Customer retention is important too

There is so much focus on techniques for developing sales leads that sometimes nurturing existing customers gets forgotten.

Of course it is important to generate enquiries from new prospects, but the process from that initial enquiry to closing a sale utilises a lot of marketing and sales resource and typically only a minority actually turn into customers anyway. Resources invested into Search Engine Optimisation and Adwords, one way or the other are aimed at prospects searching on generic terms. People making such an open search request might be the least well informed about the product category and once at your site will more likely require helpful background information to make a better informed purchase decision further down the line. Many web sites give the impression they are more for first time visitors than a resource for existing customers.

On the other hand, b-2-b buyers are more likely to already know the most respected  manufacturers and suppliers of products in your market sector and less likely to be using Google to generate a list of potential vendors. There is evidence that many go straight to the sites of suppliers they already know and trust.  Apart from new start ups, most established businesses will already have customers and these are also the source of most new enquiries, so it makes sense to nurture them. It is easy to focus marketing on obtaining new prospects and not put the same effort into retaining exiting customers and indeed selling them more.

Does your web site cater for returning customers, or is it "selling" to new visitors? Do you keep in touch with existing customers? What information do they receive? Before deciding what to send and how frequently to communicate it can be useful to identify which are your most important customers - your "Top 10" or "Top 100" depending on the size of your customer database. These are the most valuable and contact with them should be on a more individual basis keeping them informed of new developments, changes in the industry relevant to them and perhaps inviting them to special events such as new product introductions. But don't forget the other customers too. Keep them informed of what is going on generally in your business area, remind them of your expertise and knowledge, re-enforce the wisdom of buying your product in the first place and maintain 'top of the mind,' brand awareness so you are on the list next time they are buying,


  

What is going on in advertising land?

A few days since Google shares dipped after its core advertising business slowed, in the UK, a big fall in print advertising is reported.

Print Week writes today that  according to the latest quarterly Expenditure Report published by the Advertising Authority and WARC "print adspend shrunk by 11.7% year-on-year in Q2 2012" with the biggest hit taken by the B-2-B magazine sector with a massive 21.5% fall. Although this is not surprising news to marketers in the B-2-B area, the scale of the decline certainly puts big numbers against what has otherwise been supposition. That many businesses are cutting back on display advertising is no surprise either, based on feedback from advertising managers. The static, or falling value of advertising space is also having an impact on agencies who see commission falling too and thus have little motivation to drive prices down via more aggressive negotiation. "Advertising" is typically the big ticket item in the b-2-b marcomms budget, so what is happening? Well the obvious assumption is the advertising pounds are being spent online.

But Reuters filed a report on Friday that' "Google Inc's quarterly results fell well short of Wall Street's expectations after its core advertising business slowed, stunning investors accustomed to consistently rapid growth from the Internet giant and wiping more than 9 percent off its market value." "For the fourth consecutive quarter, the company reported a decline in average cost-per-click (CPC), a critical metric that denotes the price advertisers pay Google. Average CPC declined 15 percent from a year ago and 3 per cent from the second quarter of this year." One culprit is mobile devices as "advertisers pay far less for ads on smartphones and tablets than for similar ads on desktop computers."

There is another implication for Google in that some people might be by passing search engines and heading straight for already known destination sites and using those sites' own, more specific search facility. Interestingly we have been seeing evidence of this for some time now. Some research we conducted a couple of years ago for a client suggested a majority of b-2-b customers had long since identified the most important sites for the products and services they wanted to buy and went straight to them. Only a minority, about a quarter of customers, searched on generic terms using Google. So in this case 3 out of 4 wouldn't see the Google Ads anyway.

Perhaps it is no wonder some b-2-b marketers are sitting on their budgets or buying strategically when a good deal comes up and more often buying not just display advertising space but a package that includes editorial, online publication and email delivery. The notion that advertising pounds will simply migrate to the Internet may be too simplistic. Quality publications will continue to attract advertising revenue and online media may have to work harder too.

There are no five minute jobs.

How do you plan time for creative ideas? Although planning is an important marketing discipline, creative ideas do not just pop up to suit a fixed time frame, although a good clear brief can help provide the focus.

At 6.45 am every Monday morning the entire account management team and all the creative staff of the advertising agency where I worked would be assembled for the weekly planning meeting. Open jobs and new jobs would be reviewed and time allocated and work assigned. The planning meeting had to finish by 9am, the official start time and as the hour approached and it once again became obvious it was impossible to squeeze the work required into the hours available so the infamous "5 minute jobs" got shoe horned in. The staff knew nothing of any value could be accomplished in that time, simply opening up work folders would consume most of that. Everyone knew that once again they would be working late!  In an advertising agency back in the 80's and 90's billable hours were everything, but fortunately clients had scant knowledge of hourly rates. Staff were paid for regular office hours, hours they rarely actually worked, hours that were balanced  by unpaid overtime. Of course, once the official work day began more work, often urgent, would need to be squeezed in particularly if the client was important and usually accommodated at the expense of smaller, less valuable clients. 

The so called "5 minute jobs" were those that we knew how to do, exactly what was required and had the skills available to accomplish the task. So because it was a known quantity, the time to do it was under estimated. In the four box grid that identifies tasks according to understanding of the task versus skills to do it, it was in Box 1 - in other words, a known quantity requiring no thinking or planning time. Hence it was pigeon holed as a "5 minute job".

 But unfortunately creativity requires flashes of genius and insight to have the big idea and doesn't easily fit into time slots. Sometimes the creative concept is quickly established, but other times may prove elusive for days. So planning needs to allow the creative director time to brain storm ideas not just execute them. It is this creative process that marks out a successful creative agency from a design agency that just turns out artwork to client request. The clever headline, the engaging visual that a truly creative agency delivers stand out from the ordinary fare the others produce and gets results. 

But it comes at a cost of course. One good creative advertisement that drives enquiries must be better than a load of wallpaper. Often the idea - the key concept - may come quickly. But its value will be far greater than 5 minutes at the hourly rate, like the artist can capture the essence of an image with a few strokes of a pencil it is the years of experience and learning that enables this to happen.

Does simultaneous use of devices mean less attention for content?

According to a survey by Sky TV reported in a recent edition of Metro many people are using mobile devices while simultaneously watching television.

According to the survey three people in four watch television with a second device at hand and one in three uses tablets, smart phones or tablets to talk about it while watching. Sky claim social media is relied on "to feel part of a bigger online conversation and to gain recommendations about what to watch." When asked why people watching TV turn to social media 25% of 18 to 24 year olds said because "it makes me feel part of a larger conversation," 24% of 25 to 34 year olds because "it makes my viewing experience more fun," 15% of 35 to 44 year olds say "it makes me feel more sociable" and surprisingly even 12% of over 55s said "it enriches my viewing experience." The days of a family spending evenings huddled round a small television all watching the same programme have long since gone. What is interesting is what is now termed 'sociable'. It is not uncommon to see families in restaurants sitting silently round a table not inter acting with each other, but with a wider group via their smart phones. Same in cinemas, even theatres people are tweeting and whatever to people who are not present. Many in that 25 to 34 year age group seem to be permanently bonded to their iPhones when they are supposedly socialising, driving, walking, working and even sleeping.

From a marketing point of view, providing content to mobile platforms like iPhones and iPads using social media tools might seem an obvious thing to do if so many rely on these channels for recommendations. But then there's the nagging doubt about how much attention they are paying to the content. Are this growing band addicted to always on social communication buyers for b-2-b products and services? There is an ominous lack of research into a link between company presence on these platforms and channels and sales. Does the influence of social media, apparently so important in recommending what to watch on TV and how to live generally, actually translate into enquiries and ultimately sales?

Should marketing be sliced up or joined up?

As developments in digital marketing call for new skills and specialists emerge to provide them, it prompts the question of who makes sure the total marketing programme is seamless and nothing slips through the joins.

Clients looking to tap into the expertise they may believe they need could soon have a growing number of specialist suppliers. For example, SEO, Adwords, social media, website development, emailing, video production not to mention more conventional skills in PR, advertising, graphic design, exhibition   stand design, mailing programmes and many more. The average b-2-b company with modest marketing personnel resources could soon find they are spending most of their time managing suppliers - providing briefings, agreeing fees, providing material and at the same time keeping a watchful eye on budgets. Soon time pressures lead to skipping formal briefing and becoming a hub for forwarding emails between suppliers. But who checks the quality of the assembled material, who ensures that it all works as a whole? Consider a recent example. The client asked their graphic design agency for an html email. The design agency sub contracted this to a freelancer. He emailed a package back, the agency forwarded it to the client who emailed it to us. Our role being to provide the email delivery service in this case. In between nobody appeared to have looked at the package or tested it. Typically the client is unaware of much of the technical aspects so the relevant suppliers are not briefed and often work on low bid prices that do not build in issues such as testing and quality control. The specialist suppliers are equally unaware of the total marketing plan, the brand values and strategies and company ethos. Marketing is sliced and diced and treated as a bunch of plug-ins.

The Technical Marketing philosophy promotes the joined up marketing view where the marketing communication tools are integrated into a comprehensive plan where together the combination adds value. Our role starts at the planning stage, developing strategies then working with clients to help them implement marketing programmes.