Converting Technology Prospects into Buyers

Marilou BarsamSVP of Client & Corporate Marketing, TechTarget

Considerations for IT Marketers

• The Challenges

• Content Strategy - lots to think about

• Your prospects’ media consumption habits

• The Online Environment - realities

• Case Studies

• Profiling with Activity Intelligence for nurturing

insights

• Wrap-up

Content Strategy Checklist

• Is your copy theme, email promo and content

focused on the right topic and title?

• Are you using content/media types that work well

for converting prospects to leads?

• How does your approach benchmark against the

industry or your competitive set?

• Have you tailored your content’s focus to the

exact buying stage of the buyer?

Online - Prospects have different needs based on stage/interests

Expect broader response early stage and fewer responses from later stage

Individual leads can spend several months researching technology solutions and providers

Challenge is how to lead them from the top of the funnel to the bottom

MYSEARCH

KEYWORDS

MY MEDIA PREFERENCES

MY ENGAGEMENT

MY SOCIAL NETWORKING

MY LEVELOF

ACTIVITY

BUYING STAGE

MY ROLE

Multiple Considerations

• Role of target audience

• Topical focus - market maturity - market overlaps

• Mapping content/media to the prospect’s buying

stage

The importance of mapping to stages

Media Consumption Studies and Google/TechTarget Research

both tell you what buyers want and do in specific stages

Proof point: Aligning your content and SEO strategies to the IT buyer's purchase process pays off

Specific Search terms

Specific Search terms

Specific Search terms

Specific Search terms across all 3 stages

Keywords

Content Types

DecisionAwareness Consideration

Different media offer different levels of engagement based on prospect’s stage

• White papers/editorial guides – IT Problem

Definition Skimmers to underliners

highlighting specific issues/problems

• Webcasts/podcasts/video – Technical

Overview 5-45 min commitment-checking out

your solution within competitive landscape

• Trial offer - Solution Comparison – Ready to

check-out your solution real-time ready-to-

buy within 48 hours

• White papers/collateral - Vendor

comparisons or specs

Early stage

Late stage

Product-centric assets can return later stage leads with higher vendor interest

11%

5%

12%

6%

SingTel Selects Alcatel-Lucent as Strategic

Partner in IPTV Deployment

The Business Value of the Network Integrator

Protecting SharePoint with Double-Take for

Windows 5.0

Essential Guide To Storage Networking

Alcatel-LucentDouble-Take

Audience 50% more likely to opt-in for sales follow-up when responding to late stage assets

Question:Can we contact you?

Question:Will you take a test drive of

the software?

Product-centric assets also attract higher concentration of decision-makers

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ten Things You Need to

Know about Virtualization

Serious About High

Availability? Eliminate Storage-related Downtime,

Not Just Hardware Failures

DataCore Software: IDC on

Removing Storage-Related Barriers to Virtualization

Determine need

Evaluate

products/services

Recommend and

specify products/services

Implement

products/services

Decision maker

(Technical and/or Financial)

Content Analysis by Job Function

Different topics attract different roles

• ROI/TCO-themed white papers are top

performers on SearchCIO.com for senior or

LOB decision-makers

• “Tech how-to” content more effective with

line managers

Examples of successful role-focused content

• TCO of Dell, HP and IBM Blade

Solutions

• Sponsor: Dell

• Target audience:

SearchCIO.com community

• Results: Delivered 1.15%

response rate versus .70%

average – exceeded

benchmark by 64%!

Examples of successful role-focused content

• Configuring Sun Storage 7000

Unified Storage Systems for Oracle

Databases

• Sponsor: SUN Microsystems

• Target audience:

SearchStorage.com community

(managers/implementers)

• Results: Delivered 1.44%

response rate versus .% .79%

benchmark – exceeded

benchmark by 82%!

Market/product maturity impacts content strategyMature

• Backup market – Top white papers

• IT Managers Speak Out on Switching from Symantec to

CommVault

• Beyond Backup: Disk2Disk Storage Comes of Age

• Enterprise Grade "No Compromise" Backup

• Disk-Based Backup & Recovery: Making Sense

of Options

• Simplify Storage: High Perf Disk-Based Backup

• Strategy: Segment and compare

• Content focus: Comparative-technical in natureSearchStorage.com WP Performance

Market/product maturity impacts content strategyEmerging• Cloud Computing - Top white papers

• The Building Blocks for Private Cloud: Automation,

Virtualization, and Cloud Service Management

• Cloud Computing - What is its Potential Value for Your

Company?

• A Practical Guide to Cloud Computing Security

• E-Guide: Understanding Cloud Computing Benefits,

Planning and Networking

• Strategy: Getting Started, Business Benefits, Basic

Cloud Security

• Content focus: Educational, How-toSearchCloudComputing.com WP Performance – Q1-10

Next question: Is your topical focus aligned?

1. Automate Virtualization in Your Data

Center

2. Rethinking Server Virtualization:

Breaking Performance and

Manageability Barriers

3. Reduce Costs and Gain Control of Your

Virtualized Infrastructure with

Consolidated Management

4. 11 Questions Every CIO Should Ask

Their IT Manager

5. Leading Virtualization 2.0: How Intel is

driving virtualization beyond

consolidation into a solution for

maximizing business agility within the

enterprise

6. Data Center Virtualization and

Efficiency: Server, Network and

Storage Perspective

7. PlateSpin Recon: Virtual Capacity

Management and Consolidation

Planning

8. Intel® Xeon® Processor 5500 Series -

An Intelligent Approach to IT

Challenges Build for Today

Most Downloaded Vendor Content

1. Server Virtualization Hardware,

Software and Services

2. Blade server trends and advice

3. Data center Linux

4. Sun Solaris Unix and Sparc server

platforms

5. Windows Server Virtualization and

Microsoft Hyper-V

6. P2V, V2V and V2P migration

7. Rack mount server and x86 hardware

8. Virtualized clusters and high-

performance computing

Most Popular Editorial Content

1. The Great Virtualization Dilemma of

the Next Decade: What You Need to

Know

2. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of Dell,

HP, and IBM Blade Solutions

3. Reduce Your Server Footprint with

SQL Server 2008

4. Out-of-box Comparison Between Dell,

HP, and IBM Blade Servers

5. Optimizing the Datacenter for Cost

and Efficiency

6. Blade Server Performance and Power

Consumption Comparisons

7. Simplifying UNIX Migration

8. Create Fault-Tolerant SQL Server

2008 Installations

Sponsor’s Top Content

Sponsor’s ratio of virtualization to storage contentnot aligned to industry

Does your content reflect the buzz in social communities?

Top ITKE Topics –

Last 30 Days

Top ITKE Topics –

Overall

Tracking topical activity over time 6 months to identify research and purchase trends

One lead - many intersecting interests - many opportunities

Lead Profile

• EMEA

• Government

• Over 50,000 employees

• IT budget over $50 million

• Extremely Engaged decision

maker

Realities of the Tech Industry

• Classic challenges never seem to change

between sales and marketing

• Increased lead generation focus driven by

recession hardships but no automated

processes to help you accelerate ROI

• Inside and outside sales require you work

closely with them - lots of hand holding

Early 90s 2005 200820022000 2003

Online landscape is always evolving: Recession has had its effects….

Search/SyndicationAd Impressions

Email Open Rates

Page ViewsEyeballs

Server log files

Lead GuaranteesDemand Generation,

Reporting

ROI MetricsSEM, CPX,CTR, CPA,CPC, CPM

Content StrategyDemographic Analysis

Lead ManagementServices and Scoring

New MetricsSocial Media

Web 2.0New Media

Syndication enhancement

Profiling Interaction, Landing Page Registrants

Late 90s 2009-2010

Lead GenerationPriority Returns

Trial Social Media

Analysis of Lead’s Behavior

? ??

US

UK

The sales and marketing chasm still exists when it comes to leads

Research has shown

that about 80% of leads

marketers generate end up

getting lost, ignored or

discarded.

Brian Carroll, CEO, InTouch

Examples of how this plays out…

• UK marketers perspective

• Dependent on inside sales and getting them to

follow-up in timely way - no automated processes

• Sales treats follow-up with leads as if they were all

in the same boat (regardless of publisher, driving

asset, timeframe to purchase)

• When reps do follow-up they don’t refer to the

online asset/topic that attracted the lead in the first

place (lack of context for prospect)

Examples of how this plays out…

• UK sales perspective

• Sales determines opportunity leads and marketers

don’t continue the “digital” conversation with

nurturing tactics in timely way

• Most engaged or qualified leads are not prioritized

and flagged for urgency

9/29/08

Received First Glance webcast promo from SearchSoftwareQuality.com

2/29/08 to 4/9/08

Prospect contacted by sales and nurtured through decision stage

ReturnTo

Nurturing

Nurturing Begins

The “closed loop” is not really closed?

Banner/TechTarget Marketer Study

Executive Summary

• Although UK marketers recognize importance

of “quality of lead” reality is that costs per

lead and generating volume is high priority

What drives the optimisation of your demand generation budget?

3%

35%

60%

The speed at which a particular channel can deliver results i.e. within

the quarter

The quantity of leads delivered by a communications channel/programme

The quality of leads delivered by a communications channel/programme

Banner/TechTarget Marketer Study

When running demand generation programmes, which of the metrics below do you use to benchmark your campaign?

13

16

17

19

22

24

CPSAL

CPS

CPO

MQL

CPC

CPL

Banner/TechTarget Marketer Study

Are you able to measure the quality of leads coming from different communications channels as well as the number of leads?

36%

64%

Also measure quality

Measure quantity of leads

Banner/TechTarget Marketer Study

How two UK marketers respond to this and execute on their campaigns…

• Content considerations

• Back end organization for follow-though

• Quality vs. Quantity issues

• Nurturing strategies

Converting Technology Prospects into Buyers

3PAR UK

Marketer Panelist

Sue GullonEMEA Marketing Programs Manager3PAR

Content Strategy for 3PAR UK Campaign

• Expert Content Sponsorships

• Storage Systems & Storage Management Track: Thin

Provisioning: Keys for Using it to Your Best Advantage

(awareness stage)

• Cloud Storage Explained Tech Report (awareness stage)

• 3PAR Vendor White Paper Syndication

• Analyst Report: Thin Provisioning Storage Strategies

(awareness stage)

• Major Considerations for Deploying a Thinly Provisioned

Storage Solution (consideration stage)

• 3PAR Utility Storage Pays Off Big For Travel Giant

Priceline.com (decision stage)

Content Strategy for 3PAR UK campaign

• Re-messaging with relevant vendor content

• Careerbuilder Positioned for Global Expansion Thanks to

3PAR Utility Storage (decision stage)

• IDC Product Flash: 3PAR Launches F-Class InServ Storage

Servers (decision stage)

Prospect activities determine lead prioritization and nurturing strategy

IT Manager

Energy / Utility Company

10,000 – 24,999 employees

Technical Decision Maker

3PAR White Paper

11 Vendor Interactions

9 Editorial Pageviews

2 List Sign-ups

1 Peer-to-Peer 3PAR

Sponsored Expert eGuide

Performance metrics and benchmarks

• Leads fed into Sales Force/Engage B2B (Silverpop)

• Inside sales notified – added to priority calling list

• Leads from events and on line activity called immediately

• Cold/Old leads - Go into a nurturing process

• Leads are scored and prioritised by Engage B2B

• Rely on activity intelligence to set calling list priorities

• Focus accounts, frequency of downloads, show visits,

website visit (intelligence provided by system)

Performance metrics and benchmarks

• Look at how many are converting into TQLs

• Inside sales team has a weekly/monthly target of leads

that have converted to meetings

• Have a weekly meeting to review # of leads that are

converting from each campaign running with a partner

• Average conversion 3-5 TQLs per week

11/9/2009Viewed: “Major Considerations for Deploying a Thinly Provisioned Storage Solution”

1/25/2010Viewed: “What’s Inside Internal Storage Clouds”

3PAR User Influence -Multi-touch user• Young & Rubicam• Analyst• Media/Advertising• Recommends and specifies products/ services• Engaged with 3 3PAR assets over 3 months

10/7/2009Visited 3PAR at IP ExpoAttended Reference Case Study Presentation

11/10/2009Viewed: “Storage Explained: Cloud Storage Defined”

$$Deal Won Product Purchased in France

Converting Technology Prospects into Buyers

Data Domain

Marketer Panelist

Susanna GresswellMarketing DirectorBRS division of EMC

Content Strategy for Data Domain Campaign

• NB: Speaking from a Data Domain perspective

• Content included White papers, Webcasts, Presentation

Downloads, Case studies, chosen based upon:

• Consistency with the US where appropriate –

appear global

• Relevance to the market – locally based case

studies

Content Strategy for Data Domain Campaign

• Different types of content selected based upon Buyer’s

Journey

• Awareness stage expert eGuide addressing an

issue/opportunity: eGuide: Less is more: The real value

of data deduplication and virtualization for your business

• Consideration stage solution oriented vendor webcast:

Webcast: Solutions for Today's Data Protection and

Disaster Recovery Challenges

• Decision stage comparison/review oriented case study:

Case Study: Lloyd's TSB Corporate Markets

MQL SQL

Recognizing multiple entry points of the buyer’s journey

1Unaware

4Looking for

a Solution

2Interest

Established

3Acknowledged

Problem

MarketingSales

5Evaluating

Solutions

6Customer Loyalty

UNIX/Storage Administrator

Financial/Banking industry

10,000–24,999 employees

Technical Decision Maker

Defining prospect interest level with Activity Intelligence

Backup School 2009

Webcast: Data Deduplication and

Disk-to-Disk Backup Systems

Managing Backup and Archive Data with Data Domain and

Symantec NetBackup (NBU) Integration

The Importance of Operational Simplicity in Selecting D2D Data Protection Solutions

102 Vendor

Interactions

96 Editorial

Pageviews

13 List Sign-ups

Backup and Recovery for Microsoft Exchange

Server

4Peer-to-

Peer

Reseller Event

DD Newsletter

DD Nurture

VMWorld2009

DD Newsletter

EmediaSurvey

GoogleSearch

DD Nurture

DD Newsletter

£

“Implementing Data Domain forour local backups and disasterrecovery has enabled Britanniato continue to be a model ofcompliance. We are now able toensure immediate delivery of dataoffsite, exceeding FSA requirementsand dramatically enhancing ourbusiness continuity capabilities inthe process.”

Dylan MathiasUnix and Storage ManagerBritannia Building Society

Warm

Warmer

Warmest

Hot

eNL (Newsletters)/eDM email

WS-WC (Webcasts)

OL (Online Content Syndication)

WS-WP (Website white paper downloads)

PS (Google Adwords)

TS (Gartner, SNW, DRJ)

OL-VTS

TS Trade Shows (SD, VMWorld, EMC, Vision)

PS-GOOG-Brand

FE (Field events, especially VMware)

SEM (Seminars – driven by DD)

RTS (Regional Trade Shows)

Meeting

Yield

+++

+

Note: This is just a guide to prioritizing campaign and lead source types. Some specific leads and campaign topics turn into meetings more quickly.

Lead Nomenclature – key in tracking for marketing and inside sales

OL-TT-WP-DPS-Q108-GB-EMEA

Campaign Type

Insertion Vendor

Offer Type

Track Date

Abbreviated Offer Title

Campaign NameThe Campaign Name is extremely important when naming since everything within it will have the same name with the exception of campaigns that are tracked quarter to quarter. In the case below we need to work within the confines of SFDC and name all campaigns that continue quarter to quarter. The Q1 identifier tells the quarter this campaign was capturing leads. The Lead Source provides the year in which it was created.

Campaign Type Insertion Vendor Offer Type Offer Title Track Date

The Campaign Type is

important to track where

our dollars are being

spent and the ROI.

This abbreviation

represents the vendor

which we are advertising

with (TT). Please check a

predetermined vendor

code is in use.

Offers come in a multitude

of flavors; WP, WC, PC,

CS, and LR.

Acronym form to give a

very brief name description

of the offer (WP / WC / PC

/ CS / LR). These can be

referenced from Web Site

(WS) campaigns.

The date format is a

QuarterYR format (Q108)

Country

Region

What happens to a lead?

• All leads feed into tele-prospecting – measured and

paid on meetings

• Marketing runs a nurturing programme

• Monthly eDM programme

• Monthly Newsletter programme

• Measuring performance

• Total respondents –quality vs. quantity issues

• Net New Leads (NNL)

• Net New Meeting (NNM)

• Cost Per Meeting (CPM)

Lead to meeting conversion time greatly accelerated due to outbound online marketing

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

< 30 days 1 month 2 months 3 months 4 months 5 months 6 months 7 months 10 months 11 months 12 months 24 months

Q407

Q108

Q208

Marketing Dashboard

Lessons Learnt

• Volume doesn’t always equal value – it depends on your

goals

• However – only time and volume can determine performance

• Be clear on goals – Net New vs. Total Respondents would

deliver very different plans through the quarter

• Align content appropriately to the target audience

• Make sure you are getting ALL the information you need from

the lead

• Make sure you have the structure in place to follow-up:

nurturing and tracking is key

5 Tips for Inside Sales: Best ways to get conversion from lead to meeting or sale

1. Give inside sales detailed background on the lead’s

origin-it’s all about context

2. Use the type, topic, and title of the “media asset”

effectively

3. Using the lead’s actual activity to inform the

conversation

4. Over communicate to sales so they know what’s

going on

5. Optimize sales and marketing efforts with lead

nurturing

The Role of Profiling in the Nurturing Process

• The view Susanna and Sue just gave you is an

internal one focused on their program

• What you don’t see the leads doing is as

important as what you see them doing

• TechTarget has worked hard to have a full

360 degree view of your leads…

Average lead consumes 20-30 content assets in 60 days

New Concept: The “Hyper-active Lead”

Hot projects and their need for topically relevant content drive the most “Hyper-active” leads revealing them as valuable prospects

Virtualization Compliance Data Center Security

Now, you can have a different view of your prospects’ activity

on our network

Here’s how the view has evolved

OLD WAY: Point in TimeUsed to depend on traditional information

gathering

NEW WAY: Real TimeNow learn from the richer view

of a user’s current activity

Now it’s about your prospects, their projects and how ready to buy they are:

• Recent activity with our content, your content, and

your competitors’ content – not their stated interests

at registration

• These are best indicator of the current projects of the

serious IT buyer

Now it’s about your prospects, their projects and how ready to buy they are:

• In last six months we’ve catalogued over 15 million

activities on our users across all of their daily interactions

with us:

• Searches done on TechTarget and Google

• Emails they’ve clicked on

• Website pages they’ve viewed (editorial they’ve read)

• White Papers, Webcasts, Podcasts… they’ve downloaded

• Specific Newsletters and topics they’ve requested updates on

• Events they’ve applied for

• Peer-to-peer interactions with social media

Example of topically based emailFrom: SearchDataCenter.com [mailto:ka@bitpipe.com]

Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 10:39 AM

To: Barsam, Marilou

Subject: Top Research for Marilou Barsam - May 03, 2010

KnowledgeAlert

May 03, 2010

New white papers, case studies, webcasts and product information on the topics you have chosen

Greetings Marilou,

Cloud Computing

Virtual Software Development Appliances

Sponsored by IBM

This ekit provides information, webcasts, and analyst reviews that provide an overview, definitions, and

the pros and cons related to each solution. It also features Presto Virtual Software Development

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Cloud Financials Come of Age

Sponsored by Intacct Corporation

This paper discusses how cloud financial solutions provides a much needed benefit for small to midsize

companies. Continue reading to discover the many benefits cloud financial solutions can have for your

company.

SaaS User Provisioning: Automating User Lifecycle Management for Cloud Applications

Sponsored by Conformity

This white paper focuses on the unique characteristics of the SaaS business model, the convergence of

enterprise business process and on-demand environments, and the resulting requirements IT teams must

internalize.

Successful Private Clouds: Proven Best Practices & Case Studies

Sponsored by Surgient

During this webcast featuring Brian Wilson, Vice President of Services and Support at Surgient, he'll

discuss the key IT business challenges in private clouds, ideal use cases for a private cloud

implementation, best practices for implementing a private cloud, and case studies of successful

enterprise private cloud deployments with metrics.

“ACTIVITY INTELLIGENCE” Methodology

Day 1

2 Vendor White Papers

Day 1

Technical Article

Day 2

Vendor Data Sheet

Day 2

2 Vendor White Papers

Days 2

Editorial Article

Day 4

Expert eZine

Day 7

Vendor Podcast

Day 7

Sponsored 3PAR White Paper

Day 8-9

2 Vendor White Papers

Day 9

VendorPodcast

Day 10

Expert eZine

Days 13

VendorWebcast

Day 13-14

3 AnalystWhite Papers

Day 13-15

6 Vendor White Papers

Day 15

Vendor Product Sheet

Day 16

2 VendorWhite Papers

Day 16

Vendor Cast Study

Day 16-20

3 Vendor Webcasts

Day 28

Sponsored

3PAR eGuide

Days 1-7: DEVELOPMENT content Days 8-13: MANAGEABILITY content Days 13 on: DECISION content

• IT Management • Company size:

10,000 to 24,999

• IT budget: $25

million to $49

million

• Role in

purchasing:

Technical Decision

Maker

• Activity: Took over

23+ additional

activities

3PAR Lead’s Consumption Path

IT Manager at Energy/Utility Company

Defining the interest levelof Data Domain lead withActivity Intelligence

• In-campaign Activities

Backup School 2009

editorial

Webcast: Data Deduplication and

Disk-to-Disk Backup Systems

Managing Backup and Archive Data with Data Domain

and Symantec NetBackup (NBU)

Integration

The Importance of Operational Simplicity in

Selecting D2D Data Protection

Solutions

Backup and Recovery for

Microsoft Exchange Server

5 pieces of Data Domain

content over 4 campaigns

• Activities outside Data

Domain campaign*

Total Vendor Interactions 102

Total Editorial Pageviews 96

Total List Sign-ups 13

Total Peer-to-Peer 4

Total Activity = 215

*Lead Activities across TechTarget network in addition to activities with Data Domain campaign

UNIX/Storage Administrator

Financial/Banking industry

10,000–24,999 employees

Technical Decision Maker

Total respondents interactions within four Data Domain campaigns

• 1,221 unique UK respondents had an average

of 2 interactions with Data Domain content

• 20% (246) of the 1221 UK respondents

viewed between 2-6 pieces of Data Domain

content sponsored within 2009 campaigns

• 5% (67) had above average interactions

Activity Intelligence – out of campaign

• Data Domain UK prospects are also actively seeking

additional information around deduplication, backup

and disaster recovery

• 97% of the 1,221 unique UK leads generated in 2009

campaigns took additional actions around

deduplication, backup and disaster recovery

* Timeframe consists of activity 60 days before and after program

Activity Intelligence – out of campaign

• These 1,184 respondents took over 71,652 actions

across these topics averaging 60 actions per lead

• 28,725 interactions with content from multiple vendors

• Viewed 32,044 editorial articles on a number of different

websites

• Opted-in for 5,981 list sign-ups

• Took 4,801 peer-to-peer actions

• Signed up for 101 conferences and virtual events

* Timeframe consists of activity 60 days before and after program

Selecting a Converted Lead Example

• 5% of UK respondents exhibited above average activity

both within the campaign and outside of the campaign

• 4-6+ interactions with Data Domain content

• 60+ actions outside of the Data Domain UK

campaign

• Benchmark is between 20-30+ actions

• These 5% would be flagged for “urgent” follow-up

Key Takeaways

• Various online assets are consumed throughout the

purchase process. Marketers need diverse “content

portfolios” that cover all buying stages.

• In end stages, especially in recessionary times when IT

buyers resources are constrained, marketers should

increase focus on product literature, trial downloads,

and comparison case studies or spec sheets.

Key Takeaways

• Conversion to download is the first step. Conversion to

a meeting may require continued nurturing tactics and

a shared game plan between marketing and inside

sales

• Examine lead’s overall activity and engagement levels

to determine best approach to follow-up from

marketing or inside sales - All leads have potential