2014 Investment Management Marketing Plan

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Patrick Dickerson
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1 2014 Last updated: 3/18/2014 Page 1

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Marketing Strategy 1. Background Information 2. Strategic Goals for Solution Messaging Sales Enablement 1. Presentations 2. Inside Sales 3. Collateral Development and Assets Branding and Thought Leadership 1. Website 2. Blog Posts 3. Public Relations 4. SherpaWire and Salesforce.com 5. Client Success Stories Lead Generation 1. Objectives 2. Plan Components 3. Targets 4. Target Market 5. Direct Marketing Campaigns a. Inside Sales Campaigns b. Prospects Plan c. Current Client Plans 6. Inside sales 7. Online Lead Generation a. Webinars 8. Industry Regional/ National Conferences 9. Regional/Local Events a. C level Events b. Client Feature Panel Event c. Other Industry Events 10. Conclusion Page 2

3 MARKETING STRATEGY Background Information The past year has shown tremendous growth for the Salesforce business unit. Cloud Sherpas has emerged as one of the largest players in the ecosystem. The marketing department has also experienced substantial growth throughout the year by building out the sales library from zero resources to more than 100 total resources today, the execution of more than 25 events worldwide, including the largest cloud technology event in the world Dreamforce. As we move into 2014, the focus of the SFBU marketing department will be to take the great success we experienced in 2013 and build on it. This will be accomplished by the following: 1. Combine direct marketing efforts and inside sales creating seamless campaigns and proper follow up structure. 2. Build multi touch campaigns that encompass multiple assets and initiatives, moving away from one off events and campaigns. 3. Ensure that campaigns have a heavy focus on our strategic industries. 4. Ensure that campaigns incorporate our strategic center of excellence in conjunction with specific industries. 5. Greatly expand marketing campaigns in the U.K. and ANZ. 6. Substantially grow case studies in all regions. This plan outlines the main areas of marketing focus for 2014 in Investment Management, specifically Sales Enablement, Branding and Thought Leadership and Lead Generation. All components of the marketing plan fall into one of those three buckets. A major component of our Investment Management Solution is our industry framework, which is a vertical segment package designed to accelerate implementation and enterprise adoption of cloud based solutions from salesforce.com. Not only will this message communicate that we understand salesforce.com s 2014 vertical initiatives, but that we possess industry depth and expertise. We want to convey that our team will work with them to build an implementation plan that meets the specific challenges of their industry and avoids common pitfalls. Our process and baseline for this industry concentration will lie in an organization structure change with designated Industry Leads. These leads will stay ongoing and inline with salesforce.com s initiatives. Their role is to provide expertise in their respective fields as we work together to build out continuous campaigns around them. Each industry leader is required to have a quarterly input session with the marketing team so that we can understand the messaging that we need to incorporate, new or upcoming trends as they come, how does Cloud Page 3

4 Sherpas address them, any pain points the industry is facing, and their main value proposition. From these input sessions, their content and guidance will contribute to our Inside Sales Nurture Campaigns, Inside Sales call scripts, Inside Sales training, blogs, assets, case studies, webinars, events, website, and overall hierarchy of all campaigns throughout the year. Our goal is to continue to build on and add from the industry level up so that all of our campaign components feed off each other while developing Cloud Sherpas expertise. Strategic Goals for 2014 The Cloud Sherpas Board of Directors has set a number of strategic goals for the company. A number of these goals can be directly influenced by marketing initiatives. The plan set forth in this document aims to influence the goals that can be influenced directly by marketing and support efforts to influence other goals. The strategic goals for Cloud Sherpas is as follows: 1. Increase Shareholder Value 2. Protect and Extend Partner Relationships 3. Market Expansion with New Revenue Sources 4. Develop and Protect Long Term Client Relationships via Customer Satisfaction 5. Grow GDC in a World Class Manner 6. World Class Results 7. Distinguish ourselves with Thought Leadership Solution Messaging In an increasingly competitive marketplace, investment management firms need a comprehensive solution that enables them to focus on developing and nurturing customer relationships. Cloud Sherpas Investment Management solution for salesforce.com is the market leading CRM solution for investment managers, worldwide. It provides a holistic view of all customer interactions, buying behaviors, and firm priority. By leveraging Cloud Sherpas solution, industry experience and impeccable salesforce.com implementation experience, investment management firms can increase their revenues and close deals faster through improved service, personalized approach, and overall improved customer experience. SALES ENABLEMENT Presentations With the reorganization of the sales teams in the U.S. and U.K., we will be providing additional sales enablement for the teams. Specifically, the development of the first call presentation and the supporting case studies. Page 4

5 Inside Sales The inside sales team will help with account development for key named accounts for salesforce.com. Collateral Development and Assets Collateral development and asset development will focus those areas that will directly benefit marketing lead generation and campaigns. Collateral plans will be created at the beginning of a campaign and will be used during multiple drops throughout the life of the campaign. Each campaign will include collateral and asset development. Some of the the Investment Management Assets in planning for this year s campaigns include: Investment Management ebook: Improving Sales Force Effectiveness First Call Deck Investment Management Investment Management Data Sheet Case Study Oppenheimer White Paper Investment Management: 5 things that will transform your CRM BRANDING AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Website The Cloud Sherpas will push out new Investment management copy specifically on our Financial Services Industry page. It will drive viewers to case studies and new assets. Blog Posts Blog posts will continue to be a major part of lead generation, branding, thought leadership and sales enablement. We will continue to create as many blog posts as we are allowed with the weekly blog post being used in our nurture campaigns. These blog posts will also be part of larger campaigns. We are creating a four part specific blog series on Investment management. Topics will include conversation on some of the major trends in the industry, how to tackle challenges, looking at new strategies, mobility stories, instances of client success and transforming CRM success. Public Relations We are looking to expand our public relations efforts specific to the Salesforce Business Unit and Investment Management We are working to develop messaging and identify client stories that will be useful in building out pitches. Additionally, we are working with sales and delivery leadership to help identify client Page 5

6 stories. The pitches specific to the U.K. and ANZ will be a focus of the local marketing leads in each country. They will be developing plans to identify client stories as well as localized thought leadership and topics. SherpaWire and Salesforce.com New emphasis will be placed on SherpaWire and work to promote Cloud Sherpas directly to salesforce.com employees. The SherpaWire site is undergoing a massive revamp that will transform the site into a resources page vs. a microsite. There is also a heavy emphasis on case study and partner success story development. The new SherpaWire site will have a section for partner success stories that will be searchable. SherpaWire will be the basis of all campaigns directly into salesforce.com. The 2014 SherpaWire schedule is as follows: SherpaWire Schedule Date Issue 1 January 28, 2014 Issue 2 March 11 Issue 3 April 22 Issue 4 June 3 Issue 5 July 15 Issue 6 August 26 Issue 7 Pre DF14 September 30 Issue 8 Post DF14 October 28 Issue 9 December 9 Client Success Stories The marketing team is working with the delivery and sales leadership to determine a process that will help motivate the introduction of potential case studies. Case studies, once published, will be a major component of our branding and thought leadership as well as demand generation and social media campaigns. They will also be used heavily as sales enablement and promotion of Cloud Sherpas to salesforce.com. We will also be looking to build out additional video case Page 6

7 studies. Case studies will be especially important in the U.K. and ANZ. Each in country marketing lead will be responsible for identifying and developing case studies and video case studies. LEAD GENERATION For purposes of this document, we will separate the functions of generating demand for net new business (hunting) from account based marketing (farming), the function of marketing into existing accounts for up sell and/or cross sell opportunities. The purpose of this plan is to introduce and outline the components necessary to build a lead generation program specific to the salesforce.com business unit. The goal is to create enough leads to assist the sales teams in hitting the annual revenue target. The end goal is to establish a comprehensive, continual lead generation engine fueled by marketing campaigns, events and partner referrals, resulting in a significant impact in both outbound and inbound leads for the salesforce.com business unit. This plan is extremely fluid and will continually evolve as lead generation campaigns and messages are tested in the marketplace and business needs change. This represents the initial blueprints based on current data and knowledge of the business unit, sales goals, the target audience, resources and target reaction to messaging. Objectives: Develop an internal lead generation process/capability within the SFDC BU Build out marketing programs that incorporate follow up through the inside sales team Increase inbound leads from marketing campaigns and partner referrals Complement other Cloud Sherpas and SFDC marketing efforts Increase top of mind awareness towards Cloud Sherpas key target audiences Plan Components: Create marketing campaigns that focus on our strategic initiatives specifically for industry focus Develop and implement Account Based Marketing plans for top targets Implement a lead scoring program Work with salesforce.com on joint marketing programs Better control marketing campaigns in the U.K. and ANZ Page 7

8 Targets 1. Prospects: Net new business Investment Management prospects All Investment Management prospects within the U.S., U.K. and ANZ Defined Investment Management job titles Get with salesforce.com and identify stakeholders Offering if they have a target list to include in our campaigns. 2. Current Clients Plan: Account based marketing plan for current Investment Management clients Identify all Investment Management clients within the last 36 months Sector leader to identify prime targets Work with Cloud Sherpas account owner for warm intro to discuss Target Markets: Industry Framework Geography Revenue Company Size 1. Investment Management 1. East Coast, U.S. 2. Central, U.S. 3. New South Wales (Sydney), Aus. 4. West Coast, U.S. 5. Queensland & Victoria, Aus. 1. $750M+ 2. $300M 750M 3. $100M $300M 1. Enterprise (5000+) 2. Commercial ( ) 3. SMB (1 500) Direct Marketing Campaigns A primary component of this plan is to introduce and build direct marketing plans that will resonate with our target audience and motivate them to take action. We will build out campaigns based on many of the topics below. This combined with the nurture aspect of the account based marketing plan will ensure that we are in regular contact with prospects. The philosophy and goal for this plan is to build a continually on going and fully comprehensive campaign throughout each component in our focus. The structure will lie upon starting at the industry frameworks and integrating deeper as we build. Campaigns will take on a new feel, moving from single events to a multi touch program that will Page 8

9 encompass multiple aspects of marketing. Many campaigns will start with a basic nurture program but then quickly move into a multi touch program that will consist of s, specialized assets, adwords and lead to a component such as an event or asset. Campaigns will be followed up upon by the inside sales team, which is new for this year. Inside Sales Campaigns: Marketing Plan: 4 Investment Management s Target/Objective: Reaching all prospects and contacts by job function and CRM platform Call to Action: Driving to assets and ISA call follow up Prospects Plan Build out four part campaign each two weeks apart Bring clients back into ISA call lists Reference ebook and new assets Current Clients Plan: Build out four part campaign each two weeks apart Bring clients back into ISA call lists Reference ebook and new assets Inside Sales Inside Sales Associate The role of the inside sales associate will be broken down into three main categories: Conduct outbound calls to follow up on direct marketing campaigns Conduct cold calls based on contacts identified through various sources Conduct research on top accounts and work directly with the sales reps to begin account based marketing campaigns. The inside sales team will use a call list enabled by a set of marketing s that blast every three weeks. The Inside Sales teams are aligned specifically by vertical. Those that are specifically Financial Services will call on our Investment Management prospect base, following up from the that the prospect received. The messaging used by the inside sales team is being completely revamped for Investment Management based on our 2014 messaging and initiatives. All messaging, supporting blogs, sales scripts, and processes are being reviewed and re written to fall inline with our new process and to ensure we are using the correct thought leadership assets specific to Investment Management. The targeted s are based and targeted around three areas: Platform, Industry, and Functional Roles. Each prospect will receive four Financial Services messaging Page 9

10 s, along with two s particular to their job role (Sales, Service, Marketing, IT), and two s based on whether or not they have salesforce.com as their platform or just general CRM. Additionally, this team will be focused on all leads through events, webinars, web sourced leads, and online lead generation as related to Investment Management. As a part of our full Direct Marketing Campaigns in alignment by industry, we will use our Industry Leader to meet with, train, and guide our team on the best strategies for their industry. Also in alignment with our focus on industry frameworks, our campaign content will point to blogs, show off collateral pieces, case studies, and continually be intertwined with our ongoing industry based structure. Online Lead Generation Webinars: To promote our Investment Management framework in alignment with our Center of Excellence framework, we will have two webinars to address tying these areas together. These webinars will be led by Cloud Sherpas Industry Leads, Center of Excellence Leaders, possibly an analyst feature, and if applicable feature client success as well. As a part of our continual Nurture and Inside Sales cycle, the leads will fall into industry specific campaigns or for direct follow up. The Webinar Plan includes: Industry Focus: Financial Services Investment Management COE Focus: Service Cloud, Advisory Services, Mobility, Data Salesforce Focus: Specific to Salesforce offerings: Salesforce1 and the Internet of Customers Industry Regional/ National Conferences The proposed schedule focuses on salesforce.com events based on our geographic concentrations and where we want to develop our footprint, as well as areas with a strong pressence of our core industries. All events will coincide with a sponsored happy hour to increase the level of face time we have with our prospects, clients and top SFDC contacts. Partners will be used at all times to reduce costs. Each event we will promote our Investment Management Solution Offering where applicable. Event Date Sponsorship Salesforce1 World Tour NYC January 2014 Sponsoring Happy Hour ONLY Salesforce Essentials San January 2014 Sponsoring Happy Hour Page 10

11 Diego Internet of Customer World Tour Sydney Internet of Customer World Tour Chicago Internet of Customer World Tour London Internet of Customer World Tour Washington D.C. Internet of Customer World Tour Boston Internet of Customer World Tour Atlanta March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 TBD TBD TBD ONLY Platinum Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Dreamforce 2014 October 2014 Gold Regional/Local Events C Level events Based on the success of last year s events of this type, we are proposing a significant expansion of our C level events in These are high touch events that highlight a particular client success, focus heavily on networking with peers and help drive Cloud Sherpas awareness. While not all events will be industry specific, we do want to focus on our four core industries. The underlying theme in these events will be the idea of going beyond CRM to achieve the Internet of Customers, which is inline with SFDC s 2014 messaging. As outlined in the Partner Marketing section, we will also rely heavily on partners and SFDC to contribute to both the content of these events as well as the payment. Attendance will be driven via a direct campaign, by invites from the AEs and supplemented with invites from the inside sales associate. The goal is to have C level participants attend each event. Each event we will promote our Investment Management Solution Offering where applicable. Page 11

12 Event Location Region Date Beyond CRM with Forrester and SFDC Chicago March 2014 Beyond CRM Event London February 2014 Beyond CRM Event Newport Beach April 2014 Beyond CRM Event Atlanta April 2014 Beyond CRM Event Boston May 2014 Beyond CRM Event Sydney June 2014 Beyond CRM Event Melbourne July 2014 Beyond CRM Event London, US West Coast August 2014 Beyond CRM Event US East Coast September 2014 Beyond CRM Event ANZ October 2014 Beyond CRM Event US, London, ANZ November 2014 Cloud Sherpas Client Feature Panel We will be hosting a private event in New York City. This event will include a client feature panel with an intimate setting. The goal will be to drive participants attend the event. We would like the participants to feel conversational from the panel. Other Industry Events Based on the Investment Management Industry and footprint, we find it important to be involved in Industry wide conference. We are looking into sponsoring, presenting or participating in the following: User Conference or User Group Meetings MFEA Investment/Asset management conference Financial Services Technology Summit: May 20 22, Newport Beach, CA Page 12

13 Conclusion The objective of this plan is to outline the components necessary to build a lead generation program specific to Cloud Sherpas Investment Management Solution in the salesforce.com business unit. As we look to establish the initial program, there will be many lessons learned and numerous adjustments required along the way. Execution of the full plan will be based on budget constraints and resource allocations, in addition to data clean up and response from focus groups and target audiences. The end goal is to establish a comprehensive, continual lead generation engine fueled by marketing campaigns, events and partner referrals, resulting in a significant impact in both outbound and inbound leads for the salesforce.com business unit. Page 13

Underlying Philosophy

Underlying Philosophy 8 Market Place Suite 300 Baltimore, MD 21202 O 410-779-9481 C 912-655-4462 adam@abilityseo.com What is Inbound Marketing? A technique for drawing customers to products and services via content marketing,