Building Detailed Marketing Profiles to Drive Better Sales

Juliann M. Grant, Vice President

Telesian Technology Inc.julianng@telesian.com

978-681-1600

Scott Sommer, Automation Technology Manager

JacobsScott.Sommer@jacobs.com

(610) 731-1010

This Year’s Marketing & Summit Theme:In Search of the Holy Grail: Integrating Marketing and

Sales

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Integrating Marketing & Sales Through:Marketing Profiles Better Sales

But Searching for the Holy Grail Has Never Been Easy…

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Is there someone else we can talk to…

Juliann and Scott’s quest for the Holy Grail:

• Challenges in Getting Messages Heard• Creating Detailed Customer Profiles• Integrating the Message into Marketing• Moving the Message to Sales• Amplifying the Message• Translating the Message• Extending the Message• Alignment of Marketing and Sales

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Part 1

Challenges in Getting the Message Heard

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1 in 10 Email Noise Factor

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How do you get heard?

Social media noise

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Network≠

Reach

90% Product Launches Fail

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© 2010 The Coca-Cola Company

Market segmentation

• Traditional:– Industry/SIC code– Business category– Geography– Product category (what it is – flow meter, laser

system)

• Problem: Customers/buyers don’t think this way unless…– They know exactly what they are looking for

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New segmentation

• Focus on the job the product does– People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They

want a quarter-inch hole

• Profiles are built around product features, customer types, not customer needs

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Customer profiles lacking

• Only know the basics– Typical demographics– Product type purchased– Customer vs. prospect

• Need to know– Needs– Behaviors– Actions taken– Qualitative and quantitative info

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Part 2

Creating Detailed Customer & Prospect

Profiles

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McDonalds shakes it up

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Yummy shakes

Fruit smoothies© 2010 McDonald’s.

Building a profile

• Start with the basics– Professional Information

• Company, title/functional role

– Demographics• Geography, gender, age, industry, business size

– Products purchased• What was bought, price, timeframe of purchase

– Sales info• Sales personnel, sales cycle duration

– Lead source origin• Marketing and sales outreach

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Add more layers: Quantitative details

• What actions were taken before they bought?– Web site statistics

• Forms completed• Downloads• Event registrations• Subscriptions• Social media interactions• Activity on web site

– Entry/exit pages, referral pages, search terms, duration, frequency of visits, conversions

– Where else did they acquire information?• Web sites, articles, peers

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Add more layers: Qualitative details

• Behavioral and attitudes– Why did they buy?

• Trigger event?• Identify driving need - win/loss data – replacement tech?

innovation?• Professional goals

– Sphere of influence• Buying team participants and relationship• First time or recurring customer?• Likely to make recommendations?

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More qualitative details

• Satisfaction level– Overall buy experience

• Did they feel they had enough information in process• Did the web site provide detail needed• Did sales provide detail needed• Any hiccups in the sales process

– Most useful information• What was the most useful information provided during the

buy process?

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Develop buyer profiles

• Common groupings of information– Trigger events– Reasons for purchase– Information gathering paths– Web site behaviors– Attitudes and goals– Industry trends

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How to get info?

• Start with what you have• Build as you go

– Campaign metrics– Win/loss studies– Customer surveys– Usability surveys

• Need a database (MS Access, Filemaker Pro)

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Part 3

Integrating Profiles into Marketing

Campaigns

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#1: Build learning experiences

• Prospects– Focus on buy cycle stages

• Early stage: Technology sizzle, what’s different• Mid stage: Why you’re better than competitors• Close stage: Build confidence in their decision to choose you

• Customers– Focus on after sale activities

• New customers – Good service – Becoming a “customer”• Ongoing – Relationship building events, staying informed

Short order cook vs. a Chef

Let’s start with an Appetizer….

#2: Create smaller, targeted campaigns

• Small is better: slice and dice data into small groups– Prospects

• Break down into buy cycle stages and focus on key actions that progress sales cycle

– Customers• Identify profile groupings that can have very targeted

messages– i.e., migration issues, expanding product footprint, functional

challenges as it relates to product/service capabilities

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#3: Add Personalization

• Need to make communications relevant to audience

• > 9,000 email messages to process annually

"By 2014 direct marketers will waste $144 million on emails that never reach their primary target.

Successful Direct Marketing pros will alter their tactics to overcome inbox clutter and increase

relevancy." Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst David Daniels.

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Personalization Response Rates

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Broudy and Romano study

144,000 Mailers

B2B and B2C

B/W static w/out personlization:

.46% response rate

More about personalization

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• Also known as “variable data”• An InfoTrends/CAP Ventures study found that

campaigns using variable data strategies like personalization have up to:– 36% higher response rate

– 47% increase in repeat business

– 24% average order value increase

– 31% overall revenue profit increase

http://www.infotrends.com

Multi-channel communications perform better

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Try a pURL campaign

• pURL: Personalized URL– Dynamic landing page

• Entire campaign is personalized for each recipient– JuliannGrant.landingpage.com– Variable data options:

• Text• Links• Images

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Multi-Channel pURL example

• Direct Mailers (2):– Direct mailer– Oversized postcard

• Emails (2):– Heads up Email– HTML Tickler Email

• PURL • Offers (2):

– Personalized promo item– 2 white papers

• Thank you page

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Initial Email

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• Variable data elements- male/ female image- contact first name- assigned sales rep- Company logo

- Goal: Set expectations about direct mailer to arrive

LogoLogo

Direct mailer – Prospect versionVariable data elements

– male/ female image- contact first name- Logo- Customer type

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Direct Mailer – Customer VersionVariable data elements

– male/ female image- contact first name- Logo- Customer type

Email #2: Reminder

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- Touch #3- Variable data

elements- male/ female image- contact first name- assigned sales rep- Logo

- Goal: Motivate to respond

LogoLogo

pURLVariable data elements

- male/ female image- contact first name- assigned sales rep- Logo

- pURL features:- Video of CEO- 3 Qualifying Questions

- Contact information will automatically be filled in for easy verification

- One SUBMIT button for all

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LogoLogo

Thank you page

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- Sent after landing page SUBMIT

- Variable data elements

- male/ female image

- contact first name

- assigned sales rep & contact info

- Logo

LogoLogo

LogoLogo

Keys to success

• Segmented database• Needs-driven message• Offer• A/B variant testing• Personalization technology• Reporting

– Know exactly who responded and what action they took (or didn’t take)

– Add info to customer profile

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Part 4

Moving Profiles into the Sales Process

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Building a Profile – Revisited!

• Start with the basics– Professional Information

• Company, title/functional role

– Demographics• Geography, gender, age, industry, business size

– Products purchased• What was bought, price, timeframe of purchase

– Sales info• Sales personnel, sales cycle duration

– Lead source origin• Marketing and sales outreach

Mapping the course

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MarketingProfiles

SalesForce

Buyer

SALE!Negotiation

PO

Invoice

Support

Focus Here First!

Marketing “ammo”

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Marketing “Targets”

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Are We Hitting the Target?

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• An average buyer digests only about 1 in 10 marketing contacts

• Of those 1 in 10, only about 1 in 10 lead to a followup or significant action.

• That means about 1 in 100 marketing contacts results in a buyer taking any further action.

How Can We Do Better?

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• Marketing & Sales need a coordinated message to customers!

• Can use Marketing Profiles to better know the customer and what drives them.

• What messages are being heard and which are being ignored?

• Let’s play a game...

The Traditional Sales Cycle

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Truth About The Sales Cycle

• The traditional Sales Cycle widens the gap between Marketing & Sales

• 50% waste in time chasing unproductive leads• 80% of productive leads ignored• $1 Trillion lost sales productivity and wasted

marketing budget each yearMarketo, Inc. 2008 survey

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Keeping the prize in view

4646

MarketingProfiles

SalesForce

Buyer

SALE!Negotiation

PO

Invoice

Support

We Must Start Here…But the Prize is Here…

Let’s focus on a revenue cycle instead!

• Coordination of all Marketing & Sales activities from first customer contact to closing the sale.

• Jointly-owned prospects• Hand-In-Hand instead of Hand-Off• Focus on the Revenue Cycle instead of the

Sales Cycle

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The revenue cycle

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Part 5

Amplifying the Messages

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Amplification

Amplify (v): to make louder, to increase, to add detail.

1/8-column ad in an obscure publication has no amplification!

A full-page overlay on the front page of the #1 publication has plenty of amplitude!

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Amplification as a strategy

Need to amplify:

1)Leads Process from Marketing to Sales

2)Product Awareness to Sales

3)Product Message to Customer

4)Customer Messages to Marketing

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Amplifying the leads process

• Use a scoring system to identify the “strength” of a lead.

• BANT – budget, authority, need, timeline• Build a strong set of sales enablement tools• Keep score: use results to fine-tune the lead

process

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Amplifying the product awareness

• Daily updates to Sales on features and benefits• Marketing & Sales -“instant message” system to

make communication real-time.• Sales Automation• Repository of white papers, testimonials,

technical data, etc.• Travelling demonstration units• In-Depth Training and hands-on experience

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Amplifying the customer message

• Most sales messages have not changed in the past 5 years despite new product features and a changing marketplace.

• Know when to market and when to sell.• Use technical resources to sell technical features.• Testimonials add impact – what else?• One-2-One communication is “louder” than email• Maintain consistency between methods and origins

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Amplifying customer messages

• Marketing & Sales need to share ALL customer feedback with each other.

• Listen to the Customer – use feedback surveys, reorder data, email, personal follow-up, etc., to understand what you are doing right, and wrong.

• Acknowledge all customer feedback with a time line for response. Follow through!

• All customer feedback is important and has a message – look for it and make the right people aware!

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Part 6

Translating the Messages

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What is translation?

Translation (n): version in another language; a change or transference.

For us, translation means taking the general marketing message and transferring it into the precise message that will lead a customer to make a purchase.

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An example

Marketing message: PowerPoint slide deck

Sales translation for Customer Y:

Use slides 12-16 to highlight the specific need of the customer to migrate the control system to a modern platform.

The remainder of the slide deck is “babble”.

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Another example

Marketing message: Product Brochure

Sales translation for Customer Z:

Use last page to highlight certifications which indicate suitability for use in hazardous areas.

The remainder of the brochure is “dessert”.

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One more example

Marketing message: Email Campaign

Sales translation for Customer X:

Send custom version of “stock” email which highlights the customer’s specific need or situation.

The personal touch can mean the difference between the “save” folder and “recycle bin”.

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Some good practices

• Feature downloads and white papers on your website

• Make it easy to obtain technical data• Use widely-used formats (PDF, etc.)• Give a choice of formats for electronic media• Make it easy to report format issues

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Some more good practices

• Don’t hide information• If you don’t know, find out quickly!• Know what “messages” the customer already

has; update the out-of-date; no duplicates please!

• Bring along a “listener” to calibrate the “messages”.

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Part 7

Extending the Messages

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Extending the reach of the marketing message

• How buyers make buying decisions is a challenge made more complex by the host of digital channels buyers now use

• Sales must take the marketing messages and extend them to a wide audience, even to the point of “uncovering” needs

• Targeted message – targeted exposure

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Ways to extend the message

• “Aha!” Moments• Laying track – segment by segment• Social Media “reaches” where we could not go

easily before• Internet (electronic) versus ‘glossy’ (paper)• Huggin’ and chaulkin’ – keeping track• Integrated Marketing & Sales automation

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Putting it all together

• How can the message be developed (marketing) and then be taken to your prospects so that they are heard (amplification) with the widest possible exposure to the message (reach, extent)?

• The media might be different in each type of communication (ads, print, text, Twitter, flyers, trade pubs, etc.), but the message should be constructed to be coordinated, concise, and effective.

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Part 8

The Holy Grail Obtained:Alignment of Marketing

& Sales

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Integration of Marketing & Sales

• Build Detailed Customer & Prospect Profiles– Start with the Basics– Add Quantitative and Qualitative Details

• Integrate Profiles in the Marketing Strategy– Build Learning Experiences– Create Smaller, Targeted Campaigns– Add Personalization

• Maintain a Database– Keep Track of the Messages Sent and to Whom– Report on How They Responded

Integration of Marketing & Sales

• Use Customer & Prospect Profiles– Know Your Customer (needs & behaviors)– Know Your Message (marketing & strategy)

• Focus on the Revenue Cycle• Amplify the Message from Marketing

– Keep Your Toolbox Sharp and Current

• Translate the Marketing Message– Speak the Language of Your Customers’ Needs

• Extend the Marketing Message – Targeted Message Targeted Exposure

QUESTIONS?