B2B Content Exam

Permission marketing

A type of marketing that seeks to first gain permission from prospects before marketing to them

5 dimensions of segmentation and what questions they answer

Benefits Desired - Answers "Why" Question Firmographics - Answers "Who" Question Purchase Behavior - Answers "How" Question Geographics - Answers "Where" Question Product Usage - Answers "How Much" Question

Know how branding impacts B2B buyers and its importance

Brand's voice, shifting from a promotional tone to one that is more conversational and engaging. Brands will have to use a more evidence-based strategy and tech-generated insights to build a better brand voice that appeals to B2B consumers. Will create lifelong customers as goal you want to be pleasant, interesting, and memorable By making your brand fun, you are establishing rapport, building memorability, and aligning yourself with your audience Aside from humanizing your brand and making it memorable, humor works because people want to share it with their friends; especially today, when online sharing has become so integral to our culture

Lead generation, lead management - slides and glossary

Build awareness & get prospects curious about your product/service Blog - deepens rapport with visitors •White Papers - educational focus, long lifespan, in-depth, and potentially expensive

CTA - slides and glossary, recognize examples

Must have a measurable human response Ex. hub spot

Email Wizardry

Perfect the subject line Keep it short and simple

Lead nurturing best practices

Use multi media touches to nurture leads Quick response to Web leads can maximize conversions - What is quick? Use a lead scoring system

Segmentation criteria - value drivers, adoption patterns, price sensitivity, go to market/buying preferences, event triggers

Value drivers - does your solution reduce costs, increase revenues, comply with mandates, protect assets, improve agility, reduce risk Adoption patterns - innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards Price Sensitivity Go to Market/Buying Preference - target markets preference in procuring solutions, channel/direct preference Event triggers - compliance with legislative mandates, mergers, new executives, disruptive products

Benefits of segmentation

Vendor can better satisfy needs of customers Leads to more revenue in shorter time, at lower cost Targeted segments are better fit with vendor's offering, prospects more likely to buy, close faster, produce bigger deals, more loyal - PROFIT Well defined segments means more targeted messages & programs that resonate with buyers Means higher response rates, better engagements, shorter conversion cycles, & overall better return on marketing investment

Pain points

What customer problem, need or want your business addresses

Email mistakes

Words like free, click here, low prices, affordable, special offers, delighted, pleased, honored Capital letters are shouting and rude! No small talk in the email Don't hard sell

If we only have a small company with small amounts of company and data, do they need CRM?

YES!

Organizational buying - slides and glossary

the decision-making process by which formal organizations establish the need for purchased products and services and identify, evaluate, and choose among alternative brands and suppliers

Cash conversion cycle - know examples

A metric that expresses the length of time, in days, that it takes for a company to convert resource inputs into cash flows. This metric looks at the amount of time needed to sell inventory, the amount of time needed to collect receivables and the length of time the company is afforded to pay its bills without incurring penalties

Buyer Personas - see segmentation articles

A persona is a stereotype or profile - "a detailed description of a fictional person that represents a group of individuals targeted by your sales and marketing effort, i.e. Who should you care about and how should you talk about them"

Marketing assets - what are they

A piece of marketing content used to educate and generate interest for a company's products and services Ex. whitepapers, videos, newsletters, Webinars etc.

Inbound & outbound marketing

A type of marketing characterized by prospects and customers seeking out and finding companies rather than vice versa. EX) SEO, Content, Blogging, Social Media

Interruption marketing

A type of outbound marketing that seeks to capture a prospect's attention by forcing marketing communications in front of them; opposite of permission marketing

Different forms of content

Articles, Blogs, Case studies, Digitial newsletters, E-books, E-mail, Images, Infographics, Microsites, Mobile content, News Releases, PDF's, Podcasts, Research, Slide shoes, Social, Traditional media, Videos - YouTube, Webinars, White papers

Differences - B2B and B2C

B2B research is different because it is: More qualitative Complex decision making, products & applications Business buyers - rational & logic Smaller number of customer & large consumption Personal relationships critical Consumer markets drive innovation more Consumer markets rely more on packaging

4 types of content - viral, vanity, conversational, convictional

Conversation: high reason to share, low reason to care Voice: "Let's talk about this" Motive: Publicity Ex. mashable Vanity: low reason to share, low reason to care Voice: "Let's talk about me" Motive: Propaganda Ex. press release Viral: high reason to share, high reason to care Voice: "Let's talk about we" Motive: Provocation Ex. Kony 2012 Convictional: low reason to share, high reason to care Voice: "Let's talk about you" Motive: Personalization Ex. LIVESTRONG blog

What is CRM and what does it do - its importance

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a term that refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, Goal of improving business relationships with customers

Business market demand - derived, inelastic, fluctuating - recognize examples

Derived demand - business good demand is ultimately derived from consumer good demand Inelastic demand - not much affected by price changes (ex. gas stations) Fluctuating demand - demand for business goods & services tends to be more volatile than demand for consumer goods and services

Email Marketing

Email Marketing has an ROI of 3800% SEND THE RIGHT EMAIL, WITH THE RIGHT OFFER, AT THE RIGHT TIME

Characteristics- B2B and B2C

Fewer, larger buyers Closer supplier - customer relationships Professional purchasing More/multiple buying influences Longer sales calls/cycle Geographically concentrated buyers Demand differences

Buy Phases - straight rebuy, modified rebuy, new task

In a straight rebuy, the buyer reorders something without any modifications. Its based on past buying satisfaction, the buyer simply chooses from the various suppliers on its list. The buyer wants to modify product specifications, prices, terms, or suppliers. The modified rebuy usually involves more decision participants than the straight rebuy. A company buying a product or service for the first time faces a new-task situation. The new-task situation is the marketer's greatest opportunity and challenge. The marketer not only tries to reach as many key buying influences as possible but also provides help and information.

Firmographics - slides and glossary

Industry - which industries buy Size of company - small, mid-size or Fortune 500 Geography - local, regional, national, global Annual revenue - correlation exists between company's annual earnings & ability to purchase Executive title: Which titles are proven most likely to need your products and/or services? Average sales cycle: How long does the average sale take too close? What is dividing line between prospects who want to make a well-informed buying decision and those who have no real intention of buying.

Segmentation methods

Industry/Firmographics - size, geography, competitive environment, fixed costs (Fed-Ex used industries) Customer Tiering - potential fit (customer's alignment to supplier's strategy) and opportunity (long term revenue potential) Needs based segmentation - most predictive (Dow) -Price focused segment - is this accurate? -Quality & brand focused segment -Service focused segment -Partnership focused segment

6 Roles in Buying Center - decision maker, gatekeeper, influencer, recommender,initiator, and controller (CFO)

Initiator: the initiator(s) make a request to purchase a product or service or recognizes the problem, with this action they start the decision-making process. e.g. maintenance manager Decider: the decider makes the actual purchase decision. Typically, they don't have or need formal authority but have sufficient weight within the buying team to decide if a service/product will be purchased. Buyer: the buyer (also called: purchasing manager) selects the suppliers and manages the buying process such that the necessary products are acquired. Influencer: the influencer contributes to the formulation and determination of the specifications of the product or service. The influencer evaluates and recommends which potential supplier satisfies the specific needs of the organization. User: the user(s) are the persons that actually use the product or service. They are not always involved in the buying process, but have a critical role in the feedback and evaluation process of the performance of the good that has been purchased . Gatekeeper: the gatekeeper(s) control(s) the flow of information in to and out of the company and buying center/team.

Why study B2B marketing

Jobs and Complexity

Top 3 goals of content marketing

Lead generation Thought leadership/market education Brand awareness

Buyer - seller relationships in B2C

Less technical expertise More non personal relationships Changing, short term relationships encourage switching Purchase based more on emotion - focus on benefits and how it helps them

What 3 social media platforms are most effective for B2B distributing content in 2016

LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Types of leads - marketing lead, sales-ready lead, qualified, converted

Marketing leads - generated by marketing but not qualified as a sales prospect Converted leads - deemed qualified for sales & converts into a contact Qualified leads - ready to engage with sales as determined by "ideal" customer profile & scoring methodology Sales - Ready leads - ready for sales interaction, often decided by a lead score (points, letter grades)

Email musts, what is included in the best B2B emails

Must be personalized to the decision maker, this improves click through rate and engagement Tied to their business needs/pain points & customized to business situation Short and Pithy - ppl decide in 20 seconds Conversation start - question, invite to an event, learn more Readable from preview menu Include social media profile links in outgoing email - don't just show logo, add words "follow us on twitter" & show url if possible

Differences between organizational buying and consumer buying

O: Organizations purchase goods to use in their ongoing operations and to resell to consumers, Organizations generally purchase goods in larger volumes than individuals and are driven by customer demand and need for manufacturing materials. C: Consumers purchase goods for their personal use, Consumers are driven both by need and by want.

Importance of online video as content - reasons

Online Video Views Are Rising Rapidly Video is Highly Effective but also challenging Widespread mobile use is spurring the increase in video views.

Characteristics of organizational/business buyer-seller relationships

Organizational Buying: demand characteristics, size of the order or purchase, number of potential buyers, buying objectives, buying criteria, buyer-seller relationships and supply partnerships, and multiple buying influences within organizations.

Lead nurturing - slides and glossary

Process of building relationships with qualified prospects regardless of their timing to buy Relevance is key - B2B customers have different needs and preferences Opt-in incentive - make offer of report, video or other content to get their info Newsletters- focus on customers' needs Case Studies - show customer problem, how they chose your service, what was implementation, and end result

B2B Marketing Tactics

Products - can be technically complex, not for personal use Place - shorter, more direct channels Price - complex purchasing or competitive bidding Promotion - emphasis on personal selling

B2C Marketing Tactics

Products - often standardized, for personal use Place - more indirect channels Price - usually list or predetermined Promotion - emphasis on advertising

A/B split - know examples

Refers to a test situation in which a list is split into two pieces with every other recipient being sent one of two specific emails, to determine which email is more desirable

3 Criteria for successful segmentation

SEGMENT MUST BE MEASUREABLE- info on buyer exists or can be obtained SEGMENT MUST BE ACCESSIBLE- can be reached by marketing activity SEGMENT MUST BE SUBSTANTIAL- large enough to justify sales & marketing efforts

Effective strategies for lead generation

Smart segmentation — Companies with positive income and revenue growth Smart messaging — razor-sharp messages with focus on one solution Nurturing with multiple mails, calls, white papers, and webinars to build the mind share before asking for a sales call [with a] trusted adviser Do not pretend to be what you are not; be candid with what you have done, what you can do, and what is "a stretch."

Types of marketing campaigns - stay in touch, accelerator, drip

Stay in touch - drip out relevant content to prospects over time, helping to educate & build trust & credibility for your company •Accelerator - move prospects along the buying cycle faster by providing relevant "nudges" triggered by specific buyer behaviors or sales updates Drip - series of scheduled emails that deliver thought leadership to prospects that have opted in to receive marketing communications

Why B2B CRM is helpful

Store info in easily retrievable database Organizations become more efficient Tracks progression or regression - real time info on product movement, buyers' behaviors and patterns - are you meeting objectives? Identifies and defines roles of marketing & sales personnel Entire company can share info & increase knowledge base across all departments

Buyer - seller relationships in B2B

Technical expertise important Significant interpersonal relationships Stable, long term relationships encourage loyalty Purchase based more on logic - focus on info & features to save $, time or resources

Why B2B marketing is different than B2C

The largest problem that B2B marketers have is a lack of content and time to create it. A contract for a B2B purchase tends to last months or even years, making it a much more significant decision The B2B buying cycle is often much longer than the B2C decision process. Therefore, it requires much more nurturing and close attention. B2B marketers have a much longer chain of command to deal with since procurement, accounting and their superiors often need to approve purchases. The B2B crowd wants information and the ability to build a close relationship with brands. Highly detailed content is required for B2B marketing. Drivers matter. The B2B audience is seeking efficiency and expertise.

What is B2B marketing

The marketing of goods and services to other companies, government agencies, institutions, and resellers to produce their products, and/or facilitate or support operations.

Outbound Marketing

The traditional form of marketing where a company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience EX) tradeshows, TV commercials, radio commercials, print advertisements

Marketing automation

The use of technology to manage and automate the process of converting prospects to buyers, empowers B2B marketers to focus more on the strategic and creative activities that improve marketing ROI. Can provide rich functionality to automate and measure demand generation campaigns that generate more high-quality sales leads

TOMA - slides

Top of Mind Awareness: used to grow a business along with credibility and reciprocity -You will not have this unless you post frequently

Sales funnel - slides and glossary

Traditional = Hot Leads, Opportunity, Proposals, New Customers New = Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Intent, Evaluation, Purchase

What is content marketing?

a marketing technique of creating & distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience - with the objective of driving profitable customer action

Thought leaders - slides and glossary, recognize examples

becoming an authority on relevant topics by delivering the answers to the questions in minds of target audience Trusted individuals Very knowledgable Authority - delivers answers to questions

What techniques are most effective and least effective in B2B to deepen customer relationships, increase brand awareness, strengthen thought leadership, & develop brand positioning

most effective - social media and strengthening thought leadership least effective - raising brand awareness and mobile apps

Needs based segmentation

most predictive (Dow) Price focused segment - is this accurate? Quality & brand focused segment Service focused segment Partnership focused segment