conversational marketing: 3 essential phases to build bi-directional dialogue between prospects...

Conversational Marketing

3 Essential Phases To Build Bi-Directional Dialogue Between Prospects & Vendor

Andrew Gaffney Editor DemandGen Report

Justin Gray CEO LeadMD

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The Change •  “Never before have companies

had such powerful technologies for interacting directly with customers, collecting and mining information about them, and tailoring their offerings accordingly…And never before have customers expected to interact so deeply with companies, and each other, to shape the products and services they use.”

Jan./Feb. Issue of HBR has a feature titled: “Rethinking Marketing”

Aligning With The Buying Cycle Buyers look for different kinds of information "at various points in the buying cycle. "

 61% of technology buyers want content that directly addresses the issues they face at each point in the decision process."

 Frequency is also important: 85% of tech buyers said they need to encounter at least three pieces of content before they engage with a potential partner."

Why Marketers Now Need Dialogue

The 2009 Lead Generation Metrics Report from The Bridge Group found: Only 17% of leads convert to qualified opportunities On average, what percentage of leads convert to qualified opportunities?

Need For Nurturing  80% of sales close after the 5th contact

 The Bridge Group study also found it takes an average of 7 touches to convert a “suspect” to a “prospect”

Key Learnings From Leaders

 DemandGen Report conducted a survey of early adopters of marketing automation last year:"

 79.2% said they would “better prepare their organization by building proper processes and content offers to feed the automation system.”!

Conversational Marketing: 3 Essential Phases To Build Bi-Directional Dialogue

Between Prospects & Vendors

Introduction

"   LeadMD   Buying Has Changed   Defines the Buyer   Define the Technology   Define the Sales Process   Start the Conversa<on

The Rumors are True! You’ve seen the Ar?cles, the blogs, the studies:

Potential Impact of Nurturing

"   Marke<ng driven nurturing campaigns "   Touch up to 10x MORE prospects than sales-‐centric efforts

"   Can drive up to 300% more qualified, sales-‐ready opportuni<es into a company’s pipeline

"   Can reduce cost per sale by 25% or more

What’s the Issue? "   Marke<ng Has No Technology "   Sales Has No Visibility "   Solu<ons Have No ROI

  Less than 20% of Marke<ng Automa<on & CRM Users are GeXng their Expected Levels of Impact

© 2009 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confiden<al

Buyer Behavior Has Changed Did you know that up to 95% of your marke?ng budget is wasted on:

  Irrelevant conversa<ons with prospects during the buying process   Leads sent to sales too early   Repe<<ve, manual tasks to support basic marke<ng ini<a<ves   Marke<ng that lacks a “closed loop” to iden<fy ROI

It’s <me for to create true conversa?ons.

© 2008 Marketo, Inc. All rights reserved.

Web Visits

Email Ac?vity

Score

Interes?ng Moments

Where does the Conversation Take Place?

Why Conversational Marketing


Who should I call next?

“I’ve visited the website three times this week, have an active project, and want to engage with sales”

By the Time B2B Buyers Speak to a Sales Rep 70% of the buying process has expired:

"   Educa<on   No Longer a Dirty Word   Not a Sales Pitch   Through a Trusted Channel

"   Buy on THEIR Timeframes "   Emphasis on Right Time – Right Message

What Buyers Want

Rethink your en?re mix of messaging:

"   Analyze Successful Conversa<ons "   Defining target "personas” "   Develop a content marke<ng plan to reach those buyers

Step 1: Focus on the Buyer

Competitive Colin:  Source: Colin doesn’t find LeadMD.com. His minions do.They distill and present info to Colin, who will give a quick A.D.D. glance over the info to verify it’s claims.  Wants: Accomplishment  Attitude: Businesslike, power oriented  Use of Time: Disciplined, fast paced  Question: What can your solution do for me?  Approach: Provide options, probabilities, and challenges

Spontaneous Sharon:  Source: From friends in the industry via conventions, seminars, etc.  Wants: Acceptance  Attitude: Personal, activity oriented  Use of Time: Undisciplined, fast paced  Question: Why is your solution best to solve my lead problems?  Approach: Provide guarantees and assurances, personal solutions, credible opinions rather than options

So Now What?

  Spend hours collec?ng informa?on from your separate CRM, lead genera?on, Web analy?cs, and e-‐mail solu?ons.

  Download separate reports and try to put the pieces together.

  Rely on spreadsheets, pivot tables, and the endless impor?ng and expor?ng of data to create meaningful marke?ng segments.

  Combine Data in Real Time   Analize the Message per Persona.   Consider How The Persona Moves   Score each Movement   Consider NEGATIVE Score

Some%mes that’s easy to forget when looking at data.

The OLD Way The NEW Way

The Technology always comes second to PROCESS:

"   Combining Art with Science to yield result "   Giving Marke<ng Technology combining that with CRM "   Using a Unifying pladorm to make your marke<ng channels work

together – not against

Step 2: Focus on the Technology

?

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twiger

Email

Website Search

Blogs

PR

Webinars

Combine Data Sources


Use the Digital Footprint:

"   Google Pre-‐Site Analy<cs "   Onsite Tracking Analy<cs "   Post Experience Analy<cs

  Who’s Downloading   Who’s Opening   In What Time Frame

"   Sales CRM Based Informa<on

Automate Follow Up & Nurturing


  Plan your automated programs in advance using complicated workflow tools.

  Forget about revising programs to react to opportuni?es in real ?me—it could take days before your new mul?-‐step program is up and running.

  Hire a full-‐?me person dedicated to building your workflows using your “extra” budget.

  Create simple flow steps based on triggers and filters that correspond to specific prospect or customer behaviors.

  More advanced? Create branches to basic flows based on business rules.

  Marke?ng is dynamic! Change your workflows in a snap to respond quickly to your buyers needs.

Now that you know who they are...

Spend Days on Campaign Workflow

Frustrated?

Pull Hair Out Spend Weekends in Office

The OLD Way The NEW Way

Lead Scoring to make Sales cheer.


  No way to score? Pass all prospects onto Sales regardless of interest level.

  Use other demand genera?on tools that require you to build complex lead scoring rules based on a variety of demographic and behavioral factors—and hope you don’t have to make revisions.

  Automate lead qualifica?on processes so you can act on “hot” leads faster.

  Score leads using demographics, BANT a/ributes, and behavioral data.

  Track online ac?vity to measure buying interest and sales-‐readiness.

  Decrease scores over ?me based on inac?vity.

Say you’ll align marke%ng and sales – and mean it.

The Hard Way The NEW Way Automate lead scoring

“Easy” ma/ers!


If it’s not repeatable and efficient it won’t happen for long:

 Raise open and click rates -‐ Segment based on profile, interests, and ac<ons  Shorten sales cycles – Focus sales on high-‐quality, already educated leads  Build a great rela?onship with sales -‐ Deliver a steady flow of high quality leads  Get seamless integra?on with Salesforce -‐ Bi-‐direc<onal synchroniza<on keeps leads and contacts updated

Test the Waters Learn from the buyers response to your message :

  Build in Checks & Balances through Analy?cs – Gain more <me for strategy

  Use A/B tes?ng -‐ Learn what works and raise your conversions by 48% or more

  Access sophis?cated repor?ng and analy?cs – No need to be a sta<s<cal or financial analyst or spend hours tweaking spreadsheets

  Win more deals and generate higher revenue per deal -‐ Focus resources on the best opportuni<es


How can we use Sales Feedback in Real Time? DATA is the Answer:

"   Re-‐Tooled Sales Process to wrap around the Marke<ng Cycle "   Interac<on with prospects via SFA/MA "   Qualifying & Nurturing leads "   Reengagement campaigns via Segmenta<on

Step 3: Focus on Sales

Ensure Bi-Directional Interaction


•  Interes<ng Moments •  Sales Available Campaigns •  Sales Email Filters/Triggers

•  Best Bet Dashboard •  Lead/Contact Marketo Details •  Sales Insight Ac<ons •  Add to Campaign •  Track Email with Outlook

Marketo Lead Management Marketo Sales Insight

Impact of Sales & Marketing Insight


Rethink your en?re mix of messaging:

"   Tangibles   Improved follow-‐up and response <mes   Conversion rates increased   2x Pipeline Conversion

"   Intangibles   Working much more closely with sales   Higher par<cipa<on rate   Transparency company wide

Sales & Marke?ng Alignment bears an Expense – What is the RETURN:

"   Efficiency "   Sustainable Technology "   Real View of the Sales Funnel "   Ability to determine Cost-‐Per-‐Lead through the Sale

Step 4?: See The Results

See The Result Average Time To Opportunity Number of Deals

Not Nurtured 8 days 107

Nurtured 164 days 97

Total 65 days 204


48% of all deals come from lead nurturing

See the Revenue

Passed to Sales (<1 mo)

Passed to Sales (<6 mo)

Total Passed to Sales

Cost per Sales Lead

Without 10 80 33% $195 With 25 240 50% $130


Source: Actual LeadMD data; assumes $65 per prospect

Results: 30% Lir in Sales Ready Leads

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conversational marketing: 3 essential phases to build bi-directional dialogue between prospects...

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