Tag Archives: marketing mix

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50 Shades of SEO – Is Search Engine Optimisation Dominating Your Content Marketing?

Obsessions often start with an innocent desire, but then quickly become all-consuming and destructive. This is definitely true of B2B marketers’ passion for search engine optimising their websites to the ninth degree. Yes, inbound leads from prospects already in buying mode are now far more likely to come in via your website than your annual industry tradeshow, as buyers rely on Google to sift through information to research and shortlist vendors. But inexperienced or offline focused marketers are sometimes manipulated into doing shameful things to their marketing content that they would not have dreamt of doing if an interactive marketing expert or web master had not told them to do so.

While SEO is a fundamental part of today’s b2b marketing plans, it is the content that matters most, as it effectively fuels your SEO efforts, engages your website visitors and provides the context for your keywords.

50 Shades of SEOIn the relationship between SEO and content marketing, content should be the dominant partner calling the shots. But with website-generated revenue often being attributed to SEO and PPC rather than the content consumed by prospects, it’s easy to be led to believe that marketing content should be submissive to SEO. Here are the top signs that your content marketing campaigns may be being perverted to suit someone’s penchant for making all things subservient to SEO:

Sign #1: Submission
The H1 title tag is crucial for SEO, and there is widespread agreement that keywords in page titles will boost your search engine results pages (SERPS). At the same time, the title of any page needs to appeal to the reader, be well written and relate to the content of the page. If you are being asked to stuff page titles with SEO keywords that are unrelated to the page content, you should take this as a warning sign your content is being (mis)used to satisfy the needs of SEO. The reason this is negative is because keyword stuffing is not only uncomfortable, but also counterproductive and will be punished by search engines. That’s because Google wants you to provide quality content to readers, and search engines do not like to be manipulated. The safety word you need to use to make this this type of domination stop is ‘quality’ – the quality of the content is more important than the number of times a keyword is featured per page.

Sign #2: Controlling Behaviour
Similar to the above, but taken to the next level. Specifically, some organizations now employ (or outsource to) web writers, who rewrite copy to optimise the content for search engines. This is all well where search optimisation is the main success criteria, but aren’t we forgetting the reader? You should write for your target audience, not for Google. And who knows your reader better: You or a web writer? Final sign off on all content should be with you. If that’s not currently the case, you need to start to say no and set some boundaries.

Sign #3: Unrealistic Expectations
SEO practitioners sometimes forget how much time and effort it takes to produce great content. If your SEO partner demands unrealistically high volumes of content and applies the (proverbial) whip when it’s not forthcoming, it’s a sure sign that they see themselves as the dominant party. To satisfy their unnatural appetites, they may also suggest a role play of sorts, which sees them producing content which has no marketing value whatsoever apart from link building and search engine optimisation.

If you have not encountered this before, read this article which explains all about auto-submitted content, paid for links and the dreaded blog spam comments: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/non-seo-bad-link-building/106009 

You should steer clear of these tactics as they will most likely not aid your SERPS, and may prove embarrassing, too. Submission, controlling behaviour and unrealistic expectations are three warning signs that someone is trying to dominate your content marketing to satisfy their SEO needs. There are additional signs (feel free to share them below), but thankfully there’s no need to devote a painful trilogy to this topic!

Apologies to everyone who thought this blog post was in any way related to that 50 Shades of Grey movie trailer!

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What football and marketing have in common

As I listened to the pundits narrating Belgium’s win against the USA in the World Cup, I got to thinking about the similarities between the beautiful game of soccer and the beautiful art of marketing:

Marketing is like football

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing is like football, because…. Please complete the sentence below:

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Five signs your content marketing plan needs reviewing

The donkey and the marketing plan

Don’t be a donkey!

If you are in the business of creating B2B marketing content, sooner or later, you need to ask yourself the question: What next? Sure, you have a long-term content plan, but even the best laid plans of mice and marketers often go astray. After all, your content should address current market challenges, and be tailored to address the state of your sales pipeline, and without powers of clairvoyance, it’s hard to predict either with 100% accuracy at the beginning of the year.

So now you are half-way through the year and looking at your content marketing strategy, and thinking: Hmm – do I still really want to cover these topics? Here’s how to decide whether to press ahead or refresh your content marketing plan – five signs your marketing content plan needs reviewing:

  1. Your sales pipeline is crammed with early stage opportunities that are not moving. If this symptom applies to you, review your content to see if:

a) all your content is high-level thought leadership designed to raise brand awareness

b) any of your content is suitable for lead nurturing

c) your marketing automation is making effective use of your lead nurturing content

  1. A disproportionately high number of your marketing leads are disqualified by sales. If this has happened to you, you’ll need to not only review your segmenting criteria, but also your marketing messaging: Do your marketing campaigns promise more than your products can deliver? Is your positioning premium, and your service delivery no-frills?
  2. Your content is not generating any demand for your products and services. If your marketing metrics (page visits, time spent on page, response rates etc.) are good, but your product is not shifting, your content may be to blame. Review your campaigns to see if there is a disconnect between your content and your services. For instance, if your thought leadership focuses on the benefits of cloud computing, but you are trying to generate leads for a Software as a Service accounting solution, then your content needs to be revised to address your niche more specifically and help connect the industry megatrend (cloud computing) to your product.
  3. Your last video generated lots of inbound enquiries and social shares, but you only budgeted for one. This is good news – you produced content that worked well. Now it’s time to go back to your plan and cut less well performing content to free up time and budget for things that generate revenue.
  4. Your marketing metrics are declining. Every email you send gets fewer opens than the previous one, your clickthroughs are dwindling while your unsubscribe rates are creeping up. These are sure signs that your content is not only failing to rock your audience’s world, but it’s seriously starting to get on their nerves. If your customers and prospects don’t see the value of your content, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

Review your marketing contentThe end of Q2 can be a good time to review your content marketing plan. If you are looking to improve your performance, doing so now will enable you to make change tack and set you on course to meet your end of year goals.  Do you know of any other signs that your marketing content plans need to be reviewed? Please share your ideas in the comment section below!

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Time for A Better B2B Marketing Mix?

Time to Redefine the B2B Marketing MixMany marketing jobs require that candidates have experience of the ‘full marketing mix’. But how relevant is the marketing mix model for today’s b2b marketer? The traditional 4Ps marketing mix (consisting of product, price, place, promotion) has been used by marketers since the 1960s, but the Harvard Business Review recently carried out a five-year study of more than 500 managers and customers in multiple countries across a wide range of B2B industries, and found that the 4 Ps model undercuts B2B marketers and needs to be redefined to be useful again.

The concept was last updated in the 1980s in response to the growth of services marketing, and three further Ps (people, physical evidence and processes) were added. Arguably, it’s about time the marketing mix was redefined for modern B2B marketers.

How many marketers do you know who are in control of all seven aspects of the marketing mix?

In all but the smallest start-ups, many of the seven Ps would be outside the remit and responsibility of the marketing manager, no matter how senior he or she is.

Product warranties and design, for example, are typically owned by the product manager, who is usually a technically oriented person with no marketing experience. The product manager consults the product marketing manager when it comes to branding, icons and other visual experience related elements of the product, but the actual functionality, technology and associated user guarantees are determined and managed by the product manager, supported and executed by developers.

Similarly, in smaller firms pricing and distribution channels (Place) are firmly within the remit of sales and commercial directors, if not the CEO himself. Service levels (People) fall within the responsibility of the customer services team or account managers, who look to marketing to provide tools and templates to help shape the conversation, but I have yet to hear of a marketing director who is actually in charge of drawing up service level agreements and managing the delivery of client service.

If the 7Ps do not reflect the actual work of marketers at the more complex end of the b2b spectrum, does the concept at least cover all important elements of the marketing mix? I don’t think so, as three key aspects are not explicitly covered:

1) Positioning – competitive, in market
2) Proposition – value to customer
3) Presentation – the visual and brand experience

Product positioning and the product’s value proposition are important and distinct element of the marketing mix. While the value proposition articulates the added value that the product or service delivers to customers (e.g. freshly baked bread delivered to your door every morning by 7am), the product’s positioning is often formulated in relation to competitors and taking into account organizational strengths (Jones & Sons – Springfield’s family bakery. Every loaf handmade and delivered to your door, since 1832).

The value proposition needs to be clear. Getting this right is particularly important when products have multiple target audiences and uses. For example, the same product could be positioned differently for small and large firms in a b2b context. Good product positioning creates differentiation and customer mindshare through carefully crafted messages which resonate with target audiences.

The final P relates to presentation. This does not just relate to formatting of PowerPoints, but the overall visual brand experience and identity across different elements of the marketing mix and customer touchpoints. A brand that is consistent across different presentation channels (think web, social media, brochureware, events etc.) enables prospects and customers to recognise products and services easily – and the consistency of presentation will convey the values of dependability and professionalism.

These three points are especially important when dealing with sophisticated consumers, such as b2b buyers, who will experience brands and products in a variety of settings before making a decision. Neither physical evidence nor promotion cover these concepts, as a proposition is not physical, while promotion usually only covers marketing communication channels and not the actual messaging that should be at the heart of all marketing campaigns.

The traditional 7Ps model of the marketing mix does modern marketers a disservice: B2B marketers add most value through producing unique  positioning, proposition and presentation, as these are important aspects of what marketing guru Kotler called the ‘augmented product’. In a competitive global market such as the b2b technology industry, marketers can create a difficult-to-copy differentiated and enhanced value proposition through the use of an extended marketing mix that includes the additional 3Ps.

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts: To what extent do you use the marketing mix as a business tool?

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How to Market a Product: Five Marketing Lessons to be Learnt from Dating

Marketing Lessons to be learnt from dating Yesterday, thousands of singles thought about bad dates they have been on and contemplated why they are still single this Valentine’s Day. As I asked various people about their Valentine’s plans, it occurred to me that there are a lot of parallels between good marketing and great dates. In the same way that singles try to make good impressions, present their best selves and build lasting connections, marketers create attractive brands and formulate positioning which appeals to differentiated target audiences. Still not convinced? Think back to your single days and consider what these dating scenarios can teach us about good marketing:

1) You go on a first date and he presents you with his bank statements, family tree and graduate diplomas.
This is essentially what many people think product marketing is about – compiling glossy brochures and technical white papers that outline unique product features, long company history and competitive service level agreements. While all of these are must-haves for the b2b selling process, the reality is that no b2b buyer wants to see these on the ‘first date’.
Lesson: Overwhelming prospects with product information while they are still in the early stages of the sales funnel will most likely have the same result as discussing your bank balance on a first date. It’s all relevant information in the long run, but make sure the other party has bought into your value proposition and is serious about making a commitment before you get down the details.

2) You want to impress your date and pick her up in a Porsche you hired for the evening.
Product marketers need to make sure the different elements of the marketing mix are in line with the product’s positioning.
Lesson: If your packaging implies premium, but your solution is based on a ‘no-frills’ economy model, then you are wasting money and attracting customers who will be disappointed with the actual core product. If they do buy based on a false premise, they will not make a repeat purchase and you will face a lower return on your marketing investment (ROMI)

3) Your date looks stunning but talks about herself all night, leaving you repeatedly checking your watch and eyeing the exit.
Some people misunderstand the term ‘product marketing’ and believe that it’s all about the product. Yet good salespeople know that they should spend more time listening than talking in prospect meetings. Similarly, product marketers need to know as much as possible about the needs and desires of their target market before they start holding forth.
Lesson: The best way to market a product is to let your prospects and customers talk about themselves, and use this information to produce customer-centric marketing pitches. Good product marketing is all about the customer, not all about the product.

4) Your date said she would call you tomorrow to arrange to meet up. That was two weeks ago and you’ve not heard since.
There’s an equivalent scenario that is not at all uncommon in B2B marketing: A prospect requests a trial or a meeting with a consultant, but the person in charge of following up leaves the lead sitting in the CRM software until they get a reminder that their task is now overdue.
Lesson: Prospects face a wide choice of providers and are not ‘desperate’. Make sure the handover from marketing to sales is smooth and closely monitored. Harvard Business Review found that leads that are followed up quickly are seven times more likely to result in a meaningful conversation with the decision maker than leads that are left to go stale.

5) You are half-way through a nice dinner when you realize that your date seems to know way more about you than you’ve told her.
If you met through friends, chances are she asked around about your past relationships and your likes and dislikes. Whichever way you met, it is now almost a given that your date will have googled you and visited your Facebook page. Similarly, your inbound marketing enquiries will come from b2b buyers who have visited not only your website but done extensive research on your product on independent third party sites.
Lesson: According to a study by salesforce.com’s Pardot, 72% of B2B buyers typically start their research for a purchase on Google. It is imperative that b2b marketers go digital and manage their firm’s online and social media presence as carefully as any other aspect of their company’s reputation.

Do you know of any other dating scenarios that have relevance to good b2b marketing? Please share them below or via Twitter with @yasminetweets