Modern Marketing Paula Costa GTM team Eoin Rodgers Direction Group
Why we are here We re all facing the same issues It s a challenging time and we all need to change Understand best practice modern marketing Build more strategic marketing plans based around the cloud journey Discover help Microsoft can provide along the way
The facts The customer buying journey has shifted online Companies that have embraced the transformation to digital have seen a 9% increase in revenue creation 70% of customers have made their buying decisions before they talk to a company about the final sale 26% increase in profitability 12% increase in market valuation Customer experience is the source of differentiation and the new competitive battleground (Gartner 2015) Source: IDC and Microsoft Partner Marketing research study 2015
T R A D I T I O N A L DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF MARKETING Sales Driven Purchase Process Buyer Driven Purchase Process Single-Channel Tactics Multi-Channel Journeys Low Quality, High Volume Leads Disconnected Customer Data Marketing focused on Brand Awareness High Quality Scored MAQLs 360 ᴏ Customer Data with Connected Insights Revenue Marketing D I G I TA L One & Done Marketing Long-Term Customer Relationships Outbound marketing Inbound marketing
Content Marketing 5
Our content marketing efforts aren t working 30% 86% 79% of B2B marketers rate their organisations as effective at content marketing of buyers say content is neither useful, relevant, nor aligned with needs of people in the buying decision of IT pros don t complete forms for fear of the inevitable sales call follow up 6 DirectionGroup 2016 directiongroup.com
The five sins of content marketing Creating a gap - and failing to fill it Teaching grandma to suck eggs Playing hide and seek with valuable information Getting case studies wrong Not getting to the finish line 8 DirectionGroup 2016 directiongroup.com
1. Creating a gap - and failing to fill it Customers want to be engaged with topical, market centric perspectives, not product and solution messages When we respond to this, we re shifting to the left further away from a conversation about what we re selling. Thought / market leadership Market opinion / topical insight Solution in context of market Product / solution collateral
2. Teaching grandma to suck eggs All to often, our content fails to say anything new. Or different. Or interesting. In order to affect change in the organisation, we need to break down the status quo (e.g. satisfaction with a work-around or a competitors offering) and offer something that directly supports the purchase
3. Playing hide and seek with valuable information What happened last time you shopped from Amazon? We operate in a you give me some info and I ll give you some info environment Imagine if you had to deal with that every time you tried to buy from Amazon!! In our desperate search for contact information we gate content, technical data is rarely fully disclosed and there is a lack of independent opinion to build trust from. 79% of IT pros are unwilling to complete a form to get past the gate for fear of the inevitable sales call follow up [Spiceworks] 11 DirectionGroup 2016 directiongroup.com
4. Getting case studies wrong Our case studies act too much like press releases: chestbeating and self-aggrandising Instead we should consider case studies as an opportunity to publicise the value-add we created during the buying process: Industry knowledge and expertise Specific solutions to customer challenges Valuable pre-sales and consultative engagement Re-iterate key value proposition messages People are looking for insights and learnings and above all, help in avoiding landmines. 12 DirectionGroup 2016 directiongroup.com
5. Not getting to the finish line We ve all heard the popularly-quoted statistic: 70% of the buyer s journey is complete before a buyer even reaches out to sales But marketing only seem interested in that 70% What can we do to bridge the gap and get to 100%? We also need to consider content that addresses: How easy is it to compare us to our competitors? Is it possible to see real ROI figures? What help is available to build a business case? How clear is the implementation process What are the best ways of approaching deployment or driving user adoption? 13 DirectionGroup 2016 directiongroup.com
Lead Nurture 14
Our starting point: the issue Only 17% of business to business (B2B) leads are sales-ready when first generated. Pardot As marketers, we re so keen to generate engagement, often we re not prepared to deal with situations where the engagement doesn t equate to a sale. Right there and then. Why wouldn t they be ready to buy? Timing (budget availability, other vendors in play) Business not yet sold on the idea of change Not entirely sure what they re look for Not sufficiently confident in our offering or our ability to help. What s the answer? Nurture. That s what.
OK, nurture. What s that? Lead nurturing is the process of developing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel, and through every step of the buyer's journey. It focuses marketing and communication efforts on listening to the needs of prospects, and providing the information and answers they need. Unfortunately, nurture has become yet another marketing buzz term. It s all about content marketing and it helps integrate sales and marketing efforts. What s not to love? That means everyone wants it. Regardless if they have the resources, insight and content to do it properly. (Marketo)
Three home truths 1 If we re going to nurture through the buying journey, we need content. If lead nurturing is the engine, content is the fuel that makes it run. 2 If we re going to nurture, we need people. We can t nurture leads we don t have. We still need to generate the initial engagement and marketing leads. 3 Sending people a succession of marketing messages is not nurture. That s just spamming. 83% of customers only want to hear from you if you are able to be relevant and contextual. (IDC and Salesforce, 2018)
Inbound Marketing 18
We re focusing too much on outbound 90% of business buyers say when they are ready to buy, they ll find you DemandGen Report, 2016 Outbound means hoping that the timing is right and we have the means to reach them B2B buyers are doing it on their terms self educating their way through the buyer journey In fact, they re spending more time, more resources and taking longer to come to their own decisions GDPR will only make outbound marketing harder let s make the change 19 DemandGen Report, 2016
Outbound marketing relies too heavily on luck 83% of customers only want to hear from you if you are able to be relevant and contextual IDC and Salesforce, 2018 Often we simply don t know enough about our audience to be able to serve their needs properly We typically don t have the right insight about buyers and where they are on the journey We re hoping the stars align in our favour and that our buyers are in market at the time we re running our campaign 20
Campaigns: it s the sum of the parts Campaigns by their very nature should be multi-faceted. Digital marketing has changed the game in terms of: Integration of multiple tactics, optimising them real time, monitoring and responding to buyer behaviour and proving the ROI from campaign investment. 21
Inbound techniques Campaigns fit better with the old outboundcentric way of marketing. We need to shift our thinking from demanding attention to creating the best possible customer experience. We live in an self-directed, opt-in world we have to earn their attention Customers will seek us out because of the quality of the information on offer to help them make better decisions Content is the worm on the inbound hook Inbound Marketing The process of creating text, audio, video and other online assets and optimising them to appear when prospective customers are ready to pull the trigger on a purchase. 22
Inbound Vs Outbound Being available to buyers when they re looking for us INBOUND Content marketing Blogging SEO Social media Public speaking OUTBOUND Paid or rented email lists Print or digital advertising Social media advertising Outbound sales calls Interrupting buyers to get our message across 23
Sales & Marketing Integration 24
Marketing and sales need to work together Marketing and sales working together is the most critical element of a results-based marketing approach. Sales enablement is marketing s chance to help the salesforce and work towards a common goal: Customer acquisition and retention [In marketing] We do two things: 1. Identify demand ourselves, make sure it s properly qualified, goes into the right channel; 2. For demand that has already been identified, we help our salesforce accelerate cycle times and win rates. John Dragoon, EVP and CMO, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Fostering a collaborative sales and marketing function So, how are we going to start working together? We need to: 1. Set realistic expectations around time and return 2. Collaborate with sales on defining programs, not just executing on them 3. Let the buyer journey define a sales-ready lead 4. Establish a two-way flow for leads 5. Hold firm on the definition of a sales ready lead The aligned sales and marketing checklist Common language Vested in each others success Proactive In relationship Shared goals Goals and compensation tied to shared objectives [Forrester]
We need to break the cycle Does this sound familiar? Marketing creates lots of leads Sales say the leads are weak Sales stop calling the leads Sales reps IGNORE 50% of marketing leads The B2B Lead Marketing says sales is weak Marketing stops getting any ROI PEOPLE GET FIRED!
We need a marketing and sales SLA What should be in a marketing and sales SLA? What does a lead look like? How many Marketing leads marketing will create? What marketing expects sales to do with a lead? What time frame they should do it in? What happens to a lead that doesn t convert? How can we align marketing activity to sales outcomes? Companies with aligned sales and marketing generated 208% more revenue from marketing (MarketingProfs)
Impact of GDPR on marketing 29
6 key impacts of GDPR for marketing 1 2 3 4 5 6 Expanded definition of what constitutes personal data No distinction between business and consumer (B2B and B2C) Privacy by default The right to be forgotten The right to be supplied with their personal data Burden of proof on the marketing organisation
Inbound marketing Inbound marketing Stricter consent requirements 1. Update privacy policy 2. Update your landing page forms 3. Make sure to harvest demonstrable proof of consent (when, where etc.) 4. Get consent for third party cookies Invest in permission-based inbound marketing techniques Outbound marketing Stricter consent requirements 1. Update privacy policy 2. Use of outbound forms to validate and gain consent. 3. Check/obtain consent for targeted activities (through third parties) Move away from dependence on outbound, interruptive marketing techniques
Summary: the modern marketing conversation 1 2 3 4 5 Build a content strategy that aligns to buyers and their needs Don t drop the ball on warm prospects: nurture for value Today s B2B buyers want to find you: focus on inbound Marketing and sales: one common goal Understand the impact of GDPR on your marketing
How can Microsoft help
Customer Lifecycle Content Syndication Social Media Industry Events Online Event Series SEM Content Marketing PPC ebooks/whitepapers Awareness (Strangers) Marketing Concierge Packages Engage with more useful content RM Case studies Online Event Series/Webinar Social Media Consideration (Visitors) Register for a 1: many workshop Take a free trial Offer an assessment Influencer RM Case studies Telemarketing Social Media Purchase (Customers) Quote tool Customer immersion experience VDW RM Content Marketing Use (Promoters) Change Management Workhops How to use videos Influencer Seed devices Advocacy Case study Content creation
Marketing Concierge
UK Marketing Concierge What do they do? 1 The UK Marketing Concierge is accessible to all UK based partners that sit within the One Commercial Partner division of Microsoft. 2 3 The team work with partners building new Microsoft Practices to help take their propositions to market. This includes partner readiness, value propositions and building campaigns to take to market. The team also help partners GTM with Microsoft through co-sell materials, co-marketing campaigns and cloud workshops. Providing a number of Co-op approved packages for stress free marketing. 4 Manned by UK based team in Reading, high volume service so no partner alignment.
UK Marketing Concierge: Scope Develop If you are in the early stages of developing a practice we offer services* that can help you build this practice: Define your value proposition with a VP workshop Develop a bespoke training plan for your sales or technical teams. Build your web presence, including premium content such as whitepapers, case studies, SEO optimisation Learn to sell through Social Media Launch When your ready to take your solution/practice to market we have a range of services* to help you generate demand: Ready to go Digital Marketing packages designed to create leads in your solution area Sales Floor Activity days aka Champions of Change get your sales team focused on selling the new solution. White label services to build up your skills and learn to deliver yourself. Grow Your solution is now in market and you want to accelerate growth, there are a number of services* to assist: Support creating your OCP Catalogue BOM User adoption packages to drive usage and consumption Nurturing packages to take the customer on their buying journey Cloud Workshops Digital Marketing packages to generate leads
Partner Example
ukmc@microsoft.com