Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What's that for then?


It is easy to forget the purpose of a product or system when people become focussed on a single issue that appears more compelling.

There are examples everywhere. Political groups formed for a single agenda item such as a ban on hunting, green issues, changing daylight hours, planning issues etc can focus all their attention on making a strong case for their political cause. They rarely succeed at an election because the electorate appreciates that there are not just two sides to an argument, but there are plenty of other matters that also demand attention and resource and the 'hot heads' are unlikely to possess the right skills to deliver a programme that a majority can endorse.

Back in 1991 Intel launched a global campaign directed not at a select band of engineers with the specification authority to embody Intel microprocessors into a new product development programme, but to end users of PCs. The 'Intel Inside' campaign addressed the general public that in the main had absolutely no idea what made an electronic product work, but could understand a simple concept of looking for a label that apparently benchmarked the product as good or bad. Although the marketing campaign was in partnership with OEM PC makers it was also reported that buyers of lighting controls were asking the same question - does it use an Intel 486 processor? This possibly unintentional spin off from the campaign would not immediately lead to lighting control manufacturers simply switching processors - too much R&D - but prompted a return to marketing the product explaining what it did. That is it controlled lighting, but crucially it did so when required, not after watching some little egg timer spin around for 30 seconds or so before enacting the control command as most PCs did at the time.

Recently we have experienced a new take on this theme driven by Search Engineering Optimisation specialists re-working web site content in pursuit of improved SEO. Again, clients have come to believe that SEO is the holy grail for web sites and seem to be blissfully prepared to trade functionality in furtherance of that goal. They have absolutely no comprehension of html code, java script or cascading style sheets but can grasp the concept of being number one in search results. That the proponents of SEO do not actually know the rules and algorithms used by Google, that they regularly change and it is a constant evolution is not questioned. The single issue brigade have struck suitable terror into their victims. We have to explain that one of our products - Virtual News Office - is actually a fully functional Press and PR system with all the functionality to not just post press releases on site, but deliver news, generate news feeds and provide press resources such as high resolution images, press packs and contact details. By focussing just on one aspect - how the press release is worded and put online - the SEO boys loose sight of the purpose of what it is there for in the first place and end up with a product that doesn't work. Even if this does propel the site high up in the search results why would visitors use the site if the information they went there for does not work or even exist?

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The art of Imperfection


Why is it that some marketing projects fly through to completion and others get ground down to dust before limping home? It is better to sign off a marketing initiative and move on to the next, than to seek perfection and miss the point. Accuracy and truth are demanded and expected in all things marketing, especially in the b-2-b arena, but the sequence of checking, correcting and proofing isn't always the reason why some initiatives take so long to reach fruition. Indecision can be a killer to creativity and success.

Every marketing initiative – be it an advertisement, press release, technical data sheet or website page – needs a champion, someone who can specify, agree and take responsibility for the result. There are times when we seem to have lost the benefits of decision making we enjoyed in the pre-electronic network days. Remember when people met in a room to receive a pitch and make a choice there and then, or the time when one person was given, and accepted, responsibility for a marketing decision? Now it seems that material sent for client approval has to be distributed far and wide for comment, usually with time-consuming and unwanted consequences.

Successful marketing campaigns rarely rely on a single initiative. The elements of a 'marketing mix' should combine to magnify the stimulus to buy a product or service. Don't be afraid of giving a green light to a piece of copy or a graphic design; asking 'n' others will usually result in 'n-1' different responses. Many people think they have to find something to criticise or else they will be seen as an ineffective non-team player. The resulting task of assessing all the responses and different views and trying to walk a middle path, will inevitably annoy n/2 colleagues while delaying the process, diluting the result and costing more in creative time.

To misquote the Duke of Wellington, as long as it's not misleading or illegal, "print and be damned"and get onto the next marketing initiative - because that's the only way your well-prepared marketing plan will be effective.

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Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Is social media diluting communication channels?


The marketing chatter on the Internet is dominated by the growing importance of social media as a marketing tool. The suspicion, based on knowledge of client experience, is that for most b-2-b companies it isn't yet dominating the marketing budget. Traditional marcoms such as display advertising, exhibitions and print continue to take the lion's share of the marketing budget. Despite the considerable importance, almost dominance of the Internet, clients continue to spend a significant portion of their budget on display advertising.

The 'Social Media B2B' web site has researched what it bills as 28 Awesome B2B social media statistics, the first of the 28 claims 86% of B2B companies are using social media. On the other hand 46% of another survey considered social media irrelevant to their business.

Not surprisingly the B2B companies ranked most successful on Twitter are large global enterprises with Cisco ranked at No.6 with 48,000 followers and Intel at No. 10 with 35,000. To put this in context, Barack Obama has 6,588,000, Stephen Fry 2,205,00 and Cheryl Cole 157,000! Philips Lighting has 2,200 and step down the scale to SMEs and a couple of hundred followers seems to be quite a respectable number.

Perhaps for now companies will need to recognise that the growth of social media has opened up new and diverse communications channels of which Twitter and Facebook are just 2 of dozens of others and add these to give customers and prospects a choice. Let them decide how they want to receive information from you and how to interact if they want to do so at all. Oh and you can follow Technical Marketing on Twittter @technicalmarket

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Three things influencing buyers

There are three important things that help form a conviction to buy. What a product does, expert evaluation of the products and the experience of customers using the product.

This type of information can be provided in different ways and inter related. It is becoming more common on web sites to solicit user feedback on product pages, but the more traditional method is to present third party endorsements. This can be in the form of testimonials or case studies and increasingly as a video testimony. Research consistently rates recommendations highly and of course there is the importance of 'word of mouth' product endorsement based on the experience of ownership.

Other trusted sources can be the opinions of respected experts in the field, industry gurus and influential journals. Getting informative articles published and positive product reviews by opinion formers is always a good marketing tactic.

Finally the product information should be well presented. Buyers are more influenced by benefits - what the product will do for them - not a list of features they don't understand. Products should have clear differentiation and suitable applications suggested. And of course if you want your product specified, a full specification.