7 Steps to Optimize Your B2B Digital Marketing Strategy
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Rene's presentation from On the Edge Manchester, 10 October 2012 where he presented a 7 step approach to brilliant b2b digital marketing - incl strategy and objectives, websites, search, content and inbound marketing, social media, landing pages and CRM and evaluation and analytics.
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7 Steps to Optimize Your B2B Digital Marketing Strategy
- 1. l digita 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 2. Step 1 strategy 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 3. Channel influence on b2b 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 4. Step 2 websites 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 5. Key questions for a b2b site 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 6. Step 3 search 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 7. Clickthrough rate b2b v b2c 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 8. Step 4 content 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 9. Average cost per lead 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 10. Step 5 social 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 11. Digital tools used (clients) sold by agencies 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 12. Step 6 Lead gen & CRM 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 13. 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 14. Step 7 Analytics & improvement 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 15. buzz by time of day seasonal buzz competitive buzz category/topic buzz Buzz by no of posts buzz by impressions shift in buzz channel buzz by stage in DM process mainstream media mentions installs downloads buzz asset popularity buzz by customer type mainstream media uploads favourites likes comments ratings mentions growth rate of fans follows friends contacts no of pass increase in searches %of buzz with links no of views/interactions polls alongs recommends embeds bookmarks subscriptions page virtual gifts tags popularity contest entries leads generated views clickthroughs changes in search ranking type reach channel products sampled store visits trials geography volume of posts impressions time spent clicks contributions customer acquisition & retention complaint handling by bloggers chatrooms wikis online sales offline sales savings satisfaction feedback change in share AEV event response event attendance 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 16. 7 steps summary 7 step summary Set a strategy (SWOT & objectives) Get your website right – as a content hub Build search around a variety of keywords Use inbound fuel to engage influencers Select social platforms your customers use Create calls to action in integrated campaigns Set goals and funnels in Analytics 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 17. Further reading Websites Smart Insights blog Econsultancy.com Content Marketing Institute blog Hubspot blog Problogger Books Inbound Marketing: Get found using Google, social media and blog Dharmesh Shah / Brian Halligan Content Rules CC Chapman 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
- 18. More? 200 page eBook on b2b digital marketing - available to members of http://www.smartinsights.com/ 20% off promo code: SMARTB2B rene@bdb.co.uk http www.bdb.co.uk @renepower blog http://marketingassassin.co.uk Coming soon Slides will go up on http://slideshare.net/renepower 10 October 2012 #edgemanc @ontheedgelive @renepower
Editor's Notes
- I’m very pleased to be opening On the Edge Manchester 2012 today with a preview of new content from my upcoming work with Dave Chaffey. Given the absence of good b2b digital marketing texts (including citable b2b case studies) we created one, pulling together a 200 page 7 step eBook on essential b2b digital marketing that is available exclusively to members of the Smart Insights website, but will be available on iTunes and Amazon in a few weeks time. I also think this short talk works well in setting the tone for what is going to be a brilliant day here today.
- Strategy is key. Gets Csuite buy-in. Gets budget. Helps set goals. Allows for measurement and improvement. How can you track what you can’t measure. LTV – lifetime value. These things are obvious but how often do we do them. Every year? More? Less? Google Analytics now offers social reporting. It’s too important to pass up. Digital 5 S’s – gear up the modern business to promote online. Have you a focus on each of these areas? What is your online value proposition? Have you a focus on each of these areas?
- Base One research for B2BM Buyersphere survey 2012 (800 marketing managers with average spend of £300k pa) shows how more b2b MMs are using more channels, and more digital channels across three core stages of the decision making process – information, shortlist, selection of suppliers.
- For me its ridiculous spending a single £ on promotion if where you send them isn’t up to scratch. Get your house in order first. And more importantly than that, look at it what it really provides to your customers and prospects. Match they want with what you offer. And provide a great experience – if its information, make it easy to find and ask for more, if it’s ecommerce make it easy to navigate. Build your site as a content hub and get people coming back for more by providing more insight into what you do, how you do it and the people behind it.
- Here’s some questions you may have never asked yourself about your website. If you haven’t start tomorrow. Information and knowledge is the primary driver behind search in b2b sectors. And trust leads to transaction. You’ll hear that more and more today.
- Search marketing is about getting found, and staying found. Fundamentally, its all about keywords…and links. Having a strategic focus means you’re better placed to align your search marketing efforts with the needs of key buyers and influencers. On page search marketing techniques involve placing your keywords in as many places on the page (and in the code) as possible without it becoming over-bearing. Use them in page titles, domain names, headings, alt tags, call to actions, anchor text and links, meta data and descriptions with are used by search engines and more. Off page, build page rank by placing content on high traffic relevant sites. The easiest way to do is through online PR and blogging. Hit up the trade media, use PR services, Yahoo! Contributor even Huffington Post if relevant! Consider geographical targeting, using localised meta data for regional or international marketing. [Is someone going to talk about search today??]
- Useful data from Optify demonstrates how significant being higher up on page 1 you need to be to get clicked. Did anyone in the room doubt this? We all want to be on page one for Google, but for some of us we’re going to have to think longer tail and more niche in our search and our keywords.
- For b2b companies, I think this is a critical area. Good, relevant, useful content that helps/informs/educates/inspires customers and prospects also performs the twin role of profiling you as an expert. Tap into internal expertise to spread the load and create content that resonates with your audience. Segmented content leads to more successful campaigns. At BDB we’re seeing double the open rate on email campaigns to recipients in sectors where the content talks directly to their sector. Nuclear fuel is stuff like blogs, video, whitepaper, infographic and other material that can be shared, liked, downloaded and subscribed to. Hitting the right influencers means serving content up to them when they want it, where the want it – more on that in a minute.
- Hubspot is marketing software. Merits of that tbc but their blog and their own inbound marketing work is the industry benchmark. Summarising data in 2012 they’ve surveyed and tracked investment on inbound vs outbound to establish the average cost per lead in the US. Inbound techniques cost around 2/3 less than outbound calling and DM.
- Once you’ve got your site set, the optimisation set up, the regular content (rocket fuel), it’s time to go social. That content becomes what you talk about. Don’t lurch into social without a plan. Start small with curation, progress to sharing your thoughts and comments, then create your own. This way you can keep on top of time and resource commitments and grow influence and audience. Go to the watering holes for your industry – media, Linkedin, established portals. And listen first. Establish what is being talked about, not being talked about, required, missing, opportunities. Max out on Linkedin – it isn’t for your CV. It is a sophisticated business development tool. You can find just about anyone in any organisation and create a reason to get in touch. Groups help you create a profile amongst the people you most want to influence. Google Analytics can be used to track social media originated traffic now too.
- Interesting eMarketer survey from 2012. In 2009, ad agencies pretty much oversold and failed to appreciate the needs of their customers, not least on web, advertising, social, video and mobile. Fast forward 3 years and not only are they are a little more in tune, the focus on web and social especially is stark. (As an aside it’s interesting that clients don’t seem to be looking for strategic counsel though).
- Step 6 is how to maximise, monetise and make revenue from all this effort. Targeted call to actions that direct customers to actions are key, but how often are we using them, or mixing them up and therefore diluting their impact? Are you seeding relevant content and building our landing pages to mirror, similarly are our email campaigns delivering people to the pages they want to read about? It’s not just about email, it’s about truly integrating all your activity so your target customer has the best possible experience right through their journey. And making it easy for them to engage and interact - to build trust and do business with you.
- A couple of b2b examples are Salesforce.com and Adobe SiteCatalyst. Both are software companies that use powerful CTAs to drive traffic and engagement. The interesting thing about both sites is that there is something for buyers at differing stages of the decision making process. Explanatory information for initial interested through to free trial and testimonials to convince visitors to take an action. Both interestingly look complex but are actually surprisingly easy to navigate.
- Step 7 completes the circle and we review what we’ve done and make corrective action. Not having a strategy, goals and objectives makes this almost impossible. Analytics tools have emerged all over the web = website analytics, social analytics, email analytics and more. Plugging all this disparate data together starts to paint a powerful picture of what content matters, which audiences are influenced or influencers and where conversion took place. Using dedicated landing pages for specific campaigns helps you to track what works. Split testing (content experiments) help improve conversion over time.
- When it comes to measurement, the boffins say steer clear of vanity measures like fans, likes, follows as these are redundant and meaningless when it comes to real ROI. I think there is some truth in this and there is much to be said about a niche but highly active following being more valuable. However, people are swayed by large numbers. For b2b, match vanity metrics with those that help display some tangible return – signups, downloads, inquiries, appointments and chart them through your funnel. These are much more likely to lead to stepchange improvement in what you’re doing as you make yourself even more relevant to your customers.
- I think therefore there is approach to cracking b2b digital marketing and it starts with establishing what you want to achieve. Selling from the page is very different to developing leads, which is different again to brand building. Approach digital as you would any other part of your marketing plan. Get your website right – that is where all roads lead. Everything else builds on that.
- I wanted to use this as a scenesetter to the day and I hope you take a few things away. In relation to the book, there’s going to be blogs, infographics, video, webinars, and teasers available from Smart Insights. If you want to become a Smart insights member this promo code can be used. The book should be available in ebook format in the next 2-3 weeks. BDB digital credentials V1 Jan 2012