificates in Internet Marketing. And technical writing degree and certificate programs have been around for quite a while now.
The point is that our educational system is largely reactive: disciplines within academic institutions frequently emerge as a result of practices in the so-called "real world." Marketers in this real world cannot rely solely on history to formulate marketing strategy. They must look laterally to see what the competition is doing, and they must look forward to understand what is possible and to seize the advantage. That is the essence of lean marketing.
By the way, another thing both of these careers have in common is that they are information-based. Internet marketing is different from traditional marketing in that its goal is to sell using information rather than hype. As an Internet marketer, my objective is to target the most highly qualified prospects and help them make an informed buying decision.
Internet Marketing Is Lean Marketing
Online/Internet marketing is the quintessential lean marketing activity, because it lets you:
Using your website as the hub of all your marketing activities lets you manage costs effectively, build market awareness, and grow sales revenues and profitability. And yet, many companies are slow to seize the opportunity presented by Internet marketing. Why do you suppose that is?
The Internet has been likened to a large library with no windows where all the books are on the floor and the lights are out. Your website can only be effective if qualified prospects can find it.
A simple Google search on the term "aerospace kits" reveals that there are 834,000 webpages competing for eyeballs on this term. Does your website have what it takes to cut through the noise and be heard? Do your target markets see your competitive advantage? Will your website deliver not just traffic, but sales?
These are the tasks that search marketers face.
- React to events and publish with agility
- Target audiences with high precision
- Provide an interactive means to let prospects educate themselves and make informed buying decisions
- Make doing business with your company easy
- See results in real time
- Use real-time statistics to reduce waste and improve your sales & marketing performance continuously
Using your website as the hub of all your marketing activities lets you manage costs effectively, build market awareness, and grow sales revenues and profitability. And yet, many companies are slow to seize the opportunity presented by Internet marketing. Why do you suppose that is?
The Internet has been likened to a large library with no windows where all the books are on the floor and the lights are out. Your website can only be effective if qualified prospects can find it.
A simple Google search on the term "aerospace kits" reveals that there are 834,000 webpages competing for eyeballs on this term. Does your website have what it takes to cut through the noise and be heard? Do your target markets see your competitive advantage? Will your website deliver not just traffic, but sales?
These are the tasks that search marketers face.
B2B Marketing is BIG Business
Business-to Business (B2B) marketing is most definitely BIG business any way you slice it. A study by the Business Marketing Association (BMA) revealed that B2B marketers in the US spent about $85 billion dollars in 2003.
There are some key differences between B2C and B2B marketing.
B2B Marketing Activities
The BMA study spending break out, in billions of dollars:
I haven't found reliable statistics for Canada, but anecdotal evidence indicates that Canadian companies are far behind the curve on Internet marketing.
There are some key differences between B2C and B2B marketing.
B2C:
| B2B:
|
The BMA study spending break out, in billions of dollars:
- Trade Shows/Events -- $17.3
- Internet/Electronic Media -- $12.5
- Promotion/Market Support -- $10.9
- Magazine Advertising -- $10.8
- Publicity/Public Relations -- $10.5
- Direct Mail -- $9.4
- Dealer/Distributor Materials -- $5.2
- Market Research -- $3.8
- Telemarketing -- $2.4
- Directories -- $1.4
- Other -- $5.1
I haven't found reliable statistics for Canada, but anecdotal evidence indicates that Canadian companies are far behind the curve on Internet marketing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)