ITSMA clients voted for these ideas with their computer mice. These are the ideas contained within ITSMA research documents that were downloaded most often in 2009, in order of popularity. We’ve created a special report with excerpts from these most popular research documents that you can download for free.

1. ITSMA’s
Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010
ABBREVIATED SUMMARY
Special Edition | January 4, 2010
Chris Koch
Download the full Special Edition of
ITSMA’s Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010.
09TOP10

2. Introduction
We had many new ideas to
help marketers in 2009.
(You can see them all in
ITSMA’s Online Library.)
But here we’ve summarized
the ones that you voted for
with your feet. These are
ideas within the documents
that were downloaded most
often in 2009, in order of
popularity. Enjoy!
Download the full Special Edition of
ITSMA’s Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 2

3. 1. Help customers and prospects spark
epiphanies
We have identified three steps to becoming a master of the epiphany stage:
 Refocus your thought leadership strategy.
 Align the sales and marketing processes with the customer’s buying process.
 Change sales’ emphasis from transactional to consultative selling.
ITSMA’s Relationship Model
Relationship Stage 1. Stage 2. Stage 3. Stage 4. Stage 5.
Stages EPIPHANY AWARENESS INTEREST CONFIDENCE LOYALTY
Buying Need Search Alternative Selection and Post-Purchase
Processes Recognition Evaluation Purchase Evaluation
 Explore the  Clarify objectives  Solicit proposals  Select the  Evaluate
possibilities and solution provider satisfaction
 Evaluate
specifications
 Identify a need alternatives  Negotiate the  Measure value
or opportunity  Identify contract delivered
alternatives
 Ultimate sign-off
(short list)
Source: ITSMA, 2009
To understand the epiphany stage and how it can help, read our report,
The Epiphany Stage: The Missing Link in the Buying Process.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 3

4. 2. Match value propositions to the different stages
of the buying cycle
According to ITSMA’s definition, a value proposition is:
A clear and simple statement that reflects the essence of the unique
value a business will provide to a client or target market through a
combination of benefits and price.
ITSMA’s Six-Step Process for Articulating Value Propositions
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6
Understand Determine Articulate Quantify Elicit internal Collaborate with
the market your true unique value value and external sales to
and clients differentiators based on feedback and communicate
customer need revise value
Source: ITSMA, 2009 propositions
For more information, read our report Where’s the Beef? Creating Value Propositions That
Matter, which explains our six-step process for developing effective value propositions and
offers a proven template for creating value propositions that deliver results.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 4

5. 3. Reduce the cost per order dollar through
marketing
Cost per order dollar is the key to
demonstrating the power of
marketing to improve the
efficiency of sales. It helps senior
management understand that
spending money on marketing has
the potential to both improve
revenue generation and reduce
the cost of sales as a percentage
of revenue.
For more information, read
Why (and How) You Should Spend More on Marketing in a Downturn.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 5

6. 4. Create a clear process for developing
and selling complex solutions
In 2005, HP began an ambitious Other essential steps in HP’s solution
effort to create an all-encompassing development process include:
solution for customers to revamp 1. Size the potential market.
their data centers. 2. Research customer needs.
Developing a quantitative analysis of the 3. Market the solution internally.
potential market was important not just
for market planning but also for making 4. Create an appropriate level of
the case for the solution internally. HP detail in the solution.
wanted the solution to be something that 5. Develop a list of differentiators.
the business units would be actively
6. Create a go-to-market plan.
involved in and supportive of. That made
quantitative market research essential. 7. Raise the tolerance for ambiguity
inside the organization.
8. Create a composite portrait of ROI.
To learn more about these specific steps, read
How to Develop a Complex Solution: HP’s Data Center Transformation.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 6

7. 5. Close deals faster with collaborative account
planning
Collaboration between marketing and
There are six steps to
sales in the account planning process collaborative account planning:
can speed up the sales process.
1. Pick the target accounts.
Ideally, sales and marketing should 2. Conduct research and map to
collaborate on both selecting accounts customers’ strategic planning
and digging up the market and processes.
customer intelligence to support the 3. Validate with customers and
plan. Salespeople are good at analysts.
understanding the “now” inside 4. Link the initiatives to the
accounts—the current opportunities — responsible individuals.
while marketing develops the larger 5. Develop targeted offerings.
picture of market trends and new
6. Create tailored value
opportunities. propositions.
Want to learn more about collaborative account planning?
Read Accelerate the Buying Process with Collaborative Account Planning.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 7

8. 6. Differentiate by knowing buyers’ business
needs
No single marketing tactic
stands out as being more
effective than others to buyers
today. Yet thought leadership-
based tactics such as
e-newsletters, Webinars, and
in-person seminars all cluster
near the top, whereas more
traditional marketing tactics
such as brochures,
telemarketing, and hospitality
events all occupy the bottom of
the list.
Learn more about what buyers want by reading How Customers Choose Solution
Providers, 2009: The Importance of Personalization, Epiphanies, and Social Media.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 8

9. 7. Stop reporting and start predicting through
analytics
According to our survey, Marketing ITSMA’s Analytics
Analytics, marketers who want to make Best Practice Model
the transition to analytics need to do
Use marketing data to glean insights
three things: and make important marketing decisions
1. Collaborate with finance. Work with Cultivate a fact-based decision-making
finance to gather the enterprise-level culture
data necessary to get a view of Manage marketing data at an enterprise level
marketing’s overall business impact. Gather sufficient data to document
2. Shift to a fact-based culture. That marketing’s performance
means a culture that is comfortable Analyze marketing data in conjunction with
waiting a little longer before taking data from finance and operations to create a
action—a culture that wants answers holistic view of marketing’s impact on the
business
before plunging ahead with action.
Demonstrate a link between marketing
3. Experiment. Develop experimentation performance and business profitability and
methods to predict the performance of customer loyalty/retention rates
marketing programs and campaigns. Source: ITSMA research
Want to get the facts about analytics? Download our survey, Marketing Analytics.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 9

10. 8. Integrate Marketing into the Portfolio
Management Process
Building a successful portfolio
management process is difficult enough, Key Takeaways
but building support for and participation  Portfolio management, business
development, and marketing groups
in the process in a company as large
should all be involved in the
and diverse as CSC takes years.
selection of the products and
As CSC has discovered, fthe portfolio services that they will be asked to
management function must establish the market and sell.
senior executive relationships necessary  Delivering complex solutions
to gain entry into the process, get globally requires a tightly managed
funding for finding and investing in new portfolio process.
ideas, and become change management  The effectiveness of strategic
experts to get skeptical businesspeople marketing activity inside the
to support it. organization grows as it becomes
more involved in the portfolio
process.
 Building acceptance is the biggest
challenge in portfolio management.
Learn more about how CSC created its portfolio management process by reading
CSC: How to Integrate Marketing into the Portfolio Management Process.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 10

11. 9. Make marketing more efficient rather than
slashing and burning
Marketing staffs were already lean But we also saw some companies
coming into this recession. We were making some intelligent choices. They’ve
shocked at how deep some companies tried to make marketing more efficient by
cut marketing. Some will not recover taking these steps:
from it. Meanwhile, many of those same  Move from broad to narrow.
companies are holding sales expenses
steady or even increasing the number of  Shift from offline to online.
sales resources.  Use the urge for continuity to cut
costs.
 Go offshore for productivity, not
just cost.
To learn more ways that marketers
responded to the downturn,
listen to our online briefing
ITSMA’s 2009 State of the Marketing
Profession Address: Making the Right
Choices in Uncertain Times.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 11

12. 10. Refine the demand generation and lead
management processes
Marketers need to move from
lead generation to lead The role and value of information in the IT buying
nurturing. We do this by process
developing programs that Technology
Buyers Information Usage
generate awareness, Look for different kinds of information at various
61% points in the buying cycle
stimulate interest, and
educate. We also identify Need to see information about a new technology
or solution at least three times
needs, pain points, and 85%
purchase ability. But most Rated educational content as ‘very’ or ‘extremely’
85% important to them
important, we engage in
dialogue and build a 72%
Contacted a vendor after reading a white paper
relationship and credibility.
Almost Spend ~5 hours per week with third-party information
all
Source: KnowledgeStorm, Connecting through Content, March 2006;
IDC, An Inconvenient Truth: The Role and Value of Information in the IT Buying Process, January 2008
ITSMA Web Briefing | OLB090225 Generating Revenue in Tough Times © 2009 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 26
Learn more about how to manage your demand generation and lead management
processes by downloading Generating Revenue in Tough Times: Better Thinking,
Better Tactics.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 12

13. About ITSMA
As a membership
organization,
ITSMA brings together
the world’s leading
technology and
professional services
firms to advance the
state of the art in
marketing and selling
services and solutions.
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 13

14. For More Information
Chris Koch
Director, Thought Leadership and Research
ITSMA
ckoch@itsma.com
+1-781-862-8500, Ext. 115
Online Library Follow us…
Special Edition | January 4, 2010 | 09TOP10 Top Ten Marketing Ideas for 2010 © 2010 ITSMA. All Rights Reserved. 14