Driving the Engagement Marketing Process With Technology

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1 Driving the Engagement Marketing Process With Technology By Lisa Flynn

2 Driving the Engagement Marketing Process With Technology It s commonly held that marketing is a combination of art and science, but the two have never been equal. The art side held the drivers seat until a few years ago when technology sparked a revolution that changed everything and now it s time for the science side of the equation to shine. This shift provides marketers the ability to do more with less and better yet - prove that they are driving revenue. This article will break the engagement marketing process down, including my favorite technologies for each step. Engagement marketing (aka: Content Marketing) is exactly as it sounds - a form of marketing where the objective is to engage your target market by becoming a resource for them. It paves the way for business development by creating opportunities to reach out to clients or prospects with relevant information. And, since most lawyers aren t comfortably with a salesy approach, engagement marketing positions you as a trusted advisor rather than a salesperson constantly checking in.

3 Step 1: Putting the Content in Content Marketing sharing the right content. You can create your own, or you can curate and share content others created. The good news is that there are practically endless amounts of information at your is overwhelming. So, where do you start? This is where marketing technology can really save the day, starting with listening and/or curation software. Manzama is one example of a content intelligence software that scours the web, social media, subscriptions and proprietary content and delivers timely, relevant information based on your custom the past. With the sheer volume of Big Data today and it s exponential growth trajectory, busy professionals will need to rely on software that ensures the need-to-know information will around your areas of expertise and topics of interest. If you are going to create content, this gives you an idea of where to start. Remember that content comes in many forms, and it is not all created equal.

4 Easy Medium Hard 73% 25% 2% 44% 46% 11% 29% 51% 19% Images Mobile Web Content Webinars 66% 29% 4% 41% 49% 11% 29% 48% 23% Press Releases Articles E-Books 57% 37% 6% 40% 53% 7% 28% 49% 23% Social Media Blogs Case Studies 57% 37% 6% 40% 50% 10% 21% 52% 26% Webpages Microsites White Papers 54% 34% 12% 37% 46% 17% 20% 54% 26% Customer Reviews Digital Magazines Online Video 51% 43% 6% 37% 59% 4% 20% 54% 26% E-Newsletters Podcasts Mobile Apps Source: Marketing Sherpa SEO 2013

5 Step 2: Distribution via & Social Media Once you have created or curated appropriate content, the next step is to distribute or share it. Distribution channels are plentiful, so I will focus on two channels: and social media. automation has evolved into robust marketing intelligence platforms that allow you to budget, plan and measure the success of your campaigns. My favorite demand generation technology in this category is Marketo. This is a very robust system that will let you schedule and track your communication, as well as the actions prospects are taking and how they engage with your content or, as I like to call it, Lead Bait. Marketo allows you to lay out a path for your prospects based on their action, or lack thereof in advance. For example, if you send out an invitation for a webinar, you can set the paths with custom messaging for the following scenarios: Registered, attended Registered, did not attend Opened invitation, did not register No engagement If you are running several campaigns, this preparation up front will ensure potential prospects don t slip through any cracks. Plus, their analytics are worthy of serious geek-out sessions.

6 Distribution via Social Media Before jumping in to the technology that helps you maximize your media presence in Bottom line, it s all about your credibility. But, with the combination of content marketing and the ability to share in circles where prospects are actively looking for information and/or answers, the old days of advertising your services are long behind you. It s never been easier to position as a resource, share the scope of your work, and ultimately become a trusted advisor. Erin K MacDonald, a partner in the Trusts and Estates Department of Karnopp Petersen LLP has done an excellent job building her business and becoming a thought leader largely through Twitter. She delivered a fantastic and actionable presentation entitled The Art of Keeping Current: Social Media for the Busy Estate Planner to the Washington State Bar, that I d highly recommend Twitter.) Now that we re on the same page with the understanding that social media is a good thing (right?) let s talk about the technology that will make it sing. While there is a plethora of social media management software out there, I prefer Hootsuite. In their words, Hootsuite allows you manage social networks, schedule messages, engage audiences, and measure ROI right from the dashboard. A best practice followed by my team is to create an annual Content Calendar, so we can set up the following in advance for every campaign and/or piece of content we share: Who we want to engage What the message is including a clear Call to Action When the content will drop Where will it be shared, distributed, available Why each piece is relevant How it will move the prospect further down the funnel For example, we broadcast a webinar each month. The project management and preparation includes planning the social media strategy - from promoting registration, to hashtags and posts that deploy during the webinar, to generate trending topics and ending with the follow up and link, to the on-demand recording that drastically extends the shelf life. The content basically acts as bait and gives you a hook to engage your target audience.

7 Step 3: Find the Right People LinkedIn is an obvious place to start, but that social media channel only works if you have strong enough connections with people that are well connected. For highly targeted messages, I really like BoardEx. Full disclosure: Manzama partnered with BoardEx earlier this year to give our mutual clients a competitive advantage by arming them with the right content in a timely, as-it-happens context and the connection to the right person. start engaging with them by commenting, sharing, retweeting, etc. They will essentially serve as another very credible distribution source for you.

8 Step 4: Measure Your Results The last step in the engagement marketing process is by far the most important: measuring your results. With technology, we can This is the ultimate job security and proof that marketing is not a cost center but a revenue driver. I use a combination of technologies Hootsuite and Google Analytics. While I have dashboards that show a plethora of metrics, I report weekly on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). By watching and understanding the KPIs, I can easily see if there is a disturbance in the force then I can dig as deep as needed to determine if it s a new trend emerging, or just an anomaly. Below is a list of KPIs excerpted from a great blog post by Marketo; Prove your worth: 10 KPIs for marketers. The post delves in to greater detail and I d highly recommend giving it a read. Sales revenue Cost associated per lead acquisition Customer lifetime value Online marketing ROI Form conversion rates Organic search Social media engagement Once you have a presence and are regularly sharing content, a competitive analysis will show how you stack up against your competitors. Thought leadership becomes tangible, and can be correlated to revenue in a particular area. Manzama has a Competitive Intelligence view that gives a visual representation of your share of voice in the market on a particular topic or area of interest. It will also show you where there are opportunities to enter markets without competition.

9 Conclusion While technology has been the catalyst that has changed the prediction is that the best is yet to come. Marketing technology continues to iterate, continually making it easier to handle our challenges giving those who embrace these powerful tools and competitive advantage. For more information on Engagement Marketing, visit our Resource Center at marketing strategy and temperament-based marketing tactics.

10 Stop Searching. Start Finding.. Established in 2010, Manzama is a content intelligence platform vast amounts of information, and delivers highly relevant and personalized intelligence to each stakeholder within the organization. Manzama is requesting a custom demo and/or joining educational webinars, visit manzama.com. Copyright, Manzama Inc All Rights Reserved. Without prior written distribute the content of this document and/or the document itself. Icon Authors: Freepik, Appzgear, Icons8, Google