marketing a channel business in transformation

Marketing a Channel Business in Transformation

Thursday, February 28

10:15 – 11:15 a.m.

Marco Polo 701

Angela LeavittChief Mojo-Making Officer

Mojo Marketing@MojoMktg

Brian LeonardChief Mojo-Fying Officer

Mojo Marketing@MojoMktg

SPEAKERS

Description and Purpose

• Why Now?• Building a Brand That Rocks• Strategic Positioning• Capturing Attention, Building Trust• To Niche or Not to Niche?• Breakthrough Messaging • Q&A• Surprise! Please don’t leave!

“What We’ve Got Here is a Failure to Communicate.”

Captain, Road House Prison 36 – Cool Hand Luke

Why Now?

• Economico Global recession – winners & loserso Global economy acceleratingo Companies outsourcing & downsizing

• Socialo We are in “The Connection Economy”o Your network has never been more visible or valuableo More options than ever

• Technologyo Cloud changes everythingo Moore’s Law – going exponentialo IT & Telecom are blendingo Prospects have never been more accessible, for you AND your competition

What Does This Mean?

• You need bigger fish• Time is accelerating, and time is money• You need to fire lots of bullets, and

make every one count!

Branding

"Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind."

Walter Landor

Must Understand…

• #1: Exactly who you are• #2: Exactly who your target audience is• #3: Exactly what your target audience’s pain

points are

ONLY then will you be able to develop messaging that breaks through the noise and moves your prospect to ACT

Who Are You?

• Who are you?• What do you offer? Traditional? Cloud? Both?• What are you GREAT at?• Who are you not? Who is your nemesis?• What is your company personality?

o Business-like? Casual?o Controversial? Class Act?o Professional? Edgy?o Conservative? Liberal?o Optimistic? Pessimistic?o Are you IBM or GoDaddy, or somewhere in between?

STOP! Coffee Time

Who’s Your Audience?

• Demographics• Age, Income, Race, Sex, Part of the Country, etc.• Hobbies/Interests• Is it Small Business Owners?• Is it CEO’s? Is it CIO’s?• Do you have a niche market?

Who’s Your Audience?

• Hopes• Dreams• Desires• Fears• Frustrations• Pain points

Pain Points

• Other terms:o Triggerso Problemso Questions

• Why so important?o YOU are the doctoro If you don’t understand

the pain, you can’t cure it!

Uncovering Pain Points

• Principle #1: Don’t Assume You Know• Principle #2: Ask open-ended questions

o What keeps you up at night?o What recurring problems/questions do you have?o If you could offload a piece of your job, what would it be?

• Principle #3: Listeno Record the interview if possibleo Pay very special attention to their specific language

Positioning

Positioning

• The battle for a position in the current thoughts, beliefs and values held by your prospect.

• Finding a streamlined entrance into the mind (through all of the noise)

Positioning

• What is the tallest mountain in the United States?

• (what was the second?)

• Who was the 1st man on the moon?

• (who was the second?)

• Who was the 1st person to fly solo across the North Atlantic?

• (who was the second?)

Positioning

• Can you call you or your company…o The FIRST at anythingo The ONLY somethingo The LARGEST anythingo Any of these “in your city” or “in a vertical” or “in a technology”

“We are the only telecom agency in Arizona that turns a bill analysis in 24 hours.”

“We are the largest Cloud Provider in the New York metropolitan area.”

This position is a shortcut into your prospects’ mind.This is NOT the same as BEST.

Positioning Exercise

Capturing Attention,Building Trust

People don't buy for logical reasons. They buy for

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ reasons.

What makes people buy?

• VERY important to understand• Crocodile brain (brain stem)

o First point of contact o Controls fight or flighto Evaluates very quickly

• First, can you capture my attention?• Second, are you trustworthy? • Of course, this is all sub-conscious.

How to look alive

Something that is alive will move, breathe, jump, walk and run. • News feed? Update it.• Blog? Post to it.• Twitter link? Tweet.• New products? List them.• Newsletter? Send it.• Design? Fresh, current…

How to capture attention

• Attention spans are short, so…o Use humor.o Be creative and novel.o Do NOT be boring.

• We are inundated with information, so…o Differentiate yourselfo Hit from multiple angles, multiple

times.o It takes 15 touches to make a lasting

impression.

Trust Exercise

Based ONLY on their website home pages, which of these

companies would you do business with?

Trust Exercise

Which of these companies would you do business with?

WHY???

How to look trustworthy

• Testimonials• “Borrowed” credibility• Social proof

o Large social networkso Public kudoso Blog comments

• Professional, current design

Now back to our example…

Choosing a Niche

“We’re going to be #1 or #2 in every market we enter, or we’re getting out.”

– Jack Welch, Former GE CEO

GE Stock Price Under Jack Welch

The Case for Niche Markets

The Case for Niche Markets

Niche Marketing

• Niche messaging resonates moreo Open rates increaseo Engagement increases

• “Experts” can charge more• Trust is implied• Fits into the “Connection

Economy” model

Research Different Niches

• Start with your current customer database• Determine which niches are more receptive to

your unique positioning• Survey the niche

o Are they receptive to cloud?oWhat are their pain points?oWhat’s their “language”?

• Case study

Niche Marketing in Action

Messaging

“If you can explain your prospect’s pain to them, better than they can explain it

themselves, they will automatically assume that you know how to solve the problem.”

– Author Unknown

So…

• You know who you are and aren’t• You’ve narrowed in on your target• You understand their pain• You’ve chosen and researched a niche market

Now…ADDRESS THAT PAIN! (In their language!)

Address Pain

• This is the BIGGEST mistake made in marketing• It’s not about you AT ALL• It’s about addressing your audience’s pain points

We Understand the Pain. Now What?

80-90% of what you “market” should attempt to SOLVE PAIN!!!

Why? This is how you become…• Trusted• A thought leader• Non-threatening• A go-to person

Example

• Pain point: “Cloud is a big hairy monster.”• Solutions:

o Web banner: Compared to legal battles, Cloud is a cakewalk.o Blog post: Is Your Law Firm Considering Cloud? 10 Do’s &

Don’tso Case study: How ABC Law Firm Implemented Cloud (And Lived

to Tell About It)o White paper: 7 Ways to Simplify Law Firm Communications

Through Cloudo Webinar series: Solving the Cloud Puzzle for Law Firms

• NOT: Buy cloud from us today or die!

Develop Your Offer(s)

• Create an offer and message for EACH target marketoWhaleso Big fisho Little fisho Unknown size of fish

• Customize your elevator pitch, web pages, marketing materials per target

• Example: Universities

Example: Intelisys

Holy Free-ness! You’re Invited…

GimmeMojo.com/webinarAngela Leavitt

angela@gimmemojo.com @MojoMktg

Brian Leonardbrian@gimmemojo.com

@MojoMktg